Back to Section One
By: Kimberly
Alexandra saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Darren had been sent out on a mission by Larry, and she was at loose ends. Nikita was away still. So Alexandra helped herself to a change of clothes, took a PDA, told Sue that they could call her back in if they needed her, and walked out of Section Three.
Oh to walk the streets of her old city! She could smell the fresh spring rain on the pavement, the salty air from Puget Sound. The sounds of a thousand cab horns were music to her ears. She walked down to the Pike Place market, and hit the cash machine first. She remembered when she was a teenager, she never carried a lot of cash, partially because she never had much and partially because she was afraid to have what she did have, stolen. She dared someone to try and take it from her now!
The savory smells of chicken frying drew her into a small restaurant, her mouth watering, anticipating the tasty treat. Enjoying her helping of fried chicken strips, and a coke, Alexandra stood back in the crowd and watched the antics of the fish market clerks, as they barked orders back and forth, and tossed fish high into the air to be caught and wrapped up with professional precision.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandra saw someone walk up to a teenager, chat with him. After a moment or two, they shook hands, and looked around, then the person who had walked up, left. Several minutes later, she saw it happen again and a while later, yet again. The routine suddenly grabbed her complete attention as the last person faltered upon leaving, and Alexandra caught a glimpse of something white.
Alexandra felt the need slam into her like a sledge hammer. She watched for a few more minutes, then keeping her hands in her pockets walked over and made her pitch.
It was simple really. She talked with the kid for a few minutes. He asked her if she'd seen the snow in the Andes. She said she hadn't, but she'd like to. He told her it was a certain amount of inches deep - which was the price - and Alexandra palmed the money in her pocket, and shook hands with him. Afterwards, she slipped her hand back into her pocket with her purchase.
That done, she walked away, and made her way down into the public rest rooms. It had been five days, and she was so stressed. She didn't know when she'd see Darren again - she could be sent back to Section One any day now. So she got a little bit on her finger nail, and snorted it up.
She wandered around the market for another couple hours, enjoying the drug induced Technicolor of all the sites around her. She poured over the hand made jewelry, buying a couple pieces here and there. One shop had homemade honey - and honey combs, and she stopped there as well. Next, she went through West Lake Center, and bought herself two outfits.
She left the shopping district, as her high started to wear off, and slowly made her way back to Section Three. She stood in front of the visual scanner, and waited for Sue or whomever to let her in, and felt the elevators start to drop. When the doors opened up, and she stepped out into the main hallway, a voice behind her said:
"Hey!"
Alexandra spun around to face Darren, and felt her face flush. Damn! Caught!
Darren was tired. The mission shouldn't have been difficult, but it hadn't gone smoothly at all. As usual, Larry hadn't thought of all the contingencies. Half way through the mission, Darren realized Larry had evidently completely disregarded the SIM as well.
Darren stood in the hallway, watching the last of the team disperse, and the data disk being secured. Right in front of his eyes, Alexandra came through the elevator door, a couple shopping bags in hand.
"Hey!" Darren said, walking up to her, realizing she'd been out, despite Nikita's orders.
Alexandra turned to him, "Hey there! You're back, how did it go?"
Darren watched her. She looked . . . tense.
"Well enough, we got the disk, we all came back . . . where did you go?" Darren asked her.
She grinned, "Pike Place Market - then to West Lake Center. I saved the Seattle Center for a day when we could both go."
Darren frowned , "Alex - you're supposed to be staying inside Section Three!"
Alexandra groaned, "Darren, they got the group responsible - and I'm going nuts in here!"
Darren sighed and cupped her cheek, "Suppose someone saw you?"
She grasped his hand, and pressed her lips to the palm, "Darren, I don't look the same - not by miles. Relax. No one recognized me. I had bleach blonde hair, I weighed 50 pounds more, and the population here changes over every year in this city. No one stays around long."
She watched his face, sternly looking down at her, then took one of his fingers into her mouth, and sucked on it, using her tongue to stroke along the inside of it.
Darren hissed, feeling desire curl inside him. He couldn't help but imagine other parts of him in her hot mouth, or inside of her, in other places . . .
He looked up and down the hall to see if anyone was watching, "Alex - babe I gotta go debrief."
She drew his finger out of her mouth, giving the tip one last flick with her tongue, then she released his hand.
