"It is no use trying to escape. This place is filled with soldiers. They store weapons in the building. It is an old trick. They know even the enemy would not bomb a hospital," Watching Alex break free of her restraint and stumble around the room, Larissa attempted to speak reason into her. She, of course, wasn't listening. That was the best Alex felt since she had woken in that room. She was going to take full advantage of that and finally escape. Though, she didn't have many options. The air vent she had originally thought she could climb through wasn't going to work, as voiced by Larissa, "That will not work either. It is too small."
"Don't worry. This is only part of my plan," Alex decided with a smirk. She didn't actually have to crawl through the air ducts. She could just open the vent as a distraction for the guards. If they believed she had broken out of the room, they wouldn't be guarded against her attack. Alex could take them out of the equation, steal their weapons, then sprint out of the hospital. The other soldiers Larissa had mentioned were a deterrent, yet Alex would cross that bridge when she came to it. She was escaping Amanda. No one could stop her.
Larissa continued to watch Alex as she searched the room for any other escape ideas. The young agent could've sworn there were tons of options for escape when she had contemplated them on the cot. Yet as she walked around, her choices became smaller and smaller. It was almost as though things were changing. But that would've been ridiculous. Alex was simply looking at things without sedated eyes. She was far more aware of things and what dangers were ahead of her. Which was why she jumped when Larissa finally asked, "So how did Alexandra Udinov end up here?"
Alex had feared that one of the Ossetians would recognize her. Stefan had been able to recognize her with just one glance. Someone actually living around Russia was ten times more likely to know who she was. In a situation like South Ossetia, that was not good for Alex. She could be killed or captured simply because of her last name. After being tortured by Amanda, she didn't want that to happen to her as well. No one could know who she was. Not even someone as kind as Larissa, "What? No. I don't…"
"Oh, I knew you immediately. Do not worry, I have not told the others. But your story was everywhere. Anya loved hearing about it," Larissa smiled softly. That instantly put Alex at ease. She was right to assume that the medic would never hurt her. She was safe for the moment. She could relax and continue thinking of a plan to escape. She could also ask Larissa questions that she happily answered, "Anya's my daughter, she is seven. She is with her grandparents now. We used to watch news every night, listen for the word of Russian princess who miraculously came back to life. It was Anya's favorite fairytale."
"Yeah. Some fairytale," Rolling her eyes, Alex scoffed. Sure, to a seven year old, a girl rising from the streets to claim a pretty castle and huge inheritance was a Cinderella tale. But in real life, it had been absolute hell. She was still struggling with the addiction that had been forced upon her. And she was still struggling to find peace. There was nothing magical or happy about her life. There was only pain and sadness that she was trying to defeat.
"What happened? You had all that money, all that fame. You had a happy ending," Larissa wondered innocently. Alex couldn't help but think about the things Sean had said before he had left her standing alone in a destroyed Medical. Alex didn't have to be there. She probably shouldn't have been there. Her fight with Semak, Zetrov, Percy, and Oversight were over. She was free. She could go anywhere. So why was she there.
"It's not the end yet. There's still things I have to do," Alex answered Larissa as well as herself. Yes, she had her mother and her boyfriend. But the rest of her family was still continuing to fight. She couldn't sit on a beach somewhere while they struggled. She was never destined for that kind of life. She was a doer- a helper. Alex had to save the world with her skills, not waste them by running away. Besides, she had promised Nikita long ago that she would help burn down Division and those who ran it. And Amanda and the hellhole were still standing. Alex couldn't rest until they were gone forever.
Resuming her escape attempt, Alex tried not to dwell on her past decisions. She knew she was doing the right thing. She knew that she had to help everyone she could; she couldn't leave her team and all the Division agents behind. They were all going to be free, not just her and her riches. Everyone got a shot at their happy endings. Though, that seemed so far away then with Amanda causing so much trouble. She wasn't going to stop until the team killed her. Or until her anger was satisfied, "Like angering this woman, the one who is so interested in you?"
"Her name's Amanda. And she's not interested in me. She's trying to hurt someone else. I'm just her sick, twisted way of doing it," Alex sighed as she explained to Larissa. If Amanda wasn't so obsessed with Nikita, things would certainly be a hell of a lot easier in that war. Sean definitely wouldn't have almost died, nor would he have been recruited. The team wouldn't have had targets on their backs either. They could just focus on Dirty Thirties and quietly retiring. Instead, it was always more and more bullshit.
