Staring at the screen, she tried not to let her attention falter. In the back of the class Birkhoff sat, a twizzler hanging from his mouth. He chewed on it absentmindedly, focused on whatever was on his screen. "Come on, I can do this in my sleep," he called out, not even bothering a look to the class. "Five more minutes before your entire team is dead."

"This is so stupid," Samson muttered under his breath, scooting his seat closer to Alicia's to effectively gain her attention. His hazel eyes glowed into hers, obviously displeased.

Her brows drew together as she gave him a pointed look, raising a finger to her lips. "Shhh," she managed to get out in a light breath. If there was one thing Birkhoff hated it was people who didn't pay attention during class. Especially when he was giving a timed assignment.

Samson didn't seem to feel the same level of worry, for he only scooted closer. Peering up at her with hooded eyes he gave her a sour look. "Why do we need to do this?" he asked, his voice a light whisper.

"Just do it," she snipped at him, wishing he'd just shut up.

That wasn't the answer he was looking for, but he took the hint, reaching over and pressing a random key on her keyboard before scooting away. "It's not like I'll be stuck behind a computer," he hissed.

Fingers dancing over the keys she squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the windows that were popping up. Whatever Samson had hit had started a chain reaction and she had no idea how to contain it. "Well the person who is," she huffed out, blowing a strand of hair from her eyes as she did so, "could very well save your life."

"Let's hope that's not you then," he grinned wryly, eyes flickering over her screen.

She opened her mouth to say that it was all his fault, but Birkhoff dashed those plans. "Less talking more typing," he called out, eyes locking onto Alicia's in a heartbeat. She stared back at him like a deer caught in the headlights, well aware of her screen flashing behind her.

It didn't take a genius to see that she was failing at the assignment, and he couldn't stop the disappointed look from crossing over his face. There was no doubt in his mind that the reason behind it had to do with her seating choice. Of all people she'd just had to be share a work station with Samson. If he didn't know better, and he hoped he was wrong, then he might think there was something going on there. The two recruits seemed to be paired together by almost every member of the staff. Even Michael was on board with the pairing, which rubbed Seymour the wrong way. The young man was clearly a distraction for her.

The look alone made Alicia sink into her seat, snapping her eyes back to her screen. With an air of determination she set about rectifying the problem Samson had caused. It wasn't easy, but just as the timer on her screen warned her she only had a minute left, she got the dialogue box she'd been waiting for. Not my fastest time, she brooded, relaxing back into her seat, but it's better than a fail.

"Congratulations, we now have five teams dead," Birkhoff groaned, lifting himself from his comfortable computer chair. He strode forward, towards the front of the class, eyes dancing over the screens of his students. "How many Agents is that?" he asked, stopping before one of the girls.

Staring bleakly at the skull and crossbones spinning on her screen she avoided looking up at the teacher. "Thirty five," she grumbled.

"If you're only thinking about the people on the field," he snapped, spinning on his heels to eye down the other students that had failed. For a second his navy eyes took in Alicia and the serious expression she wore. "Though we're called Division we stick together," he said, peeling his eyes away from the recruit's face to find someone else to focus on. "If you're in Command and your team goes down because you can't do something as simple as counter hack a bug, then you can bet your training sweats you won't be an active Agent for long."

With a smug look Samson raised his hand in the air, locking eyes with the IT instructor. Though Birkhoff didn't call on him he decided to speak his mind the moment he had his attention. "So if we're not in Command why do we need to know this?" he openly questioned. He leaned back in his seat, propping his hands up behind his head with a cocky attitude. "After all, seven out of eight of us will be in the field, won't we?"

"You don't know what you'll run across in the field," Birkhoff narrowed his eyes, not wanting to get into a power play with some stupid recruit. A few more weeks and he'd have the young man out of his hair. Either he'd be an active Agent by then and under Michael's watchful eye, or he'd be cancelled and not worth a second thought. "The entire point is to be prepared for anything."

