Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Kudos and BBC. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"The devil is not as black as he is painted."

Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

Mikhael hadn't meant to hit her so hard. But the last thing he had expected was a crowbar swinging towards him the moment he opened the trunk. It hit him hard across the arm and cursing angrily, Mikhael punched Alexa in the face, a reaction that was primarily a reflex response more than anything else as pain exploded in his arm where the metal had hit him.

The punch landed across her jaw and Alexa fell back into the interior of the trunk, blood pouring from her mouth. She saw stars exploding before her eyes, and as she fought to maintain consciousness, everything turned black.

Mikhael sighed, hating himself for what he had just done. She'd been through enough for one morning, he thought. He saw the cuts along her wrists from the edge of the metal and glass that had covered the tail light. Why do you have to make it so difficult for yourself, matryoshka?

Mikhael had noticed the other car following him too closely while he had been on motorway, and knew immediately that something was amiss. Someone had spotted the car. Maybe it was already on the news, he thought. And so he had sped off the motorway, hoping to lose a car that was following him, its driver on the phone.

"They will be calling the police," Anatoly said. "You need to lose him."

With Anatoly consulting the road map, they had managed to lose their tail after turning onto one alley after another, and finally disappearing into an abandoned warehouse that Anatoly had directed Mikhael to drive into. "We wait till the idiot drives past," Anatoly said.

As they watched the car drive past, they waited for a few minutes till it was safe to venture out on the road again. The ferry terminal was close by and Mikhael knew that in no time, they'd be safe inside the bowels of the cargo ship that would take him and Alexa away from London.

Instead, Anatoly ordered him to drive the car into a warehouse just across from the terminal where the Mekanik Rada was docked. It looked unused although there were a few opened cargo containers and boxes lying about. A portion of the roof had caved in and Mikhael could hear the sound of water dripping onto the ground below. Anatoly ordered Mikhael to stop the car.

"We part here, my friend," Anatoly suddenly said, opening the car door and dragging Nadia out of the back seat. He had gagged her mouth and secured her wrists with a plastic zip tie, and she yelped as he pulled her out of the car.

"Where are you going?" Mikhael asked.

"I will take care of Lucas North for you," Anatoly said.

Mikhael remained silent. He had never intended to kill Lucas but it was something he did not need to tell Anatoly. Anatoly was merely a hired assassin and someone that Arkady thought would be of help to Mikhael - why, even Mikhael didn't know, but he knew that Arkady didn't trust him anymore. Ever since that one night, he thought.

He'd been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to come to England through Arkady's connections. Even more fortunate to have been given Alexa as well. It was the only reason Mikhael had agreed to do the job. He and Alexa had some unfinished business to complete, whether she liked it or not.

"Since when did you decide that you'd take care of Lucas North for me?" Mikhael asked.

"Since Arkady hired me to kill him," Anatoly smiled. "He said that you would have your hands full with the woman and the child. Besides, I'm sure you and your woman have a lot of time to make up for, eh?" Anatoly winked. "And I put the clothes inside the cabin for you this morning, just as you requested."

"Thank you, friend," Mikhael said as Anatoly grasped his hand and shook it. The man's hand was ice cold, Mikhael thought. He glanced at Nadia, her wide eyes staring back at him wildly. She looked like a cornered animal.

"I promise you, I will take care of Lucas North for you," Anatoly said again. "This," he pulled Nadia's arm and she whimpered, "I will need as a distraction so the British idiot will leave you alone and stay away from the ship."

As Mikhael turned the car around and drove out of the warehouse and onto the ship ramp that had been kept down for him for an extra fee, he could see Anatoly through his side view mirror watching him. He realized then just how close the warehouse was to the ship, giving Anatoly a full view of the ship's deck if he needed it.

Mikhael looked at Alexa's limp form in the bottom of the car trunk. Dried blood had caked along her wrists and she looked like she'd just survived a few rounds in the ring with a hellcat, he thought. Mikhael hoisted her body and made his way to the stairs. He'd paid the captain extra to make sure that they would be left alone throughout the entire voyage, although he planned on disembarking with Alexa at the next terminal just before leaving England.

