Disclaimer: ditto (yeah! i can't believe the high i get off of spelling 'ditto' right, kinda dumb, isn't it? oh well, like that'll stop me? ha!)

Chapter 29

"Ohh, it feels good to be home!" Tara announced, dropping in her chair in the bullpen, Chloe climbing up on her lap.

"Yep," Bobby walked over to his desk and plopped down in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. He propped his feet on the desk, "I never thought I'd be glad to come here."

"Welcome back," Ted Garrett's voice boomed through the room. Heads turned to face the man, Sue's followed a moment later. "I trust that you two had a good vacation, save for the fire."

"I should seriously consider a transfer," Tara said dreamily.

"If you do, either take me with or hide me in your trunk," Bobby instructed.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Mommy, take me with you, too," Chloe said.

"I wouldn't go without you for the world," Tara kissed the child on the forehead.

"Lucy," Ted said, "can you take Chloe to another room?"

She looked up, "Yeah." Under her breath she muttered, "Now I'm a babysitter, too?"

Myles smirked. He sarcastically remarked, "Well, you know Lucy it suits you."

"Myles," Ted's stern voice caused Myles head to jerk up as Lucy went to get Chloe, "You can go with her."

"What?" His eyes widened and he stood up, ready to make his case, "With all due respect, sir, I don't think-"

"With all due respect, Leland, does it look like there's an option?"

Myles gaped at the supervisor, then at Lucy who was enjoying the situation way too much. He looked at Chloe and said, almost dreading the answer, "Do you like games?"

"You bet!" Chloe explained.

"Well, you better think of a two person game because I don't."

As they were leaving Chloe looked up at Myles and asked, "Why are you always so grumpy?"

Lucy answered for him, "It's just the way he is."

The team laughed as Jack to Sue what happened.

Jack smirked, "I can already see she's taking after you, Crash."

"Definitely," Sue agreed. "I'm just not sure whether that's a good thing or not."

"Hey now, sheila," Bobby frowned, "no need to insult."

D raised his eyebrows, "I'm afraid Sue's right, Bobby."

"Not you too, D," Bobby shook his head. "At least I know I can count on Tara," he flashed a smile at her.

"Uh, well, Bobby, you have to admit…" Tara trailed off.

"Ugh," he groaned, "the whole world is against me!" Bobby held up his hands in mock disgust.

Ted took hold of the reigns, "Back to the issue at hand."

"Which is?" Jack asked from his desk.

"The safe house situation. I've taken the liberty of finding a place already. It's a few hours from here. It's safe to say that it's really in the middle of nowhere. Jack and Sue – you two will escort them there, make sure that everything's copasetic. I'm leaving Jonathan Taylor up to you guys. Tara, Bobby, go home, pack up. Be ready in half an hour." Garrett said, then left to his office.

"One problem," Tara said, "all my clothes are a pile of ashes in California."

Sue winced, "That could cause a snag in the plan."

"I do believe I'm in the same boat as Tara. And if I'm correct, Chloe is too." Bobby said.

Lucy, Myles and Chloe walked in. Lucy smiled, "Do I smell a speed shopping spree brewing?"

"Is that what that stench is?" Myles asked sardonically, "For a second there I though it was you."

Lucy glared at him, "Shut...up. Anyways," she said, turning back to Sue and Tara, "am I right, or am I right?"

Tara and Sue smiled broadly. "In my expert opinion, I think you're right." Sue answered. Levi slowly dropped to the floor, covering his head with his paws.

"How about that store?" Sue suggested, pointing across the mall.

"Really expensive and long lines," Lucy collapsed on the cushioned bench next to Sue, Tara sat on the other side of the blonde.

Chloe asked, "What about that one?" She climbed on Tara's lap.

Lucy racked her mind for past experiences. "You know, Chloe, I think you have a real knack for this kind of stuff."

The small group stood up and entered the store. 15 shirts, 5 pairs of shorts, 7 pants, 3 sweaters and tons of cute undies along with a handful of bags for Chloe and other essentials, they made their way back to the car.

They were less than ten meters away from the vehicle when Chloe accidentally dropped one of the shopping bags. The adults stopped and Tara knelt down to help Chloe.

A loud explosion ripped through the air, fire lit up the sky as the car was torn into pieces, debris flew in all direction, including towards the wide eyed ladies.

"Done in record time." Bobby slammed the car door shut.

"I don't know if what you did exactly counts as shopping, Bobby."

"What do mean?" He started the engine. "I found three shirts that I like and bought it in three different colors. What's not shopping about that? Don't forget my pants and shoes."

"Never mind." Jack shook his head and smirked.

"You just know I'm right and aren't man enough to admit it."

"Crash, keep your eyes on the road. I'd rather not have you live up to your name while I'm in the car; or outside for that matter."

Bobby steered the car out of the parking lot and into the busy streets of DC. "Relax, Sparky, I have no intentions on smashing into anything today." His cell phone rang. "Am I allowed to get that, mother?"

"Answer your dumb phone," Jack ordered lightly. He added, "The ringings annoying."

Bobby grinned, "Yeah yeah." He held the cell to his ear,"Manning." Bobby said into the mouthpiece. "What! Okay, Tara, slow down…you still breathing…good…is anyone hurt?" As he listened Bobby knew that even though they were getting closer to finding Don Taylor, there was much more to be feared than expected. "Okay, Tara, I need you to listen, alright?…Good, don't panic. Where are you? We're on our way." He paused, "How's Chloe?…okay. I'm going to call the fire department. We'll be right there. Tara?…I love you." Bobby hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Jack asked, the concern more than evident in his voice.

"Car bomb."

A/N: I'm afraid i've got some bad news...my computer - correction, my good for nothing computer - had decided that it doesn't have enough memory to open microsoft word...at all. i'm currently working on deleting anything that isn't needed but unfortunately, so far, i haven't trashed enough. i'm really sorry if i can't update in the next while, but i will keep on writing on paper so when my computer un-pms's, i'll be able to type and update...really sorry for any unconviences

steph