Set between 2x18 "Power" and 2x19 "Wrath". The rogues share some bittersweet memories.

Sean expected to walk in on madness and confusion whenever he entered the safehouse. The rogues were always up to something. They were either trying to take down Division, trying to survive the day, or simply trying to live in a house together. When Sean walked into the beach house that afternoon, he was met with the same antics as usual. Michael was helping Alex with something on the computer. Nikita was shoveling a handful of grapes in her mouth. And Birkhoff was staring blankly at the slowly brewing coffee maker. Of the three actions, Sean was most interested in what Alex was doing. So he ignored the others and went straight to her.

While Alex sat at the computer station, intently staring at the screen, Michael stood behind her, instructing her on what to do. She picked up on what he was saying fairly quickly, but she continued to listen to every single word he said; she wanted to make sure she understood it all. Eventually, though, Alex had a pretty good handle on things. So before Michael could go on another long explanation, she dismissed him, "I got it. Thanks."

Michael doublechecked that Alex really did have it, then he left. He joined Nikita on the couch, stealing her grapes and helping her do whatever she was doing. Sean stepped up and filled the space the agent had been occupying. Finally, the Seal could see what Alex was doing on the computer. Though, honestly, that didn't make it any less confusing. It looked as though she was listing the Udinov mansion and the land it sat on to be sold. But that couldn't be right. Wasn't she supposed to move in after she was done with Division. Where else was she going to live if the house was sold, "You're selling your house?"

"It's not really my house. That burned down. I'm selling Semak's cheap imitation," Alex explained briefly. After Semak's death, Zetrov acquired the property, the mansion, and all the artwork inside. And since Alex was the sole heir of everything Zetrov, that acquisition then passed on to her. She instantly sold and donated the art. She didn't want anything Semak had touched or considered lovely; she didn't want the poor-man's copy of her father's home. Her next step was then selling the house and the property.

Although a small part of her wanted to keep the property and rebuild her own house atop it, the land was too steeped in bad memories. Alex didn't think she could completely reclaim the area- she could build a happy life on the scars. However, she could get rid of the shitty aspects- literally and figuratively- and cling to her warm, joyful memories.

Smiling brightly thinking about her childhood home, Alex finally looked away from the computer. She turned to Sean, who instantly returned her smile, and began to gush about what the Udinov estate used to be like, "I wish you could've seen the original house. There were so many beautiful sculptures and paintings. There was a bright, lovely garden and a swimming pool. Ooh. And there were stables near the forest and the meadow."

"Stables? You had horses?" Chuckling softly, Sean asked. Alex had mentioned little details about her childhood home that Semak had changed when they had been in Moscow. Yet hearing her talk so enthusiastically about it was new and exciting. Sean had to cling to every word, and he had to pry as much information out of her as he could.

"Yeah! Some of them were race horses. But I used to ride the other ones all the time. It was so much fun. Especially riding in the meadow near the house. It was so beautiful and peaceful. And you could go so fast," Alex swore her smile grew even brighter. For a long time, she hadn't allowed herself to think about her childhood for fear that the horrible memories and moments would drag her down. But since she had returned to Moscow, she found herself remembering her joy more and more. She'd also been sharing that joy with her friends. It just felt so nice- so freeing.

Sean absolutely wanted Alex to keep smiling and to keep cheerfully telling him stories from her childhood. However, when he took a step closer to her, he just so happened to look up. And when he looked up, he noticed Nikita's dumbfounded expression for the first time. The sight caused him to burst out into laughter. He had never seen the rogue look so stupefied before, and it honestly made him lose all sense.

Unfortunately, his sudden laughter made Alex believe he was poking fun of her. Her smile turned into a pout, and a crude remark was building on her tongue. The instant Sean noticed that, he began to shake his head. He would never laugh at her, especially while she was being so open with him. He had just been distracted, and- truthfully- continued to be, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. It's just… Nikita's making this face…"

Peering past the monitors, Alex glanced over at Nikita. She and Michael were still on the couch, but she had turned to look at Alex. Her face was screwed up in a disbelieving, 'what the fuck' expression, and she seemed to be thinking hard about something. Alex couldn't think of anything she could've possibly said that would've made Nikita react like that. She racked her brain, but she came up with nothing. Maybe the rogue was just being ridiculous, "What?"