"Hurry," she said, her voice husky.
Darren swallowed hard, "You better be inside Section Three when I'm done, then."
She nodded, and drew back from him, and strolled down the hall, a slight sway to her hips as she walked. Darren sighed, watching her go, and wondered what was going on in her head.
* * *
Nikita, Michael and Madeline sat in front of the video screen. They'd been in a conference with George for the past hour.
Section One was being rebuilt as they spoke. Structurally, there was very little repair work to be done. Already, new communications equipment was being delivered. Operations would be able to return to Section in two weeks - but only to light duty. In the mean time, Michael would assume the reigns of Section One.
"We're dangerously low on staff right now," Madeline told George, "There are 20 operatives in Section Three, that we could use. I'd like at least half of them back. I'll replace them over the next year."
George looked at Nikita, "Nikita?"
"I agree . . . I think that at this point, Section Three is at a stale mate. We either handle it like Section One, or the Agency. I don't see any reason to keep Section One Operatives there right now. It's a waste really."
"I see," George said, "I had found a few more people - people that were somewhere between the agency and Section One."
"Then staff Section Three with them," Nikita told him, "I just feel that most of us there, are better suited to work under the guidelines of Section One."
"I see," George said, "I understand you wanted to return to Section One as well."
"Yes," Nikita told him, "I think that Larry would agree with my assessment."
George managed what passed for a half smile - at least for him, "Larry has expressed his opinion several times. Nikita, I'd like you and Madeline to prepare a list of operatives you think should be transferred back, and submit them to me. Michael - let me know when Section One is up and running again."
The video screen went dark.
Nikita looked at Madeline, "Whenever you're ready."
"I'll sit down with you in conference two in a few minutes," Madeline told her, "Michael - If you need any assistance from me, let me know."
Michael nodded, and he and Nikita watched Madeline leave. Nikita looked over at Michael, "Congratulations."
The corner of Michael's lip turned up, "It's only for a while . . . we'll have to be careful. This will make things . . . difficult."
Nikita nodded, "I know. How soon do you want me and everyone else back into Section One?"
"As soon as possible," Michael told her.
Nikita nodded, and turned to go. Michael watched her leave, thinking how much stronger she was now, versus 5 years ago.
He looked around, scanning the room, everything in his view as he always did, and caught site of Stephen walking across the main floor. Michael looked ahead to where he was going. Kristie was standing there, socializing with a few other cold ops.
Kristie saw the cold operative in front of her start to become fidgety, so she knew someone was standing behind her. She turned, and looked up into Stephen's blue green eye's, a lazy smile on his lips.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Stephen raised an eyebrow, "Long enough to know that you're really wishing for some training time."
Kristie knew Michael was watching from across the room, but chose to ignore him.
"It's been a few days since I had a good workout, I was thinking that I'd try to find someone to spar with . . . if you're up to it that is," Kristie told him, "I know how draining all that political crap can be."
Stephen laughed, "Oh, I'm up for your best. I'll see you in room 23 in 15 minutes."
He stepped back, and turned, heading down the hall. Kristie followed his tall, muscular form with her eyes, and wished there weren't any cameras in this substation. Sparing wasn't quite the work out she wanted.
"Guess I ought to go change," Kristie said, and headed for the quarters she'd been assigned. She saw Michael watching her as she went, and nodded at him.
Room 23 was essentially a padded room. The walls were padded, the floor was. It was a good room for training, sparing - anything physical. Kristie was stretching out when Stephen walked in.
She almost let her jaw fall open when she saw him. He wore a pair of spandex bike shorts, and he peeled off his T-shirt and tossed it into the corner, revealing a sparsly furred muscular chest.
He pulled on the padded gloves, and started to stretch out.
"You ready?" he asked her, watching her.
"Sure," She said, pulling on her gloves, and moving over to the line.
"You attack," Stephen told her, " I don't know where you are yet."
She rolled her eyes, "Don't want to hurt me, huh? I'm not as fragile as I look, trust me."
She stepped into the ring, and they circled for a few moments. Kristie lashed out with her foot. Stephen blocked it. She lashed out with her fist, Stephen blocked again, and threw a punch of his own.
Point contact, just so she knew she'd taken the hit, but not enough to hurt her. She blocked, but it was late. She threw another kick, and he caught her foot, dumping her on the floor.
