Author's Note: I don't want to say too much here, since that will spoil what's going to be worked out over the course of the chapter. But I will say thank you again for reading, and I hope you guys like the direction I'm heading for the endgame. :) Please let me know what you think!

"What are you talking about?" Jane scowled at Roman to cover her anxiety, her brain scrambling to catch up.

She'd thought things were going well, but now he was accusing her of being a law enforcement mole—which she would be, if she ever found a way to get word back to the FBI. How did he jump from 'too soft to be Remi' to 'sent undercover by the FBI'? Was it something I did in the warehouse?

"Don't play dumb. Shepherd doesn't know how much you relied on Weller, but I do. You'd never turn on him. You might as well just admit it. How much did you tell him about Aurora?" Roman demanded.

Jane shook her head, trying to stall while she came up with some way out of this. "Roman, I don't know what you think you know, but—"

"You've been trying to get me to stop holding back for months."

"Only because I want to remember what all this is for! The tattoos, the memory wipe… Every time I asked my handlers for details—Oscar, then you—all I got was vagueness in return. This was my mission too, not just Shepherd's. I needed answers, and I'm only just starting to get them!" Jane hesitated, then doubled down, hoping she wasn't overplaying things. "And it seemed like there was something you wanted to tell me, if I only asked the right question. That's why I've been questioning you so much. I've been trying to figure you out, but I guess I…don't remember enough."

Roman stared through the windshield, his jaw clenched. Jane held her breath, waiting to see if he'd bought her story. If I have to, I can run now. I know where the compound is, and the warehouse. I can knock him out, push him out of the car and head back to Manhattan. It's Monday afternoon. Kurt will be at the office, if he's not in the field, working on a tattoo.

But Shepherd is going to give me more details tonight. If I can just persuade Roman he's got it wrong, whatever else I can learn will help the team stop this before it starts.

Roman let out a slow breath, as though he'd come to some sort of decision. "I was working around to telling you something."

"Then tell me," Jane said softly, still unsure whether or not he was buying into her story. "Whatever it is, I won't tell Shepherd you've said anything. Please, Roman."

He gave her a look that was almost longing. "Do you still have our coin on you?"

Jane had been keeping it in her pocket since the night he'd first handed it over, the night when his blood had literally been flowing through her veins from the transfusion he'd given her. "Of course."

She pulled it out and studied it for a moment, before handing it over to him, warm with her body heat. "I've had it for a while, so I guess it's your turn."

Roman stared down at it, rubbing his thumb over the embossed springbok. "The plan has changed. Since you went undercover."

Jane held her breath, hardly daring to hope.

"I don't think you'd have gone along with it if you'd known ahead of time. But then again, I didn't think you'd want to erase your memory, either." He looked from the coin up into her face. "Things with Shepherd have…escalated."

Jane carefully chose her words. "I talked to Nigel in his cell before I left, on my final day with the FBI. He didn't say much, but he did mention that he was having second thoughts about phase two. And he said you had the same doubts."

"He didn't say what they were?"

"No." She shifted in her seat to face him more fully. "Is it true? Are you having second thoughts about this?"

"Quid pro quo, sis." Roman folded his arms. "Admit that you're still working with Weller."

Jane spoke the absolute truth. "I haven't been in contact with Weller, or anyone else at the FBI, since the day you kidnapped me from his apartment."

Roman rolled his eyes. "You're sidestepping the issue. Not communicating with them doesn't mean you're not working for them."

She wasn't going to be able to fool him, so she changed tack, her shoulders aching with tension. "If you had proof, you'd have thrown it at me by now. Do you think Shepherd will believe you over me, if I tell her you're having second thoughts about the plan?"

He looked amused, surprising her. "I think she'd shoot us both in the head, just to be sure her grand plan didn't fall apart, a week before she had chance to implement it."

"Only a week?" Jane closed her eyes. "That's less time than I thought."

"I'm guessing you want to get word to Weller pretty bad right about now, huh?" He sighed. "Fine. I'll step across the line first. I am having second thoughts."

Please, don't let this be a trap.

"Then help me stop this.I don't know what the second part of the plan is, but—"

"Shepherd's gonna nuke Washington, DC. The fallout could spread right up to Maine and down to Florida. The whole of the East Coast will be affected."

No. This can't happen. I have to get word to the team!

