"Hey. Are you free today? Great. They need us," Alex spoke bluntly to Sean over the phone. Soon after the intel gathering mission, Division received a hit on one of their Dirty Thirty. He had kidnapped his ex-wife and shot her cop fiancé. Fortunately, the fiancé had been wearing his Kevlar- as he had just gotten off shift- so he survived. But there was no trace of the ex-wife or where the Dirty Thirty could've gone. Owen and Nikita were posing as FBI agents to help in the investigation and to throw suspicion off Division or any other conspiracies. Who knew how long that would last, however.
Owen and Nikita weren't fairing too well as partners. The messy intelligence operation was enough evidence of that. Throwing them out into the field again wasn't a good idea. Owen wasn't used to teamwork or dealing with live civilians. Nikita almost seemed as though she'd rather do everything by herself and she was just working with a partner for safety's sake. And Michael wasn't adjusting to the new dynamic. He was harsh as he directed the former Cleaner, placing the blame for how things were going all on him. The three were going to implode before the op was over. That wasn't fair to the victim.
Their focus should only be on saving the ex-wife and stopping the Dirty Thirty. Anything else needed to be placed on the backburner for later. Alex didn't believe Michael, Nikita, and Owen could do that without a shove in the right direction. So, she and Sean were stepping in. Their own busy schedules could be pushed aside too. He'd join Owen and Nikita in the field, helping them track down their target and his victim. While she teamed up with Michael in Ops. They could run down their own leads together, working the mission on two fronts.
The only lead Division had so far was that the ex-wife was smart enough to use her credit card. They were able to track their Dirty Thirty to a storage facility near the highway. If they hurried, they could cut him off before he could escape. Unfortunately, the highway wasn't his destination. Nikita, Owen, and the FBI found his car abandoned on the side of the feeder road. Nothing was left behind. Whatever he had grabbed out of storage he had taken with him and his ex-wife. It didn't take long to figure out where he was going. A dense wood was nearby, perfect for one to disappear in. With his training, of course the Dirty Thirty would take his victim there.
A search through the forest led by the FBI yielded no results. Nikita, Owen, and Ops couldn't help; though, they did try. The foliage was too dense for satellites to scan properly. And searching on foot took more time and effort than they had. The authorities and Division could comb through the forest for months without any results. Who knew what could happen to the ex-wife in the meantime. Well, they had their ideas, yet no one could voice them- especially not the fiancé. Although he was too closely involved, he had found a way onto the case. He was determined to bring his love home safe and sound.
His determination was great for the case, but not so much for the secret agents. The fiancé started to see through Owen's and Nikita's cover. Division attempted to keep it intact, but their Dirty Thirty ruined everything. He had managed to spy on them from his hideout. As soon as he caught sight of Division, he decided to intervene. He revealed the two's secret in an attempt to divert the real FBI. Chaos erupted in the forest. Nikita and Owen hurried back to Division and drastically changed their plans. They couldn't piggyback off the investigation anymore.
Alex had an idea of how to locate their Dirty Thirty and his ex-wife, however. She stared at the aerial images of the forest, studying every inch. The lessons her father had taught her about forest survival raced through her mind, and she tried to apply them to what their target would've done. If he planned on staying in the woods indefinitely, he'd have some sort of structure. It wouldn't be an obvious one. He'd hide it from any kind of view, possibly using some sort of camouflage like a canopy of trees.
With that in mind, Alex ran a computer program to scan through aerial images of the forest spanning the past few months. Any new and unexplained grouping of trees had to be their Dirty Thirty's hideout. The instant she found the location, she'd use her other forest survival skills to help Michael in Ops guide a team of agents through the woods. The Alpha team would be led by Nikita, Owen, and Sean. The three together would be successful against the Dirty Thirty. They'd kill him, hide his and Division's existence, and hand the victim safely to her fiancé. As long as the agents stayed focused, the mission would be that successful.
While Alex took over the computers in Ops, Birkhoff searched for Nikita. She had silently broken off from the group around the time Alex began to ramble about her father making her do forest survival training as a kid. No one had noticed her disappearing act, especially the nerd. But when he turned to her to make a snide comment, he realized she was missing. That wasn't like her. Well, it wasn't normally like her to pull away from the others. As of late, it had been a terrible trend. Someone had to put a stop to it before it got even worse.
Since everyone else was still heavily concentrated on the Dirty Thirty, Birkhoff went to yank Nikita back. He checked her usual haunts, yet there continued to be no sign of her. She couldn't have left Division completely; someone would've definitely noticed that. She had to have been hiding somewhere in the bunker. Strangely enough, when he decided to check the cameras at his secluded computer station, he finally found Nikita. She was in his 'office', hacking furiously on his computer. Birkhoff was too stunned to speak at first. Once his voice came back to him, though, it corrupted in a cruel question, "What are you doing in here?"
"I'm just looking at something," Quickly exiting out of the search program she was running and clearing all evidence of it, Nikita shrugged. She knew she should've gone to the computer lab instead. She wouldn't have had as much privacy, but her teammates wouldn't have been suspicious. She didn't need them questioning her movements amid everything else. Even when she was distracted by other things, they should focus on themselves and the current mission. They didn't have to concern themselves with her. She would be alright. She could redirect her attention when needed, after all, "Any updates?"
"Alex has a hunch. What are you looking at?" Birkhoff moved around the computers, dismissing her question about the mission. Alex was currently running down a hunch; until she got a hit, the others could rest and prepare for the next phase. Birkhoff hoped he could discover what Nikita was up to in the meantime. Yet she had anticipated his snooping. By the time he caught sight of the monitors, whatever she was doing had disappeared. She hadn't even risked leaving a trace behind. The hacker didn't know if he was more proud of her improved talents, or more annoyed that she was hiding something from him.
