The team decided to simply crash for the night. They sent Kyle on his way to be their personal liaison with Interpol, then they collapsed in their beds. After a much needed post-mission rest, they'd assess the situation. There was no use diving into what they had discovered while they were tired and strung out. Things could be made much clearer in the morning. That was the idea at least. As they did their morning routines of exercise and breakfast, Nikita stumbled past the vials of drugs Alex brought back from the docks. She almost dismissed it, more concerned with how hungry she was. But the pills were too hauntingly familiar to ignore. Cautiously, she studied the vials, "Wait, Alex. These are the drugs you found?"
"Yeah. Along with that gear. Do you recognize it?" Around a bite of food, Alex stepped out of the kitchen and wondered. She wasn't certain if it was a good or bad thing that Nikita might've recognized the strange pills. She didn't want to think about the kind of context the drugs could've been involved in. From all the poisons and brainwashing and substance abuse issues the team had been through, discovering vials of something familiar wasn't a pleasant sign. And that wasn't even considering the intense looking equipment. Why was it the more they learned about the bastards, the worse it became. Couldn't things have turned brighter and lighter the further they went in the war.
Shaking those thoughts aside, the team brought their breakfast to the livingroom and concentrated on the items in front of them. They could make grave conjectures after they identified what was in the vials. A sinking suspicion was quickly settling in Nikita's gut about what the drugs could've been, however. Despite her earlier hunger, she could only pick at the food her husband brought her. Maybe she was wrong. But as she annoyingly pointed out to the others, that was hardly ever the case, "Michael. Doesn't that look like the regiment?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if there was some stuff left. It's not like the Guardians could collect their stash after they had died. But why do the bastards want it?" Michael refused to jump to any conclusions of what the regiment drugs could mean. Guardians used to use shipping containers to hold their equipment. Once they died, their things were abandoned. Anyone could've stumbled across it if they decided to break into containers or sift through old forged manifests. It wouldn't have been a leap to assume that was what the bastards had done. They probably broke into many containers while smuggling.
"Hold on. Regiment and Guardians like Percy's super soldiers?" Trying to catch up, Birkhoff stared at the drugs in bewilderment. He wasn't expecting any of that to make a return. He was really hoping that after the appearance of former Gogol and Division agents, that they wouldn't be dealing with any more forgotten blasts from their pasts. At least it wasn't Shop related. That was one good thing amidst all the bullshit, "The bastards wouldn't be taking it would they?"
"No. There's a certain process you have to go through. You can't just pick it up. You'd have to have been through the program," That fact immediately settled rising anxiety. Michael might not have been on the regiment, but as the former head of agents he was aware of the program- well, aware enough that some agents used to be on it, not the fact that the Guardians continued to take the drugs. Regardless, it was a blessing the team didn't have to face the 'super soldiers'. Although the Guardians had all been taken out, the team's scars and memories of what happened to Oversight didn't fade. No good could come from facing those monsters again.
But what exactly were they facing then. Yes bastards, that was the simple answer. But everytime they've dove in deeper, the black ops group became more complicated. At first they were just former Gogol and Division agents trying to survive their freedom by being mercenaries. They were guns for hire by people in great power, yet it still wasn't anything too complicated. Then the smuggling operations came in, answering some questions but leaving a lot about the leader. First Choice was two operations in one, with agents and missions so separate, clear intel couldn't be determined. And the leader, despite being in such a high position of power, loved to remain in the shadows. It was insane. The regiment wasn't making anything easier, even if Sonya had an idea of how it connected, "All the Guardians are dead though. So they're probably not using, just dealing,"
It was a solid thought. Smuggling drugs was on par for how First Choice funded their operations. But Nikita was distracted by a distant memory. She could've sworn Michael told her a story about a recruit who had been taken off the regiment. No surprise there that the Guardians weren't the only ones pumped full of advanced performance enhancement drugs. But that just meant they weren't a singularity. There could possibly be others out there in the world relying on the pills. Sure, the equipment and shipping container screamed former Guardian stuff. Yet the pills could lead to a different avenue of investigations, "Didn't other agents take the regiment?"
"They were killed too," Quietly, Michael replied. The recruits he had seen forced on the regiment only to be thrown through terrible withdrawal and killed was something that continued to haunt him. He should've done something more to help them, or maybe he could've put a stop to it all a lot sooner. His position hadn't been that powerful, but he still could've done something. His wife grabbed at his hand to soothe the guilty thoughts. He couldn't change anything at present, and he probably wouldn't have been able to in the past either. Sighing, he squeezed Nikita's hand and fought the demons that resurfaced. Her presence helped, as did Barkhoff. The dog finally stopped begging for the breakfast everyone finished and laid between his owners on the couch. Petting his soft fur was a gentle comfort.
"Good thing Sam got clean of that stuff, or he'd be dead too," Alex couldn't help but quip. It caused chuckles to float through the room, as well as some other quips about the many different things that could've killed Sam- Michael's jealousy included (which earned Nikita a teasing jab in the side by her husband). The short reprieve was greatly needed. They got to breathe for a second before shifting focus to the equipment Alex also brought back. Those were fairly straight forward. It was simply old Cleaner and Guardian supplies for specialized missions. The bastards probably stumbled upon deserted containers like it in the past and decided to raid more for their mercenary operations.
