After the encounter with the Ossetian soldiers, Owen, Nikita and Sean focused their energies on preparing for the exchange for Alex. They couldn't be caught by surprise again. The rest of the mission had to go according to plan- their plan, not Ryan's. Nikita had made that clear when she had taken the trigger for the killchip. They weren't going to kill anyone by just flipping a switch. There were more options to saving the world than just killing people. The team had made that promise when they took over Division. They couldn't break that promise then.
When Sean, Nikita, and Owen finally reached the location for the exchange, they scouted the area for any deadly tricks Amanda might have had up her sleeve. It didn't take them long to find her contingencies. They were as predictable as they were plentiful, which really didn't help Sean's anxiety, "Lots of eyes, lots of hardware- exactly what Amanda wants. If we try anything, this place erupts. After the exchange, Amanda's not gonna stick around. She's gonna have exfil ready. And she'll have security, at least until she's out of the country. Intercept, takedown, extract, by my count, this is a four-man job. Anything less, we got a high risk of failure."
"We're getting Alex back. We're going in at full strength," Nikita assured her brother. As soon as they had Alex and ensured she was alright, the team would be at full force again. The four of them would be more than enough to take on Amanda, save Ari, and take the black box out of play. There would be no need to rely on killchips and death orders to save the day. They could be victorious without ever making that choice.
Not long after the agents arrived at the rendezvous, Amanda drove onto the scene with Alex and a bodyguard (she had probably been alerted to their presence by the cameras she had stationed around the area). Nikita grabbed Ari and hurried to meet the bitch. Her eyes were on Alex the whole time. She didn't see anything physically wrong with her; it didn't look like Amanda had hurt her- unlike when she had captured Birkhoff. Though, that didn't mean that Alex was completely alright. There was no doubting that she had been to hell and back while held captive by the bitch. Hopefully, it wasn't too much hell, "Hey. Are you okay?"
"Couldn't be better," Alex couldn't help but snark. Although she was glad to see Nikita and was appreciative of the concern, her mind was not at that exchange. She continued to think about Larissa and how she could die at any minute. They were wasting time just standing by and talking. Who cared how she was; she was fine. She just needed to gather the forces and go back to the hospital. She had to save Larissa.
"You know, Nikita, I don't think you understand how much you've given up in this exchange. I certainly haven't," As Alex and Ari switched positions, Amanda grinned smugly. Nikita finally directed her attention towards the bitch to glare at her. She made sure her body blocked Alex from any further attack, and she silently dared Amanda to try something; she'd be ready to kill her if she did. Yet Amanda simply continued to smirk and walked away. Honestly, although that was an ideal outcome, Nikita didn't like the implications of that.
As soon as Alex neared him, Sean forgot about everything else and just focused on her. He was certain Nikita and Owen would keep watching their backs, ensuring nothing happened. He could stop being an agent for a moment, and instead, pull his girlfriend into his arms and double check that she was breathing and alive and really there with him, "Oh, Alex. Thank God. Are you okay? What did she do?"
"I'm fine. She didn't do anything to me," A part of Alex wanted to melt in Sean's arms and have him whisk her back home. But the part of her that was still with Larissa battled that feeling away. They were wasting so much time with that reunion. It had to wait until after Larissa was safe and sound as well. If her friend died while Alex relished in the fact that she was safe and sound, she'd never be able to forgive herself. She couldn't waste time taking a second to breathe. She had to go back, now. She had to save Larissa, now.
"Good. Cause we gotta go. We're going to recover Ari," Once Amanda was out of sight, Nikita rallied the others into action. Owen was able to track Ari through the killchip. As long as they stayed close, the team could follow Amanda and form their assault. Nikita's main goal was to recover Ari and destroy the black box. But if they managed to kill Amanda too, Nikita wouldn't complain. It all had to end one way or another.
"What? No. No, there's a woman who was helping me, and she's hurt. She's being held prisoner by the military. I said that we would save her. We have to save her. She's dying. She doesn't have time," Pulling away from Sean, Alex instantly argued. She was positive Nikita had her reasons for recovering Ari, but none of them were important at the moment. The only thing that mattered was saving Larissa. Once she was save, the team could fuck over Amanda or whatever. Until then, saving Larissa was the only mission.
