"I've never been so relieved that you have a concussion," Alex sighed as she leaned against the doorframe to Sean's room. While he and the other injured agents were moved to Medical, the rest of Division focused on cleaning their presence from the scene. Alex broke away once to check on her boyfriend. When she was satisfied that he was alright and in good care, she returned to Ops to finish her task and to debrief with Nikita. That, thankfully, didn't take too long. She was able to escape again and be at Sean's side. Alex beamed at the fact. The explosion had only given him a concussion. He was still alive, and he could still be in her arms.

"Mild concussion," Sean clarified, matching his girlfriend's brilliant grin. He had sustained some minor scrapes and bruising as well. But nothing was serious. He was perfectly alright, and so was Alex. He reached for her as he sat up on the cot. She came to stand between his knees, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling adoringly. He placed his hands gently on her waist and kissed her. The couple kissed a few more times, grinning after each affection. Until Sean decided to compliment Alex for her great work that day, "Good call having us come into Division. You really know how to lead a mission."

Whereas Sean continued to grin lovingly, Alex's smile dropped. It wasn't that successful of a mission. Yes, they handled the Dirty Thirty and saved his victim. But agents were lost. Their deaths were no one's fault but the target's; no one could've seen those boobytraps. However, Alex carried that weight on her shoulders, especially because of how the team was acting. She had hoped hers and Sean's presence after their absence would ease tensions. Yet the team remained so distant from one another. It wasn't like them. They weren't rallying together as they normally did, "Do you ever think that this team is falling apart?"

"It's a good thing we have you to keep us in line," Kissing Alex again, Sean responded lightly. He had noticed the team acting strangely; his time away hadn't made that any less clear. However, he wasn't too concerned. They just needed to fix the lack of communication that had occurred. Once they did, it would all be better. The team wouldn't remain in a rough patch for long. They'd get through, as they had always done. After all, they had Alex, who was so determined to look after their wellbeing. They'd be fine soon, "I'm serious."

"Let's just go home," Taking hold of Sean's hands, Alex changed her mind about discussing the team. She was aware that something was wrong with them. They weren't clicking like they used to. They also weren't communicating as they should. Riffs had grown between them after the failed Amanda mission, and they weren't getting any smaller. It had to be addressed. The team needed to fix whatever it was that was going wrong between all of them. They needed to talk. It wasn't all on Alex to figure out. Besides, she wanted to go home with her boyfriend and celebrate the fact that he was still alive. Everything else could wait.

Although Michael went home for the evening, Nikita didn't. Her husband claimed she had told him that there was something she had to stay behind and do, but it wasn't actually clear where she went. They all knew Alex had broken off from the group to join Sean in Medical. Nikita, on the other hand, just disappeared. Michael seemed fine with the text she had sent him half-heartedly explaining her absence. Yet Birkhoff wasn't. He couldn't wrap his mind around the stunts she was pulling. How could she keep leaving her husband and her team like that. What was more important to her than her friends and family.

That answer was probably on his computer. Birkhoff couldn't believe he eventually found Nikita hunched at his computer station again. Actually, he could. She didn't appear to have been done with her search the last time he had caught her using his equipment. She was obsessed with finding something. The hacker wouldn't let her go without an explanation that time. He was going to confront her, and she was going to talk to him. Their silence had gone on long enough, "So this is you working late? This is why you won't go home?"

Before Nikita could clear away what she was doing on the computer, Birkhoff swung a monitor around to face him. He couldn't quite make sense of what he was seeing. It was just some picture of an eccentric looking older man. Although the hacker somewhat recognized him, he didn't think the man was a Dirty Thirty. No, Nikita was digging up information on something else entirely. At least she didn't seem like she was going to fight Birkhoff on it. She just slumped in the chair, accepting that she had been caught. He could demand any answer he wanted from her. He settled on the basics first, though, "What are you even doing in here?"

