Earlier that morning. . .
Percy cursed foully at the television and turned off the 9 o'clock news broadcast with a forceful jab of the remote. He reached for the phone to dial Amanda's number just as she walked through the door.
"Assign any resources we can spare to catch Nikita. She must be stopped." Percy felt his blood pressure rising. "When Bentley called, accusing me of stealing his files, I knew Nikita was behind it before he even described her to me. Of course I had a backup plan in mind before anything even went wrong, but the real problem is that Nikita has open access to our intel. This security breach is beyond enormous. I want her taken care of."
Amanda calmly surveyed Percy's flushed face.
"You can't let this turn into a personal matter. When we lose our objectivity, we start making mistakes, and Nikita will take full advantage of any errors in our judgment."
The phone rang. Amanda watched Percy's face turn an even more impressive shade of purple and she wisely left the room.
Percy called Michael down to his office. Michael had seen the news footage, and it was evident that Percy had just gotten reprimanded by Oversight. Percy informed Michael that Amanda would be handling Percy's exposure problem and that Michael should focus his efforts on Nikita. She was now a top priority.
Michael sighed. He was in for a long week.
Nikita turned off the news with a smile of satisfaction. The first story about the photographs had aired that morning, and it was played again at the midday news. She had delivered the photos of Percy and the case of arsenic to a local news station in the middle of the previous night so that the photos would be displayed that morning. The news station had not had time to figure out Percy's identity, but his face was everywhere. The news was full of wild terrorist theories, all of them wrong of course. Percy's superiors at Oversight, the organization created to keep an eye on Division, would not be pleased with Percy's exposure even though they undoubtedly covered their tracks. Anything that made trouble for Percy was a plus in Nikita's book.
Sipping a celebratory glass of wine, Nikita had little else to do but wait for Alex to inform her of another impending mission. The computer was quiet the whole rest of the day.
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By the next morning, Nikita started to worry that she had not heard from Alex. It had been an entire day. Right on cue, the computer beeped.
You there, sensei? Got a big evaluation coming up.
What's the evaluation?
Interrogating a prisoner Division just brought in.
Dig what you can. Send info ASAP.
Nikita hoped that her protégée was strong enough to handle undertaking a full blown interrogation. From Nikita's experience with Division, such interrogations ended in blood.
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Alex sat in the medical wing with an ice pack on her bruised throat. Her interrogation had been an utter failure. Amanda had instructed Alex to find out the names and locations of the members of the prisoner's terrorist cell. Not only did Alex get nothing out of the prisoner, he had escaped from his restraints and attempted to strangle her. Luckily, Michael had saved her. Alex knew there would be consequences for her actions, or lack thereof. She had shown that she was too weak to electrocute the prisoner even though Amanda had told her to do so. The morning could not have been worse. Except for the part where Michael had held her gently and looked into her eyes with such tenderness. She wouldn't mind doing that again.
When she was feeling better, Alex headed to the exercise room. She did not feel like lifting weights, so she hit the treadmill. After a few minutes, Michael emerged from the communications room. The recruits stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.
"You are going to be heading to an off sight training ground." Michael explained. "Bring your A-game."
Alex wondered what they would be doing. In Division, there was no such thing as a good surprise. Thom came over to talk to her and Alex was unsure if she should avoid him or not. The night before Thom had come to talk to Alex and he kissed her. Alex had pulled away, which clearly hurt Thom's feelings. It was too late to make a move. Thom had already reached Alex.
She played it cool, chatting nonchalantly, unsure of her feelings towards him. Yesterday morning her emotions had seemed so clear cut, but her automatic reaction when he kissed her was to pull away. That had to count for something also.
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Arya sat alone on the bus, ignoring Chad when he came and sat next to her, and continued her attempt to see through the tinted windows. If her genes had to have been screwed with, why could they have given her x –ray vision? This training exercise was the first time Arya had been outside of Division, and she needed to know where she was.
Alex and Thom sat in the row in front of her. Arya had turned down Alex's offer that they sit together as part of her new plan to remain detached. The bus rocked slightly as they traveled down a winding road, pushing Alex towards Thom. She braced herself against the seat, trying not to lean into him.
"Listen." Thom said with a sigh. "About the other night, I just want you to know that it wasn't a big deal."
"So you go around trying to hook up with all of the recruits?" Alex teased.
