It was far too early in the morning for a meeting. No one else was in the bunker except for the team of former rogues. They had all been asleep less than an hour ago, but an urgent call from Birkhoff gathered them in Ryan's office. The hacker didn't look like he had slept at all. Despite the overcaffeinated jitters racking his body, heavy bags were under his eyes. He definitely had something important to share. In fact, it was so important that he wouldn't drop hints about what it could be about until everyone was there, and until they had complete privacy. If Birkhoff was that wound up- that paranoid- then it was easy for the others to be as well.
Alex and Sean certainly were. With Amanda waging war against Division, any serious news was awful. It took everything in Sean and Alex to psych themselves up for yet another blow. The others seemed to be doing the same, save Nikita. She slumped in a chair at Ryan's desk, looking both exhausted and pissed. She wasn't dressed in her usual business attire, just jeans and a tee. Alex flashed her a sympathetic grin. There were some days when the hell of their missions and the toll of her pregnancy weighed heavily on her. She wasn't only anxious; she was done, "How do you keep flipping between glowing in excitement and looking like death?"
"The doctor said my hormones will more than likely regulate around the second trimester. Until then…" Nikita sighed, collapsing her head in her hands. She was fine. Despite the consistent cramps and headache, she hadn't been feeling as nauseous. She believed she really was getting better as her pregnancy progressed. Her emotional outbursts with unexplained tears had certainly lessened. Alex, as well as the rest of her team, didn't have to be worried. Not only did Michael have that base well covered, but there was nothing to be concerned about.
Since Nikita was out of the field, a lot of the stress that had caused her sickness (and the arguments with her husband) had disappeared. There was still Amanda to be cautious of. And Nikita and Michael were still trying to figure out all the things they had to do before the baby arrived. But they were making great strides in the latter. As for Amanda, hopefully whatever Birkhoff had to share would help the team take her down. In the meantime, Nikita had to wake herself up to hear the news. Fortunately, most of her exhaustion wasn't related to her pregnancy. She just prioritized other things over sleep, "I also stayed up late last night, so this is on me."
"Nightmares?" Sitting next to Nikita, Alex assumed. Nightmares were why she and Sean hadn't slept well. It was almost like a common occurrence by that point. One or both of them would have a nightmare, and they'd seek warmth and comfort from the person beside them. The couple was very fortunate that they lived together and shared the same bed. Sean and Alex were always right there when they needed each other. That had become more often with recent horrific events. Yet their embrace always relieved enough stress to help them fall back asleep.
"Something like that," Nikita flashed a sleepy smirk. She and Michael definitely had nightmares. That wasn't even a question. Between the Sarin gas attack, Amanda, and everything else they have been through lately, it was impossible not to have a night terror. But when they woke, the married couple had one another to comfort them. They could talk, they could embrace, and they could find other ways to spend the night together besides sleeping. Kissing and holding each other full of fiery passion was a great way to relax after their nightmares- even if it meant they didn't get as much rest as they should've.
Studying Nikita's proud grin, Alex had the strong suspicion she knew exactly what her vague comment was about. The thought wasn't confirmed, however, until a tired Michael entered the room. He had made coffee for himself and tea for Nikita. When he handed the mug to his wife and rubbed her back soothingly, they shared matching smug grins. Alex couldn't believe those two- having sex instead of sleeping and being proud about it the next day. Though, she couldn't judge. It wasn't as though she and Sean hadn't done the same. But at least they weren't silently bragging about it, "You're already pregnant. Keep it in your pants."
Michael nearly spat out his coffee. Nikita and Alex did their best not to laugh. Glancing over at a nervously pacing Birkhoff helped calm them back down, though. As much fun as teasing each other was (it was also a great distraction from their problems), the team was gathered in the office for a reason. They had serious business to attend to; business that would no doubt ruin their good mood. Ryan already appeared to be in a terrible mood when he finally stormed into his office after securing their privacy. He just wanted to get things over with, "Alright, Birkhoff. Why'd you call us in here so early?"
"We have a mole," Unable to stop himself, Birkhoff just blurted. He had wanted to tell his team the information the second he thought of it. However, he knew he had to go to them with intel first. Once he had enough, which was somehow not nearly enough to actually know who the mole was, he had called them in to discuss it. He wanted to break the news gently, show all of his evidence first so they knew exactly what he was talking about. Instead, it all just came tumbling out. It was too horrific to be held back any longer.
Concerned and frightened glances instantly shot around the room. All exhaustion jolted out of the team's bodies. There was too much panic in their minds to even remotely be sleep deprived any longer. They knew Birkhoff was right; there was no doubt about it. He hadn't led them astray on information before (well, save for a few small details here or there). If he claimed there was a mole, then somebody in Division had turned. It was only a matter as to what extent. Michael was the first to be able to ask just that, "What do you mean by 'mole' exactly?"
"Somebody's been sharing our information with Amanda. Think about it, she knew everything we did as it happened. Also, a series of encrypted communications has been sent out on a terminal I haven't located yet," Birkhoff rambled. He didn't necessarily need to explain his thought process; his team was right there with him. Yet it helped to get his anxious mind in order. He was able to get his apprehensive, twitching fingers under control by pulling up the evidence he had discovered on his tablet and showing it to the others.
"Someone here is still fucking loyal to Amanda," When she saw Birkhoff's intel, Nikita groaned and collapsed completely onto Ryan's desk. Of course someone was still loyal to Amanda. There were three hundred agents inside Division, and thirty of them had gone rogue. It shouldn't have been surprising that a few hadn't wanted the team to take over. They'd rather be controlled by fear, or whatever twisted thing Amanda was baiting them with, than the promise of freedom. Some people just couldn't handle change. Clinging to whatever was bad for them was better than facing anything different. It didn't matter if it got them killed or not.