"How could she do this?" Jane demanded. "Her entire family died of cancer. Why would she want to give the same experience to millions of innocent people? As scary as her plans sounded, I thought her goal was ending corruption, not spreading destruction!"

Roman shrugged, his eyes bleak. "All I can think is that she's losing it. The original plan, the one you signed on for, was to wait until Congress convened in the wake of the attack she just told you about, then target the Capitol Building and the White House. Every member of Congress would be there, and the President and his entire administration would be toast, too. Minimal casualties without ties to the government. But once she added nuclear material to the mix, there was no way to limit the death toll."

"This goes beyond collateral damage." Jane stared into space, her mind filled with memories of Afghanistan, of watching the village where she'd sheltered erupt into flame. "Just think of how many orphanages are on the East Coast. How many foster homes. How many cities and hospitals and residential neighbourhoods…"

Roman flinched when she mentioned orphanages, and she knew her words had hit home, without her even having meant them to.

He rubbed his temple, a subtle sign of stress. "The old Remi watched the US military bomb a farming village and a hospital out of existence in Afghanistan, and called it an atrocity. But Shepherd's plan goes way, way beyond that. I don't think the old you would have gone along with it just because the casualties were American."

"And even if the old Remi would have, I refuse to do that. This is…" Words failed her. There was no way to describe the horror she felt. "Roman, we have to stop her. I could be making the most dangerous mistake of my life by trusting you, but I do. And yes, the FBI knows where I am."

Roman nodded, unsurprised. His accusation hadn't been a shot in the dark—he must have been sure before he'd said anything. That made her nervous.

"If I'm that obvious, why is Shepherd reading me in?" Jane asked.

"How much time have you really spent around Shepherd since you met her as Jane? Not that much. She's juggling a lot of different elements right now, and she's been trusting me to keep watching you for signs you're not really with us. You're just lucky she's distracted." Roman turned the coin over in his palm, then rubbed his finger around the diameter. "Trying to get word to the FBI from the compound is too risky, but I have to go into the city tonight, for Shepherd."

Jane bit back the urge to make her own suggestion. He had to come to this on his own. "What are you thinking?"

Roman opened the glove box in front of her, and pulled out a notepad and pen. "If you write Weller a note to let him know he can trust me, I'll read him in—if you can guarantee he'll let me leave after I do. If I don't come back tonight, Shepherd will know something's wrong, and she'll start to look more closely at you for answers."

Jane took the notepad and pen from him, then laid her hand on his forearm. "Thank you," she said, emotion making her voice almost a whisper. "I've been driving myself crazy wondering how to get word to him, but I didn't want to leave you behind, either."

His expression softened a little. "Just come up with some way for him to know you didn't write this under duress. Something he'll know you put there as a signal that you're not being held hostage, that your cover is intact."

"Okay." Jane flipped open the notebook to a fresh page and clicked the pen, readying it to write. "You'll explain most of it? You don't want me to write it down?"

"No, keep it short. Probably best that he asks questions as I talk. He'll get everything he needs that way." Roman glanced at the dashboard clock, forced casualness in the movement. "When this goes down…will I need to run?"

Jane looked up sharply. "No! I won't let them come after you. When they found out my real identity, they offered me immunity in exchange for bringing Aurora down. If I ask Kurt to give you the same, he'll honour it."

Roman nodded. "I, uh… I guess your place will be with Weller and the FBI, once it's over."

Sadly, Jane nodded. "They're important to me. They were there for me when I had no idea who I was and where I'd come from. And I love the work. It makes me feel good to put my skills to use to help people. But that doesn't mean you have to disappear." She took his hand. "You're my brother, no matter what. I want you to be nearby, if that's what you want, too. You can have whatever kind of life you choose."

Roman gave a short, bitter bark of laughter. "I don't even know what that would be. I've always taken orders, always done what you and Shepherd wanted me to do."

"Well, when this is over, you'll have plenty of time to decide. We can talk about it, if you want. Maybe I can help, or I might know someone else who can."

He hesitated, then nodded, seeming a little lost. "Yeah. We can do that."

"We should keep heading for the compound, in case we're back later than expected and Shepherd finds out. I'll write this, then you can tell me the rest of the details about phase two. And, Roman? Thank you for trusting me."

