Prologue 101st Precinct Sloanville USA 2 p.m. “Detectives Caine, Griffin, Powell, in my office now,” came a call that rang throughout the 101st precinct. Peter Caine was sitting at his desk looking over a case that he was working on when Captain Simms called. Jody Powell and Kermit Griffin walked into the back office, so Peter got up to follow. As they entered the office, the three detectives sat down in front of the desk holding the Captain. She looked them over, “The three of you will be attending the conference that begins in the morning.” Before anyone could complain she continued, “this is not an option. There will be detectives from all over the country here and I want my best there.” Peter looked at Captain Simms, he didn’t really mind the break for it’s been a tough few weeks but there was something that was bothering him. “Who will handle our case load while we’re stuck at this conference?” “They will be distributed properly,” she smiled. “It’s only for two weeks, Detectives, make the most of it,” she added when she heard groans of disapproval come from the three. Kermit just looked at the Captain, waiting for more information, while Jody rolled her eyes. At that moment, Peter just replied, ‘Yes, Captain,’ and walked out the door. Two full weeks away from this building, with no cases, just sitting at that conference, he thought. He was going to make the most of it. His only regret was for the poor person who would get *his* case load. Peter caught Kermit walking out of the office and heading for his own. “Hey, Kermit,” Peter said as he entered another back office. Kermit just looked at the younger detective from behind his ever present sunglasses. “Where’s this conference being held? And what is it going to be about?” Kermit smiled then sat behind his desk. Booting up his computer he answered, “It’s at the big conference hall Downtown, you know the one down the street from Delancies. What it’s about, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I do know that there is going to be a group of hackers. . . excuse me computer crimes detectives there. That’s where I’m going to be.” “Oh I bet you are soo sad about that one,” Peter smiled. “Oh Yeah.” Peter began to walk out of the office when Kermit yelled, “Don’t forget to be there at 8 am sharp.” Peter just stood straight and gave Kermit a mocking salute. The elder man simply turned to his computer and sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks, he thought just as his phone rang. --------------------------------------------------- Section One, Operation’s Perch Parts Unknown Early Evening “Are you sure that having Michael involved is a wise choice,” one of the heads of Section asked the other. A man with white hair, turned toward his sometimes lover, and second-in-command, smiling. “Last time he was told to stay away from them, we had a roll-off in his performance. I don’t want to give him time to even consider it.” Madeline just looked at the older man. “I’m not sure that it is a wise choice considering whom we are trying to stop.” Paul, better known throughout Section as Operations, glanced away, looking down at the scene below his office above Tactical. “Michael is well aware of what will happen if he cannot perform. We can only tolerate so much disobedience from him. Despite what he may think, everyone is expendable.” --------------------------------------------------- Nikita’s apartment Parts Unknown evening A beautiful young woman walked into her apartment, she had just gotten off of ‘work’ and all she wanted to do was make herself a bath and soak all night long. She set the bags of groceries that she was carrying down on the counter in the kitchen. Loading up the refrigerator, she thought back to the past few months. Finally she had the Gelman Process thing done. Her apartment had been cleansed of any trace of the mind-control process and she was now free to have her mind and life again. What she wanted to know was what Operations and Madeline were planning next. They had tried many things to try and break her and Michael up, including her ‘marriage’ to Helmut Volker, but they had stayed strong. As Michael had told her, they had to be stronger than the ‘PTB’. She only hoped that they would survive. She remembered the look in Michael’s eyes after the last mission. Nikita thought back to when she arrived at Michael’s home, and saw his “wife” and his son, well over a year ago. Was this the little boy that Red Cell mentioned so long ago? What game is Section playing? Once again, Section had used poor Elena for their own goals, putting her and Adam in danger. It tore her up to see Michael in so much pain. She knew, now, what it was like to be told to married someone. One couldn’t completely make it ‘just a job’. Emotions came into play, no matter how hard one tried not to. Once again, they had taken away Michael’s son. