Did anyone else think the back and forth between Owen and Sean was hilarious? Or that Owen is so awkward around women? I have to say it kind of made up for the lack of Owen/Alex scenes. But just a little.

I kind of hope this chapter helps tide fans like me over.

Now guys I just want you to please remember this is my first foray into fanfiction while you read this chapter.

Okay then, here you go.

And of course, thank you everyone for reading etc. this fic. Your all awesome.

Nikita:

"Is there something going on between those two?" Michael whispered in Nikita ear, turning towards her. They were both looking down at Alex and Owen, the latter using the former as his mattress. Owen's wound was close to his spine, but it didn't look like it would still be ok to remove. They'd have to wait for medical and Nikita was extremely glade she'd insisted on bringing a small team. In all honesty, she'd expected a fight to break out between Owen and Sean or for Alex's shoulder to plague her, before anyone got shot. But that was the job. As unpredictable, as it was dangerous.

"Their friends," Nikita whispered back, thoughtfully. "Or something."

Nikita wasn't surprised that Owen and Alex had grown so close; what did surprise her was how fast it had occurred. But then living in close quarters coupled with the high level of value, both Alex and Owen, placed on friendship, Nikita could see where it could go. That is if, both or one of them didn't sabotage it. They had a history of closing themselves off and pushing people away when times got hard and Nikita prayed that they wouldn't do it to each other.

"Or something, is more accurate," Michael commented. "But the road there on is a bumpy one. I just don't want to see Alex get hurt."

Nikita shook her head, while rolling her eyes. Every single time. It's like Owen doesn't even count. Nikita understood that Michael thought Owen had a crush on her, but it wasn't anything as simple as that. She had been there when Emily died and she had given him a purpose when he needed it. The same could be said of now. But she'd also been Owen's first real friend and because of that he held her in a high regard, that to everyone else would seem like a teenage crush. It was just that Owen didn't know how to interact with people, he was used to being alone. So when he found someone he cared about, he'd do anything and everything for that person. Nikita was only his friend, she couldn't imagine what he'd do for the women he fell in love with. Owen and Alex's That made his obvious growing attachment to Alex that bit more astonishing. It had taken Nikita much longer to break past his defences. Not to mention Alex's too. As a result Nikita was fascinated by how quickly they had bonded. "And Owen?"

Michael sighed, acting put out. "Yeah. Him too," he paused, "I suppose."

Nikita shot him a look that told him he was being unreasonable, but the heavy dose of affection and love she couldn't hide, ruined the effect. "Michael, you're the worst." He just shrugged, the corner of his mouth turning up. "I hope they both don't get hurt. But as we know all too well, life isn't easy and those two have a tonne of baggage each. But then so did we and look how we turned out. All cute and cuddly."

"Cute and cuddly? Really?" Michael eyed Nikita sceptically. "Out of all the words you could have chosen, those two came to mind?"

"Well, honey, all that fighting we did in the past was just rough foreplay," Nikita supplied, eyes shining. "Don't get me wrong, I love foreplay, but a girl can only take so much before she explodes. And now we get to be cute and cuddly after we have our fun." Nikita's tongue curled around the word fun and Michael's mouth was practically on hers before Alex's laugh interrupted them, bringing the engaged couples gaze back down to the vertically challenged pair.

"Care to share, Alex?" Michael asked, using his best teacher voice. He was not happy being caught being unprofessional. Nikita smiled to herself, pressing more closely against his side. He automatically tightened his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head. They'd been blocked from public view ten minutes ago by their vans. They didn't need their faces been spread all over the news.

"Ah, well, Owen was just saying that even your whispered conversations sound lovey dovey," Alex answered reluctantly, her voice giving away how close she was to laughter once again, as Owen grumbled something else at her. "He also says that he thinks you two should get a room. Preferably far away from his. Now, can we please stop talking about my Michael and Nikita's, uhm, extracurricular activities and concentrate on the bullet wound in Owen's back."

Owen grumbled something again drawing Alex's attention back to him, as she ran a soothing hand through his hair.

Michael raised his eyebrow at Nikita, a small smirk gracing his face. "I can't actually say that that's a bad idea," he agreed, again whispering in Nikita's ear.

