The rescue
It had been four days. Not that four days was unusual. But what was unusual, was that he was in town, not out on a mission. The opportunity had been there, several times. He passed her in the hall and made eye contact - but he looked away quickly, seemed to go out of his way to be busy when she was around. She'd taken the initiative herself, trying to catch him, just for a moment, to see what was up, to calm her own nerves. But it seemed as if he avoided her.
So, when the direct approach didn't work, she relied on her own personal spy network. Walter and Birkhoff.
Walter was always the safer bet, so she went there first. He understood things Birkhoff didn't. She found Walter at his station, where he usually was, cleaning a particularly mean looking rifle.
" Morning Walter," Nikita said, sauntering up.
She picked up one of the pieces he'd laid out, and started to clean that particular part.
" Hi Sugar," he said, " You've had a pretty slow week haven't you?"
Nikita smiled, " Now you just jinxed it, I'll have three weeks of solid run my butt off work now."
Walter chuckled, " Hand me that cylinder there, will ya? . . . So, how are the children?"
Nikita looked up at him surprised, " Children?"
" Darren and Red," Walter said, " Having new operatives under your wing is like having teenagers I think."
Nikita rolled her eye's, " Tell me about it. I have a whole new respect for Michael and what he managed to do with me my first year here. They're doing ok though I think. Darren will learn to hide his heart more, Alex will learn to rely on someone - I hope."
Walter looked up at her with eye's that saw too much, knew to much, " Hell, it only took you, what 4 years?"
Nikita threw one of the rags she was using at him, " They'll do ok. They keep training."
Walter nodded, " Red's foray's into the simulator haven't dropped off, but her hours are improving."
Nikita nodded, " I know . . . We all have our ghosts to work through, she'll get there. Probably without any assistance from Madeline too."
They both glanced up at the older woman's office, both of them thinking the same thing. Madeline didn't need to know. It wasn't a problem, yet.
" Have you seen Michael around, He's been awful busy," Nikita mentioned, " and We really haven't had that many missions out lately."
Walter looked up at her, his expression telling her he knew he was being pumped for information, but he answered anyway, " I see him a much as you do Sugar, spending a lot of time on his reports, gone out a couple times gathering Intel."
Nikita nodded, " Yeah, I know, he just seems, preoccupied, and you know how he's just so agreeable to volunteering any information."
Walter put down the piece he was working on, " Did you two have a fight?"
" No," Nikita said, " Actually, we had one little tiff a few weeks ago, but we got over that, we were OK with it the next day - and we've been getting along rather well the last few months. It's been kinda nice really."
Walter started to reassemble the gun, and Nikita wandered away in the general direction of Birkhoff's comm station. She reached into her coat pocket, and pulled out a bag of M&M's, and set them next to Birkhoff.
" How is the world today Birkhoff?" Nikita asked him.
Birkhoff looked at the bag, and then up at her, " Same old boring stuff. The terrorist's are still shaking their guns in the air, the governments are still shaking theirs back . . . nothing serious cooking though, yet. There's a couple possibilities though."
Nikita nodded, " I saw Michael rushing out of here a day or so ago, what's he been working on?"
Birkhoff knew some question was coming up. He knew it when the bag of candy was set on his desk.I can't be bought with money, but if you are talking about junk food . . . though he'd have told Nikita anyway.
" Nothing, I think he was out gathering Intel recently, didn't bring back anything worthwhile though," Birkhoff told her, " He stayed in the country."
Nikita nodded. So Either Michael's source dried up, or he was looking for opportunities to get away.
Nikita saw the 'children' pass by the main floor as they walked down the hall towards the gym. It was almost time for their morning work out.
She'd taken this assignment - training two new operatives with Michael, very seriously - sometimes she though more seriously than Michael. She made sure they kept up their work outs, they needed to keep building strength and stamina, not just maintain it. She kept them practicing their targeting, their reactions times, their martial arts skills, Languages - which was still her weakest point her opinion. Michael did participate though - mostly through supervision. He pointed out area's they should work more on, came up with more training exercises than Nikita would have ever thought of on her own.
Nikita nodded towards them, and started over, " so, how was the run this morning?"
She'd set them up on a running schedule to do on their own last week. Every other day, five timed miles. Daily, they did a weight work out, and daily, they worked with a martial arts instructor. She was a firm believer that it was impossible to train too much.
" Fine," Alexandra said, maintaining her usual serious expression.
Darren rolled his eye's, " We'll live - I don't feel like puking afterwards any more.
Alexandra looked a little too pale, but then again, if she was sick, she wouldn't tell Nikita, nor would she forgo a workout."
" Weights, and targeting today," Nikita told them, " Alex, I want you to ease up on your arm, I don't want it to become a problem."
The redhead opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it. It would do no good. Nikita wouldn't let up on her, and she knew it.
The gym wasn't too crowded. It was a large room, with various Nautilus machines and Free weights set up, often in sets of four, to exercise every muscle possible. There were stair masters, tread mills, bicycles, everything.
" I'll let you two start, while I warm up a little," Nikita told them, " It's been a few hours since my run."
She had set up strict rules for them, the same strict rules Michael had set for her. You always warmed up before you started a work out. Getting hurt in the gym, and putting yourself at a disadvantage in the field could cost them their lives, or someone else's.
