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Don’t Look Down

By TrinityLast

E-mail: trinitylast@wambtac.com

Disclaimer: The characters from La Femme Nikita don’t belong to me. Don’t sue. All you’ll get is this computer, and it’s obsolete anyway. All of the other characters are my own. I don’t steal...my stuff’s better than what you’d come up with anyway. :-)

Feedback: As long as it isn’t flames. I burn easily.

Note: Third in the “Circle of the Gifted” Series. Sequel to “Elemental, My dear Section” and “Twisted Shakespeare”. The first was set during the time Michael and Nikita are together, compliments of Michael’s leverage over Operations with Adrian. It splits off from there. You might want to read the first two before reading this.

Chapter one
___________

Three weeks. Three weeks ago, Lalia had sent the message to Paul to see if he was ok. Nothing, for three weeks.

So, he’s either in terrible shape, or...

Well, no, no “or”. Because if he *was* ok, he would have replied with some kind of flippant remark, or even gotten angry at her “presumption”.

So, there was definitely something wrong.

Also, Paul was astral projecting to the caverns. There was no longer any question. Lalia had seen him two more times since that first night, and she was *not* imagining it.

If she didn’t know any better, Lalia would swear he was homesick.

“Lalia?” Nikita was standing in the office doorway, holding an overnight bag. “I’m leaving, ok?”

Lalia nodded. “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know. I guess next week sometime?” Nikita shrugged. “I’m not sure when.”

“Right. Just send me a message first, ok?”

Nikita smiled and left.

Lalia stared at the empty doorway, but she wasn’t really seeing it.

Three weeks.

Lalia pulled her computer to her and started to write a letter to him. Then she deleted the page and started over. Twice.

“Oh, screw this!”

She got up, closed her office and went to her rooms. She pulled out some odd looking, and obviously ancient bowls, a mortar and pestle, and several bags and jars of herbs.

“The best way to know what he’s thinking is to go into his head.”

Specifically what he had yelled at her not to do. But she wasn’t going to invade his *conscious* thoughts.

She was going to “dream drop”.

He’d never even know.






Chapter two
___________

“Thirteen candles on a summers night,
Forty-seven wise men speaking of right.
Fifteen soldiers standing on guard,
Twenty-three priests and a midsummer’s bard.
These I call to fire the sky -
This nights space, through which I fly.”

“The spell is done, the words are said,
through his dreams and thoughts I’m led.”

Lalia’s body swayed and fell away from her being. She reached out with her mind and let Paul’s mind lead.

**

Paul was sitting on the ridge outside the caverns in Bosnia. Lalia came up behind him and watched as Paul began drawing the battle taking place in the valley below.

“What are you doing?” She was whispering. Paul turned around sharply and looked her up and down.  She was covered in blood, and wearing a rag around one hand.

“What *happened* to you?” He stood up and took her hand. “It’s broken.”

Lalia pulled her hand from his. “What are you doing??” Her voice, still soft, took on a sharper tone. She walked to the edge of the ridge and looked over. “They’re fighting, and you’re *drawing* it?”

“I’m recording it.” Paul stood next to her and watched two men beat a third with large clubs. “I have no business doing anything else. I’m not involved.”

Lalia looked at him in horror. “You *can* be! You can stop it! They’re killing each other, and you’re just *watching*?” She backed away from him a step.

“Lalia, I can’t. No one there moved against me, I have no business..”

“They moved against *life*!” Lalia’s face was painful. “A year ago, you would have helped them. And now, you stand here and watch??”

Paul glanced at her hand and clothes. “How did that happen to you? What were you doing?”

Lalia’s eyes clouded. “I was trying to help.”

Paul’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. “*They* did this to you?” He turned again to the fight below, this time with anger.

“Paul, don’t. I’m four hundred years old. I can take care of myself. I just went in to get a woman out. I’m fine.”

“Almost four hundred, not quite.” He made the familiar jibe out of habit. His eyes were still angry, watching the fight.

“Paul, don’t!!” Lalia was speaking in her full voice, seeing Paul’s eyes narrow. “Stop!”

But he didn’t. Instead, he burned the valley below, killing them all.

**
Lalia opened her eyes, back in her room in the caverns.

Paul was dreaming about his past. And Lalia remembered that day. That was the day she’d realized where he was going, the path he’d chosen. The day the two of them had stopped being inseparable.

“He’s dreaming about *us*.”

Chapter three (short, and rated S - TR)
___________

“Madeline?” Operations knocked again and looked at his watch. Just turning midnight. She *should* still be up. “Madeline?” He knocked harder.

The door opened. Madeline was holding a large bunch of roses.  “Paul.” She smiled. “These are beautiful, thank you.” She opened the door wider to let him in.

“I’m glad you liked them.” Paul took them from her and put them on a table. His mouth turned up and he pushed her against the wall just inside the door. “What did George say  to Nikita when she was there?” He was kissing Madeline’s neck as he spoke.

 “Same thing he said to me. That he was training a backup staff, and he wants us to stay close so we can take over, just in case.” Madeline caught his eye when he looked up and she smirked. “George seems very nervous over the recent threats from Red Cell.”

Paul laughed. “He does, doesn’t he?” He kissed her mouth, her chin, and back to her neck. Hands were unbuttoning her blouse. “Well, he couldn’t have picked a better successor. I’d be insulted,” his hands were working on her skirt zipper “if I hadn’t been spoken for higher up. But George got the best he could have.”

Madeline closed her eyes. “You still aren’t supposed to know anything about it.” She pressed her head back against the wall as she felt his touch on her bare legs.

“Then I don’t.” Her skirt slipped to the floor. He took his jacket off, threw it on her couch, and picked her up. “Enough shop talk for the night.”

Chapter four
___________

“Michael, how did you do that?”

Nikita was sitting cross-legged on the bed. She’d been reading, but had looked up  when Michael put his hand to the wall and made it glow...and, in the process, straightened a fixture too high up on the wall to reach.

Michael smiled. “Lalia taught it to me the last time I was at the caverns. Funny...” He turned around “I didn’t see Jack except once, and he wouldn’t meet my eye.” Michael’s face darkened, and he sat on the edge of the bed. “I think something’s going on.”

“With Jack? I doubt it...unless he and Lalia are back together.” Nikita was still staring at the fixture. She could never have done that the way he did. She would have sent the magic through the air. It takes practice, but you can aim well that way.

She had never been able to aim magic through solid objects. She’d tried, but her magic was aerial. Now, it looked like Michael’s was earthbound. Neither was better, just different. And used in different ways.

But, she couldn’t teach him anymore. Not if they used different styles of magic. And she had no way of gauging how fast he learned now.

And earthbound magic tended to be stronger. Lalia’s Gift was earthbound. Operation’s was aerial.

So, soon, Michael won’t need me at all.

Michael broke in on her thoughts. “He wouldn’t avoid me if he was just sleeping with Lalia.”

“Who?” Nikita tried to remember what they’d been talking about.

“Jack.” Michael put a hand to her head. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I guess my mind wandered.” She smiled. “Jack seemed fine, and I was just there. He was the same guy he’s always been.”

“You know him pretty well?” Michael’s head tilted.

“Yeah. He’s about Lalia’s age, a little older I think. He trained me. Kinda like a big brother.”

Michael frowned. “And he didn’t seem any different when you were there?”

Nikita shook her head.

“Alright.” Michael stood up. “I have to go.” He grabbed his jacket and phone. “I’ll see you in a few hours?”

Nikita nodded, and he left. She tried to go back to her book, but her eyes kept wandering to the fixture he’d straightened.

Chapter five
___________

“This is bothering you?” Madeline didn’t actually look up, but Nikita could tell she was listening. She really reminded Nikita of Lalia sometimes.

“It is. There are just too many unknowns.” Nikita handed her a pad, with the upcoming mission outlined on it. “I don’t know how seriously you take this promotion Operations gave me, but as a Level five operative, I’m allowed to say this, and I’m going to. This mission is suicide.”

Madeline took the pad and smiled. “I take it seriously. The timing was suspect, I’ll admit, but the promotion was coming already. And we knew that.”

Nikita’s eyes narrowed, though not enough to scare. Madeline was starting to see the differences in that movement: between everyday expression and magical focus. Now, with Nikita’s power, *that* would have scared her. But this was just emotion. No magic involved.

“You knew?” Nikita crossed her legs and leaned back.

“Yes. The operatives you take out will all be slated for cancellation. You’ll lead from the van.”

“I see.” Nikita’s face became very dark. “Michael isn’t on this mission, is he?”

Madeline shook her head. “No, no. Operations bought the story about George completely, and he thinks that it’s interesting. Now he wants to take steps to make sure nothing happens to George’s *current* staff. That makes the way clear for all of us, and as far as Operations is concerned, makes the two of you much more valuable.”

“Alright.” Nikita stood up to leave, but didn’t start for the door. “Michael said the that last time he was at the caverns he thought Jack was acting differently. I didn’t really notice anything like that, but I wanted to check with you.”

Madeline’s head shook again. “No, he seemed fine to me. Well...” She paused and squinted. “Maybe not *fine*. It did seem like something was bothering him. But I don’t think he was acting strangely, if that’s what you mean.”

“Michael said that Jack was avoiding him.”

“Was he?” Madeline’s eyebrows furrowed. “Maybe it’s something to do with Michael?”

Nikita bit her lip. “Lalia started to say something to me about a month ago, but she never got very far.”

“I think you should ask her.”

“I guess I should.” Nikita smiled at Madeline and left, throwing a last line over her shoulder. “See you at the briefing in an hour.”

Madeline nodded at her back.

Chapter six
___________

“His name is Giavani. He *was* a Red Cell operative, until they got tired of doing things his way and tried to have him killed. They underestimated him, though, and he escaped.”

“So, is Red Cell still looking for him?” Nikita was staring at the picture on the screen. She knew him...from somewhere.

“Yes and no. They want him dead if someone happens to see him, but they are not actively looking for him at the moment. This gives us a rare opportunity.”

“To do what?” Nikita frowned. She *knew* him. Where from?

“To recruit him. Or try to.” Operations smiled. “Red Cell didn’t like his morals. We do. It’s a perfect fit. The details will be on your pads.”

Nikita glanced at the Operatives set for this mission. She didn’t know any of them, but that was fine with her. People she didn’t know would be easier to lead into a suicide mission.

Picking up her pad, Nikita headed for Michael’s office.

“Nikita.”

She turned back around and raised her eyebrows. “Yes?”

Operations smiled. “I was impressed with your performance in Tel Aviv. Good work.”

“Thank you.” Nikita watched him go back to his office and turned to Madeline, who had come up beside her.  “He complimented me.”

“Yes, he did.” Madeline flashed a small half-smile and followed Operations.

Nikita stared after her for a minute, and then started for Michael’s office again. He was waiting for her at the door.

“Hi.” She smiled as she walked past, and he closed the door.

“What was that about?” Michael pressed the button to sound proof the room and sat down.

“Operations complimented me.”

Michael glanced out his window at Operations and Madeline, in the window of Operation’s office. “And what did *she* want?”

Nikita shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You got the Giavani mission.” He wasn’t asking.

“Yes. I don’t know any of the others. Why are they being canceled?”

Michael stood up and sat down on the edge of his desk. “They’re all trained recruits who failed to make it.”

Nikita nodded. “So, first time operatives.”

“This will be a hard mission for you.” Michael’s eyes were searching her face.

“I’ll be fine. I don’t know them.” Nikita shook her head to get the hair out of her face.

He nodded. “Ok.” Glancing out the window again, he watched the windows to Operations office darken.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Nikita followed Michael’s gaze, but she couldn’t see out the window from her seat.

“I don’t think they’re talking.”




Chapter seven
___________

“He’s *dreaming* about you?? You, or the two of you *together*?”

Lalia nodded. “The two of us together. I’ve watched twice. He’s rehashing over and over the same things. I think he’s homesick.” She dropped her head into her hands. The tears leaked through her voice. “I wish he’d just let me back in.”

Kryn smoothed down Lalia’s hair, running her fingers through it. “Sweetheart, that brother of yours has always had to much pride. When we were young, he never would ask for help if either of us asked him a question, remember? You or I’d ask him how to do something, and he *had* to answer it without help.”

Lalia looked up at her cousin. “If it were any other Gifted, I wouldn’t even be thinking about it. Rejecting a Gift is a personal choice. But Paul is my *brother*.” She closed her eyes. “I just can’t be objective about him.”

Kryn wrinkled her nose in thought. “No, and I don’t think you should. I, personally, think that the son the of the Founders of the Circle should be a special case.”

That got a small laugh, but not much more. “Kryn, you have such a way with words.”

“Ah...there’s the girl I grew up with. I was wondering where she went. You’ve been out of it for almost a week.”

