Chapter 7

The team all sat down to eat. Dina might not have been able to help Lara in the kitchen but she was more than capable of getting everybody to sit down for dinner. Farrah was sitting on Kay's lap as Lara brought the food over.

"Lara, this looks great." Kay smiled.

"I hope it is." Lara said as she sat down next to Dina, "I honestly didn't have many hot spices to work with so in case you were worried about it being too spicy; don't be."

"Well, in your defense, you were using the home supplies of two single white men." Dina stated making Lara laugh.

"Excuse me? Do you not see the ring on my fiancée's hand?" Cameron exclaimed taking Kay's left hand and showing off the ring he got her, "I am very much not single."

Kay quickly patted his cheek before he let go, "Calm down babe."

He chuckled as he took a bite of the rice pilaf, "This is very good."

Lara grinned, "I'm glad you like it." Farrah wiggled herself out of Kay's arms to the ground and toddled over to the woman. Lara smiled down at the girl, "Hi Farrah."

"Hi." Farrah beamed. She held her arms out to Lara, "Up?"

Farrah gave Lara a curious look before pointing to the food on the living room table and then looking back at her. "Are you hungry?" She asked. Farrah nodded her head. Lara looked to Cameron and Jonathan, "Do you mind if I give her some rice and veggies?"

"Can she eat those?" Cameron asked.

Lara nodded, "Children at these age can eat soft foods like cooked rice and vegetables. Plus it'll help develop her flavour palate."

"Well, I don't wanna be raising a picky eater" He remarked making everyone laugh a little, "Yeah, not a problem." He replied with a smile.

Jonathan got up from his seat, "I'll just get her high chair." He brought over Farrah's high chair and placed it next to his seat. He walked over to Farrah and picked her up, "Come on Munchkin." Farrah giggled as Jonathan picked her up and placed her in her seat. He brought a chair over and to sit next to her.

Lara came over with a child-sized bowl of food, "You go eat. I can feed her."

"No, no. It's fine I can do it." Jonathan said as he tried to take the bowl.

"I'm serious, I don't mind."She smiled.

"But you just cooked."He insisted.

"So I know I made plenty. I can wait."

"But-"

"Would one of you just feed the poor child?" Dina interjected, "She's getting impatient."

Lara and Johnny noticed Farrah trying to reach for the bowl of food that was beyond her grasp. Jonathan looked back at Lara, "You're not gonna let up, are you?"

"Not a chance." She stated bluntly.

Jonathan gave a slight grin, "Alright." Jonathan did end up taking over hallways through despite Lara's objections. However he claimed that it was only logical seeing as he had to put Farrah to bed soon after but he also knew that Lara would eat until Farrah was done eating. Despite her protests, he was able to convince the stubborn woman to let him take over. Farrah didn't really mind who was feeding her; she just flapped her arms every time the spoon full of food came her way.

"She looks like a baby bird," Jordan joked.

Jonathan rolled his eyes as Farrah continued to eat. She definitely had this zest for eating, grabbing Jonathan's hand to try to get the spoon in her mouth faster. "Whoa, slow down Munchkin." Jonathan grinned as his niece continued to eat with gusto. He turned his head to Lara, "She really likes your food."

This made Lara's eyes light up, "Really?"

He nodded, "Farrah generally likes food but I've never seen her eat with this much enthusiasm."

"That's probably because she finally eating a home cooked meal that has some flavour." Dina remarked with a smirk.

"Hey, I resent that." Jonathan replied.

Dina shrugged as she took another bite, "Well, it is true. I remember that Cameron never had cinnamon in the cupboards. He only got some after he met Kay."

Kay's head turned to Cameron, "You did?"

Cameron gave a sheepish grin, "Well, when I figured how you like your coffee and thought why not?"

Kay smiled and kissed his cheek, "That's sweet."

"Ugh, can you stop?" Jordan joked, "We're trying to eat here and this is actual good food... I'd like to enjoy it. We finally have someone like Lara now who actually knows how to cook." Everyone laughed as they continued to eat. If Lara hadn't alright made it into their good books, she was now.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

The next day, they were back at the bureau and still no leads. One thing they were all thankful for was that so far, nobody had been hurt. Having a criminal on the run was one thing but this woman was ruthless. Jonathan knocked on his future sister-in-law's office door, "Hey Kay?"

