Michael and Nikita got the call as they drove back to Division. The situation that Birkhoff had briefly told Nikita about had escalated. The rebels had been caught, and in a desperate attempt to save themselves, had tried to escape. They failed. But in the resulting chaos, Alex had been attacked, and Sean had been shot. He was in emergency surgery in Medical, yet things didn't look too good. He had lost a lot of blood- more blood than when he had been shot in Germany. It would take a lot to revive him. If he would ever revive at all.
Nikita sped the rest of the way to Division, not stopping at lights or even to think. She had believed that Sean, Alex, Ryan, and Sonya had the rebel situation under control. She had believed that their investigation would pay off and things would end peacefully. However, she had misjudged how desperate the rebels would be. She shouldn't have. She had been desperate to escape Division when she had been rogue; she would've done anything to be on the outside. Of course the rebels would've been the same. After all, at least in their minds, they were escaping the same situation she once had.
By the time Nikita and Michael reached Division, Sean was out of surgery. The doctors had done what they could, yet they weren't certain when he would wake up. He was recovering in a Medical room with Alex hovering by his side. Michael and Nikita only stopped to gather more information about what had happened from Birkhoff (Ryan was busy dealing with Jaden); then they hurried to join Alex. As soon as Nikita saw Sean lying unconscious on the cot and hooked up to so many medications and machines, she gasped. Alex hardly registered the other's presence. She simply held her boyfriend's hand and stared at the even rise and fall of his chest.
"Oh, my God. Alex," Crouching down in front of her friend, Nikita did all she could to comfort her. She wasn't certain if words would've been enough- especially with how much they had been arguing lately. So, she settled on a hug and on soothing Alex through touch. Although she accepted the embrace, Alex stayed completely rigid, and she kept her eyes on Sean. That didn't stop Nikita from continuing to try and comfort her, however. Whatever fight the two had been having could be forgotten in that moment; it didn't matter. Alex simply needed someone to be there for her as she went through hell. And Nikita was determined to be that person.
"He's lost a lot of blood. They're not sure when he'll wake up," Alex replied robotically, stating information that Michael and Nikita already knew. She didn't look at the two, despite the fact that Nikita was directly in her line of sight, and they didn't fight for her attention. They knew that Sean was the most important person in the room. If anything happened to him, they had to be able to react immediately. Hopefully, all that would happen was that he woke up. Though, knowing their luck recently, that didn't seem like such a sure thing.
"I should've been here," Taking hold of Alex's free hand, Nikita admitted woefully. Alex had expressed concerns about the rebellion before Nikita and Michael had left. The two should've waited to obtain the new prosthetic and helped out in the bunker. Waiting one or two days wouldn't have hurt them- unless The Shop was more demanding than they thought. Their focus could've remained on Division, and they could've ensured that things didn't escalate. They could've helped save Sean, and the mission of keeping Division open until they received pardons wouldn't have felt like a fool's errand.
"You couldn't have known," Alex squeezed Sean's hand in hers. The first crack in her robotic, stoic, features finally appeared. Tears swam in her blue eyes as she stared at her boyfriend's patched up bullet wound. No one on the team had thought that the rebels would be so violent. Blowing up computer servers, after all, didn't hurt anyone. Thinking that they would shoot someone just to escape had seemed improbable. No one could've predicted it. Alex had been in the room, and she hadn't even known it was going to happen.
"What happened?" Michael pressed for details. Unlike Nikita, he kept his distance from Alex. He studied her closely, watching her reaction for any slight change. At the moment- besides the forming tears- she seemed expressionless. That could've been because she was in shock. She had watched her boyfriend get shot and almost die- again. Yet Michael couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it than that. There was something off about the way Alex regarded Sean. It was almost as though she felt guilty for his gunshot wound, like she was the one responsible.
It took Alex a moment to respond. Nikita tried to help her by squeezing her hand and rubbing her thigh. Yet Alex continued to act as though her friend was not there. Her response wasn't even directed at her, or Michael. She just spoke to fill the silence, "It was a breakout. Jaden's people have been rigging access terminals from the start. One of them hacked an interrogation room door, stormed in behind me. Jaden grabbed my gun, took off firing. The only reason I didn't get shot was… was because… he took a bullet for me."
Whereas Nikita gave Alex another tight embrace, Michael regarded her in increasing concern. That had been the story that Birkhoff had shared. Yet Alex's version seemed different. It sounded as though it had been rehearsed. Again, that could've been because of her shock. Watching your loved ones get hurt when there was nothing you could do about it was one hell of an immobilizing drug. But shock didn't cause the kind of guilt that was in Alex's eyes. There was more going on, and Michael was determined to get to the bottom of it, "Okay, did Jaden say something before it happened?"
