Chapter One: LAX

A twelve year old boy is sitting in his room at his desk typing on his computer when a man wearing a suit walks in.

"Freeze!"The man says yelling at the boy holding a gun at him.

"Here I have a waiver sign it, and I will tell you how I hacked into NASA."The boy told the man.

The boy looks at the man in the eye. His right hand shaking. The man looks back, puts his gun away,and says:

"You're just a kid and you hacked NASA?"The man said, shocked.

"Yes, sir."The boy said, scared.

"You do realize that this can get you into a lot of trouble kid?"The man said.

"Yes sir."The boy responded with a tear running down his face. One that he was trying to hold in for so long. One tear filled the fears of the boy. But right now, his only fear is going to jail and this man he, thought to himself, was going to take him their.

"Hey kid you are not going anywhere."The man said as he was walking over to where the boy was to comfort him."Don't worry kid, all of what I need to know is how you hacked into NASA and I promise everything will be alright."He said slowly as he had his right arm around the boy now sitting in boy's bed with him.

"Everything will be alright."

"Walter...Walter...Walter..."

"What did you want to say?" Said a woman sitting in a booth at a restaurant in front of the boy, who is now a man.

"I wrote a document."The man said,Walter.

The woman then skimmed through the document.

"You wrote a document about our break up!?"The woman almost yelled as she lashed out at Walter.

"Hey I'm paying you to fix our WFI not to talk to people."A man said who was wearing a collared shirt with dress pants and a tag on shirt that read: manager.

"You scheduled our break up on a job!?"The woman said in vein.

"To be more efficient."Walter replied, smiling at the woman.

"You know you might be trying, but Walter Patrick O'Brien you are a million miles from normal."The woman said as she left the restaurant.

Walter sat in the booth for minute, got his laptop out of his bag, asked the manager where the router is and fixed it. As he was fixing the router, he sees a woman blonde hair, brown eyes. She is wearing a yellow collared shirt, and a red skirt that goes down merely above her knees also, she was wearing orthotics, and she has a name tag that read: Paige. Then, he sees a young boy about nine years old. He has some condiments out on the counter top at the the dinner and is sitting in a chair playing a game of chess with them. He had brown hair, and blue eyes, and was blue collar shirt, light tan dress pants, and black air force ones.

"Hey kid."The manager said to the boy.

"Stop playing with those."He continued as he took the condiments away from him.

"Hey, Ralph could you listen to MrHammond and put those away."Paige told her son."Sorry about that sir."She continued."He is having a tough time at school so I let him stay home today."She replied as she quickly put the condiments away.

"Well tell him to bring his own toys because these are for the customers."The manager told her.

"Ok sir, hey Ralph, sweetie how about you get your video games out and play one of those for a while okay?"Paige told to her son with a smile.

Ralph didn't respond, he just got his 3DSXL out, and started playing his game.

A man walks into the dinner. He is wearing a blue suit, and black Dockers. Walter looks at the man and remembers him from the night he hacked NASA, and from when he became his friend, and also from when he lost his trust and his friendship with him. Cabe Gallo

The man raises a badge and says:

"Agent Cabe Gallo, Homeland Security I am looking for a Walter O'Brien."He yells

"I am Walter O'Brien."Walter said, thinking: Why does he want me after he betrayed

me?

"It's been so long since I have seen you kid."Cabe said with a smile on his face.

"I thought that we were through as friends let alone our father-son relationship that we had developed."Walter said trying to get Cabe to go away.

"You were always so analytical O'Brien."Cabe said now with a serious look on his face. One that parents give you when they are about to tell you something important or give a task to undertake.

"Well I am still upset at you over what happened in Baghdad."Walter said with his arms crossed and in a stance just like Cabe's and, had the same facial expression as his.

"Well put that aside O'Brien, there are planes that are about to go down. LAX lost them during a automatic software update about five hours ago."Cabe told him a he took his aviator sunglass off, and slowly folded them, and placed them in top right pocket of his black suit jacket."We need you and your team to help. I ran checks on your team. You guys are a group of geniuses who can't reach their full potential because you have not been offered the opportunity." He continued."So are you going to take it or not, those planes don't have all day.?" Cabe said.

