Tony followed Liz back into the conference room, curious to see how she would use this new information. She took back the seat she was in before, and motioned for Tony to sit next to her. None of the D.O.D. representatives bothered to stand for Liz, nor did they bother to introduce themselves to Tony.

As soon as Tony was settled, the man in the pinstripes smiled at Liz, "Everything taken care of, Agent Genova?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, then let's keep going then, I'd like to wrap this up bu the end of the day so we can all get back to our normal business." The man took a file from one of his companions and was about to speak when Liz cut him off.

"Actually, I'm tired. Let's end this now."

The man's eyebrows shot up and he exchanged glances with his companions. "And how do you propose to do that, Agent Genova?" He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tony wondered why Liz's smile didn't worry the man, and then it dawned on him- the man didn't care. And with that, Tony saw why Liz had been left alone to deal with this and he cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Liz Genova had little to no real authority at C.T.U.; technically, Tony supposed she was still considered a C.I.A. agent. And considering she had actually been fired from C.T.U. last year, what authority that gave her was lessened to the point of non-existence. If she couldn't make any headway with the D.O.D. representatives, or if she flew off the handle, Chapelle could just pass her off as a rogue agent, a wild card who used her personal ties to the case to get involved and then let her personal feelings get in the way. There was nothing in her record to contradict it. Then Ryan could swoop in and smooth everything over and make everyone happy. And if Liz did happen to get somewhere, then Ryan and everyone at Division could rest easier in the knowledge that they made the right choice. And take all the credit, as well, Tony supposed.

Liz was about to be sacrificed or saved, and no one at Division would care one way or the other. Without any suits here to back her up, she's like a small fish in a roomful of sharks. And based on the look on Pinstripe's face, Tony figured he had been smelling blood for awhile. The sheer audacity of it sickened him, and Tony absently wondered if Liz knew she had been set-up.

Arrogant bastards. Tony thought, looking at the men across from them. They're not taking her seriously and here she is, about to blindside them.

Liz sat up straight and addressed Pinstripe directly. "If you can answer, oh, let's say four questions to my satisfaction, then I'll consider the matter closed. I'll submit my reports, you can submit yours, and we'll all go on our merry way."

"And if for some reason I can't?" the man challenged.

"Then you'll have more things to worry about than my little investigation then, won't you?"

One of Pinstripe's companions leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Pinstripe nodded and replied, "All right, ask your questions, we'll see what turns up."

Liz nodded. "First question, how did Victor Drazen's sons find out he was alive in the first place?"

"It's entirely possible that Drazen's extraction was witnessed by one of his men, or someone from a nearby town. In all the confusion surrounding the execution of Operation Nightfall, we can't be one hundred percent certain that we had full containment."

"OK," Liz continued, "I can live with that. Second question: How did they find out about Senator Palmer and Agent Bauer's involvement in the operation?"

"It shames me to say this, but that leak likely came from Robert Ellis. As the man who planned Operation Nightfall he was the only one who knew all the players. But over the last two years his behavior was increasingly erratic and marked by alcohol and possible drug use. It's impossible to tell what he may have leaked whilst he was under the influence."

Liz cocked her head to the side slightly as she considered, "May I ask a related question and not have it count to my total?"

Pinstripe chuckled, "I think that's fair, Agent Genova."

"How did they know to go after Ellis?"

"Simple. If the Drazens were looking for US intelligence officers who worked the region, they'd run across his name eventually. Bob's run ops in that part of the world for almost ten years, and many of them were on-the-record. His name would be on the reports. Reports that Nina Meyers could access."

Nodding Liz continued, "Which brings me to my third question, how does a C.T.U. agent, with only level four clearance, find out the transfer schedule of a prison that doesn't keep records and doesn't even officially exist?"

This question made Pinstripe's companions squirm, but he held firm. "Nina had considerable computer skills. In fact, haven't you found several instances of her having hacked into various secured networks here?" Liz nodded. "Then, is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that she hacked into flight records, maybe even food or supply deliveries, the men at these remote locations have to eat, don't they?" Liz nodded again and Pinstripe leaned in, "I think it's been very well established in the last day or so, by a number of people, that where there's a will there's a way. And Agent Meyers was a very driven woman, capable of taking any and every," he gave a pointed look at Tony, "opportunity that she came across." Tony kept his face steady, refusing to give the man the satisfaction of a reaction.

Liz gave Pinstripe a small smile and a nod to concede the point. "Just so we're on the same page, let me sum up. Then I'll ask my last question and we can all go home." Liz leaned forward and held Pinstripe's gaze with her own. After a moment, Pinstripe nodded and looked away. And for the first time since Liz had returned to the room, he began to look a little unsettled, and Tony could feel some of the power in the room subtly shift to Liz. I think I might actually enjoy this, Tony mused.

