Benton paused from his work to rub his neck. He checked his watch and saw that it was nearly four o'clock. He and Hadji had been at it for five hours straight. Both feeling they were approaching the end of the project, they had opted for take-out and continued through lunch. Benton scrolled through the list of files and estimated about three hours of work left. That was assuming Hadji did not recover any more files.

His adopted son was in the office that opened to the lab, staring intently at the screen of Dr. Garrett's work station. Greenstone had already done a lot of work recovering files from Garrett's computer. That's where their work ended and Quest Enterprises came in. If Garrett had done a full overwrite or used a stronger private key password, they wouldn't have been able to recover much. As it was, IRIS was able to brute-force attack the password. Hadji and Jonny transfered the files as they were decrypted to Dr. Quest, who had begun the process of indexing the jumbled files and making research notations. It was encouraging to see that Garrett kept such detailed notes. On the other hand, Benton was surprised how little Dr. Garrett referenced previous research and on-going studies around the country. Surely his research could have benefited from the perspective. The more he read, the more Benton thought Dr. Garrett was focusing too much on publishing credit and lucrative pharmaceutical applications.

Over the course of their visit to Gotham, Benton had gained a better feel for the administration of Greenstone. While the Head of the Research Division, Keegan Rendell, clearly harbored a grudge against Dr. Garrett (and apparently Dr. Quest's involvement by association), the CEO of the company, Margaret Turner, was very forthcoming and enthusiastic about the progress Dr. Quest was making. She had also authorized the sharing of all of Dr. Garrett's research files with Gotham CDC with no restrictions. Benton had few misgivings about working with Greenstone after she announced that during their fist meeting.

"Dr. Quest?"

"Yes, Hadji?"

"Up to now I have been decrypting what appear to be Dr. Garret's research files spanning the last three years. Moments ago I found a cached version of a hidden folder, which in turn contained several folders and files. The decrypted file I just read contained personal information about Greenstone employees and comments by Garrett. I am not sure if I should proceed with the decryption."

Benton leaned back and stroked his beard. "It's a bit of a gray area, isn't it? I would not be inclined to read Dr. Garrett's private files, especially considering the fact that he has not been officially charged with anything. However, his files, work computer, and any research he has performed can rightly be considered the property of Greenstone. I'd say we should proceed to the point of being able to assess whether the files are relevant to his pneumonia research."

Hadji nodded and returned his gaze to the screen. Benton could see that his son was still concerned, and probably ready for a break soon. He was glad Jonny and Race would be rejoining them soon to assist and then go to dinner. At Jonny's request, the two of them had gone out to see Chinatown. No one was surprised by Race's admission that he knew some people who might be able to give them a behind-the-scenes tour.

Benton stretched, readjusted his seat, and set back to work. An incredibly fast reader, in twenty minutes he had indexed and made comments on six more files about serotypes, Gram stains, pharmacodynamics, and dosing regimens. At that rate, they might all be able leave the following evening. If he remembered right, there was even a Knights game they could catch. He looked over at Hadji again to ask whether they were approaching the end of Garrett's files. Something in his son's demeanor made him pause. He had to say Hadji's name twice before the young man looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"I think you should read this," Hadji replied. It was obvious from his expression and tone that the matter was serious. Hadji shifted his chair over as Benton came to lean in front of the computer.

Benton's eyes flashed across the simple text document and in moments he knew why Hadji was so concerned.

"Are there more like this?" The voice of Dr. Benton Quest, father, philanthropist, and world-famous researcher, was replaced by the voice of Dr. Benton Quest, former government employee, realist, and widower.

"I have decrypted eight and there are at least forty more."

Benton quickly skimmed the other seven files. Garrett was documenting the activities of his fellow employees, particularly Rendell and his assistant Timothy Horstman. Garrett wrote about finding the pair in the research labs late one night. When questioned by Garrett, they had no plausible excuse for being there. Garrett also apparently hacked into Rendell's email and copied several messages between Rendell and people named McM and Corvus. The few communications from Corvus were terse, while the messages between Rendell and McM referred to on-going research projects at Greenstone and what Garrett determined to be S.T.A.R. Labs. Key words within the messages set off alarms in Benton's head: EMP, Bacillus anthracis, worm, and ERT. It quickly became clear to Benton that Garrett was not the only one involved in corporate sabotage, if he had ever been involved at all.

Hadji grabbed a pencil and paper, wrote a note, and slid it over to Dr. Quest. It asked what Benton had been wondering himself: "What happened to Dr. Garrett?" They looked at each other and could see that neither was optimistic about the fate of Dr. Garrett. Benton immediately recognized why Hadji had written the note.