"I once spent a whole winter without a coat. What the fuck," Nikita stated blankly. She and Alex had talked about how differently they had grown up before. But just how shitty her life was in comparison hadn't really ever hit as hard as it did then.

Whereas Sean and Alex couldn't help but chuckle at the way Nikita had shared the depressing fact, Michael grew concerned. A part of him felt like she had shared that story with him before; she had once said something about having to wear multiple sweatshirts and jackets instead of a coat one year. However, he was still shocked and appalled by her admission. Despite how many times she shared a horrible fact about her childhood, he'd always get so angry. That shouldn't have happened to her. It shouldn't have been that way, "Why did they make you go through a winter in Detroit without a coat… Actually, you know what. I don't want to know."

"We almost watched Michael invent time travel," Alex couldn't help but continue laughing. It was obvious how much Michael hated Nikita's foster parents (in fact, Alex believed that he hated them more than Nikita did). But in that moment, it actually seemed like he wanted to travel through time just to kill them.

"Good thing you eventually shot Gary, huh?" Nudging Michael, Nikita managed to smile. There was no point dwelling on the past or how shitty her life had been when things had worked out for the better. She had taken control of her life, she had found a way to carve out happiness, and the people who had hurt her couldn't touch her or anyone else ever again. She was good then, and only getting better. Michael was a huge reason for that.

As much as Michael would love to claim that he had killed Gary, and as much as he wished he had, he couldn't lie to Nikita. She had to know the truth, "Uh… Nik, I… I didn't actually shoot him."

"What? I thought Gary died. I told him about Division to bait you guys and to kill him. And he didn't even die?" Practically shrieking, Nikita questioned. The only reason she had returned to that deplorable hellish house was to bait Division and to make Gary pay for all he had done to her and kids like her. But if the latter had never happened, then what had been the point of dragging herself back through those awful memories. Why face that man and that pain again if he was never going to die.

"No. No. Gary's dead. I just didn't shoot him. Roan did," Quickly, Michael clarified. Nikita had been right: telling Gary about Division had been the death sentence she had wanted it to be. Unfortunately, it had been an impatient Roan who had carried out that sentence, not Michael. Had Michael actually been given the time to question Gary, yeah, he would've shot him afterwards. He simply hadn't been quick enough.

"Oh," Nikita slouched against the couch cushions. She couldn't help but feel disappointed by the revelation. Of course, she was still glad that Gary was dead. But Roan killing him didn't mean that much. It just made the act like every other Division cleaning.

"What?" Noticing Nikita's slight pout, Michael moved closer to her on the couch. He couldn't believe that she didn't want Roan to have killed Gary. With her hatred of him, he had thought that anyone killing him would've been a good thing. But maybe it was more complicated than that. Things certainly were when it came to Caroline.

Nikita shook her head, negating the thoughts Michael had. What she was thinking was kind of stupid. It didn't make a lot of sense, even to herself. It'd probably be better if she just didn't elaborate. However, Michael would never let it go if she did; he'd keep pushing her to open up. She had to share every thought in her head with him, no matter how stupid, "Nothing. Just… if I couldn't kill Gary, I at least wanted you to."

"I did want to. But Roan beat me to it," Michael completely understood what Nikita meant. He had felt that way after Kasim had died; although he wasn't the one who had killed the bastard, he was glad Nikita had. He wished he could've given her that revenge. But it was too late to change the past. The best he could do was to keep protecting her in the future.

"I know your dad was a sonofabitch and absolutely deserved what he got. But hearing you talk about his murder like this is… jarring," Speaking up, Sean reminded the couple that they weren't the only ones in the room. He and Alex had silently listened to their conversation in varying degrees of interest. Whereas Alex nodded in agreement with what the two were saying, Sean felt a little weirded out. The casual way they discussed murder- though appropriate for someone like Gary- just seemed so odd.

