"Well, it's been a long time since we've had a proper conversation. I'd offer you some tea, but I don't think these people can boil water," Amanda's cruel smile never faded. If Alex wasn't restrained to the bed- as she soon discovered when she tried to move- she would've ripped that smile off her lips. Maybe that could be the first thing she did once she was free. She'd escape, fuck up Amanda's oh-so-perfect face, possibly even kill her, then return home. It was the perfect plan; she only had to execute it.
"Still keeping high-class company, I see," Alex snarked. She tried to look for that woman, Larissa, but she was nowhere in sight. She must've ducked out of the room as Amanda came near. Alex couldn't blame her. It was safer to keep out of the bitch's way whenever she was near. Alex didn't have the same experiences with Amanda as the others, yet she knew the stories. She knew the mind games to watch out for and the emotional manipulation tactics to ignore. She could face Amanda and win. The bitch wouldn't get under her skin.
"The Ossetians are just a partner of convenience. I was able to fill some of their needs. Soldiers always need more weapons. And in return, they've allowed me a safe haven in their country," Amanda explained offhandedly. So they were in South Ossetia; that definitely changed things. Alex had to be incredibly smart as she thought out an escape plan. South Ossetia was not a place to fuck around and find out in, especially if she ever got recognized as Alexandra Udinov. Who knew what would be done to her if anyone knew she was a Russian heiress.
Yet Alex couldn't dwell on that horrible outcome. She needed to stay positive, and she needed to know what she was about to face. She was already prepared for torture. Nikita had once told her that Amanda had been known as the Inquisitor in Division. She was well-versed in physical, mental, and emotional torture. Alex would have to greatly steal herself in order to survive. Fortunately, she had practice closing herself off to that kind of extreme pain. Whatever Amanda threw at her wouldn't have been the worst thing to ever happen to her, "So what's the plan? Torture? Videotaped and sent to Nikita?"
"Perhaps later. But for now, let's just keep it casual. Tell me, how are things at Division?" Amanda pulled up a chair and sat in front of Alex. The cruelness of her smile turned sickly sweet, and Alex had half a mind to throw up. She shouldn't have been surprised by the question, however. Since Amanda's mole had been discovered, the Watchman had been killed, and Sonya's killchip had been deactivated, she must've been scrambling for intel. But Alex wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing anything. She was going to remain in the dark.
"Fine. Everyone's very excited about hunting you down," Alex smirked tauntingly. She was one thousand percent certain that Division was on their way to rescue her. The instant they had realized she was missing, and the instant they had learned Amanda had been the one to take her, a manhunt had to have been formed. Sean and Nikita were probably leading the charge. With their determination, and Division's skills, they were going to find Alex and break her out of there. Neither South Ossetia nor Amanda could stop them.
"It must be stressful, knowing the government could come in and wipe you out at any moment," Amanda didn't even attempt to reply to Alex. It was almost as though she was following some sort of script. No matter what the young woman replied, the bitch had a certain amount of things she wanted to say in a certain amount of time. Maybe she was only trying to knock Alex off balance. She didn't want her centered or able to think clearly. Yet Amanda would have to try harder than that to get Alex to stop thinking. Her drive was towards escaping, and it was going to stay that way. Amanda couldn't take her off course.
"Ginkgo biloba helps, so does ginseng," Alex did her best to shrug while laying on that cot. She was managing her stress just fine. Okay, not as fine as she would've preferred- especially after Sean's recruitment. Except, Amanda could never know that. She couldn't know that Alex was so stressed out and anxious sometimes, she couldn't breathe- that she was so fearful of losing more loved ones sometimes, that she was beginning to have night terrors. All the bitch had to know was that Alex was figuring out ways to manage the stress. Ginkgo biloba and ginseng tea really did help. As did Sean home with her.
"And Michael and Nikita- how are they dealing with the miscarriage?" Once again, Amanda suddenly changed topics as if Alex hadn't spoken. The young woman shouldn't have been surprised that the bitch wanted to focus on Nikita. Her obsession seemed to be primarily narrowed in on her. In fact, she had kidnaped and was planning to torture Alex all because of the former rogue. Alex knew that was why Amanda was paying special attention to her. They didn't have the relationship for that kind of attention. Amanda only wanted to hurt Nikita, and she was going to use Alex to do that.
"Been rough, but they'll get through it. I mean, they still have one another, don't they," Alex replied a bit less smugly. Neither Nikita nor Michael talked about the miscarriage with the others. However, Alex knew it still weighed heavily on their shoulders. If it hadn't been for the war, there was a chance that wouldn't have happened. If the married couple had left Division after Percy died, they would've had their happily ever after. They were content helping protect and save people, though. And they were happy with each other. That was enough for them.
