Hello. Before I started this story, I had asked BDaddyDL what he thought of doing a story based on Comic Con. Based on some of the ideas I had in mind, he thought it was an awesome idea. I vowed to keep the story short: less than 12,000 words, no chapter greater than 3,000 words. I'm about to screw up both of those, and I'm barely halfway done with the story. I have to give credit to those authors who can keep people riveted with far fewer words. I honestly don't know how they do it.

Anyway, thanks again to BDaddyDL for letting me bounce a few ideas off of his head. I'm hoping I can make this story very funny and very entertaining. Please leave a review and let me know if I've done just that. Thanks!

W Hotel, Los Angeles
July 19, 2011
7:30 AM PDT

Jimmy Slade was out cold in the bed. Given the long day everybody had…Jimmy and Alex had been awake for almost twenty-four hours after flying from Europe…they decided to reconvene in Castle in the morning to work out a strategy for finding Jay Roberts and stopping Decker from whatever it was he had planned at Comic Con. It was a good idea, as Jimmy crawled into their hotel room after the meeting in Castle, showered, and passed right out. He was actually surprised he had any left in the tank to carry their bags up.

He still needed to figure out that whole 'can't sleep on planes' thing.

Alex caught several hours of sleep on the flight from Madrid to Los Angeles, so she was in a much better mood when they landed. Of course, Jimmy did what he could to 'relax' her on the flight, and despite Alex's attempts to return the favor, Jimmy spent the majority of the flight sitting nervously in his seat. He passed the time completing reports, listening to music, and he even managed to read part of a book.

"Wake up, babe."

Alex gently shook him, but Jimmy was dead to the world.

"James?" Alex shook him harder but to no avail. She exhaled in anger, jumped on top of his sleeping form, grabbed his face, and kissed him hard.

That worked a little too well.

Jimmy's eyes shot open in fear, and he reached for the gun underneath his pillow. It took him a few seconds to figure it out. He exhaled in annoyance at himself and gently placed the gun on the nightstand.

"Sorry," he mumbled quietly. "I wasn't expecting that."

Alex smiled and gave him a gentler kiss. "I did try to wake you. Twice. You wouldn't budge, so I had to resort to more…shall we say…direct methods?"

"Kind of a Snow White in reverse. Only instead of making out with Prince Charming, you had to settle for snogging Grumpy." Alex glared at him. "Bashful? Happy?"

"Right now, I'm thinking Dopey," Alex quietly seethed.

Jimmy nodded in concession. "I'm so sorry I went right to sleep last night. I just don't know why I can't sleep on planes. Given all the dangerous situations we've been in, it seems silly."

"Don't worry about it. I was able to make do with what I had."

"Uh, what do you mean 'make do'?" Alex gave him an impish grin, at which Jimmy shut his eyes in embarrassment. "Aaah, hell. Now I really feel like a jerk for being asleep."

Alex grinned and stroked his face. "Not to worry. Your heart didn't have to be in it. I just needed your body. Although I will admit it's a bit scary you're better at sex when you're asleep than a lot of the guys I've dated who were awake."

Jimmy's eyes widened. "That's…not a bit scary. That's a whole lot of scary."

Alex ran her hands over Jimmy's chest and slid her body against him. "What can I say? Sometimes, this is all I need," she purred as she gestured at his strapping form.

Jimmy gave her a gentle laugh as Alex reached over to the far side of the bed and took a croissant off the breakfast tray she ordered. She held it out for Jimmy, who took a bite in appreciation.

"Thanks," he said. "I wish I had woken up sooner so I could have gotten you the tray."

Alex gave a quiet growl. "Yeah. Because, God forbid, I should treat you to breakfast in bed for once."

"No, I meant…"

Alex cut him off. "Stop." She gripped his shoulders hard. "Two words, James. RE. LAX. You have no idea how frustrating it is to see you act like any little thing you say or do might offend me in some way. OK? Trust me, I am not one of those women who won't say anything for a long time and then just explode all over you at the wrong moment. If you did something wrong, I'll let you know. Like right now. If you want to get me flowers or serve me the occasional breakfast in bed, I certainly won't turn you down. Just don't act like I'll walk out on you if you don't open a door for me one time. That's not me. It'll take a lot more to make me leave."

