Lee stopped short and turned, grabbing Kate and pushing her back out of the way as bullets flew at them. She put her hands over her head as he sheltered her with his body. He wished Barney had brought them some armor. When it paused, Lee moved to shoot and kill the man in the other room with the machine gun.

"You all right?" he asked Kate.

"I'm good," she answered, giving him a curt nod. They moved forward again, taking out more men as they went.

"You almost done, Toll?" Lee asked into the comm Barney had given him.

"Not quite," Toll answered.

"Lee!" Kate yelled, grabbing the back of his shirt and yanking him back just as a bullet went past the end of his nose. Kate fired back and took out the attacker. He worked to calm his racing heart.

"Thanks," he said to her.

"Any time now, Toll," Barney's voice said. "There's too many."

"I got it, I got it!" Toll shouted. "Meet you outside!"

"You heard the man, let's move, move, move!" Barney hollered. Lee grabbed Kate's hand, and they ran for it. She ducked when bullets whizzed past them again. Lee shot out the window at the end of the hall, and Kate knew they were going to have to jump. They stopped once they got there and looked down. It made Kate dizzy even though it was only two stories up.

"Do you still trust me?" Lee asked her.

"Yes," she answered. He fired and killed a man coming up on them quickly before turning back to her.

"Give me your coat," he said. She did so. "Hang on to me."

"Okay," she said. He positioned himself at the window's edge, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He slung her coat over the cable there and held on tightly to both ends. It was the only choice they had. There was a brick wall at the other end of it, but he'd deal with it when the time came. He jumped out the window and prayed the cable would hold. Kate gave a yelp as they went down fast, and he looked down to see a dumpster just before the brick wall. Perfect.

"No, no, no!" Kate shouted when he let go. They fell together, and he managed to turn so that he would take the brunt of the fall. He wrapped his one hand around her head, trying to shield her as best as he could. He cried out when they hit the pile of garbage. It wasn't all entirely soft.

"Oh, God," he groaned.

"Lee?" Kate asked, moving so she was over top of him. "Lee? You okay?"

"Ask me tomorrow," he answered. They could hear more gunshots around the front of the building.

"Where are you guys?" Barney asked. "We gotta go!"

"Coming," Lee said, wincing. He pulled himself up with Kate's assistance and jumped out of the bin. He put his hands on her waist and helped her down after. He noticed a dirt bike sitting there as well as more men coming down the alley towards them where they were supposed to go to meet Barney.

"What do we do?" Kate asked.

"Uh, Barns," Lee said.

"Yea?"

"Just go. We got our own ride. Meet at the hotel."

"Okay."

"What ride?" Kate asked. Lee was already moving towards the dirt bike. "Wait, no. Lee, I...I don't like bikes." She'd been on his back home, but it was once, and she hadn't liked it then either.

"It's ride or die, sweetheart," Lee said, looking at her as he started it up.

"Are those really my only two options?"

"Get on," he ordered. She climbed on behind him just as they started to get shot at again. She screamed when Lee gunned it and shot them out to the main road. She held onto him as tightly as possible but still felt like she was about to fall off. They didn't make it far before two SUVs started chasing them, more bullets being shot at them. Lee swerved and dodged as best as he could. He tried not to feel afraid that they were going to die. Then, Kate surprised him.

"Let me up there!" she shouted, tapping his shoulder. Lee turned sideways, and she swung her leg around to pull herself in front of him, her gun in one hand and the other pulling out his from his holster.

"I thought you didn't like bikes!" he yelled.

"I don't! But I don't like dying that much more!" she shouted back.

He couldn't help but smile before putting his focus back on the road. Kate pressed herself into his chest, resting her chin on his shoulder, arms extended on either side of him, and started firing back at their attackers. Every so often, she moved side to side, getting better shots at the SUVs.

