Eliot and Kaira were just laying in bed, not really wanting to get up, when Eliot's phone rang. "Yeah." Eliot answered the phone. "What?" Eliot questioned, causing the both of them to perk up. "All right, send the addresses, I'll have Hardison help find Parker's place." Eliot said, hanging up the phone and shooting out of bed. "Eliot what is it?" Kaira asked Eliot as they got changed. "Apparently Parker took on an outside job without us." Eliot said, growling in frustration. "What?" Kaira questioned, also upset. "Yeah." Eliot said.
The couple finished changing. They all but ran next door where Hardison was and looked at the addresses Nate sent. Only one of the two addresses left could be Parkers place.
When the trio went to check one out, it was the wrong one. So, they went to the other one, which was a warehouse in the city. They saw the door had been unlocked, so they assumed Nate and Sophie had already shown up. They ran in and saw Nate and Sophie looking at the very little things that were in the warehouse. A bed, a couple of clothes racks for Parkers gear, and a couple of tables.
"Parker!" Hardison called out, thinking Parker was there. "Okay. This is a little freaky." Hardison said, surprised at Parker's choice of housing.
"Really? This is exactly what I expected." Eliot said, not surprised.
"What happened to you guys? You should've beaten us here." Nate said, looking at a board that Parker put stuff on.
"We went to the wrong address." Eliot said, uncomfortable at the remembrance.
"Oh, the central square address?" Sophie questioned.
"Yeah, yeah, the central..." Hardison started stumbling. "Yeah, the Ce-Central Square... I tracked your phone." Hardison admitted, not wanting to think about the awkward encounter anymore.
"All right. Listen. She left timetables, security codes, schematics. Now, let's look at all this stuff and see where she went and what she's after." Nate said, handing papers to the other team members as they gathered around the table.
"God, this is so well organized. She's got everything laid out just so. You know this is as clean as one of your plans." Sophie pointed out, looking at Nate.
"Yeah. Maybe you're rubbing off on her, Nate." Eliot quipped. "Well, I doubt I'm rubbing off on her. She never would have tried to beat a..." Nate said, handing the trio a paper.
"Steranko?" Hardison questioned.
"A Steranko." Nate said."Damn it! On her own? What the hell was she thinking?!" Kaira exclaimed upset."Okay, please, please. Somebody explain to me - what the hell is a Steranko?" Sophie asked.
"Steranko's the toughest security system in the world, in the universe, the multi - whatever." Hardison was about to explain when Eliot cut him off.
"How do you not know this?" Eliot asked Sophie
"I am a grifter. If I'm doing my job right, then the mark just..." Sophie clicked her tongue and mimed turned the alarm off. "Turns off the alarm for me." Sophie said.
"Look, Soph, you take one of those computers that can beat like 100 people at chess, it's got a brain the size of a building, you hook it up to military-grade infrared, ultrasound, motion sensors..." Hardison started spiraling.
"Yeah, and then give it the personality of a pissed-off Rottweiler. That's a Steranko." Eliot finished.
"Yeah. It's bad." Kaira said, not liking the situation.
"It has a heuristic algorithm. Okay? It adapts to your moves and evolves a strategy based on your response. It learns." Hardison said.
"It hunts." Eliot said.
"Can you crack it?" Nate asked Hardison, looking at the clear board.
"Can I crack - Nate - Steranko's like Mount Everest. You don't just jump on it. You - you gotta train, muscle up." Hardison said as Nate walked back over to the table.
"No, no, no, no. Hardison, no, no. For Parker, can you crack it?" Nate asked, reframing the question to convince Hardison to do it.
"Yeah, I-I can... Even if I tried - Just tried - I can't do it remote. I'd have to get in that building." Hardison said.
"Okay, so we get you in, you open the doors for Parker, she goes out." Nate said.
"Nathan, one more problem. Where the hell is Parker at?" Kaira questioned, knowing they had to find that answer before they could even attempt a rescue.
Nate walked over to the board and grabbed a picture. "The Wakefield building downtown. So... Let's go steal a Parker." Nate ordered. They put the stuff down as they exited the warehouse, the lights going out behind them.
They piled in the van and drove to Wakefield Agricultural Incorporated. Sophie was out of the van as Nate looked through the binoculars and Hardison exited the van.