Jimmy looked away in shame. Alex grabbed his face and wrenched it back to her. "You just did it again!"

"I'm…"

Alex put her hand over the nightstand where Jimmy's gun was. "Try to apologize. Try it. I dare you. I double-dare you." Jimmy clammed up immediately, and Alex calmed down. "Look, you saw Ferris Bueller, right?"

"Of course."

"What did Ferris say about the first woman Cameron would ever sleep with?"

"That she would treat Cameron like shit."

"Exactly, that she wouldn't respect him. Why?"

Jimmy nodded as he figured out the error of his ways. "Because you can't respect someone who kisses your ass."

"And you're getting very close to that. We're partners and we're lovers. It's an equal situation. Got it? I don't want your lips anywhere near my ass."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh, not then," Alex quickly backtracked with a grin. "You put your lips on any part of my body you want. Your hands, tongue, anything you like."

Jimmy started laughing as Alex grabbed his face again and kissed him hard, her tongue flitting like a bumblebee inside his mouth. She slid his hands underneath her slip as she took his boxers off. She planted kisses all over his chest as she threw off her negligee and pressed her slender frame wantonly against his body. She got the result she was looking for.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely that, too," she moaned.

Castle Underground Facility
July 19, 2011
9:10 AM PDT

Morgan yawned as he descended the stairs into Castle with a cup of Buy More coffee in an attempt to wake up. He walked over to the main table where Chuck and Sarah were sitting.

"Didn't you get any sleep last night?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, not really. I was with Alex and we…"

Both Chuck and Sarah made 'cut' gestures with their throats. Morgan looked confused until Chuck furtively gestured behind him. Morgan caught on.

"…watched movies most of the night. Alex is really into Twilight," Morgan finished as Casey came up behind him.

"Go Team Morgan," Casey replied caustically.

Everybody turned when they heard the upstairs entrance to Castle slide open. Jimmy and Alex walked down the stairs.

"Sorry we're late," Jimmy said as they sat at the table. "The 101 was totally gridlocked, and…" Everybody looked at him like he was full of it. "What?"

"Dude, worst poker face…ever," Chuck informed him.

Jimmy tried to play innocent. "What are you talking about?" He turned to Alex, who was giving him a look.

"James, you're not fooling anybody. They can tell by your face all the different ways we had sex." Everybody at the table tried to hold in their laughter, which offended Alex a bit. "Hey, you get your first boyfriend in ten years and see how long your clothes stay on," she grumbled.

"Let's get started," Casey snarled to refocus everybody. "The convention runs Thursday through Sunday. I downloaded the schedule already, and I have the rest of the bio on Roberts. Like Grimes said last night, he got laid off ten months ago, and he's been living with his parents in Nashville for the last seven months."

"He has a clean record, and if Decker thought bribing him would work, he would have attempted that," Sarah said. "Based on the fact he's never gotten anything worse than a parking ticket, Decker has to be coercing him."

"You mean, like, he'd threaten to kill the guy's parents or his girlfriend or something?" Morgan asked without bothering to hide his worry. Everybody nodded.

"But that could work in our favor," Sarah continued. "If we can find him and talk to him, we might be able to figure out what Decker's holding over his head to do this and help him out. He can also tell us whom he is attempting to meet."

"Yeah, but I gotta believe Decker will have at least a couple of goons watching Jay's every move," Jimmy countered. "Plus, they're likely to wait until the last moment to tell him when and where he has to make his exchange."

Alex nodded. "We also have to assume Decker told his men to keep an eye out for your team; probably all of us. We have to blend in and keep it quiet."

Everybody went silent. Sarah, Alex, and Casey groaned in frustration. Chuck, Morgan, and Jimmy were varying degrees of giddy.

