"I love long car rides. I get to stare out the window and appreciate nature. Oh wait," Alex grumbled, slumped against her bus seat. She had been excited to get out of Division. Her latest training exercise hadn't gone how she had wanted. She thought escaping the bunker would allow her to clear her head and breathe. If only she could actually see the sun. Although the recruits were traveling to a larger facility to practice long range shooting, the windows of the bus were blacked out. There was no chance to experience the outside world; they were still trapped.
"You know. Not knowing where Division is helps us. We can't give it up if we're ever interrogated," Thom reminded Alex in an attempt to make her feel better. She just rolled her eyes. She knew why Division didn't want the recruits to know where they were. They spun it as protection. No one knowing where Division was kept them safe from their enemies. The location was also a point of trust the recruits had to earn by becoming agents. That was all a load of bullshit, however. What Percy and Amanda really wanted was control, not protection and trust. The more agents they had under their thumb, the more power they had.
Alex tried to subvert that power. She wanted to be on an equal playing field with Amanda and Percy. Yes, she'd follow their rules and trainings in order to be the perfect agent. But she also didn't want them controlling her. By following their rules, she should be their partner. They were going to take out Semak together. At least, she hoped so. Her latest training revolved around enhanced interrogation. She knew she'd need torture skills to get to Semak, so she entered the training intending to do her best. Instead, her captive escaped and handed her ass to her. She had failed terribly, "If we're interrogated by someone who knows what they're doing."
"Hey. I heard you were doing great before he slipped his bonds. You just have to be more careful next time," Squeezing her hand gently, Thom reassured her. Alex glanced at their joined hands, and he pulled away sharply. She hadn't meant for him to do that. She didn't mind his hand on hers. The gesture really was comforting. And it was nice to have a friend in Division that'd go out of their way to make her feel better- even if that bordered the line of Division's no fraternization rule. Holding hands should've been alright, however. Alex needed the physical touch to ground herself. It helped remind her that maybe she wasn't all alone.
Before Alex could thank Thom, or possibly grab his hand again, the bus came to an abrupt stop. They couldn't be near their destination. The bus didn't slow down before gently stopping. The driver slammed on the brakes, throwing the passengers forward. Shouts also rose from the front of the vehicle. The clearer ones were frightened and shocked. The muffled ones were full of rage. Full of concern, Alex glanced at Thom. He was posed on the edge of his seat, ready to fight. Yet she had no idea what there even was to fight, "What's going on?"
"Everybody get down! Get down, now!" Her question was answered immediately. Masked men burst onto the bus, raising assault rifles into the air. The recruits dropped from their seats with startled shouts. The guards, on the other hand, rushed the assailants. The Division agents attempted to stop them, but they were stopped instead. The armed masked men shot the guards, then stepped over their unmoving bodies. Recruits cowered beneath their seats, unsure of what to do to save themselves. Thom was the only one to try to do something. He stood his ground against the assailants, only to be quickly knocked unconscious.
"Hey!" For some reason, Alex shouted. She shouldn't have drawn attention to herself. She should've kept quiet and done whatever the armed men wanted. But Thom was her friend- well, as close of a friend she could have inside Division. She didn't want him hurt. She didn't want anyone hurt. And with the guards unconscious, someone had to stand up to the assailants. It was a terrible idea for her to do so, however. She could take on one of the armed men- maybe two. But a whole group of them had her beat. A simple swing of a rifle and she was out.
The next thing Alex knew, she was waking strapped to a chair. She felt the sharp binds cutting into her wrists and ankles before she could fully open her eyes. She tried to move and loosen her bonds, but it was pointless. She had nowhere to go. She was trapped wherever the hell she was. Studying her surroundings didn't give her any clue. She didn't recognize anything. All she knew was that the place was dirty and dingy and possibly abandoned. What happened after the assailants knocked her out was clear. She had been kidnapped, "дерьмо."
"Good. You're awake," A man soon stormed into the room. He must've heard Alex moving around and cussing. But as he drew closer to her, she tried not to let him see her fear. She was beyond terrified of the situation she was in. She had been held against her will before, and it was the worst experience of her life. Who knew what would happen that time. The man stalked towards her menacingly. With her hands bound, she couldn't stop him. He could do whatever he wanted to her. Alex tried to put up a fight from the chair, make it hard for him. Yet he stopped right before he reached her and showed her a picture, "What did you want with this man?"
