AERIAL BASE RAMSTEIN, GERMANY

"Sir." Ethan greeted Hunley as we walked up the tarmac to meet him near the C130 we would be boarding.

"Ah Kensi O'Connell. I've heard so much about you. It's an honor to meet you. Brandt has told me many things." I smiled at him. I had hoped this meeting would go over well.

"Speaking of Brandt, any idea where my fiancé is?" I asked him raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms.

"That'll have to be a whole other conversation Kensi. Sorry to do this to you, I know you're probably worried sick." I rolled my eyes. What the hell was everyone's problem? I wasn't worried I was PISSED. He took himself out of field work no one has seemed to have heard from him except director Hunley. Hunley cleared his throat getting back to business.

"Ethan. That phone you unlocked lead us to a server in Iceland but we managed to decrypt the communicate between John Lark and this woman: Alanna Mitsopolis, activist and philanthropist whose charity work has earned her the nickname the White Widow." We both looked the file over she was pretty. Completely what I had expected from the name.

"It's all a front for her real trade: arms dealing, money laundering. Extensive political connections provide her with protection. Lark and the Widow were meeting tonight to negotiate the delivery of an unspecified package. Which we can only assume is our missing plutonium. They'll make contact in a private lounge at the Grand Palais in Paris. During her annual fund-raising event. The details are in the file. If Lark isn't there by midnight the Widow will leave. And sell the package to the highest bidder. Which gives you two hours from now to find Lark." Hunley continued as we walked closer to the plane's loading doors.

"Sir, I think there's something you need to know." Ethan started.

"I'm gonna stop you right there. You had a terrible choice to make in Berlin. Recover the plutonium or save your team. You chose your team and now the world's at risk. Some flaw, deep in your core being simply won't allow you to choose between one life and millions. You see that as a sign of weakness. To me, that's your greatest strength. It also tells me I can count on you to cover my ass. Because coming over here from CIA was a lateral move. Some say a step down. But I did it because of you. Don't make me regret it." Jesus Christ this man never stopped talking. He was nice as can be but NEVER stopped. The planes engines started to shut down the noise going obsolete.

"What do you think you're doing, Erica?" Hunley asked her. I eyed the guy behind her. He was not dressed like he was about to be skydiving out of a plane anytime soon.

"It may be your mission but this is the CIA's plane. It doesn't take off without my say-so." The woman continued.

"We don't have time for this." Hunley tried to stop her agenda. Someone must have been angry he left the CIA.

"I have a team in Paris ready to grab Lark as soon as he gets to Palais. A G5 standing by to rendition him to GITMO where waterboard is waiting." I rose my eyebrows Guantanamo Bay an interesting place to visit. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

"Spend 24 hours we don't have to pull a confession. We can't trust from a man we haven't positively identified? No. We need reliable intelligence and we need it now. This scenario is precisely why the IMF exists!" Hunley argued with the woman. I rolled my eyes.

"The IMF is Halloween, Alan. A bunch of grown men in rubber masks playing trick or treat. And if they had held on to the plutonium in Berlin we wouldn't be having this conversation." She argued back. I laughed.

"Something funny?" She looked at me. I sized her up debating how far I could get with my mind games.

"Lady. It doesn't sound like you've ever been in the field. If you had you would know the people you're close to or your team would NEVER leave you in the arms of a hostile force even if the world depended on it. Sounds like either you don't have a good team or the CIA is seriously messed up in the head... Or maybe, perhaps, a relationship gone wrong. Was that it? Were you abandoned as a child and have trust issues because daddy and mommy left you? Or did daddy want a boy and you just had to fill the role?" I asked her stepping over many lines but at that moment I didn't care.

"Kensi…" Ethan whispered to me. He looked shocked as did everyone else. He pulled me away from the huddle for a minute to collect me.

"You're angry. I get that, but try not to pull them all apart just yet. I know you want Brandt back. We just have to wait and see what happens, okay? After all, we have a mission." He talked down to me. I didn't like that at all I just rolled my eyes and walked onto the still open loading door and sat down waiting.

"And that's why I want one of my own men on the scene. To appraise the situation. Agent Walker, Special Activities." My ears perked up eavesdropping on their conversation.

"His reputation precedes." Hunley said.

"You use the scalpel. I prefer a hammer." She rebuttled.

"The answer is No. I have operational authority here. Direct from the President. You have a problem with that, you take it up with him." He told her, annoyed.

"I have already and he agrees with me. My man goes. Or no one goes." She told him. Ethan then joined me on the plane sitting next to me.

"Kensi. What the hell was that?" He asked me as the loading doors shut with the three of us ready to go.

"I needed a mind to pry apart and spit in." I told him anger dripping off my tone.

"Well, you sure are a pistol, aren't you?" Agent Walker interrupted our conversation walking onto the plane.

"Kensi O'Connell. Agent Walker, special operations for the CIA." He carried on.

"Pleasure." I said sarcasm dripping off my tone.

"The White Widow has spies in every level of government. This plane is posing as commercial airliner so we can jump into France undetected. The Widows meeting Lark in a VIP lounge at midnight. No one can be a bidder without a pre-issued electronic ID band. We've acquired the unique RFID number for Larks band allowing us to locate it...with these." He handed us all phones. As he handed Walker the file.

