This story is for entertainment purposes only, I do not claim the characters as my own. Parents, it is your responsibility to monitor your children's internet use, not mine.

Percy's Plan

She struggled to free herself, but Andrei and Illya held her tightly between them. Nikita memorized every step she took and studied the layout of the rooms as they dragged her through the house. Her training had taught her to look for places to take cover and for possible escape routes and in her mind, this battle was far from over. When the door to a room in the back of the house opened, she was alarmed to see Michael wounded, bound and disoriented. The light from the hallway blinded him and his sight was still blurry from his head injury. He could barely make out the three figures standing in the doorway.

"Michael! These bastards won't get away with any of…" They cut her off when they pulled her back and slammed the door shut.

The Russians forced her down the hallway and into another room that contained an array of mis-matched furniture. Andrei wrestled her to the full size bed and took her right hand and handcuffed her wrist to the bedpost. Illya attempted to do the same to her left, but not before Nikita managed to land her knee in his groin. He doubled over and groaned, while Andrei hit her across the jaw, knocking the wind out of her.

Once her ankles were secured the same way as her wrists, Illya retaliated by clamping his hand around her throat and squeezing. "You bitch! You will be sorry!" He spit the words out while she fought to stay conscious.

Andrei yelled at him. "Nyet, you'll get us in the shit-house if you kill her." He tore a piece of duct tape off of a roll and slapped it over her mouth, the two thugs left the semi-conscious Nikita tied spread eagle to the bed.

In the back bedroom, Michael tried to make sense of what had just happened. He had instantly recognized Nikita's voice and was relieved to know she was alive, but why they had been kept alive, was the question.

Roan placed the binoculars in his jacket pocket and slid his eyeglasses back on his face. With the exception of the two men searching the bushes, the activity around the lake property had died down. The men looked foolish, especially when one of them emerged with a pair of shoes in his hand. Tossing shoes away was a poor substitute for a bullet, but this wasn't his mission or his call.

When he had arrived at the look out point, he watched them drag Michael into the cabin, which meant he was still alive. Lucky for the Russians, if he had died, Percy would not have been pleased. The Cleaner wasn't impressed by what he saw, until when one of the Russians walked up behind the Division driver, shooting him point blank in the back of his head. The critic in him thought it was efficient and relatively clean. That made three agents taken out; their lifeless bodies sprawled on the ground. The fourth was Alex and he hadn't seen any sign of her and was told one young female agent wasn't his concern.

When Nikita appeared, he almost laughed out loud at how predictable she was, skulking around the trees and the SUV. The two goons took her by surprise and Roan was surprised to see her go down. He watched them carry her away and into the cabin.

Walking back to his vehicle, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed a number on his speed dial. It rang once. "Cleaner number one, requesting a secure line."

"Just a moment." A few seconds later, Percy came back and said. "Go."

A confident look crossed the Cleaner's face. "It appears, all is going as planned."

Alex is inside of Amanda's cavernous office, watching her apply a coat of lipstick, while she sits at her dressing table. She smiles up at her insincerely. "I'm the one who will help you find your inner beauty." Her smug expression morphs into Nikita's face and her mentor's eyes are filled with concern. "I know who killed your parents. I've been searching for you for over two years."

Nikita backs away from her, and as she fades from sight, Alex turns around and bumps into Nathan. He smiles down on her kindly. "If you don't mind me saying so, you look like you could use a friend." She's grateful and wants him to know it, but someone taps her on the shoulder and she turns around and comes face to face with Birkhoff. He gives her a defeated look and mutters. "Good morning Sunshine." She takes a step back and someone grabs her shoulders and forces her to turn around. It's Jaden and she says with attitude "I'm gonna bury you." When Alex blinks, it's Michael standing in front of her looking calm and well groomed. "We're giving you a second chance to serve your country." His concerned look turns into a scowl.

The urge to bolt overtakes her, but instead of fleeing, she looks down and sees Thom's prone body on the ground. The bloodstain on the front of his shirt is growing. "You're gonna see me." He gasps. Alex feels remorse and guilt and walks quickly away. Her pace picks up until she is running, racing through a wooded area trying to outrun her regret. The pebbles, decomposing leaves and sticks cut into her feet, but there is no pain, only a sense of foreboding.

When she runs out into a clearing, she is standing in a truck stop. Large semi-trucks are connected to gas pumps and the parking lot's fluorescent lights shine down on her. Percy is here, with his arms folded in front of him. "If you're feeling sorry for him, don't. I need to know you believe that before I can promote you to agent." Before she can answer, he steps aside and her father is there, ghostly pale with a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. "Alexandra…" he whispers her name and looks at her with mournful eyes. "There is no one else, I am counting on you…"

Her eyes clamp shut against the flood of tears she cannot control. She wants to call out "Papa… Papa" but she's mute. When she opens her eyes, she's in a box, sweat pours off of her and intermingles with her tears. She feels desperate and her entire body aches. She is in the sauna Nikita built to help her get clean. "I know how you feel…" her mentor says looking through the small window. "I know it hurts." She walks away and fades from view.

