THEY ONLY STARE AT HER, AS SHE EXPLAINS HER THOUGHTS.

She tells them about all the dots that she managed to connect, all the clues, hints, and suspicions that had been in front of their eyes- remaining discreet and unassuming the whole time- but when pieced together, made sense.

The knives. The trolleys. The medical records.

Every other problem they had could have a way that led straight to him.

And when she finishes, not one person in the room moves.

They don't breathe, nor do they twitch- and the silence is so still that Stella almost felt like she could hear their hearts thudding over the sound of her own, and the sound of their blood in their veins and arteries.

"Well?" she says quietly, "What do you think?"

Axel wouldn't meet her eyes. His gaze was fixed on the wall opposite to where he was standing, his expression completely blank and undecipherable.

However, there was a certain dark hardness in his eyes- a look in them that she had never seen before, that told her that he was very, very angry. Furious even. There was a muscle in his cheek twitching, and he was clenching his jaw so tight that she could feel the tension up to where she was sitting.

Her eyes flicker to Corban, who was simply staring at the trolley blankly. From the minuscule expression that she could discern from his face, he almost looked like he didn't want to believe it.

He turns to her slowly, as if he can feel her gaze on him.

"You really think," he murmurs lowly, "that someone like Winston could pull something like this off?"

It was a question she had asked herself.

Winston seemed so innocent. So unassuming, quiet, shy- and jittery.

But maybe, that was what he wanted them to think. Maybe he had them fooled the whole time.

Even though she seemed to have it all figured out, there were a ton of maybes plaguing her mind.

"I don't-" Corban shakes his head when she doesn't answer, "I don't know what to think. Everything you said makes perfect- perfect sense, but how could he have done it all on his own?"

She had asked herself that too.

From what she knew of traitors in the history of times though, was that a traitor was never alone.

They always planned or conspired with or under someone else.

"A traitor," Bea mutters, a frown adorning her features, "A traitor always answers to someone else, so I don't think-" she shakes her head in thought, before looking up at them, "He had to have help- or-or someone who told him to do whatever-"

"You think he's answering to someone," Corban muses contemplatively, rubbing his chin with a nod, "that makes sense too."

"This," Stella leans back in her seat, rubbing her forehead, "got a lot more complicated than I initially believed it was."

"Yeah," Gale mutters, clearing his throat, his eyes on his feet, "How do we get him to... confess? And how do we prove it?"

"Well," Axel speaks for the first time since the revelation, making everyone in the room instinctively straighten at the dark fury in his voice,

"There's only one way to know, isn't there?"

"Do you know why you've been called here?"

Winston only looks at Axel nervously, before turning back to Corban.

"No sir," he mutters unsteadily, shaking his head.

Corban narrows his eyes at him, while Bea makes a move to pointedly sharpen her knife in the background.

"Is there something you'd like to confess?" he asks, his polite tone wavering as the threat in his words becomes clearer.

"Con-Confess?" Winston looks startled, as his eyes widen and he shakes his head rapidly back and forth, "No sir, I-I haven't-"

Before he can finish the sentence, the distinct sound of a gun clicking echoes in the small room, and a gun is pressed against his temple, making him let out a startled sound.

"How about now?" Axel murmurs darkly, pressing it harder against his head, "Got something you'd like to come clean about?"

Winston's throat bobs as he swallows, too scared to move.

"I really haven't, sir," he whispers shakily, his lips trembling, as Axel grits his teeth in annoyance.

Even this time, Stella stays quiet in one corner of the room, simply observing him.

The man sitting in the chair looked terrified, and the fear on his face seemed genuine enough.

She wasn't sure if he was still fooling them, or if he was truly afraid- whether it was fear because he had to reveal himself, or because he was actually terrified and didn't know a thing about the investigation.

One thing was for certain, however. Winston clearly didn't do all of it on his own, which meant he was answering to someone of a higher power.

The question was, who?

Someone else in the unit, or someone from outside?

Axel and Corban didn't seem to be doing much observing, however. They only glanced at each other, before a common understanding seemed to pass between their gazes.

"Alright then," Axel says, a dangerous smile on his face, "I think you could do with some convincing, hmm?"

Winston's eyes widen as they both yank him up to his feet, pulling him along.

"No, no sir- please, I don't know what you're talking about-"

"If you know what's better for you, you'll shut up," Corban gruffs out, his eyes narrowed into a glare, "We don't have a place for filthy traitors in this unit."

"Sir, please- I didn't- I didn't betray anyone-"

Bea glances back at Stella for a moment, as the two men continue to tug the pleading man outside.

There's something odd in her gaze, but it's gone before she can think too much of it, as she glances at Gale, who had also stayed quiet- before following after them.

"Please, sir- I didn't-I didn't do anything," Winston sounds like he's on the verge of tears, as he tries to pull out of their firm hold, "I didn't do anything-"

Just as they step out of the room, however- as if enough hadn't already happened, the lights overhead flicker- blinking feebly over their heads.

And then, they're plunged into darkness.

For a moment, nothing happens as they all still. A second passes in the dark, then another.

It's pitch dark, with no lights anywhere- and even as pandemonium breaks out with confused yet muffled yells filling the air and questions thrown around in the air- none of them move- or make any move to react.

Not until warning red lights flash on, and alarms begin to ring above them.

"Oh, for fucks sake," Corban curses angrily, pulling out the walkie-talkie from his belt, switching it to the right frequency until the static sounds like jumbled voices, "What's the problem?"

"Code Red, sir," a man's panicked voice comes from the other end, "Intruder alert, two men dead in the west wing-"

"Dead?" Axel turns to Corban his expression falling into one of despair, as the red flashing lights above illuminate his dark skin, "How?"