“This is why. I just don’t know what to do.” Lalia shook her head to clear it and looked around for a tissue. Kryn handed her one, and she wiped her eyes.

“I don’t suppose this conversation helped?” Kryn’s eyes were laughing at her.

“No, ha ha. I just needed to cry. I’ll come up with something. It’s what I do.” Lalia stood up to leave, but Kryn caught her and pulled her back into the chair.

“Before you go, I have a question. Berkoff.”

“What about him?” Lalia frowned. “Is he ok? How did you hear before I did? What happened? Kryn...”

“No, no. Nothing like that. I was just wondering. I haven’t asked before this, because Paul was fine and you didn’t like to talk about it, but...you do have someone else watching him, right?”

“Walter.” Lalia pulled her hair back out of her face and tucked it behind her ears. “I have Walter with him.”

Kryn nodded. “I was wondering what he was doing gone so long. Ok. That’s all I wanted to ask.”

Lalia smiled, and kissed Kryn’s cheek. “See you at dinner?” She stood to leave.

“ ‘Same bat time, same bat place’.”

Lalia was laughing before she got to the door. Kryn watched her leave and smiled to herself. “She laughed. My work here is done.”




Chapter eight
___________

Michael watched Jack through the window in the training room. He was sure now that there was something going on. When he’d gotten here this morning, Jack and Lalia were in her office talking. The minute Michael walked in, Jack had made up an excuse to be somewhere else.

Jack was avoiding him. He wasn’t avoiding Nikita or Madeline, just him.

Michael waited for Jack to finish with the person he was training, and for the person to leave. Then he went in.

“Hi Jack.” Michael searched Jack’s face as he said it. There was a definite change.

And Jack was suddenly very interested in a broken table leg.

“Hi Michael. I really can’t talk right now. I’m busy.” He kept his eyes focused on the table and avoided Michael’s gaze.

Michael stood there for a minute. He’d only met Jack a few times before the regular visits to the caverns had started, but he knew enough about him to know that they had a lot in common. Jack’s avoiding his eyes had to be something big.

“Jack.” Michael walked over to him, and put his hand on the table Jack was turning over, stopping him. “What’s going on?”

Jack looked into his eyes. The cold hard look there said everything Michael needed to know. He’d seen it before in his own eyes.

And in Jurgen’s.

Michael held the stare longer than he’d meant to. When he finally looked away, Jack held it a moment longer still before going back to the table leg.

Michael nodded, more to himself than to Jack.

They weren’t enemies. Not yet. And Michael had no interest in making Jack anything slightly threatening. Jack was too old, and to powerful. Michael knew he’d never have a chance.

So Michael just turned away before he hit Jack, just on general principles. “I’ll see you.” He left the room.

Jack watched him go, keeping his hands stiffly at his sides. He didn’t want to make Michael an enemy any more than Michael apparently wanted it.

They weren’t enemies, anyway. They both wanted the same thing, didn’t they?

To make Nikita happy.

Chapter nine
___________

-- Wandering. I’m wandering aimlessly.

Lalia turned down yet another street. She walked on the right side, as was her habit, so she was facing the oncoming traffic. She stopped a few times to look in the various stores, but never bought anything.

The people in Enniscrone knew her, at least those with shops on the main street. They’d learned long ago not to question where she came from, thought the town wasn’t really small enough for everyone to know everyone else. More of a tourist town, really, right on the water, but just a stone’s throw from Ballina and only a little farther from Sligo town. Those people who did know Lalia by sight didn’t ask questions, though everyone liked her. She didn’t ask any more than she answered.

Lalia stopped in a pub and watched the piano player for a minute. She ordered a hot buttered rum and sipped at it. She felt like she was looking for something, but....

Lalia finished her drink, paid and left. The cold was combating the booze, and she didn’t feel either for a minute or two. Then the cold started creeping in, and she started walking again.

-- And just *where* are you going, little girl?

She turned down another street and stared at the shop across from her. Just a hole in the wall, really, closed and boarded up. It was owned by the Circle, and on holidays they opened it and sold magical items to the tourists and vacationers. It added some authenticity to the other magic shops on the water, though this town was not really known for it’s magic. Just a way to look like they were earning money. The real income was elsewhere.

But it was not what Lalia was looking for.

She stepped over a fallen branch and kept going down the street. Small knick-knack shops. Antique stores, book stores. All independent. The larger book store chains seemed to have missed Enniscrone. Besides, if you just have to have a Barnes and Noble, you can always go to Ballina. Only seven kilometers away. So this little town stays a little town.

Shivering was something that Lalia didn’t do. Not for cold, at least. Her blood was thicker than anyone’s. She lived year round in the caverns. Sure, she left, all the time. Lalia insisted on leading many missions herself. But she lived in the caverns. She didn’t shiver.

Lalia was shivering, and there was no reason too. It wasn’t really *that* cold. Yeah, it was *cool*, but it was a calm night, and the frost wasn’t here yet.

Lalia closed her eyes and shook her head to clear it. She turned down the street that led back to her docked boat, the Symbolic, looked in front of her and did a double take.

On her boat was Paul. Not an astral projection, Paul

He was holding an overnight bag.




Chapter ten
___________

“I was wondering why I was drawn to the mainland tonight.” Lalia smiled, stepped aboard the Symbolic and caught the rope from the man on dock.

Paul dropped his bag and sat down on a bench. He watched Lalia start the motor and steer them back out to sea. 

“You knew I was coming?” He stood next to her as the Island came into view.

“Not in so many words, but I knew I needed to get something on the mainland.” She smirked. “I didn’t think it was going to be my estranged brother.”

Paul swallowed. He didn’t want to be the estranged brother anymore. That was the decision that had brought him this far. But he didn’t want to be a Savior either. He needed to be Operations. Section really was what he wanted.

There had to be a way to do both.

“Lalia, we’re going to have to talk.”

Lalia looked at him with a patronizing expression. “Really? Because I thought, when I saw you here, we’d just fall into each others arms and melt away the last forty years. Paul, please.” The boat docked, and Lalia jumped off. Wrapping the rope around the bar, she smiled at him.

“I tell you one thing, though. You are going to eat better tonight than you have in years.”

Paul’s face became a little dreamy. “Serge’s cooking. There is something I remember perfectly.”

Lalia bit her lip. “He has a nineteen-twenty-one Chablis that’s drinking very well right now. We don’t have to melt away forty years in one minute, but I do think that your being here, physically and all, is cause for some kind of celebration?”

Paul squinted and smiled. “A nineteen-twenty-one Chablis? That’s the wine we celebrated our first fight with.”

Lalia nodded and started up the hill. “Of course. I threw you into a wall, you threw me *through* a window, we yelled, and when we made up we had some wine.” She winked. “Our first and only magical, full blown fight. I wouldn’t drink it with anyone else.”




Chapter eleven
___________

Lalia laughed and poured more wine into Paul’s glass, and then hers. Two empty wine bottles were already neatly lined on the table, waiting for the third. The two of them were anything if not tidy drinkers. They were sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, and an observer would never even know they were drunk. Neither was slurring, or giggly. Just talking. But both were as drunk as the Gifted can get, which admittedly, is not very drunk at all.

“She really thought you had to have a magic wand?”

Paul smiled and raised his glass. “She made it by hand! Mahogany handle, with, and I swear to god, an Eagle feather in it!” He took a long drink.

“Oh, for...” Lalia was half laughing, half incredulous. “What did you say when she handed it to you?”

“I carefully explained why having a magic wand is completely stupid.”

“You didn’t say that to her? After all that work.” Lalia’s brow furrowed, but she was still laughing. “The poor woman!”

“No, no. I was very nice about it. We had a long talk about the actual uses of magic.” He drained his glass. “And I still have the wand. It really was beautiful, even if it was useless.” Paul reached over and poured himself more wine, finishing off the bottle. He put the empty with the others and eyed them.

“That’s all you brought down, isn’t it?” He was already slipping into Circle references, since “down” was really up from the wine cellars.

Lalia nodded. “But!” She reached behind her, and into a small cabinet next to the couch. When her hand came out, she was holding the bottle of brandy she and Nikita had started. “It’s not wine, but I think we can manage.”

Paul took a look at the date and raised his eyebrows. “I think this’ll do.” He looked around and spotted her breakfront. Getting up, he reached in, pulled out two brandy snifters and held them up.

“Isn’t there a *law* against drinking brandy from wine glasses?”




Chapter twelve (kinda short)
___________

“Berkoff, run the Giavani sim again.” Madeline came up behind him and put her hands on the back of the chair.

Berkoff nodded. “OK, here’s sector one, here’s sector two and here’s the main target.” He pointed to the screen as he talked, and then typed in the password to start the sim. The figures on the screen started to move.

Madeline watched the mission play out and frowned.

“Right there. Stop.” Madeline leaned over to look closer. Yes, right there. Damn!

“What?” Berkoff looked where she was, but didn’t see the problem.

Madeline shook her head. They needed at least one more operative there, and she wasn’t sure if they had any more operatives that were both expendable and trained. However, she wasn’t about to tell Berkoff that. So she just smiled at his questioning look. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

She headed down the stairs to leave when Berkoff called her back.

“When will Operations be back?”

Madeline stopped, turned and shook her head. “He had some personal business to take care of. Michael and I will handle it all until he gets back.”

She smiled again and walked away. Berkoff stared after her, frowning. From that answer, Madeline didn’t know why he’d left either.

Madeline didn’t know why Operations was doing something.

Madeline didn’t know *where* Operations was.

Two sentences that would not be easy to get used to.

Chapter thirteen
___________

“If I weren’t Gifted, my head would be killing me right about now.” Lalia closed her eyes as she sat down at breakfast. “How’s yours?”

Paul smiled, but his eyes were only half open. “I’m awake. An accomplishment for which I will expect full credit, later.”

Lalia squinted at him through one eye. “Did we really finish off that brandy?”

He just nodded. His eyes were closed now as well.

The waiter came over and they ordered coffee in unison. Lalia gave a small laugh when he’d left.

“We still think alike, at least.” She opened one eye and grinned at him. Then she shut it, and her face became serious.

“So, why *are* you here, Paul? I doubt it was for one drunk night with your sister.”

The waiter came back with the coffee and Lalia opened both eyes to drink it.

Paul waited for the waiter to leave again, and he picked up his menu. “Well, actually that was more of a factor than you probably think. I came for you.”

Lalia glanced at him over her menu. “You came to take me away, ha ha? Should I start singing?”

Paul almost laughed, but his head was still too fuzzy, so he drank some more coffee instead. “No, not to take you away. I wanted to....I thought we could...” He couldn’t seem to finish the sentence. Damn. He was relieved that no one from Section was here to see this. He was never this lost at Section.

“I get it. You want to heal the rift.” Lalia had her eyes closed again, but Paul knew that she was listening. Better than anyone, he knew.

“I do. But I don’t want to come back to the Circle.” He finished his coffee in one long swallow.

“Well.” Lalia gave a short laugh. “I believe we started on the healing last night.” She looked up. “You obviously aren’t thinking you aren’t going to use magic, because, when last I checked, astral projection fell under that heading.” She ignored his look. “So...you just don’t want the title of Savior, and all the bull that comes with it?”

Paul smiled. “You put that better than I would have.”

Lalia shook her head, but she was smiling. “I’m the daughter of the Founders, Leader of the Circle. I would *hate* to be labeled a Savior. You’re my brother, and son of the Founders. You hardly deserve to be lumped in with everyone else. Let’s just go with Gifted and the son of the Founders, hmmm?”

He  nodded. “For now, that sounds perfect.” He glanced at the menu, open in front of him all this time but never read.

“*Fish* for breakfast??”

Chapter fourteen
___________

“Michael, do you know where Operations went?” Nikita was standing in the doorway to his office, holding her gear bag for the mission.

Michael shook his head, but he got up and pulled her in. He closed the door behind her and soundproofed the room.

“I have to talk to you before you leave.” He started to close the blinds to the window, but stopped when he saw Berkoff’s face in con. Something was going on, and Michael decided he wanted to be able to see, just in case. He re-opened the blinds and pulled them up.

Nikita checked her watch. “Ok. I still have another ten minutes.” She sat down.

Michael turned around, leaned back against the wall and studied her face. He knew he needed to ease into this.

“I talked to Jack the last time I was at the caverns.”

“What did you talk about?” Nikita checked her watch again. Plenty of time.

“It’s not important.” Michael suddenly decided not he didn’t want to do this to her before this particular mission. He turned to the window again and watched Berkoff go over to talk to Walter.

“Good luck with Giavani.”

Nikita frowned. “Michael, I know you wouldn’t have brought it up if it *wasn’t* important.”

