So this is the first What If! It was suggested by Rocca12: What if Michael discovered the shell program before 1x11?
Thank you very much, I hope it turned out the way you imagined ;D!
I'm totally amazed at how many suggestions I've got already! You guys are awesome! Unfortunately, that means I'll have to skip some of them, or do them later. I use any pairing, no matter if they're canon or not and no matter if I ship them or not. I think it's good to write things I wouldn't start to write spontaneously, though I don't know if I would do the characters a lot of justice if the pairings don't work out for me.
The only thing I'd refuse to write is Malex romance. That's almost paedophilia. Any friendship pairings are totally okay though!
This one is set in the very beginning of the season, Alex has only been recruited for about a week.
Michael was strolling around Division, on his way to Amanda's torture chamber slash beauty salon slash interrogation room, aka her office. She'd told him to come over to talk about one of the newer recruits; Alex had shown remarkable progress in the last week and the Dragon Lady, as Michael had heard Birkhoff call her, probably wanted to brag.
Suddenly Michael heard typing. Gladly, he let it distract him, there were millions of thing he'd rather do than listen to Amanda's psychological bullshit and checking out a weird noise he heard was one of them. Plus, as it was late in the evening and all the recruits were supposed to be in bed, the noise made him curious. So he decided to follow his ears and ended up in the computer lab, where a girl was working on one of the computers. Judging by the speed with which she handled the keys, she was one of their more experienced recruits. She definitely had been working with computers a lot, and most recruits had never even touched one before coming to Division. Michael was unable to see who it was though, because she was wearing the hoodie that was an unofficial part of the recruit dress code.
At the sound of footsteps, the girl visibly stiffened, slammed the computer's power button and ran out of the room, all the while hiding her face. She probably thought she'd be punished for sneaking around after her bedtime. If he were Amanda, or Percy, or another recruit, she would be.
He considered chasing after her. He'd be able to catch her easily and after all she had broken a rule. But what really spiked his attention was the computer. What had the girl been working on? So instead of doing the right thing, he walked over to the computer and hit space to wake it up. The girl, in her panic, hadn't closed the computer down entirely, she just put it in sleeper mode. Michael figured that the programs she'd left open would still be visible. Once the computer had started, his eyes skimmed over the programs – one of Birkhoff's advanced 'How to Hack' practice files, an internet page researching tranquilizer guns, and...
His jaw dropped. It was a chat program of sorts, like a window into Division. The one thing he didn't know was, who was on the other end of the chat? He checked the history, but when the computer had gone into sleeper mode, all the previous entries had disappeared. He guessed it was a built-in safety measure.
Michael: Hello?
Nikita: Hey, what happened? Why'd you go offline?
Michael: Who R U?
Nikita: Not now. You know I don't like those jokes. One day, it might not be a joke, and I would think that it was and you'd get yourself killed. We discussed this. So as I was saying, I want you to...
Then the message stopped. Whoever it is must've figured their mistake: their contact might be gone and that there might someone else reading. So whoever it was stopped themselves from writing the person's next move. Smart. Michael tilted his head. Now there was a puzzle to solve. He could always go see Percy later if this meant trouble. Now, what could he use? He knew the accomplice was a girl... He decided to go for bribery, and a little bluff.
Michael: Tell me who you are or I'll rat her out to Amanda.
Nikita: You first. How do I know you're not bluffing? And who are you?
Michael ignored the first question. He thought for a while, then decided to give the unknown person his name.
Michael: It's me. Michael. Now, it's your turn.
He was starting to get an idea who it could be. But no, she couldn't possibly be so reckless. It couldn't possibly be...
Nikita: Nikita. Happy now? Leave her out of this, Michael, please. It's not her fault and she doesn't deserve to die.
Nikita the Righteous. Of course. Michael could visualize her worried face. She always got too invested in her allies. In their line of work, loved ones were liabilities. He looked back at the screen. He didn't have to heart to leave Nikita in fear. They had... worked... together after all.
Michael: Don't worry. Never saw her face. I was bluffing. And I won't tell anyone. The recruits are my family now. I won't allow one of them to get hurt because of you.
He slapped himself mentally. Why had he even said that? Why had he told her truth? It was Nikita, for God's sake! She'd always been a master manipulator. He should go to Percy, now! He should-
Nikita: Thanks, Michael. It means a lot to me. I owe you.
Mm-kay. This could be useful, he mused. Nikita owed him now. And he would make sure that she'd repay him. Royally.
Michael: I'll remember that. You owe me.
Then he made sure to wipe the data, shut the computer off (he made sure it was completely off) and went to his apartment. He didn't feel like talking to Amanda now. She'd probably pick up the scent of what happened, and then Nikita would be- No! The recruit would be in danger, whoever it was. That was all he cared about. He did not care whether Nikita lived or died!
He really, really didn't.
While he was trying to convince himself of that, Nikita was looking out of her window. Her first instinct has been to panic, maybe shoot the computer or something. But then she figured, there were worse people to owe. If she played this right, she could get Michael on her side. If she tried really hard, that is. She would like to have him on her side, though. Not that she cared, or anything ridiculous like that. He could be a valuable asset, that's all.
They both went to sleep trying to convince themselves that they really, really didn't care. Needless to say, they failed.
Thanks for reading! And I'm always open to suggestions, I'll probably use them, except when it doesn't feel like the right thing for me to write.
For example, uselesswriter23 had this awesome idea (check out the reviews), but I haven't experienced that first- or secondhand. Because of that, I didn't feel like I would do the characters justice, or make it believable. So I decided not to do it...
But, I ALWAYS consider EVERY suggestion!
Loved it? Hated it? Leave me your thoughts! Reviews are love!
Xx Ilse