"Alex, you need to hold," Amanda's command came through the com just as Alex got into her position. She was tempted to ignore it completely. She could pretend that she had never heard a word, and she could take the shot that she had lined up perfectly. She was so close to finally making progress in her war against Semak and in rescuing her mother. No more planning and grasping at the straws Division and Oversight handed out to her; Alex was getting exactly what she wanted exactly then.
"I've got the shot," Alex decided to respond. With Division's tech, pretending that she didn't hear a word would be impossible; she'd be caught in the lie immediately. It was better to reply that she was going to do her own thing rather than ignore Amanda. After all, it was her mission. She had been given control to do as she pleased. She didn't have to take Amanda's orders. Alex had her shot, and she wasn't going to miss.
"Hold, that's an order. Our cover may be compromised. Without Ramon, there will be too many questions. We're selling the world a story, Alex. If they don't believe it, it could expose us, and you. Wait for my signal to proceed," Amanda continued to interrupt Alex's plans. A part of her wished she had never responded. She had managed to sneak past security and had settled into the spot that Sean Pierce had suggested. Everything was perfect. Whatever was going on with Ramon couldn't ruin that. He was Amanda's mess, after all. Alex had her own priorities; she didn't need to listen, "Alex, do you copy?"
Alex's finger itched on the trigger. She was so close. Kochenko would be dead with one simple twitch of her finger, and her path to Semak and her mother would be clearer. That was, of course, if she had a cover story. If Ramon took the blame for the assassination, then Alex could remain in the shadows. Semak not knowing that she was alive and coming after him was her greatest advantage. She couldn't lose that. Who knew what would happen to her mother if she did. As much as she hated listening to Amanda, Alex had to stand down. She didn't have the shot she needed, "Copy that."
"Any luck on the jamming field?" Nikita asked Birkhoff. As soon as she realized she could still talk to her hacker, Nikita pushed for a third option. Amanda's ultimatum couldn't be her only course of action. There had to be another way she could save Michael. Killing Ramon- a life for a life- wasn't how things had to be done. There was always something else she could do- always a way to save the day without doing what Division wanted.
"I can't crack it. I think Division finally recruited somebody with half a brain," Birkhoff huffed after one too many failed attempts to break through Division's jamming field. He didn't doubt that Sonya was the hacker behind the jamming field. Since he had left Division, she had been the only hacker that had actually given him a run for his money. She hadn't beaten him completely yet, and then wouldn't be that day. But he was struggling a lot more, and he wasn't sure if he could get the jamming field down in time to save Michael.
Nikita ignored Ramon as she paced back and forth, trying desperately to think of a solution. She refused to kill for Division again. She would never stoop back down to that level. No situation could be desperate enough for that. Although the jamming field couldn't be cracked, it didn't mean the rogues lost all hope. There were still other avenues they could explore. They still had a million tricks left up their sleeve, "What about the predator?"
"No dice. I tried hacking that too. And you guys are too far away for me to send mine. I'm sorry," Hopelessly slamming on keys, Birkhoff apologized. The predator drone was too advanced for him to hack in such a short amount of time. And even if he wanted to knock Division's drone out with his own, the drones he had managed to acquire were too far away to make it. Amanda had the rogues backed into a corner. Maybe they could come up with another plan. But with Amanda's finger on the trigger, they weren't allotted much time to figure one out.
"Forget it. I just need to talk to Michael," Nikita shouted into her phone. Who cared about being able to out-hack Division. As long as Nikita could lead Michael out of the house so that the missile didn't kill him, then it'd be okay. Amanda couldn't hurt him if he left the danger zone. He'd be back by Nikita's side, and they'd continue to have a shot at a happily ever after.
"Right now, he's trying to break out of that safe room. If I call him, he'll speed things up. He's the only leverage Amanda has. Every Division safe room has a black line, a dedicated landline running to the outside. I bet both my Xbox thumbs Ramon knows the number," Remembering the information, Birkhoff tried to see if he could find a way to retrieve the number to the black line. He wouldn't be able to hack it. Yet he was positive that there were some roundabout ways he could contact Michael. Fortunately, if he wasn't able to do so in time, then Nikita could get Ramon to give her the number. All hope wasn't lost yet.
