Hello people of the internet! So, before we get to the story I have a few things to say. First thing is if you guys love Nikita and you have instagram please check out the Nikita Fanpage we made for the show called teamnikita! We post pics and screen caps of both the cast and characters! Second check out my friends Nikita Vid called Nikita & Alex: Your Bones on YouTube! It's awesome! All the details and links are on my profile except for the instagram one but I'll put it on there after this is posted. Okay that's all I gotta say for now so without further ado here is chapter 7! Enjoy!

Shoutouts!: Ooh so two people got this clue right. Congrats to Wootar16 (btw: your first guess is the right one) and nicolebetkhoodu for guessing right! And another Congrats to Wootar16 for guessing the cast member who calls Team Nikita Justice League too! It was Shane West aka: Michael! Oh and gold stars for everyone who guessed and reviewed!

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Nikita. Oh, I also don't own Target...you'll see why later in the story lol.

Chapter 7: Third Degree

"Walk with me down memory lane, to a place not far from here, however stories say tracking adjustments aren't always hip."

Nikita walked over to a portion of the wall that had collapsed from the fire and stared out into the city's skyline. New York was a big place. "Oh Alex, where are you?" Nikita breathed into the cold wind. She stopped to listen to the sounds of the busy cars rushing by on the streets below her.

"Nikita, come in. What happen? Did you find Alex?" Michael asked through his coms.

"No, just another clue."

Michael sighed. "Owen and I are still stuck by the stairs, there's no way around without it caving in from our weight."

"Okay I'll be down in a minute, I just want to say goodbye to this place again."

Nikita continued to stare out into the city. "A place not far from here…" She tried to pinpoint a location but nothing really stood out, all the buildings in New York looked the same to her. "Alex, I need you. You were always so good at solving problems." She smiles at the memories of Alex. She was always such a smart girl, Nikita didn't need to train her that hard. Even Michael was impressed at how well she cracked codes and became a top recruit. That was something Nikita could never teach her, she had to have her own street smarts. No wonder Percy and Amanda made Alex an agent so fast. This girl had skills.

The lights of the city was starting to glow brighter, the sun was setting and soon businesses would close if Nikita didn't hurry and find Alex or the next clue in time, she would have to wait another day. Alex may not have another day and Michael and Owen was waiting for her to come down. "I need to solve this riddle now, think Nikita."

She walked around to another viewpoint of the city, trying to get a different perspective. "Stories say tracking adjustments aren't always hip. Hip?" Nikita laughed, "Why would you say hip, Alex?" It was such an old slang word, something Alex would never use in a casual conversation. It must mean something else.

One by one signs from stores down the street were beginning to turn on. Nikita spotted one and instantly knew she was given a sign.

"The store!" Nikita exclaimed in excitement, hitting her com button. "I know where to go next!"

"Where?" Owen replied to her first.

"In Alex's new clue she mentioned a place not far from here, where there were stories of tracking adjustments not always being hip."

"Hip? Who says that anymore?" Owen laughs, earning a rude glare from Michael shaking his head.

"Owen, that's not the point. Nikita, continue." Michael says.

"Well actually Michael, I thought the hip thing was strange too… but then I realized after Alex became an agent, I met her in a store and I told her, trackers were usually in the hip."

"That's right, Alex was the first agent to have her's at the base of the cortex." Michael remembers.

"Percy's Kill Chip." Owen stated.

"I don't like the sound of this clue, we need to get over to that store now before it closes." Nikita tells the two of them, "I'm coming down now."

She walks out of the room carefully making her away back to the boys. She reaches the stairs when she hears a crack and some sort of rumbling noise. She stops. What was that? Nikita waits a moment to see if she could hear the noise again but it was completely silent.

"Nikita? You okay?" Michael asks.

"I'm fine." She replies. "I just heard a weird noise. It's probably nothing."

"I heard it too… just be careful and hurry." He says. Owen nods.

She smiles. "Of course."

Nikita takes a step forward when the floor collapses. She lets out a scream as she grabs onto a hanging piece of wood.

"NIKITA!" Michael and Owen yell.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Michael exclaims.

"How?" Owen asks worriedly. "Take another step up the stairs and you'll fall too."

Michael realizes he's right and looks around worriedly. He needed to get to the other side but how? He looks up and sees a piece of a metal chain hanging from the ceiling. He figured it was from an old chandelier. Michael looks at it for a moment when an idea forms in his head. He goes over to the railing and pushes down on it. Satisfied that it's sturdy enough, Michael jumps on top of it.

