The phone in the kitchen and the doorbell rang simultaneously in the ranch that Will and Hope had been calling home for the past two months. "I'll get the phone," she screamed even though her mouth was full of the sandwich she had just made.

"Got the door!" Will yelled back.

Hope nodded to the music of the new CD she had just gotten from Amy Tippin, the other day. Will's sister had great taste in music. "Hello?" she said, pulling one ear phone out and picking up the phone.

"Hey, Hope. Is my charming husband there?"

"Hey, Tess. How are you doing over there on the other half of the ocean?"

"Not too bad. I just wish your father would find your mother. Then my husband could actually come home and help out his pregnant wife."

"How is the little fetus doing?"

"Don't call my baby boy that."

"You found out the sex?"

"Yeah, but don't tell Will. I wasn't supposed to know."

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," Hope said with a wicked laugh. "I'll go get him. He was answering the door last I checked."

She set the receiver down on the counter, grabbed her sandwich, and made her way to the hall. Will was already making his way towards her.

"Phone's for you," she said, her mouth full once again.

"Door's for you," he said back, passing her without slowing down.

She danced along to the music playing in her ears until she caught sight of who was waiting for her in the front room. "Mom," she screamed, throwing her plate onto the nearest flat surface and running straight into her mother's arms.

"Hi, baby girl," Sydney said, who had been crying even before her daughter had seen her. She smiled at her husband over her daughter's shoulder. "It's nice to see you."

"How's Will been treating you?" Sark asked from where he was leaning against the open doorway.

"We're getting by. He's been teaching me a workout routine. There really isn't anything to do around here except play in the gym."

"You have gotten a little thinner," Sydney said, poking her daughter's arm. "Is he feeding you?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I can take care of another person," Will said, walking up where they stood. "By the way, Tess says hello, Syd. And she told me to tell Julian that he should expect a fairly large and generous birthday gift for letting me go home. I think she's tired of being pregnant and alone."

"I would be, too, if I was the size of a house," Hope said, laughing.

"I should tell her that. She would never talk to you again."

Hope stuck her tongue out at him, and Will repeated the action right back at her. "I'm glad to see how much you've matured while I've been gone," Sydney said with a laugh. She grabbed her daughter's hand and smiled. "And you're not that much better, young lady. Now let me go see where you've been holed up while I've been gone. Your dad needs to talk a little business with Will."

Strangely enough, Hope didn't put up that much of a fight about missing business talk like she usually did. It was probably due to the shock of finally seeing her mother again. The two men watched Sydney and Hope walk up the stairs, hand in hand, and out of sight.

"What's going on?" Will asked as soon as it was safe.

"Sydney's sister was the one who took her." Sark didn't hold back any of his bluntness. He had limited time to relay the information to his co-worker. Sydney could only distract their daughter for so long, even if she hadn't seen her for months.

"Nadia? I thought she was working for the Chilean government?"

"Actually, that was Argentina, and that ended a long time ago. She's running the Covenant now. Took over for Sloane when he died a few years ago. Sydney and I took care of her, though." When he noticed Will's shocked and appalled look, he rolled his eyes. "No, we didn't kill her. Jesus, Will. She's still family no matter how evil she is. You don't see us killing Irina at the drop of a hat if we think she's gone back to the side of evil."

"Irina's our boss. That's different."

"Potato. Potato." Sark shrugged. "Anyway, Nadia shouldn't really try to mess with us for at least a little while."

"Okay. So obviously you don't want me to be talking to Hope about who her aunt is anytime soon?"

"That would be best. She knows that Sydney has a sister somewhere out there, but she can't meet her. I don't want to have to get into the story about why half her family once tried to kill the other half. I'm saving that one for her fifteenth birthday." Trying to get back on track, Sark took a deep breath. "That's not the worst part, though. Nadia told us that Tyler Vaughn is going to be moving to L.A. in a few months. You haven't heard anything about that, have you?"

"No. But I really haven't talked to Michael or Lauren for months. My location across the ocean segregates me from the majority of our old allies. Tess and I barely talk to Amy, let alone the Vaughns."

"I don't see how such a major development could have happened without anyone on our side knowing."

"What major development?" Hope asked as she entered the room.

"That didn't take long," Sark pointed out.

"Mom saw some weird looking blade sword thingy. She muttered something about de nada. I didn't say thank you so I don't know what she was going on about." Hope darted a quick look at Will. He was definitely avoiding eye contact with her. "So, what were you talking about?"

"Nothing," Sark said. "Let's go find your mom. It's time for you to pack up and come home."

Hope nodded. "I'll be there in a moment. I just want to say goodbye to Uncle Will."

Sark looked suspicious but nodded, leaving the room. As soon as he was gone, Hope grabbed Will by the arm. "You cannot say anything to them about what we've been doing."

"You think I don't know that? Your parents would murder me if they knew." Will began to walk towards the door, but changing his mind, he turned back towards Hope. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" she said, hoping she looked innocent.

"I mean, why did we do what we did? Why did you want to be trained?"

"I just want to be able to take care of myself if it comes down to it. It seems like my life is one big ball of danger. I don't want to have to rely on my parents to make sure I'm all right."

"That sounds really good in theory, but I know you're not telling me everything." Will grabbed Hope and pulled her into a head lock. "Now let's go. Your father is probably worrying about what trouble the two of us are getting into."

Tyler Vaughn threw his bags down on the floor of the apartment he was going to call home. It had taken him weeks to convince his parents that he needed this extra time to get used to the States before he had to start classes at UCLA. In the end, it had taken a lot of yelling and one well-timed threat, but at least they had agreed.

"Oh boy," he said, looking around.

The apartment looked exactly like one would expect a poor college student's home to be. The only noticeable difference was the massive security system positioned on the wall next to the front door. It had been his mother's only request when they discussed lodging. So, he had to live off-campus for his freshmen year. He could handle that, all things considering.

Picking up his bags again, he pushed the door to his bedroom open. To his credit, he didn't jump when he saw the woman sitting on his bed.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" he asked as he dropped his bags next to the closet.

"My name is Amy, and I was sent here to make sure that you settled in just fine."

"Well, Amy, I have no idea who you are. So we have a little problem." Tyler crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why don't you just leave now before this gets out of hand?"

"Temper, temper, temper, little boy," Amy said, scolding him as she stood up. "You were a lot more likeable when you were a toddler."

His eyes widened. "You knew me when I was a toddler."

"Yeah. I worked with your parents." Amy walked over to him. "So, are you settled in?"

"I guess so."

Amy silently applauded him. His guard was still up even though she had made a personal connection with him. His parents had taught him the necessary tactics rather well. She might actually have to try in order to break down his guard. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a business card. "This is my cell. If you need anything, if you run into any trouble, give that number a call."

Tyler hesitated but eventually took the card from her.

"Be sure to tell your father that I stopped by to see you. And let him know that Irina and Jack want to talk with him about a few things. Seems your Daddy kept your arrival a secret from a whole lot of people."

"I asked him to do that," Tyler said before he could stop himself.

Amy smirked. His guard wasn't that good. "I figured. You just let him know. And be sure to check up on me. You don't want to be trusting strangers. It's an evil world here in the US."

"I plan on checking up on you," Tyler assured her.

"Good." Amy smiled at him. "You're looking good, kid. Don't be scared to call. It might not look like it, but I could probably help you with any problem you had."

Tyler nodded and waved as she walked out the door. This living on a new continent thing was going to be interesting. Sighing, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocked and dialed in his father's number. For this Amy woman's sake, he hoped that she was telling the truth.