That theory, though sound and plausible, didn't sit right with Nikita. Her thoughts kept wandering to other possibilities. As her team moved on and examined the counterfeit money she had grabbed, attempting to determine where it originated from, she contemplated the regiment once more. It couldn't have been an accident that the bastards found the Guardians' shipping containers while smuggling. Just like her and Sam on a mission long ago, they had to have known what they were looking for first. But where could they have learned it, "Wasn't Sam working with Gogol when he was looking for a cure?"
"What are you thinking?" Instantly, Alex demanded. She knew Nikita was formulating some crazy thought in that insane head of hers. She kept circling around the point, like she was unsure of how to put words to any of it. Alex was hesitant of what that could've possibly meant. Michael, Birkhoff, and Sonya were wary as well. The only one unbothered by Nikita's question was Barkhoff. He somehow managed to stretch out in both of his owners' laps to receive as many pets as he could. Considering the whole team was scratching at his fur as an absentminded way to get their thoughts in order, he was in heaven. He really was the relaxing point for the stressed agents and hackers.
"Ari had the black box for a long time," Especially when Nikita made herself more clear. Ari and Amanda had a decrypted black box for a while before the team eventually destroyed it. Amanda no doubt used it to gain favor with the Shop. But Ari must've found a gain in it as well. He had former Gogol agents surrounding him and following his orders; they had to have done something with all those secrets. At least, that was how Nikita managed to connect the dots between the regiment, the Guardians, and the bastards. They already knew some of the former Gogol agents involved with First Choice followed Ari after their organization fell. It was plausible they picked up on all those secrets.
"You think one of his Gogol goons learned about the regiment, found it, then used it?" Birkhoff was having trouble believing it, however. It seemed more far fetched than the bastards simply stumbling upon the abandoned shipping containers. Even Michael glanced at his wife as though her latest mental leap had finally made her insane. They didn't know anything about what was occurring, so they should stop making assumptions. Gathering intel and making effective plays against their enemies was their strong suit. If the team wanted to end their crusade soon, as they had hoped, they had to stick to what they already had. If a member of First Choice was on the regiment, then the information would come from Sam, Vasquez, or Cyrus. They didn't have evidence to support the claim otherwise.
"Vasquez did say the former Division agents weren't as bad as former Gogol. They didn't want to go to war with us. But the others were insane," Although Alex wasn't agreeing with Nikita, she saw merit in the idea. The bastards' leader did act strangely, and was completely paranoid. That was consistent with the regiment's terrible side effects. In strong doses that wasn't necessarily the case. Yet the leader would have had to be careful with his limited supply, keeping in mind that the maker of the drug and all his research was dead and gone. If someone truly was on the regiment, it was far more harmful than anything else.
"Okay. Long shot the bastards' leader is on the regiment. Then what? You want to lure him into a trap where you give him what he wants?" Those words shouldn't have left Birkhoff's mouth. Maybe Nikita wasn't thinking that before, but she certainly was then. She had thought a meeting with Cyrus or burning his precious money was the perfect way to draw out the leader. But she knew all too well that someone going through withdrawal would be desperate for their next hit. They would do anything for it, including coming out of the shadows they hid themselves in. Springing off the couch, she moved to initiate her new plan.
"No. Nikita, no. The last time you went up against someone on regiment withdrawal you got hit by a car. And black box secrets almost got out," The last point was added on an afterthought as Michael followed Nikita. Yes, Sam almost releasing the information on the black box to the entire world was a terrible result of regiment withdrawal. But, to Michael, his wife almost dying was far worse. He wouldn't let it get to that point again. Despite being confused at what he was referencing, the team agreed. They didn't need any unnecessary danger. They had to keep playing things smart.
"I was fine. And we saved the day as a team. Now that we have an even bigger team, we can take him down no problem," Nikita shrugged, though she did stop formulating her new plan to at least inform Cyrus of all the updates. She could take a moment before diving forwards. Working it out as a team would be better anyway. Besides, she needed more intel before she could make anything concrete. She knew better than to rush off on half-baked schemes by then. For one thing, it would give her husband a heart attack. For another, her life was too important to put at risk like that. She had learned just how much she meant to the world and to the family she had built around her.
"You've had better arguments," Sonya brought Nikita back to the moment with a sarcastic comment. The agent had made better rousing arguments and speeches to make her team follow her. Then was one of her more lackluster attempts. She had to admit that the others had her beat in terms of how insane her plan was. More time and conclusiveness was needed before making the next move. Whereas she agreed wholeheartedly there, the regiment and the leader was something serious to focus on. They could both examine the information they had while also exploring that thought.
"He's gonna go insane. This is a good chance," Nikita made one last argument. She finally got Alex on her side, even if she continued to state that she might've been wrong. But as the agent so lovingly told her best friend, when had she ever been wrong. That earned her some well deserved eye rolls, except there wasn't any more push back against the idea. They weren't in a position to dismiss anything. The team was- hopefully- close to the finish line. Every possibility had to be considered. Ignoring one thing could lead to their failure.
"Contact Sam. He'll know for sure. Until then, we focus on what we already have," Michael ultimately decided. Once they had more intel, they could potentially follow up on drawing the leader out with the regiment. Until then, they had to trace counterfeit money, examine old Guardian equipment, learn what Interpol might've discovered through Kyle, wait for Cyrus' meeting, and see what kind of intel they could gather from their moles. They still had a lot of work ahead of them. Insane theories simply had to sit on the backburner, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be brought back up.