Author's Note: I messed up when posting the previous chapter and accidentally reposted the prologue. I did fix it, so make sure you have read the real chapter before moving on to this one. A huge thank you to my new betareader BadassGenius!

Michael sat next to Arya in the back of the black limousine and briefed her on the mission while Percy remained glued to his Blackberry phone in the front of the car. Michael pulled out a picture.

"This man, Charles Bentley, is in possession of a briefcase that contains some sensitive information regarding Division that we intend to keep private. The problem is that Bentley is part of the group that oversees the allocation of our funding, so we need to find out what he has in the case while staying on his good side. The plan is to get the case at this fundraiser dinner tonight."

"Why am I involved?" asked Arya, not understanding.

"Well," Michael began, "like most men, Bentley prefers a certain type of woman. You happen to be his type."

"What type would that be?"

"He likes women with your coloring. He also likes his girls young and inexperienced. He enjoys seducing them."

Arya gave a harsh laugh.

"I'm hardly 'inexperienced.'" she said scathingly.

"You are to pose as Percy's daughter," Michael continued, "and Bentley will try to lead you out of the ballroom of the hotel where the dinner will take place. Bentley keeps the briefcase on him at all times, but we are hoping that he will leave it guarded when he exits the room with you. My job is to take the case while another Division operative distracts Bentley's security so that I can copy the files and return them. This way, Bentley will be none the wiser, and Division will be able to prepare a strategy to deal with whatever dirt he has on us. We would just destroy the file completely, but Bentley would get suspicious. Anyway, he probably has copies, so our best bet is to be ready for whatever he throws at us."

Arya silently fumed. Her only value to Division was to be used as bait.

"We need you to keep Bentley distracted for as long as possible while still allowing him to be the dominating partner. Here is a cell phone. When the mission is accomplished I will send you a message to extricate yourself from the situation and head back to the ballroom. Can you handle it?"

Arya nodded. What else could she do? Her life was on the line. Arya could see in Michael's eyes that the punishment for failure would be death even if he didn't explicitly state it. She slipped the phone into an inconspicuously located pocket on the dress, making sure it did not show.

When the limo pulled up to the hotel, Michael helped Arya out of the car. Percy had already begun walking up the walkway to the entrance of the hotel.

"Aren't you going to wait for me, Daddy?" asked Arya sweetly.

"Of course pumpkin." was the reply.

Percy saw Arya's eyes widen in surprise. After everything Arya had discovered about Percy by combing through Henry Wilcox's files, she did not expect such a ruthless man to be capable of exchanging pleasantries with her. Arya knew that to Percy she was just a pawn, so she was amazed that Percy would talk to her as though she were another human being.

"I was a field agent too back in my day." Percy said with a hint of smugness. "I can manage the role of a doting father. Just remember to be light and innocent and follow Bentley's lead."

"I can manage to be a distraction." Arya said coolly.

Percy took Arya's arm and led her inside.

….

Alex pressed her nose to the glass of the communications room, making sure she wasn't being watched. After seeing Arya, Michael, and Percy heading out, Alex was determined to inform Nikita of the mission. A picture flashed onto one of the screens. The Blue Diamond Hotel.

Panting, Alex arrived at the empty computer room. Her fingers flew over the keys as she sent a message to Nikita.

'Something is going down at the Blue Diamond Hotel tonight. Percy, Michael, and a new recruit just left. Wear a party dress.'

'Good work. On my way.'

Nikita exited her back-door program and rifled through her stash of weapons. She did not know what to expect, and it was best to be prepared. Instead of heeding Alex's advice and donning a dress, Nikita put on a pair of black slacks and a white blouse. Waiters were much more inconspicuous than dinner guests, and guns could be hidden more easily under a loose top than a fitted gown.

The trademark black van in the parking lot gave Division away immediately. Nikita knew Division as well as they knew themselves. The disadvantage to havinga large organization was that it could not instantly change its policies, so since Nikita knew Division protocol she could predict their moves. Conversely, there was no way for anyone to know what Nikita would do next because she had no orders to follow but her own.

….

Arya felt exposed in her low-cut, fitted dress as many pairs of eyes watched while she strode through the room with Percy. He had arranged for them to be seated next to Bentley at the pristinely set dinner table.

"Charles, this is my daughter Arya. Arya, Charles Bentley."

They shook hands.

"So pleased to meet you." he said smoothly.

Bentley was distinguished with his salt and pepper hair and well-tailored suit. He was fit and trim for a man of his age and worked hard to remain that way.

Michael's function was to be Percy's bodyguard, and Bentley had muscle of his own. The bodyguard sat at his employer's side saying nothing, and his suit did little to disguise his hulking frame. The briefcase sat at Bentley's feet under the vigilant gaze of the bodyguard. Michael was confident that the mission would go off without a hitch.

The trio made small-talk over the course of the meal. Arya ate delicately and without much appetite while Bentley watched her lustfully. A band had been playing music in the background during the dinner, and Bentley asked Arya to dance. She looked at Percy for confirmation to which he gave a nod.

Bentley purposely handed over the leather briefcase to the bodyguard, and he and Arya headed to the dance floor where several other couples had already begun to dance. Bentley held one of Arya's hands in his own and placed his other hand on her waist. She followed his lead as they waltzed around the room. He grinned at her and she smiled back shyly, peeping at him out from under her lashes.

At the end of the song, Charles stopped to brush back a lock of hair that had fallen out of place. Arya's breath caught in her throat with an audible gasp as his fingers touched her face. He leaned in closer, watching her chest rise and fall rapidly in response to both the dancing and to his touch.

