A/N: So, I started this before they got a ferret. I'm not changing it now. This is all pre-ferret material. This plotting on this show drives me crazy, but I love the characters. I hope you take the time to read. It should be 4-6 chapters. Sheila

The Rooster

The phone dinged again and Sylvester bent over it texting furiously. Then he straightened up and scanned the room. Toby didn't look up from his reading but he caught everything. Developing eyes in the back of his head had been the advice of an old psychiatry professor, and while he couldn't manage the actual mechanics of such an idea, he had learned to hone his other senses as well as quick glances in the direction of his subject.

Sylvester's actions were lost on the rest of the team. Walter was holed up on the 2nd floor with Gallo working an NSA problem. The problem was specific to Walter's skill set, and didn't require fieldwork so the details stayed with the two of them. Happy was in the back marveling at an old Indian brand motorcycle Toby had liberated from a junkyard. He'd been moving slow with her, knowing how fragile her trust was. The old classic motorcycle had been an inspired idea, and he liked reliving the look on her face when he wheeled it in the door.

"Lunch is ready!"

Toby smiled. The lovely Miss Dineen was still trying to civilize them, and her current efforts were centered around healthy eating. He put his book down and sat up. Ignoring her was not an option. She was singularly persistent. Plus, he had begun their relationship on a surly note, and he was determined to show her that he could be a good guy.

Sylvester was already in the kitchen peering suspiciously at the soup in the pot. "What is it?"

She looked up from the bread she pulled out of the oven. "Portuguese kale soup with Linguica sausage."

She headed up the stairs to roust Cabe and Walter and Sylvester made a face at Toby. "Do you think there's still some cold pizza in the fridge?"

"No way, sexy man. We are going to try the lovely fare that Paige made for us."

"I might be allergic."

"I am aware of all of your allergies, Sly. I go to all of your medical appointments with you, remember?"

"It looks healthy!" he hissed.

"There's sausage in it. You like sausage. You have it on pizza all the time."

"Well, there should be crust then and cheese."

"Smells good," Happy said grabbing a seat at the table.

"Hey you."

"You're looking at me again."

"Can't help it," Toby said. "You're particularly lovely today."

"You say that every day."

"And I mean it every day."

Sylvester looked from one to the other. "You guys are getting weird again."

Happy reached for the cooling bread. "How many hours?"

"129."

"I meant what I said."

Toby sat across from her. "I go 240 hours without making a single bet and you and I get to go on a date."

"Yup."

"The 240th hour happens at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday," Toby said as he took the buttered bread she offered.

The edge of her mouth twitched. "I'm generally free at that time of the day."

He fought a smile. "I know an all night diner that would be perfect for a first date."

"111 hours to go. Should we bet on whether you can make it?"

"Funny," he smirked.

An irritated Walter sounded from above. "I don't need fuel! I ate 6 hours 34 minutes ago. Had three protein bars. Should hold me another 5 hours 23 minutes."

Shoes landed on steps, and Toby grinned at a surly Walter following Paige and Cabe downstairs. "She's persistent, Walter. You gotta give her that."

"It's an inconvenient meal," he said dropping into a chair like a teen-age boy.

"We're not saving the world today, Walter. We don't have to push ourselves to the edge," Cabe said. "Besides, it smells wonderful."

"Thank you," Paige said as she began ladling up soup. "It's my grandmother's recipe."

Toby nodded at Cabe. "You can't tell us anything?"

"Wish I could, but it's need to know only."

"I don't like it when the rest of us are left out."

Happy leaned back. "Maybe, next time Cabe will have a case that requires one of our skill sets that leaves you out."

"Unlikely," Walter said as he sniffed the soup in front of him. "My skill sets are wide ranging. I can already do much of what you all do."

Cabe raised an eyebrow. "Come on, let's play nice. Everyone here makes a valuable contribution to the team."

"Yeah," Toby said as he sipped broth. "Especially since it's been established that you have the behavioral insights of a hamster."

Walter stiffened. "I've gained a lot of insight into behavior."

Sylvester's hip buzzed and he abandoned attempts at eating to frantically return texts.

"Really," Toby said placing his hat on the table. "Then I imagine you've noticed that Sylvester has been keeping a secret."

Everyone stopped eating and looked at Sylvester. His face reddened. "What! I can have secrets."

"Of course you can, son. Cabe's blue eyes focused on Toby.

"What kind of secret?" Walter asked.

Sylvester shrugged. "Nothing."

"It's not nothing. You've been texting with someone for three days. Your body language is always very tense when you're doing it."

"Mind your own business, Toby."