"Well we will take it, but as soon as we are done I will erase you from my memory."Walter replied.

"Well let's see how long it will last kid"Cabe said as he put his sunglasses back on, and Walter began to pack up his stuff, and then threw his black backpack over his shoulder.

"We have to pick up the team."Walter said then Cabe grabbed his sunglasses, and they left.

A teenage boy, Walter, has a phone in his hand and was watching the news.

"Walter. are you their son?"Cabe asked Walter.

"That is my software that I created. You said that it was going to be for aid packages not bombs."Walter said, in shock.

"I didn't know that would be the end game son. You have to understand."Cabe replied attempting to calm Walter down like he did all those other times, but this time he didn't know if he could. This was bigger than any kid picking on Walter at school, this was bigger than his dad yelling at him and Walter didn't understand why. This was the biggest one of them all.

"No I don't understand!"Walter said in anger as he slammed the phone on the ground and hung it up.

Then Walter stole his mom's wallet, hacked the airport and got himself a ticket on the next plane to Los Angeles. He left a note for his parents on the kitchen counter then, called a cab. When he got to the airport,he thought to himself: I am finally free at last. Then walked on to board the plane to LA. Walter, was finally happy.

Walter and Cabe are sitting in a Chevy Suburban together. Cabe is driving and Walter is sitting in the back seat.

"Hey son why are you sitting in the back seat?"Cabe asked, his eyes fixated on the road.

"Because I don't want to sit next to you."Walter replied with a straight face then he looked back out the window on the door.

"And why is that kid?"Cabe asked now, attempting to look back at Walter while paying attention to the road like what your parents do when they are driving and attempting to have a conversation with you.

"Because, I don't trust you ever since Baghdad."Walter stated while locking eyes with Cabe through the rearview mirror.

"Well I trust you so much that I tracked you down just so that I can get you and I together so that we can make up for what happened in Baghdad."Cabe said."I thought that this would be a great opportunity for the two of us to make up for those lives that were lost in Baghdad."Cabe continued.

"Pull over."Walter stated.

"And why is that son."Cabe asked.

"Please just do it."Walter continued.

"Okay kid."Cabe replied.

Cabe pulled over on the side of the highway, and Walter got out of the back and went into the passenger seat, the one right next to Cabe. He looked at Cabe, and then Cabe smiled back.

"You wanted me to pull over just so that you could sit next to me?"Cabe said still smiling.

"Yes."Walter stated.

Cabe was happy because he knew that what he said to Walter had a huge impact on him. He knew that Walter had finally forgotten about the emotions that they both felt in Baghdad and, that he finally got his connection back with him.

"Let's go son."Cabe said as he smiled bigger than when he smiled in dinner. He felt like he just got Walter back after nearly a decade. Cabe finally had his son back.

Cabe and Walter arrived at the garage and were greeted by the team. Walter shows Cabe around the garage then they get ready to start the job.

"Hey Walt that job took longer than usual."Toby said. He was wearing ripped jeans, a red tee shirt, a black jacket, black and white Converse shoes, and most importantly, his black fedora. He always wears his hat.

"Well I ran into a old friend."Walter said.

" was it?"Toby asked as he examined Walter.

"Ohh, Walt ran into an old friend? Or was it someone important?"Happy said. She was wearing a black tee shirt with a leather jacket covering it. She also was wearing jeans, and leather boots.

"Happy are you saying that you think that Walter ran into either one of his to ex-girlfriends?"Sylvester nervously said. He was wearing jeans, a light brown and dark brown checkered collared shirt with a red sweater vest over top of it. Plus he was wearing jeans and, black and white Vans.

"I am not just saying that, I know that."Happy said as she put in the last screw on the light fixture.

Meanwhile, Cabe is outside the door to the garage and can hear everything and is thinking: these guys are crazy thinking that I am one of Walter's exes and I wouldn't even think that Walter would have more than one ex-girlfriend or even have any girlfriends or exes. When I met him he would only talk to me or his sister.

"Guys I did not run into any of my exes, I um, ran into somebody from my um, childhood."Walter said as Toby was trying to read him for his emotions to get a feeling for how important this "person from his childhood" is to him.