"Let's get out of here." he whispered.

"Okay." she whispered back, surprised at her own audacity.

They snuck out of the room and headed upstairs to an empty lounge. Arya sat next to Charles on a plush couch. He held her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. She pulled away.

"Mr. Bentley," she began.

"I told you, call me Charles."

"Charles, I've never done anything like this before, so I . . . I don't really know what to do."

"Don't worry." he crooned. "You're absolutely perfect just the way you are."

"I'm a little nervous." she confessed. "Are you sure you want to do this with me?"

He chuckled and she flushed. God she was exactly what he wanted.

"I'm positive. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

He pressed his mouth to hers, relishing at her sweet, breezy scent. Arya's heart thudded wildly, but not for the same reason Bentley's did. Arya was fighting to keep the panic from consuming her.

Charles shifted his weight so that he was on top of her and continued to passionately cover her with his kisses. Arya closed her eyes and tried to keep breathing as he inched her dress up her thighs.

….

Sneaking into the hotel kitchen was simple. The place was a zoo with the head cook shouting orders and waiters running around with trays piled precariously high with food. Nikita grabbed a tray and made sure to stay out of Percy and Michael's corner of the room.

She watched as Charles Bentley got up to dance with a girl who was presumably the new recruit Alex had mentioned. Nikita had done a mission of her own involving Bentley, but she had been lucky enough just to be told to break into his office. No seduction was necessary for that operation although Nikita had run her fair share of valentine ops which involved sleeping with and sometimes forming a relationship with the target.

The recruit and Bentley discreetly exited the room. Nikita followed stealthily. She had no knowledge of the objective of the mission and figured following Bentley was the way to find out what was going on. The two headed up a flight of stairs foregoing the elevator. Bentley seemed to have a destination in mind.

Nikita entered the stairwell just as the door banged shut on the entrance to the second floor. She opened it a crack and saw the pair enter a lounge. Nikita came closer and heard the unmistakable click of a lock being activated. She ran down the hallway and turned the corner. Bingo. The lounge had an entrance on the other side.

Since Nikita did not have her tools on her, picking the lock of the other door would take too long and be too detectable from the inside. From her vantage point kneeling at the keyhole of this door, Nikita could watch unobserved and find out the purpose of this Division mission.

All she saw was a make-out session. Bentley was on top of the girl, but looking closer, Nikita realized that the expression on the girl's face was pure terror. It took all of Nikita's self-control to refrain from bursting into the room and giving the slime-bag what he deserved, but she had to remember the big picture. There would be another chance to save the girl, to save everyone who was forced to work for Division.

…...

Arya's phone beeped loudly, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She moved to read the text message, but Bentley pushed her back down.

"Ignore it." he coaxed. "Aren't we more important?"

"What if it's my dad?" she asked apprehensively. "What if he finds out?"

Arya checked the message.

"It's him!" she cried. "He wants to know where I am. What do I say? I'm a terrible liar."

"Let me do the talking, sweetheart." he said, stroking her hair. "Just take a deep breath."

With a hand around her waist, Bentley guided Arya out of the lounge, back down the stairs, and to the ballroom.

….

Nikita swore under her breath. She had clearly been focusing on the wrong people. The recruit had distracted her as much as she had distracted Bentley. Nikita hoped that it was not too late to still sabotage the mission.

She flew down the staircase and into the kitchen where she scanned the ballroom from the kitchen doorway. Michael was just inconspicuously replacing a briefcase underneath the chair of the man sitting next to him who was clearly a bodyguard. The guard appeared drowsy but quickly snapped to attention as his employer joined the table with the recruit.

The girl appeared slightly flustered, but Bentley was giving some kind of excuse to Percy as to where they had disappeared to. Of course, Percy accepted the lie. Both men were smiling; Bentley because of his seduction of Percy's daughter and Percy due to the successful operation.

The briefcase was the key. The question was what its contents were. Nikita decided to keep an eye on Bentley for the time being and find out what was in the case.

….

Percy decided that he, Michael, and Arya should linger at the dinner so as not to seem suspicious. Besides, Percy could use the opportunity to mingle with his funders. Arya excused herself and went to find the ladies' room.

She leaned against the door of a stall, catching her breath. Now was not the time to cry; Arya was a better agent than that. She was strong. She made it through one operation, and she could survive another. But not if they were all like this. Not if she wouldn't always have a cell phone to bale her out before it was too late.

Nikita heard the frantic breathing coming from outside the bathroom stall where she checked her handheld computer for any new messages from Alex. Nothing. She opened the door of the bathroom stall. The recruit from before was propped up against the adjacent stall with a look of anguish on her face that Nikita knew well.

The girl had her eyes closed – she was fighting back tears – and did not see Nikita. Hurriedly, Nikita scrawled a note on a paper towel with a pen she found on the floor and exited the bathroom before the girl could open her eyes.

Arya knew that the other person in the bathroom must have thought that she was crazy, but Arya didn't care. She breathed deeply: in through her nose and out through her mouth to release the tension she was feeling. Upon opening her eyes, Arya noticed a note on the bathroom sink. It had been scrawled on a paper towel by whoever had been in the bathroom earlier. The note read 'It gets easier.'

Desperately, Arya ran out of the bathroom and tried to catch the person who had written the note. There was no one in sight. With a sight, Arya folded the paper towel and stuffed it in her bra. She almost smiled. This meant that someone on the outside knew where she was and cared enough to leave her a message.

Arya felt a thin ray of hope. She was going to make it.