"When were you going to tell me about Nikita?" That was the first thing Michael heard as he approached Birkhoff. He had traveled down to the Nerd Cave (Birkhoff's sectioned off area inside Division from when he was head hacker where he could hack, or whatever, in peace) to bring him back up to Ops. The nerd was messing around with some music and turntables, so the agent thought he'd have to fight for his attention. Apparently, that wasn't necessary. Birkhoff tagged Michael as soon as he entered the room.
"What about Nikita?" Michael did his best to cover his shock and stumble. He chose to play it vague, rather than give a list of reasons why he and his wife weren't saying anything. Maybe it wasn't the smartest choice for them to keep such a huge secret. Sure, most people didn't disclose their pregnancy in the first trimester. And with everything else going on inside New Division- from Dirty Thirties to Amanda- trying to control stress and anxieties seemed for the best. But the secret and the drastic changes it brought was going to catch up to the team sooner or later. Dealing with it immediately might be better and safer in the long run.
"Her concussion, man. How bad is it that she actually stayed home to recover?" However, Birkhoff continued to believe the lie about Nikita having a concussion. Michael could clear the air right then and there. Instead, he sighed in relief. He thought, for the moment, it was good that their team was in the dark. Nikita and Michael could keep the information to themselves, revel in the news in their own way, and figure out what exactly they were going to do without anyone's input. They could also control the secret for as long as possible. If their enemies ever found out- well, it was best not to think about it.
The expecting couple should've trusted their team. Their family wouldn't hurt them, and they'd definitely help with the pregnancy. Yet something about a baby changed things. It certainly made Michael and Nikita more paranoid, cautious, and elated. It was a lot to put on their team just yet. So, they covered the news up and lied. Fortunately, their recent mission helped with that. Michael didn't have to completely lie, "Not that bad after some rest. Half of staying home was so she didn't yell at a certain someone for what happened on the op."
"Wow. Married to you and she's already controlling her temper. Do you think she'll start listening to people next?" Birkhoff relaxed knowing Nikita was in fact alright. When he had heard she was taking days off for her concussion, he was shocked. He had seen her fight through broken bones and bullet wounds. If a concussion made her sit out, then it must've been beyond terrible. Thankfully, it wasn't just that. She was understandably pissed at Ryan. But Birkhoff had yelled at their friend for her. Everything should be good to go from then on.
"One hopes," Chuckling along with Birkhoff's joke, Michael shrugged. He hoped Nikita would begin to listen more. Honestly, though, her stubbornness had its endearing moments. He would never say that to his wife, however; it'd only encourage her. Besides, she wasn't the only one inside Division that didn't like to follow directions or orders. Alex and Birkhoff were two that came to his mind easily. At least Alex had Sean at her back whenever she did something reckless- like how Nikita had Michael. He began to wonder if Birkhoff had Sonya. He was supposed to have talked to her, after all, "What about you? You talk to Sonya yet?"
Birkhoff shied away from the question. He was hoping Michael and Nikita would forget about their suggestion for him to talk to Sonya. He just hadn't worked up the courage yet- if that was all it was. He knew it wasn't. Something else was pulling him back, and he didn't want to address it while Michael studied him. His friend was only being kind and caring, Birkhoff knew. He and Sonya simply weren't on the same level as the married couple, "I'm just… dropping it."
"What? I thought you liked her," Forgetting about the mission awaiting them in Ops, Michael closed the distance between him and Birkhoff. That didn't make any sense. The hacker had kissed Sonya the instant the war with Division ended. He flirted with her over the computer weeks before then. And the two had gone on light dates during the months between the end of the war and the start of the Dirty Thirty missions. Whatever had caused them to drift away had to be resolved. It was weird that the two hackers even had.
"I did… I do. I just don't think she likes me," Birkhoff agreed with Michael about how strange and weird it was that Sonya just pulled away from him. He thought that they had had a good thing going. Obviously, she had other ideas. If she didn't want to be with him, then he might as well just let her go. He didn't want to drive her further away by relentlessly pursuing her. And he didn't want his heart to be shattered further when she continued to keep her distance. It was better if he simply let it all go and tried to move on.