Quickly getting control of the class he finished his lesson, going over what the ones who failed had done wrong. With a few more of his usual complaints about how the recruits were handling things, he dismissed the class for the day. He'd had enough and frankly he was dead tired. The image of Alicia being stripped of her yellow dress before the sedatives kicked in had stuck in his mind. Prepared for anything, he reminded himself, one hand going up to massage his temple. Only there had been no way to prepare for that.

According to every scrap of data they had, the drug should have knocked the man out the moment it mixed with alcohol. One kiss from Alicia and the dry martini that lingered on her tongue should have sent him tumbling to the floor. Instead, it had the opposite effect and the psychopath had started to get handsy. No amount of his usual sarcasm could have possibly fixed the situation, and Birkhoff could do nothing but sit and watch in silence as Alicia had played along. She hadn't shown even a flicker of surprise, and instead had expertly led the man in a well choreographed game of cat and mouse towards the bed in the center of the room. Ignoring the offer for the team to move in and neutralize him with force, Alicia had acted on her own.

Taking a risk she allowed herself to be stripped of the lemon yellow dress. Amanda had been wise in concealing the bug in the heel of her shoe, so losing the dress hadn't jeopardized the mission. For that reason Birkhoff had been helpless to do anything other than watch the young recruit on his screen as she worked the target like magic. Masking the alcohol as an aphrodisiac she'd played the nervous role she'd been given and downed another dry martini, holding some in her mouth to pass on to the man in a heated kiss. It'd finally done the trick, the man collapsing on the bed before he had the chance to rid her of the lacy lingerie.

Still, the image had been burnt into Birkhoff's mind. It wasn't like he'd never seen a female before. But this had been different. He'd been the eyes in the sky, taking in every moment through a lens helpless to do anything else other than observe. Usually the bedroom missions didn't have the camera aspect, but being the swag club it was he'd had a front row seat for the show.

He found his eyes drawn to the young woman, who hadn't yet risen from her seat. From the way her head was bent towards her comrade it was clear whatever they were talking about was bordering on a disagreement. "Alicia," he interrupted before he could stop himself, his hand coming to rest on the desk in front of her. His legs had carried him over all on his own, and when she sent a startled look up at him he felt a similar level of surprise in how quickly he'd wound up at her side. "Stay back, I want to discuss the issue you had," he requested of her, the excuse forming as it left his mouth.

Before she could nod in understanding he'd already pulled himself away from her, crossing back to his desk. She watched his back, taking in the blue and black hoodie he donned today. It was such a refreshing change from the recruits clothes and fancy suits that the Agents wore. Birkhoff was the one member of Division who seemed to dress like a normal person, and she wondered if it was a perk of being the head of the IT department. Always being behind a computer screen, he didn't have to worry about his appearance as much as the other active Agents did. After all, the only people who saw Birkhoff were members of Division.

"Someone's in trouble," Samson's low voice drew her attention from the man.

She shot him an annoyed look, quickly remembering she'd been in the middle of scolding him. "It's your fault," she pointed out, getting stiffly to her feet, "I had everything under control until you messed with my simulation."

"You still finished it," he dismissed her accusations with a wry grin.

"Only because I managed to contain the problem before it got out of hand," she groaned, remembering the panic as time had ticked away.

"Then why stay after to discuss your issue?" he questioned, getting to his feet as well.

Alicia sighed. "Birkhoff said-"

"Don't tell me you're intimidated by that geek?" Samson asked, leaning in close, his voice barely above a whisper.

She followed his secretive glance in the direction of the man in question. Luckily he seemed to be absorbed in whatever was on his computer screen as he often was, a twizzler once more hanging out of his mouth. "That geek," she intoned angrily, "is the reason each and every one of us is here!"

He crossed his arms over his broad chest like he often did, giving her an amused look. When she opened her mouth to scold him for his almighty attitude and remind him that he was just a recruit while Seymour Birkhoff was the resident prodigy and an active Agent, Samson's laugh stopped her short. "If he doesn't give you detention then I'll see you at dinner," he openly teased her striding from the room.