"You're signaling with your eyes," Stephen told her.
"That's what Alex says," Kristie sighed, sitting up, "I keep thinking I've broken that habit . . ."
"Who is Alex?" Stephen asked her, watching her face.
Kristie looked at his face, and instantly knew he was thinking that 'Alex' was a man's name.
"Just a cold op that I spar with," she said, and threw another punch, this time she looked at his shoulder, but aimed for his stomach.
Stephen saw it coming, but barely had time to block it.
They went back and forth for a while, Stephen got more and more aggressive, pushing until Kristie couldn't quite keep up with him. The sensei at Section One was accurate in his scoring of her. She'd mastered it fast - or she'd learned a lot on the outside. Either way, she was almost up to proficiency for cold op - at least as far as her martial arts skills were.
She held up her hand, and walked over to get her water bottle, signaling it was time to stop.
Stephen grabbed up his, and sat down next to her.
"So how did you meet Michael," Stephen asked her after a moment.
Kristie looked at him, "You mean the guy you were having the dick measuring contest with? I was a target on an assignment. He was after a guy Section One thought I was dating on and off. I decrypted a file. But all of that is in my file I'm sure."
"But your file also says you were canceled, yet here you are, alive and breathing," Stephen told her.
"That's in my file too Stephen. Michael relocated me. Red Cell stumbled across me in Seattle," Kristie told him, "What is it that you think you're working up to?"
Stephen smiled at her, his full lips curving sensuously. Kristie couldn't help but wonder what they'd feel like, up against hers.
"How did Michael convince you to come in?" Stephen asked her.
Kristie sighed, "I was facing being hunted down and killed otherwise. It wasn't a hard decision really . . . and he drugged me - the way Section always does. . How did you get here?"
Stephen should have known she'd ask. It surprised him at first. This was a topic people just didn't discuss here.
"I murdered the man who raped and brutalized my sister," he told her, "He was a cop. They defended him, said she was pointing the finger at him to protect someone else."
"Damn," Kristie said softly, "How long ago was that?"
"Twelve years ago," Stephen told her, and stood up, "I have some things I need to do. You should probably clean up. You'll probably be mobilizing again soon."
Madeline and Nikita both looked up when they heard the knock on the door.
"Come in," Madeline called, sitting back in her chair.
Stephen had cleaned up, dressed in normal clothing. His hair was still wet from the shower, but that was the only thing about him that wasn't picture perfect.
"I understand you're reassigning some of the operatives," Stephen said, looking at Madeline, "We're fully staffed here - we have more level 5's and level 4's than we need. I'd like to volunteer to go back to Section One. My Valentine Op skills are getting a little rusty out here."
Madeline smiled, "I'll take it under consideration."
Stephen nodded, and left the room, his walk confident, comfortable.
"So what's the deal between him and Michael," Nikita asked Madeline, after the door had closed behind Stephen
Madeline smiled at the younger woman, "A woman. She was Stephen's material, but we felt that she was not going to handle Valentine Op training well with him. We gave her to Michael for the Valentine Op Training. Michael demonstrates, Stephen tells. She became obsessed with Michael, and committed suicide. Stephen felt that Michael should have trained her by telling, not demonstrating."
Nikita sighed, "That's a hard call. Lots of Operatives are trained hands on, and it isn't a problem. On the other hand, I had a hard time separating it myself . . ."
"True. There are so many variables Nikita. Had we trained you with someone else, you would not have formed that attachment. But I don't know if you'd have learned so well either. You have to take into consideration the student and the teacher. The attachment was formed for Michael and you. The chemistry between you is what makes the two of you, as a team, so good. Michael and Stephen have very different styles," Madeline said, "Well, lets get back to who we have here . . ."
* * *
Alexandra was sound asleep, exhausted. Darren, though drained, couldn't find that elusive oblivion. Alexandra's behavior troubled him. She was so much more high strung that he remembered - and incredibly reckless. He told Nikita months ago that he was worried that Alexandra was dangerously close to her breaking point. He knew he was seeing last ditch coping mechanisms in her lately . . . but they could get her killed or canceled.
'Hard to believe I was the one begging for her attention so long ago . . .' he thought.
