"Everyone down!" Rick yelled, then ran to the front windows in time to see a figure jump their fence, then run down the driveway.

"Cover me, Robbie!" Rick called back to his son, then grabbed his gun from the gun case and raced out the front door. He saw the shooter climbing into a dark car, and knowing he couldn't catch up with him, aimed at the vehicle's tires as it roared to life.

"Stop!" he barked out, then fired a round at the fleeing car, hearing several "pings" as it started to accelerate. Suddenly sparks started to fly, and he quickly went down the drive and out onto the road in time to see the car weaving as if it's steering was damaged. At once Rick heard another engine start up, then he dived out of the way as a sports car sped past him, then vanished down the highway.

"Stay here, Pop!" Robbie shouted, jumping into his cruiser and quickly starting it up. As he drove past Rick, he slowed enough to say "Everyone's all right, Pop, except James….he's dead. I've called it in; Andy will have a road block up in 10 minutes."

"Careful, son…don't try to take them by yourself!" Rick warned him, then watched him drive off. Seeing the taillights fade into the distance, he went back into the house and saw that Oscar had covered the agent's body with a sheet.

"Thanks, Dad, where's Laurie?"

"In the kitchen, Rick. I didn't want her to look at this jerk any more then she had to . What now scares me is that James was shot here ….no noise, no warning. We didn't even hear the car…what if someone comes after you guys here again?" Oscar added worriedly.

At once Rick felt old; after all these years of living in a "supposedly safe" place, how could he protect his wife against an unknown enemy?

"I don't know…maybe I'd better take Laurie to A.J.'s, until we find out what's going on." He said, almost despondently.

"Son, don't blame yourself; you never saw this coming. If I didn't know any better, I'd say …." Oscar stopped, lost in thought for a moment, then Rudy came in and interrupted them.

"Oscar, I want Rick to take Laurie away from here…she says that James mumbled something about "bait for the expensive one".

"Bait?" Rick frowned, then Oscar jerked his head up. "That's it..Rick…you both need to go now. I think James spilled the beans about what's up, if what I'm thinking is correct, this is part of a plot to sell secrets about the bionics program by setting up a phony plot about the Secretary. I think they're after Steve and Jaime."

Rick didn't waste any time. "Thanks Dad, Rudy. Let me get Laurie and some stuff together, can you call A.J. for me?"

"On it, son." The older man mustered a tired smile as Rudy added, gently, "she's more worried about you being in danger because of her, then for herself."

Shaking his head, Rick went into the kitchen and saw Laurie huddled in a chair, shaking. Scared, he dropped to one knee in front of her. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

Startled, she looked up at him, then launched herself into his arms. "Rick….I'm so frightened….that guy was shot here…our home. We're not safe in our own place."

"Darlin'….it's all right, I'm here….it's all right." He picked her up and carried her to their room. Setting Laurie down on the bed, he sat down then cuddled her to him.

"Rick….hold me, just hold me…." She murmured, near tears. Rick did that, stroking her hair and placing little kisses on her face. She calmed down, then lifted her face to his, returning his kisses and caressing his cheek.

"I love you….how I love you, darling. I'm okay now…I never want know what it is to be without you, my love." She said after a few moments. Rick took her hand in his and kissed it.

"Angel, you'll never be without me….never without my fierce girl. Now, I need you to get a couple of changes of clothing, okay?" he said. "Until we find the ones behind this, I want you safe with Linda and A.J."

Laurie's eyes darkened. "Rick, this is our home, I won't let anyone chase us away ……"

"No, sweetheart, we're not being chased, we're going to regroup and do the chasing, okay?" At the serious look on his face, Laurie's face softened. "Okay. But we do this together."

Biting his tongue so he wouldn't have to lie, Rick stood up, pulling her up with him. "Together is what I like." He smirked.

By the time the two Simons got to Phoenix, the roadblock to Silver Rock had yielded nothing but an abandoned car. As they pulled up to A.J.'s condo, Rick spotted a familiar cruiser at the curb, and he smiled as Laurie reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Bless him, darling, I guess Robbie or A.J. called him." Relieved, Rick stole a look at his wife, then raised her hand to his lips.

"Bless you for being my Valkrie." He whispered.

"Only yours, love….oh, Rick, we have a reception committee." Laurie told him, as he released her hand to get out and greet their friend Chief Ron Johnson.

"Auntie, Auntie!" Two children raced over and Laurie gleefully caught Melly and David, in her arms. "Well, thanks for coming to say hello….how did you know we were coming?"

"Daddy said so." Melly told her importantly, then Linda came up behind them, a worried look on her face.

"All right you guys, can you take Auntie Laurie inside, she's probably tired."

"Course, come on, Auntie….." David puffed his chest out and held out his hand.

"Sure, Davey." Laurie crooked an eyebrow at Rick, who tousled the little boy's hair as he was joined by A.J..

"Go ahead, honey, we'll be inside in a minute," A.J. explained, giving Laurie a kiss on her cheek. "Abby's got some tea waiting for you inside."

"Yes, A.J.." Laurie sighed, knowing Rick and A.J. were going to confer with Ron on the death of the former OSI agent.

As soon as she disappeared into the condo with the others, A.J. cleared his throat. "Robbie called, they found the car used by the sniper on the side of the road outside of Window Rock. Rick, inside…they found a paper with information on you and Laurie and Steve, then they found a rifle..it has the fingerprints of the Secretary on it."