It didn't take Ari long to wake after Nikita finished the necessary steps to flush the tetrodotoxin out of his system. He slowly and groggily sat up in the back of the truck and tried to get his bearings on his surroundings. There were no windows to look out of, so he was left lost and confused. Owen preferred to keep it that way, yet Nikita took pity on him. Besides, his confusion wouldn't help them rescue him later. He had to know everything they did, especially the dangerous parts, "Welcome to South Ossetia."
"South Ossetia? That's not good," Rubbing the back of his very sore head, Ari groaned. Meeting Amanda in a hostile war zone was not going to end well for the Division agents. And it especially wouldn't end well for him. He had known that turning himself into Division would eventually lead to his death. But he had thought it'd be a quick and painless one. Since he was in South Ossetia, that thought had completely vanished.
"Wasn't exactly our choice," Nikita muttered. There were so many unknown variables in South Ossetia. Obviously, Amanda had some kind of pull if she was able to hide out safely. Yet that simply meant more trouble for Division. They raced deeper and deeper into danger as they neared Alex. Although it was worth it, the unknowns and disadvantages were going to get someone hurt. If Alex wasn't hurt already.
Nikita couldn't allow herself to think like that. Dwelling on all the hell Amanda could cause in a demolished war zone would drive her insane with anxiety. And that wouldn't help Alex in the slightest. Nikita had to focus on the things she could control instead. Handing Ari a water bottle to help him recover from the sedatives was one of those things, "Here, stay hydrated. The tetrodotoxin can do a number on your electrolytes."
"And if we get stopped, stay quiet. Let us do the talking. You try anything, Amanda won't get a chance to rip you apart. I'll do it first," Owen decided to add at that moment. Nikita fought an eye roll. She didn't know why Sean had sent him to the back of the truck with her, yet she really wished he hadn't. She could handle Ari on her own. Owen only made things worse.
"You know, it's no wonder you lost your memories. Your brain had insufficient power to hold on to them," After taking gentle sips of water, Ari fired back. Owen moved out of his chair to physically shut him up. Yet Nikita held him back with a glare. His fists harshly connecting with Ari's face had caused them enough trouble. They needed the former head of Gogol alive and conscious if they were going to successfully trade him for Alex. Owen couldn't screw that up. Or Nikita would rip him apart.
Although Owen was too preoccupied with his rage to realize how precarious their situation was, Ari was acutely aware of how quickly things could go wrong. In South Ossetia, his death warrant had been signed by more enemies than just Amanda. A fact she knew well, which was probably one of her reasons for establishing a base there, "If we get stopped, my silence might not be enough."
"What are you talking about?" There was a warning edge to Nikita's tone. Then wasn't the time for any of Ari's games. He had to be straight with them. If they were walking into further danger, they had to know. That wasn't an operation to fuck around and fight out on.
"Zetrov's defense contractors played a major role in the South Ossetian war. They had me accompany some weapons systems here as a consultant. I won't go into the details. But, suffice it to say, I'm not a very well liked man around these parts. They may believe I'm responsible for a massacre or two," Ari replied with a shrug. Both Nikita and Owen stared at him in disbelief. Not in disbelief about Zetrov's defense contracts, but in disbelief that their luck was that bad. Ari took another sip from his water bottle, "I told you: South Ossetia- not good."
Birkhoff was following Sean's, Nikita's, and Owen's trackers in the field, but there was something wrong with his signal. The same interference he had noticed at the airport continued to mess with the trackers. He couldn't figure out why. He had thought the interference came from the airport, but it never stopped. Something must've been wrong, "Did you modify those tracker signals? I'm still getting that weird interference. It's narrowband in origin. It looks like there's another signal coming from inside their truck."
"Inside the truck? What kind of signal would be coming from in…" Sonya began to reply to Birkhoff, but the expression on his face stopped her. After poking around a bit more, he had found the source of the interference. And whatever it was made his skin grow pale. Sonya was almost too afraid to ask what it was- what other detrimental problem had Division encountered. But she had to know what was wrong with the trackers; maybe there was something she could do to help, "Do you recognize it?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Birkhoff responded gravely. Before Sonya could ask another question, he shot out of his desk and raced across Ops. He had believed he'd never see that signal ever again. He really wanted to have never seen that signal again. But of course nothing would ever go his way, "Mikey, we got to talk."
Michael had been going over maps of South Ossetia and studying the coordinates Amanda had sent Division when Birkhoff approached him. The tone in his voice instantly drew him away from his task. Fear of the mission going horribly wrong- of someone dying- coursed through him, and he made the hacker quickly tell him what was wrong. No one had died. Though, that could change very soon with what Birkhoff had found. Anger replaced Michael's fear, and he stomped towards Ryan's office. Birkhoff was close behind him as he shouted, "You put a killchip in Ari Tasarov's head?"
