+18 - eps 22-27 - A case takes Russell and Brock to the brink of death. It'll be up to Gillian and the team to rescue them before they're killed by a white supremacist militia. And in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the threat of a bio attack fo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Brock knew he should be grateful when Cassidy accepted his refusal to show up at the Hoover Building in the wheelchair and decided they'd join the online conference from Brock's apartment.
In the time Brock took to wear a proper shirt and a tie—he'd never noticed they hung so high from the inside of his closet door—Cassidy sent Ben home and plugged his laptop to the TV, to use it as screen. Andrea got back from school and offered to make them something to drink.
When Brock rolled back to the living room, they tried to help him move from the wheelchair to the couch. But he shooed them away and did it by himself. So Andrea brought Cassidy a coffee and a tea for Brock, kissed her father's hair and went to her room, to give them some privacy to work.
Cassidy sat on the couch by Brock, in front of the TV, and leaned in to work on his computer on the coffee table. Soon the TV screen was split in a dozen windows. One of them showed the full brass around a table; Collins and Medley--heads of Counter Terrorism and Counter Intelligence--were in another window. The other ten showed SACs from all over the country, including Boston.
The moment Cooper joined the conference, she said, "They haven't found any artifact in Harvard so far, and we've got a firm lead on the perpetrator."
Her words reminded Brock of Cassidy's comment about a bomb threat in Harvard. So it wasn't a joke? While the other SACs checked in, the mild burn in his chest told Brock that Gillian's team was bound to be working in Harvard at that very moment. He kept his eyes a little down and his blank face, wishing he could ask openly about it.
When the SACs finished their reports, the window with the brass filled the whole screen.
"It's good to see you, Agent Brockner," said the Director with his usual polite smile. "I hear you're getting better by the day."
"I am, sir. Thanks."
Then the Deputy Director made a question. For the next ten minutes, Collins talked about the information that CT Intelligence and the NSA were gathering. Then, Medley instructed the SACs for the following days. So Brock let his mind go for an idle stroll. Until the brass dismissed the SACs and the screen remained split in three: the brass, Medley and Collins, and Cooper.
She waited until the men were done talking, then she said, "Harvard's been cleared. It was a false alarm."
"Any news on the perpetrator?" asked the Director.
"SA Dillon and his squad lead the investigation with our best techs." That'd include Lawrence for sure, thought Brock. "The threat was emailed, like two years ago. They're working to narrow a list of suspects."
"Are they sure?" asked Medley. "Did the locals search all the compromised buildings?"
Brock liked the way Cooper used to lift her chin, like wrapping herself in a cloak of dignity to tolerate the offense of a simpleton. "We are sure. We've had assets assisting the locals the whole time."
"You mean your special team," said the Deputy Director with a mild smile.
Cooper nodded in a way that made Brock thought the cloak was royal purple.
"Are they back yet?" asked Medley. "We need to ask them a few questions."
"They're on their way back here."
"Let us know. In the meantime, we're sending you a list of persons of interests in your area you need to keep an eye on."
The conversation lingered again on immigrants from Middle East arrived to the US recently, and what policy should apply to them during the current alert. So Brock's focus slid adrift once more.
Until Gillian's voice startled him back to the moment. He looked up and there she was, standing by Cooper's armchair. And he had to admit there was something about the way those two women faced them. They instilled a feeling of strength and confidence, as well as mutual trust.
"...Agent Gillian's team to help surveying the people on the list we just gave you," said Collins when Brock was finally able to snap out of it.
"With all due respect, sir, I don't think so."
Cassidy scoffed under his breath at Gillian's dry reply. All the men on Brock's TV frowned, like a wolf confronted by a sheep.
"Come again?" grunted Collins.
"You don't think we should keep an eye on them?" asked Wright from the brass table. And he sounded slightly amused at the sheep's guts.
Cooper didn't even blink at Gillian's intervention, and let her answer.
"I agree with Agent Brockner that Isis cannot risk to show capability to attack countries on both sides of the pond while the uproar about Paris is still growing. They know that'd be a one-way ticket to obliteration."
Brock's silly joy at seeing her again was disrupted abruptly by her words, especially when the Director silenced the brass' questions and said, "Agent Brockner...?"
So Brock swallowed a sigh and nodded. He couldn't even glance at Cassidy, but heard him type on his phone.
"I think it's home-grown terrorism we should look out for these days," he said. "Some may think they can catch us off guard while we're busy watching potential foreigner threats. Some others may claim that the events in Paris 'inspired' them, or helped them make up their minds."
"You think domestic terrorists can try something big, like what happened in Paris?" asked the Deputy Director.
Gillian glanced down at her phone and frowned. Brock wondered what the hell did Cassidy text her.
Focus, Brockner! "No, sir. They know we're on high alert about any possible threat related to explosives and shootings affecting large crowds."
"Then what?" asked Collins, not hiding his irritation. "What other possible scenario do you have in mind?"
"The most difficult to prevent," replied Brock. "Attacks at smaller places."
"You mean like Paris theatre."
"Something like that. I'm thinking lone wolves attacking public places like office buildings and schools. A large facility with people grouped in rooms, isolated from the other groups. That kind of environment is harder to control as a whole but easier to escape. And they can do a lot of damage until a group able to request help realizes what's happening."
The Director raised his eyebrows. "Medley...?"
Medley and Collins could but nod, swallowing their arguments.
The Deputy Director flashed a quick smile. Those two knew how to play good cop-good cop and get away with it eleven times out of ten. "Thank you, Agent Brockner. That was indeed a very valuable insight. And thank you, Agent Gillian, for bringing it to our attention."
"Keep up the good work, guys. We'll stay in touch," said the Director.
Their window disappeared and so did the one with Collins and Medley. Only now Cassidy sat up, to talk for the first time. "Good job, ladies," he said, and Brock could hear his dreadful smirk in his voice. "Now we better find some bloody serial or something like that, Gillian. That is, if you still wanna stay in Boston and in Violent Crimes."
Gillian narrowed her eyes, very close to one of her death glares. Brock was sure it was to answer to Cassidy's text rather than his words. Brock didn't care. His eyes stayed on her while Cooper traded a few more words with Cassidy and disconnected.
