Chapter 12

"Ok, I asked Rose but she hasn't had an addiction medicine rotation" Lena half ran across the warped wood floors of Nikita's loft before tossing her black backpack on the table next to the computer. She began to dig furiously through the bag. Nikita made her way, slowly and calmly, to the table. "Other than making sure she stays hydrated and comfortable, she can take this, clonidine, it helps with anxiety, agitation, muscle aches, sweating, and other symptoms of withdrawal." She pulled a piece of notebook paper out of the backpack, unfolded it and laid it on the table. "These are the dosage recommendations from Rose's book." She began to dig again. "these are the pills, and I also got it in injectable form."

Lena relaxed slightly as Nikita took the pill bottle from her. It had taken her a grand total of 2 hours and 21 minutes from Nikita's phone call to her arrival in the loft this evening. Lena knew Nikita had been following Alexandra for the past few days and was just waiting for an opportunity to intervene. Nikita had known that Alexandra was a drug addict before she kidnapped her, she'd done her best to read up on the detox process but it hadn't taken long for the detox to shake Nikita's calm exterior just enough to call Lena. Lena asked Rose, Lena's roommate who was a first year resident at a manhattan hospital. Now Nikita was back to her usual self, self confident and unflappable. "How is she?" Lena asked.

"She's okay." Nikita answered "But the worst is yet to come." She set the prescription bottle down on the table and picked up the vial of injectable medication. "Where did you get these?" she questioned Lena.

"From a drug store." Lena answered innocently. But Nikita gave her a questioning look before snatching the backpack away from her. She retrieved a hand full of prescription bottles, all labeled as various types of pain killers. "I needed to make the robbery look legit." Lena explained anxiously, "I mean who steals a hypertension medication?"

"These can't stay here." Nikita stated forcefully. Lena watched as Nikita stared deep into Lena's eyes for any indication she was high.

"Of course not, I'm gonna give them to Rose. She has a stash at our apartment, she likes to have certain things on hand, just in case." Nikita's eyes didn't leave Lena's "They're not for me Nikita! I swear! That's one thing I don't do, and I've never done."

"alright, thanks." Nikita finally conceded. "But I'm serious, when you leave tonight, so do those pills." She said sternly.

"Yea fine," Lena said as she pulled the backpack back out of Nikita's hands. "There is one I think you should keep. It can basically stop an overdose in its tracks. Its good have on hand." Lena slid a liquid and two syringes across the table to Nikita who promptly stowed them in a drawer.

"And the matter of the ID's is covered. I have a friend who can do anything you need. He wants 25 per set. That's a special rate, normally he charges double for everything you wanted. "

"That's for everything?"

"yea everything you wanted."

"Is he good?"

"He does all my documentation and background. I've never been questioned."

"I just want to give her a fair chance." Nikita said.

"Hey Lena!" Alex greeted Lena as she walked into Nikita's vast apartment. Lena hadn't seen Nikita much since Alex had recovered from the initial drug withdrawl. Lena had expected Alex to be on her way by now, but she was still here. At first Nikita had explained that she kept Alex around longer than expected so she could teach her how to live in the world and avoid Vlad. Then the next time Lena had gone over Nikita had explained that Alex had decided to stay on and help Nikita bring down division. Nikita wasn't going to put her in danger but Alex could help with recon and tracking Division's movement. Today Nikita had called Lena into the apartment for no reason at all, but Lena was sure it wasn't a strictly social call.

"Would you like something to drink." Alex asked kindly

"No, thanks Alex. I'm fine." She smiled back at Alex, Lena liked her. The girl was eager and smart, she was a good protégé for Nikita. Lena slipped her coat off and sat down on one of the few open chairs in Nikita's scant apartment. "So whats up Nikita?"

Nikita her chair a fraction toward Lena and away from her computer, "We've hit a roadblock." Nikita said, then stopped without offering any more explanation.

"Yea me to…" Lena said, Nikita had never asked Lena what her strategy was when trying to take down Division. Lena always assumed that Nikita her own plan and she was sticking to it. Lena had learned quickly that being a team player wasn't Nikita's strength, she kept secrets, never told the whole truth, and Lena wasn't even sure that Nikita trusted her. But Lena had also watched closely and determined for herself that Nikita truly was working on her own. She didn't have ties to Gogle, as Lena first suspected and she wasn't working with anyone in the U.S. government.

Lena had decided she could trust her but she followed Nikita's lead and had stayed quiet about her own dealings with the CIA. She'd never told Nikita that she had gained access to two black boxes and that one of those boxes, the second one, was still in her possession. But as for leads on the next black boxes she'd hit a dead end. Shortly after Lena stopped seeing Birkhoff five months ago, her trail to the black boxes had run dry. Forester had sent a team to recover a third black box and found that it had been moved. The next team sent for a fourth black box hadn't returned home. She figured that Division had realized that someone had gotten to two of the black boxes and had moved the remaining boxes. Her missions with the CIA had run dry as Forester searched for credible intelligence.

"We were thinking of taking one of your old approaches." Alex said as she plopped down on one of the twin beds next to Lena's chair.