Roman started the car, and the radio began to play once more. "I don't trust the Feds, and the old Remi would have died before she bought into the FBI's ideology. But even though you're not the old Remi anymore…I still trust you."

"The FBI isn't perfect," Jane admitted. "But what Shepherd is planning is beyond wrong, and they're stopping it. That makes them the good guys. Weller's team, at least."

It felt slightly disloyal to say it, but the use of Daylight, the way the FBI had failed to protect her from the CIA, the way they'd looked the other way instead of blowing the whistle on the illegal drone command centre at the top of the building where they worked… Law enforcement agencies had their problems.

But no matter what mistakes were made, what institutionalised problems needed to be rooted out…Shepherd's way wasn't the answer.

Patterson's flight had been delayed by three hours, so they'd decided to start Borden's interrogation at eight the next morning, allowing them all the chance to get a little sleep before they began investigating whatever leads he had for them. Kurt chafed at the delay, but he knew they'd all need the rest. Maybe he'd even manage to avoid nightmares tonight, since the case was finally starting to move again.

He turned his key in the lock, began to open the door…then swiftly pulled his sidearm from his holster. He knew he hadn't left a lamp switched on when he'd left this morning, but the living room was illuminated.

Carefully, he nudged open the door with his foot. His target was easy to spot, sitting at the living room table within plain sight of the doorway—a blond man with an unkempt beard, reading a book Kurt didn't recognise from his collection. This guy breaks into my apartment and brings his own reading material?

The man slowly raised both hands in the air, not getting up from his seat. His demeanour was cautious, but carried a hint of amusement. "Relax, Agent Weller. I'm not here for a fight."

"You broke into my apartment. I'll decide when I relax." Kurt kicked the door shut behind him, not lowering his weapon, and advanced a few steps.

The guy turned his head to more fully face Kurt, allowing him to see the scar streaking from his forehead down to his cheek. Recognition hit him hard, Jane's sketch appearing in his mind's eye. This is Roman. Jane's brother.

Oh, god, if he's here, what does this mean for Jane?

"Who are you, and why are you here?" he demanded, knowing he was supposed to be unaware of Roman's existence, as far as Sandstorm were concerned.

The guy gave a small smile. "I already know you know who I am. My sister sent me."

Unwilling to concede that he'd recognised Roman, in case he was bluffing, Kurt halted a few feet from his uninvited guest. "I have no idea who you are, or who your sister is, so you're gonna have to do better."

Sighing, Roman looked down at the book on the table, still keeping his hands where Kurt could see them. "I have a letter for you, in between the pages of my book. But you're gonna have to let your guard down enough to read it, because there's no way I'm reciting my sister's love letters out loud. She says that if I say this, you'll know she hasn't been forced to talk against her will, so… 'Starting points for new memories.'"

Kurt slowly lowered his weapon, trying not to make his relief too obvious. Roman obviously had no idea what she'd meant, or he'd have looked a hell of a lot more uncomfortable. Jane would never have told her brother about the new, sexual memories they'd made in her living room, to overwrite the traumatic memories of the night he'd arrested her, and there was no way anyone could have overheard her telling him he was her starting point.

Roman lowered his hands when Kurt replaced his weapon in his holster. Opening the book, Jane's brother pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out. "I guess we should start with this. I didn't have an envelope handy when I asked her to write it, so it's not sealed. But I haven't read it."

Kurt unfolded the paper, unable to help a small smile at the sight of Jane's familiar handwriting.

Kurt,

You can trust Roman. Shepherd's plans have changed a LOT since the ZIP, and the death toll will be in the millions, most of them innocent people. He doesn't want to be a part of that, and he'll tell you what you need to know if you promise him immunity, like Nas offered it to me. If that's not possible, then please, tell him so. I want him to have a chance of getting away before it all goes down.

You probably managed to track down Shepherd's identity from the yearbook picture I left for you, but if not, her name is Major General Ellen Briggs. Phase two starts in a week, and it's taken me this long to get details. Roman can fill you in. Get Patterson's access to the DHS intranet revoked if you can. Shepherd needs it.

If you tell Borden that Roman's turned, he might turn as well. Shepherd's approach is compartmentalised. If there are things Roman can't answer, Borden might know.

I know you'll be worried, but I'm doing okay. Don't rush in until you're sure we can end this. The more prepared we are, the better. Shepherd has people everywhere.

