"Alex. Wait up," Sean called for Alex across the hallway. She had been talking to Sonya, but at the sound of her boyfriend's voice, she sent the hacker ahead. He beamed as he hurried to close the distance between them. Although the two had known each other for well over a year, their recent change in relationship made everything so new and exciting. The week they had been together was one of the best weeks of their lives. They were both so ecstatic to see where things went for them. Sean already had an idea of what that might be, yet he suddenly became hesitant to share it with Alex. Once they were within arm's reach, he stammered, "So… How are you?"
"What is it, Sean?" Seeing right through his hesitation, Alex took Sean's hands in hers and smiled softly. She desperately wanted to kiss him. But after being caught by Birkhoff and Nikita, she never wanted to risk another public display of affection. She had thought the taunts after she and Sean had kissed in the back of Ryan's car was bad. Yet his sister and her best friend catching them making out after having sex was way worse. Alex never wanted to experience another moment like that again. She'd rather just go a few hours without kissing her boyfriend.
Holding Alex's hands helped relax Sean. His nervousness was unwarranted. Their relationship was solid. They had talked, gone on dates, and easily expressed their hearts. He had no reason to be afraid to ask her to have dinner with his family. He knew she would say 'yes'. After all, she already knew one of his sisters- she had known her longer than she had known him. Alex would be happy to meet Jill and Sandy. Yes, it was a big deal. But it was nothing to be anxious over, "Do you want to come with me to my sisters' in DC this weekend? We're having this family dinner, and I'd love it if my girlfriend came with me."
"Yeah! Yeah. I'd love to meet Jill and Sandy officially, and see if yours and Nikita's stories match up," Alex smiled brilliantly, swinging hers and Sean's hands back and forth. He matched her grin and chuckled. Although they hadn't been dating at the time, Sean had already met Alex's mother and had spent time with her. And Alex had worked with Sean's mother, and she knew his sister Nikita very well. Having dinner with Jill and Sandy and their families was the natural next step. The couple could truly be connected to each other and their whole family.
"Great!" Sean stole a kiss from Alex's lips. He knew she was wary about PDA, but they were alone in the hallway. And, he was just too happy not to kiss her. His girlfriend didn't mind. She dared to give him another kiss. Things were blissfully joyous between them; how could they not relish in it as much as possible. A part of Sean wanted to whisk Alex away to her apartment right then, so he could keep kissing her and they could pack and leave. Unfortunately, there were still things they needed to discuss. Most importantly, what kind of lies were they going to have to tell his sisters, "But. Um. Should I introduce you as Alexandra Udinov or…"
"Oh. Well, they are lawyers; they know discretion. And half the Pierces know my real identity anyway. So, why not? I want to be who I really am with your family," Honestly, Alex didn't have to think too long to make a decision. Nikita had told her that Sean had talked to Jill and Sandy about an agent he worked with named Alex. However, she didn't want to be a secret agent around them- even though she was one. She wanted to be Alexandra, the person she could hardly be around other people. It was a more meaningful identity for her to be around his family.
"Perfect. I'll go tell them, and then I'll get the car ready. We pack and leave later this afternoon?" With one more kiss, Sean decided. He didn't care if it was Alex, Alexandra, or both that he introduced to Jill and Sandy. He just wanted them to know the woman he loved. It was ultimately Alex's decision on what to do, though. It was tricky with Division still around. However, the two could figure it out together. That was what they did then. They were together, so they worked through their problems together. They couldn't force each other to be alone.
"Sounds good. I'll tell the team we're leaving for the weekend," Alex squeezed Sean's hands, then they went their separate ways to kickoff their amazing weekend. She had to stop herself from skipping to Ryan's office. She was ecstatic to spend days with the man she loved and his family, but she still had to have her decorum. Especially as she talked to Ryan. Though, she didn't doubt that he'd give them time off. There were no active missions, and if one occurred, Nikita, Owen, and several other agents could handle it. Sean and Alex were allowed to be free for a few days. Their new relationship deserved it.
