Leverage Episode 1.12 The First David Job

A very wobbly, visibly drunk Nathan climbs out of a cab in front of an art museum. He reads a sign in front that points guests in the direction of the "Ian Blackpoole Wing Founders' Night Reception." Dropping an empty liquor bottle as he goes, Nathan stumbles in the direction of the outdoor party. When he attempts to walk straight through the entrance with no ticket, a security guard stops him, but only momentarily. Nathan knocks him to the ground. Ian Blackpoole himself approaches Nathan, who pulls a gun on him. When he asks if he's there to kill him, Nathan tells Blackpoole that, no, he won't be doing that tonight. The cocky Blackpoole invites him in for the shrimp. Drunkenly stating his love of the crustaceans, Nathan tosses the gun aside and follows the older man in.

Inside, Blackpoole tells Nathan that his wing at the museum is opening next week and the evening's soiree was thrown in honor of his fundraisers. Nathan says blood money buys the best art, then says he has something to sell Blackpoole. This statement receives a smirk from a man who thinks he has everything, but when Nathan whispers in his ear to tell him what he's got, Blackpooles face draws tight. He has to be lying. When Nathan says lying to him wouldn't be worth his time, Blackpoole considers this and calls Portia diDuccio, a representative from the Vatican Museum, to his side.

Portia has quite the familiar face. . .because she's actually Sophie Devereaux.

Blackpoole "introduces" them, telling Nathan she works for the Vatican Museum and telling her that he used to work for him.

Flashback to two weeks earlier. . .

Sophie, Eliot, Hardison, and Parker stand in the conference room holding notecards and notepads when Nathan walks into the office. He sounds hammered. He stumbles into the room, sees them, and asks what's going on. With no introductory explanation, the crew begins. . .

Ian Blackpoole, CEO of IYS Insurance, millionaire and famous art collector. Two years ago, he refused the claim on Nathan's son's treatment which led to his-

ENOUGH!

Nathan yells to stop Sophie before she can say, "death." Sophie calls out the fact that he's drunk and he doesn't deny it. Must he remind them once again that he's a functioning alcoholic? They get too hung up on the "alcoholic" part and should celebrate the other portion.

Eliot tells him he's getting worse and the crew echoes this with their statements, which they're clearly reading from their "scripts." Nathan realizes this is his intervention and almost laughs. What do they want him to do, go to rehab?

Nope, they know he doesn't need rehab. He needs revenge.

Back at the party. . .

Blackpoole tells Nathan that Sophie/Portia is there to negotiate a loan of some Vatican artifacts. He has one of the finest Renaissance collections in the world and would like to add some of the works owned by the Papacy. Yeah, well, his collection is going to be better than Rome's if he writes him a check, Nathan answers. Blackpoole asks where her art expert, Professor Sinclair is, and Portia points him out-he's talking to a beautiful woman across the party.

As it turns out, Sinclair is actually Eliot.

Blackpoole opts to not call Eliot/Sinclair over at the moment, but asks Sophie/Portia to follow him to his restoration vault. With Nathan in tow, he tells her that his former employee has found the Second David.

Two weeks ago. . .

Sophie debriefs the crew. Michaelangelo's most famous sculpture,David, was created using two smaller models-nicknamed the First and Second David. Each was clay-fired then bronzed. For the past several hundred years, each has been sold, stolen, discovered, stolen again, sold, and so on over and over again. The Second David was stolen from the Vatican ten years ago and hasn't been found. The First David however. . .

Back at the party. . .

Blackpoole takes Sophie/Portia and Nathan through his new wing. He then brings them to his vault, which resides in the bowels of the building. He uses a thumbprint recognition scanner to open the vault door, then swipes a card to turn the randomized laser grid crisscrossing the floor off. He tells the duo it repeats every five minutes and is very proud of all of the security measures in the vault. In addition to those security measures, the vault features four-inch steel behind the plaster walls, infrared sensors, vibration sensors, and. . .the First David. Blackpoole picks up the prized piece of his collection and Nathan snaps a photo of it with his phone, completely undetected by his former employer.

Outside in a black van, Hardison and Parker look in on the vault. They're able to do this because Hardison has hacked into one of the room's security cameras. He states his relief that he doesn't have to try to break into that room-the security in there is sick. Parker has a "psssh" moment. Breaking into that place would be simple. Give her three days and she'd crack it like an egg.

