Nikita was lucky to have brought a duffel bag full of weapons with her to Buffalo. She had believed she would need it in case the Shop turned on them; she had never thought that the Chinese would return demanding their stolen property back. The people they had stolen from must've had more intense intelligence than they had thought- how else could they have tracked the prion down. But that wasn't Nikita's problem to figure out at the moment. She simply had to stop them from stealing the bio-device and from killing her and Michael.
The computerized version of Heidecker warned that there wasn't much time left to hand over the device, and Nikita snapped at him to shut up. She was well aware of all the stressors she was facing. Not only did she have to save her own life from flying bullets and fists, but she also had to protect an unconscious Michael. Honestly, passing off the prion was the least of her concerns at the moment. She'd get to that and the Shop eventually. She simply had to ensure that she and her fiancé lived another day first.
Fortunately, even by herself, the armed assailants weren't too much for Nikita to handle. After some very creative countermeasures on her part (that she really wished Michael would've been able to see) she defeated the enemy without injury to herself, her fiancé, and the prion. She only allowed herself a brief pause to breathe before she was on the move again. Nikita sprinted outside in order to reach the Shop's car in time for the hand off. Luckily, she made it. Though, the hand off wasn't at all what she expected. The car that took the prion didn't have a driver. The Shop wouldn't reveal any of their members, even when collecting something they really wanted.
Honestly, Nikita didn't care about that. Her only focus was on her fiancé. Once she was back inside, she saw that Michael's surgery had resumed. He'd be woken soon, and the nightmare would finally be over. She sighed in relief. Then, she gratefully distracted herself from the rest of the surgery by cleaning up the evidence of the fight. She thought about calling Cleaners from Division. But when she tried to reach Birkhoff, she wasn't given any time to ask for assistance. Someone urgently called his name, interrupting their conversation; then he hung up. Nikita huffed in annoyance. When she returned to Division, she was going to ream him out.
She half-considered texting Birkhoff a preview of her annoyance then, but Michael waking up saved the nerd from her wrath. Nikita shoved everything else aside and rushed to her fiancé's side. The anesthetic was still working its way out of his system, so he looked around with bleary green eyes for a moment, attempting to orient himself. She helped him sit up and frantically looked him over. He seemed fine to her, yet she had to make sure. She couldn't let anything happen to him then; she couldn't lose him when things appeared to be going their way, "Hey. Hey. Go slow. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm great," When Michael's eyes finally focused on Nikita, he beamed. Slowly, he moved his new right hand away from the machinery that had attached it to his wrist and reached to caress his fiancée's cheek. He was surprised by how easily the bio-prosthesis could move, especially compared to his prosthetic. Yet he was even more surprised by the fact that he could feel Nikita's warm, smooth skin as he touched her. His new hand was as real as the Shop had claimed. Michael's smile grew exponentially, and he pulled his fiancée in for a loving kiss.
Although it didn't take long to get stitched up after the stabbing, Sean remained in Medical to sulk. He was becoming more and more pissed at himself for being unable to figure out what was wrong with Alex. It was so very clear that she wasn't exactly herself, yet he couldn't even begin to think how Amanda had made that happen. The bitch hadn't tortured Alex like she had with Birkhoff, and she hadn't wiped her memories like she had with Owen. So what happened to Alex in South Ossetia besides losing Larissa.
A small thought sparked in the back of Sean's mind, yet it was quickly diminished. All of a sudden, Medical exploded with activity, stealing his attention. Birkhoff and Sonya frantically burst onto the floor to prepare doctors for surgery: Rachel had attacked Alex and had shot Ryan. Whatever Sean had been thinking about before was instantly replaced with worry. His anxiety kept getting worse as he learned that another rebel had hacked the room and freed Rachel, that Rachel then took Alex's gun, and that she pistol whipped Alex and shot Ryan. What was supposed to have been a simple interrogation blew up. And Ryan might die because of it.
