Chapter Summaries

Lake investigated the leak of Brian O'Conner's undercover identity after rescuing women held in a secret room in Chinatown. The congressman died by his own gun, and evidence pointed to FBI agent Billy Kings as the source of the leak, leaving Lake to decide whether to make an arrest.

• Lake handed the Chinatown secret room over to Immigration Agency Team Leader Jeremy and Women's Protection Agency Ms. Dek, and the rescued women were taken to hospitals.
• Lake ignored reporters and continued investigating how the black-car gang had learned Brian O'Conner's undercover identity.
• Lake confronted the congressman, listed federal charges against him, and left a loaded Glock within his reach.
• The congressman grabbed the Glock and died when its specially made explosive round fired backward into his chest.
• Homeland Security analysts traced a suspicious ten-minute call from Billy Kings's FBI office to the congressman's office, and Lake called the California FBI Director.

Lake settled the car theft case with help from the California Federal Bureau Chief, then left Los Angeles with Rachel and Josie for a vacation in Santa Barbara. At their rented beachfront villa, a visitor rang the doorbell just as Rachel asked Lake to apply sunscreen.

• Lake told the California Federal Bureau Chief that he wanted FBI agent Billy Kings kept away, and the FBI arrested Billy while suspending his operation.
• Porsche offered to replace Lake’s car and asked to adapt the incident into a film, and Lake agreed on the condition that he could review the script.
• Rachel thanked Lake for helping her brother Dominic, and she and Lake shared a kiss before Josie reminded them they were supposed to leave for Santa Barbara.
• Rachel told Lake that Brian had revealed his undercover identity to Mia, and Lake explained that the operation had already been frozen.
• Lake, Rachel, and Josie arrived at the mayor of New York City’s rented Santa Barbara villa, where Josie explored the private beach.
• Rachel asked Lake to rub sunscreen on her, but the villa doorbell rang.

Lake attended Tony Stark’s dinner, where Jarvis failed to find Wanda Maximoff and Tony revealed that the Bucky Barnes who died on the operating table was a clone. The real Bucky was still at large, leaving Tony to confront the possibility that his father’s killer had escaped.

• Pepper invited Lake, Rachel, and Josie to dinner at Tony Stark’s Santa Barbara estate, and Lake accepted.
• After dinner, Tony had Jarvis report that searches had found no woman matching Lake’s description of Wanda Maximoff, only a childless Maximoff couple in Utah.
• Lake said he might have remembered Wanda wrong and considered that someone else, possibly the Ancient One, had altered reality.
• Tony showed Lake an autopsy report and said Bucky Barnes’s organs had grown for no more than two years, indicating the corpse was a clone.
• Jarvis noted that the corpse had no trace of the suspected Russian drug and lacked an old lung injury documented in Bucky’s records.
• Tony concluded that the real Bucky Barnes, his father’s killer, was still at large, and Lake’s expression darkened.

Lake discovered that Hydra had deceived him by giving him a cloned Bucky Barnes, and he suspected the group had concealed other ways to help his friend Owen. After Tony Stark’s investigation stalled, Lake reopened the Howard Stark couple’s murder case with Secretary Kelly’s approval, intending to draw the people behind the deception out.

• Lake realized Hydra had passed off a cloned Bucky Barnes as the man who killed Howard and his wife, and he concluded their business partnership was likely over.
• Lake and Tony agreed that Hydra’s cloning technology would be difficult to trace, while Tony had Jarvis continue monitoring for clues.
• After half a month of vacation, Lake returned to Washington, D.C., and decided to reopen the Howard Stark couple death case.
• Lake presented Tony’s autopsy report to Secretary Kelly and argued that the supposed Bucky Barnes might have been a cloned scapegoat.
• Secretary Kelly authorized Lake to reopen the case, provided he kept the investigation quiet and consulted him before taking action.

Lake reopened the Howard Stark couple investigation after learning that the Bucky Barnes found dead was a clone, then returned to New York and discovered that Seifer had secretly become Skye’s computer mentor. Seifer also claimed the role of Skye’s adoptive mother, leaving Skye wondering whether Lake was two-timing her with Rachel.

• Lake told General Ross and Karen that Tony Stark had discovered the dead Bucky Barnes was a clone, prompting Ross to question whether the Russians had developed cloning technology.
• Lake took the frozen body from Quantico to New York, where Homeland agents transported it to the Homeland Building.
• Lake returned to Starlight Tower and learned that Skye believed her computer skills surpassed those of her tutor and could hack Homeland Security’s database.
• Skye explained that her online mentor was a woman from an orphanage who knew Lake, and Lake recognized her as Seifer.
• Lake called Seifer, who admitted she was mentoring Skye and claimed she was Skye’s adoptive mother; Skye then wondered whether Lake was two-timing Seifer and Rachel.

