Nikita kept her eye on Bentley over the course of the dinner. When he stood up to leave, Nikita tailed him to the parking lot, careful to avoid Michael and Percy. The valet went to retrieve Bentley's car while Nikita climbed into her own vehicle.
Staying well behind Bentley but still in sight of the car, Nikita followed him home. She drove past the house so as not to seem suspicious but then circled back. She picked a spot across the street and began her stakeout.
As Bentley and his bodyguard entered the house, Nikita watched with the aid of the binoculars that she kept in the glove compartment of her car. The front door had an electronic lock, complete with a fingerprint scanner. The silhouette of a second guard was visible through the dining room window. The first bodyguard remained outside and proceeded to run a sweep of the perimeter. Now was her chance.
Nikita exited the car and slowly approached the house as though she was trying to read the address.
"Excuse me." she called.
The bodyguard looked up. Nikita headed across the lawn towards him.
"I'm looking for 2944 Ashbury Street, but I can't seem to find it. Could you point me in the right direction?"
"Lady, you're on the wrong street. This is 2944 Orrington Drive."
"Oh, thank you so much."
She turned to go and then pivoted back around, her foot landing square in the man's chest. He landed on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Nikita grabbed his radio before he could call for help and took his gun as well. Gesturing with the weapon, she had the guard get up and walk to the front door. It was dark enough for Nikita not to fear that the neighbors would see her and call the police. The night also provided her some cover from anyone inside the house who might have been looking out.
"You're going to let me in, or I will put a bullet through your brain." she threatened.
Reluctantly, the guard punched in the entry code and pressed his finger to the scanner. The door opened with a click. Nikita cracked the gun across the man's face and caught him as he fell. She dumped the unconscious man in the bushes and ran back up the steps into the house.
She tiptoed down a carpeted hallway and spotted Bentley in his study. He loosened his tie and poured himself a drink from his extensive liquor cabinet. The briefcase was sitting on his desk.
Nikita had always sworn by anonymity, but at this point it did not matter if Bentley saw her face. He would inevitably suspect Percy as the orchestrator of the grab. Then once he described Nikita, Percy would know that she was involved. And it wouldn't make a difference. He would still work just as hard to catch her while she labored to destroy him.
With that settled, Nikita stepped into the study with her gun raised.
"My trigger finger is a little itchy tonight after I saw what you did to that girl back at the hotel. Don't give me any more reason to shoot you. Just hand over the case."
"You think I don't have copies?" he scoffed. "Take it. There are dozens of copies of the file, and you'll never find them all. You can't kill me because there goes your funding. Don't you get it? I have the dirt on you, so I win. Tell Percy to just give up."
"How do you plan on blackmailing Percy? What do you want?"
"Nothing yet. But I'm saving it for a rainy day."
"Interesting. All the same, I think I'll take the case."
Nikita picked up the briefcase but kept the gun pointed at Bentley.
"Don't underestimate Percy. He tends to get what he wants."
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Back at her apartment, Nikita examined the briefcase. It contained many mundane papers related to Bentley's governmental work along with a jump-drive. She plugged the device into her computer and viewed the files.
They were photographs of Percy having a drink with an unidentified man. Cases were being exchanged. The other man opening his case to verify the contents. Zooming in, Nikita could see that the case contained vials of arsenic. The arsenic was clearly labeled, which meant that it must have been acquired from a legitimate source instead of being smuggled to the buyer. A legitimate source such as from the U.S. government.
This was serious. It was enough to do some serious damage to Division and to Percy especially. His superiors would be furious if the pictures were leaked. No doubt, some story had been concocted to protect Division from the photographs since Percy knew that Bentley had them. However, Division would not be expecting the pictures to be leaked so soon before Bentley made any demands.
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After what seemed like an eternity, Percy agreed that it was time to leave the party. Bentley had left some time earlier, but Percy had other business to attend to so Michael and Arya had stayed. Arya wordlessly took her seat in the back of the car, but Percy was in good spirits.
When they reached Division, Arya headed straight to Amanda's office to return her dress.
"I know that you don't have an official debrief scheduled, but I would like to talk to you about how the mission went."
"The mission was fine." she said flatly. "Everything went as planned."
"Then why are you so upset?"
Arya looked at Amanda accusatorially.
"Because I trusted you and then five minutes later you hand me over to Percy to be used as bait. I wanted so badly to have someone here that I could count on, but clearly it's never going to be you."
"Do you think I wanted to send you out there?" countered Amanda. "I had no more choice than you did. I can give Percy my opinion or my advice, but the final decision is his when it comes to Division."
Amanda spoke calmly, as she always did, yet beneath her rational tone was a hint of worry. She wondered if sending Arya into the field so soon had been a mistake because Amanda feared that she had damaged her budding relationship with Arya. Her most logical course of action would be to present herself and Arya on the same side with Percy on the other.
"I knew that you were not psychologically prepared for this mission, but Percy insisted on it. From now on, I will be working with you to get over your fears. Carlos won't be able to control your life anymore."
