A/N: Hello again! I'm on a roll haha. Here's another chapter, and I can't wait to hear from you guys :)

XXXXX

Michael left the job interview downtown and drove home, taking a longer than necessary route to give himself time to think.

The man who interviewed him was an older gentleman, probably in his sixties. His name was Larry; he seemed kind and was soft-spoken, with glasses and thinning hair, but there was a sharpness about him-an intelligence. He asked Michael briefly about his past and actually listened, not seeming too bothered by it. Michael insisted that his past was all behind him, and that he just wanted to move forward, living a normal life with his family. Larry shared that sentiment, turning one of the pictures around on his desk for Michael to see. He had two kids and three grandchildren, so he understood that family was a top priority. He understood that it was important to Michael; if there was an emergency with Sara or Mike, Michael needed to know that his employer would be okay with him leaving at a moment's notice.

The man had offered Michael the job before he left, saying he could start in two weeks as soon as all the paperwork was filled out. Overall, Michael felt good about the prospect of working there, but there was a slight something that was bugging him…maybe it was the prospect of working at all. It had been years since he'd held down a job- an honest, legal one anyways. He'd been an employee of sorts with twenty-one void, but this was a different ball game. Thankfully. It was a good change, but a change nonetheless.

He was leaning towards accepting the job- the only other hold out was waiting to hear back from anywhere else he had applied to. But how long would he wait? Why not just give this place a shot?

He parked in the driveway and got out, walking up to the front door. Mike was at school already and Sara was obviously home and in the backyard- he could hear the hose running.

He walked through the kitchen and out to the sliding door; she was doing a bit of gardening, or rather, tearing apart what was there. The previous owner didn't have much of a green thumb, and he had to admit that the landscaping was a bit of a mess. She seemed to like it though, offering to take on that project herself.

Her hair was braided loosely down her back, and she was crouched down pulling weeds when he approached, "Hey," he greeted, not wanting to startle her.

"Hey," she turned and wiped a loose strand of hair out of her face, leaving a smudge of dirt on her cheek before she stood and took her gloves off, "how'd it go?"

He approached her and wiped the dirt off with a smirk.

"Oh, thanks," she remarked absentmindedly, clearly not having noticed it, then asked again, "so?"

A sigh, his tone neutral, "I think it would be good, and he did offer me the job."

She seemed confused by his tone, "But?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "the owner seems great, like he'd be good to work for and I could start in two weeks."

"But?" she asked again, "what's holding you back?"

"I don't know," he repeated, "maybe I just don't want summer vacation to be over yet."

She smirked, "Yea, it was pretty nice, huh? No alarm clocks, no schedule to keep."

"I can see why people like retirement so much."

She laughed, "Someday that'll be us, but in the meantime…"

"A paycheck would be nice," he finished.

She shrugged, "Might help. But if you take this job and it doesn't work out, we can always figure something else out."

He appreciated the assurance, the knowledge that nothing would lock him (or her) in. If they ended up with jobs they didn't like, they could always move on to something else. It was strange, the freedom he had again.

Nodding, "I know," then after a moment, "yea, I think I'll take it. It seemed like he'd be pretty flexible about the whole work/life balance thing, too."

Her eyes brightened, "Yea?"

With confidence, "Yea, he understood that that was important to us."

"Good," she agreed, "that's really good. Well, you can always sleep on it and decide tomorrow, but it sounds like it would be a good fit," she told him as she put her gloves back on and started getting back to work.

"It's looking good, by the way," he noted, eyes gazing around.

She laughed, "It's a mess right now but…gotta get worse before it gets better."

He nodded, "Very true."

XXXXXXX

Sara continued gardening after Michael had gone inside. It was around ten now and the sun was getting stronger by the minute, reaching higher in the sky and beating down on her back. She liked the work though; it kept her hands busy and her mind gently occupied, the mundaneness of it all allowing her thoughts to wander.

She was glad Michael's interview had gone well; she knew what it felt like though to have a sliver of doubt before accepting a job. It was a difficult thing- assessing whether or not it would be a good fit after one quick chat. One could never really know until after they started working, and by then it was kind of too late.

She'd had a similar dilemma when she was job hunting fresh out of medical school. She had two offers on the table at once and if she was being honest, the deciding factor ended up being her gut feeling. She'd been right, and loved the job, but in the moment, weighing her options had felt like a heavy burden. She hoped after a bit of time, Michael would feel at ease with his decision, and have confidence that he was making the right choice, whatever that might be.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, using the back of her hand to wipe a bit of sweat off her forehead. Her phone was tucked the back pocket of her jeans and she felt it start to vibrate. The first time she ignored- one buzz meant a text and she could check it in a second, but the continuation had her taking her gloves off with a bit of anxiety. The only person aside from Michael who'd be calling her right now would be Mike's school.