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She thought that her life was hard but she is finding more and more out about Michael and how he is treated that it makes her wonder just how much pull he really has. He could’ve been canceled, on more than one occasion, but hadn’t. She wondered if he was still on Operations’ own personal cancel list. Shaking off all thoughts of Michael, after she placed the last of the items in the fridge, her phone rang. *No not now,* she thought. She reached for her phone, “Hello.” “Josephine,” came the soft French accented voice. “Yes, Michael?” “Come in, now.” Then the line went dead. Nikita looked at her phone, and smiled, “Of course.” Then she hung it on it’s rack, “Damn. There goes my plans for tonight.” She grabbed her coat and headed out the door back to work. ------------------------------------------------------- Section One, Level 2, War Room Parts Unknown. evening The tall blond walked into the War Room, noticing that two of her favorite people were already there. She walked up to the ‘salted old man’ and kissed him on the cheek. “Hey there, Walter. How’s my favorite man.” “Hey Sugar, you are always a sight for sore eyes.” Nikita took the seat next to Walter giving the man one of her best innocent looks. “Oh, you know what you do to me when you look at me like that. If we had time I would show you what a real man is like.” Nikita laughed at the normal come-on, but before she could reply three others entered the room. She bent over to Walter and whispered in his ear, “Maybe when mom and dad are gone.” His only response was the widening of his eyes. *There really is a god,* he thought, then smiled to himself. He knew that she was ‘off-limits’ but it was fun to pick on each other. Michael walked in behind Operations and Madeline, taking his seat taking a quick glance in her direction. Operations didn’t waste any time before he told the young computer expert to pull up a picture. “This is Christopher Riley. He works for the New York Police Department as a homicide Detective. Intel. shows that he is also working for Red Cell, and has for the past ten years. We have intercepted a message stating that there will be a meeting.” Nikita was sitting there trying hard not to roll her eyes at this entire thing. *Cops, great,* she thought. Just as the thought entered her mind, Birkoff continued where Operations left off. “The message stated that there will be a meeting between Riley, members of Red Cell and other police officers associated with Red Cell at a Police Conference in a town called Sloanville. The message also stated that there would be some sort of demonstration to show the world their power.” Birkoff shook his head at that. Nikita looked up at Operations, in confusion. “I thought that Red Cell was practically gone.” Birkoff shook his head, “Unfortunately, our Intel wasn’t completely accurate. It appears that there is a small band that went into hiding during the war, and until recently was unknown.” Operations nodded as the man finished, “That’s where we come in. Michael, you Birkoff, and Nikita will infiltrate the conference, find out who is involved, and stop them and Red Cell.” Michael who had been quiet during the entire briefing continued, “The three of us will be posing as Detectives from New Orleans. Since we already know of one of the officers we will be looking to see who he meets and talks to. Everyone is suspect.” Madeline glanced at each member of the team before adding her two cents, “All of the information can be obtained in the PDA’s in front of you. You will contact us once a day only, unless anything unforeseen comes up.” The man in charge then nodded to his second in command and finished, “You will leave in two hours, so make sure that you are ready. Get everything that you need from Walter.” Operations then turned to Michael, “Meet me in my office in 5 minutes. That is all.” Then the man walked out followed by Madeline and Michael. Nikita looked over at Walter and Birkoff just shaking her head. She heard Birkoff begin to pick up his items that he had for the briefing, and stated, “Well I always wanted to be a cop.” Nikita and Walter couldn’t help laughing at the young man. Then Birkoff just shook his head and walked away. ---------------------------------------------------------- Sloanville USA morning Michael sat down in a chair next to the young man looking over the laptop that they had with them. They had just gone over their final mission briefing, and now getting their ‘items’ set, Police badges, ID cards, all of the necessities that were required. “Let’s move out. Nikita, ready?” “Let’s go,” came her reply. *This was going to be fun,* she thought. Nikita held back a little as Birkoff headed out the door. Lightly she touched Michael’s arm, looking at him with concern. It was only days ago that the whole thing with Elena and Adam had played