The explosion shook the entire world. Absolutely no one had expected it, especially not the Division agents surrounding the scene. They had everything on lock. The slightest oddity was examined until it wasn't deemed a threat. Kendrick should've been able to pass off the flashdrive full of black box secrets without any issues. Nikita had even given him a nod to go ahead. There shouldn't have been any problems. There shouldn't have been any disasters. But then Amanda called Sean. And a bomb went off.
Pure chaos ensued.
At least the surrounding Division agents knew to cut and run. As the heat came down, they couldn't be around with fake IDs and unregistered assault rifles. There wasn't anything they could do post-explosion, so they split. Sean and Alex needed to tear out of there with their unregistered vehicle and weapons as well, but Sean wouldn't leave without his sister. He hadn't seen or heard from her since the explosion. The fire raged, but none of the screams or shouts belonged to her; he couldn't even hear her in the coms. He searched frantically for her, daring to get out of the truck just to see her. Once he did, he spotted her lying still on the street, "Nikki!"
Slowly, Nikita got to her feet. She stared in horror at the flames, mouth gaping and eyes wide. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe anything. She could only stand in shock and absolute terror. The rest of the Division agents were scattering. But she remained trapped, staring. Sean and Alex had to break her out of the flames' horrific spell. Her brother yelled her name again, and she finally looked up at him. The two waved her to the truck. Slower than she usually was, she sprinted over to them and climbed into the vehicle. She shook and clutched the edge of the seat, "I'm… I'm okay. I'm alright. We… just… we gotta get out of here."
"What happened?" Alex frantically asked as Sean sped away from the scene. It was chaotic enough for them to escape without notice. But that wasn't necessarily their concern. They didn't need to worry about the police and feds trying to swarm the area; they and the Alpha team could slip out of the authorities' grasp without them ever knowing they were there. Whatever the fuck just happened to Kendrick and how Amanda managed to kill him while surrounded by guards and Division agents was a much more horrific problem. And it was, no doubt, going to get worse from there.
"I don't know. I don't… know. It… it, uh… it was a car bomb. It… it must've been planted before he got here," Nikita attempted to speak her thoughts aloud. The car bomb made sense. The explosion started underneath the car, and only those right next to the vehicle had died. It also made sense that the bomb was planted before Kendrick arrived at the coffee cart. The snipers and undercover agents reported no suspicious activity. Division's plan was airtight; the leak must've come from the director's own people. That all made sense. Nikita just couldn't grab hold of a solid thought. It all seemed too much, too loud, too crazy. How was any of that real.
"Shit. You're covered in glass," Turning around in her seat, Alex finally got a good look at Nikita. No wonder she sounded like she was in shock. The debris and shrapnel from the explosion left numerous cuts and bruises along her skin. Some of those cuts were bloody and deep and full of dirt and glass. Quickly grabbing the emergency med kit they had stashed in the glovebox, Alex climbed into the back seat. Maybe patching up Nikita wasn't the most crucial thing at that moment, but it was something Alex could do besides worry.
Sean was driving as fast as he could to the rendezvous point. But it would still take some time to reach the helicopter and then to fly back to Division. It was nearly too much time. Alex couldn't do a lot for Nikita's cuts, especially while in a moving vehicle; she had to wait until Medical could intervene. She would be alright until then, though. At least physically. Mentally, the whole team was panicked, scared, horrified, and confused. How was Amanda so ahead of them. What was she thinking. What was she truly planning. How did Kendrick and the bomb factor in. And why would she call Sean, "Amanda called me before the bomb went off."
"What? Why?" Both Alex and Nikita shrieked. Nikita was able to somewhat drag herself out of her head with Sean's confession. The explosion, the pain, the burning dead bodies was pushed aside at the mention of Amanda. That bitch had managed to stay a step ahead of the team. She had guessed their plans- after all, she had helped train them- and she had murdered her target in the most thorough way possible; there was no saving Kendrick. But there was a chance to kill Amanda. Nikita would make sure of it, especially after she had involved her family.
