Family

Alec looks up with little interest as the holding cell door opens. He recognizes Dalton, but had no idea who the young woman was. Still sitting on the floor, he eyes the visitors skeptically.

Dani enters slowly behind Dalton, glancing down at the still, solemn figure. "Hello, Alec."

His eyes narrow suspiciously. "Who are you?"

Dani moves to ease down into the chair. She glances at Dalton for reassurance, then back to the prisoner. "My name is Danielle, though friends call me Dani."

"Guess I'll be calling you Danielle then."

Danie shrugs. "Suit yourself. Though I'd like to think of most of my family as friends."

Now she had Alec's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Who was your father, Alec?"

Alec straightens, bristling a little. "I thought the interrogations were over."

"I'm not interrogating. I'm just asking a few questions."

"Alright. I'll bite." Alec shrugs apathetically. "I didn't know him personally. I was an 'accident' you see." He gives a wry grin. "The guy was married to someone else, and wound up paying off my mom so she'd stay quiet about my arrival. I guess she did. End of story."

Dani cocks her head. "Yet you carry his name, not hers."


Reese folds his arms, watching the monitors. "Turn the volume up," he requests.

Hal nods and does as he's told. Reese continues to watch with interest.

After a moment though, Hal speaks. "You sure you want the girl down there?"

"Why not?"

"I don't know... it's not the most emotionally friendly atmosphere. Alec's a tough case."

"Don't worry... Dani is a Banks."


Alec squints one eye. "I don't know how you know that, or why it matters, but yeah. My mom did it that way so I'd be a stark reminder to him that I was still around."

Dani sighs, feeling a little sorry for him. There was a strange pull on her heart though, knowing they shared the same blood. "Did you ever know anything about him?"

"No, but I don't get why you're asking me all this." Alec's tone grows testy. "Why don't you just tell me what you want?"

"I want to tell you about your father." Dani doesn't give him time to respond. She'd given a lot of thought to what she'd say, and wasn't going to stop now. "He started out a good guy. He had a family... a wife, two daughters and a son. They were pretty happy. But then he started getting in with the wrong kinds of people. He changed... he wasn't such a nice guy anymore. He worked for the same Agency you do, and got into some rough deals. He had several women no one knew about until later. He started drinking and took his frustrations out on his family. While his son had started working for the Agency too, at home, the son protected his sisters from abuse - especially the youngest."

Alec sighs, trying to show he didn't care, even though some things stirred inside of him.

Dani continues. "Your father was misguided, but in the end, he proved there was still some good left. He refused a certain deal with the Agency. Their response was to call in him and his family. He, his wife and oldest daughter were murdered in cold blood, right in front of the son."

A slight surprise flashes in Alec's eyes and Dani nods. "Yes, he died many years ago. His son was recruited to work more heavily in the Agency, and he became a ruthless killer - a bloodthirsty womanizer and alcoholic, even worse than your father."

Alec shows some interest for the first time. "What?"

"You've probably heard of him. He was the Agency's number one assassin."

Alec recoils in defense. "No... no... no, it was just a coincidence that Carson and I had the same name."

"No... that's not true." Dani's voice remains soft and calm. "They lied to you, probably to avoid personal feelings."

"Carson's a traitor," Alec mutters. Though the pangs in his heart increased, he tried to ignore them. "Brother or not, I don't give a rip."

Dani ignores the comment and keeps talking. "Carson was captured by TJY and later realized how much better a life he could have away from the Agency. He's turned his life around and is living quite well."

"Look, what's your point?"

"He and his little sister were the only survivors of the Agency."

"So? Where'd she end up? The gutter?"

"No... she wound up with a loving family who adopted her. She lived in California, later met up with her brother again, and then moved here to Nevada."

Alec heaves a sigh. "Okay...?"

"She later found out that a half-brother existed, and that he'd been sucked into the Agency too. And now caught, he didn't even know that he wasn't alone."


Reese is still watching, his eyes studying Dani's tactics. "Interesting... very interesting.


Alec blinks. He stares at Dani and suddenly he knows the truth. "You."

Dani nods. "Me. I'm your half-sister, Alec."

Alec's mind whirls. He searches Dani's eyes, looks up to Dalton, then back down again, his pulse quickening. Then he stops. "No." He shakes his head. "No... none of this is true. You're just saying it to make me break even more than I already have. I'm not buying it."

"You have to, Alec," Dani emphasizes. "It's the truth. They already have proof through blood samples from you and Carson."

Alec's eyes drift down, his frown creating a type of glare. He didn't know what to think or what to feel. He wouldn't have thought that this kind of information would ever have stirred anything inside of him. But it did... He'd always felt so alone. He'd always figured he simply didn't have family and he'd learned to not care. But this young woman... he had a sister? He could remember as a boy, he'd always wanted siblings. Someone to hang out with... someone to talk to. Now he was finding out he had two. They weren't full siblings, but being half still created a blood bond that no one could deny or break. "So what do you want now?" he asks coolly. "Did you just want to rub all of this in when I'm sitting here helpless or what?"

"No of course not." Dani shakes her head. "I just wanted to meet you... and I wanted you to know. I don't know how long you'll be here or where you'll go after this. But I hope we can talk more... I'd like to see you again... I'd like to get to know my brother."

Alec looks up, gritting his teeth. He glares at Dani, not even knowing how to respond. He didn't like the feeling of vulnerability this evoked. He didn't like her knowing more than he did about the past. He didn't like not being in control. "Go away," he mutters. "Leave me alone."

Though sad, Dani keeps her chin high as she stands again. "I'll see you again. And I'm sure Carson will want to meet you soon too."

"Yeah? Well tell him not to bother. He can buzz off before he even gets this far."

"You can be as stubborn as you want... but that will never remove the fact that you do have family. Think about that one."

Alec scoffs and looks up at Dalton. "Get her out of here," he mutters.