Walter had told him that this was normal behavior for her too, especially over the last 8 weeks. She'd picked fights with Michael, tested his patience on more than one occasion. Walter told Darren about the Marchielli mission - how she'd come back, strung out - and spent the night in med lab detox. It had been unavoidable. Madeline had probably been watching Alexandra for signs of addiction too. Walter thought they were seeing them - but maybe it was just because she'd gone a few day without a cigarette. Wasn't nicotine addition supposed to be the hardest to break?
The thing that had worried Walter the most about the Marchielli mission was how Alexandra accepted it. She was going to be someone's whore for the weekend, and she just accepted it. That bothered Walter. Not that Walter thought she should refuse, she had no choice. But Alexandra hadn't seemed overly concerned, and she hadn't been hiding behind her mission game face either.
Walter also told Darren about Kristie. Alexandra had a hard time with Kristie at first, but she never let Kristie know that. She'd openly attacked Michael though. While Walter genuinely liked Kristie, he never saw her as a potential replacement for Nikita in Michael's life. A potential friend perhaps, but that would be the extent of it. That was assuming that Michael would ever allow another friendship, in any way shape or form.
Walter had also told Darren that Michael had suffered in Nikita's absence .Walter thought Michael felt some responsibility to watch over Alexandra, since she'd been Nikita's material, and Nikita's pet project for so long.
But Darren had to admit he'd changed a lot too. Not having someone to lean on forced him to become a little harder. He never felt like he could depend on half the operatives here, so he was always watching, always anticipating . . .
And he was reluctant to set down any roots. Having them ripped up and being separated from the bonds and friendships he made, hurt too much. Maybe now, more than ever before, Darren could understand Michael. He'd been there the longest it seemed. He'd seen operatives come and go. Surely he'd lost friends along the way.
Darren lay on his back. Alexandra's body was draped over him, effectively pinning him down. She stirred, and raised her head, her sapphire blue eyes gazing into his.
"Hey," she said softly. She shifted her body and slipped her fingers into his hair.
"I was afraid I'd wake up and find out all this was a dream . . ."
Darren pulled her face back to his, and kissed her lips, physically assuring her it wasn't a dream. He turned with her, so she lay on her back, and leaned on his elbow, "Alex, I want to talk to you about something."
She smiled up at him, running her fingers down his slightly furred chest. Her finger tips found his nipple, and she toyed with it a little, "Sure - if you really want to talk that is."
Darren grinned, and grasped her hand, "In a few minutes, Red. You know I live and breath for you, right?"
Suddenly, Alexandra was worried, "Yeah . . . go on."
Darren stroked her face, smoothing her hair back, "You're awfully high strung lately. Are you using anything?"
Alexandra hesitated a moment too long.
"Darren, I'm just really stressed -" She started.
"Alex - baby, tell me what you're doing," Darren urged her
Alexandra sighed, "I'm not using anything!"
Darren frowned, "That took you a little too long to answer, Babe. Don't you trust me anymore?"
She groaned, "With my life - I'm fine, really. The last couple weeks have just been a nightmare - I'm on edge is all . . ."
She pulled him down to her, kissing him on the mouth. Darren couldn't help but think that she was distracting him. But he kissed her back, tasting her, drawing up her passion like a drug he himself craved. Not leaving her mouth, he started to feel around for the paper back with the condoms in it, and accidentally knocked her bag over. Alexandra broke the kiss.
"What are you doing?" she asked, a little too frantically, looking over at her bag. It was sitting on the floor now, next to the paper bag with the condoms in it.
"Sorry," Darren soothed her, "I was reaching for a condom . . . we've got a few hours before we have to be up again."
She relaxed, running her hands down his chest, "Maybe I want to play a little more before the main event . . ."
She rolled them so he lay on his back, and slowly started to move her mouth down his body, paying particular attention to his nipples, making his body tense with need for her. Her soft fingers curled around his hardening cock, and he stroked her back as she slowly moved her way down. When she was working her way down his stomach, his mind was able to clear enough for a few minutes to wonder why she'd reacted that way to her bag being knocked over . . .
Kristie frowned slightly, realizing that her whole life fit in one bag. Granted, it was good sized duffel bag, but it bothered her somehow that she could just pack up her life in a bag and go. Fifteen minutes to a new life, at the drop of a hat . . . what kind of life is this?
