Alex didn't understand it, but she thought she had passed out. One minute, she was talking to Amanda; the next, the bitch was gone. She must've pumped her with more sedatives. That was the only explanation for the gap in time. And for why her body didn't do exactly what she wanted it to. Alex could hardly push herself up off the bed. Larissa had to help her sit up. Larissa was something else Alex couldn't figure out. She just seemed to appear and disappear. She was also way too nice to be involved in that situation. She must've been up to something. Or caught in something, "Why are you working with Amanda?"
"I do not work for her. The soldiers, they tell me to help her," Larissa explained simply. She ensured Alex was alright, then returned to the medical supplies she was packing away. Alex studied her carefully. It did make sense that the medic wasn't directly working for Amanda. No one with that kind of a voice or soft of a touch would willingly work for the bitch. But what made her want to work with the kinds of soldiers that'd let Amanda buy them off. There had to have been more to Larissa's story. And Alex was really interested in knowing what that was.
"So you're with the Ossetians," Assuming, Alex watched Larissa for any reaction. She shifted on the cot and soon discovered that some of her restraints disappeared. She was only tied to the bed with simple handcuffs. That must've been a gross underestimation on Amanda's part. She had assumed that the sedatives would keep Alex down for a while, and that when she woke she wouldn't fight. The young woman was excited to prove the bitch wrong. She had those handcuffs off faster than the ones in the police car, and she began to plan an escape route.
"I'm their prisoner," Larissa made Alex pause, however. The medic was in trouble. All of her actions were done to save her life. Maybe Alex shouldn't escape while she was in the room, then. She didn't want Larissa to get punished for her actions. She had already been through enough, "When the war broke out, my husband and I gave shelter to the injured. When the separatists discovered that some of the wounded were Georgians, they accused us of being sympathizers. They took me with them because of my medical training."
"And your husband?" Remaining on the cot, Alex gently wondered. She also started to wonder what Sean was doing at that moment. He had to have been on his way to save her. Division had to have known she was missing then, and agents had to have been jetting out to rescue her. She didn't doubt Sean and Nikita were among them. Sean probably landed from his overseas mission, then immediately turned around to run to her. That was what she would've done, after all. There was no way she'd ever leave him in danger. It wouldn't matter if she was tired or fresh off another operation. She'd always run to him.
Larissa was silent for a long moment. Alex suddenly became a lot more invested in her answer than in the thought of escaping. She wanted to know all about Larissa- how she got there, why she hadn't tried escaping, did she have anyone to fight for. Alex knew that if Sean was out there somewhere, she'd take on the whole military to go to him. There must've been a reason Larissa hadn't done the same. The longer she remained silent, though, Alex was easily able to guess what that reason was, "They stood him up against our livingroom wall, and they shot him. So I'm as trapped as you."
So Larissa and Alex were the same. They had lost people they had loved to violent acts, and they were kept as prisoners by ruthless men who used them and abused them. They were also alone. No, wait. Alex wasn't alone. She had a whole team coming to save her. Larissa wasn't going to be alone either. Alex would make sure of that. They were going to escape together- be free together. No one could use them any more. They could save themselves, "In that case, you can help me get the hell out of here."
"It is no use. This place is filled with soldiers because they store weapons in the building. It's an old trick. They know even the enemy would not bomb a hospital," Whereas Alex finally shot off the cot (the effect of the sedatives strangely not affecting her) Larissa argued. The abandoned hospital they were in was full of weapons and soldiers. They'd die before they made it out of there. That didn't stop Alex, though. She found an air duct that could lead to her escape. It'd certainly get her out of the room, despite the dimensions that Larissa warned her of, "That will not work. It is too small."
"That won't be a problem," Alex smirked. Except, as she neared the air duct, it did seem to grow smaller. That was odd. But she could've just misjudged the size while she was on the other side of the room. She had been a bit too hopeful, and had seen things she shouldn't have. Oh well, she could work even with a small air duct. She could follow its path at least to another room. Or, she could use an open air duct as a distraction. Maybe she could trick the soldiers into believing she had escaped, forcing them in one direction while she ran another. That could get her pretty far- hopefully even out of the hospital.
Without a screwdriver or any tool of any kind, Alex had to use her fingers to unscrew the bolts attaching the grate to the air duct. That didn't gain her much progress. Each time she thought she managed to twist the bolt, her next attempt proved her wrong. She was going to end up with broken, busted, bloody nails and fingers before she gained any ground. Yet she didn't care. As long as she was free, what did some small injuries matter. She hadn't been injured yet, though, so maybe that was a good sign. She and Larissa could really get out of there, even if the medic wasn't as focused on escape, "So how did Alexandra Udinov end up here?"
