Author's Note: Apologies in advance for this chapter being short, and for ending on another cliffhanger! It's not the end of the showdown, but it gets through Jane's POV. Next chapter, we switch to Kurt and get Jane out of danger. And hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, but I do struggle with action/case-related chapters, so... Thanks for sticking with me!
Hearing Kurt's voice had brought tears to Jane's eyes. She'd missed the familiar timbre more than she'd realised, and hearing him speak her name had been like coming home.
He was her home.
She'd given him the opportunity to say very little, and she knew he'd been exaggerating his reaction to her having called him 'out of the blue', since he'd already had the heads-up from Roman that she was going to call him, with Shepherd listening in.
She also knew the fear and worry in his voice had been very real, and it mirrored what she felt for him, and for the team.
Let's finish this, she thought, reaching for her last reserves of determination and courage as she blinked away the traces of her emotional exhaustion.
She turned away from the window, pocketing the burner phone Shepherd had given her and returning to her mother's side. "I think that did the trick."
"Good work. Now we wait for Parker's confirmation before we send in the undercover team."
Shepherd was focusing on the laptop on the nearest desk. This three-storey building was closed for major renovations this week, but it had only taken a moderate bribe in advance from Shepherd to clear out the work crew for the day. If things went to plan, they'd come to regret that decision, when it came to light exactly how the building had been used to bring down the New York Office of the FBI.
Jane was more than invested in making sure things didn't go to plan, however. And there were at least twenty-five agents working out of SIOC at all times, which meant she wasn't the only one. Knowing her co-workers already knew the threat was on its way gave her hope.
And Kurt would soon be at her side. That was a bigger boost to her morale than anything else.
Jane paced, feeling useless and out of the loop, as Shepherd went through the technological steps she'd learned by heart in preparation for this mission, getting ready to receive the remote connection to Patterson's systems as soon as Parker initiated it. Jane had hoped the team would cut Patterson's access to the Homeland Security intranet, but since Shepherd had checked only this morning that she was still on the approved list, it was just as well that they hadn't.
On the other hand, that increased the risk of Shepherd's people actually getting access to federal buildings countrywide.
She fingered the safety on her rifle, itching to put a bullet in Shepherd's brain right now, before the attack could be initiated. But she knew the team would want to capture or kill as many of Shepherd's people as possible, and that meant Shepherd had to green-light everything. Jane couldn't end things prematurely.
"Remi, be still. Are you a soldier, or a hyperactive child?" Shepherd glared at her.
"I'm sorry. Maybe if you'd found me something to do, I'd be feeling a little less useless," Jane snapped.
"Tomorrow is your moment. For now, you're here to witness history. Your part in this operation was to prepare our strike teams, and you did a stellar job. I couldn't have done better," Shepherd smiled warmly, her demeanour completely at odds with the gravity of the operation that was about to commence.
Jane did her best to look as if the praise was welcome, when it actually turned her stomach. "I did what I could. But watching your back while everyone else is doing something important…it feels like busywork. Or punishment."
Before Shepherd could respond, Parker contacted them through their secure channel. "Weller's out of the building, heading for the location Remi gave him. He's got the NSA Agent with him, Kamal. Not his usual team."
"Odd," Shepherd mused, her brow furrowing. "Remi, what's your take on that?"
Jane had planned for a situation like this. "If they caught a tattoo case that's urgent, they could be spread thin. I'd usually have been Weller's backup. He probably grabbed the first available agent and left Reade and Zapata working on whatever case came up. But at this point, your guess would be as good as mine."
"I would have expected him to take a whole tactical team for you," Parker said.
"So would I," Shepherd said. "I don't like this."
"We don't have anyone in the building now, right? There could be another operation about to go down. If that's the case, he might not be able to spare any more agents. We know he's reckless where I'm concerned." Jane shrugged. "Whatever the reason is, he's out of the building, right? Heading out of danger? That's what we wanted."
"In position," Roman cut in—to help her out, Jane suspected. "The sub-basement bomb is armed and ready."
"Excellent work, Roman. Keep your team in position and wait for further orders." Shepherd smiled. "Parker, send in Vanguard."
"Copy that."
Inwardly, Jane cringed. No matter how she'd turned it over in her head, she hadn't been able to come up with a way to keep the person manning the front desk in the lobby from being killed. Arguing for non-fatal means of dispensing with them made no sense, given that they were about to attempt to bring the whole building down, causing a couple of thousand fatalities.
I'm so sorry, she thought, to whichever unlucky employee had drawn the short straw. Would it be cheerful Tonya, with her creatively painted nails? Surly Christian, who always seemed to be reading something under the desk? Or Alex, who'd found out his wife was pregnant just before Jane had left to go undercover, and had still had a stunned look on his face after a whole week?
In tense silence, Jane and Shepherd waited for further updates from the Vanguard team. Then Barret's voice came over the line. "Objective accomplished. All signals are jammed; all internet communications are suspended. Secure lines are reinforced."
And whoever brought them further into the building is dead. Jane strove to keep her face blank.
"Trigger the evacuation protocol, and join Alpha Point on their way into the building," Shepherd said.
"Protocol triggered. Converging with Alpha Point ASAP."
Parker took over the updates. "Side entrance just unlocked. Entering now." After a pause, he added, "Rendezvous with Vanguard complete. En route to SIOC via stairwell."
