Although Nikita listened intently to Ari's tale of woe, it took everything in her not to interrupt with various sarcastic quips. The fact that Amanda was making moves without Ari was serious. She had brought other assets into her bad guy clique, iced Ari out once he became one of the most wanted men in the world, and was making another world burning move. It wasn't the time for Nikita to crack jokes. But she couldn't help but not feel sorry for the former head of Gogol. He had the betrayal and banishment coming. His life of villainy and crime had finally caught up to him. A part of her just wished that it had stuck, "I barely made it out of there."

"And you ran straight to Division. That's pretty desperate, even for you," Leaning back in her chair, Nikita scoffed. Ari had to have known that running to Division was just as much of a death sentence as staying where his former Gogol agents intended to kill him. Sure, Division wasn't going to shoot him. But his life was over. Once he gave them all the information they wanted, he'd spend the rest of his life in a prison cell- or wherever the CIA, FBI, and Interpol saw fit. That couldn't have been a better alternative than just running. Ari Tasorov was at a whole new low. And Nikita Pierce was enjoying that just a tad too much.

"Yes, well, Amanda's gone too far this time," Ari couldn't match Nikita's taunting tone. Usually when the two talked, they traded insults and sarcastic comments. Yet Ari was truly at his lowest point. Nikita was worried. Especially since, of all of Amanda's evil schemes, the former head of Gogol considered the latest one the worst. The former rogue couldn't even imagine what that could've been. What could draw the line for Ari. Obviously, the plan had to be more deadly and destructive than anything else the bitch had pulled. But how deadly and destructive.

"Oh. This time she went too far?" Because as far as Nikita was concerned, the scheme against Sean was one of the worst things Amanda had done. What she had done to Owen was also up there. Yet Nikita remained furious for what the bitch had put her little brother through. The woman who had once taken care of her, helped her grow, ensured that she survived, was determined to kill everyone she loved. And, while also bringing up other familial pain, she had almost succeeded with her brother. Nikita couldn't understand that psychotic behavior. It made her so angry, she didn't think she'd ever calm down. Not until the bitch was dead.

"She has teamed with a terrorist," Ari answered Nikita's question with the serious weight those words deserved. Amanda's new assets were terrorists. She wasn't just working with black ops agents working to destroy other black ops agents. She was helping to kill innocents and destroy the world. Her evil schemes have definitely multiplied in horror. Nikita couldn't even think to be sarcastic. Although she wanted to assume Ari was being dramatic, and she wanted to downplay the whole thing, she knew he was telling the truth. He had no reason to lie, after all; it wasn't like he could escape from that situation. The truth was all he had.

And the horrific truth was that Amanda had a terrorist in her pocket. Percy had had one once. Yet, Nikita didn't want to think about how horrendous that was. She had no doubt that Amanda was going to do worse things with her terrorist. No one was keeping her in check. The one person that even could had been pushed aside and had gone running to the enemy. Though, he wasn't going to give her up. Not without some kind of deal. Although it was surprising that he showed up in Division, Ari was still an opportunist. He was going to get what he wanted before the others could, "Let me guess, you'll only tell me at a price. So predictable."

"Nikita, believe me. You have no idea what's coming," Leaning across the table, Ari warned. Nikita knew it wasn't a threat- at least, not coming from him. However, his phrase held a lot of power. Nikita, Division, no one knew what was about to hit the world. How could they when a psychotic bitch was funding terrorists. Based on the story Ari had told, Nikita was beginning to wonder if Amanda had trained the terrorists as well. If they had the same kind of skills as Division, then the world was in deeper shit than anyone could imagine.

"So tell me," Dropping her attitude, Nikita asked Ari to talk. The horrors people couldn't even fathom wouldn't occur if Ari sold out Amanda. Obviously he wanted to if he went to Division and admitted that he abhorred her actions. So why didn't he just talk; all he had to do was open his mouth. It was pointless to hold out for some kind of deal. Three different federal agencies (four including Division) wanted his head. He couldn't even hope for amnesty or a reduced sentence for his various crimes. Nothing would save him.