Fingers faltering, Alex stopped what she was doing. She couldn't focus on anything but Larissa's assumption of who she was. It wasn't really an assumption, though. Larissa had figured out who Alex really was. Alex didn't want to think about how. She just had to think about how to cover the fact up. Being known as Alexandra Udinov in South Ossetia was more of a death sentence than being kidnapped by Amanda. At least she could be safe from Amanda by running out of the hospital. She wouldn't be safe from the Ossetians until she met with the team and they took her home. So until then, she had to lie, "What? I don't…"
"Oh, I knew you immediately. Your story was everywhere. Anya loved hearing about it," Larissa interrupted Alex with a smile. She appeared to be lost in a happy thought as she shared the fact. She wasn't going to use Alex's true identity as a weapon against her. She simply wanted to let her know that there was no reason to pretend. Larissa knew who Alex was, and she appeared to like who Alex was. The young heiress was intrigued by that. Stefan had only stated who she really was like he was talking about the weather. But Larissa was invested- in awe.
"Anya?" Alex was in awe of Larissa as well. She forgot all about the air duct and escaping again to focus on the medic. Whoever Anya was, she must've really loved her. She said her name with a happy smile, despite her circumstances. She also associated the Alexandra Udinov news coverage with a happy memory with Anya. Alex couldn't even find happy memories from that news coverage- besides Sean, her mother, and fucking with Semak. She really was so interested in who Larissa was and all she had gone through. Especially since she had found a way to smile like that regardless of the hell she went through.
"My daughter, seven. She's with her grandparents. 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," Larissa continued to smile. Alex quickly understood why. Although she hated her life, she knew that her coming back from the dead had been the source of hope for many people (like Liza Abbott's parents). Alex had more of an effect on people than she realized at time. That made her want to smile as well. Unfortunately, the heiress's reality was much harsher than a little girl's fairytale.
"It wasn't exactly a fairytale in real life," Alex huffed. Learning that her mother was alive, meeting Sean, working with the team to save the world, those could've been considered fairytale-like. But watching her father die, being trapped in the brothel, living on the streets, battling addiction, those were the worst moments of her life. There was nothing magical about what had happened to her. In fact, she would've never come back to life if it wasn't to hurt Semak or to save her mother. She hadn't reached her happily ever after yet. She had been so far from it. But closing Division for good could bring her closer to that happy ending.
"What happened? You had all that money, all that fame," Larissa continued to wonder. Alex wanted to stop her questioning- she wanted to return to ripping off the bolts of the air duct. But it was only fair that she asked. Alex asked many questions about the medic's life that she didn't have to answer. However, she had decided to be truthful with Alexandra Udinov. Alexandra should be honest in return. If only Larissa wasn't asking things her mother, best friend, and boyfriend hadn't already bombarded her with.
"I chose a different path," Alex answered simply. She had told her mother that she was helping people do the right thing. She had told Nikita that she was protecting the innocent and ensuring no one else wound up like her. And she had told Sean that she was using her skills to save the world and everyone in it. None of those answers had been a lie; they were all a part of her truth. She wasn't built for fame and riches. She had to help people. She couldn't rest until she had done all she could for others.
Smiling softly, Larissa handed Alex a tool she had found. That should help Alex free the air duct. She smiled in thanks, and began to make real headway on her escape attempt. She was beginning to like her idea to use the air duct as a distraction. Crawling through such a tight space might do her more harm than good. But a distraction could get the soldiers and Amanda off her tail. Alex simply had to put an amazing distraction into effect. There was a chance that Larissa would help her with that. She didn't like what was going on either, after all, "And you angered this woman, the one who is so interested in you?"
"Amanda. She's not interested in me. She's trying to hurt someone else. I'm just her way of doing it," Alex sighed. She couldn't blame Nikita for her current situation. Nikita hadn't put her in danger, nor had she given her up to Amanda. Alex had chosen to go on the mission to save Stefan, she had chosen to let the police pull her from the scene, and she had lost to Amanda. If anyone was to blame, it was Amanda and her stupid obsession with Nikita. The damage she had already caused because of the rogue hadn't been enough. She had to keep hurting people to hurt Nikita. Alex wished she could find a way to make that stop- to separate Nikita from Amanda.
