"Go get your chocolate milk, baby boy. You'll feel better," Throwing open the door for her brother, Nikita snarked. Sean stumbled into the safehouse from the beach, muttering a curse the best he could with his ragged breath. She had dragged him out with her for an early morning run that had gone on just a bit too long. Although she was perfectly fine, used to sprinting up and down the sand in the rising sun, Sean struggled. Nikita thought it was more funny than concerning. She was going to use that to torture him for awhile.
"I'm only listening to you because chocolate milk helps with lactic acid build up," Sean huffed as he made his way to the kitchen. The run in the morning heat wasn't what got to him; it was the uneven surface of the sand, the dead sprints Nikita forced him into, and his lack of stretching beforehand that killed his shins. He was fairly certain he had shin splints, not that his sister really cared. She continued to poke fun at him while he mixed chocolate syrup with pre-made chocolate milk. Okay, maybe in that instance, he brought it on himself. But she should still give it a rest.
"And I thought Navy Seals were tough," However, even if she did, Michael was there to pick up the slack. Nikita laughed, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and jogging over to join her boyfriend at the table. While the siblings went on a run, the others began cleaning the house and their equipment. Michael had decided to focus on cleaning their weapons, as it seemed like the easier task. Sometimes it was easy to forget how much guns and ammunition the team of rogues actually had, though. Practically every surface in the livingroom and kitchen was covered with different types of weapons.
That put a dent in Alex's plans to clean the whole safehouse and everything in it. With Ryan hunting down leads on what Percy had planned for the plutonium, and with no active Division missions to stop, the team had a rare moment of downtime. The young woman was hellbent on using their break to clean. Unfortunately, the mess they had would take a lot longer to get through than she had anticipated. Also, unfortunately, the team didn't care as much as she did. Sean and Nikita left to go on a run, after all- a run that the Seal continued to complain about, "Have you ever done sprints with Nikki? She's a nightmare."
"I just made you work out different muscles, calm down," Rolling her eyes, Nikita sipped her water and rested against her boyfriend. Despite her sweat slicked and heated body, he let her lean on him. He could honestly make do with it as long as she remained near. At the sight of the couple so close and cuddly, Sean feigned disgust. His sister stuck her tongue out at him, an expression he immediately returned. Michael ignored the two. That was always best with the siblings. They'd move on and get over it in a second.
"At least she didn't make you do yoga," Michael smirked, nudging his girlfriend playfully off his shoulder. He loved going on runs with Nikita, and he especially loved sparring with her. It was when she made him practice yoga, however, that he grumbled. He simply couldn't get used to working those different muscles, and he really didn't want to spend the time on it. At least he wasn't the only one who felt that way. Alex complained about all those stretches and positions just as much as he did. Although they tried from time to time, neither could find the same peace of mind the rogue had while burning incense and striking a pose.
"Yeah, but you liked that," Nikita retaliated smugly by leaning her full body weight against Michael and causing him to stumble. Despite not appreciating the actual yoga practice, he did like how close and limber the two became as they stretched together. He had made her well aware of that fact many times. Chuckling, Michael couldn't dispute Nikita- or push her back off of him. He compromised by stealing a sip of her water, and by stealing a kiss from her lips. Sean felt the need to look away by what he saw that time.
For some reason, he still couldn't quite get used to Michael and Nikita's relationship. Maybe it was because he hadn't been around them since the beginning. Sean was thrown into the craziness of the team, and had been trying to catch up ever since. It continued to shock him that his sister was alive the entire decade he thought she was dead. Of course, her having a serious boyfriend would be a part of that shock. The Seal wasn't given long to think all that over, however. Soon, Birkhoff returned to the livingroom with the vacuum in hand. At the sight of the couple kissing, he fumed, "I just vacuumed there! You're dripping sand and sweat everywhere."