His eyes turned up to look at Operations office. Madeline was doing something at Operations terminal, but that wasn’t that unusual. “You better get going. We’ll talk about it when you get back.”

Nikita’s eyes narrowed and she just looked at him for a minute. Then she shrugged and stood up. “Ok. Dinner tonight?”

Michael turned back to her and smiled. “Yes. I was going to make something special.” He moved closer and put his hand on her cheek. “I know how hard this mission is going to be for you.”

Nikita’s face turned dark for a minute, but she forced a smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Michael looked into her eyes, and kissed her.

“I know you will.”




Chapter fifteen
___________

“Team one, check in.”

“Team one, check. We’re in place.”

Nikita was sitting at the table in the van, wearing a com earpiece. She checked her computer screen and nodded across the table at Berkoff. He nodded back, and his fingers flew over the keyboard.

“Team two check in.” Nikita was watching her screen as she talked. Walter was standing guard at the door, watching the towers above them on the view screen, just in case.

The teams checked in one by one, all in their correct positions. There was a small discipline problem, but Nikita handled it fine. It was blazingly obvious why that one was being cancelled, though.

The teams had checked in, and Nikita set team one on the target. It was expected that Giavani would kill them all, but by then someone would have hit him with a tranquilizer dart, and the van could then come in and pick him up.

Nikita watched on her screen as the first team moved in and was shot down. Only two tranquilizer darts were shot, neither hit.

“Damn it, shoot before you die!” Nikita jumped to realize she’d said that out loud. She looked up, but neither Berkoff or Walter seemed to notice.

The second team moved in, this time four darts were shot, and not *one* hit.

No wonder they were being cancelled! Not one could shoot straight!

The third team moved in, and three darts were fired. And...wait...

One hit!

Giavani went down, and so did the rest of the third team. Nikita reflected that the extra person on that team had been the winning dart, and wondered where Madeline had gotten the name.

But there was no time to think about that now. Berkoff nodded, and Walter sat down. Nikita gave the driver the signal to go.




Chapter sixteen
___________

Nikita made sure she was well ahead of Walter and Berkoff when they came in. She handed off Giavani to the guards and Madeline, and didn’t wait for him to wake up.

The last thing she needed now was for Giavani to recognize her.

She’d recognized *him* the minute he was loaded into the van.

Giavani was a man she’d once tried to kill. He’d been using magics for death, and the Circle had launched a mission against him. Nikita and Lalia had been the only ones to have interaction with him. The mission had been aborted when he’d stopped using magic to kill. The Circle never made it a habit to hunt people down for past crimes, and killing using mundane means was not really in Circle jurisdiction.

At least, not the way Giavani did it.

So the mission had been scrubbed, and Nikita had had to get out of it the best she could, being the one left behind.

So, she’d drugged him and left.

Nikita knew that really, with Operations gone, she just had to explain to Madeline what was going on.

But what *about* Operations? He’d be back, and Section was planning to recruit Giavani. That meant that eventually, Nikita would have to work with him, and he *would* recognize her.

But that came later.

Nikita glanced at her watch and realized that she didn’t have time to talk to Madeline today.

Michael would have dinner ready by now, and he had something to talk to her about...about Jack.

Nikita did an about face and headed back up to the street.

Giavani would have to keep until tomorrow.




Chapter seventeen
___________

Lalia leaned forward and put her chin on Paul’s arm. “Does my jaw look like it’s broken?”

His eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. They were on a Circle boat, heading back to the mainland so he could catch a plane home.

“Why do you ask?” He took Lalia’s chin in his hand and turned her head back and forth looking for bruises.

“I feel like I’ve talked enough today for it to fall off.”

Paul laughed and pushed her playfully back into her own seat. “And I was actually looking!” He smiled and started running his hand through her hair. “We *did* talk a lot though, didn’t we?”

Lalia closed her eyes and tilted her head, as if in thought. “Well, no. Not if we’re judging on a scale. I can remember an aunt we had...”

“STOP!” Paul put his hand over Lalia’s mouth. “Don’t say her name, don’t even *think* her name. She might hear you.”

Lalia giggled. “Huum umph uming umph mn umhuhmhuh.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Paul took his hand away. “What was that?”

“I said I was just putting it in perspective.” She laughed as Paul made a gagging face.

The boat bumped against the dock.

Lalia stood up and looked at the large black car pulling up, obviously intended for Paul. She turned back to him and took his bag.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay another day?”

“I do want to.” Paul threw a glance at the man getting out of the car. “But I can’t. There was a mission, an important one, and I have to get back.” He took his bag from her and stepped off the boat. Then he turned back to the boat.

“If you don’t come back in a week, you will leave me no choice but to come to you.” Lalia was talking in a mocking voice, but he knew she meant it.

“I’ll be back in *one week*. I didn’t do all this to get my sister back just to lose her again.”

Lalia watched him get into the car and drive away. She sat back down and closed her eyes as the boat moved out onto the water again.

One week.

Or she *would* go to Section.

Chapter eighteen interlude
___________

Berkoff shook his head and almost laughed at himself, it was so obvious.

He’d spent the entire day looking for a clue to where Operations had gone. And it was staring him right in the face.

The plane had landed in Ireland. Specifically, it landed in a small non-commercial airport in Sligo town, Ireland.

The “missing” island, “Circle Island” was just off the *coast* from Sligo.

The Island that holds Section Eleven.

The word “duh” almost came out of Berkoff’s mouth.

Chapter eighteen
___________

“Hi.” Nikita dropped her jacket on the counter and closed her eyes. “That smells amazing.”

Michael held something in front of her mouth. “Try this, but keep your eyes closed.”

Nikita’s mouth opened and closed around the fork. She smiled. “Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yes.”

“It’s delicious, but I didn’t think I had the ingredients to make stuffed crab.” Nikita looked around the kitchen as she spoke, and noticed some wine in the corner.

Michael turned back to the stove. “You didn’t. I went shopping before I came over. Sit down, this isn’t quite ready yet.”

She did, sitting on a stool at the counter. “You wanted to talk to me about Jack?”

Michael didn’t turn around. “How did the mission go?”

Closing her eyes, Nikita grinned. “You’re avoiding the question.”

Michael came over to the counter and looked into her eyes. “So are you.”

“Ok. The mission went exactly the way it was supposed to. We got him, and all the abeyance operatives were killed.”

“You’re leaving something out.” Michael’s eyes were piercing. Nikita looked away.

“I know Giavani.” She looked down at her hands. “He wasn’t called that when I knew him, but he’ll know me.”

“How do you know him?” He reached for the wine as he talked and poured into the waiting glasses.

“He was a Circle target.” Nikita outlined the  situation for Michael, and when she finished she took the proffered glass and drained it. “I don’t know how to handle it. I have to tell Madeline, but other than that...I mean, what do I do when Giavani tells Operations that he’s met me before, and where?”

Michael took a small sip of wine so he could think. There were four different solutions in his mind, but none that he wanted to use. Three that might work, though.

“Well, one of two things, unless you can think of something else. One, we corner Giavani and make sure he keeps your past to himself.”

Nikita shook her head. “Won’t work. He doesn’t intimidate.”

Michael nodded. “Ok, then two, we let him tell Operations, and Operations simply finds out.”

“Not an option.”

“Then we go with the third. Lalia showed me a memory spell, to help recover lost memories. I think I can reverse it, and use it to *hide* memories from him.”

Nikita just stared. “You think you can do that?”

Michael nodded. “But not tonight. Tonight, I’m cooking.”

Nikita didn’t move. She was grateful for the answer, but....

Lalia had showed her the memory spell when Nikita was fifteen. She’d never been able to work it with enough power. And now Michael could, apparently.

Nikita felt her heart drop to her stomach. The one thing she’d been better at. And now, once again, Michael was the strongest.

Nikita took another drink of wine, and didn’t realize she’d forgotten completely about Jack.




Chapter nineteen (S - TR)
___________

It was almost two AM. Operations looked up at his office as he walked into Section, and frowned. The windows were darkened.

He climbed the steps, expecting to find George waiting for him to talk about Michael, Madeline and Nikita, but instead he just found Madeline, holding a pad.

“What are you doing up?” He smiled and dropped his coat behind the wall, over a chair. “It’s two in the morning.”

Madeline handed him the pad. “I wish it was for pleasure, but we have Giavani, and I’m waiting for him to wake up.” She glanced out the window at Berkoff, still up and working. “And I was wondering how it went?” She made it sound casual.

Operations smiled again, but didn’t answer. He was looking at the pad, running down the account of the mission.

When he finally looked up, it still wasn’t to answer her. “We lost everyone? Including Henderman?”

Madeline nodded, and Operations sighed. “I guess it was a long shot, but he wasn’t quite to the cancellation level and I would have liked to keep him.”

“We needed the extra man, and he did turn out to be the only accurate shot.” Madeline walked to the door as she said it and tapped a button. The mission record came up on the main screen, and Operations watched it play out.

He waited until it was over to comment. “Very nice. You were right. I don’t think we could have used him better. Good work.” Operations put the pad down and looked out the window. He walked over to stand just behind her, and brushed a piece of hair off her shoulder. “Why are the windows dark, if we’re just going to talk business?”

Madeline smiled. “Well, Giavani isn’t likely to wake up anytime soon. And while I didn’t want to take the chance that he would and I wouldn’t be here, “ She turned around. “I also wanted to make sure you got a proper homecoming. I have a meeting with George tomorrow. I didn’t want to leave for two days without....”

Operations glanced out one more time. “Berkoff could walk in.”

Madeline shook her head. “He’s busy running an anti virus. He’ll be busy for hours.”

“Really? You’ll be gone for two days. Will a few hours be long enough?”





Chapter twenty
___________

“Jack, what happened?”

Jack looked up from the transistor he was fixing, but Lalia wasn’t in the room. He looked out the door, and there she was, leaning sideways against the wall reading a report.

“What happened with what?”

“With Michael.” She looked up and folded the report in half.  “You spoke with Michael. Then Michael left, almost immediately, and now he wants to know if Nikita trains with you anymore.”

Jack went back into the weapons room and called back out to her. “It’s late, Lalia.”

Lalia followed him in. “I’m up, you’re up. And,” she looked around the work area, cluttered with electronics and wires, “it doesn’t look like you were planning to go to bed anytime soon. So, what happened with Michael? Something about Nikita?”

Jack glanced at her. “I didn’t say a word to Michael about Nikita.”

“Ok, but you may have said something without saying anything. I know you both. You’re too much alike. You did something, “ Lalia picked up a broken sub-machine gun, “said something, subtly, that got the message across.”

Jack took the gun out of her hands. “I didn’t say a word, ok? He asked me what was going on, and I didn’t say one word.”

“I see. Not one word.” Lalia hopped on the table and crossed her legs. “So, you didn’t say anything. You didn’t say ‘nothing’, you didn’t say a word. Complete silence.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Jack?”

“Yeah?” He wasn’t looking at her, but at the machine gun. The casing had come off when she picked it up....automatics were never her specialty.

She was more of a long distance, one shot girl, good with a handgun or a rifle. She liked shotguns, but...

“Jack?!”

He looked up. “Sorry. Lost in thought. What was the question?”

Lalia shook her head and hopped down. “Forget it. I’m obviously not going to get an answer. Just, whatever you did, try not to do it again, ok? I don’t want to lose Michael because you can’t keep your emotions to yourself.”

Jack nodded. “Inner Circle members are rare. I know. I didn’t really....”

“Forget it.” Lalia left, opening the report again as she walked out.

Jack finished fixing the gun and put it back. “Right. Forget it.”

Easier said than done.

Chapter twenty-one
___________

“Michael?” Nikita poked him again, but he just rolled over.

“Michael!”

“What?” He rolled onto his side and looked up at her, sitting on the side of the bed. “What are you doing up already?”

Nikita shook her head. “It was very clever, I’ll give you that, but it won’t work this morning. I want to know what’s going on with you and Jack.”

Michael looked at the clock and groaned. “Well, I bet *he* isn’t up this early.”

“Michael!”

He sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Actually, he was stalling for time. Michael still had no idea what he was going to tell Nikita. That he saw a look in Jack’s eyes? Please. She’d accuse him of being paranoid.

“Can I have some coffee first?”

Nikita held up a cup and pushed it into his hands. “I had a feeling. You get five minutes. Drink and wake up. You can even get dressed. But we *are* talking about this today. I need to know what’s going on.”

She stood up and went back into the kitchen. Michael could hear pans being moved around, and started to smell bacon and eggs frying. He got up and started to dress, as slowly as possible.

-- Think. I just need a little more time to think.

Michael finished his coffee and put his shirt on. He heard Nikita putting plates on the counter.

“Breakfast, and your five minutes are up.” She was pouring juice and coffee for herself. Toast came out of the toaster and jam from the fridge.

