Brotherhood
Summary: AU. When Amanda discovers a piece of Birkhoff's past, she thinks she's found the weakest link to Nikita's operation. She asks Alex for a favor: locate and capture Pyro, a mutant terrorist who has an uncanny resemblance to Birkhoff. Will this mission ruin the business partnership Amanda has worked so hard to create?
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Marvel, WB, CW and other people that are not me.
Warnings: Strong Language. Some dark content.
Spoilers: X1-3. For now, up to Nikita 2x
A.N. Sort of Pyro/Alex to begin, but only in the physical sense. I can promise an eventual pairing though. So I've had this written since the beginning of Season 2 but I've been waiting on it because of my HP/X-Men crossovers. But I'm testing the waters to see if anyone is interested in this one. As this was already written, I don't feel bad about not working on my WIP. Anyone glancing at this because of my other work but not familiar with Nikita: you have to watch this show. It's the best one in a long time, this coming from someone who was convinced that Buffy was the end all of all tv shows for over a decade.
Chapter 1:
"What is he doing here?" Alex asked, aiming her best glare Sean Pierce before returning her eyes to Amanda.
"Sean has brought us a valuable piece of information," Amanda informed her. "It may be key to getting our hands on that black box. As you have agreed to help us with that particular mission, I thought you should join us in this meeting." Amanda closed the blinds.
"Oversight has decided that we are going about this all wrong," Sean told Alex as she sat in the seat Amanda gestured to. Amanda herself took a seat behind her desk.
"All wrong?" Alex asked. "I'm doing the best I can." She turned to Amanda. "You of all people should know how difficult it is to fight Nikita."
"That is why I agree with Sean," Amanda said. "We've been focusing on Nikita, even Michael. We've forgotten about another member of their team. But then again people tend to forget about Birkhoff."
Alex paused. She didn't know Birkhoff quite well. Besides Birkhoff's god complex and unhealthy fascination with red bull, the biggest thing she knew about him was that, according to him, nerds thought something had to be wrong with any girl interested in them. She had thought that funny because she didn't really like him. Birkhoff could be considered the weakest link in many ways, but also an important link, not only due to his intelligence but also because both Michael and Nikita were fond of him. For some unknown reason.
"Do you think you could target him?" Amanda asked.
Alex's eyebrows furrowed. "Why wouldn't I?" It was actually preferred. She still didn't want to hurt Nikita, and even Michael, but Birkhoff was distant enough from her.
"I only wondered whether you thought him an innocent in this," Amanda continued.
Alex almost laughed. "Birkhoff was never exactly endearing. I'll target who I have to in order to get the job done." Amanda only nodded as Sean looked at her appraisingly. Obviously, he still had his doubts over her. "So what's the plan?" she asked.
"Sean, if you will?" Amanda requested.
Sean nodded, handing a folder over to Alex. She flipped through the pages. It was a file on Pyro. "The mutant terrorist?" she asked, looking up. "What does this have to do with Birkhoff?"
"Look at the picture," Sean told her.
She flipped to the proper page and paused. It was a surveillance photo from a security video. Alex thought for a moment that she was looking at a younger, clean shaven, and better dressed Birkhoff. But then she saw the date on the upper corner.
"He looks like Birkhoff," Alex said unnecessarily.
"Needless to say, when we saw this, we looked deeper into Birkhoff's past," Amanda said. "I don't know whether Percy ever bothered to. It seems that before he was fourteen, Seymour Birkhoff's name was Seymour Allerdyce, an Australian native who moved with his American mother back to the states. They left behind a young boy named St. John Allerdyce and his father."
"The government's known for a while that Pyro was once a student at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," Sean continued. "The X-Men gave at least that much. That and a name: John Allerdyce. It seems that despite his betrayal, they refused to hand him over. Look at the next page."
Alex did so. It was a copy of a missing poster for St. John Allerdyce who went missing at thirteen, apparently a runaway. "So Pyro's Birkhoff's brother?"
"Yes," Amanda answered. "We hope that Birkhoff feels enough brotherly affection for Pyro for our purposes."
"So how are we going about this?" Alex asked, closing the folder. She tried to hold back any discomfort. As much of an annoyance Birkhoff was, they were going after his family. But she reassured herself with the fact that Pyro wasn't exactly an innocent.
"We know Pyro is in New York," Sean said. "We even know a bar he frequents. The plan is to capture him."
"How?" Alex asked. "Has he ever even been captured?"
"Iceman did once. Three years ago on Alcatraz," he told her. "Unfortunately, it seems that they were once friends. He got him to safety instead of handing him over."
