A couple of hours later, Kara woke with a start to find the that the sun was setting. She took a few moments to get her wits about her, then made her way into the kitchen where she could hear her parents talking. They had both changed into more comfortable clothing, and were seated at the counter indulging in ice cream.

"Hey," Kara said as she enter the room. Her mother rose from her seat and almost tripped trying to get to her child. That child, however, raised a hand to stop her advance. "Mom, take it easy. I'm ok. I can walk across the room by myself,

Erin agreed to not draw any closer, but asked, for what felt like the fiftieth time that day, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel a little sore, but I think that's to be expected. I know. I'm safe. Neither of you need to say that again. What is that anyway? The FBI party line?"

Dave, who had only stolen a sideways glance at his step daughter and ascertained that she was fine from her spunky attitude, took another spoonful of his dessert and answered, "It tends to make people feel better." The word victim almost slipped out, but he caught himself.

"Well, I think they need a new line. I think people would feel much better if they heard, 'Would you like some chocolate ice cream,' when they were in stressful situations."

"Not bad," he said, "maybe I'll propose that. What do you think, Boss?"

The Section Chief ignored him and focused on her daughter, "Honey, sit. Let me get you some chocolate ice cream."

She looked cheekily at Dave, "See, it works. I feel better already."

"Atta girl," he replied.

They all consumed the ice cream for a few moments before Dave spoke again, "You know, we still need to talk," he gestured towards Kara with his spoon, "you and I. I believe there are some unresolved issues from before this whole mess."

"And you want to do that now?" Kara asked. He nodded as he put the spoon into his mouth.

Erin stood and moved to place her empty bowl in the sink, "Well, I'll take that as my cue to leave."

"You can stay," Kara said.

"No, she can't," Dave said.

Erin made her way around the counter and kissed her husband on the lips. Pulling back, she said, "Go easy on her. She's hurt." She then turned to her daughter and grimaced at the bruise once again. "Put some more ice on that before you go to bed, please." Then she left the room.

They enjoyed their treats in silence for a few more minutes, then Kara bagan, "Why do you think this is a good time to talk, when I've had such a crappy day?" Looking into her bowl, she swirled the chocolate as she spoke, "I mean, what? Are you trying to trick me or something?"

"How would I be trying to trick you?"

She dropped her spoon into the bowl, "See! You're doing it again! You're answering a question with a question. You are trying to trick me!"

Still sitting at the counter, Dave threw his hands up and held them defensively in front of him, "I'm sorry. Honey, I'm not trying to trick you. I know you're not feeling well. I thought that, because you are feeling a bit vulnerable right now, we could talk without you fighting me. That's all."

"OK," she settled. "I'm sorry. I don't really want to fight with you either."

"And sometimes answering a question with a question has no hidden meaning. Sometimes it's just a question."

"So how do you know when it is something?"

"I gotta tell you a secret, kid. A lot of the time, it's just guessing. I've gotten good at guessing over the years." She smiled up at him. "Now tell me. What's been bothering you?"

She looked back down at her ice cream, swirling her spoon in the bowl before bringing it to her lips to pull the last bits of it into her mouth. "I guess I've just been thinking about my father lately."

"Yeah? Have you heard from him?" Dave wanted nothing more than for the man to be completely erased from her memory, but this was her father they were talking about. She deserved some compassion, even if Roger didn't.

"Like that would happen," she said as she rose and placed both of their bowls into the sink.

"Do you want it to happen? Do you want to get in touch with him?" His blood was starting to boil, but he controlled himself for her sake.

"No. Don't worry, I still want nothing to do with him. I just think of him sometimes. It was always impossible to please him. His expectations were so high, and, no matter what I did, I couldn't live up to them."

He remained silent, unsure where she was going with this, but knowing there was more involved than that. She started wiping the clean counters in an attempt to avoid his eyes. When it became clear that she was offering no more information, he probed further, "Was it always like that with him?"

Kara thought for a moment, "I guess maybe when my mom was around I didn't really notice. She was a kind of buffer for us. When she went away, it was hard to ignore. Plus, I was so worried about her. It was just a really hard time for me."

"I can imagine. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to help you." He watched her make her way around the kitchen with the sponge. Having finished all the countertops, she moved on to the stove now adding a spray cleaner to her regime. "I guess I don't really understand what this has to do with me. Why have you been so distant from me?"

"I guess I'm just afraid."

Tired of pulling teeth, he rose and met her as she approached the refrigerator. He put his hand on top of hers to stop the cleaning, and with his other hand, removed the spray bottle placing it on the counter. "Afraid of what? Me?"

"I guess," she said quietly, looking at the floor.

"Look at me," he said. She took a great deal of time doing that, but he waited. When her tear filled eyes finally rose to his, he spoke, "You could never do anything to make me stop loving you."

She wanted to believe him. He looked and sounded so sincere, but how could she?

He continued, "Have I done something to make you think otherwise?"

"No," she said. "I guess maybe it's not really about you. It's more about me."

"What does that mean?"

She broke away from him and moved to sit back at the counter. She needed the counter to separate them. "I want to do the right things, but sometimes I can't. I'm supposed to be an adult now, but I'm not a very good one. I don't want to disappoint you, or mom, but I think it's inevitable."

Her words came quickly and the tears joined them. Dave tried to make sense of what she had said, but couldn't. "I don't understand. Have you done something wrong that I don't know about?"

"No! But I want to. And you'll hate me." She watched her hands on the counter which would not stop fiddling.

"You're talking about stealing, aren't you?" Her lack of response was his answer. He walked around the counter and sat next to her. "Kara, we've talked about this."

"I know. You said I can't do it again because I will get caught and all sorts of bad things will happen. But I don't think I can hold off much longer. It's the only thing that calms my anxiety."

"Have you shoplifted at all since the last time we spoke? Be honest."

"No."

"Have you felt anxious during that time?"

"Well, yeah, that happened months ago. I feel anxious a lot."

"Ok, so you do not need to steal to relieve stress. You've done it successfully for months. Stop telling yourself that you need it."

"I try but - it's like there's a devil on my shoulder and sometimes he's really loud in my ear telling me to just do it."

He reached up to Kara's cheek and wiped away a tear, then kept his hand there. "There are always going to be times when that devil is yelling at you. But you are stronger." Her lip twitched and she tried to turn away from him, but he wouldn't allow it. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. And I'm here for you. And so is your mom. We will help you, but you have to let us in on what's going on with you. Don't avoid me. Let me help you. Ok?"

"Yeah, I guess I can try."

He kissed the top of her head. "That's my girl! Now let's get you some more ice and get you up to bed. We will sit down with your mom in the morning and we will all three come up with a plan for your anxiety that doesn't involve breaking the law."

Kara let him take her hand and pull her up from the counter. And for the millionth time she wished that he really was her dad.

AN: Thank you to all my readers and reviewers. I hope to start another Kara story soon.