Eleven Years Earlier
She thought she was in the hospital. If her last memory was getting hit by the car, then obviously the white and gray room had to be inside a hospital. The starchy cot underneath her definitely belonged to that setting. Nikita tried to sit up and clear the fog from her mind, but her limbs were exhausted. Her eyes kept slipping closed, and her body just wanted to melt into the mattress. The room was bright enough to give her a headache, despite her closed eyes. Yet, she kept fighting against it. She wanted to wake up and know exactly where she was.
Getting hit with that car had been frightening enough. It had come out of nowhere, and someone's screams kept vibrating in her ears. Nikita hoped her family would be waiting for her when she fully woke. She had to know if Sean and their friends were alright. That was the push she needed to shove her heavy body upwards. It took her another second to blink open her eyes and clear her head. Once she managed to take in her surroundings, however, she wished she hadn't. She knew instantly things weren't right. She wasn't where she was supposed to be.
A man and a woman, who were way too nicely dressed for a hospital, entered the room as her senses frightfully rushed back to her. The woman attempted to grin warmly at her; however, to Nikita, it came off as cold as ice. Dread began to build in the pit of her stomach. She sat up higher on the bed, and tried to examine the room calmly. The lack of windows or medical equipment set off alarms in her head. She definitely wasn't in a hospital room. It seemed as though she was in some sort of furnished prison cell. All sense of calm escaped her.
Although Nikita tried not to show her deeply rooted panic, she began to hyperventilate. What was going on. How was she there and not in her car, or at school, or at home. Where was her brother. Where were her friends. Where was she. Eyeing the imposing man in the doorway, Nikita thought that she had been kidnapped. It would make sense. Her parents were powerful people. She must've been kidnapped as she was being taken from the crash site to the hospital. If that was the horrific case, then she had to get out of there. She needed to escape. The woman's too sweet words as she drew near had to be ignored, "Welcome to your new home, Nikita."
Fast as lightning, she struck the woman hard and sprinted out of the room towards home.
Present
The alarms inside Division blared. The suddenness shocked Nikita, and made her fumble the fuses in her hand. There was no way Division could've known she was there. She had slipped past everyone in the silo and air duct, she had taken out the techs in the server room, and she had remained absolutely silent and invisible. There was no way she had been caught. Something else had to have been occurring. Something terrible judging by the sudden silence over her com, "Sean? Michael? Alex? What's going on?"
"One of the agents killed the other. Division knows we're here. I'm coming down to get you, so stay where you're at. We can fight them off as we escape together," Michael hurriedly informed Nikita. He spiked the rope into the ground, pleading for it to hold as he descended down into hell. It wasn't the best decision for him to make. In fact, he shouldn't be so willing to dive head first into Division while everything was going to shit. It would've been better for him to wait topside for Nikita. He could've been more of a help up there. Yet, he couldn't just leave her alone in Division. He had promised to never leave her alone.
Nikita would've preferred to fight Michael on his decision to follow her into hell, but she didn't have the time. She just had to set the charge on the server and run away. Just because the alarms were blaring and Division was aware of the rogues, didn't mean their mission could end. She wasn't going to let things slip away from them. Cross Bow and Percy were going down no matter what. She didn't care what happened to her. As long as her enemies were dead, who cared what happened to her, "Blow the charge."
"Uh, guys…" Before Michael could argue against her order, Birkhoff chimed in. He didn't want to interrupt; the two had an important decision to discuss. However, he had discovered an increasingly dangerous update. Ryan was keeping the nerd informed of everything occurring with Kendrick and the President. Despite the team's attempts to stop Percy, events were spiraling out of control. Namely, Percy had been playing them. The satellites weren't a major part of his plan. They were simply an illusion to throw off his actual schemes. His nuclear capabilities were just as powerful as ever.
