After the team dragged Sean Pierce inside, they stripped him down and duct taped him to a chair. Birkhoff complained about replacing the Kevlar blinds the Seal's bullet had struck; but otherwise, they weren't fazed by their intruder. They proceeded with the same determination as ever. Michael and Nikita prepared themselves for an interview, while Ryan went to check the safehouse's perimeter. Alex did seem shocked and confused by Sean, yet she was doing her best to lock it away. Her team needed her stoic. To get information from their intruder, she had to remain detached.
After all, getting answers was more important than her feelings- especially when a deep blush crept along her cheeks at seeing her friend in his underwear. Nikita noticed the expression, but decided to ignore it. She'd tease her about it later. In the meantime, the waking Seal captured all of her attention, "You look thirsty, Soldier. Would you like some water?"
The rogues were met with silence. Sean simply stared at the team, attempting to give nothing away. Nikita and Michael had suspected as much. The man was a Navy Seal. He was trained to withstand the worst kinds of torture. Although they weren't going to torture him, he was going to remain immovable. He wasn't going to give his enemies anything. Moving to sit next to Nikita on the coffee table across from Sean, Michael sighed. It was going to be a long night. The best they could do was establish an open dialogue, "This isn't an interrogation. We just wanna talk."
"Please, Sean," Alex added. She desperately wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to know how she was going to kill Semak. She wanted to know how she was going to take down corrupt organizations. She wanted to know how she was going to save her mother. She wanted to know how she was going to get past the pain in her heart. And she wanted to know what Sean was doing attacking her team. Out of all of those, getting Sean to talk was the easiest. The two friends had gotten through difficult situations together before; they could do so again.
"How are you here?" Sean asked instead. His hazel eyes kept landing on Alex. He attempted to focus on the others, but with her in the room it was almost impossible. Birkhoff typing on his computers to ensure their security, Michael's open approach, and Nikita's fierce determination should've been great distractions. However, none of them outweighed Alex's presence. She shouldn't have been there. She was supposed to have been safe from that world. How could she have gotten dragged in.
"Could ask you the same," Nikita gained the Seal's attention. She needed him to focus. She was glad Alex was in the room; it made Sean uncomfortable enough that he didn't feel like he was in control. But she couldn't have him completely enthralled by her. The two would have their moment later. What his plans were concerning his ambush on the beach house with the rifle was vital. If there were Division agents nearby, they needed to know. And if there was some device he had used to track them, they needed to get rid of it.
Sean's eyes betrayed him. He glanced between Nikita, Alex, and Birkhoff's injured hand. Michael caught onto the shifting attention first. He noticed the panic in his gaze, the need to protect someone he cared about. The Seal wanted Alex safe and sound, and he believed she couldn't be that while she was with them. The analyst wanted to argue with him about it. Alex was much safer with them, than running around unaware of the people that still wanted her dead. Knowledge was power. It was what gave them the drive to end that war. Instead, Michael turned to look at Birkhoff. As he did, Nikita caught onto the same train of thought.
The Seal had been the one to bring the nerd back to the rogue after Division had tortured him. He must've placed a tracker on him, one that hadn't been picked up by the scanner. Quickly, Birkhoff understood why everyone was looking at him and he patted himself down for some kind of device. He noticed it on the splint holding his healing hand together. Because he never looked for it, he never saw the miniscule thing. Once he did, he was surprised, "You bugged my splint?"
"Smart. But where's your backup? They should've swarmed us by now. Or at least killed Ryan," When Ryan entered the safehouse shaking his head (there was nothing amiss around the perimeter), Nikita mused. Sean didn't seem to be operating off of normal Seal protocol. He wasn't even operating off of Division protocol. That mission was different. It appeared almost reckless, "You're acting alone."
"A Seal on his own? This is personal," Sitting forward, Michael studied Sean over. The Seal didn't appreciate that he was read so clearly. He also didn't appreciate the analyst's intense gaze. He avoided his own; his focus landing on Michael's prosthetic. The files Sean had scoured about Nikita's team of course mentioned the Naval intelligence officer turned CIA analyst. He knew about the family and limb he had lost. Yet nothing prepared him for seeing the actual evidence of the cost of their war.
It wasn't as though the Seal hadn't seen death before; that was a given as a soldier. He had also seen amputations. Yet he knew Michael's was different. Not only was it attached to the murder of his family, but it was the fault of Division. A secret unit of the government, the one he swore to serve, did that to him. At first, those facts didn't faze Sean. He found some way to justify them. However, the rogues kept surprising him. Alex was a part of them, after all. And, along with Michael, Nikita was able to keep understanding him as though he was one of them, "You wanna kill me to save Mommy? Like how you shot Gaines?"
"We don't want to hurt you, just talk. You can help us save people," Alex appealed to Sean once more. She knew he'd come around and talk to them. He just needed the right motivation. Michael and Nikita intimidating him might've thrown him off guard. But he needed someone to help him see the truth. She could be that person. God knew he had helped her so many times before. It was her turn then.
"Us? We? What the hell are you doing, Alex? How are you here? Do you know how much danger you're in?" Yet Sean wasn't having it. Seeing Alex among his enemies was giving him whiplash. She seemed comfortable with them too. She shared knowing glances with Nikita. She backed Michael up in his statements. And she checked in on Ryan and Birkhoff's security strengthening progress. She was ingrained in their team. She had fought with them. That didn't make any sense to him. It shouldn't have been possible.
Except it was. And when Alex heard Sean's anxiousness about her being in danger, she stiffened. It was becoming obvious that her friend didn't have any information. He was following Oversight orders blindly, not knowing the full truth. She had thought she would've been elated upon discovering that. Once he knew everything, he'd join them; it was that simple. But after Russia, her emotions were fried. She was tired of people she trusted and loved betraying her. Sean had to know everything about the vile organization he worked for. He had to know their actions were what put her in danger in the first place, "As much danger as when Division and Oversight killed my family."
"Your… what?" The duct tape stopped Sean from shooting upright. He hadn't expected that. Alex wasn't going to explain further, however. She was afraid her emotions would take over and she would break down right there. Fortunately, Nikita caught her expression. She gained the Seal's attention once more, asking how much he knew about Oversight and Division. All he could do was shake his head.
"You really are kept in the dark, huh?" Nikita wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. It was bad for intel sake; they wouldn't be able to get much out of him. On the flip side, he hadn't been brainwashed and manipulated by his commanders. He'd have a clear head as they explained everything. Nikita might just be able to gain another team member, "Right. I mean we're the good guys trying to end corruption and protect the innocents. And you're working for the people destroying the world for their own means."
"Best way to clear all this up is by talking," With a gentler approach, Michael offered. Sean was hesitant to agree so readily. He was aware there were things held from him, but he never believed it could be that much. The Seal looked to Alex once more. She never talked about her past, and he never asked her about it. But with recent revelations, he finally understood why that was. She was hurting. He thought everything was too much for him, but it was far worse for her.
"I'm willing. Are you?" Alex would talk about it, however. She extended the invitation to Sean, stepping closer to him. It was time for answers. No one was going to be held in the dark any longer. They were going to communicate and trust one another. They all wanted an end to the war, and that was their only way to do so. Eventually, the Seal nodded in agreement. Nikita smiled warmly, letting him relax for the first time since Alex had tackled him on the beach.
"Good. Now. You look thirsty, Soldier. Would you like some water?"