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takadasaiko · 7 years ago

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Demons at the Door: Chapter Twenty-Five

FFN II AO3

Summary:

Chapter Twenty-Five: About the Trust

"I get the craziest idea you don't trust me, Keen."

Tom looked up from where he was finishing his last check over the weapons he was carrying. Unlike the last time they broke into the facility, there would be no tranks this time. These were not decent people just doing their jobs. These were Ellington's men, and if they weren't able to get in and get the job done it wasn't just them that wouldn't make it out that day. Tom had seen what Ellington had been willing to do to his own loyal people when he set the detonators to go off in his own facility, and he could only imagine how much crueler he'd be to Halcyon's employees and anyone else that got in his way once he got his hands on the Artax Network and any other number of tools that Halcyon had at its disposal. This wasn't the time for hashing out old grudges, but letting Solomon believe that he trusted him wouldn't do any good either. He needed to know the consequences of betraying them on this. "Because I don't. You're here entirely on Nez's recommendation. No one else's."

"Not even mommy dearest?" he teased, leaning against the van they would drive in.

Tom shot him a glare and Solomon raised his hands. "Alright. Alright. I just thought it would be prudent to put the past behind us - again - to make sure that everyone gets out of this alive. We don't have to like each other to work together."

"One thing we can agree on," Tom groused.

"You boys just don't shoot each other and we'll be good," Nez said, purposefully walking between them.

Tom fit his handgun back into its holster. First thing was first, they had to infiltrate the garage. Just like the time before, it was going to be the easiest entrance and exit point. They didn't know how much resistance they'd be up against, though, and they needed to pay it smart or this would be over before it had begun.

The first stop would need to be the server room. From there they could insert a drive that would give Dumont and Aram access to the video feeds and would open the door to get them all the way into the system. That was Nez and Solomon's assignment. Ressler and Samar were responsible for getting to the Board and getting them - and any other hostages they could free - out and to safety. There should be more than a few Halcyon guards to help with that once they found where Ellington was keeping them.

Tom and Liz were responsible for getting in to Ellington himself. Where that was, they couldn't and wouldn't know for sure until Dumont got them access to the the internal security cameras.

"How exactly do you see this ending?"

Tom glanced over to find Ressler approaching, fixing the straps on his tactical vest into place. "What do you mean?" he asked, the words careful as he watched his wife's partner.

"Ellington and Halcyon. You know that there's no scenario in which Halcyon walks off with him, right? I just want to be straight with you on that. I know this guy…. I know this is personal for you."

The dark haired man loosed a slow breath. Ressler thought that the FBI would end up with him, and as strange as it was, Tom almost wished they would. He didn't like the idea of handing Ellington over at the end of this, but he knew that the world rarely worked on what he wanted. The deal had already been struck and Ellington was the payment. It wasn't like he wouldn't end up in a deep, dark hole somewhere, just not one owned by the federal government. Explaining that to Ressler as they were about to breach the premises wouldn't do anyone any good though.

"I know," he said carefully, "but right now we have a job to do. That's what we all need to focus on."

Ressler gave a sharp nod. "Good to hear."

They found a weak point in the physical defenses and moved into the garage, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't have eyes on them soon. Tom slipped around, his training kicking in and his boots were silent against the concrete. Howard had told him his life, his experiences, everything had prepared him for what would come, and he hadn't known the half of it. Whatever damage Bud had done to over the years, he had given him a thorough education in the art of espionage. His teenage years and into his adult life had been spent in study and working towards perfection. He was good. He had been one of the best that St Regis had had run through the program, and now he knew why, and he was going to use every skill - natural and learned - to make the man that had taken him as a child regret ever allowing him to get to this point.

He took a shot from around a beam, the suppressor on the end of his gun quieting the sound. They moved in closer and closer, each guard falling without knowing what hit them.

"There weren't as many as we thought," Liz murmured as they reconvened at the other end of the garage.

"They took heavy casualties at their base," Samar pointed out.

"Don't underestimate them," Tom answered, pressing the comm in his ear. "Dumont. You ready?"

"Make it quick, guys. Soon as I give it the go, we've used the only in we've got till you get to the server room."

Tom glanced at Nez and she gave him a firm nod in response. He drew in a deep breath. "Okay, Dumont. Let's do this."

