Author's Note: Whoo hoo! FINALLY got around to getting the team to Sofia, Bulgaria. Well, most of the team. Obviously, this part is going to diverge from the episode canon quite a bit. Oh, and just in case you guys don't have me on author alerts, or on Tumblr, I also uploaded a short little ficlet set in season three a couple of days ago, totally unconnected to this fic. It's called Alive and Safe. :)

"Wow." Jane's voice was quiet, but reverent. "The architecture here is amazing."

Kurt glanced over to find her spinning slowly to look at the buildings around them, her expression almost reverent. For a moment, it seemed strange that someone who was so well-travelled should be so struck by the scenery, but then he remembered.

"You don't remember ever having seen foreign architecture in person before, right?"

"Not really. And we went to Turkey last year, but not any actual cities. The plane we found was pretty much in the middle of nowhere." Distractedly, Jane shifted her backpack on her shoulder, still taking in the old, intricately detailed European architecture. "I know we have to get Winter back to the States, if he's actually here, but do you think we'd have time to visit the cathedral or St. George's Rotunda?"

Nas gave her an apologetic look. "We'll have to see how things pan out. If we find Winter right away, we'll have to extradite him immediately. We won't have time for sightseeing."

Jane nodded, accepting this. "Wish I'd brought my sketchbook," she said wistfully, but kept walking.

A couple of hundred feet farther down the road, Kurt happened to glance backward, and caught a glimpse of a man in a hat and sunglasses ducking out of sight behind an outdoor display. He looked at the other members of his team, wondering if he was just being paranoid.

Jane seemed oblivious, still soaking in the atmosphere and admiring their surroundings. If not for the novelty, Kurt was pretty sure she would have caught on to their pursuer before he had, but today she was off her game.

Reade was busy coordinating with Caruso, their agent on the ground, by text message, and didn't seem concerned either. But Nas gave Kurt a very subtle nod when he caught her eye. She'd noticed, too.

They continued walking, Reade and Jane exchanging the odd comment now and then. When Kurt stopped to look at a rack of postcards, as an excuse to look back the way they'd come, he caught sight of the guy again. Something about his body language seemed familiar to Kurt. Who was he?

The guy obviously sensed he'd been made. Exasperated, he abandoned the charade, not approaching, but taking off his hat and sunglasses to reveal his identity.

Jake Keaton. Kurt's counterpart in the CIA, and Jane's torturer.

Shit.

Jane was taking advantage of their pause to take a photograph of the downward-sloping street ahead of them, possibly to use as a reference for a sketch later. He beckoned Reade over, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Reade raised an eyebrow in question as he reached Weller's side.

"We have a tail. It's Keaton from the CIA, the guy who tortured Jane. I need you to take her ahead to Caruso, get her out of here while Nas and I go talk to him. If she suspects something's going on, do not let her know it's Keaton. Clear?"

Reade nodded, remaining outwardly relaxed as his gaze sharpened. "Absolutely." After a glance at Jane to make sure she hadn't noticed their exchange, he stepped away from Weller again.

Nas strode towards Keaton, who had re-donned his 'disguise', possibly because of Jane's presence. The NSA agent took his arm and began to guide him down the street in the opposite direction, making no effort to hide her tension.

As soon as Keaton had been obscured by the crowd, Kurt called, "Jane. Reade."

They both came to his side. Jane wore a slight frown, as though she suspected something was going down, but wasn't sure what.

"I need you both to go ahead to the safehouse and find Caruso."

"What's up?" Jane asked.

"Nas said she saw someone she knew and took off. Usually I'd just let her catch up, but since we're here for Winter, I want to make sure she's not meeting NSA backup to try to get him back to them before we can find him." He made a mental note to apologise to Nas later for the implication that she might be double-crossing them, but right now, he'd say anything to get Jane out of here.

"If that's the case, you shouldn't go alone," Jane protested.

Reade stepped in. "Come on, Jane. You speak Bulgarian. If I get lost, I might need you to ask for directions." He took a step back, indicating with his body language that he was ready to leave. "Be careful, Weller."

Jane moved to go after him, shooting a concerned, slightly suspicious look Kurt's way before walking off.

Suppressing a sigh of relief, Kurt stalked back the way they'd come, looking over his shoulder once to make sure they'd really gone. He'd have some explaining to do later, but right now, he had other concerns.

Nas called his name from an alleyway. "We're down here."

Kurt turned and followed her down the alley towards a small, deserted courtyard. "Any problems sending Jane ahead?" she asked tersely.

"She's suspicious, but I've filled Reade in. He'll keep her going in the right direction."

"Well, if it isn't Kurt Weller, FBI," Keaton said, his smile antagonistic.

His reference to the words on Jane's back incensed Kurt. Losing his grip on the thin veneer of control he had left, he grabbed Keaton by the collar and snarled, "What the hell are you doing here, Keaton? Do you have any idea what you almost did?"

"Oh, relax. I didn't come here for drama. I wasn't going to let her see me." Keaton rolled his eyes.

"You almost did."

"He's here for Winter, same as us," Nas cut in, getting to the heart of things. "Apparently, he couldn't come up with his own leads, so he decided to follow us once he found out we'd spoken to Winter's ex."

Kurt released him with a shove. "You might as well just go home, Keaton. Winter's coming with us. If you get hold of him, you'll just bundle him into a black site and not share any of the intel with any of us."

"Yeah, like the FBI and the NSA are so happy to share information outside their own spheres," Keaton said sarcastically.

