We knew the plan forwards and backwards, visualized it in our heads multiple times. Ethan was snoozing in the back near me and Walker. He woke when his phone started ringing. Hopefully, with the details of the next part of our plan.
"Yes?" He answered.
"I am."
"Yes. Where do I go?" He asked the last question and he hung up. Quite pleased with himself. We drove off to our pre-arranged spot where we would be keeping Lane until we needed him. It was an abandoned subway station we had used on one of our previous missions. As we walked near where we would be placing Lane, I noticed Hunley come out of the shadows.
"Mr. Secretary?" Ethan asked him what he was doing here and how he knew we were here. Although it was all apart of a plan.
"I've prayed to God that it wasn't true." He said to us all.
"Well, in his defense, sir, if Ethan hadn't intervened a great many people would've been killed." Benji spoke hoping to stop this madness.
"Yes, Dunn, I'm sure that the good people of Paris and the nation of France as a whole will take that into account. So, what the hell happened?" Ethan shifted his weight looking uncomfortable. Benji and Luther threw Lane in a makeshift cell and put a sedative in his neck and a camera on the wall. He passed out immediately. I stood there with Ethan explaining the situation to Hunley.
"We met with the Widow in Paris, we agreed to capture Lane and in return she would put us in contact with a courier." I explained.
"At which point we were told to come to London. And await further instructions." Ethan continued and watched as Luther and Benji walked back towards us.
"And what happens now?" He asked seeming very calm about all of this.
"Now? We meet the Widow in 20 minutes. She's gonna take us to courier who'll hand over our missing plutonium in exchange for Solomon Lane. Or in our scenario... Benji." Ethan explained the 'plan' to him. Opening up the computer to get the mask software running. I crossed my arms, happy with the plan.
"Jesus!" Walker opened his mouth, if he didn't shut it soon I was going to actually kill him this time.
"I'm sorry, what?" Benji asked Ethan appalled that Ethan even had the thought.
"Luther, Kensi, and I are gonna take you to courier while Walker stays here and guards the real Lane." Ethan told the plan in simple terms so everyone understood the outcome.
"Absolutely not!" Walker said to us.
"Wait, wait! Why do I have to be Lane?" Benji asked as Luther gestured to himself and I. He nodded and seemed to understand why it had to be him.
"Benji." Ethan said to him, getting him go along with it.
"Our mission, my mission is to recover that plutonium and I will do so at any cost! Even if I have to trade Lane. The real Lane!" Walker told us as if we didn't already know what the plan was.
"And I'll never let him go." Ethan told him assertively.
"When the Apostles realize that you're playing games you'll lose the plutonium. Again!" Walker yelled at him.
"You let us worry about the Apostles. I was in their organization for a bit. Infiltrating and gathering information." I told him warning him not to cross a line.
"As it stands we have a bigger problem." Ethan continued.
"A bigger problem?" Hunley inquired.
"Ilsa." Ethan just stated. I fucking knew it. I knew she had problems but she was out of the game or so it seemed. When she showed up in Paris though I had an inkling that she wasn't there for pleasure.
"Ilsa? Our Ilsa? Ilsa Faust? How's she mixed up in all of this?" Benji asked him directly throwing the conversation towards Ilsa.
"She's been ordered to kill Lane. Direct from MI6." Ethan spoke.
"Look. Wait. So that was her in Paris? On the bike?" Luther continued putting the pieces together.
"Yeah." Benji gestured his arms at Luther making sure the point was heard.
"Ethan, she tried to kill me!" I yelled at him making a point gesturing to my rib cage.
"No, not you, Lane." He told me as I stood there annoyed at everyone.
"Yeah!" Benji emphasized my point.
"Not us, Lane. She tried to kill Lane. She has no choice." He told us, I knew he was right but I wanted to prove a point here to get Walker off the trail.
"And she'll kill me!" Benji emphasized.
"I'm not gonna let that happen!" He said to him.
"Ethan, how exactly are you not gonna let that happen?" Benji asked, wanting a solid answer that wouldn't be given to him no matter how much he wanted it.
"I'm working on it." He told him.
"Oh, he's working on it." Benji said to me. I smirked.
"Tell that to my ribs, Ethan." I said to him backing Benji up on this one.
"Right now we don't have a lot of time. We have to start getting ready for this meeting." Ethan told all of us being authoritative and dictator like. It was an interesting light to see him in. I have to admit it was to my favorite.