"Be vigilant for evacuating agents," Shepherd warned.
Jane took a deep breath, then let it out as calmly as she could. In a few seconds, Alpha Point—and Shepherd—would discover that the personnel of SIOC weren't as unaware of their approach as they assumed. She eased the safety off her rifle.
The line exploded into chaos—gunshots, and Parker yelling instructions to his people. That's not how I drilled them, Jane thought, with bleak amusement.
"Fuck! Shepherd, they knew we were coming! They have smoke grenades, rifles, vests—the whole works!"
Shepherd had become tense and forbidding as all hell had broken loose over comms. Now she snapped, "The plan hasn't changed. Fight your way through and take control of Patterson's system. That's an order. Roman, stand by."
Parker and Roman both responded with brusque confirmations, just as Jane pressed the muzzle of her rifle to the base of Shepherd's skull.
"You," Shepherd snarled. "This was all you."
Well, not just me.
Jane wasn't about to expose Roman when he was still surrounded by Sandstorm members who could turn on him. "You really didn't see this coming? After you pulled me out of there because you were worried I'd get too attached?"
"Why do you think I kept you here with me? I hoped I'd gotten you out in time—but I planned for all eventualities." Shepherd held an unpinned grenade up in her line of sight.
No!
With a surge of fight-or-flight adrenaline, Jane dove out of range, bracing for the detonation…but no explosion followed. As Jane looked up in confusion—right into the barrel of Shepherd's sidearm—she realised she'd been played. The grenade was fake.
"Drop the rifle."
Keeping her movements careful and slow, Jane laid the rifle down and shoved it across the bare floorboards, sending it skidding out of reach. How am I gonna get out of this one?
"And the rest."
Jane divested herself of her handgun and knives, analysing her environment to find potential distractions or hazards that might help her regain an advantage, or provide an escape. Nothing within reach would be of any use, and Shepherd was focusing on her too intently for her to move in any direction. Defenceless and out of options, she knelt and waited, her heart pounding.
"Betrayed. By my own daughter. How would you suggest I deal with this?" Shepherd asked, her grim disappointment somehow resonating deep within Jane's subconscious.
"Why even bother to answer that? We both know you're gonna kill me." And I won't give you the satisfaction of watching me cower. If this is how it ends, at least I did my best.
"Parker, report," Shepherd snapped, never taking her eyes off Jane.
Her only answer was gunfire and distant, incoherent shouts over the open comms channel. He's down.
Jane smiled.
Shepherd used her free hand to change comms channels, but her aim never wavered. At this range, if Jane tried anything, she wouldn't miss. "Roman, what's your status?"
Roman's response was tight with pain, making Jane's heart plummet. "Struggling a little. Came up against some resistance. Dealt with it, but I'm the only one left."
Those words were meant for me, not Shepherd. He took out his sub-basement team, but he's injured. God, I hope it's not serious.
Shepherd gave a soft curse. "Can you retreat? On your own and injured, you'll be useless as backup."
"Maybe. You and Remi okay?"
Shepherd gave a humourless laugh. "Remi is the reason this happened. Your sister has turned on us. Do you have any last words for her?"
"Don't give her all the credit. I helped."
Shepherd froze. For a split second, Jane saw heartbreak on her foster mother's face, but then her expression became a hard, furious mask.
"I told you nukes weren't the way to get this done, Shepherd," Roman continued. Jane was pretty sure he was trying to stall Shepherd, to give Kurt time to reach her. "Everyone who knew argued against a nuclear strike, except for Parker. You wouldn't listen."
"You corrupted your brother," Shepherd accused Jane. "You turned him against me."
"Actually, I was the one who went to her. You really thought I'd be okay with killing millions of innocent people along with the ones who deserved to die? The injustice of that was what brought Remi back to us in the first place." Roman grunted, clearly in pain, and Jane's anxiety increased.
She forced down the urge to ask him how badly he was hurt, knowing Shepherd was the more important issue right now. "You waited until Remi had taken the ZIP to add the nuclear strike to Phase Two. You knew she'd never support that part of the plan," she said. "You thought you could bulldoze over Roman, but you knew that would never work with me."
"I hope you two are satisfied. Without the attacks today, Congress might not convene tomorrow. The Truman Protocol might not be initiated. That will make the nuclear attack so much less effective—but it will still go ahead, today. It's a pity none of us will be alive to help shape the world that results."
She straightened, intensifying her focus on Jane. "If you two have any last words to say to each other before I shoot Remi, I suggest you say them now."
"Shepherd, don't—please, don't." Roman's voice became desperate. They'd stalled all they could, and now only instinctive responses were left.
Jane smiled sadly. "It's okay, Roman. We tried to do the right thing. That means something, even if the FBI doesn't manage to stop the nuclear attack. We tried."
"Shepherd, I will do anything you want. Anything. Just, please, don't take away my sister."
"How could I trust you now, Roman?" Shepherd demanded, moving towards Jane and stopping just outside of her attack range. "You chose your side. Now you'll suffer for it."
"Don't!" Roman yelled.
Roman… Kurt… I'm so sorry. There's no way out of this for me.
"I love you, Roman. And please, tell Kurt…" She couldn't finish, thoughts of Kurt's devastation at her death strangling her words.
A muffled sob came through the comms as Jane closed her eyes, waiting for the kill shot. At least she knew Shepherd would make it quick.
I love you, Kurt.