Disclaimer: Don't own squat, well when it comes to UC anyway.......

Author's Note: Ok so I thought this was going to be the last chapter but I though it would be a little more suspenseful if I broke it up a bit, plus I haven't finished editing the other part (not that that helps *notices a couple of spelling mistakes in my other chapters... grr*) As for meeting his family, they will make an appearance soon......in the mean time, Thank You so much for reviewing!



Chapter 7

Family Loyalty





"Alright these clips allow us to hear both of you and obviously your ear pieces allow you to hear us." Cody was setting Jake and Alex up with the proper equipment. Jake was scowling the entire time.



"I still don't think Alex should come. No offence Donovan but your father could be planning something." Alex glared at Jake.



"Jake stuff it. If need be I can protect myself. I know how to kick ass, after all I've kick yours enough times."



Jake blushed in embarrassment, remembering all the times Alex had 'practiced' her techniques on him. More often than not he would walk away feeling like he had been run over by a steamroller. Donovan watched the exchange with a barely noticeable smile of amusement while Monica and Cody tried not to laugh.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



It was unusually dark and it only served to enhance the gloomy atmosphere. Nate Donovan stood in the warehouse, the same one that cost him his leg. He was sure that Donovan would help him and thought that by meeting here he was reclaiming some of his dignity. He took notice of every creaking noise and moving shadow, assessing it and quickly determining it not to be a threat. It was something that had been drilled into him over and over again and may times his life had depended on it. Nowadays his 'talent' gave him a bittersweet feeling, knowing that although so many things had gone from his life the training would always remain.



It was his constant assessment of his surroundings that left Nate unsurprised when the door opened, but he was surprised when it was only a lone figure that came through the door.



"I trust you brought the disk." It was Donovan.



"I thought I was meeting with Alex and Jake."



"I told them that you didn't need them anymore. I was under the impression that you agreed with the idea of keeping my team from being involved in this?"



"I do, I'm just surprised. I wouldn't have hurt them."



Donovan stared, his expression neutral and belaying nothing of the torment going on in his mind and heart. Nate would always be his father, the one who had taught him to ride a bike, helped him with his homework for school, chased all the monsters out from under his bed. When he had decided on his career, Nate had been the one to make sure Donovan had known exactly what he was getting into. He knew he owed him more than he could repay, but could he give up his wife and kids, whom he had come to love with the same intensity? Apparently his conflict was taking to long to resolve.



"Son?"



"Give me the disk Dad." Donovan's tone him more than words ever could.



"You're not going to help me." Again it wasn't a question.



"What you're asking of me would land us both in jail.Micheal is only eight and Allison is going to be five. How can I do that to them? To my wife? I love you, I really do, but asking me to do what you asked is beyond cruel." Donovan had been steadily approaching his father, who had been backing away towards the exit.

"I thought that as my son you'd help me-even if it was only out of loyalty and not love." Nate reached in his jacket and pulled out the disk.



"It's out of loyalty and love that I'm preventing you from doing something that you'd regret, or worse get you killed. You know they'd kill you before you could even get close to Benjamin. There are other ways of dealing with him."



Donovan held out his hand expecting to be given the disk. Instead his father backed up several more steps and pulled out a knife, which he held to his own throat, barely touching the skin protecting his jugular. Donovan, thinking that his father was turning on him, had pulled out his gun, aiming it at his father. Nate was stunned and not a little hurt.



"You really think I'd hurt you? You're my son, you know I love you..." His voice trailed off.



The shock and pain was evident in his voice. He made eye contact with his son and realized something. A wall had been erected in Frank Donovan, this situation was just a job to him. The son he loved more than life itself considered him to be just another file to write up. It that moment he felt his insides crumble and a new resolve take him.



Unbeknownst to Nate, that was the exact opposite of what Frank was feeling. He had been there to see how the loss of his leg had changed his father. There were bags under his eyes constantly, his once dark olive skin was now pale and drawn, his dark brown eyes had lost their spark, even his hair was limp and rapidly graying.



He saw all of this and his heart broke for what he knew had to be done. There was no way he could do it the way he was so he did the only thing available to him. He hid behind the 'safety' of his job. More often then not as Frank Donovan, former CIA agent and current leader of an undercover FBI team, he knew what to do in any given situation. He turned to that now as a way of dealing with what he had to do.



"You're desperate. It makes people do foolish things they wouldn't otherwise do." Nate nodded realizing the truth in those words, but it didn't change anything.



"After all that has happened to me I refuse to go to prison as well." Nate pressed the knife against his skin and a small trickle of blood started down his neck.



"That's for a judge to decide. Just put down the knife and give me the disk .... please." Donovan heard his voice crack on that last word and felt his eyes water but tried to push it aside. His facade of being in control was quickly slipping.



"You'll have to kill me if you want this disk back." Nate stated calmly.



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