Sean and Alex unfortunately didn't get far on their trip to DC. They had barely left the city when Jill called. Both of her kids had managed to catch the flu, and they were contagious. Dinner had to be canceled that weekend. Though, they could reschedule for the next week if both kids were feeling better. Jill apologized for the late notice, but Sean and Alex completely understood. Kids were hectic and changed everything. They could wait another week for a big family dinner. The two were positive it would be just as fun.
Although Alex decided to still take the weekend off to relax at home and do some chores she might've been remiss about, Sean decided to go to Jill's house anyway. He had gotten his flu shot, so he wasn't worried about getting sick. Also, two sick kids under the age of five wouldn't have been easy to care for. He wanted to help Jill and her husband. Alex was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to spend so much time with her boyfriend. However, she couldn't fault him for wanting to help his family. They needed him more than she did at the moment. So after Sean brought Alex back to her apartment, they separated with a kiss.
Alex could only preoccupy herself in her apartment for so long. She wanted to relax for a few days without ever worrying about Division. But after a restful night's sleep and some cleaning, she couldn't take doing nothing anymore. She had to be active in some way. So, she popped by Division just to see if they needed anything from her. Sonya claimed there weren't any active missions or chatter. However, when Alex spotted Michael, she knew something was wrong. He looked so frantic- scared even, "Michael? What is it?"
"Have you seen Nikita?" Michael blurted. He hadn't been able to find Nikita all morning. He didn't think anything of it at first. She was probably at the yoga studio, or going shopping, or doing something in another part of Division. But as time went on, and he didn't hear from her, he began to worry. It wasn't like her to disappear for hours. Even if she was working intently, she'd resurface for water or a bathroom break; she wouldn't just be gone. However, Michael hadn't been able to find her anywhere. She wasn't in her former recruit room, the old target range, the gym, or the air vents. Nikita was simply gone.
"No, sorry. I just got in," Alex pulled out her phone to check if Nikita had sent any messages that she could've missed. There was nothing new. She shouldn't have expected any. As far as anyone was aware, she was supposed to be gone for the weekend. No one would have dared bother her, especially Nikita. Alex kind of wished that she had, though. Michael seemed absolutely frazzled and distressed by her disappearance. Either something bad was occurring, or there was some sort of miscommunication. With how things were going for the couple, it could've been the latter. And, as terrible as the thought was, Alex hoped it was just that.
"Right. You're supposed to be with Sean," Michael remembered a second later. Ryan had told him not to expect Sean or Alex to be around Division that weekend. They had planned to visit Jill and Sandy and their families in DC. For a moment, Michael wondered if that was why Nikita was missing. She had always suffered with the fact that she couldn't be in contact with her sisters. Sean and Alex being able to despite Division probably upset her, and she needed to disappear to clear her head. However, that theory didn't hold too much water. Nikita would've buried herself in work. Something else must've been going on with her.
"Jill's kids are sick, so…" Resolving at least one mystery for Michael, Alex explained why she was back in Division. The fact didn't help him in the slightest when it came to Nikita. Yet with some of his confusion alleviated, he seemed to better orient himself. Michael took a deep breath and tried to relax his shoulders. Watching him struggle to calm down, Alex began to feel anxious as well. How long had Nikita been missing to make her fiancé act so stressed. Could she have been in some sort of danger. Did she get herself in trouble.
Michael wished he had any kind of answer for what Nikita was up to. But, honestly, he didn't even realize she was gone until an hour or so after she had to report into Division- and he didn't question it until three more hours had passed. Who knew how long she had been missing before he took note of it. She could've disappeared the night before after leaving Division. Michael should've paid better attention. He should've talked to Nikita. If anything happened to her, he couldn't even think about it. He just had to find her, "Hey, Ryan. Where's Nikita?"
