AN: A major thanks to all you wonderful reviewers! To Shadowalex: I will try to add a bit more Mikita for you as I want to show a bit more of the other people in the house and how they see the relationship evolving in front of them and how their own relationships change. I just got notified by good ole fashion cola that chapter four was the same as chapter three…I am not sure whether it was just a system glitch or not but I changed it to the right chapter. This one is dedicated to Cola for notifying me and some awesome reviews! I want your opinion I want to give Ryan a relationship as well…and the crazy thought of him and Sean popped up….I know it is crazy (as said before) but if you guys like it I will put it in the story.
Ryan had been at the house for a little over two months now and was starting to feel a little homesick. Don't get him wrong; anything was better than Division or prison, but he would like to have his own place again. Not share anything and have complete silence knowing he was alone in the house. He knew that wouldn't be possible till the oganisation was taken down and he was lucky to live with these people. Said people were currently on the beach. It was a rather warm and sunny day and the guys had decided swimming was in order. Ryan was surprised even Birkhoff had joined in, he looked like he hardly ever went outside. The fact that Alex would be in a bikini probably helped.
They seemed to be having fun and he was planning to join them soon enough but right now he enjoyed the silence he had been craving for days. The other agents were great separately but together as a team they were unbeatable. Even their relationships seemed to be perfectly balanced. Alex her quick wit matched Birkhoff his own and where he was extremely cautious she evened that out with her impulsiveness. Nikita was always so serious which Michael often managed to lift and she was capable of staying level headed where he couldn't. it was almost sickening, so sweet. While he admitted to fancying Nikita for a while, any fool could see that those people had found the one thing the rest of the world so desperately sought: The one. Collecting a couple of files from the desk in his room he went downstairs. He just hoped that the next mission wouldn't tear the team apart.
"So what is the plan?" Nikita asked, flipping through the file of targets.
"This group is a bit similar to oversight. Corrupt business people, donating the money their companies earn to several small charities. Those charities are cover-ups for Division bank-accounts. In return, Division targets people that form a threat to the company their prosperity." Ryan explained as he placed all the faces and their names on the main screen. "They all know each other, they work together…have secret handshakes if you will. If the data me and Birkhoff have collected is correct; there will be a meeting in this building tomorrow." He said as another picture appeared.
"These people are smart. This is a house without any form of surveillance, there are no blue prints available either. You guys will be going in blind. I can give you visuals from the air, but my guess is that they will be having some form of jammer on site. I doubt Division hasn't already warned them about us." Birkhoff added to Ryan his explanation.
"That is one big risk to take going in blind without any form of contact if there is a jammer." Alex exclaimed.
"We have no idea when they will meet again and if we try to take them one by one we will end up with most likely only one or two death and the others still donating money only in hiding." Michael said, not feeling any happier about the plan. It was, unfortunately, the only one they had.
Alex was making sure she had all the proper stuff with her for the next day when Birkhoff found her. She was just assembling a rather large gun when he entered the room. He held up his hands in mock surrender as she swirled around with the almost finished gun in her hands.
"Can we talk?" he asked as she finished the gun.
"Sure."
"Listen tomorrow, please be safe. Don't take any unnecessary risks, it's dangerous enough as it is."
"I always try to be safe, that's nothing new. It's not like I want to be blown to pieces Seymour." She gave him her full attention after she finished putting everything in order.
"Yes, and we both know that you like to go ahead with things even if a plan gets jeopardized." She opened her mouth to object but he continued on talking. "Don't try to deny it Alex. All I am saying is stay safe and don't make me worry back here on whether you are going to make it out alive because you ran off to play the hero. Nikita and Michael are on scene and they are capable of rushing in. I, however, need to wait back here to command the computers and hope you guys make it home in one piece. I can tell you, it's not a great feeling." He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Fine, I'll try to keep from rushing off when things threaten to go wrong. You better have one big bucket of ice cream ready when I get back tomorrow." She placed her head on his shoulder, just relaxing for a moment.
"I promise, Princess. Now are you coming back to my room voluntarily or do I have to force you?" While they were officially together now, they still spend some of the nights in their own rooms. They were trying to take it slow, but tonight with all the troubles of what lay ahead tomorrow they both didn't really think it was a good idea. Alex wanted to know that she spend as much time with the resident genius as she could before the team left tomorrow. She wasn't sure after all if she would come back home after the mission, or if she would be buried as a john doe.
Nikita was worried about the mission. It wasn't like she had never gone in blind before, but she was with a team now. Because they couldn't be sure where in the building the group would be gathered they would go for a rather explosive plan. They would place bombs at each side of the house, which if they were lucky would make the building collapse entirely. If by some accidents members managed to leave the building they would be blown up when they ignited the car. Either way they would die. She squeezed Michael his hand who was sitting in the driver seat. She was happy to have him at her side. He was a great agent, but having him by her side made her feel safe. She needed him in her life as her partner in all the ways imaginable. He understood her, knew where she came from and gave her the space she needed to breathe while still keeping a firm hold on her. She couldn't imagine a life without him.
For a moment she fantasized about her future with him. If they all survived, she was pretty sure not one of them ever moved far away. Their own place would be heaven, but ever being far away from the people she trusted scared her. She had lost so many already, she did not want to lose another person ever again. She imagined her children, beautiful, too smart for their own good; with all their aunts and uncles spoiling them rotten. She gave a quiet snort. If she already thought her children would be too smart she should probably never talk to a child from Birkhoff. That thought made her look at the younger girl in the back of the car. Would she and Birkhoff make it through all of it? Alex was strong and so was Birkhoff, but this stuff really took their toll on people. At least she had Michael at her side through everything. Birkhoff had to watch Alex walk out of that door and live with the guilt he had let her go if something happened to her. As misplaced that guilt was, Nikita was sure Seymour would feel it. She had felt it when she nearly lost Michael during a mission because she left him on his own. She just had to make sure Birkhoff got his girlfriend back in one piece.