"She mentioned Mom," That was all Sean could say. He had absolutely no clue why Amanda would call him before she killed Kendrick. He hardly knew the man. Ryan had a far deeper connection to the CIA director than Sean. Hell, even Nikita knew Kendrick better than he did. So why would Amanda call him to gloat. And why did she keep bringing up his mother. Why bait the team with black box intel about missions sanctioned by Madeline Peirce. Was she just playing mind games, or was there more to it. Could it get even worse from there.
"We gotta tell the others. Now," Brushing Alex aside (her injuries could wait) Nikita pulled out her burner phone. Her hand continued to shake; shock from the explosion, her injuries, and seeing even more people die still trapped her in its grip. Yet she needed to fight through it. She needed to update the others so they could be on the same page as they sprinted forward. And she needed to start planning how she was going to kill Amanda., "Hey, Michael… No, I'm okay… I'm… I'm fine, just listen. It was a car bomb. Planted before Kendrick ever got into the car… Yeah. And Amanda called Sean before the explosion… I don't know."
Her 'I don't know' rang loud and clear. The team might've been able to assume a lot, yet they didn't know anything. They didn't know what Amanda was doing or why. But they were going to figure it out. While they traveled back to Division, Alex, Sean, Nikita, and the Alpha team discussed everything they had witnessed. In the meantime, Ops exploded with activity. They needed to understand what exactly happened to Kendrick and how Amanda was ahead of them. Birkhoff hacked the FBI's investigation so they could piggyback off their intel and discover if there were any other horrors.
Michael stayed on the phone with Nikita. Not only was it to hear the agents debrief with one another, but it was also to ensure Nikita was okay. There had been too long of a pause between the explosion and Nikita calling him. He understood that shock and confusion delayed her actions. But those horrifying minutes where he didn't hear from her were some of the worst minutes of his life. He needed to know she was alive. He needed to hear her voice. He needed to rush to her and hold her tight the instant she returned. And, once he saw her injuries, he needed to drag her to Medical to ensure she really was okay, "Hey. Come on. No. Come on."
Despite Nikita's protests, Michael was successful in gently dragging her to Medical. No one stepped in to stop him. The world was falling apart around them. They needed to be healthy and stable to be able to fight what came next; so, the glass, dirt, and debris needed to be removed from Nikita's wounds, and she needed to actually settle from her shock. Everyone should've taken a moment to settle and breathe- try to think rationally. But that could wait until after they had answers. Getting to the bottom of things was far more important. Alex barely stopped to think before she rushed to Ops and demanded, "Mind telling us what the fuck is going on?"
"Why'd Amanda call me and not Nikki?" Sean reiterated one of the many questions screaming in his head. Why did Amanda call. Why was she bringing up his mother. Why was she singling him out. Amanda wanted to torture Nikita the most. Yes, she had also gone after Owen because of some mind game she had played on him in the past (which the team still had a million questions about). But she mostly wanted to teach Nikita a lesson; she wanted her to suffer. So what did she gain by calling Sean instead. Why go after him when Nikita was the bigger target.
"I'm working on it," Birkhoff swore as he furiously typed on his keyboard. He was doing everything in his power to erase Division's presence at the scene and discover just what the hell was going on. But he had to be careful while the FBI was poking around. Then was not the time for Division to be caught. Black box secrets out and about was bad enough. If they were tied to Kendrick's death, they couldn't even fight cancellation. They had to be more than super careful. Especially as things took yet another turn, "Uh… guys. Someone's already been in the security cameras. And it's not the FBI. Whoever it was already erased Division's involvement."
"Amanda? But why would she do that?" Ryan assumed it was Amanda. The FBI definitely wouldn't erase potential suspects from the scene. And if the feds hadn't begun their sweep of the cameras yet, then it must've been a former Gogol hacker poking around. But what was the purpose of that. Wouldn't Amanda want Division discovered so the spotlight would shine on them. She wanted them dead and buried. There was her very easy chance to do just that. The bitch wouldn't pass that up, unless she had far worse planned.
"Because not all of us were erased," Finding just one more anomaly, Birkhoff shared the fact gravely. The real image of Sean, the one of him in the jeep then on the street yelling for his sister, was gone. Every single trace of the real Sean was completely wiped from the scene. The only thing left was a digital illusion. Birkhoff knew it was fabricated because he was aware of the truth. Though, if he didn't, the mask could've fooled him. It was definitely going to fool the FBI. They were going to believe the nearly flawless fake wholeheartedly.
