Tom wrapped his long fingers around the gun, pulling in a breath and squeezing his eyes closed briefly as they paused at the outskirts of the property. They were entering through the side entrance. There were fewer immediate guards there, but more security cameras. Aram was already taking care of that for them, and as soon as he gave the go ahead the four of them would slip in, split up to work their way between the rounds, and make their way to the structure that Ross used to store what he needed. It was small, barely more than a shed, so finding the duffel bag shouldn't be too hard. In and out. Maybe not easy, but certainly doable.

"You'd have told me if you weren't good for this." Gina's voice drew his attention and he turned, finding her intense gaze fixed on him.

"Yeah."

"When we have the time you'll have to tell me the story."

"Right now I just need to focus on moving forward," Tom said lowly. He glanced to Aram. "Where are we?"

"Almost there…. Just a little bit of patience," he mumbled, working on the small device he carried that was allowing him to hack into Ross' security systems. "Gotcha. We're in. Feeds are looped, but with the sun dropping like it is, they're going to notice something is up."

"I know," Tom assured him and motioned.

The four of them moved, guns in hand, and slipped into the compound. Tom saw them split out of his peripheral vision but kept his own focus ahead. If they timed it just right, all four of them would be able to slip between guards. If not, the suppressors on their weapons should keep the noise to a minimum. As long as they did their job right they would be in and out without anyone knowing they were there. They might even be able to keep Estevez's relationship with Ross intact.

His own path took him across an open space that was in line with the security cameras and in the path of a guard, but his path allowed for him to slip around him and out of the range of the next guard down, much like the others. A small sound behind him drew Tom's attention and he dove for cover just in time, ducking behind some equipment that was set out as one of the guards passed by him. They were off. Not by much, but they were off. He grit his teeth, shifted, and moved around the other side to dart behind the guard. If he moved quickly enough-

A shout came from the other side of the shed, followed by the softer sound of a gunshot. His guard looked over and a much louder shot - one not muffled by a suppressor - went off. So much for quick and relatively easy.

Tom spun and his first shot went wide. He could see the tremble that remained with him despite the medication he took and he tried to steady his hands for another shot. He fired off two rounds back to back, at least one of the bullets hitting its target. He cursed lowly as the man went down and moved to pull him behind the pile of equipment and out of the open, reaching up to the comms as he did. "We're moving faster now."

"Heard the shot. What happened?" Ressler demanded.

"Two fewer guards," Gina's voice rang through. "It's fine. We pick up the pace and we'll be out of here in no time."

Well, that answered the question on who else had been spotted. Tom crushed the immediate suspicion that flooded through his mind as the others met him at the shed. They didn't have time for that now. They needed to get this finished.

The shed was clear. Of everything. Tom found himself staring for half a beat, dread setting in at the idea that all of this had been for nothing and he heard Ressler growl a curse behind him, turning on Gina. "If you set us up, Zanetakos-"

"It's my ass on the line too, fed," she snapped back.

"This doesn't make sense," Aram grumbled, pulling his tablet back out to search the layout that he had stored there. "There should be more. This is the best place to… This has to be it."

Tom sucked in a sharp breath, focusing himself as he moved forward, exploring the small space. His boots hit the old wood and it felt hollow under them. He looked around, his mind running through dozens of possibilities all at once, and finally he spotted what he was looking for. "There," he motioned and Aram stepped over with him to a set of crates.

"They've been moved recently," he murmured.

Tom hoped he was right, because if not they were wasting valuable time they'd need to get out. He and Aram took a side each, shifting the large boxes from their place, and below them was a door in the floor. "Okay," he breathed and jerked it open. There was a set of stairs leading down to a hidden underground basement of sorts. A storehouse. This was what they were looking for.

"Someone needs to stay up top."

"Well it's not going to be you," Ressler told Gina firmly.

"I will," Aram offered. "I can patch into the feeds from my end and get a good view on where they are."

Tom nodded. "Do it. We'll be back up as soon as we have the bag."

They descended the stairs, footsteps quick but careful of any waiting security measures they might find down below. They hit the bottom and a light switched on, revealing Gina to his right. Ressler moved around to his left, a low whistle echoing through the room. "Son of a bitch."

The shed had been deceptive enough. Below were rows and rows of hidden treasures, likely illegal gained. "You gonna be okay there, Ress?" Tom asked with the barest of smiles.

"We're leaving a tip with the local law enforcement on our way out."

"Just keep our name out of it," Gina snapped, moving forward. "There's a lot of space to cover."

"Good thing there's three of us. Split up," Tom instructed and he started for the far end and making his way down. While there was likely a method to the madness, they didn't have time to crack Ross' organizational code. They needed to find the bag and get out.

"What's so important about this bag anyway?" Gina called out from a few rows down. "You said it had bones in it. Whose bones?"