Alicia glared after her back, wishing that he'd learn what the word respect was. She couldn't be the only one who realized Birkhoff had the hardest job out of everyone at Division. He was behind everything that made this place run. If it wasn't for him there probably wouldn't even be a Division. There was a reason Percy had the quirky genius running his IT department since his teen years. It wasn't because he was nice to look at, though admittedly that was a bonus for her, and it had more to it than just being good with technology. The man was like a damn computer whisperer for crying out loud. She'd never seen someone able to manipulate data like he could.

"You needed to see me?" she asked, striding up to his desk.

Birkhoff looked up, quirking a brow as he took her in. He'd wanted to have a word with her, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what he'd planned on saying. That had never been an issue for him before. Normally he just said whatever came to mind. "What happened in class today?" he asked, swallowing the rest of the candy he'd been gnawing on.

She couldn't very well pin the blame on Samson, and so she hesitated as she tried to come up with an answer. Lying to him seemed like a bad idea, and yet the truth resembled an excuse more than anything. "One wrong button and I lost control," she replied carefully, knowing that he was well aware how her problem had occurred. If it had to do with a computer than he knew the answer after all.

"You handled it on your own."

The way he said it almost seemed like an accusation. "Asking for help would have only wasted more time," she explained with a small shrug, trying to avoid his navy eyes.

His eyes flickered over her, taking in the way her hands had found their way into the pockets of the sweatshirt she wore. "Or it could have saved it," he pointed out, unable to hide his irritation. "On the field you can't rely only on yourself."

Those green eyes of hers were trained on the keyboard his fingers rested on, as if not able to meet his eyes. "Sometimes you have to," she muttered, feeling like a child being scolded. When he drew his hands from the keys she couldn't stop her eyes from rising to meet his gaze. The irritated glitter there caused a hint of panic to grip her stomach. "I had it under control."

"Did you?" he pushed, narrowing his eyes on hers. "From where I was it looked like you almost didn't make it."

"But I did," she pointed out, not understanding why he seemed to be annoyed with her. I passed the simulation, she thought dryly, what more does he want?

When he looked into her eyes all he could see was that yellow dress being pulled from her body, paired with her silence. All she had to do was nod and he would have sent in the other Operatives to take out Paulter with force. But no, she just had to do it on her own. "You don't even know what caused the issue," he pointed out, shaking his head to clear the image from his mind. It didn't work.

Feeling like she needed to defend herself she couldn't help but shoot a little glare at her instructor. "It didn't matter what caused it," she dismissed his truthful accusation, "all that mattered was how to fix it."

"How can you find a solution when you haven't identified the problem?" Birkhoff asked, his voice raising a notch. He'd been up all night and it had been her fault. Now the cocktail of energy drinks that he'd had to inhale in order to keep from slipping into a coma during the boring daily routine of teaching had him on edge.

"I didn't have time," she pointed out icily.

"You put your team at risk!"

Alicia blinked at his tone of voice, taking a little step back as she tried to figure out just what was setting the man off. He'd always been somewhat broody, but never before had he turned his irritation on her. She'd always been in his good graces, or at least she'd thought she'd been. During the Operation last night she'd thought he'd seemed better than usual, and the sudden change in attitude today just didn't make sense. What changed between last night and now? She tried to isolate the problem, as Birkhoff was now demanding she do.

It didn't make sense. Only yesterday he'd been making her feel safe with his unusually playful attitude and now he was snapping at her over a simulation. A simulation I passed, she fumed, eyes scanning over his angry expression. As he raked one of his trembling hands through his shaggy brown hair she made note that he was as physically agitated as he was emotionally. Her eyes flickered over the row of empty energy drink cans before catching on the discarded twizzler's wrapper. The sound of his voice expertly calming her down just the night before filled her ears and everything seemed to click all at once.

"We're not talking about the simulation anymore," she deduced out loud, "are we?"

The words caused Birkhoff to blink as he absorbed them. She was right; the stupid simulation had nothing to do with the irritation he was feeling towards her. "I guess not," he muttered, leaning back in his computer chair as he expelled a breath.