"No, I think you're mixing me up with Chad."
"What about getting with Jaden?"
"That started before you got here, but it's over now. What I meant was that I'm not expecting anything else out of it. I mean it was . . ."
"Just a kiss." interrupted Alex harshly. "I know."
She swallowed and looked away.
"I got it." said Alex softly.
Arya refused to worry about Roger. He had been sent on an assignment, but that was because he was a good agent and was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He would be fine and didn't need her concern.
Chad had been uncharacteristically silent for a few moments, but of course that had to come to an end.
"It's a shame to see a frown on such a pretty face." Chad began. "I bet I can make you smile."
"You never run out of cheesy one-liners, do you Chad?"
"Nope, it's all part of my irresistible British charm."
She snorted in response.
"Some people just don't know when to give up. I'm not interested."
Suddenly, the bus began to shake and without warning it screeched to a stop. The guards yelled to the recruits to get down on the floor just as bullets began to fly. The glass windows shattered, sending a blinding flurry of shards through the air. Arya kept her hands over her face to protect her eyes, and she heard men with machine guns bursting through the doors of the bus.
The masked men began ushering the recruits off the bus. One man grabbed Thom and whacked him across the face with his weapon. Alex screamed and then a blow to the head sent her crashing, unconscious to the ground. Arya watched with horror as her friends were dragged off the bus. Another man came over, gesturing with his gun for Chad to get out of the way. He hesitated and received a jab to the stomach in response. Doubling over, Chad went into the aisle of the bus, but his eyes were on Arya. She motioned for him to go. There was nothing he could do. Pointing his gun at her, the man beckoned for Arya to come closer. He wrapped one arm around her neck in a choke hold, and Arya quickly succumbed to darkness.
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Arya groggily blinked her eyes open. The lighting was dim and she seemed to be in an old storage area. She was seated in a chair with her hands secured behind her with handcuffs, and her feet were similarly restrained. A loose chain around her waist prevented her from rising without the clanking chain attracting the attention of the guard, but if left alone Arya would be able to wriggle out of it.
Realizing she was awake, the guard got up and left the room. Seconds after, another man entered. He appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent judging from his olive toned skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. He smiled cruelly.
"My brother was kidnapped from his home by the people you work for. I want him back and am prepared to do whatever it takes to retrieve him. You can make this painless and tell me where he is, or you will force me to use less pleasant methods of extracting information."
"I don't know what you're talking about." said Arya, clearly scared.
"Perhaps this will jog your memory."
He held up a creased photograph and with a jolt Arya recognized the face. It was the Egyptian man that Division had brought in for interrogation that morning.
"I swear I've never seen this person before in my life."
He leaned in closer so that she could feel the heat of his breath on her face.
"You see, the problem is I don't believe you."
A piercing scream came from the other side of the wall. Alex.
"What are you doing to my friend?"
"Nothing nearly as bad as what I will do to you if you continue to not cooperate with me. Your friend is being treated to an electric shock, but I have a much better interrogation method in mind."
Knowing what was coming next, Arya fought to keep the bile from rising in her throat. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening.
The Egyptian tilted her chin so that her tear-filled eyes met his. He kissed her greedily while wrapping his fingers around her throat. Her surroundings began to swim and her lungs strained for air but none was forthcoming. She twisted against the chains that bound her to no avail. Just before she passed out, the hands constricting her throat were removed. Arya gasped for air to fill her burning lungs.
"Now," he whispered, pulling at the straps of her tank top, "tell me where my brother is."
"I don't know." she cried desperately. "Please, I don't know."
"Your decision." he shrugged.
Next door, Alex tried to fight the pain of the electric shock, but she could feel her resistance breaking down. She knew that soon she would have to tell her captor something. Alex needed to play the next few minutes very carefully if she wanted to get out alive.
Amanda, Percy, and Birkhoff watched the interrogations with interest as though they were a fascinating movie. They had no sympathy for Alex or Arya. Equally interesting was the way Michael kept squirming in his seat at the sound of the screaming.
"Is this all really necessary?" Michael asked finally.
"Absolutely." replied Amanda. "Alex was too weak to shock her subject and she needs to realize that her enemies won't show the same hesitation. Arya has to understand that for the rest of her life, men are going to want her. She needs to learn to use that to her advantage, to be the dominant one in the relationship. It's time for her to comprehend the potency of her femininity."