"Wakefield Agriculture Worldwide Incorporated. Now, Wakefield's a big player in the world cereal market, and by cereal I mean wheat, corn, rice - all that stuff." Hardison said, handing a folder to Sophie.
"So it's a grocery store." Sophie said. Hardison wasn't impressed.
"Yeah, if Godzilla's a gecko. They do 200 million dollars a year in biotech research and third-world infrastructure." Hardison continued explaining.
"All right, so it's a massive grocery store." Sophie said, not amused.
"Yeah, but even they weren't immune to the Financial Crunch. The last two years, they did a bunch of bad investments, research that turned up empty. This guy right here, CEO Charles Rushing - the boards after his head. Now, he avoided two takeover attempts, but he's running scared." Hardison finished explaining.
"We just swept the perimeter. Lobby's the only point of entry. Everything else is locked down. And I gotta tell you, man, I ain't big on taking this place in broad daylight, on the fly." Eliot said, joining the team with Kaira in tow
"What do you mean you ain't big on taking - No, no, no. You just want to throw Parker under the bus?" Hardison asked Eliot, not happy and getting in his face, which caused an argument.
"Stop! Both of you before I smack you." Kaira threatened as both boys instantly shut up. "Now, Hardison, of course, we want to get Parker out. But we have to be smart about it. It does no one any good if we get caught." Kaira said, looking the hacker in the eyes.
Nate also got in between them. "If you're gonna do a job like this, you'd need a... a base camp, right? Something kind of private with good visibility?" Nate asked
"And a partner, cause I ain't insane." Eliot said, growling. Kaira gave him a look telling him to stop.
"Yeah, exactly. You'd want a partner, right? But, I mean, all the shots from Parker's place, they were taken from a single location up high." Nate said, thinking
"It's the south side. Look at the way the sun's going off the windows there. According to this height-" Eliot was about to explain when Nate cut him off.
"Wait. On the building. He said on - on the building across the street. Not in. All right, Eliot, Kaira, you're gonna come with me. Sophie, walk Hardison into Wakefield so you can get your hands on the Steranko." Nate said, giving the skeletal work for a plan.
"That's the plan?" Sophie asked, not liking now little of the plan had been made.
"It's all I got." Nate said, going to leave. Eliot and Kaira followed him.
"Nate, I keep telling you, man, this - Fine. Whatever. Forget it. Forget it." Hardison called out, not happy with how little of a plan had been made.
"It's fine. We can do this. Parker's gonna be okay." Sophie said. She went into the van, grabbing something.
"Yeah, I know. Quiet and sneaky - standard." Hardison said.
"Quiet and sneaky is fine if you're not thinking like a thief. Thieves find entrances, but grifters? Mnh-mnh. We make them." Sophie said, revealing two outfits for her and Hardison. Sophie handed one to Hardison and make their way in as Nate, Eliot, and Kaira walked up to the roof of the building.
"It's got to be the right roof." Nate said.
"Well, you got a clear line of sight to the Wakefield tower." Eliot said.
"Good place to watch a heist." Kaira said, continuing to walk.
"Nobody can get past us-" Eliot said just before an older man with grey hair came around the corner, cane in hand.
"Nate Ford." The man said, having an English accent
"Lisbon." Nate said, recognizing the guy.
"I think... Florence." The man said, walking through them.
"You know this guy." Eliot realized.
"Mr. Ford and I once moved in similar spheres. It was Majorca." The man said, looking back at the trio.
"Right. White doves. Eliot, Kaira, I'd like you to meet Archie Leech, the world's greatest thief." Nate said as two guys came around the corner, putting guns at the trio and cocked them, causing the hitter duo to tense up. Nate nodded to the hitter duo, who took the signal as Kaira went to disarm the guy behind her as Eliot disarmed his guy.
Kaira took down her guy, but Eliot's was stubborn. "Come here, boy." Eliot taunted, getting ready to punch the guy.
"Pardon me, sir!" Archie said. The guy went to punch Archie, but he used the cane to block him and swept his feet out, causing the guy to fall. "Well..." Archie said.
"Nice." Eliot said, complimenting Archie as he caught his breath and joined Kaira next to Nate.
"Those guys weren't with you?" Nate asked.
Archie chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous." Archie said as Kaira kicked the downed goon in the face, knocking him out. "They're here to make sure I get the job done. I'm their hostage. Barely got away from them long enough to call you." Archie revealed.