One look at Seymour's face and she knew that he was overtired and on edge. Did I get him in trouble? She wondered wildly, as she noticed the bags beneath his eyes for the first time. For all of the glances of him she'd stolen since the start of the lesson she hadn't actually paid attention to the details. More than anything she'd been trying to picture what he'd looked like when he'd been helping her through the earpiece. There had been a smile in his voice, but for the life of her she hadn't been able to pair it with an expression in her mind. Birkhoff had never seemed as casual with her as he'd been on that Op, and now he was back to his usual brooding self. "I didn't mean to risk the mission," Alicia mumbled, guilt apparent in her voice as she once more avoided his eyes, "I just wanted to stick to the plan."

"You did fine," he said, once more raking a hand through his tousled hair. He hadn't meant to get so on edge. Yet he couldn't meet her eyes, the image of her in the lingerie too fresh in his mind. Damn it, he mentally slapped himself on the forehead, I'm overacting.

"I almost missed the window," Alicia sighed, reminded of the panic that she'd felt the night before. She'd done everything that she'd been told to do, and yet the man hadn't passed out as planned. Sure, she had remained calm on the outside, but the beating of her heart had seemed so loud in her ears. It had taken diverting from the plan, wasting time as she had to coax the man into a position where she could pass him more alcohol, in order to bring him down. Hoping that the alcohol content just hadn't been strong enough had been taking a risk; Birkhoff was right. For all she knew he still wouldn't have lost consciousness and she would have had to call in back up with only a few moments to spare before his body guards checked in on them.

Birkhoff picked up on her guilt and let out a little breath. He didn't even know why he was upset at her to begin with. She was right; she had tried to stick with the plan. If anything she'd been the reason behind the mission being successful, despite the miscalculations in the plan itself. For all intents and purposes the alcohol laced kiss should have done the job. "The fault wasn't on your end," his voice was surprisingly soothing. When her green eyes met his in surprise, he relaxed into the seat.

"But-"

"What did Amanda say?" he stopped whatever she'd been about to say short, trying to salvage the conversation. It hadn't been his attention to belittle the recruit. After all, just like with the simulation, she'd managed to solve the problem all on her own. Still, he couldn't help but wish he could have lent a hand one way or another.

Debriefing had occurred without Birkhoff being present, and Alicia momentarily wondered where he'd been. She'd expected to see him there, a little smile on his face as he made another comment about the asinine yellow dress she'd been forced to wear. The skimpy, brightly colored get up had made her feel so out of character. But, just like she'd been praised for the success of the mission, Amanda had been equally pleased with the effect the dress had. "Nothing much. She confirmed the bug I planted was active, and that Paulter hadn't been suspicious of what had occurred. Overall the mission was a success."

He nodded, already knowing this. Still, it helped to lead the conversation out of dangerous waters. He didn't want to think about why he'd been so irate about having to use her body as bait for the target. It hadn't been the first time, nor would it be the last time, that something like that had happened. His reaction to it all only raised questions he didn't want to focus on, so he asked a different one, trying to remain casual. "What was your reward," he asked, flashing a halfhearted smile, "hopefully not that dress?"

Alicia couldn't help but give a soft laugh, surprised by his sudden change in mood. "Thankfully no," she shook her head, her auburn curls shifting around her shoulders.

"Oh it wasn't that bad," he teased, her laugh instantly lightening his mood.

"Speak for yourself," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, "you're not the one who had to wear it."

Birkhoff let out a surprised laugh of his own. "I don't think it would have had the same effect on me sweetheart," he practically snorted.

"Oh I think you'd make a good lemondrop," she teased, unable to stop the words from tumbling out, "after all you're as sour as you are sweet."

"Sweet?" he asked, cocking a brow.

The blush that threatened to come to her cheeks was easily fought off, but not before Birkhoff picked up on the embarrassment flickering in her emerald eyes. "Well you do inhale your bodyweight in sugar on a daily basis," she quickly covered her tracks with a playful comment. She wasn't entirely sure what had made her call him sweet in the first place.