"He saved his enemy?" Alex asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Amanda said with a smile. "It appears that Iceman is a better man than Pyro."
"This still doesn't answer my original question," Alex pointed out.
"You draw him in and drug him," Sean said. He seemed to take this personally.
"Let me guess. I seduce him," Alex rolled her eyes.
"Or just let him seduce you," Amanda provided. "You are quite a beautiful woman, Alex. I am confident that he will pick you out."
Alex nodded her head. Hopefully she wouldn't have to take it very far. She only had to distract him long enough to drug him.
PAGE BREAK
Alex looked around uncomfortably. There were a lot of drugs floating around this place. It reminded her of a few of the places she had ended up scoring hits just two years ago. Her distaste for Pyro grew. Apparently, he was a killer and a druggie.
He was easy to spot. Much of the action in the room paused as he entered. Clearly, many recognized who he was. It was, after all, a mutant bar. She felt for the two guns she carried for reassurance. And the syringe in her pocket.
Pyro sat down at the bar a bit away from her and ordered his drink. Alex took the chance to study him. His brown hair was slicked back. It appeared darker than Birkhoff's and he was definitely scrawnier than his brother. But the facial features were so similar. Was Birkhoff attractive under the slacker clothes and scruff? Pyro held himself quite differently than Birkhoff, too. His posture was cocky and his leather jacket seemed to help him exude the bad boy image.
She didn't look away when he met her eyes. He smirked at her, taking a sip of his drink before his eyes strayed to the pool tables. He grabbed the drink and wandered over. Placing some bills on the table, he spoke to the two men playing. The two men exchanged glances before one of them handed the cue stick over to him. They set up a game.
Alex watched. Amanda was confident that he would try to seduce him, but he hadn't looked over at her again. Did she have to do the work? Grabbing her soda she headed over.
She leaned on the pool table. Pyro paused as his eyes landed on her. "Want something?" he asked, not bothering to focus on her. He took his shot and sunk it. His opponent didn't look too happy. A small stack of twenties sat on the edge of the table. It looked like the other man was about to lose.
"Wondering why you haven't offered me a drink," she said with her best flirtatious smile.
Pyro smirked again as he watched his opponent. He pulled off his jacket, presumably for a better shot. She corrected her previous thought. He wasn't quite scrawny. Lean, maybe. She studied the braces around his wrists. Those were his wrist igniters, she remembered.
"A little busy," he told her as he sunk another shot.
"Doesn't seem like you'll be busy for long." The other man shot her a glare and she just leveled a stare at him, challenging him. The man backed off.
"You're not wrong," Pyro said, sinking his last shot. He grabbed the money off the table.
"Hey," his opponent stepped up. "Double or nothing."
Pyro watched him in amusement. "Don't think so. Not much of a gambler." He looked over at her. "Besides, I think I got a better offer." He finished his drink.
Alex followed suit. He grabbed his jacket before following her back to the bar. "Another," he ordered, placing his glass on the table. He glanced at her. "What do you want?"
"Another soda," she requested.
He grinned. "Not a drinker?" He paid the bartender. She shook her head. "Let me guess. Addict."
She paused. "Ex. How did you know?"
"You're never an ex-addict," he informed her as he drank. "And I'm just that good." And just as cocky as his brother, though Birkhoff never showed much confidence with women. Except that awkward moment when she was trying to warn Nikita that her father was a fake and Birkhoff thought she was propositioning him. Wishful thinking perhaps. "So what's an addict—a human addict—doing at a mutant bar known for drugs."
He was good. Alex shrugged. "Always had a thing for danger I guess." She looked at him. "And a known mutant terrorist? That's a lot of danger, Pyro."
He shook his head in amusement. "How do you know I'll even touch you?"
Alex met his eyes. "You bought me a drink. And you're talking to me, aren't you?"
Pyro looked her over as if evaluating her. Her looks or her motives? He downed his drink. "Let's get out of here then."
She smiled. Mission accomplished. Almost.
PAGE BREAK
Alex moaned into his mouth as he pinned her to the bed of her fake apartment, hands wandering over her body and under her shirt. He was a good kisser. She almost didn't want to drug him. Almost. She wasn't one for random hook-up. Pyro pulled away from her. She propped herself up slightly, slipping her hand discreetly into her jacket pocket.
There was nothing there.
"Looking for this?" Pyro asked above her. The syringe was in his hand. "Gonna drug me?"
"I was only going to make things a bit more interesting," she said with a smile.