Alex frantically pounds on the window with her fists. She has finally found her voice and screams. "I HAVE TO WASTE SOMEONE OR I GET WASTED!"

Gulping down a huge breath of air, with her heart thumping wildly in her chest, her eyes flew open with a start. She was curled up in a tight little ball and it took her a few moments to realize she had been dreaming. A terrifying feeling of foreboding had her in a vise like grip.

When the door to her room was thrown open she sat up abruptly. A guard armed with an assault rifle walked in followed by Amanda.

"How are you feeling Alex?" Her voice was smooth and her concern as hollow as always.

Even through her fears, she thought it ironic that this woman had been the one to teach her to work through her panic attacks. "All right, although the bed is kinda hard." She said trying to hide her anxiety.

The older woman smirked at her. "You'll be back in your own bed tonight. It's standard protocol to monitor an agent whose been put in a life threatening position. We want to make sure you're coping."

Alex smirked back at her with a rebellious look on her face. "I appreciate your concern, is that why he's here?" She pointed at the guard.

Amanda's sinister smile made Alex's skin crawl. ""We're a family and family takes care of each other. This won't take long, we need to debrief and then you can go."

"Well? What did you find?" Percy had walked into Amanda's office. She was busy making notes in a small notebook.

Amanda looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Nothing useful, but I still contend Alex is hiding something." She shrugged her shoulders. "She is genuinely sorry about the loss of life and the failed mission. She's also concerned about Michael's well being. You already know how the rest of it went down."

Percy sighed and sat down on the chair opposite her. "Perhaps she's the real thing. A good solid agent, a soldier who refuses to be entrapped by your psychological mind games."

She gave him a condescending look. "Maybe, but her nightmares are an indication that she's keeping secrets, and I want to know what they are."

Percy acknowledged her with an evil grin, then he looked at her eagerly. "It looks like the pieces of my plan are falling into place."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Good. I hope this works for your sake."

"You mean for Division's sake." He said tongue in cheek. "Once Roan kills the scientist, he'll sends Tasarov on his way with the codes. We've discussed it, he has a few tactics in mind to compel Michael to kill her. The psychotropic drugs should do the trick."

Amanda had to admit, Percy was quite diabolical. The lengths he was going to were extreme, even for him. "You're sure this won't result in Nikita killing Michael?"

"Of course not, Roan will make sure of that."

Amanda gave him a dubious look. "Are you really going to let Ari have those codes?"

"By the time Gogol breaks the encryption, they'll be new ones in place." Percy gave her a satisfied smile.

"Don't underestimate Ari's ways. He isn't quite the pushover you think he is. I understand he has Prokhorov backing him. That's better than the U.S. Government. He may be smarter than you think."

Percy looked untroubled. "Duly noted." He got up and walked out of her office without looking back.

Meet Me

One end of the shabby looking shop was filled with vinyl records. Their dog-eared covers, stood on edge in bins on the tables. The other side contained racks of comic books and shelves of graphic novels.

Birkhoff perused the inventory and ran his fingers across the titles of the over sized paperback books. He chose one, than another and then two more. He was about to pick up a comic book when the trill of his cell phone interrupted his process. That process being, a day away from the depths of hell, known as Division.

He fumbled with his selections and took a small innocuous looking cell phone out of her pocket. The caller I.D. came up empty and he considered not answering it, but something in him made him reconsider.

"Who is this?" No one but a select few had ever had this number, he had gone to great lengths to keep it untraceable. This was one of the few secrets he had from Percy.

"Birkhoff?" The voice was female and familiar but this was way out of context and it caused the stirrings of panic. If he had been exposed, he had a much bigger problem than a wrong number.

"Birkhoff, it's Alex. I need to talk to you, in private, can we meet up someplace?"

"Hell no! How did you get this number? I'm so fucked if Percy finds out about this!" He whispered.

"It's about Michael."

"Michael? I don't know what you're talking about and I'm hanging up now. Don't call me again." He flipped the phone shut, shoved it back into his pocket and left the store without making a purchase.

Alex sat in her apartment and bit her lower lip in frustration. She had hoped Nikita would have been right and Birkhoff would have helped her. She couldn't tell him she was worried about Nikita, but Michael was different. She was about to set the burner down when it vibrated and chimed. She read the text message.

