Sublevel 12 was dark and bare. No furniture was there except a table and two aluminum chairs, which had taken the place of the equipment Amanda had used to take the truth out of their victims. Both Nikita and Alex suffered some very vivid visions of Amanda's capability to cause pain the moment they stepped onto the abandoned floor.
"I don't know about you, Nikita, but I would like to take a seat. I'm really tired and my head is killing me," Alex said, stepping forward to take a seat beside the interrogation lamp. She sat down on the chair and put her hands on the table in front of her.
"Are you sure that you don't want to go to Medical first?" Nikita asked, worried about her friend's health.
"Yes. I'm fine. I just want to get this over with," Alex said sadly. She knew she couldn't hide her secrets anymore. It was time for the truth to come out.
"Ok." Nikita sat down opposite her friend. "I have no idea what question I should ask first," she added. There were so many things that she wanted to ask, she was so confused.
"Don't worry, we have all the time in the world," Alex said and gave Nikita a small smile.
"Alright. What happened out there on the beach?" Nikita asked, after taking a moment to put her thoughts in order.
"A Udinov family reunion. Amanda's real name is Alicia Udinov, she is the younger sister of Nikolai Udinov. Amanda used to be my favorite aunt, we loved each other. When I was 7, she faked her death. She couldn't combine Division with her normal life and apparently she chose Division," Alex replied emotionlessly.
"How long have you known this, Alex?"
"The first time I met Amanda, I was in shock. She was so much like my aunt but she couldn't be her. My aunt was kind, and lovely, and caring but Amanda is so manipulative. She is full of anger and she loves to cause others pain, so I somehow convinced myself that she couldn't be her. But back in Ossetia, when I told her that I needed a favor and that I was pregnant, she called me 'lion cub'. That used to be her nickname for me, back when I was young. I looked up at her and she knew that I knew so she admitted to being Alicia. I couldn't believe it so I took a blood sample of hers and ran a DNA test. It matched."
"What was the offer she made you?" Nikita continued, trying to keep her voice calm.
"She offered me to join her. She told me that if I joined her she would stop coming after me," Alex said quietly.
"Why you didn't take the offer?" Nikita asked angrily. Alex had been offered an opportunity to save her life, and she hadn't taken it? Stupid, she thought. Nikita stood up and started pacing the room.
"What do you think?!" Alex answered, seeing the anger raise inside Nikita. "I didn't take it because you guys are my family and I could never come after you. I would never do that just to save my own ass!" Alex shouted, hurt by the fact that Nikita felt like she had to ask her something like that. She made a move to stand up but sat back down on the chair when a bout of dizziness surged through her.
"You told me that I am turning into a new Amanda. So why you didn't take the opportunity to leave and stop me?" Nikita asked, furious at her protegée.
"What? You can't be serious!" Alex yelled. "Yes, running this place has a negative effect on you. And yes you might be turning into the next Amanda, but I don't want you dead Nikita. You don't really believe that I would do something like this to you, right? You didn't try to kill me when I was Division. So why should I try to do so now that you are Division? I don't like how things have worked out but I love you Nikita, I care so much for you. Nothing can ever change that," Alex said, allowing a tear to fall down her cheek. "I'm sorry," she added.
Nikita turned to look at the young Russian. Finally, she understood she had gone too far and was wrong. Alex would never go so far in order to fight her and she should have known that. After calming down, she continued to interrogate the girl.
"Why did you let Amanda hit you? Why you didn't let me protect you?"
"Because…" Alex took a big breath. "Because you had two guns trained on your back. If you had engaged, they would have taken the shot and killed you," Alex said. She closed her eyes, trying to lose the image of a dead Nikita shot in the back.
"Thank you," Nikita said softly. Alex opened her eyes to see Nikita was now standing in front of her. "I guess you saved my life once again," she added and smiled to the younger woman in front of her.