She was partial to the private sector. Nez had seen both sides of the coin and the private sector of the intelligence community allowed for more creativity for operatives to work. It had been a steady observation, but even she had to admit that the Task Force might be an exception to the rule that had formed for her. They were good, and they'd only proven it again as they had infiltrated Halcyon's lower levels. Ressler's aim put even hers to shame and Navabi had good instincts. Her first interaction with the other woman hadn't set her up to be impressed, but the more she worked with her, the more impressed she was. She was intelligent, well trained, and resourceful. When this was all said and done, she might have to talk to Tom about making Navabi a job offer.

After this was over. First, they had to win Halcyon back.

Nez glanced across the way to see Solomon motion to her, the signals between them familiar and comfortable. She nodded, her movements mirroring his as they slipped down the hall towards the server room, both nearly silent on their feet and with a knowledge of the layout that their enemies didn't have at their disposal.

They met two guards on the way. Nez put a bullet in one's chest and Solomon put his down with one between the eyes. She caught his gaze briefly and found his expression nearly unreadable. It was cold, calculated, and for the briefest moment she remembered the way Tom had all but dragged her away when Solomon had been coming for them not too long ago. He'd chosen her side this time. Not Scottie's, not Howard's, and certainly not Tom's. It didn't matter that no one else trusted him. They didn't know why he was there, but she knew. He wouldn't betray them.

The space was dark, signs of the generators working overtime in the way that the overhead lights were dimmed. Multiple computers were still down, leaving a room that was usually humming eerily quiet. Nez would have expected more guards. Surely Ellington had a at least considered something like this. Why leave the best way to open the gates poorly guarded?

"Something isn't right," Solomon said quietly, his gun still ready for anyone that might slip out of a dark corner. "Too few guards, too little activity. Ellington's not here to hold HQ."

Nez frowned deeply. "You think he's here for something specific."

"Or a few specific things." Solomon's dark gaze slid over to meet hers. "I imagine Howard has his own set of secrets hidden away in Halcyon."

"Anything big enough to do all of this could be detrimental. We need to get Dumont linked in." Nez took a seat at the computer that Dumont typically used in the room and started working on bypassing the security measures that were in place. A small sound around the corner drew both of their attentions. She looked up to Solomon. "I'll be in in just a sec. Go."

He paused for just a moment, lingering, but then nodded. She watched him disappear out of the corner of his eye, but was immediately drawn back to the system in front of her as it gave off the signal. She slipped the jump drive Dumont had given her in and watched it do its work.

There were days that Donald Ressler really questioned where the events of recent years had taken him. Just a little over a year ago they had discovered Halcyon Aegis - a company he had never heard of - during their investigation into Liz's "death." He'd felt dirty working with them then, and after everything that had happened, there they were again. He knew this was important, that the information that Halcyon stored could devastate their country if it got into the wrong hands - and Miles Ellington was definitely the wrong hands - but what then? Tom hadn't want to focus on that, but that was all Ressler could think of. Tom was an operative, willing to bend the rule book to the point of breaking the binding, and some days Ressler was pretty sure he tossed the book out the window when it suited him better. He could get away with not having to feel responsible for handing over what was clearly dangerous to untrustworthy people, especially when those people were the parents he'd never known. The Task Force shouldn't feel as comfortable with that out come. He knew they shouldn't, and with everything that had happened recently Ressler couldn't help but feel like he was letting himself go deeper and deeper into a world that he had never wanted to belong in.

"I expected more opposition," Samar said softly as they rounded the corner into a cleared hallway. "Something feels off about it."

"You think Scottie's setting us up?"

"Scottie, Howard. I don't trust either of them after spending any time at all with them."

Ressler cracked a small smirk at that. "And I thought it was just me."

His partner snorted and pressed her back against the wall as they neared what should be the boardroom. It was locked down tight, windows closed, and the lobby outside was a ghost town. Not even the receptionist remained at her seat and there was no sight of anyone anywhere or any sound coming from the closed down room. Samar was right. Something was wrong here, and Ressler couldn't help the feeling that they were walking into a trap.

There was a soft buzzing sound in his ear, signaling the comm line coming up. Well, at least that part of the plan was falling into place. That meant that Rowan and Solomon had made it to the server room and that their technician was breaking back into the systems.

