School wasn't exactly great when Emma got back. Everyone glared at her as she walked through the halls, and no one on the team would look at her. Her first four classes made her feel as if she were new at the school, and didn't know anyone. Her best friend Isabel sneered at her the entire time, and the rest of her friends followed suit. By lunch, Emma was finally fed up with everyone's behavior, and confronted her friends outside of the cafeteria.

"What the hell is your problem?" She shouted at all of them.

"Oh look, it speaks." Her friend Jennifer laughed.

"Are you kidding me? Look, I'm sorry about bailing on you guys but my dad had some things going on."

"Awwww. Pwoor daddy." Isabel made a baby voice.

"You wouldn't know would you?" Emma glared and the girls gasped. Isabel's dad had died the prior year, and the whole group had been there for her. Including Emma. But she didn't feel bad for saying it. She was tired of being blamed for everything. Every game they lost, every time a player got wasted or high before a game, when someone was hurt in a game, if she didn't score enough points.

"Did you seriously just say that?"

"You know what, if you can't win without me, that's your problem. I can't keep being the only good player on the team."

"Oh that's it!" Isabel lunged at her. Emma hadn't been ready for the attack, so Isabel knocked her over easily. She got a few punches in, but Emma overtook her almost immediately. Her training kicked in, and she threw out some of her favorite moves. They both stood up, and Emma jabbed her in the side, and kicked her in the chest with her leg outstretched. Isabel came back, but Emma roundhoused her in the jaw, knocking her out. The faces on everyone watching told Emma that she had just done something very wrong.

"What are you?"

"Dude, that's not normal."

"Whoa. How did she learn that?" Everyone was asking questions and staring at Emma as if she was an alien from a different planet. The two had been taken to the principal's office almost immediately after the fight, and the parents were called almost as fast. Isabel came out of the principal's office, still holding the right side of her face. Her mother, Jane, followed her out of the room, sneering at Emma as she did so. It had only been a month ago that Emma had last spent the night at Isabel's house. They had cooked dinner for Isabel's mom and brother. Now it was all a dream, a wish. Emma look down, only to suddenly heard heels promptly clicking in her direction. She gulped. When she looked to her left, she saw her mother making her way towards the office. And she looked mad. Sarah Bartowski was definitely not someone you wanted mad. She was wearing an eggshell blue tank top underneath a black blazer, a black pencil skirt, and black heels with an inch platform. Her hair was perfectly curled, and hung over her shoulders. She didn't look aged at all. She still looked as if she were thirty years old.

"Look mom-" Emma began. Sarah put up her hand and stopped her from finishing, and walked inside the office. Emma followed. They had been arguing back and forth for about twenty minutes, when Sarah had finally had enough.

"Isn't there some way we can keep this from her record?" Sarah asked.

"I know Emma's a good kid, but we have a no fighting policy. The best I can do is give her a five-day suspension." Principal Tucker said. Emma's eyes widened.

"She hasn't been in any fights before, she has a 4.0, and she's involved in almost every extra-curricular activity at this school! How is that the best you can do?" Sarah was fed up with the way this woman ran things.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Bartowski, if I could do anything else I would. We love Emma just as much as you." Principal Tucker replied.

"Thank you for your time." Sarah shook Tucker's hand.

"I really am sorry about all of this." The principal looked to her student.

"Emma, now." Sarah demanded as she reached for the door. Emma left the office first, her head down the entire walk to the car. When they reached the car, Emma finally spoke.

"Thanks for not yelling at me-" Sarah cut her off.

"What the hell were you thinking? A roundhouse Emma? You used your training to hurt someone!"

"It just kind of happened…" Emma trailed.

"Just kind of happened? She's your friend!"

"No, mom, she isn't! And you wouldn't know either! You wouldn't know half the things that are going on in my life! I'm tired of being the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect basketball player, the perfect spy. I'm not a perfect person, and you and everyone else need to realize that!" Emma grabbed Sarah's keys, tossed her own out the car window once she was in, and sped off. She knew her mother was going to be pissed beyond belief, but she couldn't think about that right now. She needed to get away, and the fastest way to do that was speed away in her mother's Lotus. She needed to escape everything. She needed to be free.

Rick Pierce's black minivan trailed easily behind Emma's car. After hearing his son talk about Emma Bartowski, he looked her up in his system and found her CIA credentials easily. It hadn't taken him very long to hack into the CIA's mainframe without anyone noticing. After that, he tracked her down without a problem.

"We're following her right now." The voice came through the phone instantly.

"Good. We're going to beat the information out of her." Rick Pierce spat through the phone. They trailed Emma Bartowski's car, making sure to keep a reasonable distance until they were given the orders to pounce. He got a call a few seconds later, and he picked up when he saw it was his son. "Ryan? Are you okay?" His rough voice smoothed out with concern.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine."

"Then why are you calling?" Rick narrowed his eyes.

"I'm just letting you know that I'm going to the court at the park for a while. I'll let you know when I'm on my way home." Ryan replied.

"Fine. Be home before ten."

"Okay! See you later." Ryan hung up. Little did Rick now that his son was about to be with the same girl he was trailing.

Emma ended up at the park; she came here all the time when she was younger, as this court was the only one she felt one hundred percent comfortable on. She walked into the bathrooms and changed, as she had her uniform and ball in the back of her mother's car from the last practice. After changing, she walked onto the court, loving the fact that no one else was there. Twenty minutes into her practice session, someone showed up.

"Emma Bartowski." The voice said. Emma turned around to find Ryan Pierce standing at the entrance.

"You just won't leave me alone will you?" She smiled.

