"There. There's your proof. Now, trust me and let me go so we can get Stefan back," When Krieg ripped the phone away from a hopeless Nikita, Amanda resumed swaying him to her side. Owen had just attacked Ari for whatever reason (though, Amanda could suspect his motivations). He was incapacitated by the very people who claimed to be working with him. Krieg shouldn't trust Division- no one should. If he truly wanted to rescue Stefan, then he had to let Amanda go. It was the only way.

"I don't trust either of you. You're both lying, but I don't care why. I just want to find Stefan. And I can ensure that you tell me everything that you know," Unceremoniously dropping the phone on the workbench, Krieg began to study different torture instruments. Nikita shook herself out of her shock over Ari being knocked unconscious at the worst fucking time possible. She couldn't give up then. She could still try to get Krieg to listen to her. She could still rescue Stefan. Nothing was over yet- though, they certainly did suck.

"I'm telling the truth. I swear. Torturing me won't change my answer," Nikita attempted to steer Krieg clear of the torture route. He wouldn't be able to forcibly take different answers from her if he hurt her. All she was going to do was repeat the same things- the same truth. The torture would be useless, time consuming, and needlessly painful. Stefan could be killed by the time Krieg came to that realization. He had to know then: torture wouldn't work.

Yet Krieg was done listening to Nikita. The next time she spoke, it would be to answer where Stefan was. As Krieg neared her with a particularly intimidating torture tool, Nikita braced herself for the pain. She also tried to think of what to say to even remotely talk herself out of that situation. However, if master manipulator Amanda hadn't accomplished that, then what could Nikita do except offer more truth that wouldn't be believed. Fortunately, before blade touched skin, Krieg was distracted by a ping on his computer. When he glanced at it, he smiled, "Oh, great. Someone found the breadcrumb I left."

Although relieved that she wasn't going to be tortured, Nikita quickly began to worry what kind of breadcrumb Krieg had left behind, and who had found it. She had the sinking suspicion that it was Alex. Nikita's com had been removed when she had been captured. It hadn't fallen out (it fit too well for that to happen) Krieg had actively removed it. He must've left it someplace in the hopes that someone would find it. His hopes paid off. Alex's voice soon rang through the workshop, "Krieg? What's Nikita?"

"That depends. Where's the boy?" Krieg responded. It took everything in Nikita to not scream at Alex to not do anything stupid. She was fairly certain that she'd make things worse if she cut Krieg off and tried to talk directly to her partner. He'd definitely suspect that the two were up to something, which really wouldn't change his mind about the two women after their confrontation at the motel. Nikita had to stay silent, not make things worse. And she had to pray that Alex wouldn't pull a stunt like her.

"I have him. He's with me. But you're only getting him back if I get Nikita," There was a moment of hesitation before Alex answered. That slight pause either meant that she was debating whether or not to trust Krieg. Or, she was lying. Nikita could make a strong bet for the latter. She twisted her wrists against her bonds in yet another attempt to escape. She couldn't let Alex take the heat away from her like that. The young woman was only going to get herself killed. That was the last thing Nikita could allow to happen. She had to put a stop to that. She had to save her.

"Stay where you are, and we can discuss the trade," Already grabbing for weapons, Krieg ordered Alex. Amanda decided to speak up then. She had conveniently stayed quiet as Krieg threatened torture. But when it came to Alex, she had to speak up. She warned Krieg that he shouldn't trust the young woman either. She was obviously up to something. Loading his pistol, Krieg agreed with that thought.

Surging forward, Nikita fruitlessly attempted to stop Krieg. He couldn't take out his rage and anger on Alex. and he definitely couldn't kill her to get to Stefan. The person who should feel his wrath was already in the room with him. Alex had no part in that. It should just stay between him, Nikita, and Amanda. Hell, Nikita would let him torture her if that kept Alex safe. Going after her wasn't going to bring the results Krieg wanted. He had to know that. He had to listen to Nikita, "Krieg. Leave her alone. If she's lying, she's lying to protect me. Don't hurt her. She'll help you find Stefan."

"If she's lying, she dies," Krieg swore. He didn't give Nikita time to argue with him some more. He just took his gear, left the room, and locked the door. Instantly, Nikita began doing everything she could to break her restraints. She tried pulling at them and shaking them. She also tried looking at them at different angles to see if she could figure out their weakness. Harsh bruises were forming on her wrists, and her muscles were growing tired. Yet none of that mattered. She had to break free. She couldn't let Krieg kill Alex.

Unamused with Nikita's actions, Amanda didn't even spare her a glance. They were trapped. They should just accept that. Brute force wasn't going to save them; it hardly ever did. Either they had to use their heads, or they simply bided their time. Amanda had faith in the latter. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike was going to serve them better. After all, Nikita was going to break her wrists before she ever broke the restraint, "Just give up already."

