Tara Williams sat up slowly, blinking sleepily as her alarm clock went off, announcing that another day of her life was beginning whether or not she was ready to face it. 6:30. Time to wake up, girl. You want to get to the office early to get a head start on those reports, Tara chided herself. She reluctantly pushed down the covers and swung her legs out of bed. She blinked at her calendar. It was the second week of June. Summer had definitely arrived in D.C.. She had barely been able to fall asleep last night due to a small heat wave and a broken fan. Note to self: ask the people at the office if they know someone who can fix fans. I can't really afford a new one this month.

Tara slowly picked up speed as she got ready for her day. Showering, eating breakfast, drinking a cup of coffee, and getting ready took twenty minutes, and then Tara was out the door. Just as she grabbed her purse from next to the door her cell phone started ringing. Tara answered it while heading out to her car.

"Williams."

"Williams here too. What a coincidence!" Tara could not help but laugh at her uncle's joke once again. Uncle Rick could always brighten her day. He and her mom's sister, Aunt Stacey, had raised her due to the fact that her parents disliked the responsibility that came with a child. To Tara's everlasting regret, they had done a lot of damage before passing their little daughter off to their willing relatives. She was glad that her parents were no longer part of her life and had let Uncle Rick and Aunt Stacey become her legal guardians when she was six years old.

"Fancy that. Did you get my package?" After several weeks of planning the perfect Father's Day gift for her uncle Tara was very anxious that it arrive safely.

"Yes, I did. With all the red marks of 'Do not open until Father's Day' all over this box in someone's distinctive handwriting, am I to guess that you have sent me something that you don't want me to open until Sunday?"

"Wow, Uncle Rick! You have great observation skills. Maybe you should come join the FBI team here."

Tara paused next to car. She did not want to talk on her cell phone while driving. She never did unless absolutely necessary during a case. But she did not want to end the conversation with her uncle.

The Bureau's not far from here. I'll walk, she decided, and began to hurry in that direction of the city.

"I don't think so," Uncle Rick said. Tara was confused.

"Don't think what?"

"I was answering your question, Fuzzy. You know, about joining the FBI. I don't think that I could handle the level of caffeine you say that is prevalent in your office."

Tara laughed. Her uncle's calling her "Fuzzy" was a joke between the two of them. Once, when she was eight years old, he had asked her why her face was all scrunched up as she was sitting at the table, "thinking". Her answer had been that she had a lot of fuzzy ideas in her head and that she was trying to get them to be clear. It had been a family joke ever since.

"Well, I'm looking forward to seeing what's in that box, sweetie. I wish you were coming home, though. Stace and I miss you a lot."

"I know. I miss you too." I really, REALLY do. "I'll try to come home a bit later in the summer for a bit."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Do that."

"How's your F.B.I. family? It's just D, Myles, Jack, Bob, and Sarah there now, right?"

"His name's Bobby, Uncle Rick, not Bob. You're the only one who ever called him that. He told me after your last visit. And you're almost right, except Sarah isn't our rotor anymore."

"Did those boys scare another one off?"

Tara laughed. "Not quite." Her uncle had visited the day that Michelle, two rotors back, had resigned from her job on their team. Jack and Bobby had been heavily involved in her reasons to quit. It had not been that Michelle did not like the men, but she had been a target of their pranks one time too many. After finding a plastic spider in her coffee - Michelle had a very severe phobia of spiders - the frazzled rotor had resigned, earning Jack and Bobby a temporary grudge from the rest of the agents. Michelle had been an excellent rotor, and the team had missed her greatly. Sarah had been an okay replacement, but she had never become too involved with the team, preferring to cultivate friendships with other secretaries and rotors. She had transferred to a better paying placement four months ago.

"Who's your rotor now then?"

"Lucy Dotson. She's great. She and Myles are actually dating."

"Oh." Her uncle paused. "Is this Lucy weird, then?"

Tara laughed again. "No, she is surprisingly nice and normal. A match maker and forever romantic, but fairly normal - except for dating Myles!"

"Good. I'd say that you all have a crazy enough group there in that office without another crazy one."

