-Cabe and Cooper clean up Homeland. Meanwhile, Toby and Paige race to the cabin.-

I'm writing this story as fast as I can! I hope you enjoy the new chapter. All reviews are very welcome.

Chapter 15.

"Director Cooper! What… what are you doing here?"

Cooper and Cabe stood in front of the surprised young Homeland agent, watching him almost fall out of his chair as he realised who had just walked into Headquarters.

"I'm here to do some housekeeping," responded Cooper, with authority.

The familiar sights and smells of the building had taken on a bitter taste since the last time she was here, but she was here to clean up the mess and regain control of the place she held so dear. Inside she was terrified, but she was determined not to show it.

She half turned her head towards Cabe. "Evans isn't on the list, is he?" she asked, in a quiet tone.

"No," replied Cabe. "He's clean, as far as we know."

Cooper nodded. "Evans," she said. "I'm sorry to say that some people within this organisation have taken it upon themselves to engage in criminal activity of the highest order. Do you know anything about this?"

Evans shook his head. "But… but I thought…"

"You thought I was the criminal?" offered Cooper. "Yes, well, that's what they want you to think. Do you believe me or them?"

"Um… um…" stammered the young agent.

"Katherine, you're kinda putting the kid on the spot," hissed Cabe with a frown.

"Oh, right, sorry," agreed Katherine. "OK, Evans, I want you to lock down this building. If you think I'm guilty of selling out this great nation of ours then at least you'll have me trapped in here. But if you want to help and save the reputation of the Department of Homeland Security and all that we stand for then you'll be rewarded when all this is over and I finally have my job back."

"Um… thank you," replied Evans.

He had no idea what was going on, but he had always respected Cooper and had never really believed she could be guilty of the things she'd been accused of. He tapped a few keys on the computer in front of him, activating the main door security system and instigating a silent lockdown of the entire building.

Just then, another agent walked into the main concourse. "Hey, Evans," he began, not immediately noticing their visitors. "The other door's locked, I thought I was gonna be stuck in the john…" but he trailed off when he realised he and Evans were not alone.

"Hello, Barton," said Cooper, coldly. Barton had been at Homeland for over five years and his name was definitely on the list. "Pleased to see me?"

"Not really," replied Barton, trying to maintain his cool. "That is, I heard you're a traitor. Evans, you realise Cooper's suspended, right? In fact she should be rotting in jail for what she's done."

Cabe shook his head in disappointment. "I've worked cases with you, Barton," he said. "I thought you were one of the good guys. Turns out I was wrong."

"What the hell are you talking about?" exclaimed Barton, as sweat began to form on his brow.

Evans slowly backed away. He was very confused, but he was not enjoying the rising tension.

"We're talking about you and your buddies," replied Cooper. "And the dangerous game you've been playing with a certain crazy dictator? I think you know exactly what I mean."

Barton's hand twitched at his side, but before he could do anything, Cabe had his gun pointed at him.

"Don't even think about it," snarled Cabe. "Get your hands in the air where I can see them."

Barton reluctantly complied. He knew Cabe well enough to know the older man wouldn't hesitate to shoot to protect Cooper and Evans, but he wasn't about to give up that easily.

"I should've known you'd be on her side, Gallo," sneered Barton. "I heard Walter O'Brien was involved too. I heard he's a fugitive now. That bunch of weirdos at Scorpion have changed you. You used to have respect for your badge."

"Just shut up right now!" yelled Cabe. "You're already in enough trouble. You're the one who has no respect. We know what's been going on. We know who you've been working with. Evans, cuff him."

Evans was stunned. He'd worked closely with Barton for over a year now and he'd trusted him. Trusted him with his life, in fact. To hear he was anything but trustworthy was a shock.

"Evans!" prompted Cooper, snapping the young agent into action and he grabbed his handcuffs and restrained Barton.

"Good," said Cabe. "Now listen, I've got FBI back-up on the way. They'll be here any minute. You need to let them in. They can take care of Barton. Don't let anyone else in, understood?"

"Yes, Sir," responded Evans, standing to attention.

Cabe pressed his finger to his right ear. "Sly, you there?"

"Here, Cabe," replied Sylvester over the comms.

"Where do we start?" asked Cabe.

