The day had been spent in a whirlwind of house hunting, looking for just the right property for their headquarters here. Ten properties in less than six hours. By the last one, a house on the beach Sev was ready for a break. She decided to go climb some of the rocks closer to the shore and look out at the ocean. Sitting on top of the bolder she let her thoughts drift.

Heneryville was about as land bound as you could get, and Sev had spent the first seventeen years of her life never leaving the dusty streets of the little backwater town. At seventeen though after graduating early from high school, on a whim she took the entrance exam for the FBI training academy at Quantico. She was amazed that she got in, she really never had thought her talent for numbers and way with gadgets anything special. But apparently the FBI thought otherwise.

A year earlier on Sev's sixteenth birthday in fact, Magdalen Firawen had given birth to Sev's only sister. She came three months two weeks and five days before her due date, complications of a severe illness suffered by Maggy. The baby, they named her Hesperia as all the Firawen's had somewhat roman sounding names was tiny, under developed and had a defect in her little heart.

Hesperia had spent the first year of her life in the hospital, slowly eating away at the Firawen's life savings as what little insurance benefit they had wore out. Even with Sev's oldest brothers helping out things were tight. Sev wanted to help out, and this seemed like the way to do so.

So she went away to Quantico, breezed through her studies and made a friend for life. Hannah Schellden. The first time they had a break from classes and training Sev dragged Han home to meet her family, especially Hesperia. Her baby sister was two and a half years old then and just recovering from a surgery to repair the defect in her heart. Sev had just finished a course on animal behavior and service animals. Not your standard spy movie fare but it interested her.

Seeing little Hesper tucked in her hospital cot Sev formed a plan. Some discussion with Hannah and the teacher of her animal behavior class had secured her just what she needed for that plan. A three month old collie pup bred from an animal already in service as a therapy dog.

The water from the shower felt good on her skin, in some ways it reminded her of trips home in the summer, playing with Hesper and the other younger children in the sprinklers on the lawn. Sev loved days like that, spent with people who loved her no matter what. There were fourteen children in the Firawen family, and no shortage of love to go around.

Turning off the water and returning to the room wrapped in a towel Sev went to the closet and scowled. Nothing left but her "Dress ups" the clothes she only wore when she wanted to impress someone. Couldn't be helped, she had one last place to check out this evening, a converted warehouse down in dockside. Warehouse districts tended to be rough, so after drawing on the hip hugging black pants and the long white shirt she took her gun from the drawer, checked it over and strapped it to her hip. The finishing touch was form fitting vest of soft black leather, buffed to a faint shine.

This was one of Sev's favorite outfits, though she'd never let on to Hannah. It made her feel feminine without feeling like a two dollar whore. She headed back down the stairs, stopping at the bar for a quick drink. She wanted to get out to dockside and back before Hannah got here for supper at six.

Walking out to dockside meant more time for thought. More memories of time spent with her family, especially Hesper. By the time she returned to the inn she was feeling pretty maudlin. Seeing Hannah helped. Somehow she always made Sev feel better, probably the nonstop defensive banter. Passing th evening with her telling her about the properties for the office was just what she needed. Of course today she was still distracted, so the banter lacked its usual sparkle.

And then the phone rang and the bottom dropped out of her world.

"Savy? Why didn't you answer your phone, I've been trying to call all day." the little voice on the other end of Hannah's phone sounded so sad. "I had to call Hanny cause you weren't answering."

"I'm sorry Hesper, I dropped my phone in the ocean. I didn't mean to ignore you. I'll pick a new one up first thing in the morning." She turned away from where Hannah was sitting at the bar to pay more attention to what her sister was saying. "Have you found Nightingale yet?"

"No and Savy they won't let me keep looking for her. Doctor Lewnison says that I'm getting too tired and it is putting stress on my heart. He wants me to go back into hospital for some tests tomorrow. Savy will you come home and help find Nightingale? I'm scared that she's hurt."

"Sure, tell Mamma I'll be on the first flight out tomorrow. I love you Hes." Sev hung up the phone and handed it back to Hannah.

After Hesperia was settled, and before she returned to Rhydin, Sev took a little side trip with Keir, They stopped in Heneryville to join in the search for the missing dog. The local sheriff's department was not all that happy about the teams of FBI agents swarming around, until Sev showed up.

She looked so tired and haggard, pretty much the only thing holding her up was Keir. They reported to Allan Brody, who was leading the search teams himself. He had a soft spot for Sevarenia, she was the youngest of his team at twenty three and had a heart as big as Texas. Brody was a bit shocked to see a young man with his arm around her waist, and a little jealous.

"So who are you young man?" Brody was probably a little gruffer than he intended to sound.

"Keir Harding, sir." Keir wasn't intimidated by Brody, at least not until Brody started talking again.

"So you are the guy Hannah's dating. What the f*ck are you doing here with Sev? You f*ucked our Hannah yet boy?"

Keir just blushed a little and turned to Sev. "You want to go join the searchers now Sev?"

Sev nodded silently, she really had not said much since they left Hes that morning in Geneva. Keir frowned and resolved to stay close to Sev, just in case, as they searched.

The search lasted all morning and into the afternoon. Sev and Keir were the unlucky pair to find the dog, at the bottom of a gully with a snapped neck. When they found her, Sev broke down crying. Keir had to call for help getting Sev and the body of the dog out of the gully. He left Sev in her mothers care, and with the help of her oldest brother and Allan Brody, supervised the burial of the dog himself on the Firawen's property where Hesper could visit.

The next morning Sev drove Keir to the airport for a visit home to his family, before returning to Rhydin to make sure that Hannah had gotten the bid for the beach house in like she was asked to.