Nate, Eliot, Tara, and Kaira met to discuss potential clients. Hardison, however, was talking about vacation with Parker at the bar. They ordered drinks and got started. Kaira came back with a beer for Eliot and herself. She handed him the bottle and sat down, facing Nate and sitting next to Eliot.
"There you go, babe." Kaira said, smiling at Eliot as she sat down.
"Thank you, sweetheart." Eliot smiled back.
Just then Eliot grunted, and Kaira saw Nate kick Eliot underneath the table. Kaira tried not to laugh.
"What, I can't smile at my wife?" Eliot questioned.
"At your own time." Nate said as Kaira chuckled, sipping her beer with Eliot.
"Okay, our next client - two kids, no job, pension gone. State grabbed their land under eminent domain." Nate informed the team of the case.
"So, these are all your little lost sheep?" Tara said, looking at the file Nate had.
"Excuse me?" Nate questioned, with Kaira showing she was asking the same thing.
"Well, you know, you can't save them all." Tara said.
Nate closed the file. Kaira looked at Tara.
"We know that. But that doesn't mean you just ignore it. You try your best." Kaira explained to Tara.
Kaira then looked at the look she was getting from Tara, having a realization.
"You don't know why we do this, do you?" Kaira asked.
"Well..." Tara was saying.
"You don't know because you look at grifting and what we do, and you see a paycheck, fattening your pockets, which, there's nothing wrong with wanting money from doing a job, I've been there. But I don't do this job for money because I learned a long time ago that getting greedy isn't good. And, this job isn't about the money. It's making one more person in the world happy that they got justice, and one more person gets thrown in jail rightfully. We don't play God or play judge, jury, and executioner like I think you think we do. We put pieces in place so the powers that be can do that part for us. Let the law do what it's supposed to do. We just... bring it to light." Kaira explained.
Nate looked uncomfortable and got up to leave.
"I'm getting some coffee." Nate said.
He walked up to the bar.
"Nate, don't put whiskey in your coffee, or I swear I will hit you again." Kaira warned Nate, getting brushed off.
"You know he's drinking again." Tara pointed out.
"I'm not an idiot, Tara." Eliot said.
"I was told this was a problem." Tara said.
Kaira knew Sophie warned Tara about the drinking.
"The drinking is not the problem. It's a symptom." Eliot said.
"It's a symptom of something bigger that is troubling Nate. Last time he was drinking, was when his son was killed and his marriage and life was ruined." Kaira answered.
She remembered her own sister, laying in that hospital bed, trying to stay strong so her sister's last moments weren't of her big sister crying. God, Kaira hated that moment. The monitor flatlining. Kaira remembered thinking that her life wasn't gonna get much worse after they buried Kasey. But it did. Kaira remembered the police officers in the office telling her her parents were dead, and that it looked like a murder-suicide. Kaira then remembered her wedding and meeting Eliot for the first time, which calmed her down and brought her back in line. Also, Eliot was grabbing her hands and kissing her forehead. Kaira smiled as she silently thanked Eliot.
Nate sat down and looked at Kaira, worried. She smiled at Nate, signaling that she was gonna be okay.
"Okay, so..." Nate said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Ahh. What we-" Nate said, suddenly stopping at the sound of the door opening and closing.
Kaira and Eliot were confused and worried about what Nate was looking at.
"Eliot, Kaira, I'm gonna ask that you not to do anything violent." Nate said.
"What? What are you talking about?" Eliot questioned.
"What?" Kaira also questioned.
"We only use violence as a-as a-as an appropriate response." Eliot said, confused Nate.
"Hello, Nate." A familiar British voice was heard.
Kaira groaned as she looked at Eliot, seeing the anger rise. She wasn't gonna stop him. Eliot then burst out of his chair and Kaira did too, seeing Eliot punch Sterling. Kaira just watched, seeing Hardison give the bartender money to ignore the fight happening. Eliot and Kaira were punching Sterling, then slammed him on the table nearby. Kaira saw he had a baton in his hand, and quickly grabbed it, nearly breaking Sterling's hand in the process.
"And this is?" Tara asked Nate.
"James Sterling. We used to work together. Insurance." Nate said and Sterling got up and hit Eliot with the baton, having gotten it back.
Kaira pinned his arm back as Eliot punched Sterling in the face.
"He seems to rub Eliot and Kaira the wrong way." Tara said, kinda amused at the display.
"You think?" Nate questioned, half-serious.