"Jealous that I don't have to stick to your strict training diet?" he ribbed her with another one of his amused smiles.

Alicia shrugged, giving him a smile that lifted his dreary mood like some miracle drug. "Can you blame me? After last night all I wanted was a tub of ice cream," she admitted.

"Don't let Amanda hear you say that," he warned with a chuckle, "she wouldn't want you to risk your figure."

"Careful, you might give me ideas," her smile made it all the way to her eyes in the way that disarmed Birkhoff without warning. "If I start an ice cream smuggling ring it'll be you who's to blame."

Before he could come up with a response they were interrupted by a new presence. Thankfully it wasn't Amanda or Percy, but nonetheless the interruption caused Birkhoff to sober up from the happy buzz that had been in his veins just a second ago. His eyes met Michael's, quickly hiding the smile that had been on his lips just moments ago. Lucky for him Michael hadn't picked up on the light atmosphere between the two, his eyes swiftly seeking out Alicia and passing over the IT guy. "There you are," he breathed, relief evident on his face.

"You needed me?" she asked, her smile already hidden away behind a casually calm expression. For some reason unbeknownst to her she didn't want anyone to see how easily the resident genius managed to make her smile. She had a naturally inviting air about her, but the smiles she'd shared with her instructor had felt different than before.

Michael nodded, coming into the computer lab with a few strides of his lean legs. As always, he was dressed in an impeccably dashing suit. "Amanda would like to have a word with you," he informed her with a brisk nod. "She's waiting in her office for you."

Alicia hid her nervousness as well as always, giving a small nod of her own. "Thanks for the heads up," she acknowledged she heard him, pushing off of Birkhoff's desk. She hadn't even realized that she'd been leaning against it, her body having relaxed all on its own. There was something about the man that made her feel a level of comfort that she'd thought Division had stolen from her altogether.

Birkhoff's eyes lingered on the door she'd just disappeared out of. She'd flashed him a little smile over her shoulder before turning the corner, and he had the odd feeling that tonight he might be able to get some real sleep. "How's she doing?" Michael asked, drawing his attention back to the man who still lingered in the room. He made himself comfortable, perching on the desk where only moments ago Alicia had been leaning.

"She catches on fast," he admitted, looking up at the one friend he had in Division.

Michael nodded, a small smile on his face as his eyes flickered towards the door she'd just passed through. "A real natural, that's for sure," he agreed with a nod before looking back to Birkhoff. "Amanda's pegged her as a favorite," he informed the man. "I think she's going to push for her activation to be moved up."

"After last night I can see why."

"I heard she passed her trial with flying colors," Michael sighed.

Birkhoff lifted a brow, questioning with his eyes the tone he'd used. "You don't sound too happy about that," he observed.

"We both know what happened to her last favorite," he intoned.

"She's no Nikita," Birkhoff declared, picking up quickly on what he was implying. "You can't let what happened with her affect your life man," he shook his head, having to push his long hair back behind his ears the moment he'd finished. "You can miss her all you want, hell I do. But you have to remember; she was one in a million. You're not going to find another one like Nikki."

Michael gave him a dry look. "If I needed counseling Birkhoff, trust me; I wouldn't come to you."

"When dragon lady is done with Alicia maybe she can pencil you in," he shrugged, rolling his eyes.

"Saying things like that when you're on her hit list isn't the best move," Michael smirked, his lips twitching upwards in amusement. "For being a self proclaimed genius you're not very bright," he teased the man, getting to his feet to leave.

"It's not self-proclaimed," Birkhoff scoffed, "it's a fact of life."

Birkhoff leaned against the railing, lazily listening to Michael's voice drilling away at the recruits. Sometimes he wished he had the man's job. There was more than a few of the newbs he wished he could knock flat on their asses. Trying to teach the handful of new recruits about computers was far from an easy task. Especially when one factored in all the work he had to do just to dumb down the material to begin with.