"Parker's your partner." Nate realized.
"Parker... is rescuing me." Archie said.
"Why would she rescue you?" Eliot asked Archie.
"Because I'm her father." Archie blurted out, leaving.
"What?" Kaira asked, following a stumbling Eliot and a calm but cool Nate.
Sophie and Hardison got into a meeting room, and all but threatened the CEO and got Hardison an office
Eliot and Kaira moved the two downed bodies as Archie and Nate walked. "Of course, I'm not her real father. New York City, 12 years ago. The little scamp lifted my wallet. When I first met her, she was wild, dangerous to herself and to others. But she had the gift." Archie explained as they went on the platform Eliot and Kaira were on, hiding the bodies. "I made her, honed her - my perfect thief." Archie said.
"She was your legacy." Nate realized.
"Just so. I taught her everything I know and unleashed her on the world." Archie said, thinking there was nothing wrong with that.
"You know, she was broken. You understand that? Parker was broken, and you had no- you should have taken her in-" Nate said, defending Parker.
"What? Taken her home like a real daughter?" Archie questioned. He let his cane drop and grabbed his wallet and showed Nate a picture of an older and younger woman and young boys. "This is my wife, Marilyn. My grandsons. I love them dearly. They think I'm an accountant. What was I supposed to do? You know Parker. You know she wouldn't fit in. God, she doesn't fit in anywhere." Archie said.
Kaira and Eliot both got pissed at that sentence. "Yeah, but she was good enough to send into a deathtrap, huh?" Eliot questioned, pissed.
"I didn't send her anywhere. I was retired. They found me, whoever they are. Told me to break into Wakefield and steal some canister from the labs there or they would kill my family. My grandchildren." Archie explained, showing the map that was pinned up.
"You couldn't beat a Steranko even in your prime." Nate said, adding insult to injury
"Which I'm long past. Thanks for the reminder. But my employer gave me these blueprints and most of the codes. So I thought I could break the bloody thing! I called Parker for help, just to plan. Next thing I know, she jumps the gun and goes in herself. No idea what she was thinking." Archie said.
Kaira had an idea. "She was trying to save your ass, you selfish dick." Kaira retorted, showing Archie she wasn't happy.
"All right. Listen. I need you to get in position. When Hardison finds a door, I'm counting on you two to get her through it." Nate said.
Kaira and Eliot left to get ready to get Parker out.
"Okay, Hardison. Are we on yet?" Nate asked in his comm.
"On and cracking." Hardison said from the office, opening a big case. "I'm in the main company system." Hardison said. Nate grabbed an earbud and handed it to Archie. "Put this in your ear." Nate told Archie. "Ah." Archie said, taking the earbud. "Now, you get that back to me." Nate said, circling Archie.
"I'm downloading all files... now." Hardison said.
"Okay. What about the Steranko?" Nate asked as Archie was still trying to understand what the plan was.
Hardison was scanning the wall. "All the alarm systems are run through shielded cable, which means I can't hack it through wi-fi. But if you find the actual cable..." Hardison said. He found the right cable and started drilling, placing a wire in the hole he made. Hardison got the cord hooked up to his laptop. "All right. I'm in. Uh, don't know how far, though." Hardison said, getting ready on his laptop.
Nate was still pacing as Archie was thinking. "Okay. Get what you can and fast. Sophie." Nate ordered.
"What are we doing here?" Sophie asked in the meeting room with all of the heads of staff and the higher-ups.
"You want to create some chaos. All right? Get them to focus on you, on each other, but just get them off Hardison's back." Nate said.
Sophie basically fired all the staff, but one of the staff called Sophie out, a Dr. Hannity, and Sophie countered by saying if they could convince her to rehire them, they could keep their job, which caused a commotion.
"Okay, guys, uh... I got bad news and not so bad news. The not so bad news is that Steranko's only running at a level one." Hardison informed them, still at his laptop.
"How many levels are there?" Nate asked.
Hardison pulled it up. "Okay, uh, level one, passive lockdown. Two, fire. Three, terrorist takeover. And four, hazmat containment breach. Now, if it stays at a level one, she just needs to stay away from doors, cameras, uh, security key cards, even actual security guards. And she'll be cool - for a while." Hardison said.
"So, she's safe as long as she stays in, but if she tried to get out -" Nate said, thinking of a plan.