1 hr gameworks 6 & pine st

Ryan Fletcher knew how to fire a gun with reasonable accuracy, but he wasn't a deadly assassin or sniper who could kill or hit a target at a hundred feet. He had some knowledge of explosive devices, but never disarmed a live bomb. He never boxed or brawled in a ring or bar, but knew when to duck and run. Ryan spoke Spanish fluently but could fool no one into thinking he was from anywhere but St. Louis. He was an analyst with the CIA, a bureaucratic Kingpin, a man who fought with data and could attack with facts and figures. How in the world he ended up waiting for a call from Robocop eluded him.

After calling in sick, he paced the floor of his apartment nervously. He wasn't sure what the strange call meant, but if Nikita needed help, he wouldn't let her down.

When his cell phone rang, he practically jumped out of his skin. "Hello? This is Ryan Fletcher."

"Meet me in one hour at Great Falls Park. Just west of the Visitor's Center is a trail head." The voice was still electronically altered.

"Who is this? Why should I meet...?" Before Ryan could finish his sentence the line went dead.

Ryan donned his black leather jacket, he felt the weight of his gun in his pocket and left his apartment.

The electronic sounds of video games, loud music and enthusiastic voices echoed throughout the building. Large format screens on the walls flashed bright lights and images. She looked around nervously, trying to pick Birkhoff out of the crowd of teenagers and the permanently adolescent.

No one she knew ever spoke of Birkhoff. They only complained about him. His expertise with technology was unmatchable and so was his sour disposition. He seemed to be universally disliked, but highly valued by Percy. What Alex had recently learned, everyone in Division was expendable. She was still unsure if she could trust him, but like Nikita had said, her options were limited.

Alex saw a few cute guys, and caught one or two of them checking her out. If she had been a normal twenty year old, she might be interested, but she was far from normal. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, hoping to blend in with the crowd, but even dressed down, Alex stood out. Her thick brown hair fell down around her shoulders, and only a blind man wouldn't recognize how attractive she was.

From his perch above the gaming floor, Birkhoff looked down at the new agent. He thought about leaving and turning her over to Amanda. He had often rode Michael about Alex being the new beta version of Nikita and although it was said in jest, they both knew it was true. Like her predecessor she had a quality that made one take notice, and Birkhoff had noticed.

While he was contemplating his next move, she looked up and caught him looking down at her. She glared at him and he knew it was too late to beat it out of there. Birkhoff motioned her up with a look and a nod. She hurried up the stairs and he met her there.

"How the hell did you get my number?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"I saw it on Michael's phone, he dropped it and I scrolled through his numbers before giving it back to him." Alex had perfected the art of the lie even before she came to Division.

Birkhoff knew that was bullshit, but at this point it seemed irrelevant. "What do you want?"

Alex startled him by taking his arm. "Let's find someplace to talk." He was surprised by the gesture, but led her back toward the cafe where the decibels were lower.

They had almost made it when a tall, well built looking frat boy type stopped them, he looked at Alex with a cocky expression. "Seriously now, you can do better then him."

Before Alex could tell him to buzz off, Birkhoff kicked his leg out from under him and sent him sprawling on the ground. He stepped on his chest and his arms assumed a defensive stance. "Come again?" He asked with an edgy politeness.

Frat boy looked up at Birkhoff with fear and Alex looked at him with admiration. She snickered and took Birkhoff's arm again. "Don't hurt him, he's no threat to you, let's go." She pulled him away and led him toward the cafe.

Ryan left his car at the Visitor's Center parking lot. The park was sparsely populated, it was mid-week and winter had lingered on. The air was crisp, the temperatures just above freezing and piles of grimy looking snow still dotted the landscape. He followed the sign that read "Trail Head" and nervously looked around. He kept his hand in his pocket and on his gun, making sure the safety was off.

A quarter mile from the parking lot was the trail head. A sign showed a dotted line that wove it's way around the park. Ryan hunched his shoulders to the cold and stamped his feet. The only other people around looked at him peculiarly, as they passed by and made their way down the trail.

He knew an hour had gone by and once again he questioned why he was here. Who knew about him and Nikita? This wasn't Division's style. Michael had already proved this kind of cloak and dagger was unnecessary. He was on the verge of leaving when a voice seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"You going someplace?"

Ryan spun around, if he wasn't so apprehensive, he might have laughed, but instead he sputtered out his reply. "You have got to be kidding? What do you want with me?"

"I dunno, maybe we could buddy up, try and save Nikita's life and take Division down?"

He stepped back and looked at the man, his self assured stance and smirk was almost comical. "You and me, work together?"

Owen Elliot gave him a lopsided smile. "Yeah Ry, you and me, and when we spring her, Nikita too."