Finally, Alex turned to look at Nikita and Michael. The guilt and tears in her bright blue eyes suddenly disappeared. She regarded the two with a fierce determination they had not seen since she had gone after Semak. The intensity was startling, as was the weight she put into her words, "She said… She said that she's had enough. Closed-door meetings, missions on the side. Division's being run by an inner circle, one that isn't concerned with anyone's future or shutting this place down. So she wants us all dead. She wants everyone to be free."
Before Nikita could say anything in response, Alex turned back to Sean, and Michael began to pull her out of the room. They should leave Alex alone with her boyfriend. That was something that Nikita couldn't argue against. So after giving Alex another comforting hug, she followed her husband out of the room. She then began to move towards the carport, believing they were going home for the night, yet Michael once again pulled her somewhere else. He brought them to a secluded hallway near Medical where no one could walk in on them.
Nikita, again, didn't have the chance to say anything. Michael cut her off by signaling that they had to be quiet. She stared at him completely bewildered, yet he didn't do anything to alleviate her confusion. Alex's last comment had sparked a series of thoughts in Michael's mind that he could not keep to himself. However, speaking them aloud might not have the consequences he wanted. He had to be careful as he whispered his concerns to his wife, "Sean was right. I mean, I knew he was right, but…"
"Right about what?" Nikita glanced at her husband warily. He had been acting weird since they had entered Sean's Medical room. She had dismissed it as him being tired after surgery and all the drugs still being washed out of his system. But now he was beginning to worry her. What was so important that they had to whisper in a hallway instead of talking in their car. Was there something going on with Sean that she didn't know about, something that had gotten him shot. If that was the case, then Michael should say it to the whole team, not just her. The others, especially Alex, had the right to know.
"When he went back to where Alex had been held in South Ossetia, he saw Amanda's torture chair- the one Owen had his memory wiped in," Michael finally shared with his wife. The way Alex was reacting to Sean's gunshot wound then was drastically different than when he had been shot in Germany. And how rehearsed she sounded, and how passionate she was about Jaden's supposed words, Michael couldn't dismiss Sean's allegations that there was something wrong with Alex. She did not come back from South Ossetia the same person. She had been changed, and not by her own accord.
"Alex was in that chair?" Nikita nearly shrieked. Michael had to shush her to quiet her back down. Except, it was too late. She was way too worked up to be calm. If Alex had been in the same chair that Birkhoff had been tortured in and Owen had lost his memories in, then that changed everything. That meant that Amanda really had done something to her. Though, if she had been tortured, Nikita wasn't sure why Alex would deny it. It was okay if she had been hurt and was struggling with that. That didn't make her weak. Nor did it make her have to prove anything. She could accept the other's help. They'd all help her if she just asked.
"She claims she wasn't in it, that she was in another room the entire time, but Sean didn't believe her. He thought Amanda did something to her, like she wiped her memory or messed with her brain or something," Recounting what Sean had told him, Michael explained. He didn't know if Sean had discovered any new information or formed more conclusions since they had last spoken, and he didn't know when he would ever hear those thoughts. Yet Michael had his own ideas about what was going on. He just hated to consider that they could be true, "I think she did screw with Alex. I think she did more than just talk to her. She might've done this."
Now Nikita understood why Michael only wanted to talk to her. Accusing Alex of the rebellion wasn't something that could be taken lightly; it would put a traitorous label on her that she could never shake. And accusing her of shooting her own boyfriend seemed absolutely inconceivable. Amanda would've had to have done a serious number on her psyche to drive her to that point. Nikita didn't believe it was possible. Though, she did believe her husband. If he thought Amanda had screwed with Alex that severely, then she would listen to him. He simply had to prove himself, "That's a pretty big accusation, Michael."
"Am I wrong?" Michael dared Nikita to think. He also dared her to contradict him. He really wanted her to find the evidence that proved him wrong; he didn't want to think that Alex had actually shot her boyfriend. Yet he didn't have any other explanation for how Alex had acted in the Medical room- or even for how she had been acting lately. And neither did Nikita. She took a long moment to contemplate what her husband had said, then a look of fierce determination crossed her features.
"Meeting. Our apartment. Now," Grabbing her husband by the arm, Nikita roughly led him to their car. If they were going to discuss what horrific thing Amanda could've done to Alex, then they were going to do it with the entire team present. Obviously, Alex couldn't be involved in the discussion; she'd only keep violently denying that something bad had happened to her in South Ossetia. Or, if Michael was right, she might be spurred into doing worse things. So the others should meet somewhere outside Division. The married couple's apartment seemed like the best place. It wouldn't look suspicious to outsiders, and they'd have perfect privacy.
