I know it's been a while since I posted anything for 'Tapping', but I haven't currently had any new ideas for that story. Or, rather, the one idea I do have requires watching a particular episode again to refresh my memory on some details. Since I'm rewatching the series anyway for this story, I figured I'd wait until I reach that episode to update. In the mean time, enjoy another installment about Natalie!


"Hey, everybody," Cameron greeted when he walked through the door. "I have someone I'd like you to meet. Vivian will be staying with us for a bit while we work on this case. Vivian, this is my team." They stopped what they were doing and looked over. "The surly gentleman on our right is Gunter. Jordan, here, is his lovely assistant-"

"Not cool, boss," Jordan grumbled, but Cameron continued.

"-and our resident tech genius. Then there's the incomparable Dina, who keeps us all in line."

"Or tries to, anyway," Dina added with a fond smile.

"There's. . one more person. . . Where's Nat?" He looked around and saw a supreme lack of little sister.

However, no sooner had he asked than his sister came into the room with some tool in her hand. "Gunter, I couldn't find Georgie- He wasn't where you said he was. I brought you Lucille instead. She should do the job, right?" Natalie held up the screwdriver as she walked over the the table where he'd been working. She casually flipped the tool in her hand so the handle was pointed out towards Gunter.

"That'll do just fine, love," Gunter agreed. It wasn't until she'd handed it over that she noticed yet another new face in the Archive. It was becoming a pattern with Cameron, and Natalie didn't really appreciate him bringing so many outsiders to their home.

"Let me guess," she sighed. "Another FBI agent."

"Actually, no," Cameron said, not missing the tone his sister's voice held. He made a mental note to talk to her about that later. "Vivian is a psychic- supposedly, anyway."

Vivian didn't seem at all offended by Cameron's cynicism about her abilities. She smiled knowingly at Natalie. "You're a believer."

Cameron scoffed, then chuckled and shook his head. "What? No. Natalie knows this kind of stuff isn't real. She grew up with performers. Right, Nat?"

"My brother thinks he knows everything- At least he acts like he does," Natalie said, ignoring Cameron completely, and stepped up to the woman. "What makes you think I'm a believer?" she asked curiously.

"It- It's a cold read," Cameron answered stubbornly. Natalie got the feeling he'd said that a lot today. "You probably had some sort of microexpression when I said 'psychic'."

"There was a change in your energy," Vivian replied, also seeming to ignore Cameron. "Your brother thinks it's all a trick, but you. . You believe, at least a little."

"I like to keep an open mind," Natalie agreed.

Once they got her settled, Vivian offered to do some free readings for the team. Despite their conversation earlier about Natalie being a believer, she wasn't the first one to volunteer. Badly as she wanted answers to some things, she was afraid what those answers might be. So she sat with Jordan and Gunter and watched out of the corner of her eye while Dina got her reading. She didn't weigh in on the debate the two had about the validity of psychics or the foolishness of those who believed in them, though she did agree with Jordan; what was the harm in giving people a little hope?

Natalie was more than a little in awe of Vivian's read on Gunter. She'd known the year he was born, and had heard him briefly mention his father a time or two, but she'd never heard him say his father's name before. When Gunter stalked away, and Jordan laughed, Natalie elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Geez, Fly, you seriously got to file those things down. They're like little knives!"

Natalie elbowed him again, a little harder this time. "Knock it off calling me 'Fly', or I'll start carrying actual knives," she threatened.

It stunned her when she saw Cameron sitting down across from the 'supposed' psychic, and Natalie couldn't help standing up and getting closer so she could hear what was being said.

"I can give you the exact minute."

"Even better."

"June 5, 1987, 3:16 in the morning."

Natalie's interest was piqued even more when she heard Cameron give the wrong time. That was when Johnny was born. She found herself drawn in by the psychic's words. Talk about inner darkness and how it was pulling him away from people who loved him. . . It was garbage. Total. Garbage. Johnathan was fine. What did this woman know? She was a total stranger. Natalie was beginning to rethink her stance on psychics, but then- Cameron was worried about him, too? Cameron, the eternal optimist? Who saw the bright side in everything? He was never worried. Vivian glanced over while Cameron stared down at the table, sorting through his own emotions. There was something in the woman's expression that told Natalie she knew her reading had upset her. Before Cameron could notice her standing near, she turned around and walked back to Jordan. She sat down across from him again and rested her forearms on the tabletop.

Jordan glanced up and saw something in her face that made him give her his full attention. "You okay, Nat?"

"Fine," she grumbled. Jordan was about to prod further but her scowl (very reminiscent of Johnathan when he was in a foul mood) put him off from it.


Natalie nearly facepalmed when Cameron told a federal agent, "We aim to deceive." Did Cam really think this man was the kind that appreciated jokes like that? This wasn't the goodnatured Mike Alvarez that he was used to dealing with.

"Give him a chance," Agent Daniels said.

"Fine. But what's the kid doing here?" the other agent demanded.

"I live here," Natalie deadpanned. Before Natalie could say something disrespectful (which Cam knew she was rearing to do) or the agent could say anything else, Cam jumped in.

"So our minds look for signs. . ." He began his pitch, doing a little basic magic to make his point. When the rabbit's foot appeared in his hand, the man interrupted.

"Are you about to turn that into a horseshoe?"

Cameron laughed nervously. "Wh- Wh- What? No. That'd be ridiculous." She watched Jordan deftly sneak the horseshoe out of Cam's hand and smirked. She stood back and watched it all, arms crossed and rolled her eyes when Jordan gestured at the pair of agents across the table with said horseshoe. Jordan was brilliant, but he could also be a real idiot sometimes. She didn't like where this conversation was going. Her brother was volunteering, yet again, to be involved in a dangerous op, putting his life on the line for people he barely knew. She frowned when the assassin's phone rang, and Cameron answered, agreeing to meet up with the arms dealer. It was a brief conversation, and when he was done, they went back to ironing out the details. Natalie didn't hear any of it, though; all she could think about was her brother getting shot, dying, and leaving her alone.