"Boom. Game over. That's the bad news." Hardison said.
"It's a lobster trap." Eliot said, walking with Kaira outside the building. "Easy to get in, but there's no way out." Kaira said.
"And this helps me how?" Hardison asked.
"And what about the perimeter?" Nate asked, leaning on a huge crate.
"Perimeter's locked down tight. It's a solid grid. Right? You got sensors. You got cameras on everything." Eliot said before stopping, looking at the building, which caused Kaira to look at it, giving her an idea. "What's the bet that these suit types don't like giving up their privacy?" Kaira asked, giving Eliot an idea. "You're gonna find a blank on one of these offices." Eliot said.
"That's actually not... bad." Hardison realized.
"All right, guys. So it's a party. But before we rescue Parker, we got to find out where she is." Nate said, looking at the pinned up map.
"Nate... you do realize the entire building is looking for Parker. I mean, the actual physical building is looking for her. Look, a-any cameras that I piggyback, any sensors that I access, anything I do to find Parker could lead the bad guys right to her." Hardison explained.
"All right. So what's you play?" Nate asked.
"What's - what's my play? Nate, I'm hacking a security system that the Pentagon calls overkill with a laptop I found in the back of my car. Look, man, honest answer - we can't find Parker. We just have to wait for her to send up a signal and hopefully, we get to her first." Hardison said, not hopeful.
Eliot and Kaira were walking close to the building.
Soon, they got the signal. Hardison's phone rang. "Speak." Hardison answered the phone. "Hardison, listen. I screwed up. I'm downtown in a building, and I-" Parker tried to explain when Hardison cut her off. "We are already here, mama." Hardison said, calming the thief down. "You are? All of you?" Parker asked. Hardison noticed a change in the system. "Wait. Parker, are you calling me from a company landline?" Hardison asked. "Yeah. But it's okay, cause I have an I.D." Parker said. "No, no. Not okay. Parker, they are matching to retinal scans. If a security guard scans your I.D, you're busted. And now that you're calling me, Steranko knows exactly where you are." Hardison said, telling Parker how screwed she was. "What? Why? Make it stop!" Parker said, freaking out slightly. "I don't know. Okay. You got a 30-second window. Right now you're at 20. You need to hang up. Get to cubicle 27. Wait there. Go now." Hardison ordered.
"You find something?" Archie asked Nate, looking at the papers Archie had. "Guys, what would you say if I told you that all of Mr. Leech's schematics are watermarked with the Wakefield logo?" Nate asked the team.
"Sounds like original documents. Probably from the company's hard-copy files." Hardison said what the team was thinking. "Yes, the kind of files that are restricted to high-level company personnel." Nate said.
"Head of Security or above." Hardison realized, going back to his laptop.
"Okay, Sophie, I need you to do me a favor." Nate said, getting Sophie's attention.
"Anything. It's not as if there's anything going on where I am." Sophie said, looking at the crowd of people freaking out.
"I want you to take a look around the room. I mean, really take a good look. Uh, anything standing out to you?" Nate said as Sophie sat down and scanned the room.
She picked up on a suspicious person. "Dr. Hannity is awfully calm." Sophie pointed out.
Hardison got to typing. "Hannity. Hannity. Hannity. Dr. Anne Hannity. She's the Senior Vice President in charge of the Research and Development Department. She runs the biotech division." Hardison filled the team in on Dr. Hannity.
"Yeah, and she has access to the Steranko and the vault that Parker's hitting on the biotech level. Let me ask you something - you ever have contact with a client, I mean face-to-face?" Nate said, talking to Archie at the end.
"The client insisted on complete discretion." Archie said before he and Nathan had the same thought.
"She's in on it." They both realized.
"Why didn't I see it before?" Archie asked himself.
"Okay. All right, Archie." Nate tried to calm Archie down.
"Ford, an inside job like this only works if -" Archie said before Nate cut him off.
"If they've tied up loose ends. Yes." Nate finished the thought.
"If they find Parker, they're not gonna arrest her. They'll kill her." Archie said. This job had officially taken a turn. And no one was liking it. Archie went to leave when Nate stopped him.
"Archie, wait, wait. Slow down. Slow down." Nate tried to tell Archie.
"Look, we got to warn her. They're gonna kill her." Archie said, wanting to help Parker.