Alexandra stripped off her sweat pants and sweat shirt, to reveal spandex shorts and a spandex crop style top, Darren did the same, in spandex shorts and tank top, and they started on the ab machine, taking one machine each side by side.
" So what are you doing on that thing?" Darren asked her.
She pulled the pin out of 90 pounds, " I'm doing 150, 3 sets of 10 - you?"
" Just got myself to finish 3 sets of 10 at 170 - You're catching up with me."
Alexandra curled down, all the while, her eye's scanning the room. It didn't matter that she always saw the same thing. People working out and gym equipment. It was the actual act of constantly looking, it needed to become habit.
" Do you know what I saw Michael doing in here the other day? 220 - I bet he has a body fat of 3 or something," she said, easing back from a curl.
Darren flexed down, " We're at 7 and 9 - the only reason your at 9 is cause your a woman - otherwise you'd leave me in the dust."
She talked between curls, " I . . . don't want . . . to look . . . like a . . . steroid . . . freak."
" I suppose we could always ask Nikita," Darren said very quietly, " but I get the impression they are off again."
Alexandra looked over at him quickly, " He has been gone a lot lately - you heard anything I haven't?"
Darren shook his head, thinking that this was a poor excuse for entertainment for them. But it was a good source none the less.The personal lives in Section One that we're not supposed to have. . .
" Nope - but it's not like we're exactly connected here, yet. Here comes 'kita." Darren nodded towards the blonde as she approached
Alexandra looked over at the her, " She's preoccupied."
" Well, I climbed all over Michael last time, this time you get to do it," Darren said, " Thought he was gonna string me up."
Alexandra looked over at him, one eyebrow raised, but she couldn't ask, because Nikita was defiantly within hearing distance.
But just as she was about to ask them where they were in the work out, something else caught her attention. Both Darren and Alexandra turned to follow her gaze, and saw Michael walking directly towards them, his strides purposeful, wearing his emotionless expression.
" There is a briefing in 5 minutes, all of you," Michael said, his voice silky soft, the French accent so different from all of theirs. He stayed just long enough to utter that statement, and turned and left.
" I'll see you two in five minutes," Nikita told them, and took off after Michael.
Alexandra got up and flexed her body backwards, stretching her stomach muscles, " You're right, they're off."
She bent over, stretching the lower back muscles, and heard a whistle from somewhere behind her, but she ignored it, and scooped up her sweat suit.
A voice from behind them said loudly, " Hey Alex - are you under Michaels protection too? Or has Darren got dibs on your ass."
Both Darren's and Alexandra's head snapped around suddenly. It was Greg, one of the other operatives. All they knew about him was that he'd been here longer than them, and that he was cocky, crude, and degrading to everyone he could be.
Darren glanced at Alexandra. He knew she'd want to handle this herself. It wouldn't get her anywhere to have Darren defend her, and she was definitely capable.
She leveled her stoic expression on him, " Maybe you should explain that statement a little more. I'm sure I'm misunderstanding you."
He walked over to her, standing as close as he possibly could, leaning over her, "Michael never lets Nikita have any fun with the guys - does he own you too?"
Darren was tense, ready to spring. Either Alexandra was purposefully letting this guy get over confident, or she was choosing to ignore him, and about to let it get out of hand.
" I was under the impression Section owned all of us," Alexandra said calmly.
"Apparently Giles thought differently - and I heard he wasn't half bad," Greg said putting his hands on her hips.
Alexandra shoved him off, " Don't be stupid."
She turned away, intending to walk out, but Greg grabbed her pony tail, and yanked back, landing her on her back.
Darren leapt forward, tackling Greg, knocking him to the ground. But before Darren could get more than one punch in, someone grabbed him from behind, and a third guy punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Alexandra was on her feet in an instant, throwing a kick at the guy who was punching Darren. The guy went down, and Alexandra barely dodged a grab from Greg, who howled in rage as he came at her.
Darren let his weight drop forward, taking the guy who was holding him by surprise, and he managed to roll the guy forward off of him, but a moment later, the other guy was coming at him, swinging with a punch, and the guy he'd just tossed was up and moving quickly.
Alexandra dodged one swing and blocked the other, but the blow came too hard and fast, it made her stagger.
" Michael, Nikita," Birkhoff's voice came through the ceiling intercom, just as they stepped into the brightly lit up briefing room. Nikita had been firing questions at him, but she avoided anything about their personal life. She wouldn't ask, not when they were in section walls, unless it was a last resort
" Yes," Michael said, but he kept his eye's on Nikita. He knew what she really wanted to know, and he didn't have an answer for her. He didn't know himself. Madeline had asked him some very pointed questions about his and Nikita's relationship, reminded him that they were both expendable. He was convinced they knew something that they shouldn't, and that put Nikita's life in danger.
" I just got a call to send security to the gym, and on the surveillance camera, it looks like Darren and Alex are in a fight with a few other operatives."
Nikita sprang for the door, and Michael took off, close on her heels. She dodged around Madeline and Operations, both of them instantly surprised and curious. Michael didn't stop or explain, just kept the pace up behind her.
