"You were free. You had gotten out. You were gone. What the hell are you doing back here?" Sean stormed up to Alex in Ops, completely surprising her. She hadn't expected him to be back in Division. She had thought he'd be gone for good. Yet he had returned. He had returned to just yell at her. Anger marred his features at the fact that Alex stood in the middle of Ops. Anger, and something else. Alex couldn't determine what else Sean was feeling about seeing her in the middle of Division. However, she didn't want to. She only wanted to respond to his anger. Because she was feeling it too.
She had gotten out. She had been free. But there was a reason Alex was back running missions in Ops and hunting down leads. She had had plans to take on Semak and his organization alone. Even if it was a suicide run, it was worth it to see that bastard pay for his crimes. She had been okay with dying as long as Semak had died too. However, Alex wasn't as alone as she had thought. There had still been more things for her to learn about Operation Pale Fire. That mission continued to haunt her. Each new day revealed something worse about that nightmare. She had thought Nikita lying about killing her father had been the worst of it.
But there was more.
Alex's mother was alive.
Apparently, Semak had made an extra deal with Percy after he had hired Division to kill the entire Udinov family. It wasn't enough for Semak to take out the Zetrov founder and CEO and his heir. It wasn't enough for him to gain power by doing what Oversight wanted and align Zetrov to American interests (a deal he had since backed out on, causing Oversight to support Alex's plan for revenge). Semak needed more. He needed to have everything he coveted, not just power and money. He needed to have the one thing he could never have while Nikolai and Alexandra Udinov were alive.
He needed Katya Udinov.
Since Percy got extra money to line his pockets with, of course he agreed to go behind Oversight's back and save Katya that night. Alex didn't know how Amanda and Oversight later learned about the deal. But did it really matter. Her mother was alive, and she was being kept hidden, kept imprisoned, kept as some sort of fucked up prize, by Semak. Alex's mission to kill him could no longer be a suicide run. She needed all the help, intel, and resources she could get, so she could save her mother and herself. Then, she could finally be happy. She and her mother could both be free and happy.
Unfortunately, the best kind of help, intel, and resources Alex could receive came from Oversight and Division. She couldn't deny their deal when it had been presented to her. She had wanted to- really, really wanted to. Yet her mother's life was at stake. Alex didn't care about her own safety, but she would never hurt her mother. She had to save her at all costs. That cost, regrettably, just so happened to be working for Division and Oversight to track down the black box Michael had stolen and somehow decrypted (the running theory was that Birkhoff had walked him through the steps and he had used a Division computer to pull it off).
So far, after a few weeks of searching and hunting, Division had no leads on the rogues. Alex relayed the information that she could, but she had never learned where their other safehouse was; she didn't even have a clue (in hindsight, that was probably a good thing). The three rogues were able to hide out and lay low, completely undetected. Although a part of Alex was relieved that they were safe (a part of herself that she didn't quite understand), she was getting frustrated with the lack of progress. No leads on the rogues meant no leads on Semak. And she desperately needed leads.
Division remained nowhere, however, and that was where Sean came in. He was glaring at Alex, waiting for an answer to his question. She had none, at least not for him. She wanted to keep the truth about her mother underwraps. No one could know anything about her situation; no one could hurt her. Alex wouldn't answer Sean or give him an explanation that'd dispel his anger, which was- for some reason- upsetting her. She would direct the question back towards him, however. He was supposed to have been gone as well- be on some sort of military mission. He wasn't supposed to have come back, "What are you doing back here?"
"Apparently, my job's not over yet," Sean bit. When he had deployed for his special Seal operation, he thought he'd return to help Alexandra with her kill mission. But after he had heard everything that had happened while he had been away, he thought he wouldn't be needed anymore. He thought Alexandra was gone and that she'd stay gone. Unfortunately, he was wrong. He hated that he was wrong. Alexandra hadn't taken the chance to run and be free, she had been sucked back into Division. Everyone he knew and cared for was sucked back into that damn place. Which meant he was stuck too, desperately trying to protect everyone.
"And what is your job?" Alex didn't appreciate Sean's tone. Nor did she appreciate how angry at her he was. He didn't have to come back. She didn't need protection anymore. Hell, she had never needed protection. She should've more than proven herself to Oversight by then. There was no need for her to have a babysitter, or even a partner. Sean should just shove his anger and whatever else he was feeling up his ass and leave her alone. He wasn't needed, especially with that bitter, acidic attitude he carried around.
Sean closed the distance between him and Alex. He didn't care that they were in the middle of Ops. He got into her face and continued to glare. Maybe his anger was misplaced. He was certain he was missing information. But he couldn't smother his rage. He just felt so livid, so frustrated. No part of that situation was supposed to have happened. His simple mission should not have turned into a war. People were going to get hurt. People who shouldn't have been involved, "Protecting you, making sure you complete your mission, stopping Michael and Nikita from releasing black box secrets, and observing and reporting on Amanda's charge of Division."
"You only need to worry about the last one," Alex huffed. She didn't understand why Oversight was making such a big deal out of Nikita and Michael having a black box anyway. Yes, those precious, asinine secrets couldn't get out. But the rogues knew that. They had been in Chile when one secret had gotten out; they knew the risks. Michael, Nikita, and Birkhoff weren't going to destroy the world and plunge it into chaos. The three saw themselves as heroes, not villains. Though, people like Oversight weren't concerned with the whole world, just theirs.
The only real threat Nikita, Michael, and Birkhoff posed was to Oversight and Division. They were the only people the rogues actually wanted to hurt and tear down. They'd only use the black box to fulfill those means. In all honesty, Alex should just let them- why stop what should be done. She was taking out corruption by planning to kill Semak, after all. The rogues should be allowed to do the same. If only that didn't interfere with Alex's mission to save her mother. Oversight had to be saved in order to save Katya. Alex hated it. But sacrifices had to be made for the people you loved.
