Chapter 5 Programming

Turning to face his 8 a.m. class, Birkhoff pursed his lips and stared back at his students. Their eyes were wide, mouths half open and some even giggled behind raised hands. A few of the bolder ones gestured to their own heads while staring pointedly at his navy knit hat. He'd expected to take some flack for wearing it in an attempt to cover the dyed and styled cut he'd had to accept in order to take that field op. Most of the color had washed out, except for those damned highlights. Unfortunately there was no way he could hide his clean-shaven face—he'd never been able to grow a full beard, and the one he usually wore would not be rushed back into existence soon enough.

"Going skiing after class?" someone murmured, raising a low level of murmurs and muted laughs.

"Idiot—Birkhoff's a skater if I ever saw one—"

"Shut it—he cleans up nicely, I think—"

"What's that—red highlights in his hair?"

"Dude he looks even younger than we do with a shave…"

Crossing his arms he waited with a sarcastic grin pasted on his face and eventually the reactions started to dwindle down. Alex, he noted remained calm, her huge eyes on him as she waited patiently for him to start teaching. A flash of all that had transpired between them the night before shook him, but he cleared his throat and lifted his chin.

"Ok, now that you've had your fun for the day let's get going," he announced, turning on his heel and uncapping the black marker. Shaking out his arms a few times he half faced the white board and scribbled a long string of equations meant to stun them into terrified silence, assuming they had no idea what he was writing. With a satisfied grin he finally finished with a flourish, turning to face them before he pointed to the goof-off sitting in the back row.

"Mr. Jennings—tell me what I just wrote," he commanded as the 6'7" kid straightened, jamming his elbows onto the surface of his keyboard tray.

"Ah, the Pythagorean theorem?" he said in a business-like tone, earning chortles of laughter from his peers. With a lazy smile he glared at him, lifting his gaze suggestively to the ski cap.

"No, this isn't math class," he retorted, squinting at him from behind his glasses. "What are you, Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz? Ms. Meredith—try giving it a shot!"

"Um… I've no idea," she groaned, sliding lower in her seat and avoiding his gaze.

"That's what I like, honesty," he commended her, noting her pleased expression. "Piermarini—how about a wild guess?"

"The prescription for Celexa?" he answered with a smug grin.

"No— though we all love a good SSRI," he sighed, pointing to the more serious student in the front corner. "Mr. Rediker, could you venture an educated guess for us?"

Looking agitated, the young man studied the equation again with a troubled expression. "It's obviously an algebraic equation, but compounded with another unknown string."

Birkhoff pointed his marker at him. "Ah, on the right track as usual—anyone else?"

At their silence he gazed around the room, tempted to call on Alex but aware that he'd promised to go easy on her. She probably knew the answer, after all. "Come on, come on—just call it out, you're making me tired trying to remember all your names!"

"The process of photosynthesis?" an Indian girl smiled shyly.

"Sorry this isn't biology 101," he answered, leaning back against his desk.

"Einstein's theory of relativity!" one of the jocks in the back row mocked, earning everyone's laughter.

"No! Wake up, people, this isn't homeroom!" he shouted, crossing his arms. "Mr. Rediker was on the right track, no surprise. The real question is why would we be writing math equations in Programming 101 in the first place?"

He waited, amazed that with just increasing the volume of his voice he could get the desired effect, for their mocking comments and laughter finally deserted them. He jabbed the marker over his shoulder in an impatient gesture. "Think, people—I know it's early and we'd all rather be sleeping…"

When no one offered any reply he picked up his iPad and switched to overhead mode, glancing up at the screen as he wrote more equations for them to view. "What we've all just experienced right here in our humble little classroom is an example of how students tend to freeze up when they see a mathematical equation written out. But, with the use of computer programming, we can put an emphasis on the active procedural semantics of equations and help students better understand their use."

Glancing toward them, he saw their blank expressions, though Alex wore a tiny smile as she kept her eyes on him. He felt his heartbeat pick up the pace at the warmth in her gaze, quickly glancing back down at his iPad.

"Ah, translation?" Thom ventured, and when he looked up he saw that he was wearing a hopeful grin.