Although an image of Sean captured at the scene of the crime wasn't inherently damning, it wasn't going to remain purely circumstantial for long. The team stared silently at the fake Sean on the screen, then anxiously shifted their gaze to the real one in the room. He had grown pale. He reached for Alex's hand without looking and held tightly. Words tried to form on his tongue- an argument for what he was seeing. However, he couldn't think for a moment. The weight of what was going on crashed into him and crushed his chest. It was a miracle he could stammer out, "What the fuck? That's not me. I was in the truck… I was… how the hell is she doing this?"
"It's a digital mask, like the one we tricked Amanda with in Moscow," Softly, Birkhoff explained. He didn't want to add to the stress and anxiety piling on Sean's shoulders, yet he should at least know how all of that was possible. He should also begin to realize that undoing what Amanda had done was going to be nearly impossible (Alex, who was giving the hacker a panicked, pleading look should realize too). Unless Birkhoff had a reference for what the body double actually looked like, he couldn't undo the digital mask. It was practically permanent.
"I still don't understand why she's doing all this. If she wanted to kill Kendrick to eliminate our allies, then why bait us with my mother? Why would she mention her when she called me? What is she trying to do?" Sean couldn't control his frustration- or his fear. How was their investigation yielding more questions than answers. It was supposed to get better as they followed Amanda's trail and learned how to get ahead of her. Things shouldn't be getting worse with each step. However, the shit storm kept raging, and the team was starting to drown.
"She's burying you to get at me," Nikita answered sternly. As soon as her cuts were cleaned she rushed out of Medical. She didn't give herself any time to breathe. She didn't need to breathe; she didn't need to settle down. She had figured out what Amanda was trying to do, and she needed to tell the others. Despite Michael's pleas to just take a moment- to not strain herself- Nikita refused to stay sitting. The team needed to act immediately. Amanda's plan couldn't come to fruition. Sean couldn't suffer. His life couldn't be ruined. Nikita needed her little brother safe and sound above all else, including her health.
Nikita's assumption hung hauntingly in the air. The team wanted to argue with her- what could Amanda actually gain by going after a Navy Seal. But then they remembered the bitch's threat from months earlier. She wasn't just going to kill Nikita or the team, she was going to hurt everyone the former rogue loved first. Finally, Amanda had made her move against Nikita's little brother. And what that move was exactly became more clear as the federal investigation continued, "Nikki's right. A call pinged off the local tower at the same time as the explosion. The number is registered to you, Sean."
"But she called me…" Sean didn't know why he was trying to argue with Birkhoff. Everyone knew Amanda had called him. No one was doubting that the information in front of them was completely and utterly false. However, he still felt as though he had to defend himself. All of those lies were completely stacked against him. Even with Birkhoff and Sonya hacking away to uncover the digital mask and clear up his phone records, there wasn't an easy solution for Sean. He wasn't going to be saved that instant- maybe not ever.
"She cloned your phone. She put you at the scene of the crime. She's giving the feds all the evidence they need," Michael clarified what was happening. Putting Madeline Pierce in front of the team made them rush out immediately. They did things over the top, carefully, and by the book to ensure secrets stayed hidden and Kendrick stayed alive. Amanda was then able to predict their next moves and put every piece of her plan into motion. She took out Division's government safety net and had the perfect person to pin it all on. She was knocking multiple threats out at once, and she was causing so much damage that the team was left spiraling.
Alex gripped Sean's hand even tighter as he grew tense and paler. Birkhoff and Sonya hacked everything and anything they could, searching for solutions. Michael placed his hand on the small of Nikita's back, gentle and soothing and trying to get her to breathe. Yet Nikita had stopped breathing. She had stopped thinking. And she had stopped seeing clearly. Her vision blurred red with rage and hatred. She was going to snap, to scream, to destroy everything in her path. Amanda wasn't going to get away with her schemes that time. That bitch was going to feel every painful inch of Nikita's wrath, "Amanda's framing you for the fucking assassination."