You & Me

They were standing right in front of each other. Gun drawn. Neither of them moving a muscle. The wind blew tiny branches against the window, the ticking echoing through the room. Nikita's hands were firmly around her gun, yet she didn't want to pull the trigger. She couldn't. And neither could Alex.

"I don't want any trouble," Alex said, breaking the silence. She stared into Nikita's eyes. Only if the former Agent allowed it, you would be able to see the emotion hidden behind them. As far as Alex knew, only she and Michael could see the grief, the pain, the sorrow, hidden deep inside Nikita. Now, she didn't see anything. Nikita's eyes were focused on her own, empty.

"Should've thought of that before you shot me," Nikita replied, her voice steady.

"I was trying to save your life. If I didn't do something, we'd both be dead." With this explanation, Nikita started lowering her gun and a flicker of understanding flashed through her eyes. Alex continued: "I was compromised, but I'm clear now. I just came by to get my ID packet and then I'm gonna go. "

"Alex, I'm not gonna hurt you." Nikita had now fully lowered her gun. Her finger was no longer on the trigger and she held her hands next to her side to show Alex she meant what she said. Nikita had always seen Alex as a younger sister. To see the young Agent having doubts about her loyalty was hurting her.

"Then drop your gun," Alex requested, noticing Nikita was coming closer with little steps.

Nikita slightly raised her hand. "Drop yours." For a few moments, they stood in complete silence. Alex tried to find any type of hesitation in Nikita's voice, in her movements. The only thing she found was calmth. The same calmth Nikita had when she had just found Alex and had saved her from her drugdealers. "Let's talk about what this is really about. Or what you think it's about. They told you I killed your father."

"You were just following orders, right?" Hesitation now evident in her own voice, Alex' eyes stared into Nikita's, searching for confirmation. Even though the older Agent had killed her father, she couldn't bring herself to hate her. She furiously hoped Nikita didn't kill him in cold blood.

"No, our orders were to kill your entire family," Nikita explained, watching as Alex' eyes welled up with tears. The young Agent lowered her gun as she tried to keep herself from crying. "I chose to defy those orders and get you out. It was the first time I ever took a stand against Division. I headed towards your bedroom. I didn't have a choice."

Flashbacks from that particular night clouded Alex' vision. The fire around the bed, the footsteps in the hallway. The next thing she heard were two gunshots before her father fell to the ground. Alex shook her head, tears still evident in her eyes. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"It was just never the right time, I didn't know how you would react."

"No, you just didn't trust me enough to handle it. So now I can't trust you," Alex said, her voice nearly breaking. She didn't want this to happen. Nikita had always been like a big sister to her. She wanted to trust her. She wanted her to help get Semak.

"None of this was my plan. If you hadn't tried to kill yourself, right here, right in front of me." Pointing to the place she was talking about, Nikita's voice dropped to a whisper. "I would've never told you about Division."

"What you told me was that I had something to live for. Revenge. That's where I'm going. To get the man who ordered my father's death. I'm not running."

"Who told you all that? Percy? Amanda?" Nikita didn't even try to hide the disgust in her voice when she spoke those names.

"Amanda let me go. She deactivated my kill chip. This war against Division is your obsession," Alex accused, hitting a sensitive nerve.

"My obession," Nikita repeated in a whisper, stunned.

"Nikita look at this place. All of this space and you still sleep on a division recrute bed. This fight is some sick need of yours. I have my own fight now," Alex said, turning around to walk out the door. Before she could take one step, she felt a hand on her arm turning her back around. Nikita had dropped her guard. Tears were making their way to her eyes, ready to run down her cheeks.

"This was never about revenge. When I told you that you had something to live for I was talking about balance, I was talking about making things right. If you do this, you are gonna end up somewhere you don't wanna be." The former Agent's voice was breaking and a single tear slid from her cheek.

Looking Nikita straight in the eye, Alex replied: "That's my decision. Let me go." Allowing her tears to escape, Nikita didn't want to let Alex go. "Nikita, let me go!" Alex repeated, trying to get out of Nikita's grip. Just when the former Agent was about to let go, three men flew in through the window, shattering the glass in million pieces. They opened fire at the two women, who quickly dove behind a wall.

Even though they were arguing mere seconds before, Nikita's protective instinct took over. She took two guns, fired them at the men and moved towards Alex in the meantime. Once she reached her, she handed one gun to Alex, who immediately understood what they had to do. Move to the roof.

Once the three men were down, more agents flew in through the window. Nikita shot her computer so the bomb would activate before following Alex towards the staircase that led to the roof. Just as they walked out of the staircase, the loft blew up, burning every agent who was following them.

"Backup won't be far behind," Nikita informed Alex, taking a gun from the container. She shot the arrow to a building on the other side of the street, securing a rope between the two rooftops. She connected her gear to the rope and jumped from the roof, flying towards the other. When her feet hit the ground, she untied her gear and turned around, motioning for Alex to follow.