"I can't tell you that," Tom answered automatically.

"I heard you mention Reddington. I take it it has to do with him?"

Tom paused for half a beat, a low growl of frustration escaping him. "Drop it, Gina."

She came around the other end of the row and stopped, leaning against it. "My sources were clear, Jacob. You died at a public hospital after a home invasion. I've seen you take some hard hits, but people don't just pop back from the dead."

"No they don't."

"Okay, so you had a closer encounter than you ever have and you're still running straight into it. Something's here that's got you focused in on it. What?"

Tom turned from his search and she was suddenly right there, in his face and stubborn, and he rolled his eyes. "I'm protecting my family, that's all you need to know. If this falls through because you wasted limited time trying to find out what happened to me, you're not getting paid."

"Limited trust, hmm?"

"That's how we work best."

"Not always."

"Drop it and find the bag, huh?"

"Already did. It's two rows over."

Tom wasn't sure if he was thrilled or pissed at that and darted around her to the row she'd indicated. There it was, set into the shelf halfway through and he all but ripped it open. The bones and the DNA report were stored away and for just a moment he couldn't tear his eyes away. Finally, he drew a sharp breath in. "Ressler, we got it!"

"Guys, we have incoming," Aram's voice sounded over the comm.

Ressler rounded the corner as Tom was zipping the bag back up. "C'mon," he managed, starting for the stairs. He climbed them two at a time and Aram met him at the top, Gina and Ressler at his heels.

"Okay…. Okay they're closing in. Someone must have heard the shots."

"Then let's go," Tom snapped, but the door to the shed opened and they found themselves staring at weapons aimed at them.

Sutton Ross moved through his guards, a lazy sort of look fixing on Tom and the bag in his hand. "That's not yours."

"Not yours either."

A smile stretched the other man's face and he motioned, his people moving in and pulling guns away from Ressler, Aram, and Gina. Ross kept his own gaze fixed on Tom and reached out. "Unless you want my boys to put you down here and now, hand it over."

They were surrounded, and the likelihood of getting out from their position in that shed was too small to bet on. Tom loosed a shaky breath, holding the bag out and he thought he saw Ross's smirk grow just before everything went black, the butt of a gun slamming into the side of his head.

He came back around to the sound of voices. They were muddled at first, difficult to understand, but as he drifted closer to the surface he thought he heard someone saying his name. A sharp blow to the face jerked him fully back awake and he found himself staring at Sutton Ross. "Good morning, sunshine."

Tom swallowed hard, his throat dry. How long had he been out? He tried to look past the man bent down in his face, but he couldn't find the others. Ross tapped his cheek. "Right here," he instructed. "Your friends are safe for now. The ginger called you Tom. That right?" He waited a moment, but Tom held his gaze steady. "So, Tom, what is it that you want with that duffel bag? Reddington send you for it?"

"No."

Ross chuckled. "See, now I don't believe you there. I reached out to Ian and his cell is dead. I think Reddington's making a play for it and sent you."

Tom shifted, feeling the zip ties that secured his wrists to the chair he was sitting in. His ankles were loose though, and if worse came to worse he could always break a thumb and get out of the bindings. The problem was that he'd need a distraction for that and he wasn't sure he was going to get it.

"Nothing to say about that? Reddington does put the fear into people."

"I don't work for Reddington," Tom said firmly, wincing a little at the jolt of pain from where he'd been knocked in the head. "You owe Garvey, right? For getting you away from the feds in America? For setting you up here? That's why you're taking a risk for him by keeping something Reddington wants. To help Garvey protect the person he's trying to protect." He watched Ross' eyes narrow just a little and he knew he was on the right track. "I'm doing to the same thing. I'm protecting someone I care about from Reddington. Those bones, that test, that's going to protect my family from him. It'll protect Jennifer Reddington too."

Ross studied him for a long moment. "Who the hell are you?"

"That doesn't matter," Tom said, shaking his head just a little. "What matters is that, right now, we have the same goal."

The door opened behind Ross and he turned towards it, one of his employees - this one, surprisingly enough, wasn't armed, and was dressed more like a businessman than a guard employed for safety - making their way in. Ross stepped over, both speaking in hushed tones and Tom could only catch every few words. There was something about the FBI and he thought he heard Gina's name followed by something about their clients getting anxious. The man looked over to Tom and Ross followed his gaze, a frown tugging at his lips. "So he does have a name," Ross said easily. "Tom Keen, but he's supposed to be dead."

"I've been dead on paper a few times in my life," Tom acknowledged.

"Tell me, what's a dead man doing running with two FBI agents and the head of St Regis?"

Well that was interesting. Bud had been known in certain circles, but Tom wouldn't have thought that Gina would have put herself out there like that, especially not so quickly. Not easily enough for the likes of Sutton Ross to find. "I told you," Tom bit out, "I'm just trying to protect my family."