Taken aback, Alex could only stare at the picture. All the man wanted from her was information. That was odd. Except, as she stared at the picture, she understood why. She had seen the man in the photograph before. He was the captive she had interrogated for Division. The group he had worked for probably wanted information on his capture. They probably wanted revenge as well. Yet Alex wouldn't give them that. She knew better than to give up Division. The group was going to get nothing from her, "I've never seen that man before in my life."
"He was my brother. Until your people dragged him from his home and killed him," The man who had captured her waved the picture in front of her face again. Alex forced her features to not betray her. Her emotions could not be easily seen on the surface. The instant her fear was shown, the instant her captor had an advantage. She couldn't give him any power over her. She had to control the situation. It was the only way she could survive. Also, if Percy and Amanda learned she had never given up Division, they'd trust and respect her more. She could be given more freedom, and possibly more advantages to kill Semak with.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have 'people'. And I don't know your brother," Alex simply had to survive the situation first. She was lying through her teeth, but she allowed her fear to help her with that. The man might mistake her terror as a result of being wrongfully kidnapped instead of her fear of being linked to Division. She could fool him until she managed to escape. Though, how she was going to break free hadn't been thought of yet. She had no clue how she was going to break her bonds and escape that man.
She attempted to solve that problem, but her captor distracted her. He put aside the picture and grabbed the box next to her. Upon closer inception, Alex saw that it was a car battery with jumper cables attached. The man clasped the other end of the cables to the wire wrapped around wrists and ankles. He didn't need to explain what he was doing for her to know, "This battery can reach up to a thousand volts. The electricity can shut down your organs and kill you. You don't tell me what I want, I'll send shockwaves through your body until I reach that point."
"I don't know anything! I didn't kill anyone! You have the wrong girl," Horror screeched Alex's voice. She tried with all her might to break her binds. Yet it was no use. The electricity coursed through her. It wasn't the full amount the man had threatened- she knew that. However, the jolt was one of the worst pains she had ever experienced. She didn't want to scream, but that was against her power. The sound ripped out of her chest until the electricity stopped. Her body continued to convulse, however. There was no recovering from what happened. It was going to be a whole lot harder to continue lying.
But Alex tried. She kept playing innocent, despite the constant jolts of electricity that shot through her. She wouldn't give up Division or anything else she knew. She could feel it become a point of pride to stay silent. She could beat her captor. However, it was more than just that. Although she hated Division, it had her loyalty. She needed that hellhole; it didn't matter how much she hated it. Her need for revenge was far greater than anything else. She had to kill Semak for taking everything away from her, which meant she had to survive Division and her torture.
"Maybe your friend can help convince you," Eventually, her captor gave up on electrocuting her. Alex was close to sighing in relief. Then, she realized what the man had said. Someone else was captured with her. And they were about to be hurt because of her. Frantically, she attempted to weaken and break her bonds. She had to help whoever was with her. They had to escape together. It was too late, however. Soon, there was a gunshot. And as she attempted to adjust to her shock, Thom's unmoving body was dragged into the room. Alex shouted despite herself. The man grinned menacingly, "You ready to talk?"
Maybe she would've been. If she hadn't been so filled with spite and fury, Alex might've finally broken. Instead, she broke free of her bonds. She managed to slip one hand free and hastily struck her captor. While he recovered from the blow, she hurriedly released the rest of her limbs from the chair. Once completely free, she attacked the man. She couldn't afford the time to think. She simply acted. She ripped the gun from his grasp. She aimed it at him. She fired. And when he dropped to the ground, she sprinted out of the building.
Shouts of alarm rose from the other men in the building, yet Alex did everything to ignore them. She just had to run. She couldn't look back. She couldn't stop to think about where she was going. She just had to run. Her bare feet stung as they struck the ground, but she needed to fight past it. Thankfully, her adrenaline helped. She was able to run through the nearby woods without stopping. She crashed through branches and underbrush as she sprinted wildly. She didn't stick to a straight path; her father had taught her that. She doublebacked and took winding curves until she found signs of a road. She headed for the asphalt like it was her lifeline.