Sean tried not to be so pessimistic, but it was difficult not to be. The worst just kept happening. The only thing that got Sean to finally calm down was seeing Alex walk into Medical. Medics had had to whisk Ryan away to the OR, yet Alex was able to walk around just fine. Sean sighed in relief and rushed to her side. She insisted that she was fine, dismissing his worry before he could say anything. He would've believed her if she hadn't sounded so distracted. He checked to see if the blow to her head caused any lasting damage, fearing a concussion. But she appeared perfectly fine; the attack hardly left a mark.
"What happened?" Despite already hearing from Birkhoff, Sonya, and others about Rachel's escape attempt, Sean wanted to hear Alex's side of the story. No one had gotten much out of her besides the very basics. That then made them fear that she was either concussed, in shock, or both. Sean was inclined to lean towards both by how unfocused she was. Yet her pupils weren't dilated, nor was she shaky. It seemed more like she was thinking about something besides the shooting. What, though, Sean couldn't even hazard a guess.
"Rachel escaped. She attacked me, and she… she shot Ryan," Alex repeated the same thing she had told Birkhoff, Sonya, and the medics. Sean considered taking her out of the bunker so she could get some fresh air and snap out of wherever her head was. However, he quickly believed that that might not be a viable solution. Alex continued talking about what had happened, yet not to her boyfriend. What she said was only meant for her to hear as though they were just her wild thoughts manifesting, "Она зашла слишком далеко. Ей не следовало стрелять в Райана. Это было слишком далеко. О чем она думала…"
"Alex!" Gripping his girlfriend's shoulders firmly, Sean shouted. He had learned enough Russian to pick up on some words- like 'shot', 'too far', and 'thinking'- yet Alex was speaking way too fast for him to understand her. She also sounded far away and dreamlike, as if she wasn't really there. Since the hunt for the rebels had started, Alex's mind always seemed like it was a million miles away; she wasn't thinking the same as the rest of the team. At that moment, it appeared to be so much worse than before. Sean didn't believe that a simple shout would be able to bring her back. Wherever her head had brought her, she was stuck there.
"The guards captured her. I gotta… I gotta see what's going on," Slipping out of Sean's hold, Alex gave a halfhearted excuse and hurried away. She hardly even glanced at him before she left Medical. Her mind wasn't on Ryan's wellbeing, Sean's confusion, or anything else that was happening right in front of her. The hollow, distracted sound of her voice wasn't the only proof of that. The empty look in her eyes said it all. Her normally bright, energetic blue eyes were hazy and unfocused. She had completely checked out. A part of Sean wanted to believe that it was a result of shock. Yet he knew better than that. Alex was gone. She wasn't there anymore.
Once Michael's new hand was cleaned and bandaged, Nikita helped him up from the operating chair. He was a bit unsteady, but otherwise, he was as well as he had been- if not better. The Shop computer came to life one last time to tell them that they didn't need to worry about cleaning up, the organization would take care of everything. The two were free to go. Neither Michael nor Nikita needed to be told that twice. They took their belongings and hurried to leave Buffalo and the Shop as far behind them as possible.
The couple was in high spirits for most of the journey back to Division. However, when they were almost home, Nikita finally got an explanation from Birkhoff for why he had hung up on her: during the interrogation, Rachel had attacked Alex and had shot Ryan. After discovering the news, Nikita pushed the car to the limit, trying to get back to Division in record time. Yet, by the time she and Michael had arrived, there was nothing they could do to fix the situation. The guards had recaptured Rachel, Alex was okay, and Ryan was out of surgery. The worst of it was over. Now all they had to do was deal with the terrible aftermath.
Birkhoff and Sonya shared what else they could about what had happened, yet they didn't have much. Not unless Michael and Nikita could get Alex to say more than a few words. The two rushed to Medical to try- and to see Ryan. When they arrived, Alex was sitting in a chair next to Ryan's cot, staring glassy-eyed at his unconscious body. Birkhoff had said that Alex had been by Ryan's side since he had gotten out of surgery. She hadn't wanted to leave him alone. She still didn't move even when the couple burst in. She remained slumped in her spot and continued to speak automatically, "He lost a lot of blood. They don't know when he'll wake up."
