Nikita and Ari fell silent after he expressed his pessimism. She had a lot to think about; mostly, if his assumption was right, if Ryan did have plans to kill him. She doubted it. He wasn't like Division's predecessors. Ryan had seen what Percy and Amanda had carelessly done to others while in charge of Division, and there was no way he'd repeat that. He was better than that. Agents were free to do as they chose, they weren't guns for hire, and killchips had been deactivated. The new Division was a better Division. They'd save Ari from Amanda. No one was dying that day. Except, hopefully, the bitch.
Owen and Sean soon returned with the weapons from the cache, and they were on their way again. Nikita didn't know what was going on with the men to make Owen continue to choose to sit in the back with her and Ari than in the front with Sean. But she figured it was best not to question it. Whatever drama was going on could be solved after they saved Alex. She knew both men would agree to that.
Besides, there was something else going on that grabbed Nikita's attention. Ari began to grumble in pain and clutch the back of his neck. She grew concerned. The tetrodotoxin should've been out of his system by then. And it shouldn't have been affecting his neck. She moved to sit next to him and to figure out what was wrong. He was already complaining before she asked anything, "Ugh, Amanda's bullet would be a welcome relief for this headache."
"Move your hand," Nikita pulled Ari's hand away from his neck. He had tried to rub the pain away, which had turned his skin red. But there was a spot on his neck that remained angry no matter what. Nikita examined it closely. She recognized the surgical mark. It wasn't typical for the tetrodotoxin. Something else had been done to him. Something inserted into the base of his neck that hurt his head immensely. Rage instantly boiled her blood. She knew exactly what had happened to Ari, and she was going to kill whoever had done it, "Son of a…"
Her tone had Ari immediately questioning what was wrong. Yet Nikita ignored him. She had an entirely new focus. Of which, involved yelling at others for the surgery that had been performed, "Birkhoff, there's a killchip in Ari's head!"
Silence was her only response over the coms. Birkhoff couldn't respond right away. He was shocked. Nikita shouldn't have been able to guess Ari had a killchip. The only one in the field to know was Owen, and he wouldn't have said anything. There was no way she should've known. The fact that she did was baffling, and it also meant that they were screwed, "No, no, wait a minute. Wait… wait a minute…"
"No, no, no. You knew about this," Nikita couldn't help but shriek. He knew someone had put a killchip in Ari's head, he knew Division was weaponizing those things again, and he hadn't said anything. There was no excuse for that. Especially after what had happened to Sonya. But the hacker had nothing to say for himself for a while. He fell silent on the other end of the com, causing Nikita to shriek again, "Birkhoff, answer me."
"Yeah… Michael wants to talk to you," Birkhoff deflected. That was exactly why he had wanted to tell Nikita about the killchip. She was always going to be livid about it. But finding out on her own- knowing it was a secret- made it worse. She was going to kill whoever had made that decision. Ryan better enjoy what life he had left.
"You put a killchip in his head when the doctors put him under?" Nikita couldn't believe Michael could do something like that. No amount of orders could have made him put a killchip in someone's head. He would never hurt a person like that, even a person like Ari. She just couldn't wrap her head around that it had actually happened. A killchip was one of the worst weapons ever created, and her husband had been involved in using it on someone else. It was just so completely inconceivable. It was just so wrong.
"Ryan did," Michael told Nikita the truth for two reasons. One, she deserved to know the truth. He only hid it from her while the mission was active to keep her safe. He didn't want her jeopardized in any way, so he lied by omission. But since the cat was somehow out of the bag, he saw no fault in telling her. And two, he didn't want her mad at him. Although Nikita had every right to be pissed, the person she should've been mad at was Ryan. it was his secret and terrible actions. He should take the heat, not Michael.
"Then get him on the line," Nikita nearly growled. She believed, for just a moment, that she was going to kill Ryan. How dare he. How dare he put a killchip into someone else. He knew how evil they were. He had fought against killchips and against using them on recruits and targets. He hated them. He hated that they took away choice; that they just dropped people according to someone else's will. So how the fuck could he do that to Ari. How the fuck could he just control someone's life like that. How the fuck could he use a weapon Percy had used. She was going to kill him. He was supposed to be better.
Michael was tempted to patch Ryan in and have Nikita tear him a new one. Putting a killchip in Ari's head was wrong; the reasoning didn't matter. However, if Nikita started to berate Ryan then, she was going to lose focus on the op. Saving Alex remained the objective. Once she was freed from Amanda's clutches, then Nikita could yell at Ryan all she wanted. Until then, she had to calm down and refocus, "Nikita, listen to me…"
"No, we agreed. The plan was to get Alex and recover Ari," Nikita interrupted. Whatever Michael had to say in defense of the killchip was bullshit. Even if he was going to back Ryan's play, he knew that deep down. There was no defending the action. Especially since they had made a deal. Once Alex was safe, Ari would be too. Amanda wouldn't have access to the black box, she wouldn't win in any conceivable way, and the team would do as it always had- protect those in need. No killchips were ever going to be used again. They had promised.
