Alex crawled on her hands and knees through the ventilation tunnel following the breeze from outside. Reaching the end of the shaft, Alex jumped out and fell several feet into a woody area. Alex ran through the trees and reached a highway. She followed the road, careful to stay out of sight of the passing cars. Panting and sweating, Alex reached a gas station where she found a phone booth. The booth filled with the sound of her heart pounding during the eternity it took for Nikita to pick up the phone.
Arya barely dodged the bullet that zinged over her left shoulder as she frantically ran out the door of the warehouse. A member of the terrorist cell chased after her, trying to run and fire his gun at the same time. The sound of vehicles drove her forward towards the highway. Arya ran into the middle of the highway and tried to flag down a car. A rundown truck stopped, and the driver rolled down his window.
"Help me!" she cried.
Seeing the half-naked, dirty girl, the driver either took pity on her or was hoping that she was desperate enough to sleep with him. The door swung open and Arya hopped into the car just as the terrorist caught up to her. He raised his weapon and aimed the gun, but the truck drove away and he missed. Luckily, the truck driver did not notice the commotion behind him on the road because his phone was ringing.
"Hi sweetie." he said into the phone. "Sleep tight. Love you."
Arya decided that she had nothing to fear from the driver. He hung up the phone and turned to her.
"What happened to you?" he asked, concerned. "What were you running from?"
Arya burst into tears.
"My friend and I were hiking in the woods back there, and this man with a gun came out of nowhere. He took us to this warehouse and locked us inside. We were there for this whole day and then my friend tried to run away, but he . . . he shot her."
She sobbed harder and wrapped her arms around herself. The driver was horrified.
"We can call the police right now and they can grab that son of a bitch. How did you get away?"
"I was so scared. I managed to pull my hand through the handcuffs and I hit him and knocked him out. I found the keys in his pocket and ran as hard as I could."
The girl was mumbling and barely coherent through her tears. She needed serious medical attention.
"My name is Joseph. What's your name?"
"Arya."
"I'm going to take you to a hospital, so that they can check you out. Then we can contact the police and you can tell them what happened to you. Okay?"
She nodded, shivering because she only wore a baggy sweater and underwear. Arya felt filthy as much from allowing her captor to touch her as from the dirt of the warehouse. The burns on her arm throbbed painfully, and her broken thumb had swelled to twice its normal size. Every bump in the road sent shooting pains that reverberated through her arm. Joseph noticed that Arya was cold, pulled over to the side of the road, and got a blanket out of the back of the truck. It was pink with white bunnies on it.
"When my daughter was little, after her mom died, I would have to take her with me on my trucking jobs. She always slept in this blanket. It was her favorite."
"Where is she now?"
"She's off at college, but she still calls so that I can say goodnight to her."
"That's sweet." murmured Arya sleepily.
Within minutes, she was out like a light. The adrenaline from her crazy day had worn off, leaving her exhausted. Her body was shutting down to give her mind some respite from her ordeal.
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"We need to contain the situation now before the recruits make contact with anyone and reveal information about Division." commanded Percy.
Birkhoff initiated their trackers.
"Alex is going due east and at a good pace, too. She'll hit a gas station soon if she isn't there already. Arya seems to be in a car on the highway. There's no way to know where she's headed yet."
"Michael, I want you to head over there with a team and pick up Alex. Birkoff will contact you when we have more news on Arya."
"It's just one recruit. I'll go alone."
"Alex has been here long enough to know vital information about Division. We can't risk her making contact and exposing us."
"Who would she talk to? As far as the world is concerned, she's just a dead junkie."
With that, Michael left the room.
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Nikita answered the phone, her voice flooding Alex with relief.
"Hello?"
"It's me." Her strangled, panicked voice alerted Nikita to the fact that something was terribly wrong.
"What happened?" Nikita asked quickly.
"I was kidnapped by terrorists, by the brother of the man that I interrogated at Division this morning. I had to kill him to escape. I killed him; I can't believe I killed him."
"Just slow down. Where are you now?" Nikita's tone was calm and reassuring, but she was worried. Something did not feel right about the incident.
"I'm, um, I'm at a gas station off of I-95."
"Where were you when they kidnapped you?"