Back in the gym, the fighting continued ruthlessly.
Alexandra hit the ground hard, hitting her head, and she saw stars, and tried to roll away before the kick landed, but she had no where to go. She brought her knee's up to deflect part of it, and grabbed the foot, hand yanked hard, sending the guy down to the ground. She scrambled up to her feet, but a foot hit her butt, sending her flying head first into another machine. She blinked, trying to keep the blackness at bay, struggled to get to her feet, looking for Darren.
Darren was wrestling between three guys, one or two of them trying to hold him while the third kicked him, or punched him. It had become quickly apparent that none of them could take Darren or Alexandra alone, so they were wearing them down as a team. One of the many early lessons they were all thought in Section One.
Alexandra shook her head to clear it, feeling warm sticky blood trickle down her scalp and forehead. She pulled her self up on the machine, but someone grabbed her hair from behind, yanking her back.
She hit the ground, her vision blurred and she felt a hand grab her throat and shoulder, and other pair of hands grabbed her other shoulder, and squeezed one breast. Greg had grabbed her legs pulling them far apart, trying to stretch her far enough to hurt her. But he hadn't counted on her being as limber as she was.
Nikita and Michael came crashing through the door, Madeline and Operations hot on their heels.
Darren could barely see. One eye puffed up immediately, the other was threatening to. His lip was split, blood ran from his nose. He had just managed to get his leg twisted around someone else's, dropping himself and the other guy to the floor. The 2nd guy holding onto him was stooped over, and Darren rolled him into the other guy, but not before a kick slammed him head first into a weight machine.
Greg had just slammed his fist into Alexandra's groin, " Do you think I couldn't have you if I wanted you!?"
Alexandra gasped in pain, but she didn't scream. She wouldn't if it killed her, she thought that it just might happen today. She brought her legs up suddenly, and hooked her ankles behind Greg's neck, and twisted, and there was loud crack that sounded, and Greg became limp, the two men holding her down distracted, as it dawned on them what had she'd done. Michael had just reached them, punching one of them square in the jaw, the other one recovered enough, and swung at Michael. Michael blocked it, and hit the man upside the head, knocking him cold. He was standing over Alexandra, who was still shaking her head, blinking, not able to see clearly, the edges of consciousness started to fold on her.
Michael reached down to help her up, and she brought her feet up, landing square in his gut, sending him flying. She scrambled to her feet, backing away, holding her head.
" Alex!" Nikita yelled, stepping around a stunned Michael, who was picking himself up of the floor, " It's over, stop!"
The red head shook her head, tried to focus her eye's, swayed slightly. She brought on arm up quickly, prepared to defend herself, and wiped at the blood that was making it difficult to see.
" What's going on here?" Operations demanded.
Darren was still on the floor, having chosen to stay there once security pulled them apart. He looked at Alexandra, who was looking at Greg's dead body. She'd sank down onto a weight bench, it hurt so sit, or even breath, "I . . . he . . ."
" Greg came on to Alex, she told him she wasn't interested, and he didn't want to take no for an answer. He grabbed her, she shoved him off of her, and turned towards the door, and he jumped her. I jumped in to help her, since it was looking like it was gonna be three on one, and then those three started in too."
" Greg is dead," Michael said, feeling the mans throat for a pulse.
The redhead closed her eye's, still holding her head in her hands.
" Mr. Birkhoff, send a medical team to the gym, two bodies, and additional security to escort five into confinement, and pull the surveillance records." Madeline said, inclining her head towards the ceiling slightly.
" I don't want medics," Alexandra said, leaning back on the bench, one hand clutching her stomach, the other holding her head still.
Darren rolled the one eye he still could, and regretted it. He winced, but said "Alex, stop being so god damned pig headed."
She ignored him, and glanced over at Greg's dead body, and wished it was her laying there on the floor, no pulse, no breath, no life.I can't take much more of this . . . Is this what Lora felt like?
She took a breath, and gasped in pain, she had broken ribs too. Maybe this will be it . . .
" Michael, reselect two more operatives for the mission, Nikita, make sure everyone stays down until they get to medlab, then you can join us," Madeline said, " Tell the security escort that the prisoners are to be separated."
Alexandra heard the exchange, and waited until she was sure Madeline and Operations were out of earshot.
" I'm sorry you had to get into this," Alexandra said to Darren, turning her head slightly, "You really got the shit beat out of you didn't you?"
Darren opened his one good eye, " Would you have stood by and done nothing if it was me?"
She sighed, " No."
" You don't look so hot yourself there - I'm not wearing near as much blood," Darren told her, and shifted a little, and hissed in pain, " I thought you were a gonner there when you went head first into that machine."
" She's to thick skulled," Nikita said, joining the conversation.
Alexandra turned her head a little to look at the blonde, " I'm screwed aren't I, killing another operative."
Nikita sighed. She shouldn't be. Nikita would have done the same thing, but no one tried to hurt her, not with Michael as her guardian. She hadn't come to realize it for quite a while either.
" I don't know," Nikita said honestly, " You have a right to defend yourself - you shouldn't have to take any kind of abuse, not out of a mission at least."