Once off the Mekanik Rada and back on London soil and hopefully away from Arkady and his men, Mikhael hoped that his handlers would have received his message the night before and would be waiting for him and Alexa. And from there, he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief after more than fifteen years of holding his breath.

Gone would be the days when he'd been one of the most powerful men in Moscow, his club the meeting place of elite spies and diplomats wishing for a night of drink and debauchery as he milked them dry of their secrets. And after that, gone would be the days when he'd been reduced to nothing, a prisoner in one of Russia's notorious prisons - all for disobeying Arkady Kachikmov and paying the price for a lie.

Mikhael lay Alexa on the bed, watching her face as she breathed softly. Because of you, he thought, my life changed forever.

It had been a moment of weakness when Mikhael agreed to kidnap and hold Alexa captive nine years ago, not because he'd had no choice in the matter - because indeed he hadn't, but because he'd seen her face and knew that he had to have her. One more glimpse, he had told himself then. One more chance to touch and make love to the woman she could never be.

And so he justified his actions then. It wasn't just any kidnapping, he had told himself. He was saving her life. Saving her from the hell waiting for the real victims of human trafficking, the drug addiction and the endless humiliation that awaited them day after day.

Despite everything he had worked hard to maintain, the image he'd cultivated since going native, Mikhael made Alexa his English princess, keeping her under his wing though - that alone didn't guarantee her safety from even his mood swings. Nor did it keep her away from Arkady's clutches, especially in the beginning when Arkady wanted the information he believed she had.

And when he found her fate in his hands, he'd taken the leap of faith, praying that no one would notice, no one would know.

But Arkady did find out his lie eventually. And when Arkady did, Mikhael found himself stripped of everything he'd worked hard for, sent to prison for an undetermined amount of time or until Arkady felt he'd learned his lesson.  

But Mikhael hadn't been given his lesson yet. Arkady waited till the time was right, spreading a lie throughout prison that he'd sold his only daughter over a card game and for that, he'd been branded a child lover. It didn't matter that Mikhael didn't have a daughter. It was theater, nothing else. It was Arkady showing his hand.

One afternoon, the guards held him down and tattooed him with the mark of a child lover on one cheek, and on the other, the name of the 'daughter' he'd sold. Alexa.

Arkady made sure that Mikhael would see his treachery again and again, a reminder that Arkady never forgot a lie. Nor did he forgive.

>>><<<

Malcolm was able to delay the ship's departure for half an hour, giving Lucas enough time to arrive at the ferry terminal. According to the ship's newly updated manifest, he was Eric Palmer, a last minute passenger who just paid a hefty sum to get on board.

Fortunately for Malcolm, the ship captain was more than eager to make the extra money to accommodate his new passenger. He'd already made a fortune taking on the scarred man and the woman, but a little extra never hurt. It was a long voyage back to Eastern Europe.

He'd even accepted an extra hundred pounds from a man named Anatoly, who had come on board with two trunks belonging to the scarred man. When they were casually opened, inspected with barely a glance at the women's clothing and garish lingerie that lay within, the captain had merely nodded and allowed him entry.

As Lucas gave his name to the man who was checking off his name in the manifest, his phone rang.

"Alexa's phone has just been turned on," Malcolm said. "It's in the general vicinity, but it's not on the ship."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, looking around him. The terminal was busy, with men walking about minding their own business, cargo containers in lines along the sides and behind them, warehouses.

"It's in the area, but not on the ship itself," Malcolm said.

Lucas turned to face the man as he brought the phone away from his ear and let his arm hang down his side. "Have my friends arrived yet?" He asked. "There should be two of them. The man has scars on his face --"

The man smiled, nodding. "Ah, yes, they just drove their car into the hold, sir, about fifteen minutes ago." he replied. "But you should be getting on. The ship sails in fifteen minutes."

"Are you sure about that? My two friends?" Lucas asked. "They're already on the ship?"