"It has to be someone we already know, someone that would trigger disapproval. Like a boy would do when deceiving a parent. You revert to adolescent behaviors when concealing these texts. I can see it in your face. Adolescence. Why the regression?"

Sylvester stood. "Shut up, Toby. You don't need to know everything."

"You're feeling threatened now, and again, I see regression- like you've been caught doing something naughty."

"Stop analyzing him, Toby." Paige said as she watched the tension build.

"Leave me alone!"

Toby closed his eyes. "The regression has to be related to history- your time as a boy. You're a boy living with your family. There's your father, mother, and your brother, Robert."

His eyes popped open. "It's Robert. You know that contact with your brother would trigger disapproval. Robert has been texting you."

Sylvester's breathing came in short bursts. "What if he has? He's my brother. I have a right to talk to my brother!"

Walter pushed away from the table and stood. "It's okay, Sylvester. Nobody's mad. We're just a little protective. The last time Robert was around, he got you into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Cabe asked.

Happy narrowed her eyes. "Sylvester helped him with some algorithms thinking they were for his new business when he was really using them to steal credit card numbers. When the feds caught up to him, Robert had skipped town, leaving Sylvester as the only connection. It took a lot of fast talking to keep him from getting indicted."

"He sounds like a troubled man."

"He stole $43,000 and tried to pin it on his little brother," Toby said.

"Stop it! It was a mistake! I've been talking to him and he's really sorry. He got caught up in something and then he got scared. It could've happened to any of us!" Sylvester's agitation was unsettling.

Toby got up and started toward him. "Hey Sly, I'm not trying to upset you. I just don't think he's a good guy. Remember I'm the one that actually met him."

"He's my brother, Toby! You wouldn't understand because you were an only child. You don't know what it's like to have a brother."

"Actually, I thought I did."

Walter shook his head. "I can see Sylvester's point. The bond I have with Megan is unique. And it's been almost four years. Maybe, Robert is sincere about his change."

"And maybe, he wants to set up another scam."

Sylvester threw up his hands up. "This is why I didn't want to tell anyone. I knew it would be a problem. He's my brother! I have every right to talk to him and even forgive him if I want."

Paige moved over to Sylvester and put her hand on his arm. "Hey, it's okay pal. We're not trying to judge."

"He is!" He pointed at Toby. "He thinks I'm a kid. Always telling me what to do."

"I'm just trying to help."

"I checked, Toby. Robert's record in the last four years has been clean. Better than you can say. Your police record is as long as my arm."

"Don't deflect, Sylvester," Toby said softly.

"Then don't analyze me. I'm not a patient!"

"I think you oughta back off a little, doc."

"Really!" He turned on Happy. "You were around when it went down last time. Remember how we all had to scrape together money for a lawyer. Remember how close he got to going to jail. Remember how depressed he was afterward. I'm telling you that a guy who leaves his brother stuck in the middle of a scam like that doesn't change his stripes."

"You don't know that!" Paige tried to comfort Sylvester, but he pushed her away and grabbed his jacket. "I knew you were going to do this, Toby. I knew I couldn't trust you! Treating me like this is worse than anything Robert ever did."

"Hey Sly, I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

Sylvester's response was to slam the door on his way out.

"Well, that didn't go well," Toby drawled.

"Ya' think?" Cabe shook his head.

"You shouldn't have upset him like that," Walter said.

"Trust me. There wasn't a gentle way to have this conversation. His defenses are up."

"Seems to me that you didn't have to embarrass him in front of all of us," Paige said as she sat down again.

"Paige is right. You screwed up." Walter paced for a moment and then headed for the stairs. "I'm going back to work."

"I thought you guys were going to back my play. Robert is a sociopath."

"Is that as annoying as being a narcissist?" Happy asked, glaring at him.

Cabe got up and filled his coffee. "I would expect better instincts in a behaviorist. You pushed him too hard. Parenting 101."

"I'm not his parent. I'm his friend."

"Okay friend. Go find him and make it right."

…..

It was late afternoon when Toby came back inside, wiping sweat off his brow. The rest of the team was seated at the table, and he could see the agitation radiating off them. "Hey, it's okay. I didn't find him, but it's only a few hours. I checked all of his hangouts. Let me grab my computer and I'll get his GPS. It'll just take me a minute."

Walter stood, hands deep in his pockets. "Don't worry, Toby. We already heard from him."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Then what's going on?"

Paige smiled. "Good news. We talked him in to bringing Robert here for dinner. It'll give us a chance to meet him and see for ourselves what kind of guy he is."

Toby narrowed his eyes. "Where's the "but" in your good news?"

