Chapter Eleven: Set Up

Gina had been on board with the plan to use Justin Masterson's own arrogance against him to help lure out the acting heads of St Regis. She was already in the crosshairs, so as long as it was done right, the quickest way to resolve the situation was for her and Jacob to do what they did best. If they had to play bait to do that, so be it.

Instead of meeting them on the battlefield, she had been shuffled from Keen's underground base to a next-to-top floor condo with security above and below. The windows were bulletproof, the door reinforced, and she could expect yet another guard in the suite with her. This one was prettier and owned by Jacob's pet company, but they had simply exchanged one cage for another, and one that was counterproductive to the goal she had thought they had agreed upon.

Her dark gaze drifted over the space. Theoretically it was set up to live in with a kitchen and a couple of bedrooms. It wasn't like they had had a lot of time to prepare it, but she did spot a bottle of scotch with a familiar label on it. Her favourite. Jacob must have been trying to soften the blow that they'd flipped everything on on her, and without her knowledge. He knew how she hated these sorts of ops…. the kind that left her exposed on all sides without the ability to fight back. She hadn't come to him to be fit in a corner to wait.

The man himself stood in the corner closest to the door with his wife, the two speaking in low, frustrated tones with each other. They were turned so Gina couldn't read their lips, and she wondered if they were about to be sent off to a similar set up with their daughter. Either Jacob wasn't as in control as he thought he was of the situation or he was trying to play it safe. While both options offered a different set of problems, they both ended in the same result.

Gina caught the brief, sharp glare that Keen threw her way before turning to look at Jacob. She reached up, taking his chin between her fingers to force him to meet her gaze, and Gina was surprised to see Jacob relax at the gesture that should have set him off. Instead he reached up, long fingers tangling in her dark hair, and he met Keen halfway in a kiss. They held each other there for what felt like a longer time than should be necessary, and Gina had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

Keen's hand drifted down the front of his shirt. "Be careful," she said, not bothering to keep the words private.

"You too. Love you."

His wife gave him a thin smile before turning towards the door, leaving Jacob alone in the condo with Gina. The blonde snorted. "Are you going to tell me the plan now, or are you really expecting me to just wait here for St Regis to attack and home that your people are lucky enough to fend them off?"

"It has nothing to do with luck."

There it was. This had been his call, or at the very least he had agreed to it. She stared at him as she took a hard seat in a chair, her mind spinning. She had come to him for help, and up until that point he'd delivered in the way Jacob always did. He thought outside the box, and when a solution wasn't immediately evident, he created one to get him to the goal he needed to reach. She had trust him, and now he was asking her to sit in this pretty cage and wait for them to kill them both.

Well, he could wait. "This is insane," she growled as she stood, starting for the door.

Jacob reached out and caught her, his grip firm on her arm. "You walk out that door and you'll have to fight your way out. My people may not have been trained at St Regis, but they're not pushovers. They have military backgrounds and come out of half a dozen other organizations just like ours was."

"You saying I won't make it?"

"I'm saying that you need to sit down. Have a drink or something."

"Wait for them to kill me you mean? You too."

He caught her gaze and held it. "I need you to trust me."

"That's a dangerous request."

"I'm not your enemy here. In fact, it's looking like I'm your only friend."

Katarina Rostova moved through the building without opposition. A friendly smile, an easy lie, and she had slipped by the laughable security. They really should look into that if they had any interest in protecting the people they relied on for their agents' mental health.

Though they should also take a deeper look into their employees though, while they were at it.

She had kept tabs on her daughter, even if she'd kept her distance. Masha had passed every test they threw at her to be reinstated into the FBI, but she had struggled with the therapy sessions. It had been a small blip on Katarina's radar at the time when they had begun. Not something to worry about, because how much damage could this Dr Fulton actually cause? That had been the theory any way. After everything, she really should have learned her lesson by that point that the ones that looked innocent on paper had the darkest secrets to hide.

