DM: This is what you have decided?

Jaimi nods her head.

DM: Think through your decision one more time, Agent Shakti!

Naushad reads over the defense minister's shoulders.

Naushad: Jaimi, you're not going to do this!

Jaimi: Do I have another choice?

Naushad: Yes! More than enough of them.

Jaimi: Enlighten me about the choices, Agent Panther, if you don't mind, of course.

Naushad: Desk work for a period of time or maybe a suspension.

Jaimi: Will it change the way people look at me and my work from now on? A stupid accusation that Ms. Khan made sparked up many discussions in the office.

Naushad: You never care about what people say then, why now?

Jaimi: Because I DO NOT, let me repeat that I DO NOT want to be treated like a criminal all my life. The statement she made without thinking some time back proved me to be a murder. If that's not enough then, I will have to go through a stupid investigation that will take years and till then I have to be under surveillance. I'm not going to live the rest of my life with people thinking I'm an assassin.

Inaya: Agent Shakti, you have no right to point a finger at me!

Jaimi: Ms. Khan with all due respect don't make me open my mouth about the mess you made in Thailand that Daksh and I had to clear.

Inaya: I never did anything of that sort!

Jaimi: Oh really? Let me turn the table around as you did with me! You used Agent D to get promoted to RAW. You just confessed on record that you had no feelings for him while he's madly in love with you and looks at you as a life partner. Like to enlighten me on that matter?

Inaya: You cannot speak on the matter you don't know of!

Jaimi: May I ask why because you just interfered in mine!

Inaya opens her mouth to retort but closes it in a split second seeing the grave expression on Jaimi's face.

Ayesha: Jay, what is your decision?

Jaimi: I'm resigning from RAW.

DM: If that's your final decision then, I'll just repeat the guidelines once again. Number 1: You cannot be any of RAW's or IB's property after tomorrow. Number 2: You will have to pass on all the data to RAW along with the arms provided by the agency. Number 3: You cannot discuss RAW's secret info with anyone, anywhere. Number 4: You will destroy the spy network you created.

Jaimi: Understood.

DM: That's all for the day.

Jaimi grabs her car keys from the table and makes her way to the door. She stops in front of Inaya.

Jaimi: I hope you enjoy my position soon, Ms. Khan!

Jaimi's face showed no expression, but her tone was taunting. She walks out of the room after giving Daksh and Ayesha a hug. She leaves the office and drives away.

DM: This is most definitely not the way I wanted this to end!

There's a long silence after that. Ayesha looks up at Asif who is on the verge of a panic attack. She rubs his arm up and down. He looks down at her.

Ayesha: She's going to be fine, okay?

He nods his head. The defense minister leaves with Gautam.

Naushad: Ms. Khan, you can go back to your workstation!

Inaya: Yes sir, but can I have a word with Darshan before that.

Naushad: This is work hours, so please focus on your work. You can converse with him after work hours.

She nods her head and takes it as her cue to leave.

Naushad: Everyone back to work! Darshan, you come with me. I'll show you around.

Darshan nods his head. They all leave the interrogation room. Naushad gives Darshan an office tour before stopping in front of an office on the 6th floor.

Naushad: That's your office.

Darshan nods his head. Naushad walks further down the hall. They stop in front of a door next to last. He fishes out a key from his pocket and opens the door. He hands the key to Darshan and they step inside the room. Darshan looks around it to see a bedroom.

Naushad: This is your small studio in the office. If you are tired of sitting then, you can always come and relax here or work from here. There's a bathroom attached and a small closet to keep your belongings.

Naushad pointed towards the bathroom door that is in the small hallway in the room. Darshan sees another door at the end of the hall.

Darshan: Bhai, where does that door lead?

Naushad: Actually, that door was made by mistake. It connects your room to the room beside it. Don't worry about it for now as no one uses the last room for now.

Darshan: Ok.

Naushad: I wanted to talk to you about something!

