Michael stormed into Operations, the door banging off the wall and ricocheting in his anger. He glared at everyone in the room, all of whom promptly scattered back to their stations. But he only had eyes for the three people sitting in the corner of the room. As he advanced on them, Birkhoff squirmed nervously, Percy pulled on his tie uncomfortably, and Amanda twitched—ever so slightly.

"Ah, Michael," she smiled at him after a long pause. "Back so soon? How did the mission go? Did you finally extract your revenge on Kasim?"

Michael clenched and unclenched his jaw several times before answering. "As I'm sure you know, Kasim got away at the airport. Nikita got in the way, as she usually does."

For once, Amanda actually looked confused, and she exchanged a glance with Birkhoff—who looked equally as puzzled. "What is he talking about, Percy?" Amanda asked in a clipped tone, clearly miffed at not knowing this bit of vital information.

Percy heaved a sigh, looking distinctly annoyed. He reached across the table and pulled a folder towards him; he proceeded to hand it over to Amanda without looking at it. She flipped it open immediately while Michael looked on over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed when he saw a series of security-camera photos of himself and Nikita in Yemen.

"You knew Nikita was in danger of compromising Michael's mission?" Amanda demanded stiffly. "Why didn't you send in a team?"

"Oh, he did," Michael interrupted, cocking his head questioningly in Percy's direction. "Problem is, I'm pretty sure they were more interested in cancelling Nikita than helping me…"

"That's absurd," Percy huffed. "I sent them in with strict orders to help you kill Kasim. If they went after Nikita, then she must have clearly been standing in the way of the mission—which, you've just told me, wasindeed the case."

Michael stared at him expressionlessly. "Let me just make this clear. I do not care why Nikita or Division agents suddenly appeared in Yemen on what was supposed to be a secret mission. What I do care about is what the hell was going on here!"

Birkoff flinched, and even Percy took a tiny step backwards before catching himself. Amanda, on the other hand, looked entirely unruffled by Michael's rage. "Please control yourself, Michael," she responded calmly. "The only events that transpired in your absence were the continuation of the recruit evaluations. Which, if I'm not mistaken, you already knew were happening?"

He slowly leaned forward until his hands were on either side of Amanda's chair and their faces were inches apart. "Oh yes," he hissed, "But for some reason, I don't seem to recall the evaluation where Division attempts to BURN ITS OWN RECRUITS TO DEATH!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Percy snapped. "You don't honestly believe that we were going to let the girl burn, do you?"

"I don't know what to believe." Michael straightened so he could look Percy in the eye, "Did you authorize this?"

"No, I did," Amanda stood up and crossed her arms. "These are my evaluations, Michael. I needed to know how much psychological torture Alex could take."

"Psychological torture?" Micheal shouted, "She had no food or water! She was handcuffed and left to burn alive! What part of that is psychological?"

"She was not left to 'burn alive' as you put it," Percy gestured to Birkhoff, "Show him the footage from the room." Birkhoff hastily pressed a few buttons before pulling up a screen. Michael watched as several men, including Agent Ortiz, worked to put out the fire. "See?" Percy asked blandly, "We had people waiting in the hallway to pull her out if she didn't talk."

Michael neither believed nor cared for Percy's bald-faced lies anymore. "You were cutting it pretty close, don't you think?" Michael asked sarcastically. "She was nearly unconscious when I got to her." He crossed his arms, "Tell me what the point of all this was, again?"

"Alex fears fire," Amanda responded, her voice taking on an edge. "And she's hiding something. I needed to find out what that was."

Michael stared at her incredulously before turning to face Percy. "I am second-in-command at Division, sir. I would like your confirmation that this will never happen again while I am not present at Divison. After all, these are my recruits, and it is my job to train them."

Percy considered him for a moment, "Agreed."

Alex sat in her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest. She was freshly showered, and had changed into a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

All black. It suited her mood perfectly.

She glanced at the small table to her right and saw the glass of water and tray of food that someone had left there for her. She took a tiny sip of water, wincing as her throat burned from the smoke inhalation. She gently placed the glass back on the table and stared at the food unseeingly.

They had actually tried to kill her. Her hands clenched into fists...after all the hard work she had put into Division, they would have cancelled her without a second thought! Before she knew what was happening, tears formed in her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.

There was a knock at her door at that moment, and Alex hastily wiped the tears off her face. Michael walked in, still looking slightly angry. He shut the door behind him and walked towards Alex, taking in her tear-stained face. In contrast to the hard look in his eyes, his voice was surprisingly gentle. "How are you feeling?"

Alex merely looked at him, and he looked away. He took a deep breath, not meeting her gaze. "I am sorry, Alex. I had no idea the kind of extremes that Amanda would go to in order to prove her point."

"Are you really surprised?" Alex's voice was thin, and she hated that she sounded weak. "Because I'm not."

"I didn't think..." Michael started, but trailed off. He looked up again, and she could see the determination in his gaze. "I got Percy to agree to never run anything like this again when I'm not here."

Alex didn't say anything. Too little, too late.

Michael waited for her response, but he stood up when it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, I'm fine."

He hesitated at the foot of her bed, and suddenly walked towards her. She watched in confusion as he touched her arm, and slowly rolled up one of the sleeves. He examined her wrist, the anger returning to his face. "Did you go to Medical for these bruises?"

Alex snatched her arm out of his grasp and forcefully pulled her sleeve down again. "I'm fine," she repeated, but her voice was softer when she added, "And thank you. For saving my life."

Michael nodded at her silently and turned to leave. Before he opened the door, he paused and faced her again. "They're not going to stop, you know. Amanda and Percy are determined to find out whatever secret they think you're hiding from them." Alex opened her mouth furiously, but Michael held up a hand to silence her. "I don't care if you are or aren't hiding something. I don't want to know. But you should know that they won't rest until they get some answers. Whether it's the truth or not."

Alex closed her mouth against her protests. She understood that Michael was giving her a warning, in the only way he could. She nodded, "I understand."

Michael opened the door and leaned against the threshold, a small smile playing at his lips. "By the way, I'm very impressed with how you resisted Amanda's efforts at torture. You'll make a valuable Division agent someday." Alex smiled faintly back at him, and watched as he closed the door behind him.

The minute he was gone, the smile faded from her lips. "Like Hell."