"Who the hell is this guy?" Pointing to the fake Sean on the screen, Alex practically screamed. Birkhoff was working on erasing Amanda's digital mask, but it wasn't fast enough for Alex. They needed to save Sean from the frame job and stop Amanda immediately. The longer it took for them to do anything, the worse things were going to get. Amanda was already several steps ahead of them. The bitch was going to keep going until all of Division burned. They couldn't let that happen. They couldn't let Sean suffer either. They had to do something then.
"Clearly the same height and weight as Sean, selected for that reason," Birkhoff knew he wasn't being helpful; he just couldn't stop himself from snarking. He was feeling the same frustrations and fears as Alex- the whole team was. She didn't need to pressure them to hurry or to start working. Even though it was horrifically slow going, they were doing all they could to help Sean. What Amanda was doing to him was bullshit. She couldn't get away with it. The team finally had to do something to stop her.
Rolling her eyes, Alex had to fight the urge to smack Birkhoff upside the head. She knew he was trying; she shouldn't be frustrated with him. Amanda was the one who deserved all her wrath. Glancing at Sean, Alex wondered if he felt the same rage as her. She wouldn't blame him if he did. But he simply remained as stoic and quiet as he had when they first discovered Amanda's plan. Either he was in shock, or he was so angry and scared he just shut down. Both possibilities freaked Alex out even more, "Look, just see if you can pick him up on some of the other cameras, huh? I mean, she can't have hacked them all, right?"
"Whoa, hey, dude, give me some space, please," While Alex crowded his computer station and tried to type on his keyboard, Birkhoff shoved her away. He didn't attempt to be gentle. Although Alex was anxious, she couldn't micromanage everything. She had to trust that the team knew what they were doing and that they were great at their tasks. Birkhoff was doing everything he could computer wise. Yet even he had limitations. Division couldn't get caught running their own investigation into Kendrick's death. Enough light had been shone on them already, "Gotta be really careful in here. System is swarming with feds right now."
"We don't have time for careful. The feds will not stop until they hang somebody for this, so we need to deliver them the guy behind the mask and write a cover story to match. Turn Amanda's frame back on to her accomplice," Pacing Ops, Alex screeched. She knew she was letting her anxiety choke her voice and rush her words. But she didn't care. No one had time to be careful or to relax. The team just had to pull apart Amanda's scheme and save Sean. He was more important than anything else. Who cared about the feds or being anxious. Sean couldn't be another one of Amanda's victims.
"I can't do that unless we I.D. him. Can't I.D. him cause no one's seen his face," Birkhoff couldn't help but screech in return. Amanda had covered her tracks well- probably thanks to Gogol hackers she had at her disposal. The man she had used as Sean's body double didn't appear on any other camera. And, if he did, Birkhoff wouldn't be able to I.D him. There might not be a match in any system, and the hacker might not be able to match him perfectly to the fake Sean. Unless he could erase the mask, they were screwed. Specifically, Sean was screwed.
Finally joining the team in Ops (Nikita's cuts took some time to clean, and Michael needed a moment to grieve his friend, Kendrick) the married couple were caught up. Once the information settled, their own anxiety kicked in. It was a shitty situation that delivered even more blows to the team. There was no easy solution; there weren't even clear answers. The only fact that could be grasped was that a CIA analyst had been handed black box intel. Maybe that line of investigation was still viable, "One person might've seen him. The CIA analyst. She said she saw a shady guy at the end of her street the day the drive was dropped off. Could be the same guy."
"How do we find out?" Ryan demanded an answer. Although Nikita's quick ideas were appreciated, they didn't need anything rash or hectic at the moment; the situation was already worse than bad, they couldn't get any lower than that. Amanda kept illuminating Division, first by leaking black box intel, then by framing Sean for an assassination. The black ops unit of the government was going to be discovered, and they were going to be destroyed. Whatever Nikita was about to do couldn't risk them any further.
"We ask her to describe him," It wasn't as simple as that. Nikita knew how gently the team had to approach things. Yet they couldn't just sit on their hands as the FBI did most of the work. The feds were only going to find what Amanda wanted them to find. The team needed to get ahead of both the investigation and her, which meant risks had to be taken. Alex was completely behind Nikita. She vehemently nodded in support of her plan and anything they might have to do after. No more waiting, just action.
"You want to make contact with a conspiracy theorist who's digging into Division?" As always, Michael made Nikita stop and think before she ran off. They didn't want any more light falling on the black ops unit. Confirming an over eager CIA analyst's ideas about the place would be the exact opposite of their wishes. Naomi wouldn't just accept that Division existed and peacefully move on with her life. She'd dig into them, drag them above ground, and force the President to act. Nikita couldn't talk to her.