"Are you calling me crazy, Uncle?" Tara teased.

"Well, there was a reason you were known in the Williams clan as 'Tararist'". The two chuckled. Tara realized that her walk was passing quickly. She was just five minutes from her work. She glanced up at the sky. Beautiful and clear, without a cloud in sight. It was Friday, and she was glad that the weather seemed nice enough for her to make some outdoor plans for the evening.

Turning her attention back to her phone call, Tara heard her aunt saying something in the background, but could not quite hear what she said. Uncle Rick relayed it. "Your aunt wants to know if you've been taking care of yourself." She heard Uncle Rick turn from the phone and say, "Honey, she's still talking. Nothing can be too wrong with her."

"That doesn't mean anything. She'd chatter away in a coma," Aunt Stacey retorted.

Tara grinned at that true fact. "Tell Aunt I'm fine. I've been taking that vitamin she recommended and I have more energy now. I also drink orange juice each morning so I'm fine."

Uncle Rick relayed the message and Tara heard her aunt say worriedly, "Tell her not to drink too much orange juice. It's very sugary and she doesn't want diabetes. She should probably limit it to half a cup a day or eat real oranges."

Tara rolled her eyes, thankful that her aunt could not see. There were a few hassles involved with having a sports nutritionist as your functioning mother. On the other hand, she did need to stay fit for the job, and Aunt Stacey's always well-meaning hints were useful. It was all said in love, and Tara did appreciate it, despite her defiance in drinking two glasses of orange juice that morning.

"Hear that, Tar, or should I relay it?" Uncle Rick asked with his usual relaxed good humour.

"I heard," Tara replied.

"Well, I've got to go, Tara. Your aunt and I are going to a church meeting and then on to work, so we'll call you later. I just wanted to let you know that your package arrived in one piece."

"Thanks, Uncle Rick. I'll call again on Sunday and talk to you and Aunt Stacey then."

"Sounds good, honey. Just don't call when we're at church."

"Okay." Tara knew the times her aunt and uncle would be at church. All her childhood she'd gone too. But her aunt and uncle's faith was not her faith, at least not yet. Maybe someday, she told herself. At least her aunt and uncle understood. They knew that she struggled with wondering why a good God let bad things happen to innocent people every day. When they could, they provided answers. When they could not, they just told her what they did know and let her know that they would pray for her.

"We're praying for you, Tara. We love you." Did Uncle just read my mind?

"Thanks, Uncle. I love you and Auntie too."

"God bless. Bye."

"Bye." Tara heard the call end, then closed her phone. She was nearly to the office. Now she was passing several gift stores and office complexes before arriving at work.

Tara paused next to a greeting card shop and peered inside. All the merchandise in the front window was about fathers and their children. Tara almost turned away. She had her uncle, but sometimes it still hurt that her own father had not cared for her except for...well, he did not care for her as her. He had only seen her as an object that could be treated as he saw fit. The cruelty of her early years still hurt.

Just as she moved to turn away she noticed a small plaque in the side of the display case. In swirling writing she saw the words etched, "You may not be father in the normal sense of the word, but you have been a dad in my life and changed my very world."

"I wish that I had seen that when I was shopping for Uncle Rick," Tara muttered, then noticed the price tag, causing her to chuckle to herself. "I wouldn't have been able to afford it anyways." She thought about the inscription. It definitely applied to Uncle Rick. Suddenly, Tara thought of something. It was one of her "menligflash" moments, a term that she had created to account for when she had a brilliant idea. It was supposed to be short for "mental lightning flash". She had stopped using the term at work after Myles had scorned it. Although the others had remained silent around her after she threatened to hack his computer if he made fun of her again, she had caught Jack and Bobby smirking at her terminology. After that, "menligflash" made only occasional appearances at the office, usually only in front of Lucy or D, who both simply nodded when she mentioned that she had just experienced one.

This particular menligflash was particularly bright, and Tara was sorry that she had not though of it earlier. She was glad that this store opened early. She needed to do something. Her Father's Day shopping was not over just yet.