Michael and Nikita spent the whole night touching, apologizing, kissing, talking, exploring each other's bodies, laughing, and making love. They didn't fall asleep until the sun had risen. When they had, the two laid in a cuddled heap of sated bodies and cozy blankets. Neither bothered to pull on clothes. And neither bothered to grab their phones from the pockets of their clothes. They were too wrapped up in each other- figuratively and literally. In fact, they were so absorbed with one another, that they didn't notice anyone entering the loft until they heard shouting, "You two seriously couldn't answer your phones? I've been calling for hours."
"We've been busy," Startling awake, Michael muttered. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, yet he had to do so with one hand. Nikita was still curled into his side, refusing to wake up. She burrowed even deeper against his chest, preferring his warmth over consciousness. He couldn't pull away from her. He wanted to wrap her tighter in his arms and never let go. There were years of stupidity and hurt to make up for. The need to touch her, kiss her, keep her so close to his heart there wasn't even room for air couldn't be appeased with just one night. They needed to spend every second of every day together. Unfortunately, the real world had other ideas.
"Busy excluding me," Birkhoff snapped. He had every right to be pissed off at the two. They should've included him. They should've told him about Kasim, about their mission, and about what had happened afterwards. In hindsight, involving Birkhoff would've made things a hell of a lot easier. But Michael and Nikita were too caught up in themselves to truly think about the others. Yes, they had thought to protect them from the hurt they were experiencing. Yet that ultimately meant nothing. The team should always strive to involve each other, no matter what. After fixing whatever it was between them, Michael and Nikita were ready to rectify that.
"Whattimeisit?" Nikita simply had to wake herself up first. She felt as though she had only slept for an hour. Which, considering the time she and Michael had finally fallen asleep, could've been true. She bitterly pulled away from Michael's warm side, and reached for where her phone should've been on the bedside table. When she couldn't feel it, she sat up to actually look. The covers fell away from her chest. Michael and Birkhoff reacted to that first. Birkhoff hurriedly turned around, and Michael frantically pulled the covers back over Nikita. Only then did she remember that she was naked.
"Why are you naked?" Birkhoff couldn't help but shriek. He honestly hadn't questioned Michael and Nikita falling asleep together and cuddling. Their relationship was so odd; they could be trying to kill each other one minute, and professing their love the next. Sleeping together wasn't that weird. What was weird was that Nikita was naked. And after actually looking around the loft and seeing scattered clothes everywhere, Birkhoff realized Michael was naked too. He had thought both had been in their underwear at least. But the fact that they were naked, for some reason, was way worse, "Are you both naked?"
Nikita and Michael sighed. They'd like to have that conversation with clothes on, but nothing was in reach besides a cardigan Nikita kept around the chilly loft; she pulled it on anyway in an attempt to cover her bare chest. Honestly, that embarrassing moment was the two's fault for not once informing Birkhoff of what was occurring. If they had just answered their phones, they could've continued sleeping in each other's arms. Though, the two did know they'd have to tell Birkhoff they were together-together eventually. Maybe him finding out on his own was a good thing, then Michael could just explain, "Look, a lot's happened the last few days…"
"Have you guys been fucking?" As Birkhoff turned back around in shock, Nikita and Michael changed their minds. Having the nerd discover their change in relationship by walking in on them was the worst possible thing. Not only did Nikita accidentally flash him, which he wasn't necessarily complaining about, but he quickly realized his calls were ignored because the two were sleeping together. Birkhoff then falsely assumed that the reason he hadn't seen the two for days was because they were too busy having sex. He missed a major and important part of the story, and was then angry for a new and wrong reason.
"And murdering, and getting revenge, and pissing people off," Arms crossed tightly across her chest, Nikita mumbled. It had taken several long steps for Michael and Nikita to arrive where they were. It had also taken a lot of talking throughout the night. The two weren't even done talking about where they stood and what that meant moving forward. They had mostly talked about what had happened with Gogol and Kasim, and they mostly apologized for all the ways they had hurt each other over the years. Although that was forgiven and moved on from, there was still more to discuss. Michael and Nikita needed to make their relationship real.
