Chapter Twenty-Two

Ian studied the rogue NSA director in front of him, and felt nothing but disgust, as Thompkins was sworn to protect the country and he was betraying it for no other reason than for money, which disgusted him.

'He has so much to answer for when this is over.' He thought angrily, which matched the thoughts of Charlie.

"Thompkins." Charlie said, trying to remain calm, "Why? Just why?"

"Think about it, Charlie." Thompkins said evenly, "The work that we do, everything that we have done to keep the country safe, and for what? Little to no recognition and many in the public who will distrust us no matter what we do. So why not just make some money on the side and disappear to retire with the life people like us deserve."

This disgusted everyone except his men and Penfield, as Charlie never imagined that the man he had known and worked for all these years would be these greedy but he supposed this just proved that you sometimes just know anyone as well as you think.

"This place is surrounded, Thompkins." Ian said, secretly hoping that he wasn't lying, "Just give yourself up and come along quietly."

Penfield tried to grab for a gun but, to his and everyone's surprise, Thompkins stopped him, as it seemed that he knew that the gig was up.

"All right, Edgerton, we will surrender, as it seems like there is nothing that can prevent me from escaping." Thompkins said, looking like he was planning something but Ian knew that the man would try to bluff his way out.

Before either man could think of what to do next, more sirens could be heard, much to Ian's relief, as that meant he wasn't lying in the first place. Though things could still go wrong and it could still cause Thompkins to try something to escape.

"It's over Thompkins, don't try anything." Ian repeated

Thompkins realized that the sniper was right and that there was nothing he could do to try to get away and figured it was best to just surrender, as he knew the moment that Penfield mentioned what he had done, things were going to go south really quickly.

Charlie ran to his brother and father, and saw that Don was barely conscious and turned to his former friend and boss.

"What did you do to him?" He demanded

"I gave him a small dose of a toxin that the mafia gave me and it seemed to be taking longer than it should have, as they told me that it would be rather quick." Thompkins said, honestly baffled that the agent was hanging on.

'Did they give me the wrong toxin or were they lying that they said it was toxin to begin with?' Thompkins thought to himself

"Did they give you an antidote?" Charlie asked, worried as his brother was struggling to breathe.

"Strangely, yes, it is back in my office, in a fridge and I haven't looked there since I was there when it arrived several days ago." Thompkins answered

"Fine, I will escort you there," Ian said, before continuing, "If you are lying and Agent Don Eppes dies, you will have a lot to answer for."

'Don't I know it, I am not going to have this man die in my hands, as it would only make my sentence worse.' Thompkins thought as he was escorted to the car to go to his office.

Hospital…

Thirty Minutes later…

Charlie and Alan closely followed as Don was being wheeled into emergency while they waited for Ian and Thompkins to get the supposed antidote that could save Don.

'I just hope that he wasn't lying about it being given to him.'

They waited for several more minutes when Ian called to say they found the vial and they will be giving it to the doctors to see if it's the real thing and give it to Don as soon as possible for the treatment, if they haven't found another means to save Don.

'Hang in there Don.' Charlie thought to himself, 'It won't be too long now.'

Alan was pulled into an observation room and was looked at to see if there was any lasting damage but was given a clean bill of health, much to everyone's relief.

"How about Millie and the other agents?" Charlie asked, thinking about everyone who was gassed.

"They are going to be fine, they just need to rest, as it seems they just needed to recover on their own with the aid of a ventilator, though we will have to monitor Merrick a little longer, but he will be fine."

This relieved everyone about the others, but they still had to wait word on Don and just hope that he gets better.