"What this means is that through basic programming exercises you'll develop good problem solving skills that will not only help you hack into the bad guys' systems, but also keep you from being a DOA statistic once you're sent out in the field—get it?"

"Ohhhh," Thom answered, nodding before he glanced at Alex.

Birkhoff noted the stiff expression she adopted whenever Thom checked her out. Personally, he longed to throw the guy out of his class. Unfortunately he was one of the better students, and was graduating soon enough to field agent. He glanced at the clock, having already wasted a good 15 minutes.

"Okayyyy… open your programming files and read Section 2.b—and don't just skim over it," he ordered, closing out his iPad program. "I want you to spend 20 minutes on the section then we'll have informed discussion and proceed on to the exercises."

Leaning back against his desk he lifted his coffee mug and took a swallow, not caring that it had already gone cold. It was strong and had just the right proportion of half and half, bracing him for the next hour and hopefully keeping him going till he reported to Percy up in Operations at 10. He watched them get to work, inwardly relieved at the way things had gone so far. Teaching was the bane of his existence, but Percy and Amanda both had insisted he do it. Somewhere out there, he thought as he let his gaze flit past Alex, they hoped to find the next Nikita, or maybe even his replacement. If he survived that long.

Alex eyed him covertly, glancing just above the level of her screen to avoid anyone noticing. Her fingers flew over the keys as she took notes on the section. She'd taken programming over a year ago and remembered most of it, but never had she had this much fun and it was all because of the nerdy professor she'd developed a crush on. Shifting her eyes back to the text, she studied it a few moments and noted the key points, glancing back up at him just as he pulled off the knit cap. She watched in secret as he ran his fingers through his hair, no longer hiding it from them. She'd known he'd give up on hiding his makeover, for now that they'd had their fun teasing him about it there was no reason to continue. He'd taken it all in stride, practically laughing at himself. Even now she watched him look up and direct his gaze toward them again, brows lifted in challenge as if expecting any further comments. She thought of Jaden working in the kitchens, almost positive that if she were here she'd offer more than one.

Unable to look away from the blue blaze of his eyes, she froze when he shifted his attention to her. His lips parted a bit as she held his gaze. An arc of electricity seemed to shoot from him to her, and she swallowed in response. His eyes slipped lower, and she felt their touch on her lips before he looked away, picking up his mug again. Shifting her attention back to her screen, she saw Thom stiffen in her peripheral vision and knew she was in trouble. Glancing over at him, she saw his expression harden before he looked back at his own screen.

"Ok class, wrap it up—time for the real fun to begin," Birkhoff drawled in a bored tone, setting his mug down as he picked up his iPad again. He glanced toward the clock, then toward the wall of windows that opened out into the corridor. She couldn't help but notice how he steeled himself in reaction, and glanced out the windows herself.

"Let's go—time is money!" he shouted, turning away from the narrowed gaze that Percy wore as he stood staring into their classroom. He looked angrier than usual, she sensed, and it seemed to be directed toward Birkhoff. Her heart started to pound as she prayed no one had seen them together, shifting her attention back to her screen when Percy's eyes started moving in her direction.

They worked feverishly under Birkhoff's nervous energy, and she was so flustered and worried about what was going on between him and Percy that she had trouble concentrating. Birkhoff strolled around the room, coming up along her left side from the back of the class. He stopped close by, leaning over to study her work before his hand hovered over hers a moment. She froze, breathing in that pleasant scent of pine forest that was so subtle it was barely noticeable.

"You're a bit distracted today," he said softly, his index finger stabbing a few of her keys before he straightened and moved on.

She forced herself to keep her attention on her screen, where he'd corrected a blatant mistake she'd made. Eyeing Thom, she saw him stiffen visibly and throw her a disapproving look which she sensed she'd be dealing with soon enough.

"Professor, I have a question," Rediker called, gesturing in a wave toward him as he headed in that direction.

Alex focused and finished up her notes, reviewed them and sat back while Birkhoff worked with the star student for the last few minutes.

Thom rolled toward her workstation and eyed her meaningfully. "What's up with you?" he hissed, nodding toward Birkhoff.

She owl-eyed him with a smirk, shrugging her shoulders. "What's up with you?"