A voice from inside the office gave her permission to enter without pause and the redhead slipped in, shutting the door behind her.

"Elizabeth, we have a deal when it comes to your reinstatement. It…" Sharon Fulton's voice trailed as she turned in her chair, obviously not finding the woman she expected.

Katarina's lips stretched at the corners, the smile a little more dangerous than she had flashed in the lobby. "Good afternoon."

"I'm sorry, but I'm expecting a patient," Fulton said carefully and Katarina watched her stand. The movement was slow and cautious. Something inside the woman knew that her afternoon had just become much more complicated than she had anticipated. .

"Yes. Elizabeth Keen." Fulton's eyes narrowed and she squared her shoulders back, trying to appear a little taller. It was amusing, and Katarina had to purposefully push at the urge to play a lengthy game of cat and mouse with the woman. Any other day it would have been entertaining, but Masha would be there soon, and while tracking her daughter down had been the ultimate goal, she might as well handle one more potential danger while she could. "Tell me, what deal did you make with my daughter for her reinstatement?"

"Daughter?" Fulton echoed, but then there was a flash of understanding in her eyes. "You're Katarina Rostova."

"One of many names," the former KGB agent answered easily.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"But you haven't answered my question." There was a sweetness in her voice that neither of them believed for an instant, but it wasn't meant to fool. Fulton might want her gone, but that didn't mean that Katarina hadn't sparked her interest. The woman sought out those she felt hadn't paid for their so-called sins. Her focus was criminals, but that likely had more to do with access than anything else. A former spy was surely as interesting as any criminal could be.

"That's privileged information."

"Ah." She circled the desk, coming to stand directly in front of Fulton, her gaze sweeping her up and down in a curious fashion. "Is it also privileged information that you use the federal agents that you see as patients to deliver your own brand of vengeance against those you deem worthy of it?" She watched the other woman stiffen. "Is that what you intend to do to Agent Keen? Or something more?"

The question hung in the air, Katarina refusing to break eye contact. They stood there, frozen and locked in a silent battle of wills that Katarina had no question she would have won, before the door burst open.

There was a beat and Fulton's gaze slid past Katarina. "Agent Keen."

Katarina turned then to find Masha staring at her like she'd seen a ghost, her voice escaping on a breath. "Mom."

"Hello, Masha. We need to talk."

The fact that so few could read him had been one a major asset to Tom over the years, and even more so when people mistook what they thought they were reading for the actual truth. Justin Masterson was one of those people. He'd played the older man time and again over their years with St Regis, to the point that Bud had done his best to keep their paths from crossing while on a case. Good fun or a vicious rivalry that would have landed one of them dead at some point, Tom still wasn't sure either of them knew, but the Major had made sure they never found out.

Over the years he had found a select few that did have his number. Liz was the first one that he'd truly let in. She knew him, both before and after she'd found his secret, and to that day she was still the one that knew him best. Gina might have been a close second though. Perhaps not as much anymore, but she had known him - the real him - long enough that she was more likely to pick up on a lie from him than most. He knew he was playing with fire, but Tom had always been good at rearranging the situation to fit what he needed.

Ressler had asked Tom to trust them more than he trusted Gina, and the request had hit harder than the agent would ever know. Gina was a blind spot for him. He knew that, mostly, and Liz had been the one to point it out yet again when he wanted to let her in on the back half of the plan to lure St Regis' people out. If Gina wasn't playing them, she would be more useful in the know, but if she was it would get him killed. No. They had to play this smart, and she had to think that leaving the safehouse was something she had worn him down on, not something he'd planned from the start. He needed it to look like they were going into hiding and let the three leaders mobilized. Six hours was more than enough for that. Now he was just waiting on a signal that the both Liz's and his teams had everything in place on the other end.

Tom glanced at his watch, the numbers lighting up along with a text that was being sent through an encrypted line thanks to Dumont. It was one word: Ready.

