AN: Thanks for the reviews; it helps me so much. My nightmares have been escalating lately so it does help to hear from yall!
"Oh, Talia!" Victoria shook her head, tears in her eyes, "I am going to miss you so much!" Victoria launched herself into her friend's arms. "Please come see us soon!" She begged, bouncing Quinn in her arms as Talia clung to Bexley.
"Of course, I am traveling a lot right now but always try to get back," Talia replied innocently as she gently kissed Bexley on the top of her head.
"Where are you off to next?" Victoria asked, seeing her husband come standing next to them, his truck keys in his hands.
"Tokyo," Talia replied automatically, "I'll be there for about a month and should head home after that." She smiled, "I'll make sure to get these little ladies some souvenirs."
"You don't need to do that!" Victoria replied, reaching out and taking Bexley from Talia.
"I know I don't, but I want to." She reached over and pulled Victoria into a hug, "take good care of them. They are special."
Victoria shook her head and laughed, "don't we know it. We are going to Orlando in a few weeks; I think the girls' will love it."
"You ready, Tal?" Bart asked, stepping forward. "I don't want you to miss your flight."
"Yeah, of course. Don't be a stranger, Victoria," Talia reached over and pulled Victoria into another tight hug before heading out with Bart.
The two were silent as they climbed into the truck and drove down the winding road.
"Your girls are adorable," Talia spoke after a while.
Bart nodded, "they really are. They are spunky."
Talia rolled her eyes, "just like their mother,"
Bart closed his eyes for a brief moment, "Victoria is their mother; they are legally our girls."
Talia howled with laughter, "technicalities, but you know how they really came to you."
Bart nodded, "They look just like her…"
"Spitting image actually. And it sounds like they are inheriting her personality."
"Lucky me…"
Talia lowered her voice, "you know she is still alive, right?"
That stopped Bart and he slammed on the breaks, causing Talia to jolt forward. "What?!"
"Jesus, Bart! Drive the damn truck, I don't need to be launched out of your truck." Talia growled, sitting back in the seat. "Yes, she is alive. Leaff decided to go all rouge on us and broke her out. I have no connection to her anymore except my brother and he is too enmeshed with the FBI for me to do anything there."
"What are you going to do then?"
Talia shook her head, "I don't know, the project needs her. I don't know how they are going to get to her; we have all her data and am hopeful they will just accept that. But I doubt it. She has no information that can lead anyone to them."
"Does she know?"
Talila arched her eyebrows, "does she know what?"
"About the girls!"
Talia shook her head, "I don't think so; we never told her and as far as I know she has never mentioned it."
Bart breathed a sigh of relief. "Does the FBI or Ross have any suspicions?"
"No; at least I don't think so. That damn agent who interviewed never asked me about it and she asked me every question she could. I don't know how they would find out; you are clear."
Bart smiled again, "We love them so much; they are our girls."
Talia nodded, "go ahead and turn down this road; I think this is where my pickup point is." She continued talking with him as the truck bumped down the road, smiled and joked with him. "I'm good here," Talia unbuckled her seat belt as the truck slowed.
"Are you sure?" Bart looked around, the drop off point was in a wooded area, down a deep ravine.
"Yes, this is it. It's a very specific location."
"Thanks again, Talia." Bart nodded and got out of his truck to go around and open the door for her.
"You're welcome." Talia climbed out of the truck and grabbed her backpack before reaching into her pocket. "You're out of your contract," she smiled at him and saw the relief spread throughout his body, "you've done good."
"Thank you, ma'am." He nodded to her and then turned to leave. He never saw Talia pull out the gun and pull the trigger.
Talia watched as Bart slumped down over his truck, blood pouring. She knew he was dead, he was dead before he hit the ground. She went back to the truck and skillfully removed the fast food bags and drinks that has her DNA on it; she knew some of it would be left on the seat but didn't bother with that. By the time the cops and FBI got there, she would be long gone.
She whistled as she walked away from the scene, looking up at the sky as it began to rain. She laughed at the realization that the rain would wash away her footsteps as she plunged deeper into the woods. Awaiting her next pick up.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Victoria flopped down on her couch; grateful that it was the twins' nap time. She would have the next two hours to rest, clean, cook and gain some semblance of sanity.
She loved her life; loved everything about it. But her twin girls were her world; her absolute pride and joy. Bexley and Quinn had been the best thing that had ever happened to her and Bart.
And she would never forget the day Bart had approached her with the proposition and less then a week later, beautiful, perfect twin girls were placed in her arms. The adoption was finalized months later and they were forever hers.
Her heart ached though for their birth mother who had been so suddenly and violently taken from them. She desperately wanted to meet the woman, Jen as she knew her as. But Talia didn't want to talk much about her and Victoria respected that.
But every night, Victoria would pray for her, and hope that somehow, the woman named Jen was doing well. And while she could not do much know except love on the girls and make sure they knew where they came from, Victoria had also registered as an organ donor. In Jen's name. Eventually, she wanted to start a non-profit in Jen's name that helped support various causes; after all, she wasn't sure what Jen supported it.
She took a sip of her water and then remembered she had to print off a recipe for dinner. She stood up and went to the computer, typing in the family password and she froze.
The screen popped up with a wanted picture; a news story of a new person on the FBI's top ten most wanted list. And Victoria froze.
She froze and read as her mind tried to grasp what she was reading. A woman named Dr. Talia Cruz was wanted by the FBI for the abduction and torture of a federal agent. And while the name of the agent wasn't published on the posting; Victoria recalled a news story recently about an FBI agent that had been abducted.
Taking in a deep breath, and hoping she was wrong; Victoria began researching anything she could find about the missing FBI agent.
And then, her heart nearly stopped. She came across the story, dated nearly two years ago. An FBI agent named Jennifer Jareau had been abducted from a crime scene and the FBI was desperate to find her.
She followed the story, followed as news articles reported her apparent rescue and secondary abduction and secondary rescue.
And deep down, Victoria knew. Tears cascaded down her cheeks at the slow realization of what had occurred. She shook her head and began talking to herself, trying to calm herself as she typed in the woman's name.
She closed her eyes, praying what she knew was going to show up, was not going to do that.
She opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the picture staring back at her. It was Agent Jareau; a petite, skinny woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.
The blond hair and blue eyes that she shared with her twin daughters.
"No… no…" Victoria shook her head; she had to think of what to do. She picked up her phone to call her husband but stopped… Talia was with him and she didn't want to let her on that Victoria knew.
But… but Bart had pulled up the article, Bart had known the FBI was looking for Talia and he had said nothing.
She forced herself to calm down as she looked at the baby monitors. Both her girls were sound asleep in their cribs but… but were they her girls? Or had they been stolen from their mother?
Were these girls Agent Jareau's babies? Victoria loved them, they were her babies but if they had been stolen…
And with more tears falling down her cheeks, she picked up her phone and dialed the number listed in the news story.