Kaira and Eliot got Sterling on the table again, with Eliot grabbing his throat, and Kaira grabbed his baton, walking over to Tara and breathing heavy, fixing her hair.
"Well, people tend to rub you the wrong way when they defend the man who killed your baby sister, and caused your dad to shoot your mom, then kill himself." Kaira told Tara, probably revealing too much.
Nate walked over to Sterling.
"Damn. What he do to Eliot?" Tara asked Kaira.
"He sent a guy to attack us and blew our covers, forcing us to blow up our last office." Kaira answered.
Tara went silent, not sure what to make of it. Kaira went to join Nate.
"What do you want, you British bastard?" Kaira asked Sterling, hissing a bit at him.
"Actually, I came to offer you a job." Sterling said, straining against Eliot's hand against his throat.
"There's nothing you can say to make us work with you." Eliot said, hissing similar to Kaira.
"It's Maggie." Sterling said.
Nate and Kaira thought about it.
"Get him upstairs." Nate ordered, walking away.
Eliot pulled Sterling up and let go, showing he wasn't happy. Kaira did too.
"You're still angry about the office?" Sterling questioned the couple as they walked up.
"Well, when you send someone to break you and your husband's ribs, why wouldn't I be?" Kaira hissed, walking out of the bar.
"You two got married?" Sterling questioned, a cocky smile on his face.
"Oh, shut up." Eliot hissed at Sterling.
"And wipe that cocky ass smile off, you bastard." Kaira hissed, getting him up the steps.
They entered the office, and Hardison got the presentation ready for Sterling.
Hardison had passports all over the table, each having separate identities. Hardison and Tara were looking at them, sitting on the couch with Parker as Eliot and Kaira sat on the loveseat, Kaira sitting on Eliot's lap.
"This Fabergé Egg was commissioned by Czar Nicholas of Russia. Being only one of only 69 to survive, it's worth $9 million dollars. Maggie was working at the museum, verifying Russian artifacts donated for an exhibit. The night of the robbery, she was the only person at the museum. And there you have it." Sterling informed the team, holding an ice pack to his jaw.
Tara looked at Eliot and Kaira.
"Who is..." Tara was about to ask.
"Maggie is Nate's ex-wife who he can't seem to get over." Kaira answered.
"Okay. Is there any chance she took the egg?" Tara asked.
"No. Maggies the most honest person we know. But besides that, she's okay." Parker said.
"She would have to be put at gunpoint to steal anything. Obviously, a set up then. But, you figured that out already, didn't you Sterling?" Kaira said.
Sterling looked at her, annoyed at her banter. Just then Nate walked in.
"You live and work here?" Sterling asked Nate.
"Yeah." Nate answered, going behind the couch.
"I like the old place better." Sterling said.
Kaira groaned, trying not to get up and punch Sterling again.
"Don't you even go there with us. I will get my ass up and put my foot up your ass if you mention that again." Kaira threatened Sterling.
"Okay, Maggie is where, precisely, right now?" Nate asked, ignoring Kaira's outburst.
"Currently awaiting trial in the Kiev jail. Of course, when I heard that dear Maggie was being held without bail, I rushed-" Sterling said before Kaira started chuckling.
"Oh, we both know that's a lie, Sterling. You moved your ass as soon as you discovered the egg went missing, and..." Kaira said before Sterling cut in.
"...rushed to the Ukraine. Of course, I was unable to clear her name." Sterling said.
"Well, I assume you have another suspect?" Nate asked Sterling.
"Absolutely. Alexander Lundy - International real-estate mogul. Very rich, very powerful. My only problem is that he works at the American Embassy, which makes him untouchable by normal law enforcement." Sterling said.
"Guys, we got to book it. Our flight to Kiev leaves in three hours." Hardison said.
"Okay. Let's go." Nate ordered at the team started gathering up the passports.
"Hang on. I-you-I'm not working next to this guy." Eliot said, pointing at Sterling.
"No, you don't - you don't have to. I'll work with him. You and Kaira have a different job." Nate said.
"What?" Eliot and Kaira questioned.
"Well, you're the retrieval specialists. Retrieve my wife from jail. Let's go!" Nate ordered again.
Kaira groaned again.
"Ex-wife Nathan!" Kaira groaned at the team left to go to the airport.
They flew to Kiev and got settled in the hotel. Then, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison, and Tara made a plan to get Maggie out of the police station.
"Okay, Eliot, Kaira, Hardison just got to the police station. They're waiting to see the Inspector in charge." Tara reported from outside the station.
"Good. Once you get her out, you need to disappear." Nate ordered.
