Comedian Tyler Perry proved he could be serious now and then when he said, "Forgiveness is important in families, especially when there are so many secrets that need to be healed - for the most part, every family's got them."

No kidding.

. . .

The drive to Gram's house was roundabout this time, in a car Alyx had acquired for them, much like the one she arranged for his father. The sun was low on the horizon, long shadows from the orange trees stretching across the driveway and lawn. The ancient farmhouse glowed in the gloaming, making Darien's heart actually feel lighter. This would be the first time in a very long time he'd have even part of his family together in the same place, he only hoped Grams liked Alyx as much as his father seemed to. A'course he had no idea if his father liked her or just her skills.

They rolled up, the gravel crunching under the tires as the door swung open and Mason stepped out on to the porch. Alyx had her door open before the car had rolled to a complete stop. "Everything all right?" she asked in obvious concern.

"Yes. She insisted on cooking," Mason informed them.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised," Darien stated as he climbed out. As promised they had brought dinner with them. Nothing fancy by normal standards as he figured Grams wouldn't be into Thai or Asian-Mexican fusion. So it was slow roasted chicken with assorted sides of the picnic variety. They'd also picked up a couple sixes of a locally brewed beer and more coffee beans. He wasn't too certain of the reception this time around since he'd basically just dropped his dad into Grams' lap without so much as a by your leave. "Grams is okay?"

Mason nodded, taking some of the bags from Alyx who grumbled about not being handicapped, which both men ignored. A cane had joined the brace and Claire had threatened a wheelchair if she didn't start taking care of herself, so Alyx carried nothing more than her bag of tricks. But, in general, that would be more than enough. She'd been buried in her office most of the day, doing what she did best and abusing her computer to find the information they needed.

"Do you ever rest?" Mason asked as she gimped her way up the few steps and across the porch.

"Rarely," Darien answered, holding the screen door open with his hip while they walked through. Alyx had changed a lot since meeting Jarod, most of which had not been under her control. Her sleep cycles had been screwy before and only gotten screwier. Her four to five hours had shortened to two or three a night, which meant that even when she was home he spent a lot of time alone in bed.

Sadly, there was no fix for her, and thanks to her recent adventure to The Centre the controls that had been in place were gone and she could do things that none of them had ever expected. She had been cautious exploring the extent of her abilities,

always concerned that she would do more harm than good, but the power she wielded remained immense. She simply no longer suffered pain when she overdid it. Hell, they weren't certain she could overdo it any more. She'd become the energizer bunny of superpowers.

She had spent long hours working on this, working arrangements to find who was after his father and keep him safe, and to do that required her abilities and had contributed to her lack of sleep in recent days. Hobbes had stayed behind to keep an eye out on home base, he and Drake would be fielding any parties interested in the man brought into the Agency, though it had been confirmed that word had spread that it had indeed been Perdue, and that had a lot of people worried and probably wanting him even deader.

That was part of why they were meeting here, to assess the situation and make a decision on how to proceed.

Grams was suddenly in front of him, hands out for the bags in his. He resisted. "I got these," he assured her, heading for the kitchen where he found Alyx seated at the table, leg propped up on a stool. He set the bags on the counter and his dad began to unload them. The kitchen smelled of pot roast and made him actually salivate. It had been a long time since the crappy lunch he'd had. He wasn't even sure if Alyx had eaten at all today.

"You found yourself a real spitfire, didn't you?" Grams asked, though it took a moment for him to realize she was talking about Alyx.

"Well, I figured I needed someone who could handle you," Darien retorted with a smile, causing his Grams to give a bark of laughter.

"Oh, you think you're so smart." She gave his biceps a pinch then shooed him away. "Go sit with your girl while I finish up dinner."

"Grams, we brought dinner," Darien reminded even as he moved a chair right next to Alyx and settled into it. His dad handed him one of the beers.

"Which we will eat tomorrow for lunch. Thank you." She stuck a fork into the pot coming up with a chunk of potato. "Fifteen minutes. Mason, set the table, please."

"Yes, mom."

Darien smiled, he'd missed this in his life. The simple pleasures of a family meal. He turned to Alyx. "How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Tired, truth be told." She looked up at Mason as he set a plate before her. "We need to have a discussion after dinner."

