The service tunnel spat them out into the underbelly of London Bridge station — a maze of concrete pillars, humming generators, and the distant roar of trains. Jake dragged Mercer behind a stack of maintenance crates while Emma checked the corners with her weapon raised.

Mercer slumped against the wall, pale and shaking. “We… we need medical help.”

Emma knelt beside him. “We can’t go to a hospital. Sleeper units will be waiting.”

Jake scanned the tunnel entrance. “And MI5 will be waiting too.”

Emma looked up sharply. “You think Harris has already spun it?”

Jake nodded. “He’ll frame us for the Canary Wharf breach. For Collins. For everything.”

Mercer groaned. “He’ll say you’re a rogue. That you’re working with me.”

Emma’s jaw tightened. “And they’ll believe him.”

Jake didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

They all knew the truth:
MI5 trusted Harris more than it trusted anyone.
And now Harris was using that trust like a weapon.

Footsteps echoed from the far end of the maintenance corridor.

Jake raised his weapon. “Emma — lights.”

Emma flicked off the overhead switch. The corridor plunged into darkness, lit only by the faint glow of emergency strips along the floor.

Voices drifted toward them.

“Team Bravo, sweep left.”
“Thermal shows three heat signatures.”
“Orders are to detain on sight.”

Emma whispered, “MI5 tactical.”

Jake’s stomach twisted. “They’re here for us.”

Mercer’s breathing quickened. “They’ll kill me. They won’t even pretend to arrest me.”

Jake grabbed Mercer’s collar. “Then stay quiet.”

The tactical team moved closer — dark shapes in the gloom, rifles raised, visors glowing faintly with HUD overlays.

Emma leaned close to Jake. “We can’t fight them. They’re not the enemy.”

Jake’s voice was low. “Right now, they are.”

The team leader raised a fist, signalling a halt.
He spoke into his comms.

“Control, we have movement. Confirm ROE.

A crackle.
Then a voice Jake recognised instantly.

Harris.

“ROE updated. Hunter and Clarke are considered hostile. Use lethal force if necessary.”

Emma’s breath caught. “He did it. He actually did it.”

Jake felt something cold settle in his chest. “We’re ghosts now.”

The team leader nodded to his squad. “Weapons hot.”

Jake whispered, “Emma — smoke.”

She pulled a small canister from her belt, twisted the cap, and rolled it across the floor.

A hiss.
A bloom of thick grey smoke.

The tactical team shouted, “Contact!”

Jake grabbed Mercer and sprinted down the side corridor. Emma fired two shots into the ceiling to create confusion, then followed up.

The smoke swallowed everything.

Shouts echoed behind them.

“Hunter is moving!”
“Clarke on the right!”
“Do not let them reach the platforms!”

Jake pushed through a maintenance door, slamming it behind them. They emerged into a narrow stairwell leading down to the Northern Line service tunnels.

Emma locked the door. “That’ll buy us thirty seconds.”

Mercer winced. “We can’t keep running.”

Jake crouched in front of him. “Mercer, listen to me. You’re the only one who can expose Helix. You’re the only one who can clear our names.”

Mercer swallowed. “Then we need a safe place to work.”

Emma shook her head. “There’s no safe place left.”

Jake stood. “There is one.”

Emma frowned. “Where?”

Jake looked down the stairwell into the darkness.

“Off‑grid. Off‑record. No surveillance.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Jake… you don’t mean—”

“I do.”

Mercer blinked. “Where?”

Jake turned to them.

“The old Cold War bunker under Charing Cross.”

Emma exhaled. “Jake, that place hasn’t been used in decades.”

“Exactly,” Jake said. “Which means Harris can’t monitor it.”

Mercer nodded weakly. “Then let’s go.”

Jake helped him to his feet. “We move now.”

Emma checked her weapon. “And MI5?”

Jake looked back up the stairwell, where the sound of boots was growing louder.

“They’re not our enemy,” he said. “But they’re being used by one.”

Emma nodded. “Then we don’t hurt them.”

Jake’s voice hardened.

“Unless they force us.”

They descended into the darkness of the service tunnels, leaving MI5’s tactical team behind — for now.

Above them, Harris’ voice echoed through the comms network.

“Hunter and Clarke are armed, dangerous, and compromised.
All units — bring them in dead or alive.”

Jake heard it faintly through the stairwell door.

He didn’t look back.

He didn’t need to.

He knew the truth:

MI5 wasn’t hunting Mercer anymore.
MI5 was hunting them.

And somewhere in the shadows of London,
Helix was watching.