Would the state let her stay with Dina or Gunter? Jordan wasn't an option, he could barely take care of himself. Would she have to get emancipated to avoid going into foster care? Who would get Johnathan out if Cameron died? The FBI wouldn't let her work with the team on the cases, and without that mutually beneficial relationship, they'd stop helping with Johnathan's case, and then her only chance of seeing him again would be him breaking out, but then he'd be on the run, and- and and and.

Natalie stumbled out of the room as her mind spiraled. Once she was in the hallway, and the door shut behind her, she sat down heavily on the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest as she started gasping for air. She couldn't lose Cameron. She couldn't bury him, all by herself, with Johnathan still in prison. And she knew without Cameron, there would be nothing keeping Johnny from breaking out. If he went on the run. . . At least when he was behind bars, she knew where he was. This was too much, too much.

Her chest was killing her and her head was spinning. She was crying, too, but she didn't realize that until someone was brushing tears away. Funny. She hadn't heard the door open. She opened her eyes to see Cam crouched in front of her, his face full of concern.

"Hey, hey. . It's okay, you're okay, Nattie," he soothed. Natalie shook her head, but couldn't catch her breath to verbally disagree. Cam winced in sympathy. "Bad one?" Nat whimpered and nodded. "Okay. . Okay. C'mere, Nat. C'mere." He sat down and gently pulled her forward so she was cradled against his chest. "I got you. You're okay." Natalie calmed a little after sitting in his arms for a few minutes. When her breathing was a little less ragged, Cam pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. "Hey, can you count with me, Nat? Like you used to with Johnny?" His twin had started doing it years ago, having her count down by a random number to make her focus.

"'Kay," she gasped.

He smiled softly. "Okay. Let's try. . counting down from 400, by. . 17?" Natalie bobbed her head once and he nodded back. "Okay. I'll start. 383. 366. . ." He looked at her pointedly and waited for her to pick up where he left off.

"349. . 3- 332. . . um. . ." Natalie frowned and closed her eyes. This was normally easy for her, but the panic made it hard to think.

"Take your time," Cameron encouraged gently. "There's no rush."

"315. 298. 281. . Um. . Um. .t-two. . sixty. . ?"

"264, Nat," he prodded.

"R-Right. . 264. 247. 230." Her breathing was slowing down, now, and the crinkle between her eyebrows smoothed out. "213. 196." Natalie opened her eyes and Cam nodded.

"Keep going. All the way to the end, remember?" He'd make her go into negatives if he had to.

"179. 162. 145. . ." By the time she reached the end, she was able to breath normally. She was still shaking, and pale, but he knew that was more of an aftereffect of the panic attack.

"What happened, Nat? Talk to me."

"You. . You just can't help risking your life, can you?"

Cam balked a little at the accusation, but recovered quickly. "That's what this is about? Come on, Natalie, you know Kay would never let-"

"No, I don't."

"What?"

"I don't know Kay. I don't know what she will or won't do, or if she'll keep you safe. All I know is that right now, I only have one brother, and he seems hellbent on getting himself hurt or killed for people he barely knows, for a couple of FBI agents who are barely holding up their end of this deal you made."

"That's not fair. Mike and Kay are-"

"I don't care about them, Cam," Natalie snapped. "I care about you. And every time you risk your life, I go to worst case scenario, and- . . ." She looked away.

"And?" Cameron wasn't sure he wanted an answer.

"And it's not just your life that you're risking," she finished darkly. She pushed herself up and walked away.


The team came back after successfully putting away Miller, and Natalie was momentarily horrified to see the blood on Vivian's shirt.

"We had to go with Plan B," Cameron said when he saw the look on her face.

"Oh," she sighed with relief. No one was hurt. Everything was fine.

"Your family is amazing, Natalie," Vivian said, stopping in front of the teenager. "You're very lucky to have them."

Natalie's expression puckered briefly. "My. . ? I-I never said-"

"I know," Vivian interrupted. "But I can feel it. You may only share blood with Cameron and Johnathan, but these people are more than just your brothers' team. . They're your family." She took Natalie's hands in hers and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't ever forget that." Natalie wasn't sure how to react to that, other than staring blankly ahead once Vivian walked away to change.


Cameron watched his brother wince as he slowly bent over to pick up the coin he'd dropped. "Johnny?"

Johnathan sighed once he'd settled back in his chair. "I told you, Cam. I'm in prison. Things happen."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not," Johnathan replied in a hard, final tone. Cameron knew better than to push.

"So. . Are you up for another visitor, then?"

". . . Why? You got someone hidden up your sleeve?"

Cam smiled. "Not quite." He stood and walked over to the gate door and motioned to the guard. The man in uniform nodded and walked over to the hallway. Johnathan was confused until he saw who the guard was bringing over.

"Cam-"

"I told you you couldn't avoid seeing her forever, Johnny," Cameron said in a low voice when he turned back to face his twin. "And right now, this isn't about you. It's about her. She needs this. So buck up and be a big brother."

Johnathan couldn't respond before the door opened and his little sister was ushered inside. Her eyes where wide and her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her coat. "H-Hi, Johnny," she greeted quietly.

Johnathan swallowed thickly. "Hey Nat."


This may be my favorite chapter to have written so far! 'Divination' was also one of my favorite episodes, so that might have something to do with it.

You'll have to wait for the next chapter to actually see how Natalie's first prison visit goes. And I may also start adding some filler chapters of when Natalie was younger to give you a glimpse into her childhood. We'll see.