The next day, I find Harriet in the room she's using as an office at the Chrysalis. I barely hold back a shudder as I step inside, because this is the room from my vision, where my friends discuss my impending execution.

"What's wrong?" Harriet asks, her sharp gaze missing nothing, even though it's obvious from the dark circles under her eyes that she hasn't gotten much sleep.

"Dr. Rodriguez. And wrestling with the guilt of having saved that asshole's life," I say, which isn't a lie.

"I know. It makes me sick if I think about it," Harriet says. "But it's also an opportunity. Between the vid Addie captured from her contact lens cameras and what Joseph told you, we know that they are holding Throwbacks on Strand's campus and experimenting on them. Now we need the Evolved police to see for themselves what's happening in Dr. Rodriguez's dungeon."

"I can call E and Officer Ben now," I offer.

"We're not ready. Strand probably has procedures in place to make sure that if anyone entered the building by force, evidence of criminal activity would be destroyed before it ever sees the light of day. And some of that 'evidence' is the Throwbacks they're torturing. When the police go in, they can't trip any alarms, and they will have to go straight to the lab, with no detours."

"Addie can take them there, right?"

Harriet shakes her head. "She's escorted to where she's doing her work, and doesn't have the access to get where she needs to go on her own. Marie is working on how we can take down their security measures remotely, but it's too soon to strike."

"Then what's next?"

"Well, Hautey got two more Throwbacks hired at Strand, and they're going through orientation next week. That means Addie will have help on site with her every day. I'm also working on a map of Strand's campus, so that the police know exactly where to go when they do finally get inside."

Harriet hands me a tablet that's loaded with blueprints. I try to follow the maze of hallways and rooms that she's outlined, recognizing a few of the rooms from my own time there.

"We need regular meetings with E and the police," I add.

Harriet wrinkles her nose at the suggestion, but then reluctantly nods. "E and I meet next week to talk about the foster situation. I can raise it then."

"Or you could let someone help you with that part, like me. You need to sleep, Harriet."

"You are the star of a reality series that is going to premier tomorrow night. You'll be doing the talk show circuit, filming more episodes, and, oh yeah, staying alive."

"You heard about me forgetting my dose of antidote, I take it?"

She gives me a wry grin. "You didn't forget. You gave it to a confirmed killer."

"Joseph has information we need, and you know it."

"I'm not sure it's worth keeping him alive, based on the genetic mutation you said that he's carrying. He's too dangerous."

She's right, but the idea of letting Joseph die like the woman in Addie's vid doesn't sit right with me. "There has got to be a better way. I want justice for his crimes, not more torture."

"You're right, of course. Mason said the same thing. But every time I close my eyes, I think of how we found Sacajawea and Elizabeth at the end. He was part of Crew's team then. He might have even been the one who..."

My stomach turns as vivid images of that day race through my mind. "I know. What if we—"

Before I can finish my sentence, Marie bursts into Harriet's office, gasping for breath. "Break-in at the Bunker. Someone blasted through the door, and part of the tunnel caved in."

I leap up, ready to go to our cache of weapons, but Harriet grabs my arm before I can race out of the room. "We're not running into this without thinking first. Marie, did you alert the police?"

She nods. "They asked for one of us to meet them, because they don't know where the Bunker is."

"What else do we know, Marie? Surely our security cameras captured the situation?"

"The cameras we placed around the Bunker all malfunctioned—my guess is that whoever attacked used a mini version of the electromagnetic pulse to knock out the power underground. But some of the security cameras aboveground captured a team of Deans entering the Lab through an old tourist entrance."

"Deans? That sounds like Strand," I say, and the implications of that leave me spinning. "Is anyone from our team down there?"

"Mason..." Harriet's eyes are huge.

My mind immediately goes to Justus, and this time when I head for the door, Harriet is right behind me.

~ ~ ~

Officer Ben and a team of five police officers are waiting by an old tourist entrance to the Lab. They follow us, wide-eyed and silent, as we lead them through the twisting tunnels of the Lab as quickly as we can manage.

"Stop!" Officer Ben says when we round the corner and see the entrance to the Bunker. The tunnel has collapsed in several places, and beams of light come through gaps in the ceiling.

This time it's me who holds Harriet back as the officers raise their weapons and approach the wrecked door that leads into the Bunker. Her entire body is shaking with fear.

"Mason's probably working right now, Harriet. They're filming a scene with Allison and Tupac."

Harriet's voice is small when she replies. "You're probably right. But he isn't replying to my texts."

Neither is Justus. I reach down and grip Harriet's hand, and she squeezes back.

