The gang was shocked to find out that the transmitter turned out to be Homelands and not Collins's. Happy was probably the maddest of them all. They spent the rest of the morning packing up the high value items, such as computers and Happy's tools and by noon, they were back at the Garage.
After a happy reunion with Cabe at the Garage the first thing they did was destroy the transmitter. They conducted yet another extensive search over the rest of the Garage but found no other bugs. Florence had been completely shocked by what was revealed to her by Walter and the gang. She felt hurt and used that Walter and the gang had picked her to play the unwitting role of damaging their relationship. She left the Garage when the gang went to Kovelsky's diner to celebrate being back together. The entire staff was happy for them, Mrs Kovelsky was especially happy to see Walter and Paige holding hands again.
Paige and Ralph spent the night at the Garage with Walter. Paige used the time to wheedle another concession from Walter. And Wednesday morning the gang was at Centipede Partners' office loading the u-haul up with their desks and chairs. They were further surprised as Walter told them they were taking everything from the break room as well.
Happy grinned as she bumped shoulders with Paige.
"How'd you get him to agree to keep this stuff?" Happy asked as Toby and Sylvester laughed.
"Hey, Momma knows how to play her nerd." Paige grinned wickedly at Walter before she winked.
"Great, now if you could get us all a raise." Toby chipped in as he rubbed his hands together.
"Yeah, that's a hard no. I'm not pushing for anything else for a while. Walter's been too kind as it is." Paige said as she walked over and kissed Walter.
"Besides, we'll have to save back some money so we can get a bigger condo." Walter told Paige after they kissed.
"Good point." Paige smiled.
"Have you seen Florence?" Sylvester asked as they got back to the Garage.
"No…I haven't. Has she called?" Paige asked Walter.
Walter shook his head.
Paige and Sylvester walked around the Garage and knocked but Florence never answered despite her car being there.
Walter had sequestered himself in the Loft during the afternoon. Several times Paige, Cabe or one of the guys tried to find out what he was up to but Walter seemed to have a sixth sense and as they reached the Loft he'd walk out of the back and ask if there was a problem. Walter had simply installed a camera and had the feed on his laptop as he worked.
"So are you going to tell us what you are doing upstairs?" Happy asked as Walter came down for dinner.
"The less you know, the better." Walter replied even as he stepped up to Paige and kissed her.
"Kid?" Cabe asked with concern expressed on his face.
Walter sighed as his hands slipped into his pant's pockets and then he looked over at Cabe.
"Do you remember what I told you before we left to go to LAX?" Walter asked as his head dropped a bit but his eyes were still on Cabe.
Cabe thought for a moment and slowly nodded.
"You said if I crossed you, you'd erase me." Cabe told him as his eyes got bigger.
"Carson won't be a problem for us ever again." Walter said before he sat down.
Everyone kind of inhaled at the implications.
"Has Florence come over?" Walter asked as he looked at everyone but Cabe.
"No. She didn't answer her door earlier when Sly and I went over." Paige told him.
"Great, maybe we should have told her to start with. She had to be blaming herself all this time and then to find out we had faked it all." Walter sighed.
Thursday morning Cabe was eating breakfast with Allie as the TV news channel played in the background.
"So what do you think Walter meant by what he said?" Allie asked quietly.
"I'm not sure but I'm a little worried to be honest." Cabe told her as he folded his paper. "Trying to erase a low level agent like me is one thing. Trying to do something to the head of Homeland, I hope he was kidding."
"Cabe." Allie said sharply, looking at the TV.
Cabe looked over and his eyes went wide as he turned up the volume.
"CBS News has received an anonymous dossier on Director Carson of Homeland. Our journalists are in the process of trying to confirm some of the information provided but at this moment we can confirm that Carson has been using his position to bully and push contractors of Homeland around. Our forensic experts have gone over a detailed breakdown of his finances and have concluded that Carson is guilty of accepting bribes. It also seems possible the use of coercion in obtaining these "gifts". At this time we are unable to get any comments from judiciary committees in Congress, from Carson himself or from Homeland. We'll continue to pursue these allegations to ascertain the truth. Stay tuned to CBS News for more up to date information." The news anchor read before Cabe turned it off.
"Good Lord, I hope he really hid his tracks if he did this." Cabe told Allie.
Walter and Paige found Florence's key and a note saying she was quitting stuffed under the door of the Garage that morning.
They'd gone around to try and talk to her but her car was gone and no one answered the door.
The atmosphere inside of the Garage was a little tense after Cabe got there and had a long conversation with Walter in the Loft. But Walter came back down and went back to work.
"What do you expect, Cabe?" Paige whispered angrily. "Carson messed with you, us. Walter is very upset over it all."