"Not as jarring as what he did," Nikita muttered harshly. She understood where Sean was coming from, yet she didn't care. Roan only shooting Gary was honestly still too good for him. Much worse should've befallen the bastard. Someone should've hurt him just as much as he had hurt her and all those other foster kids.

Noticing the sudden silence in the room, Nikita realized that she had brought the mood way down. She hadn't wanted that to happen; especially since the team was having one of their nice, relaxing, happy days. She had to get everybody laughing again. Quickly, she thought of something else she could tell about her past- something absolutely ridiculous. Fortunately, she had one at the top of her head, "You know. That winter without a coat was the first time I seriously ran away. I almost made it to Canada before I got caught."

"You tried to run away to Canada?" Laughing, Alex finally abandoned her task on the computer and moved to join Michael and Nikita on the couch. She could finish dealing with Semak's estate later. The new direction the conversation took seemed far more fun.

"Well, yeah. Windsor, Ontario's right there," While her friends laughed, Nikita shrugged. When she had first started running away, getting to Canada was her main goal. She had believed if she made it there, she'd be okay. As an adult, she knew how silly that thought was. Though, sometimes she wondered what would've happened if she had actually made it.

Blinking, Alex slowly sat on the couch. Despite her years in America, her geography of the country was still lacking. She knew Detroit was in Michigan, and she knew Michigan was near Canada. But she hadn't known that it was close enough for a teenaged Nikita to run away to. At least not plausibly, "Wait. What?"

"The only thing separating Detroit from Canada is a two mile wide river. You just drive through a tunnel for a couple minutes, and boom, you're in a different country. In fact, it's the only border crossing in the States where you drive south to get to Canada," Nikita explained excitedly. She had no love for her hometown- or anywhere she had lived as a kid. But there were some cool things about Detroit that she liked such as the border and the river walk.

"Is that how you tried to get to Canada?" Michael chuckled softly. Nikita never talked about her runaway attempts; she never even told him how many times she had tried to escape before it finally stuck. So it was refreshing to hear her open up about it, especially since she had found a way to tell the story lightly. He felt like she was truly starting to heal from all that trauma. Later, when they were alone, he'd kiss her for that.

"Yeah. On my bike," Nikita began to laugh. In her comfortable situation then, she could call herself out for being stupid and ridiculous. She had really thought she had everything figured out at thirteen years old. She still didn't have things figured out.

"You tried to cross the border on a bicycle? No wonder you got caught," Having followed Alex to the couch, Sean sat right next to her and instantly made fun of Nikita. Since she was laughing about it, he assumed he could tease her without the mood shifting again. Hers and Alex's past were very gentle subjects. The last thing Sean wanted to do was hurt anyone's feelings. Going along with the already established jokes, though, he felt like he was okay. Besides, if he wasn't Alex (and Michael) would let him know.

"I was thirteen. I didn't know any better," Nikita somewhat defended herself. Though, she had always known her bicycle could never get her far. She had never even made it to the border on that stupid thing, "I hardly even made it into the tunnel. A cop saw me riding my bike on a major highway, stopped me, then took me home."

The room erupted into laughter at the image of a thirteen year old Nikita stubbornly peddling her bike on a busy highway. The circumstance behind that attempt wasn't funny, nor was her obvious desperation to escape. But the fact that Nikita had always been her ridiculous, determined, risky self caused smiles to bloom. The biggest smile was on Michael's lips. He liked finding the good in Nikita's past; it was good to know that it wasn't all bad. That could lead to light conversations, and little throwaway comments that'd make her smile and laugh, "You and I lived totally different lives at thirteen."

"Yeah. I was planning to run away to Canada, and you were chickening out of asking a girl to dance," Nikita smiled smugly. When Michael had told her that story, he had quickly followed it by stating his fear that Nikita would always tease him for it. He, of course, had been right. But she did it out of love. She thought what he did was adorable and cute. He could still be that way sometimes, especially in private moments with her. And she absolutely loved that.

"He still chickens out when it comes to asking girls to dance," Birkhoff chimed in. He had finished caffeinating himself in the kitchen, so he was finally ready to join the others in their supposedly hysterical conversation. He was glad he had joined them then. It was the perfect moment to make fun of Michael and take him down a peg.