The medics arrived, security on their heels. Both of them were loaded onto stretchers, and whisked away. Nikita hung back a little until security got the other five men in restraints.
Nikita still hadn't had a chance to really talk to Michael, and because they'd just been sent out on a mission, and just returned, she knew he'd be bogged down with the report, another opportunity to avoid her. She wasn't going to beg for his attention though. As much as it hurt, so much that she wanted to lay down and die sometimes, she had always known that they wouldn't last. She'd hoped for a little longer though . . .
She sat through debriefing, and the other two operatives were dismissed, Operations and Madeline kept Michael and Nikita back.
" This," Madeline began, " is the surveillance record of yesterday's fight."
They all watched in silence, seeing how the fight began, seeing more of Greg's group of friends join in. It was brutal. Three to one.
" I see a few good things here," Madeline said after the show was over, " Both of them held their own against three trained Section One operatives. Darren didn't play the hero, only getting involved when it got out of hand. Alexandra was not going to let Greg bother her, and with her previous assault that is a good sign."
" What will happen to Alex," Nikita asked, " Greg is dead."
Madeline had glanced back at the last scene, " She was defending herself. Neither of them had any way of knowing when help would arrive. Greg would not have lasted much longer here with this kind of behavior. What concerns me is what started this fight to begin with."
Nikita glanced at Michael, who had his emotionless mask on. There were times when she wanted to slap him, just to get a reaction out of him.
" According to several of the operatives we are now detaining, Greg made a comment about Nikita being under Michael's protection . . . and it seems to me that as an operative, Nikita should not need anyone's protection."
" She doesn't," Michael said flatly.
Nikita sighed, " Michael has been in Section for a long time, and I know that I have been the least likely target for harassment because there are very few men here who will challenge him. He would have taken those three in that fight. It's no secret that we are friends - and friends tend to look out for friends."
" Friends," Madeline repeated.
" Friends," Nikita said, and looked at Michael, " I mean, I guess you could call us friends - we get along well enough, we have coffee sometimes outside of Section walls, but I do find him irritating a good part of the time - especially when he has that emotionless mask on his face-"
" This cannot become a problem," Operations said, his voice betraying his annoyance, "We can't keep cleaning up over petty hormone induced fights."
" I don't think it will be a problem," Nikita said, " They handled themselves well. They would have walked - well, crawled away, after taking on three trained operatives - Operatives with more time and experience than they had - and there will always be men - or women, looking for an opportunity to bully or harass - they've just proven that they didn't need Michaels protection - or mine."
" I think Nikita is right," Madeline added, and looked back at Nikita and Michael, " Darren was out of surgery a few hours after you left, his spleen was ruptured. Alexandra has a serious concussion. They will both be spending several days in medlab."
Nikita stood on her verandah, glass of wine in her hand, and contemplated the dark red color, and thought vaguely how it matched her mood. She was restless. Alexandra would be released tomorrow, Darren the day after, neither one of them would be back in Section for at least a week. She'd visited both of them, but they'd both been sleeping a lot.
She was worried about Alexandra's mood too. She gave Nikita one word answers, didn't walk to talk at all, and while Nikita could see she needed to rest, it seemed as though there was more to it than just physical injuries. The redhead was good at hiding her emotions and feelings, and Nikita worried that she was at her breaking point, or past it. Darren couldn't reach her, and he was too new in this world for Nikita to even ask him to try - and Alexandra had been resistant to him evening being passing friend in the past. Nikita had a hard time reaching her obviously, she looked at the world too differently. Maybe Michael could.
But she hadn't seen Michael in more than three days. When she was at Section, he was not. When she called his house, he wasn't there.
But she could wait for him. He had to return sometime.
Michael let himself into his apartment at a little after 2:00a.m. He saw Nikita's car down on the street, the hood was cold, so he knew she'd been here for a while. He was surprised it took her this long to wait him out in his own apartment. She had key - she'd had it for months. Things hadn't been - normal - between them for over a week, not that they were ever normal. But Nikita acted with her heart first, and he'd have thought she'd taken the initiative and come to him earlier - or at least torn him to shreds in a hall at Section One.
He stepped inside the door, his heart aching. He was going to devastate her, and he knew it. But he couldn't live with himself if Section chose to cancel her because of him.
He saw some kind of movement out of the corner of his eye, " Nikita, I-"
A sharp sting pierced his arm, and he jerked back, the needle breaking, but not before his assailant was able to push the plunger in, shooting the drug into his system.
Michael felt the world tilt almost immediately. He had his gun in his hand in a split second, but his vision blurred, and he couldn't quite make out his target. But then, a figure appeared in front of him, or rather was flung at him. Michael's brain was just barely able to register that it was Nikita, and he tried to catch her, but his strength didn't hold out.
One of the dark figures nudged Michael with his boot, " You've probably killed him."
" No," the other one said, " He has a very strong tolerance. Short of killing him, it's the only way to quietly take him. Call the others, have the van waiting my the side entrance."
" Both Michael and Nikita are not responding to their calls," Birkhoff said, " I've called their homes, their cell phones, paged them - nothing."
Madeline looked over at Operations, and then back at Birkhoff, " Send security teams to both their residences want a full forensic analysis, I want to know who has been in both of their apartments."
