- The team pulls Harry back into the fold to help a journalist investigating the corrupt president of a small eastern European nation. But when the journalist is grabbed, our team has to infiltrate a London Ball to extract him.
- The crew help a reporter get the goods on a tyrannical dictator smuggling artifacts out of his county to line his pockets. They succeed, but things take a turn for the worst when the dictator abducts the reporter and hides him in a secret basement torture cell at his London town house.—Gislef
- In London, Bradley Simkov is walking down the street and notices that he has a tail. He texts to Hardison what's happening, and Hardison texts back that he's two blocks away, and Bradley should stick to the plan. Bradley panics and runs, and the two men trailing him run after him. A van cuts Bradley off, and the two men throw a hood over his head, drag him into the van, and drive off. Hardison steps out in front of the van and uses his wrist computer to override the van's computer systems and put on its brakes before it can hit him, then triggers the air bags, knocking out the men. Hardison gets Bradley out, then sends the van along as one of the men draws a gun on him, then walks off with Bradley.
In New Orleans, the crew returns from a job and Sophie points out that they deviated from her plan. Parker and Eliot complain that Sophie is boring since she's been running the crew, and she's not as precise as Nate. Sophie insists that she's not trying to be Nate, and Hardison comes in. He says that he needs the crew's help with something. He tries to brief the crew but discovers that Breanna has flipped the buttons on the screen. Finally Hardison gets it to work and explains that Pietr Volkov if the President of the Eastern European country, Alstonia. The man loves crushing freedom and putting dissidents in jail. Bradley is a reporter that got out of Alstonia just ahead of the secret police, and Hardison has stashed Bradley in the London safe house. Volkov is stealing antiquities and funds from Alstonia and shipping them overseas. Bradley needs legal proof of Pietr's crimes, which is why Hardison is turning to the crew instead of the London team. If they bring Pietr down, pro-democracy forces have a chance of establishing power. Sophie says that it would take months of research, but the others dismiss it as boring. However, she points out that they know a legal expert that can help them.
Harry is at a legal office helping a client deal with corporate types. Sophie is one of them, posing as outside counsel that the corporation brought in, and mentions Harry getting his hands on a video. Harry has no idea what she's talking about, and he gets the video by phone. Sophie suggests he show it, and Harry does. It's a fake video of Eliot pretending to be a whistleblower, and saying he uploaded a file. The file comes in on Harry's phone, and Sophie has already written out the settlement check.
Later, Harry meets the crew at the bar and he comments on Sophie being boring. He then says that Pietr's money laundering is well-constructed. Hardison and Breanna disagree on how they can get the manifest that will show the extra weight from the antiquities and money. Sophie figures they can settle it on the way to London.
At the London airport, Sophie and Eliot keep the ground crew distracted while Parker and Eliot access the airport server and get the manifest and the plane's computer. Breanna and Hardison squabble about the method, and Eliot tells them over the comms to focus. Eliot distracts two incoming crew while Parker steals their security badges. Pietr arrives with his daughter Nadia and his security detail, while Eliot reports that two of Volkov's guards are hanging back to watch the cargo. Harry and Sophie overhead Nadia complaining to Pietr that she doesn't want to go to the debut party, and Pietr insisting she has to so that they can be accepted by the British, so they won't sanction him.
Pieter notices Harry staring at him, and Harry says he's checking on "his grace's" flight and points at Sophie. Sophie whispers to Harry that he's not going by her plan, while Pietr picks up on Harry's comment. Hardison has an old ID for Sophie as a duchess, and Sophie plays along. The security guards come over from Pietr's private jet, leaving the pilot there. Parker gives Eliot the hard drive to access the manifest, and Hardison comes out and pretends to be a drug smuggler with Parker. When the pilot refuses to take "his cut", Hardison "suspects him while Eliot sneaks aboard the jet. Bradley gets the data and confirms Pietr is stealing his country's antiquities, and Breanna has tracked the cargo to a townhouse registered in Pietr's name. Sophie tells Bradley to wait until Eliot gets to the safe house where Bradley is and secure it.
Harry talks to Sophie privately and points out that she seems more interested in the planning than the plan. Sophie insists that she can't let the others down, Sophie is happy to be in London without a problem to solve.
Eliot arrives at the safe house and discovers that someone has broken in and taken Bradley. He calls and the others and tells them what's happened, and goes out to look for him. Bradley's editor gets a video of the abductors threatening to kill Bradley if the evidence is published. The editor's emails weren't encrypted, and when Bradley emailed him, Pietr's people piggybacked onto the signal and traced it. Sophie figures Pietr won't kill Bradley until he gets the reporter back to Alstonia, and he'll leave with Bradley after Nadia's debut ball. They figure from the video that Bradley is being held in Pietr's unfinished basement, and determine Pietr doesn't have a construction permit for the work apparently being done on his basement, and his neighbor complained about the work. Sophie figures they all have to get into the ball at Pietr's townhouse, with Parker on the catering staff. She curses when she sees the neighbor's name.
The crew drives to the neighbor's townhouse, and Eliot and Hardison go in posing as construction workers. The neighbor is a rocker, Ralphie Roy, who has a drum set in his basement. Once he leaves them to their work, Eliot fan boys over Ralphie and Hardison could care less. Sophie has Breanna get the imaging on Pietr's basement next door, but Breanna uses sonar and Ralphie comes in and recognizes it. He explains that he studied a sonar technician before becoming a rocker, and asks to watch what they're doing. Sophie has no choice but to rip her clothes, put on a pair of sunglasses, and go in.
Ralphie looks at the men's equipment, notices that it's advanced for city equipment, and asks who they're working for. He goes to answer a knock at his door, and finds Sophie there. Ralphie recognizes her as Kiki, who he named one of his songs after. Eliot is thrilled to know his teammate inspired one of his idol's songs.
