Eli was sitting in an interrogation room, his hands cuffed to the table while a couple of police officers stared him down. He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been here, they didn't have a clock on the wall and his possessions, including his watch, had been taken when he was arrested, and so he didn't know how long he'd been here, but he knew it had been a while.

It was not his first time in an interrogation room, not by a long shot. He already knew all the tricks. Turning the heat down, leaving someone alone, having people walk around them to emphasise how helpless they were, harsh glares, bright lights…all of it was designed to wear him down and get him to talk. He was drumming his fingers on the table as he waited.

"Look, you're not going anywhere." One of the cops told him. "You might as well tell us what we want to know. We know you were there, we saw you climbing the fence, so you may as well tell us why you were there."

"I don't have to tell you anything." Eli stated.

"It was a secure facility…"

"Not that secure obviously." Eli joked. They didn't seem to appreciate that little line at all.

"You were seen exiting the property!" He demanded.

"Are you new to all this?" Eli asked him, as he gestured around the room. "I don't remember anyone asking me if I wanted a lawyer."

"You think you need one?" The other cop demanded as he folded his arms, leaning in the corner, staring down at Eli in an attempt to intimidate him. Eli just smirked and shook his head.

"Who said anything about 'needing' a lawyer?" Eli asked. "It's kind of a right."

"So, you're asking for a lawyer?" The first cop asked. Eli just shrugged.

"Did I say that?" He asked. "I'm just explaining your jobs to you since you don't seem to know."

"What were you doing at that recycling centre?" One of them demanded.

"I was out for a stroll and took a short cut." Eli said. "The alarm went off, then you fine gentlemen pinched me."

"Pinched?" The one in the corner asked. "Nice street slang there. I'm guessing you're no stranger to interview rooms."

"I like my crime dramas." He smirked arrogantly. "CSI, NCIS, Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter…really fun stuff."

"So, you were taking a stroll wearing a ski mask?" One of them asked.

"I like to keep my head warm." Eli said, tapping his head with his finger. "This brain is pretty valuable. You only get one. It's one of the only organs that doesn't regenerate, did you know that?"

"What about this then?" He asked, pulling out an evidence bag, containing Eli's pistol.

"You are really bad at this. Haven't you heard of the second amendment?" Eli chuckled.

"Then what's the suppressor for smart guy?" He demanded. Eli just sighed.

"Gunshots are loud. It's to protect my sensitive ears." Eli said, sticking a finger in his ear and wiggling it. "Owning a suppressor isn't illegal…"

"It is in California." Eli just shrugged.

"Sorry, I came in from out of State. Guess I didn't check." Eli told him. "So, write me up and keep the suppressor."

"You were running around a secure location with a ski mask, carrying a suppressed pistol during a fire-fight." The cop yelled at him. "You know how this looks!"

"Just as well suspicion isn't guilt." Eli answered. "I was taking a shortcut, heard alarms and ran. It's up to you to prove any different."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. The cop in the corner opened the door and let Zoey in. She just sighed as she saw Eli, who smiled in response.

"Hey, Zoey. It's been a while." He replied. "I would hug you but…"

"What the Hell, Eli." She grumbled. "I haven't seen you in years and when I do it's because I'm getting a call to bail you out of jail?"

"I thought it best not to bother mom with this." He told her. "You know that she just worries."

"Gee, I wonder why?" She asked in response. She looked to the officer. "Has he at least told you what happened?"

"No, he's been very uncooperative." The cop told her.

"What are you talking about? I've been telling you jokers how to do your jobs since I got here." Eli responded. "Now, unless you have anything else on me, I'd like to plead the fifth to all other questions and get the hell out of here."

Just then, Commander Shaw came in. Eli looked a little confused to see her.

"Wait, what is this?" He asked.

"Eli, I'm with Grid Battleforce. This is my Commanding Officer, Commander Shaw." Zoey explained. "I don't have an address; I live on the base."

"Wait, what? When did this happen?" He asked her. Zoey just rolled her eyes.

"Maybe if you got in touch once in a while instead of riding around with your gang…"

"Club!" He corrected her. "The Bastards are a motorcycle club!"

"Interpol and the FBI would beg to differ." Commander Shaw stated. She looked to the two cops. "We'll be taking it from here."

Zoey had to do a double-take.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" The cop asked her. "We picked him up!"

"Yes, escaping a recycling plant that is operated by a military contractor, which means it's a military matter." Commander Shaw told them. "You can turn him over to our custody now. We'll take it from here."

"We've still got to talk to him about his illegal suppressor…"

"Do you really want to have a measuring contest about jurisdiction?" Commander Shaw asked. "Because I'm pretty sure that'll just be embarrassing for you."

One of the cops just unlocked the handcuffs and allowed Eli to get up. He just smirked at the cops.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He told them.