"I got my people on it. All right? Hardison? Talk to me. Where's Parker?" Nate said.
"Yeah. Yeah. Um... already took care of it. Earbud's going hot in 5...4...3...2...1." Hardison said, waiting for Parker to come on comms.
"Okay, I got it. I'm on. Come get me." Parker said.
"Parker!" Nate exclaimed, glad to hear her voice, as was the rest of the team.
"Is Archie there?" Parker asked.
"Yeah. Parker." Archie said, putting his index finger to his ear.
"Archie. Are you okay?" Parker asked Archie.
"Yeah. Right as rain, kiddo." Archie said. "Kiddo?" Nate questioned, realizing he called Kaira the same thing.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't get the canister. The transcription codes -" Parker said, trying to explain what went wrong.
"Parker, what the hell were you thinking going in there?" Archie scolded Parker.
"They would've caught you Archie. They would've hurt you or your family. Your - your real family. I couldn't let that happen." Parker said.
Archie looked at Nate, surprised Parker said that. "Well, it's all right. J-Just stay focused." Archie said, calming down Parker.
"Yes, sir." Parker said, ready to get out. "Sir?" Nate muttered, letting Archie take temporary lead. "Kiddo, I want you to stand up and have a look around. Tell me what you see." Archie said.
"A bunch of people stealing stuff - staplers, paper... they're pretty bad at it." Parker said before having an awkward conversation about sexting and then having people push her.
"Your young man." Archie said to Nate. "Hardison." Nate said. "Hardison. Have you got a way out for our girl yet?" Archie asked Hardison. "You don't mind if I-" Archie asked Nate. "No, no, no. Go. Go ahead." Nate said.
"I have a hole in the grid on the 38th floor. CEO's office. No cameras, no sensors of any kind. Eliot, Kaira, that was a nice call, guys." Hardison said as Karia and Eliot smiled at each other.
"All right. So Rushing wants his privacy. Eliot, Kaira, you're on." Nate ordered.
"Wait a second. You want us to climb a 40-story building in broad daylight?!" Eliot asked, growling in frustration.
"Yes. And I want you to do it now. We're up against the clock." Nate said.
Eliot and Kaira saw a maintenance van and a lift. Eliot and Kaira got a crowbar and access to the lift.
"Oh, Dr. Hannity, you've been a bad girl. Nate, Hannity blew through 60 million last year and didn't make Wakefield a dime. Some kind of, uh, super wheat that nobody wants. She should be on the front line, begging to keep her job. I swear. I'd fire her." Hardison said, still typing on his laptop.
"Hannity is our inside man. Okay, Sophie, you can let everybody go except Hannity. And I want her angry. I mean steamed." Nate ordered Sophie.
Sophie did just that, getting Hannity mad by looking at her resume, which was blank sheets of paper. Hannity then got steamed and revealed that she made the wheat to be immune to a blight called UG99, which was a virus that she would conveniently be released and the wheat her team made would get a load of money for the wheat to keep the world going. "Nate. I lost her. She's gone. Nate, are you there?" Sophie said, getting worried.
"Okay, just - just wait. Wait." Nate said, thinking. "Are you telling me this woman paid us to steal her own wheat?" Archie asked.
"No. The blight. She developed the wheat to be immune to the UG99 blight, but she needs to test it over and over again. It's like a vaccine. You need the infection to test it. She has the blight." Kaira realized.
"But why steal something you already own? Why?" Archie asked. "Because she wants it to get out." Nate said, realizing what Kaira was thinking.
"That is very crazy and absolutely right. Nate, I'm sending you all the data that Hannity has on the project. Okay, look. I just punched into the laboratory storage database. Not only does Dr. Frankenstein have some of that UG99 nightmare fungus stored in a biohazard vault here at the Wakefield, but, like you said, she's keeping it in a canister that matches the schematics that Archie was given. Looks like somebody was trying to jump-start an outbreak." Hardison informed the team.
"Oh, this - this virus, this what do you call it, gets out and kills the normal wheat." Archie realized.
"Yeah. And famine everywhere I mean, it's a multibillion dollar market ready for Wakefield to dominate." Nate said.
"It's so arcane, brutal. She'd have to be a monster." Archie said. "Yes. Yes, she would. We got to take her out." Nate said.
"We have to get Parker out of there." Archie said at the exact same time.