"She'll never see us. How's Sterling's suspect?" Tara asked Nate.
"You mean the financial genius Alexander Lundy? Yeah, definitely guilty." Nate said.
Kaira tuned into the conversation. Karia found it weird that as soon as Sterling mentioned the egg, his assistant pulled out the insurance paperwork and his schedule to cover his alibi. Kaira thought to herself that Lundy could have still planned to frame Maggie for the robbery. Eliot and Hardison were talking to the Inspector, hoping to use reason to get Maggie out of jail.
"No." The Inspector said.
The trio there were in suits.
"Maybe we've been unclear. We were sent by the American Embassy." Eliot said.
"We have documents authorized by our government, requesting the release of Maggie Collins into the U.S Embassy's custody." Hardison said, showing the documents again.
"No." The Inspector repeated.
"Why are you being so ignorant of the documents in front of you? Which, might I add, took up a lot of my colleague's time and energy to make." Kaira asked, getting annoyed.
"If I release Miss Collins, I have no guarantee she will return for trial. She will run straight to American Embassy, where she will be untouchable, and I will be made fool. Nyet. That means no." The Inspector said.
"Yeah. We got it." Eliot said.
"Okay, you cannot out-bureaucrat a former Soviet Union Bureaucrat. These guys gamed the most corrupt system on earth for 50 years. Paperwork's not gonna cut it. They're used to trading favors, not forms." Tara said, giving Kaira an idea.
"Do you even have a case against Miss Collins?" Kaira asked in Ukrainian.
"Yes." The Inspector answered.
Eliot and Hardison looked at her confused.
"No you don't. All you have is circumstantial evidence any decent lawyer will get dismissed. You found Miss Collins unconscious when you found her, and I read the police report. I know her credentials were used. One look at her schedule will show that she was there to inspect Russian artifacts. And if you look at her phone logs, I bet she called someone about inspecting the artifacts. Plus, what motive would she have? I get how your type operates. I know it'll be stupid to bribe you. You like trades. I'll make you a deal." Kaira said.
She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it. She handed it to the inspector, who dialed a number on the phone. The Inspector spoke to Tara on the other side of the line. She spoke Russian. The Inspector put the phone down and stamped a paper.
"Okay." The Inspector said.
They left and went to make sure Maggie got out. She did. Eliot, Kaira, and Tara mostly waited around, hiding until Nate came them more of what to do. After Nate lied through the nteraction with Maggie, saying they didn't break her out, saying she was released, which Maggie didn't care about, but was grateful she was out. Then Hardison and Parker went to Lundy to hack his phone, and Nate figured out that Maggie's credentials were stolen and that she had a meeting with Lundy before the robbery, where her codes and I.D could have been stolen. Finally, Nate gave the trio some instructions. Hardison told them to go to a park and find a guy named Adrian Chernov.
The trio found him, and Eliot went to confirm it.
"Chernov." Eliot pointed out the guy sitting a few benches away.
"I got this one." Tara said.
"Really? What are you gonna say to him? Cause we got no cover story. We got no background on this cat." Eliot said, getting a bit annoyed with Tara.
"Okay. That's it, then. I won't say anything. Really. Not one word. Just when he turns around and looks at you, do that thing with your eyes that scares people." Tara said.
She stood up and started walking.
"I don't... know what you're talking about." Eliot said, flustered as Tara walked over to Chernov.
"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Tara said, turning towards Eliot.
She sat next to Chernov, who had opened a sandwich. Tara snatched it and took a bite.
"What the..." Chernov questioned, concerned with what was happening.
"Who the hell are you? Do I know you? Did Samuels send you? I paid them off. I took care of it." Chernov said, trying to figure out who Tara was.
She turned to Eliot and Kaira, which caused Chernov to focus on the couple. Eliot and Kaira stared at him, using the eyes Tara mentioned earlier. This worried Chernov.
"Oh, God. Please. Is this about the item?" Chernov asked.
Tara just shrugged her shoulders and kept eating.
"I didn't know. No one told me." Chernov said as Tara looked at her watch and got up.
"Wait!" Chernov exclaimed, standing up and grabbing something out of his pocket.
"Here. This is all I have. I'll back out. I'm sorry." Chernov said.
Tara handed him his sandwich back and grabbed the envelope Chernov handed her. Chernov then walked away, worried still about getting in trouble. Kaira chuckled as Tara turned around.
"Can you teach me that?" Kaira asked.
Tara smiled as she walked over. Eliot and Kaira stood up as Tara handed them the envelope and they looked at it.