"As long as Nikita has Ari, you still have some value, but I never promised to return you in one piece," Icy blue eyes alight with irritation, Amanda threatened. Alex felt her smugness fall as a result. Although Amanda liked for other people to do her dirty work, it couldn't be forgotten how dangerous she could be. She had bested and had almost killed Nikita once. Alex shouldn't push her too far. Things could become very deadly for her while she was her victim. Division knew that best, and so did Ari, "Now, about Ari. Tell me, how did Division capture him?"
"'Capture'? He came in on his own. That's how desperate he was to get away from you," Despite her previous thought process, Alex couldn't help but be snide as she corrected Amanda. The bitch's ability to twist the truth so that it better suited her was almost comical. Emphasis on comical. In reality, that ability was dangerous. Who knew what other lies she was telling herself and others. That misinformation- that ignorance- was going to get someone killed. And there wasn't much of a chance that it'd get Amanda killed. Instead, it'd be someone on the team.
"Don't gloat, Alexandra. It wasn't your victory. It was Nikita's, as they all are. You're just a background player," Standing from her chair, Amanda practically snarled as she put Alex in her place. The young woman assumed she had struck a nerve- why else would she attack her like that. Though, Alex couldn't help thinking that that was how Amanda really saw her. The bitch didn't think she was a person, simply a tool to get what she wanted. If that was the case, then Alex had no chance of survival. Not unless she escaped then.
"Are you ready?" Finding Nikita in the weapons locker, Michael asked gently. She nodded, yet her shoulders were tense. Her husband laid a comforting hand on the small of her back, and she instantly melted. She hadn't relaxed since Geneva. She had wanted to follow Amanda's path, but the smoke and chemicals she had breathed in made a reappearance. That, plus the fact that she had no backup, caused Michael to pull her from the field. It had been non-stop since then, and she still wouldn't allow herself to stop. The closest she had come to it was when Michael had to go to Medical to ensure there was no lasting damage from the fire.
"Try to sleep on the plane. You're no use to Alex exhausted," Michael softly advised his wife before tenderly kissing her temple. He would've asked her to stay in Division and rest, but with Alex in Amanda's clutches, there was absolutely no chance she'd agree; she had to save her best friend, and she had to stop the bitch. Michael just asked that Nikita took care of herself before she had to run off guns blazing again. If she was tired, if she was strung out, she couldn't save anyone. Especially not Alex.
Nikita nodded once again. Michael chastely kissed her goodbye, yet she lingered in his arms a moment longer, drawing on his strength. When she was ready to leave, her husband gave her another kiss. He also decided to ask Owen to check in on her- and on Sean. It'd be easy for both of them to get overwhelmed on that mission (again, if Michael could hold them back, he would). The two had to be grounded, focused. Maybe Owen wasn't the best choice for that, but with Michael's glitchy prosthetic, there was no other choice. They just had to hope it worked out.
About half a day later, Nikita, Sean, Owen, and Ari landed in Georgia and prepared to drive to South Ossetia. Owen reported to Michael that for most of the flight, Nikita slept- despite her best efforts. Sean, on the other hand, planned and did calming techniques. Michael sighed in relief at those facts. Yet the team's journey was just getting started. Since Ari was a fugitive, to travel with him across the border, his death had to be faked. He was pumped full of tetrodotoxin, and they had to revive him soon- as Birkhoff warned, "Ari's gonna be so dead if you don't revive him in the next ten minutes, after which, the tetrodotoxin will kill him for realsies."
"Ari looks kind of peaceful dead. Let's leave him that way," Owen wasn't joking. Why Division had kept Ari alive was beyond him. After the former head of Gogol had told them everything he knew of Amanda and her operation, there was no point in keeping him around. He was simply a pain in the ass and a waste of their resources. They wanted to make him pay for all of the evil he had done, but he wouldn't face that punishment in jail. The best way to deal with men like Ari was to kill them.
"Sorry, I don't think Amanda's gonna trade for a mostly dead Ari," Nikita shut Owen up. She was feeling much better since her body had forced her to sleep throughout the flight. However, she wasn't in the mood for Owen's grudge match against Ari. Michael had told her what had happened between the former Guardian and Ari while she was in Geneva. Although she wouldn't fault Owen for what had happened as a result, she could be annoyed by it. There was no time or room for grudges then. They just had to focus on their missions.
