"Who do you think the jailbird is?" Trent asked, making Kate almost jump in fright. She was very much on edge right now. After hearing Deckard's warning, she couldn't help but wonder if it was true. She'd spent the last hour going over everything repeatedly in her mind.

"I dunno," she lied, shooting a look over at him. "Don't care."

"Yea, you're right. It's so annoying that the cops keep getting their cells filled up and dump their problems here."

"Maybe we should be doing something about that," Kate stated, and Trent bowed his head. She looked back at her computer screen, unable to focus on anything now. Her two night stand had a name, and he was locked up in the same building as her while claiming a war was coming. It was hard to process.

Her phone pinged, and she saw Reggie had texted.

Gonna do it tonight, he said.

Finally, she replied. She might have moved on, though, since you took FOREVER.

Doubt it. I have a good feeling.

Well, good luck.

"Kate?" Carla asked, appearing again. Caught texting instead of working, Kate dropped her phone onto the desk as if burned but then ground her jaw, resisting biting her boss's head off because it was out of her control why ATF was dicking around with getting back to her.

"Yea?"

"Someone's coming to pick up our guy," she said, and Kate felt very surprised this was happening so soon (and also surprised it wasn't about ATF for once).

"What? Who?"

"Classified."

"He just got here," Kate reasoned.

"Well, we did some digging, and he has a big price tag on his head with some higher ups," Carla said. "Anyway, you good to help with the transfer?"

"Um, sure," Kate agreed, wondering what she was doing. She was giving Carla a wary look. Was she the corrupt one? Was that how she'd orchestrated the transfer so quickly? She gave her head a shake. How could she let a the words of a man she barely knew make her doubt her own team? Her own boss? It was crazy.

"Good. Bring him out to meet them in ten."

"Okay."

Lola and Peter sidled over to her once Carla was gone.

"So who is this guy?" Lola asked, chewing on her gum almost dramatically. Her dark hair was longer on one side than the other, and her brown eyes held almost a darkness in them. People knew not to mess with her; she'd made it clear she would pulverize anyone who mocked her. Victor had made the mistake of calling her a spicy Latina one day, and she'd put him down as a wanted criminal. It had taken days to work out, which Lola had found funny, but Carla had not.

"I heard he's wanted by the CIA," Peter said. His brown hair was balding; his attempt at a comb over wasn't bad. He was always pushing his glasses up, which annoyed Kate to no end. How hard was it to keep glasses on one's nose? He was happy-go-lucky, his green eyes holding a twinkle more often than not.

"Let's not spread rumors, shall we?" Kate said, irritated. Of course, her guy was wanted by the CIA. Why not? She seemed to just attract these losers.

"Killjoy," Lola muttered, and Kate went to get a glass of water before going to get Deckard to transfer him. Afterwards, she decided to take some muscle with her, so she went in search of Derrick and Mason. They were both big, bald, and burly. Mason was of Italian descent and stocky. He looked intimidating, but his blue/grey eyes were kind more often than not. Derrick reminded her of Terry Crews, complete with the neatly trimmed goatee. Both men towered over everyone, and they loved using it to their advantage. In an interrogation together, most suspects cowered and even cried after a while.

"Hey, Kate," Royce said, walking by her. He was athletic and average height. His hair was a mixture of green and blue for whatever reason. Kate was surprised that Carla tolerated that in this professional setting, but it was probably because he was hidden away behind a computer more often than not. Kate wondered how he stayed so fit when his pale skin looked like it never left the basement. His right arm had a tattoo of dragon that would peek out under his sleeve every so often if he stretched. He was definitely in his early 20s, younger than most of them. It was a 30s and 40s crowd in there mostly.

"Hey."

"You tell Lola her hard drive is fixed," he said. "And she better not ever give it to me again with whatever the hell she had crammed into the plug in."

"Will do." Kate smiled as Royce rolled his eyes and kept going. She finished her water and approached Mason, who was currently egging Derrick on to do something mischievous.

"What's up, boys?" she asked, and Mason held up a finger.

"Just one more," he said, "and he beats the record."

