A/N- I wanted to say thanks to the people who reviwed, it was a great motivation for me to keep going with this. I also want to say that the previous disclaimers still stand. Also I am still unbeta'd so I all mistakes are mine and I ask that you not flame me for them, I am a sleep deprived college senior, and I churned this out when I should be working on my finals so, please please show me some love and reivew. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.


"Don Eppes?"

Don looked up from the file he was reading as he heard a feminine voice speaking his name. He noticed the young woman, with a guest badge, looking expectantly at him. He nodded, put the file down and stood as he spoke, "Yeah."

"I'm Sam Talbot, the new AUSA, you called me." Sam said as she extended her hand to him.

"Nice to meet you. I wasn't expecting you yet." Don said conversationally as he shook her outstretched hand.

"Well I got in early this morning and I wanted to get down to business. Do you have a suspect in custody?"

Don stared at her somewhat incredulously. Why the hell would I have called you if I didn't? He thought to himself. Although in fairness when David and Colby had interviewed her the day before they didn't even know who the guy was. They had reached a lucky break in the case early that morning, catching the guy at the other school Charlie had isolated when he arrived that morning to clean. He was a janitor, giving him easy access to select and then target victims. As Don reviewed the facts of the case in his mind, he realized that according to David this woman was the one who had shook Colby so far off his game.

Sam watched as his stare changed to a glare, and she knew that he knew about her and Colby. She felt the icy brunt of Don Eppes' anger when he spoke again.

"Yeah, he's in interrogation. I wouldn't have called you if we didn't have something. Follow me."

The statement wasn't rude, it wasn't a challenge, but it was gruff and abrupt. Sam knew then and there that Don knew about her past with Colby, or at least one side of the story in that complicated past. She also knew that he, and probably the rest of his team, thought of her as the villain. Yet for the life of her she didn't know what to do about it. Frustration rose in her as she followed Don towards the interrogation room.

Megan stared predatorily at the woman who entered with Don. She recognized her right away from the picture that was now sitting next to Colby's computer.

"Sam Talbot, Special Agent Megan Reeves." Don said by way of introduction and then turned up the microphone on the two-way mirror.

Sam was ready to extend her hand to Megan until she noticed the ice in the other woman's eyes. Her stomach flopped, she was really frustrated, she had hoped that the one woman on the team would be at least a little understanding. Shaking off her personal problems she focused on work, watching and listening intently as David and Colby pressured the suspect.

Forty-five minutes later, they were all gathered in the conference room. Sam sighed as she stood in the front of the room and looked into two angry faces, one resentful one, and one single friendly face. She smiled warmly at Colby, silently thanking him for still being friendly despite their past. Gathering her courage, she turned towards Don and spoke, "I've talked with the US Attorney, and he wanted me to thank you. We finally have enough to prosecute, and he is confident that our office will get a conviction."

"Good to hear. If your office needs anything else, please let us know." Don said in a curt voice, maintaining a professional relationship.

"No problem. It was nice to meet you all, but I need to get back to my office and start processing the paperwork for the case." Sam said as she smiled and fumbled in her pocket, her fingers grazing the envelope that was there. Pulling the envelope from her pocket, she slipped it to Colby as she walked out the door.


Don, Megan, and David exchanged glances as Colby gingerly picked up the small purple envelope.

Standing he wordlessly took the note and walked out of the room. With a smug smile in the direction of his friends in the conference room, knowing they were all dying to know what it said, he slipped a finger into the edge of the envelope. His smile broadened as he recognized the perfectly crafted and elegant cursive.

CJ,

Sorry I never called you back last night. By the time I finally wrestled Colleen away from Nick's place it was too late. Dinner sounds great. How about tonight, 6:30, at Finnegan's? Nick tells me it is this great little pub near the FBI building. See you then.

Love,

Sam

He smiled like a fool at the card he held in his hand. Flipping it over to the back, he couldn't help but chuckle. He had guessed the card was a Nick Talbot creation the minute he had seen the little white raised paper daisies in one corner and a little glittery butterfly in the other. So when he had flipped the card over to the back and seen a stamp bearing the initials NTM he had to chuckle. It was the most sedated piece he had ever seen her create.