"Sweet! Let's call the CIA office here and tell them to make us some costumes," Morgan beamed.

"We can't, moron," Casey said in irritation. "We don't work for them anymore, remember? And Forrest and Slade can't go in because such an unusual request might tip off Decker."

"Well, where can we get costumes?"

"Gee, if there was only a place in Los Angeles where they would have a huge supply of costumes," Casey replied sarcastically.

Everybody waited for the light bulb to go off in Morgan's mind. "Oh, right," Morgan finally said.

"We'll pick up some costumes from one of the studios," Jimmy said. "Chuck? Sarah? What do you want to be?"

Sarah shook her head. "Uh, we're set on that," Chuck said quietly.

"OK. Uh, Case?" Jimmy's question was met with a teeth-clenched growl. "No costume for you. Morgan?"

"Oh, see if they have a commando outfit. I'd love to be Master Chief!"

"Yeah, sure. No problem," Jimmy replied as he began to wonder what he signed up for.

"Walker, you and I will organize the equipment," Casey said. "Chuck, you and Grimes get into this man's life. See if there's anything that will help us figure out where Roberts will be at Comic Con."

"We can check his credit cards. See where in Nashville he shops. I'll make a few calls," Chuck replied.

Morgan raised his hand. "Morgan, you can just speak up. This isn't high school," Sarah said.

"Well, this guy's a total nerd when it comes to Comic Con. I bet if we hack his DVR and his computer, we can figure out what his favorite movies and shows are. Then we just find those on the schedule for this weekend and concentrate our searches there."

Alex gave Morgan a weird look. "He thinks he can pass as a commando, and yet he comes up with that good of an idea?"

"Morgan's an acquired taste," Chuck replied sheepishly. "I'll find out if his house gets cable or satellite and work from there."

"Let's get to work," Casey announced to conclude the meeting.

Unknown Location
July 20, 2011
1:30 PM

Jay found himself in a familiar setting: handcuffed to a chair in a dark room. However, Brodie was now seated next to him and similarly handcuffed. They said as little to each other as possible, figuring someone was listening. They spent the majority of their time sitting in chairs like these or in a dormitory-like room with two very uncomfortable beds and a small bathroom with a shower. There were no windows in the room, and they had no idea where they were. At least they were fed and given a TV to watch.

The door opened, and three men came into the room. Two of them aimed their weapons at Jay and Brodie. The third man approached them with two identical boxes. He placed a box in each of their laps and then walked around behind them to take off their handcuffs.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to give you a set of instructions," the man without the gun said in a businesslike tone. "May I suggest you follow them, or the two men in front of you may be forced to shoot you between the eyes. Please open the boxes in your laps."

Jay and Brodie looked at each other before gingerly opening the small plastic boxes.

"Please take the wristwatch you see and put it on you." Jay and Brodie did as the man commanded. "You'll notice once you close the clasp, you will be unable to take it off. You do not want to take them off. The good news is, they keep very accurate time. The bad news is, they contain a small amount of C-4 plastic explosive. But it's enough to kill you. If you try to take the watch off, it will detonate. If you aren't where we tell you to be, it will detonate. If you don't make the handoff, it will detonate. Deviate in any way, shape, or form from our directions, and…you get the idea."

Jay looked in the box and saw a mobile phone. "What is the phone for?"

"That is how you'll talk to us. Failure to answer the phone or acknowledge a text message when we contact you means we will remote-detonate the watches. And the phones are monitored 24-7, so don't bother calling anybody. Don't even order a pizza."

The man pointed to their boxes again. "The envelope inside contains tickets to get you into the convention and let you sit in on several of the panels. We were nice enough to get you into some of your favorite shows and movies. You'll even get to listen to Spielberg give a talk. The keycard is to your hotel in San Diego. We got you a very nice room, only the phone and Internet will be disabled. And there are cameras everywhere, so we'll know if you try to leave or invite anybody in. I suggest you do neither of those things."

"Wait a minute," Brodie interrupted. "Won't people know we're gone?"