She didn't recognize the number, but answered anyways, "Hello?"

"Good morning to ya," T-bag's voice replied.

Confused, "Uh, hi? What do you-"

"-I was hoping I could speak to the man of the house."

Indignant, "This is the woman of the house, and anything you can say to Michael you can sure say to me."

An amused laugh, "Oh, I can think of quite a few things I could say to Michael that you wouldn't wanna hear-"

"-what do you want?" she asked again.

A pause, "I just thought the two of you might be interested to know that a certain blonde-haired agent came to visit our old friend in here."

Slowly, processing, "Okay…and?"

"And although I couldn't get a good listen in on their conversation, I can tell you they weren't talking about the weather."

"You think he's planning something," she stated.

"Like I said, I couldn't hear much but…yea, I can only assume that he's up to something."

She tossed her gloves on the ground and ran a hand through her hair, "Why are you telling me this?"

He cleared his throat, "I've had a lot of time to think in here and…look, I know the air ain't ever gonna be clear between the three of us, but I would like to express my gratitude…even in a small way for what y'all have done for my boy."

Her heart softened, her guard dropping slightly.

"And whatever they were talking about…I got a bad feeling and wanted to pass it along."

"I appreciate it," she replied, more genuinely now, "I'll let Michael know you called, and I'll pass it all along."

"Watch your back, now," he warned, "and take care of that boy of yours."

"I will," and she hung up.

She hadn't realized until now that her hands were shaking. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and eased herself down into a cross-legged position on the grass, leaning forward, gripping the Earth and taking a few deep breaths.

What to make of this? She'd assumed that Emily and whoever else had been involved with Jacob's work had all been arrested or…something. Jacob was insane; she knew that now, so to try and come up with any possible reason he could have to call upon Emily…her mind just didn't work like that. She wasn't deranged enough, she thought with a dark scoff, but that left her feeling vulnerable. Like she was about to be blindsided, the knowledge of which was useless because she didn't know when the threat was coming, or which direction it was coming from.

Michael opened the door and popped his head out, seeing her folded over on the grass, "You okay?"

She turned towards his voice and was about to answer with a reflexive, "Yea, I'm good," but chose honesty instead, "Uh…no. No, I'm not."

XXXXXXX

Mike jumped out of his seat when the bell rang. He was excited to go home, to play outside and not be stuck in a classroom anymore. He liked the book they were reading in class, but he was tired of sitting around.

He grabbed his bag and headed through the crowd of other kids, out the double doors and into the sunshine. He looked out and saw his mom and dad waiting; they saw him and waved. He waved back and sped up, more than ready to be on his way home.

"Hey," Sara greeted him with a big hug, crouching down to his level. She held him for an extra beat, longer than she normally did.

"Hi," he smiled when she pulled back. Something was different, he noted, something in her eyes. She looked worried.

"How was your day?" she asked, and something was off in her tone too, he noticed, like she was relieved to see him. Not just happy…relieved.

"It was good," he eyed her more closely now, and then looked over to his dad. His gaze was in the distance. He hadn't moved from his position of leaning his back against the vehicle, and his lips were pursed, the fingers of his right hand resting against them.

"I uh," Mike continued slowly, trying to pretend he didn't notice, "I like the book we're reading."

"Yea?" Sara asked as she opened the door and ushered him in, "does that mean you'll be reading ahead tonight?" she winked at him as she shut the door and got into the driver's seat.

"Nah, not tonight," he explained, "I wanna be outside."

Sara opened her door a crack, whispering, "Hey…Michael?" and nodding for him to get in. Mike watched as his dad startled slightly; he clearly hadn't noticed that the rest of his family was already buckled and ready to go.

"Yea, maybe we can go for a walk?" she offered, "All three of us?"

He brightened, "Yea!" then asked, "What did you guys do today?"

"Uh," Sara sighed, "yard work, Dad ran a few errands…you know. Normal stuff."

"Hmm," he wasn't buying it, but let it slide for now, "if the yard is all fixed, does that mean I can't use my truck outside anymore?" he wondered, half joking and half serious- it was one of his favorites.

Sara replied, "Ha, nice try. You can only use it outside, but once the yard is done I'd greatly appreciate it if you could steer it away from the flowers. Or anything living," she added with a smirk.

"Okay," he agreed with a smile.

