"All you gotta do is give me a name," Nikita shook out her sore fist. She had been beating Ari Tasorov to a bloody pulp for the better part of a day. She had dragged him from the interrogation room to the lowest level of hell in order to torture him more efficiently. No one would interrupt them, and no one would see them. She had the freedom to extract information however she saw fit- to torture Ari mercilessly. Except, he wouldn't break. He was bloody, bruised, and broken, but he refused to say a word. He refused to submit.
"All you have to do is pay. Fifty million dollars. Countless lives saved. It's a simple transaction," Spitting out the blood in his mouth, Ari muttered. He had been repeating his demand for money over and over and over again. No matter what Nikita did to him, he'd only yield for millions. But she had to get him to break for less. Division couldn't pay him- for numerous reasons. Namely, they couldn't see him or Amanda win.
"You're not gonna see a dime. There is no way you win," Punching Ari once more, Nikita huffed. She could be just as stubborn as him. He'd demand money, and she'd refuse it. Fortunately, she could keep punching him. Her knuckles were busted, bruised, and bleeding. Yet that wouldn't stop her. Her determination was far too strong. And her need to out stubborn Ari was the most powerful driving force in the world.
Ari took her punches like a champ. Maybe under normal circumstances, Nikita would've commended him for it. But she just became more frustrated. There had to be a point where he couldn't take the beatings anymore. She had to find a way to break him mentally, physically, and spiritually. Because him taking her harsh punches and taunting her mercilessly in return wasn't working, "Don't worry about me, worry about Amanda. If she wins, Division dies- unless you pay. Clock's ticking."
"Okay. I just flagged our encryption on a cell tower. If the terrorists are talking to each other, it's in this neighborhood," Finally gaining some traction, Birkhoff called the others over to his station. The team hadn't heard anything from Nikita since she dragged Ari into Amanda's former torture basement, and none of them went to ask. They left her to her own intense way in stomping the terrorists. They had other methods they could utilize and focus on. Birkhoff finally got a hit on his encryption. Division could locate the terrorists and put a stop to the next attack. That was cause for some celebration. Though, Michael seemed concerned, "Mikey?"
"It's too soon for another attack. The hits have all been in intervals," Michael tried to clear his thoughts and listen to what Birkhoff had told him. He had tracked the terrorists; that was great. However, their last two attacks had happened at specific times. There couldn't be another attack already. Although they had found their targets, it could be a false lead. They needed more information before they struck. Disastrous consequences couldn't befall Division, especially not then- not when so many innocents could get hurt as a result.
"Maybe it's an early call. They're prepping. It is in the suburbs like our whackjob predicted," Birkhoff shrugged. The head terrorist had warned of attacks in people's homes. They could be preparing for just that. Michael was right not wanting to make any assumptions. But Division should follow the lead. It was better to discover it was nothing then to do nothing as the world burned around them. They had to take the chance. No one else could.
Michael attempted to listen to Birkhoff; then wasn't the time for his mind to be elsewhere. However, he couldn't concentrate on the hacker. His gaze kept shifting towards the elevator, expecting Nikita to arrive in Ops at any minute, instead of focusing on the monitors. She had to have gotten something from Ari- anything. She had been with him, torturing him, all day. At that rate, she wasn't going to receive any information. In fact, she might lose rather than gain. Michael had to figure out what she was doing in the basement; he needed to make sure it wasn't too late, "Do we have surveillance on sub-level twelve?"
"No cameras in the dungeon. No one ever wanted to see what went on down there," Birkhoff followed Michael's gaze to the elevator. He was right to be worried about Nikita. Hours of torture could affect the torturer as well. If Nikita stayed any longer with Ari, things wouldn't go well. Yet she could handle herself for the time being. She was just doing what they all were, even if it was more volatile, "Look, Nikki's trying to do the same thing we all are- prevent the next attack. Just focus on that."
"Alright. If you find a needle that will shrink the haystack, we can get our teams out there quick," Whereas Michael continued to stare off into the distance, Ryan pushed for things to get moving. Division had teams out in the field that could circle the area Birkhoff's encryption pinged at. If the hacker gave them a more exact location, the agents could pounce. Or they could find a clue for them that'd help. Either way, they couldn't just sit in Ops doing nothing. They had to strike immediately.
While Ryan and Birkhoff alerted the teams and moved agents around, Michael continued to be distracted. After Birkhoff's comment about the dungeon, he couldn't force himself to think about anything other than Nikita. Sean couldn't blame him. If it was Alex in that situation, he wouldn't want her trapped with a monster for so long, stooping to his level. He'd want to join her and help her. Obviously, Michael couldn't sit back or do anything else while his wife did such acts. He couldn't do anything to help others while he was so concerned about the danger she was in, "You're worried about Nikita?"
