Paris, France 07:00 AM
Adam is navigating his car through the busy morning traffic of Paris, heading towards the DGSI Headquarters, but Louis' condition in the backseat is getting worse by the second.
"Louis, I need to get you to a hospital, you're losing a lot of blood. Tell me what you know, and I promise you nothing is going to happen to you!"
In addition to losing blood, Louis is losing consciousness, but remains persistent.
"You don't know these people, Adam... If you take me to a hospital, I'm dead."
"You need medical attention, and you need it now. DGSI is still 30 minutes away, you're not gonna make it. Louis, please. Tell me what you know, and I'll help you. I will personally protect you. You have my word."
There's no reply. Louis has lost consciousness.
"Son of a bitch."
Since there is no way Louis is going to survive 30 minutes, Adam decides to make a steep turn towards the hospital, breaking more than a few traffic rules along the way.
Adam's car is being followed by one of the Middle Eastern men who is on the phone with someone.
"He just took a steep turn, looks like he's headed to a medical facility."
"Then perhaps he hasn't talked to anyone yet. He's trying to get the snitch treated. Find out what he knows, and kill them both. But try not to make a scene."
"Understood."
Le Parisien Headquarters (Newspaper)
Clara has arrived to work and is getting ready for the day's assignment.
She's anxious, but in a positive way, over being chosen to work on covering the historic peace negotiations about to take place.
Clara has always been considered very talented at what she does, but she herself has always been critical of herself - especially when it comes to her body of work.
She's the kind of girl whose big heart always manages to find the positive side in everybody else but herself.
It's also the reason she's been so excited about her blooming relationship with Adam, as Adam seems to be such a loving man who is good at encouraging her.
It's not a side of Adam that's often visible, but Clara has been sweet enough to not give up on Adam just based on his rough exterior. Given how Clara is rather short, even for a woman, she's always been called the small girl with a big heart. Sometimes, this leads to a degree of naivety on her part, though. She's too good to expect the worst out of people.
She's in the middle of a chat with a co-worker, and the conversation is actually about Adam, instead of the work day ahead.
Madeleine is one of Clara's closest confidants, as well as someone never afraid to give out some tough love. And she's dished it out on several occasions due to Clara's lousy taste in men in the past.
"I'm just saying. If he's all you're saying he is, I'm happy for you, Clara. But with your track record, I just want to tell you to be careful."
"I appreciate the concern, I really do. But Adam's different. I really think he's what I've been waiting for. He's just what I need in my life. A normal, regular, well-balanced... just a good guy, you know? No skeletons in the closet. I'm telling you."
Madeleine smiles, but remains skeptical as she always does.
"Fine, fine. But you can't blame me, girl! Not with your history, hah."
"Hah, yeah, I guess not. But you should meet him. Then you'd know. He's not one to get involved with anything. He just doesn't seem to be the type."
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Adam stops the car in front of the hospital and pulls Louis out of the car. He wraps Louis' arm around him, and drags him inside the facility.
The hospital is busy, and Adam realizes he must do something drastic to get people's attention.
"This man needs medical attention! He's been shot, he's losing blood, no exit wound!"
There's a small moment of nothing happening as the confusion catches everyone off guard.
Adam then pulls out his gun and aims at the staff members.
"I am not messing with you, he needs medical attention now! He has information that may be vital to this country's national security!"
One of the older doctors takes charge of the situation.
"We need a surgical team in 107!"
Louis is then rushed to a room with Adam following.
"I need him conscious as soon as possible. I'm a former federal agent of the United States government. This man has information about the plane going down a little over an hour ago, which may be linked to further attacks taking place in France today."
"We'll do the best we can."
The man following Adam also entered the hospital, and is surveying the situation. He heard what Adam said and surmises that Louis hasn't told him what he knows. He stays behind the door of the room to listen in.
Right at that moment, Luis regains consciousness.
"Adam... Where... No, I said no hospital."
One of the doctors tries to calm him down.
