Author's Note: Okay, so maybe the angsty goodbyes are coming next chapter instead. But Borden did need to be dealt with first!
"Jane. There's still the matter of Nigel Thornton to address," Nas said quietly, breaking through the concentrated quiet in the Zero Division annex.
The whole team was there, but everyone was bent to different tasks, still working to put together a dossier of false or irrelevant information that Jane could take to Shepherd. Apart from the clicking of keyboards and the rustling of paper, everyone was mostly silent. Nas' voice was almost a shock to Jane.
"Might as well get it over with, right?" She abandoned the falsified report she'd been reading, rubbing the back of her neck as she stood up.
Kurt squeezed her hand briefly as she passed him, his eyes weary and concerned. She gave him a quick smile, reassuring him that she had this covered, and he nodded, reaching for another stack of reports.
There were bugs in Zero Division's holding cell, so there was no need for Jane to wear a wire this time. Nas was already at her laptop, ready to watch the conversation remotely, and Jane picked up the fake signal jammer she'd used last time, to reassure Borden that it was safe to talk.
"Good luck," Nas said quietly, and Jane nodded, hesitating for a moment to get her mind in order before she stepped into the holding area.
Borden rose from his bunk at her entrance, hope blooming in his eyes as she held up the fake jammer. "You're back."
Jane didn't have to fake the guilt in her expression. Remi had corrupted this man, exploited his grief to pull him into a world of terrorism. Now Jane, pretending to be Remi, was abandoning him to his fate.
He was less impeccably groomed now that he was in a cell, his beard a little longer and more ragged, and his posture was defensive. He looked less like an esteemed doctor of psychology, unruffled and serene, and more like a scared, angry man. More like the Thornton in her memory, from the moments after the drone strike that had killed his wife.
"It's safe to talk," she said, pulling up a chair outside the large window that separated the cell from the rest of the room.
"And it's not good news," Borden guessed, halting on the other side of the window.
Jane sighed. "Shepherd's pulling me out of the Bureau. I'm sorry."
He froze at her words, as though it was the last thing he'd expected she'd say. When he spoke, a slight stutter preceded his words. "After all this—the ZIP, the tattoos, all the trust you've built up here—Shepherd is pulling you out?"
Here was another emotion Jane didn't have to fake. She laughed bitterly. "That's exactly what I said to her. But she didn't listen."
"Why?" Borden demanded. "It's bad enough that she's cutting me out of the operation. At least I can say I made a stupid mistake that led to this. What about you?"
"She doesn't think I can be trusted to continue undercover without you to monitor my allegiance. Apparently I'm too close to Weller for her comfort. Without your input, she's aborting the mission."
Borden stared at her, then groaned, turning his back to the window. "So the blame for the failure of this operation falls on me."
"She blames both of us. You for ending up in here, and me for doing exactly what she asked me to do." It was hard to keep the anger out of her voice, and Jane had to take a breath, reminding herself not to get so emotional that she made him wonder about her loyalties. "I don't want to cut this mission short, but I was overruled. Weller is working late with Pellington tonight, and I have to stage my own kidnapping while he's out. Roman is driving me back to base—wherever that is—and unless there's some way to drop me back in at a later date, I won't be coming back."
Borden ran his hand through his hair, staring at the floor, his mind obviously working overtime. "So who'll be monitoring me, to ensure I stay loyal?"
Jane shrugged. "Since no one but Weller's team, Pellington and Nas have access to this room, I assume nobody."
He paced, his eyes unfocused, working through something in his mind. "Do you know how long I'll have to be here? Before I'm moved to Rikers to await trial, and Shepherd has a chance to extract me?"
"It could be months, Nigel. I'm sorry. Nas doesn't look like she's running out of leads anytime soon. Tom Carter did a lot of terrible things, and she's just scratching the surface."
He looked over at her urgently. "And phase two—do you have any idea when Shepherd plans to implement it?"
"No. Shepherd still doesn't trust me with any of that. I'm in the dark, until she decides otherwise."
