Note:Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and subscribed to this fic! And how excited you guys for the new episode? I'm thrilled to see a preview but also angry that we still have to wait for so long!
Birkhoff's eyes traveled around the spacious apartment, "So this is
Niki's batcave…it does that have 'rogue agent' vibe."
Owen's stare briefly went to the gun on the computer desk.
She glanced at the guardian seeing his mind at wok. With cautious ease she stood up, "Relax, he's not a threat."
"How do you know?" Michael asked her while still pointing his gun at him.
Placing his beer on the coffee table, Owen said, "Listen to her."
"Michael, you know how I handle threats, look around." she told him.
His eyes surveyed the room where he found no signs of a struggle. There were no visible bruises on Nikita and Owen. With a low sigh he reluctantly returned his pistol to its holster.
"That's better." Nikita stepped forward containing the urge to embrace him.
"You know how to make a guy feel welcomed." Owen told Michael as he stood up.
Michael glared at him, "I usually don't trust outsiders."
Birkhoff walked over to Nikita, "As heartwarming as these pleasantries are Niki, I skipped dinner, so…"
"The kitchen's over there, nerd."
"Thanks," the hacker looked at Owen, "You hungry?"
He gave Birkhoff a curious look.
"Because you don't wanna be in the room with these two."
"Why?"
"Being near them makes you wanna go out and get some which doesn't turn out well for Division guys like us."
"Shut up." Michael and Nikita told Birkhoff.
"Aw, just like old times. Come on," he said to Owen.
Both men went into the kitchen leaving Michael and Nikita alone.
"Why didn't you tell me that he was here? We agreed to be honest with each other." He asked her closing in on the gap between them.
Her arms folded across her flat stomach, "He just showed up and I was about to call you until you and Birkhoff came in."
His brows furrowed, "What were you two doing to make you forget?"
With gentle eyes, she reached out and grasped his hand, "Not what we did a week ago on the roof."
His stare softened as his fingers curled over hers, "Can he be trusted? He's an outsider, Nikita."
"Far from it. He's skilled, smart and he wants to takedown Division as badly as we do."
"Nikita.." His tone was unsure.
"Do you trust me, Michael?"
"Yes."
"Then believe me when I tell you that we need him," she took his other hand in hers.
The sincerity in her eyes, voice and touch assured him, "Fine.."
"Good, I see that Birkhoff rerouted your tracker."
"He did and also Thom's when the time is right. How have you been?"
A small grin was on her lips, "I should be asking you that question. You're the one that has to deal with Percy and Amanda."
His shoulders barely rose, "They don't suspect anything. You still haven't answered my question."
Her eyes went to the kitchen's entrance making sure that they were alone. Before she could follow her instincts, Michael went with his pulling her into a kiss. With their hands on each other's backs they savored the taste of each other's lips.
Birkhoff immediately opened the freezer and looked at the assortment of frozen dinners, "Gross, nasty, barely qualifies as food. Sweet, this one has a brownie."
Owen eyed Birkhoff; he had fit Nikita's description perfectly.
After setting the microwave's timer for three and a half minutes Birkhoff saw Owen's reflection in the cabinet's glass door, "Dude, you're creeping me out."
"So you're the ner-.." The hacker cut him off.
He pointed at him, "HEY! Niki put in six years with me; she earned the right to call me the n-word. And you? You've only been here for five seconds. It's Birkhoff to you, got it?"
Slightly amused, Owen pushed himself off the counter, "Sorry."
"You should be, you're not the only one with badass training," he lied knowing Owen's cleaner training; he didn't have a chance in hell against him.
He opened a cabinet and removed a bag of sliced bread, "Ok, Birkhoff, what do you know about the black boxes?"
As he opened the refrigerator he answered, "Only that there are six of them left and if any of them got into the wrong hands we'd all be royally screwed. Heads up," he threw him packets of sliced turkey, cheese, tomato and lettuce. "Nice, she got me Red Bull."
"I thought you'd know more being Division's head tech." He took out a plate and began making himself a sandwich.
A scoff came from him, "I don't know what Niki told you, but one of the reasons why Division is still around is because of me. 'Head Tech' is just a fancy title for an IT guy, I'm beyond that."
"Then why don't you know more?"
"Thanks to Niki's mini-me's little break in, there are two guards outside of Percy's office 24/7. Everything about the black boxes is in his laptop which is in his desk. I just can't stroll in there."
"Is there a vent in his office?"
"I don't know, why-hell no." He realized what the guardian was suggesting.
He finished making his sandwich, "It's not gonna be up to you."
"I'm Shadow Walker, not Spider-Man."
"What's Shadow Walker?"
A wide grin was on his lips before he began bragging to Owen about his online alter ego.
Owen immediately regretted asking him about Shadow Walker. One minute and thirty seconds later, the microwave put a merciful end to Birkhoff's arrogant spiel.
With their meals in hand they headed for the living area but paused in the entrance when they saw Michael and Nikita kissing.
Birkhoff looked at Owen and whispered, "Told you." He took in a spoonful of corn from the TV dinner into his mouth.
As he looked at the couple he thought of Emily and how much he missed her. He turned his eyes away giving them their privacy
Michael sensed that they were no longer alone and opened his eyes to see a smug Birkhoff looking at them while Owen's gaze was directed at the window. He gently pulled away from her.
