It had been a week, and Alex was still receiving suspicious glares from both Amanda and Percy everywhere she went.
She stared into the mirror in her room, her fingers mindlessly tracing the faint scar across her neck from where Nikita had sliced her throat open. The scar wouldn't last; in fact, it was already fading. Nikita had been right on that count—just a flesh wound.
The bump on her head, on the other hand, was taking a lot longer to heal than she had thought it would. She gingerly touched the sore spot, and gritted her teeth at the flash of pain. The doctor in Medical had assured her that she didn't have a concussion, but the area was still sensitive, even after a week.
To top it all off, Percy had made sure that the chat program had been removed from the computers, so Alex had no way of knowing what Nikita was up to. She didn't dare ask Michael about it. From what he had told her about security cameras, it would appear that his office was bugged.
Probably the only office that wasn't…was Percy's. Alex didn't know how she would get in there, though. Her thumbprint of Birkhoff's was missing, and she had a strong suspicion that Jaden had stolen it.
Speaking of Jaden, the girl had completely disappeared. There was no mention of her from either Percy or Amanda, and Alex was led to believe that Jaden had been dealt with. Alex felt a stab of guilt—the same stab she felt every time she thought of her sometimes-enemy. Wrong place, wrong time. But she hadn't deserved what she got. Alex knew that.
She also knew that Nikita would be proud that Alex felt guilty. Your humanity. Division will try to take that from you. You can't let them.
Alex sighed and glanced at the schedule…recruit exercises. Damn. She quickly pulled on a hoodie and jogged down into the training room. When she got there, she was surprised to see all the recruits standing in a semi-circle around something. She stealthily hurried in, the door unfortunately squeaking loudly behind her.
"Glad you could join us, Alex," Amanda called, and Alex pursed her lips.
"Sorry," she muttered, "I lost track of time."
"Yes, well. We can't always be waiting on you, can we?"
Alex crossed her arms, noticing a cage on the ground. "What's that?"
"So glad you asked," Amanda smiled, and knelt down. "Meet Ariadne."
Alex frowned and crouched. She nearly lost her balance when a hissing tongue shot out towards her from the cage. "Is that a snake?"
"Yes," Amanda said calmly, "She's extremely poisonous." As she spoke, a door opened above them. Alex looked up to see Michael enter the room, closely flanked by Birkhoff. Both of them met Alex's gaze; Birkhoff quickly looked away, but Michael nodded curtly at her.
"Ah, Michael," Amanda said as she turned to face them. "I was just introducing Ariadne to our recruits."
"I can see that," Michael consulted a clipboard in his hands, "But I'm pretty sure Birkhoff and I had this time scheduled for—"
"You must be mistaken."
Michael crossed his arms, "Birkhoff has just finished installing the new firewall measures. The recruits need to—"
"I don't think you understood me," Amanda interrupted, "This time has been especially reserved for me."
There was silence.
"Fine," Michael gestured, "By all means, continue."
Amanda stared at him expressionlessly before turning back to face the recruits. "Poison," she began, "It can seep through every corner, no matter how carefully you try to hide it." She glanced at Alex before continuing, "I'm sure you're all wondering by now what happened to your fellow recruit, Jaden."
Michael made a sudden movement, but when Alex looked at him, he was standing stoically still once more.
"Jaden was poison," Amanda proclaimed loudly, "She was a spy, working with Nikita."
The silence was broken by whispers, which Amanda ignored.
"This snake, while poison itself, can recognize other poisonous elements," she went on, and she reached down to unhook the cage. "I want each of you to hold Ariadne in your arms. Feel what it's like, and look evil in the face..."
Alex stopped paying attention. This was ridiculous. Amanda was crazy, and so was Division. At that moment, she suddenly realized that Amanda had stopped speaking, and she looked up to find everyone staring at her. "Um, what?"
"Hold the snake, Alex," Amanda held the creature out to her, a twisted smile on her lips.
"Ah...I'm not really an animal person..." Alex shifted uncomfortably as Amanda's expression didn't change.
"Take it."
Michael took half a step forward, his eyes narrowing at Amanda. Alex took a deep breath, and slowly reached out for the snake. "Alex!" a loud voice suddenly called, and she jumped. She looked up to see Percy standing at the top of the staircase, looking impatient. "Get up here. You too Michael. Amanda."
Amanda looked slightly annoyed, but she put the snake back into the cage and made her way towards Percy. Michael gestured for Alex to go in front of him, placing a hand on the small of her back as they walked together. "Any idea what this is about?" she murmured, being careful not to make eye contact.
"A few," Michael muttered back, "I just hope I'm wrong."
.
.
"You're sure?" Michael stressed, his fist grasping the folder in his hand tightly, "This seems out of character for Kasim."
"Don't ask me to fathom the mind of a terrorist," Percy replied, handing Alex another folder. "But we have solid evidence that he'll be making an appearance at next week's Peace Conference."
"Um," Alex cleared her throat, "Why exactly are you telling me all this?"
Percy stared at her, "Because we're sending you with Michael, of course."
"But..." Alex trailed off, "Isn't this usually like a secret mission? I mean, I'm not..."
"This will serve as your graduation requirement," Amanda put in, "Since the last mission went horribly off plan."
"I have to take the shot," Michael said suddenly, "There's no need for Alex to be there."
"Last time you had Nikita helping you," Percy reminded him, "Since she's dead, we figured that we'd send Alex in with you."
"You have no proof that Nikita is dead."
"She hasn't so much as made a peep in an entire week," Percy grinned, "I'm pretty sure she's dead."
.
.
Alex was sitting in her room that night, contemplating Percy's words. She refused to believe that Nikita was dead. If she hadn't been found, then that meant that she had successfully escaped, right?
There was a knock at her door, and she turned around to see Michael standing at the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "Hey...what are you doing here?" He shut the door carefully and took a deep breath, but then he didn't say anything. "Why don't you want me to go on the mission?" Alex blurted out suddenly, asking the one question that had been nagging her all day. "Don't you think I can handle it?"
Michael stared back at her, an unidentifiable emotion flashing across his face. "It's not the same, Alex," he said finally. "Being by yourself, overseas, with no immediate backup. It can be...intense."
"I know," she bit her lip, "That's why I'm going with you."
"Alex..."
"Please," she stood up and walked slowly up to him. He didn't back away as she neared, and simply stared down at her. "Let me do this," she whispered, "Let me prove to them that I can do something right."
"You have nothing to prove."
"Yes, I do. You know I do," Alex insisted, staring up at him beseechingly.
He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Fine. We leave tomorrow morning at dawn."
"Yes!" Alex spontaneously threw her arms around his neck, ignoring his startled sharp intake of breath. "You won't regret it," she promised confidently as she let go of him.
Michael nodded slowly, his lips curving upwards in a brief smile. "I know I won't," he agreed. Watching her carefully, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. "See you in the morning, partner."
Alex smiled to herself as he closed the door behind him.