Robin padded silently down the hall to the conference room. The door was open and as she neared it, she could hear Pierce's familiar voice. Her son's name caught her ear, and she hovered outside the door.

"Did you bother to search Andrew Landon? Our systems didn't just pick up some random unidentified device out in the middle of the desert connecting to the wi-fi inside the dome."

"I did. He didn't have any devices on him." Robin sensed Pierce's irritation and continued eavesdropping.

"A seventeen-year-old without a cell phone? How well did you search him?" the disembodied voice derided.

"Can you pinpoint where it's at inside the dome?" Pierce asked.

"Not with perfect accuracy. It's been moving all over. Hold on."

"Well, then, let's start with this...where has it been?" Pierce asked.

The voice went quiet for a couple of heartbeats, then intoned, "We are seeing it in the infirmary right now."

"Well, I definitely searched Andrew and he definitely did not have it. He was stripped after I brought him in, and I went through his bag."

"Well maybe he lost it in the middle of the desert or that canary in the dome has it." The voice oozed sarcasm. "And maybe I need to send someone down to assist you with doing your job."

"I think I can handle two teenage boys. They're in the infirmary right now. Robin's with them," Pierce said.

Robin slowly tilted her head toward the door and peeked in. Pierce and Michael stood at the table staring down at the phone. Michael had a sick look on his face and it blanched further when the voice responded, "They need to be subdued."

"They are subdued. One was shot and has a sprained ankle. They aren't going anywhere," Pierce said.

"Handle it," the voice said menacingly.

"I'm on it," he growled. He punched a phone button and the light went out signaling the call had been disconnected.

"What does that mean? You're 'on' this?" Michael asked doing air quotes with his fingers.

Robin froze and waited for Pierce's response.

"It means we've had a security breach that needs to be resolved."

"But what does that mean?" Michael asked again. "Are you saying you plan to–"

"It means I will take care of the problem."

"But how is it a problem?" he asked indignantly.

"How is having someone that doesn't belong here a problem?" Pierce growled at him. "Are you kidding me? You're the security director here and you're asking me this question?"

Robin gasped in horror and flinched realizing she had done it aloud. Pierce's gaze met her eyes briefly before coming to rest on the barrel of her gun. She pointed it at his chest as she stepped into the room. Michael darted behind Pierce and peered around his bulk. Quietly and firmly, she asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Honey..." Pierce slowly brought his hands up, palms out. "Robin–"

"What do you plan to do, Pierce?" she yelled at him. "Are you going to 'sanitize' my son?"

"Robin, no. I wouldn't do that. Robin, you know me."

"Do I? Do I know you, Pierce? Did you shoot that guy in the desert? Did you shoot my son, Pierce?"

"Robin, we just have to get his phone. If we get his phone and confirm there's nothing on it, we can get him out of here. We'll put him on the chopper and fly him to a hospital. Nobody has to know he was here." He edged a step closer.

"You're clean-up duty!" Robin exclaimed.

"We're both clean-up duty," Pierce said sadly.

"No!"

"What do you think you're doing when you go sanitize someone's home?"

Shock and comprehension crossed her face. "No! I don't believe you!"

Michael backed away from Pierce to work his way out of the line of fire.

Robin waved her gun at him. "Get back!"

It was the opportunity Pierce needed. He rushed Robin as her gun swung back toward him and a shot was fired. Instinctively, his arm covered his face but the shot rang wide when his body crashed into hers.

Robin struggled to keep the gun from Pierce as he pulled her arm and tried to capture her hand. With a sudden drive of his hip, he thrust a leg between hers. She reacted as he expected and parried away. When she turned to make her move, his body met hers and he folded her into a chokehold. With one arm around her throat and one bracing her gun hand, he waited for her to let up.

She wasn't ready to ease back and struggled against his body, growing warmer and gagging against the arm at her throat. He spoke softly into her ear, "Shhh...easy Robin. Relax. I'm not going to hurt Andrew. Shhh...I'll let you go when you stop struggling and hear my words. Easy. Shhh."

When she stopped struggling, he loosened the arm at her neck but stayed poised to grab her if she made a move to bolt. Instead, her body relaxed into his. Like someone coaxing a spooked foal, he kept talking softly in her ear. He was so quiet, Michael strained to hear what was being said.

"I'm going to let go of your arm. I'm not going to take your gun. That's your gun. You need to keep your gun. You need to be able to protect Andrew. Do you understand what I'm saying? I would never hurt him."

Robin nodded, and he slowly moved back to give her space. She turned and collapsed into his chest, a muffled sob erupting from her. His arms encircled her and he held her tight until she stopped shaking. He unfolded her and lifted her chin until she was looking in his eyes. "You know me."

She nodded again, and he brought his lips to hers.

Michael cleared his throat and Pierce gritted his teeth. For a brief moment, Robin thought Pierce might crush Michael's face with the fist clenched at his side. Robin moved behind him to wipe the tears from her red-rimmed eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Michael asked.

"We're going to get Central back on the line and talk about this." He pointed to the conference phone and Michael punched a button. The three hovered around the phone waiting for someone to answer. A click and the light hum of static announced the connection.

"Has Andrew Landon been dealt with?"

Anger flashed in Robin's eyes. "No, Andrew Landon has not been dealt with."

"Ah, Robin. You understand the issue here, right?"

"I understand that there is no issue here. I am taking my son out of here. He's been shot and needs to be taken to a hospital."

"And just how do you propose explaining how he was shot, Robin? He's a minor," the voice sneered. "You take one step into a hospital and an investigation into the shooting will be opened two seconds later."

"He won't talk. He can keep a secret. Like you said, he's a teenager. He keeps secrets all the time."

"You know that won't work." The line went dead.