Nikita had to return to Ops; she had to keep updating the team on the things Ari shared about Amanda. However, she froze in the hallway. Ari was right: how could she forgive herself. She had believed sparing Amanda in Moscow was the best decision, that showing her mercy would change her. She hadn't expected the change to be for the worst. Nikita had believed that it'd make Amanda better. Amanda had always talked about how everyone wore masks- that there were two Nikitas. Maybe there were two Amandas. Maybe kindness was needed to bring out a kinder Amanda. She could be the woman Nikita had always hoped she'd be.
Although Nikita had been wrong before, it never stung as much as it did then. She had decided to play the hero, and it had completely blown up in her face. By saving Amanda, she had condemned the whole world to death and destruction. She had had the shot; she should've taken it. All of those people Amanda had killed would've still been alive. The target on her family's back wouldn't have existed; Sean wouldn't have had to fake his death and Owen wouldn't have had an identity crisis. Division would've only had to focus on the Dirty Thirties and would've been close to shutting down. If Nikita had killed the bitch, the world would've been better.
Ari had been right; Nikita couldn't forgive herself for the lives lost and ruined because she had let Amanda live. A part of her- potentially a more rational part- argued that she couldn't have known. There was no way that Nikita could've known that Amanda would've gone insane after she had saved her. The pain that had followed wasn't on her. The bitch chose to be a villain and chose to do evil. Those choices and those consequences were all on Amanda. Nikita couldn't take the blame. Though, it was easy to hate herself even more for what had happened.
Somehow, Nikita drifted towards Ops. That rational part of her probably realized that she shouldn't isolate herself and sulk. She needed to surround herself with others. She also needed to refocus on finding Stefan; his safety was more important than whatever demon was attacking her that time. By the time Nikita slowly entered Ops, Owen was ranting about how they shouldn't help the snake that was Ari. Nikita instantly shook her head. They couldn't throw Ari to the wolves. He was too important, "After Ari and Amanda decrypted the remaining black box, they re-encrypted it with two keys. His and hers. Without Ari's password, the box stays locked."
"So she grabs the kid, forces Ari to give up the goods. One problem. We have this son of a bitch on lockdown. She wants to deal, she has to deal with us," Owen could understand why Ari had to remain under Division's lock and key. Amanda couldn't grab him and reopen the black box. Her only chance to get at the former head of Gogol was to go after his son. But maybe Division could skip all that search and save Stefan mess. They could strike a deal with Amanda instead, and potentially use that deal to doublecross her and destroy the black box. They had more options than just making Ari happy. They could make themselves even happier.
"Stefan Tasarov is fifteen years old. We can't let an innocent be used as a bargaining chip," Whatever Owen was planning, Nikita quickly shut down. The team wasn't going to jeopardize Stefan's safety in any way. Their only priority regarding him was to keep him safe from Amanda's wrath. What Division was going to do with the bitch herself and the last remaining black box would have to be figured out later. They'd at least have Ari's intel to help them. The team wouldn't be scrambling or grasping at straws for once.
Unfortunately, when it came to finding Stefan, Division continued to struggle. Even with Ari's intel, the teenager remained effectively hidden. That was a slight reassurance- if the team couldn't find him, then so couldn't Amanda. However, time was running out. It was only a matter of seconds before disaster struck again. The longer it took Division to protect Stefan, the better chance Amanda had at grabbing him and using him in her schemes. And once she had him, she would never let him go. She'd kill him before Division could ever have a chance at saving him. There was nothing she wouldn't do to get what she wanted then.
Division was lucky to catch a break when they did. An alert soon came through on Birkhoff's computer about a shooting outside a high school in Switzerland, and he waved the team over. Only two people died (thank God they weren't kids) and both of them alerted Shadowbot's search for Amanda's known henchmen. Finally, they had a lead. It was a couple hours old. But it was actually something that the team could jump off from, "This was three hours ago. A shooting at a private school just outside Geneva. No students hurt. But these dudes weren't so lucky. One of them's ex-Gogol. They're both on the Amanda henchmen roster."
"A private school? You know, my father enrolled me under an alias at a private school to protect me from his competitors," Alex shared after she heard the news. It was likely that Amanda's henchmen had tried (and failed) to attack the school so they could kidnap Stefan. A private school was one of the best places to hide a child with powerful parents. Alex had been relatively safe at her school while attending under a different name. It'd make sense if that was the intent for Stefan's safety as well.
"Witnesses say the shooter drove off with a student, fifteen-year-old Thomas Hoffman. Or as we know him, Stefan Tasarov," Michael voiced the police report of the incident that he found. The man who had been hired to protect Stefan had to have been the one to shoot the henchmen. He then must've gone on the run with the boy, desperately trying to keep him safe as the world fell apart. Unfortunately, hiding somewhere new would be difficult with Ari's assets frozen. Amanda was going to catch back up with them. Not unless Division got there first.
The team actually had a good chance of reaching Stefan before Amanda. While Michael coordinated transportation to Geneva, Alex packed mission gear, and Birkhoff kept searching for Stefan, Nikita went to Ari for more information. Whatever intel he could share about Stefan's caretaker could help them track him down. They could follow his movements and help him keep Stefan safe. Although that was the extent of Division's plan, it was solid. They had tons of information, after all, "His name is Amon Krieg, ex-German counter-intelligence, retired. I hired him to protect my son because he's the best."
