Alex very slowly woke up. Although she wanted to wake- she knew something was wrong, and she desperately wanted to know what- her body rebelled against her. Exhaustion kept dragging her down, weighing down her eyelids. It didn't feel like real exhaustion. It kind of felt like when she had been high or when she had gotten surgery on her shoulder. It was artificial exhaustion. She was being drugged; she was being kept under. She really had to wake herself up. She couldn't remain unconscious. She couldn't remain drugged. She had to get up.
Forcing her eyelids open, Alex quickly looked around. She continued to take too long of blinks. But between each struggle, she was able to study her surroundings. She definitely was not in Division. The dirty, grime covered windows told her that. So did the vast, empty, not at all sterile room she was kept in. Alex tried to push off whatever she was laying on to get a better look, but she was tied down. She was too weak to actually fight the restraint, so she just collapsed back on the cot. Looking around where she was had been good enough. Especially since she was certain that more study wouldn't answer her question, "Where… where am I?"
"Shh. Just relax. Lay back down. Be gentle," Her movements seemed to have caught the attention of someone else in the room, and they moved closer to her. They helped Alex lay comfortably on the cot and helped her relax the muscles she hadn't even known were tense. Although that didn't help Alex battle her exhaustion, it did help her breathe. She took in a deep, steady breath, and her foggy mind began to clear. The next words the person next to her said were much more understandable, "You were given a lot of sedatives. Maybe even some painkillers. You need to relax."
Once those words sank in- and once she had battled the quick sweep of panic of being told she had been forced to use narcotics- Alex turned to the person next to her. It was a woman. Yet she wasn't Amanda. She had far kinder eyes than the bitch. She also appeared to be taking care of Alex, something Amanda would've never done- even when she had been a recruit. Whoever the woman was, she didn't seem like she belonged in a place as horrid as where Alex was. She must've been forced there. For what reason, Alex was certain she could guess, "Are you some sort of doctor?"
"I'm only a medic. My name's Larissa," Larissa smiled softly as she corrected. Alex was still confused about her presence, but knowing her name was nice. That was at least one question out of the way. If only she didn't still have a million more. Turning to Larissa, Alex wondered if she'd answer more questions. Yet before she could ask, panic coursed through her again. The medic was helping to pump drugs into her system. Instantly, Alex attempted to rip the needle out of her skin. Larissa was quick to stop her, "It's okay. It's only saline. You were unconscious for a very long time. Over twenty-four hours. I was told to keep you alive."
"Twenty-four hours? That can't be…" Alex paused. Her confusion outweighed her instinct to not trust Larissa. She left the saline drip be as she tried to think about how she got there. The last thing she remembered was fighting Amanda in the backseat of the police car. But that couldn't have been twenty-four hours ago. There was no way a whole day had passed. She must've been lied to. Larissa had to have been trying to disorient her. That was what Amanda would've done. And since she had undoubtedly been the one to sedate and capture Alex, that made Larissa one of her goons, "Are you working for Amanda?"
The second Alex uttered the bitch's name, she appeared in the room. Alex heard the familiar sinister click of her heels before she saw her. Once she could from her position on the cot, she glared menacingly. Larissa became an afterthought. The fact that she suddenly disappeared from her side wasn't a concern for Alex. All her hatred and attention was directed at Amanda. Unfortunately, the bitch only found her glare amusing. She smiled so sickly sweet, Alex half-considered throwing up, "Hello, Alex. I'm so glad you're awake. I can't have you dying just yet. I still need you."
"And you can still fuck off," Alex seethed. Before she had become a mole in Division, Alex had been warned about Amanda. Nikita had prepared her for a controlling Percy, an annoying Birkhoff, a protective Michael, and recruits that were just like her. But she especially prepared Alex for Amanda. There was a reason Division recruits and agents nicknamed her The Inquisitor. When she had her sights on you, she'd pry all your secrets out- no matter how deep or dark they were. She was the definition of psychological warfare. Nikita never wanted Alex to fall victim to that. She taught her all she could so she wouldn't, giving Alex that bravado.
"This is going to be fun," Amanda's smile melted into a smirk. Alex wanted to roll her eyes. She had survived being a mole inside Division despite all of Amanda's probing. Sure, there were times where Amanda saw right through her: when she knew she had been trafficked, when she caught her having an anxiety attack, when she was helping her detox after being captured by Vlad. But she had only ever discovered Alex as the mole because of her father's watch. Alex had had her beat until then; she had even beat her lie detector test. So whatever Amanda was going to do to Alex then, she'd survive it. She wouldn't break.
