Nikita never responded to the shouts. Birkhoff tried to track her location, but it was of no use. She was gone. The van she approached had disappeared as well. Brandt really did have her. And that was when the true panic set in. Michael was quick with commands of how to trace the van and stop the arms dealer from getting too far. He attempted to follow in his own vehicle, while Ryan searched around the perimeter. However, after what felt like far too long, they had absolutely nothing. Both Brandt and Nikita had vanished. Ready with demands and full of terror, Michael eventually crashed back into the safehouse, "Birkhoff, widen the search area. See if you can't pick him up on any other street cams."
"Surrounding security didn't see anything. All their focus was on the service," Alex followed after Michael, reporting what she and Sean had discovered after the fact. She felt as though she hadn't done enough to help. The two had overheard the commotion over their coms, but neither of them could do a thing during the funeral service. It didn't seem right as the rest of the team was panicking. By the time they could involve themselves, there was nothing to do. Honestly, from the get go, there was nothing to do. Brandt had taken out a Division strike team; of course he could evade the team and take off with his prize. They would have to grasp at straws to be able to reach him.
"How could she be grabbed with all those eyes on her?" Desperation and frustration were eating away at Michael. He knew he had to stay rational. Allowing his fear to overwhelm him wouldn't help find Nikita. Yet it was difficult when he felt his heart had been torn in two. There was no other way to describe the feeling burning in his chest. His fiancée had been kidnapped by a man who was completely willing to kill a United States Senator to get what he wanted. Who knew what could be happening to her. Who knew if she would survive. Michael had no doubt that Nikita would keep fighting until her last breath. But how long did she have until that was.
"He took out a Division strike team on his own. He's good," It wasn't the best calming tactic Ryan had ever deployed, but he was just as lost as Michael. Nikita was his friend, and his partner on more missions than he could count. If he were to guess, however, it'd be the same number of times she had saved him. He couldn't let Brandt enact his twisted revenge on her. Though, he was still confused over who he was, and what exactly the Division mission was to take him down. But that didn't matter anymore. All focus had to be on finding Nikita, as difficult as that was with their frantic emotions.
"And we have to be better," The strain in Michael's voice as if he was close to tears put it best. The team had come across impossible before- Nikita had done the impossible before. They couldn't give up. They had to dig deep, past all the fear and pain, and out-perform even themselves. Birkhoff continued to search through cameras for anything that might give them a lead. He pulled Shadownet into the hunt, scanning possible reports that might give them a clue. It was no stone unturned. They simply didn't know where to look. That had to have been the most frustrating thing. What was the purpose of all their skills if they didn't have a starting point.
"Alright. So we can't track Brandt. There has to be some other way to find him, right? Did he talk to anybody while he was locked up? Maybe we could figure out where he might go," Sean was more calm than he had been. Since his mother was killed, he felt his very foundation rock and crumble. He could barely grip anything, besides small moments with his sisters and with Alex. But locating Nikita and Brandt gave him a mission. All his energy could be shifted into saving his new team member and killing the man who murdered his mother. A goal always helped him focus and work through the pain. And what was revenge if not the ultimate goal.
"Yeah, yeah. There was a guy in the cell next to him. He's being moved to another facility right now," Birkhoff instantly ran with Sean's idea. He had had Brandt's information on his tablet for a while, but the file didn't have much to go on in regards to his current activities. Looking at a fellow inmate and his time with the CIA, however, could work in their favor. At least, it was a better lead than chasing disappearing vans. The team was a group of spies, after all. They didn't need to tackle things head on, not when they could blindside their target.
"Then let's go intercept," Already gearing to go, Michael stormed back out of the safehouse. Ryan, Sean, Alex, and Birkhoff had to complete the planning. Yet they were alright with that. He could panic and spiral, and do whatever he must to bring his fiancée home. With at least one member of the team overwhelmed by panic, the others could reign in their emotions and focus. They already felt as though they had let Nikita down by not stopping Brandt sooner; Michael couldn't be added to that feeling as well. They had to be on their A-game.
The basement wasn't the worst place she had woken up in. Whether that was a sad statement on her life or just her default coping strategy, she was unsure. Nikita senses came to her fairly quickly after being knocked unconscious. She was sure it was just the adrenaline coursing through her veins over waking up captured for the umpteenth time. Though, it could've also been the fear of who she had been captured by. Hearing his voice as she first woke nearly made her jump out of her skin. It was the voice of her nightmares, of some of her worst moments. It made her grumble with more hatred than she thought she could muster, "Brandt."