"As I expected. Are we secure for now?"

She nodded. "Yes, all the chatter says you're still within the loving bosom of the Agency."

"The vultures circling yet?" he asked as he grabbed a pair of beers, popped the tops efficiently, and handed one to her.

"Not yet." She downed a long swallow, sighing as she set it back on the table. "I will give you all the details later. How did the family reunion go?"

Mason glanced over at his mother. "It was… interesting."

"I almost shot him. This strange man appearing out of nowhere," Madeline explained. "Nothing for twenty years and then he shows up out of the blue. Of course, it's because he's in trouble."

"Mrs. Fawkes, I promise you it was for all the right reasons," Alyx said, her voice soft.

"Oh, I know that. Mason is a good man," She turned her bright gaze upon her son, "and I have no doubt he'll tell me everything when he is ready." Then she turned to Alyx. "And you may call me Madeline, young lady. Anyone who can tame this hellion," she pointed the wooden spoon at Darien, "has earned my respect and the right to call me by name."

"Tamed me," Darien groused. "She likes me 'cause I'm the bad boy."

Alyx leaned forward to ruffle his hair. "That too."

"You are so ruining my cred here," he grumbled, shoving her hand away and fixing his hair.

His dad chuckled and shook his head. "She's been good for you, Darien, and there is nothing wrong with that."

Darien glanced over at Alyx who was playing possum then ducked his head. "I know, but we don't have to announce it to the world. Thief is far more sexy than good guy."

Alyx pshawed. "Even when you were nothing but a thief you were a good guy, that's why you got caught, remember?"

"So, I didn't want a murder rap hanging over my head."

Mason snorted. "You could have gotten away clean. You chose to go back and do the right thing."

Darien's head snapped up and he stared at his father in stunned disbelief. "How could you possibly know that?"

Mason shrugged. "I have my ways," he replied enigmatically.

"Knew about it, but couldn't be bothered to help," Darien groused, wishing he could hold the disappointment back. How many times had he gotten into trouble that his father knew about and yet did nothing? How many times had he hoped that someone, anyone would step forward and show that they cared. Cared about him enough to try to intervene. Yeah, Kevin had stepped in when things had turned bleak and had saved him… in some ways, in others he'd simply forced his choices on his younger brother. Tried to get him to walk the straight and narrow by force and while it had worked, it most certainly hadn't been by choice.

"Dare…" Alyx's eyes widened, "Is that how you really feel?"

"This ain't about you, Alyx. I wasn't a kid anymore. He could have come forward at any time."

"Darien, you do not get to blame your father for your mistakes, those are all on you," Madeline stated, wagging the spoon in his direction now. "You want to be treated like a man, then start acting like one."

"Grams, you don't understand. He could have been there. Could have been in my life, but he chose not to. Could have been there when mom-" he choked to a stop, took a moment to get himself back under control. "Mom died and he did nothing for me and Kev. Nothing. Do I blame him for my choices? No. Do I think they might have been different if he'd been around? Yeah, I do. And knowing he's been there, behind the scenes doing nothing? I have every right to be mad about that."

Mason's look hardened. "Outside now. We have to clear the air."

"And if I don't give a flying-"

"Darien," Alyx snapped, "have some respect for your Grams if no one else."

He twisted his head around to glare at her, but he modified his response. "And if I don't care."

"Do it anyway," Mason ordered. "You want to behave like a child then I will treat you as one."

Darien stubbornly didn't move, he had no interest in listening to anything his father had to say right now.

Alyx set a gentle hand on his arm. "Darien, you need to hear this."

His glare at her only deepened, but her look didn't change. Sympathy mixed with determination. *Dearheart, it's important.*

He blinked, the emotions coming with her voice matching those on her face. "Yeah, okay." He stood, set a hand on Alyx's shoulder, wanting her by his side when his father imparted whatever surely to be horrible news he was about to share. She gave his hand a quick squeeze.

He followed his father out the back door and into the darkened yard, the only light available oozing out through the curtains covering the windows. He tipped his head up to see stars; millions and millions of them, the deep velvet blue filled with tiny pinpoints of light. More than they ever got to see from within the confines of the city proper.

"So what did you want to tell me?"

"What if I said your mother's accident wasn't?"