"Agents Ressler and Navabi, can you read me?" Aram's voice suddenly echoed in his ear. "Looks like we have audio up on our end. Are we getting through?"

"We hear you, Aram," Samar answered. "Do you have visual yet?"

"Working on it. Ellington's hacker has shut us out, but Mr Hargrave had a workaround. We're bringing up visual feeds little by little."

"What do you have for the boardroom?" Ressler asked, glancing back down the hall.

"Nothing. I've got nothing on the visual end, but I should be able to unlock it. Give me just a sec."

There was a long pause from Aram's end, though they could hear him working frantically on his keyboard. Finally there was sound from the door like a deadbolt being undone and the shutters on the windows unlocked, even if they didn't open. They were in.

Ressler looked over to Samar who nodded, switching to the opposite side of the door. He pushed it open and moved forward with his gun held ready, but stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he got a good view of the room.

"Ressler?" Samar called softly and he heard her slip in behind him, but he couldn't quite manage to form up a response. He heard her loose a breath next to him. "I guess we know now that the Hargraves are at least the lesser of the two evils."

Clear blue eyes darted from one side of the room to the other, his gaze sweeping over the carnage. It had been a bloodbath. Most of them looked like they'd been sitting around the long table when someone had open fired in them, killing some instantly, others taking longer. A couple were on the floor, slipped out of their seats, and there were a handful of seats that didn't appear to be occupied at all. He wasn't sure just how many board members were supposed to be there that day. All he could hope was that those empty seats indicated that someone had escaped.

"Everything okay on that end? I'm showing it's unlocked," Aram asked from the Post Office and Ressler blinked, shaking his head just a little.

"He killed them. Gunned them down in their seats."

There was a long pause from the other end before Aram made a soft, horrified sound.

"Ressler," Samar called sharply from where she was bent over someone.

He moved over to them to see her knelt down next to a man in a bloodstained suit, her hands pressed hard against a wound. He barely looked conscious, but was struggling to speak. Ressler stooped as low as he dared without opening them up to someone coming back in and taking them by surprise.

"What?" Samar coaxed, leaning closer to the dying man.

Ressler watched his lips move before he went limp and Samar finally sat back. "The network and whitehall," she repeated, her gaze flickering up. "He's after the Artax Network, but what is whitehall?"

"Not what, who," Ressler said lowly. "Liz told me about him. He's some sort of scientist that Howard and Scottie were fighting over."

"Now Ellington wants him," Samar murmured. She reached up to her comm. "Did you get that, Aram?"

There was a long pause on the other side before Aram came back to them. "Sorry, we've got an other problem. Ellington's hacker is trying to get into our systems while we're trying to get into Halcyon's."

"Yeah, well if Ellington gets ahold of Whitehall that's going to be just one of the problems," Ressler said gruffly. "Aram, do you have eyes on the Keens? They're going to need all the backup the can get."

Solomon's shoes were silent on the hard floor as he moved around one of the shelves of servers, gun held ready for whatever he would find. They weren't alone, but whoever Ellington had left to guard the area was shy. Maybe they just needed an invite.

He rounded the corner to see a small collection of guards and a woman sitting at a small table. There were three people under guard with her, likely board members that were being used to bypass security that she couldn't hack her way through.

"Think I found our hacker, Dumont," Solomon said quietly into the comm.

"Can you take her out of play?"

"Permanently?" he clarified.

There was a long pause. "I'll leave that up to your discretion, buddy," he said uncomfortably. "I just need her to stop trying to hack our systems this way."

Solomon smirked and readied himself. Once the first shot went off he'd have to finish it quickly.

The first armed guard fell, but that sent the others into action. Solomon slipped around the back of a shelf full of servers, feeling a bullet nick his arm as he moved. Another shot took another guard to the floor, but he saw the hacker being rushed away, the three people in full panic as bullets flew over their heads from where they were tied down to their chairs.

"Whatever you're doing, buddy, keep it up," Dumont sounded in his ear.

"Getting shot at?" Solomon grumbled and pressed his back against the wall.

"I'm getting back into the systems. Should be able to get wired into all sections, get doors open, get you guys some backup."

"Since when were we expecting backup?"

