A/N First let me apologize for the weird use of quotes, from now on I will only use them when someone other than Sarah is talking, just to make it easy on me. There's not much to say about this chapter, it speaks for itself. I do not own any rights to Chuck or the Chuck characters. If I, did you would be watching the Chuck movie instead of reading this.

Inside Sarah Walker

Chapter 6: Carina Frickin' Miller

Diane is the first one in the door, "I have to tell you Molly I think I am going to like having a big sister,' Molly and Stephen enter behind her, 'I finally have an ally against that one," pointing at Stephen.

Molly laughs, "nope, uh uh, I'm not getting between you two, we've all done just fine as things are."

Stephen adds his two cents, "There is no way I want to piss off a sister who can cook like that, that dinner was incredible."

Molly touches his cheek, "thank you sweetheart, I'm glad you enjoyed it, guess who taught me how to cook?"

Diane nods her head, I knew it, I could taste her touch, but you definitely made that pepperoni chicken your own."

Molly throws her head back and laughs, "Dad thought that was his signature dish, he was the worst cook, but we all ate it and told him how delicious his food was, we used to come up with the silliest excuses why he shouldn't cook, but he never caught on, he still kept offering to cook."

Stephen agrees, "I think the owner of El Compadre got his new boat because Dad wanted to cook so much."

Diane joined in the laughter, "I remember this one grilled cheese sandwich he made, it tasted awful, I couldn't eat it, but Shaw that little bitch loved it, you know it just struck me, Dad always called her Shaw, you little bitch, I got that from him, like that was her name, and Mom laughed every time, must have been an inside joke. I mean he loved that little pup, so did I, but it was so weird that he called her that."

Molly looks at her watch, "it's getting late folks let's see if we can't get through some more before bedtime." Diane starts the playback.

"Hi again, have I mentioned that your dad is the best, he really knows how to make a woman feel loved and appreciated. He's not bad with kids either, he's upstairs right now reading a bedtime story to three of his favorite people, poor Molly has to put with little kid stories, but I'm so glad she likes to spend the night with us, all my kids together under one roof, it just feels right."

"Before I tell you this part of my story, I have to give you some background. There was a time that Mom collaborated with a team called C.A.T.S., Clandestine Attack Team Squad. Yeah, I know, team squad, go figure, it's Washington. There were four of us, Carina, Zondra, Amy and me. Sarah walks over to the camera picks it up and walks over to the wall covered with pictures.

This is our wedding picture, this is Carina, and this is Zondra, they were my bridesmaids, this of course is Aunt Ellie, she was my maid of honor. I love your Aunt Ellie, I finally got the sister I always wanted, sorry Molly no matter what you called me, you were always my first kid, plus Ellie and I were a little closer in age." Sarah walks back places the camera down and returns to her seat. "I'm guessing you noticed that I said there were four CATS, well Amy couldn't make the wedding, she was in prison, oops I jumped ahead again.

Now just a little more background and the story will start. Before Daddy, and I were married he was married to Uncle Morgan. Sarah laughs and shakes her head, shocked huh, I'm just joking, but Dad and Morgan were friends since they were like six years old, and Uncle Morgan was just a tad bit jealous of the time I was spending with his buddy Chuck, when I say a tad bit, I mean lots. You may have noticed how close they are, not much space between those two, and it took a while, but I finally realized how happy I am that Daddy has such a good friend.

What Morgan didn't know was that most of the time we were together we were on spy missions, but to him it felt like I was stealing his best friend. Morgan was and is a sweetheart, but at the time he was a tad immature, and also a little bit of a pain in the butt. He had this thought that he belonged on our dates, thank goodness Aunt Alex came along.

Let me get back to the beginning of this part of the story. We were at Aunt Ellie's playing this game where you have to answer questions about your partner. There was me and Dad, Aunt Ellie, and Uncle Devon, and of course Morgan. He had to prove that he knew Dad better than me it was kind of funny, and a little sad. I mean no one in that room was going to hurt his feelings, and to be honest, Dad would not have put up with that, so Morgan kept interfering and correcting me all night.

There was something else going on, I kept getting this sensation like I was being watched, turns out there were two people watching me, I will explain later in the story. I didn't see anybody, but the feeling wouldn't go away, I guess it was my spy sense.