Nikita opened then closed her mouth. She needed to share what she was doing with somebody. Despite her confidence that she could perform an upcoming mission on her own, she knew she could use some help. It wasn't like she was doing something simple and easy. Gaining the information she had took a lot of research and time. A brilliant hacker on her side would make things better. At least some stress could be taken off her shoulders. And she could breathe easier with the truth of her actions out there, "There has to be a better prosthetic for Michael."

"That's what you're searching for? Michael's had a prosthetic for over a decade, and now it's a concern? He's been fine in and out of the field for years. This shouldn't be a problem. Did Ryan talk you into this?" Birkhoff stared at Nikita, baffled. She had never had a problem with Michael's prosthetic in the past. In fact, she had always advocated that it never set him back in the field; he was just as capable as everyone else. The new one couldn't have changed her mind that much, even if it was of lower quality. Something, or someone, must've planted the idea in her head and scared her enough that she accepted it.

"Ryan? What's going on between you two?" It was Nikita's turn to look at Birkhoff baffled. What did Ryan have to do with what she was searching for. She hadn't talked to him any more than she had talked to anyone else. In fact, he seemed to be avoiding her as much as she was avoiding him. Though, Nikita's and Ryan's distance wasn't as great as Ryan's and Birkhoff's. The two hadn't even associated with one another since the failed Amanda mission. They were acting like they weren't friends anymore. It was so weird and unexplained.

"What's going on between you and Michael?" Birkhoff instantly deflected. A part of him wanted to tell Nikita what happened between him and Ryan. But he didn't want to sour her relationship with her friend, especially when her relationship with her husband was already rocky. The hacker had walked across the two stumbling through a conversation. There was such a huge emotional rift between them. Michael appeared to be trying to cross the gap between them, yet Nikita was keeping her distance. She wouldn't connect.

Michael deserved better than how Nikita had been treating him lately, but she had her reasons. He was safer remaining in Ops. He wouldn't face any more grenades or gunshots. He'd always be safe, even if she wasn't around to protect him. Michael staying in Ops also allowed the rest of the team to be safe. With his background in the CIA and Navy, he could run missions better than anyone else. Everyone would always be safe and sound; he'd make certain they came home. The protection of others was the most important thing. Nikita knew that all too well as she mumbled, "He deserves something better."

"Better than what?" Puzzled, Birkhoff rounded the desk towards Nikita. He might not have been able to read her mind as accurately as Michael- or even Ryan and Alex at times. But the hacker could usually discern what she was thinking. Not so much lately, however. She had been pulling so far away for the past several weeks. Hardly anyone knew what was going on with her, including her husband. The guess was that she hadn't recovered from the miscarriage; though, it had to be more than that. More must've been plaguing her mind.

"Remember that weird scientist guy who'd do business with Percy? You know, Heidecker. Well he's the reason Division had killchips, hyper-realistic masks, worldwide trackers and coms. All our advanced tech is because of him," Ignoring Birkhoff's question, Nikita shared some information she had found. Division had always had more advanced technology than any other government organization- legal or illegal. There had to have been a reason for that. After remembering spying on some of Percy's deals and after digging through the files that she had stolen from Ryan's office, Nikita finally found that answer. She found something for Michael.

So the man in the picture Nikita was studying was Heidecker. No wonder Birkhoff slightly recognized him. He had seen him around Division before. However, he had never connected him to the spy-fi tech. The hacker figured Percy had connections that he exploited for Division's needs. He simply didn't ask about it. The fact that Nikita answered those unasked questions intrigued Birkhoff. A part of him wanted to ask more about it. Yet that didn't last long. They shouldn't rely on someone Percy had once worked with. There was no way Heidecker could be trusted, "You want to deal with a guy who worked with Percy? Nikita, what are you…"

"Please, Birkhoff. I couldn't give Michael what he wanted most. But I can give him this," Nikita finally broke. She had shattered her husband's heart with the miscarriage. She had ruined the future he had so badly wanted for them. And with the state Division and their crusade was in, that future might never happen. It was lost. But, what wasn't lost was Nikita's chance to give Michael a better prosthetic. She could do everything she could to ensure he was always safe and sound. There would be no more loss. No one would suffer anymore. It all might be okay again.

