AN thanks you guys for the lovely reviews. I forgot to put a disclaimer the previous times but I think it's rather obvious I do not own it.

Icing was a lot of fun to play with, but it sure as hell was terrible to get out of her hair. The strands all stuck together and it didn't seem to change much underneath the warm water of the shower. The floor in the shower was covered in all the goo that had already been washed of her body, creating a colorful mix. It was her second shower of the day, but Alex didn't really care about that. The water always made her feel relaxed and clean. Something she hadn't felt much in her life.

"I just need to grab a towel Michael!" Birkhoff called as he walked into the bathroom with his hand shielding him from the view inside the shower.

"BIRKHOFF! GET OUT!" Alex called as she tried to cover herself up as much as she could. The startled man forgot to not look at who was in the shower and for a second was at a loss for words as he quite openly stared at her.

"BIRKHOFF!" Alex snapped at him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I thought Michael was in this bathroom. I just need a towel." He had covered his eyes again and blindly tried to find the right cabinet. Frustrated Alex hit him in the back of his head with the towel she had grabbed for herself. "GET OUT!" she yelled once again as the man scurried out of the room. Once the door was once again closed and properly locked she let herself think again. A giggle escaped her as she remembered the absolute flushed look on Birkhoff his face when he realized it wasn't Michael in the shower. His clear appreciation hadn't gone unnoticed either. While Alex didn't like being stared at like that, it was a nice compliment to get. She was however not sure whether she could look at Birkhoff normally after this though.

He was so embarrassed. He thought Michael had gone into that bathroom, and while it wasn't exactly great to walk in on anybody Birkhoff had really needed a towel. Instead he finds Alex in the shower. If he didn't feel so terrible about it he might actually have enjoyed the view. She was definitely a beautiful woman. He wasn't sure he could look at her again without remembering her wet body. Oh god, he really needed a cold shower.

"I am placing my bets on Birkhoff." Michael muttered to Nikita as they took their seats in the basement.

"No way, nerd will not beat Alex. I taught her after all." The battle between Alex and Birkhoff had everyone downstairs where there was a training area. Of course there was not to be any lasting damage done to the other participant, considering they might have another mission in a couple of days.

"I'm not sure Nikita; Birkhoff was already in division when I was recruited…he is rumored to be pretty good but because of his talents with the computer had to stay out of fighting. Can't break his fingers of course." The two fighters came from the changing area and took their respective positions.

"I heard, but Alex is faster on her feet and knows how to improvise."

"I think it will be a good match to watch anyhow, but I will be placing my bets on Alex. If I learned anything about Birkhoff is that I don't think he has it in him to throw really hard punches when it's his friends involved." Ryan added to the conversation, but they soon all shut up as Alex landed her first kick.

The kick was intercepted by Birkhoff grabbing her leg; throwing up her other leg she made her body twist kicking him in the face with the other foot. He spit out a bit of blood from the split lip she had given him. "You want to play it hard, you'll get it hard." He growled. With a speed Alex had not anticipated he moved forward landing a couple of hard punches around her chest area making her pull up her arms in defense. Grabbing one of her wrists he swirled her around so her back was against his chest. He placed his arm around her throat, placing her in a choke hold but not actually choking her. Instead of trying to struggle to get out of the grip and move away from Birkhoff she leaned back, placing her full wait against his chest. Pushing off hard against the ground with her feet he lost his balance, letting her go in favor of trying to catch his fall. Flipping over she straddled the surprised genius, putting his hands above his head. "Got anything to say Nerd?" she teased him.

"Yes, never underestimate your opponent." She had straddled him to high up, which gave him free movement of his legs which he threw around her waist to pull her off him. The slam of her on the ground in combination with his legs slamming down on her stomach got all the air out of her body. He reversed the positions, making sure that this time her legs were properly straddled. He leaned forward so he was only a couple of centimeters from her face. "Did you break a nail, princess?" For a moment she just glared at him, than an idea came to her. She shifted her hands so he moved forward with his face and then kissed him. His surprise made him slacken his hold on her, which gave her the moment she needed to throw him off. The bystanders looked particularly shocked by her method, but Birkhoff was on his feet a lot faster. "That was a terrible move; do you use that on all your attackers?" She knew he was goading her, but it sure as hell was working. She went in for a straight forward attack which he anticipated. Once again she found herself with her back against his chest only this time her face was on the ground. He grabbed her arms and put them behind her back, any wrong move would make the pop out of their sockets. Normally in a real fight Alex would have done it, as she would be in mortal danger. Now however she was forced to give up.