"Sir, you're in Hôpital Saint-Louis, you've been shot. We'll take care of you. Antoine, hand me the anesthetic."
But Adam interrupts him.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
Louis gets scared as he knows the look on Adam's face. And he's right.
"Louis, you're gonna tell me what I need to know. And you'll get the anesthetic."
The doctors are outraged by such an obscene suggestion.
"That's outrageous! We are trying to save this man's life!"
Adam then pulls out his gun again.
"You can do it without the anesthetic! Louis, you're gonna tell me what you know, and the doctors will give you an anesthetic. Louis! All you gotta do is talk to me!"
Adam had successfully removed himself from all of this. But now he's in that zone again. The zone he enters every time, no matter how hard he tries to evade it.
He tells himself that he's just going to do this one thing. This one thing, and that's that. He'll find out what Louis knows, contact the authorities, and move on. Nothing more.
The pain gets too much for Louis to bear, so he finally breaks. Unfortunately, he's having trouble speaking.
"The plan... What I know is... A number of diversionary attacks will take place..."
Adam leans in closer.
"Diversionary? What's the real goal? Talk to me, Louis!"
"It's... at 10 AM, there's going to... They will..."
"What's gonna happen at 10 AM?"
Louis freezes and is unable to respond.
"Louis, what's gonna to happen at 10 o'clock?"
The doctors intervene with the oldest doctor calling Adam's bluff, knowing he won't shoot anyone.
"You're going to let us do our job!"
Adam moves away and allows the doctors to work on Louis. His situation seems critical.
Adam snaps out of the moment and realizes he just walked down that path again. And why? It's not his job. It's not his responsibility.
But can he just stand by? Will it ever really, honestly be in his nature to stand by?
The terrorist outside of the room has been keeping an eye on what's happened. Now he steps away to make a phone call.
"It's me, Amal."
"What's the situation?"
"He hasn't talked. He was about to, but he lost consciousness. The doctors are working on him now. He had time to mention the diversionary attacks, but he didn't have time to say enough."
"What about the man there with him?"
"He's American. And he's no ordinary citizen. He may be a problem."
"But he doesn't know enough?"
"No."
"Take out the snitch, don't worry about the American. It would make too much noise. He doesn't know enough to be a problem, there's not enough time. Just make sure you keep it that way."
"I will."
The man hangs up the phone, walks away to a less crowded corridor, and stops a doctor who passes him by.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for the restrooms."
"Oh, they're right over-"
The doctor points to the restrooms, but soon notices a weapon aimed at him.
"Take me there. And don't make a sound."
Terrified, the doctor leads the way to the bathroom with a weapon pointed at his back.
As they enter the restroom, the man pulls the trigger. The gun is silenced, so it doesn't make noise and attract attention.
He removes the doctor's clothes and puts them on, along with his name tag. Of course, the name on the tag is of a Western white male, but people in a hospital are too busy to pay attention.
In Louis' hospital room, the doctors have managed to stabilize him for the time being, but he's still unconscious. Adam decides to take the opportunity to make a phone call, but the reception is bad, so he has to walk somewhere else.
The reception is finally there, and Adam gets a call through to DGSI, the French agency responsible for handling domestic terrorist threats.
"DGSI, how can I help you?"
"My name is Adam Black, I'm a former federal agent of the United States government, I'm sure you can find my file on your systems if you look for it."
As Adam keeps talking, as the DGSI employee looks up Adam's info in their database.
"Approximately 20 minutes ago, I was approached by a man called Louis Dubois with information about the plane going down earlier this morning. I have reason to believe the plane attack is linked to further potential attacks on this country, set to take place later today. I was escorting him to your headquarters , as we were ambushed by Middle Eastern men after Dubois. In the midst of the ambush, Dubois got shot. Right now, I'm in Hôpital Saint-Louis with him."
Adam keeps going over the events of the past hour. While this is going on, the terrorist passes himself off as a doctor and enters Louis' room, carrying a syringe.