Michael got in and buckled up, still silent. Mike realized that his dad hadn't said a word since he came out of school. He was lost in thought, and Mike watched him. Even from behind he could see the line of tension in his shoulders, his jaw. He remained silent, though his fingers fidgeted on his leg. Sara's hand rested on top of it now, and Michael cast a glance her way, then sighed.

Something was definitely wrong. The question was, did he ask? And if he did, would they tell him the truth? He knew they wanted to protect him and keep him safe, but curiosity got the better of him sometimes. If something was wrong, he wanted to know.

XXXXXX

Jacob hung the phone up in good spirits. Emily had found someone; a woman named Hannah. She was thirty-two and had struggled to have a child- so much so that her relationship had ended, and she'd been single for a few years now. Apparently, she loved children so much that she worked as a child psychologist. This worried him slightly; part of the rouse was convincing this mother, whoever she ends up being, that Mike is essentially lost in a fantasy. That he has a mild neurosis, the impression that he'd had a stable and loving family- one he wants to return to. The story of Michael and Sara had to be received by his new mother as fiction. A degree in psychology on her part would make that more challenging.

He considered rejecting her as a candidate on that basis alone. However, Emily pointed out that it took time to access a child, and how long would it really take Michael to get Jacob out of prison? Given Michael's track record and eagerness to protect his family, it wouldn't take long, Jacob reasoned. By then, Hannah wouldn't have had any real time to psychoanalyze Mike, and Jacob would snatch him back. Problem solved.

Emily was now in a position to assess the best time to take Mike. Jacob had suggested grabbing him from school- it was a clear and predictable schedule as far as where Mike would be and at what time. Only problem with that, was that the school property had a hundred witnesses at least. More witnesses, but also more of an ability to blend in with a crowd. It was a pro and a con all wrapped into one.

He'd instructed her to trust her instincts- he gave her a basic outline but allowed her the freedom to carry out the plan as she saw fit. All he could do now, was wait.

XXXXXXX

*Two weeks later*

Michael's first day at work had gone well, and he was now on his second. Yesterday had been a lot of introductory things, but he was able to settle into his office and actually get started on his first project now. He hadn't realized how much he missed it; a fresh project, a problem to tackle.

It kept his mind occupied, but his thoughts occasionally drifted to his family, wondering how Mike's day at school was going or what Sara was up to. The thoughts didn't linger long though, and the time passed quickly. He was scheduled to get out around six, but Larry was flexible. Michael would love to leave early but couldn't justify it today since Mike and Sara wouldn't be home until almost four. That's what he missed- the family time. He had no reason to go home early to an empty house. He'd wait it out and keep working and make it home in time for dinner. It made him smile, the normalcy of it all, as he lowered his head and kept digging in to his project.

XXXXXXX

Sara checked the time and realized she needed to leave to go get Mike. She'd mostly finished up the landscaping and had moved on to a few projects inside, putting away a few more things and doing a bit of cleaning. The time had flown, and she mentally noted that she should start setting an alarm to remind her to go pick him up. She didn't forget; the time had just slipped away from her.

She quickly changed her clothes- swapping her housework outfit of shorts and a ratty t-shirt for jeans and a nicer blouse.

She went out into the garage and opened the car door, tossing her phone into her purse and her purse into the passenger seat. When she started backing up she felt something strange, and heard a slight pop, followed by a hiss.

Concerned, she parked and got out- both rear tires were popped and losing air quickly. Her stomach sank, heartbeat quickening.

Her gaze immediately swept the area outside, looking for the person responsible, but she found no one. T-bag's warning echoed in her mind, "Watch your back. Look out for your boy."

No, no, no, she thought as her stomach churned and knees weakened. Ok, she tried to think rationally, call the school, let them know to keep him inside.

She got back in the car and pulled her phone out from her bag. Going to unlock it, she realized that the screen was frozen. Completely. After trying everything she could think of, growing more and more anxious, she threw the phone down on the seat and brought her hands to her face, trying not to lose it completely.

What was happening?

She didn't even have a land line- who did anymore? Michael was still at work for another hour or two and she couldn't get ahold of him or anyone.

The neighbors, she thought, although she hadn't met a single one yet. To hell with introductions, if she was banging on doors begging to use a phone, they'd help right? Someone would let her in.

She checked the time again and realized that no matter what, she'd be late. It was already too late. Panic officially set in now, realizing that whatever was happening, whatever Jacob was planning, all he needed was to delay her for a minute- hell, a few seconds, and it would be too late. She'd already passed that mark, and hot tears started pricking the back of her eyes as she gripped the steering wheel. She was too late.