Kay didn't look up from her computer, "Jonathan. Cameron just stepped out for a minute; Farrah was getting a little fussy. They should be back in a few minutes."

"Actually, I came to talk to you."

"Me?" Kay looked up from her screen, "What can I do for you?"

"Well..." Jonathan started, "I... I never got a chance to look at Fiona's file. I just can't help but think that... I don't know that much about her. Where she was born, where she grew up..."

"You're trying to figure out why Fiona went into that abandoned warehouse aren't you?"

"Yeah... I guess." He admitted.

"Well my guess is that because it was probably one of her old foster homes." Jonathan furrowed his brow at her explanation, "That building was abandoned just five years ago. It used to be one of those high-end boutiques but the owner closed it for some reason." Kay explained as Jonathan sat down, "However before that, it was a foster home that closed in 2001 after the home owner was bought out and Fiona happened to have been in a home around that area during that time." Jonathan's face had an unfamiliar expression. "Hey... you alright?"

Jonathan shook his head, "I just feel guilty."

It was Kay's turn to furrow her brows, "Guilty?"

"It's just... Dad was still alive in 2001... Fiona was probably nine or ten, she didn't have to be in a foster home, sh-she could've been with us. She could've been safe... she didn't have to die."

Kay gave a sombre look. She knew that both brothers had felt guilty about not knowing about their sister but this was only the second time she'd seen Jonathan have an upset reaction like this. She could speak from experience. Losing a sibling wasn't easy especially when you think you could have helped them. "Hey... her daughter, your niece is safe with you."

"Yeah but for how long?" Kay furrowed her brows again. "I mean, it's not always going to be like it is now where we can keep an eye on her all the time. She's going to grow up a-and go to school and it's not like we can go with her and be those annoying helicopter types. She needs to be able to have the space to become her own person."

"But at the same time, will she stay safe when none of us are with her?"

Jonathan nodded, "Exactly."

Kay just looked at him for a moment. Cameron and Jonathan were identical when it came to their appearance but Kay had known both of them long enough to tell them apart. However, in this moment, Jonathan looked exactly like his brother; he just wanted to keep his niece safe. "Well, all I can say is that I can guarantee you that the Blancs won't be able to take Farrah away from you and Cameron."

Jonathan gave an unsure smile, "How can you be so sure about that?"

"I just am."

Jonathan smirked, "I'm going to hold you to that."

Kay just smirked back, "For how long?"

"Until Farrah goes off to collage."

She chuckled, "Fair enough."

"Alright!" Cameron exclaimed as he walked back into Kay's office with Farrah in his arms, "That's one baby freshened up." Farrah giggled. "You know, it doesn't matter how well-behaved a kid is. They're all poop monsters."

Kay chuckled, "Cameron?"

"Yup?"

"We're still at work babe."

"Right. Sorry." He placed Farrah on the ground who waddled over to Jonathan and held her hand out to him. Cameron then noticed his brother, "Johnny. Didn't see you there."

Jonathan grinned at his brother as he bent down to take his niece's hand, "I just came to ask Kay about something."

"Oh." Cameron smiled, "Well, okay then. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I did." Jonathan's eyebrows rose in realization, "I actually also had another request."

"Go ahead." Kay responded.

"Well, I think I found another clue of Cornelia's connection with the Blancs other than... well, you know." He cleared his throat, "But in order to confirm, I'd need access to the FBI archives and-"

"And Lara's the best person for the job." Kay finished.

"Yeah. Plus, it'd give me a chance to thank her for making dinner for all of us last night."

"She likes Japanese food." Jonathan raised an eyebrow at Kay who just smirked at him, "It is lunch time and Lara forgets to eat sometimes. At least I remember her doing that. I think she'd appreciate it. There's a good take out not too far from here that I think she'd like"

Jonathan cracked a tiny smirk of his own, "Text me the address then, I was about to go get lunch anyway. Plus it's my turn to babysit." He knelt down to Farrah's level, "Farrah, do you want to get lunch with Uncle Johnny?"