Nikita smiled up at him, straightening his already straight tie. "Later, I promise." A commotion down by the entrance to the ally made Nikita glance in that direction. "Looks like Medical is here. Let's get out of here."

"Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill you for this!"

"That's basically what's she being screaming through her gag since she came too," Sean informed Michael and Nikita, his back to the women he was referring too, his voice low so she couldn't hear them. Kristen had been putting up such a struggle that they had to get one of the medic's to give her a sedative. Nikita was contemplating giving her another one. "We need her to calm the hell down or someone will hear."

"We bought out the entire floor and the ones above and below, so noise shouldn't be a problem," Michael explained, frowning. "With Owen injured we can't risk moving for at least twenty-four hours."

At the mention of Owen's name Sean's entire body tensed and he looked like he wanted to punch something. Nikita watched several emotions cross Sean's face before he got himself back under control. The complications of the heart, Nikita thought, her heart going out to the man who had done so much for Alex. But he had made a bad call, leaving the way he had. He might have had his reasons, but Alex was not the type of girl you left. She was the kind you fought for tooth and nail, because she could put up a wall with it came to her emotions like nobody else could. Well, except maybe Owen, but at least he let his anger out. Alex completely boxed and that was not healthy.

"Right," Sean nodded. "So his going to be fine?"

Sean's tone implied that he wanted to hear otherwise and Nikita didn't like that. "Whatever your differences Sean, Owen does not deserve to die. You can personally hate him all you like, but out on the field you have to work as a team."

Sean took a deep breath, his brows pulled together, his gaze frustrated. "Your right, I know that, but at the same time I just want too..."

Nikita nodded. Sean was jealous; plain and simple. It was messing with his head, but he was a good guy. He and Alex could have been good together, but right now everything was too messed up. Alex needed to figure herself out and having a man distract her was the not the best course of action. At the moment, Owen was keeping everything strictly platonic between them and Nikita appreciated that. Then again on the other hand, as far as Nikita could tell, Owen had never really been in a serious relationship or really even in love. Yes, he had loved Emily, but Nikita thought that it was more the idea of her. She represented something he was missing. Something he never thought he'd have. If Owen did have feelings for Alex on a more intimate level, he probably didn't know what to do with them. If he'd even acknowledged they were there in the first place.

Sean rubbed the back his head and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "Anyway how did you guys manage to book-up three floors?"

Ah, the not so subtle subject change. "Well, Alexandra Uninov needs her privacy. And the billionaire Princess wants, the billionaire Princess gets."

Sean nodded and turned his attention back to the blond, still struggling against her restraints. "What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know about you boys, but sometimes I just like a good girl talk." Nikita folded her hands and tilted her head to the side. Michael took his future wives hint and gestured at Sean to follow him out of the room.

"I don't know about you, Kristen, but I never like it when I'm gagged. It makes it hard to get my witty nature across to my captures." Nikita moved toward Kristen, who was handcuffed to the bedpost. "Now if you want to have a mature conversation where we can air our issues, I can take your gag off. I'll take your silence as an agreement."

Nikita waited while Kristen continued to struggle and shout, keeping eye contact the entire time. It took five minutes, but Kristen eventually quieted and stilled.

"That's better. Now, I'm going to remove your gag. If your good and answer my questions, I might answer yours," Nikita smiled. She approached Kristen slowly. The women might be acting demure just get Nikita to let her guard down.

"Good," Nikita said, when she removed the gag without any trouble. She expected her to start screaming, but nothing. "So what was your role in Division?"

"My role in Division?" Kristen repeated, her voice hoarse from screaming. "Why would I ever want to be associated with that cesspool?"

"Cesspool? Huh," Nikita pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Never heard it described like that before."

"Yeah?" Kristen sniggered, her face the picture of disgust. "I'm surprised. From what I heard the place was like hell on earth."

"Heard? Heard where?" Kristen shook her head and refused to answer. "Alright, I'll start then. Division is no longer a cesspool. We're trying to rectify the mistakes of our past. We want to shut the place down, but it's going to take time." Nikita felt as if she was repeatedly saying the same thing over and over again. "Now that Percy's gone..."

"Wait! Wait! Percy's gone?" Kristen sat forward. "Gone, as in dead?"

Nikita's eyebrows pulled together and she nodded her head. "His dead."