"The plan is too risky. We could lose the black box. But more importantly, we could lose you," Michael still wouldn't defend the killchip. However, he would back Ryan's decision to kill Ari. The black box would never be a threat again if Ari died before Amanda used him to unlock it. Those secrets would remain locked forever. But more important than any black box or even Amanda was Nikita's safety. Going after Ari after the switch for Alex could hurt her. She could die while rushing Amanda without any knowledge of who she was working with or what resources she had. That was a risk that could never be taken. Michael wouldn't allow it.
"How are you gonna trigger it? There's no way to know from Ops when the trade was done. You would need someone…" Ignoring what Michael tried to argue, Nikita began to poke holes in their plan. It wasn't enough for Ryan to place a killchip in Ari's head. If he wanted the horrific thing to work, he had to know when to detonate it. With Alex's tracker out of commotion, there was no actual way anyone from Ops would know if she was safe, unless someone in the field reported it. Or unless someone in the field was the one to trigger the killchip, "Owen."
It was the obvious choice. Owen hated Ari. If anyone were to kill Ari without question, it'd be Owen. No wonder Ryan had fought for him to join the mission despite Michael's protests and warnings. Ryan had always intended to kill Ari. And Owen had always intended to follow through on that threat, "Why should we let this bastard live? Have you forgotten how many times he's tried to kill us?"
"No, I haven't. And he'll pay for his crimes, but not like this," While Nikita felt as though she was about to fight with everyone in the world over Air's life, Ari remained silent. He had never run Division, yet he still knew what a killchip was (Amanda had to have told him). He knew that he had a bomb in his brain, and that Owen was so excited to set it off. He really was a dead man walking, just as he had feared. Yet he wouldn't argue for his life like Nikita would. Ari accepted his fate. The killchip didn't change that. It only cemented it.
"Why not? This is what he deserves," Owen had half a mind to pull the trigger and set off the killchip then. Even when his life was in his hands, Ari continued to berate and taunt Owen. He shouldn't let him get away with that. He should knock him unconscious again. He should just kill him. But remembering what had happened after he prematurely knocked him out before, Owen refrained from killing Ari just yet. Nikita had already been hurt by his rash actions, Alex couldn't be too. She had to be saved before any harm befell the bastard.
"That's not your call," That wasn't anyone's call. Why were they all so obsessed with stating who deserved to live or die. Yes, Nikita fell into that trap too. She always claimed that their enemies- Percy, Amanda, Semak, Kasim- deserved to die. She also claimed that certain monsters in the world deserved to die- Vlad, Brandt, and Heidecker. But maybe she wasn't right either. At one point in their lives, others had claimed that the recruits, the rogues, Division all deserved to die, and they actively fought against that. They didn't deserve to die. They didn't let anyone make that claim about them. So why make that claim about others.
"I got something going on up here," Sean called to the others. He doubted they heard him. They were far too involved with the killchip debate. But that'd have to wait for a moment. Problems seemed to be brewing ahead.
Sean's warning was heard but completely ignored by Owen and Nikita. Not only could they not see what he could from the front of the truck, they also didn't necessarily care. A more pressing conversation was occurring in the back- an argument that Owen intended to win, "He stabbed me, he lied to me, and then he laughed about it. I could push the trigger right now."
"There's another way," Nikita was almost frantic as she argued. A part of her knew Owen wouldn't kill Ari before they made the trade for Alex. However, that wasn't something she was willing to risk. As much as she wanted to save Ari, saving Alex remained more important. She was in the more immediate and life destroying danger, after all. The only way to bargain for her life was to give Amanda Ari. Ari's life, on the other hand, could be saved by simply not activating the killchip. There were other ways they could handle that situation.
"We don't need another way!" Owen was vehement. Ari was a bastard. He did horrific things to him, the team, and to the world. He had also teamed up with Amanda and allowed her to destroy others as she pleased. He had to pay for that. Owen was going to make him pay. There was nothing Nikita could do to stop him. Owen had his mission, and he was sticking to it.
"Give me the trigger," Nikita didn't give a warning. Her tone was enough for Owen to know that if he didn't comply, she'd force him to. But before that could come to fruition, Sean abruptly stopped the truck. Confusion replaced rage in the back of the truck, and they wondered what was going on. Sean was muted as he replied through the coms. They had reached a military checkpoint full of armed and angry Ossetians. The agents wouldn't be able to pass on without the soldiers inspecting their truck. If they inspected their truck, however, they were screwed.
Quickly, Nikita and Owen joined Sean outside of the truck and tried to talk their way out of that situation. It didn't work. The Ossetians refused to listen to them. A fight ensued, and the three agents were forced on their knees. The next thing that was going to follow was a bullet to their heads. Unless they thought fast. Or unless a miracle happened.
