A/N – Hey y'all. I am really sorry for not updating in so long. Life threw me a curve ball just before Christmas – I got laid off from my job. So, I've spent the last few months job hunting (which, thank the Lord, I found one). Unfortunately, this has meant I wasn't able to write for a long time. Thank you for being patient with me.

Anyway, I started to write this chapter before watching the episode "Free". I realize that Alex's new tracker is in her head; however, since she's still a recruit in this story, I'm going with the fact that it's elsewhere.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nikita.

Michael walked around the now shattered table where Nikita's laptop had been. Any possibility of finding Nikita pretty much went up in smoke when the computer exploded into a million pieces. He sighed as he realized she had won again. He shook his head and laughed as he lost himself in his thoughts. Damn Nikita: always getting in the way of my vengeance.

One of the other agents walked up to Michael after hanging up his cell phone. "Sir, if there's nothing else to do here, Percy wants us to go after the two rogue recruits. There's a plane waiting for us at the airport."

Knowing there was nothing left, Michael nodded. He shouted out to his men: "LET'S GO!"

"Put this on the back of your head. It will help the swelling."

Amanda offered an ice pack Thom as he sat in the infirmary. Nodding, he accepted the ice pack and placed it over the area where Alex hit him. He winced at the pain when as he applied it to his head; his facial expression wasn't lost on Percy as he walked into the room.

"How are you doing?" He asked his young agent.

Thom nodded in response. "I'm ok."

"Well, no permanent damage, I assume."

"With some rest, he'll be as good as new," Amanda replied.

"Thom, I need to know: what did those two agents tell you?"

Thom shook his head, deciding to keep his conversation with the two women to himself. "They didn't say anything - just that they were slated for cancellation, so they decided to run."

Satisfied with his agent's answer, Percy nodded with a sense of relief, knowing that his secrets were contained for now. However, as Percy turned to leave, Thom said to him, "I want to go after them."

"Really?" Percy was surprised at Thom's request. He turned and stood in front of the young agent with arms crossed. "Why?"

"Because I know them. I've worked with them and trained them, and I know how they think. I also know they can't stand each other. We can use that to our advantage."

Percy looked at Thom sternly. "You do realize that your orders will be 'shoot to kill'."

Thom looked the Director directly in the eyes. "I am fully aware of the mission and I intend to carry it out."

Amanda shot Percy an amused look at Thom's answer. Percy just smiled and placed a hand on Thom's shoulder. "Fine. First, you get some sleep; then, we'll get you hooked up with the Strike Team."

Thom nodded. "Thank you, sir." With that, he left the infirmary.

Percy turned to Amanda. "What do you think?"

"He's always been loyal to Division. I don't think he'll have a problem carrying out the order."

"And if he does have a problem?"

Amanda just smiled a sly smile. "I know that both Jaden and Alex were rather fond of him. If he fails his mission, we'll use him as bait."

Thom sat on his bed, holding the ice pack to his head; his mind swirling thinking about the events of the evening…

"We found something, Thom…something horrible. Division has a plan that has major worldwide implications…"

"...Division turned on us!"

"…we're stopping Division's plan with your help or not…"

"They didn't say anything - just that they were slated for cancellation..."

"You do realize that your orders will be 'shoot to kill'…"

He didn't know why he lied to Percy; he just knew that there was more to Alex's story. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make sense of it all. Reaching over, he turned off his light and decided to succumb to sleep.

Dr. Anita Dupuis reflected on her life over the last two years as she drove towards the hospital. Back then, she was only an intern there hoping to gain full employment. Sure enough, one morning, she came into the hospital and was informed she had just passed her internship and could work full time there. Of course, she excitedly called her husband, Matthew, to tell him the happy news. He promptly decided to take the day off of work from his bio-tech job to plan a celebration.

That celebration never happened. At the end of her shift as Anita was walking to her car, a dark gray van pulled up beside her and three masked men jumped out. They would have been successful in their abduction attempt if it wasn't for an unknown woman who came in and saved her…

"Come with me if you want to live," she said.

"Who are you?"

"Right now, I'm your 'guardian angel' and the person keeping you alive. Now, let's go!"

At the time, Anita couldn't understand why anybody would want to kidnap her. Of course, she never could understand why they'd want to kill her husband either. The sight of him slumped backwards in his home office chair with a gunshot to the head still made her shiver to this day. It was with Nikita's help she learned that some 'division' in the government wanted her husband's research on new-age chemical weapons and was looking to hold them hostage for it. In the end, with Nikita's help, the whole incident ended up going public, thwarting her abductors' plans. All research was stopped and subsequently destroyed by Matthew's employer. In addition, with her face all over the media, there would be many people suspicious of her disappearance.

When it was all over, though, she realized she was alone.

"What do I do now?"

"You mourn…but at least you get another chance."

"Will they be coming back?"

Nikita shook her head. "No. I'll make sure of it."

Nikita started to walk away, but stopped when Anita called out to her. "Thank you, Nikita. If I can ever repay you, let me know…"

The day they buried her husband was a quiet solemn day: a simple funeral service with family and a few friends. She tearfully laid some roses at the base of the stone, kissed her hand and touched the headstone before leaving…

Matthew Redding

1976-2009

Now, newly remarried, her life was almost back to normal. She never forgot the day that her 'guardian angel' saved her. That's why, when she got a page from her 'guardian angel' calling in a favor, she headed straight for the hospital.

"Anita! You're here. Everything ok?" The triage nurse Petra was surprised to find Dr. Dupuis coming in at this late hour – especially since her shift ended seven hours ago.

"Yes, I'm good," she replied. "I just have some things to take care of."

With that, she nervously awaited what the evening would hold.

