She felt the world crack and tumble beneath her feet. Brandt was supposed to be gone. She had helped the CIA put him in a hole years ago. He shouldn't have been out; he shouldn't have been causing horrors. Yet he was, and it was all her fault. She knew that the second she saw him on the street camera footage. He laughed at his actions, and pointed to the camera as if he was daring her. Everything he had just done was to claw under her skin and draw her out. It worked. She didn't want to admit it. But he had rattled her to her core, just as he had done on that fucking mission.
What wasn't fair was that everything was fine before then. While the women went on a run, the men in the safehouse decided to spar. It was just Ryan and Michael at first. But soon, the former analyst baited Birkhoff into a boxing match with him. The agent simply watched from the couch, supplying pointers here and there. They talked a little about their possible futures since pardons were on their way. However, the main focus was on the engaged couple. Those two seemed to have the most solid path ahead of them. And if they could figure something out, then there was hope for the rest of them.
Yet that was something they'd have to focus on and solve later. As Alex and Nikita came back inside, Birkhoff's computer chirped. Apparently, Sean had met with his mother as part of his Seal duties. He was still beholden to his Oversight assignment until Division was completely dead and gone. The team thought that would've been sooner rather than later. With the leaders on the run, the rest of the agents should've just scattered. That seemed like the smartest choice they could've made. At least, it would've been if they were living in a perfect world. It was far from it for the band of rebels. And they were going to have to make peace with that.
It was easier said than done when Sean told them of the clandestine group emptying weapons caches- it wasn't the CIA, so it had to be Division. The agents working on their own didn't make sense. No one who might've taken over came to mind, except one person. He was shoved aside as a possibility. Division had been retrained to think of him as the enemy. There was no way he could've come back. But the fact that the caches predated Amanda changed the team's minds. Percy had returned to power. That slimy cockroach weaseled his way back in.
Frustration hit the rogues first. They decided to run off of that rather than the horror that began to settle. Percy was obviously not one to underestimate. It was something they knew before. But his desire for Division and power were outrageous. They should've never thought he'd be in the wind for long. He was back with a vengeance- or simply just a plan. Whatever that plan was, had no possibility of being good. Who knew what kind of dastardly scheme the bastards could've created while he spent all that time away. Clearing the weapons caches could only be a small part. The team had to move quickly to stop him.
Again, what they wanted to do- what they had to do- and what actually happened were two drastically different things. As the team at the safehouse tried to wrap their head around Percy taking hold of Division once more (he probably staged a coup while Amanda was out with the help of the video Birkhoff sent Sonya) Sean was experiencing his own drama. He had vowed to move his mother in order to protect her from Percy's possible wrath. However, he was so wrapped up in the anxiety of that possibility, that he nearly missed a real and viable threat. It was already too late once he did, though.
Everything seemed to have spiraled out of control slowly. The morning had begun well for everybody. There was laughter and happy thoughts- a bright look of the life they thought was ahead of them. Then, the news of Percy and Division had struck. The team was nowhere near out of the woods yet, not when Division agents saw Percy as their savior against the corrupt Amanda instead of the villain. And then, Sean became worried for his mother's safety. Anxiety bit at the rest of them as they realized none of them were safe. They had to keep fighting and clawing their way to not only their happily ever after, but also just to survive. Hell was coming their way, and they didn't think they could prepare for it.
That was when the final blow landed- the last thing to happen that completely solidified how out of control and fucked the team was. Sean was at least able to attempt to stop it. He saw the charge being dropped, and shouted his warning. But some things just couldn't be avoided, like an explosion that rocked the very foundation he stood on. Whether it was due to the blow to his head from being forced to the ground, or simply the shock of the situation, he couldn't process what had occurred. He stared at the flames in front of him, unable to think or breathe.
Sean had lost contact with his team, but that didn't matter to him. The fact didn't even cross his mind. All he could focus on was that the car his mother had been in was on fire. The flames were too hot and dangerous for him to even approach. Even if he could, it would've been pointless. No one could've survived the explosion. The man on the motorcycle, the bomb, it was fractions of information that ultimately led to the death of his mother. He was supposed to have protected her. He was a Seal for God's sake- he was supposed to be a hero. Yet he failed. He failed both his mother and his sisters, who were going to be left wondering just what the hell was going on. His mother was dead, and a part of him burned in those flames as well.