Darien's heart skittered to a stunned halt before tripling its rate. "Was it?"

His father tucked his hands into his back pockets still walking slowly across the yard, heading for the ancient playset Darien vaguely remembered from his youth. "I wish I knew."

Darien ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Do you know anything?"

"I know that I had been visiting your mother, seeing if maybe we could work things out."

Darien shook his head. "I don't remember that."

"Because we didn't want to tell you kids and get your hopes up if it didn't work out," Mason explained. "We'd been cautiously seeing each other for several months and we'd begun discussing me moving back in when-"

"When she died." Fuck. "Did your handler know what you were doing?"

"I don't know."

Darien paced away hand coming up to his forehead. "If they did… Are you saying they killed mom to keep you in the game?"

"I'm saying her death was very convenient. Too convenient. Driving on a road she knew like the back of her hand, no unusual weather conditions, no skid marks, no reason for her to have gone off the road." He leaned back against the swing set. "The investigation was slipshod at best."

"A cover up?"

His dad nodded. "That's what I was worried about."

"And you were afraid they'd go after me and Kev if you didn't fall back into the fold." It made perfect sense. Kill his wife and kill his reasons for going back to his family. And if they'd kill her there's little chance they wouldn't go after his kids to make certain he had no attachments and nothing to keep him from doing the oh so important work for the great U. S. of A. "Why were you so fucking important," he muttered.

"I'm not, but you and Kevin… You two had something special inside and I wanted you to have the chance to discover exactly how far you could go."

"Me special? Not a chance in hell. Not next to das wunderkind that was Kevin Fawkes." Darien should have known this would happen. Why couldn't he have been more like his wonderful, amazing brother, who everyone fawned over from the get go. "You don't need to remind me that I've never been as good or smart as him."

"Not as smart…" Mason stood upright, one hand rubbing the back of his neck in a way that was eerily familiar to Darien. "No one ever told you did they?"

"Told me what? That they were surprised I walked upright I'm so stupid?"

"No, that you tested out smarter than your brother," Mason told Darien and stunning him into silence for several minutes before he burst out in harsh laughter.

"Right, me smarter than Mr. Four-PhDs himself."

"I think we can safely say your talents lay elsewhere. I've seen your skills, do you really think they're that common?"

Darien realized his father wasn't joking, wasn't trying to belittle him, but actually meant every word he was saying. This had to be some weird dream, 'cause there's no way in hell this could be real. "Uh, this makes no sense. I never did anything-"

"Of course you did. Maybe not the right thing, but you definitely made an impression on everyone. Did you really think Kevin blackmailed the Official into taking you on?"

"You saying I was groomed for the Agency?" Darien shook his head. "That I was always supposed to go work for the 'Fish? Uncle Peter-"

"Had his own agenda, I am certain. Why else drag Kevin into his pet project," Mason argued, which made way too much sense to Darien.

"But then why push me to follow Kev? I may have been smart enough, but science bored me."

"Because, overall, research is safer. Being a field agent, as you well know, is damned dangerous. You… well, you had the mindset for it, you just needed a bit more seasoning."

Darien desperately wanted to sit down, his knees suddenly feeling weak at this news. Alyx had often wondered if it could be possible, that the two of them ending up at the Agency had been anything but happenstance, that it had been all but planned out from the get go. Oh, he knew she had been intended to join that group her husband worked for, or go to the Centre, but the Official had made his move first and acting on information cached by that same Uncle Peter and had brought her in to save his first investment: Darien Fawkes, the seventeen million dollar screw up. It could be argued better The Agency than the other choices, but, aside from meeting him, she'd probably rather be home with her children. "What the hell do I do now?" he muttered.

"Whatever you want," Mason told him. "I wanted to be there for you, wanted to be a father, but after your mother… I couldn't risk it. Can you understand that?"

Darien nodded. In the same situation he could see himself making the same choice. "I don't have to like it, do I?"

"No. I certainly didn't, but we play the hand we're dealt. Can we move forward from here?"

"I think so? I still have questions."

"Which I will do my best to answer. You understand that unless your girl is really that good that I may not see you again for months."

"Oh, she is that good. But you also have that phone, so unless you are too tech challenged to figure out how to text me you have no excuses for not saying hi regularly… or asking for help should you need it."