"Shut up Eli." Zoey snapped at him as they walked out. They got all the way to the front door, Eli striding out with the confidence of a man who had rocked up to a fist-fight carrying a shotgun, when he looked to Zoey.

"I knew it was the right call, calling you." Eli said, gesturing for a hug. "Come on, no hug for your big bro?"

Zoey hugged him quickly, before parting from him.

"I promise I'll pay you back for this." He assured her. "Now, I'll catch up with you later, but I've got to get back to my motel room and…"

"Mr Reeves, I think you misunderstand the situation." Commander Shaw told him as the doors to the GB transport vehicle nearby opened. "I haven't bailed you out. I've transferred your custody to us."

"Wait…what?" He asked as Ben and Betty approached him. "Are you serious now?"

"Deadly serious." Commander Shaw told him as Ben and Betty looked to him, Betty pulling out some handcuffs. Ben was about to reach out to grab his arm, when Eli pulled away. Betty just kind of stared at him, standing stock-still.

"Eli, for once in your life, please just do things the easy way." Zoey begged him. Eli just stared back at the Commander.

"Can we stop by my motel and pick up my stuff on the way?" He asked. Commander Shaw just nodded. Eli turned his back to Betty, pulling his hands behind his back.

"Be gentle." He said, winking at her. Betty snapped on the handcuffs and taking him to the transport. Zoey just looked to the Commander.

"Thanks, Commander." She said as she shuffled a little awkwardly under her gaze. "I'm really sorry…"

"Don't worry, Ms Reeves." She told her. "I want to know what this is about just as much as you do."

With that, she gestured Zoey into the transport. She got onto her communicator.

"We're coming back." Commander Shaw told them. "Have a holding cell prepared."

In another part of the city, Muriel was in her apartment, going over the files that Blaze had given her.

It was some pretty compelling reading. There wasn't much, but what she had suggested that Winchester was using his businesses to hide what he was doing with weapons and equipment that didn't make it up to quality control standards. Products that were scheduled to go out to the armed forces that were defective, that were in danger of dangerous malfunctions were scheduled to go to the recycling plant to be destroyed. To be stripped down and processed into useful parts and materials before being sent out to other places to be re-used or remade into other things.

However, if the documents and pictures she saw were to be believed, they weren't being destroyed at all. The very goods that they were taking off the market because they were ruled to be unsuited to the purpose were being turned around and sent back out. It was a cost-cutting measure that meant people were getting sent equipment that could potentially fail them when their lives depended on it. It wasn't the whole story by a long shot, all she had was the records of that recycling plant, but she didn't want to risk being behind the curve. She'd heard on the radio on her way home that the plant had been attacked, and that with the attention they were likely already going to be covering for themselves.

She got on the phone to her editor as she uploaded everything to her computer.

"Vernon? Vernon, are you there?" She called down the phone. "Yes, I know it's late and I'm sorry if I woke you, but you need to go to your computer right now!"

She waited while he booted up his computer.

"Right, I'm sending something to you right now." She told him. "Put on a pot of coffee, I guarantee when you see this, we will totally be working an all-nighter to get this out on the morning news!"

The following morning, Devon rolled into the parking garage of Grid Battleforce headquarters, skidding to a halt, before getting off Cruise and removing his helmet. Cruise turned into his robot mode to follow him. One big advantage with Cruise being his Beastbot and not just a bike was that he didn't need to worry about finding a parking spot at GB headquarters. As he was about to head in, he saw a very heavily customised Harley Davidson motorcycle. He let out an impressed whistle as he went over to it, checking it out.

"Now, that is a nice bike!" Devon commented, looking at it. It was clearly very well cared for, and heavily customised. It had a custom paint job in black, with lightning bolts along the fuel tank, the sides and the front wind-guard. He checked it out carefully, taking care not to touch it. "Wow, this is…wow."

"It's not THAT nice." Cruise commented, sounding a little jealous. Devon just laughed.

"Don't worry, Cruise, you're still much better." Devon replied as they headed for the elevator. "I just appreciate a nice bike, that's all."

In another part of the base, down in holding, Ben was sitting by the desk, monitoring the feed in Eli's cell. Grid Battleforce did have a couple of cells on the base, even though they were seldom used. Like all military organisations, crime and misbehaviour did occur, and they needed systems and means to deal with such issues. Generally, most disciplinary issues would be handled on the base with a restriction in privileges or confinement to quarters. At present, Ravi was still technically not meant to leave the base unless he was taking part in Grid Battleforce business after the Neural Aligner fiasco, but the sad fact was that occasionally crimes took place too, though that was much less common.