"Good, you remember me. We don't have to spend time catching up," His expression could've been called a smile, if Brandt was capable of such things. Nikita tried not to look at his face, however. Being in the same room as him brought up feelings she did not want to revisit. And the scar marring the eye she had clawed made it even worse. She had to study the room she was trapped in and any possible way she could escape instead. Although she was shackled to a metal bedframe, she was certain she could break free and run for it- she had done so before. It was what she would do after that confused her. No doubt she would kill Brandt. But how the hell was she to return home.
"What do you want?" Nikita knew the answer already- he wanted her to pay for what she had done to him. She didn't care about that, however. Who cared what a psychopath thought. She simply needed a distraction so she could break out of her restraints. The bolts were loose enough that she could try. And as Brandt went on some asinine rant about his motives, she attempted to break free. Whenever he turned to her, she played up the part of the captive attempting to earn sympathy. It kept him going long enough for her to almost shake off a bolt. Yet she wasn't thinking too much about what she was saying, causing her to slip up, "Percy gave the order. I was doing a job. We have a mutual enemy. I hated what they made me do. I still do."
"No you didn't. You enjoyed doing this to me. And I'm going to enjoy doing this to you. Feel free to scream. No one will hear you," Brandt's lividity froze Nikita. He indicated to his scared eye as he snapped at her, but it was the deranged look in his gaze that horrified her. Before she could atone for her statement, amend what she had said and continue distracting him, he flipped a dial next to the bedframe. A powerful electric current ripped through Nikita. She couldn't help but scream, no matter how much she didn't want to. The pain was indescribable, and it was only going to get worse.
They couldn't say confronting the other prisoner was a success. But it wasn't a failure either. The team did learn just how sick and twisted Brandt was. Where he was at the moment, however, continued to be a frustrating mystery. He had had no plans of where to go if he were to ever be set free, besides attacking Nikita. The arms dealer could be anywhere in the world, especially if he had Percy supporting him. Michael was about to lose it as he and Ryan returned empty handed to the safehouse. He almost snapped at Birkhoff when he asked for an update. Fortunately, the agent responded for him, "Alex and Sean are following the direction Brandt went in. They might be able to find something."
It was incredibly slim. However, splitting the team in two and chasing whatever they could was the best they had. The team had performed under worse circumstances. They had also run missions on far less information. It was simply that the current situation centered heavily around a person they cared deeply about. If anything went wrong, then what had their struggles been for. That was definitely the frame of mind Michael fell into. He couldn't shake his dread. And far too many things gave him false hope, like the chirp of Birkhoff's computer. It was only Sonya, though, something the nerd decided to handle, "Look, Sonya. I don't have time…"
"Where is she, Percy?" When Sonya was shoved away from the computer screen by Percy, Michael snapped. He nudged Birkhoff away, so he could glare at the computer screen. If he could, he would've leapt through the monitor and strangled the bastard. The best thing he could settle for was to seethe, however. Birkhoff and Ryan wisely stayed out of his way. Although they were the ones to have the most experience with Percy and knew first hand the terrible things he could do, that conversation was for Michael to have. If anyone wouldn't be pulled into the twisting mind games, it'd be Nikita's fiancé.
"You know where she is. She's with Brandt," Percy was simply toying with the man. There was a reason for his call other than to gloat. He didn't do anything unless it directly served him and his schemes. Though, the taunt might've existed to rile Michael up so that he'd be angry and make a mistake. Nikita was already kidnapped- what would Percy love more than to destroy the team as a whole. He had gotten under the former analyst's skin. He punched the desktop, needing to do something with his pent up anxiety and fury. The bastard only smirked.
"Enough with the games. Where's Nikita?" His voice was shaking, he was so livid. Or was it the fear of losing everything that continued to rattle him. Michael didn't need to know that answer at the moment. He could sort out his emotions after he had Nikita safely in his arms. He'd do whatever it took to bring her back, including a deal with the devil. That was potentially why Percy had called. Yet so what if it was. Michael had promised forever with Nikita. He would do everything in his power to make that come true. It was the one promise he had to keep.
"If you want her, and I know you do, it'll require a sacrifice," The offer was said like it was one big ultimatum- sacrifice something or Nikita died. Obviously, the choice would always be Nikita. The team had given up a black box to save Birkhoff. And they had changed vital mission objectives to help Alex, Sean, and Ryan. Why would the rogue be treated any differently. Maybe Percy didn't understand them as much as he thought he did. Their friends were always held above the war. They were much more important than their freedom. After all, how could they all truly be free if they didn't have one another by their sides.
"Name it," Immediately, Michael accepted. Ryan and Birkhoff shared a concerned glance, yet they didn't say a word. They'd support the former analyst on whatever his play might be. They just didn't trust Percy. It was something they had to push aside for Nikita, however. She would've done the same for them in a heartbeat. It was anything for their team, or they'd have nothing. Besides, it wasn't as though they had another lead to go on. The team would make the gamble- a sacrifice for a loved one was nothing.