Before he had a chance to hide the card, Colby felt a hand on his shoulder and when he heard Don speaking, he knew the senior agent was trying to read over his shoulders. He slipped the card quickly into the pocket of his suit jacket and tried to hide his smirk as he listened to Don.

"Everything okay Colby?"

Colby nodded, slightly touched by his friend's concern. "Yeah. Listen Don, I'm going to need to head out a little early tonight." Turning to shoot a smirk at Don he added, "I've got a date."

Don was unsure what to say and he glanced at Megan, before he nodded and spoke, "Sure. Whenever is fine, just try to get that report finished and on my desk before you go."

Colby nodded and then plopped into his desk chair, ready to get started on his paper work, yet his mind was on Sam.


Sam checked her watch nervously, noting that it was only 6:45, she would give him ten more minutes and then she would know that he wasn't coming. She reached for her beer, cursing inwardly when she noticed her hand shaking. She was nervous, extremely nervous, and Nick's words echoed in her mind.

Just tell him the truth, Sammy. Take him some place he is comfortable and then tell him the truth, its all you can do.

Sighing, Sam set her beer on the table and allowed the other hand to rest on the file box that was sitting in the booth next to her. She prayed that her sister was right, she was unsure if this was the right thing to do, but she owed it to Colby to tell him the truth. Shaking the thought from her mind, she took another swig from her beer. She swallowed quickly and then smiled broadly, as she saw him come in the door. He offered her a silly little wave as he approached. A felling of desire and heat flittered through her as she noticed that he had changed into what looked like his spear set of work clothes, probably worn on missions in the field. He was wearing a fitted pair of well-worn light washed jeans and a black t-shirt that fit snuggly over his arm muscles, skimming down to highlight a well-defined chest.

Colby felt like an ass. He hadn't meant to be late, but at a quarter to six they had gotten a case dealing with stolen art and he had lost track of time. Don had finally sent him out the door at 6:30 making him about fifteen minutes late. He offered her a bright smile as she slipped out of her side of the booth and opened her arms to give him a hug as he approached the table. Taking her into his arms, he reveled in the felling of her being there. She still fit perfectly, like she always had, into his arms. It was like two puzzle pieces connecting when she was there, or so he had always thought. Pulling away, he placed a kiss on her cheek and watched her blush. Colby slid into the booth and was surprised to find a waitress standing at the table. He gave her his order and as Sam gave her order, he took the opportunity to watch her intently. She had changed into a pair of jean capri's and an olive green off the shoulders sweater. Colby figured the sweater must be popular this season, because he had seen Amita wearing a cream one recently.

Sam finished giving her order to the waitress, then turned towards Colby and spoke, "I was afraid that you weren't coming, that maybe you had other plans."

Colby heard the vulnerability in her voice and cursed himself for having put it there. He flexed his hands, trying to plot out what to say in his head, before he spoke. "I'm sorry I was late. We got a new case at the last minute and I was almost sucked in before Don shooed me out."

Sam offered a rueful smile, "I guess I should be grateful for at least that much."

Colby quirked an eyebrow at her, "what's that supposed to mean?"

As she was about to answer the waitress brought Colby's beer, and Sam's second. She nodded her thanks to the server before taking a swig of her new beer, cursing herself for not thinking before she spoke. "I get the distinct impression that your boss and coworkers don't care much for me."

Colby nodded, but didn't know what to say in response to that. He knew it was true, that they were all suspicious of her because of Colleen. Truth be told, he was as well, but he didn't want to tip the hand that held those cards just yet. So he shrugged and then changed the subject, "I see some things never change, you are still a beer a head of me."

Sam laughed and picked up her longneck. Raising it to his she proposed a toast, "to the past, and maybe recapturing it a little."

Colby mumbled a "cheers" and clinked his bottle to hers. After they both had swallowed he asked, "so how the hell did you go from Winchester, Idaho to here?"

Smirking a little, she settled into the booth, and then started to weave her story. "Well, you know that I had been accepted to Georgetown's law school. So I left Idaho for DC. I had Colleen halfway through my first year."