"Hang on!" Lee shouted, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly as he hit a jump and went into the air. They landed with a jarring jolt, and Kate's grip loosened. Lee moved his hand to catch her before she toppled off. One SUV still followed them. Kate righted herself so Lee could grab the handlebar again, and she carefully aimed at the SUV behind them. She shot out the left front tire, and it started to turn sideways. She fired at the man hanging out the window, killing him. It flipped after that, and she didn't see anyone else chasing them.

"All clear!" she yelled at Lee. She yelped as he turned sharply into an alleyway and came to a halt, his left hand catching her between the shoulder blades and pulling her into him before she fell over backwards. Kate was breathing like she'd run a marathon as she tucked his gun back into his holster.

"Well," she said. "That's that." She felt slightly giddy from the thrill of being so badass.

Lee wished they were anywhere but in a public place in that moment. It didn't stop him from pulling her into him tighter so he could kiss her, though. He was just relieved she was alive. Roger had definitely played the worst kind of game with him when he made it look like she'd been killed. He kissed her like it was the first time all over again. Her hands holding his face was the best feeling. He hated to stop it, but he knew they had to keep moving.

"Will you two keep it together for five minutes?" Barney's voice asked, startling them both.

"If you went through what I did, you'd be doing this too," Lee retorted. "We're coming."

"Drummer's here."

"Great," Lee said back. Kate kissed him one more time before moving behind him once more. He started the bike again and made his way to the hotel room, which wasn't that far away from where they'd stopped.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Drummer commented when they walked through the door. Gunner and Doc were there now too.

"We have to get Tansley back," Kate said.

"I have people working on that. You guys are going to get the ringleader. I tracked the number you gave me, and they're here. They're in your old apartment, Kate. They're probably trying to find your laptop to erase anything on it that might show who they are."

"We'll go," Kate nodded.

"I'll be on standby," Drummer said. The team geared up and headed out once more. Lee couldn't wait for it to all be over.

...

Kate rode the elevator with Lee. Toll was by the front door. Gunner was by the elevators. Caesar was riding up with them to guard the hall. Barney was on the street, watching. Drummer was also nearby with his own team.

"This is it," Kate said. "Home free after this."

"About bloody time," Lee commented. They walked towards her apartment, guns aimed in front of them. When they reached her place, the door was slightly ajar. She nudged it open and crept inside. The first thing she saw was Tansley tied to a chair in the middle of the living room. She stopped, making Lee bump into her. She grabbed his arm as he went to ask her what was wrong.

"Tansley," she said. Tansley whipped her head around. There was a shiner on her right eye now, and her lip was split.

"Kate," she whispered. She jerked her head in the direction of the bedroom. "They're in there!"

"Stay with her," Kate told Lee, who nodded and went over to her. Kate headed for the bedroom slowly. She leaped into the door frame, gun aimed. No one was in there. She frowned. She turned to check the bathroom, and it was the same thing. She came back down the hall and faltered when she came back to find Tansley holding a gun to Lee's head. His hands were outstretched on either side of him.

"I should have known better than to let Edward Nash have my phone number," Tansley said. "The idiot could have put it under any other name in his phone, but he puts it under 'New Boss.' I knew better than to keep him on."

"You," Kate said, not fully comprehending. "But...you're CIA."

"Oh, I am, but I do this too," Tansley said.

"You're the ringleader," Kate said, dumbfounded. She'd been tricked again.

"Of course not," Tansley scoffed. "But I'm second in command. My connections came in handy a lot. It kept us all one step ahead of everyone. The only problem was that they hid Joe Brown from me. I couldn't find him like I found Roger, probably because they know a mole freed Roger in the first place, and they didn't want that happening again. No matter, we can always recruit another Joe Brown. One thing for sure, though, is you'll never find the leader, Kate. Never."

Kate kept her gun trained on them both as Tansley inched for the door. Lee was calm and gave her a reassuring look.

"Do you trust me?" Kate asked him.

"With my life," Lee answered.

"Oh, how touching," Tansley mocked. "He won't have a life much longer, Kate. I'll personally see to that."

"You can try," Kate said. They were still moving. She knew Caesar was by the elevators and would get her if she missed.