"Food?" Farrah responded.

He chuckled, "Yeah, do you wanna get food?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded as her little curls bounced. She held her arms out to him, "Uppy."

He rolled his eyes slightly as he picked her up, "Alright. Come on Cutie." He turned to Kay and Cameron, "I'll let you know if we find a lead." With that, he left the office with Farrah in hand.

When Jonathan and Farrah were out of earshot, Cameron turned to Kay with a knowing look on his face, "He likes her." Kay furrowed her brows at him. "Lara."

"Well, why not?" Kay shrugged, "She's very likable."

Cameron rolled his eyes, "Well, yes but here's the thing... he didn't complain about her food."

Kay raised an eyebrow, "So?"

"You don't get it." He said, sitting down in the chair in front of her desk, "Whenever we get take out or go to a restaurant or even if someone makes something, he always finds something to complain about."

"Maybe Lara's cooking is just that good?"

"And maybe my eyes aren't actually blue." Kay raised an eyebrow at him, "Look, I know my brother. It can be a little hard to get through to him but once you do, you can read him like a book."

Kay chuckled, "I'll have to take your word for it."

Cameron smiled before checking his watch, "Hey, are you hungry?"

"I am starving, actually."

"Well then. May I take my beautiful fiancée out for a bite to eat?"

Kay chuckled again as she got up from her seat, "Why, yes you may."

The two of them went to a nearby diner. They had a nice quiet lunch, just enjoying each other's company as Cameron tried to get Kay to try some of the coconut cream pie on his plate. "Come on, you'll love it." He grinned holding out a fork filled with pie at her.

"I highly doubt that." Kay grinned.

"I know you have a thing about coconuts but this is really good!"

"I don't have a thing about coconuts. I just prefer not to have coconut shavings in my desserts."

Cameron shook his head, "That's the best part. It's so creamy; you can't even feel the coconut shavings."

Kay shook her head, "Are we really having a conversation about coconut shavings?"

"Well, I really want you to try this."

"If I try it, will you let it go?"

"Yes."

Kay huffed but let out a smile, "Okay."

She took the fork from him and took a bit of the pie Cameron was so fond of. Cameron watched her, "Well?"

Kay's mouth formed a small smile, "It's good. It's really good."

Cameron gave a big grin, "I told you! Should we order another one?"

"Actually, we need to be heading back soon. My lunch break's almost up." She said as she stole another bite of the pie.

"Hey!" Cameron exclaimed playfully.

"I'm not sorry, it's really good." Her engagement ring caught the sunlight beaming through the diner window. Cameron gave a content sigh. Kay must have heard it when she asked: "You alright?"

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine..." He smiled, "The ring looks better on you than I thought it would... which is a good thing." He quickly added.

Kay gave her own smile when she looked down at the ring on her finger, "Well, my fiancé has excellent taste."

Cameron smirked, "Oh does he now?"

"Of course." Kay replied, returning a smirk, "I mean just look at his taste in women."

"Clearly, he got lucky enough for the best woman to choose him." Kay didn't have a response to those words. Cameron got a little concerned when she just stared at him, almost expressionless, "Kay?"

"See, you say things like that..." Kay stumbled on her words as she could feel her cheeks burning up, "Th-that-"

"That makes you blush?" He teased. Kay didn't say anything and instead swiped another bite of his coconut cream pie, "Hey!"

"It's your fault. You made me try it and now I like it." He stuck his tongue out and she rolled her eyes, "Stop pouting. I'll order my own next time." Cameron didn't say anything. He just took her other hand in his and smiled as he grabbed another fork and continued to fight for his dessert.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Lara had been finishing up putting away some old files when she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up and saw Jonathan standing halfway behind her office door with a bag in hand. He gave a tiny smile, "Hey Lara."

Her eyes widened with surprise, "Jonathan, hi."

"Listen, I just wanted to thank you for making us all dinner last night."

Lara just absently waved her hand with a slight smile, "It was my pleasure, really. I enjoy cooking for others."

"Even so, I still wanted to thank you properly."

"Oh... Jonathan, you don't have to do that."

