@katdvine asked for a recap, so I incorporated the conversation between Bruce and Maria into the story to give a small recap of the basic gist of things.

Previously

A weaponized virus has surfaced on US soil, planned to be used against American citizens. Former federal agent Adam Black was brought back from prison to help the anti-terrorist agency ATC to locate and secure the virus from the market. This attempt was successful, and the virus ended up in the hands an unknown terrorist who is now using it as leverage against the President, who he appears to have a personal grudge with. It's been a long day with no end in sight.

November 1st, 2023. 9:05pm Los Angeles, California

Adam is scrambling and attempting to start the car, but it's too damaged by the crash to get running.

"Son of a bitch."

Not having time to waste, he exits the car and breaks the driver's seat window of another parked car with the back of his gun and hot wires it. He also notices to grab Hermann's phone with him just in case.

The car's owner unexpectedly shows up.

"Hey, man! What the hell are you doing?"

Adam points at him with his gun.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need your car!"

The owner immediately raises his hands in the air.

"Hey, man! No problem! It's all good!"

The man who perpetrated the crash is already out of sight, but Adam hits the gas and heads towards his direction.

While driving, he makes a phone call to Alex.

"Alex, it's me. Hermann's dead. He said we were 15 to 20 minutes out of Schneider's location before he died. Trace my phone call, and set up a parameter I'm in pursuit of the man who shot Hermann. Look for a Volkswagen, a black sedan, heading north from my location."

"Adam, what the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure, but someone clearly didn't want Hermann to lead me to the virus. Pull up the satellite feed."

"Yeah, I'm on it."

Adam is really trying to maintain his composure, but he slaps the steering wheel in frustration since he was so close. Just like earlier when the virus was already in his hands. Adam is tough on himself for letting himself fail like this.

"Okay, Adam, I found him. He's heading north from the next right turn."

"Okay, I'm heading his way."

As Adam accelerates the car, he can hear police sirens and sees red and blue lights flashing in the rear-view mirror.

"Son of a bitch."

He can't afford to be stopped right now, so he keeps on going.

---

Maria and Paul's Apartment

Bruce arrives at Maria and Paul's apartment. Maria opens the door immediately upon hearing the doorbell.

"Dad!"

The two hug after not having seen each other in a number of months.

"Hey, sweetheart. Mind telling me what's going on here? Why aren't you at work?"

Maria invites Bruce inside and shuts the door. She then takes a second to both garner strength, as well as coming up how to explain everything in the best way possible.

"I - got fired."

"Fired?"

"By Simmons."

"Simmons? Corey Simmons? From Regional?"

"Yeah. I defended Adam for going off protocol. I told Simmons to fire me if he disagrees with me and, well, here we are."

It doesn't escape Bruce that Adam spends a day back in his daughter's life, and already everything is a mess.

"Well, I know Simmons very well. You should never bluff with him."

"Yeah, I know."

"What did Adam do?"

"The people in possession of the virus planned an attack at Beverly Center. Simmons convinced the President to allow the attack happen so that ATC could follow the hostile back to the rest of the virus. Adam refused to let all those people die, so he stopped the attack and tried to break the hostile."

All of this sounds like typical Adam to Bruce, so he's not surprised.

"You mean Adam tortured him?"

"Yes. But he stopped the attack, dad. He risked his own life to save all those people without hesitation. That has to count for something."

"For better or worse, that's who Adam is. We both know that. What happened next?"

"Adam couldn't break him in time, so ATC took them both into custody. The President then ordered ATC to let the hostile go, most likely because he was threatened with another attack. So Adam broke out to interrogate him. He got him to talk and escaped. I told Simmons to just let Adam do what he does best and deal with all the backlash later, but he didn't listen."

Bruce sympathizes with both Adam and Maria, and on a personal level, he agrees with Maria but having spent all his life serving the government, Bruce knows all about the red tape in these types of situations.

"It's just not that simple, Maria, even if I agree with you."

"Don't look at me like I don't know that. I know the kind of man Adam can be. I've seen it, and it scares me sometimes. But work with me on this, you owe Adam. I tried to get Paul invoke Section 29."

"Section 29? For what reason?"

"Simmons can't lead ATC through this crisis. Paul's the ranking agent, he could invoke Section 29 and place Richard back in charge, he's a better fit. The entire agency doesn't trust Simmons, he's made one bad call after another."