Once the phone line with Sean was cut, the team panicked. They had thought they heard an explosion before everything went blank. If that was the reason the Seal wasn't responding, then something terrible had occurred. No one wanted to think about it, but they couldn't deny it. Alex was trying so hard to keep her grip on reality and not assume the worst. But if there really had been an explosion, then Sean could be dead. She didn't know how that could've been, and she had no evidence to support her fear. But she freaked nonetheless. He had to respond to her. She had to know that he was alive.
Birkhoff pulling up a satellite view of the area didn't help. All he did was confirm that there had been an explosion, and a car was being burned to a crisp. Sean still wouldn't reply to Alex. Anxiety and fear ate away at the rest of the team, as they scrambled to figure out what exactly had transpired. Thankfully, the Seal finally answered their call. But he didn't answer his girlfriend when she asked if he was alright. He immediately shifted blame to Percy. It was the only solution he had for the pain he was enduring. His mother was dead because he couldn't protect her from Percy's wrath.
The team froze. They wanted to claim that it made less sense than Percy being able to waltz back into Division. But when did they ever fully understand anything. They were constantly in the dark, attempting to beat their enemies one move at a time. However, that moment just proved that even when they thought they won, they continued to drastically lose. Sean kept spiraling even more into shock, which snapped Nikita out of hers. She shoved a com into Alex's hands, and told her to calm him down and get him to come to the safehouse. If they were going to move forward, they needed as much information as they could get. Sean also couldn't be left spiraling on his own. He needed his team- his friends. He had to be shown comfort and support.
Losing loved ones in such horrific ways was tragically something the team was all too familiar with. They knew how to help Sean and what he needed, especially Alex. She was able to get through to him over the coms. She got him to stop and think, even feel a little. They were going to get through it together. Ryan, Nikita, Michael, and Birkhoff were already tracking down who placed the bomb. If it was a Division agent, then they'd be able to solidify a point of attack. The team had it. It was alright for Sean to grieve his mother and find some way to breathe. They'd be the action heroes while he processed. Everything would be alright.
Nikita would've backed that statement had Birkhoff not been able to locate the man on the motorcycle through street cameras. She fully believed they'd link Senator Pierce's death to Percy, then they'd find some way to bring him down again. Yet it was Brandt on the motorcycle. And he wasn't hiding what he had just done. After all, it was all for Nikita. He wanted his revenge for what she had done to him, and he was going to get it by attacking the people she knew. His message was loud and clear. And she was terrified.
Although she knew she shouldn't have reacted so strongly, Nikita just couldn't help it. Sean's mother was dead. She should be strong and steadfast for him, not spiraling in return. Yet when it came to Brandt, something else came over her. It was possible that she was more terrified of that than him, but she never allowed herself to dwell on it long enough to see if that was true. She'd much rather shove it all away. It was easier to run away from those feelings. She had done so already all those years ago, crashing into Michael's arms instead of dealing. Yet the problem was staring her in the eyes then. There was nowhere for her to hide. She had to confront what she had done.
And what she had done caused Sean's mother to be killed. Nikita could rightfully blame Brandt for all of that pain. But he wouldn't have killed Senator Pierce had it not been for her. Anger was quick to replace the fear coursing through her veins. She had to make him pay for what he did to her friend. She wasn't going to back down or hide. She was going to sprint straight at him. Fortunately, she had Michael beside her to pull her back and make her think. They had to be rational; they had to be smart. If they weren't letting Sean drown in his emotions, then they couldn't either.
But Nikita felt as though it was too late for herself. She had pushed so much down over the years, from foster care, to Division, to gut-wrenching missions, to being rogue, that seeing Brandt again brought it bubbling to the surface. She was furious and horrified all at once. It made her need to lash out against the men who ruined everything. That happy morning was stolen by Percy and Brandt, and she couldn't allow them to get away with it. However, her buried emotions weren't the only things resurfacing. That something else was pushing at her cracked seams. Things were definitely about to get worse.