Alex didn't feel a whole lot better after talking to Nikita. On her way home, she called Amanda to ask for a few days off; she needed time to refocus on her mission after the hell she had been dragged through. Amanda agreed immediately. Not once did she argue the decision. She even encouraged the young agent to relax. Alex felt grateful for Amanda's help and generosity at first. Yet the more she thought of it, the more suspicious she became. After her detoxing dreams, she had a feeling she shouldn't trust Amanda as much as she had been. She wasn't sure why. It was simply a feeling she couldn't shake.
Maybe she was just being paranoid after everything that had happened. Her dreams had her all kinds of messed up. If she was questioning her revenge mission, then she was seriously disturbed. Alex desperately needed a break. She needed to stay in bed all weekend with her boyfriend. That would fix everything. She'd be ready to kill Semak again. As she unlocked her apartment door, she could already feel herself relaxing. The tension from her shoulders could be lifted the instant she stepped into blissful isolation. She was so excited, until she heard the voice behind her, "Alexandra. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine," Keeping her back to Sean Pierce, Alex rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed at the moment was him spying and reporting on her. She could hardly think around her detoxing dream as it was. With his stupid hazel eyes on her back, she wouldn't be able to focus on anything. She just wanted to be left alone, preferably with her boyfriend. The things she needed to figure out would come to her with time and space; things will be made more clear. Sean couldn't come along and jeopardize that.
"Look. I'm not going to report anything to Amanda. I know you've been through a lot recently. You deserve to just rest," Before Alexandra could disappear into her apartment, Sean promised. He didn't understand how reporting to Amanda about the young woman's actions was beneficial to the mission anyway. He should just be concerned with making sure she stayed safe and focused. The former was definitely a struggle. And the latter, well, Sean hoped it was easy. After he thought he had seen a dangerous person leaving Alexandra's apartment recently, he was conflicted. He either had to intervene, or he could pretend it was all nothing.
"Thanks," Alex tried not to smile softly, yet she couldn't help it. Sean had been genuinely gentle with her since she had woken next to him in Medical; it could've been even sooner than that if her vague memory of him carrying her was true. He actually seemed to be acting like a real friend. Although baffling, it was also comforting. Alex felt herself relaxing again- only slightly, though. She still couldn't trust him completely. He had to crawl his way back, "I actually was able to take time off. I plan to just relax and do nothing."
"And you'll do that completely alone without anyone who might be an emotional liability," Nodding slightly to Nathan's closed door, Sean smirked. If anyone asked him how Alexandra was spending her days off, that was what he would claim. There was no need to involve civilians like Nathan. There was also no reason to stir up trouble. Sean felt as though there had been too much going on. They all needed a moment to think and breathe. After all, there were plenty of things and people to think about.
Leaning against her open door frame, Alex stared at Sean. She must've been missing something. Why would he keep a secret from her. The only reason he was her neighbor and had tried to be friends with her was because he was spying on her. His whole purpose was to keep her in check. So why, when she was so determined to break Division's asinine 'no relationships' rule, would he try to protect her. What was he gaining from it. Did he know something she didn't. Was he trying to be friends with her again. She really hoped it wasn't that. She didn't need that on her mind as well, "Since when have you cared so much?"
"Like I said, you deserve rest," Sean grinned warmly, then disappeared back into his apartment. Alex remained in the hallway, staring after the man who confused her more than she liked. She could focus on the fact that he had probably spied out his door until he saw her in the hallway so he could jump out and confront her. She could let that anger her and use her rage to keep pushing him away. Yet that just seemed like too much effort. Instead, Alex shrugged and entered her apartment. She closed and locked the door, then began to not think.
Nikita seriously considered calling Birkhoff. She could've used the nerd's help with her plan. Also, it would've been nice to not have been alone. She had gotten used to being on her own when she was a kid. But after working with a team for so long, she realized how nice it was to have someone watching your back at all times. It was comforting; she could be safe. While she waltzed up to Gogol's front door alone and without a weapon, she absolutely wasn't safe. One wrong move and she'd be killed. She really could've used a friend.