In front of us, the officers disappear inside the Bunker, and we brace ourselves for sounds of a struggle. After several minutes, neither of us can take the suspense any longer, and we peer inside the dim ruin of our former sanctuary.

The Bunker has been turned upside-down. The couch is ripped open, chairs and tables are overturned, and every drawer has been yanked out and the contents dumped on the floor. Someone even took a hammer to the walls, presumably looking for hidden rooms or a safe.

"I won't tell you two to get out, because you probably won't listen," Officer Ben says when he spots us. "But at least let us clear each room before you go inside it."

"Sir! There's people back here!" an officer calls from the clinic.

My heart races, and it takes every ounce of control I have not to rush inside.

"Who are they?" we hear an officer ask from inside.

Harriet and I push past Officer Ben and see two figures huddled next to the Incubus, which has a shattered screen and cracked tube.

I step closer and am hit with déjà vu. This scene played out in my head before. Leo, cut and bruised, is shielding Jo with his body. Jo herself moans, barely consciousness.

"It's okay," I say to the officers. "I know him. He's on our side."

It's strange to say those words, when I thought I'd never forgive this man.

"Get the paramedics in here," Officer Ben tells one of his officers.

"The Deans were sent from Strand," Leo rasps as Harriet helps him stand. "Jo got some information out of one before his friend rescued him and knocked her unconscious. I'm sorry I didn't stop them faster. There were too many."

I kneel next to Jo, checking for a pulse. She's breathing shallowly, and I can see a dark bruise already forming on her temple. "We're here now. It's going to be okay."

I squeeze her hand, but she doesn't squeeze back.

"Marie made contact with everyone on our team. No one else was in the Bunker when it was attacked," Harriet says in my ear.

A little trickle of relief pushes its way through my worry for Jo, and I let Harriet pull me back to make room for two paramedics, who lift Jo onto a stretcher.

"No other people in here, sir," says a young female officer with red hair. With surprise, I realize that she's a Throwback, a Molly clone type.

My eyes move to the other officers in the Bunker, and realize that there is another recognizable Throwback officer on the team as well.

"I never thought I'd see the day when they put a badge on a Throwback," Harriet says with a slow shake of her head. "I didn't even know it was legal."

Before I can respond, I hear a sound coming from the clinic's storage closet. It sounds like an animal in pain. When I peer inside, the closet looks empty, but I can hear crying.

I walk in further, and wedged between two cabinets, I see Mav curled in a ball with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Mav, it's Joan. It's okay to come out," I say, bringing my face close to his.

Mav doesn't open his eyes, and he releases a hiccupping sob that breaks my heart.

"Jo and Leo made it out, and no one else was hurt. It's over now."

His eyes open and meet mine. "This is all my fault."

"This is Strand's fault, Mav."

I reach for his hand, and he lets me pull him out of his hiding spot. I marvel at how he managed to wedge himself into such a small space. It probably saved his life.

"You don't understand," he says tearfully. "Jin and I met a Throwback when we were exploring the Lab, and he said he wanted to learn more about our rebellion, maybe join us. I was going to teach him self-defense moves, just like Mason taught me. He was going to meet me at the Bunker so we could use the gym and not bother anyone."

I swallow down my fear. "Did he hurt you?"

"He lied to me! He didn't come alone. He came with lots of men, and they pushed me out of the way and came inside the Bunker without permission. They started breaking things and stealing things and yelling."

"How did you get away?"

"I bit him and he let me go. I ran into the clinic and found Jo in there. They hadn't found her yet. She's the one who hid me back here, and she told me not to come out until one of you came to get me. Then...then..."

His body shakes with more sobs, and I squeeze him tight. "Jo's okay, I promise."

"I heard her fighting them, and I knew they were hurting her. But I didn't come out. I'm a coward."

"You did the right thing. Because now you're here, alive and safe. You can give us clues so that we can find these bad guys."

"I ruined everything," he says, not listening to me. "I should have told you or Mom about that bad man, but I wanted to surprise you with how smart I was. Now our base is ruined, Jo is hurt, and no one will ever forgive me."

"Hey, hey, Mav. Look at me," I say, and his tear-filled eyes meet mine. "Do you remember when I told you I killed your father?"

Mav stills, and I know I have his attention.

"I thought that day that you would hate me forever. But you didn't hate me. You forgave me."

"Because I love you," he whispers. "And he was one of the bad guys."

"That's right. And I love you right back. And everything you did today was because you were making the choices you thought were right. You don't have to ask us to forgive you. We already do."

Now if only Mav can forgive himself.