Chapter 4 is here! Let me know if you have any suggestions as to how you want to story to progress, any comments, and if I should keep writing! Thanks for reading!

CHAPTER FOUR: UNRAVELLING

Alex opened the door to apartment. The air was fresh, not stuffy like Division, and all of her things were there. She smiled and walked to the kitchen. There it was, the phone. She sighed in relief. Every time she arrived home, she would be worried a member of Division found it. She opened it and dialed the one number she knew off by heart.

"Hello?" Nikita's voice answered.

"Hey, it's me. I had to go back into division for the night. After I got back at my apartment Amanda called me back. They were worried I'd commit suicide or something, I don't know, but I'm back now. And I've have a change of…heart since our last conversation." Alex said, smiling at the last words. The last time she had spoken to Nikita, the only person on her mind was Nathan. However, that had changed. Maybe she had tried to be with him to hide any other feelings she had for anyone else. Like Birkhoff.

"Uh-huh." Nikita said. She sounded frightened, or overjoyed. Her tones were very unreadable, but this was not a tone Alex was used to hearing.

"I'm going to tell Nathan it's over. I don't think I ever really liked him; I just liked the idea of him. It was like I wanted to repeat in your footsteps or something, sensei."

"Trust me. You don't want to walk in my footsteps." Nikita said solemnly. Alex could hear a voice in the background, laughing. Then she heard the click of a gun.

"Nikita? You okay?" Alex asked as her worry level began to rise. She heard the phone go mute. "Nikita?"

"Hello Alex." Michael was on the phone. They must have muted it when he took it from her. "Great cover. Never guessed. No worry though, I've got Nikita under lock and key." He said, almost laughing, but she could hear something else in his voice: regret.

"Michael, please don't." Alex was scared, she wanted to run to Nikita's hideaway, but knew she couldn't. Birkhoff's letter told her to stay in her apartment until he arrived. Birkhoff said it was vital, and she didn't want to disobey him.

"I won't hurt her, I'm just making her tag along with me. Missions and such, helping, you know the drill. As for you, Alexandra, I'd watch that chip on your neck." He said, the laugh completely gone. She could hear Nikita shout something about how she replaced the 'kill chip.' Michael dropped the phone, and Alex heard the distant dial tone.

Crap.Nikita was in danger, or not. Alex paced back and forth, hand on her waist, looking at the door. She wanted to go, but Nikita didn't need her. Maybe Nikita picked up the phone to signal her to come over, or maybe it was just a trap to get her. She contemplated her options, but soon she didn't have much choice. The door opened.

"Hey Ali!" Nathan walked in, smiling, his blonde hair wet and messy. "Thought I heard you here, where you been?" He grinned, leaning in to kiss her. Alex turned her head, his lips landing on her cheek. She grimaced. Nathan's normality and lack of depth suddenly became more apparent. He was your average preppy party boy, nothing special or unique. Dull.

"Nathan we need to talk." She said, walking to the couch. He followed suite, his puppy dog face appearing ever so slowly. She rolled her eyes. So normal. "I don't think…Nathan, you're a sweet guy, but you're not what I thought you were." She said, looking at the floor. She heard him take in a breath of air sharply. He wasn't happy.

"Look, Nathan, I don't want to lead you on. I think you're a fantastic guy, but you're just not the guy for me. I'm sorry. I'm just not into guys like you, and it took experimenting with you to figure that out. It was fun, but I don't want to lead you on. I'd feel to bad about that." She said, taking his hand and giving him a reassuring glance. He shook her off and stood up.

"It's fine. Thanks though. It hurts, like hell, but I've been led on before. Wasn't fun. Wasn't any good." He walked to the door, looking back and smiling. "If you're ever lonely, or if you need a friend, I'm right across the hall." Alex smiled.

"I'll remember that neighbor. Thanks." He saluted her and walked out to his apartment. She smiled. Thank goodness that's over and done with. She began to straighten up the place in preparation for Birkhoff's arrival. She smiled, knowing he'd be with her soon. Even though they only began their relationship – if it could be called that – the day before, she felt like it had been longer. That's what Nikita had said would be the difficultly with relationships. The good ones go quicker than you expect, and before you know it Division are after them. The bad one's take time to develop – they are the ones Division don't chase up.