"First, I want fifty million electronically transferred to an account of my choosing," Despite that fact, Ari made a demand. He made a very pricey demand. Nikita was so shocked, she nearly choked on air. There was no way he was being serious. What could he have possibly done with fifty million dollars. No one needed that much money, especially not a man who was about to spend the rest of his life in prison. It wasn't like he could retire, or travel the world, or do anything with fifty million dollars. So why ask for it, why taunt Division. Unless he was just being an ass. If so, he had horrible timing.

"Fifty million dollars? Not Monopoly money. That's awesome," Nikita couldn't help but laugh. And as Ari stared at her blankly, she laughed even more. There was no way Division was actually going to pay the former head of Gogol fifty million dollars. They wouldn't pay anybody that. It was ridiculous. It was also insulting to put a price on saving the world from a new terrorist. If Ari really detested what Amanda was up to, he wouldn't have asked for that much money. He was just being the asshole Nikita knew him to be. But two could play at that game. She could easily be a pain in the ass right back.

"Nikita," Before she could, however, Michael entered the interrogation room. No one was supposed to interrupt her, yet there was something she needed to see. Although she was surprised, Ari wasn't. She was already afraid about what she was going to see. Ops was still by the time Michael returned with Nikita. Everyone was staring at a news report on the monitors that was gravely discussing a bombing. Several people had been killed while trapped in an elevator with a bomb. No one knew who was behind it or why it had occurred. The only thing that was clear was how violent and horrific it was.

Nikita knew the attack was tied to Amanda's terrorist. A video from an anonymous person claiming to be behind the attack confirmed the fact; they wanted revenge, and they were using Division tech to get it. Birkhoff couldn't hack the video because it used Division's encryption. Amanda had prepared the terrorists for war. Ari knew, yet he refused to say a word. Nikita thought about torturing it out of him. But Michael talked her off that ledge. She should try negotiating first while Alex and Owen investigate the crime scene. She didn't hesitate to storm back into the interrogation room. Ari smirked as she did, "You're not laughing anymore."

"What does Amanda get out of helping a bunch of terrorists?" It was a surprise even to Nikita that she didn't just snap. Her heart had dropped to her stomach when she had seen the aftermath of the bombing on the news. All those innocent people had died for nothing- just for a fucked up scheme by a bitch twisting people's pain to further her own means. It shouldn't have happened. It wouldn't have happened if the team had stopped Amanda earlier. Or if Ari had talked. Yet he was holding out for that damn fifty million. Even after the first bloody attack, he wouldn't say anything helpful.

"Why does Amanda do anything these days? You," Ari shared a fact that Nikita already knew. Since the mission with Cyrus, she was aware that Amanda was doing everything in her power to ruin her life, take away everything from her, then kill her. So of course the latest evil had to do with Amanda's vendetta against Nikita. However, hearing it laid out like that almost made the former rogue collapse to her knees. She was why those people were dead. She didn't plant the bomb, but she had driven Amanda to that point. All that pain was her fault.

Quickly, Nikita battled the thought away. She couldn't go down that rabbit hole. Amanda was so vindictive she was insane. That wasn't her fault. She couldn't be blamed for anything. Just the bitch and her terrorist- her terrorist armed with Division technology. Amanda had a decrypted black box, so naturally she was going to have advanced tech that she could utilize. But why give it to terrorist. Normal equipment would've worked. Unless death and destruction wasn't her only goal. She didn't want the world to burn, just Nikita's. What better place to start than Division, "She's going to frame Division?"

"Their weapons are the last few I purchased from Cyrus, your former arms dealer. And he will lead to Division's door- I assure you. Unless you end it now," Ari confirmed Nikita's suspicions. The terrorists, calling themselves Crimson Wave, were causing terror then. But they were going to be caught eventually- maybe even given up by Amanda when she was done with them. And once they were, all evidence trails would lead to Division. The agents wouldn't even have a chance to defend themselves. The President would clean them all. Amanda'd win.