"And how are you doing that with this… collection of people?"

Any answer he might have given was cut short my a loud crash in the room next to them. Ross looked back, a gunshot causing him to reach for his own weapon. He motioned to the guard that appeared at the door and told him to make sure Tom stayed where he was.

Tom looked him up and down as he moved closer to verify that his wrists were secured by the zip ties. His mind was working on overdrive to take in every useful piece of information. He wore light body armour, carried an assault rifle rather than a handgun, and he looked like he would much rather be with his boss rather than babysitting the man tied to a chair. Another shout sounded from the hall, tugging at the man's attention, and Tom shifted his weight forward.

He was on his feet in an instant, using the chair as a weapon as he swung it around, knocking the long gun off to the side even as a shot went off. The guard was off balance and Tom took another swing, hearing the gun clatter to the floor before he leaned into it, shoving the other man hard into the wall. He hit hard, dazed, and Tom grimaced as the momentum sent him stumbling into the wall, the impact loosening one of the arms on the cheap chair. He half fell back into it as the four feet slammed to the floor. He blinked hard, wrists aching from where they were tied, but he didn't give the guard the chance to regain his bearings as he slammed his boot into his face, knocking him out cold.

Tom sat there for just half a moment, wiggling his arm hard against the damaged chair until he felt the thin metal give and at least one wrist was more or less free, even if it was still tied to the broken arm of the chair. He reached down with his new mobility and searched the guard's uniform until he found a switchblade. It took a moment, but Tom got it open and cut the zip ties, fully freeing himself from the chair.

Shouts sounded from the hall and Tom knelt to take the unconscious guard's sidearm. He checked it, found it fully loaded, and picked up the second gun before starting for the door.

He rounded carefully into the hallway, finding it clear of anyone that would still be shooting at him. Several guards were laid out along the way and he saw Gina free down the way. "Okay, maybe a little longer than I predicted?" he called out, raising a hand as Gina turned to aim at him. She shot him an exasperated look. "Where're Ressler and Aram?"

"They weren't held with me," she answered, lowering her weapon and Tom cursed as he started past her and down the hall.

He nearly ran into Sutton Ross head on as the man rounded out of a room and into the hall. He stopped, holding his hands up in surrender as shots sounded off downstairs.

"Should have taken the deal, " Gina said as she moved to make sure that he wasn't hiding any weapons on him. Tom kept his own attention on Ross, refusing to make the same mistake that his own captor had made with him.

"How about we honour that now?" Ross asked with a sly smile as she found a gun tucked away in the band of his slacks. She didn't bother to answer as Ressler and Aram appeared at the top of the stairs, Diaz with them, her expression carefully schooled and Gina made a beeline for her. The two women disappeared down the stairs without a spoken word between them.

"The bones," Tom demanded lowly, pulling Ross' attention back to him.

"The room just by the stairs. I can take you to them."

"Slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them."

"Sure," the older man answered and started to turn. There was something in his voice that caused Tom to pause and Ross stopped and shifted halfway through his turn, knocking the gun in Tom's hand up so that the bullet hit the ceiling rather than his face. He lashed out and Tom blocked the blow, swinging the gun around and the second shot went off.

Silence followed and his eyes met Ross'. There was a slow recognition there that the desperate move hadn't panned out quite like the other man had hoped and his knees folded under him so that he dropped to Tom's feet. Tom stood there for a long moment, his vision blurring a little as he stared, and suddenly he felt very drained. This was supposed to be a quick in and out and it had turned into a bloodbath far too quickly.

"Tom?" Aram called out and he looked up, seeing both of the federal agents hanging halfway between the top of the stairs and where Tom stood over the bleeding Sutton Ross.

"Yeah," he huffed, watching the light slowly fading from the man's eyes. "I'm good. Bones are in the room by the stairs."

Ressler ducked into the room and Tom blinked hard, trying to bring himself back around and out of the sudden haze he'd plunged into. He heard the sound of Gina making her way back up the stairs from the other end of the hallway and she rounded the landing, her expression dark. "You took care of Ross. Good. He killed Estevez."

He felt his shoulders slouch a little more at that. "I liked him."

Gina made a small sound of acknowledgement as she moved past Aram, shooting him a brief look as she did. "He was good. He learned from one of the best."

Tom couldn't muster a smile at that and as she approached, stopping just next to him to examine the dead man. After a moment she leaned into him, her shoulder hitting his, and it was an old gesture he hadn't seen from her since they were kids. Somehow, though, it was almost comforting. "Got what we need?"

"Take a look and make sure it's not a decoy," Ressler called as he exited the room, bag in hand, and Tom ghosted towards him. He was already starting to ache and that plane ride home was going to be hellish. "You okay?"

