A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! This story hasn't gotten the volume of views I was hoping for and I'm pretty sure my title is a big reason for that. I honestly thought the Kurt Russell movie reference was clever but without either Chuck or Sarah's name listed I can understand why the views are low. I'm also bucking the trend of making Jack a complete villain. Don't get me wrong, he was a pretty terrible father but I always felt he loved Sarah, he just couldn't seem to figure out an appropriate way to be the father she needed. Also, why read my stuff when you've got Zettel, DC (you know who you are), and 's stuff to read? LOL! Thanks again to MichaelFX for his services. Take care!

New York City

July 6, 2016

Jack Burton sat at one of the many Manhattan midtown bars nursing his third, or was it his fourth, bourbon. His confusion about how many drinks he'd had wasn't from the amount of alcohol but rather from getting lost in his thoughts about his most recent encounter with his daughter. Sarah…..the name had grown on him even though he sometimes looked at the stunningly beautiful woman she'd become and saw instead a smiling five year old named Sam, who was missing her front teeth, holding her arms up to him silently asking to be picked up. He'd lost contact with her since his arrest in '97. He'd spent ten years in a minimum security prison, what was often referred to as the country club of the penal system. She never visited while he in prison but he got occasional letters from relatives and friends that didn't exist. He knew they were from her, she had always been clever.

It was how he'd found her when he got out. Ten years without his angel. He'd been worried when he first contacted her. Slinging frozen yogurt wasn't what he imagined she'd be doing. And things confused him even more when she introduced him to her boyfriend. Then the whole Lichtenstein con happened and he thought she was on the con after all. But when she sent him out for ice cream and he saw her outside with the police, he knew she wasn't on the con. The Schnook confirmed she was a cop of some sort. A few years later he learned she was in the CIA. She tracked him down in Miami to ask for his help tracking down the fake wedding planner that scammed her. He was proud of her, proud that in spite how the universe had knocked her down, she managed to get up, dust herself off and defiantly dare it to do it again.

He smiled at the thought that all of the skills and innovative ways of circumventing the law he taught her ended up being used by her, in a way, to enforce the law. The irony wasn't lost on him. How different would his life be if only someone had 'recruited' him? Of course, that meant he'd have never met Emma, which would take away the only good thing he's ever done in this world. Although she was a stunningly beautiful, strong and independent woman, he sometimes couldn't help wishing that she was that small girl that would smile her toothless grin at him like he was her entire universe. The love and complete trust in those eyes were the reason he took her with him.

He's agonized over the years about his act of selfishness. Over the years he'd made every excuse possible to justify his actions, but in those fleeting seconds when he was honest with himself, he couldn't deny his true motivation was fear. Fear that once Emma finished her college degree that she would sue for sole custody and revoke his visitation rights. Fear that Emma would meet someone else, someone that Sam would call Daddy, someone Sam would love more, someone that would make Sam forget him. Fear that Emma would take Sam and disappear and he'd never see her again. So he'd applied an old conman's proverb to the situation, 'Do onto other's before they do onto you'.

Looking back, he knew that bit of justification was a load of bull. Emma loved Sam as much as he did, and she knew how important Jack was to Sam and would never hurt her by taking that from her. Emma was a good person, unlike himself. Emma, there's a topic best avoided tonight if he had any hopes of remaining sober.

Taking a long drink from his glass, he knew that he'd give back all the money he'd made over the years to be able to pick her up like that one more time, for her to look at him with those blue eyes like he was the center of her universe. The way she now looked at the Schnook and her daughter, Lisa. When he was in Burbank the first time, he couldn't help but notice that she now saw him for what he was, she'd actually called him a thief. Those things didn't seem to matter to her when she was little. He wondered if she'd ever look at him like little Sam had. He knew he wasn't ever going to be considered father of the year material, but he must have done something right for her to have turned out so well. Or maybe she turned out that way in spite of him.

After helping her the second time in Burbank, he knew that his life and hers clashed. So he made the decision to leave rather than risk embarrassing her on her wedding day. He left the money he'd been saving for her over the years and hoped it somehow made up for all the ways he'd wronged her. Either way he was proud of her. She had found a way to not only survive while he was incarcerated, but flourish. She used the skills he'd taught her and stayed on the right side of the law. Plus, judging from the posh Hawaiian resort she was staying in, she was doing VERY well. Maybe, he'd have done better by offering his services to the government.

