Three months had passed since Kara had last heard from her father. Three months with no calls, no texts, no mail, not even a birthday card for her all-important twenty-first. Life had gone on without him. School, parties, even a new job running around for one of the professors at school, and the prospect of a new boyfriend, everything had happened without her father. And that was all just fine with Kara. She prided herself on not having shed a single tear since hearing that he wanted her out of his life. She had wanted him out of hers as well. Wasn't that what she had been pushing him to do, leave her? She had been pushing him into it for years. So she should be happy about it, right? But she was numb. Still numb. After all these months. She felt nothing. Still.

The low angle of the full moon shone through the vast windows of the Rossi house, allowing enough light for Kara to wander through the rooms without turning on a light. It was after 3 and Kara was alone, her parents having taken off for the cabin two days earlier. They had asked Kara to go with them, but she didn't feel like being a third wheel. They deserved time alone, especially after everything she had put them through over the past several months. She also wanted time to herself. Portraying a happy face all the time was wearing and she needed a break from the front she was always putting on. This display of hers was easy in front of her mother, but she avoided David like the plague. For all the teasing she and her mother put him through, he really was quite good at his job, and too much time spent with him would leave him knowing that there was something wrong with her.

David's office was her favorite room and she saved it for the final leg of this night time tour. Moving slowly, she finally settled into her favorite corner club chair, pulling the throw blanket from the back of it and across her lap. She tucked her feet underneath her and slid down low. Once cozy, she looked across the room and found a crystal decanter of whiskey in her line of sight. Her lip pulled as she contemplated the appropriateness. All of her problems probably started with the alcohol, her mother's alcoholism to be precise. The stint in rehab forced her to live with her father which was the beginning of the downward spiral of that relationship. For a moment she thought, sitting there in the dark, that maybe she could make alcohol part of the solution and partake in a shot. Her last birthday made her of legal age, David probably wouldn't miss a shot, and it would help her sleep. The moment was fleeting though when she recalled that it would probably only enhance the numbness which was consuming her. No, alcohol was not her means of escape.

Her vice of choice was shoplifting. She had not engaged in this particular activity in quite a while, not since she had come clean to Dave one night and promised her mother she wouldn't do it again. She closed her eyes and reminisced about one day, months ago, when she had gone into a store and slipped cosmetics into her purse. The euphoria she felt then started creeping up on her now and she sighed deeply, relaxing in her memory. Tomorrow she would feel guilty and depressed that these are the kinds of thoughts that relaxed her and helped her sleep, but for now she would give herself over to it and sleep.

Kara jolted awake. Her eyes flew open and her heart pounded, but she was unaware of what roused her. She remained immobile and worked at slowing her breathing. All of her senses were on high alert. A moment later, she heard the tinkling of breaking glass coming from elsewhere in the house. How could her heart be beating harder than it was a mere moment ago? She slithered onto the floor and crawled the few feet to David's desk where a phone was sitting. Reaching up, she was able to pull it down only to find that there was no dial tone. The house alarm wasn't sounding, so the power must have been cut. Rummaging sounds could be heard coming from the living room. Kara remained crouched behind David's desk contemplating her next move. Her cell phone was upstairs next to her bed, so that would be of no help. Should she stay where she was and wait it out? That question was quickly answered as footsteps rushed down the hall towards her. Of course, if someone was targeting her family, Dave's office would be the logical focus. Still on the ground, Kara scampered to the opposite end of the room hoping the moonlight wouldn't cast its glow on her, and hid behind the open door.

Two men entered, one staying at the door and the other darting to the desk. Kara's body was scrunched as small as she could make it and she held her breath.

The banging of locked drawers being pulled echoed through the room. "Damnit, it's locked," said one of the intruders.

"Shoot it," called the other.

The ear splintering sound of several bullets being fired at the desk caused Kara to reflexively throw her hands up to her ears, but this action went undetected by the criminals.

"I don't see anything here."

"It has to be there somewhere. Keep looking."

The ring tone of Kara's phone sounded off upstairs causing all action to cease.

"Someone's here!"

"We need to leave now. There's nothing in this desk."

Before Kara's mind could even register the danger she was in, the two offenders were gone. Rooted in her spot behind the door, her body shaking, she removed her hands from her ears. Sirens could be heard approaching and her phone had started to ring again, but she could not get her body to move and her mind was blank.

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The ringtone sounded on the bedside table and Rossi reached for it out of habit.

"Rossi."

"Mr. Rossi, this is Matt from Alliance Security. The alarm at your house has been disabled. There are no power outages in the area so we have dispatched police. Are you home right now?" If there was ever a statement to fully awake the agent, that was it.

David pulled his body up and answered, "No. My daughter is home though."

"Police have been dispatched and will be there soon."

"Thank you," he said, out of habit, and ended the call.

By this point Erin's senses had been alerted, "What's wrong?"

"The alarm at the house has been disabled. I'm calling Aaron."

Erin reached for her own phone, "I'll call Kara. Maybe she just turned it off."

"No. The company can tell the difference -Aaron? Something is wrong at my house and Kara is home alone."

Erin said, "She's not answering her phone," as she moved around the room preparing to leave.

David said into his phone, "Kara's not answering her phone. We'll leave now but it will take about an hour to get there."

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Sirens whirred in the distance amidst the ringing in Kara's ears, and she stood to take in the scene around her. The phone upstairs continued to ring, but it seemed so far away. The sturdy desk had certainly taken the brunt of the bullets, yet was in better condition than she imagined it would be. Of course, she thought, Dave always did buy the best of the best. Leave it to him to have an almost bullet-proof workstation.

A car screeched to a halt and rushed footsteps bounded towards the house. With the sirens still further away, Kara's defenses rose again and she froze, or rather tried to freeze as she became aware that she was shaking uncontrollably. Within moments, Aaron Hotchner was standing in front of her, gun moving quickly from pointing at her to pointing at the ground as he yelled, "In here," he yelled and stepped closer.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No," she said. Her voice sounded so small that it surprised her and she attempted to clear her throat and try again. No luck.

"It's ok," the agent said, reaching out to take her arm, "let's get you out of here."

Through little effort of her own, she was guided into the living room. and seated on the couch. As soon as her arm was released, she rose.

"Kara, you need to sit."

"No," she whispered again, but found herself sitting nonetheless. By this point she was aware that most of her stepfather's team had arrived and the police were entering the house. Things seemed very loud as people began talking and searching. The ringing she was still hearing was not helping matter. Agent Hotchner was standing over her ordering people around, and JJ walked towards her, phone to her ear.

"We're here, Erin. She is unharmed but appears to be in shock," JJ sat down next to Kara and smoothed her hair as she talked. "Kara, your mom's on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"

"No," she whispered for the third time. Any resolve she was holding on to would completely shatter if she heard her mother's voice.

"Erin," JJ said into the phone, still stroking Kara, "she's really shaken up. We'll get her to the hospital and I promise I'll stay with her until you arrive." After ending the call, she said to Kara, "Your mom and Dave are on their way home. The EMTs are here now to take you to the hospital."

"No!" The volume made several heads turn.

"Well, she's found her voice," Agent Morgan said with some amusement in his tone.

"Kara," Agent Hotchner's voice demanded her attention, "Let them check you out and then we'll decide.

She nodded her head and acquiesced knowing full well that she was not leaving without a fight.

AN: I only own Kara. Action sequences are not my specialty. I would love to know what you think.