The man nodded. "Everyone's on board, sir, so you really should get on."

Lucas walked hurriedly up the gangplank though his eyes continued to search the terminal below. He noticed the rows of containers along one side and behind them, a row of warehouses. The one that faced the ship directly appeared unused, with a torn up roof and a door that was hanging open.

As he continued up the gangplank, something beyond the warehouse door caught Lucas' attention. Beyond the door was a woman sitting on a chair facing the ship, her head covered with a black hood. Lucas' eyes narrowed. Alexa...

But something in the way the woman carried herself and what she wore made Lucas stop. The woman was wearing stylish boots over a long skirt and just below the hood, he could make out the color of her hair. Black.

Alexa's hair was blonde.

Realizing that Malcolm was still on the line, Lucas said, "I think I've found Nadia Ravin. Malcolm, is there any way you can delay the ship any longer?"

"I'll try," Malcolm said. "Ros and Jo are on their way there."

Lucas ran down the gangplank, ignoring the man yelling for him to stop and to get back on the ship. They had been waiting for him long enough.

But Lucas didn't care. Alexa or not, he had to make sure that she was safe. As he made his way towards the warehouse, hearing the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and the muffled grunts of a woman as she was being hauled to her feet, Lucas reached into his shoulder holster for his gun.

The woman, he knew, was bait.

He heard the sound of another door creaking open. Lucas peered into the warehouse, seeing that the chair was now on its side, empty. Beyond the back door that was swinging by its hinges, he saw the man, running, pulling Nadia behind him.

Lucas ran after them, calling out for them to stop but the man merely turned to look at him, swinging a gun towards his direction. The shot rang out just as bullets splintered the wall next to Lucas and he ducked for cover.

He raised his gun, aiming at them but found it impossible to take a shot. A man was holding Nadia in front of him, his gun to her temple as he was backing up towards the far row of cargo containers. Lucas growled angrily, still moving towards them with his gun in front of him.

Suddenly the ship horn sounded and the man stopped, looking up at the ship behind them. Lucas saw a smile creep along the man's mouth as he watched Lucas, as if taunting him.

The ship horn sounded again and this time, Lucas could feel the mournful sound cut through his heart like a knife. The longer he stayed on the ground, the farther he'd be from Alexa.

Nadia was merely a diversion.

The man continued to walk backward, dragging Nadia with him and as they disappeared behind the row of cargo containers, Lucas made his decision. He pulled the trigger, shooting a few rounds towards the direction of Nadia and her captor and ran.

>>><<<

When Alexa regained consciousness, everything hurt. Even the hair on her head hurt. She wanted to open her eyes but could not find the strength to do so, the sensation of something heavy weighing heavily upon her eye lids. There was a pounding inside her head that seemed to go on and on, as if the the four walls of the room were vibrating, inching to close her in.

She felt as if she were in a vacuum, a world within another world. I'm dreaming, she thought, and I can't get out of it.

In the darkness of this dream, the smells around her were familiar. Soft earth upon her back, yet she was inside a room, not outside for the smell of trees or their leaves did not mingle with the ones she inhaled now. No, this was soft, musty earth, the one found in one of Mikhael's lesser known clubs in the outskirts of Moscow. And with it, came the smell of blood and death.

Alexa felt as if she were sifting through memories hidden long ago, like a lost girl walking through a mansion hallways peering through darkened rooms. This time, she'd never been here before - at least not since it had happened. Her mind had completely shut this one down, but as the smells continued assaulting her senses, a new sensation came strong and hard.

I can't breathe!

Suddenly Alexa was struggling to breathe, as if someone were pressing a hand around her neck, tightening his grip with every passing second. She gasped, fighting to pull the fingers from around her neck but it was futile. Her body that, just a few minutes earlier, felt pain in every pore, now began to feel numb as sensation began to fade away.

When she finally mustered the strength left within her to open her eyes, she found herself staring at a face she'd only seen once before. She struggled frantically now, a scream fading from her lips as the face of Arkady Kachimov appeared above her, his hands tightening around her neck, his eyes watching her intently, his expression one of excitement. He had always loved to see suffering.

