As Alex returned to Division to take Clean Sweep offline, Michael, Sean, and Nikita arrived at the Gates House. They couldn't storm the building with the threat still active. So they controlled the perimeter, and ensured they would have a secured approach. Sean was frantic. He was relying heavily on his Seal training, but nothing could've prepared him for that. He hated whenever his family was at risk; he couldn't lose anymore people that he loved. But he wasn't able to do anything at the moment. It was all about waiting for the perfect time to strike, the perfect chance to save everyone. Michael reminded him what was at stake, getting him to focus and settle. Nikita, on the other hand, had shut down. She stopped talking altogether.
She was helping on the mission, and doing everything she could. She had just closed herself off. Whatever Nikita was thinking or feeling about the situation was a mystery. Michael attempted to get her to talk as they prepared for the op. Yet she was great at ignoring him. She was excellent at ignoring her brother too. While he panicked about saving their mother, she was apathetic. At least on the outside. She wouldn't allow her feelings to control her. It was just like every other mission. God, had she always been terrible at lying to herself. That op was far from normal. Her life was far from normal. And it was finally crashing down around her.
"Kill me now," Nikita kept thinking that phrase over and over again. Just kill her. She didn't want to be processing and experience the emotions that were ripping through her. The phone call with Madeline was still open. The team could hear everything in regards to the Guardians and the members of Oversight. But Nikita didn't want to. Seeing her adopted mother was one thing. Hearing her panicked and in danger was another. Why did it hurt so fucking much. Shouldn't the decision of what to do be easy. Michael, Alex, Birkhoff, and Sean knew exactly what they were doing. They knew it was up to them to save the day. So why was she the one struggling.
Saving Division was the simple choice for her, though. Nikita knew the agents and recruits didn't deserve to die like that. They had been abused by the same people the team had. They were going to be rescued. Her revenge was focused on the leaders of the black ops group anyway. Percy, Amanda, and Oversight were the reason for all of their pain. So why were they going to save the members inside Gates House. The team was supposed to be destroying them. It wasn't as though they were going to gain anything from the rescue. The universe didn't work like that. There were no pardons or a change of heart awaiting them.
Madeline was, however. Her brother and sisters' mother was in danger. Sean was so desperate to save her; Nikita couldn't break his heart. They had already lost their father, and she was technically lost as well. Her siblings couldn't lose their mother as well. That was her only motivation to fight so hard for Oversight. She'd do anything for Sean, Jill, and Sandy. Even if her sisters didn't have a clue about what was going on. But maybe that was a good thing. They'd never had to know about the horrible world their family found themselves in. They'd never had to know that their sister seriously considered killing their mother.
That was the first thought that circled through Nikita's head when the Guardians crashed the Oversight meeting. They should've just killed them all. She didn't care about their lives, they certainly never cared about hers. If they died, the team would've been one step closer to their freedom. The war could end. But she just had to care for her brother. She wouldn't let him or her sisters experience what she had. She lost Madeline, but they didn't have to- not if she had the power to stop it. Her wounded heart was the thing driving her towards that decision. It kept telling her she could still run home. There was a chance when everything was all said and done, she could go back home with her mother.
It was a terrible thought to have. What Nikita had done could never let her go home. She was too damaged and monstrous to return to that loving place. She had also been hurt too many times. There was never a reprieve. Fortunately, an SUV rolling onto the scene distracted her from her thoughts. The team had overheard the bargaining deal: Percy was to be released and Clean Sweep would end. They were determined to ensure the bastard didn't get away. The threat on Division and Oversight would end, yet he wouldn't walk away at the end of it. Percy had other ideas, though. He stepped out of the SUV after killing his Division transport, smug and covered in blood. That stupid grin was wiped off his face, however, when Michael roughly grabbed him and shoved a gun in his face.
"Michael, loving the 'Rebel Without a Cause' motif. And… Is that Sean Pierce?" Completely nonchalant, Percy aimed to taunt the team. The gun in his face meant nothing to him. Though, he was surprised by Sean. He knew little about his involvement in his sister's crusade. Since he knew that fact then, he was going to use it to continue tormenting them, "You have grown since the last Christmas card. The Navy certainly made a man out of you. Though, how did you take your mother faking your sister's death? Must've been hard."
Sean didn't say a word; he didn't think he could. He gripped his gun tighter, and shoved it in Percy's face along with Michael's. He couldn't let his emotions betray him and cross his features. The bastard didn't get to know that the Seal still couldn't believe Nikita was alive- that he constantly stared at his sister, in awe that she was back in his life. No matter how often they talked or spent time together, he was afraid that none of it was real. She could be gone in an instant all over again. Despite pushing away the thoughts, Percy seemed to be able to read Sean's mind. He was lucky Nikita held up the cellphone as a distraction, and commanded the bastard, "Call them off."