"I have something else to ask you. I'm really sorry and I know it's private, but I can't help it. Are you pregnant?" Nikita asked, waiting anxiously for the answer.
"I'm one month along," Alex admitted. Then she was surprised to find herself in a bear hug from Nikita. "I am sorry for not telling you earlier. You had a lot of things on your mind." She added, trying to explain herself.
"Don't worry, it's ok. Congratulations! I'm so glad for you!" Nikita said. "But why does Amanda want to protect your baby?" she asked, a little confused. She was really worried about Alex.
"Because she is a smart woman and she knows better than to go after the Udinov children. In this war there is only one rule, an ancient rule. You can do anything to whoever has hurt you but you need to either leave the children out of the battle entirely or kill them all. I made a choice and now Amanda has to play by that rule. We didn't go after her daughter so she can't go after our children. That means your potential children are safe too."
"Amanda has a daughter?" Nikita asked in surprise.
"Yeah, her name is Katrina. She thinks her mother is dead, but we stayed in touch after I reclaimed my identity. The fact that we kept her out of this is something Amanda can't ignore."
"Is there anything else you haven't told me? Oh yeah, I forgot. You never told me I have a price on my head," Nikita continued accusingly, shocked by the truth Alex had kept from her all that time.
Alex stared at the ground. "I'm sorry Nikita. You were just so upset with everything that's been going on with Michael. He only just got back home and you were so glad that things were better between you two… I couldn't tell you. I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want Amanda's game to ruin your happiness. You deserve to be happy," Alex apologized with tears in her eyes.
"How many people were watching me?" Nikita coldly asked.
Alex didn't answer.
"Alex! How many?"
"During the first 3 days, there was one rogue Cleaner, two teams sent by the Russian mafia and a rogue Gogol agent." Alex replied, still staring at the ground.
"And after that? How many?"
"None."
"Really? Why?"
"I'm so sorry Nikita, you were never supposed to see what I'm about to show you. Give me your tablet."
Alex hacked into the Russian mafia's network and she showed Nikita a video of herself entering the Russian Mafia's HQ. She had 8 men with her and they were beat up, tied and gagged. Then she looked up and spoke directly to the camera. "My name is Alexandra Udinov. You know who I am. You don't want to mess with me, do you? Now listen carefully. You will stop sending people after Nikita or these are the last of your men returning alive. If you don't stop, I will hunt you down and find your family. I will have your wives raped, your children tortured, your parents killed in front of your eyes and then I'm going to let you leave to live with the ghosts of your past haunting you. Does 2 billion deserve all that? Now leave her alone, or say goodbye to your family." Then Alex shot the camera. Her eyes were just as empty as they were when she had killed Vlad.
The video had finished but Nikita was still standing there motionless, staring at Alex's picture on her tablet.
"Nikita…?" Alex said, trying to make Nikita say something. Anything.
Nikita scoffed. "I hate seeing you like this. I never wanted this life for you. I wanted you to be happy, far away from death and murder," she confessed and let a tear escape.
"I know that Nikita. I don't want to be that person either, but this is who I was meant to be. That woman in the video is who my father wanted me to be. I don't want this part of me on the surface but I couldn't think of anything else to make them stop. Those men were made to fear me. To them I am not Alex. To them I am Alexandra Udinov, a cold blooded murderer who will do anything to anyone without guilt, without hesitation. I used that and I'm not proud of it, but it worked. I won't apologize for selling my soul to the devil in order to protect the ones I love," Alex answered and looked at Nikita, who nodded and thanked her once more.
"What happened to those who came after me? Did you kill them?" Nikita asked, terrified about what the answer may be.
"No. You taught me better than that. The Russians are back home under protection of Zetrov's security department and the Cleaner had started a new life. I gave him a new identity and 2 million as well as a warning. I checked up on him yesterday. He has a new life in Shanghai now. He's running a restaurant and found a girl. As for the Gogol agent, mmh I had to kill him. We had a knife fight and he injured me. I couldn't persuade him to leave so I had to fight back before things got out of control. He died. I'm sorry."