Bruce feels like the answer to his next question is going to be something he won't be pleased to hear.

"Why don't you ask Paul yourself?"

Maria gets noticeably awkward.

"We got into an argument."

"About what? It has to do with Adam, doesn't it?"

"When Adam was in the holding cell, we - we got close. Briefly. It just happened."

"And Paul saw it?"

"Yeah."

Bruce lets out a deep sigh to accompany his mixed feelings on the matter.

"I know you care for him, sweetheart. But I hope you know what you're doing. Think about your marriage, Maria. Just think."

"This is not about me, dad."

"You're my daughter, Maria. Nothing's more important to me than your happiness."

"Then do this for me. Adam was asked to sacrifice himself to save me in Washington 18 months ago. And he did it. He didn't have to, dad. Adam saved my life. Adam stopped Derek from launching those missiles. And today, from where I stand, he's been the only one working to find the virus, while everybody else has gotten in his way."

---

Downtown Los Angeles

Adam is pursuing the man who shot Hermann, who has also noticed Adam chasing him, so he tries his best to shake him off, while Adam is attempting to shake off the police cars.

A few more police vehicles have joined in on the chase.

"Alex, can you get in contact with LAPD? I'm in a stolen vehicle, and I can't afford to lose this guy."

"Sure, I'll give it a try."

---

ATC Headquarters

Alex tries to contact LAPD, but Simmons has had his eyes on him for a while and steps in.

"What are up to, Alex?"

Alex hangs up the call with Adam and tries to make an excuse.

"I was trying to get a 20 on Adam."

"Who were you talking to?"

"Paul."

"Stop lying, I just got off the phone with Paul. You were talking to Adam, weren't you?"

For the sake of his job, Alex decides to be truthful.

"Yeah. I was talking with Adam."

"You're lucky I need; otherwise you'd be fired. But you make one more mistake, and I will fire you, you understand? And there will be repercussions for you later. Where's Adam?"

Alex trusts Adam more than he trusts Simmons but is not brave enough to challenge after he saw him fire Maria on the spot. Alex does need his job too much.

"Downtown LA. I have him on the satellite feed. He's in a stolen vehicle, LAPD is chasing him down."

Simmons ends the conversation and calls Paul.

"It's me. I'll patch you through to LAPD. They're chasing Adam down as we speak. I'll put you in charge, get him back here."

---

The White House

It's been a while since President Reynolds has heard from Dietrich, and he has been pacing back and forth in his office the whole time.

Did he make a mistake trusting Adam? Was Palmer Collins right in his assessment that it would be a political disaster to get him involved?

ATC would most likely have the virus secured had Adam listened to his orders and allowed the attack at the mall happen as planned.

Schneider could call in any minute with a new demand, and the President would once again have no choice but to comply.

---

Maria's Apartment

Bruce attempts to recap the day's events.

"So, just so I have all the facts. The President authorized Adam to be broken out of prison to go undercover in order to secure the virus from the market. In exchange for cooperating, Adam was offered his freedom. But a dirty agent managed to get away with the virus, and now it's in the hands of a terrorist who is using it to blackmail the President of the United States."

"That's what's been going on."

"And Adam has gone off protocol to find this man."

"He's done what's necessary."

"Listen to yourself. I respect Adam more than anybody, you know that. But I hope you're listening to what you're saying. Because that's Adam talking, not you."

Maria knows Bruce is right, she just hadn't noticed it before.

"You know Adam."

"Yes, I do. I'll talk to Paul. And I'll talk to Simmons. But I won't make any promises."

"Thanks, dad."

"Let's go to ATC."

---

Dietrich's Hideout

Dietrich is growing suspicious since he hasn't heard back from Hermann who was supposed to give him a call once he was safely at the airport.

He voices his concerns to Gwen.

"Hermann hasn't called back yet."

"Are you sure he didn't just play it safe?"

"I was supposed to transfer him the money once he got to the airport. He wouldn't play it safe, I know Hermann."

Gwen thinks she knows what happened.

"I guess Adam got to him."

"You think?"

"Wouldn't surprise me. You're risking everything by underestimating him."

Dietrich ponders for a moment and attempts to call Hermann's phone.

---

Downtown LA

Adam hears Hermann's phone ring and sees the display read "Dietrich".

Adam tries to call back Alex so that he could attempt to trace the call, but Alex doesn't pick up. He then takes a chance and answers the phone.