Parker then pulls out a duplicate of the Second David and addresses it. The vault is going to be his new home, she tells the statue. Hardison tells her to quit playing with the little naked man.

Two weeks ago. . .

Sophie explains that they'll sell Blackpoole a fake Second David, which he'll assuredly insure with IYS. He'll then put it on display. When it's discovered that it's a fake, IYS will accuse him of fraud. He'll lose his company, his money, and his reputation will be tarnished. Nobody will ever work with him again.

Nathan likes this, but there's one problem: Blackpoole won't buy unless the sculpture is certified by a professional. Sophie doesn't see this as a problem-one of them will pose as an art aficionado. Still, Nathan has his reservations.

Back at the party. . .

Nathan shows Sophie/Portia and Blackpoole photos of the Second David sitting on top of the front page of The London Examiner dated three days ago. Sophie/Portia says it looks authentic. Nathan asks for $8 million and a clearly agitated Blackpoole says he doesn't have that much liquid cash. Sell something, Nathan answers. The Second David will be in the US tomorrow and tomorrow only. Is Blackpoole interested or what? Nathan has a Canadian oil man who's interested in putting on his mantel. Now Blackpoole is really tense. He's going to put it on a mantel? This piece is basically the Holy Grail of sculpture.

Sophie/Portia stops both of them. She tells Nathan that he needs to give it back to the Vatican. It belongs there. Nathan tells her that the sheikh who owns it really doesn't give a damn about the pope or any of his friends, so if she wants to deal with him directly and pay five times what Nathan's offering, he can walk. Blackpoole isn't a fan of this idea at all and tells Sophie/Portia to let him buy the piece now. He'll donate to the Vatican upon his death, so it doesn't have to pay exorbitant amounts to some "heathen."

Sophie/Portia relents, saying they need to keep this out of the papers. She also says she wants the Vatican's expert, Sinclair, to do the verification. Nobody outside of that room can know that this is going down. Blackpoole looks at her with hunger in his eyes as he agrees on all three counts.

Back outside, Nathan calls to Eliot through their earbud coms. He tells him to meet the three of them immediately. Eliot, of course, tells him to hold on-he's still talking to the beautiful woman from before. Bring her along, Nathan tells him. It'll help sell the character.

As Nathan finishes telling Eliot this, Blackpoole asks him why he came to him. Nathan says he knew Renaissance art was his thing and he knew he'd pay the best price. Plus, he figured guilt would play into it. Blackpoole isn't completely fooled-he knows Nathan hates him. So, really, why him? What can Nathan say? Of course he hates him, but he tells him that he's drunk, broke and he just wants a paycheck. He doesn't care where it comes from.

Eliot/Sinclair arrives with the woman on his arm, who is shocked to see Nathan. The reaction is mutual. Eyebrows are raised when she introduces herself: it's Maggie, Nathan's ex-wife.

Aaaawkward.

After Nathan tries to burn a hole in Eliot/Sinclair's head with his glare, Hardison has to tell all of them to stay in character. Nathan snaps back into it and "introduces" himself to the Eliot/Sinclair. Sophie/Portia introduces herself to "Ms. Ford," who corrects her-she goes by "Ms. Collins," her maiden name.

Hoping to perhaps avoid even more awkwardness and using the convenience of the job they're working, Sophie/Portia asks if she and Blackpoole can borrow Sinclair to speak with him for a moment. Maggie obliges and is left with Nathan. Hardison and Parker are happy to listen to both conversations from the van. . .

Nathan asks what Maggie what she's doing at the party. She's helping Blackpoole set up his new exhibit. She then shows genuine concern for Nathan. She'd heard what he said before and had no idea things were so bad for him. Nathan tries to tell her that he wasn't exactly telling the truth about the being completely broke stuff, but Hardison reminds him that he must stay in character. His boss stops himself, swallows his pride, and tells his ex-wife that things did get pretty rough. Maggie tells him that he should've called her-she would've given him money.

Across the party, Sophie checks out Maggie, admitting that she's pretty, but not without a bit of angst in her voice. Blackpoole tells her that she and Nathan met when they worked for him. Maggie's an art expert. The two of them were quite a team back in the day. For a while, at least. Eliot/Sinclair reports that, while he'll need to look at the piece in person, the photos make him pretty sure that the sculpture is authentic.

Back across, Nathan tells Maggie that he doesn't need any money, but is yelled at by Hardison. He changes his story once again. He does need money, but if this deal goes down, he'll be taken care of. Maggie is eager to help, says, "Let's go get it," and walks off towards Blackpoole before Nathan can stop her.

