Hey guys. Here's the next chapter. I didn't really like last chapter but I had to write it in order to write this one. I hope you like it! Thanks for everyone who is still reading and following this story. Let me know what you think about the chapter, because I'm not entirely sure about it.

Enjoy!

Michael sighed and lifted another computer on his shoulder to bring it to the pile of broken technology in Ops. The room was still a mess and with the small amount of people that had decided to stay, it would not get better any time soon. Ryan had woken up a couple of hours ago and although he was glad to see the former CIA agent had made it, it also caused some inconveniences. When he walked into Ops, Michael saw the anger in his eyes. He had not forgiven Alex yet. The last thing the team needed was another reason to argue. But the way Ryan saw things made that very difficult. He decided to ignore the conversation for a while and focussed on cleaning up instead. However, when he heard Alex' name, he stopped.

'What about Alex? Is she in holding?' Ryan asked as he made his way around the broken tables and computers.

'More like hiding.' Birkhoff informed him. 'She left with the others, after she found Sean.'

'She'd shoot him too?' Ryan asked angry.

Michael sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Ryan was an idiot for not understanding what had happened to Alex. She needed their help now more than ever. He was about to explain that, but Nikita beat him to it.

'Ryan, what Alex did. All of this is because of a seed that Amanda planted. She told her about the danger everyone was in. So Alex felt she needed to save everyone. No matter what the consequence.'

Michael nodded in agreement. What Nikita said was true, but that was not all there was to tell. He remembered the conversations he had had with Alex, how she had told him about Sean and their problems. She had told him that she was thinking about breaking up with Sean. The fact that Sean had died for her now, the guilt would eat her up from the inside. That was why she had fled. She would not be able to get through that on her own. Apparently Nikita thought the same thing.

'I have to find her.' She mumbled before walking away.

Ryan shot a glance at Birkhoff and Michael but both men just shrugged their shoulders.

'We need Alex, man.' Birkhoff remarked. 'We can't just let her go through this alone. We need to be a team.'

Michael smiled and nodded his agreement before following Nikita out of Ops. She was just filling her bag with weapons when he found her. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps.

'Hey.'

'Hey.' He responded and came to stand next her.

' Are you okay?' She asked.

He smiled absently. 'Yeah, I'm fine.' He hesitated for a moment, not sure how to say what was on his mind. 'Just bring her home safe, okay?'

Nikita quickly ran her hand over his cheek. 'Of course.' She looked like she was about to say something else, but she remained quiet.

Michael took hold of her hand for a moment. 'Be careful.'

She nodded and started packing again. He turned around and walked towards Ops again, but he could feel Nikita's eyes in his back. He knew Nikita was worried about Alex as well, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. If something would happen to Alex, he would never forgive himself. He had known for a while that something was off and he had not acted on these feelings. Maybe if he had, things wouldn't have gone out of control. When he arrived at Ops, Ryan was the only one there.

'Hey, Michael. Listen, I'm sorry about how I reacted about Alex. I just don't think we can risk it right now.'

Michael felt his anger flare up. 'You know, if it were the other way around, Alex would not have hesitated for even a second to find you. No matter the risks, she would do everything she could to save you.'

'Michael.' Ryan said sharply. 'She shot me, I don't care what Amanda has done to her but I can't just forget that.'

Michael shrugged his shoulders, determined not to let his anger show. 'Nikita has shot me and Alex before, we have forgiven her. Alex has shot Nikita before and they have worked it out. We all have our own demons. The least we can do is try to understand those of others.' Ryan took a step back, obviously hurt by his words.

Michael shook his head and walked past him in search of Birkhoff. Right now he couldn't bother with Ryan and his grudges. They needed to focus on finding Alex and if possible, Amanda as well. He found Birkhoff in his own room, cursing at his computer. He walked in without knocking and took a seat next to his friend.

'Any progress?'