out. She only hoped that he wouldn’t become suicidal once again. “You okay?” Michael nodded, “I’m fine.” Then he headed out the door behind Birkoff. As they made their way to the conference, Nikita noticed that it appeared as if Michael knew exactly where to go. “Have you been here before, Michael?” she asked. Michael glanced over to her and then back to the road. “I was assigned to a relocation mission here a couple of years back. Former Agency member and Police Captain, was in trouble so we had to transfer him to a safer place.” A year ago, Nikita would’ve been shocked by his confession, but now she wasn’t all that surprised. Before she would’ve expected his normal, ‘it doesn’t concern you,’ or ‘leave it alone, Nikita,' anything but this, but things had changed drastically changed for them. Of course she was a little surprise that he had answered her in front of Birkoff. Normally, they would be like they were before they became involved, before his son was taken from him the first time. Michael glanced over to her once again, “So yes, I’ve been here before.” He left it at that, as he pulled the car up to the hall. Turning off the car he got out, followed by the other two, it was showtime. They walked into the main entrance and walked up to the receptionist. She looked up and noticed the three, immediately her heart stopped in her chest. *He is hot,* she thought, looking at Michael. “Hello, how can I help you?” *Lunch, dinner, my place,* she wanted to say but kept silent. Nikita noticed the look, she had seen it on many women before when it came to Michael. She often wondered if he knew that he had that effect on every woman around, she bet he did. Of course, Nikita knew that although his body may not be his, his heart belonged to her. It always would. “Hi, we’re here for the police conference.” The woman’s head snapped toward Nikita as if finally noticing her. “Oh, yes. I’ll just need your names and where you work.” Birkoff smiled at her, he never really got to see Michael in action for real. All he ever got to see was the video signals that were sent back to him and Section. “I’m Chris Birkoff, this is Michael Jamison and Nikita Taylor. We’re from New Orleans.” He noticed the woman begin to type into her computer looking for the names. Silently he hoped that all of his hard work panned out. “Yes, there you are. Just wear these,” she said handing them some sort of name tag. “Just follow this hall down to the end, the room will be on your left.” Birkoff smiled at her as he took his name tag. “Enjoy the conference,” she added as she saw them turn to leave. As soon as they were out of earshot she whispered, “I know I will.” Birkoff looked at the name tag then shook his head, “I feel like I’m back in elementary school.” Nikita couldn’t help but laugh, “Do you even remember elementary school, Birkoff?” “Hey, I’m not old like the two of you.” He replied, only to get a slap on the arm in return. “Ow!” The truth was, however, he didn’t remember anything like elementary school. He now knew that he was born in Section, he never knew anything else. The only one who knew that he found out about his past was Walter, for Walter was the one who ‘chose’ to keep him in Section and set his brother free. Although he trusted Michael and Nikita, Birkoff, however, didn’t want anyone else to know. His brother, was his secret, one he didn’t want Section to know about. Michael just continued to stare at the passageway ahead of them, “Remember keep in constant communications with each other. You know what we have to do.” He said bringing them back to the mission at hand. They entered the room and immediately Birkoff noticed the computers in the back corner so he headed in that direction. Nikita stayed close to Michael, “So what now?” Michael noticed someone that he didn’t think that he would see again. Off in one of the corners was a man with dark hair, slightly graying, and green sunglasses. “Mingle,” He said to her. He headed in the direction of the other man, with a smile on his face. “Kermit, it’s been a long time.” Kermit who was standing next to Peter and Jody, quickly turned to the voice. He smiled, having a dozen thoughts go through his mind. Kermit grabbed a hold of Michael’s hand firmly, and said, “Michael how’s it going?” “As good as expected. You?” Jody noticed the light French accent in the man’s voice. She also noticed that it rang of confidence, something that she noticed was lacking in many here today. Kermit just shrugged, “You know me. Oh I want you to meet my co-workers.” He turned to the two next to him, “This is Peter Caine and Jody Powell. Jody, Peter this is Michael.” Michael shook Peters hand then bent down to kiss Jody’s hand lightly, “Michael Jamison, New Orleans PD It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Just then Michael noticed, more like felt Nikita behind him. “This is my partner