CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"It's trying to sever your link?" Benji asked Luther.

Luther nodded. "That's what it's trying to do."

"Huh," Benji grunted. "Looks like our plan worked."

The computer Ilsa had built was in front of Benji. While they had used Luther's powerful computer to locate the servers and their information, they connected to the servers through Ilsa's computer—hidden behind Luther's IP address. The Entity was trying to shut down Luther's system rather than the one Ilsa had created. Given that Ilsa's computer was isolated from The Entity, their connection to the servers remained strong. Benji unleased Luther's code to temporarily shut down those servers.

Brandt and Grace were about to go toe to toe with Gabriel's men. However, sirens sounded in the distance. The police were arriving to address the bomb threat Grace called in. When Gabriel's men saw them coming, they opened fire on the policemen. That move effectively made Gabriel's men the police's problem, not Brandt and Grace's problem.

"When are the agents coming?" Grace asked Brandt.

"They should be here soon. Until then, we need to rendezvous with Benji and Luther. Our work here is done."

Grace and Brandt jogged back to Luther and Benji's location. Upon busting in, Luther and Benji held up their guns. Brandt's hands shot into the air. "Whoa! Hey, it's us! Things went according to plan out there. In here?"

"We just shut the servers down," Luther said.

Benji checked his watch. "Ethan has less than five minutes."

On the top floor, Gabriel moved off Ethan's back. He kicked Ethan in the face, holding his prized source code like a trophy. He took a small electronic tablet from his pocket to reprogram the code for his uses. Ethan spit blood through his teeth and rolled across the floor. He ran into Gabriel who flopped over. Ethan got him in a headlock, checking his watch.

Less than four minutes.

The drive had fallen to the floor. Gabriel elbowed Ethan in the gut and wiggled free. He got on top of Ethan, locking Ethan in place with his strong legs. His hands went to Ethan's throat and closed.

"You're done, Hunt. I'm sending you off to be your beloved Ilsa Faust. She's probably waiting for you to crossover."

"She is waiting," Ethan choked. He struggled to break one of the buttons off his coat. He put it close to his mouth. "Now."

Abruptly, part of the ceiling collapsed. Ilsa dropped in from the roof. Her foot connected harshly with Gabriel's cheek. Gabriel flew off Ethan in disbelief. "Faust?"

"You failed to kill me, Gabriel. That was a mistake on your part," Ilsa spat. She reached down and took Ethan's hand, helping him to his feet. "Time?"

"We have two minutes," he returned.

All eyes fell on the drive. They dove for it in unison, causing it to slip away from them all. Ethan and Ilsa looked at each other, nodding. They attacked Gabriel together, moving as if they had choreographed a ballet. Gabriel didn't take it lying down. He caused damage to Ilsa and Ethan, though it didn't slow their movements.

While Ilsa jumped onto Gabriel's shoulders and locked her thighs around his neck, Ethan went for the drive. Gabriel realized that Ethan was about to put it into the server, so he gripped Ilsa by the hips and threw her aside. Gabriel snagged Ethan by the shoes. Ethan went down, dropping the drive. He looked at his watch.

"Thirty seconds!"

Ilsa, recovering from hitting her head on the server tower, crawled to the drive. Ethan held Gabriel back while the seconds counted down. Ilsa went to a slot in the server. When she tried to insert it, she had it the wrong way around. She turned it around as Ethan's watch reached ten seconds. Gabriel threw Ethan off and tried to reach Ilsa.

However, he didn't reach her in time. Ilsa had put the drive into the server with two seconds left. A moment later, the server's power drained and the hardware sparked. Gabriel filled with rage.

"No! You're going to pay for this," he growled.

He grabbed Ilsa by the shoulders and slammed her to the floor. Ethan hurried to snatch Gabriel by the collar. He forced Gabriel to get on his knees. Ilsa got onto her feet and used her knee to bash in Gabriel's face. She jumped upwards, bringing her knee down on the back of his head as well. Both moves seemed to knock Gabriel out.

Ethan and Ilsa moved towards each other. Ilsa inspected Ethan's bloody face. "You need stitches."

"You too," Ethan said upon checking Ilsa's injuries.

Without warning, Gabriel sat upright. His long blade was close by. He swiped Ethan's ankles, bringing Ethan down. Ilsa charged Gabriel and got control of his sword. She rammed it directly through his heart.

"I hoped it'd be me," Ilsa told him.

Gabriel drew his final breath. Ilsa left his body to check on Ethan. She stretched out beside him on the floor and held onto his torso. He held onto her in return. His voice was wet from the lingering blood. "I knew we'd do it."

"You shouldn't have waited so long to call me," Ilsa chided him. "I was up there from the start. I could've kept him from inflicting so much damage."

"You know me. I'm a last-second kind of guy."

Downstairs, the team saw the lights change. Luther's computer link was released. He let out a low laugh. "They got it done."

"Search the place!" a policeman's scream sounded.

Brandt nodded. "Okay, the police are here. We need to move."

The team gathered their gear and headed for the back door. They ran for their car next, though Benji was lagging behind. Luther called out. "Benji!"

"Have you seen the size of this computer, Luther? It's like I'm running with a boulder!"

Minutes after the team managed to vacate the area, a black SUV arrived at the building. Briggs and other American agents exited the vehicle with guns drawn. They charged into the building to find policemen searching for a bomb. Briggs insisted that the agents needed to help with their sweep.

Briggs and the agents soon reached the top floor. When they did, they found Ethan and Ilsa resting on the floor near Gabriel's body.

"Hunt," Briggs hissed.

Ethan held up a bruised hand. "Hey. You're late."

"Don't tell me you killed The Entity and Gabriel," Briggs replied. Ethan and Ilsa glanced at each other, silent and smiling. Briggs' eyes rolled. "Fine. Whatever. You want a medal or something?"

"Just a ride to the hospital is enough," Ilsa responded.

"I'll get you to the hospital, but I'm not clearing you of anything. That'll be up to our bosses to sort out," Briggs snapped.

Ilsa stood first and then helped Ethan to his feet. He put his arm around her shoulders while she held his waist. They limped forward little bits at a time. The rest of the agents cleared the area and confirmed Gabriel's death. The mission was over…almost.