Nikita had always hated waiting. She had always hated sitting around and doing nothing, waiting as other people had control and determined how the situation would end. That had never ended well for her. She had to be the one in control. She had to be doing something. It was the only way she knew how to ensure that things ended well for her and those she cared about. So sitting idly by for hours while The Shop operated on her husband was absolute torture. There was nothing she could do to help him or make certain that he'd wake up. She could only wait and be powerless.
She tried sitting and watching, but that only worsened her anxiety. So she found things to do to keep herself busy and not think too much about the surgery. Nikita updated Birkhoff and Ryan about what was occurring, and she listened as they told her the progress on the hunt for the rebels. Nikita reminded them that they couldn't cancel anybody. The rebels should simply be marched out of Division- banished. Neither Ryan nor Birkhoff disagreed with her. Killing could never be their solution. They had made a lot of mistakes while running Division, but killing their own would never be one of them.
After ending her conversation with Ryan and Birkhoff, Nikita began to pace the abandoned floor of the office building. She thought about walking around the entire building to see if there were any Shop surprises she and Michael might've missed on their initial sweep. However, the thought of leaving her husband freaked her out too much. The only times she took her eyes off him for long periods was to read text updates about the hunt for the rebels. That was also the only time she wasn't pacing and her thoughts weren't racing.
Honestly, Nikita appreciated those short moments of reprieve. Being left alone with her thoughts while Michael was trapped in surgery was not a good thing. She was going to go insane with all the things screaming in her head. Especially since they mostly centered around how terribly things could go. She tried not to think about how easily she could lose her husband; she tried not to give those morose thoughts any power. But without a lot of distractions, she was failing. Her fear and anxiety welled up inside her, forcing her to pace faster and faster. As the hours continued to tick by, she moved closer and closer to her breaking point.
Eventually, Nikita almost lost it. The surgery was taking too long in her mind, and she believed The Shop wouldn't uphold their part of the deal. She half-considered slamming keys on The Shop computer and demanding an update when- all of a sudden- everything stopped. The machinery that was attaching Michael's new hand stilled, and everything went silent. Nikita stopped moving as well, terrified about what the stillness meant. Fortunately, she didn't have to wonder for long. The Shop computer came to life again and finally gave her an update, "A car is on its way. Once you've handed over the prion, we'll finish the surgery."
A sigh of relief expelled out of Nikita. She and Michael hadn't made a bad decision. He'd have a better prosthetic, and he'd be safe. It would be alright. Though, before Nikita rushed out of the building to complete the deal, she cast one last long look at her unconscious husband. She couldn't just leave him; she couldn't let anything happen to him. The Shop needed to know that they couldn't take complete control and hurt those she loved. Nikita still had some control left, a way to ensure she'd never be left powerless, "There's one more thing you should know. I have the prion rigged to blow. If anything happens to Michael while I'm gone…"
"What happened to our deal?" The computerized Heidecker shouted in anger and shock. He sounded like Nikita had when she had discovered that there had been conditions on The Shop's side of the deal. She smiled at that thought. For all their knowledge and skills, The Shop couldn't best her. She could still find a way to take them down a peg.
"We still have one. This is my insurance," Holding up the prion, Nikita smirked. Maybe it was petty of her to derive satisfaction from throwing The Shop's words back in their face. But, considering her husband was under their knife, she had to make it clear that they were under her gun. She knew how deals with organizations like The Shop went. She knew that she'd always have to find loopholes in order to get her way. At least The Shop was full of scientists and not vindictive assholes- as far as her experience with them went. She didn't have to worry about retaliation for her actions, just begrudging acceptance.
With a nod from the fake Heidecker, Nikita began to make her way out of the building. She hurried as fast as she could, afraid of leaving Michael alone for long. However, she wasn't able to go far. She barely raced down a few flights of stairs when she heard people storming up to meet her. Perplexed, she poked her head over the railing to see who it could've been. Of all the possibilities that had come to her mind, what she saw wasn't one of them. Mostly because it was impossible. She had been told that there had been no trace of Division left behind in Division. Yet, the men they had stolen the prion from were suddenly facing her with guns.
"How the hell'd they get here?" Shocked, Nikita wondered aloud. She shouldn't have done that. She tipped her presence off to the Chinese, and they instantly knew she was there. She hardly managed to duck in time before they started shooting. The men began to charge towards her, and her only option was to return to the room she came from. She was aware that that would put Michael in danger. Yet she had no other choice. She was ambushed.
Fortunately, in preparation for whatever surprise The Shop might've had in store, Nikita and Michael had brought many different weapons with them. Nikita was able to grab a few as she rushed back into the room. She also used her knowledge of the room from her hours of pacing to turn the tables on her sudden assailants. Their surprise attack didn't give them the advantage for long. Though, their presence continued to jeopardize Nikita's deal with The Shop. She couldn't reach the car with them shooting at her. And she couldn't keep the fake Heidecker happy with the way things were going, "Should I be concerned about that explosion?"