Darshan: Yes Bhai.

Naushad: Sit and listen to me carefully!

Darshan nods his head and sits on the edge of the sofa as Naushad locks the door. He sits on the other end of the sofa.

Naushad: Look, I know what you're thinking about Agent Shakti and I know this is not the right time to talk about this, but just hear me out for once.

Darshan nods his head.

Naushad: What Inaya said... I don't know why she would make such a statement, but I know for a fact that Jaimi would never do that to you or anyone! Yes, she did hide the fact that she's there to help you, but she didn't have any wrong intentions behind it. I know your mind is probably wrapped around the statement Inaya made, but she is thinking about how IB works, not RAW.

Darshan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Naushad: In RAW everyone gets an equal chance, be it a junior or senior. By killing one doesn't mean your competition is cut off. What would she get from killing you? You both are at the same rank. She looks over the command of the valley and Himachal like you look over Delhi. You both have the same amount of power and the defense minister requested her to shift to Delhi and lead the command of the valley, Himachal from here, and give you a helping hand in Delhi.

A frown makes its way on Darshan's face as he thinks deeply about the matter.

Naushad: Darshan if she wanted you dead then, why would she have pushed you off the boat? I don't know if you know how critical her condition was and is.

Naushad walks out of the studio and returns after a few minutes with a hospital file. He hands the file to Darshan, who opens it and starts looking over it. The first page is pictures of Jaimi's burns. He closes his eyes and presses his lips together. He looks away to erase the images from his mind, but they don't go away. He turns the page and opens his eyes. He sees her body beet red. It looks ten times redder than what he saw some time back. There are some more pictures. He reads the reports and his heart drops to the pit of his stomach. He closes the file and drops it on the small table.

Naushad: Are you ok?

He nods his head.

Naushad: All I'm saying is that think about this matter deeply because you are the only one who can help her out.

Darshan nods his head.

Naushad: I want you to work on this case away from all the eyes of everyone. I know for a fact that both the boats can't just blow up on the same day and same time. There is someone behind this.

Darshan: Who can it be? I mean any suspicion?

Naushad: She has countless enemies who will go to any height to kill her! For a year, she was attacked every other day.

Darshan: And, she didn't once think about quitting this job?

Naushad: She's not a porcelain doll type of girl! She's a lioness who knows how to take down her enemies and rule her kingdom. I need you to find out who is behind this incident and track them down till I figure something out about this resignation.

Darshan nods in agreement.

Naushad: I have transferred the files of all the missions she worked on and some of the missions she left to your computer. You can take a look at them and maybe they'll help.

Naushad leaves the room leaving Darshan occupied in his thoughts. Darshan goes to his cabin and starts looking over the files on the computer. He didn't realize time passed. He looks at the electronic clock that reads 5'o clock. He hears a soft knock on the door.

Darshan: Come in.

His gaze is firm on the computer screen as he jots down a few notes on his notepad. A few minutes pass by and he takes no notice of the figure standing in the room.

Inaya: Darshan?

He sighs and drops the pen on the desk. He turns the chair and laces his fingers together on the desk in front of him as he looks at her.

Darshan: Yes, Ms. Khan? How may I help you?

Inaya: What happened? Why are you behaving like this?

Darshan: Behaving like what, Ms. Khan? If that's even your real name.

His words are taunting, but his voice is calm like a saint's.

Inaya: This... professional tone and all. I know you're my senior here, but it's just us now, so why are you behaving like this?

Darshan: Ms. Khan, let me remind you that, you made it pretty clear in the investigation room that you toyed me for the past... god knows how many months. I've lost my count! I'm sure you know well.

Inaya: Can we please talk like two grown-ups?

Darshan: I am talking like an adult, but it seems that you're being a teenager.

Inaya: I didn't expect to hear this from you at least.

