"I'll call Birkoff, order him to come to my apartment, and won't let him leave until he sees reason," Michael explained as he pulled the car out onto the road. From the passenger seat, Nikita seemed to be pondering this words.
"We could do that or..."
"Always an 'or'," He mumbled, glancing at her as she cocked her head to the side. "Fine," He sighed and looked at her again, this time a smirk on his lips, "I'm pretty sure what weapons would be effective on him."
His suggestive tone referencing to their planning in Ubekistan made Nikita smile. Michael saw her grin, and his quickly matched. It was unbelievable even in the face of precarious situations, they had an overwhelming calming effect on eachother; It was one of the reasons they made a great team.
"Nerd wishes he could be that lucky," They both chuckled, but regained focus on the task at hand, "Call Birkoff, have him come to your apartment like you said, but act like its a ... normal, social call. I'll pretend I was following him, bust in, we'll fight, I'll fake knocking you out, and I'll get Birkoff to switch sides."
"Any excuse to spear with me, huh?"
"Yes I actively look to fight you" She said, sarcasm dripping from her voice and he shrugged, a smirk still plastered to his lips.
"So when you tried to chocke me in the sauna?"
"I had no idea that was you!"
"But you enjoyed it," He pointed out and now it was Nikita's turn to shrug her small shouldars.
"I enjoyed fighting WITH you; We make a pretty good team."
"We make a GREAT team," He corrected firmly, "Which is why we work together and do it my way."
"Michael," Nikita groaned, she should have known that he didn't listen when she specifically said "We do it my way", back at the lair, "We do it that way, you could end up with a magazine emptied into you; I am not taking that risk."
Michael turned his head and locked eyes with her; He saw a familiar plead in her eyes. It was one that she's stared at him with so many times before, and every time it broke his heart. He ignored it in Ubekistan in the interest of his revenge, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse it now. He understood that she was already concerned with him posing in Division, directly under Percy's thumb. He couldn't force her to go along with his plan, too; He could never force Nikita to do antyhing.
"Alright we'll do it your way," He conceeded, then proceeding to place his Blue Tooth device in and dialing Birkoff, avoiding Nikita's triumphant smirk.
"Yo!" Birkoff greeted into Michael's ear and he rolled his eyes.
"Birkoff, I need you to come over to my apartment- now."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? Just do it!"
"How do you know I'm not busy right now?"
"I'm sure the website of Swedish girls will be there when you get back; I'm having problems with my secruity system and since Percy insisted you handle all Division secruity-"
"I could just do it from here; I don't do house calls."
"Birkoff I want this done in person and done right. I don't want to have to tell Percy-"
"Fine, whatever! You don't need to sic the wolves on me; I'll be there, but there better be a Red Bull waiting for me."
And with that Michael disconnected, a proud smirk stretching across his lips, "He's on his way."
He pulled up alongside a curb adjacent to his apartment building and Nikita nodded dutifully, "I'll wait a few minutes before coming in, so good luck keeping him entertained."
"Just don't take longer than neccesary," He warned playfully, but she could sense he was being serious. She resisted laughing outwardly, she knew that Birkoff's personality traits tend to irk Michael, so the fact that he had to preoccupy the technology genius was pretty comical.
However, the light mood was thrawted when she began reassessing everything in her mind. Looking down at her hands, she whispered in a low voice, "Michael, what if this doesn't work?"
Nikita was hardly a pessimist, even less so a vulnerable person. She didn't doubt plans, she simply powered forward and manipulated whatever situation she was in to her advantage. But things were different now; It was no longer only her life on the line. Alex was deeper in Division now, putting her in more danger if something were to happen (the kill chip was still a present issue as well), Owen had returned and was already a loose cannon to being with, and most importantly, Michael, who would be the first to die if he was discovered to be Nikita's partner.
Logically, her plan was set to be free of consequences, but logic didn't come into play when concerning people Nikita cared for. The slightest mishap could result in her losing someone she loved, and she couldn't handle that; Even the strongest people had their weaknesses.
Michael faced her, compassion in his eyes. He knew exactly how she felt with how complicated things were becoming. If he lost her, he'd die inside. She brought him back to life after losing his family, she revived his heart to love again. Losing her, would be losing the biggest piece of himself, the best piece. But she was Nikita; She was a badass that didn't allow things to keep her down for long, and he loved that about her, so he was determined to assure her.