"Get out of this city, Keaton. I'm not saying this as a law enforcement agent; I'm saying it as someone capable of empathy. Jane has post-traumatic stress disorder because of what you did to her. She can't sleep for more than a few hours without nightmares about you. She's made so much progress since she got out, but if she sees you, she will relapse. Badly."

Keaton shifted his weight, though it was impossible to tell if he was actually uncomfortable with the implications. His expression never changed from its usual smugness.

Before he could say anything, Nas chipped in. "Speaking as a law enforcement agent, I'd like to remind you, Deputy Director Keaton, that I'm running an exceedingly delicate operation at the moment. Jane is key to that operation as an undercover asset, and if anything were to shake her mental state further, it would put the entire thing at risk. I have to insist that you step back. Send other agents if your pride really can't stand it, but I think it would be best if you left Sofia entirely."

Keaton licked his lips. Her argument was obviously far more effective than Weller's, but he was a stubborn bastard.

Kurt tried one more time, all attempts at diplomacy gone. "I swear, Keaton, if she sees you, I will end you. Assuming Jane doesn't do it first."

Unable to stand being in his presence for a moment more, Kurt left as abruptly as he'd arrived, leaving Nas to do damage control if she felt it necessary. At the other end of the alley, he stopped to breathe, finally letting himself feel a moment of terror at the traumatic encounter Jane had narrowly avoided. What would she do if she found out Keaton had been within fifty feet of her? If she saw him later, would she lapse into panic?

Nas joined him a moment later, and they stepped out onto the street, joining the throng of tourists who meandered down the street.

"Well, that could have gone better," she said, with forced lightness.

"He'd better stay the hell away from her."

"Do you really think she'll react that badly?" Nas asked. "Or are you being overprotective because she's your girlfriend?"

Chafing at the implication that his investment in Jane's wellbeing was a weakness, Kurt snapped, "Nas, you haven't seen her in the middle of a panic attack, or during one of her nightmares. She's completely without reason, scared out of her mind. And if she relapses, I don't know if she'll be able to carry on the ruse as Remi. I really don't."

"All right. We'll just have to make sure Keaton doesn't get anywhere near her, won't we?" Nas gave him what was meant to be a supportive smile.

Weller was far from reassured.

"Do you guys all think I'm stupid?" Jane asked Reade, her relaxed attitude from earlier completely gone.

Reade shot her a look that was almost guilty, hidden under a casual air. "Huh? What are you getting at?"

She sighed. "Do you think I didn't notice Kurt beckoning you over before he called us both? Just because I was admiring the architecture doesn't mean I'm completely out of it, you know. What is going on?"

He abandoned his pretence, muttering, "Zapata is so much better at this stuff than I am."

"What are Weller and Nas up to, and why don't they want me to know about it?" Jane demanded.

"Okay, look. First off, you and Weller are so bad at hiding your new relationship, it's ridiculous, so you might as well just stop it."

Blindsided, Jane stared at him. "Does everyone know?"

"Just the taskforce, I think. If we were still working out of SIOC, it probably would be everyone."

Jane kicked herself for not discussing with Kurt what to say if this ever came up. She went with the truth. "We wanted to keep it a secret before I can reveal it to Sandstorm without it raising flags."

Reade nodded slowly. "That's smart. I guess Remi wouldn't jump straight into something with Weller right after her fiancé was murdered."

"Especially not right after her fiancé's supposed killer just escaped from her custody," Jane agreed. She hesitated, then said, "I also…was kind of worried about what you guys would think. After everything that happened before the black site."

Reade snorted. "Jane, there was never any doubt in any of our minds that you two would find your way back to each other. He is so far gone when it comes to you."

Jane blinked rapidly, trying to process this. "Really? Even after everything that's happened? Because I didn't know we'd ever get back here."

"We watched him angst for three solid months, and then jump on every possible lead he had to get you back. And sure, once the truth about the Oscar stuff came out, he was angry, but he just couldn't help himself. Anything you needed, he was there."

"I know," Jane said softly. "It was more than I deserved."

Reade shrugged. "He was carrying a lot of guilt around about you getting taken after you were arrested. Which we all told him he shouldn't have done, by the way. Not until he had something to actually arrest you for."

"Believe me, we've had that discussion." Jane gave him a rueful look. "I'm sorry. That you're stuck spectating our drama."

He smiled a little. "Hey, it adds some interest and some eye-rolls to our day. Don't worry about it."

They turned a corner before Jane purposefully steered back to the point he'd almost succeeded in distracting her from. "So are you going to tell me what the hell's going on now, or…?"

Reade groaned. "Jane, trust me when I say you don't need to know. Weller and Nas are checking something out, that's all."

"No. Kurt sent me ahead on purpose. Is this Sandstorm-related? What's going on?"

"He didn't give me the details. It might even be what he said it was. All he said is to get you out of here while he and Nas followed something up, and he'd explain later." Reade shook his head. "And we really do need to check in with Caruso. It's not like we're being sent on some kind of pointless errand while they do the real work. Don't get bent out of shape so easily, okay?"

"You're not usually this laid back about not knowing the details," Jane pointed out, still suspicious.

"Hey, I'm on a working vacation. I'm enjoying the change of scenery. Weller has never kept me out of the loop without it being necessary, and he'll fill us in later. Meanwhile, we get to act like tourists on our way to work. It's all good."

Jane didn't buy it, but it was clear that Reade wasn't budging. She'd have to get the real reason for their team dividing into two parties later—and she wouldn't give in until Weller told her the truth.