Birkhoff snorted. 'Without Shadownet? It's basically impossible. Amanda will turn herself in her sooner than that we find Alex without a mobile phone or access to traffic cams.'

'So you're saying you got nothing?'

'Not until I can get Shadownet working again.'

Michael leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He knew Nikita might be able to find Alex, but he wasn't sure whether she would be in time to save her from herself.

The sound of Birkhoff tapping on the keys of his laptop almost lulled him into a slumber, but his worries kept him awake. Suddenly, his phone went of. He frowned and pulled it out of his jacket.

'This is Michael.'

'Michael? Are you okay?' Alex voice sounded through the phone. He immediately shot right up and gestured for Birkhoff to start a trace.

'Alex, I'm fine. So is Nikita. Where are you?'

'I can't tell you, I'm sorry. It's just, I need to do something.'

She sounded distracted, pretty much the same as when she had been in Division and under Amanda's control.

'Okay, that's fine. You don't have to tell me. Just tell me that you're okay.' He almost whispered into the phone, relief flooding through him when he realized what the phone call meant. She was still alive, there was still a chance to get her back again.

'I'm good. I just got stabbed in my lower leg, but it's basically just a scratch. I'll be fine.'

Her voice trailed of in the end. He was about to say something when she suddenly spoke up again.

'Michael, you need to help me. I don't feel good.' She sounded terrified. 'Please, I need you.' She whispered and then the call ended.

Michael slowly lowered his phone before looking at Birkhoff. 'Did you get a trace?'

He shook his head. 'No, I'm sorry man. I got nothing.'

Michael punched the wall in front of him. 'Birkhoff, she's in big trouble. We need to find her.'

Birkhoff nodded. 'I'll tell Sonya to come here and help me. Maybe we can do this manually.'

'Thank you.' Michael quickly put a hand on his shoulder before leaving the room, in the meantime dialling Nikita's phone.

She answered at the first ring. 'Michael? Did you find her?'

'No, she called me. Nikita, something is very wrong. She sounded confused and then suddenly she begged me to come and help her. We need to find her before it's too late.'

'I know. I just found three men, two of them dead and one dying. Alex has been here. I don't know what she's doing, but it's not good. I'll keep looking.'

'Okay, just let me know when you find anything.'

'Will do.' She ended the call.

Michael put away the phone again. He really wanted to punch something but instead he walked over to the weapon area and started to pack a few guns to take with him.

'Where are you going?' Ryan asked, while entering the room.

Michael answered without looking up. 'I'm going after Alex.'

'Wait a minute. I just talked to Sonya and Birkhoff. We're thinking about blowing this place up. We can't stay here any longer.'

He turned around. 'What?'

'We can't keep going, Michael. With all those rogue agents, it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong and the president is going to blow this place up. The only difference is that they won't wait until we're out of the building.'

'Are you insane? The black box is still out there. If that information goes public, none of us will be able to escape prison. All of us have committed crimes and once it is out in the open, we can't make it go away again.'

His phone rang again. He sighed and answered. 'Nikita.'

'Michael, I need your help. Alex is after human traffickers. Locals.'

'Why the hell is she going after them?'

'I don't know. She's going to get herself killed, I don't think I can get her out of here alone.'

'Okay, I'll come to you. Where are you?'

'Abandoned warehouse in Whitman Park.'

'Got it, on my way.' He put his phone away and picked up the bag with guns. Then he turned to Ryan. 'Nikita needs back up. Don't blow up anything until I get back here or I'll hunt you down myself.'

He quickly made his way to the elevator and pressed the button of the top floor. What the hell were they thinking? Did they expect the president to just let them get away with this? It would not work, but right now he couldn't do anything about it. He just hoped Ryan would listen to him. When he reached the cars he threw his bag in one of them and drove away as fast as he could. Whitman Park was not very far from Division, but he might still not make it in time. Luckily, there was hardly any traffic so he didn't have to hold back speed.