Nikita. Nikita this is Kermit Griffin, Peter Caine and Jody Powell.” He said as he placed his hand on the small of her back to bring her into the conversation. “Hi, it’s a pleasure.” Nikita turned her head to Michael’s ear and whispered, “Target just walked in. Thought you would like to know.” Michael nodded, turning to Griffin, “Can we talk for a second?” Kermit agreed and the two walked away from the others. Nikita watched them leave and turned to the remaining cops, “So where do you work?” When they were out of earshot, Kermit looked at Michael. “So what are you guys doing here? Nikita’s one of you, right?” “Yes,” came his reply. “Remember Red Cell?” Kermit’s eyes just widened. He remembered hearing about them from his days in the Agency. “We believe that they are working with some people here.” Kermit knew that he wouldn’t get the entire story but since he still worked for the Agency he would have to at least get some of the details. It was, after all, protocol. “Any ideas who?” “We have one,” He answered. “We may need your assistance. Operations already informed me that he had talked to you?” Kermit nodded. That was a strange feeling for him. He remembered it clearly. Sitting at his desk after he had just got done talking to Karen about this conference, he received the call. He knew that he was to be the contact or back up in case something happened. Granted he wouldn’t know the particulars of the mission unless something happened to the main team. He wasn’t informed of who was going to be assigned but he was happy to see that it was Michael. “Once we get more information, one of my operatives may need access to your computer system to upload the files to Section One.” “Not a problem. Just keep me informed.” Kermit began to scan the room looking for anything out of the ordinary, but mainly looking to see if he ‘knew’ anyone else. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a young looking man standing by the computers, and it brought a smile to his face. “Birkoff?” Michael nodded. “So you finally got him away from his system. I’m impressed.” Kermit liked the young man. Birkoff had helped Kermit in many situations, helping him get information out of some of the ‘unbreakable’ Systems that were required. The kid was a genius when it came to computers, Kermit had learned a lot from him. There was a thought in the back of his mind and decided he mind as well ask it now, before he lost the nerve. “How’s Blaisdell?” Michael looked at his ‘friend’, Kermit was there when Michael came to take Paul Blaisdell away. “He’s safe. Things are cooling down some. If things continue this way he should be able to return home.” Kermit wished that he had gotten more information but knew that he wouldn’t. He was just glad to know that Paul was alive and well. That’s all he cared about. Suddenly, it looked like Michael was looking at something intently. Then he whispered. “Watch yourself.” Turning back to Kermit he added, “I think we better go save Nikita and your friends.” Kermit finally realized that he was listening to the conversations of the other operatives. Not for the first time he wished that he had that type of equipment. “Oh yeah,” he replied in his normal manner, as they walked back to their friends. Kermit looked them over and said, “I think that we’re about to begin. Shall we sit?” Peter looked over at Michael, he was getting a strange feeling from this man. A feeling that frightened him. There was something about him that Peter didn’t like, all he had to do is find out before it was too late. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 101st Precinct Sloanville USA Kermit Griffin’s office Birkoff sat at the ‘terminal,’ connecting the final items to the computer. It was almost time to contact headquarters and thanks the Kermit they had the equipment to do it. When the mission started Birkoff had wondered why his supplies had been cut back but now he understood. Kermit would supply what they needed and he could pass it off as something, what the young man didn’t want to know. “This office is secure, right?” He asked covering all of the bases, even though he already knew the answer. “It’s secure. That and the fact that I had informed Broderick not to bug me, we should be set.” Kermit took one last look around the room, once they had entered the room all of the shades had been pulled, shutting out the light from the main section. He knew that Blake wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and bug the place, for he was also once Agency. He knew that it would not end up good for him. Death or cancellation was an everyday occurrence especially when Section was involved. Part of Kermit had hoped that he would never have to deal with this again, but the other part of him craved it. The secrecy, the rush that would go through your body as you hide in corners, knowing that you held someone’s life in your hands. Birkoff made the final connection, then turned to Michael. “We’re all set.” “Good.” Michael walked up the computer and began to make the connection to Section. Once his security code was entered two faces appeared on the screen. “Connection made, all secured.” He stated, although he didn’t really know for who’s benefit, his or theirs. Operations didn’t waste anytime with his questions. “Status.” Michael in his usual ‘machine mode,’ answered the question with certainty. “Contact was made. Birkoff is sending the possible target information now. So far no sign of our main profile.” *Hidden codes and secrecy,* Nikita thought. *Is the way of Section One.