Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter Twenty-Six

Everyone Falls

Motel, Room 7. 3:12 AM.

Blood. It was all over the room. On rags, the sheets, bowls of water, and bottles of vodka. Dried, pooled and dripping. Having taken more damage than assumed, Katherine struggled to remain roused long enough to patch herself up. Drinking herself under the table helped with the pain of sticking a sewing needle through her skin, stitching the bullet holes shut, but it thinned the blood causing it to flow through the wounds more quickly. Dripping out over her hands was the warm crimson, making it harder to tend to her wounds. A series of grunts and groans of frustration escaped her lips, the stress of the situation making her head pound. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch." She spoke to herself referring to Stephan who had sent the bullets into her abdomen to subdue her and take her back to Percy.

She hated that it ended the way it did. The look on Michael's face as she sat in the cold metallic chain, bleeding out like an animal in a trap. She had betrayed him, she could see it in his dark eyes that struggled to hide the fact that no matter how angry he was at the Russian blonde, he still and always would love her. It was one of the anchors holding her back in the hotel before hitting the road. She hated that she had to abandon him, becoming another one of his many losses. Her other draw backs were her state of intoxication and her lack of funds. Nikita could not separate from the little funds she had to aid Katia in getting out of the country. No money meant no transportation. Fortunately, she knew just where she could find it.

With a burger from the motel bar in one hand, she fed dimes into the in room computer to access the internet. Opening the browser she hacked her way into the system off her father's old off shore accounts that even Division didn't know about. It was a difficult task as the dial-up was slow and the hardware was much less than satisfactory, her results were as well. The sum of money in the account had depleted greatly, for what she could only assume was her father's trafficking jobs. Vladimir Ivanov was the only other person with access. Just the thought of him made Katherine feel sick. He and his fathers had bought girls only to sell them out as sex slaves, setting them up in brothels and shops all over the world. Katherine would have been in one too if her father wasn't as possessive as he was. Dmitri and Vladimir had worked together in the ring for years, and Katherine had almost saved a girl from their torture. She would have gotten away for it too if it wasn't for Ari's strict control. Her name was Sasha.

Moscow, Russia, Romanov Manner. Flashback.

The shadows were her refuge. She moved in the darkness with great stealth. Only two things were visible in the glistening of the silver Russian moon, the glistening of bright blues eyes and the flash of a blade cutting through the air. Once you saw them, you saw nothing else. Death always followed. The young agent was on a mission, orders from her higher-ups mixed with personal motive filled her with determination only her death could stop. It was time for the revenge, revenge on her father who was high up in the human trafficking of young woman. Sent to recover the young girls in her father's care, Katia however had another idea, kill her father and free the girls. They did not deserve the life they had or would have in Gogol. Even she resented them for turning her into the lethal weapon she became as result to their training. But it saved her life, and that was better than being dead.

He kept the girls in the basement after the came in through the kitchen. Katia had learned this after disobeying her father's orders and playing in the old dumb-waiter. She had being traveling between floors only to witness the young girls a little older than she arriving in the kitchen with her "uncle" Vlad. She had never forgotten the punishment that followed, one that was far to extreme for a girl of her age. The scars never faded.

With this memory Katia moved for the basement and crept down the creaking steps, into the darkness. Voices could be heard towards the dim light where the girls were held. Calls for help. Vlad. And her father. Anger bubbled up inside her, but relief followed. It was finally almost over. Her movement down the rest of the steps were quick, her pulse in her eyes as she reached he floor. Her hand went for her holster, pulling her gun for its resting place but it was never raised. Nor was the trigger pulled. Instead, a pair of hands wrapped around her, one around her thin waist the other finding it's place over her mouth to keep her yelp muffled against the calloused skin.

"Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh." The hush belonged the lips of her superior, Dedrick. He held her close to his form, preventing her from moving. Katia struggled in his strong arms as three sets of footsteps grew near. Each echo teased her with the need to end things. The end however would never come. Instead the footsteps continued up the staircase that concealed Katia and Dedrick from the sight of Vladimir, Dmitri and the girl in the rough grasps of their hands. She did not dare to struggle, and she kept her head down. It was then the two woman locked eyes. The messiah and the slave both helpless in the grasp of men. Stumbling up the steps at the sight of the eyes below, the grasp of Dmitri's hands tightened around her upper arms. "Sasha!" Snapped the voice of Vlad, his own hand reaching to grasp the girl to pull her up.

It was a sight kept in Katia's mind forever, but it wasn't until she relieved this memory isolated in her motel room that she realized the little girl, Sasha was Alex.

Downtown New Jersey. Night.

Winter had fallen on the streets leaving the dark night wrapped in a blanket of snow. The stumbled steps of heels were slick on the ice coated sidewalks. With them were the steps of worn work boots. The boots belonged to the henchmen of Vlad, and the heels to who they believed was a local prostitute. Dressed in a skirt that was far too short, a low-cut blouse and cheap leather jacket was Katherine. Down by the docks she had waited from them. She knew it was where they liked to pick up new girls and it was her way inside the brothel. Upon reaching the icy steps, the grip on Katherine left her arms and her body dropped to the ground. The snow was cold beneath her hands and knees as she waited to grabbed once again. Her blue eyes full of determination remained trained on the ground as the door in front of her opened. Words exchanged between the men who brought her, and the others guarding the door before reaching a decision; "Throw her in with the others. Vlad will be in to sort through the new."

Katherine let the men drag her inside the once abandoned warehouse. The interior was as cold at the wind outside, only to grow warmer when passing rooms that belonged to the superiors. The brothel, where the women were left in the cold. Women stood shivering, wearing nearly nothing. The only way to get warm was providing services to he men who bought them. Katherine's eyes-widened at the sight of the trade her father had supported. She grew sick to her stomach and had tears in her eyes as she tried to resist the erg to vomit. "Move!" One of the men barked, pushing her towards a stale were a young women lay unconscious from her high. Katherine stumbled at his force only to meet the grime covered mattress. She through about standing to retaliate but her blood ran cold upon hearing the distinctive voice of Vladimir. He had arrived from his office to greet the new girls to his trade.

His icy Russian eyes scanned over the girls before falling upon the one on the mattress. "Vhat do ve 'ave 'ere?" He spoke before his rough hand took hold of Katherine's nape. With a handful of blonde curls Vad had the woman on her knees, staring up at him with her wide blue eyes. He had seen these eyes before on a much younger face. "Katia," Her name escaped his lips in a whisper his hand pulling the blonde to her feet. Since she was a girl, Vlad had longed for the once out of reach girl to join the ranks of his own. "She's mine."

With a rough grasp on the lean blonde's arm he led her off to his back office. It was a dimly lit room glowing amber, two of his girls inside. "Irena. Out." Vlad ordered and the thin, dark-haired Russian strung out from a high stumbled from the room and back to the brothel. It was then Katherine's blue eyes fell on the caged girl. One that was all too familiar. Alex. Katherine made a point to trip over her feet and fall. He body contacted a near table, knocking the objects it supported astray. This caught Alex's attention, her eyes flickering with a sense of hope. Katherine may no longer be Division, but they were friends. She could get her out.

"Vhat about her?" Katherine questioned, her voice dragged out as her head lulled towards the cage.

"She is staying," Vlad spoke firmly as his hands slid up the legs of the daughter of his late coworker. Kate raised up to rest on her knees in attempt to casually pull from her grasp.

"I vant her to come out and play," Katherine spoke out before chewing her bottom lip. Her wide blue eyes surrounded by long baby-doll lashes and a smudged smokey looked over him. She appeared weak, needy. In a sense she was. Not for sex and drugs, but his money.

"Naughty, naught girl," Vladimer purred out, picking her up from his lap before moving to unlock the cage where Alexandra faced confinement. "Vhat vould your father say-" He continued but at the click of the lock he had a syringe of liquid cocaine lodged into his neck. He let out a groan of pain as he slumped to the ground at the pain.

