There were no words. Literally, it was silent for a full minute. Birkhoff's brain, the one that was always buzzing with ideas and opinions and Star Wars quotes, was empty. Sonya stared at him, trying to gauge what his reaction was. Then an avalanche of thoughts entered his brain. Was he ready for a baby? Could he be a father? How would they raise a child with their life the way it was? He had never given any thought to being a father or ever really having a family. He was feeling all kinds of emotions: scared, nervous, excited, nauseous. But the overwhelming feeling was happiness. He felt a smile spread across his face, surprising both Sonya and him.
"Are you serious?" He asked excitedly, pulling her face in for a passionate kiss. They separated and she smiled at him.
"Yes. I didn't know how to tell you because I wasn't sure how you would take it. And then you got captured and I swore I would tell you as soon as we got you back. If we got you back." She looked down as she said the last sentence. Birkhoff took her hand. He knew she had been worried about him. She always was every time he went out in the field. She looked back up at him and continued. "And then you came back and I wasn't sure what kind of mental state you were in. But with everything happening, I just need you to know. I do want to be done with all of this. I just want to stop."
"We will stop! As soon as we can get away, we will. I promise you that. And I know you're worried about me. But this may be the best shot we have! We can stop Amanda and The Shop! And then they won't hurt anyone else!" Birkhoff stopped for a moment as a thought hit him. Sonya was pregnant with his baby, a baby who would look nothing like him anymore. Suddenly, the happiness went away and he felt nauseous again.
"Seymour? Are you ok? Is this too much?" Sonya looked worried. It was her turn to cup his face and make him look at her.
"What if we can't fix this? I hadn't really thought of it until now. What are we going to tell our child when they notice that they look more like Michael than me?" Birkhoff tried to think of any excuse that could work. Because explaining to a child what he and Michael had just been though was clearly out of the question.
"Don't even think about that right now! Let's just focus on the task at hand. I don't like trying to find Amanda and The Shop by leaving the plane and following the signal. But I have a feeling that I won't be able to talk you out of this, will I?"
"Nope, this is our best shot! Especially since we're on a deadline now!" He put his hand on her stomach, imagining their child in there. "How far along are you?"
"I'm about two and a half months along. I don't want to tell anyone yet though." Sonya said, covering her hand over his.
"I agree with you. Let's keep it between us right now. But I'm going to pitch my idea about tracking Amanda and The Shop. We need to be able to end this!" Birkhoff looked at her, waiting for confirmation on his decision. Sonya nodded and they stood up to leave the cockpit. She grabbed his hand as he reached for the door.
"I only want to do this if we can do it in a safe way. Let's not rush it until we're sure this is going to work."
"I promise we're going to make sure everything is safe before we do anything." Birkhoff smiled at her and they walked back into the belly of the plane.
All eyes were on them when they entered the main room in the plane. Everyone seemed to know something had happened. Birkhoff smiled a little and then cleared his throat to speak.
"So I have an idea. What if we use the signal from Amanda's trackers to track down where the signal is transmitting to?"
"That's an option?" Alex said, sounding astounded. "I thought they were a one way street! Amanda could track you guys and that was it! Are you saying you could find her?"
"It's a possibility. But there is some danger involved." Sonya insisted; still not keen on the idea.
"What kind of danger?" Ryan asked.
"Well Michael and I would have to leave the plane. We would have to be outside the jamming field. This means that although I might be able to track Amanda, she would definitely be able to track us." Birkhoff answered.
"How much time would you need?" Nikita looked at Birkhoff to get an answer.
"I don't know. I would need to look at the type of signal that is being sent and then try to track it. Maybe a half hour? But I'm not totally sure. I won't know until I get outside the plane and start to try to track it." Birkhoff could feel Sonya's eyes on him. He reached over and grabbed her hand. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Ok, let's get ready to do this! We're in New York right now. So let's get you guys off this plane and find Amanda!" Nikita said, leading the group as always.
AN: Thanks for your patience guys! It was a crazy work week! I hope to update soon again though! :)