"No. I'm on my way," Nikita responded tersely to the computer. Her assailants weren't well organized. She managed to take a few out easily. But there were some hold outs that were giving her trouble. Her frustration about their interruption and her anxiety about Michael's safety didn't help. At times, she was more focused on drawing the men away from her husband than from actually stopping them. All her plans were ruined, and she was afraid to think of what that might lead to.
"Time is running out," The computerized version of Heidecker's reminder about the hand off was another grating point to Nikita's frustration. If she didn't deal with the assailants in time, then the car would leave, she wouldn't be able to hand over the prion, and Michael wouldn't get his hand. She really wasn't allowed to have anything simple or easy. Everything Nikita did was detrimental and dangerous. She wanted to scream about it. But then, obviously, wasn't the time.
"I can go faster if you shut up," Nikita vented some of her frustrations by shouting at The Shop computer. In the long run, it wouldn't actually do anything. But maybe a brief moment to let out her anger would allow her to refocus. Her anger usually helped her get out of tough situations, but not when she needed to focus. And with so much going on, the last thing Nikita could do was become distracted.
"One more thing. Look out behind you," Rather than continue being a pain in her ass, the fake Heidecker decided to help Nikita. She turned around just in time to see another gun pointed at her. She knocked it out of her assailant's hands and took him down. There was only one man left for her to deal with after that. He wasn't too hard to handle with his support gone. Nikita had him down before he could even register what had hit him.
There was no time for her to gloat about the takedown, however. As soon as she wasn't in danger anymore, Nikita hurried to pass the prion off to the driver waiting for her. Except, there was no driver waiting. There was a car, but no one was actually driving it. Nikita was a little weirded out by the self-driving vehicle. But it wasn't new or surprising by Shop standards. So, she didn't question anything. She simply passed off the device and sprinted back to her husband, praying the entire time that the surgery would begin again and he'd wake soon.
The former was already underway by the time Nikita returned to the room. The surgery would be complete soon; then, all she had to wait for was her husband to wake up. Nikita sighed in relief once more. It would be alright. She had made sure of that.
Also, she had given herself something to do while she waited for that part of the surgery to end; she didn't have to pace around the room again. She could pass the time clearing away the assailants' bodies and the broken furniture and by calling Ryan to request a cleaning team. He didn't answer, though; Birkhoff did instead. Apparently, something was going on with the rebels in Division. But it was nothing for Nikita to worry about. Her focus could be on Michael while the team handled the rest.
Although she wanted to know what kind of trouble was brewing in Division, Nikita was content waiting for that information. Her stress over her husband should be lifted from her shoulders first before she began to worry about more.
When the surgery to attach the bio-prosthesis finally ended, Nikita found that she didn't have to worry about Michael for much longer. He woke soon after the machinery pulled away from him, and he instantly searched the room for her. Nikita was by his side in an instant. She cupped his cheek and studied him intently. She didn't see anything wrong, but she had to hear from him that he was okay. She had to know without a doubt that everything was alright, "Hey. Hey. Are you okay?"
Michael only nodded slightly. He was too busy staring at his new hand in amazement to truly respond. Nikita couldn't blame him. The bio-prosthesis was almost like a miracle. It looked so real. And when Nikita hesitatingly touched it, it felt so real too. Michael seemed to marvel in that fact the most. Gently, he reached to touch his wife's cheek with his new prosthetic. In all the years they had known each other, that was the first time he had been able to touch her with his right hand. He was beyond amazed by the feeling. In fact, he was fairly certain it was the best in the world, "So that's what you feel like."
When her husband beamed at her, Nikita finally felt her anxiety release its crushing hold on her chest, and she smiled in return.
Sean's eyes stayed open after he had been shot. The force of the bullet and the pain of it ripping through his shoulder knocked him down. But his hazel eyes remained open. And they remained focused on Alex. he tried to open his mouth to say something, yet his words failed him. All he could do was stare and wonder why.
It took Alex a moment to move after she had shot Sean. it wasn't until his eyes were slipping closed that she realized she had to do something. She dropped to her knees next to him and put pressure on the wound. The bullet had passed close to his clavicle- close to his heart. He needed serious medical attention before he bled out- or worse. But Alex couldn't move away from him. All she could do was stare at him.
And Jaden wasn't much help in shaking her out of her shock. After all, her coconspirator was also surprised by the turn of events. Someone getting shot had definitely not been a part of their plans. They had made certain that no one would get hurt, especially someone that one of them cared about. None of that should've been happening. From getting caught to the gun going off, none of that should've happened. For once, Jaden felt as though she should take some of that blame, "Alex, I'm sorry. I got your signal. I was gonna take the fall. I screwed up. I'm sorry."