He turned to leave, to stalk back into the Command Center and find something to occupy his time, when Alicia came into view. She strode into the room with a handful of fellow recruits, flanked by none other than Samson. Ten bucks says he flocks to her, he bet an imaginary person in his mind, eyes narrowing in on the pair. Sure enough the young man held up his fists as though ready to spar, his lips moving as he said something or another to Alicia.

Unaware of Birkhoff's eyes on her, Alicia tried to hold in a grimace as she shook her head at Samson. "I'll never get better if I'm always up against you," she tried to shrug off his offer to spar. Ever since she'd come here she'd been paired with the guy in everything. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"Worried you'll lose?" he teased with a devilish smile, pairing it with a jab from one of his fists.

She easily ducked the jab, taking a step back to avoid another in case he didn't take the hint. "More like up for a challenge," she shot back, unable to contain her sly smile. Though she wasn't his biggest fan, she didn't hate him altogether.

"Yeah Samson," one of the other guys spoke up, a grin already on his face, "let me have a go at her."

"Bring it," she welcomed the recruit, taunting him forward with a pull of her finger.

The guy didn't need to be told twice, and quickly discarded the sweatshirt he'd been wearing. Stepping forward, the pair now matching in their black sweats and tight white tank tops, he towered over her with his clear height advantage. "Ready for a real lesson?"

Alicia grinned at the challenge, liking the feeling of the unknown. Though Michael trained them all, that didn't mean their styles were the same. Each recruit had their own strong points and favorite combinations. Unlike with Samson, she didn't have a clue what this particular guy had in his arsenal. She got in position, a serious expression falling over her face as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

From his position up above Birkhoff could see it all. He watched, almost bewitched by the young recruit that was easily his favorite. Though she wasn't exactly a computer genius like himself, she at least showed potential. She was one of the few that seemed to genuinely pay attention in class. Whenever he gave an assignment she focused in on the task, letting it be the center of her attention until it was done. At first that had been all he'd realized about the young woman, not looking too far into the fact she was beautiful. It wasn't unusual for recruits and agents to be attractive. In fact, in most cases, that was one of the criteria for being selected to begin with.

When Birkhoff's system had flagged her as a potential, he hadn't paid too much attention to the smiling face on his screen. Attractive, he'd thought, using it as one of the items on his checklist before moving on. That had been the extent of his interest in her appearance. It wasn't until he'd seen that smile of hers in person that he'd paid closer attention to the big picture.

Now his eyes followed every movement of her body, loving the way she moved as she held her own against the man who was more than twice her size. Though she had an hour glass figure, she was still a relatively small girl. In fact, were she to be put beside Birkhoff, she'd be a perfect fit. Though he wasn't a wimpy computer nerd, he wasn't exactly up to par with the active field Agents in the muscle department. The same could be said for the female Agents in comparison to him. They were often selected for their model like quality, having tall thin figures, and he felt emasculated by the way they looked down at him.

Alicia was in amazing shape, as were all of the recruits and Agents that Division owned, but she'd maintained her naturally cute appearance. She was almost a head shorter than Birkhoff, with a slender figure that made her the perfect package. There was an air of ease that followed her, and one of her smiles could disarm even Roan. He'd almost spit his energy drink out in shock when he'd seen the Cleaner return one of her smiles. That was the effect she had on everyone, hell, even Amanda liked the girl. But behind that soft smile and those dazzling green eyes was a sense of strength and sureness that drew him in. There was more to the girl than pretty looks and a charming attitude.

She was a trained killer, as was evident by the way she sparred with her fellow recruit. Birkhoff had been watching their heated exchange of blows for more than a few minutes now, and a fascinated smile had found its way onto his face. It was almost tempting to cheer as she knocked the young man flat on his back, quickly jumping on top of him to pin the man down. He struggled for a moment, but she couldn't be thrown. Before Birkhoff could get too much enjoyment from what he considered a flawless victory Michael just had to step in and ruin it.

"You don't have to employ all of your strength on him," he scolded her with a shake of his head.