He shrugged, "I wanted to." He held up the bag revealing it to be takeout, "Kay mentioned that you loved Japanese food and suggested a place you might like so I thought I'd thank you with food. I'm not much of a cook myself," He shrugged, "But I like to think that I can choose decent takeout."

Lara was speechless for a moment, "I-I... yeah. I love Japanese food." She gave a warm smile, "That's very sweet of you."

"Well, I'm not too sweet; I actually got enough food for the both of us because I also wanted lunch and full disclosure..." He stepped fully into view to reveal that he was holding Farrah with his other arm, "I'm also babysitting."

Lara let out of a tiny giggle, "Well, you're both more than welcome to stay... was there something else?"

"Actually... yeah. I think that there's a connection between the Blancs and Cornelia Berossi."

"Really?"

He nodded as Lara removed the last file from her desk and he placed the takeout on the flat surface. "You see, somehow, our former mystery woman knew that Fiona was my sister, even before Cameron and I did."

"That is odd."

"My theory is that she possibly worked with them before..." He covered Farrah's ears, "Before Shawn and Fiona passed away."

"I... don't think that we would have any files on any of her previous... jobs. We'd only have what we were able to prove she did."

"But I was wondering if there is anything in the records regarding the Blancs that could help us find where she might be if she's done jobs for them in the past. Like if any of their problems suddenly... disappeared, for lack of a better word."

"That's... actually not a bad idea."

Before Jonathan could respond, Farrah started to try to climb onto his shoulders and he was losing his grip on the toddler. "Farrah, calm down, you're gonna fall over." Lara was quick to run over and catch Farrah before she slipped off Jonathan's shoulders. Johnny gave a sigh of relief, "Nice catch."

Lara smiled as Farrah wrapped her arms around Lara's shoulders and giggled. "She's adventurous." Lara smirked.

"Maybe a little too much for her own good."

"I think she's sweet." She turned to face Farrah, "Hi there."

"Hi!" Farrah squealed.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Lara."

Farrah eyed her for a moment before saying: "Lala!"

Lara chuckled, "Yeah, Lara."

"Lala!"

Jonathan chuckled, "She still can't really say her Rs yet. I can... I can take her off your hands."

Lara stepped back, "Oh no. It's not every day I get to hold a little angel like her. My nephew's only a few months older and I already miss when he was this small." She adjusted herself to sit down and placed Farrah on lap who looked to be very cheerful. "So... what did you get?"

Jonathan grinned, "Well, I wasn't entirely sure what you would like so I got a couple of options. We have the standard stuff. Some miso soup. Some sushi; salmon nagiri and spicy crab rolls." He listed as he pulled them out of the bag.

"You can handle spicy foods?"

"...To a degree." Lara laughed at his response as he continued to pull out food. "Kay did also mention that you liked some of these dishes so when I saw the place had them, I had to get it."

Lara felt a soft smile form on her face. "You really didn't have to do that."

Jonathan smiled and shrugged, "Hey, it gives me an excuse to try some new things. Prison didn't exactly have the greatest lunch selections. Although you could get a decent candy bar every now and then."

"Candy?" Farrah inquired.

Jonathan shook his head and pretended to give a stern look, "No candy. Just lunch. Understood young lady?" Farrah just giggled. He noticed Lara's face had fallen slightly, "Hey... you alright?"

"You were in prison?"

"Uh... yeah. I guess I forgot to mention that."

Lara gave a thoughtful look, "What for?"

"Falsely accused of..." He was suddenly very aware of a little curly-haired girl's gaze on him, "Accidental hugging."

Lara's eyes widened as she nodded in understanding, "H-how... how long?"

"I'd say I was in there for a good year... I kind of lost track of the days after a while."

"How'd you get out?"

"Not in a way I'm proud of."

"How do you mean?"

"Well..." Jonathan began to explain the whole story. From the day he betrayed his brother to the day he had left his partnership with the former mystery woman and came back to find that yet again, his world had been turned upside down. "If I could go back and change everything I did... I would." He didn't know why he was so willing to tell Lara all this. He had only met her about two weeks ago and yet he felt... safe telling her all this. It was nice.

Lara was silent for a moment as Farrah played with the ends of her blue hijab. After a few seconds, she spoke up, "Forgive me for saying so, I mean I've only known Dina for a short time but she's a wonderful woman... why would you want to jeopardize what you had? Why did you?"

