Set post-series and before 3x01 "3.0". Mikita and Bonya discuss their relationships.

"So, how's married life treating ya? Have you had a fight over how to load the dishwasher yet?" Birkhoff asked Michael and Nikita with a snide smile. He and Sonya had met the married couple for dinner, drinks, and general merriment. Whenever their schedules aligned, the friends didn't hesitate to hang out and catch up. Unfortunately, Alex was too busy that night to meet with them as well, but she promised to have brunch with them that weekend. The couples were completely okay with that. After all, Alex was doing important work. Also, they had always wanted to have a double date. The fates had finally aligned to give them that chance.

"Yeah. We did that in front of you, remember?" Nikita rolled her eyes. Most of hers and Michael's little domestic arguments had occurred when they were living in safehouses together. They had fought over the best way to make the bed, the best way to do laundry, the best way to clean the bedroom and bathroom, and- of course- the best way to do the dishes. Poor Birkhoff had been subject to that fight. Yet it hadn't lasted long. Once Nikita said something highly concerning, all arguments stopped.

Chuckling to himself, Birkhoff remembered that fight. It wasn't the most awkward argument he had witnessed between the two (the one after Daniel's death came to mind) yet it still wasn't fun for him to witness; though, he did make some sarcastic comments that definitely didn't help. But when Nikita dropped a fact from her childhood, things turned from awkward to horrifying, "Oh yeah. That's when we realized how traumatized you actually are."

"I thought that was normal," Nikita mostly knew by then what was normal and what wasn't about her childhood. However, she still had moments where she'd say something fucked up without knowing, causing the others to stare at her wide-eyed. She always hated those moments. Not because her friends made her feel bad about what had happened or what she had said, but because she had been so conditioned to think that the worst was okay. Her terrible childhood still had its hooks in her. Despite everything, she couldn't quite escape it.

"No," Michael and Birkhoff responded lightly. They flashed Nikita reassuring smiles, and her husband rubbed her back comfortingly. It was alright then. She had learned what it was like to have actual healthy, happy, loving relationships. Her past was something that could remain where it was. She and everyone who loved her would make sure of it.

Sonya couldn't quite follow what the others were talking about. She didn't know that story, and it didn't seem like they were going to elaborate on it. Oh well. Sonya was fine not knowing- or waiting for Seymour to tell her when they got home. The friends could move on with the conversation then. They should focus on the happy things instead, "To be fair, you've never really had anything normal. I mean, look at your relationship. I bet you didn't even say 'I love you' in a normal way."

"The first time we did, yeah," Glancing at Michael to back her up, Nikita argued with Sonya. The first time the married couple had said aloud that they loved each other was in a quiet, peaceful moment in her loft. They were alone together, kissing and holding one another gently. The words had spilled out on their own, full of emotion and sincerity. There had been no extreme violence or near death compelling them. They simply expressed how they felt in the most tender and endearing way. It was perfect.

Although Michael agreed with his wife, and would normally back her up, he had the chance to tease her. He wouldn't pass that opportunity up for anything. Nikita would've done the same, after all, "What are you talking about? The first time you said you loved me, we were staking out a building full of human traffickers."

"What are you talking about? I didn't say 'I love you' then," Perplexed, Nikita tried to understand what Michael was getting at. Birkhoff and Sonya, on the other hand, were bewildered for an entirely different reason. When the hell had something like that happen. Yes, the team had fought human traffickers before. But that was after the couple had become official. When did they take down traffickers during their time apart. The only time Birkhoff could think of that made any sense was when Alex had been kidnapped by her former abuser. But Nikita hadn't been involved in that- had she.

"You almost did," Michael smirked. Although Nikita had stopped herself short and had rephrased her sentence, he knew what she had truly meant to say. He sort of regretted that he didn't act on her admission then (even though they were busy saving Alex's life). Yet that was all in the past. Their present and future were far brighter, which meant he could make all the jokes he wanted, "Remember. What you did, you did out of love."

"I did not say 'love'," Annoyed, Nikita huffed. Sonya and Birkhoff were still hopelessly confused about what the married couple was talking about, but they were definitely interested in finding out what had happened between them. Whatever it was, it must've been a defining moment for them; otherwise, they wouldn't have remembered it. They also wouldn't have been arguing over it, trying to rile each other up.

"You almost did. That counts," Repeating himself, Michael taunted his wife. Years removed from the situation, and almost a year removed from their war, it was easy to make light of those things. In that moment, though, the weight of the pause between her words had nearly suffocated them. They had just stared at each other, unsaid words strangling their throats. He was so glad that they were then in a place where they could express their love so freely. They should never return to that moment. They should keep saying 'I love you' until death did them part.