"No. I'm gonna keep trying, even if I die. It's what you do for people you love. Of course you wouldn't know," Violently struggling against her restraints, Nikita bit. As long as Alex was in danger, as long as Stefan was held by Amanda's men, Nikita would never stop fighting. There had to be a way she could escape. She had been in worse situations. She had been trapped by worse things. She could get out of there. She simply had to think.

Frantically glancing around the old, abandoned workshop, Nikita noticed a wire on the floor. It ran straight to the light switch on the wall. If she could get the wire to spark, there was a chance she could create a way to escape. Nikita smirked. She shifted her chair over and began to break the wire's safety casing with her chair leg. It took a bit to get the momentum and force right, yet she soon started to make progress. Amanda, meanwhile, stared at Nikita bewildered. She hadn't had the same thoughts of escape that she had; she refused to be that desperate, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

"I'm trying to short the wire," Nikita huffed as she continued to slam her chair against the wire on the floor. She could admit that her idea was not the greatest in the world. In fact, there was a good chance that she could die. But it was better than sitting in a locked room with Amanda. Nikita couldn't wait for Krieg to return. Something could happen to Alex or Stefan in the meantime. She had to get out and help. And she had to escape Amanda.

"What good would that do?" Staring in bewilderment at Nikita, Amanda questioned. There was no need to be rash or desperately try to escape. Patience would more likely save them then wasting energy on uselessly jumping around. If Nikita just waited, she'd find a better way to escape. Or not. Amanda didn't care what became of Nikita. As long as she won in the end- as long as she had Stefan and the black box- what did it matter what happened to the rogue. After all, she was trapped with her, which meant she already lost.

"Well, if you left your cave every once and a while, you'd pick up on a few things. For example, shorting the wire will cause a reaction that'll get me out of here," Nikita smirked. Honestly, what she had planned would help Amanda escape too. Unless she died in the resulting chaos. That would be the perfect outcome. Nikita just hoped it'd come to fruition, "I need something to spark the wire. I can't spit on it, so I need you to draw my blood."

Amanda stared at Nikita's outstretched palm. Although she would love to dig her nails so harshly into the rogue's skin that it drew blood, she had no reason to help her. Being trapped was an unfortunate situation for her too. But, again, as long as Nikita was trapped with her, she won. So Amanda did not have to cut her. However, she was curious to see what the rogue had planned. And, the fact that she was in a basement was starting to creep up on her. There was no way she could keep herself down there for long. She couldn't be trapped- she couldn't die- in another man's basement. So, she reached out and drew Nikita's blood.

The instant the blood hit the exposed, broken wire, a spark was lit. It shot across the room and ignited the mass of wires behind the light switch. A small fire then broke out, and it rapidly spread in the old workshop. Amanda had to admit that she was impressed. It was pretty quick thinking on Nikita's part; it was a surefire way of getting them out of there. The only problem left was the bonds on their chairs. But with what Nikita had done, they could work around that, "Smart. The fire will ignite the oil, which will start an explosion, which will blow the door, which will let us escape."

"No. It's just a fire. Someone will see the smoke and call the fire department," Shrugging, Nikita admitted. If she could find a way to blow the door off the hinges, that would've been great. But she didn't believe that would've been possible with the things around them. The fire was just going to be a fire. Yet that was enough to get them out of that situation. Someone was bound to see the smoke in the supposed abandoned building, and they'd call the fire department to stop the fire from spreading. It was only a matter of time until they were out of there. The two simply had to wait for the good people in the world.

"You've just killed us both," Amanda nearly shrieked. There was absolutely no guarantee that someone would call the fire department if they saw the smoke coming from the building. Or, if by some miracle someone actually gave a shit and did call, there was no guarantee that it'd save the women. They could've been killed by smoke inhalation by then. Starting a fire had been a horrific idea. There was no control. There was assurance. It was just hope and blind trust.

Of all the plans and schemes she had had, Nikita could admit that the fire was her stupidest and least thought out. However, she completely believed that it would work. The fire department would pull the women from the fire, and from there Nikita could slip away to help Alex. But if her plan didn't work. If Nikita had absolutely misjudged what people would do if they saw smoke. If the police didn't come in time. Then the consequences would've been worth it. Yes, she'd die. But so would Amanda. The bitch's terror would end, and Nikita's family would be safe. That was worth dying for, "Well, then I guess I win."