Owen looks at him. "What are you doing?"

Michael doesn't answer. Instead he walks a bit forward on the railing and jumps as he grabs the metal chain. He swings forward and leaps onto the other side of the stairs.

"Michael!" Nikita screams. "I'm slipping!"

"Hold on!" Michael runs towards the huge hole in the floor. His eyes widen in fear when he sees her dangling from the small piece of wood.

"Nikita!" He reaches over to her, holding out his hand. "Grab my hand!"

She reaches for it but the wood she's hanging on begins to break. "It's breaking!"

"It's gonna be okay!" He tells her. "Just grab my hand!"

Nikita nods, trying again. She finally grabs his hand just as the piece of wood breaks. Michael tightens his grip around her using both of his hands while Nikita quickly latches her other hand onto his. Michael then pulls her up and away from the edge. Sighing in relief, Michael engulfs her in a huge hug which she returns.

"Never scare me like that again." He whispers in her ear.

Nikita smiles, leaning back to see his face. "Thank you."

"You know I'll always be there for you... but you're welcome." He grins.

"Not trying to ruin the moment or anything... since that's Ryan's job but uh, we're kinda under a time crunch here." Owen tells them smirking.

"I heard that." Ryan says over the coms.

"Heard what?" Owen replies innocently. "I didn't say anything." Michael and Nikita laugh.

Michael jumps onto the railing again and holds out his hand for Nikita to take it. He pulls her up, wrapping his arm around her waist and grabs the chain.

Nikita smirks. "Well look at you Mr. Tarzan."

Michael rolls his eyes but smiles as he swings them to the other side. The two jump down next to Owen.

Owen looks at them. "Let's go."


"Are you okay?" Ryan asks Nikita through her coms as she, Michael and Owen leave Whitfield's place.

"I'm fine." Nikita replies. "We found the next clue and figured out what it means. We're on our way to Target."

"Target?" Ryan asks confused.

"It's where the next clue is." Nikita explains rolling her eyes. "I'll explain later."

"Oh that makes sense." Ryan says. "Alright, good luck and be safe."

"Of course." Nikita says as the car reached Target. The store was still crowded with costumers, so they all agree to hide their weapons. They didn't want to cause any kind of trouble. They finally go inside the store.

Michael looks around. "How are we going to find anything here?"

"Let's look around the bedding section. That's where I told Alex about the trackers." Nikita tells them. They nod and walk to the section.

"Attention shoppers. The store will be closing in fifteen minutes so please finish up your shopping and hurry to the cashiers. Thank you and have a good day!"

Nikita eyes widen at the store announcement. "What? Fifteen minutes! How are we going to find a clue in fifteen minutes!"

"We'll find it, don't worry." Michael says placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax Nikita, we got this." Owen reassures her. Nikita nods and they start to look around.

Michael and Nikita were looking through some shelves when Ryan's voice came through their coms.

"This is Ryan. We hacked into the store surveillance systems... Nikita, I think someone's shadowing you."


Birkhoff and Sonya stand anxiously in the elevator waiting to arrive in Sub level 12.

"Okay I'm freaking out." Birkhoff bursts, breaking the silence. He looks at Sonya. "Why aren't you freaking out?"

"Don't see how that would help." She replies, taking deep breaths. "I'm focusing on the plan."

"There's got to be another way to do this without risking your life." Birkhoff tells her.

She looks at him. "We already narrowed down the list of suspects to four. Their under surveillance so you can finally disable this damn thing in my head."

He sighs. "How can you be so sure this is going to work?"

"I'm about to let you poke at my brain with a needle." She places a hand on his cheek and smiles. "Apparently I trust you."

They gaze at each other for a moment before the elevator dings, signaling them they had arrived at the floor. They glance at each other one more time before walking out of the elevator.


"What?" Nikita asks worriedly. "Can you see them?"

Ryan looks at the screen. "No, I can't see their face. Just watch your backs and try not to cause a scene. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Okay, thanks Ryan."

"No problem." He turns off his coms and decides to go check on Sean. It was time to see if he had found anything new about the second mole. Ryan walks into Birkhoff's office to find Sean staring intently at one of the screens.

"Find anything?" He asks.