"Second floor," came the reply. "I'm seeing seven people in meeting room three. I've scanned their ID's, they're all on the list. Angelo and McSweeney are in there. We know they've been doing a lot of the talking with the undercover agents in Africa."

Cabe glanced at Cooper. "You ready?" he asked.

"You bet," replied Cooper.

"Um, guys, you should wait for back-up!" exclaimed Sylvester. "You can't take on seven Homeland agents on your own! Your FBI pals are en route. ETA nine minutes."

"I'm not waiting nine minutes," answered Cooper. "I've waited long enough. This ends now and I'm going to end it. Barton is hardly the ringleader in all this. I want the big shots, I want Angelo and McSweeney. Let's go up to the second floor."

Cabe nodded seriously. He could just imagine Sylvester back in the garage, pacing up and down and trying to avoid a panic attack. Cabe's anxiety level probably equalled that of the young genius right now, but years of training had taught him how to push it aside and get on with the job.

xXxXxXxXx

"I wish you'd let me drive, Paige." Toby clutched his hat tightly in his hands as Paige threw the car around yet another corner at high speed. "I've learned a thing or two about driving like a maniac from my beautiful wife."

"This is my car, I'm driving," responded Paige. "We just need to get there."

Toby braced himself again, trying to forget his genius knowledge of all the injuries one could sustain in a car accident.

"So, Toby," began Paige, in a bizarrely casual manner considering the urgency of their current situation. "When's the earliest I can take a test."

"Driving test?" he replied, facetiously, knowing full well that's not what she meant.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Pregnancy test! How soon. I mean, these new tests are more accurate, right? It's completely different now to when I was pregnant with Ralph. I can take the test pretty early now, can't I? I need to know, Toby. I need to know now."

"If you take it too early you could get a false negative," replied Toby. "Then you'll just be disappointed for no reason. You gotta be patient. Find something to take your mind off it for a week or two, then take the test when the result will be more accurate."

"Take my mind off it?" retorted Paige, briefly taking her eyes off the road to scowl at him. "It's all I can think about. Well, that and the fact that the possible father-to-be of my potential baby is currently being hunted down by a bunch of desperate people with badges and we're still over half an hour away."

She paused, suddenly realising the whole conversation was being broadcast over the comms to the rest of the team.

Toby's mouth twitched into a smirk as he realised that she'd realised.

"Walter?" said Paige. "Can… can you hear me…?"

"Loud and clear," came his reply over the comms.

"Any sign of the back-up Cabe promised?" she asked, choosing not to discuss pregnancy tests any further.

"FBI agents," added Toby. "You'll recognise them from their cheap suits and zero sense of humour."

"Not yet," Walter answered.

Paige sighed. "Those Homeland morons will be there any minute," she said, trying to keep the panic from her voice. "Please tell me you and Happy have found a good hiding place?"

"Um… yes… possibly… yes."

"Thanks for that, One Ninety Seven," replied Toby, rolling his eyes. "That was the least convincing reply I've heard since Super Fun Guy told Zany Zoe that he…"

"Shut up, Toby!" snapped Paige, interrupting him in full flow. "Since when did you read Sly's comic books anyway?"

Toby sunk back into his seat. Even though he knew exactly how Paige's mind worked, she still scared him. Just a little.

Sometimes more than a little.

"Don't panic, waitress," said Happy over the comms. "We're gonna make it pretty hard for anyone to find us. I'm just setting up a few distractions for them."

"What kind of distractions?" asked Paige.

"I think the love of my life means booby traps," said Toby, gingerly raising his hand as if he was asking permission to speak. Then he broke into a broad grin. "Booby," he repeated, sniggering as soon as the word had left his lips.

Paige glared at him and slapped his arm.

"Was that you slapping my husband?" asked Happy.

"Yes," confirmed Paige.

"Good."

"Hey!" exclaimed Toby. "I was just trying to lighten the moment. We're all kinda tense right now and…"

"That's bull," Happy interrupted him. "You were being a perv… oh, wait. I think a car just pulled up."

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Paige.

"Please don't be concerned," Walter responded. "And by the way, once this is all over we should go to Ireland to see my parents."

"What?"

But there was no reply. Paige looked at Toby with alarm. Had they been caught? What was going on at that cabin? And why did Walter suddenly want to see his parents? And why had he chosen this moment to tell her?