"We were on a bus, a bus that was taking us to some training ground somewhere. For an exercise. Why does it matter? Just come get me."
"And the prisoner you questioned this morning, he was a terrorist too?"
"Yes, yes, he was a terrorist. He was part of the group that took me. Why does it matter? I'm standing here, freezing and covered in dirt. Can't the debrief wait until later?"
"When I was in training, I had to interrogate a member of the Chinese secret service. When I woke up in the morning, I was in a Chinese prison. They claimed that I had assassinated the Chinese president and wanted to know who I worked for. It turns out that it was all a test concocted by Division to see how I would react to the situation."
"Are you saying that the man I killed was a Division agent?" screamed Alex, her hysteria reaching new levels. "Oh my God! What are they going to do to me?"
"Listen to me." said Nikita firmly. "It's going to be fine."
"Just come get me."
"I will be there as soon as I can."
Hanging up the phone, Alex sank to her knees. There was no way she would face Division's wrath and come out unscathed. Hopefully, she would at least emerge alive.
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Joseph was driving well above the speed limit, but he did not care. Arya had fallen asleep, and he was worried that she had a concussion. Time was of the essence as he sped towards the closest hospital. There was no telling what had happened to Arya or what kind of treatment she would need. Joseph kept thinking of his little girl, now eighteen, who was probably the same age as Arya. There must be some other father out there who was worried sick about his own daughter. Joseph thought about how unbelievably horrible he would feel if his daughter was missing and pressed harder on the accelerator.
The truck came screeching to a halt in the hospital parking lot. Joseph hastily parked and scooped Arya out of the passenger's seat, careful not to jostle her. She was still wrapped in the blanket. He ran to the emergency wing and stopped at the front desk.
"This girl Arya flagged me down on the highway a few miles west of here. She said that she had been kidnapped. First she needs a doctor, and then we should call the police. I don't know for sure what's wrong with her but her left thumb is broken and she had burns on her arm."
The hospital was fairly quiet, so Arya was taken to be examined right away by a nurse. Joseph waited outside the examination room, not wanting to disturb her privacy. He paced the halls until the nurse emerged.
"How is she?" he asked anxiously.
"Her left thumb was fractured, she has several first degree cigarette burns on her right forearm, there is bruising around her throat and possible damage there, and she is mildly dehydrated. I have her hooked up to an IV for now, and her burns are bandaged. I put her thumb in a splint, but we'll have to wait until the morning to set it in a cast. I'll also call in a mental health specialist to assess her psychological state."
The nurse spoke in a businesslike tone, but it was clear that she had treated Arya with kindness.
"Can we call the police now and see if anyone filed a missing person's report?"
"Yes." said the nurse, looking at Joseph strangely. "Yes we can. Come with me to the front desk."
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Michael's cell phone rang while he was in the car on the way to the gas station to retrieve Alex.
"Yes." he said brusquely.
"It's Birkhoff. We found Arya. Her tracker shows that she's at a hospital about ten minutes from where you are."
"I'll be there soon."
Michael hung up the phone, doubt gnawing at his insides. Was he really doing the right thing by getting Alex and Arya? Should he try to help them go free? There was no point. Division had always liked to brag that none of their recruits ever went rogue. Then Nikita came along. But even before her, recruits attempted to escape, but Division retained its bragging rights because none of them ever made it out alive except for Nikita. Regardless of whether Michael helped the girls or not, they would end up dead if they ran. He could protect them better from inside Division.
Nikita pulled into the gas station and jumped out of her red jeep. Alex saw her mentor and ran towards her. Hearing her name, she spun around. Michael had found her. Nikita quickly ducked out of the way and hid behind a gas pump.
"I was afraid someone else had gotten to you first." he said, coming towards her.
"These, these men they took me." Alex began.
"I know." interrupted Michael. "I saw the whole thing go down. It was all part of an exercise run by Division."
"You're sick." she spat. "You made me kill somebody during your little 'exercise'."
"No! That was the agent's fault, not yours. You did what you had to do to survive."
Michael took her arm and brought her to his car.
"What's going to happen to me now?" she asked her temporary anger replaced by fear.
"We're going to make this right. I promise. I won't let them do anything to you." He leaned closer, his eyes locked on hers. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm not going to lose you too." he added softly.