"The meeting is a trap. The White Widow is working with the CIA. She has been since the beginning. Bargaining for immunity is her stock and trade. Capturing the plutonium and the Apostles and John Lark buys her a lot of good will with the Americans." Hunley explained to us.
"But if Sloan knew the meeting was a trap why didn't she just tell us?" Luther spoke up this time.
"Because in her mind anybody could be John Lark. Including one of us. And now her suspicions are confirmed. According to that dossier a trail of electronic evidence connects Hunt to the theft of smallpox from the CDC. It also links him to a lengthy correspondence ending with the recruitment of Dr. Debruuk. And of course Hunt handed over the plutonium to Apostles himself. Now, those facts coupled with a long and incriminating history of rogue behavior collaborate a CIA narrative that Hunt has snapped. And the search for Lark is nothing but a cover to hide the fact that Lark…" Hunley told us.
"...Is me." Ethan said defeated.
"Ethan would never do that. You must know this!" I raised my voice to get my point across.
"I gotta hand it to you, Ethan. Normally when people refer to you as your own worst enemy it's just a figure of speech. I'm afraid Sloan has got some questions for Kensi and her as well." He said as Ethan opened the dossier and saw Ilsa's photo next to mine.
"The Widow offered her up at no extra charge. And Kensi, I'm sure you'll go without a fuss." He said eyeing me. I scoffed.
"Unlikely, sir." I replied.
"And where did Sloan get this information?" Ethan asked as his eyes slowly made his way up to me. He knew this would happen. He knew because he talked to Ilsa. Being directly involved put us in a bind.
"She didn't say. She did, however, grant me the opportunity to bring you and Kensi in on the condition that I terminate this mission. And hand over Solomon Lane personally." Hunley spoke.
"Sir, you can't do that." Ethan told him desperately.
"Hunt!" Hunley yelled at him trying to get him to abandon the wild goose chase.
"No, I know Lane. He has no intention of going back." Ethan spoke trying to get our secretary to understand the gravity of the situation.
"That's why we're taking him back!" He rebuttled.
"Which means that's exactly what he wants us to do." I spoke slowly and collectedly.
"Ethan." He tried to reason.
"Sir, what do you think, this is a coincidence? That Sloan just happened to find this? Lane had it sent to her! He know how she'd react. Just like he knew the Widow would turn us in. Don't you see? This, sir. This is the trap! We're being directed." Ethan started to spiral throwing his hand on the dossier.
"Hunt!" This time Hunley yelled at him crossing his arms across his chest.
"Sir, there are still two plutonium cores in the wind!" Ethan tried again. Hunley knew we were the only people who could get them back.
"And you lost them!" Hunley yelled again trying to get him to see what he was doing.
"In fairness, sir, we all lost them." Benji said.
"Respectfully, sir. You weren't there." Luther spoke up trying to defend Ethan from the blows he was getting.
"You would've done the same if you were." I told him. Siding Ethan on this.
"So, making excuses for him is your full-time job now?! Good God, Ethan. Don't make this any harder than it already is. I can no longer protect you! Don't you understand that? This is as close as you're ever gonna get to that plutonium!" Hunley yelled at him getting out of control. I was really having to ask myself if this was real were we really being pulled from this mission to pursue something else.
"Sir, you don't actually believe this?" Ethan asked him sadness in his voice visible. I turned around, I couldn't listen to this.
"I believe I've been given a choice to protect you or the IMF. Which is why I'm bringing you in." He stated more calmly now.
"And if I refuse?" Ethan asked.
"What do you think he's here for?! You think he's some observer? He's an assassin! Erica Sloan's number one plumber." Hunley lost his temper yet again walking towards Ethan.
"You go rogue, he's authorized to hunt you down...and kill you." He said to us.
"You're going to have to go through me." I told him spinning back around, twirling my knives in my hands.
"It's the job. No hard feelings." Walker said to both of us. I scoffed, of fucking course not.
"Except it, Ethan. You've lost this one. What's done is done." Hunley said to Ethan.
"No, sir." Ethan replied.
"No? I'm not asking you. I'm giving you a direct order. This mission is terminated. Now! Stickell, he's your friend. Would you, please, talk some sense into..." Hunley started on Luther. As this was happening Ethan grabbed the tranquilizer Benji had set down on the table in front of us and stabbed it into his neck.
"I'm sorry, sir. But you left me no choice. There's 15 minutes before we meet the Widow. You want the plutonium? We're the only ones who can get it for you. You're in or out?!" Ethan asked Walker.
