He drove past Hastings Institute and pulled into the lot of a building a half a block away. He knew he couldn't approach them head on. If he had learned anything from the last time, it was that. He punched a few keys on Lulu's flip down keyboard and a holographic timer faded up into his visor. He estimated he had 30 minutes to get in and get out before the bug he uploaded into the Hastings security system was discovered and eliminated, and he was found out.
He adjusted the neck of his jacket against the cold and grabbed his small rucksack before he walked casually into the alley between the two buildings that shared the parking lot. So far, so good.
It was well past office hours and he knew that in that particular neighborhood a man on a slick black motorbike wearing black leather and a helmet would stick out like a sore thumb but the sensors in his helmet didn't pick up any activity or prying cameras so he knew he was still undetected.
He made his way to the basement of one of the buildings and picked the lock with a practiced ease. He was using Parker's old pick set and they never failed him. He felt the give as the lock surrendered and with another quick look-around to make sure he was unseen, Alec slipped into the underground access. In his research of Hastings he discovered something that no one had paid enough attention to- all of the buildings in that particular area were one part of one large government campus. They were all connected by an underground passage that was sectioned and sealed off when the buildings were sold to private owners. He was able to find where the passages were and devise a direct access route into Hastings. He kicked himself when he discovered this passage a year ago. Why didn't he do more background on the company when Nate suggested the job; why didn't he invest a little bit more time in securing their entrance and exit strategy; why didn't he force himself to stay with her?
He knew he had slipped into unconsciousness and he wondered if he was dead and the blackness around him was his afterlife. It didn't look or feel like heaven. Then a thought occurred, "Aww man, I didn't make it to heaven?"
The quick clapping of footsteps hitting the damp tunnel floor broke through his unconsciousness. He realized then that he wasn't dead, but he couldn't open his eyes.
"Hardison," Parker's desperate whisper stirred him to life again. Why did she come back? He tried to open his eyes or his mouth to ask her but summoning the energy seemed to be a Herculean task.
"Alec," she called again as she stooped beside him to touch his face. He could barely feel her touch against his skin. He didn't feel the pain anymore either and he knew enough to know that meant he didn't have much time left but he had to tell her to leave him.
"Parker, you have to go." The words were strong and firm… and trapped in his mind. The energy to get them out of his mouth just wasn't there. "Leave me and save yourself, Parker…Please." Silence.
He felt the slight pressure at his throat as she checked his pulse. Dammit why couldn't he just tell her to go?
"Ok." The faint bit of life she felt in him reassured her. She reached to lift his right arm over her shoulders. "Alec…" she called him between her attempts to secure his weight, "I know you can hear me. We're going to do this together. The tunnel ends just ahead and Lucille is right outside."
He wanted to scream, he wanted to yell at her, even cuss her out for her stubbornness but most of all he wanted to open his damned eyes. He could feel himself slipping into deeper unconsciousness but a light hit the closed lid of his eyes. He felt Parker tense. Shouts. Screams. Streaking lights. An explosion. The faint smell of gun powder. And he felt himself fall.
"PARKER." He screamed her name in his head when he no longer felt her beside him. His concern for her greater than any worry or pain he felt for himself.
The streaking lights steadied as their glare intensified on his face. It was hard to breathe but all he thought about was her.
He felt a thump at his feet and heard an unfamiliar voice.
"We have the last two," the voice spoke aloud and a scratchy electronic tone hummed after- he was speaking into a comm.
"Where is Parker?" he thought as panic gripped him.
"Dammit Hardison, open your eyes." He chided himself.
"…Yes…I have her…Send a team." The man ordered and a chill ran down Alec's back.
DAMMIT. OPEN YOUR EYES. He screamed at himself and summoning the last bit of fire he had left, he opened his eyes.
There, beside him, just beyond his reach, the most beautiful pair of hazel eyes stared blankly over at him-open but not seeing, never seeing ever again; a thin trickle of blood streaking her forehead from a small hole, her hand angled toward him, reaching for him one last time.
No. His body had been broken but his heart and soul gave out as he stared into her unseeing eyes.
He couldn't do anything but stare at her. His beautiful thief. He felt himself slipping into the black unconsciousness but he didn't want to leave her. He inched his hand over to hers until he could touch her at last. And then Alec surrendered. There was nothing left to hold on for. He heard the splashing, slapping march of people approaching them even as the darkness slowly took him away. Alec Hardison was dead.