"No, no, no." Nate argued.
"No. Parker gets out now." Archie argued.
"You - you got to let me think this through. Got to let me think." Nate said, trying to think of a plan.
"You've got three people trapped in there, an outside man and woman who can't get in. So what now? You gonna actually call the police?" Archie asked, rushing Nate.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Leech, just shut up. Shut up." Nate said, walking away to get some peace, but Archie followed./
"While you're dreaming up your comic book fantasies, Parker is in there, waiting for a bullet in the head." Archie said.
"Yeah, and you put her in there." Nate said.
"And I'm gonna get her out. Parker. It's Archie. You've got to leg it. Run for the front doors now." Archie said.
"No. No, Parker. You're not going anywhere." Nate said, not wanting to risk Parker running.
"Your friends botched it, Parker. Just listen to me, and I'll get you home." Archie said, trying to get Parker to listen to him.
"Parker, do not go anywhere near the entrance. There's a hundred people there. It's a bottleneck." Nate said.
There was another awkward conversation that Parker went through. "Somebody tell me what to do." Parker loud whispered.
"Yeah, and fast. I got codes to all the doors, but Steranko is rewriting. The bastard is quick - and smart. Okay, your next open door is two cubicles up and down to the right." Hardison said.
"You heard the man. Now, go." Nate ordered.
"Going." Parker said.
Eliot and Kaira were almost at the window.
Parker was running like hell as Hardison tried to not get locked out.
"Good. Now, up the stairs, down the hall, left." Hardison guided Parker.
"Can't grab me an elevator?" Parker asked.
"No. Elevators are a kill zone. Buildings this tall, nobody uses the stairs, No they're wired for fire safety, not security. They're the better choice. Uh, you are on the executive floor. Okay, so that means less electronic countermeasures. I can spoof those. But that also means more human guards, which are attached to retinal scanners and guns." Hardison sighed, realizing the task was gonna be hard. "Homestretch, mama." Hardison told Parker.
"I get it. We're here to get Parker out. But this Hannity woman is a piece of work. There must be something we can do to bring her down." Sophie said.
Nate was still thinking.
"All right, Parker, you're at the office. Break left." Hardison told Parker.
"One thing at a time. Eliot, Kaira, she's coming out hot. Are you in position?" Nate asked, walking with Archie.
"Yeah, we're in position. She's the one that -" Eliot was yelling when Parker walked through. "Parker's here." Kaira said in her comm. Parker took her coat off, smiling at the couple, glad to see them. Eliot tapped on the glass and told Parker to move so he could break the glass. Parker looked back, trying to decide what to do. "Parker, move!" Karia yelled, wanting to get Parker out of there. "No. No, I can't." Parker said. "Parker, what are you doing?" Archie asked. Eliot banged the crowbar on the lift. "This is no time for crazy, all right?! We got to get the hell out of here!" Eliot yelled, not wanting Parker to stay any longer. "I have to go back! The Steranko has a record of the break-in. Hannity can walk the blight out on her own and blame it on me. She's gonna get away with it. We need proof." Parker realized, making her choice. "What proof?" Eliot asked Parker, acting like she was crazy. "I have to go back and steal the blight." Parker said.
"Parker, this is not what I taught you." Archie said.
"Archie?" Parker said.
"We do not get involved. We get out." Archie argued.
"Archie!" Parker exclaimed.
"This is not what we do!" Archie argued.
"No, this isn't what you do! Okay, Hannity is bad. She's gonna hurt people - a lot of people. You've taught me a lot of things, Archie, but... this is what we do." Parker said. Kaira wasn't gonna lie, she was proud of Parker for wanting to do the right thing. Nate also seemed scared. Not that Parker wanted to do the right thing, but that she would risk it all to do the right thing.
"She's right, Nate." Sophie said.
"Well, somebody better decide something, cause Steranko is whupping my ass." Hardison said, just wanting to get the job done.
Nate looked at Archie. "You're not actually considering this?" Archie said. "Parker, last time you went to the vault-" Nate said before Parker cut him off.
"No, I couldn't, but I was alone then. I'm not alone now, okay? Hardison just clear a path to the vault. I know what I did wrong before I can do it!" Parker said, hyping herself up.
Nate smiled a tad, proud to have had some influence on Parker. "Okay. It's your show. Go for it." Nate said, giving Parker the command for the moment.