Mason chuckled. "I am far from tech challenged… unlike you. I'll do my best, but I'm seriously out of practice sharing any part of my life with others. Too many years working on my own." He tipped his head to the side. "Be there for her, for Alyx. She spends far too much time alone in the field. It gets to you after a while."

"I will."

It was Alyx who broke in on the conversation then. *You two okay?*

*Just fine. What's up?*

*One antsy granny wanting to serve dinner. If you're done trading punches now might be a good time to come in and eat.*

*Yes, ma'am. We'll be in in a moment.*

"Where did you go?" Mason asked, slowly walking towards his son.

"Talking to Alyx. Dinner is ready and Grams wants us inside."

"Ah, might be a good idea to head in then." They walked side-by-side back towards the house. "Is it weird, when she does that?"

Darien shook his head. "Not anymore. I couldn't imagine not being able to communicate with her mind-to-mind. It's… special and a huge part of who she is."

"You realize most people would freak out."

"Yeah, Hobbes did for quite a while."

"But for you it just felt right."

Darien paused. "How'd you know?"

"You fell for her the first time you met, didn't you."

Darien ducked his head not wanting to admit to his father he'd had a bad case of love at first sight with Alyx.

"Curse of the Fawkes men, we always know who we're supposed to be with."

"You and mom?"

He nodded. "First time I looked into her eyes..."

"You fell and never wanted to hit bottom."

"Exactly." Mason swung open the door. "Inside. If your grandmother has to come looking for us we'll never hear the end of it."

. . . . .

Alyx had fallen asleep.

Grams had insisted that Alyx do nothing, forcing the men to clean up and then help with dessert. Honestly, his girl hadn't done much all evening other than disseminate information. Grams had seen to that. Thankfully, Alyx had found it amusing more than anything to be waited on hand and foot by two grown men being ordered about by one feisty gray-haired old lady.

Darien had walked out into the living room, Alyx's dessert in hand, to find Grams gently placing a blanket over his sleeping girl. And she wasn't just dozing but out like a light. Grams shooed the two of them back into the kitchen with a glare and a whispered, "You will not wake her," that neither of the men even considered ignoring. Though Darien had taken the time to kiss Alyx gently on the forehead, he doubted there would be any way to get her conscious for at least a couple of hours.

Back in the kitchen his dad asked, "Is she all right?"

Darien nodded. "Just tired." Not a lie precisely, but most certainly not the whole truth. She been wired since coming back from that last job, not shocking given what had happened then and since. While she needed to sleep and he wanted her to sleep, he simply hadn't expected her to do so here.

"Then why do you look freaked out?" his dad asked, a most telling question indeed.

Darien managed a dry chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck to stall for time. How to explain this when he wasn't certain he understood himself. Here they were out in the middle of nowhere, his dad being hunted by assassins, which he now realized put his Grams at risk if they had been tracked here, but too late to put the horse back in the barn now. Then again, his dad was an assassin, a good one. Darien a spy, a decent one and they'd taken every precaution possible. She'd done what she had set out to do tonight and had no distractions to keep her awake. And her body had been placing huge demands upon her, wanting to heal, but unable to do so due to the nature of the injury.

Left alone for all of ten minutes there was little wonder she fell asleep. Sleep she deserved.

He answered, "This is big for her. To be that out means she's comfortable and feels safe. You have no idea how rare that is for her."

"Oh, I might have some idea," Mason responded.

Yeah, his dad probably knew a little something about living on edge for extended periods of time; always having to look over your shoulder, fearing sleep because it made you vulnerable to your enemies.

Darien realized that his dad and Alyx meeting might be a good thing, maybe he could provide some advice on how to turn it off for a little while and just be a person instead of the job.

"We're family, of course she feels safe," Grams stated emphatically, as if it should have been obvious to all of them.

Mason hugged his mother. "You just met her today."

She poked her son in the stomach, making him grunt. "Have you seen the way he looks at her?" She motioned towards Darien. "She's not going anywhere."

"Your mouth to gods ears," Darien said softly, causing his Grams to chuckle.

"You are both welcome to stay here tonight. She needs the sleep." Her tone brooked no argument.

