Author's note: Thanks again guys for the reading, reviewing and subscribing! It means so much to me. And how awesome was the finale? Anyway, there are two chapters left of this fic.
"Well Roan, I see that you've honored part of our arrangement," he motioned with his hand and two men walked out of the darkness behind him.
"I have. You?"
"Yes, I received the safe deposit boxes earlier except for the one that we've allowed you to keep. The owners of the boxes will not speak to the press but they are grateful that their belongings remain unharmed and in their possession. As far as the press is concerned, a group of skilled bank robbers have successfully gotten away with their crime."
"Good," he turned motioning with his head.
Michael and Thom handed Kasim to the staffer's men.
"He was..difficult. I had to take the necessary precautions"
"What's wrong with him?"
"He can't speak and he's paralyzed from the neck down."
The staffer shrugged and handed him an envelope filled with money, "He wasn't going to last long in our prison anyway. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Roan."
"Likewise Chien," he said then walked away with Michael and Thom behind him.
Kasim watched his captors leave him. He didn't understand why the man with dark framed glasses stabbed him in the spine and poured acid down his throat. All he knew was that he would never get the chance to find out.
Underneath his mask, Michael wore a satisfied expression.
After they landed in Paris, Nikita decided to drive them to the country home where they intended to stay for the rest of week. The next morning they awoke to the smell of Michael making breakfast for them.
Nikita was the first to greet him with a chaste kiss on his mouth, "Good morning." she told him.
"Morning," he grinned brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Alex rubbed her eyes as she and Thom walked down stairs, "Michael?"
"Wow.." Thom blinked, "you can cook?"
"Yes and why is that so shocking?"
Taking a bite of toast Alex said, "I don't know..we're used to see you walking around in a suit while scowling most of the time."
"I don't scowl..do I?" He asked Nikita.
She held up her forefinger and thumb, "A little bit."
He grimaced, "I'm not doing this again."
Nikita chuckled before kissing him, "Better?"
"..A little bit."
After finishing breakfast they all sat in the living room watching a movie criticizing the unrealistic action sequences.
With Nikita embracing him Michael said, "They always make running while shooting a gun in each hand look so easy."
Nikita spoke, "And it's nice to see how a group of henchmen will wait their turn to fight the lone hero instead of just ganging up on him."
"It's very gentlemanly." Alex added.
"I hate how they always make hackers look total nerds. That's not accurate at all," Birkhoff said.
A silence filled the room and then Owen said what they were thinking.
"Seriously?"
Except for Birkhoff, everyone laughed.
Birkhoff shot him an annoyed glare but couldn't respond due to his ringing mobile phone, "It's Percy."
Thom picked up the remote lowering the volume.
"Well?" Percy asked him.
"I've been using my facial recognition software on every camera and there's nothing," he lied.
Percy clenched his jaw. "How about the guardian?"
"The same."
"It's Nikita. I know it."
"There's no trace of her."
"That doesn't mean anything. I want you to find me the owners of those safe deposit boxes and if there's a connection between them."
"I'll get on it right away."
Before he ended their conversation, Percy told him, "Like you have a choice."
Birkhoff put down his mobile phone and looked at their faces. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he felt proud for being on the right side.
The next morning Alex, Thom and Birkhoff headed out to the car leaving Owen and Michael in the living room.
Michael looked him in the eyes, "About Kasim..you didn't have to do that."
His shoulders shrugged, "He deserved it. Don't get me wrong, I respect your choice and I understand it. But it felt wrong to just hand him over."
"Well, he's gonna live the rest of his life being what he is. A complete waste of flesh and bones."
A peaceful silence fell between them.
Offering his hand Michael told him, "Thanks."
Slightly taken aback, Owen blinked before grasping his hand, "You're welcome."
Nikita came down the stairs smiling at their gesture.
Owen heard her footsteps behind him, "I have to finish packing," he went upstairs to his room.
"I see you two have finally learned to play nice." She grinned at him when he embraced her waist.
"He's not so bad..."
"Told you so."
His fingers ran through her hair, "You did.."
"I know I don't have to say this..but be careful."
A brief smirk was on his lips, "You're the only jetting off to Spain."
"I know..still."
He tenderly brought his lips to her easing their worries.
Her gripped on him tightened. When their lips parted she said, "Call me when you land."
"I will. Bye."
"For now," she smiled at him.
They reluctantly let go of one another.
Michael walked down the hall leading to Percy's office and opened the door, "You needed to see me?"