"He's still nervous that you might say something to Robert. You know how you can be."

"Yeah, I know how I can be," Toby sighed. "Let me guess. I've been voted off the island."

"Just for dinner. We'll check him out. We'll get you all the details."

Toby scanned the room. "Who's idea was this?"

Walter looked around. "We voted."

Happy got up. "It wasn't much of a vote, Walter. We're a team. We don't do this to one another."

Walter shrugged. "I didn't know another way to get a chance to meet Sylvester's brother. Cabe's got good instincts."

Toby said nothing for a long moment. "Yeah. Maybe, the team doesn't need a behaviorist."

"Toby! Nobody is saying that." Walter started toward him.

Toby backed away. "I gotta go. See you tomorrow."

"Come on. Let's talk for a minute."

Toby was out the door before Walter could get there.

Paige closed her eyes and groaned. "I knew he would be mad, but he looked so hurt."

"You have no idea," Happy said. She glared at Walter. "We suck."

"Happy…" he said but she had stomped off to the back of the building.

Paige grabbed her purse. "If we're having guests, I'd better go shopping."

"He's a big boy. He'll get over it," Cabe said to Walter as he got up from the table. "Time to get back to work."

Walter made a face but didn't follow. For a long time, he just stared at the door.

…

"This is the best beef stroganoff I've had anywhere. Restaurant quality," he said shoveling in another mouthful.

"Thanks Robert," Paige as she smiled and returned her attention to her plate. She felt like she had to counter the blatant staring going on from the other members of the team. Robert had been unexpected. He looked a lot like Sylvester- dark haired with expressive brown eyes, but he looked like Sylvester would be as a thin, confident man who was strikingly handsome. It was unsettling.

Happy fixed him with a glare. "So, what brings you back years after you skipped out on your brother leaving him in a tough spot."

"Happy!" Sylvester looked mortified.

"It's okay, Syl. She's right. These guys have stuck by you all these years, and I ran when the going got tough. I'm just a little reticent to say much sitting across from a fed here."

Cabe looked up. "It's not my jurisdiction so whatever you got to say is off the record."

Robert sighed. "Good to know. The truth is that there isn't much to say. I got in over my head with a deal. Didn't realize how shady it was until I was in too deep and then I got scared. I didn't know that it would all fall on Syl, and when I realized I was really ashamed. Not my finest moment. It took a long time for me to find the courage to reach out to my little bro here, and I want to thank all of you for standing by him like you did."

"It's who we are," Walter said.

Paige looked down at Ralph who hadn't touched his food. "Hey, what's wrong Buddy? You love my beef stroganoff."

The boy furrowed his brows. "I miss Toby. He was going to show me card tricks tonight."

"He'll be back tomorrow."

Ralph looked around the table. "Why can't he be here now? Happy said everybody hurt his feelings. Do you guys not like Toby anymore?"

"What!" Sylvester said. "I didn't want that to happen. I thought he would understand."

"It's okay, Buddy. Toby's fine. He'll be back and we're all still friends with him."

Robert shrugged. "Really, it's my fault. I met Toby the first time I was here, and he really sort of intimidated me. I was just so nervous about tonight."

"Well, it's not going to happen again," Walter said looking around the table. "This was a one time thing. Toby is part of the team."

"He's family," Happy said.

"I'm such an idiot. I mean, I'm mad at him, but he's there for me all the time."

"Sylvester," Cabe said. "Don't worry about it. You'll see him tomorrow, and the two of you will work it out. Case closed."

"Gosh, I sure didn't mean to cause trouble," Robert said slowly.

"Never mind. Tell us what brings you to L.A. these days."

"I got a new job…with a non-profit. Syl, I bet you never thought I would say something like that."

"It's really cool," Sylvester said with a smile. "It's called Alana's Resources, Inc. They help low income people get medical equipment for transplants."

"Yeah, it's great. We focus on kidneys. We recycle home dialysis equipment and other transplant resources. When a loved one dies or gets a transplant and no longer needs their equipment, we can buy and pass it on to a family that might not have the resources to get it without huge financial burden. It really feels good to be part of something like this."

"How do you find your clients?"

"Well, we used to be able to buy transplant lists. We're a non-profit. They should just give them to us, but laws have changed, and we no longer have access even with money. We do the best we can with our marketing and that helps some. That's one of the reasons I am in L.A. In order to survive, we have to expand our marketing base, and so I came west."

"Very interesting." Walter was unable to disguise his interrogation.

"It's legitimate. Seriously. You can check us out."

"We will."

"Walter," Paige said. "This is no way to treat a guest."