"Let me call you back," Shoving her phone in her pocket, Nikita narrowed her gaze on Ramon. He hadn't moved since she had left him sitting next to the crashed vehicle. It was almost as though he had accepted the fact that he was a dead man. For half a second, Nikita thought about capitalizing off of that; she could kill him without a fight. Except, she was better than that. She wouldn't be what Division had made her. She could do things her own way, "Ramon, your safe room has a black line. Give me the number."
Ramon simply stared at Nikita blankly. He was resigned to his death sentence, and nothing could change that. There was no third option for him., so why even bother fighting, "Why would I do that?"
"Why wouldn't you? Amanda just negotiated you away. She wants you dead. Division's cutting their losses. They did this to you. They put you in this chair. It's time to pay them back," Rather than torture the information out of Ramon like the dark thoughts in the back of her mind wanted her to, Nikita tried appealing to his anger. The assassin she had met in Paris had had a fire that couldn't have been diminished. With the right spark, she was certain that she could ignite it again. He wasn't Division's to control anymore. He could be his own man.
"They didn't do this to me. You did. Six years ago, I deserved a warrior's death. Instead, you gave me pity," Ramon argued. Division wasn't everybody's enemy. Sure, it was a hellhole. But it wasn't the root of all evil. Others had blame to shoulder as well. After all, the war wasn't as simple as villains, rogues, and innocents. The lines blurred between who was who constantly.
"I saved your life," Nearing Ramon, Nikita snapped. She had had no idea that Percy would paralyze Ramon and turn him into a puppet. She hadn't been exactly sure what would've happened to the assassin when she had brought him in instead of killing him. If she had thought about her actions for more than a few moments, then maybe she would've been able to more effectively save Ramon. But at the time, she had believed what she had done was right. She hadn't killed for Division; she had fought her orders; and she learned how defiant she could be- all lessons she had applied to even worse missions.
"You sent me to hell. So please, no more favors. Just kill me," Refusing to accept Nikita's excuse, Ramon urged her to just end the fight. He had given up, so she should as well. He knew how much she wanted to save Michael, after all. She had an easy way of doing so. Except, she never reached for a weapon. Nikita simply looked at Roman, still waiting for the number to the black line. He was baffled by her decision. She had the chance to save her teammate, but she wouldn't take it. He could only think of one explanation as to why, and it was completely laughable, "Oh, what? You don't do that anymore?"
Nikita wouldn't rise to Ramon's bait and answer that question. They both knew that there were times when she still had to kill: one couldn't fight a war without needing to take a few lives. However, she could explain to Ramon why she wouldn't kill him then. It wasn't exactly because she couldn't or that she didn't want to. It was because she wouldn't follow orders, and because she knew to never trust Amanda, especially when someone she loved was on the line, "It won't stop Amanda. If I do it, she'll kill him anyway."
"Well, that's not my problem, is it?" Ramon huffed. Nikita struggled with the strong urge to beat him into a pulp and force the information she wanted out of him. She honestly should have. Yet she still had to prove that she was better than Division. Prove to whom exactly, she wasn't quite sure. Maybe to herself or to Amanda. It certainly wasn't to Ramon. Besides, he had his own ideas about who she might be wary of, "There is no God watching, if that's what you're worried about. Of course, if I'm wrong, I promise to put in a good word for you. We assassins should stick together."
"You don't want to die. You tried to run," Nikita forced her voice to be calm as she accused Ramon. It was probably a good idea that she wasn't torturing him: a man who believed he wanted to die would accept the pain and simply slip away rather than try to make it stop. She had to instead get him to believe that he wanted to live. He had run when she had attempted to capture him at the house. That alone showed that he wanted life. He couldn't just give up now that there was a gun to his head. That was when he should've fought harder.
"That's when I had a chance. Now you've destroyed any arrangement I made with Division," Ramon reminded Nikita. With Division on his side, he could keep living. But since Nikita had ruined yet another thing for him, all that was left for him was death. If it wasn't by the rogue's hand, then it'd be by Amanda's or another Division goon.
"And that's a bad thing? Ramon, give me the number and let me talk to Michael, and I promise you, I'll set you free," Nikita didn't care that she sounded desperate. She was. She needed Ramon's help to save Michael, and she wasn't above begging for it. But she didn't believe it had come to that point yet. She could still reason with the assassin. With her help, he could be free of Division, not another victim. She could finally save him after six years; it wasn't too late to complete her mission.
