A/N: so, like I said at the beginning, I'll mostly try to follow the plot of the show but I'll add in a few of my own ideas along the way. this chapter is one of them ;)

'I got the pill. Thank you.'

'It was the least I could do,' Alex typed back, casting a wary glance around the computer room. It was late, and she was fairly certain no one would pop in, but it never hurt to be too cautious.

'I hope your friend is alright,' Nikita wrote, and Alex could almost see her smirk. 'I think I might've bruised his ego a bit.'

Alex grinned, imagining a Thom/Nikita face off. She knew Thom was good at what he did. She also knew that Nikita was better.

'Thom is fine. I don't really see him anymore though.'

'Just because he's a field agent now doesn't mean that he's not still your friend.'

'That's exactly what it means,' Alex wrote back, a sense of bitterness in the back of her mind. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Shouldn't she be happy for Thom? It wasn't like he had taken anything away from her…she wasn't here to become a field agent. She was merely here to get revenge on Division. So, technically, she had no reason to care that Thom was no longer a recruit.

'Trust me, he won't become one of them, Alex. He's got too much heart. I could see it in his face.'

Alex smiled slightly at that, knowing that Nikita was good at reading people.

'Don't give up on the people you care about at Division, Alex. Your friends are your humanity.'

Briefly, Alex wondered whether Nikita had anyone left at Division that she still cared about. Michael's face flashed in her mind's eye.

'Thanks, Nikita.'

'No problem.'

"So, today is evaluation day," Michael announced, his arms crossed behind his back as he strolled back and forth in front of the recruits. "Does anyone know what that means?"

The recruits all shifted uneasily, but no one answered the question. Alex stood in the back, her arms crossed. She purposefully avoiding looking anyone in the eye, though she could feel Jaden staring at her from the other side of the group.

Without Thom, they both felt like outsiders.

It's strange, Alex acknowledged. All the recruits gathered here without Thom...it felt very strange.

"You're going to test us?" Jaden suddenly volunteered, and Alex looked up to see Jaden's determined face. That girl had something to prove...

"Well, yes, in a manner of speaking," Michael answered evasively. He turned his back to the group and gestured to someone that must have been standing behind the tinted glass panel. Within seconds, the door behind the staircase opened and a figure walked out.

Amanda.

Alex felt a strong sense of dismay as Amanda slowly walked down the stairs to join them, her high heels echoing in the suddenly silent room. She walked towards Michael purposefully, "Have you debriefed them yet?"

He shook his head, "I thought you might want to explain it."

Amanda nodded and turned to look at the recruits, a smile on her face. If that was her attempt to look friendly, it failed miserably. Amanda's reputation was well known amongst even the lowest ranking in Division.

"Every year, the recruits have to go through a series of tests," Amanda began. "We know how much your bodies can handle. That's what all the training is for. But, what we don't know, is how much your minds can handle."

Alex swallowed, her gaze flicking to Michael. She wasn't surprised to see his attention was wholly focused on Amanda, but as though he felt her eyes on him, he swiftly glanced at her. If she was hoping for some reassurance, she was disappointed. His face remained expressionless, and entirely serious. He kept his gaze on her for a long moment before looking away. Alex's mind felt foggy, and it was with great effort that she focused on what Amanda was saying.

"...a series of psychological tests. They're meant to test your endurance and willpower. In order to graduate, you can't just be fast, or smart. You need to have strength in your mind." She paused, looking around the group assembled before her. "Any questions?"

Jaden raised her hand, "Who's going to be administering the tests? Michael?"

Amanda raised her eyebrow, "No. I am."

More silence greeted her words.

"Well, if that's all," Amanda smiled again, a certain excitement in her eyes. "The evaluations start tomorrow. I suggest you spend the rest of the day preparing yourselves."

With that, she left.

The minute the door shut behind her, everyone turned to look at Michael, as though hoping for some clue as to what was coming. Michael squared his shoulders, "What Amanda told you is correct. This evaluation process is routine, and nearly every recruit has gone through it at one point or another." He paused for a second, appearing to contemplate his next words carefully. "I'll be watching the tests from the security feeds upstairs," he said finally, and his gaze flicked to Alex. "But I can not interfere. This is Amanda's test to run, and she alone is in charge of it."

The recruits glanced at one another with a considerable amount of foreboding.

"You may spend the rest of the day doing whatever you think will help you in tomorrow's evaluations," Michael nodded at them once, and then he was gone.

Alex lay face-down on her bed. She hated that she felt nervous. She hated that some woman—Amanda—was getting the best of her.

She hated that she didn't know what to expect. Nikita had never mentioned anything of this sort to her, which made Alex suspicious. Were the evaluations really as "routine" as Michael and Amanda were making them out to be?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Before Alex could get up to answer it, the door opened. Alex groaned into her pillow in annoyance before flipping around to see who it was.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"I did knock," Michael pointed out, the corner of his mouth turning up in a slight grin.

Alex rolled her eyes, and slowly adjusted herself so she was sitting on her bed instead of lying down. "Can I help you with something?"

Michael glanced into the hallway before shutting door behind him discreetly. "About tomorrow's evaluations—"

"Let me guess, Amanda is going to be extra hard on me, right?"

Michael didn't answer.

"I don't understand!" Alex exclaimed, "Why does she hate me so much!"

"It's nothing personal," Michael moved towards her, but stopped a few feet away. "You just remind her of...Nikita."

"I'm guessing her and Nikita didn't part on good terms, then?" Alex asked wryly.

"No one at Division has any sympathy for Nikita," Michael said instantly, but a small smile played at his lips. "But she was definitely one of a kind."

"What—"

"She passed Amanda's evaluations with flying colors," Michael interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Let's see if you can do the same."

Alex didn't trust herself to speak, so she merely nodded.

Michael looked at her once more before moving to the door. He opened it slowly, and stood in the doorway for a moment. "Make me proud, Alex."

The door clicked shut behind him.

*so, what crazy things do you think Amanda is going to make them do? =P