“Garrett, what are you doing?”  Holly Spencer demanded as her son reentered the house with suitcase in hand.  “That’s hers.  We talked about this!”

 

“Mom, her mother kicked the shit out of her and then had someone rape her.  I’m *not* letting her stay in that house.  She’s too important to the organization – she’s too important to me.” Garrett said firmly.  “She stays.”

 

“Her mother *what?!?*”  Holly fairly shrieked.  “That filthy IMF bitch… the poor thing…” 

 

“I got a pretty good look at the damage…it’s pretty bad, three cracked ribs at least.”

 

“We have to talk to your father.  I’m coming upstairs with you, the poor little thing’s got to be scared out of her mind and she’s hurt.”

 

Garrett and his mother made their way upstairs to his room.  Opening the door, Garrett looked around for Cassidy, not seeing her anywhere.  “Cass?”

 

Cassidy was curled up in the far corner of the room, and she looked to have fallen asleep.

 

Garrett set her suitcase down and walked over to her.  He carefully picked her up and set her down on the bed.

 

Holly had clapped a hand over her mouth.  “I’m calling one of your father’s medical people up here.”

 

Garrett nodded and wrapped his arms around Cassidy’s shoulders.

 

She stirred and stiffened almost instinctively, but then calmed down when she realized it was Garrett.  “Hi.”

 

“Mom went to get one of dad’s medical guys to check you out.” He told her.  “You’ll be able to stay here.”

 

“Thank you,” Cassidy said, starting to actually wake up.  “You probably saved my life.”

 

“All in a days work.” He replied, already making a mental note to kill Aidan Callahan next time he saw him.

 

She smiled a bit at that as Holly reentered with a female doctor – Holly had imagined Cassidy wouldn’t want another man anywhere near her.  “How are you, Cassidy dear?”  Holly asked.

 

“Alright, I guess… alive.”

 

Holly nodded and moved aside.  “This is Doctor Greene.  She’s going to make sure you’re okay.”  The doctor approached Cassidy.  “Can you show me any place that’s particularly painful?”

 

“It hurts to breathe,” Cassidy replied, keeping a firm grip on Garrett’s hand.

 

“Okay.” The doctor lifted Cassidy’s shirt to get a look at her ribcage.  “Garrett was right.  I’m going to have to wrap that part of your ribcage so they’ll heal correctly.  You’ll probably feel a lot of discomfort at first, but it shouldn’t take too long for them to heal.” The doctor explained, helping Cassidy sit up.

 

Cassidy winced at being forced upright, but reminded herself that it was a lot more comfortable than being kicked repeatedly, so she simply nodded.

 

“I’m going to need you to hold your hands above your head.” She told Cassidy as she began to wrap the white material around her chest.  “And you have to keep breathing, you’ll just make it worse if you hold your breath.”

 

Cassidy complied, still silent.  Only twice in her life had she been brought to a doctor, both times because something was broken.  She simply wasn’t terribly comfortable with the medical profession… but she did know how to listen to directions. 

 

The doctor finished wrapping her up.  “Good girl, you can put your arms down now.” She said, standing.  “Make sure she doesn’t get out of the bed until most of the bruises have faded and she doesn’t feel anymore discomfort when she breathes.” The doctor told Holly who merely nodded.  “And if anything happens be sure to make me your first call.”

 

Garrett gently helped Cassidy lay back against the pillows.

 

“Trust me, you will be,” Holly replied.  “Are you hungry, dear?”

 

“I guess…”  Cassidy was definitely not used to such questions.

 

“Garrett, get her whatever she wants.  I’m going to talk to your father.” Holly said, walking downstairs.

 

Nathan Spencer was sitting in his office, busy at the computer, but he looked up with a smile when Holly entered.  “I see Garrett brought his girlfriend by again.”

 

Holly seemed to hesitate.  “I need to talk to you about that.  Garrett brought her here with her suitcase.”

 

Nathan stopped working.  “No.  She’s seventeen.”

 

“I know that, but you should see her, she’s a wreck.  That IMF bitch of a mother kicked the crap out of her and then had someone rape her.  She could have been killed.”

 

“And if that same mother decides to report her kidnapped or missing, *we’ll* be the ones that could be killed,” Nathan said.  “Don’t think I’m condoning this, because I’m not, but you’ve got two sons of your own that I think you’d worry more about than someone else’s daughter, Holly.  It’s not safe for us with her here, and she’s not safe here either.  If that woman knows who Garrett is – and if she doesn’t, the other girl does – then it’s *exactly* what the IMF is looking for.  Just because they’re in police uniforms when they show up on the doorstep doesn’t mean they’re cops.”

 

“But it’s too dangerous for her there.  She can’t stay there anymore, Nathan.  She’s not safe.  And Garrett’s so fond of her…”

 

“She’s not safe here, either.  The only difference is we aren’t safe either if she’s here.”  He sighed.  “You know I like Cassidy just as much as you do, she’s a good kid and it’s a small miracle that she’s made it to seventeen.  But she’s going to have to make it for another seven months or so until she’s eighteen and she can leave home.”