While Sean, Owen, and Nikita loaded Ari's almost-dead body in the van they had acquired, Birkhoff updated Michael. He advised that the agents take back roads to avoid militants, so the hacker began finding them the best route. As he did, though, he found a strange interference. It didn't cut out the trackers, but it did cause them to blip. It was odd; he couldn't make sense of it. But when he asked Sonya about it, she couldn't find anything wrong. So he just shrugged, "Okay, cycle the channels on the trackers. I think whatever primitive transmission standards they're using out there in the land that time forgot might be messing with our signals."
The agents in the field rode in tense silence on their way to South Ossetia. Nikita sat in the back of the van, flushing the tetrodotoxin from Ari's system while Sean and Owen sat in the cab. Needing to be in some kind of control until they found Alex, Sean drove. But he still felt like he could be doing more. He had to be actively doing something to save Alex, not just drive to a meet up. So, after a while, he gave Owen orders to ensure Ari was awake and well for the trade off, "You know, maybe you should go back there and help Nikita with the revival process. It can get a little bit tricky. I mean, I know. I just went through it."
"I'm pretty sure she's okay. She's a lot better at this kind of stuff than anybody," Owen waved off Sean's concern. Nikita was really good with medical care, especially out in the field, and especially with limited resources. The numerous injuries Owen had sustained that Nikita had healed could testify to that. He had once asked her how she had gotten so good, yet she only shrugged. Owen hadn't pressed the issue further after that. If she wanted to tell him, she would. Otherwise, he could simply drop the subject and move on.
For some reason, Owen's response pissed Sean off. Maybe his stress, lack of control, and exhaustion had gotten the better of him. Maybe he was reading a lot more into Owen's compliment about Nikita than there really was- Owen and Nikita were close friends, after all. Yet, despite all that rationality in the back of his mind, Sean couldn't stop himself from snapping in bitter anger at Owen, "So what's your deal, man? Are you just this guy who latches on to women that he knows he can't have?"
"Excuse me? You got your signals majorly crossed," Owen glanced at Sean in utter confusion. Sure, admittedly, in the past he had had a crush on Nikita; he wouldn't have minded if a relationship had developed between them. But her heart had always belonged to Michael. No matter what, she'd choose him. Owen understood that, so he set his feelings aside. He and Nikita could just be friends, and he'd be perfectly happy with that. Sean was seriously confused if he believed otherwise. Also, what did he mean by 'women'. What was he thinking.
"I was on the coms when you and Alex were tracking those terrorists. I heard your little heart-to-heart," Sean seethed. Yes, Alex had been more open with Sean as of late. When he had been recruited, she had told him about her butterfly tattoo and a million other stories. She was still hesitant to open up about some things, which Sean understood. She had had a difficult life, and opening that door to someone you love- having them see you in a different light- could be scary. But that didn't mean Owen got to pry those stories out of Alex. He should just stay in his lane and leave Alex and Nikita alone.
Owen blinked. That mission had been weeks ago. What was the relevance then. Whatever he and Alex had talked about at the time wasn't important as they brought Ari to Amanda. After all, Owen and Alex only discussed Emily, his lack of memories, and the fact that people could have a second shot at life. She was only helping him feel better about the loss of his love and the loss of his memories. There was nothing for Sean to read too deeply into. He was just being paranoid and obsessive, "I don't know what you think you heard, but we were having a conversation, like people do, nothing more."
"Sure about that?" Sean bit. A part of him was actually sure of that. Alex had only helped Owen. She was kind and sweet, and she had offered words that she knew would make someone in that situation feel better. She had lost loved ones too; she knew the pain Owen was in. She was only being a good friend. Yet Sean still couldn't help but feel pissed off at the former Cleaner. Especially when he remembered their conversation in the training room before the mission. Owen had to butt out of Sean's relationship with Alex- and Michael's relationship with Nikita.
"Yeah, I am. And if you're not, maybe your problem isn't with me. Maybe your problem is between you and Alex," Owen had to match Sean's anger with his own. He had no idea what was wrong with the former Seal, yet he couldn't let his comments go. He had to be just as scathing. Though, he knew he had struck a chord with his words. Sean gripped the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles turned bone white. There was a chance that if he wasn't driving, he would've pummeled Owen to a pulp. And there was a bit of a chance Owen deserved that.
"You know what? Maybe I will give Nikita a hand. Why don't you pull over right here?" Huffing, Owen commanded. He'd rather be locked in the back of the van with Ari Tasarov than deal with Sean at the moment. At least his anger for the former head of Gogol was understandable. It also made his role on the mission that Ryan had assigned him make sense. When it was time, when Alex was safe and sound, he'd finally get to kill Ari. He was almost looking forward to that.