Arya sighed. Amanda was without a doubt one of the best liars Arya had ever seen. She always kept an even temperament and tone of voice. Her face was still and unreadable. However, Arya just knew in her bones that she could not trust Amanda. For appearances sake, she would go along with the older woman. Arya knew that being in proximity with Amanda would be dangerous, but to defy Amanda's attempt to connect with Arya would be even more hazardous.
Michael entered the room, looking for Amanda.
"Are you busy?" he asked.
"I just need to finish up here." Amanda responded.
She pulled out a cardboard box.
"Even though you didn't show it, I know how hard tonight was for you. As a reward, I got you a present."
Amanda handed the box to Arya who opened it cautiously. Inside, nestled in tissue paper, lay a pair of ballet slippers. Arya's eyes lit up as she smiled. Michael was struck by how much happiness transformed her face.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"We saw that you attended numerous ballet classes when you lived with Carlos. From the description of your instructor, you seemed to enjoy them."
Arya's joy at receiving the gift was dampened by the reminder of Carlos and of the way her privacy was – and would always be – intruded upon. Box in hand, Arya left the office and headed towards her room.
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"What is it, Michael?" wondered Amanda.
"I don't think it was a wise move to send Arya on a Valentine Op so soon. She wasn't ready. I won't tolerate my agents being treated that way."
"I'll be sure to prepare her more thoroughly next time."
Michael gave Amanda a look.
"What does that mean exactly?" he asked, doubtful of Amanda's intentions.
"Never mind." Amanda replied. "I know you're worried; just let me do my job."
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Alex was waiting for Arya in the hallway.
"What happened?" she whispered. "How did your mission go?"
"Let's not talk out here." Arya whispered back. "You never know who is listening, and I don't want to get in trouble."
"Come to my room." Alex said.
They sat cross-legged on Alex's bed.
"I've never been on a mission." Alex said excitedly. "Tell me everything."
Arya did not know what possessed her to enter the room and to talk to Alex. She liked the other girl well enough, given the short time they had known each other, but Arya had told herself that she would not get too attached to anyone. Arya felt isolated and craved human companionship, but desires made her weak.
"There's not much to tell. Percy wanted to copy the files that were in this briefcase without the owner knowing, so he sent me to distract the guy while Michael drugged the bodyguard and copied the files."
"Wouldn't the bodyguard notice if he was drugged and tell his employer about it?" asked Alex.
"Not if he wants to keep his job."
"Did they make you sleep with the guy?" she questioned softly.
"Thank goodness, no. We just made out a little." Arya said, casually. "It was no big deal."
Alex looked at Arya.
"It is a big deal. I know what happened to you before Division, and for what it's worth I'm sorry."
Arya could see that this was the reason why Alex was waiting for her.
"How did you find out?" asked Arya, her voice deadly calm.
"I overheard Amanda and Michael talking about it."
"What did they say?"
"Amanda was just telling Michael to be careful with you because of what had happened. That's all."
Arya studied Alex carefully.
"So what's your story?"
Alex owed Arya that much.
"I was a junkie. My boyfriend and I were robbing a store to score some drugs, and Ronnie shot someone. The police thought I did it, so I was arrested. They would have tried me for murder, but then I came here."
"I meant before that." said Arya. "What made you like me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." said Alex.
Arya almost believed her.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but don't deny it. You weren't waiting for me because you wanted to talk about the mission."
Alex was shocked that she had been so transparent. Even though she had convinced herself that was only trying to ask Arya about the mission for Nikita's sake, Alex was really reaching out to a kindred soul.
"Okay." said Alex, throwing caution into the wind. "Here it goes. "
She needed to tell someone. Her past was burning inside of her, eating her alive.
"I was sold to the Russians as a sex slave when I was thirteen. The other girls and I were sent here on a boat. I escaped after a few months, but they had kept us drugged and I was hooked. My memories of that time are just a blur of drugs. I don't really remember too much except for how badly I needed those hits. I wasn't free after I ran away because the drugs controlled my whole life. And now I'm clean, but I'm stuck at Division."
Alex told her story in halting, awkward phrases, but she was glad she did. Although Alex had tried to keep her voice emotionless, she cracked at the end.
It was Arya's turn.
"I never really knew how to deal with people." Arya admitted. "I've been running for as long as I can remember and I basically was never able to have any relationships. With the guy who kidnapped me, my life was a living hell. He was everywhere, all the time. There was nowhere I could go to get away from him. Even my own head wasn't safe. He was in all of my nightmares. I was brought here because I killed him, but I still see him wherever I turn. He's going to haunt me forever."
Tentatively, Alex took Arya's hand. Unsure of how to react to human contact, Arya looked at Alex for guidance. Alex pulled the other girl closer and hugged her tightly. With a deep breath, Arya hugged her back. Together they cried at the sadness of their own lives yet with the relief that they were not alone in their suffering.
Both Alex and Arya had sworn that they would not form personal connections at Division; that no emotion would stand in the way of their goals. But they were both growing to see the liberation that comes with unburdening oneself of deeply buried feelings. It was gratifying to find someone who understood.