Darshan: What did you expect to hear from a man who spent a month in prison trying to save his love, but then he wakes up from that dream and realizes that he was being toyed around. Now, you expect me to follow you around like a love-sick puppy?

Inaya: That's not...

She is cut short as Miro comes running into the cabin. The door was partially open allowing him access. Miro sniffs Inaya and barks at her. He goes around the desk and sniffs Darshan, who picks him up and settles him on the table in front of him. He starts to caress Miro's side to calm him down as he anxiously sniffs anything he can find. A few minutes later, they hear a soft knock.

Darshan: Come in.

Ayesha and Jyugal step into the room.

Ayesha: Sorry, he must have disturbed you!

Darshan: He's not a disturbance! Why is he acting like this?

Jyugal: He has been anxious since Agent Shakti left and is sniffing everything he finds to get to her.

Darshan: Oh.

Inaya: She should have taken him with her as it is hers!

Jyugal: What is your problem? First, you got Agent Shakti typically thrown out, and now, Miro.

Inaya: What is your problem? I have not done anything to you.

Jyugal: So you want me to wait till you get me thrown out as well and clear your way to the top.

Inaya opens her mouth to say something but closes it as Naushad enters with Asif. Naushad walks around the desk and glances at the notes that Darshan wrote down.

Naushad: Due to Agent Shakti's resignation, I have made a few decisions. Asif will handle the Delhi wing. Ayesha and Jyugal will look into international missions, I want Darshan to command the valley. Inaya will be your assistant.

Darshan: I don't need one!

Naushad: That's not an appropriate response to my statement. I want to make sure you two don't continue whatever that we heard down the hall and to make sure you have gotten over whatever happened. Grow up and move past it. This will also prove if Inaya is capable of being a field agent or not.

Asif: Sir, are you sure about the two being in the valley?

Naushad: What do you mean?

Asif: I'm not doubting Agent D! He's amazing at his job, but Ms. Khan... we just saw the blunder that she created in Thailand. The two together I don't want to think about what they will do in the valley.

Jyugal: He has a point!

Asif: Valley is a quicksand of death that no one can escape!

Inaya: Jaimi did, so I can as well!

Ayesha: You have never experienced the valley! It's a death trap. Only she knows how she survived there.

Jyugal: Just FYI, Agent Shakti was attacked every other day in the valley and she still has enemies on her back looking for the perfect opportunity to tear her apart.

Darshan: I'm surprised by how calm the valley has become in the last three years.

Naushad: That's Agent Shakti's magic! Her network will fade away in a few days as she resigned, so you two will have to create your own network.

Inaya: According to the protocol, she is supposed to turn in information about her network, so we can just use the same one.

Naushad: You won't be able to! Those involved in it are loyal to her, not anyone else. They follow her command.

Darshan: I'll try to pull a few strings here and there. Let's see what we can do. But, this is a massive network spread throughout the valley and across the borders.

Naushad: Yeah. She infiltrated the border a few times to form this. She was hanging by a thread at that time when she took the risk.

Ayesha: Why does it even matter now?

Asif: Of course it matters!

Ayesha: I don't think so. What did she get in return? She was forced to resign and was called a murderer by someone who doesn't know jack about her.

Inaya: Why is everyone blaming me for her resignation?

Ayesha: Why won't we? What do you even know about how much she suffered? What you saw today was not even ten percent of what she had to go through.

Jyugal: Bhai, since when did she become so fierce?

Jyugal whispers in Naushad's ear.

Naushad: She is Jaimi's cousin.

Jyugal: True that!

Naushad: Calm her down before those two start world war three up here.

Jyugal nods his head. He takes hold of Ayesha's arm to grab her attention.

Ayesha: What?

Jyugal: We have a meeting to catch, so let's go!

Jyugal pulls her out of the room.

Naushad: Everyone back to work.

Inaya leaves the room after quickly glancing at Darshan. The day comes to an end and the office empties by seven.

**********

Studio Room