It's here, it's here! I'm very excited to write this story. It's gonna get crazy. If you're just joining us, this is the sequel to my fics "Anniversary" and "Renewed," so PLEASE check those out before you read this!

Also, I just wanted to leave a quick note for guest reviewers: first of all, I really appreciate your comments! But I received several questions from guests on "Renewed" that I wasn't able to answer. FanFiction doesn't give writers the option to respond to guest reviews, even though we want to! Just keep that in mind. It's worth signing up for an account, if you can, just to communicate with your favorite writers and get notifications when stories are updated (coming from a person who didn't create an account for way, way too long).

Please review!

Paige was miserable.

She was putting on a brave face for Ralph, of course. The liaison had done that through situations much worse than this. The team supplied them with enough money to tide them over for three months, though she dearly hoped it wouldn't be that long. Because while they were filling their days with a steady diet of takeout, museums, and experiments in their comfortable two-bedroom apartment—rented under the name of Susan Connors, an alias set up entirely by Happy and in which Paige had zero say—there was something fundamentally missing. Someone. Multiple someones, actually, but it was Walter's absence that they felt the most.

In ten years of raising Ralph mostly or entirely on her own, Paige thought it was them against the world. She'd resolved never to rely on anyone else, never to let in another person who was bound to disappoint them. But an airplane's software system had crashed three years ago, and that twist of fate led to a life neither of them could have imagined: dangerous, stressful, unpredictable, wonderful.

They came terrifyingly close to losing all of that to Collins. Paige understood why it was safer for her and Ralph to hide. She'd had to admit that it was the logical course of action. But the eleven and a half days they had been holed up in this town, the name of which she barely remembered, seemed to stretch on for months.

"Can we go to the park tomorrow?"

Ralph's voice pierced through her thoughts, and Paige snapped her attention to him. He was sitting across from her at the breakfast bar and swirling his spoon around in a bowl of soup, following the same spiral pattern repeatedly.

She smirked in amusement. "You want to go outside? Voluntarily?"

"The skateboard ramp is an ideal angle to test my robot on," he shrugged, abruptly changing course and dragging his utensil in the opposite direction.

"Alright, as long as we don't mutilate any teenagers." Paige cleared the last remaining yogurt from her carton and tossed it in the trash, running the spoon under the water and scraping off a speck of fruit with her fingernail. She wasn't really in the mood to eat, but Ralph would have refused dinner if she didn't. "Anything else you'd like to do?"

Ralph was silent, and Paige assumed he was lost in some calculation or another until she turned around from the sink and found him staring directly at her. "It's weird here," he said simply, but he wasn't complaining. That was the voice he used to recite facts.

And Paige understood. There was nothing wrong with the town. They just didn't belong there.

"I know, baby." She let a sigh escape her lips before plastering on one of the fake, cheerful smiles she could tell he saw through but hoped would seem encouraging anyway. "But we just need to make the most of this, okay? If we stay busy, we'll be back home before we know it."

Ralph nodded thoughtfully and bit down on his bottom lip before he said, "Do you think Walter misses us?"

Hearing the genius's name out loud made her chest feel tighter, like a stone was pressing against it. If he missed them half as much as she missed him, she couldn't imagine how he was handling it. Despite what Walter told himself, he experienced emotions more deeply than most. Paige didn't want to think of him being unhappy, even temporarily, but she hoped she wasn't the only one feeling this way. "I'm sure he misses you a lot, Ralph."

"Mmhmm," Ralph murmured as he gathered soup on his spoon and sipped it deliberately. "I hope he's okay."

Paige reached onto the counter, patting Ralph's hand lightly with her own. "Of course he is."


He was supposed to be fishing.

Cabe hadn't had a full weekend off in three months, but there was a refreshing lack of Homeland crises and Walter wasn't accepting private clients until this mess with Collins was sorted out. The agent offered help where he could, but he didn't know the former Scorpion member like the rest of the team did, and it would likely take a genius to catch a genius.

Even if he couldn't assist in the hunt for Collins, he could still take care of Walter. That was becoming a full-time job in itself. Walter took Paige and Ralph's departure harder than any of them had anticipated, though in hindsight it wasn't surprising. He'd been forced to watch them both on the brink of death—Cabe knew the strain of that experience well—and then sacrifice his final remnant of control in a last-ditch effort to protect them. Walter's emotional capacity was stretched far beyond its limits, and it was taking everything he had to keep from withdrawing into himself completely.