And he still had no idea what he was going to say.

“Michael!”

“I’m coming.” The simple truth would have to do. It didn’t have to be the whole truth. Just some truth.

Chapter twenty-two
___________

Michael sat down at the counter, putting his coffee cup by his plate. Nikita refilled it.

“Thanks.” He picked it up and started drinking.

Nikita sat down across from him. “So. Talk.”

“I don’t want you training with Jack anymore.”

“Why not?” Nikita’s brow furrowed and she put her coffee down. “I’ve been training with Jack since I first started with the Circle. If you’re worried that he’s not *safe*, I can tell you that he is. Michael...”

“It’s not that.” Michael put down the toast he’d just picked up. It wasn’t burned, anyway, and that’s how he liked it. “It’s just a personal preference. I don’t trust him.”

Nikita frowned. “You aren’t going to tell me any more than that, are you?”

Michael shook his head. “Shouldn’t it be enough that I love you, and I need to know you’re alright?”

Nikita’s eyes closed. A declaration of love. She didn’t get those so often from him that she could afford to question them, or ignore them. That he was trotting it out for this was... disturbing.

But not something she would argue.

And he knew it.

“Ok. I won’t train with him anymore. I don’t really train all that much these days, anyway, and when I do, I can do it with Lalia.” Nikita squinted at him. “Have you spoken to Lalia about this? The second time I was there after Madeline, she mentioned something about Jack, but she never got to finish it.”

Michael shook his head, but he was eating his eggs as he did. He didn’t want them to get cold. Nikita waited until he’d swallowed. “Why not?”

His eyes clouded. “I think she may know already, and I don’t feel it’s necessary.”

Nikita nodded. “Ok. So, I won’t train with him anymore.” She frowned. “Was that all you wanted to tell me?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, then what are we doing up so early?”




Chapter twenty-three
___________

“I have a question.” Madeline dropped into a chair in front of Lalia’s office, and crossed her legs.

Lalia didn’t look up from the report on her desk. “I have an answer. Let’s see if they match.”

“I think they do. I was wondering how long it takes for the Circle to know if someone’s gifted.”

Lalia’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked up. “Rephrase.”

“Sorry.” Madeline smiled. “How long does it take, after a Gift shows up in a person, for the Circle to know about it and recruit the person?”

Lalia sat back in her chair and put her feet on the desk. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering.”

Lalia’s eyebrows lifted. “Because, if you want to know how long you had your Gift before we knew, I can tell you *that*. But every person is different. On an average...I’d say as little as two minutes, as many as ten years. It depends on how fast the Gift develops.”

Madeline frowned. “How long did I have my Gift before you knew?”

Lalia grinned. “That’s a loaded question. You’ve *had* your Gift all your life. That isn’t the basis. A lot of people are Gifted, and never know it, because it never comes out. The question I think you’re asking is, ‘how long was my Gift active before you recruited me’. The answer to that is four years. Though, we knew almost immediately. But we had no way of getting you out of Section and here.”

“Now, Nikita was actively Gifted when she was five, and we didn’t know it. We didn’t know until she was twelve, and we brought her in when she was thirteen. But, once you’re in here, we can trace the power back, and *then* we can know how fast we found out.”

“I see.” Madeline stood up. “Thank you.”

Lalia dropped her feet down and stood up as well. “That was it? Are you sure?”

Madeline nodded, smiled and left. Lalia stared after her with a worried expression on her face.

Then it hit her.

Paul. Madeline had to think Paul was Gifted. She wouldn’t have noticed it before, because Paul had always been so careful not to use his powers. But recently...

And it had to be leaking out in other ways. No one who wasn’t Gifted and *looking* for it would notice, but Madeline was too new to her Gift to *not* be looking for it.

It couldn’t be anyone else, Nikita kept a pretty close watch on things at Section. If someone is Gifted, Nikita tells Lalia. That’s the way it works.

It had to be Paul.

Damn.

Lalia sat down and started a letter to her brother. Cards on the table. That was the only way to handle this.

Cards on the table.





Chapter twenty-four (short)
___________

The door to the white room cell opened and closed behind Nikita. It took Giavani a second to recognize her, but the recognition was definitely there. Nikita watched it happen. She’d counted on it. He’d known her too well to forget completely.

“Nikita. I thought that was you, but I wasn’t sure for a minute.” He smiled up at her from the lockdown seat. “Now, what is a witch such as yourself doing *here*?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Nikita smiled back at him and walked around behind the chair. A syringe came out from her pocket, and she quickly inserted the liquid into his neck. She held it for the count of ten and pulled the needle out.

Giavai’s head dropped forward. He was out.

The door opened again, and Michael came in.

“We only have fifteen minutes. This will take ten, and then we have to get Giavani conscious. After that, the cameras will switch back on.” Michael was setting up as he talked.

Nikita nodded, took a large bowl of herbs from him and started mixing them into the water. Michael was already chanting.

Fifteen minutes later, the camera in Giavani’s cell came back on. The techs in the computer room shook their heads. Damn virus. Berkoff was supposed to have gotten rid of that thing by now!

No one noticed that Giavani had a slightly blanker look on his face, and that his hair was wet. It didn’t matter anyway.

Very hot in those rooms sometimes.

Chapter twenty-five
___________

Operations stared at the communiqué from Lalia.

He sat down, and re-read it.

And then he read it again. But he still wasn’t seeing it.

Or, he didn’t want to.

Madeline was Gifted? An Inner Circle Savior....

Who wanted to know why *he*, Paul, was not being recruited.

And here was all this other information, and several very compelling reasons, that showed why Madeline couldn’t find out about Operation’s Gift.

At least, not for some time.

He groaned and put the pad down. Then he picked it back up and read it a fourth time.  And suddenly he realized what he was doing and almost smiled.

You’re falling into Lalia’s habits. You’ve read it already. You don’t have to re-hash it over and over again.

Operations deleted the message from both the pad and the main computer. He couldn’t risk Madeline knowing about it, and careful as Lalia had been, Operations wasn’t going to take any chances. He called down to Berkoff to send Michael up.

He sat down and rubbed his eyes for a minute, and then he started on some work for an upcoming mission.

Just work. If you work, you won’t have to think about it.

“You needed to see me?”

Operations looked up to see Michael standing in the doorway.

“Yes. I’m leaving again, and I’m putting you in charge of Section until I get back.”

Michael looked out the window. “How long will you be gone?”

Operations shook his head. “It could take a day, or it could take a week. I have no idea.”

“I see.” Michael didn’t turn around. He was thinking about the message he’d just gotten from Lalia, and trying to come up with a subtle way to do this. He finally decided on the direct approach.

Operations handed Michael a pad. “Be sure to go over this with the team, they haven’t been briefed. I’ll try to get an update from you after the first sim. Nikita leads the mission.”

Michael took the pad and nodded. Then he looked Operations straight in the eye. “Be sure to say hello to Lalia for me.”

Chapter twenty-six
___________

“You could have told me.”

Nikita was staring down at Section from Operations office. Michael came up behind her.

“Lalia said that this would be better. He only knows about me. Lalia will tell him about you. He needs to find out in stages.”

Nikita shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “You still could have told me you were planning on letting him know. You kept me completely out of the loop.” She moved away from him, crossed her arms and kept staring out the window.

Michael studied her face. She was definitely angry, but he didn’t think it likely that she was really this angry about *this.*

“What is it?”

“What is what?” Nikita didn’t look up, but she could feel Michael’s eyes on her.

“Nikita.” His voice was slightly reproachful. She glanced up. “What is it?”

Nikita bit her lip. “When did you talk to Lalia?”

“I didn’t. I got a message from her.” Michael stood beside her and looked out.

“Why did you get a message and not me?” Her voice had tears in it, but it didn’t show on her face. Michael winced.

“I don’t know.” It was a whisper. “I have an office with a secure line. You don’t. Madeline could have tracked a message to you.”

Nikita nodded. That made sense, but it didn’t make her feel any *better*.

It felt like Michael was slipping away. Not emotionally, maybe....but he had needed her for the magic. It was her area, and he’d been the newby.

Then it had seemed like he didn’t need her at all. But Nikita had still been the one getting the messages from Lalia, and she’d been ok. She’d been the connection to the Circle. So, he’d still needed her, at least for that.

And now, she’d lost that, too.

Chapter twenty-seven
___________

Lalia sat reading the message over. Walter was *not* putting her mind at ease. It seemed that Berkoff knew where Circle Island was, but thought it was Section Eleven. And that was fine.

But he was prying into everything that came along. And Lalia didn’t want to think about what would happen if he started prying into his own past farther.

There were times when knowledge was just so far past dangerous....

Lalia closed her eyes and deleted the message. She just wouldn’t look at it, and maybe it would go away.

Yeah, right.

Ok, one phone call. She’d make one phone call. It was indulgent, but she needed it.

Lalia picked up her phone and dialed. She didn’t even look at her address book, but she didn’t need to. This number was one she never had to look up.

It rang for a minute, and then someone picked up the other end.

“Hello?”

Lalia’s eyes were still closed, but she sighed and relaxed a little. That voice just always made her feel better.

She leaned forward onto her desk. “Hi.”

“Hey. Are you ok? You don’t sound so hot.”

“No, I’m not. Can I come over tonight?”

Lalia waited a minute. The answer came and a smile started to spread. She hung up and closed her office.

Then she went to her rooms, packed an overnight bag, took out the Symbolic and headed for the mainland.

Chapter twenty-eight
___________

“You should tell him. He should know who his mother is.”

Lalia frowned at him in the mirror on his closet door. They were lying in bed, and he was trying to get the stiffness out of her neck.

“Why do you say that?”

“Well,” his hands moved to her shoulders “if I hadn’t known who my father was, I never would have been the person I am today. Someday, I’ll be taking over for him. It’s nice to know that there will always be that family connection, and even though I know there’s a lot *he* doesn’t know about *me*, at least we know we’re related.”

Lalia grinned at him over her shoulder. “So, still haven’t told the old man that you’re Gifted, huh?”

He shook his head. “What would I say? How would I even broach the subject? I love him, but I get the impression that if he knew I had some kind of super powers, he’d stick me under a microscope and try to turn me into a weapon as soon as breathe. He doesn’t love the way the rest of us do.”

“You think? I don’t. I think he loves just like any other human being. He *did* name you after him. The ‘junior’ bit was a nice touch, if you ask me. Don’t you think so?” His reply was a sarcastic laugh, and Lalia wiggled out from under his hands, turning around on the bed. “And, I’ve heard other evidence to support my theory.”

“Have you?” He brushed some hair out of her eyes.

“Yep. I’ve heard that there’s a woman he would kill to protect.”

“And who told you this?” He smirked and reached over to the nightstand to get his watch. “I would love to meet this woman. I’ve never heard of anything like that. And,” he got up “if I had, you know that you would have been the first to know.”

Lalia smiled. “Why thank you. I believe it, though. There are some people that have staked their lives on this woman, and the fact that your father loves her. And, it worked.” She smiled at his frown. “Really.”

He kept talking from in the bathroom. “I find it hard to believe, that’s all. I lived with the man for a long time. I never saw any women at the house.”

Lalia kneeled on the bed as he came back holding two glasses of water.

“Have you ever heard your father mention a woman named Adrian?”

He shook his head.

“Well, “ she took her water from him, “George, darling, you might want to ask about her.”

“Darling?” He jumped on the bed, grabbed her, and she spilled her water. “Darling!? Where did *that* come from? No proper language in this house, and you know it!” His arms wrapped around her waist and she squirmed.

“Don’t tickle!!!” She laughed and rolled, he rolled with her, and they fell off the bed.

Not that it much mattered.

Chapter twenty-nine (short)
___________

When Madeline got back to Section, Nikita was waiting in her office.

“Hi. How was it?”

Madeline smiled. “It was very nice. Why?”

Nikita handed Madeline a pad with a message from Lalia. Madeline skimmed it and looked up sharply.

“Berkoff? Really?”

Nikita nodded and stood up to leave. “That’s for you. We thought you should know.”

Madeline nodded back. “Ok.” She was still reading.

Nikita stopped at the door and turned around “Oh, and...”

“Yes?”

“Operations got called away on some emergency thing. He left Michael in charge, and the briefing for the mission is still tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”

“Right.”

Nikita left, and Madeline finished reading the letter. She decided to get some other work done, and not think about this until tomorrow after the briefing. So, she tossed the pad onto a stack of others. It partially deleted when a button went off, but Madeline barely glanced at it. She knew what was on there. She pushed the stack to the corner of her desk to make room for her paperwork.

And forgot about it.





Chapter thirty
___________

“Kryn?!”

Paul looked at his watch. It wasn’t that late, really. Not by Circle standards. He knocked again.