He tries not to make direct eye contact with anyone.
"Is he stabilized?"
"Yeah, we removed the bullet. It looks like he might pull through."
The doctor who was working on him turns his back for a second to throw his gloves in the trash and wash his hands.
"That's good news."
The doctor turning his back gives the terrorist an opportunity to inject something into Louis' IV.
He then quickly leaves the room.
The doctor is confused to see him gone as he turns his back. He doesn't remember ever seeing him before. It's a big hospital, but usually, people do know each other.
Adam re-enters the room, having finished the phone call.
"Can he talk yet?"
"As he comes to, I'm sure he-"
Suddenly, Louis' heart rate monitor goes crazy, and he begins to spasm uncontrollably.
Adam panics.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know, everything was fine! This doesn't make any sense!"
The doctor works furiously on Louis, but nothing seems to work, Adam suspects that something fishy is going on.
"Did anyone else besides you have access to this room?"
"No! It was just... no, there was a doctor in here just now."
Adam knew it.
"Son of a bitch."
He leaves the room to look for whoever left the room, trying to ask people about him.
"The doctor who just left the room, where did he go?"
Adam is pointed to the direction, and he's in pursuit. He doesn't have time to question why he even does it. He should, but doesn't.
Adam rushes through the corridors and goes around a corner, noticing a white doctor's jacket dropped to the ground. This pretty much proves that someone was posing as a doctor.
The final corridor leads to the parking lot. Through the window on the door, Adam sees a car speeding away. He makes a note of the fact that it's a dark green Citroën.
For a split-second, Adam stops.
He's about to pursue a hostile. If he does, he enters a point of no return.
But who is he kidding, really?
Adam runs to his car and begins the chase.
Le Parisien Headquarters
Clara and Madeleine are heading into the field to work, but their supervisor wants to have a word with Clara.
"Clara! I hate to ask, but we're spread really thin here. Iris took a sick day, and I need someone to finish her reports later today. You have a busy day ahead of you, but I would owe you forever if you could do that stuff after you come back from the signing of the peace treaty."
Clara is anything but enthusiastic, however she's never learned to be confrontational. And on top of that, she feels too honored to have been chosen to cover the peace treaty to say no to anything.
"Uh... yeah. Sure. Sure, I'll do it. It shouldn't take too long. I'll do those as soon as I get back."
"Thanks, Clara! I owe you one."
"Sure thing!"
Bummed, Clara realizes she has to call Adam and postpone their date by an hour or two.
Just Outside Hôpital Saint-Louis
Adam's phone rings as he's tailing the hostile. Clara's name showing up on the phone snaps him out of the situation for a little bit. It's a cruel reminder of what he's potentially throwing away by getting involved in whatever is going on. By letting himself be dragged back in.
He owes it to Clara to answer.
"Clara, I'm in a kind of a tough spot right now."
"Oh, uhh... I just called to say I may need to stay a few extra hours today after the peace treaty. A co-worker called in sick and-"
The peace treaty. That makes Adam connect the dots. Whatever is happening has to have something to do with the peace treaty. The political ramifications of something like that are immense, so this can't be a coincidence.
"Clara, if that plane going down earlier this morning was a deliberate terrorist attack, it may have something to do with the peace treaty. I'd feel more comfortable if you didn't go there."
Clara doesn't get offended easily, it really takes a lot. But she does feel a little bit insulted by Adam suggesting she should skip a career opportunity of a lifetime.
"Adam? I've worked my whole life for a chance like this. I'm covering something historic and never before seen. And it's not like I can just skip work. What are you even talking about?"
"Just be careful, okay?"
"Hey, I'm a big girl, Adam. Well, not in size, but you know..."
"I'm serious!"
"I'm gonna be fine! It's your day off, what's made you so tense?"
"Something came up, I'm gonna have to get back to you."
"Something work related?"
"Yeah, something like that. I'm sorry, but I really need to go."