Borden muttered a very uncharacteristic curse.
"Why do you ask?" Something told Jane he knew something she didn't; something vital to their case.
He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes conflicted. "I'm sorry, Remi. I can't tell you, not while there's still a chance Shepherd is testing my loyalties. After what happened with Markos and Cade, it's entirely possible that she's making sure her operatives are trustworthy, and…"
Jane shook her head, frustrated. "If you tell me, maybe I can somehow use it to get you out of here." If you tell me, maybe I won't have to leave.
But he'd clammed up, his fear of Shepherd clearly more dominant than his need for freedom—at least, for now. "I'm sorry."
She sighed. "Okay. I guess that's it, then. I'll keep working on Shepherd about getting you out, but don't hold your breath, now that I won't have access to you anymore."
"Try, Remi. That's all I ask." He gave her a small, fatalistic smile. "And maybe when you find out the plan, you'll have the same reservations I did. Not that I expect Shepherd to listen to you any more than she did to me, or to Roman."
Jane stood up, putting a hand to the window to try to forge some kind of connection between them. "It feels like you're hinting at something you won't come out and say. Is it something I'm supposed to know, supposed to remember from before the ZIP?"
"No. The plan has…evolved…since you went undercover, that's all. I don't know if you'll approve. I know Roman has his doubts."
"Then tell me what the plan is," she entreated. "If you don't think it's right, why are you going along with it?"
His eyes were colder than she'd ever seen them as he replied, "Because it will certainly force a change. And you were the one who persuaded me that sometimes the ends justify the means. The US military doesn't care about collateral damage. Why should we be any different?"
Clearly, she wasn't going to get anything out of him now. Sighing, she returned the chair to its original spot against the wall. "Goodbye, Nigel. Good luck."
"And the same to you, Jane."
It was only after she closed the door behind her that she realised he'd called her Jane instead of Remi. Had she given herself away in her desperation to get something useful out of him? Did he suspect she was returning to Sandstorm as a mole, not as an operative?
Kurt was standing beside Nas when she returned, the video of the encounter paused on the laptop's screen. As they both glanced up at her, she gave an apologetic grimace. "I think he made me."
"He may not have," Nas said, with her usual air of calm. "It's plausible that Remi would be just as curious to know what the plan entails as you are, especially since he planted those seeds of doubt."
"He called me Jane as I left. Not Remi."
Kurt took her hand. "It doesn't matter now. We know none of us are Sandstorm moles, and we're the only ones with access to him in here. Not even the janitors can get in. Borden can't blow your cover if there's no one around to tell."
"Okay." She returned the squeeze he gave her fingers, but the feeling of having failed wouldn't leave her. "And if he does know I've switched sides, maybe we can interrogate him directly about Shepherd." Realising her mistake, she added, "I… I guess you guys will have to work that angle without me."
Nas gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We'll deal with him. And he's given you an invaluable piece of information to work with—that Roman has doubts about Shepherd's plan."
Kurt nodded. "You've always said Roman's the weak link in your family. Maybe once you're back there, you can play on his doubts to get him to tell you what they've been hiding."
"Right." They didn't seem to be too worried, but she was angry at herself anyway. She couldn't make mistakes like this back at Shepherd's compound, or her cover would be blown before she could blink.
"I just got a tattoo hit," Patterson announced, frowning down at her tablet.
Kurt growled under his breath. "Now?"
"Don't shoot the messenger." Patterson shrugged, though her eyes were sympathetic.
Nas stood up. "We can't postpone looking into this. Not without giving away that we know Jane will be leaving tonight."
"Is it urgent?" Jane asked. "I mean, Shepherd has to know you guys would be suspicious if I tried to duck out of a critical situation. Borden knew how much I hated it when you guys tried to bench me, after I came out of the bag. He would have told Shepherd that, right? Maybe if we're in the middle of an active case, Roman will tell me to stay another night…and we'll have more time to finish up these false files."