When Blackpoole tells Maggie that, yes, a deal is going down, she offers to verify the piece. After all, she is an art expert. Sophie/Portia attempts to stop this from happening, but the idea is already firmly planted in his head. Nathan tries to hide his horror as Blackpoole tells them that he's been hesitant using a guy he doesn't know very well to authenticate the sculpture. Having Maggie take a look would make him feel much better. The benevolent Maggie, thinking she's helping out her disheveled, drunk ex-husband, says she'll do whatever it takes to help the deal go through. Blackpoole makes his decision: Maggie looks at the piece or he walks. Nathan can do nothing but agree to his terms.

When Nathan tells the group that he'll go grab drinks for all of them so they can celebrate, Sophie/Portia follows. Hardison asks if Maggie is a really good art expert. Nathan says she's the best. Sophie suggests the only thing they can do: They have to steal the First David tonight so they can show it to Maggie as the Second David tomorrow. Nathan says it's too risky, now that Blackpoole knows their faces, Sophie tells him they'll never get him on the hook like this again. Does Nathan really think they can fool her with a fake?

Of course, not, she's the best. When the two of them worked together, there was nobody better.

Sophie, a bit jealous, says a simple "No" would've sufficed. She's succeeded in convincing Nathan, though. He tells Parker to get in the party and break into the vault. She's excited at the challenge, seeing how she's done no prep whatsoever, and changes into one of Sophie's extra dresses. Hardison says he'll put on a white shirt and act as a part of the wait staff.

A bit later, Parker walks in looking quite stunning in a dress and heads to one of the bars. She asks for a glass of ice, then asks Hardison to grab a big roll of aluminum foil and Sophie for some dark eye shadow. They meet her outside of the emergency exit door that leads to the vault, where she tells them the door has a silent alarm. Sophie should go hide and she and Hardison should pretend to make out. Before he can suggest otherwise, Parker pulls Hardison to her face and Sophie runs off around a corner. The two fake(?) lovebirds make out until two museum guards show up. The two annoyed men tell them that they set off the silent alarm and walk off amidst their fake apologies. As soon as the guards are gone, Parker grabs Sophie's eye shadow. Both she and Hardison, who's still dizzy from his close encounter with Parker, go through the emergency door. Sophie heads back to the party.

Parker dusts the thumbprint scanner with eye shadow-Hardison asks her to talk about what just happened. Of course, Parker doesn't pick up on the fact that he means their kiss; she thinks he's talking about Nathan's ex-wife showing up and says it's totally weird. Hardison doesn't really know how to respond.

Parker presses the thumb plate with a cloth napkin, which pushes the eye shadow into the oils left by Blackpoole's print. The system thinks it's Blackpoole pushing down on the plate, so the door opens. Bingo.

Parker then tells Hardison to start chewing some gum as they walk through the door. She fills an aluminum foil cone full of ice and instructs Hardison to stick it to the infrared sensor on the wall using his gum. That way, it won't pick up on their body heat. As he does this, she cartwheels and flips through the laser beams to the middle of the room, which makes Hardison nervous. If the system resets before she can grab the sculpture and changes the part of the lasers, they're toast.

Parker folds two large sheets of foil into "L" shapes and puts them on the ground. They reflect the beams back to their source on each side of the room, hence making space for her to walk without setting off the alarm. She pushes one of the "L" foils towards the table where the First David sits. When she's close enough to grab, she smiles. Easy as pie.

Outside, Nathan talks with Maggie, who tells him she still cares about him and about what happens to him. She never stopped worrying about that. Sophie hears all of this and tries to hide her jealous rage. Eliot, sensing that Sophie might actually explode, tells Hardison and Parker to hurry up.

In the vault, Hardison hacks into the van's security system via his phone and sets the alarm off. This, in turn, sets the alarms of the other cards in the lot off. Parker removes the First David and replaces it with the fake Second David. This sets the vibration alarm off, but the guards, who see the car alarms going off, blame it on an earthquake tremor. They decide to not check the vault.

Parker and Hardison get away scot-free with the sculpture.

Outside, Nathan says his goodbyes to Maggie. She tells him to let her know if he ever needs anything, then asks if he needs a place to stay. She has a couch in her office. Nathan shrugs this off and walks to meet Eliot/Sinclair. Before the two of them can leave together, Maggie calls to Eliot/Sinclair to give him her number. The young beau can't do anything but accept it, despite Nathan standing right next to him. After all, they have to stay in character. . .