Cabe knew Happy, Toby, and Sylvester wouldn't be at the garage the next day—they needed to recharge and recover, too, after the sixteen-hour shifts they'd been pulling. So the agent left his fishing gear in the closet, where it was collecting dust, and took out a button-down shirt instead, draping it over a chair. It wasn't like he'd be able to relax, anyway.


I'm sure you have questions.

At the moment, Walter wasn't able to imagine any question he couldn't answer by beating Collins senseless. He never had much use for violence; his intelligence solved most issues, but right now, it was more than a little tempting. Mark wasn't one for empty threats, though, and whatever his "assurances" were, they were almost guaranteed to negatively impact the people Walter cared about. Putting them at risk for momentary satisfaction would be selfish.

Once his initial wave of rage passed, questions did begin to flood his mind. But Mark's power came from information—secrets, fear, insecurities, weaknesses. One wrong word could provide Collins with all the ammunition he needed.

Walter hunched over in his chair and propped his arms on his legs, mirroring his former partner. "Why are you here?"

The corner of Collins's lips curled up. "Come on, Walter, I know you want to ask me more than that."

"Are you going to answer my questions or not?" he snapped. Mark shrugged impassively. "Why are you here?"

The man stared at Walter with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, like a puzzle to be solved. Walter had gotten used to that look a long time ago. It was how Collins saw everyone and everything, except after unlocking a puzzle, he'd crush it into pieces. "I was in hiding for three months. I disliked it," he said casually. "I'd rather address our issues face-to-face, wouldn't you?"

Collins didn't want to find out what Walter would rather do.

"If that's true, why target Paige and Ralph? Why not just come straight for me?"

He scoffed, a sound that instantly set Walter's nerves on edge. "I could have sworn we'd already had this conversation," Collins mused, straightening up in his chair and squaring his elbow against the back. "But very well. I never wanted the kid to die. As competitive as I am, I have great respect for genius. If, as you suspect, Ralph's intelligence exceeds yours, that would be a loss for the world. Paige Dineen, on the other hand, is expendable. And I never doubted that she would take her son's place. Sentiment is predictable and boring."

The disgust with which he said Paige's name was nearly enough to send Walter lunging toward him, but the genius stopped himself at the last second. "She's surprised you before," he reminded Collins through gritted teeth.

The silence that followed was mildly gratifying. Mark had assumed once that Paige would fall into his trap, collapse under the weight of his manipulations and leave Scorpion behind. But she stood her ground and fought for Walter until they were rescued. While Paige might consistently choose to protect the people she loved, there was nothing boring or predictable about her actions.

But the smirk was back in place almost as quickly as it had fallen. "And I'm sure she didn't regret that decision at all as her precious child was dying in a hospital bed," Collins retorted, his voice mocking as he leaned toward Walter. "Or maybe she enjoyed seeing him in danger? Did it make her feel like a hero? I know how the members of Scorpion love to save poor, troubled souls just to give your lives some semblance of worth."

Don't give in.

Walter inhaled a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "You want something, Collins, and it's not to sit here and taunt me. What will it take to make you disappear?"

Mark brought his hand to his chest in a gesture of mock offense. "And all this time, I thought we were having fun," he said wistfully, shaking his head. "Alright, Walter, I'm prepared to lay all my cards on the table. But I don't want any of those idiots you call colleagues interrupting the adults, so I think you should give us some privacy."

Walter stiffened. Collins knew the garage inside and out, perhaps even better than Walter, but there was no way he knew about that.

Then again, he had successfully stored Paige's antidote directly under their noses, and none of them had been the wiser…

"I don't know what you're talking about," the genius said evenly, covertly digging his nails into his palms to control his physical reactions. But he wasn't fooling Collins.

"The lockdown protocol," Mark said condescendingly. "I've known about it since you installed it. It was for me, after all, which I must say is very flattering."

That was true, as much as Walter would've loved to claim that not everything was about Collins. After he and Paige were abducted, the genius spent months developing a cutting-edge security system for the garage that could make it impenetrable in times of emergency. The rotating code that controlled it made it virtually unhackable. Apparently he'd planned for every circumstance except Collins appearing unannounced on a random Friday night.

"I've been dying to see it in action," Mark divulged, as if they were talking about a car. Walter's protests were interrupted almost immediately as Collins held up his hand. "This is not a debate. Either you activate it now or I kill the first person who walks through the door. In fact, I would say I'm doing you a favor, considering how long I've imagined getting rid of this shrine to ineptitude that you consider a team."

Being trapped in the garage with Collins was less than ideal, but it was his best option to protect the others. If he could keep his mental defenses up, he'd be able to stall until he could lift the lockdown. Even Mark needed to sleep eventually. "Fine. The control panel is in my loft."