Placing the bombs would be trickier than expected. Birkhoff had been right; there had been a jammer, or some sort of loop. What according to the satellites was a nearly deserted area was full of guards. It wouldn't make it impossible; but it asked for incredible timing and speed. They decided to move each to a different side of the building as that would limit the risks of all being caught and also limit the chance of being spotted. Alex took the back of the building. According to Birkhoff there was a small shed which she should be able to get the bomb in easily. As long as the guards didn't catch her that is. For a moment she expected some sarcastic comment in her ear piece until she remembered that Birkhoff was cut off by the jammer and therefore had no idea what was going on or able to contact her. She suddenly felt very alone without his presence. Focusing again on the task at hand she noticed one of the guards close by. Picking up a rock she threw it as hard as she could against a bush on the opposite side of the building. It was flocked with birds and at the slam of the stone against the bush they all rose up in the air, rushing off to find another tree. It was the same thing they would have done had she had walked near that bush and disrupted it. The guard followed her line of thought and went to have a look, leaving her to place the bomb in the shed. She made sure the bomb was in check before waiting till the man was being released of his duty and thus being distracted. Everything went well and she met Michael at the edge of the forest that surrounded them that had a clear view of all the cars parked. Nikita met up with them a second later out of breath. A tear in her shirt made Michael shoot her a questioning look as he checked her for serious injuries.
"I had to disable one of the guards. He spotted me on my way back. It was choosing between them finding out in a couple of minutes that he is no longer responding or them finding out right now that we are here." She was leaning forward trying to catch her breath.
"Then we have to hurry, they may already have been notified. Here are the other bombs. Just stick them underneath the car, the moment it heats up it will explode. Once you placed the bomb get back here." Six packages were divided between them and they rushed of trying to stay covered by the big hulks of black cars while placing the bombs. Alex had just placed her last bomb when one of the guards spotted her. Instead of running after her he just aimed his gun immediately. These guys either knew who she was or just never took survivors. Not wasting a second she rushed off, trying to break his aim by zigzagging between the cars and other things that could grant her some cover. The first few bullets didn't even come close, but then there was a second shooter with a far better aim. She cried out as a bullet made its way past her side, taking a piece of muscle with it. She struggled on, pressing a hand against her side to stop the bleeding. The shooting had fortunately alerted Nikita and Michael who took their own aim against the people chasing her. When she reached the edge of the forest Michael pressed the button exploding the building. They didn't wait to see if they had killed the targets as they had been spotted and therefore had half an army on their heels. They didn't let out the breath they were holding until they were safely on the road without anyone following.
Birkhoff was pacing the living room. Ryan had vacated it ten minutes ago when he nearly got his head bitten off for suggesting he might want to sit down. He almost knocked the agents off their feet when they came in. "What the hell happened!" He snapped as he immediately went to the hurt Alex.
"Hello to you too Birkhoff." Michael muttered as he made Alex sit on one of the barstools to inspect the wound. She pulled of the shirt she was wearing, grimacing at the pain in her side and the feeling of the fabric that had dried onto the wound was torn off again.
"Again, what the hell happened? I thought you would contact me when you got out of there?" As an answer Nikita threw a smashed cell phone on the counter.
"I got spotted and then shot. It's not as bad as it looks Seymour." Alex winched as Michael cleaned the wound.
"Not as bad as it looks? You got shot. I think that says it all, don't you?" He muttered as he watched from a distance as Michael patched up the wound.
"Don't worry Nerd, the bullet just grazed her. She might have some scarring and pain but there aren't any stitches needed." Michael commented. "Just put on some gauze and wrap it tightly. Don't strain yourself too much the upcoming days and you should be fine."
"Thanks Michael." Alex murmured as the adrenaline rush left her. She slowly made her way to her own room, followed on her heels by Birkhoff. He seemed unsure on whether to support her or stay near in case she collapsed. She applied the gauze in the bathroom grimacing at the ugly wound the bullet had created. No wonder Seymour had freaked out, it looked terrible despite it's harmless nature.
"Could you help me put the bandages on?" Alex asked as she realized she would not be able to get it around her torso without jerking the wound. He took the roll without any words and started to wrap them tightly around her torso as she rested her arms on his shoulders. "I asked you to stay safe." He murmured and she almost didn't catch it.
"This is an occupational hazard Seymour, you know I can't guarantee you that I will not get hurt. I didn't take any risks like you asked, but this was just bad luck." She pulled at his hair as he refused to look at her face. "I am fine Seymour. It looks serious, but you heard Michael. I will be perfectly fine. I am alive and maybe not well, but I will be. Now stop worrying or blaming yourself. There is ice cream with my name on it and I rather eat it together with a good movie and you in my bed." She joked, brushing a few of the longer bangs of hair out of his face. "I'm fine, really." He finally seemed to let it go and as he finished putting the bandages on. The muscles that had been coiled tight earlier had relaxed somewhat.
Alex crawled into her bed as Birkhoff went off in search for the ice cream and a good movie. As he sneaked into her bed she curled up against him, smiling as his hand automatically slid underneath her shirt to trail patterns on her belly. She truly was fine.
AN Well hope you liked it and please let me know what you guys think about the Sean/Ryan idea…as crazy as it sounds you do have to admit that is hot on hot :P