When he finally pulled into the street of the warehouse, he saw a scene he could not entirely comprehend. A group of girls were on the right side of the street and it seemed like they were throwing stones at armed men. When he got closer, he saw how a man had taken up a heavy machine gun and aimed it at the girls. Michael didn't hesitate and put his foot on the gas pedal, forcing the car to go as fast as possible. He hit the car in front of him with a deafening crash and he could just catch a glimpse of the man flying through the air before the airbags were activated. He quickly grabbed his gun and got out of the car and walked towards the girls, trying to see whether Nikita and Alex were with them. Nikita immediately walked towards him. He threw an arm around her and pulled her close to his side. 'Hey.'

He could see Alex standing in the distance and he was about to go to her when another girl stepped in front of her.

'You didn't have to come back.' He heard Nikita say.

'You didn't have to come at all. No one else ever did.' The girl answered, but Michael was no longer listening. He stepped around the two women and quickly walked over to Alex. He could not believe she was standing in front of him in one piece. She still looked confused, but she was there and that was all that counted at the moment. When he reached her, he grabbed her arm. 'Hey.'

She tried to avoid his eyes. 'Michael, I, I…' She trailed of again.

'I'm sorry about Sean.' He said and he meant it. Despite his behaviour towards Alex, Sean had been a good person and he hadn't deserved to die. He could see the tears well up in her eyes and he immediately pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair. They stayed like that for a minute until Nikita joined them. Michael reluctantly let go of the girl in his arms.

'We should get back. But I need to speak to Michael for a minute if that's okay. Could you wait for us in the car Alex?'

She nodded and slowly walked over to the car after one last glance at Michael.

'What's the matter?' He asked as soon as Alex was far enough away.

Nikita brushed a stray of hair out of her face before taking his hands into her own. 'Michael, I need to tell you something I've been thinking about for some time now. I wish we had more time to discuss this but I think there's never going to be a good time.'

He frowned. What was she saying? 'A good time for what?'

Nikita sighed. 'Michael, I saw the way you looked at Alice when you realized she was safe. It's the way you used to look at me when you got me out of danger.'

'What?' He managed to utter. Did she just accuse him of being in love with Alex?

'Just hear me out, okay? I've seen the two of you getting closer lately. I don't blame you. I understand. The way you feel now that you know that she's safe, it's how I felt when I heard Ryan had gotten out of his coma. When he got shot, I started to realize how important he was for me. And I think you've started to see how important Alex is for you.'

He remained silent for a while, not quite ready to hear what she was saying.

'So you love Ryan?' He finally asked.

'I don't know. Maybe.'

'So this is it?' He whispered. He was shocked at how this could suddenly end, but somewhere in the back of his mind he vaguely realized he wasn't as mad as he should be.

'I think it's the best for both of us, Michael. I will always love you, you know that. But I think we both need a fresh start. Just think about it, okay?'

He nodded slowly. Deep in his heart he knew she was right. They could never be truly happy together. They had too much history. 'So what now?'

'I don't think Alex is ready to go back to Division yet. Maybe we can take her to your place first and help her recover there.'

Michael shook his head. 'We don't have that much time. Ryan and Birkhoff are planning to blow the whole place up.'

'What?'

'It's a long story. But we can't stay away for so long.'

Nikita nodded and ran a hand through her hair. 'Okay, so you take Alex, I'll go back to Division. We'll see each other in a few days.'

'Sounds like a plan. Do you think you can get a car?'

She smiled. 'What do you think?'

He grinned and watched her turn around. Then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. 'Hey, I still love you. Nothing can change that. I don't care whether you're right about Alex or not. Maybe we do need a fresh start, but that doesn't mean I will forget about you.' He kissed her softly before letting go of her hand.

'I know.' She whispered and slowly pulled her engagement ring from her finger and put it in his hand. She gave him one last smile before turning away towards one of the cars in the street.