"Thanks, Grams," Darien said, ducking his head. He agreed, even if it meant they'd have to cut out in the early hours of the morning to run home and change before heading into the office to see in which direction this situation had shifted.

He had a feeling the ground they stood upon had begun to crumble beneath their feet.

. . . . .

"This is a mess, Fawkes," Hobbes complained bitterly, damn near pounding the keys through the desk.

Darien grunted in agreement. Their current job, as handed down by their lord and master, was giving both of them a headache. Thefts ranging from military hardware, to high end tech software had gone missing and somehow they all tied together. The pieces and bits seemingly random and yet… and yet they needed to discover, not who had stolen them as many had been a party to the thefts, but who had been hoarding them and why. The thieves each different and unknowing of each other, the unidentified buyer, however, apparently the same.

And that made it of interest to The Agency.

"Maybe we should have the kid look at this. Maybe she'd have one of her… insights. Tell us what the hell this nutjob is trying to do with all this crap," Hobbes suggested, turning slightly to look at his partner.

Darien cocked his head to the side as he eyed his cranky partner. "Don't you think she has enough on her plate right now?"

Hobbes sighed in irritation. "Her… off the book job can't be taking up that much of her time."

Darien snorted. "If you think that's the only thing she's working on you'd be sadly mistaken. 'Fish has her doing all kinds of hacking while he has her undivided attention. And the Keep has her reviewing datasets by the dozens. Plus the constant tests and x-rays. She's ready to run for the hills." That was putting it mildly. Her crashing at his Grams' place had been a sure sign she was nearing the end of her endurance and that worried him. She had so much on her plate that she never seemed to take the time to just be and that could end up being a major problem.

Yeah, they'd gotten away for most of a week, but that had come with it's own set of stresses and things had only gotten more complicated since they'd returned to San Diego.

"But I thought she was supposed to be taking it easy?" Hobbes questioned, looking almost as confused as he sounded.

"Apparently, the Official's version of 'taking it easy' is working her twice as hard while she's in town. Though, Keep did make it clear it had to be desk jobs only. They're still pushing her too hard." Darien didn't really know how to fix this. She had to heal on her own, she had been doing most of the research for his dad on her own, and while he and Hobbes were more than willing to help, she was better at doing it on the sly. Plus, the Official had given them several cases to work on with this weird-ass theft one being the priority. Their plate was nearly as full as Alyx's, especially when you added in their after hours plotting.

Hobbes huffed. "Still, thirty minutes of review and she might be able to point us in the right direction."

Darien chuckled at the near desperation in his partner's voice. "I'll ask, but no promises, even she-"

A quick knock on the office door was followed almost instantly by it opening and Drake slipping inside.

"S'up, Drake?" Darien asked, switching tracks easily. The look on the ex-CIA-hacker's face boded ill for someone.

"The Official knows," he stated.

Hobbes leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. "Could you be a bit less vague?"

Drake met Darien's eyes squarely. "Oh. Crap. How?"

Drake shrugged. "A call got by me. And the Official does not like it when he doesn't know about something."

Hobbes had figured it out by then, a look of weariness passing across his features. "Surprised we kept it a secret this long," he muttered. "Where is he?"

"Heading down to the Keep where Alyx is," Drake answered. "I would highly recommend you intervene."

"Ya think?" Hobbes snarked as he got to his feet. "C'mon, Fawkes, let's rescue the damsel before she kills our boss."

Darien snorted as he got to his feet. "You too, Drake, you're neck deep in this."

The man straightened to his full height, which rivaled Darien's own, clearly taking umbrage with the phrasing. "I never intended to leave her to the proverbial lions…"

"Ease down, Drake, Alyx wouldn't have come to you if she didn't trust you," Darien assured him as he urged the man back out the door. "Now, how pissed is the Official?"

"Well, he didn't yell at me, just gave me the evil eye and walked out of the office."

Hobbes sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh, that ain't good."

"No kidding. Which is why I decided backup would be wise."

"Smart. Probably won't save you, but still smart," Hobbes told him earning a smile from the right hand man.

They rushed down the stairs, then the hallway to the Keep, the door already open, the Keep's voice had been loud enough to be heard before they burst through the double doors at the end of the hall. Hopefully she was getting between Alyx and the sure to be irate Official and not chastising her for him, which was possible given they hadn't let Claire in on the whole side job they'd been working on.