There was a gas station right off the road, and Alex made a beeline for it. She could hide out in the convenience store for a minute- catch her breath. Or, she could use the pay phone to make a call. She knew how to manipulate it so she could call without paying. She just didn't know who to call. She didn't have a number to contact Division with. All she had was a number to call Nikita. Without a second thought, she dialed it, "Nikita? Nikita, I messed up. There was this training exercise where I had to interrogate someone, and it went bad. I got kidnapped by his organization, and they tortured me. I had to kill someone to escape. I don't know what to do."
Nikita was not expecting that call. She realized when it came to Alex, she didn't expect most things. Yet she certainly wasn't expecting her to call when she was freaking out and in trouble. Division was the best place to call at that moment, especially if she was kidnapped from them. Thinking about that, Nikita started to believe she knew what was actually going on. It wasn't what Alex thought. It was much more fucked up than that, "You interrogated someone inside Division, then was kidnapped from Division?"
"Yes!" Screeching, Alex frantically looked over her shoulder. She didn't know how much time she had before the other armed men caught up to her. Since she had cut through the woods, it was possible that it could take hours for them to reach her by road. They also might not have known where she went. She could be safe for a while. However, that didn't mean Nikita could question her. Alex had to get out of that situation immediately. Sure, she was safe for the moment. But she couldn't relax.
"Alex, your torture was another training exercise. They did the same thing to me when I was a recruit. Division wanted to see how you'd react- if you'd give them up," Nikita explained gently. She moved out of earshot from Michael, Birkhoff, and Owen. They didn't need to know what was going on. Michael and Birkhoff should continue focusing on getting the black box location from Owen. Nikita could help Alex on her own. After all, she still wanted to keep the teenager a secret. It made her feel as though she was protecting her in some way.
"So I killed a Division agent?" Alex thought she had been panicking before. But she didn't know true anxiety until that moment. Well, she had when she was thirteen. That moment was almost the same. She knew she was going to die. Even if Percy and Amanda could use her to kill Semak, they wouldn't let her get away with killing an agent. She had gone too far. They'd deem her uncontrollable; she was unfit to be their partner. They were going to cancel her without a second thought. Her only choice was to keep running.
"Just tell me where you are, okay. I'll come get you. You'll be safe. I promise," Fortunately, Nikita would help her run. She was always so willing to help Alex; maybe that was why she had so willingly called her. Nikita didn't say anything to the men before she left. She could explain herself afterwards. Protecting the teenager was more important. Alex waited impatiently for the rogue. She paced between the gas pumps and constantly looked over her shoulder. It wasn't until she saw her pull up in a stolen car that she relaxed.
"Alex!" She started to run towards Nikita, but another vehicle pulled into the gas station. Amanda called out the window before she climbed out of the car. The instant she heard her voice, Nikita hid. She crouched behind a gas pump and drew her gun. Alex glanced between her and Amanda. She didn't know who was safer to turn to, the rogue or the person who could determine whether she lived or died. Alex wasn't given much time to choose before Amanda reached for her, "It's okay. It was just another training exercise. No one was hurt. It wasn't real."
Freezing, Alex stared at Amanda in complete and utter shock. She knew the kidnap and torture wasn't real. She had believed Nikita when she had told her. But she couldn't believe she didn't kill that man. It seemed so real. He bled. He fell to the ground. It couldn't have been all fake- could it have been. Alex wanted to look behind her to see if Nikita would help her understand. Yet she couldn't give away the rogue's position. She had to rely on whatever Amanda was telling her, "You mean I'm okay?"
"Yes, of course. You proved you could handle yourself well. And I think you are more than ready to take on Semak now. We just need to refine your skill. You're okay, Alex. It'll all be alright," Softly, Amanda squeezed Alex's bicep. Her cold blue eyes appeared warm in that instant. The young woman could believe her; she could be comforted by her and leave with her. As Amanda led her to the car, Alex finally glanced back at Nikita. The look on her face was unreadable. But she did nod slightly. Things would be alright, one way or another.