"What? Torture? Send the video to Nikita? Do your worst," Scoffing, Alex dared the Inquisitor. Of course whatever Amanda did to her then was going to be used to hurt Nikita. When she had targeted Owen and Sean, it was all about hurting Nikita; the pain she had caused the men was only an afterthought. Alex was going to suffer the same fate; she had stopped being on Amanda's mind since the Zetrov coup. But Alex could take whatever pain was about to come her way. She'd stay strong- prove to Amanda that she couldn't be used as a tool.
"I already am," Hovering over Alex, Amanda gloated. Her captive lost all her bravado. She knew she wasn't just talking about pumping her full of drugs, keeping her in a horror room, and restraining her to a bed. Amanda had done something else. She had some other form of torture in mind. Alex had the sinking suspicion that that torture involved the team of former rogues. While Alex was held captive, they were going through their own hells. And it was completely unlike anything the bitch had done before.
Nikita spent the entire flight back to Division drinking water, scrubbing off soot, and telling Ops everything she knew. She went over her time with Amanda, the fire, Stefan's rescue, how she and Alex had gotten separated a million times. She didn't leave anything out- except for what had exactly caused the fire. She had to give Division every single piece of information she had so they could use it to find Alex. What Amanda had said in the fire was their biggest clue. But it was mostly a clue of how dangerous the bitch was. She had snapped, no longer the woman who had run Division. Alex being alone with her was a death sentence.
As soon as she arrived in Division, Nikita tried to run straight to Ops. But Michael made her go to Medical first. Mostly so she could be cleared to lead Alex's rescue mission, Nikita complied. After a thorough examination to see if there was any lasting damage from the smoke (there wasn't) Nikita was free to join Ops. Birkhoff and Michael led the charge in the search for Alex, ordering hackers around. Though, there unfortunately was no specific point to search for Alex at. It had been too long. She had been moved too far, "No. Geneva was where she was taken. It's been ten hours. Amanda had to have crossed the border by now. Broaden the search."
While Birkhoff hacked satellites and street cameras and even police departments, and Michael issued orders and worked his intelligence skills, Sean paced Ops. Usually, that would be when he called in his contacts for more intel. Yet being a dead man, he couldn't make any calls. He was left useless, powerless. There was nothing he could do to find Alex except overthink the events of the mission- the mission that had gone so well only to end so horribly. Sean couldn't understand that. What could've possibly gone wrong. It had been so perfect. What happened, "I'm still confused. What was the exit strategy again?"
"There was none. Alex improvised calling the cops," Nikita replied. At the time, she had been really proud of Alex for her resourcefulness. The cops were a great way to break up the firefight, take care of the assailants, and escape with. The only catch would be breaking out of custody. But Alex could've handled that no problem with Nikita and her team. At least, she should've- before Amanda intervened. The bitch must've seen the squad cars leaving her hideout and followed. She must've known Alex would be in one. Since that police idea had been Nikita's first. Alex only copied her.
"I'm just trying to figure out how Amanda managed to kidnap Alex when you were sitting right next to her just an hour before. Why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you stop her?" Sean snapped. Nikita had been locked in a room for hours with Division's greatest enemy, yet the bitch still lived. She still lived, and she still inflicted unspeakable horrors on the people Sean loved most. That shouldn't have continued. Nikita should've taken the chance to kill the bitch. Sean knew he would've. If she had been within his reach, he would've struck.
"You think I wanted Amanda to escape? You think that if I had known she was going to hurt Alex, I would've just let her? I tried to stop her. I thought I had stopped her. That fire…" Nikita began. She had thought the paramedics would've been enough to stop Amanda. Their intense care and desire to take her to a hospital should've been enough to distract her. Obviously, she would've escaped eventually. But it would've been after the team had won- after Alex was safe. And if the bitch hadn't been distracted, then the smoke from the fire should've slowed her down. It had slowed Nikita down. Amanda had to have been affected the same way.
Amanda had to have been suffering. She shouldn't have been able to win if she was suffering. Nikita had assumed that she couldn't win. But she had been so wrong. Amanda hadn't taken her suffering and gone off alone somewhere to lick her wounds. She had lashed out in her pain and had hurt Alex. Nikita shouldn't have been so stupid to have assumed otherwise. Of course Amanda would've done something to retaliate against Nikita's actions. She'd always try to hurt her and her loved ones. Nikita really wished that fire had killed them.
Although she would've died too, Nikita wished she and Amanda weren't pulled out of the fire. She would've never been able to go home, but at least the bitch would've been dead. Nikita would absolutely sacrifice herself if that was the outcome. She didn't care about herself, just that her friends and family were safe from that bitch. The fire should've taken care of her. Since it hadn't, Nikita then should've killed her in that ambulance. Even though paramedics were around, even though Alex and Krieg wouldn't have had backup, Nikita should've finally killed Amanda, "If I had known this was gonna happen, I would've killed her in that ambulance."