He sighed and walked over to his own car, still trying to process what had just happened. When he got into the driver seat, he caught a worried glance from Alex in the rear view mirror. 'What's going on? Where's Nikita?'

'Change of plans, she's going back to Division on her own. You might as well go sit in the front.' He answered her in a voice that left no room for further questions. He could see Alex slump back and get out of the car to sit next to him. He started the engine and drove away without saying anything. He immediately felt bad about his behaviour. Just because he was mad at Nikita and the whole situation didn't meant he had to take it out on Alex. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that.'

'It's okay, I deserve it.' She responded as she looked out of the window, but he could see her eyes filling with tears. He mentally cursed himself before taking her hand into his own, while he kept the other one on the steering wheel. 'No, it's not okay. And you sure as hell do not deserve it. It's just that Nikita and I had a long overdue conversation. I'll explain it when we get home, okay?'

Alex turned her head to look at him. 'Home?'

'Yeah, we're going to my place if you don't mind. Nikita and I figured you weren't ready yet to go back to Division.'

'Thank you.' She whispered and looked out of the window again.

He sighed but kept quiet. He wished he had the right words to help Alex understand that none of this was her fault, but he came up empty. He remembered the time when he had helped her with her blood pressure. How she had trusted him to help her and her happiness when she had succeeded. Things looked so easy back then even though he had just lost his hand and she had been addicted again. It seemed ages ago instead of months. They continued the ride in silence. When he arrived at his apartment, Alex didn't react at all. He quickly got out of the car and walked around it to open her door. She looked at him in confusion.

'We're here.' He said softly.

She nodded, but didn't make any move to get out of the car. He took her hand, feeling slightly concerned when he noticed how cold she was. He sighed and put one arm under her legs and one around her shoulder. He lifted her out of the car and closed the door with his leg before he walked to the door of his apartment. He had to put her down to fish the keys out of his pocket, but she kept clinging on to him tightly. She reminded him of the time when he had found her drugged after a mission that had gone wrong.

He finally unlocked the door and immediately picked Alex up again and walked through the kitchen and living room to his bedroom. He gently laid her down on his bed. Then he put some water in the water heater and walked back to Alex. She had curled herself up in a ball facing the wall. He quickly walked around the bed to sit next to her on the edge of the mattress. He was really starting to worry now. 'Alex, I need you to talk to me.' He softly started to stroke her hair until she finally looked at him while the tears were streaming down her face.

'Hey, it's going to be okay.' He mumbled while he pulled her up to envelop her in his arms once again.

'How can it be okay?' She finally said, her voice sounding muffled against his chest. 'I shot Ryan, I caused a mutiny which resulted in the death of many agents and Sean died because of me. He died to protect me. If only I had been strong enough to resist Amanda's mind games, none of it would have happened. This is all my fault.'

'Don't say that.' He pulled away to be able to look into her eyes. 'This is not your fault, Alex. All of this is on Amanda. No one could have resisted her. Not Birkhoff, not Ryan, not me and not even Nikita. It could have happened to any of us.'

'And yet it happened to me. Why is it always me? Why does everyone around me have to die while I'm still alive? It's not fair.'

Michael pulled her close again and kissed the top of her head. He knew how she felt. He had felt the same way before and it had taken him a long time to get over it.

'It's because life is unfair. We've all known people who died while they didn't deserve to. Sean didn't deserve to die, neither did Daniel or Emily. Neither did Hayley and Elizabeth. And yet, they're all gone and we're still here. Life is not fair, Alex. But we've got to make the best of it. Maybe we all deserve to die, but we haven't. And that's a good thing, because sometimes we save people. Those girls you saved today, they're glad that you were there for them when no one else was. Maybe that's the answer. Maybe this is our way of making things right.'

She didn't respond, but he could feel her breathing slowing down and she relaxed in his arms. 'We'll get through this, Alex. We always do.'