"He must be very important to you."Toby said.

"You were reading me."Walter said to Toby.

"Yes Walt, I was."Toby replied with a grimm smile.

"Ohh, I am getting a text one second please."Walter said.

Walter pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was a text from Cabe and it said: Hey Walter can I come inside, I just received a message from Director Merik and he said that we have two and a half hours until the first plane goes down.

"Sorry about that guys that was my friend from the Dinner he was just asking if he could meet you guys. Is that okay with you?"Walter asked.

"It's fine with us."Toby said in everyone's' favor.

"I'll go let him in."Walter said as he was jogging to the door.

"Hey Cabe you can come in now."Walter told him.

"It's about goddamn time. We only have two and a half hours 'till the first plane goes down."Cabe said."Speaking of the case, did you tell them about it when you were talking to them?"Cabe continued.

"No not yet. I was thinking that it would be better if you told them because, I don't know all the details of the case yet and you most likely do."Walter said as they were walking into the garage.

"Okay son, I'll tell them."Cabe said.

They walked into the garage together side by side. They looked like they were father and son as they approached the team.

"This is federal Agent Cabe Gallo. I met him when I was eleven and hacked NASA. He was the agent that was called upon that case. We were good friends for a while then, when I was sixteen and the Baghdad bombings occurred our friendship ended. He found me at the Dinner when I was fixing the service there and told me about this case at LAX he needs our help."Walter told the team.

"We'll take it. After you tell us what the case is Mister Gallo sir."Toby said with his foot firmly planted on the desk in front of him.

"You can call me Cabe. I don't like to be called Mister Gallo. That was my father's name and what my daughter's friends used to call me. Anyways, there are planes that went out of con range at LAX during an automatic software update. So we need to go there or some were close enough to LAX that has the same software that you guys have."Cabe said.

"I just installed our software at the Dinner."Walter said.

"Well, let's go to the Dinner then."Cabe said as he fishing his keys out of his pants pocket..

The team grabbed their equipment and got into the Suburban. As they were getting into the car, Cabe said:

"We only have ninety minutes until those planes go down. You guys better be prepared because this is your opportunity to prove to Homeland that you can do this." He told the team.

The team arrived at the Dinner. They got out of the Suburban and walked into the Dinner.

Cabe walked to the door of the Dinner in a rush. As he was walking to the door, he was pulling his badge out and a wad of cash. He walked up to the counter and said:

"Agent Gallo Homeland Security. Can I please speak to the manager."He said to the waitress, Paige.

"Sure thing sir."Paige replied then walked into the manager's office.

"Mister Hammond, there's a fed who wants to have a word with you."She told him.

"Your joking right."He replied.

"No I'm not sir he is right over there."She said as she pointed to Cabe.

"Whatever you think I did I didn't do"The manager said to Cabe as he walked over to where he was.

"You didn't do anything sir, we need to use your Dinner for a national emergency."Cabe told him.

"Well if I let you do that then I will lose a day's worth of business."The manager said.

Cabe got closer to the manager. He got so close to him that their faces almost touched each other.

"Then will fine you with enough bills to land you your own place in hell."Cabe told him, attempting to scare the man off.

"Well I don't give a shit I just want my business. Now get the hell out of my Dinner!"The manager yelled."Or else I will call your director and report you."The manager said trying to get Cabe to go away.

Then Cabe took something out of the pocket of his suit jacket. As he was pulling it out the manager said:

"That better not be your gun."The manager yelled.

"No it's not."Cabe said.

Then Cabe handed him a wad of cash.

"Is it fake."The manager asked.

"No now take it and leave you stubborn son of a bitch."Cabe told him.

"But I need to lock up."The manager said.

"If you stay I will make sure you burn in hell."Cabe said.

"Paige, you lock up."The manager said to Paige.

"But Mister Hammond I don't want my son to be here if their is a national emergency."She told him.

"Well I am on this fed's bad side so please just lock up."He replied.

"Yes sir."She said, sympathetically

"Hey guys you can come in now."Cabe told the team.

The team entered the Dinner in a rush.

"Hey Ralph nice to see you again."Walter said to Ralph as he was setting up his laptop.

