One more chapter for today.

Michael frowned as he read the report. A few gifted children taken and molded into agents. Fierce, independent, innocent looking and deadly. He growled under his breath. He looked through the glass at the girl now bound to a chair after she took out three full sized agents and nearly got into the air ducts. He could not do it anymore. He wasn't about to be a party to the foulness that Division had become.

He had to decide. Destroy Division or restructure it back into what it had been meant to be. He ran his fingers through his dark hair as he considered. Destroy it and unleash something no doubt worse and less merciful. He had to take Division and bring it back to the original vision. He had to start by knocking out Amanda's supports. Michael would gather the reports to show what Amanda was to Oversight, and he would take out her apparent right arm down here. How to negate Alex...

Birkhoff finished hooking up his computer as Chihiro came in the sliding glass door. "Seriously? Your safe house is a mansion on the beach?" She took off her shoes at the door shaking the sand back outside. She was just plain blown away by what this geeky fellow had accomplished while still wearing his leash.

"Not exactly a mansion," he responded absently. "What was that about your mom?" he looked up at her with trepidation. "You know... back at the garage."

Chihiro sighed. She shouldn't talk about this, but she needed more information and she needed this Birkhoff guy to get to it. She sat on the arm of a nearby chair. "I was ten years old." she trailed off.

Birkhoff's eyes narrowed. "Are you okay?

"My dad was the original invisible super spy and my mom?" She smiled fondly. "Mom was something special. She was a half Japanese, half Irish American with a knack for second story jobs. She and dad were both after the same safe. She cussed him out and one thing led to another..." She blinked back tears. "Mom mostly retired after that, but she got offered a stupid amount of money just to talk to a woman about a job. I was in the car, we were going to get my birthday cake. It was my tenth birthday... I couldn't hear the conversation, but they talked and mom shook her head. Whatever the job was ... mom clearly didn't want any part of it. The woman shot her and walked away...just like that... she was gone. I didn't realize it was Amanda until today." She looked at him fiercely. "Its on that black box. Why... what the job was... everything. I want to know... I need to know."

"What about your partner, Mercedes?" he asked.

"She wants the information on the black box too. Its why I was there to pick you up." Chihiro looked up. "She is looking for a lot of general information. I just want one file before she puts you to work in a big way. Think you can do that for me?"

Birkhoff looked at the box she had laid on the desk earlier. "Its encrypted and there is a bio lock."

"Can you do it?"

He smiled. "I'm Shadow walker. Of course I can do it." He took a noisy breath. "It may just require a whole lot of energy drinks."

She smiled and nodded. "Get to it Shadow Walker." Chihiro took a Red Bull out of the fridge and put it on his desk. "Good hunting."

He gave a half smile and popped the can open. His face lit up as he barely caught her next words as she left the room. "And yes I'm single." He turned on the computer and prepared to do battle.

Chihiro looked at her phone. She smiled tightly and moved to her room overlooking the water. "Chichi." She listened to him talk for several long moments. "She is on Alex's hit list but I intend to take care of her first." Another pause. "I love Alex, but this is about our blood. Our family. This Amanda is collateral damage in Alex's revenge... she is center spot in ours. I am having someone pull more information even as we speak." She moved out onto the balcony and let the salt laden wind push at the hair on her forehead. "Of course Chichi. I will make sure that fucking bitch knows who is pulling the trigger. Love you." She closed her phone.

Chihiro opened it again, remembering that she forgot to check her messages. She needed to talk to Alex and Nikita and clue them in, but she wanted to make sure they couldn't take Birkhoff off her quest first. She would call them in a few hours and put them off some more. She knew that in the end Alex would understand. In the meantime... "let em think I killed another phone." She smiled and went to go raid the refrigerator.

Alexandra smiled and ran her fingers down her sleeping lover's side before she sat up and strode to the fridge for a bottle of water. The two dogs looked at her sorrowfully which ended up netting them guilt treats as Alex padded to the living room and stretched before cracking the cap on her water. She sipped as she took out both of her phones. She frowned as she read a message from Michael telling her to come in for a new assignment the next day. "I'm burned Michael. My face is everywhere. What the hell do you want me to do?" she asked the air before thumbing up the next message. Word back from her forensic accountant. She made a mental note to follow up. Later. Much later. She had something more important on her mind.

She smiled mischievously as she gazed toward the naked woman. Taking another sip Alex padded back to the bed determined to 'accidentally' wake her lover up.