We had pizza and I love veggie pizza as you know and also as you know I don't like olives, so I picked them off of my slice. We are all laughing and having fun and the question comes up for Dad, "Most hated person ever," Everyone in the room knew the answer, except me. Dad tried really hard to spare me, but Morgan was not going to let it go, he had to tell me it was Bryce Larkin. Morgan proceeded to remind all of us that Bryce pretended to be Chuck's buddy, sexed up his girlfriend and got him kicked out of Stanford. I knew about the Stanford part, but the personal stuff was new to me. I was devastated, my old partner and lover, who was a traitor, had destroyed this decent guy's life and then came back with the intersect to ruin it some more. I guess I felt a little dirty because I was associated with him, no I don't guess, I felt awful.

The evening lost a lot energy at that point, and it was time for me to go home, Dad was walking me to my car, and as we stood in the courtyard, I got that feeling again, like we were being watched, but whoever it was knew what they were doing, and I didn't see anybody. As we are walking Dad mentions that he wished the intersect could tell him about me, and stupid me I suggested he could ask me. Why was I stupid? Because I knew I couldn't tell him anything about my past, so I set myself up to lie to him.

Then he asked it, the question I dreaded most, I was stuck. He asked about my relationship with Bryce Larkin. My heart sank I looked this poor guy right in the eye and lied. Please remember, this was my job, to keep the asset on track so he would do what I needed. Had I told him the truth about Bryce and me, who knows how he would have reacted. My connection to the man he hated most could have turned him against me. So, I managed him, I told him what he wanted to hear, that Larkin and I were just partners, nothing more. I could see he was relieved, but I felt like crap. Hanging out with your Dad was having an effect on me that I had never experienced before, I was starting to question my job. I guess when all you meet are dirtbags and liars, a nice guy can be a shock to your system.

When I get back to my hotel suite, did I mention I lived in a hotel, I am surprised by an intruder, after a brief scuffle, I find out it is Carina, she thought it would be fun to jump me in my own room, turns out she was the one watching me. Carina was DEA, a good agent, cold as ice, and one hell of a fighter, but I didn't trust her at all, she was all about Carina and nothing got in the way of that. We had worked together before and because of her improvisations I was forced into dire situations. Once I had to save her ass in Pakistan. In this part of the story, she does nothing to dissuade me from that point of view. She started causing trouble from minute one.

We were in Casey's apartment getting briefed by my boss Graham and Casey's boss General Beckman on a video call, being ordered to work with Carina, neither Casey nor I was happy about that, when Dad walked in. I was happy to see him, I still didn't get it, but seeing him made me smile inside, of course I couldn't show it, but I knew it, I just couldn't figure out why. Dad had never met our bosses, his bosses actually. These were the people who decided what Dad's fate would be, new to the spy game Daddy didn't think that way, he was simply curious. He kept interrupting asking who they were, and other questions, have I mentioned that Daddy can be annoying?

They wanted us to take Chuck on a mission again, I tried to dissuade them. I reminded them how valuable he was, and we shouldn't put him in the field, especially with Carina involved since she was a bit of a wild card and not to be trusted, with his safety. To them he was just an asset to be used, so I was shot down and told to do my job.

The mission was to steal an exceptionally large diamond from an awfully bad man, named Alahi, Later on, Dad would refer to him as Señor Wookie, at the time I had no idea what that meant, Of course I know now, I mean, Star Wars day, May the Fourth be with you, Star Wars movies all day, and Dad still thinks we are Leia and Han. Yes, it's true Mommy has been nerdified, and I do love my Han Solo.

When the briefing was finished, we stepped out into the courtyard, over the years a lot of stuff happened in that courtyard. Anyway, Carina was still waiting out there, Chuck was so nervous. Carina is a beautiful woman, super model beautiful, at the time she had red hair and her blue eyes, were intense, now I don't think Daddy was interested, but she sure was making him nervous, All she asked was who's this and he stumbled all over himself. I introduced him as an analyst, a member of my team.

You see that was Dad's first official briefing, he had just had a video chat with the general in charge of the NSA and the head of the CIA, who had just assigned him to another field operation, and you may remember the last one had a few wrinkles, like Dad almost dying. I am not sure if the nerves were about Carina, until that is Morgan showed up and made a play for Carina, now Dad was nervous. His real life had just collided with his brand-new spy life, it did not make him happy.

