Ellie takes her glasses off and sets them on the desk beside the keyboard. That can't be right, she thinks as her leg bounces nervously, making her chair swivel back and forth. The screen is slightly blurry now that she's not wearing her glasses. Still, the red locator beacon is crisp. And the locator beacon is Kazuya.

She takes a second, burying her face in her hands. She wishes he'd just go away. For good. She can't believe she ever worked for that creep. Thinking about the brief times she encountered him only makes her feel sick all over. She already feels bad about yelling at Asuka earlier. Kazuya is getting to all of them. El, focus, she tells herself. They need her to do her job. After another breath, she picks her head back up.

The guys haven't noticed her distress. They are too busy trying to hash out a plan to get Zafina. Jin wants to run in and save the day. Hwoarang is busy telling him the many reasons why that's a bad idea. Miguel doesn't care how it's done as long as he gets Zafina back. The tension is to the roof, but they've seemed to reach a silent agreement: We may be natural enemies but right now we work together.

"El?" Hwoarang is the first to notice something is off and the other two stop talking to look at her. "Did you find something?"

She swallows, forcing herself to nod. "I found him."

"Kazuya?" Miguel perks up. "Where is he?"

"About 15 minutes from here, in an corporate building downtown."

She must not look pleasant because the next words out of Jin's mouth are, "Something's wrong. What is it?"

"Something's not right," she sighs. "He was too easy to find."

Jin rakes his hair back. "You think it's a trap?"

"I don't know, but he wants to be found. You can count on that."

"Then we find him," Miguel says. "We find him, we find Zafina."

"And how do we get her out?" Jin challenges. His skin looks as pale as ever as if knowing exactly where Kazuya is making him physically sick. "Kazuya obviously knows we are coming now. Stealth is our best option. Kazuya likes to keep a handful of men around him at all times. If we run in guns blazing, we'll be dead. Guaranteed."

"We can't sit here and wait!" Miguel fires back. "The longer Zafina is with him, the better chance she could end up dead too."

Jin raises his hand. "Kazuya's not going to kill her. He obviously took her because he wants her for some reason. We just have to get to him before we find out what that reason is."

"Well, we know where he is. We need to go now!" Miguel says.

Jin is adamant. "Not without a plan!"

"The plan is to save Zafina, the rest doesn't matter, and…"

"Hey," Hwoarang whispers to Ellie, grabbing onto her chair from behind to stop it from swiveling. She didn't even notice she was still shaking. Her nerves are getting the best of her. He leans over her chair so he's close to her ear. His voice is easy, quiet. "Relax."

"How can I relax? He's emitting the signal on purpose," she whispers back as Jin and Miguel continue bickering. "It's stronger than all the other signals in the area. He's practically telling us to come find him so he can… suck the life out of Jin."

"That's not going to happen," he responds cooly. "We'll figure it out."

"Do you know something that I don't?"

"No. I wish I did, El."

"Hwoarang," Jin calls. "What do you think?"

Hwoarang comes from behind Ellie's chair and sits on the edge of her desk. He seems to always find a spot there, and Hwoarang, just sitting inches to her left, makes her feel a little bit at ease as if he's channeling her, soothing her stress mentally.

"I think Miguel and I go in and ask for Zafina. We'll get a chance to see her and the conditions he's keeping her under. He needs something from Zafina, so I don't think she'll be in any harm. He'll say no to giving her over, of course, and he'll ask for Jin as collateral. He'll want to make a deal."

"We can't give Jin over," Ellie says.

"We won't," Hwoarang assures her, "but Kazuya will show his cards, and that's what we need. He'll tell us what he needs Jin for, why he needs Zafina. Kazuya's the bad guy, and bad guys can't wait to spill their plans."

"I don't hear saving Zafina in there at all." Miguel crosses his arms, his stare at Hwoarang growing colder.

"Listen, if we know Zafina isn't being harmed, we'll need to use that to our advantage until we figure out the next step. When we go in there, we'll be able to see how many guys he has with him. We'll be able to see if he even has the orb within reach. That makes a big difference in how we execute things. We'll tell him we have to relay the message to Jin and that we'll be back. That will buy us time."