Then he was gone. Someone had pulled him off her.

The pressure around her neck disappeared and little by little her senses returned, and with it the pain. She gasped. She felt the tears roll down her face as the realization hit her that she had been seconds away from dying. As the numbness began to wear off, she heard them, their voices becoming clearer as every second ticked by.

"She does not understand any Russian," Mikhael said, his voice pleading. "She heard nothing."

"I know she's your woman, Mik, your favorite," Arkady said. "She's mine, too. But I cannot take any chances. She knows too much already."

"I swear to you, Arkady, if she ever heard anything, I will take care of her myself." MIkhael's voice trembled, fear having crept along its edges. "She doesn't deserve this. You promised her father you would return her."

Arkady sighed and for a moment, Alexa thought that Arkady had somehow changed his mind. But then Alexa heard the click of a gun. "Promise or not, Mikhael, I cannot take that risk. By now she knows too much anyway. She's seen too much."

Mikhael said nothing. Then Alexa heard soft laughter. Arkady chuckled. "But I will let you do this for me, since she is your woman. Oksana, yes? Ее близнецы." Her twin.

Silence.

"This is the nature of our business, Mikhael. Волко́в боя́ться -- в лес не ходи́ть." If you're afraid of the wolves, don't go into the woods. "Do it now, Mikhael, or I will destroy more than just her. I will destroy you, too."

Footsteps approached her and Alexa felt her body begin to shake. A whimper escaped her lips. How ironic, she thought to herself. When Mikhael had first abducted her, all she wanted to do was die. She had tried to do it by overdosing with drugs, but he'd caught her just in time.

And here she was about to die though not by her hand this time. But all she wanted now was to live. Alexa turned her head away from their voices. As she opened her eyes, Alexa fought back a gasp as she found herself looking at a pair of dead eyes looking back at her. Red marks lined the girl's delicate neck.

It was Irena, one of the girls who had been with Alexa and two other girls the evening they entertained four men in Mikhael's private meeting room. It was Irena who had told Alexa that they had to escape after overhearing that they were to be killed the following night. Mikhael was on a business errand for Arkady and was nowhere near Moscow.

"What for?" Alexa asked, horrified. "Does Mikhael know?"

"It doesn't matter whether he knows or not. They said we heard things we weren't supposed to hear. That mousy man kept talking about it to you," Irena said accusingly. "You were the one he was talking to. If someone were to die, it should be you."

"But we didn't hear anything," Alexa protested. "I didn't hear anything. He was drunk. He was talking nonsense."

"It doesn't matter now," Irena said. "They think we heard something and now we're supposed to be killed. The drunk's dead already. They killed him first."

Alexa remembered how the color had left her face, and Irena noticed it immediately. "That's what happens when you talk to the wrong people, Alexa. You die. And now Mikhael isn't around to help you."

Dead eyes.

Alexa wanted to run away but her body refused to move. She was frozen in her fear, held prisoner by unseen hands that kept her flat upon the floor. As she heard the footsteps draw closer, Alexa felt herself let go, feeling her muscles melt as she closed her eyes. It was futile, all of this, she thought. She barely knew who she was anymore, or why she was even here.

Just let me die, she wanted to shout at them. Just do it now and let me escape this living hell hole, you sons of bitches.

It was all supposed to be a week-long vacation, she thought. Instead, she'd found herself with a one-way ticket to hell.

Mikhael had seen her at the outdoor market at Place du Marché-Saint-Honoré in Paris and from the moment he'd set eyes on her, he'd been hypnotized by her. She looked like someone he knew, he told her. Alexa could even be her twin, he joked and she had even laughed with him. He looked like Robert Redford, definitely older than her by almost ten years but when he smiled, the years faded away.

But all that changed the moment he kidnapped her and tossed her into the back of the van that would take her and two other girls all the way back to Russia. She had spent most of the journey drugged, her memories a jumble of faces and voices - and a name, spoken