She nodded and pulled away. Then she let out a soft laugh. 'I'm sorry, I've been a little bit of a mess lately, haven't I?'

Michael grinned. 'A little bit, yes.' He stood up to get the hot water out of the kitchen when he noticed how her jeans were soaked with blood. It was only then that he remembered the wound she had told about over the phone. 'Alex! That is definitely more than a scratch!'

She looked confused for a moment before she realized what he meant. 'It's nothing, don't worry about it.'

He frowned, a little mad at himself because he had forgotten about it. 'Just stay here, okay. I'll be back in a second.'

Alex let herself fall back into the cushions. She closed her eyes for a minute, while she was trying to process what had happened today. The fog was finally clearing up in her head, but she didn't trust herself yet entirely. She couldn't believe she had put everyone in Division in danger because of Amanda. Despite what Michael and Nikita had said, she still blamed herself. How could she not? Yet, it had helped a little bit to talk to Michael. Lately it seemed everything was a little bit easier when he was around. She didn't know why she had called him earlier today, but it had felt like the right thing to do. And now she was in his apartment again and he was taking care of her again. She knew that it was not a good habit, but secretly she couldn't help but liking it. It felt good to have someone caring for her.

When Michael came back he had a cup of tea in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. He handed her the tea and got a towel and a bowl of warm water from the adjoining bathroom. He submerged the cloth into the water and began to clean the skin around the wound. The water in the bowl soon coloured red from her blood. Then he used some bandages to clean the wound itself. When he touched the wound, Alex let out a hiss.

'Sorry.' He mumbled.

'No, it's okay. It just stings a little bit.' She answered quickly, not wanting to worry him.

'Let's distract you then.' He offered.

'How exactly were you going to do that?' She asked curiously.

He let out a wry grin. 'By answering your question from back when we were in the car.'

Alex blushed when she understood what he was referring to. She had asked him why Nikita didn't come with them, but she had soon enough figured out it was something personal. 'You don't have to talk about it, it's none of my business.'

'I think it is.' He mumbled. She looked at him with a little bit of wonder. Why would it be any of her business?

'We broke up.' He said quickly.

'You did what?' She asked surprised, she knew the two of them had some problems lately, but she hadn't expected this. She also felt a pang of guilt when she realized a small part of her was glad to hear this. She really didn't want to think too much about that part of her or what it meant.

Luckily, Michael continued his story, so she didn't have to go over it just yet.

'It was Nikita's idea.' While he talked, he quickly bandaged her leg. 'She thought we both needed a fresh start with someone new. We have too much history.'

'Is she right?' Alex asked softly, somehow a little bit scared of the answer.

'I don't know. The two of us, we're not working the way we used to. I think everyone has noticed that. I don't know why and I don't know how to fix it. I'm not sure I even want to fix it. Nikita sure as hell doesn't. She has made new plans already.'

'Ryan.' Alex nodded understandingly. She had always thought Nikita and Ryan were special.

His head shot up at the mention of that name. He frowned. 'How did you know?'

She smiled ruefully. 'I have eyes, Michael. Those two always had something different. A certain understanding and a friendship that can turn into something more. If she would choose anyone, it would be Ryan.'

'Yeah well, she's trying to find out whether they will work out together.'

He pulled her jeans back in place and took the empty cup from her hand to put it on the nightstand. Then he sat on the edge of the bed again.

'There's something else, isn't there?' She asked suspiciously. She had known the man in front of her long enough to know when he was hiding something from her.

Michael sighed. 'Yeah, Nikita also had some pretty clear ideas about how I should use my fresh start.'

She patiently waited for him to continue; curious to see what crazy plans Nikita had come up with. If she knew her best friend even a little bit, it would be more than crazy.

'She thought you and I would be a good thing.'