"Since I got the cameras open to the western-most section of the building. From what I can tell they took the building over covertly, through locks and system overrides, not by manpower. I get the doors back open and-"

"We have Halcyon's operatives that were in site. Dumont, get those doors open."

"Working on it."

Solomon caught movement out of the corner of his eye and threw himself to his right, barely missing the shower of bullets that left the wall he'd been standing against riddled with holes. He rolled to his feet, halfway to standing when a sharp kick to his back took him back down to the floor. He hit hard, knocking the breath out of him. The pressure released enough for him to roll to his back and he looked up at the man that towered over him. How he'd managed to sneak up on him, Solomon had no idea, but he had him at the disadvantage now.

Slowly, Solomon raised his hands, gun loosely clutched there. "You do know that Ellington is going to die, don't you? We're into the system again. It's only a matter of time before we overtake him, just like we did at your base. You know what he did to his people there? Set a bomb and left them to die. What makes you think he has any higher regard for your life?"

The larger man didn't say anything, but motioned for Solomon to stand, taking his gun from him as he did. There was something about the look he was giving him that set every instinct in him on edge. If he was going to walk away from this, it'd only be because the other man was dead.

He waited, watched, and moved without any warning. Solomon reached out to pull the gun from the other man's hand, but only managed to jerk it to one side. The shot went off, the bullet buried in the wall behind him, and Solomon swung around so that his leg caught the crooks of the larger man's knees, buckling them under him. The second attempt to get the gun fared better than the first and he didn't hesitate as he raised it and shot. On instinct he pivoted around, taking a second shot at another one of Ellington's men that had come back to help. He watched him crumble and stood there for a long moment, trying to catch his breath.

The first step he tried to take sent him tilting, and he barely caught himself on the wall. He looked down, the blood already visible from the wound that his brain hadn't quite registered yet. He leaned heavily against the wall, a curse leaving him softly as he slid down.

They were closing in. Once Dumont had eyes and ears back online it has made things easier. There were still plenty of blind spots throughout the base - something Tom had been very glad of not too long ago when he'd made his own escape - but it helped. They knew where Ellington was, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was going to do his best to escape to the streets. They had to stop him before he did. If they didn't, he'd get away with intelligence that would not only be detrimental to Halcyon as a company, but to national security as well.

Tom ducked back and out of the way of a bullet that pinged far too close to his head for his liking. Liz slipped ahead of him and he bit back the urge to try to stop her. He had to trust in her training and her instincts just as much as she trusted in his. She was good. He knew that, and as they were shooting at the woman he loved, he had to remind himself of that.

Liz returned fire, taking one of them down with a well aimed shot and they both ducked behind cover. It wasn't the first time they'd been in a firefight together, but he found himself watching her. No, she had never needed his protection, no matter how much he wanted to make sure that she was safe.

"What?" she asked, and it wasn't until then that he realized he was smiling just a little.

Tom shrugged, not bothering to hide it now, and he let his gaze shift back to the bend in the hall. "I married a badass."

She snorted a laugh at the explanation, and a smirk of her own tilted her lips. "Twice," she she pointed out.

That pulled a grin from him. "Twice."

He watched her expression turn a little more serious as they both stood with their backs pressed against the wall, listening and waiting. It had gone silent, the shouts of the people they'd been closing in on disappearing with the gunfire and it left an eerie quiet in its wake.

Tom reached up to his comm. "Dumont, you have eyes?"

"Not where you are, Tom-Tom," the rushed answer came back.

He looked over to Liz who gave a sharp nod. They couldn't just wait for the guarantee that it was safe. They both started forward, ready for the slightest hint that it was a setup.

The grenade rolled out into the hall and for just a moment time stopped. Liz froze in front of him, her entire posture rigid as she focused on it. Tom reached out, fingers latching around the collar of her vest and he tugged her back, both of them struggling to get away as the blast went off, throwing them off their feet.

Tom hit hard, feeling the world pulse around him but he struggled to hold onto consciousness. He blinked, shifting so that he could see Liz where she had landed. She was already getting to her knees and it looked like she was saying something but his ears were ringing too loudly to make it out.

He looked up as he heard her shout suddenly, the sound the first one louder than the ringing, and he watched as one of Ellington's men hauling her the rest of her way to her feet. Liz's gaze hardened as he wrapped an arm around her throat, restricting her airway.