Jonathan picked at his food for a moment, "I honestly don't know... one of my biggest regrets is that I hurt her." He looked to Lara and gave a faint smile, "And while I might have been a little jealous of Mike at first... she deserves to have someone like him. He's a good guy." Lara snorted the tiniest bit. Jonathan couldn't help but smirk, "What?"

"I'm sorry; it's just funny to think of someone being jealous of Mike Alvarez." Jonathan laughed at her words. She gave soft smile, "You're a good man Jonathan." He raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You've made a lot mistakes but you own up to them. Not everyone would do that so... I believe that you're a good man..." Jonathan gave her a thoughtful smile as Lara tried to lighten the mood, "Now I think we've been waiting long enough. We should eat before this all gets cold."

Jonathan nodded in agreement as he pulled out the remaining food items, "I also got teriyaki fried rice and teriyaki grilled saba."

Lara's eyes widened with surprise, "Grilled saba?"

"Yeah." Jonathan replied, not seeing the look on her face. "I've honestly never had it before but the guy there said that it was something a lot of people like so I thought why not?" Jonathan looked up and saw the expression on Lara's face. "Everything okay?"

Lara nodded, "Yeah, it's just... I love grilled saba. It's just not a dish that most people think of when they get Japanese food."

Jonathan gave a slight grin, "Well, I like to try new things. Well... new foods anyway. So, happy coincidence."

Once he had placed everything on the table, they started to eat... and have some friendly conversation. Lara almost choked on the sushi she was eating as Jonathan told her about something that happened when he and Cameron were sixteen, "You had Cameron punch you in the eye?"

Jonathan laughed, "Well, the idiot went and got himself a black eye and given the fact that we were trying to be the same person, we needed to match."

Lara laughed, "Why not just cover his eye with makeup?"

"That did not occur to us until after my eye was already bruising." Jonathan chuckled at the memory, "Although, I will say that we managed to create a very matching set." He then noticed Farrah reaching her arm out to try to take one of the sushi rolls, "Oh, I should probably get her out of your way."

Lara waved her hand as she helped hand Farrah a spicy roll, "It's fine. Besides, this sushi doesn't have any seaweed. It's just rice and crab, totally safe FOR HER."

"I don't know if she'll like it."

"If she doesn't, she can always put it aside."

He chuckled, "You're right." Jonathan looked on as he watched his niece eye and squint at the crab roll before taking a bite. Lara held her hand underneath Farrah's mouth as tiny little rice crumbs and bits of crab fell. Farrah squealed and cooed with delight and took another bite. Jonathan smiled, "I didn't think she would like the food so much."

"Why not?" Lara asked as she wiped some rice crumbs off of Farrah's cheeks as the little girl finished the crab roll, "You got some good food."

"I guess I just see her as that little baby who could only handle milk and mashed everything." He let out a chuckle, "But I shouldn't really be surprised now. She really liked the dinner you made."

Lara lit up as she held the toddler a little closer, "Did she?"

He nodded, "Farrah likes to eat but it was the first time I've ever seen her ask for more food."

Lara smiled as she gave Farrah a tiny hug. She popped another crab roll into her own mouth as she and Jonathan ate in a comfortable silence. Lara let Farrah have one more crab roll seeing as she was still a little too young for raw salmon. It was nice. They didn't have to make any awkward small talk. It was like talking to each other just came naturally.

A few minutes after they had finished eating, there was a knock. Lara looked up to find standing by the door looking a bit drained. Lara's brows furrowed a bit, "Kay? What's wrong?"

"U-um... we... have to put our escaped mystery woman case on hold..." Kay hesitantly said.

Jonathan's eyes widened, "What? Why?" What could be more important than tracking down their fugitive?

Kay gave him an apologetic look, "We've been given a bigger case."

Johnny and Lara shared a quick look when Lara asked, "Who's the victim?"

"Victims." Kay corrected with solemn look on her face, "We have a body count. A high body count."

That's right! I left you guys for over a month and I leave you here with yet another cliff hanger! ...Hopefully it won't take a month this time! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :3