I. HATE. NIKITA.
Thom rocked. But 'All The Way' was quite cool for the Thalex... till the death. But when he talked about her being strong... and how he'd be there... and when she didn't say it was a lie... and when she KISSED HIM! She so loved him. But I almost cried when she said "I'm not leaving him!"
Right. Since Nikita now officially sucks for me, I'm going AU, and Thom will survive. Here's my version of All The Way, and I'll either make up what happens after, or spin the series to suit my Universe.
Good times. Please review?
Anna :)
Alex leaned against her locker, bracing her hands on either side, trying to gather her thoughts. She'd agreed to help Nikita to bring Division down, not kill for them. But if she didn't do this, then they'd kill her, and what good could she do then? It was the sort of moral quandry one hopes never to be challenged with. But Alex was. She was going to have to sacrifice some part of herself - either her moral purity, or her life. She wasn't entirely sure which was worse. But if she did do it... Michael would be there, backing her up. Well, more like scrutinizing her every move, but it would be good to have her mentor there anyway.
And Thom. He would be there. He was still mad at her, for the whole kiss-and-get-a-beatdown thing, for playing him like a fiddle in an Irish pub, but he was a good person. He'd put that aside for the mission.
She hoped.
"Nervous?" a familiar voice asked, and she jumped slightly, turning towards it. Thom stood, chin tilted up almost defiantly, dressed in the standard Division suit. He didn't look as sharp as Michael and the other field operatives, just... like Thom. He glanced down for a moment, before meeting her eyes. "I was nervous too, before my final test."
"Why?" she asked calmly, though she felt anything but inside. "Should I be nervous? You're gonna be there, right?" Though she spoke with attitude, Alex's heart thumped wildly at the thought of Thom not being there, not being within reaching distance.
Not there to save her if she failed.
"I'm just running interfere." he pointed out, moving towards her slightly. "You're the one that has to carry the ball."
She hated him using metaphors. It was typically Division... cancelled, being a classic example. She didn't want to think of Thom as part of the Division machine. She needed him to be the pure, real thing in her life. Some sanity against the confusion, torment. "Or I get benched." she replied cuttingly. "I know their metaphors."
"Yeah, listen I didn't come here to give you a pep talk. I just wanted to warn you to watch your back." he explained in what she'd recognised as his reserved tone. "Jaden's coming after you."
Alex brushed her hair out of her face, fully aware of their proximity; it was the point just past polite, so that she could feel the tension, but couldn't act upon it. Infuriating, really. "Why, has she said something to you?"
Thom said nothing, simply clenching and unclenching his jaw, looking down.
"She's always had it in for me." continued Alex, using the same quiet voice. "'Cause she thinks you an' I are... y'know." Thom looked up sharply. "Together."
"Well she's mistaken." he told her with such a hardness in his face that Alex felt slightly taken aback, and even more hatred for Division. They were changing him. She held his gaze, no emotion flickering across her face. "Anyway," he continued, breaking the tension slightly. "I thought you should know."
Alex sucked in her breath as he brushed past her, body breezing against hers. As panic and fear rose within her, she spun around. "Thom..." she spoke his name with a tone laced with her emotions, voice trembling just slightly. He turned back to face her, hands still in pockets. "What's it like?"
Thom looked at her, and for the first time since the kiss, he'd seen his Alex again. The Alex that was vunerable and young, who he wanted to protect from the world, and protect the world from her. She had a tortured beauty which belonged in a novel, but behind her bravado was a terrified little girl trying to find her way. He knew that.
"To pull the trigger." she elaborated, barely able to hold his gaze.
"Well I can tell you what it's not like." he bargained, resuming his place near to her. "It's not like the person's there one minute, and gone the next. They stay. It's been over a month, and the girl I killed? The spy? I still see her face. Everyday." he told her gently, eyes fixed on hers. He watched her swallow, eyes glistening with the tears he knew she was fighting. Always fighting.
"Thanks for the pep talk." she replied, barely able to get the words out thanks to the growing lump in her throat as she thought about the man she was going to be killing, the life she was going to take for the cause she didn't believe in. The man whose face would haunt her, night and day.
"You'll be okay, Alex." he told her, complete faith in the words. "You're strong. Stronger than me. I knew it the day I met you."
She watched him walk away, and wondered if the pain in her chest would ever stop, if the aching would ever go away. She feared that it may not. From what she'd experienced so far, the task was going to be harder than she'd ever anticipated. She needed help.
Thom surveyed the party with experienced eyes. He may have only been a field agent for just over a month, but he'd grown accostomed to watching, to noticing the small details that people missed during his year-long training. At Division, the way you advanced was to react to the environment around you. So he noticed the woman flirting subtly with the man who wasn't her husband. He noticed the wife who's hand drifted one too many times to her abdomen, automatically shielding her undborn baby. She noticed the man who would most likely have a heart attack in the next three days, judging from his symptoms. As soon as he handed the woman in front of the bar a drink, Alex swept into her place, looking tense. "Could I have a glass of water, please?" she asked in a controlled voice.
He nodded, reaching under the bar, sliding across a napkin, with the syringe hidden underneath. "Absolutely." She placed her hand on the edge, fingers brushing his. He felt the familiar sensation in his stomach, and hoped he and Alex wouldn't be on the same operation again. Worrying about her was too distracting. Of course, lying awake at night thinking about her wasn't very helpful either, but that was another matter. "Hey."
She glanced up, breathing quickly, eyes locking with his.
"I'll be right here." he reassured her, knowing that whatever happened, he was going to get her through it.
She nodded, sliding the package away, leaving a cold breeze against his fingers where hers had been. he hadn't realised her hands were so warm.
Click.
Alex dropped the gun in horror, vaguely aware of someone calling her name. But she couldn't focus on anything but Thom rithering in pain, blood leaking from the bullet wound in his side. He groaned, and she instantly covered his hands with her own, feeling the blood leak slowly across the fabric of his shirt. She thought back to the time in his room, how being in his arms, she'd felt safer than ever before. And when she kissed him, it wasn't just to save Nikita. She'd kissed him with as much emotion as she'd felt.
"Alex, we have to go." Nikita told her quickly.
"I shot him." Alex replied, stunned.
"Alex... that wound's not fatal. He's gonna get better, and tell them everything." Nikita informed her, pulling at her arm.
Alex glared at her. "Fine. I'll handle it, I'll think of something. But I'm not going to leave him."
"Don't get personal, Alex."
Alex's hand tightened against Thom's, and she felt his gaze on her. "I didn't mean to shoot him, Nikita. I'm not going to let him die. Not for me. I'm not worth dying over. All he's done is try protect me. All the time. I am not leaving him!"
Nikita appraised her friend, before nodding. "Fine, I have an idea. But he's not going to like it."
"No-" Thom groaned, his free hand moving across to Alex's.
She glared at Nikita. "You are not going to hurt him."
"No. He's going to become a mole." she replied simply. "Look, Thom... with that wound, you're not going back to work for another four months, not being a new agent. Alex can keep helping me, and you can live, and do good. You're coming with me."
"No-"
"It wasn't a question, sweetheart."
"A-lex..." he gasped, gripping Nikita's arm as she pulled him upright. "Was it... a lie?"
Her eyes filled with tears, and she used her free hand to cup his cheek, leaning in and kissing him gently on the lips, tears running down her cheek to his. "No." she whispered. His face softened slightly, and he gritted his teeth, leaning forwards again to catch her lips with his.
Nikita smiled slightly, before clearing her throat. "We have to go, Thom. If you care about Alex - which I can tell is true - you'll do this. You know we're right. You had doubts of your own."
Alex continued to cry silently as Thom nodded. "I'll be in contact when I can. When I'm out."
Nikita replace Alex's hand on Thom's wound with her own, nodding at her. "Stay safe. You have doubts, let me know and I'll figure something out."
As Nikita pulled Thom to his feet and towards the pipes she knew would help them escape, Alex watched quietly, praying to God they would all make it through alive.
