"Amanda's just made her latest move, an attack designed to expose Division while leaving no trace back to her," Once the whole team had gathered in Ryan's office, he informed them of what was occurring. After Kendrick had given him the call about an agent handing him a file containing black box information, he didn't hesitate to gather everyone together. They could discuss the blue files later. They had other crises to deal with, "Naomi Ceaver, a CIA analyst, got a flashdrive dead-dropped in her mailbox this morning."
"With information about my mother? With information that could have only come from the black box," Sean knew he wasn't reaching when he made that assumption. The CIA being handed black box intel was a huge deal that affected all of Division. However, only the team was gathered in secret in Ryan's office. That meant that whatever was going on affected one of them greatly. With a decrypted black box, it was easiest for Amanda to go after Sean's mother. Madeline had had enough power that Amanda would want to drag her reputation down as she ruined the team. It'd definitely raise alarm in the government, which could kill them all.
Eyes all drifted to Ryan. he had been the one in contact with Kendrick since taking over Division. Kendrick advocated for the team when things went bad, and he shared information and resources with them. Ryan should then know if Naomi was given info straight from Amanda; Kendrick would've interrogated her, then he would've told Ryan everything she had said. However, as the team stared at him, he shook his head. There was no direct link to Amanda. In fact, she was certain that a man gave her the flashdrive, "Naomi said she thought she saw someone watching her, but it was a man, not a woman."
"Alright, what exactly is on this flashdrive?" Michael was a little more concerned about the information leak than what exactly Amanda was up to. Yes, the bitch was absolutely up to something horrific. But the last time information from a black box was released, riots broke out in Chile and people almost died. The team couldn't allow something like that to happen again. Chances were, since Amanda deliberately released info, instead of stupidly like Owen, the public's and government's reactions were going to be way worse. The team needed to get ahead of the leak before they stopped Amanda.
"Ten digital files, unredacted, linking former Senator Madeline Pierce to a secret black ops unit called Division," Strictly sticking to the facts, Ryan sheepishly stared at Sean. He had been right; Amanda had specifically released information about his mother. To what purpose, the team could only assume the worst. Maybe she only wanted to cause chaos and fuck with the team. If so, she was doing a great job of that. They were definitely all rattled and hopelessly confused, especially Sean.
"Why would Amanda leak this? If she wanted to expose us, she could just send the entire black box to The New York Times. Why take a couple of files and give them to the CIA?" Alex asked. If Amanda was going to release Division intel, wouldn't publishing it cause the most damage. Giving it to the CIA only allowed the team to interfere. She wouldn't want the team to be able to stop her. She had a decrypted black box that had the power to destroy lives. There was no way her plans just stopped at the CIA.
As important as trying to discover what Amanda was up to was, Sean didn't care. Amanda could fuck with the team all she wanted. He only cared about the damning information being circulated about his mother. Yes, she had done horrific things while she was a member of Oversight. But the public couldn't know that. Her image needed it to be protected. Sean's family needed to be protected. Those files needed to be destroyed immediately. Not even the CIA could look at them, "Where the hell are these damn files? Why are we not looking at them right now?"
"Kendrick's got the flashdrive. We just gotta figure out pickup," Ryan explained softly. He had called the team in as soon as he had had all the relevant information; he hadn't made any moves without them. Kendrick was still sitting on the flashdrive, and Naomi's attention had been diverted- for the meantime anyway. The team could work together to figure out how to grab the flashdrive from Kendrick, since he couldn't actually waltz it into Division. They'd have the black box info in no time; there was no way it was getting out.
"I guess you guys never heard of email down here?" Sean huffed. If the information was all on a flashdrive, Kendrick could simply email it over. The CIA had secure computers. Not as secure as Division's, but they'd work. There was no point in just standing around the office and talking. The team needed to act immediately. They had always known that Amanda with a black box was dangerous, but then was their moment to actively stop the danger. They could stop the leak and finally kill the bitch. Then no one's life would be in danger, especially not his family's.
"We can't risk sending black box files on the web. Amanda knows that. She knows that we have to send someone to pick it up," Nikita tried to soothe Sean. If things were as simple as he wanted them to be, the team would've done them already. They weren't just sitting on their hands. They had to consider the intel they had and the intel they needed, and then they'd create a plan of attack. Yes the stakes and their own personal investments changed. But the team would still operate the same. They had to be as safe and as controlled as they could be.