"But then, where is Kristen?" Nikita was confused by the other woman's behaviour. Her excitement at Percy's death, her reference to herself in third person. She'd muttered the last sentence to herself without realising. Nikita was putting two and two together and getting an extreme headache.

"You aren't Kristen, are you?"

Kristen shook her head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nikita," Nikita answered. She had a feeling, honesty - or as much honesty as possible - was the best policy here.

"The Nikita who escaped Division?" This was getting stranger by the moment and Nikita wasn't sure what the hell was going on. She did not like that.

"The very one," Nikita said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Now, I've answered your questions. It's your turn to answer my questions. Who are you?"

Kristen shifted on the bed, her cuffs clanking against the bedpost. "My name is Avery and my sister Kristen was part of Division. She disappeared six months ago."

Nikita stood in the hallway conferring with Michael. "She says she's a cop and that her sister, Kristen, came to her over a year ago. Avery thought she was dead, killed in a gang related shooting. A case of wrong time, wrong place. You can imagine Avery's surprise when Kristen showed up alive. Kristen spilled everything about Division and Avery had been searching for us since. She thought we took her sister."

"A gang related shooting?" Michael interrupted, hands on his waist. "That doesn't exactly fit Division M.O."

"No," Nikita agreed. "But Percy wasn't exactly a by-the-book kind of guy. Avery said that her sister didn't like to talk about what she had to do, but she heard her saying the name 'Samuel' and 'hurt' in her sleep. She also said she acted like someone with PTSD."

"That's common enough in our line of work. But we can get Birkhoff look it up when we get back to base." Nikita nodded and Michael rubbed her shoulder. "Oh, Ethan from Medical was looking for you. It was something about the drug they gave Owen. I'll go get Sean and we'll look after Avery."
Nikita smiled her thanks and went to find Ethan. He and the rest of the medical team were just down the hall. She knocked on room 410 and waited for an answer.

"Nikita. Hey," Ethan pulled the door and gestured her inside.

"Hey," Nikita replied, crossing the threshold. "Michael said you wanted to tell me something about the drug you gave Owen."

"The drug we gave to Owen is experimental," Ethan began, offering Nikita a bottle of water from the minibar. Nikita shook her head and Ethan opened the bottle for himself. "From the time he was injured before we know that he is a very restless sleeper. He pulled his stitches on two separate occasions. We tired out a few different sedatives, before finally deciding on trying one that we've had in development for a while. There is no bad side effects per say, but the person may experience some poor impulse control, especially for the first hour or two and they are likely fall back to sleep again, waking with no memory of what they've done. I was looking for you earlier, but Sean said you were in the middle of something. With the dose we gave him he shouldn't wake for another few hours. But he showed no symptoms before, I just thought it was better that you know."

Nikita phone rang before she could reply and Birkhoff's name flashed across her screen. "I got to take this," she smiled apologetically. "Thanks Ethan. I'll let Alex know. She's the one looking after him."

"Anytime boss."

Nikita left the room, punching the answer button on her phone. "Hey nerd."

"Hey Nikki. How's Owen?"

"His alright. Knocked out, but he'll be as good as new in no time."

"Back to wrestling bears," Birkhoff chuckled to himself. "You know that would be fun to watch."

Nikita smiled fondly. She did have a major soft spot for that man. "Is that why your calling? To tell me that you want to set up a fight between Owen and a bear?"

"If only it was," Birkhoff sighed over the phone and Nikita felt her spidey senses tingle. "Nikki, when you get back there's something we need to talk about."

Alex:

Alex was asleep in a chair by the side of Owen's bed. She'd originally planned to lie down beside him, but then she'd started thinking about the friends thing. Sure, friends could lie in the same bed and it would be easy, normal, friendly. Alex wasn't sure why, but in the last few hours her feelings for Owen had become too confusing to say that she outright thought of him as a friend and nothing else.

She knew she wanted to be near him, wanted to lie down beside him. But she also knew that the thought of his hands on his skin weren't bringing up comforting thoughts as they usually did. Now when she thought of his rough fingers finding their way under her t-shirt, her breathing accelerated, a slow burn started low in her belly spreading outwards, her heart constricted and so did other places. She tried to stop thinking like that. She really did, but then she'd remember how it felt to be pressed up against his hard body and she'd have to clench her thighs together to stop herself from doing something stupid.