Claire was poking the Official in the chest when they arrived, threatening him with sending Alyx home on sick leave for an extended period, which Darien actually thought would be a good idea.

"Doctor, I just want to speak with her." His tone was calm and controlled, which surprised Darien and meant… He had no idea what that meant and so would have to let the drama play out before they decided on what type of intervention they should take.

"And I've told you, no more assignments, she's doing too much as it stands," the Keeper argued, plainly repeating her words.

Darien couldn't see Alyx, which meant she was in the other half of the lab, so he focused and sent, *Everything copacetic in here?*

She responded, projecting her voice more than loud enough to be heard by everyone, "Yeah, just fine. Keep went into Bobby mode as soon as the 'Fish walked into the lab."

"Bobby mode?" Claire repeated, sounding offended as she swung about to look at the other woman. "You cannot take on any more work right now."

"That's not why he's here, Keepy," Bobby informed her.

The Official turned his heavy gaze upon the three men still standing by the door. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you two were involved, but Drake…" He shook his head. "I'm seriously disappointed in you."

"Bullshit," Alyx stated, as she came around the glass divider, clearly not all that concerned about what the Official might do to her… or to them. "You'd be actually angry if this was a real problem."

"Kid?"

"Plausible deniability, Hobbes," Drake explained. "If the Official didn't know, he wouldn't be forced to lie."

The Official nodded. "Though he would like to know what the devil is going on under his nose." He turned to Alyx a hint of pride in those beady eyes of his. "Did you really score Perdue?"

She shrugged. "Yes and no." She glanced over at Darien who nodded ever so slightly. They'd had the talk about what they would do when the Official found out, he just hadn't expected his boss to be quite so reasonable. "We need to do this in a secure location and this room won't cut it. Plus, I'm gonna need to sit at some point."

The Official harrumphed. "Where?"

"The Archives," Hobbes suggested.

"Only if you want her sneezing in fifteen minutes or less," Darien responded, and it was true. The Archives hadn't been maintained to Eberts' OCD standards since the man had been revealed as a double agent for Changeling. Oh, papers still got filed there, but thanks to Drake and Alyx most of the paperwork was done electronically, saving on paper costs, which the Official liked. It helped that they'd been able to purchase comparatively inexpensive computers and do the mods themselves to specs Drake and Alyx had agreed upon and could accomplish on their own. Saved money all the way around for the aging Agency.

"None of the labs are suitable, and are probably bugged," Claire said, earning a sideways glare from the Official, but no disagreement. "I'm assuming you do not want outsiders to overhear?"

Alyx rolled her eyes, the answer to that obvious. "There's the blue room. If there are bugs I can fry them."

The blue room, part of the underground basement complex, had been converted into a physical therapy room when Darien had been recovering from being shot in the back and partially paralyzed. It had since become a sparring or workout room for employees, though most did not use it. Alyx liked to because being so far underground quieted all the voices in her head, the ground itself providing a buffer against the millions of minds in the city that she could not help but feel. Her weeks at The Centre had improved her ability to block all others out of her mind, but she still could not block every single mind for every single moment of every single day and there were few places where she could go and allow her hold to relax even slightly. The blue room was one of them and she took advantage of it when she could. Plus it allowed her to get in a workout during a week of schedule hell.

"We'll need to bring some extra chairs, but, yeah, that should work." Hobbes rolled his shoulders. "Fawkes, c'mon, we get to fetch the chairs." He turned to Alyx. "We'll meet you in five. Make sure the room is clean."

"Of course," she replied, reaching for the cane Claire had insisted she use when she'd refused the wheelchair. "I'm fine, D. I'll give you the deets later, we need to handle this first."

"Yes, you do," the Official grumbled, not about to allow them to wiggle out this time.

Once settled in the blue room Alyx stood before them all calm and quiet, not a ruffled feather to be felt. He couldn't say he was surprised she'd prepared for the Official discovering their ploy, but had no clue how she intended to handle it. This should be interesting.

"Miss Silver, is there a problem?"

"Not really. Are you certain you want to know? Once I bring you in you lose your only out," she tipped her head slightly to one side.