The man smiled and shook his head. "Fortunately for us, both of you have a lot of pictures on your computer. We've been superimposing your images on various locations throughout the country and emailing them to your friends and family. Everybody who knows you believes you're on the ultimate road trip to San Diego. Oh, and your parents just loved the handwoven blanket you sent them from New Mexico, Mr. Roberts."

Jay looked down at the floor. He couldn't shake the fear he wouldn't get out of this alive. He saw enough TV shows and movies to know the hostage almost never gets to walk away. He had to hope and pray someone would rescue him or hope Brodie and he found a weakness and be able to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, given the professionalism of the people who captured them, the former looked bleak and the latter seemed impossible.

"When do we make this exchange?" Jay weakly asked.

"We'll let you know," the man said in a professional demeanor.

Echo Park
July 19, 2011
11:00 PM PDT

Chuck lay back in the bed and waited for Sarah to emerge from the bathroom. He couldn't miss the look of annoyance she had on her face as they left Castle.

Sarah probably wished Morgan and he weren't so damned excited about going to Comic Con.

It was something both of them had worked on since they met. Chuck tried to dial down the game playing, and Sarah tried to watch some of the movies and TV shows Chuck loved. She remembered the photograph of her dressed in the Princess Leia costume from Return of the Jedi standing next to Chuck in his Han Solo attire. It was a Photoshop creation, courtesy of the CIA, but she felt guilty about a tracking device being planted in the frame to monitor Chuck. Chuck was upset at first, but eventually he was grateful to her for being so understanding after realizing he should have trusted her. He learned that the hard way after trusting Laszlo Mahnovski. To make up for it, she made sure he had a real picture with her in the Leia outfit.

Sarah came into the bedroom and slipped under the covers next to Chuck. She gave him a kiss.

"Are you still mad at me?" Chuck asked.

Sarah looked up at him in surprise. "No. Why would I be?"

Chuck hemmed and hawed a bit. "Well, you weren't too thrilled yesterday when we figured out we'd have to go to Comic Con. I just assumed…"

Sarah smiled and caressed his cheek. "Hey, I know it's a place you love to go, but my mind is already thinking what a logistical nightmare it will be. Even with the information you found, we'll still be looking for a needle in a haystack. A haystack under siege."

Chuck laughed gently. "You're right. This is an assignment, and not an easy one at that. I'll make sure I remind Morgan. But…I just thought…"

"What?"

"Well, you don't really like that Leia costume."

Sarah smiled and slid on top of Chuck. "I admit, it wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever worn. But I saw how much you liked it. That made it worth the effort."

Chuck's eyes widened. "Oh, you have no idea how much I liked it." Sarah playfully ground against him and tickled his lips with her tongue. "OK, maybe you do."

Sarah wiggled her eyebrows. "Sometimes the signs are obvious."

"But I never wanted to ask you to wear it again because I didn't want you wearing it just for me."

"However, now it might be a good idea. Is that what you're saying?"

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "Tactically, it might give us an advantage. We have a lot of ground to cover, and all we know is we have to look for Jay. If Decker's got guys watching him, we might be able to use it as a diversion. Plus, if you wear it, it's like an all-access pass to the convention. You'll be able to go into more areas."

Sarah mulled that over. "That's a good point. We might need that." She turned back to Chuck. "I'd certainly prefer it to what Casey might dream up for a plan."

"Yeah, I'm picturing the place being shut down, thousands of pissed off fans, lots of frisking and beating up of people in Star Trek uniforms," Chuck replied, which made Sarah laugh.

"So, what will you wear?" Sarah asked with a devilish glint in her eyes.

"Well, if I was dressing to match you, wouldn't I be Han Solo?"

Sarah grinned. "That's true. And even though I wasn't happy you made me watch all six movies, I do find Han to be so hot."

Chuck gave her a few kisses along her neck as both of them started pulling the other's clothes off. "Do you want to hear a big secret?"

"Mmm, tell me."