"I'm worried she's going to kill him, and then we'll have no leads," Michael responded absentmindedly to Sean. Although Nikita continued to not tell him much about her time with Brandt, he knew the toll her torture of him had taken on her. Years later, she still couldn't recover from it. He didn't want the same thing happening with Ari. if she crossed a line in her obsession to stop the terrorists and Amanda, there wouldn't be a way to pull her back. She could be lost forever, and there'd be no way to save her as the world burned around them.
"Go. I'll cover for you here, help coordinate the teams," Sean urged Michael to join Nikita. The team could handle everything else; they'd get the teams in position and stop the attack. Michael was free to relieve Nikita, help her by giving her a break. Ari should still be forced to talk; Division desperately needed that name. But it wasn't all on Nikita. Michael was there, and so were the others.
Nikita was covered in Ari's blood. That definitely wasn't a good thing considering her own blood seeping out of her cracked knuckles. Yet that had to be a problem for later. She had Ari on the ropes; she could feel it. He was growing tired of the constant beatings. Even with extensive training, there was a breaking point for everybody. Nikita was close to Ari's. She just had to keep beating him, keep going, and not give up herself, "I can do this all day."
"Forever. Is that what you think that ring means?" Bleary eyed, Ari watched Nikita take off her wedding ring. She should've taken it off before she started torturing the bastard. But she was right handed, and it wouldn't break that easily. If she was going to step up her game, however, then she needed to set it aside. The only thing that could be damaged was Ari. She was going to stay whole as he fell to pieces.
"You getting delusional now, are you? You're tougher than that," Nikita crossed back to Ari with a smirk. Her hand trailed across the torture instruments in the room. She had used them off and on, trying not to think about the Inquisitor using them. The only thought she allowed herself to have about Amanda was how she was going to kill her with the information Ari would finally give. Nikita didn't need to think about anything besides her end goal. If her mind wandered, she might have lost her focus. Or even her nerve.
"Your sad attempt to build a life with Michael… That's how Amanda and I started so many years ago. Now look at us. There's no forever in this business," Struggling to keep his head upright, Ari breathed heavily. Nikita slowed in her approach. It was possible that Ari was simply stalling the torture by making the comparison to his relationship with Amanda. There couldn't be any real truth to it. Amanda couldn't have ever wanted a life with Ari. She was the ice bitch supreme. She only used him to further her own agenda.
There was absolutely no way Nikita and Michael were like that. They actually loved each other. They could have a forever. Nikita shouldn't listen to Ari. He couldn't get under her skin and torture her in return. She was the one in control; she was the one who was going to break him, "You know, someone once told me to beat a monster you have to get down on their level. Fight fire with fire. Let's get started."
Before Nikita could put her wicked plans into action, Michael entered the room. She heard his footsteps and intake of breath before he had the chance to say a word. No doubt, he was horrified by the bloody scene in front of him. Not so much Nikita's actions, but the shock of it. Probably. Hopefully. She didn't want her husband to be terrified of what she had done to Ari. He already knew what she had done to Brandt, and that was awful enough. She couldn't make him think even worse of her. If he did, he wouldn't express it. Michael just walked further into the room, and called her name, "Nikita."
"You're gonna tell me to stop now, Michael? You afraid this will end up like Sierra Leone?" Nikita didn't take her eyes off of Ari. She knew what Michael was doing by showing up in the lowest level of hell. He didn't want her to lose herself to the torture. They had created a code word for that very purpose (really, she had made one with Ryan, and he had passed that information to her husband). However, she was fine. She was handling it. Michael should put his focus elsewhere, "But that was worth it. We broke our target that time, didn't we?"
"But at what price?" Michael slowly neared his wife. He had expected blood and obvious evidence of torture. But seeing it on Nikita as well had him shaking. He had to control himself to stay steady. He was trying to take the torture baton from her, after all. Ari couldn't see him weak. And he had to assure his wife that it was alright to take a break. Especially as she kept attacking Ari, "Nikita. Nikita. Alright, come on."
Gently, Michael pulled Nikita off the beaten man. She let him pull her away, yet she wasn't relaxed. Regardless of the code word and the offer to switch things up, she refused to be done with Ari. She wouldn't be done with him until he told her about the terrorists and Amanda's plans. He made it easy for her to beat him, after all. Especially when he kept riling her up, "Thank you, Michael, for lending me a hand."
"You've heard of an eye for an eye. How about a hand for a hand?" Nikita instantly broke free of Michael's grip and wiped the smirk off Ari's split lips. She grabbed a sharp, bloodstained saw and began to slowly cut off the bastard's hand. Honestly, she wasn't thinking about her actions. If she did, she doubted she'd actually go through with it. Yet she was so frustrated, livid, exhausted, desperate that she just hurt Ari for the sake of hurting him. If he broke then, awesome. If not, then she'd still be satisfied.