"My approach?" Lena questioned, she hadn't given Nikita any information on her missions or CIA strategy. She couldn't imagine what approach Alex was talking about.

"You used to have a man on the inside." Alex continued. "we're always a step behind them, even if we work around the clock. But if we had someone on the inside we could be a step ahead of them because we could find out about their missions while they are still in the planning stage."

"Uh-huh." Lena said skeptically. There was silence in the room for a moment before Nikita spoke.

"Is your guy on the inside still active?" she asked.

Lena's stomach turned when she thought suddenly of Birkhoff. "No," she whispered.

She hadn't heard from Birkhoff since the morning he threw her out of his apartment. She'd written notes almost every week on the secure chat room he created but she never got a response. She didn't think he read them either. When they used to use the chat room the session would clear after the other person logged in, leaving only unread messages. All her messages were still there. She hated that things had ended between them, it still kept her up at night. She told herself she simply wanted closure but that was a lie, she wanted him back. She wanted things to be just like they were before he found out, except of course this time he'd know the truth and he'd love her anyway. But it had been nearlyfive months. If he was going to call he would have by now. Maybe he never really loved her as much as she thought he did. The only conclusion was that he didn't love her as much as she loved him.

"And even when he was, I didn't get much from him. I used other intelligence." She added the last part to justify her relationship to herself without giving away anything too concrete. She used to tell herself she hadn't benefitted tactically from the relationship at all, she never asked Birkhoff for intelligence, she never hacked his computer, and she never asked him to protect her. But he had helped her, he hadn't meant to but he did. He'd been right that day in the apartment when he told her he saved her life the second day they met. She'd be dead if he hadn't decided to protect her.

"Well then we'll have to go with plan B." Alex announced.

"What's plan B?" Lena asked.

"I go in as the mole." Alex said with complete confidence.

"You're Joking! Nikita tell me she's kidding!" Lena snapped as she jumped up from her chair. Nikita didn't quite meet Lena's gaze.

"I don't like the plan but its better than what we're doing now." Nikita said.

"It's too dangerous! She's just a kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Alex snapped back angrily.

"That's suicide!" Lena cried. Ignoring Alex's comment.

"I've been training her. I think she could resist their control and I think she could complete the training." Nikita said.

"You think, Nikita you said you wanted her to have a life of her own. This is pulling her into your old life."

"It's her choice." Nikita said. "Believe me I'd much rather do it myself but I can't exactly go though Division training again."

"And this is what you want?" Lena asked sharply suddenly turning to Alex. "You want to devote your life to revenge?"

"I want to get back what they took from me." Alex announced.

"What I do isn't for revenge, its about doing what's right, making some kind of positive difference." Nikita interjected defensively.

"Yea," Lena agreed. "That's how it is for you."

Lena could tell this was a courtesy meeting. They weren't looking for advice and Lena's opinion didn't matter. They had both made up their minds, this was going to be their plan of attack, and it might very well get Alex killed. "For the record… I think this is a bad idea."

"So now we wait…" Lena said as she poured a glass of red wine and held it out to Nikita.

"She's been convicted, she gets sentenced at the end of the week." Nikita answered as she took the glass of wine from Lena. "After that Division will make their move."

"Assuming they make a move, if not we have to break a girl out of death row." Lena said doubtfully as she pulled another chair up to the computer terminal where Nikita sat transfixed reading the articles online.

"You think we can't get her out?" Nikita questioned sharply.

"I didn't say that." Lena responded though she wasn't sure she really could break into a super max security prison. And she didn't really want to try.

"They'll make a move for her." Nikita confidently "I'm certain of at least that much. She's the right age, she's attractive, fit, doesn't have any connections and she was convicted of a capital offence. She's a valedictorian of Division recruits."

"I hope you're right." Lena shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Nikita had been training Alex for this for six months. Lena had walked in on their sparing matches on more than one occasion. But Lena had stayed on the periphery of their training. When they had decided to go after their target Lena had stayed in New York. Nikita had explained that even if she and Alex sat on their hands, the target would be dead in a matter of days. So Nikita had carried out the job. Alex was arrested and eventually convicted of the murder. Now Nikita needed to wait for the United States Justice system to finish the process, before Division would make a move. Nikita clicked a few keys on the keyboard and four camera views of a prison appeared on screen.

"Thanks for this by the way…" she said gesturing toward the computer which displayed four different security camera views of the prision where Alex was being held.

"Security systems are a specialty of mine." Lena answered. "You're welcome, I hope it helps."

"It already does." Nikita answered as she stared at the empty hallways on the screen.

"So I've been questioning Alex for months on her motives for taking down Division." Nikita said suddenly breaking the silence. "And, you know my backstory but it occurred to me the other day, I don't know yours."

"You never asked." Lena said sheepishly. She didn't mean to be rude but Nikita had always been preoccupied with her next move that she hadn't taken the time to get to know Lena's reasons for risking her life.

"I'm asking now."

"Its complicated, you may want to take notes." Lena teased.

"I think I'll be able to follow."