In the case of a suspected crime, they would generally refer the suspect to a Courts' Martial and send them to a stockade for the time until their hearing, but they did need somewhere on site to hold people temporarily if it was necessary. The last occupant had been Devon when he trespassed, but they had put Eli in that cell for the time being. He wasn't military personnel, but since the recycling plant technically fell under the purview of a military site, they had claimed jurisdiction, and the police department had just seen the opportunity to get rid of a troublesome prisoner that wasn't going to cooperate. It was more of a fudging of the rules than anything else. Commander Shaw had said she wanted to know what Eli was doing, and it was kind of a favour to Zoey to get him out of prison.

Ben yawned loudly as he took a sip of coffee. Betty came along, carrying a tray of food.

"Hey, little bro, how are things?" She asked. Ben just grunted something, at which Betty started to head towards the cells.

When she got there and opened the cell, she recoiled sharply.

"Oh jeez." She commented, almost dropping the tray. Eli had turned his bed frame upright, using it as a frame and started working out, performing some chin-ups. He had dumped his shirt on the floor along with the bedding, while he worked out. His body carried a number of scars, and he was incredibly toned and muscular. He dropped to the floor after hearing the door and turned towards her, smiling.

"Morning." He said with a little smile. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah." She said, offering him the tray. He took it and went to the corner, sitting cross-legged in the corner, taking his first bite. He let out a satisfied sound. "Oh man, these scrambled eggs…this is much better than some of the prison food I've had."

"I'll just leave you to…"

"Wait." He called to her, just as she was leaving. "Would you mind bringing me my kutte?"

"Your kutte?" She asked. He just nodded.

"It'll be with my other stuff." He reminded her. "I kind of feel naked without it."

She just looked to his hopeful expression, and something in her just gave way before she knew what she was saying.

"I'll see what I can do." She told him. Eli just nodded.

"Awesome." He replied as he continued to eat. "Oh, and if you could remind my sister, I'm in here, that would be good too!"

Betty just locked the door behind her, before heading to the desk, where Ben was still sitting. She looked to him thoughtfully.

"There's not…REALLY any reason we need to leave him locked up is there?" She asked him.

"Apart from the fact Commander Shaw asked us to? No, I guess not." He answered sarcastically. He saw her looking at the door to the cell though and his face slipped. "Betty, no! NO!"

"It's just…what's the point leaving him down here with someone watching him if we can just keep tabs on him with the base's security system?" She asked him.

"Because he already broke into a secure facility once!" He reminded her. "What's to stop him breaking out if we let him? There's not much point in him sticking around to face trial if he can just leave the state."

"Well…what about that tracker tag we were making?" She asked him. "This could be a good test of that right? Once we check it works, if the Commander says it's OK, we can plant one on him and let him out as long as he doesn't leave the base."

"Betty…"

"Come on, Ben, he's Zoey's brother." She reminded him. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and from what I've seen, Zoey isn't in too much of a hurry to see him." Ben said in response. "Zoey's pretty trusting of everyone, if she's suspicious, what does that tell you?"

"We can at least suggest it." Betty said with a shrug. "The relief shift should be here soon. I'll go and find the tracker tag and we can do some tests when they get here."

As she ran off, not waiting to hear any more of his protests, Ben just sighed, shook his head and went back to his coffee.

"If we didn't come as a twofer…I think I'd have asked mom and dad for a bike instead." He thought out loud.

In a warehouse within the city, Blaze was sitting, watching a small, handheld video screen while some Tronics were busy teleporting parts and tools in and beginning to build something. Roxy wandered into the area, coming up to him.

"Blaze, you're already here?" She asked. He just shrugged.

"Scrozzle told me we were to meet here." He commented. "I'm guessing all junk is all part of that 'genius' plan he's been going on about since he sent me to break into their bunker."

"Yes, it is." She told him, gesturing to the screen. "What's so interesting?"

"It's a little thing called the news." Blaze replied, causing Roxy to pull a rather less-than-amused face. "Perhaps you've heard of it?"

"Please, when have you ever cared about the news?" She asked him. He showed her the screen.

"Since a couple of hours ago." He told her. She looked at the headline on display as the report was read out.

"Investigation into suspected shipment of defective military supplies by Winchester Industries…" She said, seeing the smug look on Blaze's face. "You did this?"

"The old man likes to cut some corners." He told her. "It's just a shame someone decided that it's the kind of thing that Muriel Reeves might like to hear about."

"Wow, and I thought it was only other people you were an asshole to." She commented. "What did daddy dearest do to deserve that? Did he not get you that pony you wanted?"

"Please, if I'd asked, I'd have my own racecourse." Blaze told her. Just then, Scrozzle appeared.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing lazing around over there?" He asked, clapping his hands. "Chop chop, this Cyber Gate won't build itself you know!"

"Cyber Gate?" Blaze asked. Roxy just rolled her eyes.

"I'll bring you up to speed." She sighed.