"Нам нужно выбраться отсюда. Нам нужно уйти, прежде чем кто-нибудь узнает, что произошло. Мы должны вывести всех," Alex's voice was hollow as she responded. She didn't look at Jaden. Her entire focus was on the uneven rise and fall of Sean's chest and the blood that was slipping through her hands.
"What the fuck are you saying?" Confusion and shock quickly turned into anger as Jaden tried to understand what Alex just said. She knew that it was Russian, but Division hadn't bothered to teach her that language. It hadn't been pertinent for any of her missions, so it was something that she had never been made to learn. And, honestly, Jaden didn't really care to learn. Until that moment. Alex continued to ramble in Russian, and Jaden wasn't able to piece together a single word. She hated being left in the dark, especially then. The two needed to scramble for a new plan, not spiral. Alex needed to snap out of it, or at the very least speak English.
"Сейчас только ты и я," Tears spilled out of Alex's eyes. She continued to only look at Sean. It was almost as though Jaden wasn't in the room with her. Jaden began to think that Alex had completely lost it. She had shot her boyfriend, and now she was insane. Maybe she had gone insane before then, and that was why she had shot him.
Though, Jaden didn't care to know if that was the case. Everyone in that room was going to die if she and Alex didn't figure out what their next moves should be. So, with the full force of her anger, Jaden screamed at Alex to finally snap out of it. It took a few moments, but her shout actually did the trick. Alex managed to shake her head clear and- after a moment- she managed to speak forcefully (and in English), "You're right. You're right. It's just us. Nikita does whatever she thinks is best for her. We leave them here: they're just gonna become another Jason."
"But there's nothing we can do now," Jaden harshly replied. The instant Alex had pulled the trigger, their plan was ruined. Division wouldn't let anyone escape after that horrific attack. They were going to be trapped forever. They had been resurrected by Division, and they were going to be killed by Division. The agents, no matter what they were promised, would never get another life.
"No, the plan will still work," Pressing her hands harder into Sean's continually bleeding wound, Alex argued. She remained determined that the plan she, Jaden, Thom, Rachel, and the other dissenters had created. However, Jaden didn't see how. Nikita and her team would kill them for harming one of their own- especially since Alex had been one of their own. There was going to be too much chaos. There was absolutely no way out of that situation.
At least, not one that Jaden could see. Alex, on the other hand, knew exactly what had to be done. Fierce determination replaced the tears in her blue eyes, and she finally looked at Jaden, "You're gonna have to take the fall. Make it look like you took my gun."
Instantly, Jaden shook her head. Maybe Alex could find forgiveness from Nikita and her team, but definitely not Jaden. If she admitted to shooting Sean, she'd be canceled. As much as she wanted to escape Division and finally take back her freedom, she wasn't dying for the cause. Nor was she taking the blame for someone else. Alex had to own up to her own mistakes, or come up with a new plan, "Then they'll think I shot him. I'm not dying for him."
"They're not gonna kill you. They'll put you in holding. They'll interrogate you. All you have to do is hold out long enough so that I can set everyone free," Alex assured; though, it was difficult for Jaden to believe her. There was still this look in her eyes that expressed that she wasn't entirely there. It could've been the guilt of shooting her own boyfriend. Yet Jaden wasn't so sure. Something weird was going on with Alex. She seemed so on edge, that one little shove could break her. That wasn't something Jaden wanted out of a leader. She wasn't so certain that she could trust her anymore.
"What if he wakes up?" Cautiously, Jaden wondered. The moment Sean regained consciousness, he'd say what really happened. There was a chance that he'd cover for his girlfriend. But considering that she had shot him, it was a very slim chance. No one would be able to escape once the truth got out. Jaden would be in the same situation as she had always been in. She couldn't allow that to happen again. She needed more assurances- a better plan. She had to get free.
"Jaden, we're gonna be okay. All of us. Freedom, remember? It's like riding a bike," Sharply, Alex reminded. Although Jaden still was unsure about Alex's mental state, she soon agreed. It was a risk she didn't like, but it was one she knew she had to take in order to be free. Alex nodded in agreement, then turned her attention back to Sean. her next words were softer, but they were still commanding. She would make their plan to escape work. Everyone she said would escape Division would, "Now I need you to hit me. Make it good. I'll call for help. You get upstairs, and you make sure you get caught."
"If this goes South, I'm taking you with me," Picking up the discarded weapon, Jaden warned. Alex didn't reply. She was staring at Sean again. Jaden sighed. She really wished Alex knew what she was doing. Otherwise, all they had done- all the sacrifices they had made- would be for nothing. And, in that case, they really would be like Jason.