"Like I said, a lot," Michael repeated upon seeing Birkhoff's bewildered expression. At least the hacker's anger was easy to appease. The two hadn't been ignoring him just because they needed to escape the safehouse and sleep together. They had just been working out some shit, which of course involved a mission. Most, if not all, of the things they needed to resolve could be done by either talking or sprinting off guns blazing. When it came to a couple like Michael and Nikita, they needed the life or death situation of a mission to get their heads on straight. They could never recognize their emotions until it was too late to express them.
"You owe me so much explanation- like yesterday. Start talking," Birkhoff demanded. Whatever mission Nikita and Michael thought they could exclude him from obviously knocked some sense into them. He needed to know what that was and what exactly went down. Though, going off of Nikita's previous comment, and what he had already seen from the couple, Birkhoff could guess that the mission involved Kasim in some capacity. Why else would he have been excluded, and what else could've made Michael's and Nikita's emotions explode in such a way. Kasim had done something, and their whole lives changed as a result- again.
"Can I put underwear on first?" Shifting awkwardly on the small bed, Nikita delayed the much needed conversation. She wanted to explain everything to Birkhoff and start moving forward as a team. She'd just much rather do that with her clothes on. The longer the nerd stood across from the two while they tried to cover their naked bodies with the covers on a bed that was no more than a cot, the more awkward things became. One wrong move, and the hacker would see too much of the couple. It'd be easier to have a serious conversation if they were clothed, comfortable, and able to look each other in the eyes.
Turning back towards the door, Birkhoff nodded. He'd prefer if Michael and Nikita had their clothes on as well. There was no need to make a bad morning worse. Besides, there were some things they could celebrate. Nikita and Michael realizing how stupid and stubborn they had been and finally getting together was a huge deal. Past his irritation about his many missed calls, and his shock over seeing them naked, Birkhoff was happy the two got their shit in order. They could all move forward smoothly, once they rectified that morning, "I'll get us coffee while you get dressed. Then, we'll talk."
As soon as Birkhoff left the loft, Michael and Nikita scrambled for their clothes. Neither had a clean change of clothes at the loft, so they had to settle on the clothes they had worn the night before until they returned to the safehouse. Both were okay with that. Pulling on what they could gave them time to clean before Birkhoff returned. It also gave them time to finally laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The hacker would probably tease the couple for that moment for years to come. But they had their own ammo to retaliate with. It was going to be okay. The couple was sure of that then, making Michael smile, "Well that was easy."
"Idiot," Giggling, Nikita rolled her eyes and grinned. She pulled Michael in for what was meant to be a chaste kiss. However, they two hadn't learned to control their passions yet. They wound up making out and collapsing on the just-made bed. Their hands were everywhere, needing to touch every inch of the other. One night of passion wasn't enough- just like one night of talking wasn't. The new couple needed more and more and more of each other. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to completely devour each other. They'd have to wait until they talked to Birkhoff. Fortunately, after that, they had all the time in the world together.
"Important team meeting. Update to dynamics and relationships," Alex couldn't understand the text Birkhoff sent her. Firstly, she was confused that Birkhoff had even texted her; usually, Nikita- or sometimes Michael- texted her. Secondly, she couldn't make sense of the hacker's words. What kind of updates to the rogue's dynamics and relationships. What did that even mean. Did something happen. Did someone die. No, if someone had died, Alex would've gotten a call instead of a text. Hell, she might've heard it in Division first. No one was dead. But something important had happened- something that could change things moving forward.
Leaving her apartment to meet with the rogues at the loft, Alex kept staring at her burner cellphone. Maybe if she kept reading Birkhoff's text, she could learn to understand it. Nikita's promise that the rogues wouldn't bother her for a few days had come true. The text was her first communication with them in a while. Alex wondered then if the message had anything to do with why Nikita had been so upset the last time they had talked. A mission could've gone wrong or something, and they needed to change their plans. That made some sense, yet Alex still didn't know. And as she tried to think, she slammed right into Sean, "Hey, sorry. I didn't see you."
