Chapter 8

"What's the SOP for this mission?" John asked.

"Our standard operating procedures are that we are going to get into the building using these as our cover." Kara took a bag from the backseat and tossed it into his lap. John unzipped it and took out two windbreakers with the words ATF Agent emblazoned on the back and two baseball caps with ATF clearly visible on top. There were also two Kevlar vests at the bottom of the bag. "Once we're in, we'll have to take the elevator to the 21st floor."

"And then?"

"We'll probably run into two Delta force operatives with M4's trained to shoot first if those doors open without authorization."

"Damn it Kara!"

"Aw, come on John tell me didn't you miss this? The two of us working together?" She was in the process of reaching over to put her hand on his thigh when he growled.

"If you're attached to that hand, it better not touch me." He warned her in a low, deadly voice.

Kara just sighed and placed both hands on the steering wheel.

Finch laid out his thoughts about what he suspected Stanton was going after….a government NOC, located in a downtown building at 780 Mercer. The building directory showed twenty floors but the building plans showed it actually had twenty one. Snow's description fit perfectly. Finch knew it was a very sensitive, invisible government installation. Perfect target for what he believed Stanton was after.

"Elise, you and I need to get there before Ms. Stanton and John. We need physical access to stop anything she may sabotage or anything she may want to steal. Stopping Stanton is our primary objective, not regaining John. You understand that don't you?" Finch asked quietly. He closed his eyes, waiting to hear her voice. He knew she'd do the right thing, but he needed to hear the acceptance in her voice.

"Yes Harold. I do understand that. You have my word." Elise whispered after several long moments of silence. Finch exhaled, not even realizing he'd been holding his breath.

"But once Stanton's mission is compromised and John is safe...I OWN THAT BITCH."

Before Harold could say anything, Elise had disconnected and walked away. Carter was left standing there, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide with disbelief. The look on Elise's face was one she had never seen before. The fact that she had hung up on Harold spoke volumes. She was aware of the close relationship Finch and Elise had but this was a huge departure from that closeness.

"Detective, are you still there?" Finch finally spoke softly in Carter's ear via the earwig.

"Yes, I'm here. Do you want me to go get Elise?" replied Carter.

"No, it's all right. Tell her to meet me at the building within the hour. Can you handle the FBI involvement? I know you are new to the job but we really do need you to run interference for us."

"No problem Finch. I'm on my way now."

Walking back into the dining room, Carter leaned over and spoke to Fusco, "Lionel, I need you to stay here and keep Agent Snow company. We have to leave and take care of some things."

"Sure, no problem. I got nothin' planned for the afternoon." Grimaced Fusco.

Elise met Carter at the front door. Looking like any normal New Yorker bundled up for fall weather, she had on a dark blue sweater that fell loosely to her hips. The light jacket was a perfect cover for the weaponry Carter knew Elise was carrying. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, her blue eyes so dark they were almost black. The seriousness of what they were about to do was written all over her face. Nodding to each other they went to their separate cars and headed downtown to the same location. If they'd only stuck around for another minute, they would have seen Fusco slump to the ground unconscious as Snow hit him over the head with a heavy metal pan.

On the drive back into the city, Elise carefully kept her mind blank except for the mission at hand. She kept her thoughts away from Mark Snow and Kara Stanton. She refused to think of John at all. She was reviewing in her mind what she knew about the security at a NOC. It would be tight, manned by well- trained guards, alert to anything out of the ordinary. She wondered what Harold had in mind to get them up to that phantom 21st floor.

John watched as Kara entered an access code into the panel in the elevator. It appeared that the elevator only went to the 20th floor but Kara just entered a six digit code and the elevator proceeded upwards. He felt a cold twisting in his stomach but only had a moment to wonder where she'd gotten the intel that included the access code before the elevator doors were sliding open. He hunched down and kneecapped the guards before they fired on Kara and him.

The guards were then bound and gagged and the two of them proceeded further down the corridor. When they encountered the security desk, Kara quickly moved to disconnect any alarms and she removed the video footage of them entering the building.

"Hey, I thought the whole idea was for us to let them know we were here!" John objected. Once more he felt the coldness in the pit of his stomach. He'd learned not to ignore those feelings, had almost been killed the once or twice he had. Something felt wrong here.

"Don't worry about it!" Kara bit off quickly, moving towards another door. "We need to find a room called applied research. What we want will be in there."

"What the hell is going on here Kara?" He made no move to follow her and she spun around, fury in her eyes.

"We are going to leave something for Mark and I won't remind you again that if you don't follow my orders, I'll make sure that cyanide capsule in your arm breaks and you'll be dead in under a minute." She hissed at him. "Now get moving and keep that gun drawn!"

John gave her his own look of rage but continued to follow her deeper into the facility. He realized that once more he'd become a pawn for someone in a game he didn't understand, nor did he want to. He fought to tamp down the ferocious anger he was feeling. He didn't have time for that now but rest assured, when they got out of this place, he would have his reckoning with Kara and he promised himself he'd hold nothing back.