Parker ran back in as Sophie got ready to leave and Hardison started clearing a path for Parker as Eliot looked upset as Kaira was a bit proud of Parker for standing up for herself.
"Of all the sanctimonious- she was home free. She was out. And now you got her playing hero?" Archie argued with Nate. "She was right. It's what we do." Nate told Archie, turning to leave when Archie grabbed him. "What you do? You've killed her. That's what you've bloody done. You've killed her." Archie said, his voice breaking.
Eliot and Kaira made it into the building and met with Parker who was being cornered by a lone security guard. Eliot one, two punched him out, with Parker half smiling as Eliot spun his hand, indicating to move. "Parker, next time you do something stupid like try to crack a Steranko, call us." Kaira scolded as Parker smiled and turned to get ready. "Hardison. Options." Parker said as she started running.
"Stairwell. Opening the doors... now. Hardison said.
Eliot opened the door, revealing a group of goons in the stairwell coming up. "Damn it, Hardison! What the hell, man? You're supposed to keep these guys off of us." Eliot said, not happy.
"Hey, man. Do - Do you want my job?" Hardison asked.
"You want mine?" Eliot asked as he quickly took a guy down, causing the other guard to stop in their tracks.
"Look, you guys need to get to the biotech level, because Steranko is locking me out." Hardison said as Parker ran up the steps.
"Upstairs is the wrong way, Parker!" Kaira said as she and Eliot went after the other goons. "I know what I'm doing." Parker said. Eliot and Kaira were fighting the goons as Parker did her thing.
"Oh, look, I am not trying to rush y'all, but y'all need to put some pep in your step." Hardison said.
Parker was setting up her rig as the couple kept fighting. "Where's the next open door?" Parker asked Hardison.
"Biotech floor, 10 floors down from your last location." Hardison said.
"Okay, thanks." Parker said. "Eliot, Kaira, how much do you weigh?" Parker asked the couple. "Are you kidding me? Is she kidding me?" Eliot asked, having a guy in a chokehold. "I'm really not." Parker said. She repelled down as Kaira knocked the goon out and disarmed him. "I ain't riding that thing." Eliot said. "I'll get on." Kaira paid, getting on the rope with Parker. "Fine. See you on the biotech level." Parker said as she repelled down. "And bring one of those scanners!" Parker yelled. Eliot grabbed the scanner and ran down the steps.
"Okay. I got you an elevator and an open door on the vault level floor, but now I am officially locked out." Hardison said.
"All right. Get Sophie and get going." Nate ordered.
"What about Parker?" Hardison asked.
"Not your problem. Get going." Nate ordered as Hardison packed up his things and left, grabbing Sophie along the way.
"This is never gonna work." Archie said as Nate dialed the phone. "Not now, Leech. I'm on the phone." Nate said.
The trio inside the building was running down the hallway, with Eliot and Kaira taking out the goons along the way, scaring the two female employees. Then an awkward guy in glasses went to talk to Parker, and Eliot pushed the guy by the throat against the wall. "He's okay." Parker said to Eliot, calming him down. "He's okay." Parker said, getting Eliot off of him. "Who's that guy?" The poor guy asked Parker. "Uh, my husband." Kaira said, following Eliot. "Sorry." Parker said, running to catch up. "What's sexting?" Parker asked the couple. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Parker." Eliot said. Kaira groaned. "Parker, not in the mood right now." Kaira said. They arrived at the lab door. "It's a retina scanner." Eliot pointed out. Parker extended her hand and Eliot grabbed the scanner from the goon they had knocked out at the stairwell and handed it to Parker. "Only way to beat the Steranko..." Parker said, playing with the scanner, pulling up a retina and putting it to the scanner, unlocking the door. "...is with the Steranko." Parker said, shoving the scanner to Eliot's chest, pushing him back as Parker opened the door. She went to the box the blight was in. "Not an Ascii code. It's a shell code." Parker explained, typing it in. The cylinder came out of the wall and Parker grabbed it, holding it up. "That's great. You're awesome. Let's go!" Eliot mocked, dropping it quickly to yell at Parker. Just then, an alarm started blaring. The pad on the wall said there was a hazmat containment breach.