Although she had spent most of the morning in Ryan's office, Nikita wanted to talk to him again. Michael's decision to permanently stay out of the field and be head of agents again didn't sit right with her. He hadn't talked to her about it. He only talked to Ryan. She needed to know what he said- what he thought. Being separated from him was driving her insane. She needed him back. However, as Nikita approached Ryan's office, she ran into Alex. The young woman looked so excited that it distracted the former rogue. She quickly wanted to become invested in that, mostly because it seemed so happy, "What were you talking to Ryan about?"
"Sean and I are taking the weekend off. He's taking me to meet Jill and Sandy," Alex said all bubbly and excited at first. She was so ecstatic that she and Sean had decided to enter into a serious relationship immediately. They both knew how strongly they felt for one another- he had already expressed that he loved her. There was no need to dance around each other anymore; they were all in. Except, as Alex refrained from bouncing on her toes like an overexcited teenager, the light in Nikita's brown eyes dimmed. It wasn't difficult to notice. At the mention of her sisters, her happiness at seeing her best friend so ecstatic died.
"Oh. Well. That'll be fun," Nikita at least fought to keep smiling and not show her depressing thoughts. She had known that Sean would introduce Alex to Jill and Sandy; the fact that it took him a week to do so actually surprised her. And she was happy that Sean's and Alex's relationship was strong and was going somewhere. Nikita just continued to struggle with being separated from her family. It was getting harder the closer she felt to home with her brother always around; they could rely on one another and tease each other like they used to. Yet she couldn't connect with anyone else. She'd be separated from them for who knew how long.
"You okay with that?" Her giddiness waning, Alex wondered. She hadn't considered how Nikita would feel about her meeting Jill and Sandy. She was happy for Alex and Sean. But knowing her best friend could see and talk to her sisters while she couldn't must've been difficult. Although her mother lived in Greece, Alex could at least talk to her and visit. Nikita didn't get to have that chance, not for a while anyway. She had to stay away while her brother and her best friend got to have the connections she wanted. It wasn't exactly fair.
"Of course. You know I've always considered you one of my sisters. It's perfect that you get to meet the rest of my family. I'm glad you and Sean are so happy," Nikita smiled easily. She grabbed Alex's hands and squeezed them reassuringly. Regardless of her feelings about her family, she was happy that her brother and best friend were happy. They had made a relationship work despite- well- everything. That was something worth celebrating. After they were teased, of course, "And if you need any advice on how to face Jill and Sandy, just text me. I know how to defend against their interrogations."
"Interrogations?" Dropping Nikita's hands, Alex was hit with her first wave of anxiety since Sean had offered her the invitation. Normally, she could handle the team's annoying questions about her and her boyfriend; she'd fire back with a quip or a glare that'd shut them up. But she couldn't do that with Jill and Sandy. Also, if they asked her questions about what she did all day or how she and their brother met, she'd have no idea what to say. Alex and Sean needed to get their story straight before they went to dinner. She couldn't be completely herself, and he couldn't tell his sisters everything. If they did, all their protective secrets would be blown to shit.
While Alex rushed off to create cover stories with Sean, Nikita grinned softly to herself. They'd be able to work something out before they got to DC; there wasn't much to worry about there. However, as Nikita redirected her trek to Birkhoff's nerd cave, her anxious mind wouldn't shut up. Her thoughts about Jill, Sandy, and Michael all merged together into a jumbled mess. She couldn't sort them out. She tried, yet all she could do was collapse in a chair, defeated. It was too much. It was never ending. It was going to drown her. The only reason it didn't was because Birkhoff eventually saved her, "Are you alright? Are you reconsidering the mission?"
"Not at all. So what is this about Kosta Bechriaj's leg?" Getting right to business, Nikita sat upright and cleared her head. She didn't need to worry about Sean and Alex, and Jill and Sandy. Her attention, instead, should be focused on Kosta Bechriaj. Birkhoff had managed to find a connection between the corrupt deputy prime minister of Kosovo and Heidecker. Apparently, the two men had spent a lot of time together in the past few months. It was the only movements of Heidecker that the hacker had managed to track. If Nikita wanted to get to him, then she needed to go through Bechiraj. She had to learn as much about him as she could.