"I guess my heart is just drawn to you." He said. Emma laughed. Then she realized he was being truthful. "You mind having a little one-on-one? Oh wait, you've already had one today."

"God, you heard about that too?"

"Heard about it? It's all over Facebook and YouTube. You throw one hell of a roundhouse!" He pulled out his phone to show Emma the video. She watched as Isabel attacked her, and how she easily gained control of the fight. She watched in horror as she saw herself knock her best friend out cold with a single kick. She stared at herself, noticing how much like her mother she was. Watching the video, she knew how much trouble she'd be in with the general. She stared at the tiny phone screen, thinking I'm so screwed.

"Do you know how cool that looked?" Ryan interrupted her thoughts.

"No, not really…" She trailed, thinking of some way to delete it. Kylie was great with electronics, so deleting it wouldn't be a problem for her.

"Where'd you learn to do that anyway?" Ryan sat down onto the cement of the court, and Emma followed suit.

"I uh, used to take karate."

"Yeah, and you were obviously a sensei." He laughed. Emma looked at him and smiled. His blue eyes sparkled at her, and she found herself leaning closer to him. He started to lean in as well, and right before their lips met, she saw a black car pull up to the park. She pulled away. "What? What is it?" He looked in the same direction as her.

"Uh, nothing. It's nothing."

"That's weird."

"What is?" She turned to look at him and saw his puzzled expression.

"That's one of my dad's cars." Ryan pointed to a black Civic in the parking lot. And then it happened. Three men stepped out of the car, holding guns up to shoot.

"GET DOWN!" Emma yelled to Ryan. She made sure to keep an arm over him as she heard gun shots echo through the park.

"What's happening?" Ryan shouted over the noise.

"I don't know!" Emma replied, also yelling.

"We have to get out of here!"

"We can make it to my car if we hurry!" The two teens got up in a swift movement and exited the court. Thank god the men were bad shots, because it would've ended badly if they hadn't been.

"What the hell was that?" Ryan asked, breathing heavily in the passenger's seat. Emma started the car and sped away the instant she pushed the start button by the wheel.

"You said that was your dad's car, so you tell me." Emma pulled her mother's Smith&Wesson from under her seat with her right hand, and aimed it towards Ryan.

"Whoa, why do you have a gun?"

"Why did you follow me here?"

"I didn't! I swear, I just came here to shoot."

"I don't buy it, not for a second."

"You think I led them here?"

"You know exactly who I am, don't you? I can't believe I fell for your clueless act! God, I'm a spy and I didn't even see that you're in on this with him."

"Who? Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I came here to play basketball, and instead I almost die. You need to explain everything." Ryan held her eye contact.

"You didn't intentionally distract me?"

"Why would I want to be shot at?" His voice got louder.

"Your dad isn't the greatest guy in the world. He's a famous arms dealer, and I think he knows my team is getting closer."

"He's what? No, he can't be. He may be a little harsh, but he's no arms dealer. He's just my dad."

"Let's just get to my base, and I'll explain. As long as you promise you're telling the truth."

"If I wanted you dead, I would've done it already." He gave her a weak smile. "Would you mind dropping the gun though? I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh yeah, sorry. It's a habit."

"So you're a spy, huh? Not a karate master?"

"Like I said, I'll explain when we get to my base."

"I cannot believe she took my car!" Sarah yelled into her phone. She had Chuck on speaker, listening on the other line.

"She's a teenager Sarah. They all act out at some point. And maybe she's right, maybe we have been expecting too much of her."

"Chuck, the only things we've been expecting from her are the things she's capable of. She isn't going to get anywhere in life if we don't push her."

"I know, but she does have a lot going on…"

"Whose side are you on?" She asked, irritated. Chuck laughed.

"Always yours honey."

"Good answer." Sarah smiled.

"All I'm saying is maybe she needs to let loose a little. I mean, she never gets in trouble, but the day she goes back to school she does? I doubt she started that fight, she knows better."

"Maybe not, but she definitely knows better than to use her training on civilians."

"And I'm sure her general will punish her for it. But as her parents, we're supposed to talk to her about it and make sure she's okay."

"I hate when you're right."

"I love it." She heard her husband laugh. "Hey, uh, I gotta go. Jack is on a rampage."

"Okay, go take care of it. I love you."

"Love you too." Chuck hung up. Sarah turned on the radio, rolling her eyes at Emma's loud music preferences. She wasn't one for music, but enjoyed most of the things Chuck listened to. She was almost home when she noticed the same black car that had been behind her five blocks back. Her spy instinct kicked in, and she tried to lose it. Taking many different lefts and rights, she looked in her rear view mirror to find no one behind her. She sighed, wondering if her spy tendencies would ever leave her mind. Turning the next corner, she slammed on her breaks to avoid the car stopped in the middle of the road. As her heart raced, she realized the familiarity of the car. Two men stepped out, carrying pistols. She reached for her gun, only to remember that she was in Emma's vehicle. The men got closer, and forced the door open.

"You aren't agent Bartowski."

"Figure that out all on your own did you?"

"Where's Bartowski?" The man that Sarah assumed to be the leader asked her.

"She's throwing a bit of a tantrum right now. If you find her, let me know." Sarah kept her sassy attitude up.

"We'll take her instead." The man said to his partner. "Maybe Agent Bartowski will come looking." The last thing Sarah saw was a tranquilizer gun being pointed at her neck. After she had lost consciousness, the men grabbed her out of the car and stuffed her into the trunk of their car.

"Are you sure about this, boss?"

"Absolutely. Follow me with her car, we don't want anything suspicious to draw attention." Rick Pierce was going to find his wife's killer, and he wasn't afraid to kill for thee information.