"For what?" Kate got the finger in her face again, so she closed her mouth. That's when she saw the bag of marshmallows. Honest to God.

Derrick was making confident noises in his throat as he crammed one more into his mouth. Once it was in, he held up his fists in victory, talking in his throat. She couldn't make it out.

"Hell yea!" Mason exclaimed, pounding his fist on the desk and making Kate jump. "That's what I'm talking about!" He moved in to take a selfie with Derrick, who gave the thumb's up and grinned to show the marshmallows all tucked into his mouth against his teeth.

"Please don't spit that out in front of me," Kate said, wincing, when Mason was finished. Derrick shook his head, chewing slowly. She wore a skeptical look on her face as he swallowed and chewed bits at a time.

"Whoo!" he said, giving his head a shake. "That was tough." He held out his hand to Mason. "I believe you owe me."

"Fine." Mason slapped a twenty into Derrick's palm, and Kate bit her tongue. All of that for twenty bucks? Men.

"What's up, girl?" Derrick asked her now, turning to face her. "You need something?"

"I was hoping you could accompany me as I make a transfer with an inmate," she said. "I'd normally be fine, but I get this feeling in my gut he could be tricky." She really just didn't want to be alone with Deckard to hear him try and convince her further that he was innocent.

"Something to do? Absolutely," Derrick agreed. "Come on, bro." He and Mason got to their feet, and Kate went to get Deckard with them following on her heels.

...

Deckard was feeling bad. He really hadn't wanted Kate to think he was using her because he wasn't. He'd been at that bar for the sake of getting something to eat and drink, and when he saw her, he just couldn't help himself. Yes, he'd known about her from his research, but seeing her in person had blown him away. There was an aura about her that matched his: traumatized, haunted, and broken but with a sliver of hope for something good.

He wanted to give her that something good, he really did. If he wasn't who he was, he could have settled down here and dated her and possibly even ended up marrying her. As it were, he was Deckard Shaw and there were too many people trying to kill him. He couldn't associate her with that. It wouldn't be fair to her.

He was sitting with his hands folded over his knees when the door opened again. He looked up to see Kate herself standing there again. His heart lurched at the sight of her. He couldn't help but remember how she'd felt pressed tightly against him, her mouth on his and fingers dug into his back.

"Looks like you're getting transferred," she said to him.

"That didn't take long," he answered. "I told you: someone in here is working with them."

"And who is 'them'?" Kate asked. He held her gaze. He knew he could trust her, that she was not the mole. Her personality did not make room for being corrupt. She was too good. Her file constantly showed that she fought against doing things the wrong way every single time.

"It's safer if I don't tell you that," he insisted.

"You're really not helping yourself out here," she said, gesturing for him to get up and holding out a pair of cuffs. "Come on. Turn around." He stood and obeyed, wishing she'd cuffed him at the front. He knew she did not trust him, though, which he knew was for a very good reason. He wouldn't trust him either if roles were reversed.

"Kate," he said when she opened his cell door and put her hand on his shoulder to steer him in front of her. "I really need you to get out of here. Let someone else transfer me."

"I can't do that," she insisted. "Come on." She opened the door, and he saw two tall, bulky men waiting for them. He searched his memory quickly and found them: The infamous Mason and Derrick. Clearly, she didn't want to be alone with him and possibly thought they'd intimidate him.

She was wrong about the last one.

"Right this way," Mason said, gesturing. Kate pushed Deckard forward, and he calculated what it would take to escape. He had to find the mole. It was why he'd gotten himself sent here after picking a fight with a cop (one he'd easily won and without a scratch). He could have just walked in here to see Kate, but he hadn't wanted anyone to know that they knew each other. He'd done it this way to keep her safe. Finding this mole, though, was his only hope to finally finding Eteon, to ending the misery they'd dished out to him. What they had done to him had cost him his own sister. He was alienated from his family, his mother doing her own thing and his brother off trying to fix his mistakes. Deckard wanted to move forward and have a life free from constantly looking over his shoulder.