"Ah, my apologies," he said unable to make eye contact with anyone.

"It's okay. Syl told me it might be rough, but you guys have been there for him, and I am really glad for that."

"Isn't this great!" Sylvester beamed. "I got my brother back!"

"Yeah, it's great," Walter said staring down at his plate.

…..

The smell in the warehouse was a combination of smoke, sweat, and tequila. For Toby, it was the essence of gambling. The vices of men rolled up in desperation for the big win. This wasn't Toby's normal hunting grounds. In fact, he made a distinct promise to Walter that he'd never travel this road again, but his heart was a complex instrument. The fact that they'd pushed him away triggered abandonment issues that started even before he had memories of a bi-polar mother who was too obsessed with her own mania to care for her own child. Like an alcoholic who hunts the bottle when his pain becomes too great, Toby was reaching for his drug. Only this time it wasn't just gambling, it was self destruction as well.

He leaned against the wall of the warehouse, his fedora low on his forehead and did his best to fit in as brown skinned men speaking Spanish milled about arguing furiously about the upcoming fights. His back pockets were filled with cash- the grand total of what was in the temporary housing he called his bank. His eyes darted back and forth from the pens to the fighting ring. He wanted to act now, but that was just his compulsions. He needed a plan- it had to be more than just a suicide mission. His actions had to have actual meaning.

…

"He seemed like a good guy to me," Paige said as she handed a wet dish to Walter.

He dried it absently. "Hmm. A normal who thinks he's smarter than he is. Contrite. Self-deprecating. Pleasant. What does it mean?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe, it's just the truth."

"Toby would know."

"But he wasn't here, Walter."

Well, we kept that from happening, didn't we?" Walter threw the dishtowel down.

We'll have other chances, Walter. Chances to know Robert better and chances to make it up to Toby." She reached over to touch his shoulder, but she imagined he'd flinch so she pulled back.

Cabe came in the door wearing a leather jacket and jeans. "I dropped Robert and Sylvester off at the hotel. Apparently, there is some kind of old school video game tournament they want to have. Undoubtedly, it will go through most of the night. Hopefully, Sylvester bets on these games. I'll like to see him clean his brother out. No way a non-profit employee gets put up in a hotel that swanky."

"You don't trust him then?"

"You're kidding, right? Please tell me you guys didn't buy that cock and bull story he shared?"

"He was nice," Paige said.

Walter narrowed his eyes. "How do you know, Cabe?"

"He tried too hard. He oozed sleaze."

"Oozed? I saw no oozing."

"It's a gut thing, Walter. You lack a gut."

Cabe smiled as Walter took a quick look at his midsection before closing his eyes as he realized that Gallo was talking about instinct.

Happy came storming in the room and grabbed a remote, lighting up the big screen. "I pinged him. Look where he is!"

They peered at the screen. Cabe looked at Happy. "This is Toby, right?"

Walter shook his head. "He promised he would never do this again."

"What? What the hell are we looking at?"

"Probably the diciest part of South Central L.A. Old Industrial park. Bunch of abandoned warehouses. Mostly gang run," Cabe said as he peered at the screen. "What is he doing there?"

"Fighting. Roosters or pit bulls," Happy said, eyes flashing anger.

Paige made a face. "Come on. Even Toby has limits."

"He doesn't bet," Walter said. "He says animal fighting is a stain on the good name of gambling."

"Gambling has a good name?"

"What the hell is he doing?!" Cabe said.

"He's disrupting the match."

"He's good at disrupting things," Happy murmured.

"By himself?" Cabe said, shaking his head. "That's suicidal."

"Last time they beat him so bad he was in the hospital for a week."

"What's wrong with him?!" Paige moved over to Ralph who was waking up from his spot on the couch.

"He's imploding. He does this," Happy said softly. "We really hurt him."

Walter grabbed his coat. "Let's go get him."

Cabe put up a hand. "No. I got this."

"We're a team. He needs us and we're going to get him." Happy headed for the door.

"No, I mean it. I got this. I got connections in the LAPD gang unit. They can get there 30 minutes before we can."

"Yeah, but I want to be there just in case he is still alive. I'm going to make sure he spends another week in the hospital." Happy's mouth was tight with anger.

Cabe blocked her at the door. "This is why I go alone. Sometimes, you gotta slow down before you dig a deeper hole for someone. You've all already said things you regret."

Walter patted Happy on the shoulder. "We'll handle this."

"We won't handle anything, Walter. Get upstairs. You have work to do. NSA job. Go finish it. I'll call you." Cabe gave him a hard look and headed out the door.

…