Alexandra had felt better the day before, but medlab wasn't thrilled about releasing her, and she wasn't ready to face the world yet. As she'd laid there in pain, she'd cursed god, Jose, Greg, Section One as a whole, including herself. She'd wondered what it would take for her to be pushed physically to that point where they couldn't save her. She'd spent hours looking at the drug cabinet across the room, wondering if there was enough in there to overdose on . She suffered through stitches on her scalp - and the examination of those same stitches several times. She'd heard through the grapevine that Darren had to have surgery, from a ruptured spleen. Today, she dressed, and walked into the next room to see him.
He was awake, and looking very bored, reading a magazine, and alternately looking at a TV screen.
" You need a shave," She said, walking in.
He has the same type of boring room she did. Stark white, hospital bed, hospital equipment lining the walls, and a TV
He grinned, " Oh they shaved me all right - my tummy iches."
She smiled, " Hey, be glad they didn't shave all of you - that really iches . . . so, how are you feeling?"
He shrugged, " Sore, I'll be playing catch up to you doing crunches for a while."
She nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, " I'm sorry you had to get hurt, because of me."
Darren slid his fingers into hers and squeezed, " Don't be, jerks like Greg will always exist - I hope that if some over aggressive woman was bent on a piece of me, you'd be there to help me."
She laughed, " In a heart beat - but I'd want to get it on tape though."
Darren laughed with her, " You could sell tickets to private screenings."
She rolled her eye's, " Seriously though - thank you."
" She nodded, and squeezed his hand, " I appreciate it - so, when are they springing you?"
" Tomorrow, maybe late tonight, depends. I think I'm OK to go home, but they want to make sure, and I can understand that really," Darren told her, " Hey, did Michael stop in to see you."
She nodded, " Oh yeah, consistently when Nikita was not there. But I haven't seen Either one of them since the yesterday morning. It's a damn good thing there isn't much socializing between operatives here. Anyone with half a brain can feel the tension between them.
Darren sighed, " I think anyone can tell that their friendship is a little cooler the last week - but that's not a big deal - we both know Section doesn't know about the rest of their relationship - and I know that's gotta be off - it's like that week they had a few months ago - when Michael had to seduce that woman."
Alexandra shook her head, " It comes with the territory - Michael doesn't freak out on Nikita when she has to have sex with some guy on a mission."
Darren cocked his head to one side, " Not that we see at least."
She gave it some thought, and nodded, " You have a point - I'm gonna go home, I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"
Darren nodded, " Enjoy your own bed."
She managed to smile, " I will."If I sleep at all . . .
Alexandra was in the next morning, doing most of her usual workout - though toned down a bit. She'd been a little surprised that she hadn't heard from Nikita the day before, or this morning. Her mentor was always diligent. Alexandra wouldn't have a free moment in Section if Nikita was around. But, Nikita could be off on a mission, so Alexandra didn't spend to much time worrying about it.
She'd finished the last of her workout, sore, soaked in sweat, when she watched warily as an operative approached her.
" Madeline wants to see you, in her office." He said, and just turned and walked away.
Alexandra thought for a moment that she'd seen tin can's with more personality - but then again, that machine like emotionless quality was what she sought herself often enough. She grabbed her sweat jacket and pants, pulled them on over the spandex bike shorts and top, and started towards the door.
Madeline knew who it was that knocked at her door. She even knew how hard the younger woman had been working out that morning - harder than she should have been. Her hair was soaked when she walked in, and she was still wiping at her neck and face, and sipped at her water bottle. She wore a calm reserved expression on her face, similar to the one Michael showed them. She stood in front of Madeline's desk, not speaking, waiting to be acknowledged.
" Have a seat," Madeline said, looking up briefly.
She pulled up the young woman's file again, skimmed through some of the information, saw a few pictures they had of her.
" When was the last time you saw Nikita?" Madeline asked her.
Alexandra answered, " The day before yesterday, she came to see me in medlab."
Madeline nodded, " And Michael?"
The redhead didn't flinch, react, nothing. Could she not know what had been happening?
" The day before yesterday, in medlab." She answered.
" Together or separately?" Madeline asked her.
Alexandra knew something was up, but she wasn't going to react. She didn't trust Madeline at all, " Separately."
Madeline stood up, and walked over to where she had series of bansai trees, picked up a pair of scissors, and started to trim, " What did they talk to you about?"
" They both asked how I was feeling, basically. I don't recall the specific words. Nikita wanted to make sure I was getting everything I needed, Michael wanted me to know what happened with Greg was not my fault."
Madeline was quiet for a moment. She hadn't asked Michael to get a feel for Alexandra's mental state at all. But it wasn't unheard of for him to anticipate it.
" Why did you think it was?" Madeline asked, to see what reaction she'd get.
" I didn't actually - I don't feel that the fight, or his death, was in any way my fault. I defended myself, plain and simple," Alexandra told her.
" The killing of one person, by another, is always stressful Alexandra," Madeline said, turning and walking back to her desk. She picked up a tea pot, and poured herself and Alexandra glass.
The redhead shrugged, " It was stressful - but I choose not to dwell on blame, especially since it's rather pointless."
" Nikita and Michael are missing," Madeline told her.
