A/N: I know, it's been way too long since my last update but honestly, I've been having writer's block. Sorry... also wth is going on with all these new anonymous reviews? It's actually quite freaky. I thought nobody read this story anymore.

Burning Bridges: Chapter 38

"What if I'm wrong about this?" Alex wondered to herself. She looked at her friends sitting next to her in the tightly compacted Kia and suddenly realized they had heard her weary thoughts. She began to doubt herself again, but her apprehensiveness never bothered Michael and Nikita. Alex knew, somehow in the end, her friends would restore her faith in the mission.

So she turned to face Michael and Nikita one more time. This time asking not out of fear, but because she had nothing left to lose. "What if I'm wrong?" Alex questioned them, "what will we do then?"

Nikita gave her a look, but she didn't scrutinize Alex's doubts or give her friend a hint of concern. "We could still go dancing" she suggested lightheartedly.

The idea made Alex laugh, her friend sounded so serious; but Nikita hardly ever joked without having some truth to it. So Alex rolled her eyes, "I guess we could... but, you don't have to be so smug about it."

Nikita couldn't help but smirk triumphantly as she proceeded to take out a small key for Alex. She wanted her friend to forget about whatever it was that was troubling her mind. They had a mission today, "remember why we're here okay?" Nikita tells her seriously. "You lead us here... not Amanda, or anyone else. We're here because-"

"I know" Alex sighed heavily, "I make my own choices now."

Nikita frowned, "don't be so hard on yourself" she reminded her friend. "Today is a new day. It'll all get better soon. As soon as we find Amanda, we'll put a stop to all her mind games. Then you could go dancing or do whatever you want whenever you want to do it."

"You're right" Alex agreed. She didn't want to talk about Amanda anymore. The bitch was a psychopath. Instead, Alex tried to focus on other things...

She took a moment to look out their car's window, only briefly, allowing herself to think about the last time she was here. It wasn't that long ago, maybe a few weeks since she returned to the States, but so much had changed since then. "It's strange being back here..." Alex admitted.

The road toward her old apartment looked vacant. She surveyed the streets around her and took in all the familiar sights she could remember from her previous life. From the car, Alex didn't notice that many people walking around. It was probably still too early for wandering tourists, but now was as good as any time to search for some more clues.

Less curious faces in the city was a good thing. Alex didn't want to risk the chance of running into anyone who could recognize the crazy lost heiress she portrayed from all the news outlets. Especially if her alter ego, Alexandra Udinov was mysteriously wandering around this part of Brooklyn so early in the morning. Still, Alex was cautious. She wore her hair down and accessorized with an oversized beanie paired with large sunglasses to cover her face. She shielded her famous face as if the disguise was enough to make her feel invisible.

The view from the streets could never do her apartment justice, but from high up on the fire escape, Alex could imagine everything like she never forgot. She couldn't wait to go back there. Even from the car, the familiar red brick walls of her building calmed her enough to convince herself she had chosen a good spot to start with. Surely she could find something here that would lead her back to Sean.

"Oh Sean..." Alex frowned when she thought of him. What happen to him? Why hasn't he returned her calls? Did he even get her messages? Was she thinking too much again? This time more about the what ifs and the what could have been? Alex shook her head in frustration. She was thinking too much, that was certain now. Especially when it came to the what would have happened if she never left to find Sean that day... Would he be dead because of Smith? How is he doing now? Where is he? There was so many questions swirling around her head she barely noticed Nikita's shifting seatbelt.

"Are you ready?" Nikita suddenly broke Alex out of her thoughts.

Alex shook it off. She didn't want another headache. Instead she tried to focus on her current mission again. Why she was here again...

"Alex?" Nikita called her name. She was always worried whenever the girl looked like she was in a trance.

But Alex quickly snapped out of it. She looked at Nikita, focusing all her attention toward her friends. "No, but thanks for coming with me" she replied honestly. She looked at Michael in the driver's seat, eyeing her from the rearview mirror, "you too Michael" she didn't forget him, "you two are always here for me."