"You to Walter."Ralph responded

"What are you playing."Walter asked.

"A racing game I designed."Ralph replied.

"I used to design my own video games to with software from old unused gaming systems that were just lying around my house when I was a kid."Walter told him as he continued to work.

"Hey how do you know my son."Paige asked Walter.

"Well, I spoke to him earlier when I was installing new software so this Dinner would have more a efficient wireless network."Walter replied as he glanced over at Paige

"He normally only talks to me."Paige said, shocked.

"That's because he can only feel a bit of a connection from you."Walter told her.

"What do you mean by that?"Paige asked.

"Your son has been working on designing video games and, when he had those condiments out before, he was really playing a game of chess."Walter replied.

"I didn't even know that he liked chess."Paige said to herself.

"Your son will never be able to connect with you."Walter blindly said. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your son is a genius."Walter continued to tell her

"I thought that he was challenged."Paige said in shock of what she just heard.

"Well many parents don't even attempt to connect with mentally enabled children."Walter told her."My dad never even attempted to connect with me. He was a good man, but he just never understood me."Walter continued.

"What do mean?"Paige asked.

"Oh I'm genius too. I have an IQ of one-hundred-ninety-seven."Walter said.

"Didn't say your name was wait, don't tell me Cabe?"Paige asked.

"Huh no my Name is Walter. Cabe is an old childhood friend of mine. When I was around Ralph's age I hacked NASA, and Cabe was the federal agent who found me. He kept me from going to jail and he and my sister were the only two people who could connect with me. Cabe was like a father to me and still is."Walter told her.

Meanwhile, Cabe heard what Walter had said to Paige and was smiling. At that moment he knew that he really had Walter back in his life and that hopefully Walter would always be their by his side forever.

The team already have tried three strategies to get ahold of the planes and have failed, They had thirty minutes left to get in con range of the plane or two of them would run out of gas and fall from the sky and kill over fifty-thousand people.

"I have an idea!"Happy exclaimed as the team walked over to her."What If I hack into the DMV and change all of the lights on the route that leads to LAX green. Then Walter and Cabe would be able to get into LAX and maybe get the planes in sync with your laptop?"She continued.

"That sounds like a good idea, but I'll run a note by the DMV and get them to do it for you okay?"Cabe replied as he got his phone out and started dialing the DMV's number.

"Wait Cabe, it could take the DMV ten minutes to do that for us. Couldn't you just drive with your lights on?"Happy asked.

"Happy if you run the statics only four and every five people will pull over for Cabe to drive by which would leave an estimate of twenty-eight people left on the road."Sylvester stated.

"Cabe why can't you let…"Toby began to say when Walter interrupted and said:

"Were in."He stated as he continued to type on his laptop.

"You hacked the DMV? You do realize that could get you into a lot of trouble kid?"Cabe told him.

Walter remembered Cabe saying the same thing to him when he hacked NASA which brought back all of the memories from Baghdad.

"Yes I know Cabe just get in the damn car!"Walter yelled at Cabe.

"Hey Walt I think you need some time on the couch."Toby said as examined him.

"I do not want to see you get into any trouble son now calm down."Cabe said in a soothing tone to Walter.

"There are thousands of lives at risk and I will do anything to save those people but right now their lives are riding on you getting into that damn car and driving to LAX. Now get your keys and get your ass in the car now dammit!"Walter yelled as Cabe began get into a defense stance.

"If you are going to talk that way to me then I will do the same to you God dammit!"Cabe yelled to Walter as he approached him and grabbed onto him and then, slammed his fist on the table next to him.

"My money's on Cabe."Toby said to Happy with a smile.

"You're on."Happy replied to Toby as she gave him a low five.

"I can't watch this."Sylvester said he as walked with Ralph into the office.

"Now you shut the hell up Walter and respect me."Cabe yelled at Walter as he was pushing him against the wall.

"Why because you're old."Walter replied.

"Ahh Walter I think you went too far."Toby said with a grimm smile.

"Yeah you did son."Cabe said as he made a fist.

Then Cabe went to punch Walter in groin when they heard:

"Stooop."Paige screamed at the top of her lungs.

Then she ran over and pushed Cabe away from Walter.

"Now stop fighting, you guys are acting like children, and Cabe I expect more maturity from you."Paige said to the both of them.

"Yes Paige."Cabe said as he was fixing up his suit.

"And Walter I think that Cabe expects an apology from you."Paige said to Walter.

"I am not going to apologize to him. He is putting me back from saving those people's lives."Walter yelled to Paige.

"Hey don't you start it with me Walter. You better take that one-hundred-ninety-seven IQ of yours take a breath and reset."Paige told him.
"Hey you don't tell me what to do."Walter yelled as he pushed Paige away with his shoulder and walked into the bathroom.

Walter is washing his hands and trying to process what just happened when Cabe knocks on the door.

Knock Knock Knock

"Hey son are you in there"Cabe said to Walter who is washing his hands.

"If you have to go then make it quick because, I am trying to process what happened in their."Walter said to answer Cabe's question.

"Hey kid what happened in their, well I didn't mean to yell at you if you upset about that."Cabe told him through the door.

"I don't get upset, and you know that."Walter said.

"It's just that I um, got or I mean um, saw a side of you that I have really never have seen before, and kind of got a bit I don't know I thought that you were really going to punch me."Walter continued.

Cabe opened the door and walked in and said:

"Walter, I would never strike you even if God himself told me to. I would never do anything like to hurt you son. I really feel that we have a special bond that no one can break. We came back even after what happened in Baghdad. I have always thought of you as my son. Even after Baghdad, you have always been my son and nothing will ever change that."Cabe said in a soothing tone.

"I um, appreciate you saying that to me Cabe."Walter replied.

"And Walter I know that somewhere are your emotions you just haven't found them yet, and some day, you will find them and will have to learn how to control them, and learn when it is the right time to use them. It will be tough, but someday kid it will happen, and I want you to be safe. That's why I got mad at you when you hacked the DMV and, why I yelled at you, and threatened to punch you.I can't believe I'm saying this, but Walter I love you like a son and that is why I treat you the way I do, and try to get you to do the right thing. If I didn't love you then I wouldn't treat you like son?"Cabe told him.

"Noted."Walter responded.

Then a minute later, the two of them walked out of the bathroom. Cabe with his arm around Walter's back and the two of them were smiling.

"So, I guess the two of you made up."Toby said.

"We did."Walter stated,

"So, now about the case,we still have fifteen minutes left until the first plane runs out of fuel."Happy said.

"Well just the make damn lights green, and I will drive Walter with my lights on to the LAX."Said Cabe.

"Ohh dear God, you guys are going to get killed!"Sylvester said, nervously.

"Well let's do it."Walter told Cabe.

"Wait!"Paige yelled."Cabe don't you guys need someone to help you guys out."Paige asked.

"I think I know what you mean, but Walter and I made up and were fine."Cabe responded.

"Cabe I can never connect with my son the way I saw him connect with them today. Please my son needs to see me save those people, please."Paige said, almost in tears.

Cabe took a deep breath and said:

"Okay I will let you come, but only because I understand."Cabe told her.

"Is Walter your son?"Paige asked, in shock.

"No, but I had a daughter."Cabe sighed.

"What do you mean by had a daughter? Did she run away or did she?"Paige asked.

"Yeah she passed away a while ago. I don't really like to talk about it."Cabe said as he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Cabe let's get going."Walter said.

"Okay see you guys in a little bit."Cabe told them team.

The three of them walked into got past security with Cabe's badge. Walter, was trying to keep his screen on his laptop from automatically turning off.

"Okay we have a space set up for Mister O'Brien."The intern said that Cabe promoted.

Walter set up his laptop, then he attempted to download the software.

"Ahh, the plane has to be closer our location in order for the software to download."Walter said.

"How low?"The pilot asked.

"Um, ten feet."Walter said."And we need to be traveling the at the same speed as you."Walter continued.

"Well Walt we don't have a race car in the parking lot."Cabe said.

"I saw a Ferrari in the parking lot."Walter stated then started putting his equipment away. Hey then ran downstairs from the observation tower and walked out into the parking lot.

"So who will drive?"Paige asked.

"Well Cabe you drive like hell so you will drive, I will prep the software, and Paige you will open the roof, stand in the car and,plug in the laptop."Walter told them.