Although Nikita's flop on the desk was a bit dramatic, the sentiment was felt by the whole team. Of course there was one more odd stacked against them ever going home and living happily ever after. It wasn't the simple clean up Division and control the fallout job like they had thought. It was shit storm after shit storm. Even when they managed to get their bearings straight, something else came along to pull the rug out from under them. It'd be easier if the team just collapsed and gave up. It was taking more and more from them just to stand and keep fighting. Ryan had to battle his shock in able to wonder, "How much has been shared?"
"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out. The encryption is hard to decipher," Birkhoff wished he had an answer. He wished he knew when exactly the mole had begun their communications with Amanda. He doubted it began when Owen returned. It had to have been going on longer than that; it could've been going on since Amanda was ousted from Division. If Birkhoff knew for sure, he could have better success at discovering who the mole was. At the moment, he was struggling just to beat their encryption. He hadn't encountered something that complicated before. Maybe that meant there was more than one mole working together.
"Alright. We need to look into this. The Sarin gas attack was probably orchestrated between Amanda and her mole. We might be able to find something in Medical," Michael stopped Birkhoff from spiraling with that thought. Speculating was only going to drive them insane. Considering the stress nearly had them there already, the team needed to actually do something about the mole situation. Sitting around talking and thinking wouldn't get them far. Putting a plan into action was their best bet.
"Like who was around to notify the bitch it occurred when it did," Agreeing with Michael, Sean attempted to think who the mole could possibly be. He didn't know many of the people trapped inside Division; even when he was Oversight's watchdog, he didn't spend time getting to know the agents. As far as he was aware, those that had stayed wanted nothing to do with Amanda. They didn't show much loyalty to her while she was around. They seemed to dislike her as much as they hated Percy. So what could've changed. What made someone want to help their enemy murder people they work with and gleefully tell them about it.
"I can investigate. It takes a mole to catch a mole," Nikita sighed, finally lifting her head from Ryan's desk. Although she had no clue what would make someone work with the woman who had psychologically tortured them in Division for decades, Nikita knew how a mole thought. She had been one for Michael- and by extension the CIA- for years. The secrecy and separate identity she had to create had been ingrained in her. She was certain she could spot it in someone else during an investigation.
Ryan attempted not to scoff at Nikita's comment. Alex caught his eye roll, though. She had no idea what that was about. However, she knew Nikita was right. Alex had lived her own double spy life when she was working as Madeline's secretary and teaming up with the former rogues to fight Division (an argument could be made that she was still leading a double life). It took someone who knew what that kind of stress and pressure was like to be able to recognize it in another person. Nikita was the most qualified for that kind of investigation. The rest of them had to find other ways to stop the mole, "What should the rest of us do?"
Just as Alex asked, an alert chimed on Ryan's computer. It sounded like one of the alerts that came from Shadowbot. Once the team had taken over Division, Birkhoff's computer program was changed to search for Dirty Thirty activity instead of just black box activity. If one of their rogues hit the media, or any other trace of the internet, the team would know instantly. It didn't matter if they were dealing with other shit at the time. They had more disasters to attend to. Owen almost laughed at their cruel fate as he answered Alex, "Probably deal with that."
Birkhoff pulled up the alert, leading the team to current news footage. It wasn't anything too disastrous or exciting, at least at first glance. Some overconfident politician was simply accepting the presidency he had just won. As he talked about the election, how he came to power seemed corrupt. Yet that wasn't anything for them to be alarmed about. Other agencies could handle it; though, Nikita thought she recognized the newly elected president. She couldn't figure out how, until she glanced at Ryan and Birkhoff. Both stared at the video in shock. But it was Birkhoff that managed to stammer, "Isn't that…"
"Markov. Undercover in Uzbekistan for six years, and never followed the recall order," Irritation quickly replacing his shock, Ryan seethed. Percy had wanted an agent in Uzbekistan years ago to deal with the political unrest and gear things towards American interests. It was similar to what he did in Belarus with his body-double president. However, whereas that agent had been controllable (up to a certain extent), Markov had been entirely off leash. He was the leader of a country, despite the efforts to rein him in. Taking him out, and without their own president knowing the extent of the disaster, was going to be impossible.
"A rogue Division agent just became the leader of a country? How?" Sean couldn't understand how that was even possible. Sure, he had killed a rogue agent in Belarus that had done the same thing. But that agent was put in the position of power as a puppet. Once he got out of control, his strings were cut. The situation with Markov seemed drastically different. He was never intended to become president. He was completely out of control from the get-go. How the hell was the team actually going to manage one of their rogues if he was a foreign leader.
"Fucking bullshit is what it is," Nikita huffed, slouching further in her chair. Ryan absolutely agreed with her. There was no way Division could attack a leader of a sovereign nation without word reaching their president. And if she ever found out one of their rogues became that dangerous and powerful, she'd shut them down and have them killed. Between Amanda and her mole, and the threat of Markov, the team and everyone else inside Division weren't going to survive. They were well and truly fucked.
"We need to gather intel. And we need to do it now," However, Michael had hope the team would be able to figure something out. If they just dug for the right information, if they just led the right investigation, everything would eventually be alright. That hope flowed through the rest of the team; they all clung to the possibility of surviving until they reached the blissful end of their wars. The only one unaffected by that encouragement was Ryan. He knew better than to believe such things. They couldn't fight their fate. The best they could do was accept the terrible things in store for them.