Alex soon left Ryan's office, pulling herself further away from her team. Nikita stared after her. The two had to find the time to talk. Considering the awful things Sean had said to his sister before he left, there was no telling what he had said to the girl he was dating. He and Alex were obviously on their way to a serious relationship. How did his leaving affect that. And how was Alex handling that. Nikita needed to know, see if there was any way she could help. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time for that at the moment. Birkhoff brought her back to the other problem at hand with his stress filled question, "Any ideas on how to kill a president?"
"An operation that between planning, gathering assets, and executing takes almost a year to pull off," Michael sighed. Of course Division had killed presidents and other politicians and world leaders before. They were elbow deep in government conspiracies, after all. But all of those missions took months to plan and months to carry out. The team couldn't kill Markov as quickly as they wanted. That kind of operation took too much time. It also took almost too many resources, "And even then, we usually had a fall guy. Or we just replaced 'em with a puppet that later turned against us."
"But you had allies to help. And a leader that didn't know Division's plays. Markov will be waiting for us. We can't attack him in Uzbekistan. That'd only lead to disaster," Ryan added to the team's limitations. Whereas Division had their loose definition of allies in the past, they couldn't turn to anyone for help on that operation. No one could know the threat Division faced. If they did, more disastrous problems would crash down on the organization. The team was on their own, against a rogue agent who knew their every move and held more power than them.
Although that description fit both Amanda and Markov, their attention had to remain on Markov. Birkhoff would gladly not think about Amanda for a moment. After trying and failing to decrypt the mole's communications, he needed a break from the bitch. Besides, there was a chance that taking a break could give him the mental reset needed to track down whoever had turned against Division. He could focus his hacking energy instead on gathering intel on their latest Dirty Thirty. It was surprisingly easy to manage. Birkhoff was able to find an itinerary fairly quickly, "What about here? Markov's meeting the President for a few days."
"You want to kill him in the White House? That'd make things even worse," Ryan repeated what he had said earlier. Maybe if he told all the agents the President's stipulation for keeping Division open, he wouldn't have to keep stressing about how terrible the whole situation was; he wouldn't be so anxious about their movements being whisper quiet, because everyone would know what was at stake. Yet Ryan couldn't bring himself to share the truth. It was too much. And he feared it would destroy his friends' hope for their fleeting future.
"What if we grabbed him from his hotel?" Finally speaking up, Nikita asked. She had been considering the idea for a while. They needed time for a proper mission against Markov, but too much time would only work to his advantage. He was a threat that needed to be eliminated immediately. Since Division's regular operations were out of the question, the team had to rely on some out of the box thinking. Fortunately, Nikita was excellent at coming up with wild and crazy plans, "We kill him, replace him with a fake so no one's suspicious, then after some time we pretend he died of natural causes."
Only Michael and Birkhoff considered the idea. Ryan wanted to shake his head and negate the plan. It was too risky. So many things could go wrong; the team couldn't control every variable or possibility. The wild scheme was also too outrageous to actually plan for. However, Ryan's apprehensions were ignored by the others. They were more focused on something they could potentially do against the situation. They had more hope, which Michael expressed with a nod, "That could work, if we had the time for surgeries and for prepping an agent."
"I actually have something that'd help with the disguise. We'd just have to get Markov here first. And we'd need an agent with his height and build," Nodding at Michael, Birkhoff suggested. He had found some technology left behind from Percy's reign of terror. It was by the same people who had supplied the trackers and killchips. Although it seemed a bit too spy-fy even for the nerd- what kind of funding and research went into those gadgets- the team had to take any resource they could. The more equipped they were, the better.
"And that speaks Russian and has experience undercover. And in dealing with international disasters," Glancing at Michael as well, Nikita continued Birkhoff's point. She trusted the hacker when it came to helpful technologies. He was truly the master of his domain in that regard. He also had some good ideas when it came to field work- having Michael replace Markov was no exception. The agent was the best choice for the operation. He had the most experience. He could also handle ruling a country for some time until they could 'kill' him.
"I'm up for it. Ryan?" Shrugging, Michael easily agreed. He was sure once they hashed out the details of the plan, he would be alright (besides the fact that both he and Nikita were already dreading the idea of being separated for an indeterminate amount of time). All the team needed was Ryan's approval. They couldn't rush off on a crazy idea if they all didn't agree. That hadn't necessarily worked for them in the past. If the entire team was on board, then they could accurately plan and execute their mission. There also wouldn't be any arguing to distract them.
Ryan took a long moment to think over what the others were proposing. He wanted to believe that the team could do it. Even with so much stacked against them, they could be able to achieve greatness. Ryan sighed. Continuing to argue against them would just delay their chances of handling Markov and keeping the President in the dark about their activities. He should help his team, not hinder them. As long as they did things perfectly, they should be fine, "I want this excessively planned and detailed. And keep it quieter than every other mission."
While the rest of the team debated over and hashed out their next move, Alex was doing everything she could to discover who the mole was. She searched through the computers in Medical in an attempt to determine who could've been nearby to alert Amanda of the attack. She found nothing. Examining where the attack had occurred, which was still under repairs, for any clue or hint also produced absolutely nothing. Alex was just grasping at straws. She should've been able to find something- anything- to help her team. But she had absolutely nothing. Frustration began to boil in her veins.