"What if he doesn't believe us and holds us captive until Jin comes on his own?" Miguel barks.

"Then that's where I come in," Jin says, always on the same wavelength as Hwoarang. "I'll be in the complex, somewhere I can hear you guys if I need to come in."

"That's exactly what Kazuya wants," Ellie says. "You need to stay as far away as possible."

"But say my father does take Hwoarang and Miguel captive. That completely extinguishes our plan and I will have to step in. I will not abandon you all at the hands of my father. If he takes any of you captive, or if he's hurting Zafina, I will turn myself over to him." He looks over at Miguel. "You have my word."

Miguel nods. Jin promise seems to relax him a bit.

"But that's an absolute last resort," Hwoarang adds. "That means we are giving into his plan. Our job is just to see what we're dealing with. If we have to attack, then we will. Otherwise, just observe." says, turning to Miguel. "And you! You need to give your word that you won't fly off the rails the moment you see Zafina. We all need to be smart."

Miguel glances at each of them, his jaw clenched and eyes hard. Ellie can see him working out his own plan behind his eyes but nothing that will be successful without them. They'll all need each other for this one. "Fine."

Jin stills, staring off into the distance. When he speaks , his voice is lucid and far away. "I think my father wants to assure the transition of my devil gene into the gem will work. He will try to rile me up, make the demon come out. If I have to confront him, I will have to stop the demon from coming."

Hwoarang scoffs. "Easier said…"

"That's going to be close to impossible," Ellie adds.

Jin meets his friend's skeptical gaze. "It's the only option I'll have if he tries to hurt any of you."

"I don't know if it will help, but I brought...," Miguel reaches in his back pocket and pulls out two vials, one green, one red. "these. I overheard Zafina talking about how they help you keep control… thought I could use them against you, if I had to." Miguel sets the vials in Jin's hands, and for a second they look like they could have been friends in a different life if Jin wasn't cursed with the demon and Miguel's sister was still alive. Jin nods and slips them into his jean pocket, the glass gently clinking together.

Hwoarang shrugs, "Guess we have a plan then."

"Almost," Ellie says, "Except I don't hear where I come into play here."

Hwoarang brings his voice down so only she can hear. "I was hoping... you'd sit out on this one."

"What? You're kidding right?" Ellie laughs involuntarily. The idea is absurd. "We're already down two people! We need as many people working against Kazuya as possible."

"Just hear me out a second," he says, keeping his voice calm. His eyes are wide, worried. "The three of us are trained fighters, which means if we need to, we can fight our way out and run like hell. Zafina too."

"So, I'm a liability?" Her eyes narrow into tiny slits.

"No, not exactly, but I don't think we should risk it. Also, if our plan turns bad and Jin ends up changing, I can't have you pulling a Xiaoyu, trying to stay with him. If anything were to happen to you…"

"Hwoarang," she raises a hand to stop him mid sentence, not only because her insides are fluttering at his words, but because the thought of her sitting around the office while the three of them go up against the powerful Kazuya to save Zafina is ridiculous. She would be worried out of her mind about all of them, even Miguel. Plus, she knows she can be helpful in some way. "I'm going," she says firmly. "No point in trying to argue with me about it."

Hwoarang shakes his head, though a smile is lingering on his lips. "I had feeling that'd be your answer."

She grins sarcastically. "Then you shouldn't have asked."

Still, he looks uneasy. "You need to stay close to one of us, just as a precaution. Don't go off on your own."

"I'm a big girl, Hwoarang. I can handle myself," she means to say it in a serious tone, but it comes out low, taunting.

Oh god! Is she flirting? Now is not the time.

Hwoarang bites back a smile, yanking his hair back from his face. She figures that's a close to a blush as she's going to get out of him.

He starts, "Yeah, well-"

"Hey," says Miguel. The two of them snap their heads in his direction, then Hwoarang stands to join the other guys.

"We need to get going," Miguel grunts. "Now."

"Ellie can hang back with me," says Jin. "Kazuya won't know she's there. I'll make sure she's safe."

Ellie stands up, sliding her keys from the desk. "I'll drive."