"Alex, Amanda's gonna use Ari to open the black box. We have to get to her before that happens. We can save your friend after. I promise she will be safe," Nikita knew Alex was missing a severe amount of information, so she tried to be gentle as she explained. Yet, like Alex said, there wasn't time. Amanda could've been using Ari to open the black box right that second. The bitch couldn't have those secrets- secrets about her and her mother that could hurt Sean, Jill, and Sandy- and she couldn't kill another person. She needed to be stopped immediately. And since Alex was okay, the team could rush right off and do that.
"Fine, then you go. I'm going back for Larissa," If no one was going to go with her, then Alex would rescue Larissa by herself. She'd simply take some of the weapons and equipment she knew the team had and become a one woman army. It'd be tough without everyone, yet she knew she could make it. She had done more daring escape plans. That one shouldn't have been a problem, especially with her commitment to never leave another girl behind.
"Alex, we need you. We can't do this unless we go in full force," Pulling Alex back, Nikita tried to rationalize with her. Of course they would save Larissa. They wouldn't let anyone die. But the black box and all its secrets took priority. The hell that Amanda could unleash upon the world- upon Nikita's family- with those secrets couldn't become reality. She had to be stopped before she went too far. There was no doubt that she was trying to unlock the box that very second. The team couldn't just stand around and argue; they had to go.
Sean was torn. He wanted to follow Alex wherever she needed to go. But he also wanted to chase after Amanda and destroy the damn black box that had been threatening his family for far too long once and for all. He couldn't easily pick a side. And the more they sat there and debated, the worse things were going to get. The team needed another option. Glancing at Owen, Sean soon knew what the option was. He didn't like the idea, but- like Michael had tried to argue- it was the best they had, "There's another option. Use the trigger. Ari has a killchip. We could end the threat of the black box right now."
"Yeah. Let's do that. Why not?" Alex immediately jumped onto the idea. They could pull the trigger on Ari's killchip as they raced back to Larissa. It was an extremely simple choice. The black box would be neutralized, a bastard would be killed, and Amanda would lose. Why were they even arguing if that was an option. Nikita didn't need to go after Ari. She could just kill him. It'd be her simplest kill mission ever.
"Why not? Because we don't sacrifice people, we save them," Nikita nearly shouted, not out of anger, but in shock. Since when would Alex ever advocate using a killchip. She had been threatened by a killchip implanted in her brain; she had almost died from that killchip; she had been the loudest advocate for turning the killchips off when they had taken over Division; she had voiced that no one should die from a killchip; and she had done everything to save Sonya after her killchip had been turned back on. So why would she then push for Ari's death. Why would she advocate for something that had almost taken her life away.
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Despite where they were and the danger they still faced, Alex screamed. She refused to sacrifice Larissa to the pain Amanda's scheme had inflicted on her; she was going to save her and bring her back home. It was exactly what Nikita was doing with Ari. Only, Ari was an evil bastard, and Larissa was an innocent. So why should Ari's life be placed over Larissa's. Why did Nikita always get her way, and Alex had to blindly follow, "Ari can't be the priority just because you say it is."
With that, Alex stormed off. Sean looked at his sister for a long moment before he followed after his girlfriend. Nikita tried to call her back, tried to have her help take on Amanda and save Ari before they saved Larissa, but it was too late. She lost the support of Alex and her brother. All she was left with was Owen, who had to fight to get her back on mission, "Let 'em go. Let's go get Ari. Come on."
Completely ignoring Nikita, Alex went to the team's truck she knew was full of necessary equipment. She grabbed all the weapons that she could before Sean handed her a com. She hurriedly shoved it in her ear and called ops. Having been drugged traveling to and from where she was held, Alex had no idea where she was supposed to sprint to save Larissa. But, thankfully, she knew the one person who could. The instant her com connected, she asked for him, "Birkhoff, are you there?"
"Alex? It's good to hear your voice, girl," Birkhoff exclaimed excitedly. The last update from the team in the field was that they had spotted Alex with Amanda. It had been a long tense couple of minutes afterwards waiting to hear that she was safe and sound. Thank God that she was. Birkhoff was beyond ecstatic and relieved to hear her steady voice and know that she was coming home alive and relatively unharmed.
"Thanks, we can get all emo later. Look, I need you to find a hospital. It's where Amanda was holding me- somewhere in the combat zone. Check facilities that the Ossetians could have used for weapons storage," Alex brushed past Birkhoff's excitement and remained focused on her mission. Again, after Larissa was saved, Alex would enjoy her reunion with her team. She'd actually be happy to be home once she knew her friend had survived. Until then, there was no use in focusing on anything else.