Her frustration wasn't worth losing focus on. Alex could find something soon. She was smart and capable. However, she couldn't move past her overwhelming emotions. She couldn't get herself under control; at least, on her own she couldn't. She had discovered a performance enhancing drug in Medical that helped her nerves and the pain in her shoulder. If she was going to be helpful to her team, then she needed to take the pill. Popping it instantly made her feel better. She could definitely be of use then. Except, when she stumbled into the next room, she spotted Owen on a cot. Her good mood quickly shattered, "What are you doing here?"
"I have brain damage, remember?" Rolling his eyes, Owen tapped his forehead. He didn't want to be in Medical. But Nikita had been excessively panicked with whatever Amanda did to him. She needed answers, and she needed him to be alright. So, Owen felt as though he was trapped in Medical in order to appease her. At least he had Alex to distract him then. She seemed so frantic. Although she stood firmly in the doorway, her eyes cast all over the room, and her muscles twitched. She was up to something weird. Hopefully whatever it was would distract Owen from his own shit, "Whatcha poking around for?"
"Just looking into the gas attack," Alex crossed her arms tightly over herself. The last thing she needed was for Owen to ruin her investigation. He definitely couldn't keep things quiet. He had a terrible habit of blurting whatever was on his scrambled mind. Alex was also afraid that he might've seen her take the performance enhancer. She was around the corner, so probably not. But she really didn't need him or anyone else on the team knowing she was taking medication. It wasn't narcotics or anything like that. Yet they'd try to stop her regardless- they'd see it as a problem when it wasn't. The drugs were helping her. She had to keep taking them.
"You think there's a mole?" Thankfully, Owen remained clueless about the performance enhancers. On the other hand, despite Alex's efforts, he knew what she was doing. She tried to negate the fact, but it was of no use. He wouldn't let her talk. He hopped off his cot and moved towards her. At least he kept his voice low so no one would overhear him. He'd keep the conversation between them, even if it was obvious, "Oh like it's that hard to figure out. The strange coincidences. The former mole on the caseā¦"
"You need to keep it quiet," Alex stopped him right there. Alright, fine, so Owen was onto her. But he wasn't really someone to worry about. He couldn't fake the intense effect Amanda had on him, or the scarring to his brain. He also wasn't one to turn against the team. Alex could rule him out as the mole. Maybe she could also use his help on the mole hunt. Before she could ask if he had seen anything, however, she began to hear a strange noise coming from the back of the room. She moved to investigate it, "What's that noise?"
"Move!" Owen reacted faster than Alex did. He grabbed her arm and ripped her out of the room. She barely saw that a flame torch had been left behind by one of the repairmen that had stopped by. And she barely recognized that the noise she had heard was a leaking gas pipe. By the time all of that clicked in Alex's mind, Owen had her out in the hallway shielding her from the blast. Although it rocked all of Medical, the flames were contained in the room. No one was harmed. But they were shaken up.
That was the second explosion in less than a week. That was the second time that alarms blared in Division, startling everyone. While Owen and Alex attempted to shake off their shock and right themselves, their team came rushing to their side. Other agents flocked to the disaster zone as well, trying to see if it was as terrible as the Sarin attack. Fortunately, it wasn't. The explosion wasn't too bad- the room wasn't even that destroyed. The team could pass the incident off as an accident. Though, they knew the truth. Someone must've suspected they were looking for a mole and tried to stop them. Nikita scoffed, "There goes keeping things quiet."
"Same goes for you," Eyeing Nikita's mission clothes up and down, Alex couldn't help herself from commenting. If the former rogue was dressed in her dark clothing and Kevlar lined jacket, she was up to something- and that something was hardly ever quiet. Alex had stayed out of the Markov planning, knowing that listening to the team plan without her wouldn't be helpful. She wouldn't be able to focus on the mole hunt if she thought there was a way she could help her team with the danger they faced. She had to stick to her mission, and them theirs.
"Wanna ruin a man's night with me?" Nikita asked hopefully. It was probably better if Alex stayed in Division and hunted down whoever wanted to hurt her and Owen with the explosion. And her injured shoulder continued to be a slight problem. However, Nikita wanted Alex out in the field with her. They could find some time to talk, and they could slip back into their easy friendship and partnership. They shouldn't let all the hell they faced ruin that. They shouldn't let Sean leaving shake them up as much as it had; though, they did have to delve into that. It could be the two of them against the world again.
"Think I can do that here," Shaking her head, Alex smiled briefly. She should stay and keep looking for the mole. Both of their missions were important, so they should focus on both. Division wouldn't be able to survive if one of them failed. The team and everyone else wouldn't have the freedom they dreamed about if everything started to fall apart at the seams. Alex couldn't let that happen. She had to ensure they all had their happy endings. Then they could be with those they wanted most.
"Some other time then," Nikita mumbled. She knew Alex was right. She also knew the team had to start cleaning Medical and continue with their missions. Other things just kept taking precedence. Maybe that was fine for the moment. It meant that later the team could have all the freedom in the world to talk, connect, and do whatever they wanted. That seemed a worthy goal to work towards. Dealing with Amanda and the Dirty Thirties was the best way to get there. If only they could survive where they were currently at, "Once this shitshow blows over."