He glanced at the syringe, pushing some of the liquid out. "You like your men unconscious?" he asked. Alex went for her gun but he pinned her arms down. She struggled.
"Get off," she snarled.
"I never trust a pretty girl," he told her against her ear. "Actually, I never trust anyone." She tried to throw him off but he had her expertly pinned. She became frantic. He wasn't going to get her. She wouldn't let herself be raped not again. "Relax," Pyro said again. "I'm not that kind of guy."
"You're a killer," she spat out.
"You have two guns on you. I don't think you're one to talk," he breathed out. She was happy to notice that he was struggling to keep her down just a little bit.
"I take out people like you." She knew her eyes shun with hatred.
Pyro stared at her. "Soldiers?" he asked.
"Bad guys," she hissed back.
"I'm not the bad guy," he sneered. "I'm fighting for a cause. What are you fighting for?" He removed a hand from her arm. She bucked. He hissed. "Don't fucking tease me." And then he plunged the syringe into her arm. "Tell whoever you work for they need to do better than this." And Alex lost consciousness.
PAGE BREAK
"Bitch," John growled, tossing the syringe in the garbage as he entered headquarters.
"You better not be talking about me," Mystique said from the counter as she sipped at her tea. She never really seemed like a tea person but John had stopped being surprised by her when he was seventeen.
"Someone tried to drug me," he told her, crankily. He was too pissed to put the effort into getting laid but he was also frustrated. "She didn't even have the decency to fuck me first."
Mystique smiled. "Poor Pyro. Are you frustrated? I can help you out."
John looked at her warily. "Last time we tried that you turned into Rogue in the middle of it. I still haven't gotten over those nightmares."
She laughed. "I thought you wanted that."
"I prefer you blue," he told her. She looked at him curiously. John figured she didn't hear that much. "Besides Rogue's a vampire bitch. And I'm not talking pop culture icon, more full on depraved bitch."
Mystique shook her head. "I never understood your resentment for her."
"She stole my best friend," John insisted. She laughed at him again. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."
"I think I do," Mystique told him. "But we're your family now."
John glared at her. "I don't have a family." He pulled out a cigarette but changed his mind, sighing. "I really wish Magneto would stop getting rid of my stash."
"He only watches over you," Mystique said, returning to her tea.
"No, he wants me alert," he corrected. "Selfish bastard." He stuck the cigarette in his mouth, lighting it. The flame flared a little too strongly.
"That hot, huh?"
"What?" he snapped.
"The girl," Mystique clarified.
John groaned. "Yes." He had a feeling that came out a little too much like a whine. "I don't usually score girls that hot."
Mystique raised her eyebrows. "You? The master seducer?"
"Shut up," he told her.
"For someone with so much power and such skills in manipulation, you have an incredible amount of insecurities."
"You know," John said standing, "I don't know why I talk to you."
"Because everyone generally dislikes you," Mystique provided. Yeah, well that was true. "You sure about not needing help?"
John studied her. "You promise not to turn into someone else while we're at it?"
"I can be your dream girl," Mystique said, confused.
"Mystique, you're fucking hot," he told her incredulously. "I fight for mutants. Why do you have to be someone else?"
Mystique stared at him. He sighed, turning from her. The same old argument.
PAGE BREAK
Alex was groggy when she woke up. She tried to sit up. "Whoa, not too fast." It sounded like Sean. Sure enough, as her vision cleared, she recognized him by her side, standing next to Amanda. "You know you seem to fail in your missions a lot," he said as she sat up. She glared. "Aren't you supposed to be good?"
Alex looked at Amanda who spoke up. "Sean, you know I give her rather difficult missions." He didn't respond. She paused. The mission. She began to frantically check herself over. "Relax," Amanda told her. "You were only drugged. He didn't harm you." She sighed, sitting back again.
"How did he know?" Alex asked.
"It seems that Pyro is just as suspicious of women as his brother. Unfortunate really," Amanda said. "Though it seems he has some amount of decency."
"He insists he's not the bad guy," she said absentmindedly.
"The bad guys always do," Sean pointed out.
"So, we need a new plan, huh?" Alex sighed.
PAGE BREAK
Nikita threw a file in front of Birkhoff. "Paper?" he asked distastefully. Normally she would roll her eyes but this was just too big.
"What's up?" Michael asked as he joined them where Birkhoff had been watching the news. Again.
"Just read," she told Birkhoff. She watched worriedly as he opened the file and froze for a moment before frantically flipping through the pages. He read faster than anyone she knew. He stared at the last page, saying nothing. Michael grabbed the file from him. When he finished he looked up at Nikita.
