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.