"They..." the man on the other line sounds like he doesn't know how to answer the question.

When he speaks, however, all of them inhale sharply.

"They look like they were... strangled, sir."

"Strangled?" even under the red lights, Gale's skin looks paler than it usually is.

Corban's expression falters for a second before it goes hard- his grip on the walkie-talkie tightening.

"Initiate the lockdown sequence," he says into it sternly, "We're not letting this intruder go. Stay in position- armed, and don't try to engage with the intruder unless threatened."

"Yes sir," the other man responds shakily in affirmation, "Should we do anything else?"

"Try locating the person," Axel adds, "Tap into the cameras if you can, and let us know the person's location in the unit, and we'll tr- wait," he pauses suddenly, his eyes flitting around them as if he just realized something,

"Where the hell did Winston go?"

"Oh fuck," Bea mutters, rubbing her forehead, "How did you lose him? Weren't Boss and you holding on to him, this whole time?"

"He slipped away when the lights went off," Stella pipes in, her eyes fixed in one direction of the corridor, "he went that way-"

"And you didn't think it was important to mention it?" Corban says sarcastically, turning to her with an incredulous look.

"Not really," she says slowly, her head tilted in thought, "I wanted to see what he would do if he got the chance to escape. Is he running away, or running to the person he's working for?"

"Oh," Corban's incredulous look falters into one of brief appreciation, "Clever."

She nods, turning back to the end of the corridor where Winston had disappeared in the dark, before her grey-tinted green eyes find Axel's, taking on a determined glint.

"Winston's got a head start, but I can catch up with him to see what he's up to," she says eyes flitting between each of them, before turning to Corban.

"You're the boss," she tells him, "Do you think we should look for the intruder?"

Corban looks at the red lights flashing overhead, an uncertain expression on his face before he nods.

"The bodies were found in the west wing," he says, tucking the device back into his belt, "We are in the north wing- which means the intruder either went the opposite way or is heading toward us right now."

"You think we should split up to scope the intruder out?" Bea asks hesitantly, her eyebrows furrowed, "that would save time, and is more practical, wouldn't it? We can meet at the south wing."

"I was thinking the same," Corban nods in agreement, cocking his gun, "but, you can't take the person down on your own. If they're strong enough to strangle two highly skilled agents, we only stand a chance in numbers. So if you see the intruder, stay in position, and alert the others-"

"The lockdown will begin in a few minutes too," Axel says, pulling his gun out to make sure it's loaded, "First, the major rooms shut down, then the smaller ones and corridors. Chances of trapping the intruder someplace are pretty high too, but we might get trapped if we aren't quick enough."

"No time to waste, then," Stella says definitively, unsheathing a single dagger she had kept hidden on her at all times, "I'll go after Winston, the rest of you after the intruder. Shall we?"

The five of them glance at each other, before nodding firmly in affirmation- each turning to one direction.

Just as Stella takes a step, however, a warm hand wraps around her wrist.

"You'll be okay, won't you?" Axel says when she turns around to face him with a confused frown. Bea, Corban, and Gale had already run off in opposite directions, while he stayed- feet firmly on the ground, grey eyes peering intently into hers.

She smiles at his concern. "Of course, I will. You've seen me fight, haven't you?"

Some of the concern in his expression eases, relaxing in the slightest, but the worry in his eyes lingers. "You sure you'll be fine?"

"Absolutely," Stella nods, the smile still on her face and before he can respond, she stands on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, before slipping out of his grasp and turning the other way.

"Once this is over, you can tell me about the stars, Axel!" she calls over her shoulder, her eyes briefly meeting his stunned face before she turns around the corner.

And though it sounds very far away, overall the loud ringing and blaring, she could've sworn he responded,

"I'll tell the stars about you, Stella!"

He had been on his feet for a few minutes now, with no sight of the intruder. All agents had stayed in position, armed, as instructed- but none had seemed to have caught sight of an intruder- and as Axel ran past them, they relayed the same information to him.

He was somewhere right in the middle of the east wing and south wing- so it was of little relief that the intruder wasn't anywhere near them- but what was worrying him, was that the place was getting emptier and more void of people as the closer he got. 

As soon as he stepped into the south wing, he knew he wasn't simply being paranoid about it.

While there had been at least two armed people in each corridor, there wasn't a single person in this one.

Empty. Dead empty.

His fingers tense over the trigger as he slowly scopes out the surroundings.

Abruptly, the alarms above him stop ringing- but the red lights don't.

"Lockdown sequence, initiated. Stage one."

Axel spins around at the sounds of heavy metal doors thudding shut in the distance, one after another.

"Well, fuck," he mutters to himself, turning back around and picking up pace- his footsteps echoing in the corridor that had fallen eerily silent.

If he didn't get out of there on time and find the rest- he'd be locked into one of the corridors or rooms all by himself- alone.

When he turns into one corner, however, he realizes that he isn't as alone as he previously thought.

There's a figure at the end of the corridor, standing completely still- facing the direction Axel had just skidded to a stop.

And Axel doesn't realize the weapon pointed in his direction, neither does he realize the footsteps hurrying towards him from behind, until it's too late.

His finger pulls the trigger a second later, and although his bullet hits the figure standing at the end of the corridor- making them fall backward with a grunt there's a loud unmistakable BANG! from a gun that's not his.

The intruder's shot rings in the air, even as they collapse- and the bullet comes hurtling straight for Axel-

-but the pain never comes because a small figure jumps right in front of him, taking the bullet for him.