"What we imagine is always so much better than the reality." Tara said.
"Like love?" Eliot questioned.
Kaira tried not to laugh, causing her to smile at Eliot as Tara looked at him, not giving an answer.
"Well, it depends on the context. Us, I think the reality is better." Kaira grinned at Eliot, who was flustered.
"It's blank." Eliot said, looking at the envelope.
"What?" Kaira questioned.
She looked at it too.
"Yeah, it is blank. That's odd." Kaira said, confused.
"What the hell is this?" Eliot asked Tara.
Kaira had an idea who to call to find out.
Hardison got a video conference set up with Sophie as Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira waited for her to answer. She did.
"Hey, Soph." Kaira said.
"Hello, my favorite band of thieves. What is it?" Sophie said.
"We're doing a job, and we got this off a guy after a high priced item was stolen in Kiev." Kaira said, holding up the envelope with blank paper.
"Do you know what it is?" Eliot asked Sophie.
"It's a Zanzibar marketplace. The marketplace is a one-time event - crops up in a city after an important piece has been stolen. You should have seen Stockholm after the Rembrandt heist. Parking was a bloody nightmare." Sophie said.
"All right, how do people find out about it?" Eliot asked Sophie.
"Well, the prospective buyers are invited by their black-market contacts. They show up, they verify the merchandise, and they make a sealed bid. Hey, um, shine an ultraviolet light on that card." Sophie said.
Hardison reached in his bag and grabbed a small ultraviolet flashlight.
"Seriously? You have one just lying around?" Eliot questioned.
Hardison didn't even bat an eye.
"The bidder's I.D number and the time of the auction's encrypted on the card." Sophie said as Hardison shined the light on the card and Kaira saw the time; 20:30, and the number 729 on it.
"The bidders write their bid on the back of the card - one number, no zeros, and then they hand it to the seller in a sealed envelope. They leave town immediately. A week later, if they win, they transfer the money, and the merchandise is couriered to them by messenger as soon as the heat's died down." Sophie finished explaining.
"So, no names, no contact with the money or the item? Nice." Hardison said.
"All right, a marketplace means multiple buyers all at the same time. Where's he gonna do this without drawing attention?" Eliot asked at Nate arrived.
"At the embassy." Nate said, walking to the other side of the room as the trio looked at each other and Hardison shut the laptop.
"The American Embassy is having a party tonight. Perfect cover." Nate said, looking at the trio as if nothing happened.
"Embassy's a great place to store stolen merchandise." Eliot said.
"Yeah, security's heavy, and law enforcement can't make it through the gate without creating an incident. And it's American territory, so there's all the hoops with that." Kaira pointed out.
"Well, even if we can prove that Alexander has the egg, police can't touch him. Search for it." Nate pointed out.
"So, look, if we can't let lose the dogs of law enforcement on him, what do we do?" Hardison asked.
"We, uh, steal the damn thing back." Nate said.
The team seemed to agree with the plan and got ready for the party. Nate went to fill in Sterling to get them tickets to enter and made a plan.
They all walked in, with Tara and Nate going in as a duo and Eliot, Kaira, and Parker as guests with Hardison on watch in the van.
"Best be right about all this. I pulled a lot of strings to get tickets for all of you." Sterling said.
"All of you? Wait, no, Hardison - he's in the van, eating stale candy while all you get to dine on canapés and-and champagne. I love canapés." Hardison said.
"I'm terribly sorry about that. The company has to draw the line somewhere. I can assure you it has nothing to do with our little incident last year." Sterling said.
"Oh, you mean the incident where I came within five feet of blowing your ass up? Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with that at all. Van smells like cabbage." Hardison said.
"Hardison, I bought you candy a couple of days ago. Did you eat it already?" Kaira asked.
"Maybe." Hardison answered.
"Hardison." Kaira groaned as Hardison tried to speak, but couldn't.
"How do you put up with all this nagging in your ear?" Sterling asked.
"I've learned to block most of it out." Tara said.
"Yeah, not that hard. Also, there's a mute thingy." Kaira said.
"Okay, guys. Tara's on the grift. She's got the bidding envelope, so she's gonna head into the auction." Nate said, walking with Tara with Sterling behind him.
"Nate, there's something I need to tell you." Sterling said.
"Now, guys, once she spots the egg, Eliot, Parker, Kaira, you move in and clean it out." Nate said.
"How are we gonna turn Lundy over to the cops?" Eliot asked.