Birkhoff stood up and held out a hand to her to pull her up as well. They got an applause from the audience. Alex was out of breath and so was Birkhoff, but the workout sure felt good. She hadn't trained in a while, which made this the excellent opportunity to do so. Her muscles burned in a good way. Their residence genius sure as hell was good.

"Well Alex I have to say, you use some…original techniques." Michael told her, she wasn't sure whether it was a compliment or not, but he did seem very amused.

"You did good Nerd!" Nikita hugged the man standing next to Alex.

"Pay up you two!" Michael crowed as he held out his hand. Birkhoff turned towards the pair. "You betted against me!" He exclaimed.

"Well I can hardly bet against my own student. She did nearly beat you arse there Nerd, so don't be that offended."

"Please, she did not nearly beat me. No offence Alex but you will never be able to beat me. Let's face it; I am the master."

The girl in question threw the computer-geek a glare. "I can beat you, besides you got distracted by a mere kiss, and there is a lot more where that came from." It probably wasn't the best thing to say, but Alex was pissed off.

"Oh really, Sunshine? What were you planning to do? A striptease to win?" They were face to face now, forgetting all about the other people in the room.

"If that's what it takes me to win, you've already seen me naked so it doesn't make much of a difference now does it." Michael choked on whatever he wanted to say.

"He saw you naked!"

"Please darling, you have nothing I haven't seen before." That was it, grabbing him by the edge of his shirt she kissed him hard. He struggled for a second only to give in after that. She pressed her knee between his legs which he on instinct spread a little further. She pulled back and quickly slammed her knee between his legs. Groaning he fell forward. "Not easily distracted, my ass." Alex muttered as she sashayed off to the changing room. Leaving Birkhoff to the help of the laughing other agents.

"Dude that was not cool." The genius moaned as he placed an ice-pack on his very sore private parts.

"Well at least you got a kiss from a pretty girl." Michael teased him. It was just hilarious and even though Nikita had told him not to tease the other man for it Michael couldn't help himself. She couldn't really tell him he was in the wrong as she had been laughing herself.

"Oh don't act like that. If Nikita had kissed you during a fight the exact same thing would have happened." The other man bit back.

"Are you saying you and Alex are like me and Nikita, because you will have a lot more to explain then."

"No….dude that is gross. I just mean when a hot woman kisses you; you would respond."

"Are you saying it would be gross to date me nerd?" Alex commented from the doorway.

"Well if you keep kicking me in the balls it would not be a very romantic relationship."

"Oh you big baby, want me to kiss it better." Michael choked for the second time that day, only this time on his tea. Birkhoff grinned, it was at least a little repayment for the jokes.

"Sweetheart can you grab me another energy drink as you have so nicely made me a cripple." He called to Alex who was getting some cookies from the cabinet next to the fridge. She had to stand on her toes, her shirt riding up a few inches exposing a tanned sliver of skin. He gulped.

That night sleep did not come easy to Birkhoff. It might just have been a way to distract him for Alex, but for Birkhoff it was an entirely new experience. One he couldn't quite let go off. Birkhoff was a true genius, he had an extremely high IQ and an eidetic memory. Which meant he never forgot anything. So when you combine that with a hot girl kissing him it made for some very haunting memories. In all of his life Birkhoff had been kissed by five girls. There was Clarisse in kindergarten, the time he still thought girls were icky. The teacher had not known what to do about the crying boy and girl. Clarisse was crying because he had pushed her away and Seymour had been crying because he would be contaminated forever.

Then there had been Tara. Now that was one insane female. He had met her at university, he was fifteen and she was eighteen. Smoked pot most of the day and had no qualms about sleeping with a minor. Birkhoff being the curious kid he was combined with finally some affection from someone had no qualms about sleeping with someone who was that much older. It was a rather embarrassing memory for him, and painful as well. It had taken him years to feel a bit more comfortable around females.

The third was Eliza, a beautiful technician. He had met her online and gone on a couple of dates. It never really went further than some kissing, which he regretted till this day. The only reason he regretted it was because she was hot: she was as dull as a doornail.

The fourth was someone he still missed dearly. She had been one of the few friends he had ever made. She got cancer. He never felt anything towards her on a romantic basis, but her last wish was a kiss from him. Apparently she had wanted something more but knew she could never have it. While he never loved her, she was still a beloved friend and felt nothing wrong in giving into her last wish.

And then there was Alex. Beautiful, witty Alex: the girl could assemble a gun blindfolded in under a minute, hack most computer systems and was decent cook to the boot. How he hated her. Well not really, he rather liked her. She kept up with his jokes, was interested in what he actually did with the computers. He wanted her; and that was a very bad thing.

AN the inspiration I used for the fight was the video mikita-run this town on youtube. Seriously that song is just made for fight scenes.