"I made contact with you," Nikita shrugged. Yes, the situation was drastically different. She only told Michael, her boyfriend at the time, about Division so he'd run away with her. And it turned out that he already had his suspicions about the black ops unit of the government. The two then decided to take Division apart from the inside before disaster caught up to them and they had to completely go rogue. He had been on her side since the very beginning. But, despite all those differences, approaching Naomi was the best thing to do. The team could gain the information they desperately needed, and maybe they could gain another ally.
Michael wanted to keep arguing with Nikita. He wanted to highlight how different he and Naomi were. However, his wife somewhat had a point. They couldn't just leave Naomi wondering. She'd keep digging into Division regardless. Her boss just died after she had handed him intel on a secret organization she was digging into. That wasn't a coincidence, and no one could be convinced otherwise. The team should try to halt the analyst's work sooner rather than later. They should also calm her fears. She was no doubt terrified about what might happen to her, "If this woman is anything like me, she's scared out of her mind right now."
"I'm not gonna tell her I'm Division. I'll approach as FBI," Nikita hadn't initially planned to approach Naomi as Division. She thought about it. That was how she had approached both Michael and the reporter Jill. Yet the situation was too hectic and dangerous to shine more light on Division. She'd just black badge her way into an interview. With the amount of feds already working the case, there was no reason for Naomi to doubt an agent questioning her. She wouldn't be too suspicious. Hopefully, that'd lead her to be more open with her answers.
"It's gonna be hard to get you a black badge with all this heat going on," Although he wanted to shut Nikita down completely, Ryan knew he couldn't. Birkhoff probably wasn't going to succeed in erasing the digital mask. Maybe if he had more time, he could pull it off. But the team didn't have any time; they potentially wasted the little amount they had arguing what to do next. Interrogating Naomi could give them the leg up in the investigation. It'd also make Alex happy, and maybe calm her down.
"I don't need it to get into Quantico. I just need an icebreaker. This could be our only lead to clear Sean," Nikita would take any fake badge she could get. She didn't need any background information or a complete cover. She simply needed a passable badge to flash Naomi to get her through the door. If the analyst dug into her afterwards, then the team would deal with that problem. Until that possible moment, they should continue focusing on Sean. His safety should've been their only concern- because who knew what else Amanda was going to do.
Along with having Shadowbot track the FBI's investigation, Birkhoff had the news playing from multiple sources. Reporters might share information the feds might not have recovered, like an anonymous tip that could've only come from Amanda. The bitch wouldn't be content with only leading the feds to the evidence she planted. She had to be the full driving force of the investigation, "Sources speaking under the condition of anonymity have named a person of interest in the public bombing: Lieutenant Commander Sean Pierce. Authorities are seeking Pierce for immediate questioning in the matter."
As the news swept across Ops, cautions, wary eyes turned to Sean. They weren't accusatory glances (at least most of them weren't); they were simply concerned about how that news would affect all of them. Amanda was definitely upping her game by involving the media. It was hard to hide any information once a reporter had a hold of it. Division would have to fight to stay in the shadows. And so would Sean. However, unlike his girlfriend and team, Sean didn't panic at the news. He finally snapped out of his shock with a small smirk and a quip, "Well, Alex, you wanted me here at Division."
"I'm gonna get you out of this. I promise. You are a part of the family, like it or not," Gripping Sean's tightly in hers, Alex swore that the team wasn't going to let him down. They were going to unravel Amanda's plans, reveal her tampered evidence, then get the investigation against him to end. Hopefully, they could also kill Amanda along the way. But if that didn't happen, Alex (for once) wouldn't care. Sean was her only priority. She was going to save him if it was the last thing she did. She'd even fight God if it came down to it.
"I never signed up for this. So technically, I'm on my own," Sean continued to hold Alex's hand- he needed her strength- but he quickly argued against her. He wasn't really a part of the team of former rogues. Not only was he returning to his Seal unit soon (though, that ship might've sailed by then) but he also mostly tagged along with them because of Oversight and Alex. He could consider them his friends after spending so much time with them. However, he was never a rogue; he had never been one of them. He lived a completely different life than them. They didn't owe him anything, especially if it risked their own lives.
"No way. Not while I'm here," Alex vehemently shook her head. Sean would never be on his own, not with her, his family, his friends, and his team by his side. He might not have initially agreed to return to Division to help shut it down, but he soon decided it was the best thing to do to help those still trapped. He had also agreed to help his mother with Oversight. Sure, that was a separate mission. Yet the sentiment to help those in trouble was still there. Sean had always tried to save Division from Amanda and other corrupt forces. It was their turn to save him.
Except, Sean wasn't like Division agents. He had a reputation, a career that he had spent his entire life building. And it could fall apart if he stayed in the shadows. He was on every news channel. The FBI had raided his apartment. They had questioned his sisters and his teammates. His reputation was tarnished. The longer he stayed hidden, the guiltier he looked. There weren't a lot of options left. Although he was innocent, and he had a whole secret agency trying to prove that, it wasn't enough. He had to do something to help. He had to turn himself in. At least, if he took away the spotlight Amanda shone on Division, they'd return the favor and clear his name.