Lake asked Olivia to examine Bucky Barnes's corpse, but she found that the brain in its skull was a vagrant's, not the corpse's original brain. Lake called Tony Stark to ask who had removed it, leaving the mystery of the brain switch unresolved.

• Skye asked Lake whether Seifer was Rachel and tactfully questioned his relationship with Rachel, then regretted encouraging him to consider changing his nationality.
• Lake brought Olivia sweet doufunao and asked her to examine Bucky Barnes's corpse and its autopsy reports.
• Olivia found the corpse's skull empty, and Lake showed her a brain preserved in formalin; she initially refused to examine it.
• Olivia examined the brain and recognized memories of a vagrant, then ran to her lounge to dry-heave.
• Lake concluded that someone had switched the brain and called Tony Stark to ask who had removed it.

Lake identified Will Wick, a neuroscientist at Tony Stark’s secretly funded Bionai Industries, as a likely suspect in the brain swap involving Bucky Barnes. Tony agreed to investigate, and Jarvis then reported that Wick was on sick leave and that Bionai’s supply records showed anomalies.

• Lake found Will Wick among Tony’s experts and learned that Wick worked on experiments transplanting human brains into robots at Bionai Industries.
• Tony revealed that Bionai was a Stark-controlled company and showed Lake a failed experiment in which a brain-transplanted robot killed itself.
• Lake told Tony that Wick was likely responsible for switching Bucky Barnes’s brain, while warning that Tony’s attempt to revive his parents would not succeed that way.
• Pepper explained that Tony’s guilt over his parents’ deaths motivated his research, and Tony said he wanted to make Lake a friend and help their shared investigation.
• After Lake left, Jarvis told Tony that Wick had been on sick leave for half a month and that Bionai’s supply records contained anomalies.

Lake investigated the disappearance of Bionai Industries' equipment and found the bodies of Will Wick's wife and children, along with a car submerged in a pond. John Wick arrived looking for his brother, and Lake ordered a check of the brothers' communications after suspecting John had concealed his reaction to the bodies.

• Tony Stark told Lake that Dr. Will Wick had disappeared after equipment worth 8.7 million dollars went missing from Bionai Industries.
• Lake, Jack, and Olivia searched Will Wick's house and discovered disturbed soil in the basement.
• Olivia determined that Will Wick's wife, two children, and another person had likely died in a car accident, and agents found a damaged car in the pond.
• John Wick arrived with his newlywed wife and said he had last spoken to Will about sixteen days earlier.
• Jack told Lake that John Wick had shown little emotion upon seeing the bodies, and Lake ordered agents to check both brothers' communication records.
• Someone in the house opposite Will Wick's made a phone call.

Hydra argued over Daniel Whitehall's decision to hand over a Bucky Barnes clone, then approved his plan to eliminate Lake Edwin. Lake investigated evidence of extracted tissue from four bodies and returned home, where Skye revealed she was hacking the Child Welfare Administration.

• Daniel Whitehall told Hydra's leaders that Lake Edwin and Tony Stark had discovered the Bucky Barnes on the autopsy table was a clone, and Alexander Pierce angrily left the meeting.
• Daniel Whitehall proposed trading half of Hydra's European assets to keep the Black King out of the conflict while Hydra eliminated Lake Edwin; Baron Strucker abstained, Gideon Malick stayed out, and Dr. Zola supported the plan.
• Alexander Pierce learned of the plan from Baron Strucker, trusted his Sixth Sense that Lake Edwin was not ordinary, and called List.
• Olivia told Lake that four bodies from the car accident had tissue removed and their brains were missing, while Lake showed her an equipment list and asked if it could be used for cloning.
• At home, Lake learned that Skye was hacking into the backend of the Child Welfare Administration and watched her work.

Skye searched a child welfare agency’s records to learn about her biological parents, while Lake chose not to reveal that she had been stolen by S.H.I.E.L.D. Lake also pursued the Wick case and accepted Hydra’s offer of two companies in exchange for ending his protection of Lake Edwin, intending to take the money and then target Hydra.

• Skye hacked the child welfare agency’s system to search for her biological parents, and Lake reassured her that he understood her curiosity.
• Lake decided to keep the truth about Skye’s Inhuman origins and her parents from her until she was older.
• After three days of surveillance found no suspicious activity from John Wick, Lake ordered Will Wick declared a wanted suspect and instructed agents to keep monitoring John’s home and signals.
• Emilia told Lake that Hydra’s envoy had offered Cartier Group and Jefferno Group in exchange for ending Lake’s protection of Lake Edwin.
• Lake told Emilia to accept the offer once the assets joined the Immortal Consortium, while planning to pursue Hydra afterward.
• Emilia informed Daniel Whitehall that the Black King’s protection of Lake Edwin would end once the assets were merged, and Daniel Whitehall welcomed the deal.

