NOTE: Yay! Here's the next chapter. Hope you all like! Please comment!

From Expendable to Exceptional

WHITE HOUSE, D.C.

"How did you know she was planning all of this?" President Spencer asked behind her desk in the Oval Office. Waking into the same room where she watched President Spencer's double shoot herself was chilling. Yet, it comforted everyone to know that the real president was alive, well, and back in her rightfully deserved seat in the White House.

"It wasn't easy," Ryan started. "Amanda had an elaborate planned supported by an organization so well disguised that it was hard to prove true."

"We know Amanda, her goals, her weaknesses," Nikita smirked. "It wasn't long before she gave herself away."

Spencer looked at all of them with what actually looked like admiration. Before, she saw them in the same way that Percy and Amanda saw them, the government's expendables, people they could just use at their disposal with no rules inhibiting their plans. Now, she saw them in a different light. She saw their abilities, their skills, their intelligence, their determination to keep the world safe. It truly was respectable. She stopped when her eyes met Nikita's and shifted in their seat.

"Nikita, I never had the opportunity to apologize for attacking you."

"You weren't yourself. Amanda had control over you. She's had control over all of us at a point in time." Alex nodded. "I am happy that we were able to get you back to the White House safely."

"And now I have a huge mess to clean up. The American people are in a state of frenzy speculating about what really happened. Honestly, we were trying to create a believable and truthful story without giving too much information. However, I think it'll work best if we tell the truth-"

"To some extent..." Ryan said. They looked at him expecting an explanation. "With all due respect Madam President, we still have not successfully discovered who the mastermind is behind the Shop, what their ultimate goal is, and how to stop them from causing more chaos. I think we should focus on Nikita and change the public's opinion about her. Then, she can be free. And since no one truly know what the Shop is, we can vaguely explain that there is a terrorist organization under investigation."

"And cause people to become scared that this organization is running rampant in the White House?" Michael asked.

"This is true, what about Victor Allen?" Asked Alex.

"We told the public that he has resigned," Spencer said.

"And now that the president is back, Amanda is gone, we can tell people that the problem has been taken care of." Sonya said.

"And we'll have a solid story for the history books," Birkhoff said and leaned back in his chair. . The president smiled.

"I think this may work."

THE JEFFERSON HOTEL

Nikita finished brushing her teeth then patted her face with a towel. The bathroom was still full of steam after a long needed shower. She never felt clean in the hospital. She carefully re-wrapped her gunshot wound and put on a bathrobe. She wiped the mirror and looked at herself, hair in a sloppy bun, no makeup, thin, soft features. She carefully scanned the bathroom and all its details.

The granite countertops, the marble sinks, it was all too familiar. The only times she went to places like this was to complete a mission, to be Josephine. Memories came flooding back of her time in Divison, when she was still trying to find he strength and her purpose. It all seemed so distant now. Soon, Michael and she could take vacations and stay in nice hotels because they wanted to not because they were required to.

She came out of the bathroom and saw him laying on the bed in sweatpants and a tablet in his hands. She got in the bed next to him and he put the tablet down so he could wrap his arms around her.

"What were you doing?" She asked.

"Looking up places we could go after all of this is over."

"Yeah? What'd you find?"

"Brazil. It's beautiful."

"Brazil sounds nice," she smiled up at him. "It doesn't seem real"

"What?"

"That we will actually be free. Before, we were used, manipulated, intimidated. Rejected. Division changed people and used them until there was nothing left. There was no hope of life outside of those walls. You could live among other people but no matter what you always felt so far away."

"It's real and I can't wait until you experience it, with me," he gave her a faint smile. She smiled back at him and pressed her lips to his.

"You'll see after what we've experienced in division, life...can actually be simple...simpler." He kissed her on the check and leaned in close to her ear."You might get bored." She giggled and looked him in the eyes her hand traveling down his spine.

"I don't think so." Michael leaned in the kiss her again. Tomorrow would finally solidify their freedom.

Nikita stepped out of the bathroom with a black dress and her hair pulled back in a bun.

"Wow..." Michael said with a contagious smile spreading across his face. Nikita couldn't help but smile back. "You look like you are ready to take on the world today."

"But I'm not." Michael walked up to her and put his arms around her waist.

"Today is the day you can show people who you really are. Before all people saw was a killer...now they will know who you really are, a fighter, a survivor."

She looked up at him.

"But that's not all. I am a killer. I would be a liar if I said that I wasn't." Michael frowned almost as if he were disappointed. It was true, they were all killers, but they were forced to be.

"You can't beat yourself up about the things you have done in the past." Nikita nodded trying to smile. "Let's go."

Nikita stood in front of a room full of U.S. officials and reporters. Pictures flashed at her from every angle at every second. She was overwhelmed as she stared into the sea of faces, strangers. It was to these people that she had to prove her innocence and her contribution to saving the president. Questions were being shouted at her from every part of the room. She looked back at her friends who were standing only a few feet behind her to her left. Michael nodded and Alex gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back to the crowd and cleared her throat. The sound made the room become eerily silent. She looked over at the president who nodded to her, hands clasped in front of her, nothing less than pleasant.

"Before the headlines read that I saved the President of the United States, they read that I was an assassin who killed the president in cold blood. I must admit, I was the toughest things I've ever had to deal with. I had to hide away and figure out how to make you all see the truth and believe it. Luckily, I have an amazing group of friends," she looked over at them and guided the audience's gaze towards them with her hands. "There was a woman named Amanda who worked for an organization trying to gain power in the American government. As you all know now, Vice President Victor Allen was another pawn in their game. So was Madam President's 'double,' the woman who committed suicide in the oval office while disguised as the president. You are all probably wondering how I fit into this equation. To be honest, it is very complicated, but I will tell you that Amanda had a plan to gain power and I was an obstacle in her getting that power. That is why she tried to frame me with the president's assassination. However, I can say now that I am free from Amanda and from the negative image I received from the falsities regarding the president's fake assassination. I am happy to say that we all contributed to getting our president back safely and are looking forward to living our lives with liberation. Thank you."

A round of applause ensued after her speech and she was met by the president. Spencer took Nikita's hand into hers and smiled.

"Thank you Nikita," she started. Everyone: Michael, Ryan, Alex, Owen, Birkhoff, and Sonya stood next to Nikita. The president looked at all of them and stood smiling. "I know we have all been through a lot and you have all responded to and have completed each order you were given...and beyond. You have also saved my life and for that I would like to give you all full pardons. You're free to go now." Everyone smiled at one another. It was like a light turned on in a dark empty room that they had been looking for ever since they became Division agents. They were looking for an escape, a glimpse at what life felt like rather than prison. Being free was surreal and felt refreshing.

Nikita walked up to Ryan and gave him a hug. She knew that he had been through a lot dealing with Division. She always appreciated how much effort he put into helping them all with his own will. She always admired how selfless he was.

"We did it," Ryan said to her.

"We did Fletch." She looked to her side and saw Michael. She let herself fall into him, arms clasped loosely around his waist. She laid her head on his chest and sighed.

"We're free now." She felt him loosen his grip and looked up at him.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."