Alicia nodded, watching as the handsome man took the male recruit's spot on the mat. Though he wasn't in his usual suit, he was in the casual get up he'd wear when training the recruits, he looked as spectacular as ever. If it wasn't for the fact she felt like he was James Bond in the flesh she may have felt some spark of a connection with him. But she didn't, and so he only played the role that he was supposed to in her closely monitored life; that of an instructor and possible handler once she became an Agent.

Michael smiled at her, aware of the hesitation as she raised her hands and took a fighting stance. "What do you have that your opponent doesn't?" he questioned her, throwing a combination of moves her way.

She responded accordingly, following the well choreographed dance that she'd always compared fighting to. "A better trainer?" she asked with a hint of humor, returning with her own combination of practiced movements.

"And what did I teach you?" he asked, returning her smile with one of his own. His lips only quirked up the slightest bit, his five-o-clock shadow looking all the more charming on his chiseled jaw.

Not letting herself be distracted by the moves he was throwing at her, she went over everything he'd ever told her in her mind. Watch your opponent, anticipate their movements, keep an eye on your surroundings… she filed through all the information that she could. None of them answered the question of what she had that everyone else in the room didn't. They'd all been taught by the same man after all. Think, she coaxed, what can I do that they can't? Narrowly ducking one of his kicks, she rolled out of the way, springing nimbly to her feet. The moment she was up again the answer hit her like a godsend. "To use my size to my advantage," she proclaimed, quickly rolling to avoid another blow.

She was on the right track, and Michael nodded in encouragement. "What else?"

The question wasn't needed though. In the time it had taken her to dodge the next attack she was already on the move. With grace and agility she was in the air, her small figure allowing her a level of nimbleness that other's didn't possess. In a heartbeat her legs were around his waist, latching on securely. "I'm fast," she breathed, dropping her torso back to avoid the hands that had started to move for her throat. Legs still tightly around his waist, she allowed her head to dip towards the ground, arching her back as she wrapped her arms behind his knees and pulled.

Birkhoff observed as Michael tumbled to the mat, falling onto his back even as Alicia was straightening back up. Her legs were still around his waist, giving her the dominate position as she smiled down at the man beneath her. Before Michael could get a word out edgewise she had her hands securely on either side of his head. The placement was clear, and from his perch up above Birkhoff could almost picture her triumphant voice as he watched her mouth form the word crack. Had it been a real fight, she would have already broken the man's neck.

Only it wasn't, and being the man that he was, Michael quickly turned the tables and was back on his feet before long. That's my girl, Seymour thought on impulse, smiling a wolfish grin as he continued to watch from his perch. It was clear from the way that Michael was addressing Alicia that she'd preformed well, for he allowed her something that one didn't often get at Division; a break.

Pleased with her performance, Alicia dropped back away from the rest of the recruits to watch as they practiced. She stood at the outskirts of the mats, watching with interested eyes as they all continued on in their lesson. She loved the adrenaline that coursed through her veins after every sparring match. Unlike the acting and seduction lessons that Amanda supplied her, she felt these were much more practical. After all, she'd rather take down an opponent then have to bed him. While Michael had assured her that not all missions would involve bedrooms like the one she'd had to endure the week before, she had a feeling they'd come up often. The good looks she'd been born into had been nothing but a curse in her life.

"For someone who just kicked some serious ass," a voice yanked her from her thoughts, "you sure look like a sourpuss."

Looking over her shoulder she was surprised to find none other than Birkhoff had sidled up beside her. Though one of his hands was offering her a water bottle, his eyes were casually on the practice mats that the rest of the recruits occupied. "I was just thinking about the service around here," she responded in an easy voice, accepting the water gratefully.

He could feel her eyes on the side of his face, and slowly turned his head to meet her gaze. "It'll be better on the outside," he kept his voice low, waiting until she'd lifted the bottle to her lips to say it.

Taking a few large gulps of the refreshingly cool water, she had time to let his words sink in her mind before formulating a reply. From the sparkle in his navy eyes she had the strange feeling he was trying to tell her something. That or he was teasing her. "Whenever that happens," she muttered, her voice just as low as his.