"Hermann?"

"Hermann's not available right now."

"Who is this? What did you do to Hermann?"

"Someone you don't want to end up on the bad side of. I'm going to give an opportunity to stop what you're doing, or I promise you, you're gonna to wish you were as well off as Hermann."

"You must be Adam Black."

"So you've heard about me. Then I'm sure you've heard about what I'm willing to do stop people like you. So if I were you, I'd be a little more afraid of me."

Dietrich, however, remains completely unafraid.

"May I remind you that I still have multiple vials of the Azrael virus in my possession. I also have the President of the United States at my disposal. So, if I were you, I'd be a little more afraid. Of me."

It's a crapshoot, but Adam tries to reason with Dietrich, given what he knows about his motivations.

"Look, I know why you're doing this. I'm sorry about what happened to your family, I am. But this is not the way to honor them. Stop what you're doing, or you're worse than the people you're fighting against."

The attempt at reasoning fails since it only infuriates Dietrich that Adam would dare mention his family and try to manipulate him by doing so.

"You've made a grave mistake, Adam Black. You're the worst of them all. The American government has taken everything from you, and here you are, working for them again, sacrificing yourselves for the same people who put you in prison. Your government is the greatest threat this world has ever faced, and I will stop at nothing to put an end to it."

---

Dietrich's Hideout

Dietrich hangs up the phone, and Gwen tries to convince Dietrich to just proceed with what their plan is, instead of toying around or messing with Adam. Gwen has a vested interest in Dietrich not hurting Adam.

"Just give the President our demands. Stop messing around. I know Hermann was your friend-"

Dietrich stands up in a fit of rage.

"Yes! He was! This government has taken too much from me already."

Dietrich grabs one of the virus vials laying on the table.

"And now I will make Adam Black pay for what he's done."

---

Downtown LA

Adam manages to get rid of the cops at least for the time being and gets close enough to the man who shot Hermann and extends his arm out of driver's seat window to take aim at the back wheel of his car.

He gets a good shot in, and the man loses control of the car and jumps out of it before it hits a wall.

Adam immediately stops the car, but the man is quickly back on his feet and takes a few shots, even though he doesn't really aim at Adam, but only tries to slow him down.

Adam also doesn't attempt a lethal takedown, since he needs the man alive.

Even though he got hurt by the jump out of the car and moves with a limp, the man quickly runs away from Adam, kicking in a door of a nearby building and makes his way up the stairs to the roof with Adam in pursuit.

The man is a few stairs ahead of Adam, but Adam hears the steps stop, so he slows down and proceeds carefully with his gun in position.

After arriving at the top floor, the man blindsides Adam from behind the corner and knocks him down the stairs by punching him in the face with his gun and climbs up a small ladder to the roof of the building.

Adam gets back up and heads to the roof, as well.

He sees the man make a jump from the roof to a nearby roof of the next building, but upon landing his injured leg gives out, so Adam also makes the jump and lands on top of him, dropping his gun in the process.

The two struggle and the man reaches for his gun, but Adam manages to kick it down from the roof to the streets.

They are equally matched in combat, trade punches and kicks, until Adam grabs the man to a chokehold, but gets then driven back first to a chimney.

The man turns around to punch Adam, but Adam blocks it and gives him a punch of his own and then drives him to the ground and removes the ski mask.

He is shocked to see the face of his old best friend staring back at him.

"Kev?"

"You should have stayed out of this, Adam."

"What the hell are you doing? Just what the hell are you doing?"

Kevin doesn't answer. Adam can see that it is Kevin, but this is not the same man he knew. There's no life behind those eyes. This is a different man.

Adam grabs Kevin by the throat.

"You're gonna tell me what is going on, or I swear to God I will you right here."

It takes every inch of willpower Adam can muster to simply not choke the life out Kevin; it was clear Kevin wasn't himself 18 months ago when they last met, but it breaks Adam's heart even further to see Kevin be involved with has taken place today.

Kevin can hardly speak with his throat being squeezed.

"Just... stay... out of... this..."

Before Adam can get anything further out of Kevin, Paul climbs to the roof after tailing Adam and aims them both with his gun.

"Adam! Put your hands behind your head, slowly! I'm taking you both into custody."

Adam complies, but doesn't take his eyes off of Kevin for one second.

"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this."