"So I can go on the run, like you? Slightly insensitive, don't you think? You want to set me free? Set me free!" Ramon shouted. He thought that if he became angry, Nikita would react and shoot him. Yet she continued to not raise her weapon. She wasn't that easy to sway. Just like him, once her mind was made up, that was the only path she'd follow.
Staring at Ramon as he sat immobile on the ground, Nikita began to truly study him. He kept claiming that his life had been destroyed after Paris six years ago. And considering where he was currently, that was possibly true. But there was more going on in his mind than the fact that Percy had paralyzed him. He was upset and frustrated about his fate, yet it wasn't a fate that Percy or Nikita had forced him into. It was something he had accepted for himself and had never tried to escape, "This isn't about that chair. The man that I met in Paris six years ago would have never joined Division. You are better than that."
"And what about you, Nikita Mears?" Rather than allow himself to think about what Nikita was saying, Ramon turned the conversation on her. She was taken aback by the fact that he knew her full name, and he smirked. He could use her shock to take control, "Percy sent me your file. He thought I could help catch you. Takes one to know one."
In all honesty, Nikita wasn't surprised that Percy had given Ramon her file. It was possible that he and other high ranking Division agents and assets had the rogues' files so they could help Percy catch them. In the spy game, sharing information was vital. What did have her shocked, however, was Ramon's assertion that he knew Nikita. Just because he had read about her didn't mean he could pry into her thoughts and feelings. Her Division file was nothing more than a pile of useless papers. She was so much more than that. She was always more than whatever Division said, "You don't know me."
"Poor little waif from Detroit. Never knew her birth parents. Traded from one foster home to the other. Ended up strung out on ketamine at Ms. Bennett's halfway house. How does a scared little stray become so good at killing?" Ramon continued to smirk as he listed off the things he had read in Nikita's file. He knew he was getting under her skin with each word he said. At some point, she was bound to snap. And when she did, she'd finally shoot him.
"I did what I had to do to survive," Nikita muttered mostly to herself. She had nothing to explain to Ramon. He didn't deserve to hear her motivations. But she still had to express them. Her own ears had to hear that all she had ever done was out of a need to survive. She wasn't a monster. She wasn't a killing machine. She was just a person trying to live in a world others didn't want her in, carving out a place while they continued to cast her aside.
"And now you're going to punish them for turning you into a monster? How dare you take a war worth fighting on principle and turn it into payback," Ramon kept pressing, kept riling Nikita up. He knew her anger, her passion, was her downfall; it had been written all over her file. She couldn't control the harsh emotions, and she lashed out. Ramon simply had to get her angrier and angrier until she caved and did what he wanted. She'd feel terribly, but he didn't care. As long as he was finally dead, what did it all matter.
"This is not about revenge," Nikita said forcefully. She could admit that when she had started down the warpath, she had wanted revenge. But Michael, Birkhoff, and Alex had helped her see that there was more to the crusade than revenge. The others also had their moments when they wanted revenge more than anything else (Alex was currently having one of those moments). But with their teammates by their side, they could remember that the war was about more than just their own need for justice. There had to be justice and safety for all. Division needed to burn so the world could be saved. Then no one else would have to lose those they loved.
"Oh, no. This is so much bigger than you. You're going to save the world," Sarcastically, Ramon replied. As the rogues continued to fight Division, their motives became very clear. Revenge wasn't enough anymore. They had to be heroes and save the world. Soon they would learn that there was no saving the world. Ramon had once tried to be a hero, and look where that had landed him. Saving innocents wasn't worth the trouble. The rogues should just quit while they still had a chance to run.
"Like you, six years ago? That night in Paris, it was the first time I realized I had to do something. That I could do something. I've been fighting your war all this time. Freedom isn't given; it's taken. Right?" Throwing Ramon's words back at him, Nikita kept trying to convince him to give her the black line number. His desire to fight corruption had spurred a similar fight in her. It might've taken her time to truly tap into it. But he had inspired her to save people- to not completely give in to Division. If Ramon had managed to do that six years ago, then he could do it again. He could keep being a hero. He could help her save Michael, and he could fight back.