Michael smiled and followed Alex's gaze out the window, "I remember when I first dropped you off here. It was right after we made you an official agent. I thought you were ready then, and I believe you're ready now."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for anything," Alex admitted. "Quite honestly, I'm not even sure what will happen once I step back into that life... if I'll remember, or if I'll go crazy again... but I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take if it means we'll be one step closer to accomplishing any of our goals."

"I'm glad you're being honest," Nikita looks back at her friend. She takes out the key to Alex's apartment and opened the car door, "shall we?"

As the team made their way inside the old Brooklyn-based apartment building, Alex became increasingly anxious to find out more about what she had left behind. Three flights up, the door to her apartment stood out from around the corner stairwell.

"There it is," Michael announced, "305".

Alex nervously placed her key in the lock and turned the handle. One step inside her awaiting paradise turned into a revealing nightmare. Pictures were torn and sprawled all over the floor. Broken glass and furniture flipped onto it's side. The scene was straight out of a horror movie. Except there was no sign of blood. That image somehow made it worse.

"What the hell happened here?" Nikita wondered in shock.

"Last time anyone was here was before the airport rendezvous" Michael frowned. He looked at Alex and shook his head in disappointment, "I'm sorry, we should've checked on this place before we brought you here. Are you okay?"

Alex froze for a second but quickly shook it off, "No, it's okay" she assured him, "I'm glad I came back..."

"Do you still want to look around?" Nikita asked. "I mean, if this is too much, we can come back..."

"I don't know what happened here" Alex frowned, she stared into the room dazzled by the mess inside. "I was the last one here," she revealed, "At least I think I was... I came here a few days ago... it was where I went after Sean confronted me at the hotel."

"You came back here?" Michael questioned her, "Did you remember anything from before?"

"Vaguely" Alex answered back. "I don't know... I just got into a cab, told the guy to drive to any place close I could remember. I saw the red bricks and had an instinct, I've been here before..."

"Well, you weren't the only one that decided to come back here" Nikita frowned. She picked up a broken picture frame of Alex and Sean and sighed, "more than two people were here, possibly a third" she directed the team to inspect the floor surrounding her. "See these footprints?" Nikita showed Alex a trail of powdery residue, "Your kitchen is a mess," she tells her friend lightly, "whoever broke in is sloppy. There's no attempt at a clean up."

"There's no signs of forced entry" Michael stated after her, "Someone either had a key or knows their way around here."

"But who?" Nikita wondered, "Sean?"

"No," Alex shook her head, "Sean wouldn't do this. He loved this place."

"He's the only one besides us who has a key." Michael countered.

"No..." Alex started to think, "so does my neighbor" she realized quickly, "my neighbor has a key! I remember! She-"

"Wait!" Michael quickly grabbed her by the arm, "Do you remember what she looks like?"

"I- uh-"

"Alex, this is very important" Michael insisted, "Birkhoff had a surveillance on you. We've seen your neighbor..."

"What was her name?" Nikita asked.

"I- I don't know..." Alex frowned. "I couldn't remember that part. But she knows me... or knew me? Knew of me?" Alex shakes her head in confusion. "She knew you too, Nikita. She knew you and Michael were engaged. She also knew me and Sean kept a spare key hidden behind that fire extinguisher."

"Alex, you and Sean never had a spare key" Michael informed her. "We're spies, not stupid. Spare keys hidden in obvious spots are a bad idea. A rookie mistake. You get locked out, lose a key? You find another way in... what would you do?"

"I would kick the door down, honestly" Nikita made a joke, "but Alex, I know you could pick a lock in your sleep."

"So she tricked me..." Alex realized, "that girl? Who is she?"

"According to Nerd, her name is Marissa Keller. But we're not sure if it's even the real her..." Nikita explained, "This is where we need your help."

Michael showed Alex a picture of the girl on his cell phone. "This was taken 5 minutes after you entered the apartment. Can you confirm this is the girl you met?" he asks her.