He shook his head with a frown. "Don't think I can't see!" he spat in a whisper as another student called Birkhoff over. "You like him!"

She shrugged, glancing toward Birkhoff. "So? I like nerds."

His face reddened as he slid back to his station, obviously angered with her.

"It's none of your business who I like anyway," she hissed back, eyeing Birkhoff as he straightened. His gaze shot to Thom before he lifted a hand.

"Thomas—since you're the first one to finish, why don't you come up here and take over?" he shouted, gesturing with his hand for him to come up.

Thom rose stiffly, wiping his palms down his jeans and glancing down at her. She saw revenge in his eyes and glanced at Birkhoff, who shifted his attention to her as Thom approached him. Relieved, she basked in the knowing look he gave her before he handed over his iPad to Thom and swept his arm wide.

Thom, for once looking unsure of himself, reluctantly took the iPad and stood holding it, staring at whatever was written on the screen. Birkhoff, she noted, sauntered over to his workstation and sat down, glancing over at her. She hid a smile of thanks as he squinted at Thom's screen.

"Go ahead, teach," he called out, his eyes on Thom's work. "Looks like you've got a pretty good handle on things." He glanced up at him with a smirk. "Proceed."

"Ah, as Professor Birkhoff was saying," he began, nervously eyeing the door as it slowly opened. Percy stood at the threshold and Birkhoff shot to attention, rising from Thom's seat. Percy eyed him, then glared at Birkhoff.

"I'm afraid I need to interrupt," he announced calmly, gesturing toward Birkhoff.

Alex's throat tightened in fear as she tried to focus on Thom, who was awkwardly starting his little lecture. She was aware of Birkhoff staring worriedly up at Percy, who leaned down to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, glancing up at Thom.

"Keep going—you have another five minutes till you're through," he encouraged, glancing at her before stepping out into the hall with Percy.

Through the glass she saw the menace in Percy's expression, and Birkhoff looked truly alarmed. He shook his head, gestured as if in explanation, then when Percy stalked off he followed reluctantly, forgetting all about the class.

He jumped when Percy slammed both palms down onto his desk. "You did what?" Percy shouted, his eyes bulging and his color approached purple.

"Sir may I say something in his defense—" Michael interrupted, halting when Percy held up a hand.

"No, Michael—I want to hear him defend himself—"

"Alright, ok!" he shouted, heart pounding. "I admit it—I deleted their accounts, but we all know what those slimebags were up to! I decided why not just put them out of business and save everybody the trouble?"

Percy leaned toward him, making him stiffen in anticipation of punishment. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?" he said in a deathly calm voice. "Your daring act is the subject of chatter all over the world!"

"I believe Birkhoff acted with our best interests in mind," Amanda said calmly, laying a hand on Percy's arm. When he turned to gaze down into her amused smile she offered Birkhoff a raised brow. "We can always count on him to do the unorthodox, and I'm afraid he can't help himself. Perhaps we should consider the benefits of the situation."

"Such as?" Percy snarled, straightening. "By the way, since this whole thing was your idea I'm interested to know how what he's done could possibly benefit Division."

She sat down on the edge of his desk as Birkhoff stared at her open-eyed, eyeing Michael who only shrugged.

"Well, for one thing his actions will no doubt save us the time and costs required for a return mission," she stated, nodding respectfully toward Birkhoff. "His perception and quick judgment only underscore the fact that he's perfectly suited for field work. His past experience has been outstanding, I'm sure you'll agree—"

"I don't care about his perceptiveness or suitability!" Percy hissed. "I don't want him making judgments, I want him following orders!"

"It was an easy in and out, sir," Birkhoff offered, holding up his hands. "They're effectively out of commission now, which is what the projected outcome was to be."

Percy threw Michael a regretful look. "I knew I should have sent you with him instead of Roan."

"I was already committed to another op, sir," Michael said, clearing his throat. "Sir, if I might remind you, Birkhoff was leading missions before I ever got assigned."

"And might I add he's certainly capable of operating alone," Amanda offered.

"It was a team assignment, not a one-man band!" Percy fired back, nodding to Michael before he glared at Birkhoff, driving him lower into the upholstered chair. "It seems our genius here has forgotten how to work well with others. I want you to debrief him again, and this time find a way to see that he understands the chain of command, will you?"