Alex remained silent for a while, searching his face for any signs of a joke but the only thing she noticed was that Michael was desperately trying to avoid her eyes. Her thoughts quickly took another turn and suddenly she imagined herself walking through the park, her hand laced through Michael's and two little children running in front of her. She blinked and tried to ban those images. Like Michael would ever leave Nikita. She wasn't even sure whether she liked Michael like that. What the hell was happening to her? Still she needed to know. She hesitantly put her hand on Michael's, which made him look into her eyes.

'What do you think?' She asked tentatively.

She could see how he was struggling to form words. Before she realized what she was doing, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He parted them in surprise and she immediately took advantage of it by deepening the kiss. She could hear him groan softly before she felt his hands tangle in her hair. She still remembered their kiss in the club vividly, but it was nothing like the way he kissed her now. Suddenly he broke the kiss and pulled back.

She immediately felt the loss of his body warmth and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying hard not to be hurt by his refusal. 'I'm sorry.' She whispered. She didn't know why she had kissed him in the first place. She was just thinking about Nikita's word and suddenly it had happened. If she had taken a moment to think it through, she would never have done it.

Michael paced around the room, rubbing his face with his hand. 'It's not your fault. Or at least, not entirely. I should have stopped you at once.'

His words hurt her more than she had expected. Of course deep down she had known that he loved Nikita and always would, but over the past months, she thought they had gotten a little bit closer. At least he could let her down easy.

Apparently Michael saw the effect of his words because he kneeled in front of the bed and took her hand again. 'I didn't mean it like that.'

Alex pulled her hand away without meeting his eyes. 'I know.' She mumbled.

'Damn it, Alex. You just found out you've been brainwashed by Amanda. Who knows what the effects are? What if all of this is just something that Amanda has planted there? You've just gone on a suicide mission and barely made it out alive! I can't take advantage of you like that.'

He took her chin in his hand and gently forced her to look at him. 'I can't do that to you, not while you're in this state. You understand?'

She nodded. His words helped a little bit with the pain but they also made her ashamed of herself. He was right, she still was a mess and what she had done was a side effect of that. It must be.

Michael let go of her and stood up again. 'It's late, you should get some sleep. You can take the bed, I'll take the couch.'

She was about to argue, but she felt how her body finally gave up after all the events of today. So instead she yawned and nodded her agreement.

'You can use some clothes of mine, if you want to.' He gestured towards the wardrobe on the other side of the room.

Alex forced a smile, a little hurt but grateful at the same time when she noticed how Michael talked like nothing had happened between the two of them. 'That'd be great, thanks.'

She stood up, but her wounded leg immediately made her lose her balance. It seemed that she couldn't walk on it now that the adrenaline had left her body.

Michael was immediately by her side and helped her get down on the bed again. 'I guess it wasn't just a small wound.' He mumbled before walking over to the wardrobe himself. He hesitated for a moment before pulling several articles of clothing out and putting them in the bathroom. Then he put an arm around her waist and helped her to move towards the bath and where he put her down again. She knew he was only trying to help, but she could feel how he was trying to put as much distance between them as he could. She sighed and forced another smile. 'Thank you.'

He nodded. 'If you need anything, just say the word.'

'I will.' She responded and watched him leave the room and close the door behind him. She looked at the clothes he had left for her. Apparently, he hadn't been able to decide because there were sweatpants, an old sweater and something that looked like a shirt he would wear when he was off duty. She opted for the last one, simply because the pants would never fit her and the sweater didn't look very comfortable. She quickly changed and studied herself in the mirror. The grey shirt was barely longer than her upper thighs but it covered everything that needed to be covered. She decided this was as decent as it would get and managed to stumble towards the sink to throw some water in her face. She knew she looked like a mess, but she also knew it wouldn't get any better right now. So instead she decided to go to bed and forget about everything that happened today as soon as possible.

When she got to the bed, she saw Michael standing in the door opening. He had changed into black sweatpants and a red shirt. 'You okay?' He asked.