Later on, Carina and I are in Orange Orange talking and she starts asking questions about Chuck, what is his job, are we involved, what is our mission. I tell her that our cover is boyfriend/girlfriend but it is just a cover, that is when she brings up Bryce, and tells me she is sorry about his death, then that cold blooded… woman had to say something about it being an occupational hazard, so much for feeling sorry. She keeps pushing on what my mission in Burbank with Dad is and I tell her it is top secret.

She walks out of the store and says she will just ask Chuck. In my mind I was cursing my bosses for forcing this mission on me, I was really worried about Carina screwing things up, and putting my asset in danger.

I chased her over to the Buy More and stopped her before she could talk to Dad, I really wanted to deck her, I mean this woman had no boundaries, she was even willing to violate security to satisfy her curiosity, I guess we know why she was a CAT.

As I am talking to her explaining that she could be jeopardizing my mission, and she had to follow my lead, trust me, she didn't care, Dad came over and asked to talk to me. We stepped aside and he told me Morgan wanted me to fix him up with Carina and to please say no. I thought about it, a double date could support our cover and I could keep an eye on Carina around Chuck. Plus, there was something about a date with Dad that appealed to me, not sure why, but it did. I said sure let's do it, Chuck was not happy, he did not want this to happen, but like I said I did.

We got together at Dad's place, and I sat close to him and touched him more than I needed to, I could see that it was confusing him, I was being very affectionate, trust me I was as confused as he was, but I really liked being near him. Remember I told you that Daddy did not want to do this double date, well he was right. Carina kept poking, she even made a passive aggressive remark about Bryce, that she knew I couldn't answer to.

Carina was also being affectionate towards Morgan, but her motivations were not all that nice, she just liked messing with him because she could. I told her to back off, instead she got nasty and tried to upset Dad, I was getting angry, but I was not allowed to get angry, mission comes first.

We sit down to watch the penguin movie, you know the one, we have watched it over and over, who knew my youngest would be a penguin lover. Diane shrugs, "I still love penguins, they're so cute, how could you not?" We had pizza again, I love veggie pizza, as you know, as also you know I don't like olives, so I picked them off of my slice like I always do. Dad always orders the veggie pizza no olives for me, sorry you don't get the olives, but I do appreciate that he spoils me.

Morgan kept asking Carina questions trying to get to know her, Dad was getting annoyed that he was disrupting the movie and blurts out something that he was not supposed to know about Carina. In my mind I said oh crap, I hoped Carina didn't pick up on that, but like I said, she was a good spy, she didn't miss much. At this point I should mention, spies don't have friends, we have partners, assets, and marks, which could explain why I considered Carina to be my best friend, there was no one else. You all know who my best friend is now, right?

Well Carina was not even close to done causing me trouble, the next day Chuck came in to talk to me at Wienerlicious. Something was off, he was sullen and listless. I asked him if he was okay, he said he was, but I knew he wasn't. I proceeded to brief him on the mission and what his role would be, it was when I cautioned him to stay by my side, not to trust Carina because she was not to be trusted that he finally showed some energy and smiled.

He said he was so glad to hear that, that Carina was a liar because she had told him something last night. I was shocked, last night, what did he mean last night. He explained that Carina had called the Buy More hotline and he was the tech on call, when he got there, she tried to seduce him, of course Dad turned her down because of how he felt about me, but that wasn't the end of her nastiness, she had to tell him that Bryce had been my boyfriend.

He asked me if was true, about Bryce and me. I gave him a non-answer, I told him it was complicated. I could see the hurt in his eyes, he had me caught in a lie, I was really hating my job just then and myself too. How could I keep hurting this poor guy, who wanted nothing more than to be a good person and be helpful. I was devastated, not only was I upset that I had just lied to and hurt a really nice guy. What I felt inside was new to me, the closest feeling I had experienced at that time was when my father was arrested, but that hurt was about me, my fear. This time I was hurting for what I did to someone else, someone I was not supposed to care about, an asset, all new to me all very upsetting.

Also important, that bitch , oops, might also have messed with my cover, affected my mission, and put distance between me and someone I didn't want distance with. He walked out, and he was not happy, I didn't realize how bad things were until the next day when we crashed the party at the bad guy's mansion.

Carina was not done, she was all over Chuck, standing close, touching him, she would not leave my asset alone. To be honest; the thought briefly crossed my mind that I was jealous, but that was ridiculous why would I be jealous of an asset, I was just pissed because she was messing with my mission. Boy was I wrong, I wouldn't admit it to myself, but I wanted to scratch her eyes out for touching him in an intimate way.

