"Who else knows about the attack on the summit? Who knows?" As Alex raced down from the ventilation room, the target continued to threaten Jaden. Although she didn't doubt that the recruit could handle herself, the target had mentioned the deadly attack on the summit. Division was going to find out about it. Then Nikita was going to be discovered, and Alex would never be able to escape. Though, the young agent wasn't that concerned with escaping anymore. She was only worried about saving people's lives. It was the far better thing to do; it was what people better than her would do.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jaden still managed to sound disrespectful even as her life was being threatened. Alex took that as a good sign. She could rescue her easily, blow the laboratory, and keep Division in the dark about the attack. She trusted Nikita to have that handled anyway. Though, the lack of updates was concerning. Maybe it would've been for the best if Alex and Jaden did join her; she could use the help. But the young agent couldn't think about the summit then. Another catastrophe was happening right in front of her.
"Cooperate or things are gonna get very nasty," The target pressed a gun against Jaden's temple. She was unfazed. In fact, she was able to taunt the target further, riling him up and distracting him from an approaching Alex. The young agent tried not to listen too much to the recruit's words; she had to think of an attack plan. Yet after overhearing how she had been recruited, she began to think of her in a new light. In the future, she probably shouldn't be so harsh or mean to her. In the meantime, though, she just had to save her ass.
Alex burst into the laboratory and instantly started attacking the guards. Jaden sprung into action as soon as she saw her, saving herself from the target's gun. The two agents fought together striking every assailant they could. However, it was difficult without weapons. Even when they had managed to steal some, they were still outgunned. There was a reason they weren't supposed to just go in guns blazing. They were severely outnumbered, and they'd continue to be so according to Michael's warning, "Alex, be advised. We have three bad guys moving in off the perimeter, coming to you."
Division advised Alex and Jaden the same thing. They were in deep shit. Able to hide behind a turned over table, the two strategize their best way out. All they could really do was shoot back, yet that wouldn't hold them for long. They needed a real plan if they wanted to survive. And Jaden desperately did, "You're in charge. How are we doing this?"
"I guess the hard way," Alex sighed. Blowing the laboratory then, though it would solve all their problems, would've been suicidal. Alex couldn't kill Jaden, and she didn't want to die. Desperately fighting their way out was the only option. The two were smart and capable, so hopefully their instincts would kick in and help them out. All that training from Division (and the rogues, in Alex's case) had to pay off. Otherwise, all of that bullshit was for nothing.
Birkhoff and Michael could hear Alex and Jaden fighting over the coms. Yet with no way to see what was happening in the lab, they couldn't help. They could only monitor the perimeter and provide useful updates. Birkhoff soon received a useful ping on his computer, but it wasn't helpful. Another kink with the potential to destroy everything was thrown into their plans, "Flash traffic is saying there's been an attack on the Developing-Nations Summit in Geneva."
"Nikita, you better hurry up. Division's gonna pull Jaden and Alex from the lab and direct them to the summit," Michael attempted to warn Nikita through the coms. Yet he didn't hear anything in response. The last he had heard from her was her plan to take out the woman with the toxin, then she had turned off her com. He assumed it was so she wouldn't get distracted as she fought; however, her silence stretched on far too long. And her once rapidly moving tracker remained far too still.
"Once they're done surviving," Birkhoff responded dryly to Michael's update; Alex and Jaden would be at the summit after they survived the attack in the lab. But Michael wasn't paying attention to the Division side of the mission anymore. Something was wrong with Nikita. It wasn't like her to be silent or still- even when they rested, she was always doing or saying something. She had run into a problem in the field, and it had actually gotten the best of her. He should've gone with her. She needed a partner. Fuck being safe by avoiding Division's radar. The only way to stay alive was by having someone to watch your back.
By watching each other's backs, Alex and Jaden eventually made it out of the laboratory and detonated the charges. The amount they had accomplished together was amazing- if they had gotten along a lot sooner, who knew where they'd be then. Fortunately, they were alive. Unfortunately, when Alex informed Division of their success, the agents were redirected to the summit. She hadn't heard from Nikita or the rogues about the nerve toxin. Something must've gone wrong; Nikita could've been in trouble. Alex had to step away from Jaden and quietly warn they were coming, "I'm out with Jaden. Division's sending us to the summit."
"Nikita, get out of there," Michael snapped into the com. There was still no response. He prayed that her com had just been knocked out of her ear; it had happened before. She was alright. She simply couldn't hear him. Reaching for his burner cellphone, Michael frantically called her. He had to get into contact with her, no matter what. He needed to hear her voice- he had to know she was alive.