As he was doing the self-examination of his life's decisions, someone sat in the bar stool beside him, one of the few empty seats at the bar. He snuck glance at the person in the mirror behind the bar and noticed an attractive woman who was about his age. She was wearing a fairly standard business attire, typical of the many women who worked in the local corporate offices. He watched as the woman with light golden brown hair hung her attaché case over the back of her seat. Their eyes met briefly and he raised his drink at her in acknowledgement. He saw a weariness in her eyes, as though they'd seen too much bad. He recognized the look because he'd seen it many times in his line of work. Until now, the only time it really bothered him was when he saw it in his daughter's eyes. He broke eye contact as he tilted his head back and finished his drink. As he set his glass back on the bar he heard the woman next him speak to the bartender.

"I'll have want he's having, and while you're at bring another one for him."

"Thanks, chivalry should make me protest your generosity, but I've never turned down a free drink and I'd hate to spoil my streak by starting now," he said quietly, with a ghost of a smile. Looking at her he decided that Jack Burton, former Con Artist, was off duty this evening. Tonight he was just Jack.

"No problem. Besides, as long as you get the next round your sense of chivalry should remain untarnished," she said with a smirk.

"Deal, but I'm afraid you're too late, it's already pretty tarnished. But thanks for giving me an out. By the way, I'm Jack," he said holding out his hand as way of induction.

"Mary." Mary Bartowski said as she took his hand and, contrary to many romance novels and fanfiction stories, neither felt a spark, or an instant deep emotion connection from the handshake. It was just a brief handshake, however, when their eyes met each knew they had met a kindred spirit. The old saying that 'misery loves company' is mostly false because truly miserable people tend to be loners, and con artists and former deep cover CIA agents fit that description rather well.

"You from around here?"

"No, just here on business for the week, then it's back to Chicago."

"You don't sound like a Chicago native."

"I'm not, but how do you know what a native Chicagoan sounds like?"

"I was born there. Lived there until my old man died when I was ten, then my mother married a guy that moved us around the country a lot, so I'm good with accents." Jack paused, surprised at his candor. He didn't talk about his stepfather much, too many bad memories. He continued, "I'm having a tough time with your accent though, I hear a little bit of Baltimore but there's also bits from elsewhere in the country, definitely some West Coast in there. And, have you spent time in Europe?"

"Military brat, Dad had mostly stateside assignments but a few overseas ones as well. My previous employer had me in Europe until recently."

"Ah, that explains it. Why'd you move to Chicago?"

"My daughter and her family just moved there and I wanted to be closer to my granddaughter," she said as she pulled out a picture of Clara.

"Granddaughter huh? Just learned a few weeks ago that I have one too. Kinda lost touch with my daughter and ran into her when I was on a business trip, small world as they say. Except for her hazel eyes, she's looks so much like my daughter did at that age. Like going back in time. I was so involved with work that I never realized that I'd missed so much until I saw the two of them. She's amazing, actually they both are. Oh yeah, and the Schnook she married is okay too. Wasn't sure about him at first, but there's no doubt in my mind that he loves her and will take care of her. So as son-in-laws go, I could do worse," he said, the melancholy he'd been feeling earlier returning.

"Yeah, moving to Chicago was a chance to reconnect with my daughter as well. My job kept me away for too long. Her father and I… separated when she was a teenager. We lost touch, my fault, same old story, put my career first, yada, yada. So I decided to be a better grandmother than I was a mother, so I moved there to spend time with her and my granddaughter. Make up for lost time and all that…" she said with a sad smile.

Jack picked up his drink and held it up to Mary. "To reconnecting."

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before clinking her glass against his. "And getting things right this time. Of course it's gotten more complicated now that my son in California has a daughter too, so being a good grandmother gets me lots of frequent flyer miles," she continued with a happier smile than before.

"So what do you do?" he asked.

"I'm a regional supervisor for the Pinkerton Detective Agency."

"Get outta here, are you pulling my leg?" he asked as he nearly choked on his drink.

"No, really here's my badge," she replied as she flashed the gold colored shield with black lettering.

"I'll be damned, what are the odds?" he chuckled.

Mary's eyebrows raised slightly at his statement. "You got a problem with the Pinkerton's?"