A partially naked red-head opened the door. Paul frowned at her.

“Is Kryn here?”

“She might be. Who are you?” The red-head cocked her head and folded her arms. Paul saw what Kryn liked in her. Just her type.

“Paul.”

“Just Paul?” She raised one eyebrow. “She’ll know you?”

He nodded. “Tell her I’m looking for my sister. She wasn’t in her room, and what with the message I got, I think I’d better find her.”

The woman disappeared into the apartment and closed the door behind her. A minute later Kryn opened the door, in all her blonde glory....she never was one for modesty.

“Paul!” She threw her arms around his neck, and he hugged her back.

“Hey.” He held her for another minute. It hadn’t really occurred to him that he’d missed his cousin quite this much. Or that she’d missed him.

Paul let go and stepped back. “Kryn, do you know where my little sister is? She sent me this message, but I get here and she’s gone.”

Kryn shook her head. “I have no idea *where* Lalia is, but you know she’ll be back in the caverns by tomorrow. She has too much of a love for Serge’s cooking to miss breakfast.”

Paul grinned. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until then.” He looked past her at the red-head. “Nice to have met you.”

The woman gave him a once over and smirked. He wasn’t *her* type.

Kryn smiled at him. “That’s Niscia. She’s....she’s actually kind of a permanent fixture, so you better meet her. Niscia, this is Lalia’s older brother.”

Niscia smiled a *very* friendly smile at that, though slightly contrite. “Sorry! I didn’t know you were...sorry. There’s just been this man who....” She stopped, closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Paul laughed. “Don’t say you’re sorry.” He smirked at Kryn. “I’m thinking it’s your cutting edge my cousin likes?”

Kryn pushed him out. “That’s enough of that.” She shook her head. “Go. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

He gave her a once over and smirked again. “I don’t think I could really see *more* of you.”

“Goodnight, Paul.” Kryn closed the door in his face, laughing.

He smiled to himself and headed for his own room, just down the hall.

Nice to know some things never change.

Chapter thirty-one (briefing)
___________

Michael walked into the briefing area and clicked the remote. A large commercial complex came up on the screen.

“These buildings house every main exporter of small arms components in the southeast.”

He changed the picture again to show the tallest building closer.

“We have an interest in this building. We suspect that Red Cell is importing laced cartridges from this company.”

“Laced?” Nikita shifted her gaze from the screen to Michael.

“Laced with explosive properties. They have created a formula to allow the gun to be shot without exploding, while still being able to be used for a bomb, if necessary.”

Nikita nodded. “So, what are we doing?”

Michael turned off the screen. “We are going to steal the formula and destroy their copy and stock.”

“Any questions?”

Berkoff looked up. “I have something.” He waited for Michael’s go ahead before finishing. “We only have a five minute window when the security system cycles. So I’ll need to have everyone check in twice with their positions before I trigger the switch. This thing is all timing. Everyone has to make sure they know where they are.”

Nikita nodded absently, staring at her pad.

Michael put the remote down. “We go up in two days. That’s all.”




Chapter thirty-two
___________

“And where do you *go* when you go?”

Kryn sat down across from Lalia and took the menu from the waiter. “I say, whiggy?”

Lalia grinned but didn’t look up. “That’s none of your business.”

“Is it your brother’s? Because he was at my room last night looking for you.”

“Paul’s here? Why is Paul here?” Lalia put her menu down and started watching the door. “When did Paul even *get* here?”

Kryn shrugged and made a face at the menu before dropping it on her plate. “I don’t know when he got here, but he was here last night...or, rather, this morning.”

“What did he say?” Lalia was still staring at the door. She didn’t want to miss him coming in.

“He said something about a message, and needing to talk to you. He met Niscia.”

Lalia turned back to Kryn with a wondrous expression on her face. “He met Niscia, came to your room at the wee hours of the morning, and he’s still alive?? Are you sure she didn’t castrate him?”

Kryn laughed. “No, no castration of the Founders’ son. Though, that’s probably the only reason. She was really peeved until I introduced them.”

“Peeved.” Lalia glanced at the door. “Only you could use that word and still sound like an adult.”

“Would you prefer ‘perturbed’?”

Lalia stuck her tongue out and Kryn matched it.

“I thought you two would have grown up by now.” Paul came up behind Kryn’s chair, tweaked her shoulder and sat down between the two.

“What’s for breakfast?” He shot an acidic glare at Lalia before picking up his menu.

She rolled her eyes at Kryn. This was not going to be a pleasant meal.





Chapter thirty-three
___________

When the waiter had taken their orders, Lalia ignored Paul’s attempt at conversation. She was staring at Kryn with a worried look on her face.

“You are aware that this is the third day in a row you’ve skipped breakfast?” Lalia shot a glance at Paul and he forgot what he’d been about to say. Kryn skipping meals was never a good sign.

“I’m just not hungry.” Kryn drank some coffee and smiled. Then she shifted in her seat under their stare, which wasn’t letting up anytime soon. “Stop it. What?”

“Kryn?” Lalia frowned at her and furrowed her eyebrows. “When is the last time you had a full meal?”

Kryn looked away and shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t really been hungry lately.”

“You haven’t been hungry lately.” Lalia ran her tongue over her teeth.  “Ok, well, you’re going to eat now, and I don’t really care if I have to force feed you. And don’t try to fight me, you know damn well that I’m stronger than you are.” She hailed the waiter who came over with another menu. Lalia put it in front of Kryn.

“You will pick something yourself, or I will pick the most fat-laden, high cholesterol, sugary thing on the menu.”

Kryn bit her lip. “I’m really fine, guys. I’m just not hungry.”

Paul opened the menu in front of her and started counting down. “Twenty, nineteen, eighteen....Kryn, if I reach one and you haven’t picked something you’re having the blintzes with sour cream and powdered sugar. Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen...”

“Fine!” Kryn took the menu from him, and when the waiter came back she ordered toast and eggs. “Are you happy now?” She handed the menu to the waiter and he left.

Lalia shook her head. “But I will be when I see you actually eat.”

“You’re both just overprotective.” Kryn was pouting.

“Agreed. But I don’t really have a great need to see you in a hospital. You have to eat. I won’t watch you do this to yourself again. And stop pouting, you’re over four hundred years old and you look like a child.”

Kryn just glared at her, but Lalia wasn’t looking anymore.

“So, Paul, what brings you to the caverns?”

Then she laughed. Now they were both glaring at her.





Chapter thirty-four (really, really short)
___________

“Damn!”

Berkoff got down on his knees and started picking up the stack of pads he’d knocked over. Madeline wasn’t here, and he was in her office looking for a computer program he’d left.

He put the stack on her desk and went through making sure they were all facing the same way. And stopped.

Berkoff stared down at the pad. The data wasn’t intact, but that was his name there at the top.

The pad had been deleted. Berkoff tried to retrieve the information, but it was too garbled.

He stared at it, and then he put it in his pocket.

Madeline would never even notice it was gone, not with that stack on her desk.

Berkoff picked up the disk with the program he’d come for and left.




Chapter thirty-five
___________

“Ok, so why *are* you here, Paul?” Lalia dropped onto the couch in her office, and Paul stayed in the doorway. He was leaning against the doorjamb, studying her desk.

“Lalia, even you can keep your desk cleaner than that.” He walked over and picked up the top page. “How do you even know where anything is?”

“I just know. And you’re avoiding the question.”

“You sent me a letter telling me that the woman I love is a Savior. An *Inner Circle* savior. You also tell me in that letter that she can’t find out who or what I am. You give good reasons, and it makes sense. I can live with it well, even. I’ve been hiding it from her all this time, I can hide it some more. I know I need to talk to you, but it isn’t so pressing I go running out the door that second.” Paul sat down, dropped his elbows to his knees and glared at her.

“*Then* I find out from Michael that *he* is also an Inner Circle Savior, and I start to wonder how many of my operatives *aren’t*! So, I’m here.”

“Oh.” Lalia crossed her legs. “Well, you only have two other Saviors in Section.”

“Besides Berkoff?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Right. Berkoff isn’t in the count at the moment.” Lalia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The Savior watching Berkoff is Walter.”

Paul nodded. “Ok, well I thought that might be. And I knew you had someone watching him. So, that’s fine. Who’s the other, Lalia?”

“Nikita.” She winced.

-- Here it comes....

“NIKITA!?” He stood up, and came very close to hitting her, but they both knew that he was way too out of practice to fight her. So he clenched his fist and sat back down.

“Nikita. Ok. Nikita.” He stood back up and started pacing. “Nikita!?”

“Paul...” Lalia started to get up but he stopped her.

“No. No, I’m ok. I just needed a minute.” He sat back down and closed his eyes. “Nikita?”

“We recruited her when she was thirteen. She, um...” Lalia stopped, but Paul nodded, so she kept going. “She lived in my rooms until she was twenty. She’s...well, she’s almost a daughter.”

“A daughter.” Paul stood back up and paced again. “I used mind control on the closest thing I’m ever likely to have to a niece. Wonderful. Great.”

“Paul.”

“Lalia, don’t. It isn’t your fault, it isn’t mine. But I need just a little time.” He left the room, but came back a minute later.

“I’ll see you at dinner, ok?” He smiled. It was forced, but it was a smile.

“Ok.”

Chapter thirty-six (S - HR)
___________

“He isn’t taking it well.” Nikita was standing in the doorway to Operation’s office.

Michael looked up from the window. “Taking what well?”

“My being a Savior, and practically Lalia’s daughter. She just sent me this.” Nikita handed him a message.

“‘Freaked out.’ There’s a phrase you don’t expect to hear in Section.” Michael skimmed the rest of the message.

“I’m guessing he’ll be there a while.” Nikita reached around him and pushed the dimmer button for the windows. Michael caught her hand.

“What are you doing?”

Her mouth was right on his ear. “Just giving us a little more privacy.”

Michael’s face softened a fraction and he put the pad down. “And why would we need privacy?” He turned to face her.

“Well...” Nikita ran her hands down his shirt “I was thinking that I might need to relax a little before the mission.”

Michael smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “The mission isn’t for two days.”

“You never know, though.” Nikita was talking into his mouth. “And I’ve been very jumpy since the abeyance mission. I think I need some help to calm down.”

“I see.” His hands slid down her skirt. “You need help to relax.”

“If you don’t mind too much.” Her hands were working with his jacket buttons.

“Not in the least.”

Chapter thirty-seven
___________

“Kryn?”

Lalia knocked again, and the door opened.

“What?”  Kryn’s hair was in her face, and she was out of breath. She did *not* look angry.

“Heh. Hi!” Lalia glanced behind Kryn and leered. Niscia was sitting on the couch, drinking wine. She raise her glass to Lalia.

“I’m gonna go with ‘You aren’t mad at me’. Sound right?” Lalia grinned at Niscia, who smiled back and took a sip from her glass.

“No, I’m not mad. Mad? Oh!” Kryn closed her eyes. “You mean breakfast. No, I’m not mad. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I got some food in me.

“Good. Will you be...um...done by dinner? Because I’m going to need your help to talk to Paul. He’s having some trouble with the concept of Nikita being a Savior...especially..”

“That she’s like a daughter to you? Yes, I’ll be at dinner. Emotional support, thy name is me.” Kryn smiled “However, if I could go now...”

Lalia snickered. “Yes, of course. See you tonight.” She winked at Niscia and Kryn closed the door.

Lalia mock saluted the door and did an about face...right into Jack.

“There’s a problem with Berkoff?” Jack’s face was covered in worry. Those eyes of his...

-- Hey! Stop it.

“No. He’s just being...he’s being like his father.” She flashed an evil smile.

“Ah. Ok. I was worried.” A relieved smile slid across his face.

“Who told you, anyway?” Lalia’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t remember saying anything.”

The two started walking down the hall towards the training rooms.

“No, no, I got a communiqué from Walter. He mentioned sending you a message about Berkoff. The language made me nervous.” They were in front of the training room ops. Jack tweaked her shoulder and angled his chin inside. Lalia followed him in.

“I have something to show you.” He was positively beaming. Lalia sat down and he ducked behind a large gun rack. He called to her over his shoulder.

“This is going to solve all your communication problems. Remember Dick Tracy?”

Lalia rolled her eyes. “If you’ve come up with a watch that transmits pictures and words, I may have to kill myself before I’m actually seen using it.”

“No, no.” Jack came out holding a large locket. “This is one step beyond, and out of the ‘geek’ world. Into the real world. Also, it’s much more practical. Open the locket.”

Lalia snapped open the lid and stared at the plain-looking mirror inside. “Ok, so it’s a mirror. So I can adjust the makeup I don’t wear. So what?”

Jack smirked at her. “It’s like a one way window, only so much more advanced. Hold it with your thumb on top and forefinger on the bottom.”