* She looked at the screen in front of them, knowing that the ‘head honcho’ would not like that they didn’t have more information. At least he hid it well. On the screen they saw Madeline look over the information that Birkoff had sent them, “I’ll run a profile on them. You should have it there by morning.” “Is there anything else to report?” Operations asked. His voice was not showing the slight anger that appeared in his eyes, for that Birkoff was grateful. He had been on the receiving end of that before, in fact it wasn’t that long ago he thought that he would be canceled. Operations was not happy with him for not following orders when the plague hit Section, and for his interference with Nikita’s cancellation plans. The only thing that saved him during the plague was that he was the calmest one there, and kept to the perimeters that were set years ago. As for the other, he was just lucky that he was hard to replace. Michael glanced over at Kermit then back to the terminal. “Nothing yet, but we will be doing some recon tonight. We should have more information by morning.” “Good,” Operations said, obviously pleased with Michael. “Is Kermit behaving himself?” Kermit, who had stayed out of the way, finally walked into view. “Me behave?” he laughed. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Birkoff began typing, then stated to the screen “Standby.” Michael placed his hand into his jacket by his gun, ready for anything. Nikita stood off to the side. Kermit waited until he got the okay from Birkoff, then opened the door. “What?” He was more than mad, he was furious. When he had come in he had told them that he didn’t want to be disturbed, but things didn’t always work out the way they wanted. Blake stood outside the office, not quite sure what to say or think. “The Captain wants to see you in her office.” Kermit bit his tongue, trying not to say what he was going through his mind. Instead he just answered, “Tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Shutting his door again, he turned back to Birkoff and shrugged. Once the office was secured once again they finished their talk with Operations. With the details laid out Kermit walked out of his office followed by the Section Operatives. He lead them to the front desk and whispered something in Michael’s ear. Michael nodded in agreement, “Stop by the room in the morning. You’ll get what you need.” Kermit smiles as he turned to report to the Captain. Just as Michael, Nikita, and Birkoff were heading toward the door Peter walked in and spotted them. “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” Nikita smiled at Peter, she liked him. Peter had a light to him that would bring the light to any dark soul. “We stopped by to see Michael’s friend. What are you doing here? I thought that you said you had the next two weeks off.” Peter smiled back at her. *She has the most beautiful blue eyes,* he thought. “Well I do but there are just something that need to be taken care of.” Nikita just nodded in understanding. “But I am glad that you’re here. Would you like to join me for dinner, Nikita?” Nikita was shocked. It has been a long time since someone, besides Michael, that is, had asked her out to dinner, and didn’t want her to do something in return. She looked at Michael. Getting his approval she turned back to Peter, “Sure, that’d be great.” “Alright, just give me a few minutes and we can go.” Peter then went to his desk to do what needed to be done. Michael bent down and whispered in Nikita’s ear, secretly touching her hand. “We’ll meet you back at the hotel.” With that the two men left. Nikita waited for Peter at the front desk, always keeping an eye out. She hated the fact that even here she couldn’t relax. *Maybe, it’s because the last time you were in a police station you ended up in Section,* she thought to herself. She thought about what life would be like outside of Section, if she never was brought there. She knew what it was like on the outside and knew that she wasn’t happy. But there was always a chance that maybe she would’ve been better off if she didn’t have the life she had. Before she could get too far into that line of thinking, Peter walked up to