"Text from Nathan?" Chuckling softly, Sean steadied Alexandra. Once she righted herself and put her phone away, she pulled away from him and glared. She still didn't trust him. Despite how gentle he had been with her lately, she knew he was just going to report her to Amanda. She didn't feel safe with him. Sean really wanted to argue otherwise; he was the only person who wanted- who was assigned- to truly protect her. But he didn't have time to talk. He barely had time to catch her as she fell. There was both a car and a plane waiting for him, "It's none of my business if it is. Not anymore."
Confused, but for an entirely different reason then, Alex finally studied Sean. He was dressed like he was going to travel- comfortable clothes, easy to take off shoes. And he had a nearly overstuffed duffel bag slung across his shoulders. There was no way he was heading into Division. He usually wore a suit in the bunker. He was headed somewhere else, somewhere possibly far away. Although Alex had wanted him to leave her alone for weeks, the idea that he was leaving troubled her. Maybe because she was so confused about it. If nothing she had said or done made him leave, then why was he finally going, "Are you going somewhere?"
"I've been called back for a mission," Sean wasn't sure if he should share that with Alexandra. He should've simply told her that he had another assignment and he'd be back afterwards. Actually, he probably shouldn't have even said that. Alexandra didn't need to know about her missions or whereabouts. Her only concern should've been Semak, and his only concern regarding her was that she stayed safe and focused. However, he couldn't let the bewilderment continue to burn in her bright blue eyes. She shouldn't be left wondering. He needed to tell her something.
"Called back to the military? I thought this was your military assignment?" Alex couldn't let Sean go if that was his excuse. Amanda had made it a point to introduce Sean by his military rank when she had introduced him. Why do that if his assignment wasn't linked to the military. He had to have gotten his orders from somewhere. It definitely wasn't Division. It could've been from the people who oversaw Division's operations, the people Alex had made her deal with. But if it was them, then Sean still would've gotten his orders from the military. It was all government. Or was there a piece Alex was missing.
"I was on leave. But all available personnel are needed for this, so I'm headed back," Sean definitely shouldn't have told Alexandra that. He should just leave the apartment and focus on his new mission. His Seal team couldn't afford for him to be distracted. All thoughts of Division, Oversight, and Alexandra had to be left behind. Though, Sean found it hard to leave it all behind without a word. Weeks ago he wouldn't have. He would've ran from that apartment so fast. Yet a lot has changed his mind recently. He couldn't simply let anything go. Hopefully, that wouldn't be too much of a problem.
"Oh. Okay. Wait. Then who ordered you into Division? What branch even are you? What's the mission?" Although Alex knew she should let Sean walk down the hall and go wherever he needed to go- if she did, she could go straight to the rogues and find out what Birkhoff's text meant- she had way too many questions that needed answers. He couldn't just tell her all that then leave. That was a lot of information to dump on a person without explanation. If he was going to spy on her and make reports, then he could at least tell her what was going on. He owed her that much.
For some reason, Sean found it adorable that Alexandra didn't know which branch of the military he was in. Her other questions were completely reasonable. He had opened up the door when he had given vague answers to her other questions. But she could've figured out which branch he was in on her own. She had access to Division's computers, and she knew how to hack. With his name and rank, she could find any information she wanted on him. Yet she didn't. She waited for him to tell her. One day he knew he would. He could sort of promise that, "Maybe I'll let you know when I come back."
"You're coming back?" While Sean finally left the building, Alex stared helplessly after him. What was that all about. And why did she care so much. She had just had a great weekend with Nathan, and there were developments going on with the rogues. She shouldn't care about Sean. He was nothing on her radar. In fact, him being out of her hair was a fantastic thing. She didn't have to worry about her actions being reported to Amanda. Alex could have a sense of freedom again. Sighing hotly and rolling her eyes, she stomped down the hall and tried to get him off her mind, "Fucking men never telling anyone fucking anything."