"Not according to Oversight," Sean bitterly reminded Alexandra who was in charge. No one else had a say. It was Oversight's wishes or else. Sean normally didn't have a problem following orders. It was what a good soldier did to get the job done. Except with Division and Oversight, it seemed so different. He was left questioning more than he wanted to. He was left with his world turned upside down over and over and over again. And he was left wanting to disobey and to change things. That definitely wasn't good. But he was growing kind of desperate. He wanted things to be different- he needed things to change.
Alex stared at Sean, bewildered. She had never understood how he had gotten mixed up with Division in the first place. If he was in the military, if he pretended to be a great guy, then why was he involved with Oversight. He had to have known the truth about them. He couldn't be blind to what was happening around them. So what was he doing there. It couldn't have just been to follow orders. There was no reason to come back after his other mission, especially since things had changed. What was his deal, "How does a soldier get mixed up with them?"
Suddenly, Sean became conscious of how many people were in Ops. The hackers and agents weren't staring at him and Alexandra, but they also weren't not staring at them. The others made such a point to not pay attention to their argument that they couldn't help but be enthralled by it. Sean and Alexandra were already interesting figures in Division; he was a mysterious figure, and she was a traitor. Their argument just made them even more fascinating. And made them even more subject to rumors and gossip.
A part of Sean considered telling Alexandra the truth- a very small, hesitant part of him. Before she had discovered he had been sent to watch over her, and before he had left for his Seal operation, he could've considered the two of them friends. Well, maybe in another world they would've been. But then the truth came out- all of the ugly, horrendous truth- and he couldn't tell Alexandra anything. He didn't trust her. There was no guarantee that she'd have his back or even act like a friend. She had been playing everyone right from the jump. She didn't deserve to hear the truth from him. All she got was a line, "We all do things for family, right?"
Blinking, Alex tried to understand what that meant. Was he making a dig at her for her revenge mission, or was he giving her a hint as to why he was with Oversight. Sean's harsh tone didn't give her any clues. She could've delved into it, maybe even studied his gaze, to figure it out. Yet her frustrations soon took over, and she found herself not caring. She still held the belief that Sean shouldn't have been there, so who cared what his motivations were. She just wanted him to go away so she could refocus on her objective, "Look, I'm not after the rogues. I'm after the black box. The rogues just happen to be in my way."
"Like I'm gonna believe that," Sean rolled his eyes. He honestly had no reason to believe a single word Alexandra said. She claimed she was only about revenge, but her sporadic actions said otherwise. She had helped the rogues more than she should've for someone only wanting revenge. And she also kept turning on those who had promised to help her get revenge. Nothing about her was consistent. Nothing about her had been true. How could Sean trust Alexandra to not try to burn Division and Oversight again. How could he ensure everyone was protected if she was such a wildcard.
The simple fact was that he couldn't. So before Alexandra could attempt to argue with him, Sean cut her off. No excuse she could've possibly given him would've been good enough. He understood doing questionable things for your family- he really did. Yet what Alexandra had done was over the top. It was as though she was willing to destroy everyone and everything just to get what she wanted. How did that make her better than the person she wanted to kill. She was just as obsessed and careless, "You're a known double-agent, a traitor. You were partnered with traitors. Now you expect us to believe you turned against them?"
"Yeah. I do. Or are you just like them, and you can't recognize the truth," Alex spat. Even she didn't know if 'them' was Division, Oversight, or the rogues. However, it didn't matter who exactly she meant. They were all the same. And Sean was just like them. They all only wanted to believe in the truth they presented. They liked to twist facts and events to their own means and purposes. It didn't matter if the truth was staring them right in the face; they'd rather bury it, run, hide, and present their own information. That pissed Alex off the most. They controlled by hiding and twisting the truth, making honest people villains and causing good people to be lost.
Opening then closing his mouth, Sean fought the urge to continue yelling at Alexandra. He had a thing or two to say about not being able to recognize the truth. However, he feared that if he said the wrong thing, his true reasons for working with Oversight would be revealed. And if those were revealed, his whole reason for accepting that assignment would've been for nothing. He had to keep his mouth shut. Which effectively put an end to the argument. Alexandra appeared alright with that decision, though. She was perfectly content just glaring at him. He matched her heated gaze easily.
Sonya had been right next to Alex the entire time she fought with Sean. She had asked the hacker a question before he had stormed into Ops yelling at her. Sonya awkwardly sat and watched the argument play out until the two were left silently glowering at each other. She had absolutely no idea what was going on between the two, hardly anything they had said made sense, nor did she have any idea how they were supposed to move on from that. But someone had to try. And since Sonya finally had an answer to Alex's forgotten question, that someone had to be her, "We've got a possible hit on Nikita."
It took Alex shaking her head to force herself to refocus. Sonya had been working on something for her, and that was far more important than Lieutenant Commander Sean Pierce. He was just going to hang around and be annoying forever. Alex couldn't make him go away, only Oversight can. And the best way she could make them do that was to give them what they wanted. Thankfully, Sonya finally had a lead for her. Alex could stop the rogues, destroy the black box for Oversight, kill Semak, save her mother, and- most importantly- get away from Sean. It'd be perfect. Things were going her way.
Though, honestly, how much of it was going her way, and how much of it was her own delusion that she was doing what was best. With her mother's life at stake, she wanted to believe it was the former. But as she rushed off after her former friends, and as Sean's words rang in her ears, she wasn't so sure.