As he walked, he took in his surroundings and everyone in it. He just knew that one of them was behind this quick transfer, and he had no doubt the people coming to get him were going to kill him on sight because he'd gotten way too close.

Well, they could try.

...

Kate had felt weird cuffing Deckard, but she'd powered through it. As they walked down the hall, she wondered what was going to happen to him once he was handed over. She gestured for Mason and Derrick to wait behind her as she met the two armed guards coming towards her down the hallway. One had a closely shaved head of brown hair while the other had almost white blonde hair that stuck straight up. He also had a stud in his left ear.

"Kate," Deckard said. "Don't hand me over to them." Her steps faltered for a second, but she plowed ahead anyway.

"Here he is," she said to the one armed guard when they got closer. "All yours."

"Kate," Deckard said again. She wasn't sure what made her look, but she suddenly saw in the brown haired guard's eyes a look that startled her. It was one of victory, like he was winning something. She noticed the white haired guard was hovering his hand over his side arm, and she suddenly had a gut feeling that these men were not transferring Deckard.

They were going to kill him.

She gripped his shoulder involuntarily, her brain spinning.

"Actually, hang on," she said, finally finding a possible solution. "I need him to sign some papers first."

"What papers?" the brown haired guard asked. His voice was a bit husky and strained sounding.

"Typical stuff," Kate said vaguely. "Wait here."

"Our orders are to take him now," White Hair said.

"Kate?" Mason asked, sounding unsure.

"Seriously, five minutes tops," Kate assured them. Her heart was pounding. They weren't going to wait. They were going to shoot all of them. She could see that clear as day. She backed up a few steps, taking Deckard with her.

"Whatever it is, it's not important," Husky Voice told her. "Hand him over. Now."

"Kate," Mason said again.

"No," Kate replied, shaking her head. "Not happening."

"Kate!" Mason shouted as White Hair pulled out his gun. Kate shoved Deckard into the room to their left, making him tuck and roll awkwardly, and hit the floor herself just as bullets started to fly. She kicked her feet on the floor to push herself out of range, her hand reaching to pull out her gun next. She could hear Mason and Derrick shouting in the hallway as more bullets flew.

"Cut me loose, Kate," Deckard said. She ignored him, getting to her feet and peeking around the door frame. A bullet smashed just next to her face.

"F***!" she shouted, pulling her head back. More shouts could be heard in the hall. She was pretty sure the rest of her team would be running to assist by now.

"Man down! Man down!" Victor's voice hollered. Her heart clenched tightly.

"Kate," Deckard said again fiercely. "Uncuff me!"

A spray of machine gun bullets went through the wall over her head, and she ducked, burying her head under her arms as she slid to crouch on the floor, her back against the wall. The dust settled around her, and she tried not to lose her shit. Deckard had managed to sit up and was leaning his back against the wall next to her.

"Kate," he urged. "Come on."

"Kate!" Carla gasped, appearing in the doorway. "What the hell is going on?!"

"They tried to kill him and us," Kate replied. "Where are they?"

"We got one, but the other managed to escape," Carla answered.

"The one you got...alive or dead?"

"Alive for now."

"Let me talk to him," Deckard ordered. Carla looked at him and scoffed.

"You are in no position to make demands," she retorted.

"He tried to kill me; I should have the right to know why," he insisted.

"Not a chance."

Kate got to her feet, hauling Deckard up with her. Carla still had her gun out, as did Kate.

"Take him back to the cell," she instructed.

"That's a mistake," Deckard told her.

"Shut up!" Carla barked. "Kate, now!" She stormed out, and Kate did as she was told. She looked over her shoulder to see Peter on the floor with Lola and Mason crouched over him trying to patch him up. He looked alive at least. He was certainly howling like it.

She got Deckard back to the cell, and he gave her a frustrated look.

"You need me helping with this," he said strongly.

"You need to just sit down and stop talking," she ordered, slamming the cell door and locking it before uncuffing him. He turned to face her, reaching to grip the bars.

"Kate," he said. "Listen to me: this is not over. That was just the beginning."