"Well, we're not. We're gonna get the egg, and then Sterling's gonna use his pull with I.Y.S to clear Maggie. Clearing Maggie is the priority, guys." Nate said.
Sterling then looked like he was trying to remember what he wanted to tell Nate.
"It's on the tip of my tongue." Sterling said as he turned around.
Kaira turned to what Sterling was looking at. It was Maggie with Lundy. They kissed, looking lovingly at each other. Kaira was shocked.
"Oh, yes. That. Try to have fun, now." Sterling said.
"Sterling, you're an asshole, you know that. That's a pretty big thing to just conveniently leave out." Kaira groaned.
Nate's expression showed he didn't like what he was seeing, and Maggie just shook her head no, not liking that Nate was there.
"Alexander's seen you with me, so you can't be the bidder. Eliot, Kaira, you're first team." Nate said.
"He needs the envelope." Tara said.
"So get it to him. Make sure Maggie doesn't see Eliot, Kaira, or Parker." Nate said, turning around as Tara grabbed the envelope.
"Parker, double reverse on three." Tara said.
She put the envelope on a serving tray as she put a glass on another, then Parker grabbed the envelope from the tray as Eliot and Kaira started walking. Parker put her hand behind her and Eliot grabbed it, walking hand in hand with Kaira as they left.
"Nate, I thought you said your friends were gone." Maggie said to Nate.
Kaira was tempted to listen to the conversation, but she didn't want to feel any more awkward than she did.
She and Eliot rushed to the room. A security guard stopped Eliot.
"Ooh, sorry. We're uh, a little bit lost. I-I have on of these." Eliot said, pulling out the envelope as Kaira clocked the people in the room.
The guy came in with a briefcase, which Kaira thought was strange. The security guard verified it and let them go through.
"All right, Nate, he's hired some local security on the payroll." Eliot whispered as the couple walked to a seat.
"Watch yourself." Kaira warned, whispering as she sat down with Eliot.
Kaira once again focused on the auction and not on the totally awkward conversation between Nate and Tara and Maggie and Lundy. Nothing like your father figures ex-wife showing up with her new boyfriend, who you're robbing from. Kaira refocused on the auction.
"Okay, you guys, Alexander's on the move. Don't let that egg out of your sight." Nate ordered.
"All right, they're about to present the merchandise." Eliot reported, whispering.
They watched as the auctioneer pulled a laptop out of the briefcase. Kaira was confused.
"Uh, Nathan, we got a problem. The egg isn't in the room. It's being shown on a laptop." Kaira reported, whispering.
"Smart. Okay, Eliot, Kaira get them to prove that it's not an old recording. I'll trace the signal." Hardison said.
Kaira then pretended to whisper to Eliot before he raised his hand.
"Uh, pardon me. I'm sor - am I the only one that - my wife brought up a point I want to address. How do we know it's not a recording? Could you ask him to move it?" Eliot asked.
"I mean, it's a good point, babe, I mean any smart person, all they'd have to do is overlay the image of the egg over the wifi signal, or whatever is coming out of that laptop and fake the feed." Kaira pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing.
Kaira got looks as the auctioneer moved the egg.
"That was actually impressive." Hardison complimented.
"Thank you, Hardison." Kaira whispered as she saw the egg was being spun around.
"Okay, now, worst-case scenario, that room you're looking at is 100 miles away. I am checking the internet traffic in and out of the embassy network. Just give me a few more seconds." Hardison said. Karia quickly thought of a plan.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry, can you have him show me a five, three, five, two, please? Just so I'm confident in this sale." Kaira asked the auctioneer as the other customers were slightly annoyed.
The auctioneer asked whoever was on the end to do what Kaira asked. He did.
"You're out of time, Hardison." Eliot reported back.
"Look, nothing coming out of the embassy pipeline is big enough to be that camera feed. That room is inside the building. Eliot, Kaira, do you see any wires running into the laptop?" Hardison asked.
"No." Eliot said.
"Okay, that means they're running it off their AD HOC wireless network. All I have to do is isolate the camera's I.P address. See, all the Cold War Embassies were honeycombed with secret corridors and-and-and secret rooms for listening posts, but not all of them are used anymore. Parker, I'm sending you the map right now. Just follow the ping. That's your egg room." Hardison said.
"I got it." Parker said.
Eliot and Kaira waited at the auction to see what was happening as Nate and Maggie went to go find Lundy. It was a moment before Parker spoke.
"I'm right outside the door. There's no sign of Alexander down here." Parker reported.
