When Alexandra awoke she was on a thin mat in some kind of heated closet of Nikita's hideaway home in the heart of the loft. Alex screamed. Nikita came into view of the glass in the door. "Alex."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Sasha."

"Alexandra Udinov," she replied firmly. She found herself protective and attracted to the other woman, but she would not give an inch right now. She couldn't afford to if Alex was going to be saved from what had been done to her.

Alex tensed and began shaking. She was starting to feel the beginnings of her body's call for drugs. She shook her head and focused. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"I'm talking about the last survivor of a massacre who was supposed to be safe with a family friend. You were not supposed to be a strung out sex slave."

"Fuck you," Alex hissed.

Sighing, the dark haired woman indicated a small bundle in the corner. "We have to get you clean before I can talk to you. Those drugs are going to make you want to rip your skin off in that tight lacy stuff. Shorts and a shirt and some other things you'll want."

"I don't want anything." Alex began struggling to stand in the small space. She pounded at the thick glass in the steam fogged door.

Nikita backed up a step. "The heat from the sauna will help you get clean. It will get harder before it gets easier, but it can get easier." She kicked lightly at the panel at the bottom of the door. "Need food or a book, give a shout."

"I need to go back to the club away from you!" Alex screamed for help.

Nikita turned away and walked toward the workbench that she had moved closer when she changed out the door. It was not obviously line of sight, but she would be able to check out the agitated woman with minimal effort. The former assassin began her own very special sort of housekeeping, cleaning weapons and checking tagged websites watching for signs of pursuit. It would likely be days before she could effectively reach the other woman. She prepared herself for days of screams and pleads for drugs.

Alexandra moved around the room, kicking at the bedding on the floor and the bucket in the corner. She was sweating and shaking and dying inside. She pounded on wall after wall until streaks of blood covered every wall and partially obscured the glass. Nikita frowned at the streaks and hardened herself. She wanted to rush in and try to make everything better, but if she did, she would undo what progress had been made.

The days passed slowly when one day Alex came to the glass and watched Nikita at the workstation. Standing, the assassin moved to the window and waited silently. "How did you know my name?" she asked.

Nikita sighed. "I know the organization that killed your family." She looked away. "They didn't deserve it and you didn't deserve life as a drugged out sex slave."

"Who killed them?" asked Alex looking simultaneously more washed out and more focused than she had been in days.

"Division. A secret government agency gone rogue."

"I'll kill them," Alex pledged firmly.

"They are dangerous Alex."

"I'll kill them." she repeated.

Nikita put her hands on either side of the small window and leaned on the door. "I want to stop them."

Alex leaned in her eyes red, her hair stringy, the picture of withdrawal. She had steel in her voice as the words came again. "I'll kill them."

Nikita nodded. "There might be a way to stop them with your help, but I can't guarantee you'll get the blood you want or that you will even want the blood when the time comes."

"Get me out of here and give me a gun."

The former assassin sighed again. "You go in like this, you will never get close enough to do it."

"Teach me," Alex commanded.

Nikita looked away. She would be sending in a lamb even after training. Could she live with it?

"Please," Alex said her fingers trailing through the condensation. "Please, help me."

Nikita lifted the latch and opened the door. Alex stumbled out, sweaty, exhausted, but now driven looking. The former assassin tried to tell herself that it didn't matter what kept Alex going as long she kept going. She raised a finger. "Grab a shower," she said before turning away to get some dry clothes for the other woman.

When she returned, the Russian woman was slowly undressing, her hip against the sink to help her stay balanced. Nikita stopped in the doorway. Her eyes were locked on the other woman's back. She put the clothes on the top of the toilet tank and slowly stepped close. Alexandra froze as she heard the other woman. Her back stiffened as fingers stroked the scars on her back.

"Alex," Nikita whispered.

Alex shrugged, opting to act tough.

"Did Vlad do this?" Nikita's voice was laced with steel.

Alex's head shook. "Guy who... broke us to the trade." She leaned forward to pull at the shower handles. She wanted to scour her skin just thinking about him.

Nikita's hands slid to cover swathes of the scars. She wanted to take them away. She tried to save this woman back during the assault at the estate, but didn't save her enough. Her head dropped and her eyes slid shut. "Alex," she whispered.

Alex turned toward the other woman. "I don't want your sympathy."

"You want revenge," Nikita finished for her.

Alex huffed quietly. "I-" She looked frustrated.

Nikita's arm slid around Alex's waist trying to give silent support. "Tell me."

The Russian stiffened then leaned back. "Dmitri was beating a girl for fighting... her first time. I tried to hit him with a lamp and he made me an example." She sighed. "I was more in pain for the girl than for me, even after the rod started tearing me up."

The dark haired woman made a plan to return and find Dmitri. She hugged the other woman gently. Alexandra didn't need platitudes or cliches. Nikita simply held her.

"Why?" Alex said quietly.

"I don't understand."

"Why help me? Why no one else?"

Nikita leaned into Alex. "Division. I knew about you because of them." She tensed. "I want to make those guys pay for what's happened to you, to others, but I can only fight one war at a time."

The brunette turned in Nikita's arms. There was a tear down one side of her face from the memory of what had happened to her, to the others. "We will fight both wars. We'll start with the assholes that killed my family, but only because they sound big enough to fund what I want to do to the sex traffickers."

Nikita chuckled. "You sure are blood thirsty for a woman who was locked in a sauna for days." Her hands stroked lightly over warm skin almost absently. Her eyes locked with the other woman's.

Alexandra frowned. "And sweaty." She leaned and opened up the water valve. She looked at Nikita. Her hand stroked the older woman's cheek and she touched her lips to Nikita's. "Thank you."