Owen was starting to mumble and move around, but his eyes were still closed. Alex assumed he was just dreaming, being used to the sound of nightmares as she was, and got up to get a drink. Before she'd made it halfway out of the chair, Owen's hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. She found herself face down on the floor, her hand pulled up behind her back, straddled by a large man.

Alex didn't dare move. She wasn't sure what was causing Owen to act like this, but she sure as hell knew that she had to remain calm. After all, his head was just as messed up as hers and that could manifest itself in any number of ways. She waited a few minutes and when Owen didn't make any move to tighten his hold or hurt her, Alex allowed her body to relax underneath him. It seemed like the right thing to do as he realised her restrained hand. Alex placed it above her head, along with the other one. She wanted to show him that she meant no harm. If it was a nightmare that had gotten ahold of him, it was better she not react unless she absolutely had too.

Alex's breath caught and thoughts of nightmares flew out the window, when the hands she'd been imagining on her body only moments ago, did in fact slip under her t-shirt. Very slowly, almost methodically, Owen began pushing Alex's t-shirt up, his palms resting on either side of her spine, his fingers on her sides so they glided up along her back, with each inch of skin he exposed. Alex broke out in goose-pimples, a combination of the cold air and the heat Owen was giving off causing her insides to turn to mush. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her when he brushed against the sides of her breasts, his fingers now curling around the straps of her bra, his knuckles dragging against her shoulder blades, as he continued pushed her t-shirt up.

Alex closed her eyes, waves of sensation running through her body. She couldn't believe how turned on this was making her. She couldn't believe she hadn't stopped it yet. Her t-shirt was now bunched up around her shoulders and neck, her bare stomach exposed to the cool wooden floor. She was breathing hard, but she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Owen's warm breathe on the place she'd tattooed her butterfly. Her mind shut down. She couldn't think, didn't want to think. She just wanted to feel.

Owen brushed a light kiss in the centre of her tattoo, before tracing the outline with mouth and teeth. By this stage Alex was well and truly wound up. She'd been fantasiszing about Owen for the last two or three hours, her nipples were hard, her centre ached and it was all she could do not to start moving against the floor to relieve some of the pressure that was building. I have to stop this. It's ridiculous. All his doing is...Worshiping my tattoo...Oh God! Owen had undone the clasp of her bra, his lips now moving along the length of her spine. Alex moaned softly. She felt, rather than heard Owen's groan of approval and suddenly his right hand was on top of hers, their fingers interlocking. He continued levelling kisses all over her back, sometimes biting, sometimes licking, sometimes sucking. It was only when Owen's left hand circled round the side her waist and stopped, his nails scraping gently against the skin underneath her leggings, that he finally stilled enough for Alex to catch her breath. Her mind was fogged over with lust, her insides quivering. She was on the verge, all it would take was one little touch from him and she'd be gone. His sneaky hand moved another two inches and it was just under the band of her panties.

Alex pressed her forehead against the floor. What the hell am I doing? What are we doing? But she didn't protest, didn't tell him to stop. He was giving her the time to back out, but she couldn't. Not even if she wanted too. Owen continued his journey downward, through her curls, but he didn't touch her straight away. Instead, he circled the bundle of nerves, begging for his attention, with his index finger, drawing long, low moans from Alex. Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!

Alex's hand fisted around Owen's as he drew her higher and higher. Her back arched and she felt the evidence of Owen's own arousal against her butt cheeks.

"Owen, please," Alex begged, the first words she'd uttered to him since the alleyway. He must have heard the desperation in her voice, because finally, finally, he touched her. He firmly pressed his finger against her clit, moving it slowly back and forth, up and down, back and fourth, up and down. Alex barely contained the scream that wanted to explode from her body, her muscles locking up. So close! So very close! Owen bit down on the skin above her butterfly and he rubbed her vigorously at the same time and she fell apart in his arms. It felt like lightning was coursing through her, shock-waves of pleasures shaking her body as she came back to earth.

And then Owen fell.

One second he was still kissing the bite mark he'd given her and the next he was slumped over, eyes closed. Alex pushed herself to her knees, panic invading her brain. She felt for a pulse and upon finding one, she fell back on her knees. Oh thank God! Alex was bone tried, her body feeling overused, but content too. Knowing she wouldn't be able to put him back in the bed herself, Alex pulled the blanket from the bed and draped it across him. She tired not to look at his still straining erection, but she couldn't help a quick glance. It had felt impressive enough against her butt cheeks, but now she could see that Owen was very impressive indeed. Blushing, Alex made herself stand. It was only then she remembered her t-shirt was still up around her chest and her bra was undone.