Colby interrupted her, "how did you do it? I mean how did you get a law degree and care for a baby?"

Sam nodded, and took another drink of her beer. Those were bleak days that she didn't like to look back on. It had been a struggle; she and Colleen had barely made it through. She laid one arm on the table resting her head in the palm of her other hand as she spoke, "I had her in January, just before the second semester started, so I dropped to part time status. I got a job as a secretary in a big DC law firm. I worked during the day and I took classes at night. It was rough when Lena was still little baby. But I had Nick helping me. She was out there working the art scene, doing museum work, before she decided she wanted to teach. It was a God send she would be at home with the baby, who she nicknamed Lena, while I was at school. I couldn't have done it with out her help."

Colby nodded. He could only imagine how she had struggled, how lonely she must have felt in a new city. While he was thinking of something to say the waitress brought their food, and silence prevailed for a few minutes as they began to eat.

"So Colby James, tell what were you up to all these years. Anyone serious I should know about?"

Colby laughed at that. Like anyone could replace you. He left the thought in his head, not daring to say it aloud. He bit into a french fry and then swallowed before he spoke, "Well I did my basic training at Fort Sills in Oklahoma. I was an MP for several years, and that took me to Germany. So I finally got to use those seven years of German I took. Then it was Saudi Arabia. Then I did CID training and that took me to Afghanistan. Well I guess you heard about the explosion from my mom."

Sam nodded with a grimace. She had heard that he nearly died and was leaving the army. She had been so sad and happy at the same time. Happy that he would be out of harms way, sad that the career he had wanted nearly all of his adult life was suddenly gone in an instant. She looked down at the contents of her basket and pushed it towards him, offering him her fries and coleslaw. He took them and continued on with his story.

"So I figured that since I had the military and law enforcement training, I might as well use it domestically. I entered the FBI academy and as soon as I graduated I was assigned to the LA field office." He picked up his beer and took a swallow, killing it. But the waitress who had been hovering over the table was there in a flash to ask if they wanted another round. Colby and Sam both ordered another beer.

Colby was the first to speak again, "I had actually heard that you were in the Virginia area when I was at Quantico, but by the time I had rooted out a phone number for you, you had moved."

Sam nodded, "I know. I moved not long after dad died, it would have been about the time you were entering the academy. I got the job as the AUSA for the northern district of Virginia, which was where I was before I took the job here."

"I was sorry to hear about your dad. I had wanted to come to the funeral, but I was still in the hospital. Mom told me about it when I went home to see her. I think I had just missed you by a couple of days." Colby's voice was apologetic and regretful as he said the last sentence. He had been devastated to learn that he had come so close to seeing her again. As almost an after thought he added, "it must have been hard for you, loosing your dad."

Sam's heart sunk and she thought to herself, great now we are really going to have to get into it. She was never so glad to see a server, as she was when the waitress brought their next round. She grabbed the bottle and took a large swallow, before speaking. "It wasn't as hard as you would imagine and it was nothing like loosing mom in high school. Dad and I actually weren't talking these last few years."

"Oh, really?" Colby said, interest piqued.

Sam shook her head ruefully, "No. He never forgave me for not marrying you when you asked me that night. Then when I turned up pregnant that first Christmas after I had been away, well let's just say he wasn't so full of the holiday cheer. Dad kicked me out of the house, said I wasn't supposed to come back until I married the father of my bastard child." Sam stared at the bottle in her hands, and picked at the label as the sounds of that shouting match played over and over in her head. Shaking the thoughts away she continued, "needless to say Mike and Andy took dad's side. I haven't seen them in years. We some how miraculously managed to avoid them at the funeral. No one in my family outside of Nick has even met Colleen."

Colby's grip tightened on his beer bottle and he felt the anger rise in him. What gave Frank Talbot the right to treat his daughter like that? It was the one thought that ran away in his mind. He spoke finally, anger making his voice tight, "Michaela and Andrea always were stupid bitches, always doing everything your father told them, I don't think that they ever had an original thought."