"So what are you waiting for, Kate? Take the shot," Tansley ordered. She kept herself hidden behind Lee as they backed to the door. "Or do you think you'll miss? Chances of you killing him right now are higher than if I have to do it myself."

"Take the shot, Kate," Lee agreed. "It's okay."

Kate looked at him, and he mouthed I'll drop to her. She nodded. It definitely came in handy that she could read lips. She also knew he could probably easily turn around and disarm her, but he was letting her have this one since she'd spent so much time over here for apparently nothing.

"Hey, Tansley," Kate said, making her stop moving for a moment.

"What?" she asked, annoyed. Lee took this opportunity to elbow her hard to make her loosen her grip and then drop to the floor, and Kate took the shot. She didn't kill Tansley, just wounded her enough to make her unable to fire back. Lee was on her in an instant, securing her hands behind her. Caesar was there in moments.

"What happened?" he asked. He gaped at Tansley on the floor. "Her?! Seriously?! She's the ringleader?"

"There's someone else," Kate told him. "And Drummer is going to get it out of her." She was done with this. She was tired. She was sore. She wanted to go home.

"You're damn right he is," Caesar agreed, picking Tansley up from the floor. She grunted and groaned as Caesar propelled her forward down the hall. Kate holstered her gun and let out a breath.

"She played her part very well," Lee said. "Just like Cindy did."

"If I can't tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore," Kate replied, "then I shouldn't be in this career."

"She's the second in command," Lee mused. "And Drummer never told her about you being undercover despite him being her handler."

"You think he knew?" Kate asked, incredulous.

"Drummer is famous for keeping his thoughts to himself," Lee stated. He looked exhausted by this point. Kate knew she was. The adrenaline was wearing off.

"What did Roger do to you?" she asked. She suddenly needed to know. "You said 'if you went through what I did' to Barney earlier. What does that mean? Or was that just for...for the..." She couldn't even put words to what Roger had done to her. She was still working to forget it had even happened.

Lee chewed on his cheek for a moment. Then he sighed.

"He had you shot and killed on camera in front of me," he told her. "When I couldn't tell him where Joe Brown was."

"I...I don't understand," she said, frowning.

"He used footage of you and altered it to look like you were being shot and screaming while asking him to stop," Lee explained. "I should have noticed before that the scream was the same after every time, not different."

"Oh my...you must have been...oh, Lee," she said, going over to throw her arms around him tightly. He held her close to him, one hand on the back of her head and the other around her waist. It made sense now why Lee had looked so relieved to see her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from touching you," Lee said into her hair.

"I'm just relieved he didn't do worse," Kate replied, knowing he could have done much worse in front of Lee if he'd had more time like he'd said.

"Come on," he said, letting her go. "Let's go home."

He put his arm around Kate and walked out with her. She knew he was hurting more now but was hiding it. They reached the van outside, and Gunner helped them into the back. Barney shut the doors before going around to drive. Drummer had already left with Tansley. Everyone else was in the van.

"You look like shit," Gunner noted, closing the back door as he hopped in last.

"Thanks for the update," Lee retorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"You really should go to a hospital," Kate said to Lee.

"I feel fine," he shrugged, giving her a smile. She burrowed into him, and he cradled her head with his hand.

"Roger's dead, right?" Toll asked. "I meant to ask that earlier."

"He's dead," Lee confirmed.

"Thank God. Can we go home now?"

"Where do you think we're going?" Doc asked from the passenger seat.

Kate tuned them all out. She just wanted to be home and away from all of this. She wanted to be with Lee and retire from the CIA. She wanted out.

She hoped Lee felt the same way.

...

They didn't get to go home just yet. Lee and Barney sat in front of Drummer, who had his hands folded in front of him on the table. He seemed disgruntled.

"You got your guys," Barney said. "Why aren't you smiling?"

"We didn't get them all," Drummer answered. "And you damn well know that."

"I was just trying to look at the glass half full," Barney shrugged. "We got the guys you had your eye on. We missed one that you've never even seen."