A smirk pulled at Percy's thin lips. The team probably should've known he had something terrible planned. Yet it was too late to do anything. Before they could stop him, he ordered the Guardians to kill everyone but Madeline. Sean yelled. Nikita froze. But Michael pistol whipped him, cocking his weapon. All he wanted to do was kill him. For Elizabeth, for Hayley, for Nikita, and for himself. He wanted Percy dead more than anything. And Michael was so close to finally killing him. The bastard just had one more ace up his sleeve. He could always find a way to stop death, "You kill me, you'll be killing your girlfriend's mother."
Glancing at Nikita, Michael lowered his gun. He could wait to kill Percy if that was what was at stake; he wouldn't dare break her heart. Nikita thought about it for a brief second, though. She considered breaking her brother's heart. All of that pain would've gone away with one bullet. It would've been so easy. But one look at Sean, and she couldn't do it. He was so distraught and panicked. She had to continue to protect her little brother. He couldn't feel as she did- full of both love and hatred for their mother. Sean, Jill, and Sandy deserved better than the tragic tale of revenge, "What do you want?"
"What we all want. Freedom," However, whatever Percy was going to propose was lost in a hail of bullets. They took cover as unknown agents swarmed the scene and shot at them. Birkhoff claimed over the coms that it was probably Gogol, and no one disagreed. The fighting pattern was recognizable enough to be the Russians. There was a good chance that Ari had tracked the Guardian they had encountered in France. They were going to take out Percy if it was the last thing the organization did. Nikita, Michael, and Sean didn't care if he got caught in the crossfire; they just needed to save themselves, and Madeline.
Nikita let Sean be in charge of that. It would've been better for him to rescue Madeline from the Gates House, anyway. Honestly, the gunfight was the best distraction she could have from her complex emotions. She knew how to handle herself with bullets flying and enemy agents to take out. She didn't have to think about how a person could fill her with so much rage and so much pain, yet she still felt like loving her. Was she ever going to move past what Madeline did to her. Was she ever going to separate the mother who had raised her from the woman who had turned her over to the wolves. She doubted it.
Alex soon shouted at them over the coms that Clean Sweep was offline. She sounded out of breath, and frazzled. But she had done it. The threat was neutralized. At least at Division it was. The Gates House continued to be insane. Percy had disappeared, as had the Guardians. The team couldn't pick them out amongst the Gogol agents. They were simply shooting at any enemy in an effort to save themselves. Nikita and Michael were able to approach the house, however. Sean had intended to go around the back, but he got caught in gunfire. He couldn't move from his position. It was up to one of them to rescue Madeline. Michael decided it should've been Nikita, "I'll cover Sean. You go get Madeline."
Her head shaking, Nikita attempted to protest. She'd rather not confront her adopted mother right then. She could wait until she wasn't upset and anxious. Maybe when she reunited with Jill and Sandy, she'd talk to Madeline. Yet Michael argued against her. With everything going on, the senator didn't need a stranger with a gun rushing up to her. She needed one of her children to calm her and assure her that Gogol, the Guardians, and Percy were nothing to worry about- the team would handle it. As gently as he could while shooting at agents, Michael tried to make Nikita understand that, "She needs a familiar face, Nik."
After a moment of thought, Nikita had to admit that Michael was right. She cursed as she made her way inside the building, Michael and Sean covering her. Some Gogol agents had made it inside, but she took care of them no problem. The Guardians and Percy continued to be nowhere in sight. They probably escaped in the chaos of the gunfight. The team would have to focus on killing them later. For the moment, they had to survive. And Nikita had to untie her adopted mother. Madeline was the only one left alive in the room. She was zip-tied to a chair, absolutely terrified. Yet when she saw her daughter, she froze. Nikita was able to fight through her shock long enough to start hacking at the bonds. Until she spoke, "Behind you, Sweetheart."
Instinct made Nikita whip around and shoot the Gogol agent creeping up behind her. She also managed to shoot the other assailant walking through the side door. When she was able to face Madeline again, the expression on her face startled her. It was full of hurt and heartbreak. Swallowing her sudden anger, she ignored her adopted mother. She wasn't allowed to be upset about what had happened to her daughter. It was all her fault. Nikita quickly untied Madeline, then moved back as far as possible. The senator attempted to follow the rogue, but Michael and Sean stumbled into the room ruining the moment.
They both ensured Nikita and Madeline were alright, before addressing what to do next. There were things they needed to discuss if they were going to move forward in the crusade. Birkhoff voiced through the coms that they'd need help stopping Percy. And Alex muttered something about Amanda as she made her way out of Division. Sean agreed with both of them, expressing that destroying the black ops group was the right thing to do. His mother had tried to have him run the place, after all; she knew it was corrupt and evil. Since they had saved her, she had to join their side of the fight. Michael drove that point home, while he laid out the steps of what they had to do next.
Mother and daughter just stared at one another.