"Yes, I did, during the tetrodotoxin procedure. I did it to save Nikita's life. It was never a question that we were gonna do this mission. Alex's life depends on it. But we need to be clear about what we're talking about: giving Amanda the black box," Ryan explained himself without remorse. He knew how terrible the killchips were. He had been part of Nikita's mission to implant the first chip into the North Korean cabinet member's brain. He had tried to argue against recruits having killchips. And he had helped disable Sonya's killchip when Amanda had reactivated it. But some evils were necessary. The killchips weren't an exception.
"Yeah, we understand the consequences. That's why we're rescuing Ari after we get Alex back, so she can't use him to decode the box, right?" Birkhoff couldn't understand Ryan's reasoning. Yes, they didn't want Amanda using Ari for his black box code. But if they grabbed him after the switch, then it wouldn't be a problem. There was no need to drop him where he stood. There was no need to use a weapon Percy once had.
"Give me your honest tactical evaluation of that plan," Turning to Michael, Ryan asked. Having worked intelligence in both the Navy and the CIA, Michael should be able to understand Ryan's decision. He just had to move past Nikita's thought process first.
Since Nikita had suggested recovering Ari after making the switch for Alex, Michael wanted to side with her plans. She was partially right, after all. Division should be doing everything they could to save people- especially from Amanda. Ari was a bastard, but he couldn't be an exception. He had to live and face real justice for what he had done. Saving him, though, would be harder than saving Alex, "It will be tough, but…"
"It's a dog: high risk, low probability of success. Amanda will be on the move. She'll have protection. She'll be on guard. No. The smart play is to kill Ari after we make the trade for Alex. Kill Ari, and the code dies with him," Ryan interrupted. Recovering Ari was tough, no buts. Division shouldn't take that risk. Not against Amanda. And not with a black box in play. Alex was the only one who'd be saved. Everything else had to be destroyed.
Michael knew Ryan was right. He hated to admit it. Yet Ryan was right. Ari had to die. But that didn't have to be a huge secret. The team could've planned for that. They could've been prepared to kill Ari. Sean, Nikita, Owen, and even Alex would've been safer that way. They couldn't afford any chances or misinformation, so why had Ryan risked that, "Why did you keep us in the dark? We could have built a mission plan around that."
"Because Nikita never would've let that happen. She would have insisted on saving him," Maybe it wasn't much of an excuse, but Ryan stuck to it. Nikita would've fought tooth and nail to save Ari. Despite what he had done, she'd still try to save him. She didn't want to be a killer anymore. She wanted to mete out real justice. Unfortunately, real justice didn't exist in their world. They had to use other means- more drastic means- to do good.
"She's Nikki," Birkhoff chuckled dryly. There hadn't been a lot of people Nikita had actually wanted to kill. Besides her foster father, Percy, and Amanda, she'd rather have people rot in jail than kill them. She'd fuck them up first, like she had Brandt. But she wouldn't kill them. That was a line she didn't want to willingly cross. Their enemies did all the time. And what really separated the team from them besides that.
As Michael mulled over Ryan's decision, other choices he had made began to make sense. Not wanting to send Sean and Nikita alone to South Ossetia wasn't just a tactical thing. He wanted to ensure his plan to kill Ari worked. And the best person to do that was the man who hated him the most, "That's why you sent Owen. He's the triggerman."
"He hates Ari," Ryan explained simply. Owen was the only person Ryan could think of that wouldn't question his killchip orders. Although he was used to following questionable orders as a Seal, Sean would've questioned killing Ari in such an inhumane way (he was also incredibly distracted by Alex). Owen didn't care; he simply wanted to kill the bastard. He'd get his wish, as long as everything went to plan. And for things to go to plan, some agents had to remain in the dark, "Nikita can't know, for her own safety."
"You're gonna tell her, right?" Birkhoff asked Michael. For as long as he could remember, the married couple told each other everything. Even the things that could get them killed, like the existence of Division, was shared between the two. Ari's killchip couldn't be the break in the trend. Nikita had to know about it; it didn't matter how she'd react. She had to know. And if Ryan wasn't going to tell her, then her husband had to.
"Ryan's right. She'll risk her life for him," Michael hated himself for agreeing to keep that secret from his wife. But since he'd do anything to keep her alive, he wouldn't tell her about the killchip. That was the only thing he agreed with Ryan about, however. Killing Ari with a killchip was still a terrible thing to do. It shouldn't have happened. They were supposed to be a new Division. Yet it was too late to stop it then. They simply had to hope it worked, "I do not like that you did this behind our backs, but I understand why you did it in the first place. But now that it is done, we have got to keep this quiet."
The journey in the truck was mostly silent after Ari's revelation. There was nothing the agents could say, and there was nothing the former head of Gogol could add. They simply sat in their rising anxiety, until Sean stopped the truck. They had finally reached their first location in South Ossetia. They had to quickly check it out before they could move on. Desperate to reach Alex soon, Sean didn't waste any time pulling the others from the back of the truck. Traveling already wasted so many precious seconds, they couldn't afford to waste more, "Birkhoff says there's a weapons cache at a deaddrop in the village. It's not that far."