her, “Ready?” Snapping out of her thought she smiled, “Yeah, let’s go.” Peter placed his arm at the small of her back and lead her out of the station. “So where are we going?” “Do you like Italian?” -------------------------------------- 101st Precinct Sloanville USA Outside Michael and Birkoff walked toward their car. Before Michael got in he looked toward the building. Things hadn’t been easy for him as of late, but he knew that he wouldn’t have gotten through it without Nikita. He knew that he owed his life to Nikita, for he would’ve put a bullet in his skull a long time ago. He still missed his son terribly, and hoped that one day, as far-fetched as it maybe, he would be with him again. He noticed Nikita and Peter walk out of the building and begin their date. Michael shook his head and got into the car. “I’ll drop you off at the Hotel and then I need to met someone.” Birkoff nodded, not even glancing up from his laptop to acknowledge the other man. They arrived at the hotel, and Birkoff got out. “I’m going to do some more checking and see what I can come up with. Kermit’s going to be by later to help,” the younger man said before he closed the door. Michael gave a slight nod and once the door was closed he was off to his meeting. He drove down to the docks finding one on the east side. It looked abandoned, but Michael turned off the car. Grabbing his gun, he got out and headed toward the door. He walked in to the building, looking all around him. Everything was quiet. He hoped that his contact was there, and that nothing had happened to him. Slowly, he caught sight of a shadow out of the corner of his eye. Michael turned with his gun in his hand, ready to shoot whoever was there. “Hey, it’s me. Don’t shoot,” the voice said. Michael didn’t move, “Step into the light.” The man did, showing Michael that it was in fact the one he was looking for. He put his gun away and walked up to the other man. “It’s been a long time, Jason.” Jason smiled, “That it has, ‘big bro.’” Jason walked up to one of the boxes and leaned against it. “Things have gotten out of hand haven’t they?” Jason then pulled out a PDA from his pocket and handed it to Michael. “There’s everything that you need to know. People, places, agendas, it’s all there.” Michael took that PDA and looked it over. Suddenly he saw a name that he never thought that he would see again. “Yep, he’s still alive, amazing enough.” He saw the picture of David Fanning, the same man who he had hoped was dead. Last time he saw David, his wife, Lisa, was being dragged through the forest by him. ================================= Flashback Michael got out of the jeep that he had traveled here with Lisa, and walked over to her side. “I have something for you.” Michael handed Lisa a small vial of orange liquid. "What's this," she asked him. Michael looked away from her. “Your way out,” was all he told her then grabbing her arm they moved away from the jeep. ------------------------------ Later, Michael walked down from the hill after David Fanning had taken his wife away. Nikita was not happy at all with Michael, “Lisa?” “She'll be fine." He told her. Nikita looks at him, then turns, and walks away from him. She was going after the two. "I'm going to help her." Before she got too far she heard Michael behind her. "Nikita!" She turned around and noticed that he had his gun trained on her. Nikita looks at him incredulously, disbelief showing in her voice. " Are you going to kill me?" Michael calmly stated, "No, I'll shoot you in the leg and carry you back. It'll be easier for both of us if you can walk." Nikita looks to the woods where the couple disappeared, then returns to stand in front of Michael. "You know you're either insane or the coldest man who ever lived." "I gave her the isotope," he stated explaining his actions. Nikita shakes her head, in disbelief. "So she can poison him?" "The only way she can truly be free is to kill him herself,” he told her. "Is that what she said or is that what you made her believe?" ================================= Present day He had hoped that Lisa had given David the isotope that she had, and killed him. If David was alive what happened to Lisa? Michael never wanted anything to happen to her, but if he was alive then everything pointed to her being dead. “What does he have to do with Red Cell?” Jason stood straight, and with his hands in his pockets walked up to Michael. “It appears that after the mission to take out Nicolai Kusko, David was confronted by members of Red Cell. Since they knew that he was a part of Section One, and a loose cannon, they asked him to join them.” Jason looked at his friend, and mentor, “And since he still has contacts in the business he was a wanted commodity in Red Cell. With his hatred for you and Nikita, he of course agreed.” “We need to be careful,” Michael said. “I’m just glad that he was never around when I was there, it makes my job a lot easier.” Jason replied. “You be careful, it wont be easy.” Michael nodded and left. --------------------------------- Italian Restaurant Sloanville USA Peter and Nikita were sitting at one of the back tables, enjoying their meal. “So what do you do in New Orleans, Nikita?” Peter asked the blond next to him. Nikita smiled, ‘and I’m the one who is supposed to be finding out about you.’ She looked up at Peter and shrugged, “Well as Kermit I’m sure told you, Michael, Birkoff and myself are detectives there. Birkoff works with the Computer Crimes division, while Michael and myself work in Homicide,” She said, remembering what their backgrounds stated this time. “So what about you? What do you do in this town,” she asked as she leaned across toward him. Peter smiled back at her, leaning closer to her as well. “Me?” She nodded. “Not much, of course if you ask my Chief, all I’m there for is to give him an ulcer.” Nikita sat back and laughed. “I work on a lot of different cases that happen here in China town. You see my father is well known and I guess it helps out. Of course I don’t think I would’ve been a cop if it wasn’t for Paul.” “Who’s Paul,” she asked. “Paul Blaisdell is my adopted father. It’s a long story and I don’t want to bore you.” He informed her. “Please, I’d love to hear it.” She said, hoping to eliminate him from their list. Peter looked at her, wondering where this was coming from, “You tell me about yours and I’ll tell you about mine. Fair?” He asked her. Peter was still suspicious of her and her friends and he wanted to know why. “Alright, let’s see. I was orphaned when I was little, my mother abandoned me. I lived on the streets most of my life. That’s when I met Michael and he showed me a different path, per say, than stealing.” Nikita was proud of herself to give him a very brief description of her life without going into what really happened. Yes, she was abandoned by her mother. Yes, she lived on the streets, and Michael showed her a different way of life. Granted she left out Section and how much she hates her ‘new life’, but the way Section was, if he knew he would be dead. Peter shook his head, “Sound familiar.” Nikita glanced at him, confused. “I was abandoned myself, in a way. You see I thought that my father was dead a little over 15 years ago. I was taken to an orphanage, where I was adopted by Paul. I guess we have something in common.” Nikita smiled. She liked Peter, and didn’t want to hurt him. “At least you had someone there to help you out. I had no one but myself, until I meet Michael.” “Michael is definitely different.” Peter said. Nikita looked at him, once again confused. “I’m just wondering how he knows Kermit, and I guess it’s just a feeling I have whenever he’s around. It’s really hard to explain, maybe I’ll tell you about it some other time.” Nikita shook her head, “Gut instinct?” Peter shrugged. “Michael has had a hard time as of late, but he’s one of the good guys. Trust me,” she informed him. The last thing she wanted was more trouble for Michael. He’s been through too much lately. Nikita would rather die than see him suffer anymore. They sat there in silence for a little longer, until the waiter came up to them. “Excuse me, Ms. Taylor, there’s a phone call for you,” he said setting the phone down in front of her. “Well so much for a peaceful dinner, huh?” She looked at Peter as she picked up the line. “Hello?” “Josephine,” was all that was said on the other end. Nikita pretended that she was listening to something, to make Peter believe that there was someone there. “Okay, I’m on my way back. . . . Yeah, see you then.” She hung up the phone and thanked the waiter. “I gotta go, sorry.” She waived for the check. When it came she placed money down on the table. “I’ll get this one, you can pay the next time,” she said before Peter can protest. “I hope that there will be a next time, Peter. It’s been fun.” “I hope so too, Nikita. Need a ride?” Peter said remembering that she came here with him. “No that’s alright, I’ve got one thanks for the offer though.” She stood and left. Peter just sat there wondering what just happened. Who was that on the phone and what would be such a big emergency that she had to leave. They were here for a conference, not on duty. More questions, not enough answers. It was time for him to talk to Kermit and hopefully get some answers. Peter stood, heading out to find Kermit. When he was outside he noticed Michael standing there talking to Nikita. Whatever was being said it didn’t look good. Michael was standing by his car watching Nikita walk toward him. “We have a problem.” Nikita walked up to him and stood in front of him. “What?” “Fanning’s alive.” Nikita’s eyes got wide at this news. Fanning, the man who had kidnapped her, and as she had put it to Operations the last time they saw Fanning, a