Alex looked down at Nikita and took a knife out of her pocket. Her left hand reached for the rope and she took a deep breath. Turning around as fast as she could, she threw the knife at the man standing behind her. The knife penetrated his throat and she quickly fastened her gear and jumped off the roof. Once she arrived on the other building, Nikita used her own knife to cut the rope, preventing the other agents to follow them.

"You okay?" she asked Alex, who nodded. For a few seconds it was a staredown between the two women. They were just standing in front of each other, looking in the other's eye. It was Nikita who closed the distance between them and took Alex in a warm embrace. The young Agent rested her head against Nikita's shoulder, tears falling from her eyes. Then it all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, they were hugging and the next, Alex is on the ground and Nikita is standing up with her hands on her stomach.

Alex quickly stood up and looked toward the other building. On the roof of the burning loft, a man was standing with a sniper in his hands. That's when Alex understood. Nikita had seen the sniper aiming at Alex and she had pushed her to the ground so that she could take the bullet herself. Gritting her teeth, Alex took out her gun and fired at the man, hitting him in the shoulder. Then she turned to Nikita, who had dropped down to her knees. "I'm gonna get you out of here," she promised, kneeling down next to her.

Nikita swallowed, fighting for air. "W-Went.. Through," she managed to get our before falling backwards.

Before she hit the ground, Alex was there to catch her. She had her hand on Nikita's neck, holding her up an inch from the dirty ground. "Just hold on, okay?" she whispered, wiping away her tears. She took Nikita's arm and placed it around her shoulders, helping her to her feet. "You need to hold on for me, Nikita."

A few hours later

Waking up to a pounding headache, Nikita brought her left hand to her forehead. As she opened her eyes, she noticed the room was dark and she was tucked in a bed. As she moved her right hand from under the covers, she could feel a bandage around her waist. Slightly panacking, she kicked the covers off her body, only to let out a small scream in pain. Wincing, she halted her movements, her breathing heavy.

"Nikita?" A voice called out, followed by footsteps fastly approaching. Nikita quickly tried to get off the bed, but a hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing so. "Nikita, it's me. You're safe."

Noticing the soft tone in the voice, Nikita finally turned her head and saw Alex crouched down next to her bed. It was just light enough to make out her features. "Alex?" She questioned, allowing herself to sink back into the matress. She moved a hand to her stomach. "What happened?"

"You saved my life," Alex whispered, the left corner of her mouth itching up into a semi-smile. "Again." She got up from the floor and sat on the edge of Nikita's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit with a truck." A chuckle escaped Alex' lips as Nikita replied. "I hardly remember anything. It all happened so fast."

"Yeah, tell me about it. One moment you're holding me and the next I'm on the ground. I don't know what type of bullet he used, but it went straight through your kevlar. I stitched up the wound and I've put the bullet in a bottle so you can check it out when you're better. You're very lucky it didn't hit anything to cause any serious damage."

Nikita turned around so that she was laying on her side, facing Alex. "Looks like you saved my life too."

Drawing her lips in a straight line, Alex nodded her head before looking at her hands. She tried to hide the tears in her eyes. "Nikita.. I need to talk to you."

"Okay, you can tell me anything."

Alex bit her lip. She took a deep breath as the first tears started to fall. She didn't want to hold them in any longer. She couldn't. "I'm sorry."

"Alex, you have nothing – "

"Please, I need to say this," Alex cut Nikita off. The former agent nodded, pulling herself up as much as she could without hurting her stomach too much. Taking in a deep breath, Alex searched for the right words to continue. "You saved my life so many times. First from the fire, then from the sex slaves, from the drugs. You even sacrificed yourself. You let me give you to Division so they wouldn't suspect me as the mole."

Sensing Alex had more to say, Nikita kept quiet. She reached out and covered Alex' hands with her own to stop her from fidgeting. Alex sighed and turned her head, facing Nikita. "Amanda was right," Alex whispered, shocking Nikita with her words. The wounded Agent opened her mouth to speak, but Alex beat her to it. "One of the first days in Division, Amanda told me that home is where we stop running. She's right. I'm home now. With you."

Closing her eyes, Nikita felt relieved to hear those words. "I promise I'll help you get Semak."

Alex nodded, squeezing Nikita's hand. "I trust you."

Nikita smiled and reached out, sliding her arms around Alex' waist to pull her in a hug. Due to the pain in her stomach, Nikita couldn't sit up very long, which resulted in her leaning back in the bed, pulling Alex with her.

"No more secrets?" Alex questioned softly, her head on her friend's shoulder. She almost seemed afraid of the answer. She draped an arm across Nikita's stomach, careful not to touch the healing wound.

"No more secrets," Nikita confirmed, holding her arm securely around Alex' waist. She kissed the top of Alex' head, glad that she had her younger sister back. "You and me, Alex. You and me."

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