Twenty Years Earlier
Nikita launched herself at the bully without thought. She had been dealing with that jerk all day, hearing him tease her relentlessly. It wasn't until after school, however, that she let it get under her skin. She was waiting with her siblings to be picked up; a bus was coming to take them to the daycare center until their parents got off work. It was something the Pierces did everyday- nothing out of the ordinary- yet Nikita's bully followed her. And when he discovered Jill, Sandy, and Sean were her siblings, it only got worse. Obviously, she was adopted. One look at her with her family and everybody knew. No one ever said anything mean about it, except the bully. He taunted that she didn't have a real family, and that nobody loved her. She snapped.
She tackled the bully to the ground, and beat him as best as she could with her little fists. Jill and Sandy stood by, shouting at their sister to leave him be. Sean ran away, frightened. Nikita wasn't letting up. Not until her third grade teacher ran over to rip her off of him. She was dragged to the principal's office (along with the bully and her siblings), where parents were called and a nurse was brought in to attend to injuries. It took some time, but Madeline Pierce arrived to attend to the fallout of the fight. Nikita remained stubbornly stoic the entire time, as she always did whenever she was yelled at and dealt punishments. The bully deserved it. She was right.
However, when her mom asked what caused her to be so violent, tears welled in her brown eyes. Nikita attempted to hold them back, but her chin trembled and her voice wobbled. No one loved her. Madeline was quick to comfort her daughter. She wrapped her in a tight embrace, and assured her that that would never be the case. She was a part of their family no matter what. Mean words from a bully meant nothing. Although she was still in trouble at school, she was saved from her grounding at home. How could she be punished for loving her family so much, she didn't know what to do once no one loved her back. Fortunately, that would never happen.
Present
Like mother, like daughter: superspies on the run from the very organization that had created them. Nikita had been nervous when she and Michael arrived at her birth mother's house. She didn't know what to expect; she didn't know what she was going to say. Turned out, she had to worry about guns and Division instead of how to talk to Anh. At least she knew her mom had looked for her once the heat of the CIA investigation had died down (an investigation based on a false claim). She had something to hold onto as Division crashed the scene. And as they awkwardly brought her back to their safehouse.
Birkhoff did his best to just go along with it. He mumbled something about a guest room, then focused on taunting Michael for the big ass gun he brought back. He had been doing well with adjusting to Nikita's family drama. A lot better than she and Sean were. The nerd was great to keep around; she was glad to have him. Her birth mother, on the other hand, she continued to feel conflicted. Sean did too. What were they going to do since Anh was at the house. Keep getting answers, obviously. But then what, have her join their rag tag team or clear her name with the CIA. The way she reacted to a vague suggestion of the latter option, however, that might not be the case.
Michael advised they sleep on it. Birkhoff readily took up the idea, as did Sean. The Seal had been staying away from the situation already. He had faced enough harsh information about his family; his mother ran a corrupt government organization, his sister's death was faked, and his father was an adulterer. He didn't need any more hurt like that. Nikita didn't either, but she was determined to just keep digging. Once her mind was set on something, it was impossible to steer her away. And she was set on scrambling around for a family. His sister had a family with him; she had to have seen that. Maybe if he said something, she would have. Instead, he remained silent and sullen.
Nikita tried to sleep. Turn her brain off and not think. She'd be able to deal with everything if she just rested. She could sort her feelings about Anh and Sean, and just what the hell she was going to do about all of it. However, a loud crash from the other room startled her out of that. She snapped to her feet, gun in hand and ready for a fight. It was only Anh looking for something to drink, however. Nikita made a quip about drinking Birkhoff's expensive stuff. Then, the women simply stood there staring. They knew what they wanted to say to one another, they just couldn't put the words to it.
The two settled on easier topics: Division and the CIA. Nikita could still barely talk about her time in Division. Sean had asked her once, soft and scared about what she was going to say. She didn't say anything. In fact, she left the room completely. With Anh it wasn't any different. Her birth mother shared about her time in the CIA and how she met her father, and she stayed silent. Until there was an opening for a very important question. Nikita summoned all the courage she had to ask it. She was terrified to know the answer. Yet she wouldn't have been able to live without the information. Why was she given up.