"No, well not anymore, but that's a long story and I haven't eaten yet. How about? You had dinner yet?" he said as he finished the last of his drink.

"No, I haven't. But since you still owe me a drink, I'll let you buy me dinner instead. But only if you tell me the long story while we eat," she replied as she downed her drink as well.

"Well I don't know, a drink is cheaper than a dinner after all," he answered, humor showing in his eyes.

"Don't be too sure, I was thinking about a double shot of the Johnnie Walker Blue I see on the shelf," she said, pointing at the bottles on the shelf behind the bar.

"Well, considering how much I've been paying for bourbon here, I'd imagine that would be more expensive than dinner, so you've got yourself a deal. If I may be so bold, the place across the street's pretty good, if you like Italian that is."

"Italian's fine with me," she replied as she downed her drink as well.

They stood and paid their bar tabs and made their way to the door.

"Ladies first," Jack said as he held the door for Mary.

"Careful, your sense of chivalry is in danger of losing more of its tarnish," she joked.

"What can I say, you bring out the best in me."

Tony's Restaurant

"Well, was I right, is this place good or what?" Jack said as he put down his coffee mug.

"Yes, very good. I don't think I'll need to eat for a week after that meal."

"So, I guess now that the meal is over we can discuss whatever it is that the Pinkerton's want from me."

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon, you can't expect me to believe that we just happened to meet, do you? This isn't some Hollywood Rom Com meet cute."

"Well Jack, stranger things have happened, but I can honestly say that the Pinkerton's have no interest in you as far as I know. Everything I've told you tonight is the truth. I'm here on business and I honestly had no idea if you'd be in that bar tonight. But, I did know that you go there when you're in town and so I made it a point stop in; I was hoping to meet you, but not for the Pinkerton's."

"If your bosses don't want me, why'd you want to meet me? How do you even know who I am? For that matter, how do you know my bar habits?"

"I think I can answer all your questions by showing you a picture of my son and his family," Mary replied as she pulled a picture out of her wallet and handed it to Jack.

Jack looked at the picture of a group of people standing around a Christmas tree. He looked at the faces and saw Chuck, Sarah, his granddaughter, Cop Face, and two other couples, one with a child.

"Wait, Charlie's your son?"

"Yes, he is my son, but I named him Charles. I may have lost the battle trying to stop everyone from calling him Chuck, but I am drawing the line at CHARLIE though," she admonished with a mock glare.

"Okay, okay! Chuck it is," Jack relented, raising his hands in surrender.

"Charles would be better, but I can live with Chuck. It's certainly better than Schnook," she said with smirk.

"I swear it's meant good naturedly. I mean come on, when I first met him he was dating my daughter and only had a few grand in his savings account. Besides, it's an unwritten rule that no one is good enough for a man's daughter. But I'll admit my first impression was wrong about him. One thing I did know was that he was truly in love with her. So, now tell me why you wanted to meet me?"

"I talked to Chuck a few days ago and he told me they'd seen you in Hawaii and that you mentioned that you'd be in New York while I was here. So, I made some inquiries and found you. Honestly, I just wanted to meet Sarah's father, we do share a granddaughter after all. I've met Emma and Sarah seems, I don't know, different than her, so I was curious if she favored you," she explained with a shrug.

Mary saw a brief flash of emotion show in Jack's eyes. Whether it was pain, guilt or shame she couldn't tell, but it was more than likely a variety of emotions.

Emma, that's twice her name had come up tonight. It had been over 25 years since he'd taken Sam from her. The moment Mary said her name, the years of anguish he'd felt over his act of selfishness must have shown in his eyes based on Mary's reaction.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories," Mary said apologetically.

"That's okay, it's not your fault. Just been doing a lot of self-reflection this past week and what I did to Emma was far from my best moment. Not that I have any right to ask, but how is she? I never bring it up with Sarah."

"She's doing well. She and Molly moved to be closer to Chuck and Sarah when Lisa was born."

"Molly?"

"You don't know about Molly? Molly was orphaned as an infant and rescued by Sarah. She asked Emma to take her in. Emma ended up adopting her so now Sarah has a sister. She's a great kid and absolutely loves Chuck and Sarah and being an aunt to Lisa."

"So, Emma got a second chance to be a mother after I took that from her with Sarah. Sarah still managed to bail her old man out," Jack stated as he looked away for a second to compose himself.