"Don't even think about it, Keen," the man holding her said dangerously. "You may be fast, but even you're not fast enough to get here before I kill her. What's your wife's life worth to you?"

Clear blue eyes shifted to meet a darker shade and Tom pulled in a steadying breath. It was about trust. "I'm not the one you should be worried about."

Liz struck back hard, elbow hitting body armor, but her captor loosened his hold on her just enough that she could slam her head back into his nose, sending him stumbling backwards with a sharp cry. Tom leapt forward, diving for the gun that he'd dropped when the blast had thrown them both, and he took the shot. The man that had just threatened to kill his wife crumbled to the ground.

Both Keens stood in the wake of it, breathing hard, and Liz glanced over at him. Tom reached out, pulling her close and he wrapped his arms around her, focusing for just a moment on the fact that she was alright. They were alright. "You know, we do make a pretty good team," he murmured softly.

Liz loosened her hold on him, but only for a moment as she tipped up on her toes, her hand at the side of his face as she pressed a kiss to his lips, the after effects of the adrenaline rush pulling them both in. He felt her smile against him. "Well you did marry a badass."

"Hey guys, I've got eyes on Ellington," Dumont interrupted. "We've got eyes on Ellington. He's heading towards the basement level."

"There are a few exits that way. We'll head him off," Tom answered, looking at Liz. "You ready?"

She nodded leaning down to pick up her dropped weapon from earlier. "Let's finish this."

Notes: This chapter and the one following it were (and are, as I have not actually 100% finished the next chapter, but didn't want to make you guys wait any longer) actually very difficult to write. I feel like action chapters either flow very quickly for me or I have to fight my way through every sentence. This one has definitely felt like an uphill fight. I just hope it doesn't read that way!

Still working on the next chapter, but I want to make sure it flows before posting it. Thank you for your patience!

Next time - Nez goes one-on-one with Ellington's hacker and Ellington makes a play for escape.

#the blacklist #the blacklist: redemption #Demons at the Door #Tom Keen #Elizabeth Keen #Nez rowan #Matais Solomon #Donald Ressler #Samar Navabi #Aram Mojtabai #Dumont

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takadasaiko · 6 years ago

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Home from the War: Chapter Sixteen

FFN II AO3

Summary: Samar and Tom work to get everybody in, Scottie has to trust Katarina, and Gina fights for her life.

Chapter Sixteen: Inside

Samar raced through the server stacks, Dumont guiding her in her ear. Left, right, straight through. It wasn't without opposition and Tom was always close enough behind her to have her back if anyone jumped out. She slipped around a server stack, pressing her back to it and ejecting the empty clip from her gun to replace it. "Tom?" she called.

"We're good," she heard from around the corner.

"Okay, you're gonna take your next right and you'll see a control panel," Dumont's voice rang through the comm and Samar drew a deep breath in.

"Got it," she murmured and took off again. She felt a bullet clip her shoulder and she spun to fire, but the operative was already on his way down, Tom just a few steps behind her with his gun gripped in his left hand. Their eyes met briefly.

"Samar? Are you okay?" Aram asked in her ear, his voice bordering on terrified.

She pressed her finger against the comm. "Yeah, I'm alright. Almost to the console. Are you ready?'

He loosed an audible breath on the other end. "Yeah."

Samar made it to the console without any other calls quite so close, even if a couple more shots sounded off behind her. She didn't have time to check and make sure Tom was holding his own, though. If they didn't get the signal boosted neither of them were getting out alive anyway and this whole mission would be stopped before it really began.

"Alright. I'm here."

"You have the drive?"

She fished it out of her jacket pocket. "Yes."

"Okay, there should be a USB port. Find it. Insert it."

"That's it?"

"Aram and I did the hard part so you wouldn't have to," Dumont chuckled.

"Yeah, you wanna switch places and see which is harder?" Tom asked, suddenly at Samar's back and she felt a little relief flush through her as she glanced back to see he was as whole as he had come in. He offered her a small nod. "Let's get this signal up before they send in the heavy hitters. They're gonna know we're here."

Samar nodded and inserted the drive into the port. The console jumped to life, data flashing across the screen and she took a small step back. "It's in."

"So are we," Howard's voice filtered through for the first time in a while.