Upon hearing Birkhoff say Alex's name, Michael rushed over from what he had been doing. Until he had confirmation that everyone was safe, he had to keep himself busy to save from becoming too anxious. It only slightly worked. He couldn't stop thinking about what Amanda could've done to Alex, or what she might do to Nikita. But if Birkhoff was saying Alex's name with such elation, then maybe everything was okay. Maybe everyone could come home safe and sound and without any drama, "Is she safe?"
"Yeah, yeah, she's with Sean. According to their trackers, Nikita and Owen have split off," Birkhoff replied, some of his elation over the fact that Alex was alive waning. He figured something was up when Alex had instructed him to find where she had been held- why would she want to return there. But he hadn't questioned it too much- maybe she suspected that was where Amanda would bring Ari. Then, he noticed that the team had split up, and he realized that assumption definitely wasn't the case. What exactly was going on in the field. Why split up when the next step was just to return home.
"Owen. Owen, why haven't you activated the contingency plan?" Joining Michael and Birkhoff at the computer, Ryan attempted to figure out what was going on. Once Alex had been retrieved, Owen was supposed to have activated the killchip. It should've been quick and simple, and everyone was supposed to have traveled back to the airport together. There was no need to remain in the field and draw out the mission. Any longer in South Ossetia, and the team was certain to run into danger.
"Because, Nikita has the trigger," Owen admitted. He wasn't entirely second guessing his decision to give Nikita the trigger for the killchip. Yes, he still wanted Ari dead. And yes, killing Ari was one of the best ways to neutralize the black box. But Nikita had made some great points in her argument, and she was usually right about those things. Also, Owen had to begrudgingly admit that he did owe Ari Tasarov for saving his life. Nikita should be in charge of the killchip trigger. She'd make a better decision with the device, after all.
"Nikita, I want you to listen to me. Activating that killchip is the only smart course of action," Desperately, Ryan tried to get Nikita to listen. Then was not the time for heroics. Even if Sean and Alex were with her, she couldn't take on Amanda and her numerous guards in South Ossetia. She had no planning, no prep, no backup, and absolutely no guarantee of success. The only way to save the day was to kill Ari. No one had to like it; it simply had to be done.
"We don't make that choice, Ryan. Or have you forgotten that we're not that kind of Division?" Nikita seethed. For all the talk of bettering Division, Ryan was falling into the trap of former Division heads. They weren't supposed to think of death as the only option anymore. They weren't supposed to leave people behind to suffer. They weren't supposed to serve their own interests and forget those that didn't fall into them. Division was supposed to be different. Which was why Nikita would never kill anyone with a killchip, not even Ari Tasarov.
"Nikita, it's just you and Owen. You cannot pull this off," Ryan tried one last time to get Nikita to hear him. It wasn't just about what Division did or didn't do then. It was about protecting each other and ensuring everyone made it to the happy ending they've all been fighting towards. If Nikita went after Ari, she was going to lose and she was going to die. Ryan couldn't let that happen. Unfortunately, she stopped hearing him. She turned off her com and sprinted head first into danger, "Nikita? Nikita!"
"Like I said, she's Nikki," Birkhoff repeated glumly. He had tried to warn Ryan. Once Nikita had it in her head that she was doing the right thing, she was going to give it her all. No one could talk her off course. Michael had tried countless times, especially when she was rogue. But Nikki was Nikki. She was going to be the hero until she became the martyr. The best the team could do then was help her, not hinder her.
They should also help Alex on her quest to do something. Birkhoff still didn't know why she wanted to return to where Amanda had held her captive. But whatever it was, it sounded urgent. It also sounded as though Alex was being as stubborn as Nikita about her idea. So Birkhoff wouldn't fight her. He'd simply do what she asked and give her the information when she called for it, "Birkhoff, you find that hospital?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm sending coordinates of a possible match to Sean's phone now. I can't get a visual of the place. But thermal imaging registers multiple heat signatures in the facility," Birkhoff explained. Once he did, Sean explained that they were going back to rescue the woman who had helped Alex while she was captured: she was being held by the Ossetian soldiers. With that knowledge, Birkhoff tried to get them more information about what they were about to run into, but there was only so much he could find. The two were about to go in blind.
Which Sean had assumed wouldn't have been that much of a problem. If Alex knew the layout of the hospital she had been held in, then the two could move around easily. However, when he and Alex arrived at the hospital, she appeared to be looking at the place with fresh eyes. She knew she had been there, but she didn't recognize a single thing. Sean felt like he could possibly blame the sedatives she was pumped full of for that. But he couldn't help shake the feeling that something was off, especially as he asked, "Which room?"
