This chapter doesn't happen right after chapter one, but more like at the same time. I like to jump around to different points of view with each chapter, and now y'all kinda know what's going down. This is going to get interesting. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think :)

"And you're sure about this?" she asked, turning the wheel one handed, maneuvering the division car from hard packed pavement onto a gravel back road.

Cyrus snorted at the other end of the line. "Isn't this the reason I'm still out here plying my trade and not rotting in a hole somewhere, to keep you up to speed on the weapons trade? I know what I'm doing here Nikita, don't you trust me?" he asked, and she could hear the challenging smile in his voice.

"The first time we met you pointed an assault canon at me," she countered.

"The first time we met you took out two of my best customers, not to mention those I'm no longer sanctioned to deal with," he said, like a little boy whose favorite toys had been taken away from him.

"Thought you were up to the challenge."

He laughed. "I'm dealing with it. In any case, when was the last time you heard of a group of mercenaries setting up shop in New York State? It's not exactly a prime business location. They mostly like to stick around the middle east, keep busy, you know?"

"I bet. Maybe they're having a reunion."

"Well my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail."

"Or maybe they heard your business card changed. How does it feel going legit?" she asked.

"Not nearly as much fun as being rogue, but then I'm guessing you know that already…so, you got the whole Scooby gang in on this one?"

"No, I'm gonna check it out on my own and see where it goes, we're pretty loaded down with missions lately. Besides, a girls gotta have some fun every once in awhile," she told him, keeping her tone neutral and leaving out the real reason she was headed cross-country on an unsanctioned mission without telling anyone where she was going. This had been her life once, and sometimes she missed it, not having to explain herself to anyone. But that had been back when Percy was in charge of division, Alex was an addict and Michael was shooting in her direction, though their current situation didn't feel much different.

"You want something done right, you do it yourself?"

"Exactly."

"You know, I never did get that autograph."

She couldn't help but smile. She had been surprised to discover how much she liked Cyrus, though his natural charm was likely what had made him a good choice for his position from Percy's point of view in the first place. Still, he was one more name in a very short win column, and after so many losses she had questioned more than once if they were really doing the right thing. More recent complications had only added to her inability to remember that they were actually trying to help people. She glanced at the dash, double- checking the coordinates he had given her. Trees spread out ahead of her, promising more cover than the open road, and offering a place to stash her vehicle. Through them she could just make out the tops of industrial type buildings that looked a little worse for wear but would definitely serve the required purpose.

"Gotta go Cyrus. I'm close."

"Alright. Let me know how it goes. And hey, I'm sorry about Michael. That blows, he's a good guy," he said, sincerely apologetic.

"Well if this is what I think it is, we might just get some much needed payback on this one."

There was a moment of silence, then Cyrus sighed. "Listen, I'm sending you a surveillance photo of someone you need to look out for. He's a really bad guy Nikita. You see him, you might want to call in the troops. And if he is there, then you'd probably be right about the connection to Amanda. I've been dealing with him for a long time. It was his request that made me think to loop you in on this."

"Is he on the list Ryan gave you?" she asked, not especially concerned. Mercenaries were mercenaries, strong, scary and armed to the teeth. A connection to Amanda however would only ensure that no matter how motivated they were, she would be more so. As for the list, there were certain lines you had to cross sometimes, the kind of thing that Ryan would never fully be able to understand, even after everything that he had been put through, or maybe because of it.

"He isn't on any list I've ever seen, he's better than that."

"But you have a picture?"

"From my own personal security. He likes to handle his transactions in person. Even before you guys brought me in I didn't like dealing with him."

The phone beeped as the photo came through. She pulled into the trees, looking for a good place to stash her vehicle where routine patrols or surveillance wouldn't notice it. She couldn't be sure exactly what she was dealing with, and after leaving division without a briefing and without backup she was on high alert, reverting to an old version of herself.

"Who is this guy?" she asked. She was surprised at Cyrus' concern, considering his past dealings with the worst of the worst from every corner of the globe.

"French guy, real bastard, but smart and smooth, and obviously extremely well connected. I've had deals that involved both him and Amanda in the past, so I thought they might still be working together. Other than that I've got nothing on this guy, he's almost impossible to trace. Maybe Birkhoff could do better, but I haven't been able to dig anything up. It's pretty impressive really."

"What was he doing getting involved with Amanda?"

"Can't be sure. They weren't big on sharing with the gun guy, but whatever it was they cleared out my inventory and then some with some strange orders. It almost seemed like they were setting up shop somewhere new. Maybe Amanda missed division and was hoping to start over. If that's what she was planning it obviously didn't pan out based on the whole Anne and the abandoned church thing," he said, sounding pleased, but Nikita was less confidant.

"But we know she has been recruiting and she did have a small army with her at the cemetery when Owen took us to the cryptograph. I assumed they were all just Ari's ex gogle agents but we only ended up with one body, and he was essentially a science experiment, so it seems like there might be more to it."

She could feel the pieces coming together, bringing it all that much closer to what she needed. She wasn't going to make the mistake of letting Amanda walk away ever again. The strength she had once felt after not giving in to her desire to kill her had been replaced by regret for all the things that Amanda had destroyed in her life ever since. If the lesson was to stop caring, Amanda would be the first one she put a bullet in.

"Man, I would just love to get my hands on that thing," Cyrus sighed wistfully, and it took her a moment to realize he was talking about the cryptograph. "That is really next level technology. Can you imagine how much I could sell one of those for?"

"Ya, well get your own" Nikita said, finally pulling over. "Back to Amanda. This friend of hers have a name?"She would likely have to loop Birkhoff in sooner rather than later. If what Cyrus was telling her was accurate, she was certainly up against someone worthy of partnering with Amanda and she would need Nerd to do some digging for her.

"Only one he's ever given me."

"Better than nothing. What is it?"

"Marcel."

Amanda's seemingly random phone conversation with Marcel in 'Intersection' have been driving me crazy, and since she was going to meet him in Serbia for whatever reason, and since they have yet to tell us who he is or what she and Ari are doing with him I've decided to use him for my own purposes, muahaha.