Someone was pulling on her, beckoning her forward out of the darkness. Pain flared up the invisible leash and into her body, consuming it. She was being summoned. Nikita groaned lightly as she struggled into consciousness. The lights above her hurt her eyes as she opened them, her nose burning with the smell of disinfectants and chemicals. All was silent around her except for an annoying, steady beep to her left. She concentrated on the scents past the antiseptic and expanded her senses. She could smell the scent of Oliver and his friends but they were hours old. Slowly, she sat up, biting back a cry of pain, and swung her legs over the side of the medical bed.

She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious. All she knew...all she could sense...was that she had finally fully healed. Even so, the phantom pains of Darhk's punishment still had a grip on her. Everything hurt as she slowly slipped off the bed and stood. She felt vulnerable being in her human form, awkward. Nikita hardly used this form, much preferring her natural form. This form was weak. It required cloths for warmth and tools to hunt and to eat. It was slow and clumsy. She tried to concentrate, to bring forth her natural form but the wolf in her was silent. A streak of fear bolted through her. Darhk had severed her tied to her natural form.

She had to get out of here, to put as much space between The Green Arrow and her self as possible while she was still able to. Reaching across the bed, she shut the heart monitor off and pulled the pads and the needles from her body. Quietly, she moved through the halls, using her sense of smell to locate a whiff of fresh air. Ahead of her was a large open room with a Dias of computer banks in the center. Weapons were stored in weapon cases against the walls and the large wall that contained an elevator bank head several costumes on manikins. Crouching low, she creeps across the floor, afraid to set off any alarms that the building might contain. A few more steps and she would reach the elevator but she paused at a leather suit of green with a bow resting beside it. Oliver's smell was coming strongly from the case. The scent surrounded her and eased her fear slightly.

The sound of the elevator whirling made Nikita dive behind one of the weapon cases, ducking out of sight. A few seconds later, the blonde girl on his team...his mate, Felicity, left the elevator. The sight of her confused Nikita. The last time she had seen the woman, she had been walking. Now she was moving with the assistance of a wheel-chair. She was muttering to herself as she moved to the bank of computers and started to work. She peeked up from behind the weapons rack and watched the girl. The scent of anger rolled off of her, every motion of her body screaming in rage. Nikita waited until Felicity was distracted and carefully, quietly creeped from her hiding place. It only took her seconds to slip into the elevator and trigger the button to go up. It had almost reached the top level when the elevator's power was shut down.

Nikita was locked in the elevator and trapped in a form she could not protect herself with. She crouched as low as she could get to the floor, trying to remain under the elevator security cameras. Up was not an option so she turned to the doors and tried to force them open. The floor of the room above the bunker was in sight but the space was extremely small. She could slip through it so long as the elevator didn't move but it would be tight...even for her small frame. Nikita reached up and gripped the edge of the floor, pulling herself up and sliding through the space.

She found herself standing in a wood paneled room with a mahogany desk and chair sitting in the center of the room. A few abandoned "Vote Oliver Queen" posters were on the wall. Two comfortable, plush leather chairs were sitting across from the desk. A forgotten jacket was laying across one of the chairs. Nikita moved over to the chair and grabbed the jacket, slipping it on. Because of her small form, it easily reached to mid knee, hiding the fact that she was only wearing a hospital gown. She wrapped the jacket around her and inhaled. Oliver's Jacket.

Staying as far in the shadows as she can, she walks silently through the building and out into the street. Staying as deep into the shadows as possible, she moved away from debate office and headed deeper into the city to answer the summons that beckoned her.

# # # # # #

Nikita kneeled in the center of the stone cave, her arms behind her, her head bowed. She closed her eyes, trying to push the fear that was clawing at her down and to slow her breathing. She tried to ignore the instinct to run as the energy of Darhk's idol washed over her, almost caressing her.

"You have been gone for 2 months." Darhk's voice sent a shiver down her spine. "I want to know where you have been."

She remained silent, keeping her head bowed. Darhk's footsteps approached and stood in front of her. In his hand he held the black leather jacket that she had taken off the chair in the office. "Who does the jacket belong too?" Pain flared through her jaw as Darhk pulled her chin up to look at him. Still she refused to answer.

"If you don't answer on your own I WILL make you talk." He made a motion with his hand and the tattoos across her body flared to life. She bit back a scream and once more bowed her head. Voices and the sound of footsteps echoed behind them in the corridor. Darhk sighed and straightened his black suit jacket. "Him again." His ice eyes looked down at her. "Heel." The command forced her body to move. As she moved to his side, she felt the magic that had locked her from her natural form release. With a sense of relief, she slipped into her wolf form as she followed him to the steps. She sat beside him, alert and ready and his magic wove around her bond, binding her to his will.

As Oliver and another man walked into the cave, Darhk stood. Several streams of golden light, the lives of those recently killed, absorbed into him. "Hello, Oliver." He smiled as Oliver raised his bow and shot several arrows. The arrows disintegrated before they even reached him. "Cool. You know I didn't even mean to do that." Before he had finished talking John unloaded his clip into him, having no more luck then Oliver. "I turn steel arrows into dust and you thought lead would do the trick?"

"He's not human anymore." John's voice was disbelieving.

"Oh, I'm still human. Just better" Darhk answered with a slight smile

"Doesn't give you the right to remake the world." There was anger in Oliver's voice but Darhk ignored it, enjoying his victory.

"Why Not?" Darhk inquired. "It's been done before. Noah and the flood. People even worship the responsible party." Darhk reached out with his hands, grabbing both Oliver and his friend and yanked them forward slamming them on the stone steps. Oliver landed just a few feet from Nikita but all she could do was watch. It seemed like Oliver might have been reaching out towards her for a second.

"This might smart a little." Darhk informs them as he moves slowly down the stairs. Oliver and John remained pinned to the stairs, writhing in agony. Nikita hung her head, her ears tight and her tail tucked, as she followed him down the stairs. Around them rocks and debris starts to rain down. "I'm pulling the Oxygen out of your bodies, molecule by molecule, but here's the good news. I'm not going to kill you. Well, not right now at least. Instead, I'm going to regain control of Rubicon. That way when the whole world goes all "Dr. Strangelove," you can feel your skin melt from Armageddon." Dahrk pulls his hands back and like puppets on a string, Oliver and John go flying past, slamming into the stone walls.

"Nikki.." Oliver whispers softly as the wolf passes him, following Darhk out. The wolf just turns her head away from him, head hung low. Around them more rock and dirt fall, the walls being shaken down from Darhk's powers. A few seconds later, when he and Nikita were safely away from the room, a deafening crash echoed up from the chamber that they had just occupied. Nikita couldn't help it, a soft whine escapes her. She didn't even know if they had escaped...if they were alive.

"That was fun!" Darhk looked down at her and rubbed his hands together. "Now for Armageddon!"