Nikita fought her laughter while Michael rolled his eyes. He could easily drag Birkhoff regarding his experience- or lack thereof- with women. However, he decided to refrain. He could save those for when the hacker was particularly annoying. At the moment, proudly building off the story Nikita had started was the better move, "Yeah. Well. I was her first dance at her bat mitzvah. So it worked out."

"Wasn't that also your first kiss?" Recalling the information, Nikita's smug smile turned soft. Michael smiled softly in return. It had been a long time since he could recall those memories with a grin. He had her to thank for that. He always did.

"There you go. You manned up," Sean clapped Michael on the back. He and Alex had been laughing throughout the others' back and forth, and that didn't stop then. Making fun of their teammates was the rogues' favorite pastime. It was the easiest way they could laugh and relax. And, oddly, grow closer together.

"She kissed him," Despite wanting to keep looking at Michael's soft smile, Nikita had to make it known that he wasn't that smooth. He could absolutely be romantic, and supporting, and loving. But he often stumbled when making a movie. She could never fault him for that, though. It made him even more endearing to her. It also made her feel better about not being smooth either. They could be awkward and clumsy together. As long as they could make each other smile, though, what did it matter.

"Now that sounds more like it," Birkhoff chuckled. He had noticed Michael enter numerous holding patterns with Nikita, never willing to break the barrier (the two of them were in one then). So it was only natural that the same thing happened with Michael and an old girlfriend. He needed an extra push to get things going. Hopefully, that pattern broke soon and he came to his senses about Nikita.

"I'm honestly surprised that you were the one to propose," Nudging Michael, Nikita teased. Maybe she was also dropping a hint. Though, she quickly shook that thought out of her head. Their pardons from Madeline Pierce might've been on the horizon, but that didn't necessarily mean marriage for Nikita and Michael. She was still uncertain about their future- about if they really could last forever. Maybe marriage shouldn't be thrown into the mix. They should just keep things how they were- baby steps.

"So was she," Michael admitted. Although he and Lizzie had discussed marriage before, the proposal had been a complete surprise. He had loved seeing the shocked, beautiful, brilliant smile on her lips when he had dropped to one knee. That was something he could picture himself doing again. He never thought he ever would. But he had found someone who changed his mind.

Alex had been so distracted by laughing on the couch with Sean, that it took her a moment to realize who Michael and Nikita were talking about. Once it clicked, she gasped, "Wait. This was Elizabeth? You guys started dating when you were thirteen?"

Sean and Birkhoff stopped laughing to glance at Michael in bewilderment. They had had no idea that he had been talking about his late wife the entire time. That changed things. But before the tone of the conversation became too serious again, Michael waved his hand. There was no need to become somber. Just like Nikita had with her past, there were moments from his past he could talk lightly about. The life he had had with his wife and daughter had slowly become one of those things again, "No. We didn't officially start dating till high school. We just had crushes on each other in middle school."

"Wow. You really are ride or die," Sean chuckled softly. He had always known Michael was super dedicated to Nikita. But he hadn't known how intensely he had also been dedicated to his late wife. Sean didn't think he could ever have that level of commitment. Well, maybe he was starting to begin to.

"You've never been that committed to someone?" Alex wasn't entirely sure why she asked Sean that, nor did she know why she waited for his answer with baited breath. But, she would love to know what he had to say about relationships.

"At thirteen? Hell no. I was just being an ass to my sisters," Sean laughed. Although Alex chuckled along with him, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed by his response. Michael and Nikita caught the reaction and instantly shot each other a look. Oh, they were going to have fun with that one.

"You still are an ass," Just after Birkhoff was through with Sean. After living with an annoying couple for months (and also dealing with the same couple when they were dancing around each other in Division) the hacker had learned to pick up on all the things not said. And, currently, there were a lot of things unsaid between Sean and Alex. Those two needed to start figuring things out, so they didn't end up like Michael and Nikita, who also needed to figure things out. Honestly, it was all a huge mess that Birkhoff was tired of being in the middle of. He needed time alone more than the couples did.

