Lillian and Alyssa Vaughn walked into the debriefing room at a CIA office in Los Angeles, California. They had just gotten back from their downloading mission in Paris.

"Great job, kids," Agent Dixon said happily.

"Mission complete."

"Thank you, Agent Dixon," replied Lilli seriously.

Agent Dmitri Schlotz looked up from his camera screen with an evil grin. "Perfect," he said, his Russian accent climbing over his fake English one.

He took a computer disk from its slot, and slipped it into a transmitter disguised as a book. He had taken the transmitter from the CIA storeroom earlier that day.

The boss will love this, he thought, with another unnerving grin.

IT'S IN OUR BLOOD

Sydney Vaughn drove into her driveway at her home in Los Angeles. She looked up at the front of the house, the door was wide open. "Please don't tell me Lilli and Lyssa left the door open again!" she mumbled as she walked up the sidewalk. Stepping into the house, she closed the door behind her. Carrying two grocery bags, she headed towards the kitchen, when she stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh my gosh!" Sydney exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Agent Scruffy stood in the middle of the combat floor. "Come on, Rocket," he called. "It's your turn."

Alyssa Vaughn looked up. "I'm coming," she replied. Standing, she jogged toward him.

They took their stances. After a few seconds, they were going at each other. Lyssa jumped up, dodging Scruffy's low kick, aimed at her legs. While off guard, Lyssa delivered a swift jab kick, which sent Scruffy flying to the other side of the room. Lyssa took back her stance, Scruffy delivered another low kick. This time, she dived over him headfirst. Landing in a rolled up position, she jumped to her feet.

"Good work, Rocket," Agent Scruffy smiled at her.

"Thank you, sir," she replied in her no nonsense tone. She walked back to the bench near the wall of the room. Lilli laced up her shoes getting ready to take her turn.

"You next Comp. Wiz.," Scruffy called to Lilli.

"Coming," she called back. She did a flying cartwheel, launching herself into the air. She landed in her fighting stance right behind Scruffy. She took a swing at his head, but he caught her fist in his hand.

"Nice try," he grunted, forcing her hand back. She swung her other hand at his chest, once again he blocked it. "Don't try to kill me, Lils!" he cried.

She sprang up as he tried to land a punch on her arm. "Nice try," she growled. She launched herself over his head again, and landed him on his back with hands in her iron grip. "I win," she smiled.

"The unbeatable comp wiz" he grinned back.

Sydney frantically dialed her cell phone. It started ringing. "Come on," she almost screamed.

"Hello, this is …" the voice was cut off by Sydney's frantic one.

"Michael," she sighed. "Someone broke in," she said as calmly as she could.

"WHAT!" Michael said. "Are you okay!"

"I'm fine," she said. "Send in a team. NOW!" She knew this was no ordinary house thief.

"Okay, Syd, me and a team are coming in. Stay put."

She said a quiet, "Yes," and hung up. She looked around the house. All the electronics looked like they were unfinished, including the girls' PS2. "Someone wanted something, but what," she mused. Then she remembered one thing.

Years ago, Sydney's 'presumed' dead mother had given her a pair of earrings when they had found out that she was alive. She rushed to her room and opened an untouched drawer. She opened a small box where she kept the earrings, they were gone.

"They weren't just transmitters," she said bitterly. "They were bugs." Just then the door opened behind her.

"Sydney!" Michael said worriedly, rushing over to embrace her in his strong arms. But Sydney was still thinking, what has happened.

"Syd don't touch anything, we're doing a sweep," said a familiar voice. It was Dixon, followed by a pair of twins.

"Mom!" they cried, running over to her. She gave them hugs.

"It's alright kids," she insured them. She looked around for the first time.

Everything was a mess. Nightstands were tipped over, and Sydney's favorite picture of she and Vaughn was broken. Then she looked at her kids and husband, dressed in black, guns draped over their shoulders.

Someone yelled outside of the room. They all ran towards it. "Not good," said Larry Sceno, a newly minted agent. "Bad news, guys," he said, panicked. "We've got a bomb. There's only 50 seconds left!" The world seemed to stop. "Lils, can you disarm it?" asked Sceno.

"I can try," she replied. Lilli grabbed it and ran her fingers along the outside, looking for a seam. She found it, and her muscles bulged as she tore it open. Her eyes swept over the insides, not bothering to check how much time was left.

Her study of bombs had taken her through all kinds of wiring. This was included. She broke the green, yellow, blue and purple wires, taking care not to touch the reds. Finally, she checked the timer. It had stopped with one second left on the clock.

"What kind of bomb was it?" asked Vaughn.

"A Russian U-25 nuclear type. There's a name on it. 'Russian Alliance Intelligence. Created by-' " Her voice quivered, her eyes hardened. "'Dmitri Schlotz.' Former employee of the CIA."