Chapter 9- Fighting and Figuring
Nathan dropped his head down. Amanda hadn't been very nice and he had ended up telling her all about him and Alex, everything about their plan. He didn't know enough to give division a heads-up to where Alex was or what she was doing, but he said enough to make them not like him very much.
In the meantime, Michael was elsewhere in the facility, getting beat up on by Percy. Percy didn't like to do it, but he knew it was necessary. Michael wasn't going to willingly talk, and Percy knew it. So, Percy decided to torture Michael, knowing perfectly well he was trained to resist such measures. It was worth a try.
Michael was barely standing, shackles into the middle of a room much like Percy had once done to Nikita. While Amanda fed on emotional pain, Percy leaned more towards things of the physical realm. Unlike Nikita however, Michael had nothing for Amanda to use to emotionally hurt him, other than the memories of Nikki. So, that left Percy and his more traditional torture methods.
This included things like electric shock, hot metal, and beating, all of which Percy had performed on some poor souls in the world, most likely dead. It was safe to say that Michael wasn't looking forward to the interrogation at all.
Nathan was waiting for someone to come back. He had been left tied up in the room, waiting for someone to come back with news about Alex. Amanda had told him she had been shot, but it did not hit any main organs or arteries, so she would most likely be fine, if of course, they could get the bullet out. From dealing with these people, Nathan had no doubts that Alex and her friends had the skills to do so.
Eventually, some nerdy guy who he learned was called Birkhoff came in and untied him, making him follow. They walked out of the room, down some halls, until they reached their destination: the medical center.
"Well, Nathan, as a precautionary measure, we are going to be putting a tracker chip in you today."
"What? Why?"
"In case you escape. Trust me, that would be a bad idea."
Birkhoff strapped him down to the chair and put an IV into his arm. Nathan was soon out. Birkhoff planted the chip, this one not a kill-chip, in his hip like Nikita's and Michael's. Percy wanted him to put in a kill-chip, but Birkhoff convinced him otherwise. He wasn't a threat to anybody, or at least not division.
Nathan awoke soon after, his hip sore and bandaged. Birkhoff had given him some grey, plain clothes that he said would help him blend in a bit better.
While he was in the facility, he was given a pretty loose rein. He could converse with 'recruits' and sit in on any of their 'training sessions.' He wasn't sure what they were being recruited and trained for, but it didn't seem very legal.
Every once in a while, usually at mealtime, a fight between two or sometimes three recruits would break out, and the security guards would quickly fall in and drag the fighters elsewhere. There was one particularly bad fight where three people got dragged off, one of them to not return until much later sporting some extra bruises and other injuries.
After that incident, Nathan tried to keep to himself, staying on people's good sides. He saw Amanda watching him many times, seeming particularly interested when he joined in on the training. After a while, he began to participate in the combat training. He needed to work out, but seeing as this was how everyone got their exercise, there was no gym for him to use.
During all of these sessions, Amanda seemed to analyze his every move. All of the recruits easily pinned him, but he was learning various techniques and moves that he had never seen before. He was slowly getting better, but was still lagging behind the others. After some time, he noticed Amanda was leaving him alone more, or so it seemed. He started gaining experience and began overtaking the newer recruits. While he never joined in for their weapons training, he was interested in their computer training, even if it was hacking and such.
Through his time spent doing this, Nathan never even heard anything about Nikita or Alex. Percy and Amanda had made it perfectly clear to all the recruits and agents that he was not to know about them. However, some secrets can't be kept forever. There are some times when someone doesn't think, doesn't know someone's around, or even does something on purpose to expose a secret.
During a training session, one of the instructors must have forgotten about Nathan. He was explaining that there were some people that the recruits may need to fight, and that these people were extremely talented. "Take Nikita for example. She broke out of division and took down a whole room full of recruits and agents. And Alex, she tricked the whole of division into thinking she was loyal. She even went to the extent of faking someone else as the mole."
The two names by themselves may not have bothered Nathan, but when heard together like that, everything seemed to click into place. Immediately after the instructor said that, Amanda burst in, anger momentarily unhidden on her face. "Nathan, come here." Nathan approached and turned around to see a guard bringing the instructor elsewhere.
Fear in his mind, Nathan followed. Are these the people Alex is so scared of? How did she even get pulled into this? Shit, I am in deeper than I expected. How was I unlucky enough to get dragged into this anyways?
Amanda turned to face him. The confusion must have shown on his face because Amanda was acting all fake-calm again. "Nathan. What do you know about Alex's past?"
He thought for a moment, the pieces still working in his head. He realized something. "Well, she never actually talked about her past. She seemed like one of those, 'put the past behind you' kind of people. I never really asked her about it. Her past is her business. Why does it matter to you?"
"Because Nathan. This facility is trying to figure out her past. If someone seems to reject their past, then they must have something to hide. We believe Alex may not be American, that she may be working for another country. We do not believe she is simply some civilian."
More pieces slid into place. Why Alex avoided certain things, why she seemed so jumpy all of the time. Maybe she wasn't the innocent girl Nathan first perceived. But, he believed Amanda was the bad guy, not Alex.
Suddenly, Michael jumped from another corridor, looking very beaten up and tired. He smashed into Amanda. Amanda hit the wall, her head cracking against the cement, slumping to the floor unconscious. "Nathan, we need to get out of here NOW." Michael grabbed his arm and they sprinted down the corridor.
They reached a hatch and Michael struggled to pull it open. With Nathan's help, they got it to open and Michael crawled through with Nathan following behind him. The tunnel opened into a large silo thing. There was a ladder to the top, where there seemed to be sunlight coming through. Michael rushed up the ladder, and Nathan followed, knowing it was a matter of time before Amanda was found or woke up.
Michael stopped suddenly and Nathan rested his arms. Michael shoved himself against the top, but it seemed to be sealed shut. Luckily, Michael seemed prepared for such thing. (Percy had informed him that a tiny breach in security had been fixed when Alex first became an agent and Nikita had escaped…again.) Michael pulled out a little tool that Nathan couldn't see.
From what Nathan heard, this tool was cutting through whatever sealed the hatch shut. It took a few minutes and Nathan's arms were getting sore from resting on the ladder. There was a final loud snap, and the hatch was unsealed. Michael pushed it open again and crawled out. Nathan followed, soon to be smashed onto his face in the snow. But, it was just Michael making sure he was quiet.
Through some bushed, there was a division patrol. They were stationed by the hatch in the case of escapees such as now. They were looking away and Michael quickly hurried to hide. Nathan followed. Before he knew it, Michael was gone. There was some commotion and then Michael revealed himself armed with some huge gun, a grin on his face. He had taken down the whole patrol team in a matter of not even minutes. Nathan was impressed.
Little did they know that when Michael cut through and opened the hatch, he set off a silent alarm that was sent straight to Percy personally. At this alarm, Percy cursed and quickly gathered up a team. Birkhoff traced Nathan's tracker and navigated from the passenger seat while Percy raced off in the van in the direction of the hatch.