After Emilia completed the transfer of the Cartier Group and Jefferno Group, Lake used money from her to hatch a Force Seed and began cautiously absorbing nearby emotional energy. Emilia then announced that Lake Edwin no longer had the protection of the Black King or the Immortal Royal Family, prompting Hydra to begin its plan and drawing the attention of a Ministry of Magic official.

• Emilia told Lake that the transaction was complete, and he asked her to arrange a bank account with two million dollars.
• Lake used the money to complete the Mysterious Incubation Pool and hatched an SSR-level Force Seed.
• Lake absorbed nearby emotional energy into the Force Seed, struggled with the influx, and then tested his new telekinetic ability on an empty glass.
• Emilia announced that Lake Edwin had lost the protection of the Black King and the Immortal Royal Family.
• Daniel Whitehall, reassured by the announcement, ordered his subordinate to execute Hydra's plan.
• Krukkshan brought the news to a woman in the Ministry of Magic, who wondered what Lake had done this time.

Lake investigated Hydra’s cloning operation and learned that Will Wick had surfaced in Texas, where Hydra appeared to be setting a trap for him and Tony Stark. He headed to Texas to investigate, while Tony discovered that Bucky Barnes was there too.

• Lake gave Tiffany a birthday gift to mail to her in London and then left for the Homeland Operations Center.
• Lake learned that Will Wick had called John Wick from Amarillo, and he allowed John to travel there before deciding to go to Texas himself.
• Lake discussed Tony Stark’s investigation into a Russian tycoon who had mysteriously recovered from a terminal illness without visible surgery.
• Lake told Tony not to come to Texas because he believed Hydra’s trap targeted him, but said the trip could also be an opportunity.
• Jarvis found surveillance footage of Bucky Barnes in Bushland Town, Texas, and Lake warned Tony that Hydra might replace him with a clone.

Lake recognized that Daniel Whitehall had taken power within Hydra and traveled to Texas with John Wick, whom Hydra had lured with his younger brother as bait. Whitehall’s team expected Lake and Tony Stark to enter their trap, unaware that their assumptions about Lake and the Black King were wrong.

• Lake recalled that Alexander Pierce had secretly freed Daniel Whitehall, who later regained power within Hydra, and suspected Hydra’s leaders were acting against each other.
• Lake boarded his private jet for Texas and invited John Wick, who questioned Lake’s identity and accepted the ride.
• Lake told John Wick that his younger brother was likely dead and had been used as bait in a Hydra trap targeting Lake and Tony Stark.
• Lake warned Tony that going to Texas was dangerous, but Tony agreed Hydra would proceed whether or not he came.
• Daniel Whitehall and Dr. Zola learned that Lake had headed to Texas and concluded that Hydra’s psychological profile had correctly predicted his actions.

Hydra discussed its plan to use Dr. Will Wick and Lake Edwin as bait, while Tony Stark realized Hydra feared Lake more than him. Insulted, Tony decided to train in combat and contacted Lake’s former instructor, Frank Catalan.

• Dr. Zola told Daniel Whitehall that John Wick, the famed assassin Baba Yaga, was aboard Lake Edwin’s plane, but Hydra chose to focus on luring Lake rather than recruiting John.
• Daniel and Zola reviewed how Hydra had manipulated Will Wick into developing cloned-resurrection technology and arranged for him to escape with his revived family to draw Lake out.
• Hydra concluded Tony Stark and Lake had likely recognized the trap, but Daniel ordered the operation against Lake to continue and said Hydra was still infiltrating Obadiah.
• Tony noticed Hydra had stopped tracking Bucky Barnes and realized it feared Lake more than him, leaving Tony feeling insulted.
• Tony asked Pepper about her Krav Maga training, then had Jarvis find and contact Frank Catalan, Lake’s former combat instructor, so Tony could learn to fight.

Lake and John Wick traveled toward Vega Town, where Hydra ambushed them with a fake Homeland Security team and an armed helicopter. They survived the attacks and continued toward Vega Town.

• Lake met the impostor posing as Texas Action Supervisor Carillan after arriving in Amarillo, while John Wick left the hangar on his own.
• The impostor and the driver attacked Lake in their SUV, but Lake killed them and escaped as another vehicle crashed and exploded.
• John Wick returned in a black pickup and helped Lake kill the Hydra agents who attacked them on the road.
• Lake and John Wick drove toward Vega Town while an armed helicopter fired missiles at them.
• Lake dodged the missiles, shot down the helicopter, and drove on toward Vega Town.