The recruits were being analyzed, every move documented by the security cameras in the warehouse. They needed to pass this test or face cancellation.
Arya's kidnapper lit up a cigarette and lazily blew a puff of smoke in her direction. Coughing, she turned her face away as the smoke stung her eyes and filled her lungs. He took a few more drags and put out the cigarette on her arm. Arya gritted her teeth as her flesh burned but did not give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. Ten minutes and several burns later, despite his persistence, Arya had not told the man who she worked for. However, he showed Arya his weakness.
He kissed her again with passion, digging his fingers into her skin, when his walkie-talkie squawked. The Egyptian did not respond to the call even after his comrades tried to contact him several more times. At long last, he picked up the device and spoke into it in Arabic. He ended the conversation and turned back to Arya.
He tore off her tank top, ripping the thin fabric to shreds. He felt her hyperventilating against him and smelled the arousing scent of her fear. He reached to unzip his jeans.
"Wait." Arya said and he paused. "I really don't know anything about your brother, but my bosses might. Let me go, and I can find out where your brother is. Give me some way to reach you, and I promise I'll find out everything I can."
"What guarantee do I have that you'll keep your word?"
"You have my friend. I would do it for her."
"Not good enough. Who says you won't just forget about your friend and not tell me anything?"
Arya knew what she had to do. With a deep breath, Arya resolved to do what it took to get out of this mess alive.
"Listen," Arya whispered seductively, "I want my freedom. I want to live. And it's very clear what you want."
A downward glance confirmed her suspicions.
"Why don't we make a trade? Then we can each get what we want."
Arya smiled enticingly at the Egyptian. She arched forward in her chair and gave him an electrifying kiss on the lips. His body tingled and he could not hold himself back.
Amanda watched with satisfaction as Arya passed her test. Amanda had specifically instructed the Egyptian to present Arya with the opportunity to use her body to free herself. Arya caught on and was performing spectacularly. Alex's reaction was equally pleasing. She had held her ground when showed the picture of the terrorist's brother and was manipulating her captor to see Division as their common enemy.
The lessons and training in seduction that Arya had received while she was a government assassin began to come back to her. She allowed his hands to roam her body to while his lips remained frantically locked on hers. Her captor was having difficulty removing the rest of her clothes because of the cuffs, so he just ripped them to pieces in an animal-like frenzy. He was smart enough not to free her but was still caught up in the heat of the moment. With his attention occupied, Arya focused on her escape.
She rotated her hands in the handcuffs to precisely the right degree and pushed down hard on her thumb until she felt it break. The Egyptian mistook her grunt of pain to be one of pleasure and pressed against her more intensely. Arya was then able to bend her thumb even further and slide one hand out of the cuff. She swung around her other arm with the cuffs still attached to it, letting the metal slam into her kidnapper's head with a sickening thud.
He lay on the ground bleeding profusely from the gash on the back of his head. Arya had to free her legs before he woke up, so she searched his pockets and located the key. Once she unlocked the chains and let the blood flow back into her ankles, Arya removed his sweater. Her clothes had been completely destroyed and she needed something to wear. The sweater barely came below her waist.
She then debated what to do with the man. Her old self would have killed him in a heartbeat, but Arya hesitated. She jumped at the sound of a gunshot. With a strangled cry, it hit Arya that Alex was undoubtedly dead.
Alex probably had refused to talk and was killed for it. The time for mourning would be later. For now, Arya had to find a way out. The room was windowless, so she searched for some kind of ventilation system. Leaving through the door was by far the least appealing option because then she would have to tussle with other members of the terrorist cell. However, it seemed as though the room was unventilated and that there was no other exit besides the door. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall spurred Arya to action. She opened the door slowly and saw that the coast was clear. Arya sprinted for the exit, running for her life.
Both annoyed and impressed at the recruits' defeat of their captors, Percy ordered the Division agents on standby to retrieve Alex and Arya before they got too far. Alex had successfully escaped through the ventilation duct and Arya was heading through the warehouse towards the back door of the building.
Author's Note: Will they make it? Will I change the story from the original episode? Find out in the next chapter! A huge thank you to Badassgenius for your diligent proofreading skills and making sure that I don't embarrass myself. Feedback is love!