Yes kids, Mommy gets very jealous when anyone pays attention to Daddy, he is mine, of course I am willing to share him with you three, and Morgan gives me no choice, Sarah laughs, I guess he was here first. Once again, Daddy distracts me and he is not even here, my guess is he is fast asleep upstairs cuddled up with you. I should get back to the story

Carina pointed out the bad guy to Dad. This guy was almost naked in his speedo, and he looked like he was wearing a fur coat, that was one hairy guy, Dad called him Señor Wookie, get it now?

I talked to Carina privately, I did my best to act professionally, trying once again to explain how she was threatening my primary mission, she just gave me a nasty answer telling me to keep my private life out of the mission for a change. I was really hating Beckman and Graham right now.

I went over to talk to Chuck, to reassure him, he was standoffish, I knew he was still hurting over my lie. I had no idea what to do about that, he was right, I did lie. That didn't stop him from being amazing, he didn't flash at all he just knew about all the electronic surveillance equipment, because he was just that smart. So far, so good, we are casing the situation, which is why we were there, it's called a soft probe, no noise, no gun play, just get the lay of the land security-wise so we could come back later and get the diamond.

Dad made a remark about me and Bryce, I just shut him down, not only was this bad timing, but truth is also I just didn't want to deal with what Casey would call his "lady feelings." I was on a mission, in a dangerous situation, I needed to be alert not distracted. Wish I had known what was going to happen later, I would have taken five minutes to be there for the poor guy.

Carina had plans of her own that she chose not to share with me, she had every intention of improvising and doing what she always does, put others in danger to get what she wants, great spy, nasty person. She started to push harder, and we wound up standing in the "vault" staring at the diamond we were sent to "acquire," only it wasn't supposed to happen with Chuck around.

We must have set off some kind of alarm, because within minutes Alahi shows up with two armed guys. Carina and I start to act all dumb and giggly, Man I hated playing the dumb blonde, that was Amy's thing, I preferred a direct frontal assault. Not to mention that creep pinched my butt. I looked over and I could see that Chuck was freaking out, but keeping his cool, letting us handle the situation.

We managed to convince Alahi that we were harmless, and he sent his guards away. Using our female advantage was useful, especially with creeps like Alahi, guys who think they are God's gift to women. We got him to fill us in on the security setup, it was pretty extensive.

Then I made another big mistake, I got Señor Wookie to step out of the room with me, leaving a defenseless Chuck with a very manipulative Carina. The purpose was to give Dad time to scope out the room and find the security measures. Come to find out later it was a good thing we had Dad with us, if Carina had grabbed that diamond she would have been electrocuted, Dad was able to warn her, at least this time he didn't give away that he flashed, he was learning. Bummer is he also told her how to bypass it, and that's what set the crap storm into motion.

Next thing I know everything blows up, alarms are going off, doors are shutting down and guards are showing up. I had no idea what happened, A pedestal crashes to the floor blocking the sliding door coming down to seal off the vault where the diamond is. I decked Alahi, Carina comes sliding out under the stuck door, leaving Dad behind and we took out the guards rushing into the room. I didn't know it, but Carina had given the diamond to Dad, like I said, he does think on his feet, he comes sliding out seconds later and we all take off running. I am getting angrier and angrier at Carina with every step, this was not supposed to happen, and she put my asset in danger. We had to fight our way out, a guy had a gun on Dad on the other side of the pool, thinking fast I grabbed a platter and flinging it like a frisbee I hit the guy in the face, he dropped his gun and Dad ran. This whole thing was getting out of hand, I called Casey on comms and told him we were in trouble that Carina had done it again.

Our path out was narrow, and we were forced down to the beach, and here it comes, payback for losing Dad's trust. Carina and I both ask Chuck for the diamond; he straight up calls me a liar and tosses the diamond to Carina. Now let me explain something here, normal people don't think this way, Carina had set this whole thing up from the start, driving a wedge between me and Dad just for this moment. She uses a remote control, and a jet ski pops up out of the water, striping off her dress she is in a bikini, and she runs into the water and rides off leaving us unarmed, remember it was supposed to a surveillance not an active op so no gun, to face the two gunmen running towards us.

Like the calvary to the rescue, Casey tears up the beach in a large black SUV that he must have stolen, getting between us and the shooters, shooting at them forcing them back to cover.