"What are you even going to do with fifty million? You can't spend it from a prison cell," Snapping at Ari, Nikita refused to allow any of the bad guys to win. Ari had to tell her the lead terrorist's name. Too many lives were on the line to play any games or try to barter. She wasn't even sure she could negotiate with Ari before the next attack occurred. Nikita could only get him to realize how stupid he was being by holding out for money. He was never going to use it, so why bother. Why be an asshole.

"The real question is, how much are those innocent lives worth to you?" Ari dared. After the terrorist's video, when Nikita had told her team about what Ari had said, Alex suggested that Ari could be trying to raise money for an army so he could break himself out. But Michael argued that Ari was too smart for that. Nikita agreed with her fiancé. The former head of Gogol was incredibly smart. He knew he couldn't use the fifty million. He was holding out for something else- some kind of plan of his. Whatever it was, Nikita couldn't let it come to fruition.

"And how much is your life worth? Or whatever you wanna call the rest of your existence in a seven by twelve box. Because, no matter what, you are never getting out of here," Stepping into Ari's space, Nikita grinned cruelly. Her next step after negotiating was going to be torture. Although Michael had warned that Ari was trained to resist torture, Nikita didn't care. If Ari wouldn't see his stupidity in holding out for money, then she would force him to. She could eventually wear him down with her fists. He'd tell her everything she wanted to know.

While Nikita attempted to pry information from Ari, Owen and Alex raced to the scene of the bombing. By the time they got there, the dead bodies and evidence had been cleared away. The two were perfectly fine with that, though. They weren't looking for the obvious anyway. They needed to poke around for anything that led to Amanda- or Division. How the cameras were scrambled and the mode of killing definitely screamed Division. Yet Owen didn't comment on it. His mind had been elsewhere, eventually forcing him to blurt, "Nikita's very protective of a brother she didn't let us know existed."

"Well, you know what happens when we get recruited. Division threatens our families to keep us in line. She didn't want her family in danger, so she never said a word. But it turns out her family has always been involved in Division, so it's kinda whatever now," Continuing to study the area around her, Alex dismissed the conversation. The Pierces' involvement in Division wasn't whatever, but she wasn't in the mood to talk about Oversight and life saving recruitments then. The elevator bombing was enough of a burden to concentrate on. She can only carry so much weight on her shoulders.

"You guys were threatened, I was brainwashed," Owen huffed. Alex glanced up at him then. Sean had told her what had happened in the gym after she had left. So she wasn't curious about Owen's remark about Nikita. However, his reply left her staring at him in concern. He only talked to Nikita about what Amanda did to him. Considering he knew her and trusted her the most on the team, it made sense. Yet that left the rest of the team in the dark. Alex had no idea it had been that bad for him. Sure, there were parts of her past she'd love to forget. But to forget her whole life seemed terrifying. And maddening.

"You still don't remember anything?" Alex asked gently. Maybe she should've paid more attention to Owen. She really didn't know a lot about him. She knew the things Nikita had told her (and the sarcastic quips Michael had made). But she hadn't really spent time with Owen herself. That should change. They were all on the same team. They all had the same goal in mind. They should all know and trust one another. Keeping things to themselves and staying separated was pointless. The team really needed to engage with each other more.

"Not sure if I want to. According to Amanda, I was a soldier who killed all his friends. What kind of a man is that?" Moving to inspect the demolished elevator, Owen explained. He only had a few painful, maddening flashes of his past whenever he was Amanda, which was why he was away for most missions that involved her. Yet other than that, he still had no idea who he really was. That was probably for the best. If he truly had been a terrible person like Amanda had claimed, then that should stay in the past. He didn't want to repeat those actions.

"I don't know. But don't let Amanda, or anyone else, define you. Who you are now is a way different person," Smiling softly, Alex tried to reassure Owen. She might not have known much about him, but from what she had been told and from what she had witnessed, she knew that he wasn't who Amanda claimed he was. He'd never be like that person. Not if he continued to help the team, fight for innocents, and save the world, "And you're going to prove that by helping us stop these terrorists."

Hope everyone had a good holidays!