Grace leaned back against the concrete wall and took a big bite of Fuji apple, as she waited for Alexandra to put her leather jacket in the locker. She chewed contemplatively while she gazed. The younger woman had been very quiet on the way back and remained silent in the locker room. "What?" she finally asked, her gaze searching and concerned.
Alex looked over startled. "What? I don't know what you mean?" She began turning up the sleeves of her shirt. Alexandra flipped over the cloth precisely as she turned blue eyes back to the task. Letting that teen girl run could cost her everything. She was a dead woman if she let them read that on her face, and as much as she would like to trust Grace, she knew they weren't fully there yet.
"You've been... distant all the way back, Alexandra. Tell me what's on your mind?" Grace stood upright and stepped over to brush fingertips along Alex's forearm. She smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging way.
Alexandra shrugged. Her eyes drifted down. She didn't want this woman to read what she had done. "I was... this was my first time back in the field. I'm just trying to ... run it through in my mind. I'm processing, that's all." She plucked the apple from Grace's fingers faking a devil-may-care grin. "I need to become the best again, and I need to analyze my performance to get there."
Grace couldn't put her finger on it, but something here was just off. She made a note to watch Alexandra more closely. She plucked the apple back as Alex took a bite. "That is what you have me for, Alexandra. You did very well out there, now let's go tell the queen pain in my ass how things went," she suggested puckishly.
Alex lifted her head to gaze back at her. "You should be nicer about Amanda."
Grace made kissing noises before rolling her eyes at the younger woman. "Let's get this done. Maybe we can make it to a club before we have to turn around for the next job."
Alex cringed slightly as they walked. "I don't think I'm supposed to get drunk. Amanda said..."
"Amanda said.. pfah. Amanda is your problem on the clock. I am your problem around the clock." Grace grinned as she slid a hand in Alex's back pocket. Alex turned into her. Grace's warm lips met her own before Alex pushed the other woman into the locker, pinning her and gripping the sides of her face. Grace moaned as Alex roughly slid her fingers down her body and up her inner thigh.
"Here?" Grace moaned against her lips. "What about our debrief?"
Alex pulled back. "I am going to fuck you against this locker, then we can debrief with Amanda and go make trouble in the city," Alex grinned, pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss.
-
Amanda stared at the desk top screen. She clicked through page after page of computer files. Percy sat nearby in a throne like Louis XV chair contemplating the outcome of Alexandra's mission. "Alexandra is coming along well. She didn't hesitate to do her duty. I'm pleased."
Amanda's eyes darted between the computer screen and Percy. "Agreed."
"She will be needed sooner rather than later," he responded, his forefinger tapping gently on the end of the armrest.
"We need to finish testing her properly first. I will send her into a fight with people she would know... Keep Grace at her back to aid her or put her down if there is any... difficulty." Amanda sipped her tea.
Percy leaned back into his chair. "Do you think it likely that she will break?"
Amanda's lips curled. "She's ready. I do not see a cancellation in Ms. Udinov's immediate future. We will give her a few more days to settle in here... then throw her into the big show, high stakes work, face to face with known Division operatives. That will be all the test we need to ensure her readiness... and then -"
"And then... we send her for Nikita and her inner circle." Percy smiled.
Nikita paced back and forth across the office floor. Rachel looked over at Caitlin who shook her head almost invisibly. Rachel twirled her hair, anxiously. She wanted Nikita to know about Caitlin's son. She knew that Caitlin was only in danger because she wanted to protect her in the field. She didn't know how, but she wanted to protect Caitlin and her son, but she couldn't tell anyone without Caitlin's okay. Nikita turned on her heel and stopped. Caitlin and Rachel turned eyes toward her.
"That should have been an easy run." Nikita shook her head. "No one should have known about the drop much less the run." She rubbed her forehead. "If I thought for one moment..."
"He did not die because of anything you did Nikita. It is not your fault," Rachel said quietly.
"Mole?" Caitlin asked. She looked out of the office window toward the rest of the facility. "If there is a mole inside Division," she began.
Nikita's face hardened. "Then we will find the vermin. We may need you two to run a few blanks."
Caitlin turned back toward Nikita. "Blanks?"
Rachel turned to Caitlin to answer. "Fake missions to draw out the black hats."
Nikita nodded at the younger woman. "I trust you. I trust me. We tell no one, but our inner circle. We will smoke the mole out."
Rachel looked out into the corridor. "How do we begin?"
Nikita sighed and sent a text message to Birkhoff calling him into the office. "We begin with a very convincing story. Something good with expensive hardware."
"What kind of story do you have in mind?" Caitlin asked.
"The kind that sets a trap for our rat." Nikita smiled. "I need to brief Michael and the others first... if it is a mole... we will find him or her... and use the rat to our advantage."