"Blow the charge, now!" Unaware of anything else, Nikita commanded. She didn't leave any room for argument as she yelled into the com and sprinted back towards the silo. Although blowing the charge would only lead to more danger for the team (especially Nikita), Michael knew he had to do it. Percy's resources had to be crippled. Even if they weren't one hundred percent sure of what was happening, they just had to keep destroying Division one little bit at a time. Eventually, they'd have to substantially cripple the organization.
Not so much that time, however. The servers were down and Cross Bow was destroyed, but Michael's and Nikita's coms were knocked offline by the blast. The bomb also wasn't as detrimental as they had hoped, which was what Birkhoff tried to warn them of. In the others' defense, they were busy. Nikita and Michael had Division to worry about, and Sean and Alex had to deal with the remaining farmer. After a gnarly fight with an axe, the two managed to take out the threat. Well, that threat. As the two peaked around the barn doors to see if it was clear enough for them to help the team, they ran into another problem, "Shit. The Marines are here."
"That's what I tried to warn you. Ryan says he couldn't talk the President down. They're ready to kill Percy and all of Division. Whatever we're planning we gotta do it fast," Birkhoff replied to Sean, finally explaining the information Ryan had given him. If the team didn't intervene immediately, the Marines would storm Division. As much as they would help the rogues, the military would only destroy everything they encountered. Percy deserved that, but not the agents. They were as much victims in all of that shit as everyone else.
"Why can't we hear Nikita and Michael?" Alex wondered, worried about why the other two hadn't chimed in. Michael and Nikita hadn't said a word since the explosion. There was no way that that meant they were seriously injured, or dead. That couldn't have been possible. Even if it was, the team wouldn't believe it. Everything else was going against them; that couldn't have been one more horrific thing. Birkhoff tried in vain to get in contact with them. Their coms might've been out, but there had to be another way to keep them in the loop.
Soon, Nikita found that way. She picked up a walkie-talkie off a guard she knocked down, and tapped into a communication line. It wasn't secure- far from it- but at least she could talk to her team. Michael followed her idea once he heard hers and Birkhoff's voice crackling through the speakers. Division would be aware of their every move with that system, but what else were they to do. Communicating with one another was how they were going to survive, and how they were going to save their mission. They just had to keep going. Nikita had to fuck with the black ops group one last time, "Hey, guys. Sorry for the scare. How is everyone?"
Sean sighed in relief at the sound of his sister's voice. Thank God she was alright. Michael was too, which was another huge relief. The team was still able to fight to save the day. Except, they weren't out of the woods yet. There were still multiple odds stacked against them. Their own supposed allies were ready to turn against them at the drop of a hat. When things went wrong for the team, it sure did have to be beyond dramatic. At least they could keep soldiering on and lightening the tension with ill-timed jokes, "I think I can see Uncle Johnny out there."
"Awesome. Go talk to him and figure out the Marines' plans with Division. Michael, why don't we go to the only place we've ever had any fun," Nikita sarcastically ordered her brother to talk to their Marine uncle (who was more than likely not actually there), and set-up a meeting place for her and Michael. It was vague enough for the listening Division agents to not know what was happening. Yet it also gave the rogues a clear objective in mind. The team wasn't going to let the chaos overwhelm them. Not when they were so close.
"She always finds a way to fuck with people," Chuckling lightly, Sean muttered. He wasn't sure what else to say. He knew Nikita was right in continuing their mission to stop Percy's world domination. They wanted vengeance, justice, and freedom, so of course the bastard and his nuclear material had to be eliminated. The situation was just way above them to figure anything out. How could they plan for nuclear fallout and save the world when they had no clue what was truly happening. The rogues were constantly one step behind and scrambling to put new ideas together. If they kept going like that, they'd burn out before the night was through.
"And we gotta find a way to help," Alex got Sean to refocus, attempting to think of what they could do from their position in the barn. Nikita and Michael were in the thick of things, trying to survive Division as they brought Percy down from the inside. Birkhoff was doing his best to keep their line of communication open and relaying information to Ryan. And Ryan, meanwhile, was still trying to get the President to listen to him. That left Sean and Alex just sitting and watching the Marines for any movement. There had to be something else they could do. They couldn't do nothing as their friends struggled.