That made Sam laugh and she took his hand in hers, since both were laying across the table. She took a moment to revel in the feel of it. His large callused hand molded perfectly to her soft small one. She finally spoke, her voice serious, "Nick would agree hole heartedly. I don't think she will ever forgive our sisters or dad for how he treated me. I made my peace with it, dad and I both said things we shouldn't have that night. I think he was most angry at me because I never would tell him who the father was."

Colby tried to bite his tongue, but was unsuccessful, "Sam, who is Colleen's father?"

This is it. Sam game on, just tell him the truth. Sam sighed and gathered her courage, "you are."

She waited for the explosion, waited for the anger, waited for any sort of reaction. Yet none came. Colby just sat there dumbfounded. He was shocked, he knew it was a possibility, he had even suspected it, but to hear it confirmed, it was all too much. When he finally found his voice, all he could manage was one horse word, "why?"

"Why didn't I tell you?" Sam asked needing to be sure that was what he was asking. She had spent ten years perfecting the answer to that question. When he nodded in answer, she spoke, "It was the same reason I didn't marry you. I loved you too much to do that to you. As long as I could remember, you wanted a military career. I knew that if I told you, you'd do something stupid like come home."

Colby interrupted, his voice full of fury, but pitched the same so as not to attract attention, "You should have given me the chance to make that decision." He forcefully jerked his hand out of hers and ran it through his short hair before he continued, "it was selfish of you Sam. She is my little girl too, and now she is nine years old and doesn't even know her father."

Sam tried to keep tears from her eyes. She had known he would react this way, but it was tearing her apart to see him in such pain. She shook her head violently at the charge that Colleen didn't know about her father, and spoke with clear confident words despite the internal meltdown she was wrestling with. "That's not true, Colby. That was why I had to silence her yesterday when you met. She was about to say that you were her father. I never could lie to her about you, I showed her pictures, and told her about you from the time she was a little girl. She knew that you couldn't be there then, but that one day you would be. Colby you are listed as her father on the birth certificate, I gave her your last name."

He was blown away. For nine years he had shared his last name and never even known it. "I want to know my daughter. You already cheated me out of the first nine years of her life, I want a relationship with her now." He let a mirthless laugh escape his lips as he thought of what Don, David and Megan would think of the situation. "You know David thought that she was mine after he saw her yesterday, she looks like me. That's why Don and Megan don't like you."

She nodded, "I know Colby. I had guessed that, I was afraid you would ask me about it when you met her. Colleen has always been the spitting image of you. It was hard at first to face that every day, I missed you so much, and I had this little reminder of you."

Colby felt the anger flood him, anger that he had missed so much of Colleen's life, anger led him to speak "it was a mistake."

Sam's anger flared at the words, her voice turned ferocious and angry, "One thing you better learn if you are going to be a part of my daughters life is that she is not now nor has she ever been a mistake. Not marrying you, not telling you about Colleen, having a baby unwed at twenty, those Colby James Granger are mistakes, but Colleen has never, ever been a mistake." Her shoulders slumped with the words, and she swiped at tears that were falling.

Colby gripped the beer bottle so hard, that he was surprised it didn't shatter in his hands as he spoke, "that wasn't what I meant. Aren't you at least sorry for keeping me from knowing my daughter, not letting me see her grow up?"

Sam looked at him through tear stained eyes and spoke, holding the box she had carried in with her in her lap. "Of course I am. It was a mistake, but if it meant that you at least had a chance at being happy with an army career I would do it again."

"Damn it Sam you and Colleen are more important to me than being in the army."

"I know that now. I was young and I was stupid Colby. Mostly I was scared and confused. I did what I thought was right." She lifted the box to the table and slid it across the smooth tabletop. Colby stopped the box with his hand, giving her a puzzled look. She spoke before he could ask her about it, "I know its not the same, but that is everything I have from Colleen's childhood, from her birth certificate, to her first curl, to her first pair of shoes, to her first report card. I've been anticipating this day for years, I wanted you to have something to show you what Colleen's life has been like until you could be part of it. Look at it Colby, and think about it. Call me tomorrow if you want to see your daughter. For now I'm going to go, let you process all of this."