Just then the auctioneer closed the laptop and asked for the bids.
"All right, Parker, they just shut off the feed to the egg room, okay?" Eliot reported.
"Whoever is in that room will be exiting now." Kaira warned Parker.
Kaira waited to hear what happened. Parker sighed, annoyed.
"I can't get past him." Parker reported.
"I'm out of position." Tara said.
"Us as well." Kaira reported as Eliot got up to put in the bid.
Kaira then all of a sudden heard Sterling coughing and acting drunk as he distracted the guard to get Parker through.
"I've got the package." Parker reported.
"Great. Let's clear out before the realize the egg is gone. Anyone seen Nate?" Tara said.
"I second that motion. Nathan, whatever you got going with Maggie, finish it and meet us at the rendezvous. And thank you, Sterling. You're still a bastard, though." Karia said as she exited the auction with Eliot hand in hand.
"You're welcome. I don't know how you people ever manage-" Sterling said before feedback was on his comm.
Kaira smiled as she knew what was happening.
"Oh, I'm sorry, man. That just happens sometimes with the earbuds - you know, feedback." Hardison said.
"As I was saying, the method-" Sterling was saying before more feedback happened. Kaira smiled again.
"Sorry." Hardison said.
"All right, Hardison, knock it off. Sterling did just save Parker's ass. Let the man be." Kaira said as her and Eliot arrived back at the party.
"This isn't gonna stop until I-" Sterling was saying before Hardison did the feedback again.
"Stop talking. Shh. Please." Hardison said.
"Hardison, stop or I won't buy you any more candy." Kaira whispered to Hardison, warning him not to do that again.
Eliot and Kaira stood behind Tara, looking into the crowd, waiting for Nate.
"Where's Nate?" Eliot asked.
"I swear I saw him duck in here." Maggie said.
"Yes, but we haven't checked the southeast corridor, and, you know, I'd really like to give him the good news myself." Nate said, using the comm voice he used.
"I've heard that voice before." Maggie said.
"What?" Nate questioned Maggie, trying to brush off what she was implying.
"You don't even know that you do it, do you?" Maggie asked Nate.
"I'm sorry, doing what?" Nate asked Maggie.
"That's your intercom voice." Maggie said, taking out Nate's comm.
"Maggie, listen-" Nate tried to explain.
"You lied to me!" Maggie said.
Nate kept hearing Nate repeat wait.
"Maggie, Alexander-" Nate was about to explain.
"You need to know-" Nate tried to continue explaining.
"Do not drag him into this." Maggie said.
"Well, he's already into this, okay, more than you - I hate to be the one to tell you." Nate said before Kaira heard Maggie yell to Nate and him yell.
Kaira got nervous as the team went back to the hotel they were staying at.
The team gathered around Hardison at the table with the egg in the case as he tried Nathan on the comms and on his phone. Neither worked.
"This isn't good. I can't get him on the cellphone, not on the comm." Hardison reported, worried about Nate, as was the rest of the team, none more than Kaira, who was pacing and shaking her arms.
She hadn't done that in years. Not since she joined the army.
"Case is closed, people. The egg is back. I'm sure Nate is breaking it to Maggie about her continued poor choice in men." Sterling said.
Kaira was about to go off, but then the phone rang.
"It's Nate's cell." Hardison said.
He answered the call.
"We have your people. No police. Await further instructions." A distorted voice said.
Kaira breathed out to calm down.
"Okay, first, Sterling, we aren't done until we get Nate and Maggie back. Second, obviously used a voice distorter, so Hardison see if you can reverse it." Kaira said as she was pacing, trying to calm down by working the problem like a case.
"And Sterling, put the goddamn phone away, or so help me God I will break you damn hand." Kaira yelled at Sterling. Sterling looked at Kaira, surprised Kaira yelled.
"What are you doing?" Tara asked Sterling.
"Calling the police. They don't get to dictate to-" Sterling said before Eliot grabbed the phone.
"We're not calling the cops. Two hostages means they can kill one to make a point." Eliot said, taking charge.
Kaira calmed down a little and looked at the team, but she was still shaking her arms.
"All right, listen. There's three types of calls we can get next." Eliot said.
"One is what we call the Amateur. It's cash and a dumpsite." Kaira said.
"Number two - Professional. That's wire transfers and multiple location drop offs." Eliot said.
"And the third is targeted." Kaira explained.
"Targeted towards us?" Hardison asked.
"No. Towards a specific ransom demand-" Eliot said before Kaira finished his thought.