Slowly approaching Alex and Ryan, Nikita stared helplessly at her severely injured friend. She couldn't help but take the blame for his predicament. If she hadn't been so focused on her own mission, she could've realized how terrible the rebellion inside Division had gotten. She could've been in the bunker for the investigation. And she could've been the one interrogating Rachel with Alex. Ryan would've never gotten shot if Nikita had just been more present. He would've been perfectly fine if she wasn't so selfish, "I should've been here."
"You couldn't have known what would happen," Alex responded softly. That was the gentlest thing she had said to Nikita in a long time. Honestly, with the way things had been between the two lately, Michael had thought that Alex would've piled onto Nikita's tendency to blame herself for everything. It was surprising that she tried to absolve her instead. Except, she did have a point. Absolutely no one could've known that Rachel would shoot Ryan. Even if they had suspected that the rebellion had gotten that awful and violent, they couldn't have predicted a shooting. No matter the circumstance, it was too horrific to imagine.
"What did happen?" Michael pressed, hoping to fill in some gaps in the team's information. Alex seemed more talkative and approachable than Birkhoff and Sonya had made her out to be. It was possible that she had managed to heal from whatever shock she had fallen into after the incident. Sean had probably helped with that before he disappeared to God knew where. Or maybe sitting and thinking alone with Ryan had helped put things into perspective for her. The only way to help him now was to share what had happened. Then, his shooter could be punished and the rebellion could finally be stopped.
It took a while for Alex to reply to Michael's question. She took a moment to think what to say as she took a deep breath of air. She did expand on what she had told the others, but it wasn't by much. It still didn't help the team with intel on the rebels. Nor did it help them understand why one Division agent would shoot another, "It was an attempted breakout. Rachel's people have been rigging access terminals from the start. One of them hacked the interrogation room door and stormed in behind me. Rachel grabbed my gun and took off firing. The only reason I didn't get shot was… was because he took a bullet for me."
Nikita finally tore her eyes away from Ryan to stare at Alex. She looked the young woman over, checking to see if she really was okay. She wasn't satisfied with her assessment, so she grabbed Alex's hand. She let Nikita take it. The two held onto one another for a moment, lending each other strength and comfort. Michael was tempted to join them, but there was more about the attack that he wanted to know. Namely, Rachel's motivation to pull the trigger, "Did Rachel say something before it happened?"
"She said… she said she's had enough with closed-door meetings and missions on the side. Division's being run by an inner circle, one that isn't concerned with anyone's future or shutting this place down. She wants us all dead. She wants everyone to be free," Alex dropped Nikita's hand. Her glassy blue eyes turned hard, and she looked at Michael and Nikita almost accusingly. Michael opened his mouth to say something, yet Alex cut him off by springing to her feet. She then stomped out of the room without looking back.
Whereas a concerned Michael watched Alex leave, Nikita's focus returned to her injured friend. She collapsed in the chair Alex had occupied and shakily took Ryan's hand. He didn't react to her touch. Of course he wouldn't. He remained unresponsive and unconscious. Tears overwhelmed Nikita's vision, and she clutched Ryan's hand as if for life, "You know, Fletch, the day that you came up with your crazy idea to keep Division open, I… I was scared. Part of me just wanted to run, just bust through the doors and… and fight our way out. But you saw a future. You saw something that none of us could see. I wonder… Did you see this?"
Tears began to fall down Nikita's cheeks despite her best efforts to hold them back. Of all people who could've ended up in critical condition, it was never supposed to be Ryan. All he had ever wanted to do was help people and to reveal the truth. He shouldn't have constantly suffered in order to make that happen. Yes, he had made some bad decisions. But he had only ever had good intentions. Ryan was one of the best. He was a true hero, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. You know, you told me once that I… I saved your life. Do you remember? The truth is, my friend, you saved mine. More times than I can even tell you. We can't do this without you."