The redhead looked from her cup of tea, to Madeline, " What do you mean missing?"
" Neither one has reported in, and neither one is answering phone calls to there homes, cell phones or pagers," Madeline told her, waiting to see what her reaction would be.
The redhead took it in for a moment, " And their apartments?"
" Nothing out of order - too clean almost," Madeline told her.
Alexandra let this sink in for a moment, " Too clean - like someone had taken pains to make sure there was nothing to find?"
Madeline sat back in her chair, " That's one way of looking at it."
Alexandra sipped her tea cup, and put it down on the saucer, " What do we do now?"
Alexandra left Madeline office, and headed for the candy machine. She bought four candy bars, and headed back to Birkhoff's station. She nodded to Darren as she saw him walking up the stairs to Madeline office. At least she knew Madeline would be occupied.
" How are you doing Birkhoff," Alexandra said, walking over to him.
He looked over at her briefly, and then back at the screen, " I'm fine."
She stood, so she blocked the view from Operations glass office, and set four candy bars on the countertop next to Birkhoff, " I here that the search of two apartments came up really clean."
Birkhoff looked at the candy and then up at her, " You think I can be bribed with candy?"
The redhead smiled down at him, " I'm not bribing anyone. I just happen to know that you like candy bars, and I know you have access to information that I don't."
He rolled his eye's, " I can't release anything - if I gave out information on two possible AWOL operatives-"
She leaned forward, " AWOL?"
Birkhoff groaned, " I can't, I won't."
She smiled down that young man, who probably wasn't more than a year or two younger than her, and smiled sweetly, " Birkhoff, this is Nikita and Michael, neither one of them would ever consider going AWOL - they have unfinished business here with Darren and I, and they're both too loyal."
Birkhoff shook his head, and tried to shove his chair back. She blocked it with her foot.
" I can't, I could be in big time trouble," he told her.
She sighed, " So tell them I held a gun to your head or something."
He shook his head again, " I've got work to do."
She reached down, unzipped her fanny pack, and leaned closer. Her sweat Jacket fell open, covering what she was doing with her hands.
Birkhoff felt something hard and small jam into his side. Alexandra was leaning far enough over where she could smile at him, " You don't have to lie about how I coerced you - I let the one other person who ever cared about me down, I'm not going to lose the only one left. What did they find?"
Birkhoff looked at her in shock for a moment, and then turned back to the computer screen, and started to type, " Their apartments were completely wiped clean. Not even a hair follicle.
She slipped the gun into her fanny back, checked the room, and pulled a chair over, "That sounds a little odd, doesn't it?"
Birhoff nodded, and hit a few keys, and a computer game came up, " Play with the joy stick or something. It's really odd. Our cleaning crew is that accurate, and we've rarely found anyone else that careful."
Alexandra raised an eyebrow, " Rarely?"
" The freedom league - but they've been wiped out."
Alexandra nodded, " How do we know the freedom league is out of commission?"
Birkhoff shook his head, " They are - Michael wiped out their last base personally a little over a year ago."
She nodded slowly, " Did we get a directory?"
Birhoff shook his head, " No, they blew the computer before Michael could get to it."
Alexandra nodded slowly, " Hm . . . wouldn't a one man raid be a quiet one? Michael's usually more careful than that."
Birkhoff sighed, " He off having a off year. You can ask Nikita about if she's found."
Alexandra glanced back up and around, " So, do we have any possible freedom league members floating around, even a few on the fringe?"
Alexandra spent the next hour prodding Birhoff to dig up what he could on people who might be on the fringe of the freedom league. She promised him complete immunity and silence when this was all over, and got up and walked away when she saw Darren leaving Madeline office.
"Hey, can I give you a lift home, I bet your not quite up to driving," Alexandra said, walking over.
"Yeah, sure," he said, looking into her eye's for a moment. The silent communication spoke volumes. They both knew something had to be done, and fast.
He waited until they were outside, and in her car, " The weather is great - and I feel like a crout dog in the park, how's that sound to you?"
" Crout dogs? Sounds like heartburn, but we're both on medical leave, so I guess we could be out of sorts for a day or so," she answered, and turned her car into the parking lot.
They got out, walked over to the hot dog stand, bought two hot dogs and soda's, and walked over to a lone park bench.
" So, what did Madeline tell you?" Alexandra asked him.
" Michael and Nikita are missing - and their apartments had been cleaned," Darren told her, "She was trying to see if we might know something."
Alexandra sighed, " I got that impression too, I tried to bribe Birkhoff with candy, and then shoved my gun in his ribs, not that he believed me, but I did get out of him that there is only one other group that good, and Michael put them out of commission a little over a year ago - they'd apparently kidnapped and held Nikita for six months - Section thought she was dead. But, the interesting part is, we don't have a directory on them. Michael was never able to copy their computer files."
Darren bit into his dog, and popped open their soda can's, " So what is Section doing about it?"
" Nothing," Alexandra told him, " they think that they are AWOL - Operations is convinced that they've been having a fling, and decided to run - which doesn't fit."
Darren looked at her, " Yes it does, actually. If you had a chance go get away from here Alex, wouldn't you take it?"
