They drove up in the 4x4 after Ethan had called Brandt from a café. In a village, several kilometres away. The man couldn't be helped, he was insane.

None of them said very much after Benji and Skye had filled them in on recent events. Most of the drive had been filled with heavy silence, since it had been clear from Ethan's call that Ilsa was gone for good. And with her the ledger.

They saw Ethan at a table near the back. He looked equally dusty and exhausted. The others took a seat.

"Where is Ilsa?" Skye asked carefully.

"I lost her."

"You lost her?" Benji asked the team leader incredulously.

Ethan looked at the table.

Luther was the only one who dared him to answer the question. "So what do we do now?"

Ethan looked at his friend for a second, then turned to Benji. "Please tell me you made a copy of that disc."

Benji sighed, as if disappointed. "Of course I made a copy."

Luther smiled, unable to hide his pride.

Brandt allowed something like hope to creep into his voice. "So where are we going?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

LONDON, ENGLAND

London. Back where it all started, Ethan thought. He wondered what Ilsa was doing out there right now. Whom she was meeting. Whether she was safe.

Luther made a sound on the computer.

"What, what's happening?" Ethan asked, turning around.

"I can't open it," Luther stated.

Had he misheard? "What do you mean, you can't open it?"

"I mean I can't open it, ever."

"That's a Red Box," Benji said meaningfully.

"What?" Brandt asked from his vantage point at the window.

"It's a Red Box," Ethan repeated helpfully.

"Meaning?" Skye prompted.

"The British government uses it to transport state secrets."

"Doesn't sound good," Brandt said.

"Meaning it's triple-encrypted," Benji picked it up. "You don't get into that thing unless you have fingerprints, retinal scan and a voice-phrase spoken by a specific individual."

"The Prime Minister of Great Britain himself," Ethan finished. He had to sit down.

"Yes, him," Benji confirmed.

Skye rolled her hair back into a bun. She needed to occupy her hands. "Can we fake it?"

"Maybe the voice, but I don't see how we would get the other two," Benji said.

Brandt crossed his arms and leaned against the window. "So what you're saying is, there is no ledger, which means we have no proof that the Syndicate even exists, so we're back to square one. Only now we're all wanted by the CIA. I'm so proud of us."

Benji tried to distract from the melancholy that threatened to overcome the room. "What I don't understand is, why is there a Red Box set in a private data vault in Morocco?"

"And why would Lane want it if he can't open it?" Luther continued.

"If Lane wants it, you can bet that he has a plan to open it." Realisation spread over Benji's features as he spoke. "...and we just helped him steal it."

Ethan and Luther exchanged a glance. They were thinking the same thing.

"He's going to take the Prime Minister," Luther said.

"Yes, he is," Ethan said, flustered. "The question is how."

Benji stood up. "We have to warn the British government."

"Yeah, MI6." Brandt stood up as well and got his phone.

"Brandt, put down the phone." Ethan held up one hand. "Let's think about this."

"What's there to think about, the same thing already happened in Austria," Skye said. It was a fact, spoken calmly. "Or do you really believe he's gonna just let him walk away after getting the prints and the retinal scan? This is bigger than us."

"She's right, Ethan, there are lives at stake here," Brandt said, walking towards Ethan. "We have a responsibility to warn the British government, and not gamble with the Prime Minister's life, just so you can beat the guy that's beaten you at every turn."

"Is that what you think this is?" Ethan looked around at his team, first Brandt, then Skye, then Benji and Luther, one at a time. "Is that what you think this is?"

"I think that's exactly what this is," Skye admitted.

"Right now, I think you're incapable of seeing there is another way," the analyst sighed.

Luther took sides. "And sometimes Ethan is the only one capable of seeing the only way."

"And if he is wrong, then we have Vienna all over again," Brandt shouted.

Ethan started shouting as well."You don't know him. If he wants something to happen, there is no preventing it!"

Skye went to stand next to Brandt. "Know him? Ethan, you can't be serious, no one knows this guy! Whatever you think you know is exactly what he wants you to know, you just pointed out his scheme yourself."

Benji flinched when she, too, raised her voice. He hated being between two parties like this.

"Thank you," Brandt said to her. "Which brings us right back to warning the British." The analyst took out his phone again.