Stephen stops the playback, "I don't get it, why did Mom put up with that… that… woman, and she calls her "best friend," I don't get it. I mean she keeps messing with Dad's head, she puts them in bad situations, that almost gets them killed, and for me the worst part is that she is trying to drive Mom and Dad apart, arrrggghhh, I hate her."

Molly stands up and walks over, putting her arms around his shoulders, "Stephen haven't you been listening, Mom was alone and lonely, she had no real connections in her life, and all she knew was being a spy, following orders, doing what was in front of her just to keep moving forward. She couldn't do it, no matter how she tried Carina couldn't push them apart, you and Diane are proof of that. Everything that we are hearing is what gave us the lives we have, full of love, protected and safe. Don't you see, she went through all of this for us, so she could become the fabulous woman who brought us up to be brave, independent, and loving.

Diane joins in, "I get it Steph, that woman was a bitch, she hurt Mom, and almost got them killed. Hey big brother, look at that wedding picture again, look at that redhead, picture her older, with blond hair, that is Aunt Gretchen."

Stephen looks up, "holy shit, it is her, but she was so cool, we always had fun with her, Mom and Dad used to go away for weekends and leave us with her, she did the craziest stuff, totally unpredictable, crap it is her."

The three of them, stare at each other, Diane suggests, "I have a feeling Dad got to her too, I want to hear more, Mom was no idiot, if she forgave her, trusted her with us, there is a reason. I want to hear more."

They nod in agreement and Stephen puts his hand on the button to restart the playback.

Before he can push the button Molly asks a question, "is it okay that I call them Mom and Dad?" Stephen gets up and hugs her, Diane joins them.

Stephen asks, "what else would you call them Sis?" Diane nods in agreement.

A tear falls from Molly's eye, "no woman has ever had a better family, let's listen to more, I want to get home to Jimmy and tell him more of the story. You know he really wants to join us in watching this, but he is being so considerate, he knows that we have to do this together, just us."

The trio takes their seats and Stephen pushes the playback button.

We jump in and get the hell out of there. Casey had moved our gear into this Humvee that he somehow produced. I am in the back seat chewing Dad out for giving the diamond to Carina, reminding him that it doesn't matter how he feels about me personally, the mission comes first.

Know what kids I can't tell you how many times Dad saved my life ignoring that little piece of advice, and he always got the mission done too, but I always came first, I still do, all of us will always come first to him.

As I am giving Dad what for, I am also complaining as I get into my Wienerlicious costume, have I mentioned that I hated that job. I needed to make corn dogs or get fired from my cover job, yuck. As I am changing Carina calls my cell phone, she just had to rub it in, it made no difference to her that we could have been killed, "oh well" she said, "I knew you would make it out." When she hung up Casey told us that he had put a trace on her call and knew where she was, he told me to go to work and he would go after her and the diamond.

I go back to work, so does Dad. A brief time later I go into the Buy More and I tell him that I haven't heard from Casey, and I am going to Carina's hotel to look for him. I told him to go home after work and stay there. He was so upset, he asked if he was off the team, I told him no, just benched until we discuss what happened. I could see in his face that he was upset, but that wasn't my problem, he was an asset who didn't do what I expected of him.

Over and over, I kept ignoring the fact that this guy did not ask for any of this, he was not a spy, I did not take responsibility for the fact that I lied to him, violated his trust, no I made it all about his screw up. I don't even want to imagine who you three would be if I had raised you as that woman, that tunnel-visioned, close-minded spy. Thanks to your Dad we all learned how to be loving and open, compassionate people.

Time for me to take responsibility for my poor behavior, here I was giving this poor guy a tough time for putting personal stuff ahead of the mission and I do the same thing and screw up big time. I get to Carina's room and open the unlocked door to find Casey handcuffed to the bed in his underwear. Here is a trained not to mention very experienced spy who trusted Carina and let her get the drop on him but wait there's more. I made a rookie mistake; I didn't lock the door behind me. I was so amused by the sight in front of me I left my back unguarded, so while I am taking pictures of Casey, so I can torture him later, Alahi shows up and takes me hostage.

I'm something else, I gave Chuck, a rookie, a tough time for acting like a rookie, and then Casey and I wind up as hostages, and guess who we need to rescue us, that very same rookie. I had no idea where Carina was or what happened to the diamond, the only one I could reach out to was Chuck, who had every right to tell me to go to hell.