"Got the whole layout, getting access to the cameras and the security systems," Dumont acknowledged.

Tom came to stand with her, or rather lean carefully against the controls. She shot him a look, but he waved her off. He was functional, even if not necessarily good. "You okay?" he asked softly so that the comm wouldn't pick it up.

Samar reached up to her shoulder, wincing at the gash left by the bullet. "I'm fine."

"Alright, we've got everything in place," Howard said, pulling both of their attentions back to the comm pieces in their ears. "You'll have backup on their way."

Tom glanced at her as he spoke. "Sounds good. Samar and I are heading inwards towards the offices. That's where Geffroy and Tallert will be holding Gina. If you're in the security systems you should be able to get eyes ahead of us so we don't run into too many surprises."

"No problem, Tom-Tom, I'll -"

"I will," Aram cut Dumont off. "I've got this. I'll make sure they're safe."

Samar wasn't sure what kind of feedback he was getting from the two Halcyon men on the other end of the line, but whatever he felt like he was having to fight against, it didn't last long.

"Be safe, son," Howard said firmly. "You've got a little girl here waiting for you and Liz to come home."

Tom's smile was soft. "Give her a kiss for me, Dad." There was a sound of acknowledgement from the other end and Tom looked to Samar for a quick confirmation. "Alright, Aram. Ready when you are."

Liz followed the sound the gunshot through the woods, all the urgency she felt for every uncertain piece of this case pushing her feet faster. She gripped her own weapon in hand as she drew closer, hearing the sounds of a scuffle just ahead.

Ressler fought with a young woman dressed in black, and if her fighting style was anything to go by, she was with St Regis. "Hey!" Liz shouted, leveling her gun, and when the girl looked over she saw the same kid she had let go when they rescued Tom.

The girl stopped, frustration clear, and Ressler dragged her arms behind her back behind her and cuffed her there. The look she turned him was vicious.

"There was another one," Ressler said as he motioned and Liz saw the fallen operative. It had been Ressler's gun that went off.

The vacant look in the young operative's eyes gave Liz their answer even as she knelt down to check for a pulse. She shook her head.

"You let me go before," the girl said and Liz looked over. "You know they'll just send me back."

"Back where?" Ressler asked, but the girl wasn't talking to him. Liz knew exactly what she meant, and it was so much of the reason Tom had bent over backwards to make sure they had a safetynet for the kids still in St Regis. She was scared. It was hidden behind layers of self-preservation and determination. And anger. And bitterness. Not for the first time Liz wondered if she would even recognize her husband if she had a way to see back to his years in this place. By the time she had found out who he was there were still traces of what she was seeing here, but he had already wanted and hoped for more. This girl didn't have the experience to know that was even possible.

"That's not going to happen," Liz promised. She caught the girl's gaze. "We won't let it."

"You're a fed, even if you married him. You're still going to shut our school down. Tell yourself what you want, but that puts us all in just as bad or worse places than before."

Liz pulled in a breath, searching for the right words to argue the point and convince the girl. Behind her a twig snapped and she and Ressler both had their guns aimed at the noise.

Nez Rowan raised her hands, palms outward. "Just wanted to make sure you two didn't get yourselves killed."

Liz loosed the breath again, relief sweeping through her. "Yeah, we're good here."

"You won't be," the girl warned and Liz squeezed her eyes shut for half a beat before turning on her, locking a dangerous look on the young operative.

"Gina Zanetakos brought you in, didn't she?" She waited for the surprised, small nod of affirmation. "So she pulled you out of whatever hell you were in, and you're just going to leave her to the wolves, huh?"

"And what are you people going to do to help her?"

"If Tom gets his way, save her life," Nez said from behind Liz.

"This is happening if you fight us on it or not," Liz said, her voice a little quieter now, but still firm. She watched a little of the anger fade from the girl's eyes as she looked at the women in front of her and Liz took a careful step forward.

"So what happens to me now?"

"We have people that will take you in," Nez answered her.

Ressler relinquished the girl and Liz started to move with them to give Nez some back up, but the comm buzzed in her ear, her father-in-law's voice echoing over it. "Tom and Samar made it in. Is everyone ready?"

"Going in now," Katarina acknowledged over the line.

"Go," Nez said. "Solomon and I will be just a couple minutes behind."