"Maybe that's exactly what he wants us to do!"

"Are you listening to yourself?! We are going to warn the British."

"No. We are gonna find Lane and we're gonna get him. Before he takes the Prime Minister."

Brandt looked at Skye. Then at Ethan. And then he backed down. "Okay. All right, Ethan," he started, never losing his cynic tone. He threw his phone onto the desk. "We're gonna find Lane. But please tell me – how are we gonna do that?"

Ethan stared back at him, fully aware that Brandt knew he didn't have an answer to that.

That was when the ping sounded.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ilsa saw Ethan first. Black leather jacket and his damned smile. She stopped in her tracks, looked behind her. Benji grinned and waved a couple of metres away. To her right. A guy with sunglasses leaned against the red-tiled wall and nodded a greeting at her. Ahead of her, behind Ethan, she spotted Luther pretending to use a pay-phone in one of the booths. And to her left was the woman, Skye, at the counter of the café, seemingly absorbed in a newspaper. Their eyes met for a second.

Then Ilsa focused on Ethan again. They had a seat.

"I'm gonna have to say... you sure can ride."

Really? That was the first thing he said? She smiled for a second. "Ethan..."

"You were just doing you job," he said at once. "That's all we're gonna say about it."

Ilsa's gaze didn't let go of him. "Atlee said you would understand."

"Atlee? Your handler at British Intelligence?"

She nodded once.

"And he didn't bring you in. Even after you gave him the disc."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

That's it, Ethan, Skye thought, who could hear the entire conversation in her earpiece. Show her how bad they treat her and maybe she won't try to kill all of us again. Skye took a few careful steps towards them. She was closest out of all of them, and almost didn't need the plug to listen in.

"You knew perfectly well it was blank."

Benji huffed. "That's a lie, the disc she took was an exact copy, I'm sure of it."

She's good, Skye thought. In a way, one had to admire it. Long-term undercover jobs were no joke. But this wasn't the time.

"Was it in your possession the entire time?" Ethan asked.

Skye watched Ilsa's face closely and saw the shadow that passed over it. Something shifted, she felt it.

"They don't care if you live or die," Ilsa said, almost absent-mindedly. She turned back to Ethan, leaned forward on the table. "But you knew I was going to take you to him."

"I hoped you would," Ethan said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that means Lane doesn't have the disc, only we do," Benji said.

"I have a question," Brandt announced. "If the disc was blank, why is she still alive? Unless, of course, Lane wanted us to find her."

Excellent question, in Skye's opinion.

"So who are you working for now?" Ethan converted it diplomatically.

"Lane, Atlee. Your government, my government, they're all the same. We only think we're fighting on the right side because that's what we choose to believe."

"So where does that leave us?" Ethan asked unimpressed.

"The way I see it, you have three choices. One: You hand me and the disc over to the CIA. I am proof the Syndicate exists. Lane becomes their problem and your work is done."

"Let's take that one," Skye said quietly.

"My thoughts exactly," Brandt agreed.

So did Benji. "Works for me."

"But you know they're not gonna believe you," Ilsa continued and briefly looked around at the scattered team. "And you'll all be tried for treason. Lane goes free."

"I'm afraid she has a point," Luther commented.

Skye wanted to disagree, but Ilsa already continued and she wanted to hear what she had to dish out.

"Two: You let me walk away to an uncertain fate. You use the disc as bait to trap Lane. But some part of you suspects you've met your match. And being a gambler you'll probably end up handing that disc to Lane whether you want to or not."

"That is entirely possible," Benji admitted.

"Unless someone who knows how to win a gamble makes the exchange," Skye suggested in a whisper.

"And option three?"

"Come away with me. Right now."

"Oh, boy..." Luther's voice sounded over the comm.

Ethan looked at Ilsa. Then he calmly took out his earpiece and placed it in front of him on the table.

Skye wasn't sure she believed what she was seeing. Judging from her expression, neither could Faust, but it only lasted a second. None of them could hear what Ethan said next, all they knew was that he and Ilsa got up and left.

"Ethan, what are you doing?" Luther asked pointlessly.

Skye looked to her right to catch Benji's eyes, to see what he made of this. Scanning the dense crowd, she looked for a red jacket. And then she found it. But it was too late.