psychotic murderer and a sadistic wife beater, was alive. “How?” Michael just shrugged, he didn’t know the answer to that, but he was going to find out. Things between Operations and him had not been on good terms as of late, so thoughts of a Section betrayal or test kept popping up in both of their minds. “What about Lisa?” “I don’t know. But we have to inform Operations. If this is true, we may have to abort the mission.” Nikita began to pace in front of Michael. “Great, just great. Operations won’t be pleased with this, and frankly right now you aren’t in good standings with them. You should’ve killed him when you had the chance, Michael.” Michael closed his eyes, remembering the entire thing. He had lied to Section, about it all. The thought that David had Nikita tore at his heart and he would’ve done anything to get her back. But he had hurt Lisa, and felt that she needed to get her own revenge, against the man who had ruined her life. She should’ve been able to kill him, but now his own doubts crept into his mind. “Maybe, but we can’t change it now. Let’s go.” He opened the door for Nikita, then stepped over to the drivers side of the car and got in. Nikita took a deep breath and released it. Getting into the car she noticed Peter standing there watching the entire thing. She hoped she was right about him. -------------------------------------- Hotel Sloanville USA Birkoff’s room Michael and Nikita walked into the room, where Kermit and Birkoff were researching. Kermit looked up at the two, “So far no luck, but I’m positive that we’ll have something by morning.” Michael looked at Kermit, “We have a name.” Kermit’s eyes got wide. Last he knew Nikita was going out to dinner with Peter. They wouldn’t suspect the kid would they, he thought. “Birkoff we need to get in touch with Section.” Birkoff opened his communication console, and began the process of hooking up. “We’re in.” Operations was standing next to Madeline, in what looked like her office. “I thought I said to only contact us once a day, Michael.” They could tell the Operations was not pleased, of course he hadn’t been pleased with Michael all that often lately. “David Fanning is alive and working with Red Cell,” he answered back to Operations, mater-of-factly. “I thought that you confirmed his death. Did you lie to us, Michael?” “No,” Michael stared back at the older man. He wasn’t going to tell him the truth, he knew that if he did then Nikita and Birkoff would suffer. “Then do you have an explanation for this Michael?” “He appeared to be dead, his vitals must have been so weak that they couldn’t be detected.” Michael lied. “What about Housekeeping?” Kermit placed his hand over his mouth to hide his grin. “Yeah, I thought that Housekeeping would’ve done their job and confirmed it for you,” Kermit added. Operations looked at the two men, through silted eyes. Kermit had no right to talk to him that way. “If I were you, Kermit, I would stay out of this.” “Why, you don’t own me, Wolfe. Nor will you ever. Remember that,” he answered back. Operations turned away from Kermit, returning his attentions to his possible successor. “I expect a full report tomorrow, Michael. You will return immediately.” Michael turned his eyes to the screen. “Of course.” He reached over Birkoff, cutting off communication. The senior operative then turned his attention to the others. Both Nikita and Birkoff had as much to lose here that he did. He couldn’t let anything happen to either of them. Michael would take full responsibility for what had happened. Thanks to Section, he was no longer afraid to die. Michael looked directly at Birkoff and Nikita. “Continue with the profile, until I tell you different.” Birkoff’s eyes went wide. He wasn’t sure about going against Operations, and the Section head didn’t seem pleased. Anyone who crossed Operations tended to end up dead, or worse. Of course, people ended up dead if they crossed Michael. To Birkoff, it was a lose-lose situation. The young computer genius was more afraid of Michael’s wrath then Operations’ however. For one, he respected Michael, and of course there was the whole Nikita factor. Everyone knew that if anyone messed with one, you had to deal with the other. It wasn’t a pretty sight for those who had. “Okay,” he said quietly turning back to his computer. Michael turned and walked out of the room, leaving Birkoff and Kermit to their work. Nikita turned to follow Michael. “Night Birkoff,” she stated as she too walked out the door. Once the duo were outside the room, Birkoff placed his head in his hands and sighed. “I’m dead.” Kermit placed his hand on Birkoff’s shoulder. There were times that he forgot that Birkoff was only a little older than twenty-five. “Okay, now we have a couple of names. Let’s start checking into those,” Kermit told him, bringing the young man back to the here and now. End of Part One