"Find that ID band, you find Lark." Ethan wrapped up the briefing.

"Then what?" Meathead asked.

"Then... I assume his identity. Make contact with the Widow. She takes us to the package." Ethan told him, he didn't know how we worked. So Ethan made a demo he scanned Walker's face and showed the computer to him that copied his face into a mask. It was impressive but not to him.

"People actually fall for this shit? How do you intend to make Lark cooperate?" He asked trying to poke holes in the plan.

"I bump him in the crowd. In 10 seconds he'll look like any other drunk at the party. Incoherent,

completely pliable. After Ethan borrows his face you walk him out the front door and hand him over to Sloane's extraction team." I told him pulling out our beautiful needle filled with the drug.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Hunt." He told Ethan completely ignoring me.

"That's not what this is about." Ethan told him starting to get annoyed.

"Sure it is. I know you don't want me on this detail. But let's face it. If you made the hard choice in Berlin I wouldn't be here." He told Ethan trying to ruff us up and it was working for me I was ready to kick him off this plane with no parachute on. After all we were at about 35,000 ft. No way he would make that fall alive.

"Listen here." I said standing up ready to fight him. Ethan stood with me and took my arm pulling me behind him begging me not to speak with his eyes. He was not ready to get on this guy's bad side yet.

"If you hadn't gun down your Syndicate agent they sent you to find. I wouldn't be here. That's right. I know all about you. You're why we don't have living witness who can identify John Lark. Or the Apostles." He told him, I smirked from behind Ethan.

"If you have a problem with my methods you can always stay behind. Your mission, should you choose to accept it. Isn't that the thing?" He bombarded us back.

"Two minutes to decompression." A voice spoke as the light turned red. I started putting on my suit in silence placing the helmet on my head and the oxygen tank on my front clipping it into my helmet.

"Suit up!" Ethan announced putting on his suit with Walker in tow.

"The Widow is meeting Lark in 30 minutes." He gave us more time details.

"10 seconds to decompression." The voice reminded us.

"Is your oxygen on? There's no atmosphere at this altitude. I don't need you blacking out on me." Ethan asked Walker as he was struggling with his oxygen tank his glass fogging up. He fixed the situation quickly. I would've just let him black out. Who cares? We didn't need him.

"Hey, your heads up display has built-in guidance system. Follow it to the target. Open your chute when the system says. Not before, definitely not after. Or the last thing that goes through your mind will be your kneecaps. Is that clear?" He asked Walker. I walked over to the door that was let down for us to jump. I noticed storm clouds below us with thunder and lightening coming from them.

"Crystal." Walker wised up listening to Ethan's words finally. Ethan walked up next to me leaving Walker behind us.

"We gotta talk. We need to rethink this." Ethan said walking back up to Walker preparing to warn him about the storm.

"Out of my way, Hunt!" He said to him.

"Walker, we have a problem. There's a storm and we need to..." He stopped talking I turned around and saw his oxygen line was disconnected. Fuck.

"Enough talk. I'll see you in Paris!" Walker told him walking past me and jumping before I could do anything.

"ETHAN!" I yelled to him. He waved his hand at me telling me to go after him. I did as I was told knowing he'd be okay. I dove out of the plane after Walker following him but not too closely I avoided the lightening as best I could.

"Altitude, 25000 feet." My HUD started to talk to me.

"Walker!" I heard Ethan yell.

"What's the matter, Hunt? Afraid of a little lighting?" He asked.

"You should be, that volt coming out of that 'little lightening' can kill you." I told him as I agilely kicked him down a little more closer to the bolt.

"Altitude, 20000 feet."

"Son of a bitch!" I heard Ethan say.

"You good Ethan?" I asked him as I popped out of the storm.

"Yeah. Fine. Walker? Do you copy? Walker? Kensi, you got eyes on him?" He carried on as I was near Walker.

"Yeah. He got struck. Oxygen tank looks like it's gone." I told him a smile on my face.

"Altitude, 15000 feet."

"Kensi!" He yelled to me.

"So what? He'll lose a couple brain cells. He'll be fine." I told Ethan as he moved closer to us.

"Altitude, 10000 feet." Ethan grabbed onto me I was holding onto Walker.

"9000."

"Shit! Kensi give him yours." I sighed Ethan let go of me so I could do my thing.

"FINE. We're getting more air now so I'll be fine." I released my oxygen from my front where it was connected and clipped it onto Walker connecting his oxygen line to the tank.

"8000.

7000.

6000.

5000.

4000."

"Walker! Walker!" Ethan yelled trying to get into contact with him.

"3000."

"Deploy! Deploy! Deploy!" I pulled Walkers chute and mine at the same time letting go of him and maneuvering myself to the drop zone.

"Oh, God!" I heard Ethan say as he released his chute from where he was. Falling down off the dome and landing close to me.

"Looks like you lost your oxygen." I heard Walker say from behind me as I ran up to Ethan making sure he was alright.

"I gave it to you, meat head. You're lucky I didn't just let you fall down to your death." I told him glaring at him as I took off my helmet collecting my chute. I walked to the stairs on the roof unzipping my suit as we made our way into the nightclub. I heard him laugh behind me.

"Let's just get this over with before I decide you're not worth my effort." I told him.

"I thought you already did." He told me a smug smile on his face for sure.