She shook her head, " Nikita and Michael have been protecting us from our screw ups, they've invested a lot of time into us, they wouldn't just leave - it doesn't fit. Their personal accounts are not drained, wouldn't they need money to run?"
Darren nodded, " Point - So if you can figure out that, why not Madeline?"
Alexandra sighed, " I don't know. Section is convinced they wiped out the Freedom League though."
Darren took a sip of his soda, and watched as she started in on hers, " I can almost see the wheels turning in your head, what do you want to do?"
" I have some names, people on the fringe of the league. Some of them are consistently going in and out of town in the Sarajevo," Alexandra told him, " My best guess, is that they are re-forming there, and this is either a revenge thing, or they want Nikita and Michael to pump information out of them."
Darren nodded, " Maybe, so what are we gonna do?"
She looked at him, " Not we, I, I'm going after them. You're not physically up to it - and I know Section will catch up with me soon - they think Michael and Nikita are AWOL - they'll come after me, thinking I might lead to them, and that will mean my cancellation. But if I'm right, it might also mean a rescue for Michael and Nikita."
Darren frowned, " But if we help rescue them, why would they cancel us?"
She shook her head, " Not we, just me - because I forced Birkhoff at gun point, because I'm gonna use Section resources, and because they are usually very trigger happy."
" We," Darren corrected her, " will worry about being canceled if we're wrong - how are we gonna get passed Walter for gear?"
She sighed, " You are not up to this right now."
Darren sighed, " I also don't want to spend a few days with tweedle dee and tweedle dum the torture twins, and that's exactly where I'll be if you suddenly go AWOL - besides, we'll work better together as a team."
She shook her head, looking out over the park, and then back at Darren, " See what kind of gear you can get from Walter for us - discreetly. I bet he'd help us on the sly. I'll get our passports altered. We'll be leaving tonight, around 1900, on a cargo plane."
He nodded, and took a deep breath, " OK, deal, where should we meet?"
" We'll meet on the far side of town, leave our cars on at our apartments, take the bus to the airport," she told him.
" I'm thinking a backpack each, for our gear, and we'll pick up a change of cloths there - so we blend in a little better, and less to drag around with us," he told her.
She nodded, " Good idea, OK, I'll drop you off a block from Section then . . . You know there's a pretty good chance we'll be canceled for this."
Darren nodded slowly, " I know, but my days are numbered, and they've protected us, covered for us . . ."
She smiled a little, " It'll be kinda fun to show section we can act on our own too."
The crate they'd packed themselves into was getting stuffy, but Darren wasn't too concerned. They were on the decent, and they'd be out soon.
" Water?" He whispered, handing her the water bottle.
She took it, and took a sip, " they're actually on time, I can't believe it."
He grinned, " Now, if we can keep from getting shot out of the sky, we've got it made."
She smiled a little, " I hope those dummy plane tickets keep them occupied for a while."
" We're new enough to this game, it will be a few days before any of their watchers even start to look for our faces - and hell, they may not even pick up on the phony plane tickets."
She nodded, " I only changed the first names, unless Birkhoff is careless - or one of his people is, they'll pick it up as soon as they notice we are missing - which could end up being today, or tomorrow."
" We're on medical leave - but I'd bet money they'll keep close tabs on us under the circumstances," Darren thought out loud, and they both felt the bump from the plane touching down.
Without saying a word, they both pulled several vinyl balloon like things out of their pockets, and released the self inflating air valves, effectively packing themselves in tight, just in case whomever unloaded the plane rolled the crate. If they did, they wouldn't bounce around, giving themselves away.
It was another two hours before everything was quiet. The knifed the vinyl air bags, and popped open the crate, and quietly made their way out of the wherehouse.
Without either of them speaking, they both made there way out of the where house, and around the block to the steps of one of what was once one of the major civic buildings. Darren pulled a folded map out of his pocket, " These are our three possible sites, there have been three sightings in this area here, four here, and two out here."
Alexandra nodded, " We check out these two today, during the day, and we make our way out here tonight under the cover of darkness - this would be a good place because it would be easy to watch and defend."
He nodded, " and the hardest for us to approach - we could hitch onto the back of a supply truck going in and out of town."
She nodded, and looked around, " Sounds like a plan then, lets go."
They spend the rest of the morning watching one particular site, and seeing no guards, no one lurking in windows, doorways, or behind burnt out cars, they moved in slowly. It really was an empty where house, save for a few homeless people trying to find shelter at night. The next site was closer to the edge of town, and they found the same thing. Just a few people with nowhere else to go. It was getting dark, so they headed out the road that would lead out to their last site to check out, and hid in some brush, and waited for a supply truck at the sharp bend of a road. It would have to slow down, and they'd be able to jump on.
They saw two come out, and it was the third one that they chose. It had the soft canvass sides that they could be able to hide behind. It slowed, almost to a stop, because it was very full, and as soon as the drivers mirrors couldn't pick them up, both Alexandra and Darren leapt.
Alexandra made it first, and reached out to help Darren, pulling him up. He tumbled inside gracelessly, and winced.
" How's your stomach?" she asked him, concerned.
He nodded, " Tender, but I'm OK. I haven't been taking the pain killers for obvious reasons."