"I'm afraid I can't make heads or tails of them. It looks like the files were too corrupted to be recovered," he lied easily, in case the room was under surveillance. While he was talking, he wrote a response in fine print on the note. He continued, his voice nonchalant. "I think we can call it a day. With the files we've found, Greenstone can easily reboot the project."

He walked back to his laptop and began to quickly upload the indexed research files to IRIS while CCing Mendoza at the Gotham CDC and his contact at Gotham General. Meanwhile, Hadji was following the instructions of the note: "Text Race, upload all to IRIS, Leaving in 5 min."

Benton had just packed up his computer and gone to check on Hadji's progress when the door to the lab opened. Both looked up at the sound and saw Rendell and Horstman. Rendell was smiling. Benton walked back out of the office and into Garrett's lab space, a similar smile quickly planted on his face.

"What timing, Mr. Rendell. We were just about to give you an update and take a dinner break."

"Excellent, Dr. Quest. What have you found today?" Rendell folded his arms and leaned back against a lab counter. Horstman remained at the doorway.

"I believe we have recovered the bulk of Dr. Garrett's research notes. The project was further along than I expected. With these records, you should have no trouble getting the research team back on its feet."

"Good, good." Rendell nodded. He waited.

Benton tried to loosen his jaw. "I recommend that you set up a meeting with Dr. Mendoza tomorrow to share the findings. I would be happy to attend to explain the files and my indexing system."

Rendell merely nodded.

At a loss for words, Benton turned back to Hadji. "Ready?"

Hadji, apparently calm as ever, replied, "Just shutting down now."

Rendell straightened. "Just a moment. I wonder if you wouldn't mind showing me a particular file." He began walking toward the office room.

Without thinking, Benton moved to block his path. He stopped when he saw Hadji give him the slightest of nods. Benton tried to smile again and waved Rendell toward the office. "Of course."

If Rendell thought Benton's behavior was odd, he didn't show it. Only because he was watching for it did Benton see Hadji slip their note into his pocket. His skin crawled as Rendell leaned closer to his son to look at the screen, boxing Hadji in behind the desk. Benton kept his hands from clenching into fists only with conscious effort.

"What file are you looking for?" Hadji asked.

Rendell reached across to take the mouse and began to casually click through files on the screen. Benton knew by Hadji's nod earlier that he had managed to close the incriminating files in time, but they couldn't be buried very far.

"Those are the raw files, Mr. Rendell, and have not yet been renamed or indexed. You would have better luck on my computer." Benton stepped forward when he said this and was unnerved that Horstman mirrored his movement. Hadji must have seen it too because he then looked at his mentor, watching for a signal.

Rendell continued, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. "Thank you for the offer, Dr. Quest, but I think I can find what I'm looking for on this computer." He backed out a little to give Hadji access to the computer again. Benton's relief was shortlived. "If you would, Hadji, bring up the search feature."

Hadji nodded and settled back at the computer, taking the opportunity to back his chair out ever so slightly. When the program was ready, he waited in silence.

"Search… Oh, wait. I already know what you've found on this computer, because I've been remotely monitoring it this entir—."

Benton and Hadji cut his gloating short by bursting into action. Benton spun around and saw Horstman reach into his suit and pull out a gun. The good doctor grabbed this arm with a firm hand and used his other to deliver a swift blow to Horstman's trachea. Behind him, Hadji grabbed Rendell's head in both hands and brought it down swiftly and hard to the desk. Then Hadji was up and over the desk. He slammed the office door behind him and looked around for anything to keep it closed.

Despite the hit to his throat, Horstman remained standing, kept his hold on the gun, and rallied enough to knock Benton back with a well-practiced kick to the chest. Benton steadied himself as Hadji rushed in and grabbed Horstman in a side hold, preventing him from raising the weapon.

Benton was about to help when he heard the door rattle behind him. He didn't doubt that Rendell was also armed. He turned and rushed at the office door just as Rendell was opening it. The door flew back and Benton leaped in. He wrapped his arms around Rendell's waist in a flying tackle that took them both crashing into the far side of the office wall. Rendell's handgun clattered to the floor.

"God almighty." The words were like music to Benton's ears. Guns or not, the fight would be more even now that Race Bannon had entered the mix.

Benton refocused on Rendell, whose face was nearly purple with rage. Benton tried to lock him in a judo hold but Rendell countered by rearing back and smashing his forehead into Benton's face. Stunned and in pain, Benton lost his grip and felt Rendell slip out of the hold. Benton ignored the bloody taste in his mouth and lunged for the fallen gun, just as Rendell was.

Rendell got to it first. Benton landed an elbow on the side of Rendell's face before he could get the weapon up, but it wasn't enough to stop him. There was a moment when both men realized what was going to happen next. Benton wondered if Jonny had come in with Race. Would he see his father killed as well?

Rendell sneered as he pulled the trigger.