"I really just don't want to hear it," she shot back. She went to leave, not caring what else he had to say. She went to find Peter now sitting in a chair and looking very pale.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yea, just a graze."

"More like a through and through," Lola corrected with a snort. "You gotta get that looked at."

"You alright?" Mason asked Kate, giving her a concerned look.

"I'm fine."

"What the hell is going on?" Derrick demanded. "Why did those guys just decide to unleash holy hell on our asses?"

"I'm gonna find out," Kate said, moving to head to the interrogation rooms. She found Carla in there with Husky Voice, who had a bandaged forearm and a black eye. She felt irritated that they'd patched him up. He'd just tried to kill them!

"Kate, what are you doing?" Carla asked.

"I want answers," Kate replied, slamming the door behind her and going to rest her hands on the table. She gave Husky Voice her best glare. "Why did you try to kill us?"

"You were resisting handing over the inmate," he answered.

"Since when does that warrant an execution?!"

Husky Voice just gave an irritating shrug with a smirk, and she resisted going over there to punch him in the face to make his eyes match.

"Why do you want Deckard dead?" Kate asked.

"He knows too much." Husky Voice shrugged again, holding her gaze.

"Kate, you need to leave," Carla ordered. "Now."

"But..."

"Now!"

Kate growled but obeyed. She stormed out and went to sit behind the glass window to watch. That's when she realized the sound was turned off, so she couldn't hear what they were saying. She felt prickles across her skin. Why was Carla doing that?

Someone in here is working with them.

Deckard's voice wouldn't stop playing in her head. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. If Carla was the corrupt one, she'd be absolutely furious.

"Kate?"

She turned to see Royce. "Yea?"

"Can you come look at this? Something's going on...outside of the obvious shooting that just happened in here."

"Okay."

She followed him to his computer lab, and she wondered how he concentrated on anything with so many monitors doing different things all at once. It gave her a headache and made her eyes crossed.

"What do you see?" she asked. He sat in his chair with a creak and reached for his mouse. She saw his hand shake a little, so she knew he was a bit bothered by what had just happened and was acting like he wasn't.

"Well, for starters, someone is trying to hack us."

"Why didn't you tell Carla?"

"Because it's not a problem...yet."

"So what did you want to show me?"

"This," he said, making a circle gesture to a different screen that showed footage of outside of the building. She saw three SUVs parked but no one standing outside.

"Again, why not tell Carla?"

"She's busy, and you're my second go to," he answered. Kate pressed her lips together.

"I'll tell Mason," she said. "We'll see what's going on."

"Okay."

"And tell Carla about the hack."

"Attempted hack," he corrected, wagging a finger at her.

"It's all the same."

"No, it's not. Attempted means I'm good at my job."

Kate released a groan of annoyance before leaving him. She found Mason with some blood on his shirt from Peter's wound and looking pissed off.

"How dare they come into our home and try to blast our heads off?!" he exclaimed. She rested a hand on his arm.

"We'll sort it out, Mason," she promised. "Can you come look at these SUVs with me?"

"SUVs? Where?"

"Out front."

"Shit," Mason said, pushing off the desk he was leaning on. They went together, looking out the front doors carefully.

"I don't like this," Kate said.

"Me either."

"What should we do?"

"Not sure. Wait til someone shows their face?"

"I guess." She didn't really want to go out there right now. She felt like that was a very bad idea. She looked at Mason, hoping an answer would arise and very soon.

...

Deckard was feeling aggravated as he sat in his cell. Why couldn't Kate understand that he had to help with this? She was going to lose her team one by one and possibly her own life if she kept up with the stubbornness. He'd already tried to break out of his cell to no avail. It was airtight. All he could do was pace and hope that she'd come back and let him out. He was on her side; he needed her to know that.

He passed a hand over his head as he paced back to the right, thinking about how different things would have been if he'd just said something to her about this sooner. Maybe she would have had a different opinion of him. He was pretty sure she thought he was a bad guy with no regards to her or anyone else's safety.

How untrue that was.

He was pacing back to the left when all of the lights went out.

"Shit."