That night, Sophie and Harry go to the ball next door and they scope out the security. Parker is already there as a waiter, and has traced all of the camera wires to one door. She figures that the control room is behind it.
Sophie and Harry join Pietr and Nadia, and Nadia is complaining about how uncomfortable her dress is. Sophie claims that Hardison and Breanna are royalty. Meanwhile, Parker finds a guarded elevator to the basement, and figures Bradley is there. The elevator has a fingerprint scanner, and Parker figures she'll need Pietr's prints. Meanwhile, Hardison convinces Pietr that they greet people in Hardison's country with raised hands. When Pietr does so, Sophie takes a picture of Pietr's hands, while Breanna bonds with Nadia. Once they leave, Hardison and Breanna bicker over the photography software, and Eliot goes find some guards to fight.
Nadia goes to the kitchen to get some food, and Pietr focuses on his security. Sophie notices and tells Harry to distract Pietr, who wants Harry to explain his entire business proposal for a business merger with Sophie. Hardison and Eliot head downstairs, while Parker asks the guard at the control room to try a canape with ghost peppers. He chokes and leaves, and Parker steals his key card and hands it off to Breanna. She finds nothing but a bank of computers inside, and discovers the system is automated. If she disarms the alarm system, the sirens will go off. Breanna figures she can force a restart, initiates an early update, which knocks out the guards' comms and the perimeter alarms for ninety seconds.
Pietr notices Nadia has been gone too long and starts to send his security after her. Sophie notices and tells Breanna to stop what she's doing, just as Nadia and another waiter, Tohd, come into the control room passionately kissing. Nadia notices Breanna and wonders what she's doing there, and Breanna says that she was taking a respite from the patriarchy. Nadia says that Tohd is her boyfriend and Pietr doesn't approve,
Harry tells Pietr that he saw Nadia heading off to the restroom. Sophie warns Breanna that Pietr will tear the place apart looking for his missing daughter. Breanna tells Nadia and Tohd that the windows are wired and the alarms will go off if they try to leave. They figure she doesn't understand. Hardison, listening in, figures that he should go help. Eliot tells him that Breanna's got it, even if Hardison can't see it.
Breanna tells Nadia that she understands and says that she knows the same thing, describing her experiences with Hardison without mentioning his name. She says that they have to be smart about such things, and they should go after Pietr's speech when he will be drunk on vodka and won't notice they're gone. Nadia agrees and hugs Breanna in thanks, and they leave. Meanwhile, Pietr doesn't find Nadia at the restroom and tell his security to search the place. Nadia comes in and Sophie reminds Pietr that it's time for his speech. She presents him to the guests, and Breanna starts the reset.
Hardison approaches the guards and asks them if they're protecting the secret dungeon. Eliot knocks them out and shoves them in a closet, while Hardison picks the biometric lock using the photo of Pietr's hand. It works and in the vault, the antiquities are stored, along with two hooded guards playing guards, and a tied-up Bradley. Bradley is locked up in another room locked with a magnetic lock. They don't have anything with enough charge to fry it, and Bradley directs them to the car battery his captor were using to torture him.
Pietr drones on, and Tohd comes in and yells that Nadia can't do it. Harry hits Tohd in the head with a tray and slips away so Pietr won't notice him, and Pietr tells his guards to take Tohd away and close off the perimeter in case he had help. He tells the guests that Tohd is a political radical.
Hardison fries the lock with the jumper cables from the car battery. As they free Bradley, Breanna tells them that Pietr and his guards are on their way with Tohd, and the elevator is the only way to the basement. As Pietr uses the biometric lock, he notices that the three guards on duty aren't there. Sophie is comforting the sobbing Nadia, and tells the team to use Plan M.
Pietr and his men arrive in the basement and are greet by Eliot, wearing the guards' uniforms including one of their hoods. Eliot talks to them in Alstonian, and Hardison who is hiding with Bradley tells the reported to make sounds of being tortured. Pietr has his guard give Tohd to Eliot and tells Eliot to do the same, and Eliot hauls Tohd off.
Pietr and his men go back to the elevator, and an explosion shakes the basement. They go back to investigate and find a hole blown open in the wall of Bradley's cell. Ralphie comes over and complains that Pietr's work collapsed the wall. Earlier, Hardison and Eliot plant explosive charges on the wall. DCI Fortescue from Scotland Yard arrives along with the UK Customs and Tax Board, all invited there by Ralphie with a little encouragement earlier by Sophie. They're very interest in what's in Pietr's basement. Harry and Sophie come in, and Harry suggests that Fortescue arrest Pietr for kidnapping. When Pietr says that he has diplomatic immunity, Harry tells him that he's being deported, and Sophie smugly informs Pietr that there are some generals waiting for Pietr. Nadia and Tohd come in and Nadia tells his father that he can't stand in the way of love, as the police take Pietr away.
Later back at the bar, Bradley calls the crew and tells them that now that Pietr is in a prison cell, Alstonia will be holding free elections. Hardison tells Parker that he took out the guards, much to Eliot's disgust. Breanna makes sure all the artifacts go back to where they belong, and Hardison tells her that she did well for anybody, including him. He apologizes for undermining her earlier, and Breanna admits that Hardison is knowledgeable and "wise". Parker and Eliot take an interest in hearing Breanna imply that Hardison is "old".
Outside, Harry tells Sophie that it was a fun one. He points out that she didn't need a lawyer, and pulled him in for his perspective. Sophie concedes that he might be right, and then points out that she didn't have to pull him back too hard and he was keen to jump in. She suggests that he might like providing justice outside of the law, and figures it won't be the last they see of her. Harry merely says "perhaps" and leaves, and Sophie goes back to the others.
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