I don't own anything that Dick Wolf owns

Hey readers.

I updated chapter 7 and 8 very close to each other, so make sure you read chapter 8 as well.

I'm going on a vacation so it might be a while until I update. I hope you like this chapter. Please review if you feel like it, I love reading them.

Being completely honest, Amanda had to admit she wanted to stay with Nick tonight. To forget everything and just lie in his arms. Was she doing the right thing?

She couldn't let it go now anyway. Whatever the truth was, she had to know. She had to talk to Marco Diaz.

Marco Diaz was a man who believed in second chances. Ever since he was young he felt that events described by others as miracles were second chances. He saw people let them go, but he saw others seize them.

He was fascinated by the fact people could turn their lives around. He found himself wanting to be a part of something like that, to help people go on a new path, change for the better. Psychology seemed like the perfect fit for him. But he couldn't afford to go to college, he came from a poor family and there was no way they could help him.

He had to go with plan B. He joined the army with the hope to get the funding for school. As it often happens, those plans were scrapped.

He met his future wife and decided to focus on a career that will benefit from his army experience. Accepting a position with the Marshal US service seemed like the right thing to do. After joining WITSEC it looked as if he was going to be a part in people's second chances.

Of course it was not easy. It was a drastic change for the people in the program, whether they were regular people who witnessed a crime or the criminals. There were times things went smoothly and tough cases, not all ending for the better.

And then there was Tim Rollins.

When he got that case he also got a conversation with his boss saying they needed to make sure he testifies. He was supposed to testify against a big fish so they had to make sure of that.

But Diaz didn't like Tim. He felt there was something off with him, he had a gambling problem, he tried to make it seem like it was no big deal, but Diaz could see it was a very big deal.

He ended up threatening him – testifying after getting help, or jail. They could find something to charge him with. So Tim made the right choice, and ended up surprising Diaz.

One of the hardest parts was dealing With Tim's Family. He told them there is no way his wife would agree to go, they could barely look at each other, and she wouldn't let him take the girls. Because of the animosity between the two it was dangerous to tell her the truth, they feared she might end up telling someone, which would threaten Tim and the whole family. So they had one option left, he had to disappear. He made one last call, told his wife about the divorce, she didn't want him to talk to his daughters. After all that he started his new life.

Diaz promised to make sure the girls are safe. He went there himself once in a while for a year. There was no one suspicious, not anyone connected to Jeffries. Even though he watched from afar it was clear things were not easy in that house. He felt sorry for the girls, the mother wasn't really there all the time, and it seemed as if the older daughter had to raise the little one.

Diaz didn't blame the mother, he was certain it was hard for her to live with Tim, both of them had problems and were bad for each other. But he hoped she could try harder for the girls.

After a year with no visible threats from Jeffries he stopped checking in on the family. When years later, just before his retirement, he broke the rules for Tim, he couldn't say he was surprised. The older daughter was now a detective and the young one was wanted for murder. Obviously he left the murder charges out when he told him he couldn't find anything.

He found retirement soothing, he enjoyed the stress less days, doing nothing, resting. His wife said it was only because it hasn't been too long. He promised her he's done with that life. But he thought he could be wrong when he saw the car parking next to the house.

He questioned his eyesight for a moment when he saw her. But it was her. He would have recognized her even if he hadn't seen her picture not so long ago. Amanda Rollins. This could not be good.

He stood up as she approached him "detective Amanda Rollins" he said, she didn't look surprised that he knew who she was.

"Deputy US Marshal Diaz"

"Retired" he smiled and they shook hands.

He offered her some coffee, she looked pretty tired.

"You must have some connections, if you found me here" he smiled "I do have a feeling you come here bearing bad news" he said after he gave her the cup and she took a few sips.

"Well deputy…"

"You call me Marco and I'll call you Amanda, is that alright?" she nodded.

"Well, Marco, I'm here to find some answers, about my dad"

"I see, is he in trouble?"

"I'm not sure if he's in trouble or if he's the trouble" she smiled "I don't know if I can trust him"

"The fact you're here means that something's wrong, but it also means you care"

"That's true" she nodded, she didn't want to tell him everything "I just want to know if what he told me about him being at WITSEC is true"

"I shouldn't be telling you this" he smiled "but he was" he looked at her, she took another sip of the coffee, it was probably pretty cold by now "you know" he got up to pour her another cup "I didn't like your father when I met him. I didn't have a choice, I had to get him into the program. And he didn't have a choice either. I wish I could tell you we did everything right, but that's not true" he sat back down and looked at her for a moment "there's nothing I can say to make this into something else, it is what it is. He left, it hurt, I know"

Amanda was quiet, she just listened.

"But I do believe he changed, he didn't get in trouble all this years. I'm guessing there's something now, that's why you're here right?"

Amanda smiled, it sure was.

She didn't tell him everything. Not because she didn't trust him, on the contrary, she trusted him, she couldn't explain why, but she did.

Murphy told her he heard he was a good guy, so maybe, if he though so, her dad was too? Maybe she could trust him.

She felt hopeful, and it was a really good feeling.

Parking the car Amanda realized how tired she was. She didn't have much time left before she had to go to work. Maybe she could ask Fin to cover for her so she could sleep for at least an hour. But she decided against is, she would do her best not to fall asleep at work. The thought made her frown, as if she needed to get into more trouble with Olivia. She still had to work hard to earn her trust back.

Amanda half expected Frannie to jump on her when she opened the door. But then she remembered she's at Nick's. Now that thought made her smile.

She walked in and was about to turn around to close the door but she felt someone push her inside. He placed his hand on her mouth and kicked the door with his foot at the same time. She heard it slam shut.

Amanda wasn't weak, she could fight if she was attacked. But not this time, he was too fast. Amanda Felt the knife go into her abdomen, and then she felt it again.

He let her go and she fell on the floor. She heard the door open and close.

She didn't feel any pain for a few seconds, but then she felt like her stomach was on fire. Her heart was beating very fast, as if it would pop out of her body. Fear washed all over her, and she was cold but could feel sweat forming on her forehead.

She had to close her eyes, they were just so heavy. But even with her eye lids shut, she felt like she could still see the blood coming out of her body.

But then she didn't feel anything anymore.