As the fire grew, Nikita resumed her attempts to break her restraints. Although she had a good feeling that the fire department would come, she didn't want Amanda to be the first one released. Who knew what'd happen to the firemen, Stefan, Alex, or her if that happened. When the flames began to take over the entire room, however, Nikita's attempts grew more desperate and became more about pure survival. Amanda soon joined her in her frantic need to escape the restraints. Both women pulled and jerked and hopped around in order to free themselves. None of their distressed efforts worked.

Eventually, once the smoke was too much to breathe, Amanda gave up. Nikita kept going, despite her coughing and despite only managing to move her chair to the other side of Amanda's, but the bitch was done. She could easily accept her fate. She knew everything would end eventually- and tragically. She simply thought she'd last a little longer. But because of the idiotic, selfish, need-to-be-the-hero rogue, she was going to die horrifically that day, "So this is how it ends. Just like it began."

"We didn't meet in a fire," Nikita coughed. She knew the fire and smoke had become overwhelming, yet it couldn't make anyone delirious. Unless, breathing in all that smoke had fucked the two up more than she thought. That couldn't be completely true, though. Amanda had simply gone insane from stress or from just being a psycho. Nikita shouldn't listen to what she had to say; she shouldn't even respond. She should just keep fighting.

"I'm not talking about you, you abandoned parasite," Seething, Amanda stopped Nikita's thoughts in their tracks. Not everything revolved around the rogue, even if she wholeheartedly believed it. Other people had gone through worse shit. Nikita should've known that. She had caused some of the tragedies people had been through. In case she ever forgot that, Alexandra Udinov was still walking around to remind her, "Though, I guess one version of Nikita was born in a fire: the rogue Nikita."

"Saving Alex was not a rogue act," Nikita snarled. Yes, she had defied Division. Yes, she had disobeyed orders. Yes, she had made her own decisions and choices. But saving Alex had never been about going rogue. It hadn't been a protest or some big 'fuck you' to Division. It had only ever been about doing the right thing. Nikita had to have had saved Alex. She had to have had ensured that she didn't have the fucked up life hers turned out to be. Leaving Division after Daniel died, that was going rogue. Saving Alexandra Udinov, that was just being human.

"You turned your back on the people who made you," Ignoring Nikita's venomous comment, Amanda continued calling her a rogue. There had been so many people in Nikita's life that raised her, helped her grow, made her into the indestructible force that she was. And she had turned her back on every single one of them. They had all become her enemies and the worst people in the world. She was so ungrateful.

"Made me? Division made me? Oh that's fucking rich," Despite the fire burning her skin and the smoke searing her lungs, Nikita laughed. There was no way in hell that Division made her. They fucked her up. They turned her into a monster. Yet the woman she was that day was because of what she did. She removed herself from that hell, and she tried to turn herself into a better person. Division had never done anything good for her. All it ever did was ruin her life.

"You turned your back on your mother," Slowly, ensuring that the words sank in, Amanda amended her statement. It could never be forgotten that Madeline Pierce handed her adopted daughter over to Division. She was the reason the sarcastic, lively teenager became the rogue, monstrous assassin that she was. Division might've done all the hard work in turning Nikita into the perfect agent, but it all started because of Madeline Pierce. She had made her daughter into that person. And her daughter had hated her ever since.

Forget escaping. The instant Nikita broke out of her bonds, she was going to kill Amanda. She of all people knew the absolute hell the discarded teenager went through when she woke up scared and alone in Division. Even when Madeline's motives were made clear, that she was doing all she could to protect her daughter (something Nikita had just done with her brother) the fact that she wasn't fought for still stung. So, no, Nikita never turned her back on her mother. Her mother had scorned her and left her for dead, "She turned her back on me first."

Amanda didn't have a quip for that. Nikita expected the bitch to bleed old wounds and make ancient pain fresh. Instead, she seemed to disappear as though she was lost in thought. Confusion replaced Nikita's lividity. What the hell was that reaction. She hadn't said anything that'd hurt the bitch's feelings. And the bitch definitely didn't feel sympathy for her. So why was she upset. After staring at Amanda for a moment, and after remembering some things she had said in the past, it clicked. She had been hurt and betrayed by her family too. Someone had made her like that; they made her a monster like Nikita, "Who turned their back on you, Amanda?"

"You think you're the only one with family issues? I'm so much worse than all you bitches put together," Amanda snapped. The fire in her cold, icy blue eyes was nothing like the fire in the room. There was so much pain and hatred in that gaze. For the first time in a long time, Nikita was terrified of Amanda. Not just what she'd do. Since that war with Amanda had started, Nikita was afraid of what the bitch would do to her family. No, Nikita was terrified of the woman sitting next to her. She didn't know her. She didn't know what she was capable of. It was undoubtedly true. Amanda was so much worse than anyone or anything else.