"So you are just another victim. Anya would be disappointed," Larissa finally turned away from Alex. The young woman was left standing in shock. A part of her wanted to snark that that was something Amanda would've said; the bitch always loved to screw with her confidence. However, Amanda hadn't said that. Sweet, caring Larissa had. That meant the words had to have been true. Alex wasn't a hero. She was a victim- a damsel in distress.
"So, uh. What's up with you and Owen?" After a long moment of silence, Nikita asked her brother. He had climbed into the back of the truck as she flushed the tetrodotoxin out of Ari's system, huffing and puffing. He hadn't explained why he was back there. He had simply fumed over Owen and stated that he'd be driving instead. Since she had been busy, Nikita hadn't questioned him. But with nothing to do but wait for Ari to wake up then, Nikita could force her brother to talk. She couldn't have him remain pissed at Owen while they saved Alex. They had to be sharp and focused- no more taking each other's heads off.
"I'm starting to think that Michael was right about the guy," Leaning against the wall of the truck, Sean grumbled. When he had heard Michael's snarks about Owen before, he had thought his sister's fiancé was simply being too harsh. Based on Nikita's eye rolls and what she would say in response, it was easy to assume that Michael was being petty and jealous. However, after meeting Owen and actually talking to him, Sean realized Michael had an appropriate reaction to the former Cleaner; he absolutely deserved to get punched in the face. Honestly, Sean couldn't understand how Alex or Nikita could stand him.
If Nikita wasn't so intent on keeping the team focused on Alex's rescue, she would've yelled at Sean and probably would've called Michael on the coms to berate him. The animosity towards Owen had to stop. It obviously wasn't improving things. The men just kept getting their feelings hurt, which led to far too many distractions. They weren't in junior high school; there was no need for that stupid drama. God knew they had enough as it was.
Fortunately, Nikita didn't have to think about Michael's, Sean's, and Owen's petty squabbles for long. Ari finally began to stir. Nikita moved to help him sit upright. She was gentle and slow with her movements, knowing how awful the tetrodotoxin was. Sean was helpful as well. He passed over a water bottle, his empathy outweighing his annoyance. Ari hardly paid attention to the siblings. He simply held his head and battled a massive headache. Neither Sean nor Nikita could blame him, but the former head of Gogol didn't have time to recover. More trouble was heading their way, especially where they were, "Welcome to South Ossetia."
"South Ossetia? No. That is not good," Ari muttered under his breath. He could not shake the pounding headache he had woken with, and the jostling truck was not helpful. Glancing at the Pierce siblings next to him, he knew he could blame the bad driving on the scatterbrained Owen Elliot. Ari wanted to make a quip about it, yet his head hurt too much. That was probably karma catching up to him. Though, he thought the cosmic justice would've already had its fill by leading him to South Ossetia.
"Yeah. We thought the same thing," Rolling her eyes, Nikita matched Ari's tone. Amanda sure did know how to pick the worst things in the world. It was her talent to find and bring about hell wherever she went. Though, it looked like Ari was already in hell. Possibly because he had been under the effects of tetrodotoxin for so long, Ari continued to suffer. Nikita urged him to drink the water Sean had given him. And when it was empty, she'd make him drink another, "Here, stay hydrated. The tetrodotoxin can do a number on your electrolytes."
"I wouldn't be so concerned about my electrolytes. There are far greater dangers for me in South Ossetia than my health," Sipping the offered water- and feeling at least a relief to his dry throat- Ari shared. He was certain that Amanda had Division meet her in South Ossetia not only because of her connections to the soldiers, but also because she knew it was a deathtrap for Ari. She just had to keep hurting him for what he had done, even though she had hurt him first.
"You mean more than just Amanda?" Nikita implored cautiously. It was such an easy assumption that Amanda would kill Ari once the black box was unlocked that it was common knowledge. However, the former head of Gogol's phrasing made it seem like there was worse out there for him in the country. Nikita didn't like the idea of that. The team was already facing numerous unknown variables. Did they really have to face more- did the universe really hate them that much. Or was Amanda that manipulative and evil.
"Zetrov's defense contractors played a major role in the war. They had me accompany some weapons systems here as a consultant. I won't go into the details. But, suffice it to say, they may believe I'm responsible for a massacre or two," Ari made the situation sound far less grave than it actually was. Neither Sean nor Nikita appreciated that. They stared at him incredulously. Ari could only shrug and drink more water, "I told you: this is not good."