Colby looked at her like she was crazy. Process this, she wants me to freaking process this? How the hell do I do that? But just as quickly as she had sprung this on him, she was standing and putting money on the table to cover the check. Then she was gone. Colby stared at the box in front of him. He was so unsure what to do next, he did the only thing that came to mind, standing he took out his key and then picked the box up, resolved to drive over to the Eppes' house. If anyone would know what he should do, it would be Alan Eppes.


Don, Charlie, and Alan Eppes were in the living room of the Craftsman house arguing over a baseball game and drinking beer when the doorbell rang. Don and Charlie just looked at each other, each daring the other to get up and answer the door. Alan finally, with great grumbling, moved to answer the door.

Good God, he looks like hell, was the only thought that Alan had as he opened the door to reveal a sorrowful and exhausted looking Colby Granger. He was also curious about the box that the young man held. As he saw Colby's sad eyes bore into him he found his voice, "Colby, son, come on in. Is everything okay?"

Don heard Colby's name and suddenly his attention shifted from the game to his junior agent as he came into the living room, slumping on the couch, setting the box by his feet. Charlie recognizing the look in Colby, moved towards the kitchen returning with a beer, which he handed to him.

Colby gratefully took the beer that Charlie had offered him and momentarily wondered why his first response had been to come here. He didn't have time to ponder that as he felt three sets of eyes staring at him. He drank half of the beer in his hand in one long draught. The emotion that he had been holding back poured out of him and his voice cracked when he spoke, "She's my daughter. Sam's little girl is my daughter, and she just now decided to tell me that I've been a father for nine years."

Don shot his father a look that so clearly shouted, "help!" Alan just shrugged his shoulders and then sat in the chair near the couch. "Colby, what's in the box?"

Colby offered a bitter laugh and then drained the remaining half of his beer bottle, setting it on the table. "This is a childhood in a box if you can believe that. Sam wanted me to know my daughter, so she collected all of this stuff for me. I'm supposed to look through it and then decide if I want to have a relationship with my daughter."

Charlie looked a little dumbfounded and exchanged looks with Don. The two brothers were so completely out of their realm of expertise. But they were glued to the scene like a train wreak, neither could look away, yet they were helpless to do anything.

Alan looked at his sons and knew he was on his own. He didn't mind helping Colby, he just wasn't sure what to do. He secretly wished that Margaret was still with them, he knew that she would know exactly what to do. Shaking that useless wish from his mind, he focused on Colby, "do you want a relationship with her?"

"Of course I do Alan." Colby said a little forcefully causing Don to shoot him a look. Colby recognized it and then realized what he was doing. Getting his emotions under control, he turned to Alan, who was now sitting on the couch next to him and apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I was wondering if you would go through all of this with me, I just didn't want to be alone. And I figured if anyone could help me make sense of the stuff I don't understand, it would be you."

Alan simply nodded, and placed a comforting hand on Colby's shoulder, "No need to apologize, son. I had teenagers; they were a lot worse than that, trust me with a little girl you will understand soon enough."

Colby smiled at the thought, he had a little girl. That was what was important, all of the rest of it was just water under the bridge. With the first genuine smile he had had in hours, he looked at Alan and spoke. "Yeah, you are right. You will have to give me some parenting tips."

The four men spent the next two hours pouring over the contents of the box, making appropriate hey about the little girl they were all becoming fond of already. Colby had learned that she was bright like her mother, had already skipped two grades and would soon be ready to skip another. A fact witch delighted Charlie, who was already gearing up to tutor her in math whenever she may need it. Colby also discovered with pride that she was an avid sports fan. The picture of her in a little league uniform had nearly turned Don and Colby into puddles of goo, making Alan chuckle good-naturedly that they were both such softies. By the time they had come to the bottom of the box all four men felt as if they had knew the little girl who had com into their lives so unexpectedly since birth.

Colby accepted the invitation to sleep on the couch. And as he pulled his shoes off and then laid down he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Flipping it open, he stared for one last moment at the picture he had found in the box and then he slid it into his wallet in front of the picture of Sam that he still carried there. He ran his finger over the picture of Sam with her arms wrapped around an eight-year-old Colleen and then closed the wallet, placing it on the table. He fell asleep thinking about his daughter and the possibilities that the future held now that she and her mother were back in his life.