CHAPTER TEN - BRAINWASHED
Nikita felt so light-headed. It's a familiar feeling, that rush in her veins, sending her senses into overdrive. Drugs…Amanda has drugged her. She swallowed and her throat is dry. She can get past it, she told herself. She got cleaned multiple times and she's stronger now than before. Flushing the drugs out of her system will be easy. Plus, she will not be alone. She got people who will support her. It's all going to be fine.
"Did you miss it?" Amanda asked.
She's standing next to the bed and all Nikita wanted to do is to free herself so she can claw her eyes out but she's restrained quite well.
"What did you do to me?" she asked her back.
"What I do best. Division is strong. It always has been. No forces from the outside can bring it down. What became its downfall came from the inside. You, Michael, Seymour, and Alex. If I want to destroy Division, it must come from within", Amanda answered.
Nikita caught a glimpse of the needle at the foot of the bed. Her brain immediately jumped to Owen. Amanda messed up with his head, took away his memories, made him a whole new person.
"What exactly did you do to me?" she growled.
"Do we have any plan, or we just go in and rain fire?" Sean asked.
Michael's response only came with the sound of the clicking of his gun. Anyone standing in his way to Nikita will go down. It is as simple as that.
"Alright…rain fire then", Alex muttered.
As soon as the car stopped, the team hurried inside the building. It's an office building. Birkhoff managed to hack into the system and pinpoint their location at the basement. The office is only a cover for whatever the hell it is Amanda is doing.
They slipped into the building with Birkhoff and Sonya covering their tracks. Sean and Alex took care of the guards they came across with. When the coast is finally clear, they headed down the basement.
"What the hell?" Owen blurted out.
Medical equipment greeted them upon entering the floor. Shivers ran down their spines. They all know what Amanda is capable of but to see what kind of lair she developed for her nasty brain experiments is something else.
Michael fought off the fear in his chest. He needs to find Nikita. He knows she is strong. She survived Amanda before in Division. She trained Alex to survive Amanda.
"I see another room", Alex pointed out.
Michael went in first but he got caught by surprise when a piece of wood hit his face. He staggered backwards.
"Whoa! Wait!" he heard Owen shouted but it was soon followed by grunts and sounds of struggle.
"Nikita! Stop!" Alex exclaimed.
Michael shook off the concussion and saw his fiancé fighting the others with that look in her eyes he never thought he would see again. There's that coldest fire in those brown eyes of hers. An incredible contrast in one woman. He saw that look the first time he saw her. He saw it for time during her days as a recruit until he was able to turn that cold into warmth.
"Nikita!" he called out but she didn't even flinch.
She launched on Sean who did his best to keep up but he's no match for her. Eventually, her leg caught up with the Seal hooking it around his neck. They both landed on the floor with both her thighs squeezing the life out of Sean. Alex tried to run to them but Nikita grabbed Sean's gun and shot at Alex. Luckily, Owen pulled the girl out of the way and the bullet only grazed her left arm.
One thing is for sure—Nikita is going to kill Sean.
Michael pushed himself off the floor and tackled Nikita off of Sean. They landed on the floor as she struggled to free herself from him.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" he shook her before forcing her to look at him. "It's me, Michael!"
That only seemed to have angered her.
"Don't you dare to even mention his name!" she snapped and landed her fist on his face.
She quickly got back on her feet. Him, not so much, but he managed to dodge her kick.
"You killed him! He's dead because of all of you!" Nikita bellowed.
The others looked at each other, fearing the worst. Perhaps, that fear has already come to life. Amanda did something to her and now Nikita wants to kill all of them.
"Nikita, I am not dead. I am right here", Michael tried to make her see but she's looking at him like she does not know him.
"Stop trying to play me. I know how you government people work. I have already let you burn way too many times, not anymore. I am done playing your games", she started stepping back. "Now, you can watch me burn the whole world down", she warned before a glass door closed down trapping them inside the room with Nikita standing outside.
"Nikita…please, it's Amanda. She did something to you. It's me. I am here. I am alive. I am not dead", Michael pleaded frantically.
She looked so lost and angry. That fire to live, to survive is gone from her. It was replaced with anger. He knows there's not much Amanda can throw her way to really hurt her other than him. She got to her. She made her believe that he is dead. Nikita thinks it's the government's fault that he's dead.
"Nikita…I will prove it to you. I'll prove to you that I am Michael. Just open the door, okay?" he proposed.
She looks conflicted like a part of her wants to say yes but a bigger part wants to say no.