"In." Walker replied almost immediately.
"Well that was a quick change of heart." I said to him putting my knives back into their places on my person.
"What are you doing?" Luther asked him as he walked up behind where Hunley was passed out.
"Benji needs to get ready." Ethan told us.
"No! Ethan..." Luther tried to reason with him.
"There's no time, Luther. I need you to trust me." Ethan said to him. I knew Luther trusted him without a fault. This was for show. Luther helped Benji up and they ran to go create the mask of Soloman Lane.
"You all right?" I asked him as I walked in towards both men in the cell.
"Yeah, I just... Gotta a bad feeling about this one." Benji said to us as he put his voice changer onto his neck.
"You'll be great Benji. I won't let anything happen to you." I told him reassuringly. We quickly switched Lane and Benji's places. So that we were carrying the real Lane out and Benji was passed out in the chair we had put Lane in just moments earlier. We walked out of the cell all together waiting for Ethan now.
"If you don't hear from us..." Ethan told him waiting for him to finish the sentence.
"I'll do it my way." Walker told him. I nodded at him.
"Don't take your eyes off him." Ethan reiterated as he walked towards us weapons loaded and ready to go 'meet the widow'. We hid within the complex watching Walker interact with Lane through the iPad Benji set up. He took the camera off the wall and smashed it.
"Enough games. Let's get you out of here." Walker told Benji.
"Where's Hunt?" He asked.
"He's gone to the meeting. With a copy of you." Walker told him. The plan was working.
"Calm down. Call the Apostles. Warn them." I cringed. If anything I would've changed that line.
"I have no way of contacting them. For their safety and mine. But I do have an extraction team and satellite over-watch at pre-arranged rendezvous. They'll know as soon as we leave the building." Walker said to him.
"No. I'm staying here. I haven't finished with Hunt yet." Benji stayed stubborn as Lane would.
"Why did you have to make this so fucking complicated?!" Walker yelled at who he thought was Lane.
"I don't understand what do you mean?" Benji asked him.
"The deal was simple. I help you frame Hunt. You give me plutonium. You're wasting time!" Walker yelled again. He was making it very easy to get proof on him that he was in fact John Lark.
"There cannot be peace without first a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace." Benji quoted the words off Dr. Debruuk's manifesto.
"When I wrote those words I wasn't referring to your peace. Or Hunts suffering." Walker replied.
"The old world order needs dismantling and we have the tools to dismantle it. All you seem to care about is that Hunt lives to take the blame. That's not anarchy. That's revenge." Walker told him seriously.
"Yes, it is. And when I have what I want the Apostles are getting the plutonium." Benji replied to him. Walker fed up, walked away. He spun around another thought on his mind he wanted to get out.
"Hunt's the only friend you've got. You're only alive today because he didn't have the guts to kill you!" He spat out.
"Sloan is right. The IMF is Halloween. Nothing but grown men wearing..." He paused realizing what we were up to.
"What?" Benji asked trying to hide his smile that we had debunked his plans and revealed his real identity. Walker advanced towards Benji tearing the mask off his face.
"It's just the job. No hard feelings." Benji regurgitated his words to him. Hunley had since 'woken up' and walked up behind Walker a gun to the back of his head.
"I've ruined your day, haven't I?" Hunley asked him. Walker quickly disarmed him pointing the gun in Hunley's direction and firing although it wasn't loaded.
"And you were doing so well up until then." Hunley chided.
"And I think this one's loaded. You want to find out?" Hunley asked him as he pulled out his second gun he had within his coat. Benji tore the mask fully off and grabbed the unloaded gun from Walkers hand. Walker walked out of the cell his arms up with Benji and Hunley on his tail. Benji reloaded the gun and walked him out towards our hiding place.
"So, how did I do?" Benji asked us as he joined us in a circle around Walker and Lane, the real Lane.
"I never had a doubt." Ethan told him happily. I smiled at Benji's work.
"I'm beginning to see why you guys enjoy this so much." Hunley said to us.
"Hats off, Mr. Secretary." Benji smiled to him.
"Man's a natural." Luther said.
"Welcome to the team, sir." Ethan and I said to him in unison. We looked at each other, giving a slight smile.
"You're making a mistake." Walker tried to reason with us.
"No, the mistake was mine when I saved your life over Paris." I spat out at Walker.
"Should've let you fall to your death after the 'little' lightening hit you." I continued.
"This proves nothing. I'm playing a role. Just like you are. Trying to recover that plutonium." Walker tried again to turn us away from him.