Her cellphone buzzing in her pocket snapped Nikita awake. She had found the woman with the toxin, engaged her in a fight, then got her ass handed to her. By the time she had regained consciousness, the C4 in the van had been detonated, and Michael was calling her in a panic. Quickly, she updated him on what had happened, then searched for the woman again. Nikita was determined to only have her ass kicked once. When she found the woman in the stairwell, she was ready to stop the attack and kill the bitch, "Round two?"
"Do I have to beat you again?" The woman smirked. The device to activate the nerve toxin was in her hand. She was probably planning to escape the building before she detonated it. Nikita had to stop both of those things from happening. Since she knew the woman's fighting style then, and what she was up against, the rogue believed she could do it. And all before Jaden and Alex arrived at the summit.
"Cocky. I like that," Nikita echoed the woman's smirk. That was all for the small talk. The two lunged at each other and fought with all they had. Nikita had to be more creative than she normally did to gain the upperhand. She used the fact that they were in the stairwell to her advantage. She swung around the railing and shoved the woman down the stairs. After some time and a lot of effort, Nikita smashed the device and defeated the woman. She didn't check to see if she was dead or simply unconscious. She didn't have time. She had to race out of the stairwell and destroy the toxin once and for all.
Nikita was able to calm herself before she slipped into the secured room the summit guests had been gathered in after the C4 exploded. She didn't want to draw attention or cause a panic. However, when she destroyed the toxin, the father of Division's latest target noticed her. She could've just ignored him and slipped back out. Yet he needed to know the truth. So, quietly, she gave him a hint of what had just happened, "Appearances can be deceiving. A diamond is dust. A loyal son a terrorist. I'm sorry."
Things finally calmed down when everyone returned from the field. They could actually rest and think for a moment. Nikita went to the safehouse and told Michael and Birkhoff everything, and Alex and Jaden debriefed with Percy. Once her paperwork was finished and she was free to go, Alex didn't go home and rest up like she should've. Instead, she asked to meet with Michael and Nikita at the loft. Although they were exhausted, they agreed. They had things to talk about as well. Starting with Alex's decision to save Jaden, "All I had to do was press a button. The target, the lab, Jaden. They would all have been gone. I'd have been free and clear."
"So what stopped you?" Nikita finally asked. She had been wondering what had changed Alex's mind since Michael told her what had happened. The young woman had been so determined to leave Division behind and chart her own revenge course. Staying just to save a recruit she didn't get along with didn't make much sense.
"You did. I asked myself, 'What would Michael and Nikita do?'" Shrugging, Alex responded honestly. A part of her also believed that she had saved Jaden because it was something her mother would've done as well. However, she kept that thought to herself. She didn't want to go down that painful rabbithole. Besides, the rogues had had a huge influence on her. They were heroes, and she wanted to be just like them.
"You know what Nikita would do if she were you? Get out," Shaking her head, Nikita disagreed. Yes, she had tried to save Alex when she had escaped Division. But she had still escaped. Getting out of that hellhole was better than anything else. A recruit could take care of herself, especially a provisional agent like Jaden. Alex should've saved herself. Whatever she wanted to do with the rest of her life would've been a hell of a lot easier if she had just escaped.
"We can still make that happen, Alex," Michael promised. Despite how proud of her he was for saving Jaden and doing the right thing, he still wanted her out of Division. She wasn't going to get what she wanted from them. Of all people, Michael knew that best. They were just going to use Alex and spit her out. She had to take control. She had to fight against Division's twisted influence and lies.
Pacing the loft, Alex nodded in agreement with the rogues. She had to escape Division at some point. But for the moment, she could stay. She could be a hero as she got her revenge. She could make both her father and mother proud. She had done something good on that mission; she had saved people and made the world a slightly better place. While she got her revenge, she could continue being a hero. It felt right, like it was what she was supposed to do, "I'm staying put. For now. The day I was recruited inside Division, you told me I had a chance to make a difference. This mission felt right. It felt good."
"Do you think that Percy and Amanda are gonna let you hold on to that feeling? Especially with Semak?" Nikita had fed Alex the line about making a difference when she didn't know who the recruit was. But once she had realized Alexandra Udinov was in Division, she knew she couldn't stay. No one could stay. Division ruined everything. Even deals they made were twisted in their favor. Alex wasn't the exception. She was going to get burned, and bad.
"I don't know if I'm gonna stay inside Division. But, even after I kill Semak, I am gonna stay in this fight. Our fight," Alex left no room for argument. She might not stay in Division to get her revenge. But after she had it, she wasn't going to leave the rogues. Corruption, evil, death, destruction, all of the things the bad guys were up to had to be stopped. And she had the power to do it. She shouldn't only focus on Semak; she'd destroy every villain she could. Alex was going to stay with the rogues and help them save the day. She was going to stay a hero.