She knew cold ops, when they were done with their training, were allowed an apartment outside of Section One. But it would be a place that Section One chose. It would never be totally hers. She could furnish it the way she wanted, decorate it the way she wanted, but the entity she'd come to know as Section would always be a controlling factor in her life . . . and she hadn't done anything wrong to end up here. Sure, she'd killed those five terrorists . . . but that was self defense, wasn't it?
She knew one could argue that she could have just slipped away, but they'd still be looking for her, and she'd been in fear of her life. She'd often thought that a jury would never have convicted her. But if she'd gone to the police, and thrown herself at the mercy of a jury, she'd be dead today. Red Cell would have found a way to get to her, torture her, to get to Section One.
She shook herself out of her memories, pulled her jacket on, and picked up her bag. A transport was leaving in the next twenty minutes, and she was returning to her room at Section One, with the cheerful bubble lights, and the single bed that had become her desk, sofa, and lounge chair, all in one.
Kristie walked down the hall, to egress, where a crowd had gathered. She nodded a "hello" to another recruit that she'd been in training with. Then, something - or rather, someone, caught her eye.
Stephen walked towards her, a duffel bag in hand. He was dressed in tight Levi's, with a snug fitting blue oxford open at the throat, and his leather jacket unzipped.
"You're going with us?" Kristie asked him, feeling her insides turn to butterflies at the thought.
"Yes Mam," He said smoothly, " This substation is well staffed, and right now, the main station for Section One is hurting, so you've got me."
He grinned down at her, giving her his most dazzling, seductive smile, "Hope that doesn't bother you too much."
"Bother me? No," Kristie said, "Its uh . . . it'll be kinda nice to have a sparing partner who isn't afraid to punch - aside from Alex."
"Alex," Stephen said slowly, "Haven't heard of an Alex before you mentioned 'em. You'll have to introduce me."
Kristie grinned, thinking to herself, He still thinks Alex is a guy!
"Oh I'm sure you're just gonna love Alex," Kristie said, "So what about the rest of your stuff - don't you have a place outside of the substation?"
"Sure," Stephen said, "They'll move it all. I'll probably have it the day after tomorrow."
Kristie sighed, "I miss having my own place . . . I'm looking forward to being out of the dorm style rooms inside these stations more than anything else - heck, I'm even looking forward to studying again. I was supposed to have a test in my Italian class a few days before the attack."
"Do you need help with your Italian?" Stephen asked, in Italian.
Kristie did a head snap, and looked back at him, "As a matter of fact . . . "
* * *
"Michael," Nikita said softly.
Michael had been watching Stephen flirt with Kristie, confirming the fear that Michael had. Stephen was going to use Kristie to get even with Michael - for an offense Michael had never intended to commit.
Michael looked over at Nikita, "Yes?"
"It was Madeline's decision - he volunteered, and we're short a few Level 5 operatives right now," Nikita told him.
Michael nodded, and looked over at her, "Are you coming back to Section One?"
"Yes," Nikita told him, "As are Darren, Alex of course, and nine other operatives who were transferred. They'll be there a few hours before we will."
Michael nodded, "Good, the next couple of weeks are going to be difficult."
"I can imagine. This is going to be quite a test for you," Nikita told him, "George will be watching closely."
Michael expelled a breath, "A lot of people are going to be watching closely. Can you take over some of my material?"
"Sure," Nikita said, "I just assumed I would."
Michael's fingers brushed hers, "We should get ready to go."
* * *
Alexandra volunteered to help Walter get his armory squared away. Birkoff's assignment was to get the communications systems back up and running, with Darren's help.
Computers were more Darren's niche than Alexandra's - and Birkoff was just this side of insanity over the mess. It didn't help matters, that Alexandra had a hand in destroying the system. Even Birkoff's direction - she just didn't want to be involved in the clean up and resurrection.
Walter had plenty for her to do at any rate. More ammunition and new weapons had been shipped in, and while she was busy cataloging and sorting them, Walter was busy making more bombs. He'd sent out damn near everything he had when they'd scattered to the four corners of the globe a mere week and a half ago.
Alexandra sat in front of the press, each pull of the lever creating a new bullet. It was frighteningly easy to do.