"I get that kid." Cabe whispered back. "But this is bad. If this leads back to Walter it is going to change things and not in a good way. Depending on what he hacked to get all that information Walter could be going to jail for espionage."
"That ain't happening Cabe." Paige said fiercely.
Walter's head looked up and towards the kitchen hearing her voice. A slight smile flashed across his face as he made a calculated guess on their conversation. He saw a blink on his screen and he frowned as he looked back and then moved his mouse over and clicked the icon for his interface to the dark web.
"Are you up for a conversation?" -WolfSpider.
Walter sighed knowing it was Collins.
"Sure, where at?" Walter typed back.
Walter read the elaborate web address. He quickly launched his hacking portal and tied into a private server to keep his system isolated before he entered the address. A moment later his video conference software loaded up.
"Mark, I'd say it is good seeing you again." Walter said cautiously. "But you don't look to be in the best health. Mark…are…are you blind?" Walter asked, noting his eyes didn't seem to respond properly.
Mark laughed for a moment.
"Hello old friend. Thank you, I'd hate to feel as bad as I do and no one could tell. I was saddened to hear your girlfriend, basically all of your Cyclone left you." Mark replied. "And that's the Walter I know. Never misses a thing. Yes, I am blind, old friend." Mark smiled.
"Really? You were saddened?" Walter asked skeptically.
Everyone had turned to look at Walter saying Mark's name. And now they were shocked hearing Mark's voice.
"Of course. I've had some time to think things over and I think it is time to clear the air." Mark told him.
"Sure, just tell us where you are so we can have you picked up by the authorities." Toby called out.
"Tobias? Is that you? I hadn't heard you guys got back together yet. I hope your girlfriend is back as well then." Mark said with what Walter could tell was a genuine smile.
"Yes, I am here." Paige said as she came out of the kitchen area with Cabe right behind her.
Happy, Toby and even Sylvester were moving over as well.
"Good, I'm happy for you Walter." Mark smiled.
"What's going on? Are you dying?" Walter asked even as everyone got behind him to see Mark on the screen.
"I'm afraid so. Doc says I've got a month or two at best. Probably less, I seem to be progressing a bit faster than his timeline had mapped it out." Mark nodded.
"You've lost a lot of weight." Toby said as his eyes were gauging the differences in his appearance.
Mark laughed again.
"I have actually and ironically it is the weight loss that has caused my demise. Is your Fed there as well?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, I'm here Collins." Cabe said, trying to hold back his anger.
Mark nodded.
"Good, just wanted to apologize to you and Tobias for what I tried to do to the both of you. To all of you really, for playing the games I did with your feelings. I've been a messed up person for a long time. But, I've found a bit of peace in the last month or so as I come to grips with what is happening." Mark told them.
"What…did…happen?" Walter asked as feelings of guilt sprang up in his mind.
"Nothing to make you feel guilty, old friend." Mark smiled. "My own actions, my twisted desires have caused this. If you remember the last time you guys heard something from me, some time before Cabe's trial. My blood pressure and other systems were being strained by my weight and age. My doctor and I went over the data and I agreed he was right, I needed to lose weight and the quicker the better because of my age. So he sent me to a surgeon and I had a gastric bypass performed." Mark sighed as he leaned back.
"And it was a huge success, I was losing weight, my body was responding positively. But a few months ago things changed. I began having headaches, dizzy spells, nausea." Mark explained and paused for a moment as he thought. "The Doc was confused and ran a number of tests, at which point I noticed I wasn't urinating as much as normal. But at first none of the tests came back abnormal. And then the kidney test came back. My kidneys were shutting down."
"He'd done an obscure toxicity blood test and one of them lit up like a Christmas tree…methane poisoning." Mark smiled as he shook his head.
"When you escaped from us." Walter said softly, pain in his voice was clear.
"Don't even go there Walter. This isn't your fault." Mark told him. "This is my fault. I forced everyone's hands to go with you. I didn't have to go, we both knew that. You only agreed because of the time factor. If it hadn't been so disastrous you'd have left me locked up, where I belonged."
"You consumed snow and ice that had trapped methane in it to keep you alive until you got to a town." Walter said weakly.
"Exactly right. And my body, in trying to preserve itself from the toxins, trapped that gas into my fat cells. When my body started burning the fat cells after the surgery, it unleashed a toxic amount of methane that my body still couldn't expel quickly or safely. By the time we realized the truth, it was too late. Even with a kidney transplant my time would only be extended a few months at best. There isn't a lot inside of me working right." Mark told them and then began coughing horribly.
"Where are you? We could come get you, get you some care." Walter said softly.
Toby looked at Walter like he was insane.