Maybe the team hadn't been safe and controlled on recent missions- Nikita certainly hadn't. Yet after their many conversations, they knew they had to be smart moving forward. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes, not with the President breathing down their necks and certainly not with Amanda running wild. They needed to think about every possibility and learn as much as they could. After all, the simplest acts for them could be the most detrimental. Michael reminded them of that as he began to form a pickup plan, "We can't just waltz into the CIA. It'd have to be done discreetly and…"
"Kendrick. That's her move. She's going after Kendrick," Interrupting Michael, Nikita blurted. Used to her outbursts, the team just glanced at her and waited for her explanation. She'd catch them up on her wild train of thought. After all, something had caused her to believe she had figured it all out. They didn't have time to wait for everyone else to figure it out too, "He's the only person at the CIA who knows about Division. He's committed to keeping it a secret. He wouldn't just send some random agent out to deliver it. It would have to be him."
"Amanda targeting the Director of the CIA? That's a little crazy, even for her," Alex shook her head. Nikita was probably right about Kendrick making the dead-drop himself, but that didn't mean Amanda would go after him. So far, the bitch's focus had solely been on Division and the team. She wouldn't randomly attack a government official. It'd draw way too much attention. It'd also force the team to run straight at her again. The bitch's plans were usually more subtle and convoluted than that. She attacked from the side, never head-on.
"Amanda targeting our closest ally in the government- it's not so crazy," Nikita countered. If Amanda wanted the team to truly suffer, she'd take out their support system. They'd be left on their own while she and the Dirty Thirties relentlessly attacked. There'd be no one advocating for them. In fact, Division might be even more at the President's mercy without Kendrick in the CIA. Amanda probably figured that out, so she changed her target from the team to their allies. She'd have an easier time destroying them without any barriers in her way.
"We need to get those files," Trying, and failing, to control his desperation, Sean repeated. He knew he didn't need to. He knew his team was determined to recover the flashdrive, stop any leaks, save people's lives, and hopefully kill Amanda. He just didn't want to leave anything up to chance. It always felt like Amanda was several steps ahead of them. The one time they actually caught up to her, Michael and Alex nearly died. Things couldn't get that bad again. The bitch couldn't keep winning. The team needed to recover the files, discover her real plan, and bring her down for good. Sean was serious about no one else getting hurt. It had to end there.
"We will. And if Amanda makes a move at the drop, we'll be ready for her," Grabbing Sean's hand, Alex smiled reassuringly. Although he couldn't muster a smile of his own, he squeezed her hand. She knew he was panicking. The kind of information the black box had on his mother didn't just harm her reputation. Targets could be painted on his family's backs by people wanting revenge or worse. No information about Division could leak, but especially intel that could hurt people. They were going to recover the files, no question about it.
All the team needed was a plan. Once they had that, they could assemble Division agents and recover the flashdrive. As the director of the CIA, Kendrick was too high-profile and too guarded for just any old handoff. The team would have to plan something around his schedule- something that wouldn't seem out of the ordinary or suspicious. Maybe that could help them stay under Amanda's radar as well, "The Director's a busy man. High-profile. We can arrange the drop during his normal schedule, under the nose of his own security team."
Upon hearing Ryan's suggestion, Birkhoff hacked into Kendrick's online calendar. Fortunately, it wasn't tied directly to the CIA's impenetrable (nearly impenetrable) computer system. The schedule still had intense security around it so regular hackers couldn't access it. But it was no match for the Shadowwalker. Birkhoff was able to hack into the calendar without problem. Quickly, he scanned the contents until he found something that could work for the team, "Tomorrow he's got a 0900 at the federal courthouse."
"Nikita will run point," Ryan decided easily. Nikita nodded in determination. She had the most interaction with Kendrick besides Michael. Since he'd be in Division overseeing the operation, she was incharge in the field. Although Sean had the most investment and the right amount of training, he was too emotionally compromised. He'd be better- and safer- as backup for the exchange they planned, "On his way into the building, Kendrick will stop by the coffee cart and drop the drive into the tip jar. We'll have undercover assets on every corner, scanning every possible threat in a three-block radius."
"We're going to stop Amanda and get those files," Turning towards Sean, Nikita reiterated. She probably didn't need to supply any more assurances. Alex seemed to have covered that front well. Yet Nikita still felt the need to speak the promise into existence. It had more of a chance of coming true if the team was so committed to the idea. No one was going to get hurt from the black box leak. And Amanda would be stopped once and for all. Honestly, the former was probably easier than the later. Yet they couldn't let themselves think like that. The team was going to complete its goal, one way or another.
"We better," Muttering, Sean squeezed Alex's hand even tighter. He believed in and trusted the team- he really did. It was just the universe that he didn't have any faith in. something was going to go wrong as they rushed for the flashdrive. He could've just been pessimistic, believing too much that the team always ran into deeper shit. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that Amanda was once again several steps ahead of them. Things were going to go wrong with the dead-drop. The team had to bring more than their A-game to make sure it didn't.