"Oh? You wanna start counting almosts?" Arching an eyebrow, Nikita dared Michael. His smirk instantly fell. He focused on the plate of food in front of him, and silently begged for the topic to change. Sonya and Birkhoff burst into laughter. They still didn't have the explanation they wanted, but they'd accept that outcome. It was satisfying enough.

Nikita soon nudged Michael, and he chuckled. The married couple was back to their playful antics, making Birkhoff roll his eyes. They were always like that; at each other's throats one second, best friends the next. It had been exhausting when they had been in Division and when they had fought against each other. But since they were together, it had become cute. It was all a part of their dance. A dance that Birkhoff absolutely deserved to make fun of them for, "See. You totally were dating then. Just took you a couple months to figure it out."

"Right. Really healthy relationship full of broken bones and gunshot wounds," Michael grumbled. There were plenty of things he had done during the war with Division that he wasn't proud of. His actions towards Nikita weren't exceptions. He was very lucky that she had chosen to forgive him; otherwise, he would've never forgiven himself.

"That's pretty standard for me," Eating her dinner nonchalantly, Nikita attempted to joke. It didn't land well. Her husband choked on his drink and stared at her aghast. Sonya and Birkhoff shifted awkwardly in their seats. Instantly, Nikita began to backpedal. She turned towards Michael and softly caressed his cheek. He relaxed at her touch, but she still had to verbally rectify the situation, "I'm kidding. Though, it was a codependent relationship for a bit."

That joke made Michael laugh. The couples were able to relax again with that all cleared up. Sonya assumed that Nikita's second, better joke was a reference to something from hers and Michael's past. She wouldn't be surprised if it was. The married couple had years of stories between them. The others would never be able to learn them all, even if they had a guide, "There is so much history between you two, you could write a textbook."

Michael and Nikita rolled their eyes. The others always acted like their relationship was the outlier. Yes, the two had had wild times together. But they weren't the only ones. Their friends had had dramatic relationships as well. In fact, Birkhoff and Sonya started out as enemies, and then had some sort of on and off thing. They couldn't make fun of the married couple when they had done the same thing. Not unless, of course, they wanted to be made fun of in return, "I don't know why you two are acting like our relationship is so novel when you two went through the same thing."

"What are you talking about?" Birkhoff had a feeling he knew what Nikita was specifically referring to. Except, he didn't want her to bring it up then. It would've been completely fair if she did. And the story was the perfect example to prove her point. He simply didn't want to remember it.

"I'm talking about the server room incident," Nikita smirked. Sonya groaned and tried to only look at her food. Birkhoff glared. However, his glance didn't have any power; it never did against her. Nikita's sly grin only grew.

On the other hand, Michael was puzzled. He hadn't heard of that story. Which was strange since it seemed so impactful to the others. He was missing out on something, and he wanted answers, "What's the server room incident?"

Birkhoff's embarrassment was quickly replaced with confusion. If Nikita knew about what had happened in the server room, then Michael should've known as well. By that point in their lives, the married couple shared everything with each other. There were no secrets between them anymore. So how could Michael still not know something Nikita had witnessed years before, "You never told him?"

"You told me not to," Shrugging, Nikita replied. She was instantly given disbelieving glances. She told Michael everything- almost everything. If she had encountered drama between Birkhoff and Sonya, the first person she would've told about it was Michael. Nothing Birkhoff could've said would've stopped her. Nikita sighed. Alright, so she had always planned to tell her husband what had happened. But it had always gotten away from her; her focus always shifted, "Fine. I was going to tell him when we got home that night. But I got distracted. Then the next day we were in Hong Kong, and then we were engaged, and then I forgot all about it."

That made a lot of sense. A lot of the married couple's problems had been forgotten when they had gotten engaged; they simply lived in bliss for a moment. Michael probably would've forgotten to tell Nikita about an incident between Sonya and Birkhoff as well. But there was nothing to distract them then. Also, at least one story had to be explained that night. So Michael asked once more, "What's the server room incident?"

Sonya and Birkhoff sighed. They could've changed the subject or distracted their friends with other comments. But they weren't as skilled at that as the others. The hackers were stuck telling the story, clearing things up for Michael and proving Nikita right, "It happened while Seymour and I were broken up. We were in the server room, fighting like we usually were."


"It's not my fault the tech in Division turned to shit after I left," Birkhoff snapped at Sonya. Ryan had asked the two to check on some of the servers in Division to ensure they were ready for any Dirty Thirty missions. Both had hoped it'd be a simple task that'd only take them a few minutes. They didn't want to be around each other any longer than they needed to be, not since she had called it off between them. The hackers couldn't go two seconds without getting on one another's nerves. Eventually, they were going to snap. And one of them might end up dead.