"So you're just another victim. Anya would be disappointed," Larissa muttered, yet it was loud enough for Alex to hear. Once again, she paused her actions, more focused on other thoughts. She couldn't be a victim if she always saved herself. Though, she did always get into situations where she needed to be saved. Was that entirely others' faults. Or was she to blame. Something Amanda had once said to her during the Zetrov coup came to mind, but Alex quickly silenced it. She didn't need Amanda's words interfering then. She had to get her thoughts in order. Even if Larissa was right- all Alex ever was was a victim to someone else's schemes.
Gritting her teeth, Alex shut her thoughts up. She had to escape. That was more important than the truth of who she was. When she finally had the grate covering the air duct removed, she roped Larissa into her plan. The medic agreed to help her, despite her previous words. While Alex hid, she called in the soldiers posted outside the door, and told them that the prisoner had escaped through the air duct. They rushed over to see if that was true. Then, Alex attacked from behind. She took them out and stole one of their guns easily and quickly. Larissa smiled at her, proudly and excitedly asked, "Did I do that right?"
"It was perfect. Come on," Beaming, Alex waited for the medic to follow her out the door. The soldiers had been taken care of, Alex had a gun, the path to freedom was clear for both her and Larissa to make a run for it. There was no point in either one of them staying behind. In fact, that might even be more dangerous once Amanda discovered what her captive had done. They both had to be free. They both had to be happy. Alex knew she couldn't be happy if she had left Larissa behind. She could save both of them, so Larissa had to follow her.
"Wait. No, you go. I… I'll tell them that you forced me. It is too dangerous," Backing away from the door, Larissa shook her head. Although Alex had the skills to take on the soldiers- and maybe Amanda- Larissa didn't know how to fight. She could get both of them killed if she ran out of that room. Alex was willing to take that risk, however. She didn't care about the danger, the tactical disadvantage, the crazy risks, anything. Everyone was going to be saved. She'd make it work. She'd ensure no girl was left behind again.
"No, it'll be alright, I promise," Taking Larissa's hand in hers, Alex swore. She refused to leave her behind. There had been other girls she had left behind when she had escaped- other girls she could've helped if she had just been brave or strong enough. Larissa couldn't be one of those girls. She was going to escape that shitty situation with Alex, and she was going to be reunited with her daughter. Above all else, Alex was going to make sure of that. She had vowed to save everyone, of course that included Larissa.
Nodding, Larissa allowed Alex to squeeze her hand and whisk her out of there. The two didn't make it far before they ran into more soldiers. Alex was very lucky to have found a gun full of bullets. She was able to mow through several soldiers and move herself and Larissa down a few halls. Unfortunately, her luck only went so far. She and Larissa were soon pinned down behind a wall, desperately searching for a way out. If Alex could just get another gun, maybe they'd have a better chance. Maybe she could arm the medic and use her as a partner. That definitely would've saved her from the soldier that suddenly appeared behind her, "Look out!"
Although Alex had managed to shoot the assailant, it was too late for Larissa. She had already been shot in the gut (the same wound Sean had been inflicted with the year before). Alex immediately forgot about the men trying to kill her. She dropped to her knees and tried to save the medic. She pressed her hands into the bloody wound, praying that would be enough. She could staunch the bleeding, then help Larissa out of the building. It wasn't too late to save her. She could still help her, "Let me see. Let me see. Okay, keep pressure on it."
"Go. You must," Despite Alex's protests, Larissa urged for her to save herself. Her gunshot wound would only slow them down. And time was needed to survive the soldiers and Amanda. Alex couldn't waste any on the medic. She had created that opportunity to escape; she had to take it. But Alex couldn't leave anyone behind. Even if it meant she would be free and safe and back with Sean and her team, she couldn't leave anyone else behind. Larissa couldn't die because of her. She had to live, be free, be with her daughter. And Alex could give that to her. She had sworn to give that to her. She just had to get her moving again.
The ground slipped from underneath Alex. Everything went dark. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the room she had run from. She must've been drugged again. A soldier had caught her, sedated her, and brought her back to Amanda. Instantly, Alex tried to jump out of the cot. Yet her restraints had increased. She couldn't move. She couldn't escape. She was helpless. As soon as she realized that, Amanda sneered down at her, "Very resourceful, Alex. It seems you did learn a thing or two from Nikita. But here's something I've learned."
Without hesitation, Amanda moved to the cot next to Alex's. That was when she noticed Larissa bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound and struggling to breathe. Alex attempted to jump from the bed again. Yet it was all in vain. She couldn't stop Amanda from hurting Larissa further. The bitch pressed down on the medic's wound, and she screamed. Alex screamed as well, begging Amanda to stop. Finally, the bitch did. But the torment didn't end there. She smirked at Alex, silently bragging that she would always win, "You have yet another weakness."