"You guys can work with Carla. I'll watch out for Alex," Birkhoff smirked. Michael had caught him up on the things he had missed while he had been gathering tech for the safehouse. The nerd wasn't sure how to take it, so he settled on focusing on Alex's mission. Surprisingly, helping her come back from the dead and crash a Zetrov press conference was easier than dealing with Carla. Family drama just seemed to pop up at every turn. But could they really have been that surprised. After all, Division loved to hold their agents' families over their heads.
"Just let us know if anything happens," Michael fought an eye roll. He couldn't blame Birkhoff for wanting to stay out of it. Things really did just keep getting more and more complicated. It was easier when they had clear villains and motives to fight against; they could understand what their opponents wanted and how they could stop them. But when good people did evil things, it was disorienting. How were they supposed to defeat the bad guys when they had once loved and cared for them.
That wasn't so much of a struggle for Michael and Birkhoff. However, watching their friends suffer was harrowing. Alex had quickly gotten over the fact that Semak was an old friend of the family. Although she had once considered him an uncle, she had no qualms about killing him for what he had done to her father. Yet Katya was another story. She was ready and willing to rescue her, but the hurt she felt over being handed over to Zetrov still stung. Sean and Nikita were in the same situation. They wanted to forgive Madeline and Ms. Bennet and return home, but they couldn't. There was too much pain and mistrust. Carla didn't make it any easier as they finally approached her, "I can't believe you're alive, Nikita. How did you survive the crash?"
"Our mom," Sean muttered without explanation. He didn't think he could go into it. Nor did he think he could look at Nikita. He discovered she was alive months ago, but he still couldn't believe it. Ten years of thinking his closest sister was dead had affected him more than he wanted to recognize. There were moments where she would laugh, or joke around, or do something that was so utterly Nikita, and all he could do was stare at her to make sure she was really there. If she had ever caught him or not, he didn't care. He was just so shocked and relieved to have her back in his life.
The same kind of complicated feelings flashed across Ms. Bennet's expression; there was some confusion mixed in as well. A fake death wasn't something to take lightly, especially when there appeared to be a strange conspiracy behind it. But Nikita wasn't willing to dive into it then. She wanted answers to her questions, not the other way around. She deserved to know just what the fuck was going on, "Let's focus on you and Division. You went from tormenting troubled teens to teaching them?"
"We were saving lives. We took them from a system that didn't care for them, and gave them a second chance," Ms. Bennet was quick to answer. Nikita could assert that she had had that explanation prepared, but her conviction seemed genuine. Her former teacher actually believed Division could save lives; that the 'second chances' speech was real and not utter bullshit. Except, there was nothing good about Division. She had argued that point with Michael about a year ago. A place that used its power to abuse those without wasn't good. It was corrupt and vile.
"By training them to be assassins," Shoving down her acidity, Nikita bit. Ms. Bennet looked to the others in the room for solidarity, but found none. Sean continued to avoid eye contact, attempting to process and think. Michael, on the other hand, simply stood by Nikita. He had also been used and lied to by that hellhole. In the long run, intentions didn't matter. Division had put people and the world through hell more times than anyone would ever really know. He might've once had hope that they could use its powers for good. But after learning the extent of the corruption and pain, all that hope was lost.
"That was Percy's idea. And we were doing great things for this country. Before Amanda corrupted it," Ms. Bennet was more thoughtful that time as she explained, praying her point of view would be understood by the rogues. She gave them the whole account of Division's founding and its original purpose. She and Percy were rescuing innocents on death row and giving them another shot at life- a better shot at life. All of that changed when Amanda and the government backing Percy had secured came into play. The program became corrupt and twisted.
Instead of truly listening and considering the information, Nikita absolutely lost it in response. She doubled over in laughter, nearly screeching. Sean thought for a moment that his sister had finally lost her mind. And Michael was almost afraid to ask if she was alright. She only shook her head. Madeline had given her the same stupid excuse for her actions- it was all Percy's or Amanda's fault. The ridiculousness overwhelmed her. Why was no one going to take responsibility for the damage they had done. Why couldn't they see how much they had hurt others. Fortunately for Nikita, Michael didn't let Carla wonder what that was about. Once the giggles died down, he pushed forward, "And Oversight. The government backing Percy received. Corruption finds corruption."
Ms. Bennet tried not to argue against Division's corruption again. With the many emotions and bewilderment flying around the room, it was better to continue sharing information. However, the dark expressions that fell across Sean's and Nikita's faces were worth exploring. The Pierce's former teacher never considered how much the siblings had resembled each other until that moment. Their expressions and mannerisms were nearly identical. But another puzzle had thrown Carla for a loop. Nikita's mother had saved her from the car crash, and as a result she ended up in Division. The only explanation she could think of came from what Michael had said, "Government… your mother's still a senator, right? She's involved?"
"She was trying to save me too," Nikita's reply was barely audible. She wasn't going to explain that any further. What was there to really say besides the attempt on her life and the misguided way Madeline tried to stop it. She couldn't share more details, especially not with Sean in the room. She didn't want her brother to know the extent of what had happened to her and with their mother. He didn't deserve to carry around that kind of pain. He should've been able to look towards a brighter future for their family- all of her siblings did.