Lalia did, and the mirror swung away. Underneath was another mirror, but the back of the one that swung away was a com-pad, like the kind Paul had described from Section.

“Ok, so ‘Q’, where did you get the idea for this?” Lalia was mocking him with her voice, but not with her face. She was still studying the gadget in her hand.

“Your brother, when he was here last. I had this technology sitting in the back, thinking it was obsolete, because we tend to do the more intricate things with magic, but I get this idea when Paul told me about the ‘screens’ he uses for briefing his operatives.” He came over behind her and took the locket. “It’s voice activated. You say a person’s code, and it calls them up. Works unit to unit and also unit to stand alone.”

Lalia smiled. “This is beautiful.” She stood up and kissed his cheek. “I love you!”

Jack beamed. “Why, thank you, madam.” He handed her the locket back. “This one is yours. I was thinking, one for each Savior in Section, plus Paul? It’s a simple, plain locket, the kind even a man might wear under his shirt.”

Lalia nodded and put the locket on. “Perfect.” She gave Jack a hug. “Thank you.”

Jack watched her walk out of the room, and for the millionth time, thought about what it would have been like if she’d said yes.

Then he shook his head and pulled out a fried circuit board. Time for work. Let the past lie.

Chapter thirty-eight
___________

“Hey, Jack?” Paul sat down in the training room ops and waited for an answer. Nothing

“Jack?!”

“Yeah!” Jack came out from the back carrying a large piece of non-descript circuitry and put it down. “What’s up?”

“You knew about Nikita, didn’t you?”

Jack nodded but didn’t look the least bit sorry. “You know, you left. You can’t expect us to keep treating you like you’re still in and still one of us when you jump ship like that.”

Paul closed his eyes. “I know.” He sighed and opened his eyes. “However, when I started playing with her mind, it would have been nice if someone had mentioned that my sister looks at her like a daughter.”

Jack shrugged one shoulder. “Well, until then, it had almost looked like you were seeing her as a daughter yourself. No one saw that coming.”

“I do see her as a daughter. At least, I did at the time. The niece concept is growing on me.” Paul sighed again and glared at Jack’s surprised glance. “Playing with her mind was, at the time, a last ditch resort  to keep her alive. I really should have just canceled her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Jack nodded. “I get it. A controlled Nikita is still a breathing Nikita.”

Paul nodded back. “If I had known, I just would have talked to her and explained the situation. But I didn’t know.”

“No one here holds it against you, though not one of us knows why.” Jack grinned. “We should be mad enough at you to kill you with our thoughts. But somehow...”

Paul stood up and looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t suppose it helps at all that I’m sorry.”

Jack looked right back, but his face softened. “Paul, son of Rayne and Seiren, that does help, because it’s from you.”

Paul smiled at him and nodded. Jack watched him leave, just as he’d watched Lalia only an hour ago.

And suddenly noticed that they *both* had that same self assured walk

He’d never realized that it was a shared trait.

Chapter thirty-nine
___________

“The mission goes up tomorrow. Are you ready?”

After the common pleasantries, Madeline had dropped onto Nikita’s couch and gotten right to the point.

“I wasn’t aware that the mission tomorrow was special.” Nikita sat down next to Madeline and handed her a cup of green tea.

Madeline glanced sideways at her before taking a sip of her tea. “Is it?”

“I assumed, since you’re wondering if I’m ready.” Nikita smiled at her. “Otherwise, why would you ask?”

Madeline closed her eyes and grinned. “I keep forgetting how perceptive you are. Yes, it’s special.” She crossed her legs and took another sip of tea.

Nikita grinned. “Were you going to tell me why, or are you just here to make my night’s sleep uncomfortable?”

Madeline finished her small cup of tea and stood up to get some more. Nikita followed her into the kitchen.

“Madeline?” She handed Madeline the potholder. “The suspense is killing me.”

Madeline finished pouring her tea. “The man who gave Red Cell the formula works in the target building. We want you to bring him out. Alive, preferably. We want him to work for us.”

Nikita frowned. “Why wasn’t this brought up at the meeting?”

“Because no one is to know that we have him, including our own people. I’m telling you, and only you. Michael was *going* to do it, but with Operations gone, he can’t lead the mission. So, *you* will retrieve him, using any means necessary.” Madeline turned her head and met Nikita’s eyes. “Michael and I have had a discussion about this, and we have decided that this takes precedence over all. So, ‘any means necessary’ does mean *any* means necessary.”

Nikita nodded. Madeline’s message was coming through loud and clear, clearer than most people would expect or even guess.

She took a sip of her own tea and ran the thought through her head.

She’d never used magic on a Section mission before. This could be interesting.

Chapter forty
___________

“Lalia, can I talk to you?”

She looked up. Serge was standing just insider her door, holding a long, sleek butcher knife, sheathed.

“Uh huh. What’s up with the very large weapon?” Lalia eyed it. As they were her personal favorite, she was amazing with knives, and had a large collection of both antique and custom-made pieces. This one was no antique, but Serge’s taste in cutlery was always, in Lalia’s opinion, flawless.

Serge smiled. “It’s old and dead. I need a new set, and I was going to head over to Enniscrone to buy some, but all the boats are out, and you know how I feel about planes.”

Lalia grinned. “‘If you aren’t flying them yourself, no go’. You want to take my boat, is that it?”

Serge flashed another of his killer smiles, and Lalia reflected one more time that it almost seemed impossible that this man was not a model. Tall, dark and handsome was literally the perfect description for him.

And muscled. Though not to that point where it was too much...just right.

Lalia closed her eyes and shook it.

-- You never dated him because you didn’t want to lost the friendship, remember? So *stop* this right now!

“May I?” Serge was standing over her desk and Lalia jumped to realize that she’d lost almost a full minute.

-- That’s what happens when you let your mind wander. Knock it off.

“Of course.” Lalia handed him the keys to her boat and smiled. “Let me know when you get back, ok?”

Serge nodded and smiled. “Do you want this?” He held up the old knife. “I know you have a thing for them. This is the only one any good. The rest I threw out.”

“Thank you!” Lalia took the knife from him and pulled it from it’s sheath. As usual with the knives Serge rejected, there was nothing actually wrong with it. It just no longer had the shine and shape of a perfectly new knife. And with all the gourmet cooking he did, he needed all his knives to be perfect.

She looked up and smiled at Serge. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.” He turned around a left. Lalia watched him go and tried to catch her breath.

That accent of his got her every time.

Chapter forty-one
___________

Berkoff slipped the pad into the computer.

This was the first moment he’d gotten alone in Section since finding the pad in Madeline’s office. With that mission coming up, it seemed like everyone had been here twenty-four, seven.

But now, no one at all. Just Berkoff.

He hit a few keys and waited. The computer tried to restore the information on the pad, but it was finding problems. The system kept hitting a glitch and having to start over.

Berkoff searched through the data he had looking for the cause.

And blinked. Twice.

A completely incompatible computer system had sent the information. It had been converted to Section system requirements, but only enough so that the data was readable. It couldn’t be restored, because the data was too foreign in origin for the system to know where to put the pieces.

So, it couldn’t have come from another Section.

Berkoff swiveled his chair around and looked for the computer transmission to the main terminal. Wherever the signal came from...

The signal came from Section Eleven.

Berkoff stared and rubbed his eyes in frustration. It *couldn’t* have come from Section Eleven, because all Section computers used the same OS.

Berkoff stopped.

-- Why didn’t I check that before?

He went through the other transmissions from the same place. They were all from that odd OS.

So, the ‘Circle Island’ *wasn’t* Section Eleven. But that’s what all the messages were logged as, and Operations, Walter and Nikita had all received messages from it.

So, what the hell *was* on that island??

And why where the messages coming from it talking about *him?*

Chapter forty-two
___________

“Walter?” Nikita sat down at his workbench. “What’s the last thing you sent to Lalia?”

“I sent her a report on Berkoff. Why?” He wasn’t really looking at her, but at the circuit board in front of him.

-- Wow. Operations really copied the Circle post for post. That’s exactly what Jack was doing last time I saw him.

But thinking about Jack almost made Nikita feel guilty, what with Michael’s position these days, not that she understood it, at all....

-- Still...

She hurried on, and pushed it out of her mind.

“Well, I just got something from Kryn. She said you’ve got Lalia worried. So much that she went off for a night to her mystery lover.” Nikita was careful not to look at Walter when she said it. Everyone knew that Walter was completely aware of who Lalia was sleeping with, and he wasn’t telling a soul.

Walter glanced up, but didn’t hold the gaze. “Oh yeah?” He threw the electronic mess on a scrap heap. Dead, dead, dead. “I didn’t really mean to worry her. Although, now I think maybe she should be. We all should.”

Nikita’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why do you think that?”

Walter pulled a laptop computer from behind the counter. He swiveled it to show Nikita the screen. “Berkoff had assumed that Circle Island was Section Eleven, which was what Lalia had set up, with her login and such. But yesterday, when we were all out of Section, he got hold of a message Lalia sent to Madeline, about Berkoff.” Walter changed the screen to show all the computer activity for the day before. Nikita started scrolling down the page as Walter talked. “The pad was partially deleted, but he must have seen his name, because he was trying to retrieve the information.”

Walter hit another button, and Nikita pulled her hand from the keyboard. There was an analysis of the data flow on the screen.

Walter sighed. “He saw the differences in systems. He knows it isn’t a Section. Sine then, he’s been tracking everything, both in and out.”

Nikita closed her eyes. “Is there any way to get around his tracking?”

“Sure. Lalia can easily write something to get around it. And since Operations knows about Michael now...” Walter stopped. Nikita had winced at Michael’s name.

“Hey, sugar, you ok?”

Nikita nodded and forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just don’t seem to be getting a lot of sleep lately.”

Walter winked. “Well, I know I saw those windows dim the other day when you were in there talking to Michael. That can’t be helping the sleep.”

Nikita smiled. “None of your business.”

Walter grinned back at her. “Whatever you say, sugar.”





Chapter forty-three
___________

“So, I’m not ok, but I’m on the road to wellness.” Paul dropped into the chair opposite Lalia and shook his head at the menu the waiter offered. Not ok, and nowhere near ready to eat.

“Well, at least you’re starting to sound like yourself again. However you speak at Section, it ain’t the guy I grew up with.” Lalia made a face at the menu. Serge was still on the mainland, and he had left an assistant to do the cooking. Nothing looked good, though she wasn’t sure if it was the food choices themselves, or the knowledge that someone else was in the kitchen.

“Never fear, I is here.” Kryn sat down and leaned over to kiss Paul’s cheek. “Hey. How are you doing?”

He almost glared at her, but the look on her face was of genuine concern.

So he went with sarcasm instead.

“Gee, I just found out today that the woman I think of as a daughter was raised by my sister and is Gifted. Therefore, I didn’t need to use any kind of mind control on her to save her life, I *could* have just talked to her. Not to mention that all my best operatives are Saviors. Ok, that last bit I can deal with, it might even come in handy. But still...”

He dropped his head into his hands, and Kryn ran her hand up and down his back.

“If it will make you feel better, no one’s mad at you. And you’ll be fine. It’ll all be fine eventually.”

“Is that your professional opinion?” He was mumbling into his hands, but the sarcastic tone came through just fine.

“Well...” Lalia handed her menu to Kryn, because she couldn’t seem to grab a waiters attention. Everyone in here got moody when Serge wasn’t cooking. “Look at is this way. In twenty years, none of this will matter.”

This time Paul gave in to the temptation. He shot her a glare that would have wilted a perfect rose.

Lalia’s eyes got very wide and she looked away. “Wow, Paul. If looks could kill...”

Kryn excused herself.

She didn’t want to laugh at Paul in his face.

Chapter forty-four
___________

Nikita pulled her black hood off and ducked into the women’s room. Berkoff’s voice crackled in her ear.

“Clear. Change quickly. You have fifteen minutes to get him out of there.”

Telling Berkoff had been Nikita’s idea. She knew that he was trustworthy, but she also knew that she’d need the intel he would have in order for her get the subject out of the building unseen.

“Check.” Nikita closed the stall door and slid out of her black sweater. Her pants were black, but business quality, so she just had to put a blouse on. She slipped a cream silk shell on, and put a jacket over it, to cover the gun she was wearing.

“Subject on floor twelve. Go.”

Nikita stuffed her sweater and hood into her briefcase and left the washroom. She caught the elevator and smiled coyly at the man who’d held the door. He smiled back.

On the way up, Nikita reflected that this was the second mission in as many weeks that she’d been responsible for bringing a person back to Section alive and well.

It seemed odd. Not that she was getting the missions, but that they existed, and were coming so close together.

The elevator doors opened on the fifth floor and took on a few more people. Nikita moved closer to the back of the lift to allow room.