The young agent soon returned to her apartment, leaving Michael and Nikita alone in the loft. They considered returning to the safehouse, but Nikita was dead on her feet, and some of her injuries needed to be addressed- namely her deeply bruised elbow. Michael grabbed her an icepack from the freezer and joined her by the large windows where she was lost in thought. He didn't have to ask her anything to know what was on her mind. He was thinking the same thing. Yet he wasn't as worried about it. Alex was a smart, strong, capable adult, after all, "She has a right to decide for herself."
"That's what scares me," Nikita muttered. She trusted Alex, yet she was terrified she was going to make the wrong choice. She had when she first escaped Division. Raging a war against that hellhole wasn't easy. So many things could go wrong, and so many plans could unfold. She didn't want Alex facing the pain from her choices. She had suffered enough as it was.
"So it got a little rough," Michael shrugged, helping Nikita place the icepack on her swollen elbow. He was aware that he was making too light of the situation, especially with how he had reacted when Nikita was in danger. But the team had been successful; innocents were saved and the bad guys were punished; the rogues had survived. That was what they should focus on instead. It was a good mission, and an even better victory.
"But it was worth it," Resting her tired, sore body against Michael's sturdy frame, Nikita grinned softly. Although she would've preferred to have the mission end with Alex escaping Division, she was glad that so many people had been saved. She was also glad that Alex had found a stronger sense of purpose. Things had been working well for the team as of late. Hopefully, that trend continued. Then, Division could be destroyed in no time.
Wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's waist, Michael kissed the top of her head. He was never going to let her go on a mission alone again. Two rogues in the field at the same time would definitely go noticed by Division, yet who cared. He wanted to continue holding her just like that, which meant he had to stay by her side at all times. That wouldn't be too hard for him; he'd always ensure that she was never alone; especially against the enemies they faced. Though, maybe their enemy wasn't the root of all evil. Percy definitely was. But Division did some good. That mission had always been about helping people, "You think there's a good side to Division?"
"No. Not unless you're running it one day," Nikita scoffed. Regardless of what she had previously thought, Division would never be good. Not unless one of the rogues was running the place, which would never happen. Division was always going to be inherently evil. That was why they had to take them down. It was the only way to actually protect the world.
"Or you are," Michael was more sincere as he replied. He could see them running Division, protecting the innocent, and saving the world. Well, maybe not Division, but someplace like it. There were things they could do that no other governmental organization could. The CIA definitely couldn't have done what they did that day; they didn't have the access or the secrecy. A shadowy organization had its benefits; if it was just run differently, people could actually be helped.
"Oh, I like windows," Gazing out one of the many large windows in the loft, Nikita stopped that conversation before it could truly take off. She didn't want to argue with her boyfriend that night. Relaxing in his strong arms felt so nice. They should just stay like that forever, staring out the window while wrapped in each other's warmth. It was the perfect way to celebrate their mission. They had a good, clean victory for once. No heart ache, no pain, just satisfaction. The rogues could rest easy that night; they could be nightmare free, "We needed this, Michael. It was a good victory."
"It was," Michael kissed the top of her head again. Nikita hummed. Besides the troubles they had run into, and the horrors of the nerve toxin, there was actual peace after the operation. Alex had a new mindset, and the rogues had enough encouragement to continue pushing forward. They could make it through the rest of their war with Division, especially if there were more missions like that one.
"You got to boss me around again," Recalling another positive from the mission- at least to Michael- Nikita commented. Michael rolled his eyes and scoffed. Since they had teamed up together, they had been equal partners. He hadn't tried to order her around like she was a recruit and he was her handler until then- the emphasis being on try.
"Not that you listened," Michael squeezed Nikita. She giggled. She liked to believe that she had gotten better at listening while out in the field. However, she still argued and stubbornly insisted that she knew best. That time, she was right. But there would be a time when she was devastatingly wrong. She had to fix that bad habit, preferably before Michael had a heart attack.
God knew she had put him through enough stress, first as a recruit, then as his partner, and then as his girlfriend. Yet Michael should've been used to it by then. Nikita was always going to be her hardheaded, stubborn self. He could never make her listen, no matter what he said or how right he was, "Just like old times."
"Not old times. New times," Michael smiled adoringly at Nikita. He might not have been able to make her listen to him, yet he had helped her see reason from time to time. He had also helped her get to that point with him- not holding onto anger and pain, and allowing herself to smile. Glancing up at him, she returned his grin. The two kissed lovingly and chastely before they simply held each other and stared out the window.