"And they're the ringleader," Drummer retorted. He sighed and sat back in his chair, surveying Lee and Barney. "This isn't over, boys."

"It is for us," Barney said. "We did our job. You do yours now."

"Agent Fields is not giving us anything," Drummer said. "Roger is dead. Edward knows jack shit, and Boris managed to kill himself in his cell."

"Oof," Barney said, shaking his head. "You've got your work cut out for you then."

Drummer said nothing as he gave them both a dry look. He knew he couldn't make Barney do anything. He could only offer a job, and Barney could either accept or refuse. By the way Barney and Lee were both staring at him, he knew they were done.

"Safe flight, gentlemen," he said finally.

"For sure," Barney bobbed his head with a smile. He and Lee stood up and walked out, leaving Drummer sitting there to heave another sigh and wonder what the hell to do next.

But first, it was Kate's turn to debrief.

...

Kate watched Lee and Barney come out from talking to Drummer. She sensed a note of triumph between them, and she knew it meant they were going home.

"You're up," Barney said as he passed her, patting her shoulder.

"Don't let him muscle you into anything," Lee told her as she stood up.

"I won't," she promised, reaching to squeeze his hand lightly before going into the room with Drummer. She noticed right away that he looked defeated.

"Kate Macer," he said, clearing his throat. "Looks like you got your man."

"I did," she nodded.

"Did you have to kill him? We kind of needed him."

"He was trying to kill me," Kate pointed out. "It was either him or me."

"Fair enough," Drummer sighed. He sat in silence for a bit until Kate asked the question she'd been wanting an answer for.

"Why did you bring Lee's team here?" she asked. "You knew they'd see me."

"I guess there's no point in denying that anymore," Drummer agreed. "I brought them here because you were in too deep, and I knew they would help push things along faster."

"That's why you let Agent Fields learn about them and not me," Kate said, realizing. "You suspected her, and you knew if she found out someone was after the gang, she'd show her cards."

"I've suspected her for a while, but when Roger escaped our custody over a year ago, I knew he had inside help. She was the logical choice since she'd been working with him and the others for so long, and her reports always seemed to be missing something. I didn't tell her about you to keep you safe. I let her in on the boys because I knew it would light a fire under her ass, which it did, just like you said."

"So you let all of us get into danger because you kept your thoughts to yourself," Kate said a bit angrily.

"Barney always gets out of a mess."

"Yes, but for what price? Lee and I got tortured."

"And I'm sorry about that. Deeply. Roger moved a bit more quickly than I anticipated."

Kate was grinding her jaw as she looked at Drummer. She was definitely done with all of this. She was not going to be anyone's pawn anymore.

"Did you find the bomb?" Kate asked, wanting to know.

"FBI did," Drummer nodded. "By the skin of their teeth, I might add."

"Did you know the number in Edward's phone was Tansley's?"

"No, not until you found her at your apartment. That was a kick in the teeth, but it makes sense. If you don't want to be found, you don't give out your number to random people."

"So what happens now? You've got everyone but the ringleader. Won't they be useless without a team?" Kate asked.

"A ringleader can always create a new team," Drummer answered. "They'll be licking their wounds for now, but they'll be back."

"And what happens then?"

"Your boyfriend made it clear that he and his team aren't interested in helping. What are your thoughts?"

"I think I want to retire from it all and be with my boyfriend," Kate answered. "Sorry."

"I knew you'd say that. Well, if you ever change your mind, give me a call," Drummer said, handing her his card. She took it and nodded. She doubted she would.

"Take care," she said.

"You too, Kate," Drummer nodded. She walked out and found Lee standing there waiting for her. The question was in his eyes, but he didn't vocalize it as she went over to him. She reached to grab the edges of his jacket by his waist and pulled him into her, tilting her head back slightly.

"It's time for the bear and the wolverine to go home," she told him. His face broke out into a smile, and she started to laugh a little as he moved in to kiss her soundly.

I always loved that dirt bike scene from Knight & Day, so I borrowed it. One more chapter to go!