Apartment 48D - July 20, 2012 - 2029 hours
Skipper squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for death. It took him a moment to realize he was still alive. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Elizabeth towering over him. The blade of the dagger was just an inch from his throat. He could see the hesitation in her eyes and the whites of her knuckles that said she held a death grip on the dagger, as if her life depended on it. She stared hard into the dagger, as if trying to will it to penetrate its target. But it would not move. Skipper could tell that his first reaction had been wrong. She didn't want to kill him. Yet, it seemed like there was something she was fighting for.
He slowly brought his hand closer to hers and her eyes darted to it, and he halted instinctively. He carefully examined her eyes, which were moist with tears. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Her grip loosened on the dagger and she let out a choke of defeat as the tears finally started to roll down her cheeks. Skipper finally brought his hand to hers and closed his fingers around the dagger. Elizabeth closed her eyes and allowed him to take it from her. Then she stood up and stepped away, turning her back on him.
Skipper got to his feet and stepped toward her. "Why didn't you do it?" he asked slowly, looking from Elizabeth to the dagger in his hands.
"Because I can't!" Elizabeth choked in shame. "I can't bring myself to kill someone! I can't take that kind of guilt!" she explained without turning back to him.
"Then why did you even consider?"
"Skipper, please just get out of here before I do something I regret," Elizabeth pleaded. He could hear her crying through her voice.
Skipper stepped closer. "Elizabeth, whatever is going on, I can help you. Just tell me what Hans is—"
"Just go! Get out of here!" Elizabeth demanded. She turned around and brushed past him, opening the door and waiting for him to go through it. Skipper sighed sympathetically and walked toward the door. He stopped at the threshold.
"What do I tell Kowalski?" he asked over his shoulder.
"It doesn't matter. He'll be hurt no matter what you tell him. I never meant for any of this to happen. I'll be gone by morning. Please just go," she pleaded weakly.
Skipper turned his head to look at her as a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks. She was staring into the room with a far-off look in her eye. Whatever Hans had threatened her with was obviously something extremely important to her. With an understanding nod, he left her.
Elizabeth shut the door behind him, pressed her back against it and slid to the floor. Then she buried her face in her hands and wept.
Apartment 50D - 2041 hours
Skipper entered the apartment with his gaze fixed on the floor and his brow lowered in concentration.
"What's wrong, sir? Where did that dagger come from? You seemed awful upset when you left, but I didn't think you were homicidal!" Private asked as Skipper moved through the living area.
"It's a long story, Private. I'll tell you later," Skipper answered. "Where's Kowalski?"
"Depends on your answer about that dagger," Private told him suspiciously.
"Be serious, Private. Where is he?" Skipper asked again with a roll of his eyes.
"In his lab," Private said, pointing to the closed door at the other end of the room.
Skipper nodded and went to the door, took a deep breath, and went inside. "Kowalski, I need to tell you something," he said, getting his attention.
Kowalski stopped what he was doing and lifted his goggles. "Yeah, Skipper?" he acknowledged.
"It's about Elizabeth. She's—not who she says she is," Skipper told him distantly.
"What are you talking about? I thought you came to trust her," Kowalski inquired.
"I did, but—earlier I saw something. And I dug some more into her records—"
"Why did you do that?" Kowalski interrupted.
"—and I found out she didn't exist before eight years ago," Skipper continued.
"What are you talking about, Skipper?" Kowalski asked before he gave him a chance to say anything else.
"Will you please let me finish! I found out that her real name is Amanda Taylor. She fled from London eight years ago for unknown reasons and changed her identity. I wanted answers so I went to her apartment. She—she tried to kill me. But before you say anything, I don't think she's all that dangerous," Skipper explained.
Kowalski shook his head and laughed. "So, you're telling me that before you know all this, you didn't trust her, and then she tries to kill you and you change your mind?!"
"Kowalski!" Skipper slapped him. "Something's going on. She had the chance to kill me and she didn't. She's saying she'll be gone by morning. I think Hans has threatened her with something," he said without thinking.
"Hans? What does Hans have to do with Elizabeth?" Kowalski asked.
Skipper broke eye contact and stared at the Bunsen burner next to them on the counter.
"Kowalski, I didn't want to tell you this but," he took a deep breath, "before she fled from Denmark . . . she was married to Hans," Skipper told him before he looked back into his eyes, which were filled with hurt as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You're telling me she—lied about everything?" Kowalski asked, no longer able to look Skipper in the eye.
"Well, the only things she told the truth about was her status as a nurse and architect. I also really don't think she lied about how she felt about you," he said softly. Kowalski's tensed. "And like I said, I think Hans has threatened her with something. I think we should help her."
Kowalski thought for a moment. "No," he said sternly, his expression hardening.
"What?" Skipper asked in surprise, taking his hand off Kowalski's shoulder.
"I don't think we should trust her anymore, Skipper," Kowalski said.
"Kowalski, I know you're hurt, but—"
"No, Skipper. If she wants to leave, then let her," Kowalski insisted.
Skipper took a deep breath. "All right, Kowalski," he said before he turned and left him to cool off.
— § —
Elizabeth continued to weep silently into her hands.
What have I done? she thought. He's going to kill Ryan, now. And it's all my fault. He must feel so scared right now. If only he hadn't had one of his men following me, I—
She picked her head up out of her hands in shock when she recalled what the man had said.
"Hans was right, you'll believe anything."
She sat there for a moment. Why would Hans say something like that? How would he know if Hans wouldn't do anything to her son? Unless . . . Hans said as much. She got to her feet, wiping her palms over her cheeks as she made her way to the trash can by the dresser.
