"Birkhoff, give me full access to Medical's computers. Owen, come with me. Your scrambled brains are going to be my excuse for snooping around," Pulling Owen after her, Nikita soon left Ryan's office to begin her mole hunt. With the scarring to Owen's brain the team had found, and with the frightening hold Amanda seemed to have on him, it was best that he stayed out of the field as well. Instead, he could be useful as Nikita's diversion while she searched Medical for any clues on their mole. He could also be her distraction from the fact that they wouldn't be with their team in the field, facing the same dangers.
"Any ideas on how to rein in a rogue agent that's now President?" Once Nikita and Owen left, Sean wondered. Despite the fact that mole hunting was as important as stopping their Dirty Thirty, the Seal knew the two staying behind felt a pang of regret over it. Splitting up for two very different missions was difficult. What if something happened that the others weren't there to help with. There were too many uncontrollable variables- too many dangers that threatened them. No matter how necessary, splitting up wasn't easy. So, Sean thought it was best to keep Owen and Nikita completely out of their mission. They could focus more on theirs that way.
Silence washed over the room at Sean's questions. There was no simple answer for it. How could they possibly handle a rogue agent that had more power than them. The team had given Division hell when they were rogues, and they didn't hold that much power- just drive. And the Dirty Thirties they had already faced had been enough of a struggle. Markov was a whole other level. The team and their agents had to think and do more than they ever had before. Especially since, as Michael expressed, they only had one option, "I'm assuming we have to kill him. That'd be the only way to remove his power."
"American agents cannot be caught killing a foreign leader. Markov's too heavily guarded in his country. We can't make the attack overseas," Ryan agreed with Michael. Division had to kill Markov. Yet it wasn't that simple. If they had months to set up an operation, and were able to work with other agencies, then maybe they could do it. Division had taken out heads of states before. But they had to keep their actions more than secret that time. And Markov used to be one of their own. He would see them coming from a mile away.
"We can't kill him here either. A murder of a foreign dignitary on American soil will cause a war," Shaking his head, Michael argued. They couldn't wait for the perfect opportunity to kill Markov. It would never come. He was a former assassin turned president. If Division didn't take him out immediately, there was no telling what he'd do. The team simply had to deal with what they had and go from there. They had a full facility of spies and assassins, after all. It wouldn't be perfect, but they were equipped to deal with the consequences.
"And if the President ties it all back to us…" Ryan couldn't finish his sentence. Not only did he not want to overwhelm the team with the fact that their mission to bring in the Dirty Thirties was at the expense of their lives, but he couldn't stomach the thought at the moment. If their President knew the full extent of the situation, they were dead. There was no doubt about it. If their control over their rogues was so lacking that one became the president of Uzbekistan, then the kill order would go into effect. There would be no happy ending- no use in fighting. Division would be dead no matter what.
"What if we just made it look like an accident?" It probably wasn't the best suggestion, but it seemed plausible to Alex. They had to kill Markov but they couldn't make it obvious, so why not just make it look like natural causes or something. Division was a spy organization, shouldn't they be great at diverting attention away from themselves. They could kill someone without it looking like an assassination. Even if they couldn't make it look like an accident, they could find a way to blame someone else for the death- preferably someone bad. The team wasn't stuck in a box. They had to be able to figure something out.
Since the news of Markov broke, Birkhoff had been trying to find any intel that could help the team plan a mission against him. The shift of focus also helped him take his mind off the mole hunt. He needed a break from hopelessly hacking the encrypted communication. Maybe if he returned to it later with a fresh mind, he'd see something he had missed. In the meantime, his hacking abilities could be redirected somewhere else, "Markov will be in the States for the next few days to do some meet and greet with the Prez. That could be our window of opportunity."
"So what? We kidnap Markov on his way to the President, replace him with a double- à la Ovechkin- then kill him and make it look like natural causes?" Sean didn't understand what the team's actual plan was. They couldn't kill Markov in Uzbekistan because of his security. And killing him on American soil would create an international incident. So how were they actually going to pull it off, do some kind of switch like Percy had done with Ovechkin in Belarus. That had only worked because of a months-long operation, an undercover agent, and turning those closest to Ovechkin. They couldn't shorten it down to a few days. The team wasn't that good.
"We'd have to wait until after Markov supposedly returns to Uzbekistan to stage the death. But it could work," Although he was aware Sean was being sarcastic, Michael believed his idea was plausible. The team could slip past Markov's bodyguards if someone was posing as him. And if they staged the death in Uzbekistan, there could be no ties back to America that would lead to a war. Sure, it would've been better if Division had months to plan. But if they got on top of the situation then, they shouldn't have too many problems.
Sean attempted to reiterate that he was only kidding; he didn't want the team to rush off on a dangerous and potentially disastrous operation. However, it was too late. Even Alex was seriously considering his idea. As absurd as it was, it was also their best chance of pulling everything off. Crazy insanity was the team's forte. Usually, Nikita was leading that charge, but the rest of them could easily take over. Ryan was already on that page, after all, "We have to plan everything to a 't' if we're going to succeed."