"How did you go from Division to teaching highschool?" Distracting both Sean and Ms. Bennet from Nikita, Michael brought them back to the topic. They still needed intel and explanation. There was a chance they could use the information against Percy or Amanda. Any advantage they could have in that war would be a blessing. The team couldn't lose the momentum that had gained after stopping Clean Sweep and initiating an attack on Gogol and Zetrov. They needed as many wins as they could get.
"One day, everything changed. I was pushed out, and an agent was sent to kill me. But since I had saved him, he saved me. I escaped and made a new life for myself," Carla found that question the easiest to answer, despite her confusion as to what had happened. She had no idea why Amanda wanted her dead. She hadn't done anything to her besides argue against her ideas. But she wasn't a threat to her power at the moment. The woman didn't have a reason to still want her dead. Her motivations didn't make any sense.
Really none of that made any sense to Sean. He felt as though they were circling around the point. Nikita certainly wasn't sharing much, and Michael was covering for her. He knew there were things being held from him; he was kept in the dark for some stupid reason he didn't want to hear. He just wanted to understand what was occurring and put an end to the war with Division. So he finally laid into Ms. Bennet, "By training more kids."
"That wasn't my intention, Sean," Her tone was soft. Carla knew how much all of that was for the rogue agents; it was difficult for her as well. Yet the best they could all do was try to remain calm and rational. Getting angry and snapping wouldn't allow them to listen to the other side. Though, she was getting the sense that Nikita and Sean were done listening. They had heard so much bullshit explanations from others, they couldn't take any more. The two simply wanted their bitterness and fury to be validated.
"Wasn't anyone's intention to put us through hell. But when you create evil, you become evil," Nikita was near emotionless while she spoke. It was as though she had already reached that conclusion long ago. Whereas Michael slowly moved to comfort her, Sean crossed his arms and set the same exact glare. Ms. Bennet had no choice but to take a step back from the things she had said and done. The siblings were far more hurt than she had realized. Maybe if they opened up to her, she'd be able to help settle their anxieties and anger. Yet there was no chance of that.
"Hey. Press conference is starting," Birkhoff popping his head into the room solidified that. Alex's mission was about to start; they had to focus on that instead. The rogues gladly shifted gears to their other active op. They could take that as a moment to breathe and think. But in reality, Sean and Nikita were going to use the diversion to ignore everything that had just happened. When Ms. Bennet had asked them what was going on, they snapped that she wasn't the most important thing happening at the moment. They shouldn't have reacted so strongly. But the thing worse than finding out the women they had looked up to had created Division, was that they defended their terrible choices. They were blind to what they had done.
"Is Alex in place?" Sean forced those thoughts away, trying to find Alex on the TV screen. Birkhoff had hacked the various news networks that were covering the Zetrov press conference, giving them eyes everywhere from their beach house. They could watch for Alex and help her when they needed to. Although they all wanted her to be safe, Sean was the most concerned as he paced up and down the livingroom. Michael shot Nikita a knowing look, and she cracked a small smile. It was the first true grin he had seen from her in a while.
"She's probably waiting for the right moment," He had to see a brighter smile from her. Michael gently nudged Nikita, insinuating that it was her influence on Alex that made her such a formidable agent. She smiled a tad brighter, after a roll of her eyes. It wasn't as dark if she could be cheered up. He was certain with more time the whole team would be able to calm and successfully move forward. They simply had to rely on one another and not let their emotions drown them. Some more victories would be beneficial too.
"And there's the Dark Lord himself," Birkhoff mumbled as the camera panned to show Ari. Soft chuckles erupted from the team. When Alex and Nikita had discovered Gogol's and Zetrov's ties, the team was able to easily roll along with it. The two corrupt Russian companies joining forces made as much sense as Oversight and Division. Evil found evil, no matter what form it took. At least when they took out one of the organizations, the other would fall as a result. It made part of their job simpler.
As Nikita, Michael, Sean, and Birkhoff cracked jokes and studied the crowd for other Gogol agents, Ms. Bennet stared at Ari. She swore she had seen that man before. Yet judging from the team's comments, that shouldn't have been possible- how could she have met a Russian operative. The pull of an old memory was persistent, however. She couldn't have been that mistaken. She knew Ari, "Who is he?"
"Ari Tasarov. Leader of Zetrov's mob-like security team, Gogol," Nikita replied matter of factly. She didn't think much of Ms. Bennet's question, until she saw her puzzled expression. Her former teacher appeared to have been trying to figure something out. Michael, Sean, and Birkhoff caught the expression as well, and shared confused glances. Was it possible that there was another surprising connection they were going to be forced to learn. God, they hoped not, "Do you know him?"
Nodding slowly, Carla was finally able to place where she had seen Ari. It was years ago, right before she was pushed out of Division. She was certain then that her memory was the cause of that. She had seen Ari outside of a Gogol mission, and accompanying somebody he shouldn't have been with. She had never thought much about the encounter until that instant. Then, everything started to make a lot more sense, "He was American when I met him. He was with Amanda."
"Talk about a match made in Hell," Birkhoff expressed the team's shock as best as he knew how- instant and biting sarcasm.