Lena took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. She wondered where to begin. She'd never told anyone about why she was going after Division. Forester knew of course, so did her father and mother, but she never told anyone else. Birkhoff hardly knew anything about her past. He'd asked her one night to tell him about her family. She had of course told him about her adoptive family, that her parents were kind but they moved around a lot. He'd listened and hadn't asked very many questions.

"There were two parts of my childhood." Lena began. "When I was very young I lived in Chicago, my mom was a teacher and my father was a businessman. I don't remember much about Chicago, just bits and pieces of my parents and my brother. When I was eight my parents died in a car crash and I was taken to live with adoptive parents."

"I'm sorry," Nikita said, interjecting the customary sympathy. Lena nodded in acknowledgement and kept talking. She found as soon as she started she just wanted to get through it. She didn't really want to be interrupted.

"My adopted parents were, are, nice." She corrected herself. " I honestly believe they love me, which I guess under the circumstances is pretty strange. We usually lived in Amsterdam, but we also lived in Russia, Yemen, and a few other countries, for a short time anyway. They were members of the Alliance, my father was an operative, my mother was a consultant, and they trained me to be an Alliance operative. In addition to the Alliance my father also has a security company that I still work with. That's how I knew what to do to hack the security system at the prison." Lena saw Nikita glance over at her computer screen which still showed four quiet hallways inside the prison.

"Two years ago, while on a security job with my father, we stumbled upon a Division Mission. I was arrested but somehow my Father got me out. That was when I found out my Father was actually a double agent for the CIA and he used his contacts within the agency to get me released. That's when I started working for the CIA." Lena paused for a second. "Still with me?" she asked.

"yes." Nikita nodded

"Good cause I'm not done." Lena smiled. "That's how I got to the CIA, but my reasons for joining them and agreeing to take on Division are more personal." Lena stopped talking for a moment to gain her composure before she went on. Nikita reached out and touched her hand on the table. It was a very easy comforting gesture that Lena appreciated. "Like you and Alex. They've destroyed a lot of what was good in my life, and I can never get that back. But there are some things, some people I don't want them to hurt anymore. I don't want Division to control my life, or the lives of the people I love. "

"When I joined up with the CIA we started digging. We looked into old Division missions and we found records of an old Division mission. In that mission they caused a car accident to eliminate a man, his wife, and his daughter. That was the 'accident' my parent's died in."

"Why were they a target?" Nikita asked.

I don't know. But they didn't succeed, something went wrong, I don't know how or why but I survived. I wasn't supposed to live. In Division's own records they have me listed as deceased. There's a grave and everything in the cemetery."

"I want to know why my family was targeted, I want to bring them to justice and I want to stop them from hurting anyone else." She said, and she could tell Nikita was listening and probably sympathizing with her story but there was a goal that Lena had, that she didn't think Nikita shared.

"I met a guy." She began and she saw that Nikita's entire body language changed. "I met a guy and I fell in love, just like you." Lena said with a slight smile. "He was my 'inside guy' that you asked about a while back. But he's in too deep and he doesn't know how to get out. I want to free him cause what they are doing to him borders on slavery."

"While the actions of Division are often malicious, there are good people on the inside." Nikita said. "I'll help you get him out."

"I have a plan." Lena said. "But he thinks it won't work. He'll never put it into action."

"With my help, it will work." Nikita said forcefully and Lena nodded, feeling for the first time that her plan could be a success.

"He's not even speaking to me." Lena confessed. "He found out about my mission in Vienna, and he got angry. He said I'd lied to him and he thought my mission would compromise him and get us both killed."

"If any man is connected with you, or me, he is risking his life. Its dangerous for a civilian to be with one of us, its even more dangerous if that man works for Division."

"I know." Lena whispered. "I don't blame him for being afraid."

A few awkward silent moments passed and Lena decided she was done talking, she wasn't ready to give Nikita Birkhoff's name, undoubtedly she knew him, they were inside division for years together. And she didn't really fell like this was the right time to tell her about Michael.

"Lena," Nikita turned back to her computers as she saw a small flicker of movement on one of the cameras. "When you were talking, it sounded like there was more than one person you wanted to get out.'"

Lena stayed quiet as they both watched one of the screens become active, two guards led Alex down a white hallway, nearly halfway down the hallway Alex stomped on one of the guards feet and elbowed the other in the face. It was a perfectly executed move that Nikita had taught her. "There!" Nikita announced loudly. "They're making the move." She shouted as she pointed to a small figure on the camera opposite the one showing Alex beating up the guards. Michael stood still as stone, behind a set of metal bars, watching the scene play out before him.

This chapter was kinda a bridge chapter, its not action packed but it explains a relationship between Lena and Nikita, and somewhat between Lena and Alex. It also reminds the reader of Lena's history which was revealed earlier in the story but has been ignored for a while. Her history will be even more important soon. Next chapter is nearly ready and the story gets going again in that chapter. Sorry for the long time between updates, I'm trying to get a lot of writing down so that when the school year starts up again I can just edit and post and the updates won't be so far apart.