"Be that as it may…" Collins reached over a stack of papers on Walter's desk and picked up his cell phone, handing it over to the genius. "There's no point in having an emergency lockdown in place if you can't access it from anywhere. Let's not play games, Walt, I'm better at them."

Reluctantly, Walter unlocked the phone and opened the app he designed, pressing the red button and entering the confirmation code. An almost deafening noise swept the garage as the doors locked and sheets of steel extended to cover the windows and reinforce the ceiling. The sound of clanging metal was replaced less than a minute later by eerie silence as the usual hum of outside traffic disappeared.

"Intriguing," Collins said simply, scanning the office to admire the results. He had to have anticipated that triggering the lockdown would also notify authorities, but he seemed unconcerned. The knot in Walter's stomach tightened. This was the beginning. There was more to come. "Answer it."

"What?" Walter suddenly grew aware of ringing from the garage's landline. He shook himself out of his fog. He couldn't allow himself to get lost in his thoughts, not now. With another glance at Mark to confirm, Walter connected the call and put it on speakerphone. "Hello?"

"Is this Mr. O'Brien?"

Collins nodded.

"Yes, I'm Walter O'Brien."

The police officer hesitated, seemingly thrown off by Walter's calm demeanor. "We've received a call from your address. Are you currently in need of police assistance or an ambulance?"

Collins shook his head.

"No, it was just a glitch in my system. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

The officer fell quiet—Walter guessed she was listening for any telling noise in the background—before she answered, "Have a good night, Mr. O'Brien." Walter reciprocated before ending the call and releasing the breath he'd been holding.

He turned back to Collins. "They'll send someone anyway. It's department policy."

"All in due time," Mark said, waving his hand dismissively. "Your bigger concern is the call that'll be coming in from Cabe right about…" He lifted up his wrist to check his watch. "Now."

It wasn't long before Walter felt a vibration in his hand and saw the agent's name on his screen. He froze. Lying to a police officer was one thing, but Cabe wasn't easily fooled.

Collins saved him the trouble. He grabbed the phone from Walter and answered it on speaker. "Kid, you alright?" Cabe said on the other end, sounding breathless. "My friend at the LAPD told me they got an emergency alert from the garage. They said it was nothing, but with all that's been going on…"

"Agent Gallo!" Collins greeted in a loud, overly friendly voice. "Thanks for your call. Walter and I are hashing some things out right now. I'd tell you to come join us, but, well…"

He motioned for the genius to contribute, and Walter rubbed his hands roughly over his face before adding, "We're in lockdown, Cabe. I'm fine, but you need to keep your distance. I don't know what'll happen if you come here."

"Nothing good, that's what!" It wasn't difficult to read a threat between the lines of his joking tone. "I'm sure that won't dissuade you and your Homeland cronies, but I wanted to get this out of the way so Walter won't waste time trying to get a message out. Give us the night, and in the morning I'll return him to you, no harm done. Think you can manage that?"

There wasn't a chance in hell that was what Collins had planned, but until they figured out his real goal, there was only one thing they could do: play along. "Lay a hand on Walter and I'll destroy you. You've got nine hours."

The negotiation was a smokescreen; Cabe would never willingly leave Walter with Collins. But no matter how much firepower Homeland could get their hands on, it wouldn't be enough. Happy had helped him turn the garage into a fortress. Which meant that Walter had until seven a.m. to overpower Collins and lift the lockdown himself. "Cabe," he blurted out before Mark could hang up. "I need you to check on the rest of the team."

Paige and Ralph. That's what he really meant. The agent hoped that Scorpion's combined efforts to ensure their safety were paying off now. "I will, Walter. Stay safe."

Collins threw Walter's phone on the floor, crushing it with the heel of his shoe. "Your new life is exhausting," he grumbled before kicking the device across the garage. "Let's get started, shall we?"


Even though it was only ten p.m., Happy sounded groggy and distracted when she answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Are you with Toby?"

There was an awkward pause before the shrink spoke. "Hey, Cabe. We were just—."

The agent cleared his throat before Toby could get into further detail. "I don't care. The two of you need to pick up Sylvester and meet me at Homeland. Bring any details you have about Walter's lockdown protocol. Got it?"

"The lockdown…" Happy repeated slowly, huffing out a breath. "Why? What's going on?"

Cabe stopped short of getting into his truck and pressed his palm against the door, inhaling deeply. Another day, another nightmare, and the hits never seemed to stop coming.

"Walt's in trouble. And we've got nine hours to figure out what the hell Collins is up to."