Anna watched through the open door of her office as FBI agent John Cates raged and stormed around the squad room frustrated by his inability to take control of the Jason Morgan case. She quietly thanked Judge Ann Crawford for taking her call earlier and agreeing to stay inaccessible until the morning.

There was an audible sigh of relief from her officers when the big agent finally threw up his hands and stomped out the door while uttering a string of expletives.

"Commissioner?"

Anna looked up to find the Desk Sargent standing in the doorway.

"Yes Bill?"

"Harbor Patrol has called off the search for the night. They say it's too dark and the wind was driving them into the pier structures. They'll start again at first light."

"Okay, thanks Bill." She glanced at her watch. Almost eight o'clock. "I'm headed home. Have a good weekend."

"Thank you Ma'am," said the officer as he turned away

xxx

Robert was lost in thought when the phone on the table in front of him began to vibrate. He picked it up, took a deep breath, and answered.

"Scorpio," he said. "What have you got for me?"

There was a pause.

"John Cates is not an FBI agent. He left them almost three years ago. He is WSB now, but part of some program in the grey. I can't find a name for it, but he left the FBI over disagreements in the Organized Crime Division. They weren't working fast enough for him. They believed he had a personal vendetta that was driving him. I gather the WSB offered him a little more leeway and the tools he believed he needed, but it feels like something has gotten a little out of control. His superiors have been trying to recall him, but he's ignored them. If it wasn't so overused, I would say he is a rogue agent making his own rules as he goes along."

Robert was silent for a moment.

"Any idea how many men he has here in Port Charles right now?"

"He arrived with four, three of them obeyed the recall order and are back in Washington. The fourth stayed with him."

"Okay, thanks for the info."

"Robert, take care with this. Hey, and don't call me again. I say we're even."

"Fair enough," Robert replied and he disconnected the call and deleted the number.

xxx

Jason was laying on his cot facing the door when the man appeared in the aisle between the cells. One glance told him this was no police officer. The man produced a key and unlocked the cell door.

"Let's go," the man said with a low rumble.

Jason didn't move from his cot.

"Go where?" he asked.

"John wants to have a little talk," said the man with a cruel smile, "and set you straight on some things."

Jason was mentally scanning the environment, searching for anything, measuring the distances. He sat up, placing his feet on the floor, and then he saw it. His left boot lace had come untied. Anyone else would have smiled, but Jason's expressionless face remained neutral as he calculated the distances and the placement of his steps. The man was as big as he was himself, and well trained. His only hope was surprise.

He stood up and stepped toward the door, right foot first. As he stepped forward with his left foot his boot laces slapped against his right calf. He gave a sigh and knelt down to tie them.

The man, impatient, stepped toward him. In an instant Jason drove himself upward, both hands driving under the man's chin and smashing his head brutally against the edge of the cell door. He felt the man's neck break, heard his last breath escape from his crushed windpipe, and lowered the now vacant body to the floor in the doorway of the cell.

It was over in an instant. Jason stood for a full minute looking down at the body, wondering about his course of action. Finally he took a paper napkin from the tray where his dinner sat cooling into a congealed mass. He patted the man's pockets until he found his phone. He took it out and found it unlocked. A burner phone to be used for a couple of days and then destroyed. He opened the browser and googled "Showla" then "Shula" then "Shaula". That was it. He stared at the result..

"Lambda Scorpii, the second bright star in the constellation Scorpius, also known by the traditional name Shaula meaning raised tail. The star forms the stinger at the end of the scorpion's tail."

Jason shook his head, cleared the browsing history, turned off the phone and slid it back into the man's pocket. He walked back to the cot, sat down, and started calling out "Guard! Guard!"

xxx

John Cates was hot. He was pissed, frustrated, and a little drunk as he stepped out of the bar and into the cold night. Why hadn't he heard from Wilson? He should have had Morgan out of there an hour ago. Damned incompetent… oh well, he was the only one who stayed when the office started getting itchy.

He was wrapped in his thoughts when he heard his name. "Cates!"

Aw crap, he thought, Scorpio.

"Hey Robert," he answered cordially. He staggered slightly as he stepped off the curb in the mouth of the alley, a fact not missed by Robert.

"John," He said, "I was wondering if i could ask you something." As he spoke Robert slid his hand onto Cates' shoulder and guided him several steps into the alley.

As they stepped beyond the light of the streetlamp, Robert stepped back from the big man, noticing the gentle sway of intoxication as Cates adjusted to the change in pressure.

"What do you want to ask me?"

"How quickly you can get out of town."

"Robert, I'm here as part of an official FBI investigation. If you feel like I'm stepping on your…"

"I know you are not FBI John, I know you are WSB. Your superiors have recalled you. Get out of town or I'll have you arrested for impersonating a Federal Officer, witness tampering, evidence tampering, conspiracy…."

"Come on Robert, that's ridiculous. We're both working toward the same goal. We have a chance to get Corinthos. Are you so old that you don't care anymore about stopping the bad guys?"

"I do care about stopping the bad guys. That's why I'm going to stop you."

The big man gave a snort and moved to slip past Robert and out of the alley.

In a sudden motion Robert stepped in and swung his right arm as hard as he could, driving the edge if his phone into the side of John's head with all the force he could muster. Cates fell to the pavement like a bundle of rags. He moaned as his hands scrabbled weakly in the muck and dirty snow, blood pouring from the side of his head.

Robert bent over and slid the man's gun from the holster on his belt, ejected the magazine and emptied the chamber. Cates was looking up at him.

"Old guys have nothing to lose Cates, and not much more than that to live for. Your bosses taught me to be a killer. I was one of the bad guys. I was very good at it. Get out of town by noon tomorrow. Make whatever excuses you have to."

Robert made sure Cates was watching as he slid his weapon into one of the stinking garbage cans.

"The Harbor Clinic is about three blocks east. They are open all night. I think you might need stitches," he said as he turned and disappeared around the corner into the night.

A/N I can't figure out how my outline is so close to what appears to be happening on the show. Is it worth it to continue?