Does anyone think our favorite nerd would do that, nope, he calls me to tell me that he flashed on the diamond and that it actually belonged not to Alahi, but to a terrorist group who wanted to use it to finance weapons of mass destruction. I tell him to find Carina and have her bring the diamond to her hotel. Chuck didn't know that I had a gun pointed at my head, he only knew that he had to be there for me. After the way I treated him, he was willing to do anything I asked and more, I was just starting to realize why I had these weird feelings about him, and what a jerk I was being to him.

It's getting late and I miss Dad, I need my cuddles too you know, more tomorrow." Sarah reaches for the camera and the screen goes dark.

Stephen stops the playback, "it is getting late, and I want to call home before Amy goes to sleep."

Diane jumps up and exclaims, "are you kidding, Mom is being held at gunpoint by terrorists, Casey is handcuffed to the bed and Dad has no idea how to be a spy, and you want to stop now."

Stephen laughs, "OMG you are right, there is no way to know if Mom and Dad will survive and have 3 kids, a dog, a beautiful home, and a successful business."

Diane makes a fist and shakes it at Stephen, "OOOOHHH, you really know how to piss me off, Molly back me up here."

Molly laughs, "as senior member of this family I would like to propose a compromise, how about we take a fifteen-minute break so both of you can call home and check in, I will call Jimmy, we don't need to worry anybody, and then we can watch the end of this story."

Stephen pouts, "fine little baby always has to get her way."

Diane stomps her foot and goes up stairs to call home.

Molly looks at Stephen and admonishes him, "you know there is no reason to get her all worked up like that."

Stephen smiles and puts his finger to his lips, "shhhh I know but it really is fun."

Molly shakes her head, "I hope Mom and Dad are not watching right now, although I am guessing they have seen this before, big brothers, sheeshh."

Molly steps into the kitchen to call her husband, while Stephen makes his call home from the living room.

When everyone returns to the living room Stephen walks over and hugs Diane, "I'm sorry Sis, I didn't need to be mean, if it makes you feel better, your Sister-in-law just read me the riot act for messing with you, she reminded me that this is a rough time for all of us, so again I am sorry."

It's okay Stephen, all is forgiven, we are all tired and worn out, I could use a good night's sleep myself, but I really want to hear the rest of this story, I know they will be safe, but I just don't want to dream about it all night."

Stephen nods, "I get that," and he turns the playback on.

The camera turns on and we see Sarah's back as she moves to her chair. Settling in she gets comfortable with her cup of coffee. "MMMM another great morning at the Bartowski household, Molly helped me make chocolate chip pancakes, from scratch, for the little ones, at 16 she has turned into a great cook. Then she drove them to school to give me a break, what a gem.

I still remember the look on your face when Dad and I gave you that car for your sweet sixteen. I also remember the look on your face when he tried to teach you to drive,' Sarah laughs aloud, 'he so wanted to teach you, but he kept freaking out, dads should not teach their kids to drive. He would come home and tell me all the stories he had in his head of you making out with boys in the backseat." Sarah laughs hard, "Diane I don't know if Molly breaking him in will make it better or worse for you."

Diane blurts out, "WORSE, MOM, MUCH, MUCH WORSE."

The group laughs hysterically, almost drowning Sarah out.

"It's a tossup who loves who the most, they adore their big sister, I mean aunt. Sarah takes a deep breath, Molly I know you are watching this, I just want you to know how much you mean to me, and Chuck, and to Stephen and Diane. Someday you will be married and have kids of your own, and they will be the luckiest people on earth, just like we are.

When that happens remember to always be Molly, warm, smart, strong, and independent. I know you are a little young to hear this, but if something should happen to Chuck and me, we have set things up so you will have the kids. Aunt Alex and Uncle Morgan will be there to help, and Mom may still be around. Hopefully that day won't come, but if it does, I want you to know how much we trust you." Molly wipes away a tear as Sarah continues.

'Okay let's finish this story up we are almost at the important part."

Alahi takes me down to the lobby, and I am sitting there surrounded by his men, all armed, and in walks Carina and my first thought is that idiot brought Chuck with her. I have to take that back, I found out later, he brought her, she was going to leave, and he convinced her that they needed to save me, and if she didn't help, he would go alone.

Alahi demanded the diamond and of course Carina had to mess with him, push his buttons, provoke him. She asked me in Swedish if I was ready to kick ass, I answered her in Polish that I was ready, but she needed to make sure Chuck was safe. Carina pushed Chuck aside and he ducked for cover, the fight was on. Remember I told you that she was a good fighter, well I'm not half bad myself. We took out a room full of armed bad guys, Chuck had run out the room, but I couldn't worry about him just then, I was busy.