Laying his hand tenderly on his fiancée's shoulder, Michael tried to think of something to say to comfort her. Yet he had nothing. He was struggling himself. How had the rebellion escalated so much that Ryan had gotten shot. How had things gotten that bad in Division without the team noticing. Maybe they would've noticed if they hadn't been so involved with their own problems. If they had just stopped to think that there were others that had been suffering, it was possible that the rebellion could've been stopped. Fears and concerns would've been addressed, and Ryan would've never been shot. He'd be as safe and sound as the rest of them.
Squeezing Nikita's shoulder, Michael urged himself to say something; he couldn't just let her cry. But before the words could form, rapid tapping on the window captured his attention. He turned to see Sean waving frantically for him to join him in the hall. Michael drew Nikita's attention to it, and she nodded for Michael to go; she'd be alright. He kissed the top of her head gently before he left to see what was the matter. However, just going out into the hallway wasn't enough for Sean. He grabbed Michael's right wrist and pulled him around a corner. Pain shot up Michael's wrist at the movement, forcing him to jerk away violently, "Ow! Fuck, Sean!"
"What?" Sean backed away, alarmed. He had only grabbed Michael's right hand; he hadn't squeezed it or anything. He shouldn't have been in pain. However, when Sean looked at the sore hand Michael was cradling against his chest, he realized what he had done. There was no longer a prosthetic attached to Michael's wrist. Instead, he had a real hand- a flesh and blood hand. Sean's mouth dropped open in shock. The urgent information he had to tell Michael was instantly forgotten. His entire focus shifted to the bio-prosthesis, "Oh shit. You actually got it. How does it feel? Does it hurt? Is it like your other hand?"
Massaging the recent stitches on his wrist and wiggling the fingers of his new right hand, Michael tried to come up with a way to describe it. Everything was still so fresh, he didn't know what exactly to say. So, he just expressed that, "It's… weird honestly. It doesn't hurt, except for the stitches- thanks for grabbing that, by the way. And it doesn't quite feel like my old hand. I don't know how to describe it. It definitely doesn't feel like a prosthetic; it's not awkward and clumsy, and I can control it like I would my own hand. But it also doesn't feel all too real. I think I need to get used to it before I can really say anything about it."
"It definitely seems like it was worth all the trouble," Hesitatingly grabbing Michael's right hand, Sean examined the bio-prosthesis closely. The only time he had gotten a look at it before the surgery was a quick glance at the science fiction looking canister it had been held in. Sean hadn't believed that the advanced prosthetic was possible. Yes, he knew about Bechiraj's leg, and he was aware of what the others had been doing with what Birkhoff called the Shop. But a real flesh and blood hand for Michael had continued to seem far fetched. Until he was seeing it and feeling it for himself. It was so undeniably real. And Sean was in complete awe of it.
"It is," Michael agreed solemnly. Jason's death hadn't been in vain, the deal with the Shop had been completed, and the new and improved prosthetic was shaping up to be everything Michael wanted it to be. Except, that was all he was willing to discuss about it at the moment. He took his right hand back from Sean and searched for a change in topic. The tablet the former Seal had seemed like a good thing to direct their attention to. Sean had been desperate to share something; Michael was curious to know what it was, "So, why'd you drag me out here?"
Suddenly, the anxiety Sean had felt when he had pulled Michael to a secluded hallway returned. He attempted to take a steadying breath, yet that did nothing. After Alex had left him, Sean investigated what had happened with Rachel on his own. The spaced out reactions from Alex hadn't stirred a lot of confidence in him. Usually, Sean could always rely on his girlfriend. However, he couldn't bring himself to believe her then. Something about the whole thing seemed off. The information he had found while poking around on a tablet proved his terrible suspicion. Things weren't just off; they were the worst things possible, "Alex is behind the rebellion."