"Greedo didn't shoot first. I did."

"Oooh, you really are a scoundrel," Sarah replied as she grabbed Chuck's face and kissed him.

San Diego Convention Center, Ballroom 20
July 21, 2011
12:10 PM PDT

Casey had to give Chuck and Morgan credit: they did their homework.

Thanks to their research into Jay Roberts' personal habits, they had a reasonable path to follow in order to intercept him. There were two panels where they could potentially locate him today. The first one would start in twenty minutes. His DVD purchases over the last few years meant Jay might be interested in seeing the panel for Psych.

Casey staked out a location thirty feet from the doors where fans would enter in a few minutes and waited patiently for the rest of the team to arrive. As he refused to wear a costume for this, he was ready to go long before everybody else. He was also at the closest hotel to the convention center, as everybody stayed at different hotels to not raise any red flags with the NSA.

Casey saw Jimmy and Alex approaching. "Nice inconspicuous costumes, you two," he said over his earpiece with substantial amusement.

"Don't look at me," Jimmy replied. "I went with what the guy at the studio told me. He said I'd make a great Conan the Barbarian."

"That was the outfit he thought you looked the hottest in," Alex replied. "You didn't notice it? I don't think he looked you in the eyes the entire time. Now you know what women go through with horny guys."

"He wasn't checking me out," Jimmy denied.

"Really? You STILL don't get that you're good-looking? You now have two genders who would disagree with you. If you don't believe me, turn around really fast."

Jimmy did a quick look behind him. A half-dozen women suddenly turned their heads away from him and pretended they weren't looking at his ass. Jimmy turned back and shook his head in embarrassment.

"Actually, I kind of like the hair," Alex said with a smirk. Jimmy found a mirror and looked at the long-haired wig he was wearing to make him look like Conan and grimaced.

"For someone who's supposed to be aware of their surroundings at all times, you really suck at it," Casey said with a bit of a grin. "Way not to draw attention to yourself."

Jimmy scoffed. "Oh, yeah. You blend," he replied in a dead-on imitation of Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny.

"OK, let's spread out," Alex said to cut the two of them off. "Morgan, are you in the convention center yet?"

"I'll be there in twenty seconds," he replied over their earpieces.

"I'll stake out the north hallway," Alex said and departed in that direction.

"What costume is he wearing?" Casey asked Jimmy.

Jimmy smiled. "Let's just say I nailed it for him."

"What do you mean?"

"Jimmy, this costume is so epic, man!"

For the first time since arriving in Burbank, Casey was rendered speechless by someone other than Chuck and his Intersect. Morgan was decked out in a pair of green pants with a beige shirt and a yellow vest, tied at the middle with a huge belt and buckle. He wore a threadbare coat to match.

"Oh, yeah. Because dressing as Bilbo Baggins will really help you with the ladies," Casey mocked.

"Hey, it's appropriate. That new Hobbit movie is coming out next year," Morgan replied.

"Except Baggins didn't have a beard."

Jimmy turned to Casey in astonishment. "And how would you know that?"

Casey hesitated for a moment before shrugging. "Required reading, freshman year of high school."

Jimmy tried not to burst out laughing. "Yeah, right. Push your nose back in there, Pinocchio."

Casey grunted at Jimmy before turning his attention back to Morgan. "You have a ticket to get into that panel, and it isn't likely Decker's goons would recognize you right away. Go inside and keep an eye out for Roberts. If you see him, follow him out. Slade, Forrest, and I will keep an eye on you from a distance."

"Hey, you got it, big Case," Morgan replied. "I'm, like, the handler on this one, right?"

"No," Casey replied before turning and walking away.

"You'll be fine," Jimmy reassured him. "Get in there. It's almost time to start."

"You got it, man." Morgan turned and walked into the ballroom. Jimmy started walking towards the south hallway to keep an eye on convention-goers coming from that direction. Casey took a position out of sight where he could keep watch on the doors.

"Bartowski, where are you two at?" Casey said quietly to not draw attention.