Mark shook his head.
"That doesn't matter and I don't want you to be charged with aiding and abetting. Plus I got all the care I can use here." Mark smiled as they heard a knock on a door.
"Mark, it is time for your medicine." They heard an older female voice call out.
"Are you in a care facility?" Toby asked.
"I am." Mark nodded. "A small hospice facility." Mark explained as they saw his hand reach out and then another hand placed a small plastic cup in it. "Thank you Tina." Mark said as he took the pills and then got his water cup and took a sip.
"So if you think your doctor's time table is off, how long do you think you have?" Walter asked.
"I'm pretty sure his guess of a month is the outside maximum. I think it will be two weeks at the most." Mark said as he yawned. "Excuse me. I'm a bit more tired than I thought. Maybe we can pick this up again another time?"
"Of course." Walter told him. "I'm really sorry this is happening to you Mark."
"Thank you. Oh Happy, I almost forgot. All those barbs I made at you about motorcycles, I'm sorry. You are far more gifted than that. I never should have belittled you over it. And Sylvester, I know I would always use psychological attacks against you playing chess. But I want you to know, I enjoyed every actual game. I'm sorry for making you feel the way you did, you are a great player." Mark said before he disconnected.
"Did that just happen?" Happy asked.
"Was he being honest Doc?" Cabe asked Toby.
Toby's hand ran down his face as he slowly nodded.
"I'm stunned to be honest. But I was only picking up honesty markers from him. So unless he really upped his game…" Toby explained.
"Walter, like Mark said, don't go there." Paige told him as she put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him.
"Kind of hard not to." Walter sighed. "A lot of ifs, that had things been done differently this would never have happened."
"Maybe, but we're all on a timer when it comes to life. When it is our time, the way might change but the result is the same." Paige kissed his ear.
"Not to mention making bad choices can shorten that timer." Cabe told him as he cuffed Walter's shoulder.
"Where do you think he is?" Sylvester asked.
"From the shadows of the sunlight I'd estimate he's in southern California. Probably not that far from us." Walter told them and they all gasped.
"You think he was insane enough to stay that close?" Toby asked.
"Stop calling him that!" Walter yelled.
"Hey, calm down 197. It isn't an insult, tell me what he's done before this call that wasn't insane?" Toby demanded.
Walter glared at him.
"Look, just because you live carefree and willy-nilly that doesn't mean everyone else does. How many times did you purposely tease him too? You can deflect your responsibility in our relationship with Mark, I can't. I have to own up to what I did." Walter sighed as he explained it to them.
"Leave Walt alone, Fungus." Happy told him. "He's right and you know it. You ramped up Collins's anger many times over the years." Happy grabbed his hand and led him over to his couch.
Sylvester stepped back over to his white board.
"I probably better let Katherine know that he contacted you." Cabe said softly.
Walter just nodded.
Paige hugged Walter's shoulders tighter as Cabe walked to the front door and stepped outside.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Marti - Well...Mark certainly seems to have an interesting part in this. hehe Yes, I'd heard from several sources that back when the last episode had aired the fan base really believed it had been a hoax to lure Collins out. So this is my attempt to bring that belief into "reality".
Railman - Well...As for Florence and her outburst...it looks like you'll need to wait for another chapter to see. hehe Same with Paige and her feelings about them. Ahh...Collins must have heard you! lol Thanks for the vote of confidence! Yep, Ralph is definitely happy!
Lucy - Thank you! Yepper...another pregger Paige story! lol haaha Right? They keep talking about open communication and then they decide not to do that and the trouble it brings. lol It does not appear at this time that Carson and Collins are working together...
Pearliegirl - Hrmm...I'm not sure what is causing the confusion so I am unsure what to say to help. It is just another way to fix how the show ended, only in this version, the break up and forming of CP was a group plot by Walter, Paige and the trio, to see if Collins would contact Walter and thereby expose himself so he could be caught. In it, Ralph, Cabe, Allie & Florence were kept in the dark. The 4 of them thought the break up was real. Is there something specific that you could tell me that's confusing you?
LouBe - So glad you enjoyed it! hehe I remember many times the wife being upset over something and I'd ask what was wrong and she'd always be all "Don't act like you don't know what you did!" lol Or the dreaded, "Where would you like to go eat?" "Oh, I don't care, anywhere is fine." conversations. LOL Poor Paige and her birth control! LOL must be either an expired lot or from the dollar store instead of a real pharmacy! lol I remember having a conversation with ScorplingInTraining once, it seemed like we both were constantly knocking Paige up in stories. lol
Susan - Right? Come on guys...learn to talk! lol I think most of us will always be excited over a baby Waige!
To the Adventure! -Tim