Michael nodded, glancing at his friend. "Of course, sir— I'll get right on it."

Birkhoff stared at them in frustration. Hello! I'm right here so stop talking about me as if I weren't!

"Perhaps a few more field trials might be beneficial," Amanda said, tilting her head to study him.

"Certainly not!" Percy objected, eyeing him with cold calculation. "In fact, I want him suspended from all field work for now."

His skin crawled at the look in Percy's eyes, but he offered a half-hearted smile. "Really sir, it was never my intention to disregard protocol," he stated. "I just took advantage of an opportunity that offered itself."

Percy sighed heavily, turning back to his desk. "Well then let's put that zeal in its proper place," he stated, shuffling some of the papers on his desk. "I need you here more than out in the field."

Birkhoff nodded, rising from his chair. "That's fine with me sir—"

"But don't kid yourself," he added, looking up. "I'll be watching you even more closely to be sure you can follow orders in general, and not just in the field. Now go—you're dismissed."

"Sir I must caution against confining Birkhoff to Division," Amanda objected, rising and smoothing down her skirt.

Percy glanced up at her from his papers, his eyes shooting down her person and back up. "Really, and why is that?"

"It's proven detrimental to his physical and mental health," she shrugged, eyeing the subject coolly. "He hasn't handled confinement well in the past—"

"Excuse me?" he protested, silenced by Percy's glare. Clasping his hands behind his back, he waited for them to decide his future.

"In order for him to effectively manage the stress level which accompanies overseeing Operations, he must be allowed time off for rest and leisure," Amanda explained, "and also to have occasional breaks from Division. You've offered these basics to the recruits, how much more should an officer of Birkhoff's rank have the same benefits—"

"Don't you understand Amanda?" Percy pleaded. "I'm trying to punish him—"

"otherwise you're just setting him up for a breakdown," she predicted with a shrug.

Percy frowned at Birkhoff, who pursed his lips. Then he glanced at Michael.

"That's been my own experience, sir," he concurred, eyeing Birkhoff with sympathy.

"Alright I'll give him more time off after we deal with the current crisis with Nikita!" Percy conceded, waving a hand and picking up his papers to scan them.

"Birkhoff's been on 24 hour call every third week," Amanda reminded him, patting his arm to soften the blow. "Perhaps this might be a good time to offer him two weeks of vacation, both to shake off his jet lag and rejuvenate a bit?"

"He is starting to show true signs of wear and tear," Michael added, hiding a smile.

"Hey, I'm handling it, ok?" he protested, lifting his hands in supplication. "I've even kept up teaching my early class, except for one stint from the substitute—"

"Alright, but let me remind you that when on any assignment, in the field or at Division you follow orders and work as a team," Percy said coolly, "and refrain from riding off into the sunset like some sheriff back in the Wild West!"

"Alright I'm sorry," he shot back, nodding curtly beneath Percy's warning glare. "By the way do they have any idea who did it?"

Percy glanced away. "Not in the least," he answered with a sigh, "at least not yet."

"Well they'll never find out, I made sure of that," he stated, trying to get Percy to look at him. "I even imprinted a fake fingerprint and phony i.d. number just to throw them off—"

"I don't want to know, Birkhoff," he sighed, gesturing to Amanda and Michael to leave. "This matter is closed …"

As they filed out the door he eyed Amanda, questions tumbling through his mind. Why did she defend him? It almost sounded like she wanted to get rid of him by sending him out into the field, which was fine with him. Once they were out in the hall he ran a hand through his hair as they walked back toward the main section of Division.

"Whew—that was close," he breathed, eyeing Amanda. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there."

Her eyes lit up as she smiled creepily. "No problem, Birkhoff—we can't have you losing your mind on us, now can we?"

He slowed his steps as she continued up the hall, her high heels clicking coldly on the tiles. Staring after her with a sense of doom, he felt Michael move closer.

"What'd she mean by that?" he worried as they watched her disappear from sight.

Michael chuckled. "That your brain is more valuable than your field skills," he sighed, patting his shoulder. "Just be thankful she didn't recommend putting you in solitary again."

c. 2011 by Christine Levitt