Percy walked in front of his desk, "Yes. I just spoke with my contact in China. They have Kasim."
"What? How?"
His arms crossed against his sharply pressed suit, "It was Roan."
"How can you be sure?"
"My contact said it was and described him as a tall American with gray hair and dark framed glasses."
He tipped his head slightly, "I see."
"There's also been no signal on his tracker since we last spoke. That's not like him."
Michael kindly offered, "I could locate him."
"No, I've already assigned that to Birkhoff. However, I'm having Amanda speak to all of our personnel. Roan is the third person this year that has abandoned Division. I want to make sure that he's the last."
"He will be. Is that all?"
"Almost," he eyed his second-in-command, "it looks like time off did you well. You look.."
"What?"
"Better and you'll need to be. Nikita has remained far too quiet recently."
He held back a grin when the thought of them together entered his mind, "What are you proposing?"
"There are three black boxes left. You and a strike team are going to personally retrieve the black boxes and escort the guardians back here."
"And?"
"I'll be placing them into my safe. If Nikita has a mole, he or she wouldn't be stupid enough to try to steal them."
Michael nodded, "When does my flight leave?"
"In an hour."
Amanda crossed her long legs after seating herself across from Alex, "Alex, you look well."
"I spent my vacation in Paris. I guess it shows," Alex briefly grinned.
"And Thom?"
"What about him?"
"Did he enjoy his time off?"
She knew what Amanda was up to, "You'll have to ask him. I can only speak for myself."
Before she could press her any further Michael interrupted them, "Michael, this is a private meeting."
He explained to her, "This is urgent; Alex is joining me on an Op. So, you'll have to finish this meeting when she gets back."
Alex hid her surprise and walked over to him, "What's going on?"
Clearly annoyed, Amanda said, "Does Percy know about this?"
"This Op is his idea. Come on Alex, I need to brief you." He walked out guiding the way.
Amanda watched them with irritated eyes.
Rosario left the bank with the black box in her purse. As she walked to her car she thought of what Percy told her, she would be returning to Division headquarters. A year ago the thought of being an active cleaner again wouldn't have bothered her but things were different now and she hated it.
When she pulled into the driveway of her home she realized it would be last time she'd have a normal life or close to it. The instant she stepped out of the car she felt a sharp prick in her neck. Before falling to the ground she removed the tranquilizer from her neck.
"She's waking up." Owen told Nikita.
She walked over to where he and the bound guardian sat in the living room, "Rosario?"
The guardian opened her eyes instantly recognizing them, "Nikita? Owen?"
"I see that Percy told you about us," Nikita answered.
"What are you doing? Michael's gonna be here-.." She looked around realizing that she was no longer in her home.
"Don't worry," Owen told her, "this is a safe house. And we jammed your tracker's signal."
Nikita spoke to her, "We also packed for you."
Confused she answered, "Why didn't you just kill me like you did with the others?"
Owen explained to her, "Edward didn't give us a choice and Shang is alive."
She reached into Rosario's suitcase retrieving two positive home pregnancy tests. "How far along are you?"
Her dark locks fell to her face when she glanced at her lap, "Six weeks."
"Have you decided?" Nikita asked her.
Nodding she told her, "I was planning to have my chip removed and then meet my boyfriend in Berlin next week but then Percy called me…Why did you let Shang live?"
"He wanted to and he wanted of Division." He told her.
"How did you know?"
She informed her, "We're here, we wouldn't be if he was loyal to Percy."
"And you could be like him but with one exception."
"What?"
Michael spoke to both Alex and Thom leading them to the armory room.
"We're going to Spain then to Egypt to escort the remaining guardians back here. Percy believes Nikita is a threat to them," he picked out his weapons of choice.
The coupled played along with their mentor.
Thom asked as he loaded a pistol, "And if she shows up?"
"Are we supposed to kill or capture her?" Alex inquired.
"Capture, she has at least one black box and Percy wants to know where it is."
She chose her weapons, "What if she resists?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He felt a vibration in his pocket knowing that it was a message from Birkhoff.
Amanda walked away from the entrance of the armory room heading for Percy's office.
The young agents saw Michael scratching his chin signaling that they were alone.
"Michael, what's really going?" She asked him.
In a serious tone he told them, "We're moving ahead to the final phase of our plan."
Wearing the same surprised expressions they looked to their mentor.
"Isn't that a risk?" Thom questioned him."
"Percy made us take this option and we're going with it."