"You should have escaped when you had the chance," When Amanda left the room again, Larissa struggled to talk to Alex. The young woman was honestly surprised that the medic could even speak. She was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, and bleeding far too much. It was amazing that she hadn't passed out or succumbed to her horrendous gunshot wound. Alex was going to see that as a miracle. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any hope.
"I couldn't do that. I was told you never leave a friend behind," Alex responded sternly. She wasn't being harsh with Larissa; she simply needed her to listen clearly. Despite the pain Alex knew she was in, the medic had to pay attention and latch onto every word. The young agent wasn't going to leave her behind. She was not going to suffer any more. The men who had captured her couldn't use her or hurt her any more. Alex was there for her. She was never going to abandon her, "Listen to me. You hold on, okay? I'm coming back for you."
"No. You saw how many soldiers there are. It is suicide," Larissa weakly shook her head. There were far too many soldiers stationed in the abandoned hospital for a rescue mission. There had been far too many to escape. Storming into the place was then impossible. However, the team of former rogues did impossible every day. Once Alex had them by her side, she knew she could return to Larissa. No one would die. Everyone would be saved.
"I have friends coming back for me, and I'm gonna return with all of them," Swearing, Alex fought to keep the desperation out of her voice. There was no need for her to feel desperate. No matter which of her friends were coming (though, she highly suspected Nikita and Sean to be among them) they'd help her rescue Larissa. They always saved innocents, especially from terrible men. The medic wouldn't be the exception. They would risk the dangers to save her. How could they not. They always vowed no one else would be like them.
Larissa had lost the strength to fight. She wasn't going to fight the pain sweeping over her. She wasn't going to fight Alex. And she wasn't going to fight the pull to close her eyes and never open them again. Whatever happened next, she was simply going to accept it as her fate. There were worse fates to have, after all, "Alright. But if you can't, don't feel bad. Sometimes no matter how much you want to help, you can't stop someone from dying."
"No, don't do that. Don't you want to see your daughter again?" Alex continued to fight for Larissa to listen to her. She couldn't give up. The medic still had someone to live for. She couldn't just give up or give in. There was someone waiting for her on the other side of that hell. She simply had to hold on just a little longer. Then, Alex would rescue her from that hell and bring her back home. Larissa was going to go home. She was going to see her daughter again. She was going to be happy.
"I will. I will see her," Eyes glazing over, Larissa smiled dreamily. There was a chance that Alex was already starting to lose her. The thought of her daughter wasn't a rallying cry; it was a chance for her to slip more quickly into peace. Alex had to continue to fight for Larissa. She wasn't going to die too. She wasn't going to be like all the other girls Alex had lost. Larissa was going to be different. That time, everyone got out alive.
"That's right. Where did you say her grandparents live?" Smiling softly, Alex attempted to have Larissa focus. If she kept talking about her daughter and where she lived and how she would join her someday (and that someday would be soon), then she would keep holding on. She could find the strength to keep fighting because just getting out of that room wasn't enough. She also had to hold on until she received medical care. But if Nikita was coming to grab Alex, then that shouldn't have been a problem. She could apply a field dressing that'd hold Larissa over until they found a doctor. That had worked with Sean. So it'd have to work with Larissa.
"I didn't. They are with my husband also… So is Anya. But she would be so happy… to know that I was friends with Alexandra Udinov… I'll see you on the other side," Larissa's words came out in pants as she told the full truth. Her husband, parents (or parent-in-law- Alex didn't know which grandparents Anya was with) and daughter were all dead. No one had survived the soldiers but her. Larissa was all alone with no one else to fight for. It'd be easier if she died. Then, she wouldn't be alone anymore.
"I am not leaving here without you," Alex swore. Larissa couldn't die. She had to live; she had to live for her family. It might not have seemed like it then, yet she was never going to be alone anymore. Alex was going to be with her the whole time. She wasn't going to leave her behind like she had the others. Larissa was going to live and not be alone and find a way to be happy- just like Alex.
After the encounter with the soldiers, the team didn't run into any more problems. They continued on in silence, stewing over the decisions they'd have to make. There was a lot to think about. Yet that was pushed aside when they reached the rendezvous. The agents climbed out of the truck with their captive and surveyed the area. Amanda, or the soldiers she was with, had outfitted the area with intense security. If the team didn't play things smart, it could explode in their face. And not just the exchange for Alex. But also Ari's rescue, "Intercept, takedown, extract- by my count, this is a four-man job. Anything less, we got a high risk of failure."