"Oh, cause you're the only one in the whole world who can hack," Rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time, Sonya snarked. The servers were a worse mess than they had thought. The two had been stuck in the server room together for nearly an hour. It had steadily become the worst hour of their lives. It'd probably would've been better if they just worked silently. But they couldn't stop arguing. He was an ass, and she was determined to knock him down a peg. Neither would quit until their goal was reached.

"That's right, sister. I'm completely fucking untouchable. No one is on my level, not even the stooges that Division tried to replace me with," Slamming a panel closed, Birkhoff replied. Although he had once praised Sonya's hacking abilities, he wouldn't admit to it then. His judgment was probably just clouded by his feelings for her. Since that had been rebuffed, he could see her with clear eyes. He was still the best hacker around, no contest.

Groaning in frustration, Sonya nearly shoved at Birkhoff instead of a stuck panel. Both were stupidly stubborn. Yet Birkhoff was the one with the huge ego. What the hell was up with that. Hadn't she beaten that out of him before. Why did he have to keep insisting he was the best. And why had she ever thought that was fun and cute, "Oh really? Then explain all the times I kicked your ass out of the servers."

"A lapse in judgment," Birkhoff lied. Sonya did have skills that gave him a run for his money. Yet, for some reason, he refused to admit that. He'd rather be superior. Maybe it was his way of hurting her after she had hurt him. If so, then he was an absolute ass. But he couldn't make himself do better. He couldn't think or act right around her.

"No. A lapse in judgment was dumbing down my hacks so Percy wouldn't kill you," Bitterly, Sonya huffed. There were a few times she had tried to protect the rogues from Percy, particularly near the end. She had begun to believe in their cause and had wanted to help. But good intentions and hope always shattered. There was no point in doing anything. Everything led to heartache and despair anyway.

"Sure. That's what you did," Ripping open another panel, Birkhoff rolled his eyes. A part of him suspected that she was telling the truth. However, his sarcasm had won out. It was just so much easier to fight than to be sincere. That way, when they inevitably hurt one another, they had a chance to retaliate.

While Birkhoff struggled with the server he was working on, Sonya fumed. That was it. She couldn't take his comments and holier than thou attitude anymore. She had to make him shut up once and for all, "Get out of my fucking way."

Sonya harshly shoved Birkhoff away from the server. Before he could cuss at her in return, she began correcting his many mistakes. Whereas he had struggled to figure out what was wrong with the system, she had it solved in no time. She also slammed the panel closed before he could see what she had done. She had him beat, and he'd always be left wondering how, "Just because I don't have some dumbass moniker, doesn't mean I'm not a great hacker. I can write code around you, but you don't see me acting like a god."

Although Sonya angrily stormed out of the room, Birkhoff knew he wasn't alone. Frozen in the doorway clutching a tablet was Nikita. He didn't doubt that she had heard everything; she had the annoying habit of sneaking up on people and knowing way too much. Yet he wasn't in the mood for one of her sarcastic comments. Or worse, her caring advice. She should just leave him alone. He didn't deserve company then, "Don't say it."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Okay, maybe Nikita was going to quip that she should ask Sonya for help instead. But after seeing Birkhoff's heartbroken expression, she quickly changed her mind. There were only a few times where she had seen him that upset- one of them was after someone had died. Sonya must've really affected him, more so than Nikita had thought, "Are you okay?"

Avoiding eye contact, Birkhoff refused to answer. He was afraid that if he did, thoughts and emotions he didn't want to confront would come tumbling out. He'd rather bury them all and focus on distracting things, like whatever Nikita had for him, "What do you want?"

"For you to not be an ass. Just be the human I know you can be sometimes and talk to her. I'm sure it'll work out," Nikita tossed Birkhoff her tablet (he could figure out what she needed) and left him with his thoughts. He stared blankly at the tablet in his hands, uninterested in hacking anything. Nikita was right. If he just talked to Sonya, they could fix the rift between them. He didn't understand why it was there, or what had gone wrong. But talking could help. It had to have been better than stewing in hurt and confusion.


"And it did work out. Thank God," Smiling adoringly at his girlfriend, Birkhoff concluded the story on a happy note. That was the main takeaway. Despite the argument and their hurt feelings, he and Sonya got to have their happily ever after. She echoed his grin and his sentiment, and she kissed him sweetly.

While the hackers expressed their love, Nikita flashed a bright smile at Michael. Although he rolled his eyes, who was he to deny his wife. He kissed her lovingly. The couples were absorbed by their love for a moment, relishing their time together. But they had to separate eventually. They were all in public, after all.

"Let's cheers to that," When they had gathered themselves back together, Nikita raised her glass. Her husband and friends clinked their drinks against hers. They shared a few more stories from their pasts- Michael and Nikita finally explained what they had been talking about earlier. But after some time, the couples focused more on the present. They didn't need to relive those moments or dwell on their mistakes. They had already learned and grown from them. The present and their futures were more important. That was where their love was after all.

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