Alex poked her fork into her bowl of peas mindlessly, raising the fork to her mouth before placing it back on her plate without taking a bite.

'I can't tell you something I don't know!'
'At 50,000 your organs will start to suffer tissue damage, at 70 you will go into cardiac arrest...'
'STOP...PLEASE!'

"Alex? Hey, Alex!"

Someone grabbed her shoulder roughly, and Alex shook herself out of her reverie, startled. She looked up at Thom, who was frowning down at her, clearly concerned. "What's with you? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Alex said quickly, picking up her fork again. Unbidden, scenes from that night flashed across her mind and she dropped her fork. It landed with a loud clatter on her plate.

Thom sat across from her, his eyes narrowed. "You can tell me...are you thinking about that night? I mean, it must have been traumatizing for you..."

"Just..." Alex took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. This was a mistake, as now she could clearly see Thom's dead body sprawled on the floor in front of her...the gun in her hand as she shot the agent...

"I mean, you thought you killed someone," Thom said in a low voice, glancing around to make sure they weren't being overheard.

"I have to go," Alex said abruptly, picking up her tray. Thom looked surprised, but she gave him a brief smile before quickly walking away. She deposited her tray and jogged up the stairs, intent on getting back to her room so she could finally breathe.

'You made me kill somebody!'
'No! That was the agent's fault...you did what you had to do to survive!'

Alex shook her head furiously. She just wanted to forget that night had ever happened. Was that too much to ask? She clenched her fists as she she hurriedly rushed towards her room, oblivious to her surroundings.

Then, she walked into something very solid.

"Whoa, you might want to watch where you're going," a voice said, sounding amused. Two strong hands grabbed her shoulders gently to steady her, and Alex looked up. Michael. Of course.

"Sorry," she muttered, attempting to go around him.

He didn't release his hold on her, "Are you alright? Did something happen to you?"

"Oh, you means besides you people setting me up and making me think that I killed someone?" Alex snapped, crossing her arms. She didn't want him to see that she was visibly shaking.

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of approaching footsteps distracted him. He let go of Alex's shoulders, seconds before Amanda appeared around the corner. Her expression didn't change as she neared them, her high heels echoing dismally against the floor.

"Oh, there are you are, Michael. Percy wishes to see you about the latest recruit assignment."

He didn't move, "Okay. I'll go see him."

Amanda waited, "I think he meant now."

Alex glanced between the two of them, surprised at Michael's change in demeanor. Before Amanda had appeared, he had been warm, concerned, caring...like a human being. But now that she was here, he sounded cold and indifferent. Like Division.

Michael still didn't leave, and Amanda turned to look at Alex, "Is there something wrong here?" She stepped closer, peering at Alex thoughtfully. "You look...flustered."

Something clicked in Alex's brain then. The way that Michael was speaking to Amanda...

"You knew," Alex breathed. It wasn't a question, but a fact. "You KNEW about the test!"

Amanda didn't blink, "Yes, I did."

"YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL SICK!" Alex screamed, reaching her breaking point. "I thought I was going to die in there! I thought they killed Thom! I thought—"

"GUARDS!" Amanda called.

"Wait a second," Michael started, but two men came seemingly out of the shadows, heading towards Alex menacingly.

She screamed again, and tried to run, subconsciously heading towards Michael. Her hand hit his chest for a brief second, and she saw the conflict in his eyes as he met her gaze.

'What's going to happen to me when I go back?'
'Look, we'll make this right, okay? I'm not going to let them do anything to you-'
'I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'm not going to lose you too...'

Then she was being dragged away.

"Don't worry, Alex," Amanda called down the hall, ignoring the girl's screams. "They're just taking you to my office. I believe it's time for one of our weekly sessions—"

"Is this really necessary?" Michael said in a low voice, staring after Alex. "She's a recruit, not a damn criminal!"

"Yes," Amanda turned to face him knowingly, "She's just a recruit. You would do well to remember that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

Amanda began walking away, "I know you're in charge of the recruits, Michael. But that doesn't mean you know what's best for them. I'm only trying to help Alex get over what happened that night."

"I highly doubt what you're doing can be called helping."

"And what makes you think you know what's best for Alex?" She didn't wait for an answer, and disappeared around the corner.

Michael was left staring after her, an expression of growing contempt on his face.