Despite the sarcastic phrasing Nikita kicked the team's planning off with, their race to beat Percy to the bomb casings the North Korean general was selling started off well. Ryan was able to gather more information on their target and what the cost of him selling nuclear shell casings actually was. Apparently, the materials originated from the country's defunct missile program; a crude opportunist was simply looking to offload it and make cash on the sly. There was no doubt Percy had worked with those types of people before. His corruption thrived off of the corruption of others.
However, that wasn't necessarily the point of the team's operation. All they really cared about was stopping Percy's plans. They'd drop a line to the CIA about the North Korean general's dealings (that was Ryan and Sean's idea). But otherwise, their only goal was Division. The other corruption and evildoing in the world would just have to be handled by someone else- someone with actual legal status and backing. The band of rebels couldn't fight every war, just those they knew no one else could touch.
It didn't take them long to create a solid plan. With all of them back together again (sans Owen, who wasn't returning their calls for some reason) it was incredibly easy to have an idea in place. Nikita and Michael would pose as buyers, meet with the general, exchange a fake wire transfer, then take the casings and run. Sean and Alex would watch the meet from their car, prepared as backup. And Ryan and Birkhoff would monitor from the safehouse, providing information and hacks. With that kind of set-up, Percy wouldn't know what hit him.
Ryan advised they start moving on the offensive in terms of Division instead of constantly following their moves and destroying operations. He made a great point. To truly end Percy, they'd have to bring the fight to him. However, that discussion would have to wait until their current mission was over and they handed the casings to the CIA (again, Sean and Ryan's idea). They could scheme for the final phases of the war then. Maybe they were a bit too optimistic and hopeful for that outcome, but it had to be true. Oversight, Gogol, Amanda, Ari, and Semak were gone. All that was left was Percy, and he was spiraling without his money.
The destruction of the seventy million dollars had to have been the beginning of the end. Division didn't have resources anymore. They were vulnerable- could be easily taken down. It wouldn't last for long; Percy was too cunning for that. But during the brief interlude, the team could strike and finally burn the place down. Ryan was right, they just had to go on the offensive to make it happen. The team would need a way to attack the black ops group head on, and make it last. Obtaining pardons remained an unanswered question, as did what each of them were going to do with their freedom. But their chance to stop fighting was so close, they just knew it.
But they couldn't think about that at the moment. The team had a mission to stay focused on. The corrupt general wanted to meet at a hotel he somehow owned in Germany. Michael and Nikita compromised by suggesting they meet poolside. The pool area had plenty of windows Sean and Alex could spy on them through. The agents could also sway their target with a more comfortable setting. Birkhoff added that Nikita could make him extra comfortable by mingling with the other women in the pool. Whereas she glared at the nerd for the suggestion, Michael reluctantly agreed. She did have a way of throwing men off their guard.
She still wasn't a fan of the idea, but she'd go along with it regardless- anything to beat Percy. That was the mindset the whole team had fallen into. The bastard couldn't continue corrupting and destroying the world. He had killed enough families and loved ones, he had hurt enough people, he had ruined enough lives. He had to die. There was nothing stopping the team anymore from finally killing him and getting their revenge. Oversight and black boxes and all those asinine things had been taken out of the equation. He couldn't hide from them anymore.
Anger and determination definitely fueled the team as they jetted off on their mission. They had some control of their emotions, knowing how dangerous their feelings could be if they were unchecked. However, the rogues just couldn't help but think although they were so close to their freedom they remained so far away. It was simply one more thing after another- Birkhoff was right to call it whack-a-mole. They wanted things to be over soon. That mission could get them there; it had to get them there.
They didn't waste any time getting to Germany and initiating their operation. While Michael and Nikita dealt with corrupt men in power, Alex and Sean staked them out from a car they had grabbed at the airport. Birkhoff and Ryan were ever so present in their ears through the coms, but it wasn't something the agents weren't used to. They could tune them out when needed. Alex certainly did as she stared at Sean in the driver's seat. She should've been paying more attention to the mission, yet she knew the other's were fine. At the moment she was more concerned about the Seal.
Whereas his roguish sister was far more vocally stubborn about how fine she was and that she could keep moving forward, Sean had been kind of silent about how he was feeling since their mother died. It was possible that since he had been home with his other sisters, he was able to process the shock more. He was ready to continue in their war. Yet that might not be the case. Alex knew she needed longer than she claimed after everything with her family. That had to have been the same for Sean.
He denied it though. When she brought it up and attempted to talk about his grief, he shot her down. There was no doubt he and Nikita were siblings. Alex wanted to know which parent they had picked that up from. She was thinking it was Madeline; though, their father was a strong contender. Maybe if she met Jill and Sandy she could figure it out. Yet that wasn't important at the moment. She wanted to ensure her friends really were okay. The death of a parent wasn't something they could get over easily. She knew that well.