"We're getting Alex back. We're going in at full strength," Determined, Nikita nodded along with Sean's assessment. She knew rescuing Ari was a bear of a mission. But with Sean, Owen, and Alex by her side, it was more than possible to pull off. They were going to screw over Amanda once more, they were going to keep the black box out of play, and they were going to save someone else from her claws. The risk was completely worth it in that sense.
Soon, Amanda arrived on the scene with Alex and an armed guard in tow. Nikita grabbed Air and met her half way, Sean and Owen hanging behind her with their guns drawn. Although Nikita wanted to keep her eyes on Amanda and watch for any sudden movements or tricks, her eyes kept wandering to Alex. She didn't look like she had been physically harmed. Besides the fact that she looked like she had just woken from a sedative, Alex appeared alright. But Nikita knew she couldn't make any assumptions, not when Amanda was involved. She needed to be one hundred percent sure, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's been a regular holiday," Alex huffed. She was still blinking away the sedative Amanda had given her for the umpteenth time in the bright afternoon sun. She didn't understand why the bitch kept drugging her everytime she moved her or everytime the time changed. Maybe it was her way of keeping her disoriented. A disoriented captive was the best kind of captive to pry answers out of. But she didn't really ask Alex a lot of questions. Probably because she was so busy with Nikita. Whatever Amanda had been up to didn't matter to Alex. She didn't care. Her focus was on Larissa and how she could save her.
"They say with any good trade, both parties leave a little disappointed," Amanda held onto Alex as she smirked at Nikita. Even during a prisoner transfer where she'd be getting the man she supposedly loved back- and she could then use him to get what she wanted- the bitch's attention was completely on Nikita. Alex wanted to roll her eyes. Their obsession with one another had gotten annoying. Didn't they know there were other people to care about.
"I'm not disappointed at all," Matching Amanda's smirk, Nikita shoved Ari towards her. Trading Ari for Alex absolutely did not fill Nikita with disappointment or regret. She'd of course much rather have her best friend in her life than the man who had once poisoned her. Although she was planning on rescuing him from Amanda (and from Ryan's stupid killchip) she'd give the former head of Gogol up any day. It was that easy of a trade.
"Really? Then maybe I didn't ask for enough. Or maybe you underestimated how much you've given up. I certainly haven't," Finally shifting her direction to Alex, Amanda flashed a sinister 'I know something you don't' smile. Nikita pulled Alex protectively behind her as soon as she could. It was likely that Amanda was just trying to fuck with them as she normally did. But Nikita wouldn't take that chance. She was going to protect people from that psychotic bitch as much and as fiercely as she could.
When Alex was shoved behind Nikita's back, Sean frantically reached out and grabbed her. He hurriedly cut her restraints and desperately ran his hands over her. He was letting his panicked emotions shine through far too much for the field. Yet he didn't care. He was just so relieved to have Alex back in his arms. Everything could be okay from then on. She was safe. He had her, "Thank God. You okay? What did she do?"
"I'm fine. She didn't do anything," Alex responded flatly. A part of her wanted to fiercely grab Sean in return, hold him tight, and beg to never be apart from him again. But she couldn't make herself do it. Something in her made her hold back and smother those emotions. Maybe because they were in the field, and there were too many dangers around to relax just yet. Or maybe because she was still so focused on Larissa. Either way, Alex couldn't melt in Sean's arms despite how much she wanted to. Instead, she backed away.
While Sean confusedly studied Alex, Nikita and Owen moved on to their next mission. Amanda, her guard, and Ari had driven off in her van to parts unknown, but Owen could track Ari's killchip. As long as the team stayed close, they'd know where the bitch was taking him. The agents simply had to leave immediately if they wanted their chance to save Ari. Nikita handed Alex a gun and a com and led her to the truck. She'd explain the whole plan on the way. In the meantime, she simply supplied a brief, "We're going to recover Ari."
"What?" Alex stopped in her tracks. Why the hell would Division want to save Ari. he was a bastard. So what if Amanda killed him. There were other people- far more important people- that needed saving instead. The team couldn't go after Ari. They had to save Larissa. They had to save another girl, "No. No, there's a woman who was helping me, and she's hurt. She's being held prisoner by the military. I said that we would save her."
"Okay. We'll go get her after," Nikita agreed easily. Once Ari was saved and the black box was neutralized (a part of her still couldn't believe that they were still trying to destroy black boxes) they'd save the woman who had helped Alex. They had the equipment, and they'd have the support from Ops- well maybe not Ryan's. There should be no problem saving that woman. She simply had to hold on until after the agents saved Ari.