"What is it exactly?" Birkhoff asked softly. He could've told Nikita that the miscarriage wasn't her fault. He could've told her that she didn't need to atone for losing the baby. She didn't rob her husband of anything. She wasn't to blame. But she had been told that countless times before. Birkhoff couldn't convince her to believe the truth then. She'd just keep fighting to resolve that pain. It'd be better if her friend simply went along with it. After all, he understood her need to do something for Michael. She couldn't stand to see him so hurt. Nikita had to help him in whatever way she saw fit. And Birkhoff had to help her.

"I tracked Heidecker to Kosta Bechiraj, the corrupt leader of Kosovo," Returning her attention to the computer, Nikita began to explain. It had taken her some time to find Heidecker once she had remembered seeing him make tech deals with Percy. But once she had a bead on him, she ran with the information. She wasn't leaving anything up to chance. She was going to do every ounce of research she could. After all, it led her to her biggest discovery yet, "Two years ago, the CIA tried to kill him. But all they did was cause him to lose his leg. After visiting with Hiedecker, however, he was able to walk around a boat last week with two legs."

"The timestamp has to be wrong," Birkhoff stared in shock at the picture Nikita was showing him. There was no way that Kosta Bechiraj was up and walking on two perfectly normal legs years after losing one to a botched CIA mission. The captured image Nikita had found with Heidecker in the background had to have been faked. Maybe it was a publicity stunt. Or maybe the date was all wrong; the picture could've been a few years old. There was no way Bechiraj had a real flesh and bone leg after the accident he had had. He should've had a prosthetic. Limbs couldn't be regrown. Could they.

"It's not. I've triple checked everything. It's all accurate," Shaking her head, Nikita swore that what she had told Birkhoff was true. She hadn't believed it herself. Bechiraj couldn't have regrown his leg; the picture had to have been wrong. But after considering all the other outrageous tech Division had (especially those hyper-realistic masks) it didn't seem too implausible. There had to be a reasonable explanation for the new limb. Maybe it was just a hyper-realistic prosthetic. Heidecker must've figured out a way to simulate a limb. Which, if he had, Nikita needed to get that for Michael.

Birkhoff couldn't doubt Nikita's information. After all, he had taught her most of her computer skills. What he was staring at was true, as unbelievable as it was. The major question that remained was what Nikita was going to do with all her intel. Was she going to solve the mystery of how Bechiraj's new leg was possible. Or was she going to just accept it and try to get the same thing for Michael. Birkhoff was going to assume it was the latter. She had that wild, desperate look in her brown eyes, "So your plan is to find Heidecker, kidnap him, and make him do for Michael what he did for Bechiraj?"

"I have to," Nikita shrugged. She had to do everything she could to make certain Michael never encountered another situation like the one on the failed Amanda mission. Never again could he be disarmed, defenseless, and in so much danger. He had almost died that night. Between the grenade, the burning car, and the loss of his prosthetic that rendered him unable to shoot, she had almost lost him. Alex was almost lost in that hellscape too. That couldn't happen again. There had already been too much loss. No more.

"Walk me through the mission you have planned so far," Birkhoff sighed and pulled up a chair next to Nikita's. Although he didn't think going along with her plans was the best idea, he couldn't deny that he was curious about Heidecker and Bechiraj's leg. Also, if there was a chance to give Michael better tools to live with his disability, Birkhoff would take it. He wouldn't let his friend suffer. Just as he wouldn't let Nikita be alone. She needed someone watching her back. Since she had confided in the hacker, he had to be the one to ensure she returned home. He'd make sure she was safe as she determinedly dived head-first into danger.