"No doubt the egg." Kaira said, still pacing.
"You're not risking a nine million artifact..." Sterling was saying before Eliot jumped him.
"It might be the only chance." Eliot said when Sterling kept talking.
"...on a hunch!" Sterling yelled, clearly wanting to take the egg and run.
"Let me run this. We track the calls, find out whoever it is, have the police surround -" Sterling said.
Kaira then got in Sterling's face, grabbing his shirt.
"You son of a bitch! You just want to take the egg and run, don't you? Well, you're shit out of luck because one of the few people I care about who gave a shit about me is being held hostage, so I am going to get him back. And we need the egg to do that. Me and Eliot know what we're doing, so shut the hell up and let us do what we do best. Retrieval. Speaking of, has anyone tried climbing through Hell to get your soul back? Cause you seem to lack one." Kaira about screamed at Sterling as Eliot kept telling Kaira to get off.
Finally, Eliot got Kaira off and Kaira fought to escape.
"Kaira, stop! You aren't gonna help Nate if you don't calm down!" Eliot exclaimed at Kaira, holding her to calm down.
She calmed down some and fell to the ground numb.
"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Nathan and Maggie." Kaira looked up at the team, embarrassed as Eliot helped her up.
"It's okay." Eliot said, grabbing Kaira's hand to squeeze.
"Sterling, we're retrieval specialists. That's our job." Eliot said, bringing Kaira around to stand beside Hardison.
"Your friends' lives hang in the balance, and you're gonna take your cues off a punch-up artist instead of me?" Sterling questioned, insulted.
"Hell yes and anytime. Wouldn't have married him if I didn't trust him." Kaira hissed at Sterling, the team also agreeing with Kaira. Sterling shut the case and grabbed it.
"Call me when you need me. Cause you will need me." Sterling said.
"We'll need the egg, not you. Just get the Hell out, you bastard." Kaira hissed at Sterling as he was leaving.
Kaira waited for Sterling to leave before hugging Eliot and looking at the team.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone off like that. Just, Sterling really pisses me off, and I hadn't done the whole shaky arm thing since high school." Kaira answered apologetically.
Eliot kissed Kaira's forehead, whispering it was okay. The team showed they were okay. They started making a plan. Tara and Parker left to check if Lundy was at home or the Embassy as Hardison tried seeing who the voice was on the other end of the phone call. Soon, Parker and Tara arrived back and reported in.
Eliot and Hardison were sitting down with Kaira on Eliot's lap.
"There's no sign of Alexander at his home or the Embassy." Tara reported, putting her coat on the table and sitting down.
"And his Embassy car has been signed out. He's spooked." Parker reported, also sitting down.
"He's angry. We took his payday." Eliot said.
Then the phone ringed again.
"All right, all right." Eliot said, motioning for everyone to be quiet as he pulled the speaker closer to him.
Kaira nodded to go ahead and answer the phone.
"Go." Eliot said.
"If you follow our instructions, your friends will be returned unharmed." The distorted voice from earlier said.
"We agree. Tell us what you want." Eliot said.
"You owe me 9 million dollars." The voice said before becoming clearer.
Hardison got Eliot's attention quietly.
"It's Alex. It's Alexander." Hardison whispered.
"I still have a buyer for the egg. Return it, and I return your friends." Lundy said.
"I want proof of life now." Eliot said.
"Agreed." Lundy said.
Soon, Hardison got sent a video, which showed Nate and Maggie listening to Lundy's assistant.
"There's proof of life." Kaira said.
"I didn't have access to all of his books." The assistant said, explaining what happened.
"I was in that room earlier." Parker said.
"That's the room the egg was in." Eliot said.
"They're at the Embassy." Parker pointed out.
Kaira groaned and laid her head down.
"I really want to go in there, but I know we can't." Kaira said, not liking the options.
"Immigration papers, which, you know, my team found." Nate was saying before Maggie and Nate got into an argument about Nate lying to Maggie.
Kaira groaned again as the feed stopped.
"I've sent you an address. Come alone at dawn. Bring the egg...or your friends die." Lundy said as Hardison got sent the address.
Eliot hung up and pushed the speaker away. Hardison pulled up the address.
"Okay, the address is one of Alexander's construction sites - local project. Abandoned after his business got in trouble." Hardison explained.
"So, now we have to go convince Sterling, who hates you-" Tara said.
"Us. Hates us." Parker corrected.
"To loan you a nine million dollar antique so you can bring it to a ransom drop?" Tara questioned the logistics.