"Uh, we may have a problem getting to Ballroom 20," Chuck painfully replied.

"What do you mean?"

Chuck and Sarah headed down the main hallway of the convention center. At first, they had little trouble moving through the crowd, as it parted like the Red Sea for them.

"What's going on?" Sarah quietly asked Chuck. "Why is everybody giving us such a wide berth?"

He grinned. "Well, I think it might be because of what we're wearing. And by the way, when I mean 'we', I actually mean you."

Sarah was surprised. "OK, I know the Leia outfit is a little revealing, but I've seen at least a dozen women dressed this way since we walked in."

"Yeah, and none of them looked too happy with you. Let's face it; you are the most beautiful woman in this entire convention."

She smiled. "Awww, you always say that about me. Not that I don't appreciate it, sweetie." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Uh, Sarah, I think everybody here would actually agree with me."

Sarah took a good look at the crowd. The majority of the crowd was staring at her with their mouths agape. She turned around and noticed a wave of convention-goers following Chuck and her.

Someone ahead of them approached Sarah with a digital camera. "Uh, can I…can I…take a picture with you?"

Sarah stopped in surprise. She then took a quick look around. With such a large crowd around them, she was worried about turning him down and getting so many people upset with her.

She turned to Chuck. "Uh, should we?"

Chuck looked nervously at the crowd. "That sounds like the safest bet."

Sarah turned back to the person with the camera. "Sure."

The young man smiled broadly and handed his camera to Chuck. Sarah stood next to him and posed for the picture. Chuck snapped the picture and handed the camera back to the young man.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The young man was practically in tears. "All my friends are going to be so jealous! How much do you charge?"

Sarah was taken back. "How much do I charge?"

The young man put a $50 in her hand. "Is that enough? I'll pay more!"

"No, no, that's fine," Sarah said in shock. The young man walked away and met up with his friends.

"What the hell just happened?" Sarah asked Chuck.

"The women who dress up as Princess Leia? They take pictures with fans. But they usually charge $20."

Sarah was incredulous. "But he gave me a $50! And he was willing to give me more! Just for a picture?"

Chuck took her in his arms. "Now do you believe me when I say you're the most beautiful woman here?" He gave her a kiss and she eagerly responded.

"Lucky bastard!" someone shouted from the crowd.

They quickly separated. "Come on," Sarah said as her mind got back to the reason they were there. "We have to give everybody a hand."

Chuck and Sarah tried to continue down the hall…only to be stopped by a pair of boys in cheaply-made Rebel Alliance costumes. "Could you take a picture with us?"

Sarah sighed. "OK, but we have to do it fast." They handed Chuck their camera, and the two boys posed with Sarah. Chuck took the picture, and each kid handed her $100.

"You're the prettiest Princess Leia I've ever seen here," one boy said. Sarah couldn't help but smile at the young man's sincerity.

Chuck shook his head in amazement. "We keep this up, and this mission won't cost us a dime."

Sarah rolled her eyes at that thought, but they only got another five steps before someone else asked to take Sarah's picture.

"Bartowski, where are you two at?" Casey said into their earpieces.

Chuck shook his head. "Uh, we may have a problem getting to Ballroom 20."

Alex kept watch in the north hallway for any sign of either Jay Roberts or someone who didn't belong at the convention. She took a close look at anybody wearing a security uniform to see if their ID badge matched the ones the convention was using. She theorized it would be the best way for someone to blend in who might be keeping an eye on Roberts.

"Oh, my God! It's Tricia Helfer!"

Alex looked around to see where the voice came from. She saw someone in a costume point in her general direction. She looked behind her to see whom the man spotted but didn't see any females.

"Tricia!" Suddenly more people started looking in Alex's direction. The man who called out the name first came up to her.

"Oh, my God! That's a cool outfit! Can I have an autograph?"

Alex was taken by surprise. "Uh, I'm not Tricia Helfer."

"Of course you are!" the man said. He then pointed to Alex's costume. "Oh, is that for a movie you're promoting?"