Yet she absolutely would not let Michael's wrath fall on Birkhoff or Alex, no matter how scared she was. Nikita just had to keep carrying that weight by herself. Fortunately, she managed to survive her first meeting with Ari. Although he was suspicious of her intentions, especially regarding Kasim, he agreed to make a deal with her. If he helped supply her with money and equipment, she'd get him a business deal with Al-Qaeda; he'd reap all the benefits while she put herself in danger. How could Ari say 'no' to that.
Although things worked out for Ari, Nikita was screwed. She managed to attack Al-Qaeda without injury to herself. But when they contacted Kasim about the assault, she couldn't trace the call. The bastard didn't stay on the line long enough. She could only track him to Paris, which meant nothing. He was going to slip away again. That was her only chance. However, when Nikita desperately replayed the phone call, she overheard Kasim admit that he'd be going to St. Petersburg to meet with Ari. She could crash the meeting and kidnap him there. Though, if she did, a bigger target would be painted on her back.
She went after Kasim anyway. Nikita didn't care if she was a dead woman; she had to get Kasim. Fighting both his guards and Gogol was a challenge. But somehow she was able to kidnap Kasim. She drove away with his unconscious body in his own car. She disabled the GPS and all the other vehicles, so no one would be following them. Kasim would be dead as soon as Michael met with them. Though, as Nikita thought about that, she saw a lot of problems. Before anything else could happen, those needed to be fixed.
First, Nikita needed to find a safe place to lock up Kasim. There was an abandoned Division safehouse in the area. The two could hide out there for a while. Maybe they'd be safe. Next, Nikita had to deal with Michael. She couldn't just call him on their burner cells and give him everything he wanted. The way he had treated her couldn't be ignored. Despite his pain, despite what killing Kasim meant to him, Nikita wasn't going to deal with Michael while he was so cruel. The first time they tried to kill Kasim had been terrible enough. They needed to be better. Since that wouldn't happen anytime soon, the two fought instead, "I got him."
"Where's your location?" Michael demanded instantly. Nikita heard rustling over the phone, and she assumed he was hurrying to grab his mission gear to chase after her. She wondered, however, if he was at the safehouse. He could've easily gone to hide at a motel again, yet all his things were at the safehouse. He wouldn't jeopardize losing vital equipment to go into solitude. He'd need his best weapons to kill Kasim. Since that was the case, then what lies was he telling Birkhoff to escape the safehouse. He only wanted to hurt Nikita, so how was he protecting Birkhoff. After a moment, she soon realized that she didn't care what Michael did.
"No," Nikita bit into the cellphone. A part of her regretted it the second she said it. She knew how much killing Kasim meant to Michael. She should understand his pain and not hold it against him. But she was just so angry. His pain had hurt her, and she needed to lash out. She should've been better than that. Yet he was the one to start it. If he believed that there was nothing between them, then that was how it was going to be. He didn't want to trust her or believe in her, so she'd do the same to him. They were done, "You wanted this kind of relationship, you got it. You don't get Kasim until you do something for me."
"What?" Pure acid laced Michael's disbelief. He had heard what Nikita had said, and he had understood her words. He just couldn't believe her. And honestly, so couldn't she. For someone who kept promising to help him with his revenge, she sure did keep hindering him. She decided to be yet another obstacle in his very complicated path. But she couldn't help it. She had almost died twice that day because of him. She wasn't going to pretend like that was nothing. He needed to pay for what he had forced her into. She needed to return the hurt.
"I want verified locations of the black boxes. And the identities of the Guardian attached to each one," Nikita knew she was asking for the impossible. If Michael had had the black box locations and the identities of the Guardians, he would've told her, Birkhoff, and Owen. Even if all he had was a way to find them, he would've told the team. Nikita knew everything Michael knew about the black boxes. However, if he was going to force her to do the impossible in kidnapping a leader of Al-Qaeda, then she'd put the pressure on finding the black boxes. Once she had them, they could truly stop working together- just like he wanted.
