A/N: Thank you for reviewing. :)
Amanda leaned back into her chair and tapped her chin. She reached out with great speed and plucked up a phone. She put it back down. She had been about to order her car up and go out after the young woman on the fire escape herself. She was far too eager to begin working on her little project. Eagerness that could be seen, that was far too dangerous in this line of work.
She took a deep breath and held it before letting it slowly whisper out. The last thing she needed was Percy getting eyes on something she wanted. No, this toy would be hers, if she played things right. She needed an intermediary to make the grab and a little time to finish preparing the small out of the way office area she had begun stocking for the experiments she wanted to do.
She smiled. "Grant." Amanda reached for the phone again.
An hour later, Grant stood on her rug. Amanda raised a brow at his less than perfect shoes on the delicate weave. She stood and moved toward her desk. The woman slid open a random file and pretended to peruse it before looking up.
"Well now Grant, it seems you have been showing yourself to be an agent of potential."
She barely stifled her amusement at the slight puffing up of the other man. "Yes Amanda. I've been working hard."
Smiling she closed the random file on the computer and moved toward the young man. She adjusted his collar before meeting his eyes. "I think we could move you to bigger and better things ahead of schedule, Grant."
He smiled at her. "Anything you need."
Amanda let her immaculate nails slide down the first few buttons of his shirt before stepping back. "What I need is a demonstration. I think we need to play a game to show exactly what you are capable of."
"A game?" he asked clearly puzzled.
She leaned against her desk. "A game of keep-away if you will. You will extract a target and keeping radio silence you will keep the target away from... everyone. You travel, in a game zone, unseen. Keep her out of sight until you are informed otherwise and then bring her into Division. If you can get to the debrief with the target intact and without a swarm of notice, you win."
"And if I win?"
She stroked his lower arm. "You will be on the fast track...and you will have impressed me."
Grant smiled. "Worth it. What's the target?"
"The young woman from the warehouse district."
His face folded in distaste. ""The junkie?" He had wanted to put a bullet in her head and now he was to haul her carcass around protecting her.
Amanda smiled. "I am aware of your history with drug dependents, Grant. It was one of the reasons I chose her for you. You must show the depth of your commitment by protecting someone you would sooner drop in a hole and you must ensure her safety and well being in an extended period."
"How extended?" he asked, his brow knit.
She shook her head. "Weren't you listening at all Grant? Until I call you in. I won't give you a time frame. Short term, long term, that will be my decision and you will be let in when I am ready to tell you."
He stood, his head lowered for a long several moments. He looked up. "When do I start?"
Amanda moved around her desk and began tapping into her computer. "I am authorizing release of cash and weapons to you now. I suggest you leave immediately. You can't trust a junkie to stay in one spot forever."
Waiting until he left, she picked up the phone. "Yes. Percy, I have taken Grant from the program temporarily." She smiled as Percy spoke. "He has distinct flaws. I am placing him in a psychologically challenging position... Either he breaks, or he comes back." She tapped at her computer again bringing up her files on torture and brainwashing techniques. "If he survives you mean... It's an open ended exercise. I do assure you, if his work takes too long, I will cut the expense of another useless eater in Division." Amanda sipped at her cup as she leafed through her documents. "Of course Percy. Oh, and I am moving up three others to active. I will get back to my files now." She hung up. Percy didn't trust anyone, but he trusted her skills. It made for a certain amount of latitude as long as she kept him in the loop.
Alexandra sat on the bed, her legs drawn to her chin. Her blue eyes were closed and she was rocking slowly. A major victory was achieved when she was able to stand upright but she was still fighting. Her bones ached horrifically. She rocked trying to think of anything else. Her eyes drifted to the nightstand where she had placed the gun.
A noise on the fire escape drew her attention. She slid across the sheets and picked up the weapon. Alex lowered herself off the bed and onto the floor. Her eyes stayed above the covers and she looked toward the window. Was this Nikita coming? She found herself really really hoping it was.
Nikita smiled as she drove her car into an abandoned looking garage near her warehouse. She had the money bundled and hidden. She could run whenever and where-ever she needed to now. It was time to find the young Russian woman. She adjusted her gun in its holster in her waistband before pulling on her leather jacket. She smiled. Her stomach tightened with excitement as she remembered the way they touched, the way Alex felt against her. She lost herself in thought for minutes.
Jogging toward her building, she heard shots fired. Nikita threw herself into the shadow of a building. A car was there. Nikita moved closer to see a Division recruit she vaguely remembered, dragging an unconscious Alex. As he threw her in the car he said, " Now all I have to do is keep you out of sight." He hissed and touched the blood on his shoulder. "Fucking junkie bitch." He kicked her as she lay prone in the back seat.
Nikita pulled out her weapon and ran back toward her car, as the auto sped away. She was not going to let Division or anyone else take her Alex.