1/Alex
I slung my bag over my shoulder and rushed out of my apartment, fumbling with the key in the lock as I went. I glanced at my watch and cursed at the hands covering 9.15. I stumbled towards the stairs and tugged my fingers though my hair in replacement of a hairbrush. Just as I rounded the corner of the corridor, I collided with someone walking the other way. I cried out and my bag slipped from my shoulder, the contents spilling out.
"Typical!" I yelled loudly and before checking who the other person was I crouched to scoop my belongings back inside. Another pair of hands joined in and I looked up to see Nathan bent to help me. My heart fluttered uncomfortably as our eyes met.
"In a hurry?" he asked with a smile.
"Sorry I bumped in to you," I said quickly, straightening up and hooking the strap back on my arm.
"I'm not. You've been avoiding me," he replied.
"I'm late for work and my boss will literally kill me if I'm not there within the next ten minutes ago," I shrugged apologetically, attempting to sidestep him. I hadn't spoken or seen Nathan since the night we spent together, and between then and now a lot had happened to me.
"Alex…" he began, stepping in front of me to block my escape.
"Nathan I can't do this right now, we'll talk soon I promise," I said, this time successfully stepping around him and rushing towards the stairs.
While I drove I considered moving apartments and never seeing Nathan again, and then I thought again of how I owed him an explanation for my disappearance several weeks ago. I had put Nathan in danger by allowing anything to happen between us and then I had run, hiding in the only thing I knew: my work and my overall mission to find the people who murdered my parents. In turn I had run into trouble during a Division operation and spent the last few weeks in Division going through withdrawal. This was the first week I had been back in my own apartment.
Division headquarters is in the middle of nowhere. When you reach a certain point on the drive you can see only fields and trees. Only someone looking for it would see it was there; a hidden road leading into a thicket of trees. I parked over the specific pressure spot and cut the engine. Then I pressed the home screen on my satnav and dialled in. There was a confirming click and then the car began to descent into the ground. I watched through the windscreen as the machinery above moved back in to place and the earth swallowed me up into darkness. I felt the wheels touchdown in the underground and a set of large circular metal doors slid soundlessly open in front of me. Light flooded back into the world and I started the engine, driving slowly into the car park. My usual spot was free and I parked up before swinging out of the car as fast as I could and hurrying towards the doors which would lead me into Division. I keyed in the code and the doors slid easily open. With a sigh I stepped inside, pressed my fingerprint against the reader, and felt myself being taken further underground.
For years I had fought the chains of a system which had held me prisoner. I had worked with an outsider, a rogue agent named Nikita to bring down this very system. Never did I think that I would be intentionally going through the doors of my own accord. And yet here I was watching the doors of the elevator slide smoothly open onto an empty white corridor which would lead me to the one thing I had tried so hard to escape.
Division. My worst nightmare and my only chance of justice.