Alex took a close look at the photo and instantly recognized the face. "That's her" she confirms.

"Okay, Alex, this is a photo of a man Michael and I had been tracking..." Nikita showed her Smith's portrait.

"I know him too" Alex also confirmed. "He was working with Amanda. I saw him with Sean... in the ally, I shot him. I didn't even know I could shoot a gun..."

"Sean always said you could shoot a gun in your sleep too" Nikita smirked.

"Apparently I can do a lot of things in my sleep" Alex laughed. Although she still wasn't 100% proud of the fact that she had killed someone before... even if he was a bad person.

No matter the fact, Alex looked at Nikita and frowned, "but before, it was strange..." she continued, "because the last time I saw this man, he was headed to Russia... Oh my god! I forgot about Russia!" Alex exclaimed suddenly, "Levkin! Smith? I have to call him!"

"Wait, wait a minute!" Michael shouted, "We'll call Levkin. You don't worry, okay Alex? Smith is dead. Nikita and I encountered him at the airport."

"I injected him with his own weapon" Nikita tried to calm her, "Amanda pushed a button and killed her own man, before I could get him to tell me anymore secrets."

"He was in two places at once?" Alex wondered, "That's impossible. How?"

"You tell me" Nikita flipped through the images saved on her phone and showed Alex another picture of Marissa. "How is it possible for this girl to be at your apartment one minute with this man," she pointed to Smith's image, "and be seen walking on a busy New York city street at the same time, only moments later witnessing Sean in a car crash."

"She saw Sean?" Alex is surprised.

"She helped Sean" Michael elaborated. "Smith went after him. This girl and her boyfriend saw the whole thing, and rushed to his aid."

"I don't understand" Alex feels overwhelmed with information. She picked up a chair that had been thrown on it's side and sat down, "how is this all connected?"

"One word" Michael sat down next to her, "Amanda."

"What does she want with us?" Alex looked at him frustrated.

"Same thing she's always wanted. She wants to teach us a lesson" Nikita answered. "She's been trying to at least, since day one."

"How do we stop her?" Alex looked at her, "If she's powerful enough to be everywhere at once?"

"We stop playing her game" Michael stands up. He walked over to the door and pointed across the hall to the neighboring unit, "we have to find Marissa" he looks at Nikita, " she's the only connection we have to Amanda now. After that, we can find more clues and figure out the rest when we get there."

Alex stood up from chair and walked over to Michael. "Okay," she looked at him, "you lead the way."

It only took Alex 56 seconds to pick the lock on her neighbor's door. She was rusty, but Nikita was still proud of her protégée.

"Gold star" Nikita smirked. "Who taught you how to do that?" she asked Alex.

Alex laughed, "you know, out of all the things I forgot, one thing still really bugs me."

"What's that?" Michael asked.

"When did you two get engaged?"

"Oh Alex..." Nikita opened the door and looked back at Michael, giving him a sweet glance, "we have a lot of catching up to do."

"Hey, I'm just trying to get my timeline figured out" Alex shrugged. "Was it when I was still in Division?"

"No after" Michael answered.

"When you two were on the run together?" Alex questioned further.

"No, but I had it planned since then" Michael admitted. "We were all on a mission in Hong Kong. You remember? It was earlier this year, after we took over Division."

"Really?" Alex frowned "Where was I?"

"I think you were on a non-date with Sean that night" Nikita recounted. She took a small step inside the dark room and pulls out a device Birkhoff gave her, "Nerd, I'm scanning the room now. Tell me when you have a complete analysis. I don't want to take another step until we know it's safe."

"What the heck is a non-date?" Alex wondered.

"Your way of not going on an official date with the poor guy" Michael stated.

"So did I not even know you were going to pop the question to my best friend?" Alex glared at him.

"Hey now," Michael tried to change the subject. "We're on a mission right now. Alex, focus on the room. You got us in here, now what?"