 

“What if she doesn’t stay with us exactly…what if we put her in another agent’s home, someone who they can’t trace back to us?”

 

“I trust our people, Holly, but they’ve got families to worry about too.  We can’t ask that of them.  And we can’t ask them to cover for us if IMF agents are holding guns to their children’s heads and asking where we are.”

 

“She’s not going back to that house, Nathan.  *I* won’t let her go back there.”

 

“She has to.  But she’s not going back unprepared this time.”

 

“She was prepared last time and look what happened!”

 

“Not as prepared as she could have been.”  Nathan reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a compact pistol that Cassidy could easily hide on her person, followed by a panic button.  “She’s going back with these.”

 

Holly sighed at the sight of the all-too-familiar panic button.  Everyone in the family had one.  “Just because she has the panic button doesn’t mean she’s safe.”

 

“No.  But she’s safer than she was.”  He paused.  “She had the foresight and the nerve to fight back.  She’s not going to risk it happening again if she’s armed.  She’s going to have to go home as soon as she’s well.”

 

“What if her mother comes at her with a gun and Cassidy doesn’t have hers?  She’s dead, and Garrett will not only kill the mother, he’ll blame you because you made her go back.”

 

“She’s no more at risk than I am every time I leave the house, and so far so good.”

 

“You don’t have a deranged woman trying to kill you every ten seconds just because you exist.”

 

“No.  I have a deranged secret organization run by a corrupt government trying to kill me every three seconds just because I don’t like them.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Grace picked up the phone and dialed the number in her hand.  “Bryce Callahan, please.” She said when someone picked up.

 

A moment later, Bryce answered.  “This is Callahan, what do you want?”

 

“That’s not a very pleasant way to greet your daughter.”

 

“You’re lucky this phone line’s secure or I’d have to kill you.  What can I help you with?”

 

“I don’t like or in anyway agree with what you did…but…I’m…I want to be able to have some kind of father-daughter type relationship with you.”

 

He snorted.  “I could do more for you as an agent than as my illegitimate daughter, I’m afraid.”

 

Grace paused.  “Then I want to be an agent.”

 

A moment of silence passed.  “Very well.  Come in and see me, they’ll send you right up when you get here.”

 

“Thank you.” Grace hung up the phone and left the phone booth right outside the IMF building and went in.

 

The secretary simply nodded.  “You know where you’re going.”

 

“Yeah…thanks.”  Grace went up to Bryce’s office.

 

“Have a seat.  We haven’t exactly got a secret agent welcome packet, but I imagine you know the drill as you’ve grown up around it.  I’d just like to remind you that if you get caught, we don’t know who you are.”

 

Grace sat and listened.  “I’ve been reminded and informed then.”

 

“Good.”  He passed a pistol across the table.  “Play with this and I’ll give you an assignment in a week.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The door opened, and Cassidy walked in as if she’d never left.  She’d spent the last few days with Nathan Spencer, getting very good at using the little gun.  Garrett had even volunteered to let her practice some more self-defense with him.  She’d never throw him, but she could at least fend him off.  So there was a little bit more confidence upon arriving than she’d had on leaving. 

 

Besides, Nathan had promised a thirty-second response time if she pressed that button.  Even if her mother shot her, so long as it wasn’t through the head, they could at least get there before she died.

 

Grace heard the door open and ran downstairs.  “Oh, it’s only you.” She said, continuing on into the kitchen.  “Feeling better?”

 

“I can breathe without wanting to cry, if that’s what you’re asking.”

 

“How bad did you hurt mom? She’s been gone for almost a week.”

 

“All I did was punch her and get her once in the gut.  She broke three ribs and then had me raped.  Guess it’s a moment of delightful irony for her.”

 

Grace wasn’t quite sure what to say.  “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, sister dear, the only reason our *wonderful* mother married David Kincaide was me.  He raped her, she got pregnant, and poof!  Look, it’s a little Cassidy, let’s beat the fucking shit out of her and kill her before she’s eighteen.”

 

“Oh…” Grace replied, raising her eyebrows.  “Did you stay with Garrett?”

 

“No,” Cassidy said curtly.  “He drove me to a doctor’s and I stayed there.”  She knew it was important that the rest of her “family” not know where she’d been.  “He visited as much as he could.”

 

“Oh.” was all Grace said.  She went to the fridge and opened it.  “Are you hungry? I was going to make something for Dylan.”

 

“Yeah, I guess.”  Cassidy suddenly hugged her sister.  “Look, sorry if I’m bitchy.  It’s not you.”

 

Grace hugged her sister back.  “Yeah…I know. But Cassidy, can you not leave for a week and just come back like nothing happened anymore?  Between you and mom, it’s like Dylan and I don’t even matter.”

 

“If I don’t keep leaving, I’m going to wind up dead,” Cassidy said simply.  “Mom’s made that pretty clear.”

 

“What if you just stayed out of her way?”

 

“As long as I’m alive, as far as she’s concerned, I’m in her way.”

 

Grace sighed, there seemed to be no reasoning with her.  “Fine, whatever.” Grace went back to making lunch.

 

Cassidy paused a moment, then simply went upstairs.

 

 

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