"Not how I plan on spending my retirement, chaperoning someone else's kid," Nikita couldn't help but mutter in response. She couldn't imagine how an ex-spy became a guardian for someone else's child. Weren't there security agencies that had the sole purpose of protecting people, and weren't their high end agencies that went above and beyond for powerful people. Sure, a retired German spy was probably the best option. But why would he accept the position. There had to be more worthwhile things than being a babysitter with a gun.
"Krieg gave his life to his work. He therefore had no life to retire to. Happens to the best of us," Ari admitted quietly. Nikita didn't have a snappy quip to fire off that time. There was no need for her to beat Ari when he was already down. His actions with Gogol had driven his son away from him, and had eventually led him to being shackled underground in the middle of nowhere. The work was all he was until it destroyed his life. He had already warned Michael and Nikita of that. Their work in Division was leading them down that same path. If they didn't want to end up like him- or Krieg- then they should leave while they had the chance.
Honestly, Nikita had thought about it. She constantly thought about just running with her husband, especially when staying in Division seemed like the worst possible decision for them. They could retire on a beach in some non-extradition country of their choice, and never have to look over their shoulders again. However, that wasn't fair to their friends or to the other agents in Division. They had to stay and fight. They had to protect those they could and ensure innocents never wound up like them- Stefan included.
His father had already gone to great lengths to keep him safe. Though, some of that remained confusing. He hired a stranger to watch his son, but he never knew where they were. That was a lot of trust in one person. Nikita didn't think she could leave her child with a stranger and never know what was occurring. What if it was the wrong decision. What if something happened and she never knew the truth. What if she never saw her kid again. There was no way Ari stayed completely out of touch; that'd be too hard, "Let me get this straight. You pay this guy to raise your son, but you have no way of getting in touch?"
"Yes. In case I was, say, tortured by my enemies in a secret underground bunker. Since I got into this business, I was a risk to my son. It was safer I didn't know where he was, that Krieg checked in with me," Ari snapped. Again, there wasn't any quippy remark Nikita could reply with. He was right. Never knowing where Stefan was, though painful for him, was safer. He could never accidentally give him up, and his enemies would never know where he was. Ryan had to do the same thing with Max. Sometimes it really was better for a parent to be separated from their child. If it kept them alive and well, then it was worth it.
"So how did Amanda find him then?" Rather than dwell on parents and their children, Nikita asked aloud instead. If neither Ari nor anyone in Gogol knew where Stefan was, then how did Amanda find the teenager before Division did. It was possible that one of the connections or resources she had that they didn't lead her to the right place at the right time. She had found someone who could decrypt and re-encrypt a black box, after all. She could still stay a step ahead of Division. But it wouldn't be for long. Hopefully.
"There is one more complication. When I hired Krieg, I was running Gogol. Division was at the top of the list for potential threats," Refocusing Nikita, Ari informed her. Krieg had been protecting Stefan for a long time. And since Ari couldn't contact him and update him regularly, there was some intel he was missing. Namely, he wouldn't know that the Division agents coming to help Stefan were friendlies. Nikita asked Ari to what extent did that entail- how cautious should they be. He didn't hesitate to warn her gravely, "He won't know you're working with me. He is going to kill anyone that comes his way."
That was all Ari could tell Nikita about Krieg. It wasn't enough to help find where he had taken Stefan, but it could prepare them for what they were up against. Besides, Birkhoff still had his shadow programs searching for signs of Stefan and Amanda. He was also working on a theory that the bitch had found the teenager because of an online videogame; if that was the case, he could possibly stop her from gaining more information. That was potentially a long shot. Yet Division wasn't afraid to run down every avenue. Especially since they had to, "Alright, Shadowbot is Shadowbotting. Until we get a vector on Krieg, finding Amanda's our best bet."
Nodding, Nikita joined Alex in packing the rest of the gear they'd need. Michael was sending just the two of them to Switzerland. Too many agents could spook Krieg, and a full team would immediately alert Amanda to Division's presence. But Alex and Nikita were competent enough to fly under the bitch's radar and garner Krieg's trust. Everything was ready for them to set up base in Geneva and smuggle Stefan out. As long as the two were up for it. Alex undoubtedly was, but Nikita seemed hesitant for some reason.
Michael couldn't help but notice that something was weighing on his wife's shoulders. Her thoughts had been clouded over by something since she had begun talking to Ari Tasarov more. Michael had thought that it was only about the doubt Ari had sowed about having a future with the lives they led. He had discussed that with Nikita and explained how they could be happy together forever. However, that didn't seem to be all that was weighing on her. Something else had her distracted from the mission. Pulling his wife gently aside, Michael tried to get her to talk about it- if only briefly, "Hey. You alright?"
"I will be when we find Stefan. Come on, Alex," Nikita brushed her husband off. That wasn't the smartest thing she could've done before a mission. She shouldn't let her damaging thoughts distract her, and talking to her husband would certainly lift whatever was weighing her down. Yet she really didn't have the time to just sit and talk. She and Alex had to fly to Switzerland, set up a staging area, find Stefan, and help him hide all before Amanda intervened. Reflecting on painful guilt and how their choices could destroy their lives just had to wait.