NOTE: Although this story is about Alex/Owen, it's from Alex's POV and therefore, more focussed on her than Owen.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Nikita, nor the characters. This is just for fun.
Let me know what you think! :)

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The brunette sat in her car, tapping with her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting anxiously for something to happen. She'd been sitting like this for hours, and she'd sit here for a few more if it meant getting what she wanted. What she had wanted for so long now. Years she had to wait. Wait for that one chance that would give her everything she wanted; revenge. And now she was finally going to get it.

She thought back of the conversation that lead her to this place. Amanda had called her into her office, to discuss another, meaningless job. She had refused the assignment, made it clear to Amanda once more that she didn't work for Division, and the only reason she was sticking with them was because they could provide her with information about the men running Zetrov. That's when Amanda smiled. That little, devilish smile curling around her lips, and she had known instantly Amanda had new information. She turned around, walked out of the office and approached Sean. She told him about her suspicions, and after a quick conversation with Oversight, Sean had confirmed that Ari Tasarov was in town for business, and would be staying at a hotel in Washington for one night.

And so she had gone to Washington, waiting for him to return to the hotel. Alex sighed. Ever since she had killed Anton Kochenko, she had this knot in her stomach, growing tighter every time she'd get closer to finding the others, and now that she had finally located Ari, she was close to throwing up any minute now. She suddenly saw a black limousine stop at the hotel, and she grabbed her binoculars. She focussed on the men getting out of the car. All three were big, wearing suits and carrying guns. They looked around, as though they were checking for any danger. Then one of them bowed down and talked to someone who was still in the car.

"Bodyguards," Alex whispered to herself. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Then Alex felt her heart skip a beat. A smaller man got out of the car, straightening his jacket and immediately headed towards the entrance of the hotel.

"Ari Tasarov." Alex swallowed a few times.

She took a deep breath, then grabbed her sunglasses and got out of the car. She entered the hotel, and saw what she had expected to see; Ari and his men had not gone to their room yet, but instead were still talking to the young receptionist who, although smiling, felt clearly a little uncomfortable.

Alex shook her head, and then quickly headed for the elevator. Earlier, she had hacked into the hotel's computer and checked out Ari's room number. He had booked a room on the seventh floor, right next to the emergency exit, leading straight to the stairwell. This would be very convenient for Ari if there was a threat, but, if playing it right, it would also come in very handy for her.

The elevator reached the seventh floor and she stepped out. She looked around to find the room, and then bumped into a maid.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Alex said, looking down at the rather small woman. "I didn't see you, I was looking the other way and… I'm sorry," she repeated.

The woman looked rather angry and muttered a few words in a different language, and then walked away. Alex shook her head. "Geez, temper much?"

She reached Ari's room, and pulled out the key card she had nicked from the maid just a few seconds ago. With a single beep, the door unlocked and Alex went inside. She examined the room, and eventually hid in the closet in the bedroom, waiting for Ari to arrive. Ten minutes later, she heard the door unlock again and she sunk to the bottom of the closet, waiting for anything to happen. The bodyguards came in first, checking the bathroom, the balcony and under the bed. Alex held her breath, hoping they wouldn't check out the closet. They didn't, and instead returned to the living room and told Ari the room was clear.

She heard Ari speak to them in Russian. "Wait outside my room, do not disturb me unless there is a reason." She heard the bodyguards mutter a few words, and then the door closed again.

Alex heard Ari walking around, dropping something on a chair. She quietly got out of the closet and slowly walked to the door, peaking through the opening, and saw him pouring himself a drink. She took another deep breath, raised the gun in her hand and stepped into the living room, ready to kill Ari. Then she froze. Ari was not alone. A man was standing next to him, a little caught off guard by her appearance, but then immediately drew his gun, pointing it at her. She stared at him for a few seconds, confused by his appearance as well. Although she had never met him, she felt like she had. He looked familiar to her, although she had no idea how that was possible. She shifted her position slightly, now pointing her gun at the blonde man, though she still kept an eye on Ari.

He smiled. "I knew you would come for me sooner or later."

"Is that right?"

"Of course." Ari replied. "Ever since we found out you're still alive, I had a feeling you'd seek me out soon enough. And look; I wasn't wrong, was I?"

"If you knew this would happen, why didn't you have your men search your room more properly? Why are they outside, and not here with you?" Alex asked.

Ari shrugged. "Oh they would just start shooting around, try to kill you. And I have no intention of killing you."

"Really? So when I killed Kochenko, no one felt angry? Everyone just shrugged and said 'well what a shame, now lets move on'? I find that very hard to believe." Alex moved a little closer, though not letting the unknown man out of her sight.

"Kochenko was a pawn, someone who could easily be replaced by another man with the same abilities." Ari sat down on a chair, taking a sip from his drink.

"Somehow I doubt that's how everyone feels at Zetrov. I mean, just the surprise alone that I'm still alive, and not long dead and buried as you guys were hoping, must've created a lot of chaos." Alex took another step closer, not sure where this conversation was heading. She had no chance of killing Ari and get out before the blonde man would shoot her in the head, but she wasn't going down without a fight either.

Ari nodded. "True. Discovering you were still out there was a huge surprise, one that not everyone liked. Semak has ordered everyone to kill you on sight ever since."

Alex raised her eyebrow. "So you are going to kill me then?"

Ari got out of his chair. "I told you already; I have no interest in killing you, Alexandra. You're the last Udinov standing, why would I?"