Following Stanton, Reese was surprised to see her checking her phone as often as she was. Obviously she had a map of the building and a purpose in mind, but where was she leading them? That cold feeling in the pit of his stomach was getting colder and heavier. Every sense was on high alert. This did not feel right. There was more going on here than Stanton had told him, more than just a concern about Snow taking them down.

Coming to the door marked Applied Research, they noticed two armed guards. Using the hand signals they'd established long ago, Stanton went low to take out the one closest to them and John stayed upright, going for the one farthest away. Their silencers barked quietly in unison, but the results were quite different. John's target went down, grabbing his knees before moaning and passing out but Stanton's went down bonelessly, shot through the neck.

Quickly rounding the corner, John kicked his target's gun away and grabbed his radio and smashed it before any warning could be sent. Looking over at the other guard, John was surprised to see the vacant eyes staring up at the ceiling and a panting Kara Stanton standing over him.

"Kara, what are we really doing here? Why kill these guards? They are only doing their jobs." asked John in an increasingly harsh tone of voice. All he got in response was a deadly smile from Kara. He'd seen that look too many times, just before she unloaded her gun on someone. He remembered well, how much she got off on killing people, the more personal the hit, the more turned on she was. She was almost quivering with unleashed sexual energy. He had to stop this.

Reaching for her arm, he pulled her back and said "Kara WHAT are we doing? I know it's more than Mark Snow that brought us here!"

Snatching her arm back out of Reese's grip, Stanton turned and glared. Pointing her gun at him she growled. "Touch me again John and I will shoot you. You know I will. I needed you to get me in here. Now, I really don't need you anymore."

Standing face to face with Stanton, Reese could see the see the flames of insanity flickering in her eyes. Had they always been there? Had his feelings for her prevented him from seeing the real Kara Stanton? Or had that damned Ordos mission changed her as drastically as it had changed him?

"Come on, let's get in there before someone checks any cameras I may have missed." Walking into the control room, Stanton saw a lone technician typing furiously at a work station. Earbuds in his ears, he was lost in his music and oblivious to the carnage right outside the door. Pulling the plugs out of his ears, Stanton spun him around in his chair and pointed her gun inches from his nose.

"Be a good boy and point out the upload component for me." She said with a killer smile. Feeling Reese come up behind her, she motioned him with her head toward a bank of servers at the back of the room.

Once he was past her, she knew that it was time to take off the gloves. She knew he suspected something and would make his move soon. He wanted to think that he'd changed but she could still read him like an open book. John couldn't hide the simple honesty that was still a part of him, despite all that she'd done to kill it.

Holding her phone in one hand and pointing her gun at John with the other, she said "Hand over your gun John. Remember I can still remotely release that cyanide chip in your shoulder. I don't want to take a chance that you'll really shoot me this time. I doubt your feelings for me now are anything like they were back in Ordos...you'd shoot me without blinking an eye now. I know you. I know that look on your face. You always were a Boy Scout, even while doing the dirty work, you always had that foolish ideology in the back of your head. Well, our country betrayed us. They deliberately sent us on a mission that we were not supposed to return from. I was to kill you, you were to kill me and then they covered their asses with an air strike to obliterate us from the face of the earth!"

Kara was almost shouting at him now. She was lost in her rage and her need for revenge. John knew now was the time for him to make his move. Bowing his head in defeat, John extended his arm towards Kara with his gun held loosely between two fingers.

Smiling, but without warmth, Stanton laughed, "Really John? Do you really think I'll get close enough to you to take that gun? I know what you know. I know what I taught you. I know what you are capable of. Come no closer to me, just drop it on the floor and kick it away."

Looking back up at Stanton, John fought to keep the revulsion he felt for the woman in front of him hidden. Only it was his eyes that gave him away...they went opaque, no emotion: no hatred, no fear, no loathing...nothing. Kara narrowed hers and for the first time she actually felt a stab of fear seeing that look in John Reese's eyes. But her own rage over came that fear and the caution that might have come with it. "Drop it!" she almost yelled.

Dropping his gun as instructed, John balanced on one foot to kick the gun away. Seeing Stanton's eyes follow the motion of his foot, he knew now was that moment. Launching himself at her, he knocked her to the ground.

Her reaction was automatic, she protected herself and fired her gun, catching Reese in the stomach, below his Kevlar vest. Fighting on the way down, Reese tried to get her gun away before she fired again. He quickly lost feeling in his legs and crumpled to the floor.

The pain was excruciating. Being shot in the stomach was not something new but it had now happened more times than he wanted to think about. Stanton roughly pushed him off of her and scrambling to her knees, she brought the grip of her gun down hard on John's jaw, further stunning him. Standing up and backing away, Stanton made sure she was well outside of John's reach. She looked around wildly, for a moment wishing that she hadn't had to… 'No sense going there.' She thought to herself. She knew at the very beginning of this that she'd have to take him out. Again. She took a deep breath and focused back on the job.

The lab tech stood by a console, pointing at it with a shaking hand. Pulling a small jump drive out of her pocket, Stanton walked over and pushed it into a USB port. Smiling to herself now, she mumbled 'It's done'. Looking up at the scared tech, she told him to sit and not move or she'd make sure he never moved again. She moved closer to John where he lay practically motionless on the floor.