"Okay, okay, I love-"
Adam hangs up before Clara has a chance to finish the sentence.
That does put a damper on the day. It's silly, but Clara feels a little heartbroken by it. She has a tendency to make everyone around her sad if she looks sad simply due to her being such a sweet and lovable girl.
Madeleine instantly notices something's wrong.
"Hey, what is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Adam was just acting a little strange, that's all. Seemed busy."
"Busy? I thought he had a day off?"
"So did I. But something came up, he said."
Madeleine tries to lighten the mood by getting jokey.
"I hate to say I told you so..."
The attempt is successful as a smile appears on Clara's face again.
"Oh, don't start."
Madeleine's sarcasm intensifies.
"Oh, I won't. I'm sure he's just some super secret agent on a secret mission or something."
*"Well, that'd be kinda hot, huh?"
"Dream on."
Adam, on the other hand, is busy making another phone call, this time to DGSI.
"It's me again, I called earlier from the hospital. Right now, I'm in pursuit of a hostile who I believe is linked to the plane bombing. I'm requesting comm support so that I can follow him without being seen."
The senior analyst at DGSI is called Diane. She's probably the best in the country at what she does, but can be considered a pain in the ass due to her damn near absolute inability to stand off-protocol behavior. Sometimes there are things that are easier to do off-protocol and outside the book, but Diane is one of those people who got straight As at school and only know one way, which is whatever way was taught to her.
She's precisely the type Adam despises and never gets along with.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, but this is highly unusual. We don't have anything to go by other than your intuition. And even then-"
"I understand that this is unusual, but with all due respect, if you went through my file earlier, I think you know that my intuition is worth something. You can send your own people to the field, but until then, it's best that I keep track of the hostile."
"What I found in your file hardly helps your case, Mr. Black. Up until six months ago, you were in prison."
"And now I'm not because I stopped the state of California from dying of a weaponized virus. Are you going to give me the satellite coverage or not?"
"I'm not authorized to give that sort of information to someone who doesn't even work here."
"Fine. Let me speak to someone in charge."
"I'm also not obligated to take orders from-"
"Damn it, listen to me! In a few hours from now, Presidents Abbas and Levesque are going to sign a historic peace treaty, one that's sure to cause a lot of political backlash, especially among radical groups. Put two and two together; if that plane going down had anything to do with the peace treaty, and something goes wrong, it's gonna be on you. Now let me talk to someone in charge. I'm only asking for you to let me help."
Diane has met her match, for the first time in a very long time. The threat of something going wrong being on her head even slightly is enough to break her.
"I'll let you speak with Isaac Bernard, Director of DGSI."
"Thank you."
"Isaac, I think there's someone you need to talk to. It's the man who called from the hospital earlier."
Diane patches the call through to Isaac.
"Isaac Bernard, Director of DGSI."
"Listen, we don't have a lot of time. I understand that this goes against every protocol in the book, but I'm in pursuit of a hostile with a possible link to the plane bombing that took place an hour and a half ago."
"Yes, you called us earlier from the hospital."
"The informant was killed by the hostile I'm following. Clearly, Dubois knew something. I'm requesting satellite coverage so I can keep track of the hostile without risking being seen. I need him to lead to me wherever he's going."
Someone who is, for all intents and purposes, a civilian, is requesting a government agency to provide him satellite backup so he can follow a terrorist. It's unheard of, and Isaac is confused more than anything.
"So, you're asking us to provide you comm support while you're pursuing a hostile? On your own?"
"I don't have the time to repeat myself here. I'm a trained field agent, and right now, I'm the best shot you've got at stopping a potential threat in your country. Your men would take 30 minutes to get here, and this thing could be over in 30 minutes. You accepted your position because you wanted to serve and protect your country, now I am asking you to let me help you do that! If anything goes wrong, I'll accept full responsibility. Am I going to get the comm support, or not?"
Isaac is more cooperative than Diane; he's smart enough to know that sometimes you just need to go off the book.