"Relax," urged Toby. "Walter's just doing what Walter does best and processing about a hundred things at once. He's thinking about his folks. That shows a lot of progress for One Ninety Seven."

Paige sighed. "Progress is no use if he's killed by a bunch of rogue government agents."

Toby drew a breath. He was as scared as Paige, but he was trying not to show it. He glanced across at her, noting all the markers she was displaying and quickly piecing together her thoughts, although right now she was so open Cabe could probably have read her just as well. Toby wanted to get to the cabin as much as she did. His wife and unborn child were in danger and he had an overwhelming need to protect them. He no idea what he would do if he came face to face with anyone who was threatening their safety, but he knew adrenaline would kick in and he'd probably do something he couldn't even comprehend right now.

He looked at Paige again.

"Can't you drive any faster?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Cabe and Cooper took the back stairs to the second floor. They needed to stay out of sight, or they'd be in danger. The other Homeland agents had started to realise something was happening, but they'd also realised they were all trapped in their offices by the silent lockdown.

Sylvester was able to override the lockdown protocol from the garage, one door at a time, to allow them to get to Meeting Room Three undetected. They could see through the frosted window there were seven people in there, just as Sylvester had already confirmed, but they couldn't make out their faces. Sylvester had confirmed their identities from scanning their IDs, but Katherine didn't know who was sitting where.

A jumble of thoughts ran through her head. Who would they face first? Where they all armed? How far were these people prepared to go to protect themselves from prosecution?

Katherine realised she and Cabe should probably have made some kind of plan before they came face to face with these people, but she couldn't wait any longer. She trusted Cabe, she knew he would follow her lead and she didn't want to waste any more time.

"We're going in, aren't we," acknowledged Cabe.

Katherine nodded… and kicked the door in.

It took Cabe a moment to realise what she'd done. Suddenly there they were, weapons drawn, facing down the ringleaders of a scheme to sell secret technology to a maniacal foreign dictator. These were men and women who had no pride in being agents of truth and justice. They were prepared to sell out their country to make money and now they were desperately trying to cover their tracks and didn't care who they hurt in the process.

"Freeze!" yelled Cabe, almost as an afterthought.

The seven people around the table already had their hands in the air. Some of them glanced sideways at each other, but other than that there was no movement.

"You… you…" began Katherine, almost spitting her words out between gritted teeth. "You're scum. All of you. We know what you've done and you will be punished for your crimes. We're here to reclaim the Department of Homeland Security and everything it stands for."

One of the men made a move to stand, but Cabe aimed his gun squarely at his chest and he sat back down again. "I have no idea what this is about," claimed the man.

"Liar!" exclaimed Katherine. "We have all the evidence so don't even try to deny anything."

Suddenly a younger man leapt to his feet, sending the chair he'd been sitting on crashing to the floor. He grabbed Katherine's arm, but she had been anticipating something like this and she was able to elbow him in the chest. He stepped back, momentarily winded, but the woman who had been sitting next to him – Katherine recognised her as Agent Suzie McSweeney, someone she'd considered a friend – stood up and hurled her chair in Katherine's direction.

Cabe spun round to help her, but a short, dark haired man – Agent Dartick, whom Cabe had worked with on several cases - took it as an opportunity to launch himself at the older agent. Cabe reacted, sidestepping him and throwing a punch which stunned Dartick, but didn't stop him responding in kind and his fist connected with Cabe's jaw. Cabe wasn't deterred and threw another punch, this time sending the shorter man flying across the large table in the centre of the room.

The heavy chair McSweeney had thrown struck the side of the table, breaking it's trajectory, but the armrest connected with Katherine's side. It was enough to send her stumbling backwards and she had no idea how she'd managed to stop herself falling.

"Cabe!" It was Sylvester's panicked voice over the comms. "What's going on?"

But Cabe had no time to answer him as a flying fist connected with his chest. Cabe gasped, desperately trying to inhale, but the pain was making it almost impossible.

A gunshot rang out. For a brief moment Cabe was so disorientated he wondered if he'd been shot, but he quickly realised he hadn't. He glanced over at Cooper and she seemed to be OK too. Then he noticed one of the large internal windows must have taken the bullet as the glass had shattered, but being safety glass it was still intact enough to have remained in the frame.

