"Drink up."

Alex stared pointedly at the teacup in front of her and crossed her arms, "I don't think so."

Amanda calmly took a sip of her own tea. "I'm just trying to help you, Alex."

"Oh yeah? What kind of drug did you lace my drink with this time?" Alex shot back.

Amanda regarded her silently over the brim of her teacup. "Not everything is a trick, Alex. That's not what Division is about."

"Could've fooled me."

"I know you're upset about the task that we made you do—"

"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it," Alex interrupted, her eyes blazing with anger.

"I suspect that you have some questions?" Amanda asked, placing her teacup calmly down on the table. "Well, go on then. You're free to ask me whatever you want."

"Why?" Alex blurted out, "Why me? Why Thom? Why us?"

Amanda looked thoughtful, "We have many recruits here, at Division. Every once in a while, someone special comes along."

"Special?"

"Someone who is talented, smart, beautiful..." She trailed off. "The way you tried to talk your way out of the situation you were in, positioning Division as a common enemy. We were all very impressed. And, of course, there's the fact that you lasted three rounds of electric shock. It was something we hadn't seen since the likes of Nikita."

Alex gritted her teeth.

Amanda noticed. "You must be wondering why everyone keeps comparing you to someone you've never met."

"It's just that...I feel like Nikita is this horrible person that has a death warrant hanging over her head, yet everyone keeps saying I'm just like her!"

"Nikita was one of a kind..." Amanda smiled, her cold eyes reminiscing over some distant memory. "She had nine lives...but even a panther can't outlive drowning in bullets."

Alex had absolutely no idea what that even supposed to mean, and she was left to ponder the extent of Amanda's insanity.

"You have the same qualities that Nikita had...you have a fire within you. Percy sees it, I see it." She paused, "And of course, Michael sees it."

"I'm not her," Alex insisted in a low voice.

Amanda smoothed down her skirt. "I have a story to tell you, Alex. Perhaps then you will understand."

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Imagine a family...just a mother and her daughter," Amanda began. "They're very close, and they do everything together. Even when the girl becomes a teenager, she's not embarrassed of her mother. They still go shopping together, they stay up late talking about boys..." Amanda paused, then continued. "Then, one day, it's time for the daughter to go off to college." She met Alex's gaze, "What do you think the mother does then?"

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"The mother now has a large void in her life," Amanda said, acting as though Alex hadn't spoken. "In order to fill it...she might get a cat. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"A cat," Alex repeated.

"And that cat would be best-treated cat you can imagine," Amanda finished, eyeing Alex carefully. "Essentially, the mother would have deflected her affections towards her daughter onto another...creature."

Alex scowled. Was she being compared to a cat?

"I still have no idea what—"

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Before Amanda could say anything, the door flew open. Michael strode in, his gaze flicking between Alex and Amanda. "We're having a private session here, Michael," Amanda said calmly. "I thought you were with Percy?"

"I was. And now I'm here," Michael walked towards Alex, "I just wanted to make sure that...everything was alright."

"Well, as you can see, everything is perfectly fine," Amanda stood up. "In fact, I think we've made a breakthrough. Don't you think so, Alex?"

Alex opened her mouth to speak, but there was another hurried knock at the door. Amanda sighed in impatience, "What is it?"

Birkoff stuck his head in, his eyes wide with excitement. "You guys have to come with me! You'll never believe what's happening!"

"What is it?" Michael frowned, "Did something happen?"

Birkoff merely gestured for them to follow him, "Percy wants both of you to come."

Michael and Amanda immediately followed Birkoff out, with Alex trailing silently behind them. They reached the main security room, where Alex knew Birkoff's station was. The room was abuzz with excitement and activity, with Percy shouting into the phone. "I said, detonate the bomb now!"

Alex watched from the back as Birkoff scrambled into his seat, gaining control over the security cameras to..some museum?

"What's going on here?" Michael demanded, glancing over the security screens. "What's happened?"

"Our girl is back," Birkoff said excitedly.

"Our girl?"

"Nikita," Percy hissed.

Michael's head snapped up, "Nikita?" He suddenly looked back and met Alex's gaze for a split second before turning his attention back to the computer screens in front of him.

"Forget nine lives," Birkoff grinned, "More like nine thousand!"

"Detonate the bomb!" Percy shouted again.

Alex stepped forward in spite of herself, watching as Nikita wrestled Sarah, one of the recruits, to the ground next to a non-descript van.

And then, quite suddenly, the van blew up.

There was dead silence as they watched the recruit and Nikita disappear out of camera range.

"Unbelievable," Michael muttered, striding out of the room purposefully.

"Where are you going?" Birkoff called.

Michael didn't look back, "To get Nikita."

"Don't you mean Sarah?"

There was no answer.

Percy slammed his phone down on the table before exiting the room, not sparing Alex a second glance. Birkoff appeared to be in a good mood, and chortled to himself as he returned to his job.

Amanda turned around, and smiled when she saw Alex standing there. She brushed by Alex's shoulder, "On the other hand, who needs a cat when they've got the panther back?"

Alex didn't answer.