Once, when she asked why Section didn't buy their ammunition pre-made, a mildly insulted Walter demonstrated the difference between his ammunition, and the manufactured version. Alexandra never asked again. A little difference in the gun powder, and a little different shape to the hallow point in the bullet made a huge difference.
"So is the smell of gun powder a turn on for you, Walter?" Alexandra asked him, as she set aside the last bomb he'd assembled.
Walter's pale blue eye's looked up at her over the magnified glasses, "You ain't experienced great sex until you're covered in the residue of burnt powder, sweetheart."
Alexandra laughed, "Did that line ever work on Nikita?"
"Not yet," Walter told her, "How are you doing there?"
Alexandra looked down at the box she'd been dropping the bullets into, "A couple hundred rounds, I got a long way to go."
"I'll help," A voice said, drawing their attention.
Alexandra turned to see the strawberry blonde Kristie standing there, her hands in her coat pockets.
"Sure thing honey," Walter said, grinning letcherously, "I never turn down an offer of help from a beautiful woman."
Alexandra nodded at Kristie, "How was life at the Paris substation?"
"Slow," Kristie said, "I did get to do comm support for one mission, so I consider myself lucky. And I found myself another sparring partner. Caught me making the same mistake you do."
"You looked at your target," Alexandra laughed, "I still do that sometimes - so is this a male sparing partner? You've got this look . . ."
Kristie laughed, "OH he's very male - am I making you jealous, Walter?"
Walter grunted, "You woman, you never appreciate an older man . . . here you go. I've already set up it up. Put your bullet here, your casing here. With every pull, the power drops the right amount in here, it rotates around, then with the next pull it puts the bullet in here."
Walter put it through three pulls to show her how it worked.
"OK, I got it," Kristie said, pulling up a stool, "How low are we?"
Alexandra nudged the box at her feet, "See this box? These are all the nine millimeter rounds we have - you're doing .45's"
Kristie grimaced, "Damn, very low! Walter, what are you doing over there?"
Walter finished soldering in a wire, "Fixing up some charges, we sent out all of those too."
Alexandra and Kristie quietly processed bullets for a few minutes.
"So what happens if he makes a mistake?" Kristie asked Alexandra.
Alexandra sighed, "I don't know - but I'm sure we'd be the first to know - considering we're sitting five feet away. If he suddenly says 'oh shit' - don't bother to duck. We're close enough that it won't matter."
Kristie and Alexandra laughed.
"Hey," Darren called out, walking by with a computer box, "No having fun in there with the old man - Oh - hello, You must be Kristie."
"Yeah," Kristie said, and glanced at Alex.
"Meet the not-so-late Darren," Alexandra told her, "The Darren I told you about."
"OH, That Darren . . ." Kristie said.
"I'm almost afraid to ask . . ." Darren said, "and I better get back before Birkoff starts having a nervous break down. You did a real number on the computer system, Alex."
Alexandra shrugged, "If I'd had a little C-4, you'd be sweeping up instead of carting it out."
Darren groaned, and walked away with the computer box.
"Damn," Kristie said, "You didn't tell me he looked that good! Not my type normally - but damn girl!"
Alexandra nodded, "I went through training with Darren. I'm glad he's not dead, he's a good friend."
Walter cleared his throat, and looked up at them.
Alexandra acted like she was gonna throw a casing at him.
"One of those special friends Alex?" Kristie asked quietly.
Alexandra sighed, and said in a teasing voice," Now Kristie, you know that is a major no-no here in Section right?"
"Oh of course," Kristie said, "I know all about that rule - that's the rule that everyone here follows so well . . ."
Alexandra and Kristie both nodded, and rolled their eyes.
"So I hear Michael is running Section One for a few weeks," Kristie said after a few minutes, "This should be interesting. I wonder if he'll do things differently than Operations did?"
Alexandra shook her head, "Not much. Do you know who you're new mentor is? Ryan didn't make it."
Kristie nodded, "Yeah, I'd heard that . . . I don't know - but there is this level 5 that transferred here from the Paris substation - but he's not French. His name is Stephen."
Walter looked up, "Stephen? Tall, blue - green eye's, brown hair?"
"Yeah," Kristie said, "You know him?"
"Know of him," Walter said, looking back down at his bomb, "So you think you'll get him?"
Kristie shrugged, "Who knows - he partnered me to spar one time. He seems decent enough."
