Disclaimer: I do not own 'Nikita' or any of the characters.
A/N: Oh no she DIDN'T. Well, actually, yes, she did. I present to you a Mirkhoff fic. Or a mild Mirkhoff fic, anyway.
…I must be on something. Anyhoo, I've been seeing a few people on various sites complain about how there aren't any Mirkhoff fanfics. I suspect that people saw the potential slash in 1.22 when Birkhoff frees Michael, but I saw it from the beginning. So here we are. PLEASE DON'T HATE ON ME! *Cowers*
P.S: Mild Alex-bashing. I don't understand why everyone likes HER and hates Ryan Fletcher. That dude is beast!
Summary: Nikita really did die, and Percy actually does convince Alex to side with Division ("We're just the weapon"). This takes place after Birkhoff and Michael's initial "you're a coward" conversation in the basement. Let's assume that instead of Amanda torturing her, Percy and Alex were debriefing or something. AU fic.
Birkhoff watched Alex and Percy step out of the latter's office and watched the man clap her on the shoulder and say something; "Good word, agent." Birkhoff read off Percy's lips.
Alex nodded and then turned, and for a moment, her pale blue eyes met the hacker's brown ones. Her expression didn't change at all –not even to acknowledge his stare.
Then she turned on her heel and went down the hall.
Percy watched her leave before he looked sideways to notice Birkhoff standing there. "Is it important?"
"What're we going to do with Michael?" Birkhoff answered with a question instead. He held his breath nervously. He had always been wary of Percy, but after Alex had been recruited, he had grown the habit of tensing up, too. It might have had something to do with the time he had been accused of being Nikki's mole and Percy had almost ordered his cancelation.
Percy stared at Birkhoff with a critical eye for a moment before shrugging and making that "I'm so innocent" face that he always made and said: "Tell Amanda to cancel him." Percy handed him the remote to Michael's kill-chip.
"Sir. It's Michael. Nikita's dead now –maybe we can reason with him-" Birkhoff tried.
"Alright." Percy said, opening the door to his office and stepping a foot inside, "You cancel him." He closed the door behind him.
Birkhoff felt the color leave his face as he stared at the wood Percy had disappeared behind. He looked down at the silver device in his hand.
Cancel Michael.
He already knew that he wouldn't be able to do it.
Out of the entire world, Birkhoff had had two people he considered his friends: Nikki and Michael. Nikita was dead –killed by her own mole. Birkhoff needed his friends; he wanted someone to live for beside himself. Canceling Michael would be like canceling himself.
Thinking about it, Birkhoff realized that his dependent-ness on Michael was a little unhealthy. And downright sad.
Birkhoff made his way to his precious lab slowly. Once there, he unlocked the first drawer of his desk and pulled out both of his handguns, even though he still had the remote to Michael's chip. Loading them quickly, Birkhoff tucked the guns into his waistband and hurried out.
He slowed down to a less suspicious pace as he turned onto the hall that passed by the training area. Arriving at the elevators, Birkhoff pressed furiously at the button.
The elevator took its time; the doors seemed to slide open slower than usual.
Amanda stepped out and looked surprised to see the hacker standing there impatiently. He slipped past her and into the elevator.
Although she didn't say anything, she held Birkhoff's gaze as the doors of the elevator closed once more. Once they did, however, he let out a breath of relief and leaned back against the rails on the walls as he waited to arrive at the sublevels of the facility.
Michael was still handcuffed to the stump in the middle of the room when Birkhoff entered. He glanced up briefly and snorted, "I thought you already said good bye." He said bitterly.
Birkhoff reached into his pocket and pulled out his favorite handheld PC device. It was only a matter of pressing the right buttons, and the cuff around Michael's wrist snapped open.
The agent looked up slowly and then stood, taking up a defensive stance.
Birkhoff put up one hand where Michael could see it and then reached back slowly to grab one of his handguns. "First of all, I'm not a coward." He told Michael, holding up the gun, "Now if I give you this, will you not try to shoot me?"
Michael stepped forward and nodded, looking cautious.
No sooner had he handed over the weapon, though, then Birkhoff had a gun pointed at his head.
Of course this would happen.
Birkhoff pulled the second gun out from behind him and pointed it at Michael, "I said don't shoot me!"
"What are you doing?" Michael hissed through his teeth.
"What does it look like? I'm busting us out."
"Us?" Michael repeated, voice conveying his increasing suspicion. He didn't relax his hold on the gun, nor did he lower it.
"Yeah, you think Percy's going to let me live when he finds out I let you escape?" Birkhoff said as he held his gun up in surrender.
Michael lowered his own weapon slowly, "Why?" He asked.
"I'm not a coward." Birkhoff repeated, "And I figured Nikita probably shouldn't die in vain." He watched Michael flinch ever so slightly as he added the last part.
After a moment, Michael nodded and straightened up, and nodded; he believed that Birkhoff was telling the truth.
"First of all, after we get out, we have to contact Ryan Fletcher. He doesn't have an actual black box. It's going to release a nerve gas when it's decrypted." Birkhoff said.
"Alright, but what's the plan of escape? We can't leave without being seen" Michael pointed out: "and we only have two guns and twelve rounds between us."
"You forget." Birkhoff said smugly as he pulled his handheld out of his jacket, "I own this place."
A small smile appeared across Michael's lips before disappearing again. He nodded, "Get us out alive."
A/N: Not much of a cliff-hanger, but what do you think? (Again, I apologize to people who like Alex and Nikita [I like Nikki, too, but she had to go for my story])