He didn't bother to look at Ressler, aiming for the bag. "I will be," he said honestly and nodded. "Bones and test. We're good."

"I, uh…. what do we do about…. this?" Aram asked hesitantly, motioning to the dead guards and their dead boss. There was likely more downstairs.

"We'll handle it," Gina promised. "Go home to the wife and kid, family man. Just know if you forget to pay me the rest of what you owe I'll find where you live."

"I don't doubt it for a second," Tom chuckled, reaching into his pocket and surprised to find that they hadn't taken his phone from him. Well, it wasn't like they had thought he was calling anyone tied to a chair. Once he finished the transfer he held it up, showing her. "Thank you."

"It's what you paid me for," his former partner grumbled.

"Take care of yourself." His smile was tired but real. There was no use pushing it. Neither of them had ever bothered with goodbyes. He motioned and he saw Ressler risked one more glance back over everything before moving with him, Aram right behind them. They needed to get back to the airport and get home. Liz could only hold Reddington at bay for so long.

"Jacob." He stopped, turning just a little and Gina wore an expression he couldn't quite place. It was strange, and he found himself wondering just how taking on St Regis had affected her. "Don't let him get you killed."

He flashed a grin at that. "You're the one that said I'd survive a nuclear holocaust, remember?" And with that he started down the stairs.

Liz had known the ruse wouldn't last forever, but as the hours without word from Tom or the others ticked on she felt the weight of urgency pressing down on her. It was in the way that Reddington's clever eyes flickered from one person to the next, looking for a sign of weakness or truth that he knew was hidden there, even if he didn't know what that truth was. Or in the way that Katarina Rostova became less and less interested in getting to know her daughter and had finally left the conversation entirely when she saw a skip in the feeds of the interrogation. It wasn't Dumont's fault. The man had already worked his magic longer than Liz really had expected.

They hadn't said anything right away. Instead Solomon had slunk around and overheard the end of a phone call that Reddington had made to try to track down the jet that Tom had taken and find out where he had gone. If he had that information yet or not, Liz wasn't sure, but it was time to face this. She pulled in a deep breath and told Dumont as she passed that it was up.

Reddington returned to find her staring at him and she thought he knew by his tone. "Clever."

"What is?" Liz asked, her face a blank mask of indifference to Reddington's odd mix of disappointment and pride that he wore.

He motioned over to the computers and to where Solomon and Nez were watching the conversation carefully like they were waiting for any chance to jump in. Reddington shook his head. "You and Tom are…. Stubborn. I'd hoped that I had made the consequences of crossing me on this clear."

"Crystal clear," Liz said tightly.

"Then why would you risk your husband's life, Masha?" Katarina asked from behind her and Liz felt her temper flare.

"It's Elizabeth, and I'm not risking his life. Reddington is if he goes through with his threat. You are if you back him on it."

"There's a great deal I'll do for you, Elizabeth, but giving here when we're so close isn't one of those things."

"You will," she promised, her head tilted up just a little. "I'm not losing him again."

"No," Reddington answered, a short and mirthless laugh riding out on a breath, "but he won't be able to help you undermine me either. The last call I made was to Whitehall. I don't make idle threats. If you'll excuse me, I think I've wasted enough time here." He stepped forward, but Nez blocked his pathway out. "Move, dear."

"I don't think so," Scottie said easily from her place. Liz had almost forgotten she was there with the way she'd all but faded back into the shadows. "Sit down, Red. You get to wait for this."

"Don't push me, Scottie."

"Sit. Down." The words left her with authority to rival his and Katarina glanced between the two, a curious expression flittering across her face as she did. "You lost your leverage when they called your bluff. That doesn't mean this is over."

"It is. I was willing to work with you and your husband and even Tom Keen to handle this situation, but not in these circumstances. If I can't trust-"

"Trust?" Liz bit out. "You want to talk about trust?"

A loud clang of the door to the warehouse drew everyone's attention, and half a moment later three very tired looking men made their way in. Ressler was in the lead and Aram came after him. Tom was moving a little slower, a little stiffer than the others. His hair was standing on end like he'd tried to catch as much sleep as he could on the plane and as he moved further into the lit room Liz could see blood on the collar of his jacket and the way the bruises had already begun to form along the side of his face. He looked whole, though, at least for the most part. She saw his gaze darken as it fixed on on Reddington and lifted the duffel bag in his hand up to make sure that the older man saw it. "Time to renegotiate."

Notes: My notes were pretty vague about how Tom and the others were going to go in and get the bones, so them getting caught was kind of a surprise lol. Everything was going along nicely until it wasn't and that's just how it goes for Tom, but he got out, got the bag, and I have such a clear picture in my head of that final scene with him walking in. One of Red's major flaws is that he underestimates them. In many ways, I think he still sees them as children.