Nikita. She was in danger. Alex began fretting again, biting her lip and rushing to the phone. She dialed the number again, and only reached the message. Something was wrong. Michael was doing something to her. Nikita was in trouble. Alex's heart began to speed up. She wanted to find Nikita, but knew that Michael probably had taken her elsewhere. The realization of the situation sunk in: she couldn't do anything but wait.

Taking a seat on the chair, Alex brought her knees to her chest and began to worry. She needed to tell someone, have him or her do something, but she couldn't tell Birkhoff. He didn't know she was the mole, and when she did tell him, she wanted their relationship to be strong. Find a similar situation and cry on his shoulder about that. Simple, solved. She still worried. The stared at the door, willing Birkhoff to walk through. Come on Seymour, hurry up. I need you.

Alex finally picked up her phone and called him. She waited for the ringing to start, wishing he was here already. One ring. She needed to have him comfort her. Two rings. She wanted to be in his arms already, him entwining his fingers through her hair and telling her everything will be alright. Three rings. He was taking too long. Did Percy find out? Did he send someone to kill him? Four rings. Alex began to pace, and then realized something strange. There were rings coming from outside. She walked to the door, listening carefully. Sure enough, the Knight Rider theme tune was playing from outside her door. She heard a voice mutter some angry phrases, and heard the clinking of metal presumably as someone rummaged through their bag to turn off their phone. Alex opened the door.

"Seymour?" She said as his red face looked up at her. He was on the floor, phone in hand, finger on the 'off' button. He slowly stood up to look her in the eyes.

"Hey Al. How's Nathan?" He said angrily, bursting into her room and thrusting his bag on her kitchen counter. She stared at him, confused. As she shut the door, she watched him grab some materials out of his bag. Surgery materials.

"You know about Nathan?" She asked timidly, walking up to him and reaching for his hand. He moved away.

"No, Amanda does. I just checked your profile on the database. She added a note for the staff to see. She's investigating." He said, voice shaking. Alex saw tears well up in his eyes. He was hurt.

"Nathan was…is my neighbor. He kissed me. A few times. I thought I liked him, but I think I just liked the idea of him. He just came to see me a while ago, actually." She stepped towards Birkhoff, taking his arm and holding it tight. "I told him how I feel about him. How I really feel." She reached her other arm to cup his face in her hand, and pulled it to face her. "I told him he's not my type. I realized he's dull, and not as interesting as the guys I go for." She smiled. He was shaking with anger and saddened, but her gaze calmed him down. He smiled back.

"Thank god." He leaned down and kissed her, and everything was all right again. Alex felt safe and reassured, without even asking him for comfort. His hands were entwined in her hair, and she was safe in his kiss. They were in their own world.

Finally they came apart, gleaming. She felt tears in her eyes – she was still worried but so happy. He bent down to have his eyes at her level. "Al, if there is anything wrong, you know I can help. I may not be as strong as Michael, or have hair as gelled as Nathan, but I'm a genius with computers. And trust me, the Internet can cut worse than a knife in this day and age." He laughed, and Alex chuckled.

"How'd you know his hair is gelled?" She asked smiling. He looked away, then mouthed the word 'google.' They smiled at this together, before Alex felt the pang of distress in her mind again. "Seymour, can we just sit on the couch? Please? I need someone to hold me." The tears welled up in her eyes and overflowed, salty waves pouring down her face. He took her hands and sat her down on the couch. She lay her head on his chest, as his arms held her close. As she sobbed harder, he held her closer.

"Al, what's up?" He finally asked, trying to find her face. She hid it deeper in his gray cotton shirt.

"I can't talk about it. But tell me it's all going to be okay." She said, her voice muffled and distorted from the crying. Never the less, he understood.

"It'll all be okay. Don't worry Al, it's going to be fine." He brought her closer, resting his chin on her head and shutting his eyes. It was like a prayer she was having him say for her, even though he didn't know why. Little did she know, he was praying too.

Birkhoff felt tears escape his sadness lock. She didn't know yet, but she had never been in more danger. If he couldn't check the chip was bound to malfunction, if he couldn't switch it in time, if he couldn't fake her death perfectly, both of them would be killed. Everything was unraveling so quickly, and it was getting harder for him to keep the strands of string together.