Surprised, Michael stared at Sean for a moment, attempting to understand what he was just told. He agreed with Sean that Amanda had done something to Alex in South Ossetia. But to label Alex as the leader of the rebellion- as a traitor- seemed too much. Sure, she had been acting aggressive, forceful, stubborn, and argumentative. Yet that didn't mean she was a part of the group that led to Ryan getting shot. She could never be a part of something that'd hurt someone she cared about, even if she was influenced by Amanda, "What?"
"I mean… you should've seen her reaction after Ryan was shot. She's so spaced out. She's not here with the rest of us. She's running a million miles away in her head. And she's been like that since we started hunting the rebels. I'd say she's on drugs if I didn't know any better," Pacing back and forth, Sean ranted about what he had been noticing. He had feared for a while that Alex wasn't herself; she had returned from South Ossetia so different, so off. But her reaction to the shooting confirmed his worst fear. Alex was gone- his girl had been replaced by something else. And he had to fight and claw for her to come back to him.
Sean could see the doubt forming on Michael's face before he said anything. What Sean was saying was so extreme, of course it was hard to believe. But that was why he had evidence to back up his claim. Sean showed Michael the tablet he had brought with him and pointed out what he had found, "And before you say that that and all her other spacy reactions doesn't mean she's leading the rebellion, look at this. I tried to look at the security footage of Interrogation, but it's all been wiped- every last bit of it."
Taking the tablet from Sean, Michael studied the hack that he was showing him. The complete wipe of the camera feed and all its data wasn't a style he recognized. The Division standard was to splice images together so that no one knew you had messed with their system. The complete wipe was brash and devastating. The rebels didn't need to be secretive; they had already been discovered. They could be as destructive as possible and completely wipe the system so Division didn't learn anything. And they could do so with a technique that left Division baffled, "I've never seen something like this before."
"That's because this hack isn't taught in Division. It was taught to Nikita when she was rogue, then she taught it to Alex, who then taught it to me- and probably also these guys," Sean explained how he had connected the hack and the rebellion to Alex. Only Nikita, Alex, and Sean knew how to wipe a system in that style, which meant only they could've done it. Sean had been busy in Medical, and Nikita had been busy in Buffalo. That just left Alex, or whoever she had taught it to, "I think this is what Alex has been doing when she stays late in Division. I think when Amanda fucked with her, she made her want to rebel, cause dissent, tear us apart."
"If that's true, if you're right, then we need to tell everyone else about this. Go get Birkhoff, Sonya, and Owen, and tell them to meet at our apartment. Don't let anyone else know what we're doing, especially Alex. We can't let this rebellion get any worse," Quickly passing back the tablet, Michael ordered. If things with Alex were as bad as Sean claimed (and Michael believed it was), then they had to inform the rest of the team. They needed to start working together to correct the situation before anyone else got shot. And they had to do so quietly. Division couldn't know what was occurring; more might want to run, breaking the tipping point.
"What should I say to Alex if she asks what I'm doing?" Before he ran off, Sean asked. Alex was going to wonder why he wouldn't go home with her, especially since he had made a big deal recently about her never being home with him. He couldn't tell her that it was because he believed Amanda had fucked with her brain- Michael was right that they shouldn't mention that or anything else about it to Alex. However, Sean still had to say something. He wouldn't lie to his girlfriend, regardless if she was acting like herself or not.
"Only tell her half-truths: you're going to your sister's place to talk about the Shop and my hand and some other stuff. Alex shouldn't know we suspect that Amanda messed with her head. We don't know how she'd react. She could be too volatile to upset right now. We keep her calm, we figure out what's wrong, then we help her," Michael advised. Without knowing what exactly Amanda had done to Alex, it was best not to confront her. She or someone else could get hurt in the process. There had been too much pain, too much devastation, because the team wasn't paying attention or making the right calls. That ended then.