It was about one-thirty in the morning when Alex found Prince William hospital in Gainesville. As she pulled the pick-up truck into the parking lot, Jaden stirred from her slumber, pausing a few minutes to get her bearings. After realizing she was at the hospital, she turned to Alex and asked her, "Why are we here?"

"There's somebody here who might be able to deal with Division's electronic leash. If you're not interested, you can stay here if you'd like, but I'm going in there..."

Jaden bolted up immediately. "Oh, hell no. I'm coming with you – there's no way you're leaving me behind."

They walked into the emergency entrance and walked up to the triage station. "Excuse me, is Dr. Anita Redding working this evening?" Alex sweetly asked the triage nurse.

As they stood there, a doctor walked up to the two recruits. "Are you looking for Dr. Redding? Who's asking?"

Jaden's defense mechanism started up, getting ready for the worst. Alex just looked at her and said, "Angel."

The doctor immediately nodded and asked them to follow her. She led them through the emergency ward to a deserted area near the back. After walking into the stall, she pulled the curtain behind them and asked them, "Who are you?"

Alex calmly replied. "We're here to see Dr. Anita Redding. A 'guardian angel' needs to call in a favor."

The doctor nodded. "I'm Doctor Redding. My 'angel' sent me a message this evening. She said something about removing 'trackers'."

Alex nodded. "They're implanted somewhere in out bodies and we need to get them out."

Anita nodded, knowing just what to do. She hurried the two recruits towards the Radiology department. Throwing two gowns to the agents and ushering them to their own change rooms, she instructed them to change and get ready for x-rays. After they had changed, the two recruits walked into the x-ray room and saw that Anita was busy getting the computer ready for processing. "Who's going first?"

Alex motioned towards the table. "You first," she told Jaden.

Jaden got on the table and laid down. Anita performed a number of x-rays, taking films of Jaden's body in sections. As each picture was taken, a computer recorded a digital image of the film. After Jaden was done, she did the same for Alex.

Anita took about ten minutes analyzing the films before presenting her findings. "OK. Good news: I found them. Alex, your tracker is in your left arm." She pointed to the x-ray film showing Alex a small cylindrical tube located in her arm.

"Jaden," she continued, "your tracker is in your right calf."

Jaden nodded in acknowledgment. "So, what now?"

"Now, we prep you for surgery. Get your stuff and let's go."

Three black SUV's pulled into the hospital's parking lot. The doors flew open and Division agents came flooding out. Michael took the lead. "OK. Birkhoff has confirmed they're in here somewhere."

He turned to one of the agents holding a portable GPS. "Jack, got their location?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Weapons hidden for now. And gentlemen, we take them alive. Got it? Let's go."

The men nodded to Michael, but a few looked at each other knowing the real purpose of their mission.

The three women made their way through the halls of the hospital until they came into a small surgery room. As soon as they entered the doors, Anita locked the door and flipped the switch on a box that was attached to the wall…

"Sir, the signal dropped. Something's jamming the signal."

All agents stopped in their tracks in front of the Emergency room entrance. Michael fumed at the news. "OK. We know they're here. Split up into groups of two and search this place. I want you to find them!"

As they entered the Emergency room, the triage nurse, Petra, stood up to meet them. "Sir, can I help you?"

Michael and his crew ignored her and continued walking.

"HEY! You can't go in there!"

Suddenly, Petra yelped as she felt a hand cover her mouth and a sharp pain in her arm. She didn't even have a chance to see one of the Division agents putting a syringe in her arm. After a few seconds, she fell to the ground. The agent turned to Michael. "She'll be out for a few hours."

He nodded. "Good. Hide her away and let's go."

"What's that thing?" Alex asked the doctor motioning towards the box on the wall.

"It's an electronic jammer. It's used to stop idiots using their cell phone near sensitive equipment. Hopefully this will jam your trackers and buy us time." She pointed towards the table and, turning to Jaden, said, "You first."

Jaden did as she requested, laying face down on the table. She winced as a needle was injected into her leg, followed by the burning of the anesthetic.

"It's a local anesthetic, " the doctor informed them, as she took another needle and injected anesthetic into Alex's arm. "It'll take a few minutes to kick in. It's the best we can do under the circumstances." After a few minutes, she handed Jaden a towel. "Here, bite on this."

Jaden did as she instructed. It wasn't long before she bit down on the towel and screamed into it as a slicing pain radiated through her legs. The anesthetic was able to numb the top layers of skin but hadn't gotten down into the deeper tissue where the tracker was.

Eyes stinging with tears, she balled up her fists trying to bear with the pain...

...and was surprised to feel Alex grab her fists to comfort her. Jaden was surprised to see the concern in Alex's eyes: for a second, Jaden thought that Alex might have actually cared for her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Anita finished stitching up Jaden's leg and wrapped it in gauze; the tracker had been retrieved. Turning to Alex, she said, "You're next."

When it was all over, Alex was spent. The pain of the surgery was unbearable, but at least the job was done: the tracker was out and her arm was stitched and bandaged. Anita placed some more gauze and tape into Alex's bag along with some antibiotics. The doctor then reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. She handed it to Alex. "Your friend said you'd know what to do with this."

Alex nodded accepting the envelope. It took some doing, but both recruits changed back into their street clothes. Getting ready to leave, Anita stopped Alex, handing her a set of keys. "Take my car and park it at the Rose Hill cemetery. I'll find it there."

Alex nodded. "Thank you."

Anita smiled. "I'm just glad I could return the favor to my 'angel'. Now go!"

They made sure the hallway was clear. Jaden was using Alex as a crutch so she didn't have to put pressure on her leg. They slowly made their way towards a stairwell heading towards the parking lot.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The two recruits froze: two Division agents stood in the hallway with guns raised.