"Owen, why don't you go with Sean, back him up? It's okay. I'll be alright with Ari," Nikita urged for Owen to leave her and Ari alone. Traveling to Georgia with Ari and the tetrodotoxin antidote had been enough of a challenge, so the agents didn't bring a lot of their weapons. They had to gather more from the deaddrop. But that was only a two-man job. Sean and Owen would be fine on their own. Nikita could stay with the truck and with Ari.
"Yes, I understand these small-minded tasks are usually reserved for you, Mr. Elliot, but I'm sure Nikita can handle this on her own," Ari just had to add. Nikita had half a mind to punch him in the mouth.
"The only drawback to turning you over to Amanda is that I won't get to watch you die," Owen seethed. But, thankfully, before he could do anything to Ari, Sean began to pull him away. The former Seal hadn't forgiven him for their earlier conversation. Yet he'd still have the former Cleaner help him with the weapons cache than have him stay with Ari. At least at the deadrop his rash actions could be useful.
Once Sean and Owen were out of earshot, Nikita turned towards Ari. She had always wondered about the former head of Gogol's need to constantly rile up the former Guardian. It was like he took pleasure from antagonizing him. What was that even all about. Why be such an ass, "Why do you do that? Is that necessary?"
"I don't know. There's just something about him that draws it out of me. For the life of me, I don't understand what you see in him," Ari honestly had no idea why he liked to piss Owen off; it was just sort of fun. What he couldn't figure out more, though, was why Nikita always stuck up for him. She didn't have to defend Owen. Nor did she have to look out for him. He wasn't even worth the trouble. She should just let it go.
Nikita sighed. She felt like she was talking to Michael. Owen was a lot more than what people first perceived him as. He had been a great friend to Nikita, and a great partner. Whenever she was struggling, he was there to support her. She didn't know many people like that. So the ones he had in her life, she had to cling to, "There's more to Owen than you think."
"Amanda was right. Your compassion will be your downfall," Ari scoffed. He had warned Michael and Nikita about trying to have a marriage and live happily ever after with the lives they led; having friends wasn't any different. Kindness, compassion, love, those could never serve an agent. It'd only lead to pain, weakness, and death for everyone involved.
"Amanda is not right about anything," Nikita huffed. When she had been a recruit, Amanda had always told her that personal connections would get her killed. But Nikita wouldn't have been alive that day had it not been for her loved ones. Making connections had saved her in so many ways, she couldn't even think of them all. She just knew that it was something she wouldn't change about her war. Yes, she'd prefer if her loved ones were out of harm's way. But she wouldn't wish for them to be out of her life. She needed them to keep her strong.
"She has her blind spots, but she excels at ferreting out the weakness of people. With you, she's aiming directly for the heart," Ari stated something Nikita already knew. Amanda couldn't see past her own twisted viewpoint. But she did know how to read people. She knew the best way to torture- physically, psychologically, and emotionally.
"Only Amanda could use love as a weapon," Rolling her eyes, Nikita scoffed. She knew how serious that fact was. Amanda was going to keep hurting Nikita's family until she broke. She was probably torturing Alex at that very moment with the most horrific things she could imagine. Nikita should heed Ari's warning and consider just how much risk she was putting her friends and family in by continuing that war. But the former rogue refused to see love as a weakness. She refused to let Amanda have any power over her. What she held close to her heart couldn't be used against her- it just couldn't.
"As I recall, when you needed some information on Saalim, you were very quick to use my son's safety as leverage," Ari reminded Nikita. As soon as she had realized that he would withstand torture for his son, Nikita was quick to use him for information. She hadn't wanted to kill Stefan, yet she had still threatened Ari with him. She had still used his love against him.
Nikita opened then closed her mouth. Yes, she used Stefan to make Ari give up the Crimson Resistance. But she wasn't using that love as a weapon; she wasn't going to hurt anyone with it. She only wanted to save people. That made what she had done different. Didn't it, "That was… I wasn't trying to…"
"I'm not looking for an explanation or an apology. I know the rules of the game. This is the life we've chosen. And that's also why I know there will be no rescue for me," Shaking his head, Ari cut her off. Nikita didn't need to explain herself. He understood. He understood a lot.
"Ari, I'm not playing a con," In all sincerity, Nikita replied. She hadn't lied to him when she had claimed Division was going to bring him back from Amanda's clutches; there had been no reason for her to lie. Once Alex was safe, they were going to save him too. No one would be left to Amanda's clutches. No one deserved that.
"I've run the scenario in my head. Tactically, it doesn't make any sense. If I was in Ryan Fletcher's shoes, I wouldn't authorize the mission. However you parse this, it ends with my death," Ari responded to Nikita's sincerity with his own. He wasn't being pessimistic. He knew that there was no out for him. Although Division would do anything to save Alex, there was no incentive to save him. Once Amanda had him, no one would want to risk going after him to prevent her from opening the black box. Not when they could just kill him. That was what Ari would've done if he was running things. And he knew Ryan wasn't any different.
Ari was a dead man walking. He had accepted that. So should Nikita.