The trio got out of there as Nate and Archie walked to the crew of firefighters, grabbing a hazmat suit from the truck. Archie drew a gun on Nate, hiding it under a coat. "That building's completely locked down. They're gonna catch her. And it's all at your door. She was perfect. You ruined her. If you'd left her alone..." Archie said, upset Parker was still inside and grabbing the blight. "I didn't put her in there Leech." Nate argued, calm. "She stayed up there to service you and your pathetic Robin Hood fantasy. I made her unique. What is she now?" Archie said. "I-I have no idea what Parker is now. I doubt she know. You're a thief. You're not a hitter." Nate said, sizing up Archie, looking him in the eyes. "You know nothing about me." Archie said. "What I do know id that we'd both die to protect her. Now, if you're gonna shoot me, do it. I got work to do." Nate turned back to grab the hazmat suit. "You're going in after her?" Archie questioned, surprised. "Alway was, Leech." Nate said, handing a suit to Archie. "Always was." Nate repeated.
Hannity and the main guard went in the elevator, with Archie and a reporter's crew still in hazmat gear. "It's safe up here?" Hannity asked the guard. "The entire floor has been evacuated. We're alone." The guard said. Archie took the helmet off, revealing his face, holding the cannister. "We had a deal." Hannity said. "We did, until you breached our original contract. After all, you did want to kill me - and my partner." Archie said. "Business is business." Hannity argued. "Yes. And so the price has gone up. If you want your property, you'll now pay double." Archie negotiated. "I've heard your proposal. Now here's mine - I take the blight now. Mr. Vorhees kills all of you and feeds your bodies to the very expensive incinerators we have in the sublevel." Hannity threatened. "And the police outside?" Archie questioned. Hannity chuckled. "They're perfect. With all those eyes on the break-in, the hazmat spill - It'll be easy to blame the theft on, well... you people. Six months from now, when the famines make news, Wakefield will be the only company with a fix. So... How do you want it? Straight on? Back of the head? Mr. Vorhees is flexible." Hannity said, threatening Archie. "Oh, neither, I think. Is that enough for you, young lady?" Archie asked the person next to him. "That's plenty." The woman said. She took off her helmet, revealing herself as a reporter. "Janet Lin, channel 6 news. I'll just need to follow up on your little conspiracy to commit murder. Any comment, Doctor? We're live." Janet said, her crew revealing themselves. Hannity chuckled nervously.
The team flashed back to when Nate and Archie were still on the roof, Nate asked Hardison to trigger a Hazmat evacuation, and called the producer of Janet's show, thinking she would rather have a Pulitzer than a local Emmy. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira gave Archie the canister and Hardison got Nate out of the elevator. They met on the floor that they were originally going to use to get out, using the lift Eliot stole to get down, looking at Hannity's confused expression as they went down.
They met back up later after Nate and Parker said goodbye to Archie.
Later, the team was all celebrating their win with some food and drink that Eliot prepared. After they ate and talked and drank, Kaira volunteered to do the dishes, and Nate walked up to her.
"Hey, kiddo." Nate said, going beside Kaira. She smiled and turned the water off and looked at Nate. "Hey Nate." Kaira said, wondering what was on Nate's mind. "I was thinking, hearing Archie call Parker kiddo, I was reminded of you." Nate said. "What?" Kaira questioned, not sure where this conversation was going. "I'd like to think that I taught you a lot, as a mentor of sorts. Then when Eliot told me that he wanted my permission to marry you cause that's what fathers are supposed to do for their daughters, I was reminded that I never got to have a daughter." Nate said, Kaira tried not to cry. "Nate, you don't have to." Kaira said, now knowing where this conversation was going. "I do. And I met you and Parker, and it was like I had two daughters. I'd do anything to protect you. And I know I wasn't always the best person to be looking up to. I mean, you were the one who called my drunk ass out the first time. And, the fact that even after all that, you still thought of me as a dad, and looked up to me, it did affect me. I know you aren't my biological daughter, but it doesn't matter to me. You're my daughter. And I'm proud of you." Nate said, started to get emotional. Kaira just hugged Nate. "Thank you, Nathan. And I know you're not my biological father, but you are the closest thing I have to one. I love you, Nathan. And I am proud to be your daughter. And, I'd never really fit in with a normal family. I like the one I have." Kaira didn't let go of Nate for a while, just teared up in his shoulder, taking in the moment they were in. Both father and daughter had gotten what they wanted to say out, and knew that they would do anything for the other.