When she found the picture of her son, she plopped on the bed and looked at the photo. Hans wouldn't even let her speak to her son earlier. Was that because he didn't have him anymore? She frantically dropped the photo to the floor and pulled the suitcase from under the bed and rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for: a number.
She pulled out her cell and dialed.
"This had better be important, Amanda," answered Hans' voice.
"I want to speak to my son," Elizabeth commanded. There was a short silence.
"Why?"
"I want to know that he's okay. If I don't speak to him, there'll be no reason to think that he's all right, therefore no reason to go through with this mission," Elizabeth told him. There was another temporary silence.
"You can't."
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked impatiently.
"Because—he's not exactly here, all right?" Hans answered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He tried to run and—my guard took his life, Amanda," he explained. "It was an accident. I didn't expect you to call."
"What?!" Elizabeth screamed in outrage.
"Amanda, I—"
Elizabeth hung up on him and threw her phone across the room. She grabbed her hair and paced back and forth. That was the last straw. Now, she didn't have anything to lose.
She went to her door and threw it open, not bothering to close it as she went to Apartment 50D. When she knocked on the door, Kowalski was the one who answered.
His expression hardened and he grabbed her arm and pulled her in just as the room went dark. After the some struggling, the lights were turned back on and Elizabeth was tied down to a chair.
"Kowalski, I just said not to do that!" Skipper exclaimed.
"Are you really going to trust her?! She tried to kill you! She's dangerous!" Kowalski argued.
"I don't trust her! At least, not yet! I just think we should hear her side of the story!" Skipper protested.
"Every word she says is a lie!" Kowalski insisted.
"I admit I lied, but you have to hear me out! Please!" Elizabeth pleaded.
Kowalski stepped toward her choking back tears. "How could you?! I suppose everything we had was just a joke to you?!"
"No, Kowalski! I came here to confess! Please! I want to tell you the truth!" Elizabeth insisted.
"Truth? You don't even know the meaning of the word," Kowalski said, staring her coldly in the eye.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. She'd hurt him more than she'd thought she would.
"Kowalski, I know she hurt you, but I am your commanding officer. I say we should hear her side of the story," Skipper demanded.
Kowalski sat on the couch and crossed his arms. "Fine. But I do not have to listen," he said, sitting back and turning his head away.
Skipper turned to Private. "Private, untie her," he ordered.
"No, don't. I feel more comfortable knowing I can't hurt anyone," Elizabeth insisted.
Kowalski scoffed.
"We're listening," Skipper said, ignoring the gesture.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "It'll be easier if I start from the beginning. Eight years ago, Hans and I had been married for three years. One day when he was supposed to be stationed in Denmark, he burst into our apartment saying we needed to disappear. Frightened, I ran away. Later that evening, I discovered that he'd committed murder and broke someone out of prison. I didn't want any part of it, so I changed my identity and fled the country. What Hans didn't know was that I was pregnant."
The team, even Kowalski, looked at her in shock. Elizabeth took a moment to survey their expressions.
"For eight years, I hadn't seen nor heard from Hans. I raised my son without him. Just before I came here is when Hans found me. He said if I didn't kill you, then he'd kill my son," Elizabeth said, looking at Skipper. "He told me to use Kowalski to get to you. When you found me out, I panicked. But as I'd suspected, I wasn't able to bring myself to take an innocent life. After you'd left, I found out that Hans had . . ." Her voice trailed off and her eyes became distant.
"Had what?" Private urged.
"Killed him," she choked. "The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt any of you," she said. She turned to Kowalski, who no longer seemed upset with her. "Kowalski, I'm so sorry. Out of every lie I've ever told you, I never lied about how I felt about you. You're an amazing person and you deserve someone who makes you feel as special as you made me feel. You deserve someone better than me."
Kowalski watched as she hung her head in shame. He could see everything she'd had to put up with in so little time. He pulled himself up from the couch and knelt beside her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"I forgive you," he said softly.
"I don't deserve to be forgiven," Elizabeth insisted, shaking her head.
"Eliz—I mean, Amanda, you've been put through so much in the past few days. None of this is your fault," Kowalski told her.
"But I could have told you what was going on," Amanda said, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.
"Why didn't you?" Kowalski asked.
"Hans had someone watching me," Amanda answered.
"See? It all goes back to Hans. I don't blame you," Kowalski persisted.
She turned to look at him. "But I could have killed—"
Kowalski interrupted her by pressing his lips to hers. The others shifted in their positions awkwardly. With the exception of Private, who watched in awe.
Kowalski pulled away and held her face in his hands. "You are not to blame."
Amanda remained silent as Kowalski untied her and Skipper knelt in front of her.
"How do you know he killed your son?" he asked curiously.
"It doesn't matter. It's over. I don't want to talk about it," Amanda said, cringing.
"Just tell me," Skipper urged.
Amanda sighed. "I remembered something that guy you saw me fighting said. It made me suspicious that Hans may not even have my son. So, I called him. That's when he told me," she explained.
"Please, I know Hans. He may be a heartless fiend, but he wouldn't kill his own son," Skipper said with a shake of his head.
"He said his guard did it by accident," Amanda argued.
"I still don't believe him," Skipper insisted.
"But why would he lie to me?" Amanda inquired.
"Because he knew you'd come to us, we'd agree to help you, you'd take us to him, he could kill me. He's smarter than he looks," Skipper answered with an amused smile.
"What are we going to do?" Private asked.
A devious smirk crossed over Skipper's lips. "Don't worry. I have a plan."