"I really hope you're not lying but the man that I love is dead. He died right in front of me. There's no faking that. Don't come and try to stop me or I will kill you", she looked at each and every one of them. "…all of you", she refused.
Birkhoff took fifteen minutes to open the glass door and by that time, Nikita has already been long gone. Furious, Michael and the rest of the team returned to Division. He is seeing red.
"Michael", something in Ryan's face told Michael he is not going to hear good news. "There is something you need to see. It's rather a message for you",
"From who?" he asked.
"From Amanda", Ryan answered.
Birkhoff played a video showing Nikita lying on the bed while Amanda was sticking a needle into her brain. Alex gasped at the image while Owen winced. He only remembers bits and pieces but he definitely remembers that needle. Once Amanda was done with the needle, she injected something in Nikita before settling at the head of the bed to lean over her ears.
'You cannot save him. You just simply ran out of time…' Amanda whispered.
Nikita groaned.
'Michael…' his heart is literally hurting.
'They are closing in but the door won't open',
'We have to go, Michael', Nikita murmured.
'Run, Nikita. There is no time', Amanda responded.
'No! I am not leaving you here!' Nikita exclaimed.
Michael clenched both fists to stop himself from smashing Birkhoff's computer.
'I love you, Nikita', Amanda was playing the part of Michael in Nikita's head.
'Michael…we can get the door open—'
'They shot Michael right in front of you…'
Nikita gasped; her body trembled as the sobs followed. 'NO!' the pain filled her hoarse voice.
'All the work for nothing. All the things you did for the country and it leads to the death of the man you love. The very people you trust, you try to protect became his downfall. You give and give and they take it all. They took Michael from you and they call it in the service of the country', Amanda's poisonous lies drilled deep in Nikita's head as she cried.
When it's all done, Amanda sat in front of the camera and smiled.
'Forgive the theatrics. It has to be believable in her head for it to work. Nikita is such an exceptional woman. I think we all know that. She can withstand any kind of torture but there's only one thing she cannot bear and that's the thought of losing you Michael. How come I never thought of that before, well…it's all over now', she made a point of waving her hand around before taking a deep breath. 'I guess I won. You can try to get through to her but that is if you can manage to get past her first. One thing I will tell you, she wil not hesitate in killing all of you. Michael, you and I both know what she was like before Division trained her. In the end, it's either she's going to kill all of you or you'll end up killing her because what's about to happen next…will be a total shocker', Amanda said before ending the video.
That's when Michael's new and improved hand hit the desk. It startled everyone but none said a word. No one knows what to say or how to express what they felt after seeing what Amanda did to Nikita.
Amanda was right. Nikita can withstand anything but Michael's death. The woman found Nikita's weakness and she didn't hesitate to go there.
"I am going to kill her", Michael growled.
"I can't find Nikki anywhere. She went off the grid", Birkhoff said.
Ryan sat down and started to think.
"She must have used a car when she left", Alex said.
"Yes, but she ditched it on the road. After that, nothing", Sonya responded.
Michael shook his head. "She's a well-trained agent. If she wants to disappear, no one will be able to find her",
"…but you know how to find her", he looked at Owen. "It's like you got a Nikita-radar or something. We only need to get you on the field and you can track her", the man said.
That was different. Back then, Nikita has that sense of wanting to be found. She's not even aware of it but she doesn't want to be alone. That's how he always finds her. Right now, with what Amanda did to her, she wouldn't want to be found. He saw the fury in her eyes. She's in kill mode. She wouldn't want to be disturbed so she will stay radio silent until she makes her move.
"…not this time", he simply said.
The team went quiet. They know that the first thing they must do is find Nikita. Approaching her should be done from afar. Amanda was right. If they try to just go and talk to her, Nikita will fight them, and they will not win. She almost killed them back there. She will put an end to all of them and she wouldn't even know what she's doing.
"Amanda said that it's either Nikita will kill all of us or you'll end up killing her…" Ryan muttered.
"…in self-defense?" Sean asked.
Ryan shook his head. "No. Amanda seemed certain about it. She said what will happens next will be a shocker. What exactly did Nikita say earlier?"
"You mean aside from yelling how Michael's dead because of us?" Owen asked and Ryan nodded.
"She said she knows how you government people work…that she's done playing our game…" Alex muttered.
"She said she let the government burn her many times. Now, we can watch her burn the whole world down", Owen added.
Ryan and Michael looked at each other and both came to the same conclusion.
"She's not going to come after Division. She's going to come after the U.S. government", Ryan concluded.