He pulled in a breath, gaze shifting over to where Gina was on the move again. Over the last six hours she had been up and down, to every corner, and had opened up the bottle of scotch he had had waiting for her. She felt caged, just like he knew she would, and his insistence that she just needed to trust him and his people was only driving her further.

Gina stopped halfway across the room. "Like what you see?" she asked without turning to him and Tom chuckled, shaking his head.

"Not really into impatience," he answered, slouching back in his seat a little and watching her for a moment before allowing his gaze to drift over the the window. Heavy curtains hung over it and slowly he stood, moving towards it and peeking out. "But I get it," he said at last. He risked a look at his watch and the lie slipped out sounding closer to the truth. "It wasn't supposed to take this long."

"Then why don't we do something about it?" Tom turned, tilting his head a little as she continued. "You want to draw them out, but they're not going to attack here. It's too well guarded."

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"Your people and your wife are trying to keep you alive by sticking you in here to wait them out. You said it yourself: those guards out there aren't pushovers, and while Franks and the others might find a way to slip in eventually -"

"Geffroy always has a way."

"And it'll get your people killed. Is that what you want?" At some point she had moved, and Tom found Gina nearly nose to nose with him. She was trying to play him, which was something he'd been waiting for. He needed her to think she was calling the shots.

She reached forward, her fingers teasing with the material on his shirt. "You and me, we're good at ending things quickly because don't let the other side have a chance to catch up."

"Take the fight to them?" She made a small sound acknowledgement and Tom finally allowed the smirk to touch his lips. She thought she had him, but it was the other way around. If he could trust her - really, truly trust her - it would have been simpler. But he couldn't, and it wasn't, so there they were. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"It's not like I don't know how to slip my own guards. Let's take the fight to them."

She flashed him a smile. Despite the less-than-honest approach, this was going to be fun.

The last person Liz had thought she would run across in her therapist's office was Katarina Rostova. She had called Fulton - already late for her appointment - to let her know that she wouldn't be there. The older woman had pushed back and reminded her that they had a deal. Liz returned to the field as long as she was willing to make her appointments. The fact that the appointment was conflicting with her job and the main reason she wanted to come back in the first place didn't seem to matter, so she had taken time away from a plan that hinged on everyone having a part to play and had driven there.

Katarina stood, an expectant sort of look plastered on her face, and Liz felt her temper start to boil. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. You had an appointment on her books today."

"How did you -?" Fulton started to ask, but one look from the redheaded former KGB agent shut her up instantly.

"Why did you is the better question," Liz snapped. "I've barely heard from you since Reddington's funeral and then you go and call Scottie Hargrave behind my back to try to stop -"

"We should speak privately," Katarina cut in. Fulton looked ready to argue, but she looked back around at her. "Unless you'd like to explain the true reason why you're so interested in my daughter. For that I think I could spare a few moments."

Fulton's jaw snapped shut and she drew a shaky breath in. "I'll give you a moment," she said tightly and Liz watched her as she left her own office.

"What the hell was that?"

"You underestimate her. I hope you haven't shared anything too important. She'll use it against you."

"What do you know that I don't?"

Katarina's smile was small, but a bit of mischief reached her blue eyes. "I know that your husband is in deeper than he should have ever gotten. You don't make enemies of St Regis lightly."

"We have it handled."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Earlier today your lead in the case escaped federal custody before Halcyon could take hold of him. I don't call that having it under control, Masha."

"Elizabeth," Liz corrected, her voice biting. "That was planned. We're luring them out."

Katarina stopped at that, her gaze focusing in just a bit more. "You're using your husband as bait?"

Liz's lips twitched downward at the corners. "He's luring them out. We have a place that he'll lead them to."

"They won't all come at him at once."

"No, but we can use one of them to leverage against the others."

"And Zanetakos is in on this?"

"No," Liz breathed, the word tense. "Tom wanted to tell her, but she's…. A blind spot for him. He wants to trust her, but we can't. He'll get her there without her knowing that we're all in on it."

