Winston is pondering the agency's newest case: Christopher is traveling to a monastery, posing as Brother Mitchell. He decides to start at the beginning and talks about how John Gray was the inside man for Sam Fisher, the vicious leader of a gang of thieves. Gray infiltrated museums and found likely targets, and Fisher and his men stole the items. However, Gray fell in love with a museum employee, Emily. He had a chance of heart and called in the police, and then slipped away with Emily. Fisher was sent to prison but en route, he escaped with his men. Gray has gone into hiding but has written letters to Emily, revealing he's gone to a monastery in Quebec. Emily hires Christopher and Winston to find and protect Gray. She insists that Gray had no choice but to turn to crime because he grew up on the streets. Winston warns that Gray might not be sincere about his redemption, but Emily insists that he's a good man and needs Chance's help.
Winston briefs Christopher on Gray's location and that Fisher is most likely heading there. Winston seems strangely disinterested, much to Christopher's surprise. Christopher points out that they're protecting a criminal but Winston points out that if they refuse to take cases for people trying to put the past behind them, there's no point in what they're doing. Christopher agrees to take on the case.
Christopher and Winston drive to Port Cartier, the small village near the monastery. The only way up to the monastery is via cable car. Christopher, posing as Brother Mitchell, takes the cable car up and meets with Abbott Stevens. He tries to locate Gray and finally brings all the monks together by asking to present a sermon. Winston, in contact by radio ear bud, hastily tries to look something up in the Bible, but Christopher makes up a sermon on his own about redemption.
Fisher and his men are driving to Port Cartier. When they hit a random road block, they kill the officer and take his uniform. One of Fisher's men, Noah, puts it on and Fisher tells him to guard the gondola station while the rest of them go up to the monastery and find Gray.
Stevens finally directs Christopher to the alternate service, where Gray is explaining comic book theology of a sort. Christopher approaches Gray and identifies himself.
Back in San Francisco, Guerrero meets with someone representing his current employer. Guerrero wants to know who his employer is, and the thin man working as the contact says that he'll tell Guerrero once they have the item he's been hired to procure. Guerrero admits that he's been waiting for Christopher and Winston to leave the job so he could pull off the recovery.
Christopher tells Gray why he's there. Gray says that he can't leave, and Stevens finds them and demands to know what's going on.
Winston spots Fisher and his men going up in the gondola and realizes that something is wrong. He is unable to contact Christopher due to radio interference and approaches the mountain to get a clearer signal. Meanwhile, Fisher and his men enter the monastery. He gives them strict orders to keep Gray alive until they find a particular item.
Gray explains that he is at the monastery because he discovered a hidden item was located there: the Nicene Annals, a journal of a secret Papal meeting centuries earlier. Stevens' predecessor brought the Annals to the monastery. Gray was going to find them and turn them over to Fisher, but has had a change of heart. Stevens knew that Gray was there for a sinister reason, but believed he would eventually see the light. When Christopher says they need the Annals, Gray says that he doesn't know where they are.
Winston gets to the gondola station and reestablished contact with Christopher. He tells him what's going on. One of Fisher's men breaks into the office and after a brutal fight, Christopher subdues him. Meanwhile, Winston calls Guerrero, who initially ignores the call while he breaks into Christopher's office/loft. Guerrero finally takes the call and Winston tells him to call in a favor with an old friend, a helicopter pilot. The criminal admits that the two have had a falling out and assures Winston that he's perfectly capable, and then hangs up.
Christopher finds plastique in his attacker's backpack and realizes that Fisher plans to blow the monastery up and eliminate any witnesses once he has recovered the Annals. Christopher resolves to find the Annals and use them to lure Fisher away from the monastery. Gray explains that they're hidden in the catacombs beneath the monastery and Stevens confirms there are tunnels leading below. However, only one of them is inside the monastery proper, and it's hidden beneath a slab in the chapel. Stevens tells the others that he has a plan and will provide a distraction while they move the slab.
Fisher's men capture the monks but fail to find the Annals or Gray. Fisher prepares to torture his captives, but the chapel bells ring. He sends his men up to investigate, unaware that Christopher and Gray have slipped in. They move the slab and slip into the catacombs.
