Human Target Episode 1.03 Embassy Row

Chance finds journalist Aaron Cooper at his ransacked apartment in Washington, D.C. Aaron's brother Danny, an old pal of Chance's, gave Aaron the special "friends and family" hotline to call ... right before he died. Danny also sent Aaron a package, which someone else clearly wants.

Aaron looks over the material as Chance explains Danny wasn't really a lawyer. He was a counterintelligence agent -- a spy hunter. Aaron says Danny's death was like an acute allergic reaction, with heavy internal bleeding. Chance realizes it's poison. Danny was pursuing a Russian agent, who apparently was after him too. Now they have to finish what he started.

At their temporary D.C. digs, Chance tells Winston that Danny's target is attending a cocktail party at the Russian embassy. Guerrero says embassy security is super-tight, dude. He begins cracking the code from Danny's notes. Chance wonders about Alexei Volkov, whose name appears frequently.

Embassy security is indeed tight at the black-tie event. Spiffy in a tux, Chance assumes Danny's alias of "C.C. Baxter." Winston helps him talk his way past State Department liaison Peter Blanchard and Volkov, the embassy's chief of security. In the background, Aaron coughs.

Once cleared, Chance learns his "guest" has already arrived. Uh-oh. Whoever that is will be expecting Danny, not Chance.

Guerrero's cracked the code, but one set of numbers remain mysterious: 121467. He and Winston learn the spy is someone named "Raven," who carries the poison's antidote with him. Aaron gets a nosebleed; he's been poisoned! Winston tells Chance about Raven. To create a distraction and get to Volkov, Chance secretly pulls a peg from a serving table.

Chance's guest is a gorgeous brunette in a stunning red dress. She suggests they get to know each other better. Chance coughs. Thinking she's a hooker, he hands her some cash and says he won't be needing a "date." The brunette sputters that she's not a prostitute, let alone a "$40 prostitute!"

As the table crashes apart, Chance snags a guard's key card. Giving Red Dress the slip, he follows Volkov and finds him briefing a roomful of Special Forces. The Russians also want Raven. Blood suddenly drips from Chance's nose. Not good.

Guerrero confirms there's poison at Aaron's apartment, airborne and lethal. Aaron was exposed ... and Chance too. Pretty soon Aaron will get worse. And Chance?

Red Dress is no hooker. She's Agent Emma Barnes, Danny's liaison at the FBI. She knows Chance isn't C.C. Baxter. And, boy, can she kick! They twirl in a bruising hand-to-hand tango: Barnes thinks he's the spy; Chance explains who he is and says he was poisoned too. They must both be looking for Raven. Also, he's having a hard time breathing, so could she please get off him?

Raven is going to sell stolen plans for a weapons prototype at the embassy, at 5 p.m. They figure out the auction will happen over a wireless Bluetooth connection, and Winston realizes the mysterious code is a pairing number. Chance punches it into Barnes' cell and sees Raven showing proof he has the plans. The bid's up to $20 million.

When Barnes transmits a notice that the transaction has been halted by the U.S. government, the buyer -- a big-time Russian oil magnate -- flees and is shot by an unknown gunman. Armed agents imprison Chance and Barnes, handcuffing them together and also shackling them to a table. Chance coughs. Time's running out. He leans in and snags one of her dangly earrings in his teeth. Volkov arrives and says one of them must be Raven. Chance puts his cards on the table, telling Volkov that Barnes is FBI, he's a friend of Raven's last victim, and he's been poisoned too.

Blanchard from the State Department demands to see the Americans. Chance picks open the shackles with the earring and wonders how Blanchard knows they're there. It's because ... Blanchard is Raven!

Blanchard/Raven shoots Volkov and the guards. Still handcuffed together, Chance and Barnes battle him with creative tandem moves, but he almost shoots them before a wounded Volkov guns him down. Chance finds a hotel key on Blanchard/Raven; Guerrero goes to the room and finds the antidote. Barnes notices a surveillance system that can give her the proof she needs. But Chance's face is on there, so he firebombs the computer.

Still handcuffed, they commandeer a motorcycle and leap off a side porch, speeding down the hill with troops in hot pursuit. Thrown from the bike and under fire, Chance falters as they head for the embassy wall. He doesn't think he can make it, but Barnes hauls him up and over as bullets whiz past. What a woman!

A van pulls up and Guerrero hops out, injecting Chance with the antidote. "Nice dress," he tells a stunned Barnes. He cuts the handcuffs and drags Chance away. But she needs him to corroborate her story. Sorry, he'll have to owe her one.

At the FBI, the lab lifted part of Chance's fingerprint from Barnes' side of the cuffs. She runs it and gets a long list of aliases. Dead end.

After Aaron visits Chance to say thanks, Winston tells his partner about the FBI trace. Chance insists he made a mistake. Winston thinks Chance left the print on purpose, so Barnes could find him. Chance vows that if he never sees that woman again, it will be too soon. "Uh-huh," says Winston.