"No, she's dying. She doesn't have time," Alex practically shrieked. Did Nikita not hear her. Was she not listening to her. Larissa was going to die unless the team left to save her immediately. They couldn't go off to save Ari for whatever fucking reason. If it was some sort of attempt by Nikita to screw over Amanda, then she could forget about it. For once, fucking with Amanda wasn't important. There was a girl in trouble, and they had to save her. Didn't Nikita not want girls to be like her. She had to help Alex save Larissa. She couldn't leave her.
"Alex, Amanda's gonna use Ari to open the black box. We have to get to her before that happens," Nikita could understand why Alex was so desperate to return to the woman who had helped her, but she'd just have to wait. Ari and the black box took priority. Nikita gently tried to share that with Alex; she promised they'd still save Larissa. But Alex wasn't listening. If no one was going to help her save Larissa, then she'd go on her own. It didn't matter that both rescue missions needed a full force effort to be successful. She was going to save Larissa.
"There's another option. Use the trigger," Sean attempted to find a compromise. An innocent woman should be saved, and Amanda had to be stopped from unlocking the black box; both missions were important. However, they didn't have to split the team in order to perform them. Nikita could simply activate the killchip. When Alex looked at Sean in confusion over the idea, he elaborated, "Ari has a kill chip. Nikita could end the threat of the black box right now."
Nikita could possibly excuse Sean's decision as not knowing what the full weight of the killchips was. Yet, regardless of that, Nikita absolutely could not trigger the killchip. She would never kill anyone that way ever again. It wasn't up to them who lived and who died. They weren't God. They weren't Percy. Division was supposed to have been different. They were supposed to have been saving people, especially from Amanda. They couldn't use a killchip. It didn't matter who the person was, "No. We don't sacrifice people, we save them."
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Alex didn't care that they were out in the open or that her voice carried. Nikita had to listen to her. She wasn't going to let a person die because of corrupt men or because of Amanda, especially not when there was something she could do about it. Wasn't that something Nikita would've done also. Alex wasn't acting any differently than the rogue. She was sacrificing everything to save an innocent. Nikita should've been on Alex's side. If she wasn't so obsessed with her own mission or with Amanda, maybe she would've been.
"Ari is the priority," Nikita thought Alex would've been on her side. She had been one of the loudest voices when the team had decided to disable Division's killchips, and she had fought hard to ensure Amanda could never trigger Sonya's reactivated killchip. Alex hated those damn things as much as Nikita did. So why would she let them kill Ari with it. Yes, he was awful. But that didn't mean anything. A killchip was worse. It was always worse.
"Why, because you say it is?" Alex snapped. If Nikita couldn't see what the most important thing was, then Alex wasn't going to stick around to teach her. The rogue wasn't the boss. What she said wasn't golden. Someone could disobey her wishes. And that someone was going to be Alex. She turned her back on the team and ran off to where she thought she had been brought from. Sean quickly followed her. Yet she didn't pay him much attention. She radioed Birkhoff and- once she refocused him- had him direct her to the hospital she could've come from. She didn't have a plan for breaking in; she simply did. Thankful, Sean had her back.
Sean glanced into an empty hospital room as he followed Alex's erratic path. He meant to just quickly scan for any assailants and then move on, but what he saw made him freeze. The exact same chair Owen had once been strapped to when Amanda had captured him sat in the room. The exact same restraints that had been used to bind him were undone. And the exact same long, sharp, terrifying needle that had poked around in his brain hovered over the chair. Sean couldn't help but glance between the chair and Alex. Had she been tied to it. Had Amanda done something to her. Had she hurt her like she had Owen.
Before Sean could ask Alex about it, the soldiers finally found them. The two couldn't advance through the abandoned hospital any further. The rain of bullets was too intense. Alex continued to try to reach Larissa, however. It was almost as though she was possessed. She had to save her. She had to save everyone. Alex managed to get past the bullets to a room that looked familiar- though, honestly, nothing about the place was familiar. Except, when she tried to get through the doors, a grenade was launched at her. Sean pushed her out of the way, but the grenade went flying into the room with Larissa, "Larissa, no!"
Despite Ryan's protests, Nikita went after Ari with Owen on her tail. She had tried to call Alex back, yet she was on her own stubborn mission. Nikita could focus on her own stubborn mission too. She continued to ignore Ryan and even Owen as she hunted down Amanda. She rushed without thought, and things went to hell. Amanda's new goons let the bullets fly as soon as the agents got close. Somehow Owen and Nikita had survived. But Amanda had gotten away. And Ari had been shot. Nikita attempted to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. He simply passed her the black box he had recovered and hoarsely breathed, "It's the life we've chosen."