Because I wanted to know all the info behind and someone might have wanted this. I can't remember. Whatever, you're here so might as well read.

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Carter stared at the photo, her hand shaking. It didn't shake from exhaustion or fear, it shook from pure rage. A rage that the contents of the photo didn't merit. In the photo, Donovan knelt in front of a park swing set, pushing a laughing Kennedy on the swing.

Carter's rage came from the fact that the photo was taken from long distance. Part of a bush obscured the father and daughter.

The photo was a threat.

Just like the other ones. Donovan pushing Kennedy in a shopping cart through a grocery store. Kennedy on top of Donovan's shoulders, her smile wide as he bounced down the street. Donovan and Kennedy coming out of a bookstore.

The final one, the worst one, the one that made up Carter's mind: Donovan at the washing machine in the apartment basement, Kennedy sitting in a basket of laundry, hugging her stuffed rabbit.

That one photo said it all. O'Malley's people were not only watching, they were close, they in the apartment building.

Carter looked to the note that had accompanied the photos. Simple but said so much: Drop the case.

That, along with the fact the envelope had appeared on Carter's desk without an address meant someone in the office had left it.

The door to Carter's office opened and Mason poked his head in. He glanced at the photos before her, his face grim.

"Hey," he said, his friendly tone contradicting his expression. "I wanted to see if you got any further on the O'Malley case?"

Carter gently set down the photo. "No. I didn't. It seems we've hit a dead end. I'm going to follow up a lead outside the city tonight, but I don't think it will get me anywhere."

Mason pantomimed driving and held up his hand, indicating five minutes and Carter nodded once.

"Well, let me know if that turns up anything," he said.

"Will do. Night, Mason."

"Night, Carter."

Mason poked to the photos on the desk and mimed bringing them up. Carter nodded, they would be evidence after all. Then he left. The entire conversation was staged and for the ones listening to the bug that had been planted in Carter's office.

She'd found it the previous week and instead of taking it out, decided to use it. The photos had come a day later. That's when she'd gone to Mason and they'd laid out their plan.

Sliding the photos back into the envelope, Carter stood but paused, looking at Donovan's desk. She couldn't leave him with nothing. Just the thought of what she had to do tore at her heart.

Before she could rethink it, she pulled up her messages to him. A simple text felt impersonal, especially knowing what he was about to face. She couldn't call him, he might answer. If he answered she didn't think she could keep it all in. A voice message then.

She swallowed, her words seeming to stick in her throat. She let out a breath.

"Hey, I miss you," she said, putting all her love into her voice. Knowing the bug was listening in, she chose her words carefully.

They couldn't be tipped off for what was about to happen or that it wasn't real.

"I feel like with this case I haven't seen you in ages." She laughed, hoping it sounded genuine. "Seems strange since we share an office. I know how you like to hear it, so I love you, Donovan."

She closed her eyes, hating how she knew those words would comfort and cut him.

"I don't know when I'll be home." She paused, hearing how her voice had tightened at the end and needing her composure. "Give Kennedy a kiss for me. I love you both."

She ended the voice message before she could break. Snatching up the envelope, she grabbed her bag and headed to the parking garage. She climbed into her car and called Mason.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You need to talk to me the whole way there," she said, clutching the steering wheel. "Because if you don't I have a feeling I'll drive straight home."

"Okay," Mason said, understanding.

They both pulled out of the parking garage and Carter followed behind Mason.

"There is no other way," Mason said, softly.

Carter gripped the wheel harder because she so desperately wanted those words to be false. Mason kept talking as if knowing her thoughts.

"If we told Donovan he would give himself away. They are in your apartment building. They are watching him every second. He'd good, but not good enough to fake a breakdown. And if they don't believe it..."

"The ones I love pay for it."

"Yes."

Carter blinked, tears blurring her vision. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to walk through it logically. If she gave in to her emotions, they'd crush her.

"It's only for a week," Carter said.

"Exactly, two weeks at the most. I already have an idea of who the mole in the FBI is. We take him down, break him. Once he spills everything on O'Malley, you get to go home. This is just a bump. Kennedy won't even realize what's going on. Donovan..."

"Two weeks max," Carter said.

It was the only reassurance that kept her going, knowing that even though they would be the worst two weeks of Donovan's life at least afterward she would know he was safe. Only two weeks. And that was at the most. They were close. Find the mole, break him, take down O'Malley.

"Okay," Mason said. "We're coming up on the spot. You know what to do."

"I do."

Mason sped up and Carter slowed, letting him grow further away. Once he was at a safe distance, Carter hit the gas. At the right spot, she hit the brakes, swerved to the right as if to avoid hitting something, then jerked to the left. She came to a screeching stop. She dumped her phone into the back seat and climbed out. The skid pattern on the road now told a story.

Up ahead, Mason got out of his car and retrieved something from his trunk. The streets around them were dead, the buildings abandoned. The street lamps that were there were mostly broken and there were no traffic cameras to be seen.

Carter popped her trunk and removed the body that was stuffed there. It was a fake, with a replica of Carter's teeth. After what they were about to do, it would be the only thing left to identify the body. Fortunately for the police, her license plates would easily tell them who the owner of the car was.

As she placed the dummy in the driver seat, Mason attached a bomb to the underside of the car. Carter tampered with the gas tank and part of the engine, both actions assuring that the dummy would be completely burned beyond recognition. The final step, Carter retrieved the envelope with the photos.

With the bomb activated, Mason and Carter got into Mason's car and turned down a side street where they could view the explosion.

Carter stared at the dummy, her heart starting to beat erratically in her chest. Before she could say anything, Mason hit the detonator. The car exploded and flipped, landing on its hood. Flames burst, shattering the glass and consuming the inside.

Carter watched as the fake hair of the dummy was eaten up by the fire. The skin started to burn and she couldn't breathe. Instead of seeing how fake it all was, all she could see was how real it would feel to Donovan, her family, his family, their friends.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't let this be true. She would find another way to take O'Malley down. She couldn't do this to them.

Carter pushed open the car door and jumped out.

"Carter! No!"

Carter sprinted towards the destruction. She would find some way to explain why she wasn't hurt. She'd have to get rid of the dummy. She would find some way out of this. She had to. She couldn't do this to them. She couldn't do this to him.

Mason slammed into her and they both crashed into a rough building wall. She struggled against him but he gripped her arms, holding her in place.

"You can't!" he shouted. "You can't undo this!"

"I can't do this! He can't think I'm dead. It will kill him."

Mason shook Carter. "Look at me! Carter!"

She met his storming blue eyes.

"If you don't die, they will."

The truth stole away Carter's fight. She crumpled against Mason and he held her.

"Two weeks," he whispered over and over as the sound of sirens started up and drew closer. "Two weeks. That's all he has to live through." The sirens grew louder. "Now we have to get out of here. Come on. I have a safe house ready."

Carter pulled away from Mason and looked at the burning wreckage. Mason tugged on her arm and she walked backward, her heart breaking inside her.

"Hold on, Donovan," she whispered. "I'll come back to you. I promise. I'm not gone."

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Hi Muffin!

Honestly I don't know how you'll react to this chapter so you're going to have to tell me. 💭💬🗯

My sister Kelly and I talked about it and she said I needed a strong reason for why Carter couldn't tell Donovan. That's when I came up with people watching them in their apartment, someone inside the FBI and thinking it would only be for a short while. She never planned to be gone two months.

Still sucks but hey she had to protect her family.

I hope you liked it! Ummm...yeah that's all I got.

Vote, comment, follow!

Cute dog! Doggy undercover!