"Cabe! Katherine! Someone answer me!"

Katherine ducked and rolled under the table. "Kinda busy, Sly…" was all Katherine could get out before another gunshot rang out, sending sections of the ceiling falling to the ground.

Then a voice yelled, "Freeze! FBI! Hands in the air where I can see them!"

"Thank god," mumbled Cabe.

"Everyone on your knees!"

Cabe and Katherine complied with the instructions, but Cabe looked up and grinned in the direction of the yelling. "Hey, Sanderson," he said, still very much out of breath. "Ain't you a sight for sore eyes."

"Gallo," acknowledged FBI Agent Sanderson. "You look like hell."

"Thanks," replied Cabe, dryly and he slowly got to his knees and gallantly offered Katherine a helping hand as she did the same.

"Was that gunfire?"

"Relax, Sly," said Cabe, pressing his forefinger against the earpiece in his ear. "We're fine. It's all over."

Katherine smiled at him, fighting a wave of nausea as she realised how much pain she was in. "Yes, it is isn't it," she acknowledged. "It's over."

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Cabe?" Toby pushed his earpiece further into his ear in an attempt to hear what was going on over the noise of the engine. "What the hell? Sly, is Cabe OK?"

"Cabe's fine," replied Sylvester in Toby's ear. "They're both fine… I think."

"All fine here," came Cabe's voice and Toby exchanged a relieved glance with Paige. "Everything's under control. We're OK, just kinda sore."

"There was a fight." This time it was Ralph's voice with the explanation. "Didn't you hear it? Director Cooper kicked some ass!"

"Ralph!" exclaimed Paige, glaring at Toby who was grinning at Ralph's choice of words.

"Mom! I'm old enough to say 'ass'!"

"Don't say it again!"

"Sly," said Toby, quickly changing the subject. The last thing he wanted was Paige even more riled up while she was driving like a woman possessed. "What's happening at the cabin? We've heard nothing from One Ninety Seven, or Happy, for the last seventeen minutes. I figure they're keeping radio silence, right?"

"I guess so," replied Sylvester.

"You guess?" exclaimed Paige. "Not good enough, Sly! You're a genius, you have all the high tech tracking software. Happy said a car pulled up. That must've been those Homeland idiots from Phoenix Echo. The FBI should be there by now!"

"Paige," began Toby. "Let's try to keep calm."

"No!" snapped Paige. "Let's not try! Let's panic a lot until we're holding the people we love in our arms. OK? So I'm gonna continue panicking!"

Toby nodded slowly. "You're channelling your anxiety into something. That's good… I guess." He decided to stay quiet for the next fifteen minutes until they reached their destination.

Paige skidded the car to a halt a short distance away from the wooden cabin, forcing Toby to brace himself again to avoid smashing his head against the window. Paige didn't even notice as she opened the door and leapt out of the car.

"Walter!" she called out, hoping he would either appear from behind a tree, or at the very least answer over the comms. But there was silence. She quickened her pace and headed down the path towards the cabin.

Toby ran after her. "I recommend caution," he said.

"Coward," retorted Paige. Then she stopped in her tracks. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean that."

"It's OK," Toby reassured her. "You're worried, I get it. So am I."

Paige glanced around and realised there were three cars parked haphazardly between them and the cabin. She looked at Toby, but spoke to Sylvester back at the garage. "Did the FBI get here already?"

"About ten minutes ago," confirmed Sylvester.

"Why didn't you tell us?" hissed Paige.

"Um… because you were shouting at Toby before," replied Sylvester. "And it kinda freaked me out."

Paige threw her hands in the air and let out a breath. "We'll talk about this later," she said. "Right now we need to figure out where everyone is."

Suddenly Toby grabbed Paige by the arm and pulled her to the ground. "Ssshh!" he hissed, as they both rolled in an undignified manner into the undergrowth.

"What was that for?" she asked, brushing leaves from her hair as they crouched behind a large, scruffy-looking shrub.

Toby nodded towards the cabin. "Look, someone opened the door," he said.

"But no one came out?" noted Paige, with a puzzled frown.