Katherine left Alex to open her cage, moving along the wall for the safe. When she had uncovered its location, she turned the dial to the combination that all the locks always had been. Her birthday. Relief flooded through her veins at the sight of the money that was once her fathers. Knowing she was not able to take it all, she grabbed what she could and threw it into a near bag. "Alex we have to-" She fell silent at the sight of Alex standing over the crook, gun pointed down at him. Ever cell in Katherine's body wished she was the one waiting to pull the trigger, but was well aware of the satisfaction it would give Alex. The satisfaction of killing the man who forced her through addiction and prostitution.

"I am Alexandra Udinov. Daughter of Nikoli Udinov. And this is your reward." The blast of the gun shot rattled off the walls. Fulfillment washed over Alex's features as Vladimer lay dead on the floor. The bullet had shredded through his skull, spitting brain matter and blood, coating the cold concrete floor beneath him. Alex then dropped to her knees, emotionally and physically exhausted from the days events.

"Alex," The Russian blonde spoke out and rushed to catch the girl in her arms. "Don't give up on me Alex, I will not leave you behind. Not again." A sense of pain was lace in Katherine's voice, as the memory of what she let happen to Alex flash through her mind again. She could have spared her this lifetime of pain. She deserved so much better.

Scrapping the gun from the floor, Katherine pulled Alex to the hall. With each step the younger woman's body grew limp. "You're okay." Kate breathed out more of an assurance to herself than the woman who was now unconscious. The rushed footsteps of Vlad's men taunted her in the corridor. Shouts of Vlad's death followed, they were out for blood. Her blood.

Slumping Alex in the safety of cover Katherine counted the round in the clip. It was a death wish to face them, but it was her only option. Shielding the remainder of Alex's body with her own, Katherine shot bullets took the first wave of guard to the ground but then it ran empty. "I'm so sorry Alexandra." Her body curled over the younger woman's protective and awaited the piercing pain of a bullet through her flesh. The guns fired but the pain never came. Instead the warm touch of a familiar hand met her bare shoulder.

"Katherine?" The rogue agent of both Gogol and Division nearly threw up at the voice she never intended to hear again. "Katherine..." The voice repeated, as the man pulled her back from Alex's unconscious frame. He hated seeing her like this, dressed in clothes that barely had coverage over her skin. A part of him wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her, but the other was still caught up in a bitter anger. She betrayed him, and forgiving her was not an option. "A Division strike team is ten minutes out," He warned her as he picked Alex up into his arms, "cover me on the way to the car."

Michael bared a second gun on his hip, letting her take it. Katherine was hesitant in reaching for the weapon, unsure of why Michael was trusting her with such equipment. "Why are you helping me?" She sounded out as they jogged for the back exit where his SUV waited.

"I'm not helping you," Michael made clear, his voice much more gruff than usual. He was distant with Katherine. Defensive even. This hurt more than she had anticipated. "I'm here for Alex."

"Then why haven't you killed me yet?" Katherine countered.

"You have the gun," Michael countered as he lay Alex in the back of the SUV, "I could be asking you the same question about the both of us."

"You know why I can't," Katherine breathed out, the gun gripped in one hand, her back of cash in the other.

"Five minutes out," Michael updated her on the current status on his team. He grabbed his jacket from the passenger's seat and draped it over her shoulders, "Now get out of here before I change my mind." Katherine looked up at him, her face covered in disbelief. There was a fine line between love and hate, and she watched it flicker in his eyes.

Keeping the gun in hand, she tossed the bag over her shoulders and kicked off her heels. It was then without hesitation that she took off into the crisp winter night. She now had what she needed to get to safety. Safety however, was not an easy place to find.

A/N: I am so sorry about the wait. I hope readers remain. I was caught up with work in the summer. Then started my first year of uni. December break (screw studying for exams!) I started watching Nikita and BOOM inspiration. I hope you guys enjoy! Only FOUR chapters remain of Behind Enemy Lines. It will finish with the end of Season 1. But don't worry their will be a sequel that will work with Season 2. As well as a third for Seasons 3 and 4.

Missed you guys!

~Millie