"Nerd! Come here and give me a hug. Come on. Let me share the love," Instantly, Nikita separated from her boyfriend to chase down Birkhoff. If he was going to complain about her tracking in sand and sweat, then he was going to feel all of it with a huge embrace. The hacker was smart to drop the vacuum and run. Sean and Michael just let them go, knowing it wasn't worth getting into. Nerd and Rogue had spent a lot of time talking and patching up their relationship. They were finally back to their normal antagonizing antics.
"Guys, we're supposed to be cleaning," Alex complained once she saw the chaos unfolding in the livingroom. She had taken it upon herself to clean the bathrooms, expecting the others to pick up the slack elsewhere. She hated that she was wrong, especially when Birkhoff and Nikita ignored her as they took their chase upstairs. Michael couldn't help but dissolve into laughter over the situation. At least Sean had some shame, hiding behind a sip of his chocolate milk. Alex sighed heavily, "What's the purpose of a chore day if we're not going to do it?"
"You don't even live here," Returning to the guns he was cleaning, Michael remarked. Alex coming over to the beach house to hangout and catch up was understandable. But he couldn't understand why she felt the need to force them all to clean it. Sure it wasn't the tidiest of places, yet the team cleaned as needed. Besides, if she didn't like it, she had her own living space to stay in. Sean had his own apartment as well. Neither of them had to spend as much time in the safehouse as they did.
"That's right. So I shouldn't have to clean," Coming to the same conclusion, Sean attempted to simply take his chocolate milk and leave. However, Alex's glare held him in place. Michael began to suspect that was the reason the two came around so often. It wasn't so much as to spend time with their friends, but to be around each other. Nikita was definitely in the right for bullying her brother in regards to his feelings and subsequent lack of action revolving around her best friend. Even Birkhoff was starting to guess something was going on between them. Yet nothing was happening. It was a bit ridiculous.
"Start on sharpening the knives," Michael attempted to resolve the issue by giving Sean a job to do. If he stayed and helped Alex with her mission, maybe the two could talk or something. He just didn't want them to end up like him and Nikita. The couple were great at the moment; it simply took them way too long to get there. Nikita and Michael didn't talk or broach their feelings for years and they almost imploded. Sean and Alex couldn't go through the same thing. For starters, the team wouldn't be able to handle the drama. But also, it wasn't right to not express strong feelings that were so detrimental to your heart.
Sean and Alex didn't talk at the moment. Both were busy sharpening knives and scrubbing the kitchen. They were also- along with Michael- listening to the commotion occurring upstairs. Nikita kept chasing Birkhoff as doors slammed and taunts flew. The others thought their game would've ended by then. But apparently, neither one of the two wanted to admit defeat. Or, they wanted to piss off Alex by ruining all the hard work she put into cleaning. It wasn't clear what they were doing, until Birkhoff shouted. Nikita finally got her hug, "Goddammit, Nikita!"
"So this is why I have my own safehouse," Ryan laughed. He had managed to slip into the beach house unnoticed during all of the craziness. And despite being a too-smart-at-times analyst, he had no idea what he had walked in on. It was simply chaos all around him. No wonder Nikita put him up in another safehouse. If he was going to cull through massive amounts of information for the team, he needed a quiet place to stay. The team's place was anything but quiet. It was as insane as them.
Abandoning their cleaning for the millionth time, the team moved to meet Ryan. Although he was free to come and go from the beach house whenever he wanted, he hardly ever stopped by. The only times he resurfaced from his research was when he had something valuable. Whatever it was he had that time must've been substantially important, considering the container of paperwork and files he had brought with him. As the analyst was placing the box down on the table filled with weapons, Nikita and Birkhoff raced back down the stairs. The rogue, still covered in sweat and sand, tried to embrace her friend, "Fletch!"
"Shower," Stopping Nikita before she reached him, Ryan warned. A smirk began to bloom across her lips, yet Michael was able to put an end to it by pulling her back by the waistband of her leggings. They could continue the fun and games later, after the analyst briefed them. Nikita slightly glared at her boyfriend, yet she didn't argue. She'd torture Sean and Birkhoff. But with Ryan, she would just mock him. That could come with the information he had brought. Hopefully, it involved Percy's plans for his nuclear material.