Sean shakes his head. "No, everything looks-" He sees Baker cut his hand and leave the room. He frowns, grabbing his crutches and standing up. Something didn't seem right. "Did you see Baker-"

"Go, check it out." Ryan nods watching the screen. "And be careful with your leg."

Sean raises his eyebrow but agrees and leaves the room. He has some ass to kick.


"Well it's all coming together," Amanda says looking up from her laptop. Anne looks over her shoulder to see the store surveillance videos. "How is Alex doing?"

"She's been sitting in her room staring at her leg the whole day mumbling to herself."

"What has she been saying?"

"Things like 'this isn't real, I must be dreaming'. The girl is going crazy locked up in that hell hole."

Amanda sighs, "Alex isn't ready yet, when she is I won't stop her from returning to Nikita."

"When will she be ready?" Anne asks.

"When Sonya updates me with news Nikita has solved the fifth and final clue. She's only on clue number 3 right now. We still have some time to get Alex ready."

Anne looks at her questionably, "How can you trust Sonya?"

"She has a bomb in her brain, who needs trust when I have her on speed dial?" Amanda laughs. "Let's check the weather." She takes out her phone. "Partially cloudy, but still a balmy 78."

Anne looks confused. "Wailea Beach?"

Amanda smiles and looks up at Anne. "If our friend on the inside senses Sonya is flirting with betrayal, the forecast on this weather site changes and I retire Sonya."

Suddenly Amanda becomes excited. "This must be what it felt like to be Nikita!" Anne stares at her. "On the run from place to place. Launching her war from a laptop with a mole inside Division…she lives inside stronger walls now, but in a way she's weaker than ever." Amanda stops to glance at a surveillance video of Alex still sitting in her room. "Even the strongest walls can come crashing down. All you need to find is a single crack on the surface."

Amanda clicks through several images on her laptop. Stopping on new photos of Nikita, Michael and Owen on the streets outside of Nikita's old loft.

"Contact the watchman, tell him he can leave the store now. I have a new assignment for him."


"We need to focus on finding the clue." Michael says trying to calm Nikita.

Owen nods. "I'll keep a look out for the shadower you two continue to find the clue."

Nikita nods. "Alright." Owen walks off and Michael and Nikita continue to search through the bedding area. A woman suddenly walks up to them.

"Can I help you find anything?" She asks politely but before either could answer she adds. "I recommend our new custom embroidered hand towels." She hands one to them with the letter "A" stitched on it.

"Thank you." Nikita says taking the towel, noticing the "A". The woman walks away and the two glance at each other confused. Nikita feels something inside the towel and opens it. Inside was an a long white envelope. Nikita glances at Michael then opens the envelope revealing a note signed by Alex.

"Through rose colored glasses she goes, down a rabbit hole. Passerby's be unaware, but this place is not a waste she finds, temptations through a looking glass." Nikita reads.


"Excellent work on the last batch of photos. Exactly the kind of intel I was looking for." Amanda says to her laptop while circling around her desk. Anne watched her from the corner of the room. Amanda leans down to see the watchman's response.

"It doesn't come cheap." The watchman replies.

"Follow Nikita to the next location."

"I'll begin as soon as the money hits my account."

Amanda smiles, "Already on it's way." The watchman nods and the screen goes black.

"Now what?" Anne asks.

"Time to prepare Alex."


"We found another clue." Nikita tells Ryan over his coms. "We don't know what it means yet."

"Alright, why don't you guys head back to Division. It's getting late and you guys should get some rest." Ryan tells them as he walks back to ops.

"What? No! We're so close!" Nikita exclaims.

"We should at least regroup to figure out the next clue." Michael says. "And get those splinters out of your hand."

"I'm fine Michael." She sighs. "Alright, we're on our way."

"I'll see you soon." Ryan replies. He switches his coms. "Sean, how's whack-a-mole going?"

"I'm tracking down Baker." Sean replies, walking down a hall close to sub level 12. "I'll tell you when I find him."

"Good Luck." Ryan says.

Sean finds Baker and sees him looking into the room Birkhoff and Sonya were in. Baker takes out his phone and turns around jumping when he sees Sean standing there.

"Lost?" Sean asks.

"Cut myself." Baker holds up his arm. "Going to Medical."

"You're about twelve floors off." Sean replies taking a few steps towards him. Baker doesn't say anything. "What does Amanda have on you?"