Liz looked to Ressler who shot her a look. "Unless you want your mother and Tom's to be their only backup," he pointed out.

She sighed, reaching to her comm. "On our way, Howard."

Scottie had felt the relief sweep through her at the word that Tom had made it in and was alright. For now, she reminded herself. If the rest of them didn't pull through, it wouldn't matter. She reached up to the comm in her ear as she and Katarina neared their entrance. "Howard, where is Tom now? Kat and I will meet him there."

"He's on his way to the offices. He thinks that's where they'll be."

"We'll meet him there," Katarina answered before Scottie could. "Howard, I'm calling a favour with you."

"I wasn't aware I was in your debt, Katarina," Howard answered tightly.

The redheaded woman's lips tilted at the corners. "Get Masha through safely."

"Dumont is more than capable of -"

"I'll keep your wife safe. You keep my daughter safe."

Scottie risked a look at her old friend. She was up to something, she just wasn't sure what yet. A moment of indecision passed, then another, and the longer this went on the more danger everyone was in. "We're alright, Howard. Katarina and I have always done well together, and if anything happens to Elizabeth…"

"I know," her husband's soft acknowledgement came through. "Nez and Solomon were delayed. If you need any help, Dumont is free."

The connection ended and Scottie turned to Katarina. "What was that about?"

"Do you trust me?"

"No."

Katarina flashed her a grin at that. "Do you trust me to protect my family?"

"Our family," Scottie corrected.

"Our family," she agreed.

Scottie loosed a breath. "What do you have planned?"

"We need to find Michel Geffroy before that slippery bastard gets away." Katarina didn't offer any more than that as she started down the hall.

Justin Masterson had been a decent operative, but he had always been better in his own mind than he was in the field. It left him with the kind of ego to support the bluff that talked him out of a lot of situations that would have otherwise gotten him killed, but Gina knew him. There was no talking, no bluffing, nothing. There was only every inch of what had happened over the last few months coming down on him and him alone as she made sure that there would be no arrogant remarks through broken teeth or a chance of escape as she slammed her boot down against his knee, hearing a satisfying pop that left him howling.

He thought he was good, but she knew she was better.

Gina stood over the injured man that had once been her colleague and a weak chuckle escaped him. "All this for Phelps?" he asked, catching her eye.

"Is that what you think?" she asked, amusement lining her own voice as she squatted down. "This is for me."

He swung up, nearly catching her and Gina lost her balance as she dodged, landing hard on the floor. She could feel Tallert watching the skirmige from the other side of the room. The longer this went on, the more worn out she would be, and if he decided that he wanted a go at her she'd be fighting at a bigger disadvantage than she would have earlier. It was time to put her anger aside and finish this. Maybe, just maybe, she would have a chance of convincing Tallert that he was on the losing side.

Gina popped to her feet even as Masterson came at her. He caught her slamming her back and hard into the desk, his hands going for her throat. She reached blindly over, her fingers latching onto a heavy bookend, and she didn't give him the chance to get a good enough hold to do any damage as she kicked a knee hard into his middle, knocking him back just enough to slam the bookend into his head as hard as she could. He reeled back and she took another swing, taking fully to the ground.

She straightened, pushing blonde curls out of her face. "Told you I'd kill you too," she managed through deep breaths.

"Gina."

She turned, readying herself for whatever would come from Tallert.

She hadn't expected the gun. The man hated firearms.

That was the lingering thought as the gun went off and she met his eyes for one long moment that felt like it had been paused as the rest of time marched forward. His expression didn't change as Gina fell to the floor of the office.

There weren't nearly as many operatives as she had expected, but St Regis had always relied heavily on secrecy and loyalty to protect their home base. It had worked for a long time. Katarina wasn't entirely sure when everything had been knocked so far off kilter, but she had a suspicion that it started when a young operative that had called himself Jacob Phelps had chosen to break away for his mark. Their top operative had left, and McCready half haphazardly gone after him and met his own end because of it. Jacob Phelps' choice had snowballed to where they found themselves that day, and to where Katarina knew it had to end.

Michel Geffroy was heading their direction as Katarina and Scottie rounded into the hall. Both women moved on instinct, flattening themselves against either side of the hall entrance to wait.