He put down his glass, and out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw the blonde man widen his eyes for a second, as though her name meant something to him. She turned back Ari, tightening her grip on her gun, pointing it at him now.

"So what are your plans, then?" She asked him.

"Well, like I said; I have no interest in killing you. However, Semak will know you were here, and he'll be very disappointed if he finds out that I just… let you go."

He stared at her for a few moments, and in those moments, Alex had no idea what he was going to do. Then he opened his mouth and yelled. "Guards!"

In the few seconds it took the guards to come in, the blonde man had turned to Ari, shot him in the leg and turned back to face the guards. With no time to think or to be confused, Alex turned to the guards as well, who fired their guns immediately. She and her unexpected ally ducked behind the couch, covering their heads from flying bullets. Alex peaked her head around the couch, shooting at guards, a move copied by the man next to her. She suddenly heard him grunt and she turned her head. She saw him grab his arm and realized he was shot. She got up and shot at the last guard still standing, who fell to the ground when one of her bullets hit him in his chest. She looked around the room, checking on all guards, but they weren't moving, and Ari was still lying on the floor, grabbing his leg. She bend over and helped the man on his feet.

"Wanna tell me why you saved my ass?" she asked him.

"You're Alex, right? Nikita's friend?' the man grimaced when he tried to stretch his arm.

Alex stood still. "You know Nikita?"

"Yeah. Worked with her a couple of times. She mentioned you the last time."

Alex' eyes widened as she thought back of the day when she and Nikita had the same goal; to save Senator Charles Irving. She had seen him there, the blonde man. And suddenly she remembered a request Nikita once had for her, when she was still inside Division as a recruit. "You're Owen Elliot," she whispered.

Owen nodded. "That's me. Now we can have a whole conversation here about who we are and why were here, but Ari's guards are on their way and I don't have enough bullets to take them on."

Alex looked at him with confusion, and he stared back. "What, you thought these three were his only guards? He's got more of them spread all over the hotel. Not to mention hotel security will be here soon as well. So if you don't mind, I'd rather avoid running into them."

He started making his way out of the room and Alex followed him. "It still doesn't explain why you saved me."

Owen headed to the emergency exit and pushed the door open. "Because your Nikita's friend. Yeah yeah," he said when he saw the look on her face, "I know of the… estrangement you've currently got going on, but Nikita still cares about you and she'd be horrified if anything would happen to you."

Alex followed him down the stairs, and she heard a door open somewhere above them, followed by people shouting at each other. Alex and Owen hurried further down, trying to avoid the flying bullets coming from the guards. "I don't get it though," she said. "Why were you there? Didn't look like any of you were there against your will."

They had reached ground level and Owen slammed the door open. "Yeah, about that… I'm trying to track down the remaining black boxes, and I had a better of doing that with some help."

"So you decided to reach out to Gogol? How smart are you, they'll put a bullet in you the first chance they get when you screw up."

"Well screwing up wasn't exactly part of my plan," Owen panted. "Of course, that was before you came into the picture and did all this."

"Oh great, so this is my fault now. If you wanted help, you should've stuck with Nikita. The two of you have a better chance at finding the rest of the black boxes if you stay together."

"And that's exactly what I plan to do now. Are you coming with me?" he asked.

Alex froze and stared at Owen. After a few moments, he looked behind him and stopped. "I know the two of you have had your differences, but you still care about each other. And Division? Come on, Alex, you know there's nothing there for you. Nothing Nikita and her team couldn't do for you either, anyway."

"We didn't just have difference, she killed my father," Alex said.

Owen sighed. "Yeah, I know. And frankly, I think she should've told you from the beginning. But turning your back against her, and sticking with the organisation who is responsible for his death? That's even worse. Division leaves dead bodies everywhere, Alex. There's no stopping them without the black boxes, and like you said; we've got a better way of finding those if we all stick together."

Alex remained quiet. She had been so angry with Nikita, felt so betrayed once she'd uncovered the truth. And from the moment she did, her plans were very clear; destroy Nikita. But was that really what needed to happen? Yes, Nikita pulled the trigger, but Division had ordered her to do so. And had Nikita not come to her rescue later on? Had she not looked out for her, cared for her and given back her life?

Owen's voice interrupted her. "I'm not telling you to forgive her, Alex, but at least give her a chance. She's done more good than Division has ever done."

Noises were heard behind them, and they saw the guards exiting the stairwell, searching for the two of them. They soon noticed them and started running towards them.

"Well come on gorgeous, we don't have all day. What's it gonna be?" Owen yelled at her.

Alex took a deep breath and then made her decision. She grabbed Owen's stretched out arm and they ran towards his car. As soon as they got in, Owen drove away as fast as he could, the car being hit by bullets a few times. Alex was panting and tried to calm herself down. She had no idea if she was doing the right thing. Here she was, sitting in a car with someone she hardly knew, on their way to someone Alex didn't know what to say to.

"You're gonna be fine," Owen said, as though he had noticed her concern. "Nikita will be happy to see you."

Alex nodded, though not entirely sure Nikta would be.

"Of course there's also the possibility she's not happy to see you at all. Yells at you, threaten you with her gun or something." Owen continued with a chuckle.

Alex laughed, realizing that is not what Nikita would do at all. "Well aren't you just the glass-half-empty kinda guy," she said.

"Yeah that's me, negative vibes everywhere. Might as well get used to it; we've got a long drive ahead of us. There'll be lots of glass-half-empty remarks. And that's just now. Wait until we're all living together," Owen said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Alex rolled her eyes, though she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "I can't wait."