Mary saw Jack's anguish and reached across the table and took his hand. "Jack, right or wrong, you had your reasons for running away with Sarah. Sure, looking back you may wish you'd done things differently, but unfortunately we can't undo our past mistakes. All we can do is move forward and try to make amends as best we can. Look, I'm not judging you, in fact I'm the very last person to judge anyone's parenting decisions. When I told you I picked my job over my family, what I didn't say was that I just left without a word. For nearly twenty years my kids thought I abandoned them because I didn't love them. It was hard coming back and trying to explain why I left. I've missed so much but at the time I felt it was the right decision and no amount of second guessing can change that."

"I heard once that we don't get to be old and wise without first being young and stupid. I think I got the young and stupid and the old parts covered. Still waiting for the wise part to kick in," Jack said with his characteristic smirk.

Mary laughed, which in turn made Jack laugh.

"So Jack, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure fire away, but depending on what it is I may decline to answer."

"How did your oncologist appointment go?"

"How did you know?"

"Do I need to show you my badge again? And don't lie to me because I'll find out the truth anyway," she said with a smile.

"Well Miss Pinkerton Detective, he didn't exactly give me a clean bill of health, he would like to see my cholesterol be a bit lower, but the cancer appears to be gone, for now anyway. All it took was a surgery, some radiation and chemo. Hey, with some luck maybe it's stay gone," He replied with grin.

"That's great news!"

"Does Sarah know?" he asked with a worried expression.

"No, I only found out this week as I was trying to see why you were here."

"Good, I'd rather be the one to tell her. I'm working on some things now that, if they work out, will allow me to be around her more without me having to look over my shoulder all the time."

"You mean your new consulting business? Does she know that your visit to Hawaii was legitimate and not a con?"

"Wow, you are good. That's supposed to be a secret. No, I'm sure she thought I was pulling a con on the men she saw me with."

"You should tell her. The only problem I see with your new job is that you're still wanted by the government. Jack, I have contacts in the government and I may be able to get you a pardon if you agree to work with them on a consulting basis. You have a lot of knowledge that could be useful to several agencies. In fact, we could use your services at Pinkerton as well. We even have an office in Los Angeles."

"What's involved with being a consultant?"

"Well, from the government side of things, it would mean giving lectures, providing training to new agents and occasionally giving your advice on various operations. Pinkerton would bring you in to look over various crimes to see if you have any insights to help catch the culprits."

"What would the pay be?"

"Well, not as much from the government, other than the pardon and paid expenses. Now once Pinkerton learns that you're a consultant for several government agencies, I'd expect a six figure starting salary. That could become more depending on how useful your insights are. Insurance companies would rather pay for recoveries than loses."

"I gotta admit, that sounds better than trying to make a go of it on my own. Yeah, see what you can do," he said.

"Good, here's paperwork for you to look over. Inside there are two offers, one from the government the other is from Pinkerton. All you have to do is return the signed copies to me and I'll do the rest. There's also a phone in there with my contact information as well as some pictures of Lisa." She said as pulled a legal sized envelope out of her attaché.

"You sure you aren't a con artist too?"

"Let's just say that Sarah and I used to have the same employer," she smirked.

"And here I thought knowing all the cons would keep me from being conned."

"I've been doing this about as long as you have, so don't feel bad,"

"Oh, I don't feel bad, impressed maybe, but not bad."

"Well you know what that means don't you?" she inquired with a playful look in her eye.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Your chivalry is going get a little more tarnished because I'm paying for dinner tonight."

"Well, it was never that shiny anyway. So here's to a fresh start, a chance at reconnecting and new friends," he replied as he held out his hand.

This time when Mary reached out to shake his hand there may have been a spark, or maybe it was just static electricity.

A/N: Well, what did you think? I know, a Chuck story with no Chuck (or Sarah) in the second chapter. Don't know where this came from but it's been in limbo on my hard drive for a while and I blame David Carner for shaming me though his prolific writing pace into getting me off my lazy butt and finishing it. I also have to admit that The Charleses (Steampunk Chuckster's) story 'The Detective and the Tech guy influenced who I had Mary employed by. I am working on another chapter but it's not finished yet and MichaelFX will get a chance to do the voodoo that he does so well before I post it. I PROMISE that Chuck, Sarah and Lisa will be in it as well as some other fan favorites. Take care!