Giavani was the first. What was his use to Section? He was good with explosives, but better with intricate weaponry...

And now they were kidnapping man who created a formula for lacing ammunition with explosives.

They’d need someone to put it together, without it going off, and who better than Giavani, who had done this kind of thing a million times before?

Nikita closed her eyes and smiled to herself. They were certainly being clever, weren’t they? No trusting inexperienced in-house people when you could just as easily kidnap the ones who *really* know what they’re doing. Not that Walter wouldn’t be able to pull it off, but if he made a mistake and something blew, he’s gone. And loosing Walter wasn’t an option. So they grab people they can afford to lose and replace.

The elevator opened on the twelfth floor. Nikita excused herself and pushed past an elderly man.

Berkoff’s voice came into her ear once more.

“Stop. New intel coming through.”

Nikita laid her briefcase down on a nearby glass-topped table and pulled a compact out of he pocket. She started reapplying her lipstick.

“Subject has left the building. Abort. Nikita, get back to the van. We’re going to try to follow him. Demolition team is on it’s way. Get out now!” Berkoff’s voice was a tad urgent. Nikita hit the stairs.

Chapter forty-five
___________

“You lost him.” Madeline wasn’t asking.

“Yes.” Nikita dropped into the chair in front of Madeline’s desk and handed her the mission record. “They saw us coming a mile away, and got him out.”

Madeline nodded. “Well, this isn’t anyone’s fault, but we have to get him.”

Nikita snickered quietly. “Of course we do. Otherwise, grabbing Giavani was a waste.”

Madeline looked up, but she was smiling. “Like I said, you’re very perceptive.” She turned around and handed Nikita a different pad. “This is where we’re going to make out next attempt. There will be no briefing. Talk to Michael or Berkoff if you have any questions.”

Nikita nodded and stood to leave. “So, what do you have Giavani doing right now?”

Madeline just smiled and went back to her computer. Nikita gave a half smile, nodded again and left.

**
“Berkoff?” Nikita came up behind him and he jumped.

“What? I’m busy.” He didn’t even glance up from the computer.

“I just have a quick question.” She waived the pad in front of his face and he looked up at her and then at it.

“Ok.” He went back to the computer, but with less intensity. “Talk. I’m listening.”

“How am I supposed to get him out? There aren’t any windows in the security system for that warehouse.”

Berkoff frowned and turned back to her. “What?” He took the mission disk and put it in the computer. The sim showed up on the screen.

“Ok, see that?” Berkoff pointed to the screen, and Nikita followed his hand. “That’s where you get out. We’re creating the window.”

Nikita nodded. “Ok.” She smiled at him and turned to leave, but her eyes caught the screen on his laptop.

“What are you working on?” She resisted the impulse to snatch the computer.

“Oh.” Berkoff glanced at his computer and closed the lid. “Nothing, really. I have other stuff to do, though..”

“Right.” Nikita forced herself to walk away.

Berkoff had his computer in the main system. It was decoding the original message from Lalia.

Nikita headed right for Michael’s office. This was a definite problem.

Walter was right. The time for panicking was at hand.




Chapter forty-six
___________

“How long are you staying?” She just walked in. Lalia never knocked on Paul’s door unless it was locked.

“I have no idea. A day. A week. A month. Until I can think about what I did to Nikita without feeling sick to my stomach.” He put down the book he’d been reading and covered his face. “You know, when you saw me doing that, you might have said something.”

“Like what? ‘Paul, I know you don’t want anything to do with me or the Circle, but the woman you’re trying to brainwash is not only a Savior we planted in your organization, but also the woman I look at as a daughter.’ Yeah, that would have worked really well. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself.” Lalia rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor at his feet.

“Ok. Point taken.” Paul stood up and went for the kitchen but he kept talking over his shoulder. “*Everyone* seems to be on that ‘we aren’t mad at you’ kick.” He came back out with a bottle of water. “Bullshit. You all just don’t want me to feel bad. There is not one person in these caverns who *actually* isn’t mad at me.”

Lalia raised her hand. “I’m not.”

Paul raised the water to her in a toast. “That’s one.” He took a long drink.

“Nikita isn’t. Though, don’t ask me why.”

Paul sat back down. “She really isn’t? I find that hard to believe.”

“She really isn’t. We’ve had this conversation, she and I. According to her, you should have canceled her, and you did this instead. That’s also Michael’s position.” She turned around and lay flat on the floor, with her legs on the couch. “So, the three of us, not mad. Kryn either. That makes four. Walter told me the same thing when it was happening, so that makes five.” She leered up at him. “Any questions?”

“She’ll never trust me now.” He closed his eyes and finished the water.

“Au contraire. She would and does trust you with her life.” Lalia closed her eyes. “And I trust you with her.”

Paul winced without noticing that he had.

And Lalia still had her eyes closed, so she didn’t see it.




Chapter forty-seven
___________

Berkoff resisted the urge to hit his computer, but just barely.

First, it *refused* to decode that original message. Someone had gotten into the system as he’d been doing it and cut him off, and he’d ended up with no more than what he’d *started* with! Then, he’d just missed some message coming in to Nikita. The program he’d written hadn’t been up in time. Missed it by exactly three minutes. It had even had a different login, but it was from the same place. Nikita had erased it immediately, and Berkoff hadn’t gotten to it fast enough.

So now he’d spent the last three hours searching the computer for signs of another transmission from that island, and it hadn’t shown a thing. *Now*, it was showing that one had happened, *while he’d been watching*, had in fact gone right past his program.

So, someone knew he was watching the system, and was blocking him.

Someone who knew computers.

Berkoff happened to know that no one in Section knew computers the way he did. But no one had sent anything out, so how would someone outside Section know to avoid his program?

There were only three possibilities. Berkoff sat back and went over each one in his head.

One: Someone inside Section really *was* as good as he was, and had gotten around the program without him seeing it. But that was no good, because he’d have at least seen them log on. So, that was a no.

Two: Someone inside had sent a warning message out without using the main Section computers. A distinct possibility, since there were plenty of com pads flying around. Walter wasn’t fussy about handing them out, as long as you got it back to him before it was missed. They weren’t good for incoming, but just fine for outgoing.

Three: The person sending in had seen the program. There were undoubtedly people *outside* of Section as good as Berkoff. Obviously, someone was, because they *had* gotten past him. So, this person could have *seen*, and avoided, the program. But they’d have had to log on first, and he’d have seen them, for a second at the very least. So that was out.

Which meant that the second was the only answer. Someone inside knew he was tracking messages and had warned the outside sender to avoid the program.

Now, who knew he was tracking the com lines? Berkoff closed his eyes and searched his memory. It was in there...

Nikita.

Nikita had seen his computer screen, had even asked about it.  *And*, she was on the list of people who’d received messages from that island.

So, it had to be her.

Berkoff opened his eyes and swiveled around to face the main console. He had a lot of work to do.

Chapter forty-eight (mission)
___________

The van was parked three streets over. It wasn’t visible from the lower floors of the office building, but Nikita could see it as she rose in the transparent elevator.

She was dressed as she had been before, but this time she’d been able to walk into the building straight and normal, due to a “glitch” in the security system that failed to record her face. She’d even flashed the security guard a bright smile before getting on the elevator. The camera *there* had been having problems all day.

She stepped of at the twenty-third floor and smiled at the security guard, who nodded hurriedly. The camera’s had just gone out on the entire floor, and he was in a hurry to get to the control room.

The door to the main office was open. Nikita walked in and smiled at the receptionist who didn’t look up. Then Nikita shot a tranquilizer into the back of the receptionist’s neck. His head dropped onto the desk.

Nikita pushed past the large double doors into the main conference room.

“Is there a Mr. Jimin here?”

One man stood and smiled. “I’m Kraig Jimin.”

Nikita’s eyes narrowed and everyone else in the room slipped to the floor, unconscious.

“Mr. Jimin, I’m looking for a Fen Leonard.” She pulled a gun from her purse. “And you are going to tell me where he is.”

Kraig shook his head resolutely. Nikita slid her hand down his arm seductively and stopped at his hand.

Little red veins appeared at her fingertips and started to spread under hear touch. The polished business man screamed into the gag Nikita barely got over his mouth.

“You *will* tell me where he is.”

Kraig nodded vigorously, tears leaking from behind his closed eyes.

Three hours later, Fen Leonard was in containment at Section.




Chapter forty-nine
___________

“Do you want to tell us what happened to his hand?” The female torture twin lifted Kraig Jimin’s hand and inspected it.

Madeline shook her head and smiled. “Just find out what he knows about the Red Cell project.” She left the white room, and the door slammed shut behind her.

Nikita was waiting outside the room. “What did you tell them?”

“Nothing. And they won’t ask questions.” Madeline gave Nikita an half smile. “Was that really *necessary*? Something tells me that he would have cracked without that particular type of persuasion.”

Nikita pretended to frown. “I’m insulted.”

“Then I retract the question.” Madeline was resisting the urge to laugh, and the two headed down the hall towards Madeline’s office.

Nikita noted the guards reaction as they passed a containment room. She guessed it was odd to see the two of them so comfortable together.

But then, that’s what comes of shared secrets, as Lalia always taught.

Madeline finally managed to swallow her laughter. “I got a message from Lalia, along with a small program. She said that it would avoid Berkoff’s tracking program?”

Nikita nodded. “I got the same message. It changes slightly each time it’s used, so he shouldn’t be able to track it. Emphasis on the *shouldn’t*. The changes are random, but based on an algorithm, and Berkoff will figure it out eventually. It’s a temporary fix.” She made a face. “At least, according to Lalia. I wouldn’t know an algorithm if it jumped up and bit me.”

They got to her office and Madeline frowned. She stopped outside the door and turned back to Nikita. “What would be a permanent fix?”

Nikita shrugged. “I don’t know. But we have to start watching what we do with communiqué’s from the caverns.” Nikita’s voice had a slightly reproaching tone which Madeline chose to ignore for the moment. She just nodded and walked into her office. Nikita followed.

“I think, “ Nikita sat down “that Lalia has an idea how to fix this. She hinted about it in her last message to me. I guess I’ll find out next time I go, though that may be a while, what with the workload around here lately.”

Madeline nodded again. “Ok.” She smiled. “By the way, Jimin’s hand? That was a very nice technique. How did you do that?”

This time, Nikita just smiled. She got up and walked out, throwing “Goodbye, Madeline” over her shoulder.

Madeline closed her eyes and shook her head, laughing to herself.

-- Something tells me I’ll never be as good at that kind of magic as she is.

She turned to her computer. Work. Section. That was something *she* was better at.

Chapter fifty
___________

George Jr., Greg to his friends, called three more times before he gave up. His father was simply *not* going to answer his phone tonight.

He stood up and stretched, gazing around his apartment. His eyes fell on a woman’s light-blue button-down cashmere sweater, carefully folded on a chair. Not that Lalia ever carefully folded anything, but when Greg had noticed that she’d left it, he hadn’t wanted it to get wrinkled.

Not, of course, that she’d have ever noticed if it had been. And he smiled to remember that the sweater hadn’t really covered a whole lot to begin with.

Lalia wasn’t one for modesty.

Greg sighed and reached for his night stand. He pulled the ring out one more time and looked at it.

-- All talk and no action. Weak, man. So weak.

Yet one more time, Lalia had been right here in his bed, and he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask her.

Greg had no idea whether it was the idea of her rejecting him that stopped him, or the idea of facing Jack when and if she accepted. Either way, he just couldn’t seem to do it. Four simple words, and he couldn’t get them past that lump in his throat.

He considered calling her, and had actually picked up the cordless phone when it rang in his hand.

“Hello.” Greg dropped the ring back in the drawer as he said.

“I don’t suppose you’ve been trying to call me?”

Greg grinned and shook his head.

“What gave it away dad? The phone messages or the fact that I’m the only one with this number?”

George Sr. managed a smile, half a continent away. “The phone messages. What do you need?”

Greg sighed and closed his eyes, bracing himself.

-- If you can’t talk to *him*, how will you ask *her*? Just do it.

“Dad, how would you feel about me getting married?”

Chapter fifty-one
___________

“Why Nikita?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why Nikita, and not someone else? Anyone else.”

“Too many reasons to count.”

Paul sighed at his sister, running his hands through his hair. This was getting to be a longer trip than he’d planned, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Try.” He looked her straight in the eye as he said it.

“Ok. One, I raised her, so she knew, better than anyone, how important Berkoff was. Two, she didn’t know Walter, so there wasn’t any chance of a slip. Three, she knew about you, how I felt about you, how you felt about me, and she knew what to do in an emergency for you.” On the last, Lalia raised one eyebrow at Paul and he smiled.

“Ok.” He smiled. “And? That’s three. You said ‘too many to count’. That would *have* to be more than three.”