Although Nikita was a vault that was tough to break open, Alex believed she could actually talk to Sean. Besides, the rogue had her boyfriend for when things got bad. The Seal only had sisters he couldn't tell the full truth to. Alex could be there for him instead- if he would open up, that was. He almost did. She was persistent enough to have him want to tell her everything. She also kept looking at him with the most earnest blue eyes he had ever seen. He could trust those eyes above everything else- he could dive deep in those eyes. Without any more hesitation, Sean decided to entrust Alex with his heart.
Unfortunately, that was when Division crashed the scene. Agents leapt out of the typical unmarked van, spraying bullets and forcefully making their way to the bomb casings. Apparently, since he didn't have any money, Percy planned to forcibly steal the materials needed for his nuke instead of buying them. The team had to change up their mission immediately. No more stealth and spying. It was time for action. Michael and Nikita handled the guards and the general inside, while Sean and Alex sprang from the car with their own weapons. Birkhoff and Ryan did what they could from the safehouse, but it wasn't much.
That was alright for the moment. Alex and Sean were holding their own against the Division agents. Nikita and Michael snuck around to make one last grab for the casings, as the others provided cover. The team really should've suspected something terrible would happen on their mission. They didn't think they had ever had a mission without any hiccups. It didn't deter their overall success rate. But the dramatics and the stress were killer. They couldn't afford to lose anything, especially each other. But neither the field nor their enemies cared about that.
As Sean and Alex leap-frogged behind cars, shooting at Division and covering Michael and Nikita, the Seal had an idea that could win them the day. The young woman had no choice but to follow it. She stood her ground against their assailants while he made his risky move. For a brief second, she believed it was going to work. But then an enemy agent slipped past her guard. He managed one lucky shot that ended everything. Sean collapsed to the ground, his side exploding from a bullet wound. He had been shot. He was down.
Immediately, Alex was by his side and using her scarf to staunch the bleeding. Sean remained conscious, that was a good sign at least. Except, she had no idea how much longer he could hold out. He was losing blood fast, and Division was still out there; they were still shooting. Nikita and Michael arrived just in time to push their assailants back, but they had to give up the bomb casings to do so. With how outnumbered and unprepared they were though, that was probably going to happen anyway. All the team could do then was force Division to leave the scene and then escape themselves.
Bullets stopped flying as the black ops group finally drove away. The rogues fired off a few more shots at the van in a last ditch effort to stop them, but Division and the casings were gone. The team had lost. They had gotten screwed, again. Alex had quit caring about that, however. Sean needed her full attention. She had to do something. They had to do something. He was going to bleed out and die if they didn't do something about his wound. Her franticness was what eventually pulled Michael's and Nikita's attention their way. Deaf silence filled the air.
Nikita was a statue. She stared at the blood blooming across her brother's abdomen, eyes wide and mouth slack. Her muscles had completely frozen in time. For a long second, all she could do was witness the horror in front of her. Every other thought escaped her. She knew she had to escape the scene. She knew she should chase after Division. She knew she should attend to her brother. But her mind failed her. It was narrowed in on the blood and the hazel eyes filled with pain and fear. It wasn't until her brother groaned in discomfort that she snapped to her senses. She rushed to his side, dropping to her knees and applying pressure to his wound.
Alex was shoved aside so Nikita could focus entirely on her brother. Although she was still frantic about what had happened, she didn't fight her. Out of the both of them, the young woman knew she could be more rational in the moment; though, she continued to feel panic inch its way across her chest. She glanced at Michael, silently begging him for some kind of answer. One glimpse of his girlfriend desperately clinging to her brother and he knew he had to step in, inform Ryan and Birkhoff of the situation, and get them out of there.
Birkhoff sent an ambulance their way, and Ryan rushed to build them a cover story. The best he could manage was that the team were security guards attempting to stop the shoot out. It was slim, yet it'd get them past the questioning paramedics and doctors. They could potentially dodge the police and escape to their jet once Sean was stable. The rogues couldn't stay in Germany. The beach house was the safest place for Sean to recover. They couldn't take any chances. Too much had been lost already.
Sean couldn't be among that. The team couldn't lose a friend and ally. Jill and Sandy couldn't lose another family member. Alex couldn't lose someone she cared for deeply. And Nikita couldn't lose someone she had just gotten back. She continued to cling to him, begging. He clung to her in return as if he was holding on for life. They had to get him out of there. They had to save him. Things had to be okay. They just had to be alright.