I love you and miss you more than I could ever possibly say. Please be careful, all of you. Tell our people I miss them.

Yours forever,

Jane

Kurt swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat, and looked up at Roman. "Glad to have you with us. If you can help us stop this, we'll make sure you stay clear of any charges."

Roman nodded, a hint of relief flashing through his expression for a second. "What do you need?"

Kurt sat down on the couch and pulled a notebook and pen from the lower shelf of the coffee table. "First off, to ask about Jane. She says she's okay, but how is she really?"

"The nightmares are still bad, and there was…an incident a couple of weeks ago. She, uh…she had to kill a trespasser. A woman out foraging for berries to help feed her family."

Kurt closed his eyes, fighting a wave of pain at the guilt Jane must be heaping upon herself. "She had no other choice this time?" he said after a moment, looking back at Roman.

Roman shook his head. "I would have done it for her, but I wasn't there. And Shepherd was."

"We told her to do whatever she had to do. She knows she won't be prosecuted, but… God, she must be struggling."

"She's hanging in there. Better than I expected, actually," Roman said. "Last time Remi had PTSD, it was combat-related, but all of the crap from when we were kids came back, too. This time, she can't remember most of that. The nightmares are bad, though. She says your name in her sleep sometimes. I wake her as soon as I realise she's dreaming, but it only helps a little."

Oh, Jane… The thought of her crying out for him in her sleep wrenched Kurt's heart. He'd give anything to go to her, but it was out of the question.

"Thank you. For waking her," he said, his voice a little rougher with emotion than he'd wanted it to be. "I know she appreciates it."

Roman nodded, and Kurt caught a glimpse of a helpless frustration that he knew all too well. They shared a moment of understanding, united in their concern for Jane.

"But during the day, she functions a lot better than Remi did at her worst. It probably helps that Shepherd's had her chained to a desk up until today—figuratively speaking," Roman elaborated, before Kurt could get too alarmed. "That's had her frustrated, but out of the line of fire."

Kurt's lips twitched, despite his worry. "How many times has she tried to un-bench herself?"

Roman grinned. "Only about once a day. If she hadn't had to worry about keeping on Shepherd's good side so she could get information, it probably would have been three times that." He cocked his head a little, studying Kurt. "You really do love her, huh?"

"More than I ever thought possible," Kurt said. "You gonna give me the 'if you ever hurt my sister' talk?"

"Don't hurt her. You know what happened to her last boyfriend." Roman shrugged. "It'd be a little redundant for me to make threats. She doesn't let anyone else take care of her problems, if she can help it. Not her brother; not anyone."

"Yeah," Kurt said, thinking back to when he'd thought Jane was Taylor Shaw. He had been completely unaware of what Jane had been dealing with, until after she'd killed Oscar. "I noticed that, too."

He gave himself a mental shake, remembering that there was more at stake here than his own emotions.

"Is her cover secure? How'd she bring you into this?"

Roman snorted. "She couldn't fool me—I know all her tells—but Shepherd's been gone a lot, getting things organised up and down the country. If she was less distracted, she would have figured out Remi's got her own agenda these days, but thankfully, she's not."

"You were the one who approached her about stopping this, not the other way around?" Kurt asked.

"I've known for weeks that she brought your team into this. I think I knew before she left the FBI; I just needed to be certain. She cares too much about you and your people to hide it—from me, anyway. I've been giving her advance warning of Shepherd's tests since she failed the first one. She told you about that? The guy I had to kill for her?"

"She did, yeah. Thank you. For protecting her."

Roman shrugged, looking a little awkward. "She's not the Remi I knew, but there's still enough of my sister in there that I can't help it. And the new parts, the Jane parts…most of them aren't bad." Abruptly, he changed the subject. "She said it was better if I gave you an overview of Shepherd's endgame and then let you ask for what you needed."

Kurt listened with mounting urgency as Roman outlined his mother's twisted plan. Shepherd planned to use Patterson's systems to shut down security measures in every major federal building in the country, allowing her people to storm and bring down each building with explosives. That would then trigger the Truman Protocol, in which the deputies of each federal agency in the country would meet in a radiation-proof, high-security bunker in West Virginia—including Kurt and Keaton, plus others they'd met in the process of solving Jane's tattoos. When Congress met in the wake of the attack, she planned to use a guided missile launched from a satellite in orbit to detonate enough nuclear material to devastate the whole of the East Coast, wiping out the entirety of the government in the process. The way would then be clear for the deputies in the bunker, all hand-picked by Shepherd, to form the next United States government.