"What does she have?" Baker smiles. "She has my loyalty. She's always had it. You're the traitor here and traitors die." He holds up his phone to update Amanda. Sean knocks it out of his hand with his arm. He goes to grab it but Bakers knocks him into the wall.

Birkhoff and Sonya hear them fighting from inside the room.

"What's happening?" She asks worriedly.

"I don't know." Birkhoff replies gazing quickly at the door.

Baker goes to grab his phone again but Sean grabs him throwing him aside. Baker tries to move again but Sean hits him in the head with his one of his crutches and slams his head into the wall knocking Baker unconscious. Sean grabs Baker's phone and walks into the room.

"What the hell was going on out there?" Birkhoff asks, still working on Sonya's chip.

"It was Baker. In the server room with the candle stick." Sean answers holding up the phone.

Birkhoff raised his eyebrow. "Baker? Really? Dude has skills."

Sonya scoffs. "I never liked him."

"Guy's a douche bag." Birkhoff agrees. "You should call Nikki. Tell her the good news. Oh and props on kicking the guy's ass with crutches. Looks like you got skills too."

Sean laughs. "Thanks." He turns on his coms. "Nikita, we found the second mole."


Amanda observed Alex in her room through the one-way mirror. The young girl was sitting with her back against a wall staring at her leg for what seemed like hours. Amanda turned to the man in the hood and gave him a silent nod. He left the room and entered Alex's.

Alex looked up at the sound of the door being pushed opened. "Did you come to tell me more of my friends are trying to kill me?"

"Alex, they're not your friends."

"What do you know, you're just some stranger… who won't even let me see his face."

He stands back in the shadows and pulls his hood tighter, "I'm sorry for that, but it's best you stay distant from me."

She stares in his direction, sighing. "Why should I listen to you? You've got me here trapped."

"This isn't a trap Alex, you're free to go anytime you want."

"Fine, then I'll just go now!" She tries to get up on her weak leg but slides back down against the wall wincing in pain.

"I can help you Alex, please stay awhile and we can talk."

"Talk about what?"

"What happen to you."

Alex sighs, trying to think about what this man had told her. She shakes her head. "That's the problem, I'm having trouble remembering."

"You don't believe Nikita shot you anymore?" He questions.

"I remember being in an ally once like you said." She stops to glance in his direction. "I was getting in a car, about to return to someplace… maybe home?"

"What else do you remember?"

Alex shakes her head as she questions her memories. "Nikita, she stopped the car and attacked me." She looks down at her leg, "She shot me. That's all I can remember, I don't know why."

"You told me she was a traitor and killed your papa."

Alex tries to shake her head again. "She didn't have a choice… they made her do it."

"Who did?" She looks at him, not sure if she should be mentioning their name. "Alex, you can tell me. I'm no danger."

"Division. I remember Division." She says.

"What's Division?"

"It's… a secret unit of the US government, designed to assassinate any threat… but they've gone rouge from the the people who created them… they killed my papa."

"So this Division is evil and anyone who works for it is too?"

"Yes."

"Does Nikita work for Division?"

Alex tried to think again. "No, she can't… this doesn't make sense, she told me she was going to shut it down."

"Alex, what's wrong?"

She keeps her head down shaking it. "This doesn't make sense… I can't remember. This isn't real."

"What is it? What is your mind telling you?"

"It's Nikita, she runs Division now… This isn't right. Something isn't right here!" Alex tries to get up again. "She was supposed to shut that place down!"

"Alex, calm down!"

She starts to panic. "No this isn't right! I need to do something, Division needs to be stopped!"

"How are you going to stop them?"

"I need to stop Nikita. She shot me because I was in her way, it makes sense now. I can remember."

He smiles at the girl, nodding. "Yes, you need to take down Division and Nikita. I can help you."

Alex smiles back at the man in the hood, finally coming to terms with her memories. She knew what she had to do. "First I need to find Nikita."

"She's been looking for you, I heard."

"Let her find me then."

Ahh everything is just getting so intense! Nikita falling through the floor! Amanda brainwashing Alex! Birkhoff deactivating Sonya's kill chip! Someone shadowing Team Nikita and another clue! Oh and we can't forget Ryan and his interrupting issues...dudes gotta work on his timing skills lol Speaking of clues what does their new clue mean? Please review and tell us your answers and thoughts about the chapter! Thanks for reading!