"Sure. Just like Brandt will come home tomorrow and everything will be alright." I told him sarcastically. He blinked at me knowing that I had an inkling of the whereabouts of Will. He realized he'd been foiled at that moment.
"Trying to get close to me. That was a smart move Walker, I won't lie. But if you really wanted to impress Lane or I, you should've just kept your nose clean, away from me." I told him. He frowned he knew I had a plan for his demise.
"That doesn't explain why you gave Sloan the dossier and tried to frame Hunt." Hunley tried to get the confession out of him and stay on topic. All of us knew the truth, he was John Lark.
"He makes a good point, Lark." Ethan said his name and popped the 'k'. Walker showed no emotion.
"He's paranoid. Delusional. Just like the dossier says." Walker said again.
"So where did Sloan get the dossier from?" Hunley asked him.
"I have no idea." Walker tried again.
"I do." Hunley's phone rang out. Erica Sloans voice coming through the speaker. I smiled. I was starting to warm up to her. Walker froze.
"Did you get all that, Erica?" He asked her.
"I did. I don't appreciate being used, Walker." She told him.
"Opps… Bad boy." I smiled wickedly the words falling out of my mouth like a waterfall.
"Where would you like him delivered?" Hunley asked her.
"I'll come to you." She said. Suddenly, the lights were off and we were in the dark. I quickly pulled my gun. A team of about 20 guys came into the area and charged us.
"Nobody move! Put them down! Drop them! Hands in the air! Weapons down! Drop it! Drop it! Weapons down! Right now!" They said, I slowly put my gun on the ground and put my hands on my head. Ethan took a while to put his down trying to tell them everything was alright. I looked at him through the flashlights being shown on us. Urging him to throw it down, we didn't know who these people were. They could be the CIA.
"I thought we had a deal?" Hunley asked Erica.
"We did and now we don't. There's too much at stake here for me to take any chances. I'm bringing you all in. Along with Walker.
"The plutonium is still out there!" Hunley tried to reason.
"And I don't trust a living soul in that room to get it. We'll sort out who's who in Washington." She said. Ah what a bitch. Back to square one, Erica. I was going to tear her a new one if she ever saw me again.
"Erica!" He yelled but she had already hung up on him.
"Sir. It's all right. Let's just do what she says. The only real threats are in this room and we have them." Ethan told him as the team moved forwards.
"Do you? Go!" I realized the mistake immediately. This was Walkers team. Probably most of them Apostles with the syndicate. They turned on the actual CIA team shooting them, dead. I quickly reached for my knife and threw it at Walker's shoulder, hitting him. He groaned and ripped it out of his body throwing it to the ground in front of me. I quickly grabbed my gun off the floor and shot at Walker missing since Ethan pulled me behind a pillar. I kept shooting anything that I thought was a 'CIA operative'.
"Where the hell is Lane?!" Walker shouted into the darkness. I noticed semi-auto fire in the building knowing it wasn't us nor Walkers followers. I ran behind Ethan to get closer to finding Lane. One of the men found Luther and grabbed him by the collar. I quickly took the shot and killed him.
"Ethan!" He shouted before he could even realize the man was dead who was holding him. Gunfire was everywhere and I was trying to avoid it best I could. I maneuvered to the pillar across from Ethan hiding in the shadows.
"Oh, no! Man down! Somebody, help!" Benji yelled. I looked at Ethan, making sure he had my back on this. He nodded silently and I sprinted through the gunfire to Benji's side.
"What's wrong? Oh my god." I said as I noticed the knife wound. I applied pressure the best I could until Luther appeared behind me with Ethan in tow. The gunfire had pretty much stopped and we were alone again. Lost Lane again.
"Sir?" Ethan asked as he applied pressure on top of my hands.
"Ethan, I tagged Walker but he's on the run. You gotta get him." Luther told him. Hunley grabbed Ethan by the shirt.
"Go." He breathed out. Ethans hand released mine and he had a moment.
"I'm sorry, sir." He told Hunley.
"Go." He breathed out once more. His eyes shutting. I released the pressure I had been holding on the wound, realizing one of his vital organs was punctured and he wasn't going to have a chance. Ethan sighed looking to me, I nodded at him, he knew I couldn't go with him, I was injured and I would just injure myself more if I ran with him. Ethan stood up about to run off.
"Ethan. Wait!" He stuck the tracker into his neck so we would know where he would be.
"Get that son of a bitch!" Luther yelled to him as Ethan ran off.