"She told me she was taking off for a few days. I don't know why," Stopping at the sound of his name, Ryan admitted with a shrug. He had figured Nikita's time off had something to do with her brother and her best friend going to see her sisters, so he didn't necessarily question it. Except, as he noticed Alex standing next to Michael in Division, Ryan realized he probably should've. Nikita was obviously hiding something. If she had kept her activities from her fiancé and her best friend, then it couldn't have been good. In fact, Alex being back in Division without her boyfriend probably wasn't good either, "You're supposed to be gone too."
"She's been hanging out with Birkhoff a lot. Why don't you ask him?" Ignoring Ryan for just a second, Alex told Michael. For the past week, she had seen Nikita frequently hang out in Birkhoff's nerd cave. If anyone knew anything, it'd be him. Nikita could've told him something before she left. Or he had her tracked in some way. Michael didn't care which it was as he hurried to the hacker's area. He tried to call Nikita on the way- so did Alex- but it was no use. It was almost like she didn't want to be found. Yet that couldn't have been right.
"Hey, do you know where Nikita went? Ryan said she took a few days off," Nearly running into Birkhoff's little nerd cave, Michael repeated the question for what felt like the millionth time. Where was his fiancée. Birkhoff had to have known something; no one else did. And even if he didn't, then maybe he could hack the information. Nikita's disappearance became more terrifying by the minute. She didn't answer Michael's or Alex's calls; it went straight to voicemail like her phone was off. She only ever had it off for missions. That better have not been the reason then. Nikita couldn't have been on a mission alone- that wasn't possible.
For the record, Birkhoff didn't like what he was about to do. He was in favor of telling people about Nikita's op. But she didn't want to raise false hope, and he sort of agreed with that sentiment. How the mission was going so far, though, didn't seem like false hope. Nikita had flown out to Kosovo the night before and was able to hit the ground running. She had already messed with Bechiraj's leg. All she had to do then was wait for her opportunity to grab Heidecker. It was almost over. Birkhoff didn't have to lie to Michael for long, "Uh. I'm not sure. I think she went somewhere with Alex. Like a spa or something."
"Or maybe not," Alex joined Michael in the nerd cave at just the right moment. Once she had finished explaining to Ryan what was going on with Sean and his sisters, she raced from Ops to Birkhoff's area; she desperately wanted answers as well. It was a good thing she arrived when she did. He couldn't get away with that lie, especially since it meant that he knew exactly what Nikita was doing. Alex was increasingly glad that she had decided to go into Division that day. Nikita was up to something that was probably stupid and awful, and she had to help stop it.
"You're supposed to be out of town with your boyfriend," Birkhoff stammered. He stared at Alex wide-eyed, not even daring to glance at Michael as the lie fell apart. Undoubtedly, the agent was going to wring the hacker's neck for hiding his fiancée's location from him. It was easy to assume then that Nikita was doing something that she wasn't supposed to. And for not stopping her, Birkhoff was going to have his neck wrung by Michael again. Things definitely weren't going well for the hacker. He just hoped Nikita continued to have better luck than him.
"Sorry to expose your web of lies, but his sister canceled. Her kids are sick," Alex crossed her arms and glared. Birkhoff's lie wouldn't have held long anyway. Michael knew Alex was in Division and looking for Nikita as well. And even if he hadn't run into her, Ryan had told him about her time off with Sean. Birkhoff obviously didn't think things through. Or, Nikita didn't. It was far more likely that she was behind the cover story and everything else going on. Birkhoff had simply been dragged along for the ride. What kind of ride continued to be unclear; though, it was becoming easier to guess.
"Okay. Let's try this again. Where's Nikita?" Stalking towards the hacker, Michael glared menacingly. Birkhoff usually wasn't one to be intimidated by Michael; he had grown immune during their years in Division together. However, there were times when the agent did manage to scare the absolute shit out of the hacker. And that moment was one of those times. Birkhoff couldn't mess with Michael when it came to Nikita; he had tried, and he always failed. The agent was far too protective of his fiancée. Even their separation couldn't have changed that.
Backing away from Michael, Birkhoff attempted to think of something- anything- that'd save him. However, all he could think about was the truth. He shouldn't be hiding it from Michael any longer. Not communicating was causing too many problems for the team. It'd be so much easier if they just talked. Or, more specifically, if the engaged couple talked. There was so much that the two needed to figure out together. The current situation was only one of them, "Look, maybe you should call her and ask her yourself. I don't want to be in the middle of this."