"Sounds good to me."Cabe said.

"Well you're not the one who was has stand in a car that is going at two-hundred-fifty miles an hour."Paige told Cabe.

"Ohh, planes go faster than that."Cabe replied, smiling and putting his sunglasses on.

"Holy crap I am really doing this."Paige said.

"Yes you are,or hopefully."Walter told her.

They got into the car and Cabe started driving. Paige was getting ready to push the roof of the car and thinking: Am I dreaming or, is this really happening. While, Cabe was smiling and, driving along fulfilling his lifelong dream. Walter was still, trying to keep his screen from automatically turning off.

"Paige when I say now you are going to push the roof off of the car."Walter told her who sitting in the back seat.

"Hey Cabe, how are you smiling?"Paige asked him.

"Ohh, I'm living out my lifelong dream."Cabe replied.

"Now Paige!"Walter yelled as Paige was hitting the roof off of the car.

"Okay take the cord and plug it in."The co-pilot said to Paige who was on the tire of the plane handing her the cord.

"Son, of, a, bitch."Cabe said slowly in awe of what was going on.

"Cabe pay attention to the road."Walter said trying to see if it was downloaded yet.

"Paige!"Walter yelled."One hundred percent."He continued.

Then Walter let go of his laptop and, forced Paige into her seat. Then,Cabe pressed firmly on the brake and reached toward Walter's air bag to lessen the impact on him. The Car skidded to a halt and nearly missed the guard rail. Cabe was breathing in deeply, Walter was too, but Paige on the other hand was vomiting.

"We're in!"The Director of LAX said.

Everybody celebrated because all of their hard work on saving all of those people.

"Hey Ralph, your mom did that."Sylvester said and, Ralph smiled back.

They all went back to the Dinner to greet each other and congratulate each other on saving all of people.

"Hey Walter, can I have a word with you?"Cabe asked.

"You know we are a great team and I can't train my agents to think you. Bad guys are gett'in smarter and catching up with all of the new technology. What I am trying to say is, do you and your team want to work with Homeland?"Cabe asked Walter

"Here."Walter said as he handed Cabe a note.

"Computers, phones, new laptop. You saw this coming."Cabe said.

"It was your only logical choice."Walter said.

"Well see you tomorrow then."Cabe said.

"See you tomorrow."Walter replied.

Walter walked over to the counter to greet the rest of the team.

"So you seem happy Walt."Toby said.

"He offered us a job."Walter replied, smiling"Where's Paige."Walter asked.

"Ahh, she left a couple minutes said."She had to take Ralph home."She continued.

"Well I guess this is the new Scorpion."Sylvester said.

"Me too."Toby replied.

Walter pulled up at Paige's apartment complex with a paper for her.

"Hey I didn't expect to see you again."Paige said as she opened the door for Walter.

"I wanted to know if you would like a job?"Walter asked as he handed her the papers."Here is the pay plus, benefits."He continued.

"Well I am touched, but I'm not nearly as smart as you guys."She said.

"Well our job is going to include interacting with people which we are not too strong in, and your son is just like us. The point that I am trying to make here is that, you translate the world for us, and we will translate your son for you. I was in the same position as your son. Struggling to understand the world, tell him to ignore any sentence that begins with normally, and not let the other kids pick on him just because he's different, and not let him get scared of what he is capable of. He will find it tough and get scared, and sometimes come home from school crying and, upset, he will find it tough, but I know he will get through it."Walter told her.

"Hey Walter."Ralph said as he walked in wearing his alien pajamas.

"Hey buddy."Walter replied.

"He used to only talk to me."Paige said as she was wiping the tears away from her eyes after hearing Walter talking about the obstacles that Ralph will eventually face.

"He senses his own kind."Walter told her.

Ralph sat down at the couch, grabbed a controller, and set one aside for Walter.

"Do you mind?"Walter asked as he pointed to the controller.

"No go ahead."Paige replied.

Walter walked over to the couch and sat down next to picked up a controller and said:

"Have you ever won Ralph?"Walter asked him.

"Yah, sometimes."Ralph replied.

"Me too."Walter said.

Me too...