She nodded, although she was pretty sure they both knew it was a lie. He sighed and walked towards her, enveloping her in a hug. She didn't respond for a moment, not quite understanding what he was doing, but then she decided to just go with it and she wrapped her arms around his waist. She could feel how he rested his chin on her head.

'You're not okay. But you'll get through it, I'm gonna make sure of that.' He whispered and pressed his lips softly on the top of her head. Then he slowly let go of her and smiled. 'I'm going to use the bathroom, I'll be back in a few minutes.'

Alex nodded and got into the bed, wrapping the blanket around her. She was really tired, but she kept replaying the past events in her head. Aside from the whole Michael situation, there was also the Amanda situation. Since Nikita had told her about Amanda's plan, she slowly had started to remember that everything had been an illusion. She remembered Amanda standing in front of her with her creepy looking instruments. It scared the hell out her, whenever she thought back to those moments. But she knew she had to remember all of it. She needed to make sure that all of her actions would be her own from now on. She needed to know whether she was a danger to the team and she also needed to figure out if kissing Michael was an effect of the hallucinations as well. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it and just relax, but the thoughts kept running through her mind. When she felt the mattress dip beneath her, she opened her eyes again and saw Michael sitting on the other side of the bed.

'Hey.' She mumbled.

'Hey. Ready to get some sleep?'

Alex shook her head. 'Not really. I just can't stop thinking about what Amanda has done to my brain. I keep getting flashes of the illusions in combination with what I think really happened.'

'Anything I can do to help?'

'I could use a distraction.' She said and immediately blushed when she realized how it could come across. The last time he distracted her, they ended up kissing. Michael pretended not to notice for which she was grateful. Instead he lay down on his side, facing her with his elbow planted on the bed and his head leaning on his hand.

'I can do that.' He said with a smirk. 'Remember the last time you were here? We talked about what we wanted to do with our lives when Division was over? I've figured it out.'

Alex rolled on her side as well. 'Really? What?'

'Well the one thing I've actually enjoyed in Division was helping the recruits, teaching them. Maybe I'll become a teacher. I've realized that I don't need to live like this to make a difference.'

She smiled. 'I like that. I think you'll be really good at it.'

'Of course I will, after all I managed to deal with you.' He said teasingly.

Alex softly punched him in the shoulder. 'Very funny.' But she smiled nonetheless. Somehow they had made it back to safe territory.

She took his right hand in hers. 'You know, we never got to talk about your new hand. That was when I knew something was wrong. When we both were with Ryan when he was in coma, I looked at your hand and I didn't care. That was when I knew that I wasn't feeling right. That's why I warned you to go to Nikita, instead of staying in Division which would end up with you being caught.'

'Alex, you really need to work on your warning skills.' Michael said with a smile.

She blushed. 'I know. Anyway, my point is that I never really saw it.' She let her fingers wander over his hand. 'Did it hurt?'

'Nikita put me under, I didn't feel a thing.' He answered.

'I'm really glad you got it back. I know it's not the same hand, but still. I felt so guilty about cutting it of and now you have two hands again, it's very strange.' What she didn't say out loud was how glad she was that maybe she would feel his hand on her lower back once again, guiding her through Division.

'Yeah, I know. But I told you before; you don't have to feel guilty. You saved my life.'

'I know, but it was hard. But at least now you have a chance to beat me again.' She said mischievously.

He just rolled his eyes and smiled. Alex smiled back but was interrupted by a huge yawn. She tried to cover it with her hand, but Michael had seen it anyway. 'That's my cue to leave.' He tried to get up, but she kept holding his hand.

'Please, stay?' She asked, hoping he would not take it the wrong way. She just knew that his presence would help to keep the flashbacks at bay.

He hesitated for a moment. 'Please?' She repeated, using her puppy dog eyes.

'Okay.' He gave in and got underneath the blanket. Then he brushed a stray of hair out of her face and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. 'Goodnight, Alex.'

'Goodnight.' She mumbled before falling into a deep sleep.