"You're up to your neck in this. Whatever 'this' is," Michael was losing his patience. Then wasn't the time for Birkhoff's games, nor was it the time for him to be keeping secrets. If Nikita was missing, then Michael needed to know where she was. She could've been in danger. Judging by Birkhoff's urge to run away from him, that was a very real possibility. She was up to something. And not her normal reckless antics. Nikita was back to pulling the same outrageous stunts she had when she was rogue. Michael needed to know what that was, so he could stop her and bring her back home where it was safe.
"What is all this?" While Michael thought of different ways to scare (or torture) information out of Birkhoff, Alex hacked into the nerd's computer. He was distracted by the agent, so it was easy for her to sneak behind him and touch his precious keyboard. She had had a feeling there'd be more information on the computer than Birkhoff would ever tell. And apparently, she had been right. Tons of photographs, files, and schematics popped up on the monitors. It looked like all the intel that would be needed for a mission.
"What'd you do?" Birkhoff managed to tear his terrified gaze from Michael to stare at what Alex had done to his computer. The instant Michael had entered the nerd cave, Birkhoff hid what he was looking at on his monitors. When his lie was soon revealed, however, he didn't reveal what he was doing. He had to at least attempt to not present false hope. Also, he didn't want to risk endangering Nikita in the field. She needed to remain oblivious to what was falling apart in Division. She couldn't be distracted while she faced a paranoid Bechiraj and his guards. Her fiancé, after all, was a huge distraction for her. They shouldn't engage.
"I overrode your hotkey app and restored all the hidden windows," Somewhat proud of herself, Alex replied. She had become used to quickly hiding windows on the computer when she was Nikita's mole. She knew how to pull back up everything that had been wiped with just a few clicks on the keyboard. Though, some of her pride melted away as she studied the contents on the monitors. What she was seeing didn't make a lot of sense. It wasn't because the data was overly scientific; it just seemed so improbable. None of that could've been real.
Staring in shock, Michael didn't believe what he was seeing either. He was used to advanced technical readouts from some of the technology in Division. Yet the stuff on the monitors all appeared to be different. Not only was it far more advanced than he had ever seen, the information appeared conflicting. For starters, there were two pictures that had the completely wrong timestamps. The photograph of a man walking around on a boat shouldn't have been dated after he had had his leg amputated. That just wasn't possible. Birkhoff had gathered the wrong information, "The timestamps on these are wrong."
"No, they're not," Birkhoff decided to be honest. He could keep Michael and Alex from interfering with the mission, so Nikita could stay safe, while also telling them the truth. Despite his amputation the year before because of a botched CIA mission, Kosta Bechiraj had a leg- a real, working, flesh and blood leg. It sounded impossible, yet they already lived in a world full of other spy-fy technologies. What was one more scientific advancement that left people in shock and awe. Limbs could be regrown- with a price, of course.
"They have to be. If this guy lost his leg a year ago, he can't be walking around," Shaking his head vehemently, Michael argued. Regardless of what he was staring at on the monitors, he wouldn't believe that someone could just regrow a limb. He also wouldn't believe that a prosthetic could be that realistic looking. It had to have been a trick. Someone was trying to con someone else. Or it was all a publicity stunt. Science hadn't advanced that far; even if it did, no one had the money or time for it. The timestamps on the pictures had to have been wrong. That was the only logical conclusion. There was no need to hope for anything else.
"As far as we can tell, it's not a prosthetic. It's real flesh and blood grown over carbon fiber bone," Birkhoff gently explained what he and Nikita had found. He pulled up the data on Bechiraj's new leg and showed the diagram of how they believed it all came to be. Both Michael's and Alex's jaws dropped. The team had done impossible things on missions before; it wasn't strange to have improbable odds become reality. However, the new leg was so, so different. It was as if a miracle had occurred.
"Oh my God, Michael."