"When was the last time you were on the field?"
"Six months ago."
"I'm providing you with comm support, but you need to keep us posted at all times. I'll send my men to your location."
"Don't do it yet. We can't risk scaring him off."
It becomes clear to Isaac that Adam knows what he's doing in the field, but as Director in Charge, he can't leave the operation solely in the hands of a stranger. He's smart enough however, to bluff since it's evident that Adam is the kind of guy who won’t take no for an answer.
"I understand that. I'm patching you through to Diane, she will provide you with support."
"Thank you. Track this call and locate a dark green Citroën."
Isaac connects the call back to Diane, and orders the field team to move in on site.
The hostile regularly checks his rearview mirror to see if he's being followed. He hasn't spotted Adam yet, but just make sure, he makes an unexpected turn and speeds towards the highway as he exits the city area.
Adam notices this and pushes the pedal, as well.
"Damn it, I'm losing him!"
Diane locates Adam and the hostile on the satellite feed just as Adam is about to lose track of the hostile. He speeds but tries not to be too obvious.
"Okay, I found you two. He's taking the first exit out of the highway. Heading west."
"Copy that."
Adam is barely able to keep following him without drawing too much suspicion, hoping that the hostile will lead him to wherever the base of operations is.
Away from the action, a limousine is escorting President Bashar Abbas' family and chosen close cabinet members to a hotel until the signing of the peace treaty takes place.
Before they arrive, Bashar wants to discuss with Zafeer one last time to settle any tension between them, and to make sure Zafeer is sincerely on board with the signing of the treaty.
"Zafeer, you are one of my closest confidants. And I consider you a personal friend. So, it's of utmost importance to me, both on a professional as well as a personal level, that you're with me on this. I know you don't agree with the West, but this war has been fought with bullets for so long, and it has only brought our nation down. It's time for a change."
Zafeer pretends to be more agreeable than he is.
"Despite our political differences, you are the President, Bashar. You are the leader of our country. And I will respect that. I only hope you realize what you're doing."
"I do. I don't agree with the West's philosophies, but you must understand that this isn't about me. This is about our country. It's time our people stop living under the constant fear of violence and ravage. Today is that day, Zafeer."
"I know you have our country's best interest at heart. As so do I. And you're right: this day is bigger than the both of us."
Bashar smiles and nods, feeling confident that Zafeer realizes that this is the right thing to do.
The limo pulls in front of the hotel and the President is met with a crowd of press members wanting to get a few words from him.
Zafeer stays to handle the situation as Bashar and his family are escorted to the hotel by their security staff.
After dealing with the reporters, Zafeer heads inside but doesn't follow the President immediately.
Instead, he finds a safe place to make a phone call.
"It's me. President Abbas is refusing to budge. He is adamant to go through with the peace treaty."
The person he is talking to is Daivari.
"I expected as much. So it will be done."
"Yes. It is the only way. Is everything on schedule?"
"As planned. In about two hours, President Abbas will face the consequences of going to bed with the West."
Zafeer hangs up the phone and heads to the hotel room.
Adam is still following the hostile, but DGSI is getting restless as the chase is taking so long.
"Adam, the hostile seems to be going around in circles. He may not lead you anywhere."
"Just give it a while. He's probably making sure no one is following him. I'll stay behind enough to give him space. He needs to go somewhere eventually."
"You yourself said earlier that this thing may be over soon."
"I know what I said, but if I stop him now, we may lose our only shot. Give it a few more minutes."
"Hold on a minute, Adam. I'll get back to you."
Diane asks Isaac what he thinks.
"The chase isn't going anywhere. I don't think we should place this operation on a stranger like this. It's too risky."
"I know. I sent a chopper on site, ready to apprehend the hostile. We'll take him in and interrogate him. If something happens before then, good. If not, we'll do this ourselves."
Adam notices that the hostile is now taking a different route. It seems as if he's done going around in circles, probably thinking he's shaken off any potential followers.