Regardless of Birkhoff's sarcastic tone, and the other's laughter, Sean became annoyed at the comment. It was about time that the taunting turned to the hacker. Though, he had to rely on Nikita's nickname for him to do it, "What were you doing at thirteen, Nerd?"

"Starting my badass hacking career," Birkhoff puffed out his chest in pride. Although he had been messing around with computers since he could remember, he didn't start seriously hacking until his early teens. From there, his talents and skills exploded into a legendary and awesome career- except for when he was in Division.

"You mean being annoying," Before Birkhoff's ego could grow too big, Nikita ensured to keep him in check. It was one of the things she did best, after all. No one knew how to press Birkhoff's buttons like she did.

"And you weren't?" Birkhoff snapped. Nikita was annoying as a recruit in Division, as an agent in the field, and especially as a rogue living in the same house as him. There was no way she wasn't annoying as a teenager as well. It was just in her nature.

"No. She was trying to get to Canada on a bicycle," Bringing the joke back around, Alex giggled and nudged Nikita. The rogue began to laugh again. Alex had a feeling she knew the much darker version of the escape attempt on the bicycle, but she'd never bring it up. Nikita had had the right idea to turn it into a ridiculous, silly story. It was much easier to deal with the memories that way.

As Nikita caught Birkhoff up on the joke he had missed out on while he was too focused on his afternoon coffee, Michael thought of another taunt he could pile on top of Alex's. It was something he had made fun of Nikita for before, and it was something he'd probably always make fun of her for. Yet that wouldn't stop him from leaning into her space and flashing the crooked smile he knew made her melt "Honestly, though. Of all your crazy, stupid, rash ideas, that's not the worst."

"Thank you," Nikita wasn't quite sure if Michael had given her a compliment or not. Or if they were going to get into an argument about her schemes or not. So she just stated her gratitude blandly. He only shrugged and scooted closer to her.

"So what would be the worst?" Genuinely curious, Sean wondered. He had read Nikita's file when he had worked for Oversight, he had heard Alex's and other agents' stories, and he had seen the rogue in action; and from what he could tell, her crazy ideas usually worked. So what could Michael possibly think the worst one was.

A real answer was on the tip of Michael's tongue. However, a warning look from Nikita kept it at bay. He didn't want to get into an argument that day, nor while the others were around. So he quickly backtracked and thought of a less serious answer to give. It took a while. But eventually, Michael recalled an event from what felt like a lifetime ago, "When she decided to take on the Triad by herself."

"I just took on Victor Han. And you said that how I took him down was one of my most brilliant plans ever," Nikita smugly reminded Michael. She could also remind him that he had saved her life on that mission instead of killing her like he had been ordered to do. Yet she kept the attention focused solely on herself. She could remind Michael of his rogue activities later that night when they were alone and she could truly tease him.

"Wait. I know this one. Han was your first mission, and he later turned out to be a Triad plant," Excitedly, Sean beamed. Most of the time, he was playing catch up on the rogues' history. But he had known about that mission from Nikita's file.

"You're so smart," Sarcastically, Alex patted Sean's back. Unlike his reaction to Birkhoff's taunt, Sean laughed at Alex's patronizing comment. She beamed, missing the others' pointed looks. It was a long moment after Alex started smiling at Sean that she remembered the conversation. She slowly tore herself away from the Seal to be able to focus on it. But even then, she couldn't help but feel somewhat distracted as she asked Nikita a question she had never really gotten an answer for, "How did you take down Han, by the way?"

"Peanut oil lipstick," Nikita beamed proudly. Michael smiled proudly as well. The rest of the team, however, stared at her in confusion. They could not see the genius in her actions, only the insanity. So, with a sigh, she explained, "Han's severely allergic to peanuts. So I covered my lips in peanut oil before I met him."

That partially explained how Nikita took down Han, yet there were still tons of questions on her teammates' lips. First of all, how did peanut oil on her lips do anything. Second of all, how had she known when she was going to meet Han- how did the lipstick not fade before then. And third of all, how in the hell had she even put peanut oil in lipstick. What kind of resources and thought process was Nikita working with. Birkhoff had long ago come to the conclusion that he would never know. So, he asked the question he figured would have the simplest answer, "Yeah. But. How'd you get the oil into his system?"