Later at headquarters, Eliot apologizes for taking her number, but says it was just to coordinate when she's going to take a look at the sculpture. Nathan says he doesn't want to hear about it and Parker conveniently interrupts-they just stole an $8 million statue. . .on their day off. Woo hoo! Nathan points out that they're going to sell it back, so don't get too excited. Sophie, however, has another suggestion because just selling it back doesn't seem good enough.

What if they set it up so Blackpoole displayed two fakes? He'd have both insured with IYS so, when they're discovered as replicas, not only would he lose his company-the board of directors would sue him. He'd lose absolutely everything. This sounds wonderful to the crew, except for Nathan. He rather sternly asks to see Sophie in his office alone.

Once there, he begins yelling at her. He recognizes the voice she was just using when explaining her new idea. It was the voice she uses when she's conning somebody-you don't play your own team for fools. She denies this of course, saying Nathan is just getting cold feet because his ex-wife could ruin the entire the operation. His ex-wife who works for the man and the company who let Sam die-why would she be against screwing both of them into bankruptcy?

Because she doesn't know that IYS and Blackpoole denied their son treatment. Nathan never told her. Maggies pities him-she thinks he's a drunk, maybe a criminal. He's still an honest man, Sophie reassures him.

Nonetheless, she asks him the big question: Does he want to walk away from this one?

No. Who knows how many kids Blackpoole treated the same way in order to bulk up the bottom line. That's what Nathan thinks to himself every day. Sophie points out that this is his final flaw: he thinks too much.

After she says this and leaves the room, he mumbles to himself, "There's that voice again."

The following day at a private airport, Nathan and Eliot wait in the comfortable waiting area inside Elite Aviation's building. Nathan then tells Hardison, who's in one of the hangars, to go to work.

Hardison, dressed as an FAA official complete with a badge, heads off two pilots exiting a private jet. He tells them that he needs to inspect their plane and that they need to demonstrate to him that they've read the newly-published FAA regulations. He then asks them to taxi him around the hangar. Confused, they're forced to oblige in fear of losing their pilots' licenses.

Outside of the Elite building, Blackpoole and Maggie arrive and walk in to meet Nathan and Eliot/Sinclair. When they do, the receptionist at the front desk, who happens to be Parker, tells Nathan that a plane inbound from Dubai just arrived and wants to know if his party has arrived. Nathan leads the group out to the aforementioned hangar where Hardison just intercepted the pilots. A plane pulls up to the group-the one Hardison just sort of hijacked-and he exits, dressed as a Middle Eastern sheikh with a case in his hands. He tells Blackpoole that he must hurry. His plane is just there to refuel and the people on board aren't aware of what he's doing.

He opens the case to reveal the First David and Maggie takes a looks. Blackpoole asks Hardison why he's selling it. The fake Middle Easterner tells him that he has debts to pay of which his father doesn't approve. This sculpture comes from his father's collection and it will not be missed. If it is, Hardison's security will find a fake party to blame so Blackpoole will avoid the wrath of his father.

Maggie reports that the statue is a dead ringer for the First David Blackpoole already owns. Nathan and Hardison clamp up-she's going to screw this up. Maggie glances at Nathan, pauses, then reports that it's authentic. She doesn't actually say that it's the authentic Second David, but that doesn't matter-Blackpoole is trembling with delight so much that he doesn't notice. As far as he's concerned, the Second David is in his grasp and he happily parts with the briefcase full of money he brought with him.

Inside Elite's building a bit later, Maggie and Nathan stroll through the hallways ahead of Blackpoole and Eliot/Sinclair. The phone rings at the front desk and she asks where the receptionist (Parker) went. Who knows? Nathan stops her-what she did back there was-

Fun, Maggie completes his sentence. It felt like old times. It felt familiar. She smiles and tells Nathan to call her. As she walks away, Nathan considers this, then says "No" to himself.

Outside, Blackpoole is met by Sophie/Portia and an armored truck. Excitedly, she tells him that once the Vatican heard that he'd donate the Second David to it upon his death, they immediately agreed to loan him everything he'd requested for his exhibition. Blackpoole is having the best day of his life. One of the armored truck drivers grabs the case holding the First David (what Blackpoole thinks is the Second David) and goes to put it in the back of the truck.