There was a shift in Katarina's expression as it melted from skepticism to something more in like pride. The look almost reminded Liz of Reddington. "You thought this through."

"You don't have to sound so surprised."

"I'm not, I just…. Forget sometimes. What a formidable young woman you've become."

The words sounded genuine and Liz felt some of her anger ease, even if it didn't entirely dissipate. She risked a glance at her phone. "I have to go. They need me there."

She turned, but the sound of her name stopped her. "Elizabeth, if I can't talk you out of taking on St Regis, let me help you."

"Why?"

There was a long pause, and for a moment Liz thought she wouldn't receive an answer. Finally Katarina pulled in a breath. "Because you're my daughter, and despite what you may believe, I'm trying to protect you."

Liz let the words hang between them for a long moment, doing what she could to judge how much she actually trusted them. "You won't get in the way or try to make a play without talking to me first?"

"No."

"Fine." Liz turned back towards the door, ready to walk back out it, but she stopped when she touched the handle, turning back around to her mother. "What did you know about Fulton?"

Katarina flashed a dangerous smile. "That is an interesting story, and one I'll tell you on our way."

The plan had been put together quickly, but not without a great deal of thought into it. A car had been waiting for them, though it couldn't look like it was. Tom broke in and hotwired it, taking the driver's seat before Gina could.

"What will your wife say when she finds out you went rogue with me?"

He risked a glance to his right. "She'll get it."

"She never struck me as the understanding type."

"You don't know Liz."

"I know more than you think. I know she gut shot you when she figured out who you were and hid you away somewhere for three or four months. We thought you were dead until we got word that you'd contacted Berlin."

"I've been dead a few times," Tom answered cheekily, taking a turn down a back road and glancing up to the rearview mirror to see if the Nissan behind him turned with him. They went straight.

"And yet you keep coming back."

"What was it you said? Something about surviving a nuclear holocaust."

"I said you were about halfway between a cockroach and a twinkie," she deadpanned and Tom rolled his eyes. "Why though?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you decide to give?"

"I told you, they were taking too long."

"Don't bullshit me, Jacob. You've played it off, but you and Keen were on the same page when she dropped you off this morning. You didn't have any trouble slipping around the security -"

"They are my people," he reminded her.

"- and you've known where we are going since we started driving. Why the ruse?"

Tom pushed a breath out through his nose, forcing himself to watch the road as he took another turn.

"You don't trust me," Gina said softly, and it wasn't a question.

"Can you blame me?"

"I saved your life."

"After you had me shot and left me for dead," he snapped back, the words leaving his throat rougher than he meant for them to.

"Are you pissed I didn't shoot you myself?"

"Could have at least given me that."

"Then you would have been dead. I gave you a fighting chance."

"Now who's bullshitting?"

A tense silence settled over them and Tom took another turn.

"Jacob," she said after a long moment.

"I haven't been Jacob in a long time. The sooner you get that, the sooner we are actually able to work together." He risked a look over at her. "Right now, you could be playing either side. Maybe even both, so you'll just have to excuse me if I'm not willing to -"

He didn't have a chance to finish the thought as a vehicle slammed into theirs hard enough to send them rolling.

TBC

Notes: I feel like I'm poking my head up from out of the dirt. It's been... an insane holiday, though I have to admit taking some time off did some good for both my writing portfolio and for this fic, I think. It gave me a chance to finish my spec script without getting my plots crossed here and I think gave me the perspective I needed on this. It was hard breaking back in, but once I sat down and reminded my brain that it WAS getting finished, it finally gave to the demands. I'm finally ahead in the writing again, so hopefully that means no more delays before the end? A girl can hope.

I joked with a friend that I just needed Tom and Gina to find trouble and that would be my first big step... and there we have it. They found trouble. ;)

Next Time: Tom and Gina find trouble while Liz works with her team and Halcyon to rescue her husband.