"He had made gross comments when I was his nanny. And he was a corrupt, evil bastard in a position of power. I knew he'd take advantage of me, so I used that against him," Nikita tried to keep her answer light to match the tone of the conversation, but she couldn't hold it for long. Her disgust for Han took over, and she sneered. She was glad she had decided to search for answers about his death. She had revealed the truth and had taken the bastard down. If only other bastards went down with him.

"Corrupt, evil men are all the same," Joining Nikita in her bitter anger, Alex added. She had assumed where Nikita's story would go when she had mentioned lipstick. There came a point when the bad guys they faced became predictable. There were always evil men out there controlling and taking advantage of young women. The rogues had been able to take out some, but there were still tons out there. Alex hoped they all rotted in hell.

Somber silence fell over the team as those thoughts floated in the air. No one could say anything after that. In fact, no one wanted to say anything. Sometimes, the enormous weight of all they were up against- all the evil in the world- rose up and crushed them. There wasn't much the team could do to fight off the feeling. But at least they were feeling it together. If one of them cracked, they all did.

Eventually, Birkhoff decided to break the tension. If he failed, well then at least they could get off the couch and move on with their afternoons. But if he could get it right, they'd smile again. He simply needed to find the right words. Long moments of thought didn't spark any inspiration. He just had one stupid question circling around in his head. It was better than nothing. And, maybe, stupid was what they needed, "So… how's everyone's day going?"

Quiet, awkward chuckles finally broke the silence. The rogues relaxed on the couch again, and began to smile easily once more. They could survive the crushing weight of the world when they were all holding it up together. They were already pretty good at helping one another. They could lift spirits as well as take down villains. They could just find the little things- like stupid quips and taunts- to get them through. Or, maybe the big things, like Nikita had heard Michael and Alex doing on the computer but she had yet to make fun of, "Pretty good. I learned how to sell a billion dollar house."

"It's just a couple million now with the art gone," Alex knew better than to make that correction. A million dollars or a billion dollars, it was still way too much money for one person to have. She shouldn't have made that distinction. Especially since it earned her an annoyed glare from a huffy Nikita.

"So you're buying lunch?" Before Nikita could say a biting, sarcastic remark, Michael recommended the next activity the team could do together. Their next round of jokes and fun trips down memory lane might be easier if they had food in their systems. Also, some of the things they had put off by stopping to talk could be refocused on after lunch. Food was the perfect way to reset and relax. Especially when someone else was paying.

"Sure. If you guys want to get out of here and actually sit down to eat," Alex agreed, but only if the team went out to eat. She wanted to get out of the safehouse for a bit. Also, whenever they got takeout, they usually ate while running around doing other things. She wanted to truly relax with her friends, and she wanted to continue talking. The small restaurant down the road where they wouldn't be noticed would be perfect for that. And since she was paying, Alex doubted the others would say 'no' to her.

"Let's go," Birkhoff instantly hopped off the couch. He was always down for things if other people were paying; he was tired of his money always being used. Hand in hand, Michael and Nikita quickly followed him.

The three were out the door before Sean and Alex had cleared the livingroom, which honestly just made Alex laugh. Sean had wanted to roll his eyes at the rogues, yet her bright, warm laughter stopped him. He just stared at her instead, smiling softly. He knew he had to hear more of that laughter and see more of her smile in his life. Both of those had come easily when she was talking about her childhood home. So, as the two finally walked towards the others in the garage, Sean nudged Alex and reminded her of their interrupted conversation, "You gotta tell me more about the horses."

Although Alex rolled her eyes, she continued to smile brightly. Despite the strong negative emotions that could overwhelm them, talking lightly about their past was good for the rogues. It was good for Alex. She could feel the weight lift off her shoulders as she brightly remembered the good things from her past. She could spend the rest of the day sharing that brightness with Sean- with her friends, "My favorite's name was Buttercup…"