Birkhoff could not make sense of what he was seeing on his computer screen. He had believed that once the agents left the airfield, whatever was interfering with their trackers would've disappeared. But there was no such luck. The interference remained, and Birkhoff still couldn't understand why. Honestly, the latter was the worst of the two, "Did you cycle the signals on their trackers? I'm still getting that weird interference. It's narrowband in origin. It looks like there's another signal coming from inside their truck."
"Inside the truck?" Perplexed, Sonya couldn't help but question Birkhoff. She had cycled the trackers like he had asked, and she had believed that had taken care of the problem. Under normal circumstances, it should've. Yet the problem only seemed to get worse. As Birkhoff continued to stare at the inference, his face grew pale. He opened his mouth to say something, then he instantly shut it. Sonya did not believe that to be a good sign. Something was wrong, "What? Do you recognize it?"
"Yeah…" Birkhoff could hardly respond. He hadn't been able to make the interference go away. But he had been able to recognize the type of narrowband transmission. Sonya glanced at him in concern, needing him to elaborate. However, he wouldn't tell her. He didn't want to cause her to panic. She had dealt with that piece of technology enough, after all. He had to deal with the interference on his own- after he left Ops and yelled at somebody about it.
Hurriedly, Birkhoff pulled Michael from what he was doing and told him what he had found. Michael's face went as white as the hackers when he heard the news. Yet instead of panicking like Birkhoff had, he became livid. Michael stormed towards Ryan's office, the hacker in tow. If anyone in Division saw how upset they were, fear would erupt. But the two didn't care. They were far too upset by what had been done. It should've never been done. They weren't Percy, after all. They didn't play God, "You put a killchip in Ari Tasarov's head?"
Although Ryan was startled by Michael and Birkhoff bursting into his office, and he was taken aback by Michael's shout, he had expected that reaction. As soon as the others discovered his actions, he was going to be yelled at. That didn't mean he regretted his actions, however. Ryan stood by them. In that situation, the killchip had been the right choice, "During the tetrodotoxin procedure, yes. It was never a question that we were gonna do this mission. Alex's life depends on it. But we need to be clear about what we're talking about: giving up Ari means giving Amanda the black box."
"Yeah, we get it. That's why we're rescuing Ari after we get Alex back, so she can't use him to decode the box, right?" Birkhoff had believed that they had agreed to go along with Nikita's plan. As soon as Alex was rescued, the agents in the field would rescue Ari. It wasn't ideal, yet neither was Amanda with a black box. Division had to choose the lesser of the two evils. And- surprisingly, with Amanda involved- a killchip was too evil to even be considered.
"Give me your honest tactical evaluation of that plan," Ryan asked Michael instead of answering. The head agent had to admit that the operation to save Ari was dangerous and risky, but it could work. Nikita was definitely determined enough to make it work. However, Ryan instantly refuted him. No well wishing would see them through that mission. They had to be smarter than they had been, "It's a dog: high risk, low reward. Amanda will be on the move. She'll have protection. She'll be on guard. No. The smart play is to kill Ari after we make the trade for Alex. Kill Ari, and the code dies with him,"
Michael really wanted to argue with Ryan. He wanted to argue against the use of killchips, even on someone like Ari Tasarov. After the team returned from South Ossetia, he probably would yell about that. Yet at the moment, Michael had to admit that Ryan was right. If Ari died, the black box would be neutralized forever. Division would never have to fear one of those damn things again. That sounded like a great idea. If only the execution wasn't awful, "Why did you keep us in the dark? We could have built a mission plan around that."
"Because Nikita never would've let that happen. She would've insisted on saving him. Implanting the killchip and keeping it a secret is how we can save her from going on a suicide run," Ryan continued to explain. Honestly, he didn't like using the killchip either. But he had no other choice. The best way to save everyone was to kill Ari. Birkhoff said it best by expressing that Nikita was Nikita. She'd risk everything, including herself, for just one life. But she didn't have to. There were other options in saving the world.
"That's why you sent Owen. He's gonna pull the trigger," Michael finally realized why Ryan had pushed so hard to send Owen with Sean and Nikita. Normally, if an agent had acted the way Owen had during the previous mission, Ryan would've had him permanently benched. Yet the head of Division needed the former Cleaner. He was the only one who'd do what Ryan wanted; he'd do it without a word of protest.