"I am aware," he rumbled. "But since I already know of it, I might as well know it all. I'll give you credit, I honestly thought no one could make a move like this under my nose. I'm presuming you did not intend to foil Yakiro's shot when you were assigned that mission."

"No, sir. Not until I saw the target." The truth and nothing but.

"And the target was Forrester Perdue." A statement, as even their boss could connect those dots, big as they were.

"Yes, sir."

"And why did you care?" The Official questioned. "The case with Royce was months ago; Perdue was never directly involved, why would he turn to you now?"

Alyx sighed softly. "Let's just say there are extenuating circumstances." An answer that wasn't one by any stretch of the imagination. "What is your stance on him: debrief or exterminate?"

"I haven't decided yet," he responded, look neutral. Which could mean there had been some serious pressure from above to remove Perdue from the equation. And that meant he had information that someone high up on the food chain did not want to see the light of day… ever.

"Fair enough. He came to me a few weeks after Royce was arrested to thank me for my assistance and discretion. Didn't seem right to let him take a modified

frangible round to the head less than a year later."

Darien had to hold back the snort of amusement at her phrasing. He knew she intended to make every effort to keep his father's true identity a secret, but both he and his dad had agreed that if that's what it took to save him, they'd tell the Official and hope it made a difference, because if the man chose to throw Perdue to the wolves there would be little they could do to prevent it.

"You have him at a secure location?"

"Yes, Chief," Hobbes answered, managing to not flinch when the Official turned his heavy gaze on them.

"And why didn't you report this to me?"

"Same reason Drake didn't, to give you that out should the shit hit the fan." Hobbes relaxed back into his chair, one ankle on the opposite knee. "Kid's handled this the best she could, except for getting herself shot that is."

The Official's eyes narrowed dangerously. He seemed to get that something was up, which it was, of course, though they could only hope he did not know precisely what or he could use it against them. "What kind of deal have you made with Perdue?"

Darien shrugged, thankful their boss had been wrong with his first guess. "None really. Needed to find out how high up the hit went first."

The Official pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you thought letting everyone think that we had him would get them to back down?"

"No, I thought it would give them a specific target and force them to go through channels to get to him," Alyx explained.

"Which is why you had Drake running interference." The Official sighed heavily.

"Sir, I-"

"Drake, believe it or not, I'm not angry. Miss Silver is good at her job and… has probably made the right decision in this case." He nodded at her. "Sit, please. We need to figure out how to handle this situation."

Alyx gimped her way over to the remaining chair and settled heavily into it. "I want it on the record that I had no intention to undermine your authority, but to protect it."

"Which I do appreciate, but it now has me playing catch-up." The neutral look on their boss' face was belied by the glint of greed in his eyes. Scoring Perdue, if only in the eyes of other agencies was a seriously big deal, but the consequences could swing either way.

Alyx failed to look the least bit contrite. "Well, if things had gone as I intended you would never have known he'd even been here." She ran her fingers through her hair. "So, are you going to take over or trust that I know what I'm doing?"

He frowned slightly, as if disappointed that she thought he would not trust her judgement. "They are going to be coming for Perdue. Yakiro most certainly. He'll want to finish the job. He might just take you out as well."

Darien shook his head. They'd made certain to look into the backlash from the missed shot, just in case. Didn't want one of the best snipers on the planet going after his girl in a snit. Yakiro was good enough to actually pull off assassinating her. "Nah, he thinks she just made a noob mistake. She officially had no idea where he was shooting from, just confirming the target."

The Official stared at Darien wide-eyed for a moment before pulling that mask of indifferent authority back into place. "Hobbes briefed you, huh?"

"Actually, Fawkes discovered that on his own. He's become quite adept at research, especially when it concerns Miss Silver," Drake responded, actually sounding impressed, which was a nice nod. Darien might have been tech challenged, but he was not only learning, but discovering that computers could be useful not only for his day job, but his extracurricular activities. And Alyx was a more than willing teacher. Plus she had fun designing new toys for him, even crazy-ass ones he dreamed up.

"They're all going to want a piece of him," the Official stated.

"Probably. Do we let them have him or assist a man who was burned for doing the right thing?" Alyx asked, appearing to be willing to abide by whatever decision he boss made. Darien knew that to be anything but the truth. If the Official decided to go for the kill Perdue would vanish.

