Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice

Daddy Dearest

"Michael?" I take my finger off the trigger, giving him a chance to explain himself, "But what are you doing here?"

"I just replaced Agent 4979 as the assignment leader on the Oliver Kardell hit." He tells me with a nonchalant shrug.

"You replaced Tyler? You work for Skyline?" I drop the gun to my side and it almost slides from my grip, "Since when? And why are you at the safe house?"

"I was looking through the agent roster for this assignment and I saw you. I couldn't believe it at first, but then I followed you to Corrine's house last night. I can't believe you're okay!" There are tears in his eyes and he steps towards me to hug me. I shrug his hands off and step further back.

"How could you be this close the whole time? What about your daughter?" I am disgusted with him and make no effort to hid it.

"I know, but you're back now, I can be your dad again." There is a smile on his face and he has misunderstood what I said.

"No, Michael, not me. What about Grace? You've been gone for six years and now Corrine is gone too. Grace is alone but you've been in the city? How could you?" The look that crosses his face is the one that should have been there at the beginning.

"Grace is alone? What is she doing for food and water and paying the bills?" I can see genuine concern on his face, maybe he's not as bad as I thought he was.

"Don't worry about it, she's coming to stay with me until Mom comes back. Maybe even after Mom's home, depending on how she is." I tuck the gun into the waist of my shorts, deciding that Michael isn't a threat.

"You call her 'Mom'." Michael is looking at the ground.

"Yeah, I do." I shrug and begin to pull my jacket off, It's boiling in here.

"Come to dinner?" He suddenly bursts out. "Come to my house for dinner?"

"I can't, Michael." I begin to head for the stairs and Michael follows. "I'm going to get Grace and take her back to my apartment."

"Bring Grace, too!" he beams. If only it was that simple. She thinks I work for a nanny agency, how do I tell her that I just met our dad at a Skyline safe house?

"Look, I'll try. But I can't give you any promises." I sigh as we reach the front door. He understands and gives me his number.

"Call me later?" He asks, knowing it's a long shot.

"Yeah." I nod and pull the door open. I head down the path with him at my heels and open the door of the Hyundai. "Oh, do you... Do you need a ride or something?"

"No, my car is parked around the corner." He reaches to hug me again and I decide to give him this one. I wrap my arms weakly around him until he releases me, "I'll call you after I talk to Grace."

At my apartment, Grace drops her bags by the door and takes a look around. The whole time she is wandering around the bedroom, kitchen and living room she has a huge grin on her face, but now it's time to get serious.

"Grace, come and sit down for a minute?" I pat the sofa and she drops down next to me.

"What's up?" She is still smiling, making this a thousand times harder.

"It's about my job." I begin and she nods expectantly, "I'm not a nanny. I'm a... Well, I'm a government... Agent." 

"What?" Her eyes widen, but I can't find a good way to say it. 

"I was sent to Nate's house to watch his father. He's a big time drug smuggler and my company was hired to... Deal with him."

"Deal with him?" Grace asks, and I decide that the best way to do this is to just spit it out.