While Nikita sped home, Michael called the team and asked them to meet. He wasn't met with any questions. After the attack on Sean, there was a lot they needed to discuss. Although it took some convincing to pull Ryan and Owen away from what they were doing, it didn't take long for everybody to gather in the apartment. They made themselves as comfortable as possible, knowing they were due for a long conversation. Though, there was a sense of urgency in the air that kept them all on edge. Except for Birkhoff, who snacked on some hot chips he found left on the counter and snarked, "We should've been meeting here from the beginning."
Michael ripped the bag of chips away from Birkhoff with his right hand. The room fell silent as they all stared at the bio-prosthesis. To protect the fresh stitches, Nikita had wrapped his new hand in a bandage. But the fact that it was real flesh and blood and not a mechanical prosthetic was still obvious. And it was still utterly mind blowing. Although they knew Michael had been obtaining a better prosthetic, it was a shock to see something so real. Especially since they had only known him to have a prosthetic for a right hand. That was a sight they'd have to get used to. Though, with everything else going on, they might not have the time to adjust.
"What's this about?" Finding his voice first, Ryan demanded. Any time the team had had something serious and private to discuss, they had met in his office. Of course, that then led to the rest of Division feeling mutinous. So the change to Michael's and Nikita's apartment was undoubtedly a smart one. However, Ryan suspected that the reason for meeting outside Division had little to do with the rebellion. There were more serious threats occurring than pissed off Division agents, like possibly The Shop. It was likely that Michael and Nikita had run into a problem while obtaining the bio-prosthesis. If so, then Division was increasingly more trouble.
Besides the occasional glance at Michael's bio-prosthesis- still not used to seeing a non-mechanical hand there- the team's curiosity remained on the purpose of the meeting. Michael sighed. He should've made Sean tell the others what he had noticed about Alex a long time ago. In hindsight, it had been stupid to keep such a thing private incase it upset Alex. They should've figured out what was wrong as soon as they had noticed. Then, maybe, things wouldn't have gotten so bad, "Sean's been coming to me with concerns about Alex. One of them was that he found the chair Owen had his mind wiped in at the hospital Alex was held in."
"That's why he was asking about it," Owen finally understood why Sean had been so interested in Amanda's torture chair a few days ago. He had thought that the former Seal had suddenly become interested in his missing memories. But, no, it had been about Alex the entire time. Owen couldn't necessarily blame him for that. If someone he cared about had possibly been trapped in that fucking chair, he'd want to know everything about it. Though, he wished Sean would've said something more direct rather than dance around the topic. Owen might've been able to help him more, and- by extension- help Alex.
"Why didn't you say anything about it?" Ryan huffed in frustration. It was well known that Amanda's torture chair could cause unspeakable horrors on its victims. Owen and his lack of memory wasn't the only example of that. Even if there was no evidence to suggest Alex had been in that chair, Sean should've told the others that he had seen it. When Amanda was involved in any situation, the team had to share everything they knew. That should've been an obvious fact by then. Nothing was too small or inconsequential. Everything had a chance to snowball- especially concerning Amanda and that damn chair.
"We didn't want to make Alex more upset if we were wrong, but…" Michael attempted to explain his and Sean's actions- mostly his. Before things had escalated, Alex's attitude could have been explained as her processing her trauma of being kidnapped and being unable to save someone. If her boyfriend and her friends had invalidated her feelings by suggesting that she wasn't herself and that Amanda had done something to her, then they would have made her feel even worse than she already did.
Unfortunately, things became worse on their own. There was no denying that something was wrong with Alex. They couldn't excuse her actions as anything else. Amanda had done something to her in South Ossetia. What exactly, Michael couldn't even guess. Yet he knew it was bad, "There is something wrong with her. I don't know what Amanda did to her, but she's not herself anymore. Ever since South Ossetia, Alex has been on edge, forceful, angry, violent. And it's only getting worse."
"How so?" Curious, Ryan wondered. He remained upset that Sean and Michael hadn't said anything earlier. He could understand their reasoning, but it wasn't enough to correct the mistake. Honestly, though, the whole team should've pressed the issue with Alex instead of only Sean. They had all noticed that she had changed after South Ossetia. Yes, it could've been explained as her processing her horrific kidnapping. But some of the things she did and said went a little beyond that. The team couldn't make that excuse anymore. They had to start considering that they all had made too many mistakes.
Despite how sure he was that Amanda had done something to Alex in South Ossetia, accusing her of leading the rebellion was difficult for Michael to say out loud. It was a big leap for him to make. But Alex's reactions- specifically in Medical- made sense in that context. Also, it was just like Amanda to fuck with the team so much that they turned on one another. Michael had to say what was on his mind, no matter how it sounded. Then, the team could start fixing the situation. And, hopefully, save Alex from causing even more harm, "I think she's behind the rebellion and the attack on Sean."