From the way she glanced at Kurt, it was clear to everyone that the files weren't her primary concern, but no one said anything. Kurt fought the hope rising in his own chest. He was pretty sure Shepherd wouldn't care if Jane's 'kidnapping' had a slightly suspicious absence preceding it, as long as that absence didn't point to her leaving voluntarily.
He couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. "Okay. We'll send you on a coffee run to the place down the block. Try calling Joey's Pizza from the payphone on the corner, and see what they say. If we can get more time, even if we have to work the tattoo case and Nas has to finish the files alone, we should take it."
Jane nodded and got up.
"The rest of you should head to the lab, like you usually do. Work the tattoo case from there. I'll carry on putting together these fakes." Nas reached for the stack of old files on Kurt's desk and carried them over to her own.
"Thanks, Nas," Kurt said.
She gave him a quick smile. "I hope this does buy us another night. For your sake and Jane's, as well as the mission's."
Things between them had been fairly frosty since Nas had revealed she'd been bugging Jane's therapy sessions, but he appreciated the sentiment. "Thanks."
As the team collectively headed down towards the lab, leaving Nas behind in Zero Division, Kurt took Jane's hand and pulled her to a standstill. "Hey."
"Hey." She looked up at him, a question in her eyes, and he had to resist the urge to pull her closer.
"I just…wanted to check you weren't getting your hopes up too high. I want this extra night as much as you do, but—"
"But Shepherd is Shepherd. I know." She sighed. "I'm doing my best not to pin my hopes on it, but…"
"It's hard. I know."
There was pain and longing in her expression as she glanced around, making sure there was no one in the hallway before she spoke again, quietly. "I want to stay here with you, so badly. Even if it's just one more day."
Kurt squeezed her hand. "Me, too. But it's gonna hurt so much worse if we assume we have more time than we get. Just…be prepared for it to not go our way."
He hated dimming the light in her eyes, but as a handler and work partner, as well as a romantic partner, he had to keep things in perspective, no matter how much he wished he could indulge in optimism. Being the leader of a team was second nature to him by now, but some things never got easy.
Jane took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. "You go ahead and see what's happening with the case. I'll be as fast as I can."
Kurt pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and took a step back. "Be careful."
"Yeah." Jane turned away after one lingering look, unable to muster a smile. He watched her head down the hall that led to SIOC, before sighing and turning back towards the lab.
Just give us this extra time, Shepherd. Please.
"Joey's Pizza."
It was Roman, Jane was sure of it. He hadn't answered at this number since she'd first made contact after the black site, and he'd said he'd only been monitoring the number then out of a stubborn refusal to accept that she was dead. If he was answering today, it was because Shepherd had suspected she'd call.
"I need to cancel my order."
It might have been childish or superstitious to cross her fingers for good luck, but Jane did it anyway. She watched the traffic pass by as she waited for the response.
"Your order is already made and ready for delivery. It can't be cancelled at this time."
Jane gritted her teeth. "But I just ordered from a different place. You don't have the Tattoo Special and they do."
"That's not our problem, ma'am." Roman had hesitated for a second. Did he have her on speaker with Shepherd listening in, silently prompting him that the plan was unchanged?
"But the people at the party I ordered this pizza for are expecting me to bring the Tattoo Special. If I don't show up with it, they might not invite me again in future. Please—I'll order another pizza from you tomorrow, just cancel this one."
The pause this time was slightly longer, and Jane held her breath.
"Sorry, ma'am. Your order will be delivered tonight as planned, at the address you specified. Your card has already been charged. Have a nice day."
The line went dead.
Jane slammed the phone back into the cradle as hard as she could, then picked up the receiver again just so she could do it a second time. Damn it!
After one more frustrated, despairing moment, she took a deep breath, picked up the cardboard cup holder, and turned back towards the NYO with a heavy heart. She only had another four hours until her planned rendezvous with Roman, and it looked as though her goodbyes with the team would be coming sooner than she'd thought, if they'd be heading out into the field without her.
Her time was almost up.