Nikita had stood with her gun at the ready, prepared to shoot Michael if she got the chance. Hearing his words, she knew that he was talking about her. She lowered her gun, pretending that the wetness on her cheeks was just rain.
Michael and Alex entered the car as the sky opened up. They drove off, leaving Nikita and Alex's chance at freedom behind.
"Where are we going?" asked Alex suspiciously, pretty sure that Division lay in the other direction.
"Arya was taken from the bus like you were. She managed to escape as well and hitch a ride to the hospital. We need to go bring her back with us to Division."
Alex did not miss Michael's usage of "we" and "us."
When they arrived at the hospital, Michael suggested that Alex should stay in the car and rest for a few minutes. Too tired to argue, Alex leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Michael hurried inside the hospital and found the ER. He cautiously approached a nurse.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for my girlfriend. She went missing this morning, so the police wouldn't let me file a missing person's report, but I know something is wrong. She was hiking with a friend around here and was supposed to call me. She didn't call and she never forgets to call. I must have tried to contact her a hundred times, but her phone went straight to voicemail. I've been searching all the local hospitals, but I haven't found her. I'm just scared that something happened to her."
Michael ran his hands through his hair, the picture of worry.
"Maybe I can help you. What does she look like?
"She's tall with black wavy hair and greyish green eyes. Her skin is on the tan side and her eyes crinkle when she smiles."
"Oh my God." gasped the nurse, her brown eyes wide. "I just treated a girl who looked like that."
"Where is she? What happened? Is she okay?"
"Come with me." said the nurse, leading the way in her sea green scrubs. "Your girlfriend should be fine in a few days. A truck driver found her on the highway. He said that she told him she was kidnapped while hiking. I thought the driver was lying. I assumed that he was her father and he was the one who hurt her. We have abusive parents in here all the time who feel bad for what they did and take their kids to the hospital. Then, they pretend like their kids had gotten in accidents, and I thought this was more of the same."
"What do you mean she was kidnapped? How hurt is she?"
"I'm not really sure what happened to her, but she has a broken thumb and some small burns."
"Where is the driver? I need to thank him."
"He's here, outside her room."
Michael saw the burly, older man leaning against the wall. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his worn jeans. He looked up at the sound of Michael's footsteps.
"You saved Arya's life, thank you so much. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"Are you her family?" asked Joseph, shaking Michael's hand.
"I'm her boyfriend, Michael. We've been together for two years. I knew something was wrong when she never called me this morning and didn't pick up her phone when I tried to reach her."
"The police are on their way to hear what Arya has to say. I hope whoever did this gets the justice he deserves. She reminds me a lot of my daughter, and I can't even imagine how her parents will feel when they find out."
"On behalf of Arya and her family, is there any way I can compensate you for helping her?"
"No, I don't need anything. I just want to know that she's safe."
"I won't leave her side."
"I don't want to overstep any boundaries, but I can stay if you need anything."
"Oh, that's so kind of you, but it's really not necessary. I can take it from here."
"Alright. Well, good luck to you both." he said, unsure of the right words to say in such a situation.
Michael entered the hospital room and came over the bed where Arya was lying sedated by painkillers. She barely reacted to his presence and did not seem to notice when he pulled out her IV. When the coast was clear, Michael picked her up and ran out of the hospital, taking care to avoid being seen by the nurses. There was no way the hospital could trace either of their identities, so it would soon give up trying to figure out what had really happened that night for lack of evidence.
By the time Michael reentered the car with Arya, both Alex and Arya were asleep. He placed Arya in the back seat next to her friend and drove back to Division with a knot in his chest. Alex woke up as Michael opened the car door.
"Let's go inside. And don't worry, everything will be fine."
Arya was still out from the painkillers, so Michael carried her inside. When they returned to Division, Percy was waiting with Amanda. Arya blearily opened her eyes, still feeling drowsy. Michael put her down gently next to . . . Alex? She was alive?
"Alex? I thought you were dead. I heard a gunshot and I thought . . . I'm glad you're okay."
Arya gave Alex a small smile. It wasn't worth it to go through life without anyone to care about. Friends could be a liability, but they were also a gift. Having friends meant that Arya was human, and humans were not made to be alone.