"Last year, the CIA tried to kill Bechiraj. But all they did was cause him to lose his leg. To cover it up, he blamed his pet tiger and put it down. He then disappeared from the public eye, until a few weeks ago. After some visits with Hiedecker, Bechiraj was able to walk around a boat last week with two legs," Despite his own reservations, Birkhoff shared. He continued to think going after Heidecker was dangerous, especially with Kosta Bechiraj in the mix. Yet Nikita was too determined to ever back down. He had to help her so she wouldn't get hurt.
"Whoa," Studying the picture of Bechriaj in the hospital with an amputated leg one year ago, then examining the photograph of him walking around on two perfectly working legs last week, Nikita honestly couldn't believe it. Of course, in a world of killchips, hyper-realistic masks, super performance enhancing drugs like the regiment, and other horrible scientific feats that Division had unleashed on the world, a regrown limb wasn't that big of a leap. It was just one more scientific advancement that too much money and corruption could achieve.
Nikita had to steal it for Michael. He deserved a new hand more than Bechriaj deserved a new leg. She had to get her fiancé the better prosthetic- that, as far as Birkhoff could tell from his research, was flesh and blood grown over carbon fiber bone. Redirecting her focus from the photographs, Nikita reviewed the other information the hacker had found. She could formulate a plan from the files. She soon had one idea spring to mind, "Heidecker meets with Bechiraj the first three days of the month, then he goes into hiding and we lose him. But, we can make Bechiraj force Heidecker to stay longer if we make him think something's wrong with his leg."
"And how are you going to kidnap Heidecker?" Birkhoff could follow Nikita's rationale in getting Heidecker in one place and at a specific time. Yet how was she going to get him away from Bechiraj. After the CIA attack, Bechiraj had become increasingly paranoid. They could use that in making him force Heidecker to stay longer. However, Nikita wouldn't be able to just grab the scientist and make a break for it. There'd be too many guards and security measures. Also, Heidecker might not want to go with her, and he might put up a fight. The variables were too great. It could take another week to successfully plan a mission.
"You know, the usual: 'My name's Nikita. Come with me if you want to live'," Miming dragging Heidecker away at gunpoint, Nikita shared her plan so far. Even she could admit that it needed a lot of work. However, things like that had worked many times in the past. It could work for her again. She simply needed to maneuver around guards and Bechiraj. If she studied the compound and figured out some infil and exfil points, she should have no problems. The mission could run like any other. Its special purpose just made it more serious.
Birkhoff wasn't in the mood for Nikita's antics. They needed real, concrete ideas if she was going on her operation alone. Not only was Heidecker not one to mess with, Bechiraj was an extremely dangerous man. The CIA failed a mission against him (though, that wasn't saying much). Nikita had to be careful; she had to be more than careful. Even with Birkhoff hacking in his cave, there was only so much he could do to help her while she was across the world. She had to begin thinking more than she was, "You're actually thinking this through, right?"
"Yeah. I know how to trick Bechiraj and I have a way to grab Heidecker. You just worry about getting me in and out of Kosovo. And covering for me here," Nikita nodded, pushing out of her chair. If she left for Kosovo that night, when everyone went home for the night, her mission could remain underwraps. She'd need to be as covert as possible to go after Bechiraj. She could probably gain access to him through his mistress. From there, she could inject his leg with a non-lethal toxin that'd convince him to keep Heidecker with him longer than usual. That seemed like a reasonable plan. She'd narrow down the details during her long flight.
"You're not telling anyone about this? Not even Michael?" Absolutely bewildered, Birkhoff gaped at Nikita. He understood her going into hostile Kosovo alone, yet there was no way he could wrap his head around her lying to her fiancé. Of all people to know about the mission, Michael had to know about the possibility of getting a new hand. It concerned him, he needed to be aware. Also, he should be aware that his fiancée was about to do something reckless. If anything happened, he should be right there. It wasn't the time to be silent.
"Alex and Sean are going to visit Jill and Sandy this weekend. Just tell Michael I'm doing something with one of them. I don't want to give him false hope," Unwilling to look at Birkhoff, Nikita responded quietly. She didn't want to tell Michael her plans only for it to fall through. Bechriaj's leg could've been a one off. There was no guarantee that she could force Heidecker to make a hand for Michael. Unless everything was certain, Nikita didn't want to raise hopes; she didn't want to steal them away in case it never worked out. Her fiancé had been through enough. She should only try to give him good things. She needed to.
