Chapter 1- When the Lights Are Down

Cause when the lights are down there's no more to say. Love is the real pain, an internal revolution in our minds. –Kamelot "When the Lights Are Down"

She had been having a lovely dream. She was on a beach somewhere warm, lounging on a chair in a sexy bikini with a crazy design over her breasts, which was going to give her an interesting tan line. Next to her, her boyfriend Cabe Gallo was asleep in his chair. His minimally hairy chest glistened in the sun, still slightly wet from their last excursion into the ocean. He slept with a small smile on his face, like he could tell she was staring at him.

And then she woke up, pulled away from the beach vacation and pushed back into her real life.

Leah Hudson's eyes shot open at the bracing sound of a ringing cell phone. That was not a good way to start her day off.

Cabe grumbled next to her, turning over to search for his phone. Leah did the same, turning to her night stand to grab her phone. She pulled it to her and was happy to see it was not her phone ringing.

While Cabe picked up his phone, Leah pulled the sheet back up to her neck and closed her eyes.

"Understood, Cooper. I'll let the guys know," he said in a sad voice. "So much for my day off," Cabe said.

Leah grunted. She turned over to face him. He was sitting up in bed, the sheet falling down and pooling at his waist. "Criminals don't care about days off, Cabe. They're so disrespectful."

He smiled down at her. "At least you still get your day off," he joked.

Leah playfully slapped his arm. "Don't jinx it, jackass."

"I better get dressed," he said, not moving.

"You'll need to shower first."

"No time."

Leah pushed the sheet off of her and sat up, delightfully naked. "Poor you," she said, turning and climbing out of bed. She walked around the large bed and headed for her bathroom, adding a little shake of her hips as she passed by Cabe's side of the bed.

"They can wait," he added, following her quickly.

Once Cabe had left, Leah got back into bed. She knew she should just get up and do something, but it was her first day off since before she left for the Homeland training course. It had been over 2 months since the last time she could sleep in as long as she wanted. Since Cabe was going to be busy, she might as well take advantage of sleeping alone.

Besides, she hoped to go back to that beach dream.

Leah slept for another hour before her body finally decided it was time to get up and stay up. Unfortunately, she did not go back to her beach dream.

Days off were not rare for Leah when she was slumming it as an assassin. It wasn't as if her services were needed every day. She spent most of her time off with her kids.

Mary and Oliver were mostly raised by their grandparents, her husband's parents, but technically Leah had remained their legal guardian. She spent time with them when she could, but she was also very careful to make sure the Irish never learned about the kids. Leah knew enough about Andy and Sean to know they had no qualms about using loved ones to bring people in line.

The kids had gone through all of the stages of "you're not my real mom", "you're never around", "you don't even know us". Oliver was still in the "you're not my real mom", so he was more distant than his sister, but he did still keep in touch, even if Leah had to force the issue at times.

Mary knew what Leah had done for the Irish. Oliver knew a little bit, which Leah figured was the main reason why he was distant.

She didn't blame him.

The twins had turned 21 just after Leah finished her training. She still couldn't believe they were old enough to drink legally. It still felt like just yesterday that Leah and Jeff had received the news that his brother and sister-in-law had died in a car accident, leaving the 1-year-old twins in their custody.

Leah never really wanted kids. She didn't feel like much of a mother. It hadn't changed much once she begun taking care of the twins, but after Jeff died and it was just her, she did get far more protective of them.

She still didn't feel like their mother, but she'd do what she could for them.

Leah had just finished her breakfast when her cell phone rang. Picking it up, she saw it was Cabe calling. "Hello."

"Hey, I won't be able to come over today. We've got to go out of state for a job and I'm not sure how long it will take," Cabe said, sounding rushed.

"Is it serious?" she asked.

"Could be. I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Focus on work. I'll be fine. Take care of everyone," she said, feeling a pang. She wished she could be out in the field.

"I will."

Leah hung up and tossed her phone on the couch next to her.

She hated having days off.

Cabe wasn't sure about today. Walter was acting a little weird, Paige was mad at him about something, Tim was low key mad at Walter, but pretending he was fine with everything, Toby was still upset about Happy being married and Happy was trying to forget the whole thing, and Sylvester seemed upset by everyone else.

And going out of state for a job wasn't going to help.

Cabe had barely made it to the garage when Deputy Director Cooper called to tell him about a case in Nebraska. Two Omaha Homicide Detectives had gone missing and there had been a cyber attack on the police headquarters. Walter and Sylvester's quick look brought up some serious issues, so Cooper told the team to head to Omaha.

Now they were on a plane, no one talking to each other, on their way to Omaha, Nebraska.

"Leah got any plans for her day off?" Paige asked, sitting next to Cabe.

"Well, our plans were to stay in bed for as long as possible and then watch TV all day, so I assume she'll follow that as best she can," he answered.

"I'm sure she could use the day off."

"Yeah, I bet it's real exhausting sitting at a desk answering the phone all day," Walter joked bitterly.

Cabe didn't even look at Walter, but Paige glared at him.

"You're oversimplifying her job because you don't approve of her," Paige admonished their team leader. "That's childish behavior, Walter. You're an adult, act like it." She turned back to Cabe. "Ignore him, Cabe."

Cabe gave her a grateful smile, but it still broke his heart that Walter still couldn't pass up making a catty remark about Leah anytime she was brought up. Leah avoided the garage like it was a quarantine zone.

Cabe loved Walter. He was like a son to him. But he also loved Leah. She was an important part of his life now. Cabe didn't want to give up either person, but it was becoming too clear that this wasn't going to work.

He'd wait until after the case to deal with it. This wasn't the time. People's lives were on the line.

"Typical Team Scorpion," Sylvester grumbled bitterly from behind Walter's seat. "Always getting in fights while on a case. Why can't we just be mad when we're not under pressure to solve cases?"

Looking back at the young man, Cabe felt regret rise in his chest. He wanted Team Scorpion to work, but everyone seemed to be on the outs.

What had happened to this team?

Cabe leaned back in his seat, sighing. Things sure were a lot easier before half the team fell in love with the other half.