"It will work because we're doing it together," Nikita smirked, he's always been confident in her abilities (especially if they were working together), "And if Birkoff doesn't take the bait, knock him out and get out there."
"I thought we weren't going to let him go til he saw reason," She teased on his words from earlier, reminding him how ridiculous his plan had sounded.
He gave her a look coupled with a matching smirk, "You know you're not as mysterious as some may think." This was a swing in subject and Nikita was confused by where he was taking this comment. "You heard me," He continued, "I know the real reason why you were so defensive when the cleaner-"
"Owen," Nikita corrected pointedly, but he rolled his eyes in response.
"When he suggested we kill Birkoff; You like him,"
"Michael," She groaned in aggrivation and he couldn't resist a smile.
"Nikita I was there throughout your entire time during Division..."
"That was you?"
"I know no matter how much you two bickered, you and Birkoff were close."
"If we're going to analyze every relationship I had within Division, we'll be here all night on ours alone and we have a job to get done, so you need to get in there," She explained, her eyes wandering the streets for any sign of Birkoff, but Michael caught her offguard by leaning across the seat and pressing a passionate kiss on her lips.
When they finally seperated, Nikita had a teasing smile on her now swollen lips, "You ready to get your ass kicked again?"
"Well at least this time I won't end up shot."
"You never know," She purred, leaning in closer so her lips tickled his seductively, "Sucks to be you."
She laughed and retracted backwards, but his hand flew up and caught her face, reeling her back in. He kissed her deeply until oxygen was completely unavailable.
"No it doesn't," He mumbled, touching his forehead to hers, before exiting the vehicle.
Meanwhile, back at the lair, Alex was staring out one of the large windows into the ending sunset. She hated not being able to be of assistance to Nikita, but until she could be, she wasn't going to jeopardize her mentors' mission.
"So whats your story?" A voice was heard and up until then, Alex had forgottenn Owen was still present.
"What?" She asked, turning to the former Guardian.
"Well, you didn't exactly get messed up in this whole thing for no reason."
"Maybe I'm just that crazy," Alex retorted, a edge of coldness in her voice. She was never comfortable opening up, all of her training with Nikita had been based on burying her difficult, mainly so Division could never uncover it.
"Trust me," He chuckled softly, keeping his eyes on hers, "I've seen crazy and you're far from it."
Alex looked away, but her ears remained intuned to his strong voive, "You know we're always trained to never trust anyone, but it's actually easier to open up to strangers. Its one of the reasons bartenders make great tips." His attempt to make her smile wasn't completely futile as a tiny grin involuntarily rolled across her lips. However, when it eventually disapated, Owen stared down at the floor, speaking again, "Her name was Emily." He spoke so softly, Alex wondered if he had really sait it.
"What?" She repeated like before and a sad smile came to his face.
"Emily, she was my girlfriend," He paused for a moment, releasing a delicate puff of laughter, "Actually I was thinking about proposing to her, browsed some of those stupid jewelry stores, you know with the sayings 'A diamond is forever' in the window."
Alex was now staring at him, watching as he kept his head down when talking, almost as if he glanced up, he'd reveal his true emotion; She already know his sadness though, through the pained tone in his voice.
"What happened?" She cautiously asked post another pregnant pause.
"Division killed her," He sharply stated, startling the fellow 'Team Nikita' member in his presence when he lifted his head, anger in his eyes, "Point blank. In front of me."
Alex's stomach clenched; She'd known something big would've had to happen to influence Owen's escape, but Nikita refused to disclose specifics, she now knew why. Alex empathized with Owen. Grief intiated by Division was certainly not new to her, but it was upsetting to see from the outside someone else dealing with it.
"I'm so sorry," She remarked with genuine compassion and Owen looked at her, his eyes softening.
"Thanks Shortie, but sorry never heals the hurt, does it?"
Without blinking, she agreed, "No it doesn't."
"Yeah after it happened," He fastened his eyes on the ground, "I would've been dead multiple times if it hadn't been for your mentor."
Alex smiled to herself, recounting a sense of familarity, as he continued, "Damn Nikita's stubborn, but she saved my life."
"I know exactly what you mean," She added wistfully, staring at some random point in the distance. Owen glanced up, reversing their roles since he was now observing her as she finished her sentiment, "But she didn't just save my life, she saved my soul."
Owen smiled, not one of sadness, but one of contentment and pride, something he hadn't done in ages. Their eyes met, her's silently questioning why his lips were twitched upward.
"I told you it's easier to open up to strangers."
"You're not a stranger."