"Where did you get this?" Michael asked slowly.
"A source," she informed him. He didn't ask.
"Is it legit?" he asked Birkhoff. "Pyro's your brother?"
"St. John Allerdyce is my brother," Birkhoff said. His hand wandered to the back of his neck. "I guess that makes Pyro my brother, huh?" He was at a loss. Nikita's heart went out to him. After the whole thing with her fake father, she understood what these kinds of blows did to a person.
"I was also told the Division made an attempt to grab him," she told him. Birkhoff stared at her. "Alex failed."
Birkhoff snorted. "Let me guess, she tried to seduce him." He shook his head. He bit at his lip. "He's my brother, Nikki. He was always my responsibility."
Nikita studied him, exchanging glances with Michael. "That's why we're going to save him," she promised.
PAGE BREAK
"Buy me a drink?" Nikita asked, leaning against the bar. She was in some of her tightest clothing. Pyro was young; it would be easy to stir up his hormones.
But he surprised her, only glancing at her. "I'm here for a drink," Pyro told her. "Maybe to score something stronger. Alone."
"And why is that?" she continued, refusing to give up. She sat against the bar, slightly leaning towards him. As she adjusted her position, she was incredibly glad neither Michael (for obvious reasons) nor Birkhoff was in her ear right now. Nikita didn't think she could flirt with his brother, especially one that looked so much like him, with Birkhoff's ever continuing comments. He hadn't even fought her when she suggested he not be tuned in. Michael, meanwhile, was perfectly happy standing guard relatively close-by. Out of hearing range.
"Why do people usually drink?" Pyro rolled his eyes. Yes, he was young. Nikita took him in. In fact, he looked like a younger, more confident Birkhoff. She had always recognized Birkhoff as theoretically good looking, he just wasn't her type, too much the grungy slacker and too much like a brother. Except he was already someone else's brother, apparently.
"No, I mean why just that when you can have something a little more interesting," she smiled.
Pyro actually looked at her that time. He appeared somewhat amused. She was relieved when he finally checked her out. "That's a big promise, babe," he informed her. She resisted rolling her eyes at the use of the word babe with a complete stranger. With a flick of his thumb, a flame ignited seemingly from his wrist. The igniters. Her eyes focused on the flame for a moment before turning to his face. His eyes had grown darker. "Hmmm…last time a human girl knew exactly who I was, she tried to drug me." This time when he eyed her, he was evaluating her as a danger. She had seen the look before. It was weird to see it on a face so much like Birkhoff's. "I guess you guys didn't get the picture. The whole seduction thing ain't gonna work. Be a little more original. Fuck, I think I'd trust Big Bird more than a pretty girl right now. And Seaseme Street was some freaky shit." She could imagine Birkhoff saying the same thing.
Nikita found Michael in the crowd. She met his eyes, wishing that he was either psychic or she had let him tune in. This was a change of plans. She dropped the seduction act. "The thing is, St. John," she paused as Pyro stiffened ever so slightly. "I know who tried to make a grab for you and I'm working against them."
Pyro regained his composure as he smirked, facing her more completely. He shaped the small flame into a larger ball. "Let me guess, you're gonna offer to protect me. See, the thing is," he mimicked her words, "I've been in the game long enough to know that the enemy of my enemy is rarely my friend. Really, they're just another enemy."
"Sounds lonely," she commented, turning away from him ever so slightly, trying to look unconcerned when, in reality, she was hyperaware of his movements. Pyro was a killer. Like her.
He snorted. "More like smart."
"And you'd call yourself a smart guy?" she asked. The bartender passed and Pyro signaled for two drinks. Oh, so he was playing the game.
"Hope you like beer," he told her as the bartender placed a bottle in front of her. "And, honey, I'm smart enough."
She looked to the bartender. "Thanks but no thanks." Nikita waited for the bartender to walk away before continuing. Pyro drank slowly from his beer. "Only smart enough? I figured that with a brother like yours, you'd be genius."
Pyro reacted quickly. He abandoned his drink and just as quickly moved to his feet, a blur of angry motion as he grabbed her elbow, flame awfully close to her skin. She let him pull her away and out the back into an alley. Not only was she confident she could handle him, but Michael was also close behind. Pyro threw Nikita away from him so that she was a few feet in front of him. She pretended to stumble.
"Say that again," Pyro snapped. Nikita kept her mouth shut. He practically growled. "You know my name, fine. But what the fuck do you know about my brother?"
"Is that interest I detect? Maybe a bit of curiosity?" Nikita teased.