"Listen, listen - we know who's behind this, all right? We know what they want. We have the upper hand here. We do." Eliot said.
The team got to work. Kaira called Sterling to give them the egg, apologizing for earlier as Hardison did some more research and they waited for dawn.
Soon it was dawn and Eliot and Kaira were waiting at the elevator on the 20th floor. Everyone was in positions. Eliot then heard his phone ring.
"Go." Eliot answered.
"Put the egg in the elevator. Send it down. We send your people up." The assistant Sam was heard.
"I want proof of life." Eliot said.
"So do I. Picture of the egg. Now." Sam said.
Eliot got the photo, which was of just Nate and Maggie, unharmed. Kaira breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't dead. Eliot then opened the case and took a picture of the egg and sent it. Eliot went into the elevator and sat the case down.
"It's on its way down." Eliot said as the elevator shut.
Eliot and Kaira watched the right elevator go down, as the left elevator went up. Eliot and Kaira waited for something to happen. And something did. When the right elevator was at 20, there was an explosion. Parker had switched the bomb to the elevator Eliot sent up, and put the egg in the elevator that was sent down. Parker had told Hardison to go, as he hacked into the elevator and tricked the numbers, giving Parker time to make the switch. As soon as the elevator door opened, Kaira ran in and hugged Nathan, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thank God you're okay, Nathan!" Kaira said, relieved.
Nate smiled, hugging Kaira, and kissing the top of her head in gratitude. Kaira then went over to Maggie and hugged her.
"You okay?" Kaira asked Maggie.
"Yeah. I'm okay. Good to see you again, Kaira." Maggie said.
Nate cleared his throat and motioned to the cuffs.
"If you would, please Kaira?" Nate asked.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Kaira said, pulling out a bobby pin from her hair, which had been in a bun.
She picked Nate's cuff first, then Maggie's, then Lundy.
"I never introduced myself. My name's Kaira Spencer. I'm a friend of Nate's." Kaira answered as she picked the lock. Lundy was scarred still as they all exited.
Lundy then started to throw up as the team cleaned up.
"It's okay. First bomb is always the hardest." Parker told Lundy, walking away.
"Parker, not that helpful." Kaira told Parker, just glad everyone was okay.
Nate said something to Maggie, and Maggie was embarrassed to talk about it. Kaira thought she knew what it was, judging by the kissing sounds she thought she heard from Parker's comm.
"Okay, how in the world did you get the elevators to stop without the numbers stopping?" Nate asked the team.
"I sped them up 1.5 seconds per floor for the first 10 floors and then I sent them to regular speed for the last 10 floors. There was a 15-second window in the middle for Parker to work her magic." Hardison explained, coming next to Eliot.
Tara then showed up, holding a license plate.
"Looks like I missed the party." Tara said.
"They do what we thought?" Eliot asked Tara.
"Oh, yeah. Ran right to their little Embassy car and headed straight for the airport, fast as they could." Tara said.
Tara revealed she switched the plates.
"How did..." Nate asked.
"Webcam." Eliot said.
"There was no sound the first time when me and Eliot watched it for the auction. But they turned the sound on when Eliot asked for proof of life." Kaira said.
"Was it because they wanted us to hear Sam's performance? It's 101, man. After that, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out." Eliot said.
"It also helps when your wife learned negotiation tactics, and learned how to deal with ransoms in the army." Kaira smirked at Eliot.
"You know, people underestimate you, Eliot and Kaira." Maggie said.
"That's kind of the point." Nate told Maggie.
Just then Lundy opened the case.
"Hey... where's the egg?" Lundy asked.
"Yeah, in order for us to, uh, get the egg from Sterling, he made some additions to the plan." Eliot said.
Kaira then flashed back to Eliot throwing Sterling the egg before putting the case in the elevator.
They left and went back to Boston. The next day, they saw the news that Sterling took credit for finding the egg, causing the team to not be happy, especially when the news reported that Sterling was invited to join Interpol. Kaira gasped at the knowledge.
"Interpol? Seriously?" Parker questioned.
"Sterling's career gets another boost off of our hand." Hardison said.
"We didn't even get paid." Tara said, also not happy.
"Nope." Hardison said, agreeing.
"I hate this guy." Tara said.
Kaira chuckled.
"Welcome to the club." Kaira smiled as she clunked bottles with Tara.
Eliot then left with Kaira as they finished their beers. Kaira walked by Nate and Kaira could smell the Irish whiskey in Nate's coffee cup. Kaira just kept walking, hoping that the next day would be better.