Alex gave him a dirty look. "I'm assuming no."

"If it makes you feel better, I was the last to even know they were engaged" Birkhoff interrupted the team's conversation.

"Birkhoff, shut up and finish scanning the room for any possible bugs or threats" Nikita rolled her eyes.

"Damn, Nikki, a little please would suffice" Birkhoff scoffed.

"Nerd, do what I say or I'll make sure you don't sleep comfortably tonight."

Birkhoff was easily uncomfortable by the idea and quickly resolved to finishing the room scan. "Okay gang, the room is clear" he announced, "You may proceed, but don't think this conversation is over!"

Nikita smirked and flipped on a small light next to the entryway. The room was immediately illuminated, but closed off corners still remained in the shadows. Maybe it was just the atmosphere but Nikita didn't like it. She roamed around the room, searching for any more clues, "Alex, do you remember your 'neighbor' saying anything that seemed suspicious?' Nikita asked her. "It could be something as little as a special phrase or some small detail about us that you know there could be no way she would've known unless someone was feeding her info."

Alex had to think, "I always thought it was strange that she said she couldn't remember your name."

"That was a test to see if you considered Nikita to be a friend" Michael stated. "Amanda knew we had gotten to you, but she didn't stop us."

"Because she knew you would unravel" Nikita looked at Alex, "she called to gloat about it. She was pretty certain you would give yourself a heart attack."

"But you didn't" Michael smiled, "because Amanda can't control you anymore, Alex. Remember that."

Alex smiled back at him and proceeded to search the room. She noticed a bunch of photos laid out on a dinning room table, almost like someone had been making a scrapbook. "Well that's odd," Alex notices a crumbled up piece of paper next to a photo of Marissa and her brother, Coop.

"What is it?" Nikita asked.

"It's a flyer," Alex stated. "For a place called 'Cobalt River Rehabilitation Center'."

"Birkhoff did say Marissa was keen on staying sober" Michael acknowledged.

Nikita sighed, "Okay guys, so far all we've found is a pile of scraps. We need to look harder. Birkhoff, do you sense anything unusual about this place?" she holds out her phone for Birkhoff to see visually."

"Not from this angle" Birkhoff stated, "I'll do some more research on the family though. Send me a couple pictures you've found."

"Sean said your real neighbor was an elderly man" Michael frowned looking at a picture of Marissa and what appears to be her grandpa, "you don't think..."

"No!" Nikita gasps.

"What?" Alex looks confused.

"Now I recognize that smell..." Nikita looked toward the apartment's only bathroom, "she cleaned him."

Alex quickly realized what she meant by the word 'clean'. She suddenly remembered that she had been witness to a lot of dirty things in Division, but nothing had prepared her for this moment. Alex had to contain herself from physically fainting at the newfound stench in the room.

The acid fumes were leaking though the cracks in the door from the adjacent room. After another minute, she had to excuse herself. "I have to go," Alex confronts Nikita, "I'm sorry, I want to help, and I want to keep searching for clues but there should be a limit of how much Amanda I can take in a day. What she did now just tops the cake. That man was innocent! He was my neighbor, even though I remember nothing about him... it's sad to think he's gone."

Nikita watched as Alex ran out the door, sorry that she couldn't do anything to mask the horror of what Amanda had done to the poor man.

Michael sighed and told Nikita not to worry about Alex, "she's just next door. She's safe in her apartment. I'll go back and look after her if you want. You can stay here and look for more clues."

Nikita glanced around the room and shook her head, "I'm afraid there's not much left to investigate. Amanda was here. I can smell her, she cleaned him and left us with nothing but these pictures to gawk at."

Michael picked up everything that was left on the coffee table and decided to walk with Nikita to the door, "we'll find her," he assured her, "Even if it takes all night, I'll have Birkhoff sort through all these files. This isn't the end."

A/N: This isn't the end like Michael says! I've been thinking about where I want to take this story lately. No more writer's block! I'll write of course when I have time, so more to come soon :) Please review!