"I'll let you know when I find it," Nikita pushed away from Birkhoff's desk and tried to run away again. Maybe she could help Alex with her hunch (whatever it might've been). After all, the sooner the mission wrapped, the sooner she could go back to her search. She had come up with the idea after her conversation with Ryan. It was probably a long shot. But with things like killchips, worldwide trackers and coms, hyper-realistic masks, black boxes, and cryptokeys, she had a good chance of getting what she wanted. She'd need a more secure place to look than Birkhoff's nerd cave. Though, he did have that supercomputer.
Nikita was soon ripped out of her thoughts and away from the door. Birkhoff pulled her back, his grip fierce on her bicep. That fact had her frozen in place more than his hold had. It wasn't like the nerd to be so harsh with her. Sure, he snapped at her from time to time. But it was only like a sibling would when annoyed. The grip he had on her arm was far more stern- more urgent. Nikita stared at Birkhoff bewildered. He pulled her closer to him and stared back. His eyes didn't portray the same harshness as his hold. He was concerned about her, so much so that he was frightened, "What's wrong?"
Silently, Nikita tore her eyes and arm away. There was no use in trying to lie; Birkhoff knew her too well. He'd see right through anything she might say. Going back to Ops and rejoining the mission was the best way to escape the conversation. She knew him too well also. He wouldn't pursue the topic around the others. He'd stick to private conversations when it came to serious discussions- no need dragging all of Division into their drama. She could hide from him for a while. Hopefully until she got what she was searching for.
She had her reasons for not talking to her team and seemingly pulling away. She wasn't just too overwhelmed with emotions, loss, and stress. Nikita had a mission she needed to follow. It wasn't as righteous as stopping Amanda, Ari, and the Dirty Thirties. Though, it was as important. She couldn't afford for her team to intervene and ruin her plans. Or, worse, involve themselves and get hurt. She needed to figure things out and put them into motion on her own first. It would be okay if only she got hurt in the process. It could be part of her retribution.
Sighing, Birkhoff let Nikita run. Even if he could've found a way to make her talk to him, they didn't have the time. An active mission was still occurring. They couldn't abandon it and the victim. Their problems had to wait to be solved. When Birkhoff finally joined Nikita and the others in Ops, Alex had their target's location. The Alpha team geared up and waited for their orders to break into the field. Sean led that charge. Considering the Dirty Thirty was both former Division and former military, the Seal knew how they could take him apart. Owen and Nikita didn't fight the decision. They'd accept anything that'd let them save the day.
Approaching their Dirty Thirty's hideout was the only successful thing the agents did, however. As they crept through the woods, more chaos erupted around them. Their target had boobytrapped the area. Wires that activated arrows, sensors that notified where the Dirty Thirty could snipe them, and landmines were scattered amongst the trees. Agents began to drop like flies. They couldn't see the danger until it was too late. Ops wasn't able to help. Their only view was the trackers blinking out signaling death. At least they could hear the commotion through coms. But that only caused panic once Sean and a group of agents activated a mine.
"Sean!" Alex screamed into the com. His tracker still blipped on the screen, indicating that he was alive. However, after the explosion, he didn't respond. She couldn't even hear him breathe. Starting to panic, Alex nearly begged to be able to see what was happening in the field. Only hearing the horrors was tortuous. She was picturing all the worst things that could occur without actual confirmation. Although Sean was alive currently, he could be so badly injured that he'd die in an instant. The belief had her so terrified, she could barely stand. She couldn't lose him too. She needed to know that he was going to stay with her.
"He's okay. I've got him," Nikita responded breathlessly into her com. Sean had a nasty blow to his head, but he'd be alright. She moved him away from the destruction, next to Owen's similarly unconscious body. From what she could hear through the coms, she was the last one left either alive or conscious. She refused to let that get to her. She just had to breathe and continue the op like disaster wasn't surrounding her. Hopefully, after all the damage he had caused, their Dirty Thirty would become cocky. He wouldn't be on the lookout for Nikita. She could slip into his hideout, free his ex-wife, and kill him. It all rested on her shoulders.
"Nik…" Watching Nikita's tracker sprint across the screen, Michael tried to caution her. Rushing into things without a solid plan was bound to catch up to her in the most horrific way. Considering the Dirty Thirty took out everyone else, then might've been that moment. He needed her to think and be safe. Yet she had stopped listening to him, or anyone else. She also stopped communicating what she was doing. Nikita had become a one woman show despite all those around her. She was going to do it all on her own, no matter what it cost her.
Michael should've reprimanded Nikita for her recklessness. As the head of operations, he should've gotten on her for risking her life like that. And as her husband, he should've talked to her about what she was doing. However, he found himself staying silent. Mostly because what she did worked. Nikita eventually saved the ex-wife, killed the Dirty Thirty, and hid the evidence of Division's involvement before the FBI arrived. She also brought the unconscious agents back home to receive medical care. Her recklessness led to success- that time at least.
Her recklessness wouldn't always work. Michael had to talk to Nikita. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to approach all the topics he needed to discuss with his wife. He still didn't want to push her too hard. He knew how raw her emotions had been. He never wanted to be overwhelming to her. His own feelings had been wrought as well. He didn't want to do anything that could break them. Though, not talking had more of a chance of tearing them apart. The two needed to confront what was occurring head on. They needed to share things with one another. Preferably before another mission almost takes everything away.