But, thankfully, the Official shook his head. "I'll protect him, but he'll need to agree to terms."

"I'll see what kind of deal I can cut," she answered, as planned.

"No. Any deal will be negotiated by me in this office. If you want to offer him your personal protection, that's fine, but if this Agency is involved then it needs to be done here. Understood?"

"Of course," she conceded. "Tomorrow morning?"

The Official looked suspicious. "Why not today?"

"Because I want to make some arrangements to get him here on the sly," she told him. "Other interested parties believe he's still within the environs of this building, I do not want them to realize he hasn't been, so I need to sneak him back in."

"Boss, the hit is coming, no need to advertise Perdue's location any sooner than necessary," Hobbes pointed out, not the least bit wrong.

"I want her… your promise that you will bring in Perdue for negotiations."

She nodded. "Promise. I'll keep Drake in the loop as to the plans, okay?"

The Official nodded. "That'll do." He pushed himself upright. "This is potentially dangerous corner you've backed this Agency into."

"I know, sir, but that doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do." She lifted her chin to meet her boss' heavy gaze, not defiance so much as confidence. She had done the right thing and would not back down.

He chuckled darkly. "True. Very true. Get to it."

They all nodded and their boss left the room, leaving the four of them to begin planning.

"So, are you using the back door this time?" Drake asked, looking a tad stunned that everything had gone as well as it had.

Alyx looked over at Darien, who nodded. "Yeah. Full on sneak in this time." He turned back to her. "Is he in town yet?"

She shook her head. "No. He had to finish up the job he was on. Should be here in a couple of days if all goes well. We should be able to hold the fort down until then. He's already begun work on the papers we'll need, so we'll be able to move quickly once he's here."

"How much of this did you plan ahead of time?" Drake asked.

Hobbes laughed. "All of it. Bet she even planned for the 'Fish wanting him brought in."

Alyx shrugged. "Well I admit to hoping it wouldn't be necessary, but given he could have ordered us to complete the hit ourselves, I'll take it."

"I'm pretty certain the Official knows you wouldn't permit that to happen," Drake pointed out.

"I am well aware of that bit of truth, Quentin." She raised an eyebrow in emphasis. "I'll take what I can get. At least he feels we've scored a coup and not fucked up." She rubbed her face in her hands looking tired. "Damn, I have a ton of work to do."

"We can-"

She shook her head, cutting off what was certain to be an offer of help from Drake. "No, the fewer who know the better. You'll have the security needs by end of day today. The rest…"

"Need to know," Darien said softly, earning a tiny smile for his reward.

"Exactly," Hobbes agreed. "Let me know what you need from me, kid."

"Of course, Bobby." Leaning heavily on the cane she stood. "How about a lift home. I need to do this not here."

Hobbes shook his head and chuckled. "Kid, you sound like you need serious painkillers and a nap."

"That too," she agreed. "Work first, recovery later."

"And me?" Darien asked, wondering why she wanted Hobbes to take her home and not himself.

"You will be checking on some things here, once I'm in front of my computer. If… if that's okay."

"Fawkes, it's probably something she wants your thiefy expertise for," Hobbes said, taking a reasonable stab in the dark.

She nodded.

Drake threw up his hands, looking like he wanted to stick his fingers in his ears and shout lalalalalalalalala to drown out anything compromising they might say. "If you need anything from me…"

"I will, and will call." She gazed at the three men before her. "I know I'm keeping things close to the vest, but-"

Hobbes shook his head. "You're doing your job and you're lead." He glanced over at Darien. "We've got your back."

Darien wasn't too keen on the support only role, given it involved his dad, but his partner had a point, she was most certainly lead on this and she wanted his dad dead no more than he did. It didn't hurt that she was damn good at her job. "Whatever you need, sweets."

She grinned. "Don't worry, you'll enjoy it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Enjoy what?"

"Oh, nothing too strenuous. Just casing a couple places."

Drake sighed. "And on that bit of information that I probably didn't want to know, I am out of here." He turned about and made good his escape even as Hobbes laughed.

Darien smiled at his girl and rubbed his hands together. "I knew I kept you around for a reason. What's the target?"