Surprisingly enough, the latter occurred. Ari came to the agents' rescue. He distracted the soldiers and took one of them out, allowing Sean, Owen, and Nikita to spring to their feet and take out the rest. The crisis was soon averted, yet they didn't immediately rush back to the jeep. The three agents stood in shock, staring at Ari in awe. Although Nikita and Owen had just argued about killing him, he risked his life to save them. He could've run. He could've screwed Division over. Yet he decided to help. It was absolutely bewildering, "Why'd you save us?"
"I saved myself. It was the only way I could see not ending up face down in a ditch. The way I see it, my options are rather limited. If I had let you die, the Ossetians would have hung me in the nearest town square or handed me over to Amanda. Either way, you are still my best hope for coming out of this alive," Ari shrugged. If he was going to die, he at least wanted to pick who killed him. And with Division, there was a chance Nikita's arguments would work and he would live. They had a common enemy, after all. And enemies of enemies were friends, "Besides, if you die, Amanda wins. And to quote your eloquence: 'Fuck Amanda'."
Whereas Nikita smiled, and Sean just sort of shrugged, Owen took the killchip trigger out of his pocket and stared at it. He still very much wanted to kill Ari. Yet maybe Nikita was right. Maybe they didn't get to decide who deserved to live or die. Ari had just saved them, even though he didn't have to. That wasn't like his bastardly behavior. Owen probably had him figured all wrong. Or, more likely, Ari had changed for the better, just like the rogues had. And just like Owen, the former Cleaner. If that was the case, then he could hand Nikita the trigger without any problems. She had been right, "Here's the trigger."
Amanda finally stopped hurting Larissa, and Alex finally stopped screaming at her to stop. There was a chance that she could withstand torture inflicted on her. But Alex absolutely could not stand another person getting hurt, especially if that person was hurting because of her. She couldn't let Amanda hurt Larissa again. Even if it meant doing what she wanted, she'd ensure Amanda couldn't hurt Larissa. No more victims could fall prey to the bitch. Alex vowed to never let that happen as Amanda taunted, "Now, about those questions…"
"What does it matter? Nothing I say will ever help you," Alex mumbled in response. Her eyes were glued on Larissa. The gunshot wound continued to bleed profusely. The medic gasped and spluttered for air, but she wasn't going to last much longer. Alex had to find a way to help her. She had to stop the bleeding, free her from that hell, and bring her to safety. She couldn't do that with Amanda around, though. The bitch had to be gone for good if Alex wanted to save Larissa. If she wanted to save everybody.
"Interesting, isn't it? How fiercely you protect Division, the place you must have hated for so long. How did that happen?" Amanda's entire focus was directed at Alex. She wouldn't hurt Larissa as long as she was intrigued with what Alex had to say. However, Alex didn't know what to say. She wanted to argue that she wasn't protecting Division; she was protecting the people inside. But wasn't that the same thing. She was protecting those that had once hurt her. That didn't make any sense. At least not to Alex. Amanda, on the other hand, had answers, "Oh, right, it was Nikita's idea. Did she even bother to ask you first?"
"No…" Alex didn't mean to answer outloud. Amanda didn't need to know anything about what the team went through. She already knew too much, despite the fact that they had killed her mole and disabled Sonya's killchip. Alex couldn't tell her any more. Unfortunately, the word had just slipped out. Nikita hadn't asked Alex about keeping Division open to round up the Dirty Thirties and hunt down Amanda. She hadn't expected Alex to stay either; the young woman had been free to go. Yet she still wasn't consulted on what to do next. Nikita had taken charge after Percy's death, and everyone just followed her.
"Because she doesn't know what I know: that there's another Alex, one who doesn't take orders, one who gives them. It's your potential, one you could still fulfill," Amanda almost seemed to smile like a mad scientist. She was way too excited about the idea of Alex unlocking her supposed potential. The young woman assumed she was talking about her rightful place in Zetrov- the place the bitch had wanted her in so she could use her as a puppet. But that didn't seem right. It felt as though she was talking about something entirely different.
Rolling her eyes, Alex decided that she didn't want to discover what Amanda meant. She only wanted to escape and get help for Larissa, who was so clearly going to die if she did not receive medical attention soon. Yet Alex couldn't see a way out of that situation without responding to Amanda. She had to engage if she wanted to escape, and if she wanted to save Larissa, "Why do you care, Amanda?"
Blocking Larissa from Alex's view, Amanda smirked. A part of Alex believed that she was finally going to hear the bitch's real reason for capturing her- other than wanting to hurt Nikita. Yet that thought was soon pushed from her mind. In fact, she couldn't think of anything besides Amanda's previous question and the words she said next, "Because one day, what you want and what Nikita wants will come into conflict, and I cannot wait to see the look on Nikita's face when it does."