FBI agents and local police were keeping watch in the parking lot, all in undercover cars. They all heard Sterling's voice came over the radio. "They'll be making their move, everyone keep an eye on the exits and be ready to intercept."

In one of the vehicles a local police deputy replied, "10-4, ready and waiting." He turned to his partner and smiled, this would be the rookie's first arrest if all went well.

A few minutes later a large plumbing van pulled up in front of their car and parked, blocking their view of the exit. The deputy was just about to get out and tell the driver to move when a second pulled up in front of the building, followed by two heating and air conditioning trucks. He got out of the car and looked towards the parking lot entrance and saw more vans with their turn signals on to enter, several honking as the line didn't move fast enough.

The same scenario played out in front of the other agents in the lot as more and more service vehicles started to arrive. It had been barely thirty seconds since the first van entered and the parking lot was quickly starting to gridlock.

He got back in the car and grabbed his radio. "Agent Sterling, we got a problem out here. There are literally dozens of vans trying to enter the lot, we need to clear them out. We lost visual on the exit, please advise."

Sterling heard the call over the radio, immediately recognizing it as the team's exit strategy. He turned to the security guard. "Switch to the cameras outside, I need to see what's going on."

At the press of a button the screens switched, revealing aisles clogged with vans trying furiously to find space the lot as more and more pulled in. He cursed under his breath and made a hasty exit from the security room, grabbing his phone and quickly dialing as he went down the stairs.

"Nevins, they're making their move. Meet me outside now!" With that Sterling hung up without another word, and quickly made it to Nevin's parking spot. Moments later the FBI agent joined him, out of breath from running straight there.

The scene outside was worse than he's seen on the cameras, with several of the drivers getting upset and stepping out of their vehicles as they were unable to find space to park or turn around. Nevins turned to Sterling, "What's the plan?"

Sterling quickly scanned the area amid the chaos, and spotted a large gray van just as it pulled away from the loading area on the side of the building. He immediately recognized Hardison's vehicle, almost insulted that Nate's team actually thought some hastily-added Cake Chariot stickers on the side would've been enough to fool him. He motioned to Nevins to get in the car. "There they are, get in!"

As Sterling jumped into the driver's seat, he grabbed the vehicle's two-way radio. "All units, gray GMC Savanna exiting the lot, southbound. Pursue immediately, we're taking chase."

The backlog of vans trying to enter the parking lot blocked other agents and local police, who were hastily trying to signal them out of the way. The addition of lights and sirens after Sterling's instruction only served to make matters worse as traffic around the lot came to a screeching halt. Sterling barely managed to maneuver their car out of the lot, but was able to keep the van in sight.

Once out of the lot he flipped on the lights and sirens, forcing other vehicles out of the way until they were directly behind the van. He pulled slightly to the left to give the driver ample visual of his lights. When he failed to pull over after a few seconds, he switched the siren from wail to the more attention-grabbing yelp. At that the van's right turn signal came on, and it slowly decelerated before coming to a halt.

Sterling slammed the sedan into park several car lengths behind and grabbed the radio. "All units, we have the vehicle stopped on the corner and Eight and Main. Backup requested."

He and Nevins exited their vehicle and drew their weapons as they approached the van. Nevins flanked the passenger side and Sterling the driver's as he called out instructions. "Step out of the van, slowly, and keep your hands in the air."

The driver's door opened and a young man in a bakery uniform slowly stepped out, careful to keep his hands where the gun-wielding agents could see them. "Listen, I don't know what this is about. I was just hired to drive the van."

Sterling could hear the nervousness in the man's voice, but he was tired of Nate's games and wasn't in the mood for excuses. "Now you listen: the people you have in the van are all wanted criminals, and unless you'd like to go down as an accessory you're going to do exactly what we ask."

Just as the driver was about to speak Sterling held up a finger to silence him, then pointed at the van's back doors. "Open it."

Sterling and Nevins both readied their guns as the driver approached the back of the van, his hands still in the air. As he grabbed the door handle he looked back at Sterling, who nodded for him to go ahead. The young man pulled open the doors, revealing a large three-tiered cake, matching cupcakes, and a plethora of red, white, and blue balloons inside.

Nevins lowered her weapon, an incredulous look plastered on her face. "What the..."

Sterling reholstered his gun as he approached the back of the van, a conspicuously-placed Get Well Soon card catching his attention. He grabbed it and flipped it open, revealing a handwritten note inside.

Nice ruse on the picnic, but thanks for calling off your dogs. And if you do go next year, avoid the potato salad. Catherine's food can pretty much kill a roach.

~Nate

*Flashback*

Eliot and Hardison struggled to load the large cake into the back of Lucille, the sweet creation tipping precariously as the hacker almost lost his grip. Eliot shifted his stance quickly to right it."Damn it Hardison, can you at least try to keep your end level?!"

"Maybe if this thing wasn't two hundred pounds, man. Seriously, how can a cake even weigh this much?"

Meanwhile Parker popped up from the corner, holding some Cake Chariot decals."Ooo guys, I found stickers! And balloons!"

She threw one of the inflated balloons at Sophie, who swatted it right back at her. "Really? Cake Chariot? That's the least classy thing I've heard all week."

Meanwhile Nate finished writing out the card at Hardison's makeshift desk before bringing it over and putting in the van next to the cake. After throwing in the balloons and a few of Hardison's handcrafted cupcakes the teamed slammed the van doors closed.

.

.

.

Eliot was wearing his catering uniform, and peered out of the bakery door into the hallway. Just as a fellow caterer came by Eliot motioned for him to come over. "Hey, you wanna make a hundred bucks on your way out?"

*End flashback*

Sterling's heart sank as he realized he just called every single agent away from the building over a decoy, giving the team a completely unhindered exit. He started to get a nagging feeling he was about to lose them all, and motioned Nevins back to the car. "Damn it, we have to get back there now!"

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews and PMs, I love hearing your thoughts! Your feedback is helpful, as this is only my third story and my first multi-chapter. There's quite a bit I feel I'm not the greatest at, so thanks for your continued readership :)