"You claim that Drazen's sons could have found out he was alive from someone who witnessed his abduction out from under the Nightfall team. Then, while searching for US intelligence officers who may have had a hand in it, they come across Bob Ellis' name in a report, possibly swiped by their spy, Nina Meyers. They track down Ellis, a career intelligence officer who has kept more secrets than I care to guess at, whom, in either in a drunken or drugged stupor, just happens to let slip that a US Agent by the name of Jack Bauer and US Senator David Palmer were involved." Liz paused and turned, "Guess they were lucky Nina was already in L.A., weren't they, Tony? Wouldn't it have been awful if they had needed to transfer their pet intelligence officer here to watch Jack? They'd have to come up with a reason, grease the right wheels…"

Tony smiled and picked up the thread, "Wow, that's a lot of C.T.U. brass to sleep with. I guess Nina got lucky on that one."

Pinstripe squirmed in his seat, "Can we get to your question? I'm sure we all have better things to do."

"Of course, I'm sorry. So Nina just happens to stumble, steal, or sleep her way into finding out that Victor's going to be transferred to L.A. Another happy coincidence. And now the stage is set for our little tragedy. Everything goes to hell, and all the players who leaked intel, stole intel, or used it, are dead or in jail, problem solved, no more worry."

"Exactly." Pinstripe stated. "Now, what's your last question?"

"If everyone responsible for yesterday's events is dead, and Nina was working alone, then who used one of her computer taps to download a number of confidential files at 10:35 this morning?" Liz smiled again, "In case you didn't notice, that would be more than ten and a half hours after the Drazens were killed and Nina was captured."

The men on the other side of the table looked at each other nervously. "Are you certain?" one of Pinstripe's companions asked.

Liz looked at Tony and nodded for him to take the question. "Agent Michelle Dessler is in the office right now with the data in front of her, you can go look for yourself if you don't believe us."

The D.O.D. representatives were visibly shaken, and they whispered back and forth before Pinstripe spoke again. "It could be possible that Nina passed access information to Drazen's men. One or more of them may have escaped in the chaos and are attempting to cut their losses and get everything they can before fleeing the country."

Oh, for crying out loud! "It's a nice thought," Tony began as he rolled his eyes, "Except for one thing."

"And what is that?"

"Agent Dessler was able to trace the origin of the connection, apparently whoever did it was in a rush and wasn't able to cover their tracks completely."

"Then we should be able to find Drazen's man quickly."

It was Tony's turn to lean in and fix Pinstripe with his eyes, "I guess so, after all, one doesn't just wander into a secured section of The Pentagon without leaving some trace."

Tony had the grim satisfaction of watching the blood drain out of Pinstripe's face.

Liz sat very still and dropped her voice to a near whisper, "What if Nina wasn't lying, gentlemen, what if she really did work for someone else, another mole, perhaps? A mole inside The Pentagon, who could have had clearance to see the Nightfall files containing Bauer's and Palmer's names, and the records of Drazen's capture. And, here's an even happier thought, instead of Victor's transfer to California being a wild coincidence, what if it was planned that way, what if this person has access to your little collection of captured terrorists?"

Liz stood and Tony followed suit. "I'm going to go notify my superiors that we've had another security breach, I suggest you do the same. And after that, perhaps you'll stop wrenching the facts to fit your pretty little theories that neatly cover your asses and open your goddamned eyes. I am not doing this again, so the next time we meet, either stay out of my way or be prepared lock me up for the rest of my life, because I'm telling you now, I will not rest until I find out who the hell set this up and if I have to go through you, so be it."

Pinstripe and his companions stood as Liz began to exit the room.

"Agent Genova…" Pinstripe cleared his throat, "Agent Genova, surely you understand the ramifications…"

Liz spun to face the man and he took an involuntary step back. "Understand what?" She sneered. "I understand that public knowledge of moles in US intelligence offices would not be a good thing. And I sure as hell don't intend to go around and advertise the fact that we have secret little prisons full of supposedly dead terrorists." She shook her head in disbelief, "Do I look that stupid to you? I'm not proposing going on national television with a picture and saying, 'have you seen this man?' I understand that there are secrets to be kept here, but there is a difference between protecting the truth and hiding it. For once, can we just forget about the damn politics and consider the fact that an innocent woman was murdered just down that corridor and that maybe, just maybe, the woman who pulled the trigger didn't act alone?"

Liz left the conference room and headed up to the office where Michelle was still working. Tony began to follow when Pinstripe spoke, "She's certainly not what I'd expected when I came in here."

Tony shook his head and turned to the suit, "Well, I certainly didn't expect Nina Meyers to be a traitor; maybe we should all readjust our thinking." And with that Tony left and went to join Liz and Michelle in the office.