Nathan walks out and, instead of shaking hands with Blackpoole, POW! Punches him in the face. Blackpoole calmly asks him if he feels better. Nathan says he does. Blackpoole gets in his car and is driven away.

Nathan radios to Hardison-where is he? He reports that he's in the car, almost back at headquarters, with Blackpoole's payment sitting right next to him. Nathan is pleased. . .

. . .unfortunately, he doesn't see the thug in a suit taking photos of he and Sophie from around the corner of the Elite building. When they pull away in their car, Eliot sneaks up on the guy, but isn't fast enough. The man swings and knocks him to the ground. His com flies out of his ear, so he can't contact Nathan to tell him they've been made. The thug proceeds to knock the crap out of Eliot-something few people can do. He adds insult to injury when he says, "He said you'd be tougher than this."

Hardison arrives and Leverage headquarters and walks into the building with the briefcase full of money. A few moments after he does so, a large group of men follow him in. . .

Meanwhile, Parker waits on a bridge for the armored truck carrying the First David to pass by. When it does, she jumps down onto the roof. From there, she works to break into the rear doors and doesn't notice a car speed up behind her. No matter, she picks the locks and gets into the truck. . .where's she's met by Sterling-Nathan's old nemesis.

Crap.

At headquarters, the group of men cut Leverage's security system and breaks in to attack Hardison. He puts up a good fight for a guy trying to take down a platoon of men, but in the end, he's knocked out cold by a baton.

Back at the airport, Eliot isn't faring any better. He's getting tossed around like a rag doll despite his best efforts to fight off his assailant. That's until the attacker starts to get tired and frustrated because Eliot refuses to go down. He attempts to take out Leverage's resident badass for the last time and fails miserable. Eliot breaks one of his ribs, then knocks him out cold. He immediately grabs his com and radios to tell net their cover is blown. When Nathan asks him to repeat, Sterling speaks up.

He says hello to Nathan, then checks with the rest of his crew to see how they've faired. He reports that he has Parker's com, Spencer, the man in charge of the group that attacked Hardison, radios in using Hardison's com, but Eliot spoils their attempt to go three-for-three by proving he still has his com. Turns out Sterling's man, Quinn, wasn't effective. Oh, well. Two out of three isn't bad.

Nathan tells Eliot to stay low and asks Sterling what he wants. Sterling tells him to meet him where they used to go for a drink after work and promises to come alone. He then flicks Parker's com into the bushes.

A bit later, Nathan and Sophie meet Sterling on the roof of IYS headquarters. Nathan asks Sterling what he wants once again. The Second David. Nathan tells him it's on the truck because she couldn't make the switch the night before, but Sterling doesn't buy it. He then delves into a little history.

Ten years ago, he was in charge of the investigation to find the Second David after it went missing from the Vatican. Nathan says he doesn't have it, but Sterling counters, assuring them that he does. All he has to do is turn around.

Nathan looks at Sophie, who looks awfully guilty. Sterling goes on-he knew Nathan would eventually go after Blackpoole and he knew the way he'd try to break him by using the First David. He knew this because that's how Sophie thinks. It's also how Nathan thinks. From there, it was only a matter of waiting.

Nathan looks at Sophie, who admits to stealing the Second David ten years ago. She still has it.

Sterling requests that Nathan go back to his headquarters and wait with his men while Sophie retrieves the sculpture and brings it back to the roof by the end of the day. He doesn't trust them doing it together, so he's separating them. Plus, Sophie stole it. If she doesn't return it, how will she ever learn? When he receives the statue, he'll return Parker.

After Sterling makes his exit, all Nathan can do is stare at Sophie silently. After bearing his gaze for a minute, she rushes off, leaving him on the roof alone. . .

. . .except he arrives with her later at a storage container. He asks her how much she has in there and soon sees for himself-plenty. The container is full of artifacts and priceless pieces of art. When he found her at the beginning of the whole Leverage deal, she'd told him that she'd become a clean citizen and she was exactly that. A clean citizen with a very good retirement plan, that is.

Nathan then comes out with it-she was playing him from the beginning of this job. As soon as she heard that Blackpoole had the First David, she was going to go after it so she could have both for herself. He'd correctly recognized her "con" voice. She tells him that he's not completely guilt-free, saying that he'd been using the crew all along. He's stupid if he thinks she didn't notice that he'd set up the operation in the same city where Blackpoole was operating. She knew that Nathan would go after him one of these days. What she'd said earlier at headquarters was true, though; she genuinely wanted to help Nathan get back at the man that helped destroy his life. She's a thief, however, and nobody had ever stolen both Davids in the four hundred years that they'd been in existence. Stealing the First David had helped Nathan, but it also fed her need to come into possession of two of the most sought-after pieces of art in history. It just seemed like it was meant to be.