"He hates Ari. And he doesn't question orders," Nodding, Ryan replied. Although as a former Seal, Sean hardly questioned orders, he would've opposed the killchips. The only one who could go on that mission and wouldn't question a thing was Owen. But once Nikita knew the truth, she'd change his mind. And that was one of the last things Division could afford to happen, "Look. Nikita can't know, for her own safety. The instant she knows, she's going to change the play, and she's going to convince Owen and her brother to go along with her. The killchip has to stay underwraps, or else we lose all of them."
"Yeah, but… you're gonna tell her, though, right, Mikey?" Birkhoff glanced at Michael warily. He could somewhat understand Ryan's reasoning- at least in keeping Nikita in the dark so she could be safe. But since the cat was out of the bag, they couldn't ignore it. Nikita and the others had to know what was going on. They had to be aware of everything out in the field. Michael had always been an advocate for that, especially with Nikita. He couldn't go silent then.
"Nikita will risk her life for Ari. And Owen and Sean would follow her off a cliff. But that doesn't mean you're right, Ryan. What you did behind our backs is not okay. Though, I understand why you did it in the first place. We have to keep Nikita safe. So this has to remain a secret," Michael hated what he was saying. But with his fiancée's life on the line, he'd keep the killchip a secret. If that was the only way the team could come home safe and sound with Alex, then they'd just have to make peace with it. They'd just have to choose their lives over Ari's.
It took some time, but eventually, Alex was able to shake her head clear and put a plan into place. Larissa was willing to help her distract the guards. Despite what had been said, she was more than willing to help Alexandra Udinov. And she had been an absolutely invaluable help. Without Larissa, Alex wouldn't have been able to take out the guards and steal their weapons. She and the medic were soon free to run from that room and fight to return to their loved ones. Alex nearly smiled as she shouted, "Come on. Let's go."
"Wait. No, you go. I… I will tell them you forced me. It is too dangerous," Whereas Alex was ready to sprint out, guns blazing, Larissa took a step away from the door. Lying to and distracting the guards was the most danger she was willing to put herself in. the medic couldn't risk any more. But Alex severely needed her to. She had to bring Larissa with her. She had to help her escape the men who had captured her and tormented her. Alex refused to leave her behind. She wouldn't leave anyone behind ever again.
"No, it'll be alright. Both of us are getting out of here. I promise," Taking Larissa's hand in hers, Alex yanked her out of the room. They were both going to make it home to their loved ones. Staying behind, getting separated, that'd kill them faster than running head first into an unfamiliar environment surrounded by soldiers. Alex wasn't so concerned about the soldiers, however. She was certain she had faced worse. She would escape the hospital without injury. And so would Larissa.
Tragically, that wishful thinking only helped Alex. When the soldiers caught up to them and began firing, only Alex was spared. She fired back, killing some soldiers, yet not before Larissa was shot in the abdomen. She crumbled to the ground, blood already seeping everywhere. Despite the bullets around them, Alex dropped to her knees beside the medic. She couldn't help but think about when Sean had been shot in Germany for a brief moment. Yet she quickly shook that thought away and applied pressure to the wound, "Hey. Let me see. Let me see. Okay. You're okay. It's okay. Just keep pressure on it."
"Go," Larissa said weakly. She shoved for Alex to continue escaping; however there was already no fight left in her. She was so weak. Alex couldn't leave her side. She had promised to bring her home. She had sworn to help girls just like her. Alex couldn't leave Larissa. When her team came, they'd get her the help she needed. She was going to survive. Alex would make certain of it. She'd never abandon Larissa, even as she shouted, "Go!"
Running wasn't an option for Alex. She was only going to save another girl like her. Except, before she could move, the world went dark again. When Alex woke, she and Larissa were back in the room they had just escaped. The young woman was restrained to the bed, and the medic was dying in another cot. Alex automatically tried to reach for her, but she was stopped by the sound of heels entering the room. Amanda's cruel smile could be heard before it was seen, "Very resourceful, Alex. It seems you did learn a thing or two from Nikita. But I learned something too: you have yet another weakness."
The bitch pressed down harshly on Larissa's bloody, horrifying bullet wound, making her scream. Alex screamed in response. That was when the torture began.