Lake survived Hydra’s attack and continued pursuing Daniel Whitehall, while he and John Wick discussed the conspiracy behind John’s brother’s resurrection research. Lake left John facing the possibility that his brother had been killed after Hydra took his technology.

• Tony Stark watched Lake escape the helicopter attack and shared the satellite footage with Homeland Security.
• Dr. Merrick told Daniel Whitehall the failed ambush had been disrupted by John Wick, then confirmed Stark Weather’s heart was ready for surgery; Whitehall killed a caddie in anger.
• Lake met Director Carilan outside Vega Town and vowed to force Hydra to surrender Daniel Whitehall or face destruction.
• Lake and John Wick discussed John’s brother, and Lake sent an action team to investigate their old home in New Jersey.
• Lake told John that Hydra may have orchestrated his brother’s car accident to obtain his resurrection research and warned that his brother might already be dead.

Lake oversaw the search for Will Wick from a temporary Homeland Security office in Vega Town, but Hydra launched a devastating attack that destroyed the office and killed agents. He survived and sought a Full Investigation Order and outside support, preparing to openly fight Hydra.

• Lake allowed John Wick to accompany Team A to investigate an abandoned quarry suspected of using electricity.
• Jarvis detected that the Homeland Security satellites had been breached and warned Lake that five gunships were approaching.
• Five gunships bombarded the temporary office, then crashed into its ruins in a suicide attack; Lake shielded Carillan from the resulting blast.
• Lake learned that a cyberattack had also disrupted Fort Bliss Biggs Army Airfield's radar, while Tony Stark engaged the hacker.
• Lake asked Tiffany to inform Secretary Kelly that he was applying for a Full Investigation Order, then called in outside assistance to fight Hydra.

After Hydra's failed attempt to kill Lake, federal and military forces moved to protect Skye and Rachel while Tony Stark tracked the hacker behind the attack. The chapter left Jack leading agents to Stark Industries to capture the hacker.

• Thaddeus Ross secured General Moses's authorization for Lake to conduct a military investigation and prepared to go to Texas.
• Daniel Whitehall learned Lake had survived and discovered that Dr. Zola had supposedly authorized Merrick's attack, then found Zola's system under attack.
• Tony Stark pursued the hacker while DHS agents took Rachel and Josie from their apartment.
• Jack found Skye at Cassel's home and arranged for Jason and his SEAL team to escort her to Quantico.
• Tiffany ordered Jack to bring agents to Stark Industries after Tony tracked the hacker, and Jack led his team there.

Jack, Tony Stark, and Homeland and Army forces tracked a hacker to an abandoned New Jersey military base and uncovered a hidden underground facility linked to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony’s family. They found a bloodied corpse beside a computer, leaving the purpose of the facility and the hacker’s fate unclear.

• Jack drove Tony Stark and Homeland agents to Kvalo Military Base after Tony traced the hacker’s signal there.
• The team searched an overgrown ammunition depot and found an office bearing an unfamiliar emblem.
• David identified the emblem as belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D., and Victoria Hand said the agency had once been based at Kvalo but had abandoned it.
• In a document room, Tony found photographs of his father, Howard Stark, and his godmother, Peggy Carter, and suspected the site was connected to his parents’ deaths.
• Tony and Jack discovered a concealed passage and opened an elevator leading to an underground facility.
• Jack, Tony, and the Army captain entered the underground base and found a bloodied corpse with a pistol beside a powered-on computer.

Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. uncovered Dr. Arnim Zola’s digital existence and learned that Daniel Whitehall had revived Hydra and arranged the attack on Lake Edwin. A bomb planted in the ammunition depot forced everyone to flee, leaving Whitehall’s whereabouts unresolved.

• Commander Victoria Hand, Natasha Romanov, and Clinton Barton arrived at the New Jersey military base and joined Tony Stark and Jack Mellen underground.
• Tony Stark started the computer, and Dr. Arnim Zola identified himself as a scientist whose mind Howard Stark had preserved in the database.
• Dr. Zola revealed that Daniel Whitehall, formerly Werner Reinhardt, had escaped prison, revived Hydra, and forced Zola to work for him.
• Dr. Zola said Whitehall had arranged the recent attack on Lake Edwin and traded part of his industries to Black King to stop him protecting Lake Edwin.
• Department of Homeland Security agents found bombs in the mainframe, and Jack Mellen led Tony Stark and the others out of the ammunition depot.
• The ammunition depot exploded shortly after Jack Mellen and Tony Stark escaped.