"We'd need an agent that has the same build, has experience undercover, and can speak Russian," Birkhoff supplied. Typically, when Division was replacing people with fakes, the agents going undercover would receive surgery to make themselves nearly identical. Obviously, there wasn't time for them to do that with Markov. But Birkhoff believed he had a piece of technology that'd help. They simply needed their replacement to already look like Markov. Michael could've been a good fit. He definitely filled all the criteria.
"I think my hand's a dead giveaway," Michael waved his prosthetic hand. He did like to wear a glove over it so people in public wouldn't stare- and so it wouldn't snag on anything. If he wore a matching glove on his other hand, it wouldn't seem as obvious. But the ruse wouldn't hold for long. Someone would discover his fake hand and his real identity quickly. Besides, Michael didn't really want to go undercover for an extended period of time. He didn't believe he could leave Nikita for that long. He wanted to be by her side in case anything happened. So what if that made him overprotective. It'd ease both their apprehensions if he stayed.
"Sean's Russian is rough, but he can pull it off," Noticing Michael's reluctance to go undercover- and completely understanding why- Alex suggested Sean go instead. She didn't like the idea of her boyfriend being separated from her or him risking his life undercover. Yet she knew he was more than capable of handling himself. He was also their only option. Despite his terrible Russian (he was learning from her, but he was at most at a five year old level) he could pass himself off as someone else. He could also kill someone without anyone else knowing. His Seal training made him far more dangerous than he appeared at times, after all.
All eyes turned to Sean. They waited patiently for his answer; well, as patiently as superspies could. The Seal only sighed. The team was lucky he wasn't needed by the Navy for a while. They were also lucky that he'd do anything to help them. If a Seal got caught impersonating the President of Uzbekistan, the world would burn in chaos. But considering Michael's prosthetic and their lack of time, Sean had to replace Markov. He really hoped Birkhoff's disguise was the best thing in the entire world, "I've done crazier."
"Alright. Birkhoff, we need Markov's schedule. We plan around that, and find a way to get him back here…" Pacing his office, Ryan began to put their crazy thoughts into action. However, before he could finish issuing commands, a distant thud interrupted him. No one appeared to be able to place the strange sound. It didn't originate from anywhere around them, and no alarms were instantly raised. It was just weird. Except, no one could ignore it and return to what they were doing. They always had to know what was occurring, "What was that?"
"There was an explosion in Medical," Birkhoff read the alert that came through on his computer. He tried to keep the panic out of his voice. That was the second attack on Medical within a week. Division hadn't even had the time to make the proper repairs since the last explosion. Another one that soon only caused far more destruction- and not just physically. The team was shaken by the news, stress and fears rising. They attempted to keep a handle on it, however. Anxiety couldn't rule them, especially when the other agents in Division were relying on them to lead them through the constant hell. They had to remain strong.
That was easier for the rest of the team than it was for Michael. Once he heard the word 'explosion', his face blanched, and he bolted towards Medical. Nikita was there. She had barely made it onto the elevator before the Sarin gas was released. What if she hadn't managed to escape that time. Another explosion could've taken everything from Michael. He had to rush to his wife. He needed to be by her side. He didn't care if he received concerned glances and worried murmurs from his team and the agents as he sprinted past. He just had to reach Nikita.
Owen was helping Nikita to her feet when Michael finally crashed into Medical. She appeared to be alright- a little shaken up, but otherwise unscathed. After a brief pause to thank whoever was controlling the universe, Michael closed the gap between him and his wife. He scooped her up in his arms and held her as tightly as he could. He placed tender kisses along her temple, just trying to assure himself that she was there. Quietly and repeatedly, she told him as much- she was there and she was fine. Her husband simply had to feel it to know it was true. Even Owen's reassurance went ignored, "We're alright. I got her."
"Gas leak combined with a left behind torch," Nikita muttered the explanation into the crook of Michael's neck. She explained that she had found nothing with her preliminary search, so she and Owen were brainstorming ideas of what to do next. That was when they noticed one of the agents helping to restore Medical had left behind a flame torch. Whereas Nikita moved to investigate the strange fact, Owen smelled the leaking gas. He urgently pulled her out of the room and shielded her from the blast. Everything was alright. No one had been hurt. Although Michael believed Nikita, he continued to hold her as if his life depended on it.
Allowing the married couple to have their moment, Owen intercepted the rest of the team as they filed into Medical. He told them everything, emphasizing the point that no one had gotten hurt. Nikita wanted to add to that assurance, yet Michael didn't let her slip far from his arms. His hand dropped to her lower abdomen, begging in silent question. She nodded; it was okay. Noticing the two's actions, Ryan was struck by how strange it was. Then, he started to connect the dots. Before he could come to any conclusions, Alex grabbed everyone's attention. They seriously needed to get a handle on what was happening, "Is someone onto your mole hunt?"
Finally stepping out of her husband's arms, Nikita studied her team. Ryan flashed her an unreadable expression, yet the rest of them were searching her for answers. She wished she had any. All she really had was overwhelming fear, and the dread that something terrible was going to happen, "Or Amanda gave orders to kill us."