"My brother is dead." Nikita backed away slightly as the flame grew stronger and his eyes grew darker.
"You don't need a dead body to fill a grave," she said, hand ready to move to her gun.
"Don't—"
And then, ever her white knight, Michael burst into the alley with his gun up. Almost as quickly as he appeared, Pyro had a flame rushing towards him.
"No!" Nikita screamed. She heard Michael make a pained noise even as the fire seemed to hit a barrier. The gun clanged to the ground. Michael was fine.
"Funny thing about guns," Pyro said, voice ironically enough like ice, "they get hot real quick." Pyro positioned himself so that he could see both Michael and Nikita better. He drew the flame back to himself, but his posture said he wasn't relaxing. "Now, you're gonna tell me about my brother or your boyfriend's gonna need a few skin grafts."
"Just skin grafts?" Michael asked, eyes fixated on Pyro's face, perhaps a bit thrown off about the resemblance to his friend. "I figured I'd be ash."
"Don't tempt me," Pyro snapped. Nikita realized what he reminded her of in that moment: a cornered dog. His threat didn't come from cruelty. A killer he may be, Nikita thought, but still a scared kid as well. "Now what about my brother?"
"His name is Seymour Birkhoff," Nikita said. "A secret government organization, Division, faked his death, just like it faked mine. They couldn't pass up a chance at getting their hands on a young and talented hacker. Birkhoff couldn't have been any older than you when he was recruited." While still tense and ready to attack, Pyro was listening closely. "Birkhoff, Michael, and I went rogue. We're trying to take down Division and Division will stop at nothing to get rid of us." Her eyes leveled on him. "They go for the heart. Family is a convenient target."
There was a bit less ice in his voice as he spoke this time. "I'm a convenient target for nobody," he said sharply. He was on the defensive. Clearly he didn't like her choice of words. She could recognize a victim of abuse when she saw one. There were plenty of them in Division. The mentality was often the same: never again. Division turned victims into victimizers. It looked like the Brotherhood did the same.
"Okay, not so convenient," Nikita offered, recognizing that she needed to change her approach. "But effective. You see, I was there when Birkhoff found out they were going for you. He wants you safe."
Nikita thought she could see Pyro become less sure. "Was that before or after he found out who I really am?"
Catching on to Nikita's approach, Michael spoke up. "Who? St. John Allerdyce? Birkhoff doesn't want his little brother hurt. He doesn't care what you've done."
"It's not like he's so innocent either," Nikita added.
Pyro looked between them. "Tomorrow at eight, 63rd and Lexington. You show up with my brother." He practically drilled his eyes into Nikita's. "If you're there and he's not, I will burn you so badly that even a fucking coroner wouldn't be able to tell your bodies apart."
"And if we don't show at all?" Michael asked.
"Then know that you really don't want me as an enemy," Pyro told him, a smirk appearing on his face. "You have no idea the connections I have." And then, Pyro backed away from them and back into the building.
Nikita and Michael didn't follow him, only exchanging glances. "Kind of an intense guy," Michael said as he checked her over for injuries.
"He's a kid," Nikita told him, checking his hands. They were a little pink.
"He's a seasoned killer," Michael corrected her. "You can't forget that."
"I know," Nikita led the way out of the alley and to the motorbike Michael had parked not too far away. "The thing is though, I think there's a lot more there. One thing's for sure, Birkhoff has been holding out on us."
"What do you mean?" Michael asked as he handed over a helmet.
"You're joking, right?" Nikita stared at him. He looked at her blankly. "Michael, what do we know about Birkhoff? Pre-Division."
Michael's face scrunched up in thought. "He got caught hacking into the Pentagon from his college dorm. Oh and how can I forget? He called himself Shadow Walker." Michael made a face.
"So, nice normal college boy too smart for his own good," Nikita summed up.
Michael seemed to be catching on. "The nice normal part is throwing you off."
"Babe, Pyro was on the defensive. Sure anyone in his line of work would be but he was sure to inform us that he wasn't a convenient target. Not an easy victim." Nikita pulled on her helmet. "Someone made that kid feel like he was for a long time."
"You think he was abused? And Birkhoff?" Michael asked. He seemed thrown off. He would be. As much as Michael pretended Birkhoff irritated him, Nikita knew that Birkhoff was his best friend and not just for lack of options.
"I don't know," Nikita admitted. "But something was going on where he grew up." Yeah, Birkhoff was going to answer a lot of questions when they got back. Even if she had to threaten him with bodily violence. It's what friends were for. Talking, not violence. Well, maybe.