The underground corridor shook violently.
Concrete crashed around them as dust filled the air. Emergency lights flickered, bathing everything in a deep red glow.
"Move!" Walker shouted.
Luca led the way through a narrow maintenance tunnel while Emily stayed close to Victoria, who couldn't take her eyes off the place where Gabriel had disappeared.
"He was right there..."
Victoria whispered.
"I found him..."
"...and lost him again."
Emily gently touched her arm.
"You reached him."
Victoria looked at her.
"He lowered his weapon."
"He listened to you."
Emily gave a small smile.
"He listened to you."
The group finally reached an old emergency exit hidden behind thick vines at the edge of the hospital grounds.
Fresh air rushed into their lungs.
Behind them, a massive explosion tore through part of the abandoned building.
Flames burst through broken windows as smoke climbed into the evening sky.
Walker looked back.
"The entire underground complex is collapsing."
Victoria stood silently.
"My father hid the truth there..."
"And now most of it is gone."
Emily shook her head.
"Not all of it."
She tapped the Atlas folder tucked safely inside her jacket.
"We still have this."
Miles away, Gabriel sat alone in the back of a black SUV.
The drawing Victoria had handed him rested in his lap.
His thumb traced the faded yellow sun.
A memory surfaced.
A little girl laughing.
Running through a garden.
Calling his name.
His breathing became uneven.
Volkov noticed through the rearview mirror.
"What are you thinking about?"
Gabriel folded the drawing carefully.
"I remember her."
Volkov remained silent.
"I remember..."
"...being happy."
For the first time in many years, Volkov looked genuinely concerned.
That night, the group returned to the safe house.
Electricity had been restored, but the atmosphere was heavy.
Walker disappeared into another room to contact FBI headquarters.
Luca began checking the weapons.
Emily found Victoria sitting alone on the back porch.
The city lights reflected in the river beyond.
Emily quietly sat beside her.
Neither woman spoke for a long time.
Finally, Victoria broke the silence.
"When I became head of the Moretti family..."
"I promised myself I'd never let anyone see me cry."
Emily looked toward her.
"You don't have to keep that promise with me."
Victoria's eyes glistened.
"I almost got him back."
"You will."
Victoria laughed softly.
"You always sound so certain."
Emily smiled.
"My father used to say hope isn't about certainty."
"It's about refusing to quit."
Victoria looked at her.
"I think I would've liked him."
"I think he would've liked you too."
A cool breeze swept across the porch.
Victoria turned toward Emily.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"If we had met under different circumstances..."
Emily already knew the question before it was finished.
"...do you think we could've been friends?"
Emily smiled warmly.
"I think we would've argued."
Victoria laughed.
"Probably."
"But after that?"
Emily met her eyes.
"I think we'd have become inseparable."
For a moment, neither of them looked away.
The distance between them felt smaller than ever.
Victoria slowly reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair away from Emily's face.
Her hand lingered for just a second.
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Just as Victoria leaned a little closer...
Walker's voice interrupted from inside the house.
"Emily!"
Both women immediately stepped apart.
Walker opened the door.
"We've got new intelligence."
Emily stood, trying to hide the disappointment in her expression.
"We're coming."
Victoria watched her walk inside before following.
Neither of them mentioned what had almost happened.
But they both felt it.
And neither could pretend it hadn't.
Walker spread several satellite images across the kitchen table.
"We intercepted encrypted communications an hour ago."
He pointed to an isolated island off the New York coast.
"Volkov has moved Gabriel here."
Luca frowned.
"An island?"
Walker nodded.
"An abandoned Coast Guard station."
Emily looked at Victoria.
"This could be our chance."
Victoria's expression hardened.
"No."
"It's our only chance."
Far away, inside the abandoned station, Gabriel stood alone at a window overlooking the ocean.
The drawing remained folded inside his jacket.
He heard footsteps behind him.
Volkov stopped beside him.
"You care about her."
Gabriel didn't answer.
Volkov looked out at the dark water.
"Feelings make people weak."
Gabriel finally spoke.
"Or maybe..."
"They remind us who we really are."
Volkov's eyes narrowed.
For the first time since raising the boy...
He realized he was beginning to lose him.
And if Gabriel turned against him...
Everything he had built over the last twenty years could come crashing down.