Why me? What made Shepherd pick me for this insane plan of hers? Was it just because she could send her daughter to manipulate me, using Taylor's disappearance? What the hell did she see in me over everyone else at the FBI?

It wasn't important—at least, not important enough to waste time questioning Roman on right now. Kurt grilled Jane's brother for over an hour, extracting as much information as he could get about every element of Shepherd's plan. Roman gave him some solid leads they could follow, but his intel had some worrying gaps—for example, he had no idea where Shepherd was storing the nuclear material she'd be using for the DC attack. All he knew was that it was already in the city, which wouldn't help them enough to find it.

They'd just have to hope Borden could help them fill in some missing pieces—or be able to point them to people who might have the answers.

"So Jane's tattoos were all about placing Shepherd's chosen people in deputy roles?" Kurt shook his head. "How the hell did she even come up with all of this?"

"I think it started with the Truman Protocol, and she worked it out from there. She's been planning it since we were kids." He glanced at the clock. "I'm gonna need to head back to the compound soon, or Shepherd will want to know where I disappeared to after my meeting."

Kurt nodded. "Our best bet is to wait until Shepherd's people infiltrate our office. Can you tamper with the explosives?"

Roman looked thoughtful. "I'll switch the trigger chips on the bombs, and insert the ones Shepherd will be checking into different circuits, so they'll appear to be active, but they won't detonate anything. Rem—Jane will be sticking with Shepherd. She won't be coming into the building, but she'll be nearby with Jane."

"There's no way you can persuade Shepherd to come into the building?" Kurt asked.

"She's too cautious. She's sending Parker in with me—he's Thornton's replacement as her most trusted operative outside of the family. While I oversee the bomb placement, he'll be attaching the right equipment to Patterson's systems to give Shepherd remote access. It would make her suspicious if I asked exactly where she was planning to be while I was inside—she's still weighing up the best options—but if you can find her, between your people and Jane, you'll be able to take her down."

An idea beginning to form, Kurt frowned. "Any chance you could get to a dead drop in Manhattan later this week? I'm assuming Shepherd doesn't have Jane swept for trackers anymore. If we could get one to her, Jane could have it on her during the attack, and we could use it to locate them."

They quickly worked out a few more details, before Roman got to his feet and picked up his book. "That's gonna have to be it for now. I'd offer to take a note back to Jane from you, but if it was discovered before she could read and destroy it…"

"Not worth the risk. I agree." Kurt sighed. "If you don't mind, tell her… Tell her she already knows what I want to say to her. And tell her to be careful."

He could fill a book with everything he wanted to tell Jane, but that he loved and missed her were the most important. He knew she'd infer those things from what he'd asked Roman to say.

"Got it." Roman headed towards the door.

"Roman?" Kurt said, as his potential future brother-in-law reached the door.

Roman turned, waiting for more.

"Watch her back. She's only been in my life for this past year, but now I can't imagine being without her." He was pretty sure Roman could see his fear for Jane's life, but he didn't care.

"I will." Roman hesitated, then said, "And…thank you. For being there for her while I couldn't."

"Likewise," Kurt said quietly.

Roman let himself out, leaving Kurt to contemplate everything he'd learned. After a still, silent moment to process everything, he reached for his laptop and began an encrypted email to the other members of the taskforce, using the notes he'd made to ensure he didn't miss out a single detail. Once that was done, he sagged back against the couch cushions, unfolding the note from Jane once more.

One week from now, I'll have her home and safe with me.

He needed to hold her so badly that it hurt. The revelation that she'd been forced to take an innocent civilian's life had shaken him. She'd be giving herself hell over it, the way she had over torturing Cade, and he just wanted to hold her, to make sure she knew that he didn't judge her for what she'd had to do.

At least they were no longer stumbling around in the darkness. They could begin to prepare, and to dismantle what they could without Shepherd knowing about it. That would give them something to focus on until they could bring this to an end.

Still, Kurt got the feeling that this would be the longest week of his life.