"Are you out of your mind? I don't even have that," Michael practically yelled. Again, Nikita wondered where Birkhoff was and what he thought about all of that; maybe he could help them locate black boxes. Yet she quickly stopped that train of thought. What was happening was only between her and Michael. They couldn't drag in the nerd, and they certainly couldn't drag in Alex and her access in Division. Michael and Nikita would only hurt each other (and Kasim). Just because their relationship was broken didn't mean everyone else's had to be.
That was just how it'd be between Nikita and Michael from then on. She should've guessed that they'd crumble eventually. They had when he had gone rogue and left her in Division. They had the multiple times she had tried to kill him. And they had the first time she had stopped him from killing Kasim. Michael and Nikita weren't meant to last. The two were always bound to break. They might as well have leaned into it. There was nothing between them to even fight for. Why save someone who was supposed to be your enemy, "I guess you'll have to weigh that against how much you want Kasim, won't you?"
"You would let a known terrorist go free just to spite me?" Attempting to call Nikita's bluff, Michael scoffed. However, she wasn't bluffing. She knew that with Kasim on the line, he'd do whatever it took to get black box intel. Yes, he wanted to kill Percy just as much as he wanted to kill Kasim. But Percy had simply been the one to plan to kill Michael and then later lied to him about it; Kasim was the one who messed up and killed his family. He had burned Michael's entire world to the ground. The terrorist needed to suffer in the worst possible way. The rogue agent would do anything to ensure that- including ruin relationships.
"No. But I would let him go to prison for the rest of his life and yours," Shrugging, Nikita glanced over at Kasim. He had remained unconscious since she had grabbed him, but he was starting to stir. She should move her conversation with Michael away from the terrorist. He didn't need to know what was occurring. The most he needed to be aware of was that he was handcuffed to a radiator and that death was coming for him. Nikita wouldn't allow Kasim any information he could twist and use. He should be considered dead already.
"There's not a prison on Earth that I can't manage to negotiate him from," The rogues were limited in a lot of ways. Division had far more access than they could ever dream of. But, with the use of black badges and the help of an infamous hacker, Michael believed he could find a way to break Kasim out of whatever prison Nikita dropped him into. He'd break the bastard out and kill him; no one would ever miss him. Nikita didn't hold that much leverage of Michael. He'd always find a way to kill Kasim, no matter how many times she tried to stop him.
"Beijing bombing, 2008; Kasim was responsible. You think if I drop him in the president of China's lap that you could negotiate his release? Didn't think so. Be a good boy and do as you're told," Instantly, Nikita argued. She could easily drop Kasim off in China, and no one would ever hear from him again- including Michael. But she wouldn't do that. She had promised Michael that she'd help him get his revenge no matter what. That hadn't changed. The only thing that had was how much she'd hurt him in return. She could trade her own share of biting remarks. He had dug in his claws, and so would she.
The silence that stretched over the phone was almost too long. For a brief second, Nikita thought she had gone too far over the line. She had angered a desperate man, and he was going to snap. Yet, in her slight defense, she had just been following his lead. She had echoed everything Michael had done to her. She hadn't crossed a line that he hadn't, even if he was the one lost to grief and revenge. They both hurt each other; it was a codependent relationship. One Michael might've been right to sever as he seethed, "You're gonna regret this."
"One of us will," Although Nikita responded harshly, she could already feel regret bubble at the surface. She wanted Michael to regret using her for his own gain and putting her in danger. But she suspected she was the only one second guessing their choices. He was lost to revenge, hurt, and pain- something she understood well. Instead of fighting against him, she should be helping him. They both knew Kasim had to die. It wasn't as though she disagreed with that. However, Nikita couldn't let Michael get away with hurting her. She had been too passive about that in the past. She needed to fight back. He had to know that he couldn't maim her too.
"If I don't hear from you in twenty-four hours, I'll know you failed," Throwing Michael's words back at him, Nikita ended the call. She tried not to think too much about what just happened. If she put too much thought into all the things said between them, she wouldn't be able to compose herself. She'd either be too upset or angry to focus on her captive. And- God- was she tired of being angry. She didn't want to only be fueled by her rage. She wanted to feel more than just wrath. But with the way things were going lately, she doubted that'd be possible.