Geffroy passed through and they moved, Scottie pulling the gun from his hand as Katarina leveled her own in his face. He met her eyes, the steely expression proving he knew who she was and why she had sought him out. "You've lost," she warned him.

"It was a gamble, though one that would have paid off. For what it's worth, we would have waited."

"For your own benefit," Katarina growled, and until that moment she hadn't let herself admit just how angry she was. She was going to enjoy this.

"Kat," Scottie called, pulling the other woman from what had turned into a private conversation.

Katarina's lips tilted upward. "I don't think you've met your wayward student's mother. Would you like to tell her what you had planned for our shared granddaughter or should I?"

That's all it really took, and Katarina had known it. Scottie's expression darkened before hardening and she took a step closer, proving herself at least an inch or two taller than Geffroy in her boots.

The man snorted. "What's there to say? Phelps was the best McCready brought in, despite what happened. He made more money for our organization than any three of his peers put together. Then the man had a child with Katarina Rostova's daughter… She would have blown her father's record away in her first year out."

"You went after my granddaughter to turn her into what you couldn't get from my son?" Scottie asked dangerously.

Geffroy shrugged. "Rumour has it there was a day you would have done anything for your organization, Ms Hargrave."

"Do you see?" Katarina asked, pressing her gun to Geffroy's temple. To his credit, he didn't flinch.

Scottie reached over, her palm pushing the weapon away. Katarina's questioned died on her lips as dark brown eyes drilled into the man whose fate had already been sealed. "I want you to know how badly you failed. Not only did you lose Agnes and her father, but you've lost this organization and all the students here. Your operatives will scatter, most into oblivion, just like you."

Geffroy opened his mouth to respond, but the words didn't make it from his throat as Scottie stepped back, leveled her gun, and put three bullets into his chest.

The two former operatives stood over their granddaughter's would-be kidnapper, a sense of triumph between them as he slipped down the wall. He looked up and Katarina tilted her chin up as she watched the life fade.

They had made it into the office buildings with less opposition than they faced in the server room. Aram had said something about Dumont locking down certain sections of the campus. So that if there were operatives or students in the building they wouldn't get out. It opened more pathways than they may have had otherwise and Tom had to remind himself that the end might be in sight, but they weren't there yet.

"Agent Ressler and Agent Keen are just ahead," Aram said over the comm. "Mr Hargrave is trying to get them into the inner offices."

"He doesn't need to. I got it," Tom answered and Samar shot him a questioning look as they rounded the corner and found Liz and Ressler on the other end.

Liz turned as they approached and Tom felt a smile tug into place as his pace quickened. She met him halfway and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He heard the soft laugh as her fingernails scratched against the rough material of the protective vest he wore. Every injury ached at the movement, but it didn't matter. She was there and she was safe. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head before releasing her.

"Any word from the others?" Samar asked as Tom moved past Ressler towards the door. He ignored the look he received as he keyed in a code that Bud should have wiped out ages ago. If he hadn't taken him off of the protocol for accessing the school's files, the likelihood was he hadn't taken him off of this either. Tom still wasn't sure what to make of it yet. Death hadn't made his relationship with his mentor any less complicated.

"Nez and Solomon were behind in getting inside. We ran into some trouble Nez needed to handle," Liz answered. "We haven't heard from my mother or Scottie yet."

The door buzzed open and Tom felt Ressler's gaze on him. "Someday you're going to have to tell me how two people that tried to kill you for leaving left you with full access to their compound."

Tom snorted, the sound amuses, but he didn't get the chance to respond. A gunshot sounded from the other end of the hall, grabbing all four people's attention, and he felt a sense of dread settle in as they took off towards it.

TBC

Notes: I have officially finished the writing on this story. All that's left is to edit down and post the last chapter before next week. It hasn't been an easy story to write, but I'm very happy with the end product.

This chapter and the one before it wwere especially fun to write with the different characters working together and the different combinations there. Until canon proves me wrong I will continue to be convinced that Scottie and Katarina would be a killer duo. Literally.

Next Time: Tom and the others race to Gina's aid as St Regis comes to a close and loose ends are tied up.

#the blacklist #au fanfiction #tom keen #elizabeth keen #donald ressler #scottie hargrave #katarina rostova #samar navabi #aram mojtabai #nez rowan #howard hargrave

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