"That's why you gotta talk," Gently, Michael urged. He was certain that couldn't be all there was for Sonya and Birkhoff. He had seen Sonya go against all of Ops when the team had infiltrated Division. She had found the courage to stand up and do the right thing. That could be attributed to the whole team's influence. Yet Michael knew Birkhoff had a strong hand in that. The hackers left a huge impact on one another. Not only did they make the other strive to hack better. They also seemed to be happier and calmer around each other. At least, they used to be.
"Is there a reason you're down here?" Rolling his eyes, Birkhoff snapped. He was well aware of what he was supposed to do. A part of him also knew that his fear was holding him back. But he didn't want to delve into it then- or ever. Michael had entered his Nerd Cave for a reason. The two should just focus on that and move on. Besides, it more than likely had something to do with the Dirty Thirty. Birkhoff would gladly put all of his efforts into a mission rather than on his current struggles. Not only would it be a great distraction, it was also something he could control.
"Ryan has something for us," Michael decided to answer. He could've lectured Birkhoff about why talking to Sonya would be the best thing for him. But given the time and place, he followed the hacker's wish to just drop it. They'd have to revisit it later. For the moment, the two silently went to Ops. Birkhoff created distance from himself and Michael once they arrived. He was fine with that. He spotted his wife and moved towards her. He was surprised she finally came in. But he was glad she was there as he whispered, "Hey. You feeling better?"
Nikita nodded. She didn't feel one hundred percent herself, but at least she wasn't vomiting anymore. Her talk with Alex before they returned to Division did her some good as well. Her nerves had finally settled. She was ready to dive back into things, starting with whatever mission Ryan had for them. The whole team was gathered together. Hopefully, they could move past the mistakes of their first mission and succeed easily with their second. The drama from Hong Kong had fortunately settled. Whispering to her husband, Nikita told him of their allies on that front, "Sean and Alex figured it out."
Michael had assumed Sean knew about the pregnancy since Hong Kong. He never said anything about it, simply gave the expecting couple whatever they needed to process the news themselves. Michael appreciated Sean for it. So much so, that he didn't mind that he told Alex. Alex knowing did help ease Nikita. It was good that some of their friends knew about the baby. They needed support in and out of the field. Though, they only expected Alex on that mission. Sean walking into Ops as well was a surprise, "Thought you were called in this week."
"Turns out I only needed a day. I'm needed more here," Sean answered Michael with a shrug. He was still technically on leave from the Seals. Sure, that had been spent working for Oversight, being an heiress's bodyguard, and helping rogue government agents. But, as far as the Navy was concerned, he wasn't on active duty. That week, he had to go to the base and fill out some paperwork for his eventual return. He also had to continue talking to his commanding officers about his recent activities. Those conversations weren't that detrimental to Sean, however, so he filled out paperwork, pushed off the meetings, and returned to his team.
"Great. We need all the help we can get," While Ryan captured their attention, Michael mouthed his thanks to Sean. He nodded. He knew where his priorities had to lie. Nikita and Michael needed all the help they could get. He also wasn't going to leave Alex's side for long. That was where he was needed. Ryan soon pulled the Seal from his musings. There was still a mission to focus on, "Last night a weapons facility was broken into. The only thing taken was a volatile new bomb. The catch is, it has to be used within seventy-two hours or it's a no-go."
Ryan indicated different photographs on the screen for the team to study. The bomb was made to go undetected by most technologies that searched for it. Because of that, the material that made it couldn't last long. The bomb had to be used within a certain time frame for it to be effective. Since someone stole it the night before, that left the team less than three days to find the weapon and its target. With their resources in New Division, they could do it. Sean had faith they could, "So we've got about sixty hours left to find the target. Do you have any leads?"