Sean knew his sister was holding something back. He knew the dark dip of her voice was holding something sinister and twisted back. Yet he didn't care to figure out what that was. Maybe in another circumstance, he would've made his sister open up and share all her thoughts with him. But at that moment, his only concern was Alex. Whatever Nikita was going through was hers to go through alone. He just wanted to find Alex- bring her back home. And he wanted to kill Amanda so she could never hurt his love ever again, "You should've done that anyway."
"Yeah, cause it's that easy," Nikita challenged. Nothing was ever as black and white as Sean wanted them to be. After his years in the Navy, with the Seals, and in Division, he should've known that everything they did existed in varying shades of gray. Killing their enemies was never that simple. Percy had had black boxes. Kasim had been hidden in Al-Qaeda (and by Percy). Semak had been protected by Gogol (and by Oversight). And Amanda had skills and resources the team always underestimated. She had told Nikita as such in the fire. Nikita had no idea who she was or what she was capable of. A bullet wouldn't be enough to end her.
"Yeah. It is," Moving closer to Nikita, Sean argued. Being chained to a chair, being trapped in a fire, being surrounded by paramedics and firefighters, none of those were true obstacles. Especially when Nikita had engaged Amanda in a fight before they had been captured. She could've killed the bitch before Krieg intervened. Hell, the year before in Moscow, she could've killed the bitch. She had killed for less. There was no reason for Amanda to still be alive- to still be hurting people. Nikita should've killed her. She should've saved Alex.
Before Nikita could fight her brother- something that would hurt them more than Alex's capture- Michael intervened. He stepped between the siblings, lightly pushed them apart from one another, and tried to have them think reasonably, "Alright. That's enough. It doesn't matter what the exit strategy was, or what had happened in that fire. We just need to focus on getting Alex back. Now, we know she's alive. If Amanda wanted her dead, she would've killed her with that cop. She has a plan. We need to figure it out. Stop her. And bring Alex home."
"We don't need to figure out anything. Amanda's calling us," Excitedly, Birkhoff shouted from his computer station. Sean and Nikita forgot all about their argument to crowd around his desk. In fact, all of Ops fell silent at the fact. The last time Amanda had called Division, a horrific attack had occurred in Medical. If she was willing to call again, then another tragedy was about to strike. It'd be fruitless to hope that no one died. Amanda had her sights on the team of former rogues, which meant there were going to be casualties. The best they could hope for was that no one was attacked by a nerve toxin that time.
"Where?" Sean's voice nearly broke on the word. Where was Amanda calling from. Was it anywhere near Alex. Could he lead a strike team right towards it. Could he have his love back in his arms that night. He desperately needed to know. Birkhoff could not hack the information fast enough for his liking. He had already waited that long for answers. Any longer might kill him- it might kill Alex. Who knew what kind of hell she had been through in the hours she had been gone. She could be close to death already. Sean had to get to her immediately.
"It's prerecorded. I can't trace it," Defeated, Birkhoff admitted. Honestly, though, it would've been too easy if Amanda had sent him a video he could trace. She knew his abilities. She knew there was no encryption that could evade him forever. If she wanted to stay hidden, a prerecorded video was her safest option. It was also her most taunting option since no one could talk back and throw her off her rhythm. All Division could do was sit and listen in their growing fear. And that began as soon as Ryan gave Birkhoff the go ahead to play the video.
"Hello, Nikita. I don't know about you, but I found Switzerland to be very fruitful. I may not have gotten what I came for, but I walked away with something far more valuable," Amanda's snide smile forced Nikita to snarl. The rogue wished more than anything that the video wasn't a recording, or- better yet- that Amanda was talking to her in person. Then she could've ripped that smile off her lips. If she hm though, she might've missed the most important part of the message, "The offer I'm going to make you is simple. Give me Ari, and I'll give you Alex. I'm sending the coordinates for the exchange now. Be there in forty-eight hours, or Alex dies."
Whereas Sean blanched and nearly crumbled at the threat on Alex's life- all his Seal training and steel strength left him at the thought of losing his love forever- Nikita fumed in rage and hatred. She hated Amanda for the pain she constantly caused, and she hated herself for allowing the bitch to live. That hatred was going to see her through that rescue mission, though. She was finally going to act- finally get things done. And that was going to start with dragging Ari from his cell and delivering his sorry ass to the bitch. As Nikita hurriedly stomped away, Michael called after her, not having caught up with her thoughts, "Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna tell Ari he's a dead man," Nikita stormed out of Ops. Amanda had been right: sacrificing Ari to save Alex was the easiest decision Nikita ever made. After he had told Division all he knew about Amanda and her operation, and after his son had been saved, the former head of Gogol's fate was destined for a prison cell. The rest of his life would be spent in captivity. His life was over. Letting Amanda capture him and kill him wouldn't be any different. His life for Alex's was an easy swap to make. Ari deserved to die while Alex deserved to finally live.