"Yeah. But before we do, I have to ask you something," Although Sean agreed with Alex about their need to help, he had to get something off his chest first. He didn't want to rush into danger and potential death without sharing what was on his mind. A clear head and a light heart would allow him to survive anything. He had somewhat chickened out when he was talking to his sister before they separated, but he couldn't do that with Alex. Besides, hadn't the two danced around each other enough, "Do you want to go out with me?"
"Seriously? Now?" She knew she had to keep her voice low. The Marines were right outside and could raid the barn at any second. The two couldn't get caught. However, Alex couldn't help but nearly shout. She and Sean had needed to talk about their kiss and 'date' for a long time. Then just wasn't the time. In fact, it was the worst time possible for that conversation. Their team was suffering, Percy was winning, the world was falling apart around them, and they had no clue how to fix it. How could they think about their future then.
"What? Having a goal in mind helps me focus," Sean didn't mean it to sound exactly like that. Alex wasn't a goal or an object to achieve; she wasn't a prize to be won. He only meant that picturing a happy future with her helped to settle his anxiety and racing mind. He probably should've made that more clear. But he could focus, think, and breathe with her in mind. The team needed that at the moment. They simply had to come up with a constructive plan. They accomplished that, the rest could fall into place. At least, that was the hope.
Michael and Nikita were working on that as they scrambled their way to the abandoned target range. He had known she had meant to meet there the second she mentioned their 'fun place'. It was the only place inside Division without any cameras and that seemed to have been forgotten by everyone else. Despite being hunted by the agents inside the hellhole, the two could find a second of reprieve. It would be just long enough to bounce back with a real plan of action. Or, simply long enough for Michael to pull Nikita in his arms after being terrifyingly separated for too long, "You sure this is the only place we've ever had fun?"
"Well it's the only place abandoned enough for me to say I'm gonna kill Percy," Nikita admitted. Since she had descended deeper into hell, that had been the only thought on her mind. She knew dismantling Cross Bow wouldn't have been enough. Ryan and Birkhoff expressing that Percy had fooled them and was going to dominate the world, confirmed a terrible fear for her. It was never going to end. Everytime the rogues gained an inch, the bastard took another mile. The only way for the war to end was death. Hopefully, it would be Percy's and not theirs.
"And how exactly is that going to work?" Trying to remain the rational one when the team felt as though they were grasping at straws was difficult. Yet Michael still attempted to have Nikita think instead of simply rushing off. They didn't have the luxury of backup plans anymore. They ran out of those the second she went into the silo. Whatever idea the two came up with, they had to stick with it. Any deviations could lead to unimaginable failure. It wasn't just their lives at stake, after all. The whole world could burn.
Beginning to pace, Nikita put all of the complicated puzzle pieces together in her mind. It didn't exactly make sense, yet she really didn't need it to. She only had to know how the team could operate in the mess. They each had their own strengths they could build off of. They were also fortunately scattered in different positions. The team could rely on one another. A desperate push wouldn't be made alone, "You distract and appeal to Ops. Birkhoff, Sean, and Alex handle the Marines and other nightmare variables. I pull the trigger."
"It's not that simple," Michael wanted to believe in Nikita's plan. She had pulled off miracle stunts before (saving Alex and himself came to mind). However, going after Percy in the place where he held all of his power was impossible. Even the team's talents might not be enough. There were a lot of moving parts they had to consider, and they didn't have the time to put everything together. It would have to be an improvised plan, one they couldn't afford to risk. Only pain awaited them on the other side.
"Then help me plan," Nikita asked regardless. Michael could only sigh and nod. They had to try, at least. Percy couldn't win that easily. The team was too stubborn to let him.