One of the hired agents, Ahmed, walked out of the communications room, snapping Arya out of the haze of drugs.
"That's him." she cried, pointing at Ahmed. "He's the one that kidnapped me!"
"You didn't tell her?" asked Percy.
"She was asleep." answered Michael shortly.
"Tell me what?" asked Arya warily.
"This was all a Division exercise. None of it was real." said Alex.
"The pain was real." Arya growled. "Do you have any idea what it cost me to make out with him?"
"We know exactly what you sacrificed to seduce Ahmed. But you also liberated yourself from Carlos while doing so. That was the point of your interrogation. Congratulations Arya, you passed the test. I know that you're upset, but you'll realize how much freer you are now. You are your own woman, able to have the man that you choose. Carlos can't control you and your womanhood anymore."
Arya planned to storm out the room in a huff but instead vomited into the nearest garbage can. Michael reached out to help her, but she gave him a withering glare and he backed off. Slightly dizzy, Arya managed the most dramatic exit that she could and returned to her room. Ordinarily, she would have kept her rage about the "training exercise" to herself, but she was now a normal girl who could be expected to get angry. It was funny, Arya mused, that normally when she got angry it was bad for her cover, but when she had things under control then she was allowed to be upset.
Back in the training room, Michael shifted his weight from foot to foot anxiously.
"This is your idea of handling things?" asked Percy scornfully.
"What is he talking about?" Alex questioned.
"On the outside, a body pegs a lot of questions." said Michael. "But in here, no one will question anything. I think this will best be taken care of on sublevel six."
The realization of her situation dawned on Alex as she was grabbed by three guards. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, but no one could help her.
"You promised." she screamed at Michael, as they carried her off.
"That won't be necessary." said Percy, putting up his hand.
The guards allowed Alex to break free from their grip.
"Alex wasn't the test subject today Michael." said Percy. "Well, she wasn't the only one."
Amir exited the elevator, very much alive. Alex had not killed him after all.
"I don't understand." Michael said, looking to Percy for an explanation.
"Well Agent Kumera had a gun that was loaded with blanks. He was given strict orders to let her escape."
Michael swallowed. He had been played.
"Nikita has been off the radar for three days, and you're already so bored that you have to start playing puppeteer to amuse yourself?" Michael practically shouted.
"And yet you keep talking about Nikita, and it's like you're making my point for me." said Percy.
"Feel free to tell me what that is any time." countered Michael.
"As I said before," started Percy, "there was only one time where I ever doubted your loyalty. And my concern was that this was going to be another Nikita."
"Did I pass your test?"
"For the most part." decided Percy.
Amanda watched the exchange with interest. She filed it away to use to her advantage at a later date.
"You're sick." interrupted Alex with venom. "Both of you."
Michael could not believe that Percy actually had the nerve to look surprised at Alex's outburst.
"Both of you." Alex repeated, looking at Michael with disgust.
Percy smiled.
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Finally having the chance to shower and change, Alex sat on her bed and angrily threw a tennis ball at the wall. Michael opened her door and barely caught the ball that she aimed at his head.
"I just came by to talk." he said, meeting her furious glare.
"Why should I listen to you." she responded sullenly and turned her back on him. She punctuated every fury filled sentence by throwing the ball at the wall another time. "One minute you're telling me that it's all gonna be okay and the next you're kissing Percy's ass. Ready to cancel me. Like everybody else in here. A liar."
Michael took it as a good sign that she was at least talking to him.
"You've been in Division long enough to know that there are many kinds of tests. And they're run at every hour of the day. Sometimes you have no idea you're being tested, and other times you do."
"So what?" said Alex. "You're telling me that you knew that Percy was testing you the whole time and you expect me to believe that?"
Alex wanted so badly to believe him.
"The truth is what we choose to believe." said Michael.
He truly was a part of Division, mastering their infuriating ability to talk without giving an answer at all. Alex could not detect from the subtleties of Michael's speech if he knew about the test or not.
"What I told you at the truck stop was the truth." said Michael finally.
Alex felt her rage break down to tears, but she blinked them back. She turned to Michael to say something, but he was already out the door. She sighed, her anger dissipated, leaving behind her conflicting feelings. Michael paused outside the room but turned away and continued down the hall.