Alex clipped her bra back into place and adjusted her t-shirt. She could feel the dampness between her legs, her face heating up all over again. Refusing to think about it right now, she grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom. She needed to freshen up and a shower sounded like heaven right now. She pulled off her clothes and tossed them in a pile by the door. She stepped into the shower and quickly washed her hair and body. She was careful of her back, some of Owen's other bites had left marks too. Alex shivered when she thought about it. Normally, being marked wasn't her thing, she wasn't a piece of property to be tagged and owned, but with Owen it was different. Different how, she couldn't explain, but he hadn't marked her anywhere that she couldn't cover up. It wasn't on display for everyone to see. It was something that was meant for her and her alone.

Alex was pulling on the hotel nightgown over her pyjama when she heard a knock at the door. Grabbing her gun, she slowly crept toward peep hole. Yes, the entire floor was theirs, but that didn't mean they could let down their guard.

"Alex? It's Nikita."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Nikita sounded normal and she hadn't used any of their code words for danger, so she put the gun on the side table and opened the door.

"How's the patient?" Alex felt her cheeks go red and silently cursed herself. Nikita didn't know what had transpired so there was no need for Alex to be blushing like a school girl. Her only hope was that Nikita was assume that it was from the heat of the shower as evidenced by her dripping wet hair.

"His okay," Alex answered. "Kind of restless."

"Ethan said that Owen was a restless sleeper." Alex threw a confused look in Nikita direction. "The time that Owen was stabbed by Ari, Medical had to give him an experimental drug to keep him from moving to much. His probably built up a tolerance to all the other sedatives thanks to Amanda, but the one they gave him can lead to poor impulse control upon waking and then memory loss of the event afterwards. Ethan thought we should know, but he thinks Owen will be down for another few hours. So just keep an eye on him."

Nikita had no idea that she's just thrown Alex for a loop. And how could she? It wasn't like Alex could tell her that, not only had Owen suffered the side effects, but that he'd given her a mind blowing orgasm as a result. This could not be happening.

Drawing on years of experience, Alex forced herself to compartmentalise. First she had to finish this conversation with Nikita and then she could go freak out in the room. "I will. I was just going to dry my hair and sleep on the couch. I don't want to leave him on his own."

Nikita nodded her approval and gave Alex a quick hug. "Goodnight then. I'll see you in the morning."

Alex forced a smile and watched Nikita disappear down the hall. She the very carefully shut the door and collapsed against it. She felt like she'd been run over with a truck. Poor impulse control? Memory loss? He won't remember anything. Alex walked over to the man in question, without having consciously thought about it. She stared down at his sleeping face, her mind in shambles.

Owen bolted upright, his eyes wild. "Alex! Alex?!" Alex almost jumped out of her skin for the second time in the last hour, bewilderment and concern at his fearful exclamation of her name sending her to his side.

"I'm here. Owen, I'm here." She took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.

"Wh...What is...Alex?" Owen voice was slurred from the drugs, his pupils dilated. He had no idea what was going on.

"Shhh, Owen," Alex soothed, rubbing her thumb over the creases in his forehead. "It's okay. We just need to get you back in bed." Alex helped him to his feet and over to the bed. His movements were sluggish and he collapsed as soon as he touched it. Alex stood at the edge of the mattress thinking. She could sleep on the couch or she could take this last chance to be close to Owen. Because after tonight, she knew that any physical closeness between them, especially in a bed would cause her hormones and heart to spiral out of control.

Alex was in this on her own; there was no other way. She couldn't tell Owen what happened between them. What if he saw it as a mistake? What if he only wanted to be friends? Alex wasn't even sure what she wanted and telling him would just make everything more complicated. They had enough to deal with in their lives without adding this to the mix. The only thing that was making sense right now was to forget the whole thing. Forgetting was another thing Alex had a lot of experience with.

I'm being too emotional about this. He won't remember, so I can pretend it never happened. We can just go back to normal. We can be friends.

This was just a dream.