"It's ok, you didn't have a choice. You saved my ass... Alex what Amanda said about the history of your place, is it the truth?"
"Yes. She wanted me to kill you and we argued about that. You might have caused me pain, but I'll always take care of you. Amanda and I had nothing in common. I am not going to tell you I have forgotten what you did, but I understand. You might have killed my Papa but you gave me a family, which I never had. You might have shot me but you saved my ass so many times. You might cause me pain sometimes but you also took away so much pain. I remember every tear I cried because of you but it's nothing compared to how many smiles I formed thanks to you. I love you Nikita, never doubt it. What are you thinking?" Alex said looking her mentor's face become dark.
"Why did we end up here, Alex? Why are we having this conversation on Sublevel 12? Why didn't you come to me, what happened? I want the truth Alex, no more lies. No more secrets."
"Fine. We stopped talking to each other and as time went by I stopped trusting you. I'm sorry Nikita. I was so angry with you and I preferred drugs over you. And I just forgot how we used to talk. I didn't know how to approach you anymore."
"Angry? Why? Let's make things work, Alex. Right here, right now. I have missed you, so much. I need my sister back. Please," Nikita pleaded. She wanted their fight to finish here. She wanted her Alex back.
"Everything started when Mia shot me. I woke up to find that you almost died when Mia threw you out of a window. I had just taken a bullet for you and you somehow still managed to get yourself in trouble, so I realized that no matter what I do to protect you, it's never good enough if you won't be more careful, or shut Division down. But I kept my anger inside of me and decided to help clean this place up in order for you to be safe. I couldn't do it while benched, so I started using painkillers to help me manage and as you know I got addicted again." Alex sighed. "I had destroyed my relationship with Sean and yet this place was still standing. And then Michael lost his hand. You were broken but I didn't know how to help you. I was there for you but you never came to me. You didn't trust me. You didn't even sleep when I was near because my presence made you nervous. And then I learned that I was pregnant. I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how. "Next thing I knew, Amanda came up. She got me. And she couldn't drug me or torture me physically but that doesn't mean that she did nothing. She reminded me of all the bad things that have happened in my life and your part in them. She tried to persuade me that you were my enemy and used my memories. In short she did exactly what you did when you trained me to become your eyes inside Division and she knew it. She knew every step we took together and she knew how much pain we have caused each other. She knew everything. I was devastated. When you made the exchange, I didn't know what to believe anymore. The only thing I knew was that there was a girl who had never met me and she had just taken a bullet for me. I had to save her but I couldn't because you had your own mission and I don't blame you for that. After that the gap between us widened. I just want Division to be shut down. I want the old Nikita back," Alex admitted. The truth has finally come out.
"Alex, I'm so sorry. I went after Mia because I was angry. I was worried that I might lose you forever and I wanted revenge. I didn't know that doing so would be the thing to make me lose you. I'm sorry, Alex, for not being there. I'm sorry for make it difficult to you to come to me, I'm so sorry." Nikita was now shaking, she was really upset. Hearing the truth didn't make her feel better. She thought she had lost her friend. "I am sorry, Alex. Please forgive me, I need you so much! I want my sister back! Please, please don't leave me again, I missed you so much. I'm so, so sorry!" Nikita choked out and started crying loudly.
Alex stood up from the chair and hugged her mentor. "I'm sorry too, Nikita. I'm really sorry. But I am here now and I need you. I have missed you so much too," she whispered.
The two girls have finally made things work between them. They hugged, no more secrets, no more lies. They stayed there for 2 more hours, talking, laughing and crying. They had each other again. Then they headed back to Ops and announced Alex's pregnancy to everyone. After working out all their issues, Nikita and Alex's relationship was better than ever and the whole team was thrilled to hear that there would be no sign of Amanda for at least the next 9 months. However, Amanda was still out there planning her next move…