Mission accomplished, Graham and Beckman debriefed Dad, Casey, and me on a video call, we had foiled a major terrorist plot to buy WMD's and destroyed Alahi's rep with the bad guys. Babies I wish you could have seen Dad's face when Graham said job well done, his smile was ear to ear, he was so proud of himself, as he should be, I was proud of him too. You should have seen Beckman and Graham's face when FedEx delivered the diamond, it was hilarious. Once again Dad came through and got the diamond out safely.

The debrief over, we met in the courtyard, Carina could not come into the briefing, remember Dad was still top secret. I hugged her goodbye, I mean she was a pain in the ass, but she did come through and rescue me. I invited Dad to come up to my room for dinner so we could talk, he suggested pizza I agreed. I left Dad with Carina. She told me later that she had invited him up to her room numerous times, and he kept saying no.

A brief time later Dad came up to my suite with a pizza, when I opened the door and he was standing there, I couldn't help but smile, I was so happy to see him. Do you remember earlier I told you two people were watching me, well Dad was the second one, he watched me take the olives off my pizza both times. He brought a veggie pizza no olives, he said it was the only thing he knew about me that was true.

I invited him in, and he sat down to talk to me. He apologized for what happened on the beach, and he knows he shouldn't let his personal feelings get in the way of the mission. He also let me off the hook about Bryce, he said it made sense because he always got the great girls, Dad didn't just let me off the hook he turned it into a compliment.

Now I have to tell you, I was melting inside, so far, the only thing I said was come in. Those weird feelings, the ones I couldn't figure out, they were hitting me hard. I have to tell you that all the bad guys that I have fought, all the bullets I dodged were not nearly as hard for me as what happened next.

Dad asked if I could tell him something real about myself, my name, my birthday, where I grew up, anything, my middle name, just my middle name. He wanted so much to know something real about me, and I wanted so much to tell him. My insides were screaming tell him, let him in, I don't know how I held back the tears, but I did, I just stared at him. He walked across the room to get some napkins and I whispered, Lisa, my middle name is Lisa. I found out much later Dad heard my whisper, but he never said a word, he is such a gentleman.

We enjoyed our pizza and talked, but I have to tell you that was an awfully long evening for me, by the time Dad left I was exhausted from holding myself together. I was surprised he couldn't hear my heart; it was beating so hard. I had no idea what was happening to me, I was having feelings that I had never experienced, feelings that I was not supposed to have, not allowed to have, but that didn't change the fact that I was having them.

Okay guys, I need a break, Some of these things are hard for me, I don't much like how I treated Daddy in the beginning, I convinced myself that I was just doing my job. Since then, somebody taught me I can do my job and still be me. I hope you have learned that family and friends come first, always put love first, don't deny yourself, you deserve to be loved and to love. Enough lecturing next I am going to tell you about how an evening with Morgan turned into yet another spy mission, and surprise… how your dad saved me once again.

Stephen stops the playback, "I guess the beginning was rough for them, I'm glad we know that it all worked out."

Diane is amazed, "Wow she had to hold it all in, she couldn't tell him anything, much less how she felt, I never realized how hard it is to be a spy, I mean you have to give up everything, and everybody, nothing is real."

Molly stands, "it's late and I am exhausted, you guys ready to go home?"

Diane stands up and stretches, "sounds good, I'm tired too."

Stephen stays in his seat, "guys, I think I am going to sleep here tonight, in my own bed."

Diane is surprised, "are you sure Steph?"

Stephen nods his head, "I am, I promise not to watch without you, maybe you could bring me some breakfast and maybe a change of clothes, and I'll have the coffee ready when you get here."

Molly walks over and puts her hand on his shoulder, "Can I ask why this change, I hope you know you are always welcome in our home."

Stephen stands up and hugs her, "don't be silly, of course I know that, I'm not really sure, I just have this feeling that I need to… touch things to connect with Dad and Mom… I dunno… guess I'm being silly."

Diane nods her head, "I get it big brother, I just don't think I am ready yet."

Molly and Diane head for the door and Stephen stops them and gives them hugs, "see you in morning, sleep well."

The ladies leave the house and Stephen looks around, "well folks, I guess I'm home again, I really miss you, wish we'd had more time, but thanks for the time we had, good night.

Stephen turns off the light and heads up stairs.