"I swear, I'm not Tricia Helfer. I don't even know who Tricia Helfer is."

"Oh, come on. Battlestar Galactica! You were so sexy as Number Six!"

Suddenly Alex was surrounded by a crowd calling her Tricia Helfer. She had no way out, short of committing assault on a bunch of movie and TV nerds.

"People, I'm telling you. I'm not Tricia Helfer!"

Someone in the crowd pointed to her outfit. "Oh, my God! I know where that costume's from! You're remaking Barbarella!"

The crowd went crazy, and Alex stared in shock. She actually didn't know what outfit she was wearing. She took it because it looked futuristic and sexy. She quietly cursed herself for not asking Jimmy about it.

Two large security guards made their way through the crowd to her. "Ms Helfer, you shouldn't walk around the convention without an escort," one of them said. "You of all people should know it turns into a mob scene wherever you go."

"Guys, I'm not Tricia Helfer," she tried to shout to them but she was drowned out by the excited crowd. Two more security personnel arrived, and the quartet of guards surrounded Alex. They led her through the crowd to a room with restricted access.

"Are you OK, Ms Helfer?" the guard who found her asked. "Can we get you some water? Juice? I think the bar is open if you want something from there."

"No, I don't want anything," Alex angrily replied. "You guys are mistaking me for someone else!"

"Oh, hey. We understand," the second guard said in a conspiratorial voice. "You've been to so many of these, the crowds must exhaust you after a while. I totally sympathize."

"We'll get you a new set of credentials right away," the first guard said. He went for the door and turned back. "And hey, you're even hotter now than you were on BSG."

Alex shook her head in frustration. She reached for her mobile phone. They needed a lot more help. Although she agreed with what the guard said. She was much hotter these days.

Casey checked his watch. The Psych panel was almost done, and the stage crew would set up for Ringer next. Casey did not see Jay Roberts anyplace, but with such a large crowd at the convention, it would have been very easy for Casey to miss him. He kept his eyes focused on the crowd near the doors, particularly the ones waiting for the Ringer panel to begin.

Suddenly, he ducked out of sight.

"Grimes, Roberts must be in there somewhere," he said quietly.

"I don't know, Case," Morgan whispered inside the ballroom. "I've been looking around, but maybe he came in late or he came in when the lights were out during the introduction. I'm still looking."

"I just spotted one of the men assigned to watch Roberts. He was with me in Colonel Keller's old unit. Randall Hicks. Decker must have found him somewhere. Nasty piece of work. Slade, what's your location?"

"South hallway, I'm making my way back to the ballroom. You better make yourself scarce."

"Track down Roberts," Casey ordered. Casey ducked into the restroom across from Ballroom 20.

The crowd stood and applauded as the Psych panel finished. They filed out the doors. Morgan spotted Roberts and tried frantically to catch up to him.

"Jay! Jay, you there?" Morgan yelled in desperation. Jay stopped for a second and turned, but Morgan couldn't negotiate his way through the crowd.

"Watch it, loser," a large man growled at Morgan, who fell to the ground. Morgan caught sight of Roberts' wrist. He flashed on the watch Roberts was wearing, seeing images of a lab, a chemical formula, and a demonstration that ended in an explosion.

Suddenly, Morgan leaped up in a panic. He ran out the other ballroom exit away from the crowd. He looked around, but the crowd was walking away from him. Hicks and the other man watching Roberts and Brodie followed them down the hallway.

Morgan turned and spotted Jimmy running towards him.

"Did you see him?" Jimmy asked.

"Dude, we've got bigger problems than that," Morgan replied as he was bordering on hyperventilation.

"Whoah, slow down, Morgan. What are you talking about?"

"He's got a bomb strapped to him. They could kill him any time they want!"

"A bomb? Did you see it?"

"Yeah, I did the flash thingy on it!"

Jimmy looked around. "Everybody, abort for now. Rendezvous at Location One, thirty minutes."

Morgan and Jimmy ran towards the main entrance.