"You got anything for us?" Michael spied into the box, attempting to figure out what the analyst had discovered. No one had the same pattern recognition skills that Ryan had, but the former Naval intelligence officer had his own ability to derive intel from seemingly nothing. From what he could see, the analyst went deep into his search for ways Percy might use the plutonium he had. He dug through the black market, the dark web, pretty much anything illegal for any sort of information. And he had gotten it.
"No. He just stopped by to say 'hi' and help us finish cleaning," Alex couldn't help but be sarcastic. She earned laughter and some side-eyes, yet she wouldn't take it back. The team should be used to having their freetime upended to chase down another lead or stop another Division mission. However, that didn't mean Alex had to like it. She wanted to finish at least one task before jumping into the next. Though, cleaning wasn't so much of her task as spending quality time with her friends was. Couldn't they just have one peaceful moment together.
"I think I know what Percy's gonna do next," Ignoring Alex, Ryan shared what he had discovered. That certainly got the team's full attention. They had destroyed Percy's funds, yet he still had the plutonium. And the bastard always found a way to get what he wanted most. They had to pour over the information and find a way to stop him immediately. However, Nikita and Sean did have to shower, and the area had to be cleared of all the weapons and ammunition they had lying around. Alex was somewhat correct; they couldn't stop what they were doing completely for their war.
While the siblings finally washed off the sand and sweat from their run and changed, the rest of the team cleared off a space to go over Ryan's intel. He had a lot of paperwork, preferring that to a computer- much to Birkhoff's chagrin. But at least organizing the papers allowed Nikita and Sean to quickly shower and join the others before they were briefed. The analyst didn't waste time in discussing how he discovered Percy's goal, just that he had. It all came down to the parts of a nuclear missile, as expressed by Sean, "Bomb casings for the plutonium?"
"A rogue North Korean general is looking to sell some on the black market. Percy will need it if he really is making a nuke, which we should believe he is. We need to steal these before Division can make a grab at them," Ryan continued. Percy had dealt with corrupt foreign leaders before. There was no doubt he would make a deal with one again. The bastard was certainly predictable in his evil doings. It was just the scale of those that was truly troubling.
"Well, it's a good thing I know some Korean," Flipping through the informational packet on the North Korean general, Nikita replied. She already had some ideas of how the team could beat Division to the bomb casings. It would have to be a bit rushed as they definitely didn't want the same thing that had happened at Damascus' house to occur. But with the whole team together, they could pull it off.
"What? You want to run the criminal buyers' scheme?" Able to read his girlfriend's mind, Michael predicted what kind of idea she was thinking of. He and Nikita would pose as buyers for the bomb casings, and take it off the market before Percy could get his hands on it. The plan wasn't the most elaborate they have had. In fact, it was fairly simple, and something the two were used to from their Division days. Yet, it was solid, and it was going to work.
"Yeah. Two watchdogs out front, and a hacker and analyst running point," Nikita concluded, nodding towards Sean and Alex then Birkhoff and Ryan. It really was like old Division days with a full roster of agents. However, that moment was far better than the past. There wasn't a risk of cancellation, for starters. Also, the team generally cared for one another's wellbeing. If they planned their mission to be airtight, everything would work out great.
"We can watch out for Division while you grab the casings, using fake money," Agreeing to provide backup with Sean, Alex suggested that they don't risk actual money like they had previously. Birkhoff was behind that idea completely. It was easier to trick a general with fake money than a banker, after all. He could set up a dummy account for Nikita and Michael to use without problem. The team could beat Percy to what he wanted in a few simple steps once again.
Well, hopefully that mission would be a few simple steps, unlike the last one. But the team was whole once more. That had to mean something. Nikita was willing to ride that wave of positivity, nodding in excitement, "Great. Let's go screw over two powerful men."