"It may be sooner than you think," Birkhoff couldn't help but send her a secretive smile before turning to walk away.

As he knew she would, Alicia took the bait, following after him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm?" he raised his brows, feigning ignorance.

Before he could start up the stairs she stepped into his path. "Do you know something?" she asked, surprised at her own straightforwardness.

"I know a lot of things," he smiled slyly, enjoying her curiosity. The way her brow furrowed only caused him to smile brighter. She looked cute when she was frustrated, just as he'd pictured she would.

"Birkhoff," she groaned, her eyes darting around as she realized the whine that had threatened to lace her tone. The amusement clear on his face made her purse her lips. He was clearly taking pleasure in knowing something she didn't. As much as it annoyed her, she couldn't stop the smile from coming to her lips at the sparkle in his eyes.

"Alicia," he mirrored her tone, making a move to step around her.

She let him, but met his eyes with purpose. "There's something you're not telling me," she whispered, keeping her voice low. There were a few pairs of eyes on them now, and she knew Samson's were included.

"That'll happen around here sweethea-"

"I'll find out one way or another," she cut him off with a determined smile of her own, "the walls have ears after all."

"I'm the ears and the eyes of this organization," he shot back before starting up the stairs.

This time she didn't get in his way. She watched him go, following his form as he made his way towards the Command Center. He knows something, she concluded. There wasn't a shadow of doubt in her mind that the man had dangled the bait in front of her on purpose. Whatever it is, she decided, I'm going to find out. Alicia turned, striding back to the practice mats, taking a few more swigs of the water as she went. It wasn't every day that Birkhoff approached her and there had to be a reason behind it.

She couldn't stop her eyes from flickering up to the large windows of the Command Center, the ones that allowed anyone in Operations to overlook the recruits as they practiced. The moment they did she found Birkhoff who, not so coincidentally, already had his eyes focused on her. An oddly immature impulse caused her to peek her tongue out between her lips at him, before turning her head away, her ponytail saying with purpose.

The moment she did she came face to face with Samson. "What did he want?" he asked, not bothering to hide the blatant dislike from his voice. Like many of the other recruits he didn't seem to like the IT guy very much. Maybe it had to do with the fact he was constantly reminding everyone how dim they were compared to him.

Thinking about it only made Alicia smile as she shrugged her shoulders and took another drink of the water before replying. "Oh you know," she casually responded, "the usual. He just wanted to point out an algorithm I used was longer than necessary."

Samson snatched the water from her hand the moment her eyes flickered back up towards the Command Center. If he didn't know better, she sounded almost fond of the nerd when she talked about him. "He likes to do that, doesn't he?" he asked, taking a drink of the bottle as well.

Though Birkhoff was no longer standing near the window he still scowled as he watched the young man swallow down the water. He hadn't been lying when he said he was the ears and eyes of Division. From his computer he could see all, and hear almost all that went on. Though he couldn't hear what the pair was talking about it didn't stop him from grimacing. Seeing the pair together only upset him. He'd never second guessed his position in things before, but the moment Samson and Alicia started in on a heated hand to hand exercise he couldn't help but wish he had a more hands on job. The closest he got to the recruits was when he was hovering over their stations, barking out commands about the data on the screen and what to do.

The thought had never crossed his mind before. He knew it had nothing to do with wanting a new position, and everything to do with Alicia. Watching Michael and her during training had caused a tightening deep in his gut. The man was able to be free around her without raising suspicions. He'd often seen Michael with his hand on a recruit's shoulder, leading them to one place or another. Birkhoff didn't have such liberties. He could already picture Amanda's evil gaze if she ever caught such a thing occurring. No, Birkhoff drew the short straw in life when he'd been gifted with brains over brawn.

This is the closest I'll ever get, he admitted to himself in defeat, eyes flickering around the Command Center. No one was paying attention to him, leaving him to handle whatever task he was working on in solitude, and for once he was glad for it. The resolution on his screen was flawless, and he took in every pixel that comprised Alicia's image.