They both held their breath and waited. They desperately wanted to see Walter and Happy emerging unscathed, but they had no idea what had happened in there. The FBI were here, somewhere, but there was very little sign of activity.

"Why does he want to go to Ireland now?" Paige asked, taking Toby by surprise.

He gave her a sideways glance. "Nice attempt to stop yourself freaking out," he observed. "But can we talk about this later? Like when we're not hiding in a bush?"

"I need to know," she replied.

Toby pressed his lips together. "Ask him when you see him."

"Toby!"

Toby sighed. "OK, OK. I do have a couple theories. First… guilt."

"Guilt?"

Toby nodded. "He blames himself for not having a proper relationship with his folks and he wants to fix it."

"But why now?"

"Think about it," replied Toby. "He's finally settling down with a family of his own. Add to that all the other successful – and, some might say, unexpected - family stuff going on in our cyclone in the last few months, including you and Veronica rebuilding your relationship…"

"I never imagined that would happen," Paige interrupted him.

"Exactly," he replied. "So now he feels he has to at least try to improve things with Sean and Louise. It's either a trip to the Emerald Isle, or a lifetime of regret."

Paige nodded, but before she could say anything else, two men in dark suits appeared from the cabin. They were both covered head to toe in what looked like flour.

"Must be one of the booby traps," grinned Toby, delighting in the opportunity to repeat the word 'booby' again. "Simple, but effective," he added, with a nod of appreciation.

"But who are they?" asked Paige. "Homeland or FBI? And where's Walter and Happy?"

"Oh, they're definitely FBI," confirmed Toby. "And they're not showing any signs of urgency, so my guess is they've dealt with the Homeland situation. Sly, Ralph, any info you'd care to share?"

"We've got nothing here," replied Ralph. "One of the FBI cars left a few minutes ago, that's all we know. I'm having trouble picking up anything from their comms. I think Walter may have used an FM radio signal to mess with the Homeland signals and it's causing interference."

Toby nodded approvingly. "Sounds like the kind of plan One Ninety Seven would come up with," he noted.

"But there's no sign of anyone from Homeland," replied Paige, with a puzzled frown. "So why are Walter and Happy still hiding? There's just a couple FBI agents here and it looks like they walked into one of the traps Happy set."

Sylvester's voice came over the comms. "Maybe Walt and Happy are so well hidden they don't even know it's safe to come out?" he suggested.

Then Toby got to his feet. "Why don't we go ask the friendly neighbourhood FBI agents?" he suggested.

"OK," agreed Paige. "But please let me do the talking."

They strode towards the cabin, but before they'd covered more than a few feet, the two flour-coated agents drew their weapons.

Toby and Paige threw their hands in the air. "We're not the bad guys," said Toby. "I'm Doctor Tobias M. Curtis. You've probably heard of me. We're with Scorpion."

The men didn't lower their guns. "Do you know anything about this… this… this?" asked one of them, waving a hand up and down in front of himself. He was clearly fuming about being covered in flour.

Toby narrowed his eyes. "Looks like all-purpose to me," he said, sardonically. "Did you bake cookies?"

Paige had just about lost all her patience. "Just send your dry cleaning bill to Scorpion," she snapped. "You know Agent Cabe Gallo, don't you?" she added, hoping Cabe's name would ring a bell with them. "He arranged for you guys to come here to help us, not shoot us. We're looking for two of our friends. What have you done with them?"

The two FBI agents exchanged a glance and re-holstered their weapons.

"I'm Agent Stevens, this is Agent Ricci. Gallo said we'd find the renegade Homeland agents here," said one of the agents. "We arrested two guys and a woman, they're on their way to jail right now."

"A short, very pregnant and probably very angry woman?" offered Toby, hoping he was wrong.

"No," replied Stevens, to Toby's relief. "Tall chick, curly blonde hair. They were about to start shooting the place up."

"We conducted a thorough search of the area," added Ricci. "There's no one else here."

Toby and Paige looked at each other. "That doesn't make any sense," said Toby. "Are you sure you guys looked everywhere? Under the bed? Behind the curtains?" His sarcasm dial was always turned to maximum when he was nervous.

Ricci glared at him. "We're not idiots!" he snapped.

Paige suddenly felt a rush of panic and she grabbed Toby's arm. "If they're not here, then where are they?"

To be continued...