In his car, the hostile is contacted by Daivari.
"Are you in the clear?"
"Yes, I think so. I'm on my way there."
"Good. Zafeer just confirmed that President Abbas will officially go through with the peace treaty."
"Then he will be punished according to our laws."
"But remember: whatever you do, do not let anyone follow you or learn our location."
"Of course not."
Paris Suburbs
The house belongs to Clara's co-worker Iris and her husband.
The unfortunate owners, however, lie dead on the floor with bullets in their foreheads.
In the bathroom, Mia is wearing Iris' clothes and is finishing up doing her makeup. She's also wearing a blonde wig that matches Iris' hairstyle. After doing a few more touch-ups with the makeup, Mia then puts on Iris' glasses, as well.
They don't look identical, but they bear enough resemblance for Mia to pass off as her.
Mia then goes through her stuff to find her press pass. The picture on the press pass is a close match to Mia's current look.
She then assembles her own camera out of parts that she had with her in her bag.
Preparations completed, she goes to the bathroom one more time to have a look at the finished product.
She then turns to look at Iris' dead body on the floor.
"Oh, honey. Why did you have to be this godawfully nerdy. Ugh. Ah, well. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
Mia packs her bags and leaves the house.
One of the terrorists is waiting for her in his car.
"What took you so long?"
"Hey, you have no idea how hard it was to pass myself off as her and still look even remotely good, okay? Seriously."
The man is not amused by Mia's valley girl act. Instead, he shows her a photo on his cell phone.
"These are her two co-workers."
The photo shows Clara and Madeleine side by side.
"You are to avoid them at all costs. If they see you and get suspicious, it can ruin everything. But if they do..."
"I know, I know. Hmh, too bad, though. The blonde one is cute. But I know what to do, dontcha worry."
"Good."
They drive off.
Outside of Paris
The pursuit between Adam and the hostile is still going on. Though it looks like the hostile does in fact have a set direction. Adam is confident that he will lead him to their base of operations quickly enough.
He has Diane on the phone.
"Diane, I want you to study the area and look for a possible place where the hostile might be heading. He's had a set direction for so long, I'm sure he's heading somewhere."
"There's not much there, to be honest. You're pretty far from everything."
"Just keep looking."
"Sure."
Maybe Adam got lucky, he thinks to himself. Maybe it's easy for once. Just maybe this can be over soon. He follows the hostile to his base, DGSI can apprehend those responsible, and it's all going to be over.
Then Adam can focus on his life and Clara, and be happy.
This proves to be wishful thinking, though, as the DGSI helicopter arrives on the scene.
They've been given orders to apprehend the hostile as the chase has been going on for too long.
Adam notices this and is furious.
"What the hell is going on?"
"What?"
"There's a DGSI chopper on site, I told you not to get involved yet!"
"We decided that we can't take the chance of this being a wild goose chase, Mr. Black. We need to take him in now."
"Goddamnit, you'll screw this up!"
Adam is not the only one noticing the chopper. The hostile quickly realizes he's been followed.
He calls Daivari.
"Ali, there is a problem."
"How big?"
"I was wrong. I've been followed. There's a government chopper chasing me."
Daivari is quiet for a moment.
"Then you know what to do."
"Yes."
"It has been an honor."
"The honor has been mine, Ali."
The call ends. The hostile removes the SIM card from the phone, snaps it in half, then places the phone on the passenger seat and reaches for his gun to shoot it.
He then closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and changes the lane, crashing right into a truck at high speed.
Adam sees this happen.
"NO!"
He speeds to the crash site and gets out of the car to check up on the hostile. There's barely anything left of him.
Adam also sees the phone having been shot, as well as the broken SIM card.
"The hostile is dead, he committed suicide! He must have seen the chopper. And he destroyed his phone, we've got nothing here! I told you not to get involved yet! Son of a bitch!"
Man, if people just bothered listening to Adam for once, right? Thanks for reading!