Ramon turned his gaze away from Nikita. She had struck a chord that he did not want to delve into. Long ago, he had once believed that freedom was worth fighting for, but that desire had died the instant he was shot in the back. There was nothing left for him to be radicalized against. He was another man's puppet and nothing more, "I was a different man."
"I didn't know what would happen to you when I let you live. I'm sorry. Give me the number, Ramon. Let's end this," Gently approaching Ramon, Nikita apologized. She had only wanted the man who had inspired her to fight to live. She didn't want to condemn him to hell. But since he was there, she could help him escape it. She could help him become the man he once was, and together they could screw over Division and save Michael.
"You still… you still don't understand. You thought you could save me. All you did was create another monster. Percy said I was the greatest assassin he'd ever seen until he met you," Ramon stopped Nikita from coming any closer. His latest words cut her deeper than the callous way he had talked about her childhood. She didn't want to be seen as a killer- as a monster. But that was what she was. He was too, after all. Anyone who Division touches automatically becomes one. There was no escaping it, "There is only one way to save Michael. Do what you were supposed to do six years ago. Finish the mission. Finish it, Nikita."
She was tempted. Nikita was so very tempted to just shut Ramon up with a quick squeeze of the trigger. But she was resolute. Amanda couldn't get what she wanted. Nikita could find another way to save Michael. And Ramon would live, "No."
"Then you will lose him, and they will win. Finish the mission. Do it. You can't beat them. You belong to them. They made you, Nikita. They're the only family you ever had," Ramon snapped, and, finally, so did Nikita. Rage swelled in her veins and she pointed her pistol at Ramon. All she had to do was pull the trigger, and the bullet would be lodged in his skull. She had her weaponed aimed for an instant death like any trained killer would. Ramon smiled, "Yes. You can reach inside you. Embrace it. Yes, do it. Finish the mission. Do it! Finish it!"
It would've been so easy to pull the trigger. One twitch and Ramon would be dead and Michael would be saved. Except, Nikita knew she couldn't completely believe in Amanda's deal. Also, she knew she wouldn't be able to look Michael in the eye's after what she was about to do. Even when no one else believed in her, he always did. Michael had always known that she wasn't a monster; he had always known that she was better than what Division had made her. In fact she hadn't believed those two things until he had convinced her. She had to prove him right. She needed to spare Ramon and find another way to save her love, "Finish it yourself."
Nikita used the rest of her anger to toss her weapon next to Ramon and put her new plan into action. Both hacking and talking her way out of the situation had been a bust. That left action as her last resort. Birkhoff couldn't help, and Ramon wouldn't. So that meant Nikita had to save Michael on her own. She'd race back to him, pull him out of that safe room, and together they'd escape the missile. The specifics of her rushed plan were unclear besides the fact that she had to delay Amanda. She couldn't know what was happening in Columbia. All her planning and surveillance had to fail her, "Time's up, Nikita. We need proof of death."
"It's coming," Nikita sent the empty file to Amanda, then repocketed her phone. That should buy her a few minutes to race back to the house. From there, she still wasn't exactly sure how she'd free Michael. However, she was still going to try. That was all that mattered. She was never going to stop fighting, especially for the ones she loved.
Ramon didn't reach for the weapon near him. He stared at it, contemplated it, but then his attention was stolen by Nikita. After she had responded to Amanda on the coms, she moved away from him. He hadn't given her what she needed, so she was ready to move down a different path. Although he watched her carefully, Ramon couldn't determine what that path was. Her plans had failed, so what else was she going to do. What else was there for her to do to save Michael, "Where are you going?"
"To get Michael," Nikita replied simply. She shoved the motorcycle helmet back on her head and moved to right the cast aside bike. Her mind had been made up long ago that she would do anything to save Michael. If that meant that she had to risk her one life to do so, then she'd still do it. She couldn't lose him, no matter what that cost her.
"They'll see you coming. You can't save him. You'll die," Ramon didn't know why he tried to warn Nikita. What did he care if both Nikita and Michael died. After all, Nikita didn't seem to care. Regardless of the threat of a fiery, gruesome death she was still going to race into danger for Michael. She would never give up in trying to save him. If he died, so did she.
"I'm dead without him."