"I don't know," Alex was distant as she replied. She wanted to say that she did know. She had run from the place when she had tried to escape, after all. Yet the halls of the hospital didn't look exactly as she had remembered. That must've been because of her adrenaline. Sometimes, things became fractured when she was so focused on surviving and saving others. That had to have been why she couldn't remember. But if she kept walking, she was sure to remember. And she was sure to find Larissa and save her.
Until Alex could remember, Sean thought it best to explore the hospital room by room. He wished he didn't have that thought, though. Soon, he came across a surgical chair and needle like the ones Owen and Birkhoff had been pulled out of when Amanda had tortured them. Sean stared in horror at the chair, imagining Alex trapped in the terrifying thing. But when he turned to look at her to see if she recognized it, her attention was elsewhere- namely, on the armed soldiers that had swarmed the hall, "Come on, we got to keep moving. They'll get reinforcements soon. We will not be able to hold them off. And I am not leaving her."
It took a lot of effort for Sean to shake off the fear of seeing that chair and picturing Alex in it. He needed to know if she had been in it; he needed to know what exactly had been done to her while she had been trapped with Amanda. But the soldiers were shooting at them, and there was no time to think. Sean and Alex just had to act. They battled against the soldiers and raced through the hospital until they finally found a room Alex recognized. However, as she neared it, believing that was where Larissa was, a grenade was knocked into the room. The whole world exploded in an instant, "No. Larissa, no!"
"Alex. Alex! We have to move," Sean yanked Alex back before she could run right into the flames. She briefly tried to fight him for some reason, yet he held her tightly. It was too late. He hated to admit it, but Larissa was dead; they couldn't save her; it was too late. However, they could still save themselves. If they kept moving, the two could escape the soldiers, meet back up with the others, and go home. At that point, all he wanted was to bring her home.
He wanted to bring his sister home as well, yet Nikita was also intensely focused on her mission. Ryan had tried and failed to talk her off it. Michael tried a little while later. And when she and Owen finally caught up with Amanda, he tried to talk reason into her. It wasn't too late to use the killchip. They could still neutralize the black box and make it out of there alive. Because moving forward with her plan was definitely going to kill them, "No cover. We can't take 'em in one strike. She's got another man in that van. We need a flanking team to set up a crossfire. But we don't have 'em."
"I'll handle the soldiers. You take the van," Nikita decided. Ari's killchip was still active, which meant Amanda hadn't killed him yet, which meant that the black box was still locked. Nikita and Owen had a limited amount of time left to save Ari and hopefully kill Amanda in the process. The quick and dirty plan Nikita had created while she and Owen had tailed Ari should do the trick. It'd be messy, but she'd get what she wanted- what she needed to do.
"You can't take them all on, not by yourself," Owen felt weird being the one to talk sense. Yet even he had to admit that Nikita's plan was too reckless. She could do a lot of things. And she had survived so much. However, what she was thinking could not be done. There were far too many unknown variables to go on the attack. There was also Amanda and all the tricks hidden up her sleeve to factor in. Even the mighty rogue Nikita had her limits, and that operation was one of them. She should just give up and use the killchip.
"I'm not gonna take them on," Unfortunately, giving up was not in Nikita's vocabulary. She flashed Owen a smirk, then enacted her plan. He was forced to follow. Things actually seemed to be going well at first. Then, Ari tried to escape the van with the black box. One stray bullet after the next, hell rained down on everyone. Nikita fought to keep her ideas alive, but it was no use. Everyone had been right; it was too much for her.
Amanda eventually escaped. The soldiers that weren't killed ran off with her. And Ari had gotten shot. Nikita rushed to him, praying that her promise to him hadn't been in vain. She could still try to save him, bring him back to Division, make him help clear her brother's name, and have him face justice without dying. But it was all too late. She alone hadn't been enough to save him. He was losing too much blood, and he could hardly breathe. Yet, Ari still tried to fight it, at least long enough to pass Nikita something. She ignored the hand out and attempted to stop the bleeding, "Don't… don't try to talk."
"It's the… life we've chosen…" Ari used the last of his strength to pass Nikita what he held in his hands. She hardly registered that it was the black box. All she could focus on was that someone else had died in her arms. Another person she had promised to save and protect died in her arms. How many times was she supposed to watch the life drain out of someone's eyes while they tried to fight for her. Hadn't Daniel and Carla and Mia and countless others been enough. When would that end. When would her heart stop being left on the battlefield.