"Michael.." Nikita sighed feeling confused until she turned her head and saw why he stopped. She was thankful that her lipstick was smudge proof.
"Nice to see that you guys decided to come up for air." Birkhoff quipped as he and Owen sat on the chairs behind the coffee table.
Michael glared at him, "Ever heard of knocking?"
"Ever heard of the phrase 'Can't keep their paws off each other?'" Bikrhoff smirked at them.
"When's the last time a woman put her 'paws' on you? And your doctor telling you to turn and cough doesn't count." Nikita shot back at him.
A wide grin spread across Michael's face as he sat on the stool next to hers.
Owen turned his scoff into a cough.
The smirk on his lips formed into a grimace, "Why am I helping you again?"
"Because you like me, nerd."
"Whatever Niki…" He rolled his eyes.
"Anyway," Michael spoke looking at all of them, "Percy has arranged Alex's graduation mission."
Surprised, asked him, "This soon?"
"Yeah..the earliest I've seen a recruit graduate is ten months, tops," Birkhoff sounded as shocked as Nikita.
"I shared my concerns with Percy but he thinks Alex has shown great promise and so does Amanda. We all know who's responsible for that," he folded his arms and stared directly at her.
Her dark eyes playfully narrowed, "She had to be prepared for the worst, that's what my mentor taught me."
"He must be a great teacher," he tilted his head.
"He was ok.." she held back a grin and shrugged.
His eyebrow rose in amusement.
Birkhoff leaned towards Owen, "I need to put a stop to this. This could go on all night and I'm pretty sure you want to keep that sandwich down. Guys, what are gonna do with Mr. Black Box here?"
"I have a name." Owen told him.
"Right, Owen," Birkhoff sarcastically sniped.
Nikita spoke to him, "Well nerd, there's only one way to get into Percy's office," her eyes briefly went to the ceiling.
"Told you." Owen said with a half smile.
"Where the hell did you guys come with this idea that I'm Spider-Man?"
Michael said to him, "It's just crawling through a vent; stop being so dramatic."
Clearly annoyed he answered, "That's easy for you to say! If Percy or one of his guards walks in you're not the one who's gonna be 'canceled'."
"Percy has a meeting with oversight on Friday; it should give you enough time to get intel on the black boxes," he answered.
"And where will your broody ass be while I'm putting mine on the line?"
"Making sure you don't get caught. Anymore questions?" He asked sounding irritated.
Birkhoff's eyes went from Michael to Nikita, "There has to be other options."
She glanced at Michael before saying, "There's two, you could go along with the plan or I can give Amanda a reason to give you a full body cavity search, again."
With a small nod he turned to Michael, "What time should I start crawling?"
A small but triumphant grin was on her lips.
Michael smirked, "At nine, come to my office and I'll give you instructions."
"Once we get the intel Owen and I will go to each location and retrieve them and then.." Nikita began to say before Michael interrupted her.
"Just you two?"
A hint of annoyance was in her voice, "Yes, why is that a problem?"
"I'd like to know too.." Owen set his jaw and put down his sandwich.
Michael spoke to them, "You two are vulnerable without backup."
A quick scoff came from Owen, "Really? Because only Nikita and I have years of field experience not like you two."
"And what does that make me and Birkhoff? Desk jockeys?" He stood up prompting Nikita to do the same.
Owen got onto his feet, "You said it, not me."
Nikita moved in front of Michael, "Michael don't.."
He glanced at her then said, "Nikita, let me finish."
"Yeah, let him." Owen's tone was defiant, "I'd like to hear him explain how carpal tunnel is a 'battle wound'!"
Greatly offended but afraid of what Owen might do to him, Birkhoff yelled out from his seat, "HEY! You have no idea how much carpal tunnel sucks!"
"Excuse me?" Michael scowled stepping forward.
Ignoring the hacker, Owen spoke as he walked past the coffee table getting closer to Michael, "Sounds like you gotta get your hearing checked!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" He stepped forward only to have Nikita block his path.
"Guys just calm down!" Nikita shouted.
Birkhoff began eating his brownie captivated by the spectacle before him.
He held his hands up in a challenging gesture, "I'm just tellin' the truth Mr. GQ! If your girlfriend wasn't here I'D SHOW YOU!"
As he tried to get past Nikita, Michael pointed at the cleaner, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO I AM AND WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF! I WAS IN THE FIELD PROTECTING THIS COUNTRY WHILE YOUR REJECT ASS WAS STILL ROBBING LIQUOR STORES!"
Owen charged towards Michael only to have Nikita strike his throat and elbow his solar plexus. While he stumbled back and struggled to catch his breath, he watched her pin Michael against the wall.
She looked at her lover and then Owen, "We don't have time for THIS! What matters is that we all want to take Division down and we can't do that unless we work together. So both of you put your egos in check or I'll do it for you! Got it?"
The guardian reluctantly nodded, "Yeah.."
Michael said to her, "He's the one who spoke out of line-.." he was interrupted by her kiss. The anger he felt faded away at the sensation of her body pressed against him.
Once she removed her lips from his, she asked him a question that she already knew the answer to, "Better?"
"Definitely.."
"I'm not gonna let go you until you promise to behave yourself."
His fingers intertwined with hers, "I will."
"Good," she stepped away from him still holding his hands.
Owen stared at the couple, confused and amazed at the kind of influence she had over Michael.
Finishing his brownie, Birkhoff commented, "This is better than cable."