Walter nodded, but didn't look up, "He's got a good reputation. He's good with recruits."
"So are Nikita and Michael back too?" Alexandra asked Kristie.
"Yeah," Kristie told her, "Last I saw, all the level 5's were gathering up with Madeline. Apparently there is a lot of reassigning going on. I heard Michael and Nikita talking, Michael wants to be up and running by tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow huh?" Alexandra said, looking down at the slowly growing box of bullets, "We're going to be here for a while then . . . hope you're comfortable."
It took hours to get communications up and running, but somewhere in the late evening, they were on line again. Walter drafted three more people to work the bullet presses, and rotated them on four hour shifts through the night. By six AM the next morning, Alexandra, Darren, Nikita, Tony and Tom found themselves sitting in a briefing.
"Your target is Sean Michael's. Information broker usually affiliated with the IRA. Recently, he's branched out into brokering information for anyone who can pay. He was an incidental to the group that attacked us close to two weeks ago. He didn't have our data, but he was interested in it. We want him brought in alive. We need to know who else was looking to buy up our files," Michael told him, "Nikita will lead the team - and you'll have a backup team from the Ireland sub-station on the periphery."
Alexandra looked up, "If we have a substation in Ireland - why are we going?"
"They're spread thin right now," Michael told her, and looked over at Madeline for her to continue with the briefing.
"Michael's likes to frequent the clubs in Belfast. Nikita and Alexandra will be the bate. He has a taste for the women, especially two women together," Madeline told them.
Alexandra almost gagged, but she didn't. Michael would have taken her head off, and that was only if Nikita didn't smack her upside the head first.
"You'll get his attention, lure him out of the club and up to a room upstairs in the inn. That's where the rest of the team will take him. You'll need to dress appropriately - and transport leaves in 45 minutes," Madeline finished.
Nikita pushed her chair back, signaling it was time to go. Alexandra looked from her to Michael, and knew neither one of them had slept at all last night. There were a lot of missions in the works already.
Alexandra picked out one of her favorites, a jade green sheath, and thin strappy heels. A small purse that would be just enough to hide her gun in. Nikita picked out an ice blue skirt and top, another pair of strappy heels. The men all chose dark slacks, nice shirts and blazers. Next they stopped by Walter's station for comm units and their weapons. Within the 45 minutes, they were in the transport, and on the way to the airport.
Once they were in the air, Nikita curled up in a seat, and took a nap.
The club in Belfast pounded with loud music, laser lights on the ceiling, and the wait staff moving in and around the throngs of dancers and tables, eager to help people drink up as much alcohol as possible. It was full of women in tight, short dresses or tight pants, and men trying to pick them up.
"Nikita, I just want to tell you ahead of time, that I think this is really uncool," Alexandra said, trying to look as comfortable as possible, with her arm around Nikita's waist, and Nikita's around hers.
Nikita laughed, "Relax - we both know which way the wind really does blow," Nikita told her.
Alexandra humphed, "I can tell you right now, half the team is just happy to be here to watch. Isn't there any gay women in Section One?"
"None that I trusted to pull this off," Nikita told her, "At least you're not being sent out to seduce a woman."
Alexandra looked over at her, "You've got to be kidding me."
Nikita shook her head, "Nope."
Alexandra grimaced, and scanned the room, "Oh god, look at those two over there, waving at us, by the door."
Nikita looked over. The two men were really enjoying watching them.
"Should we shock them?" Nikita said, grinning.
Alexandra groaned, "If you kiss me, I'll never forgive you."
Nikita laughed, and made a show of talking in Alexandra's ear.
"So how about telling me why you are so tense," Nikita told her, "You're pretty high strung lately."
Alexandra rolled her eyes, oh god, not again . . .
"It's been a stressful couple of weeks. We're getting back to normal, and I'll be fine. I can do the job," Alexandra said to her, and held up the glass to Nikita's lips. Nikita took a sip.
"Hey, you two almost look too realistic," Darren's voice said over the comm unit, teasing them.
"You're going to pay dearly for that," Alexandra said, making a show of talking in Nikita's ear.
"Birkoff has been offered money for the surveillance tapes," Tom said through the comm unit.
"How much is it up to?" Nikita asked, holding Alexandra's drink up to her lips for her to sip.