"Nikita, that's enough, that's enough. Come on," Michael actually ripped Nikita off of Ari. The saw clattered to the floor as she was pushed away from him. There was a chance that she could've gotten her information, however, Michael wouldn't let her go that far. She had gone far enough. He couldn't lose her to any more torture. She'd probably understand his decision later. In the meantime, she stormed out of the room. Michael didn't think about that or anything else regarding his wife. He'd lose his focus, and his attempt to make Ari talk, "Ari, you better give me that name now. Because I'm not going to be able to hold her off much longer."
Ari just smirked at Michael. He was in incredible pain. And the fact that he was still conscious was remarkable. Yet he didn't let that dull his fight. Or his resolve. He'd hold strong for his money and his chance to torment the team, "The couple that tortures together stays together? Is that it, Michael? What was the code word? Sierra Leone? I've done too many versions of good cop- bad cop, children."
"So how do you know which one I am?" Slipping into a mindset that allowed him to extract intel from uncooperative people in the CIA and Navy, Michael used his prosthetic hand to dislocate Ari's knee. Pain etched across the bastard's features, yet Michael didn't let that stop him. He had to separate himself from the situation if he was going to effectively torture Ari Tasorov. Though, how much more pain could he inflict. If he didn't break during Nikita's torment, then why would he during Michael's. At some point, he'd just be numb to the pain.
"When's the happily ever after, Michael? You're married, but where's the white picket fence? If your relationship really meant anything to either of you, you wouldn't be here," Once Michael removed his prosthetic hand from his knee, Ari chuckled weakly. His gaze flickered between the wedding ring on Michael's left hand, and the one Nikita left among the torture instruments. Michael couldn't help but follow his eyes and see the specks of blood on Nikita's ring. He really wished that the others were having better success than the torturers were. Because they had definitely lost more than they had gained.
Alex and Owen followed the directions Ops had given them as quickly as possible. It didn't take them long to reach where the encryption was spotted from where they had been positioned earlier. Even if they were far away, though, they would've recklessly sped to the new scene. After seeing the destruction of the bombing, the two were determined to prevent more attacks. Division was too late to stop the second one. But not the third, "Ops, we're on scene."
"The other three teams are in their sectors. Head east. Assuming they're going to try to escape like in the past, that street has the best interstate egress," Sean replied to Alex's update. He hadn't heard much from Alex since she went to the bombing site. She let him know that she was okay. Yet she didn't really speak beyond that. He excused it as her hyperfocus on saving innocents, but he was still worried about her. He wished he could be by her side. Keeping her on coms just had to be enough, though. At least until the hell was over.
"Copy. We're on the move," Alex motioned for Owen to move east. She probably should've said more to Sean. She knew he was worried. She was anxious about what was occurring as well. However, her anxiety was why she couldn't speak. It was easier just to focus on what was right in front of her instead of letting her thoughts wander. She didn't want to consider the worst case scenario that was screaming in the back of her mind. She had to believe that Division was going to win, that it would all be okay.
Positioning the car where Sean had instructed, Owen glanced at Alex. Neither had said much to each other after the scene of the explosion. They were both too focused. However, that focus was trying their nerves. They needed to relax- maybe think about something light. Owen already knew what he had to say to help them both breathe easier. He had been thinking about it for a while. He simply finally had a reason to say, "Thanks, by the way, for what you said back at the elevators. Emily used to say stuff like that all the time. That I could change. That's why I got my butterfly tattoo. She said it was proof that…"
"People can have a second life," Alex smiled softly. That was why she had gotten her butterfly tattoo as well. And that was what she had said to Sean as she helped him adjust to his recruitment. Butterflies were a powerful message of how anyone could change. No one was as someone else had made them. They could be their own person, shape themselves into what they should be. Owen wasn't any different. No one in Division was.
"Guys, listen up. I think I just caught a whiff of our encryption on a local cell network. You should be right on top of it," Birkhoff snapped the two out of their thoughts of butterflies. Another call was being made by the terrorists. They were close by and definitely planning another attack. The teams in the field needed to move and stop them immediately. Though, they didn't need to be repeated. Everyone knew what was at stake.
"Ops, we may have something. I'm gonna get out. Keep driving past," Spotting something odd, Alex instructed Owen. She hopped out of the car as he continued down the street. The person she had noticed camped in the van, staking out a random house, didn't see her. They remained on the phone, talking seriously. Hand on her weapon, Alex approached slowly. The closer she got, the more sure she was that she really had something. That feeling was fully solidified when the person finally saw her.
They dumped the phone call, grabbed their weapon, and jumped out of the van. The family they were staring at ran inside their house, terrified. Alex ignored them. She had to get the terrorist down on the ground and talking. The former was easy. But the latter, it was clear that Amanda had trained the terrorists. The terrorist wouldn't speak- at least, not anymore. Hopefully, Nikita got Ari to speak. Otherwise, they were all dead.
Hope you had a happy holidays!