Anh comforted her as best she could. She blamed her spylife, the crime she was falsely accused of, and that her father thought it would've been better if she grew up with a family. Nikita couldn't help but to burst out laughing. Growing up with the Pierces might have been better for eighteen years, yet she was sold out the second it was convenient for Madeline. Her mother shook her head. Her father loved her fiercely; he wouldn't have let that happen to her. Besides, maternity wasn't what she thought. Sometimes a person did things to protect their child that didn't make sense.
She understood what Anh was talking about. Nikita knew she was referring to both herself and Madeline. But all she could think of was Cassandra. When they were drunk, they said things to each other that if sober they would've caught on to the vagueness. After Nikita raved about how sweet and kind and talkative Max was (he really loved soccer and really hated piano), Cassandra muttered that he got it from his father. The rogue laughed at the statement, until the former first lady said that paternity wasn't what she thought. The statement meant nothing to her at the moment. But remembering it, it became a huge shock.
Her first thought was to tell Michael. Nikita didn't think about the ramifications of processing that information aloud. She was only partially aware that Anh heard her. Michael had to know what she just figured out; he had to know he had a son. She was settled for a moment by her birth mother, however. She had to calm down if she was going to share such huge news. Her boyfriend would need her steady if he was going to handle the bombshell she was going to drop. She had to trust Anh on that one. Strangely, she did. And after an awkward hug and a quiet thanks, she went to follow the advice.
For once in a long time, Nikita fell asleep at peace with mother figures. There was still a lot to sort through. But her birth mother was protecting her. She wasn't abandoned, she was kept safe. At least it seemed like that for a couple of hours. Again, she was startled awake by loud noises in the other room. That time, it was Anh threatening Birkhoff with a gun and demanding the black box for Amanda. Without hesitation, Nikita launched herself at the woman. It must've all been a lie. The black box information, the records at the CIA, Anh. Everything was a Division creation to fuck with her. She wasn't going to let them get away with it.
No one was a match for the full force of Nikita. Her fists rained down on Anh, beating her to a bloody pulp. She didn't care about what she was doing. Her anger and ferocity were going to be felt. They used her family against her. Weren't Madeline and Sean in Oversight enough. Why couldn't they leave her heart alone. Why couldn't she just have one fucking family. Michael and Sean soon rushed into the room. Her boyfriend tore her off of the Division agent, claiming they needed her alive for information. That didn't stop her brother from delivering one final kick, however.
Everything after that seemed to happen too fast. Anh stated she was called up on an old Division operation; apparently, that venture had been in Percy's playbook for years. The team didn't have the time to delve into that or uncover the truth from the lies. Enemy agents raided their safehouse. Armed with guns and their wits the four of them managed to hold them all off. Nikita did have Birkhoff deliver an airstrike, though. It was risky, but it was their only option left. They were lucky enough to survive the missile strike and walk out of there all in one piece. Well, almost in one piece. Nikita felt as though her heart had been torn to shreds. She couldn't handle any more lies or cover ups about her family. Division already took so much from her; it couldn't keep taking more.
Killing Anh somewhat helped with that pain. However, she mostly shot her so she wouldn't tell Amanda what she had accidentally let slip. Michael was Max's father. Nikita finally told him, when they were looking for a new safehouse. He was shocked to say the least, yet he handled it a little better than she had. He simply had to take a walk alone to process the news. She let him go, leaving her with Sean. Her brother had been great during the shootout; they really needed him back there and he stepped up. She was going to say as much. But he beat her to it, apologizing, "Nikki. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Sean," He had nothing to be sorry about. Division and Oversight enjoyed messing with people's emotions. That was probably how they got him to work for them in the first place. Nikita understood. Besides, when it came down to it, Sean chose her over duty. She could hold tightly onto that. It was proof not all was lost.
"We'll get answers. And we'll make 'em all pay," His conviction was a turnaround from earlier. Yet after everything regarding Anh, he realized how important uncovering family secrets was to his sister. Sure it hurt. But the clarity was liberating. Nothing was held from them. Nikita and Sean were free to make their own decisions, uninfluenced by those around them. They couldn't be controlled by secrets. No one had that power over them anymore.
"No boy scout righteousness?" Nikita nudged Sean, flashing him a smirk. The siblings began to laugh softly. Their emotions were still frayed, but they could settle there. They could tease one another as they had always done. It was somewhere to start.
"It's about time I finally got grounded too," Sean nudged Nikita back. The two could continue talking. They could see a light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't all hopeless. Their family was right there, suffering and laughing the same.