Nathan says they're both addicts and Sophie says everyone's addicted-to their pasts. He'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he didn't imagine what it'd be like to be back with Maggie after seeing her. To him, the crew is just a bunch of criminals, Sophie implores. There's a part of him that will always think he's better than them.

After a long moment during which they both think about what's just been said, she asks where they go from here. Nathan tells her that they pull off the job by thinking like someone else since Sterling knows what's in their own heads.

Later, Sterling, some of his crew, and Parker meet Sophie on the roof of IYS. She points to the Second David, which is perched precariously on the edge of the roof. Sophie says to send Parker to the middle of the roof. She will walk to her and head for the door. When they're there, that's when Sterling can have the sculpture. The man who's running the deal (for now) says he's not doing anything until he's told that Nathan has turned himself in at headquarters.

Nathan arrives at Leverage and is let in the office doors. He's led to the conference room, where the briefcase full of Blackpoole's money is on the table. Hardison has his hands bound and is sitting at the table. Spencer calls Sterling and puts Nathan on the phone. He tells him to tell his men to cut Hardison loose and let Sophie and Parker go. Sterling agrees, but when Spencer gets back on the phone, Sterling tells him to detain both of them.

After he hangs up, Sterling tells Sophie to go first. Parker walks to the center of the roof and asks Sophie if she knows that he's got guys at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them to try and escape. She does. Sophie moves in her direction, but doesn't walk all the way to Parker Instead, she remains standing close to the edge of the room. She waits for Sterling and his men to grab the Second David, which they do. Sterling gives it a once over and seems pleased.

Back at headquarters, Eliot walks into the conference room. He scoffs at the fact that Sterling only has six men there. Spencer says he's good, but he's not that good. . .

On the roof, Parker asks Sophie is she knows how to get them out of there. She admits that she didn't. . .until she asked herself, "What would Parker do."

At headquarters, Nathan admits that he doesn't think that Eliot can fight off six guys, especially with a few broken ribs and a concussion due to his last fight. . .but then he asked himself, "What would Hardison do?"

On the roof, Sophie whips off her coat to reveal a harness similar to the one Parker has used to jump off of buildings before. Parker sprints towards her outstretched arms, leaps into them right before Sterling or his men can grab them, and they both jump off of the roof connected to a secure line.

At headquarters, Eliot pulls out his cell phone and hacks into Sterling's men's ear piece. He scrambles the feed and sets it to an ear-piercing volume. The men writhe in pain and, while they're distracted, Nathan, Hardison and Eliot take them out.

Sterling calls Spencer to find out what's going on, but Nathan answers. He tells him he thought he was an honorable man. Sterling says he is-he catches thieves for a living. Nathan hangs up and walks out of Leverage headquarters, perhaps for the last time. Eliot tells Hardison to hurry up, but he won't leave without doing something first. He makes Eliot help him carry the portrait of Leverage Consulting & Associates' "founder" out of there.

Latezr, Sterling finds Spencer and his men bound and gagged in the conference room at Leverage headquarters. He tells all of them that all isn't lost-four of the biggest thieves in the world left him a paper trail a mile long. As he gives them all instructions to dust the place for prints, pull every single file in there, etc., Hardison appears on the big screen. He tells Sterling to get out of his house and a countdown from 30 seconds begins.

Sterling tells everyone to run and get the hell out of there. . .

He and all of his men arrive safely outside. When they look up and nothing happens, they have a moment to think that maybe Hardison was bluffing until BOOM! The entire top floor of the building explodes in a huge fireball.

Spencer asks what he's going to do now. Well, Sterling begins, he's going to deliver the Second David to his boss, who is a very, very rich man, take in the compliments, and probably move into a bigger office.

But what about Nathan Ford?

That's already a done deal. Nathan's cover has been compromised; photos of him and his crew have been sent to law enforcement agencies across the country; and their home base is gone. That crew will do the only smart thing left to do because they're professionals-scatter.

Miles away from what used to be headquarters, the crew looks at each other and. . .does precisely what Sterling predicted: they scatter.

To Be Continued. . .