Guerrero is searching Christopher's files and gets another call from Winston. He ignores the calls and discovers an empty folder. His contact calls and warns that his employer is eager to get the missing file. Guerrero warns that he'll need time to find it, hangs up, and starts to open Christopher's safe.
As they search for the Annals, Gray explains that he wrote to Emily and she thanked him for saving her at the museum from Fisher and his men. Since then, Gray has decided to go straight. They find a wooden door leading to the storage room where the Annals are kept.
Winston approaches Noah, claiming that his car is out of gas. When he gets close enough, he knocks Noah out and enters the gondola station.
Christopher and Gray search the storage room and Gray figures that Christopher became a good guy for the same reason he did: love of a woman. Christopher simply says that it didn't work out. As they search, Gray explains that the Annals are actually a scroll, and the box holding them is booby trapped. If it's opened without a specific Papal ring, the contents are destroyed.
Fisher beats Stevens in an effort to force him to talk. The abbot refuses but one of the monks gives in and tells the criminal what he wants to know.
Christopher finds the box and calls Winston, who is in the cable car coming up. When Winston admits he could get the chopper pilot, Christopher tells him to call Guerrero again.
Guerrero has opened the safe and finds the file. Inside are photos and a tape cassette. Guerrero plays the table, which is a journal by Winston chronicling the agency's first case involving a Katherine Walters. As Winston says that it turned ugly, Guerrero finds a file confirming that Katherine is dead.
Christopher tells Gray to take the box to Winston and get clear. However, Gray wants to stay and help. Before they can resolve their argument, Fisher and his men arrive and take them prisoner. However, Gray informs him that the box is useless without the Papal ring, and he has the ring hidden in a safe deposit box in the nearby village. Fisher decides to test Gray's sincerity and leads him away, unaware that Winston is in the tunnels behind them.
Fisher places Christopher with the monks and leaves one man, Hammond, behind to plant the charges. He leaves with his men and Gray to go down the mountain and get the ring. Once they've left, Winston approaches Hammond, his gun out. Hammond figures him for a cop and concludes that he won't shoot. Winston shoots him down, but Hammond manages to trigger the detonator. They have three minutes to defuse the bomb. Christopher tells Winston to handle it while he goes after Fisher. When Winston points out that they've always relied on Guerrero, Christopher tells him to call Guerrero and then leaves.
Guerrero finally takes Winston's call and has him describe the detonator. There are two wires. Guerrero rather insincerely insists that Winston should cut the red wire.
Christopher gets to the upper gondola station as Fisher and the others head down the mountain. He grabs a piece of chain, loops it around the car's cable, and rides down the line.
With seconds left, Guerrero says that Winston needs to go with his gut. Winston braces himself and cuts... the blue wire. The timer stops.
Christopher smashes through the gondola window, setting it swinging. One thug falls out the door. Christopher and Fisher struggle while Gray tackles the other man. A shot goes off, shooting Gray's man and knocking him out the door. He grabs Gray and pulls him out before losing his grip and plummeting to his death. Christopher hits Fisher and grabs Gray to save him. Fisher grabs a gun and prepares to shoot. Christopher tells Gray to grab a nearby gun and shoot on his signal. He slips to the side and Gray shoots and kills Fisher, and Christopher pulls Gray back to safety.
Later, Gray tells the abbot that he's decided it's time for him to leave the monastery. Stevens says that he's always welcome, and then shakes Christopher's hand and says that he may one day have reason to return.
Christopher and Winston take Gray back to the office. He reunited with Emily and then turns himself into the police. Winston figures that Gray will only get a year in a minimum-security prison due to his cooperation. He then realizes that Christopher has taken the Papal ring in payment for their services. However, Gray has donated the box to a museum. Christopher tells Gray that he'll be able to handle prison, and assures him that when a girl turns a guy around, it doesn't go away. As Gray is lead away, Winston wonders if Christopher has gotten over Katherine. He tells his friend that he has to give himself salvation: it's not something you can find
Guerrero meets with his contact and gives him the file on Katherine Walters. The thin man refuses to tell Guerrero who he's working for. He tells Guerrero they'll contact him when they need his services again, and then walks away. Guerrero coolly shoots the man in the back and then checks on his victim. The thin man warns that Christopher won't be allowed to walk away from what he did, and Guerrero can't protect him. Guerrero says that he'll just have to see, and then shoots the man dead.
Share this article with your friends