"This man was spotted at the scene. He doesn't match any database, except ours," Ryan showed the team the splitscreen of the grainy security footage from the scene of the robbery, and of their Dirty Thirty file. The second he had heard the news that a dangerous bomb and been stolen from a high-tech facility, he knew a rogue Division agent was behind it. No one else had that kind of training. And no one else had that kind of grudge against the government. Their second mission, and the team was already walking into more hell.
"Whoa. Is that Wade? I thought he was killed," Birkhoff was the only one to react to the image. The rest of the team was shocked that a Dirty Thirty had stolen a bomb. But who that Dirty Thirty was, was only a shock to Birkhoff. He thought he had seen the last of Wade over a decade ago. Surely, his actions had gotten him killed; Percy had killed for far less, after all. The fact that he was alive and causing havoc didn't bode well for the team. They were about to face an evil bastard with a dangerous bomb.
"Reassignment. Percy benched him when I took his job," Answering Birkhoff, Ryan kept his emotions out of his reply. He believed Percy should've killed Wade for what he had done. Division did terrible things to its recruits and to others in the world. What Wade had done to his recruit was definitely one of those things. It was shocking that Percy didn't kill him. Maybe he deemed a meaningless undercover job as a worse punishment. Or, he wanted Wade around in case he ever wanted him again. Ryan hated to think for what that could've been.
"Who's Wade?" Nikita asked for herself and everyone else in the room. She was familiar with the agents that had been around while she was in Division, and Michael, Alex, and Sean knew of the agents they faced in the field. Except, Wade was never one of those. If Birkhoff thought he had been killed, then that'd explain why he and Ryan were the only ones who knew who he was. He could've had his death faked and become some kind of guardian like Owen, who still hadn't answered their calls; Nikita hoped he was okay. However, a faked death didn't seem all too possible. Something else must've happened with Wade- maybe something worse.
"He was the head of recruits until he killed one of his agents for not completing an op. Then, Fletch took over," Birkhoff's simplified version didn't appease anyone's curiosity. So, Ryan filled in the blanks. Wade had been in charge of handling and training recruits for years. His agents had a perfect record of completing missions, except for one. The agent returned from his mission without killing his target. In response, Wade killed him. Percy didn't appreciate the cancellation without his order, so he sent Wade out and replaced him with Ryan. Recruit morale definitely increased with him in charge.
Unsure how to react to the story at first, the team only nodded. They couldn't say they were surprised by what had happened. Wade beating his recruit to death for failing a mission seemed on par for Division. That didn't make it any less horrible, however. The rogue Dirty Thirty was as dangerous and volatile as the bomb he had stolen. He had to be stopped at all costs. Fortunately, strangely thanks to Percy's meticulousness about files, the team had information on Wade. His location could be a part of that intel, as Alex asked, "Where can we find him?"
"He's been undercover at a travel agency the past few years. He hasn't been in for a while. But, we can start there," Flipping through more slides on the screen, Ryan explained. He also put up a countdown timer. It wasn't meant to stress the team out. He only wanted them to be aware of the time constraint. Sixty hours might've appeared like a lot, but they had less than three days to track down a dangerous rogue and stop him from killing so many innocents. It was a tall task for them to take, even with their resources. They had to be careful and smart.
"Who still uses travel agencies?" Sean had to ask. He wasn't going to bash the information they had on Wade. He was glad they could make a jump at hunting the bastard down. However, there had to be a reason Percy didn't kill the murderous agent, and instead stuck him at a travel agency. Maybe a lot of information came through there, specifically about destinations rich and powerful people vacationed at. Or, maybe it was simply the perfect punishment for a man who thought he was above death. That seemed more appropriate.
"Newlyweds," Ryan nodded towards Michael and Nikita. The married couple sighed. They had seen that coming. However, a simple recon mission would be good for them. They had the chance to ease into a mission after the big change. There wouldn't be any bullets or kidnappings. It would just be some easy spying to assure that her pregnancy didn't mean she was completely out from helping her team. She was still there for them. And they would be there for her once things undoubtedly turned to shit again.