She nodded, and watched his face for a moment, and then moved to the side of the truck, and watched out one of the flaps.
" We have to jump in about an hour, there's another sharp bend, we can jump then," she said, and looked back at him, " If you start to feel worse . . ."
He shook his head, " What can either one of us possibly do?"
She sighed, and looked back out the window.
Nikita felt her heart being torn into a thousand small pieces. She knew when it was that Michael was dragged back to the cell next to hers. He wasn't walking, and she heard the gasp as they shoved him into the cell. They'd tried using her to make him break, they'd tried using him to make her break, and they'd come down to just beating them both close to death. Soon, they'd just kill them off.
What they were looking for was the location of Section one. What they didn't know was that it was in the same city where they'd grabbed them. They were assuming that Michael and Nikita were part of a sub station.
She heard the all to familiar voice of the Freedom leagues new commander in the hall, " They either don't know, or will not tell. We're wasting time, take them both into the city, kill them there, and dump their bodies on the UN front steps."
Nikita heard the scrape of the door opening, pretended to be unconscious, and let them pick her up under the arms, and drag her down the hall. Either Michael was doing the same thing, or he was really unconscious.
She had her head down, but she felt the guards carrying them stiffen and flinch. She heard a few noises that sounded like a person coughing, and she was dropped.
Nikita hit the floor, and grabbed for one of the guards guns, and rolled to face whomever had met them in the hall. There was no reason to assume this was a rescue attempt. Section would not know where to find them.
" 'kita, it's Darren and Alex," Darren's voice hissed at her, leaping back against the wall.
Nikita shook her head, trying to focus the one eye that wasn't swollen shut. She focused on Darren, who was creeping forward, and pulling her to her knee's, " How bad are you?"
" I can walk," she said, and looked back at Michael, " I don't know about him."
Michael raised his head a little, and managed to get up to his knee's, and swayed a little.
" Let's take these jackets and caps here, and try to get out the same way they had been planning," Alexandra said, stripping off her coat, and handing it Nikita, who had nothing but pants and loose shirt. Darren did the same with Michael, and they made there way out the truck, shoved Michael and Nikita into the back, climbed in themselves, and Darren gave the order to go in the correct language. The truck started to move.
" Too easy," Alexandra said softly.
Darren nodded, and leaned his head back against the wall.
Alexandra frowned, and leaned over, yanked his shirt up.
" Alex honey, this isn't the time," Darren teased her.
" Don't flatter yourself," she answered, and felt around his incision. It was firm, but the surrounding tissue was still pliable, not rigid with internal bleeding.
" How did you find us," Michael asked, and it sounded like talking was an effort for him.
" We made an educated guess," Darren answered, he could barely see Michael in the near total darkness, " Your apartments were wiped clean, and there is apparently only one other group that careful - one that Section assumed was gone."
" From there, we looked for sightings of people on the fringe of the league, and there were a lot of them here, we got lucky," Alexandra told them, and reached into her back pack, and pulled out two water bottles, " here."
The both drank greedily.
" Where is our pick up point," Michael asked them.
Darren and Alexandra looked at each other.
" We don't have one. Section thinks you both went AWOL, and by now, they think we are AWOL," Alexandra told him, " We're going to smuggle ourselves out in crates, the same way we got in. When the road bends sharply, we jump. There is another cargo flight out to France, and from there, we can take another back home."
" There's a sub station in France," Michael told them, " We can get medical attention there."
" In crates?" Operations demanded, " I'm supposed to believe that?"
Darren was being questioned separately from Alexandra. They'd expected that. They'd made it to France, an Michael knew exactly how to reach the Section Sub station. They'd been brought in like prisoners though, but they'd expected it.
Both Michael and Nikita were immediately placed in medlab under heavy guard, over night and Darren and Alexandra got to stew separately in cells, until they were all flown out several hours later, again, under heavy guard. Not that it was needed for Michael or Nikita. They'd been declared stable, and loaded onto the plain, IV's still in place.
" I'm sure if you check with customs in France, you'd find that two crates were found opened and empty in holding, and you'd find the one in Sarajevo," Darren told him.
They'd already grilled him on how they'd found Michael and Nikita. He and Alexandra had agreed on their story earlier. They'd broken into the computer system, and run the sim the same way they'd seen a few of Birkhoffs people do. When Section asked Birkhoff to check, he'd find evidence of a break in from another terminal in section, and whomever had done it, knew the codes to turn off the alarm.
" The biggest problem we have here, is that you and Alexandra seem to believe that the individual is more important than the whole, that is not how we do things here," Madeline said, leaning back against her desk.
Darren sighed, " Michael and Nikita are the best team you have - and someday, that team will become too old to be useful. I would like to be trained and continue to be trained by the best - how many problems have they solved for Section, that another team may not have been able to do?"
" That is besides the point," Madeline answered him, and stood up, walking around to the back of her desk.
" We're human," Darren answered back, knowing his voice was just a little too sharp, " You use and exploit that human quality in all of us, in the people we target. Like it or not, it's there. I think we're more effective with it."
" You can go," Madeline told him, not looking up from her computer terminal.
By Kimberly
Email kcolu97589@aol.com
Continue on to Rebellious Streak I