"Three hundred bucks so far," Tom said, "Do that a few more times, and he'll get a grand even."
"I see the target," Darren said, "Dark blue silk shirt, black slacks, loafers, just came in the main door.
Alexandra sat up on the bar stool and Nikita stepped around in front of her, stepping between Alexandra's slightly parted legs, one hand resting on Alexandra's thigh.
Alexandra leaned back, and sipped her drink. They both watched the target walk in, and immediately made eye contact.
He stopped in his tracks, and walked over.
"Can I buy you ladies a drink?" He offered, "Both of you?"
"Yeah," Nikita said, "My girlfriend here likes malibu and cranberry, I'd like a gin and tonic," Nikita told him.
He waved down the bar tender.
He ordered three drinks, and lured them over to a booth. They joined him, and started a three hour long drinking binge with him, furtively dumping most of their drinks in the planter behind them, while their target got very drunk.
Nikita and Alexandra sat close, arms around each other, the occasional hand on a thigh, involving their target more often than not. At the end of three hours, he was more than willing to go upstairs with them.
They took the elevator up, and the three of them staggered down the hall. At the end the hall, the hotel room door opened, and suddenly Darren, and Tom were in the hall. Nikita jammed a tranquilizer into the Sean Michael's neck, and he struggled for all of ten seconds, and went limp in between them.
"Lets go," Nikita said, pushing open the side door, and checking the stair well.
Darren and Tom picked up the target, Alexandra covered the tail end of the group, and they disappeared down the stairwell, and out the side door to where Tony had a van waiting and running.
They shoved the target in, threw a blanket over him.
"Go," Nikita said, and tapped her comm unit, "Birkoff, we have the target, and we're enroute to the air transport."
"I'll inform Michael," Birkhoff told her.
Alexandra sat in the backseat between Darren and Tom, and draped an arm around both of their shoulders, "Now, If it was me and two men, that I could swing!"
"Don't hold your breath," Tom said quickly.
Darren laughed, "Alex has a kinky side! I have missed a lot!"
Alexandra groaned, "Why is it that men get so turned on by two women together?"
"Because we like the way women's bodies look," Darren said calmly, "Face it - a woman's body is aesthetically nicer than a mans."
Alexandra sighed, and thought about it for a moment, "Nope, I don't agree."
* * *
Kristie was up at 5:00 am, and headed for the gym, the same schedule she'd had before. She didn't know who was taking over her training, but she knew they'd either get her there, or at worst, she could continue her strength training and martial arts training until section got around to it.
She stretched out, and climbed on the stair master, and set it for an hour, and started her work out.
As she watched the people in the gym, she saw Stephen walk in, and slowly work his way around the room, talking to a few recruits.
Just as she was about ten minutes from getting off the stair master, he stopped in front of her.
"Hey," she breathed out at him, "You're up early."
"I have recruits to introduce myself too," He told her, "I'm taking over your training Kristie."
Kristie felt her stomach flip over, looking into his blue green eyes. So she'd be spending a lot of time with Stephen after all . . .
"Only if you always speak to me in Italian," she said, in Italian.
"Agreed, or whatever other language you're working on," He replied in Italian, "Let me know when you're done, and we'll go over your training records."
Kristie watched him walk away, watching how the material of his warm up pants stretched across his butt, and though about how he'd looked in spandex bike shorts, and nothing else . . .
* * *
"Mission completed," Nikita said, strolling out of mission loading, seeing Michael standing there.
Tom and Tony half carried the still groggy target passed them.
"The white room," Michael said as they passed.
Both Tom and Tony nodded, and kept going.
Alexandra walked out next, Darren a step behind her. Alexandra managed something that might have passed for a smile, and kept going. Darren nodded to Michael, and followed Alexandra.
"Any complications?" Michael asked her.
"None," Nikita told him, "Alex is a little uncomfortable playing the role of a homosexual female - but she pulled it off. She'll get used to it in time."
Michael nodded. Nikita had the distinct impression he was just down here waiting to see her.
"How is it going here?" Nikita asked him, starting to walk.
Michael matched her pace.
"As well as can be expected," Michael told her.
"So you think this has been contained then?" Nikita asked gently, as they walked.
Michael took a deep breath, "I hope so."
Continue on to Interum