She smirked at him. “You can’t guess the rest?” She laughed at herself and closed her eyes. “Did I just rhyme?”

“Slightly. But that’s not important. And yeah, I could guess the rest, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

Lalia opened her mouth to answer him, but a knock on the door managed stopped her.

“Yeah?”

Serge came in, triumphantly holding a large flat square box. “Best knives in Ireland. I had to order them and have them express shipped, but here they are. Are they not beautiful?”

He opened the box on Lalia’s desk and smiled expectantly at her while she struggled to remember to close her mouth. The knives were pure steel, with hand-carved wooden handles.

“They are indeed.” She smiled, then wrinkled her nose in thought. She looked up at him and squinted, frowning slightly. “And just how much did we spend on these?”

Serge’s smile broadened. “Nothing. I traded something I didn’t need anymore to the merchant.”

Paul leaned forward to look at the knives. He knew Lalia pretty well, or at least he thought he did, and she didn’t get quite that engrossed by knives, no matter how nice.

-- They *are* beautiful.

He looked at the expression on his sisters face.

-- Ok, but not *that* beautiful.

Paul glanced at Serge’s face.

-- Aha!

He sighed, and thought about the night he’d gotten to the caves. She hadn’t been there. From the looks of things, she hadn’t been with Serge, either, because they were still on the flirting stage of things. Which meant, if Paul knew  Lalia at *all*, there was going to be yet one more broken heart out there soon.

Lalia didn’t handle the idea of commitment well, or at least, commitment to a man. When she felt it coming, that’s when she ran.

-- Whoever he is, he must be getting just a little too close for comfort.

Chapter fifty-two
___________

“Hey, Nikita!” Berkoff jogged to catch up with her and she smiled at him.

“What’s up, Berkoff?”

“I have something for you.” He grinned at her and handed her a small jewelry box.

Nikita opened it and her eyes widened. “This is beautiful!” She pulled out the bracelet and ran it through her hands, looking at it.

Simple silver, no jewels or ornaments, just one of those little name tag deals. It had her name written across the name plate in script.

“Thank you, but what is this *for*?”

Berkoff grinned wider. “I’m glad you like it, but actually, it’s a computer.” He reached over and put it on her wrist and then pressed at one of the links. Small green writing started to flow across the metal.

Nikita’s eyebrows raised. “Where did you get this?”

Berkoff shook his head. “I didn’t, I made it. I wanted to know if you’d be willing to try it out for a while?” He took her hand again and pulled a small wire out of the side of the ‘screen’.  “It connects to a laptop here. Just try it, see if it works? I don’t want to take it to Operations without testing it at least once, and I can’t really test it for user ease myself.”

Nikita nodded and grinned back at him. “I’d love to.”

She kissed his cheek and walked away.

Berkoff watched her go, and then sprinted back to com. He sat down and turned on his laptop and connected to the wireless transmitter next to him.

There she was. He had a clear picture of whatever she put her hand on.

-- Ok. So, do something interesting already!

Chapter fifty-three
___________

Nikita frowned at the unmarked package in her hands. She bit her lip. Anonymous packages were never good in her world. She closed her eyes and narrowed them in concentration, trying to feel around in the box, just in case.

She sighed and opened her eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn’t dangerous.

Tearing open the box, she found a note from Lalia along with three lockets. Nikita put the lockets on the counter and opened the letter.

*”Dear Nikita,

These are a new idea from Jack. There are instructions on how to use them attached. Make sure Michael and Walter get theirs, but keep in mind that Madeline *doesn’t* get one, and she can’t know what they’re for because Paul will be wearing one.

Paul won’t be back for a few more days, if not a week or so. He’s still dealing. He really does think of you as a daughter. I’m almost jealous.”*
Nikita smiled there.

*“Keep an eye on Berkoff, ok? And talk to Walter about not sending messages to Jack that’ll worry him. The last thing Jack needs is to worry about Berkoff. I mean it.

Kryn sends her love and Serge says, and I quote, ‘make sure to eat’.

Also, I love you. Be careful. I know you can take care of yourself, but just for my own piece of mind, be careful.

And take a look at the picture in your locket.

 ~ Lalia.”*

Nikita put the letter down and opened the locket with the letter “N” on it in script.

Inside was a picture of Nikita at thirteen when she’d just gotten to the caverns. She was wearing an oversized black sweater and *braces*, for gods sake. She was proudly holding a large piece of charred wood that she’d just burned with her mind.

Nikita smiled and closed the locket, putting the chain around her neck. She slipped it under her shirt and put the rest of them in her pocket. Then she closed up her apartment and headed for Section to give Walter and Michael their lockets.

**

Berkoff stared at his screen.

Interesting picture.

He scrolled back up. There was the letter, but it was fuzzy because of the way she’d been holding it to read.

He swiveled around and grabbed a small black box from the computer behind him, unplugging it.

Attaching it to his own laptop, Berkoff started to clear the image on his screen.

Chapter fifty-four
___________

“Hey Sugar!” Walter put down the soldering iron and smiled.

“Walter. I have a gift for you!” Nikita hugged him, with the locket in her hand. When she let go, it was in his back pocket.

“Watch it, Sugar. I could get used to your hand there.” He leered at her and felt his pocket. “What is it?”

“New idea from Jack. Lalia sent instructions, I folded them inside the lid.”

“New idea.” Walter made a face. “And I always love new ideas from Jack oh, so very much.”

Nikita gave a mock frown. “Walter!”

“What?”

“When are you two going to realize that this isn’t a contest?”

Walter raised an eyebrow and grinned at her. “When I win.”

Laughing, Nikita shook her head and turned her back on him, heading towards Berkoff.

“Nikita, what happened here?” Berkoff pulled up a recording of the torture twins at work and zeroed in on Jimin’s hand.

Nikita didn’t even bat an eye. “Oh. It’s the reaction to a new drug.”

He looked at her oddly, but he nodded. “OK.”

Nikita stared at him for a minute, then shrugged. She needed to talk to Michael and give him his locket.

Berkoff watched her go and noticed Walter pulling something out of his back pocket. It was the locket. Berkoff had watched on his screen when she hugged Walter. One of the lockets in the package she got.

He frowned.

Operations wasn’t here, so she shouldn’t have had to sneak it, with just Madeline here. But she did, so Madeline couldn’t have known about it. But Madeline had gotten at least two messages from that island.

Berkoff shook his head and went back to work.

Not enough information yet. But time would solve that.

Chapter fifty-five
___________

Lalia handed the bag across onto the Circle boat and smiled. “Ok. When will you be back *this* time?”

“One week. Exactly. To the day.” Paul smiled and leaned back over to kiss her cheek. “Sure you won’t ride to the mainland with me?”

Lalia shook her head, causing her braids to swirl. Paul almost laughed at her. She only wore braids when she’d forgotten to comb her hair straight when it dried, but she always said it was for ‘fun’ because she couldn’t admit to having forgotten to do something.

“I have too much work to do. But if you’re just dying for a chat, use the locket. You should practice anyway. Kinda tricky.”

Paul nodded. The locket was under his shirt, and barely made a bump. When he slipped his jacket on you’d never even notice it.

The boat pulled away and Lalia waived for a minute before turning back to the hills and starting back up the path.

When Lalia got to the gardens, Nikita was walking towards the entrance from the other direction and a helicopter was just lifting off.

“Hey! What are you doing here already? You weren’t supposed to be here ‘till tomorrow!”

They ducked inside so they didn’t have to shout.

“I know, but I needed to get here now, before something else comes up, and I wanted to beat Madeline in.”

Lalia frowned. “You wanted to beat Madeline in? Why on earth...”

“She had me use my powers on a mission.” Nikita wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“OK...and?”

“Wait. That’s it? No lecture on safe magic, no reprimand?”

“Wha-?” Lalia tried very hard not to laugh. “God, Nikita, you’re not a child anymore! You can make your own decisions. So you used magic on a mission! Did anyone who can out you see it?” Nikita’s head shook. “Did you kill someone?” Again a no. “Then what’s the problem?”

Nikita just stared straight ahead. “I thought that...”

“That magic wasn’t to be used aggressively. But that’s for children who don’t know how to control their Gifts. Not for grown Saviors, and certainly not for *Inner Circle* Saviors. I trust you. You don’t need to check in with me on these things anymore.”

“There’s one more thing, though.”

“Yes?” Lalia was reading through a report she’d pulled from her pocket.

“I think Berkoff has feelings for me.”

Lalia’s head snapped up. “What?!”

“He gave me this.” Nikita held up her arm and Lalia took her wrist, turning the bracelet so she could see it.

**

Berkoff stared at the image on his screen and cursed himself for not having had the time to add audio to the image.

Staring back at him was that woman from the cave who’d ordered Walter to take care of him and protect him.

Walter had said she worked for George.

-- Why do these things always have to be so complicated?

Chapter fifty-six
___________

“Did you get there alright?” Michael’s concern radiated from the small screen of the locket. He was in her apartment in bed, where Nikita had left him. She’d left in the middle of the night, and had barely woken him to tell him she was leaving.

“Yes, I got here just fine. I really *am* sorry I just left like that, but I needed to talk to Lalia. In person. Now.”

Nikita saw Michael nod, though with these little things it was kind of hard to tell. “Alright, well, let me know when you’re coming back, ok?”

Nikita smiled. “Ok. I’ll do that.”

The said their good-byes and Nikita closed her locket. The minute she heard the snap, her face crumbled. Only here, in the caverns would she let herself cry. And she wasn’t even sure why she was crying!

She shook her head to clear it and headed to her own room. Lalia would have to wait. There was no way Nikita could face the calm, un-fazable Savior right now. She just couldn’t.

There were fifteen messages tacked to her doorpost. She smiled and gathered them before pushing into her room. The Circle, with all it’s technology and magic still couldn’t come up with a better way of sending personal notes to missing Saviors than tacking them to the person’s door.

Lalia said it felt “college-y”.

One note was from Serge. Something about a new wine in. Seven from people who wanted to know how Berkoff was doing. Four from housekeeping, wanting to know if there was going to be any cleanup with the magic use in Section. Two from Lalia - one asking her something dumb, and the other telling her that she didn’t have to answer, because Lalia had figured it out. One from Jack. And one from Operations.

Operations?

Nikita dropped her bag on the floor while she sorted the messages. The only long ones were from Lalia, Jack and Operations. The rest were short notes and went in the trash.

When she pulled her hand back from the waste basket, her bracelet got caught on the edge of the table and a link broke. Nikita frowned and picked it up, dropping it in her bag. She’d have Jack take a look at it later. A twinge of guilt went through her at the thought of Jack, but she ignored it.

Michael just wanted her not to train with him. Nikita wasn’t going to drop a lifelong friend on a whim.

**

Berkoff stared at the screen, and it took all his self control not to swear out loud.

-- Damn, damn, damn! She had to break it! Why the hell can’t she take care of her equipment?

He screwed his eyes shut and counted to ten to calm down, and then looked back at the screen. Black. She’d dropped it in her carryall, and he couldn’t see a damn thing.

Berkoff called down and ordered a pizza. If he had to sit here for days, he was going to see the very next thing that bracelet saw.

No matter what.

Chapter fifty-seven
___________

*”Nikita.

I don’t know if you hold it against me, all I did to you in Section. I don’t know how you view what happened, or how you see what I put you through as. And much as I want to clear the air between us, I can’t do that in a letter.

So, I just want you to know that I have, since the day you entered Section, and will always, love you as I would my own daughter. I have thought before that if I could release you from Section, I would. Now that I know why you’re there, I don’t feel better about it. You, of all people, deserve more, and I hope one day we will find a way to get you out.

Please, when you get back to Section. We need to talk.

Paul*

“Paul”. Not Operations. Paul.

Nikita put the letter down and went to her fridge for some water. She downed it in one swallow and came back to the couch.

She read the letter again.

And again.

She put the letter down and pulled her locket out from under her shirt.

Staring at it, Nikita bit her lip. Did she really want to do this?

She took the locket off and put it on the table. She needed time to think.

Pulling her bag off the floor, Nikita opened it and got the broken bracelet out. She stood up and left her room, slipping the jewelry into her pocket.

-- I’ll talk to Jack. He always has advice. I just need time to think. God, I wish Walter was here!

**
Berkoff almost crowed with delight. She’d taken out the bracelet!

Then he got depressed again when it went in her pocket.

-- The woman is just not cooperating!

Chapter fifty-eight (S - TR)
___________

“Madeline! What’re you doing in here?” Paul winced even as the words came out.

-- Smooth. That was really smooth.

“I’m waiting for you.” Madeline’s smile faded a bit, but the professional in her didn’t let it fall.

“I didn’t mean that. It was just a long flight.” He frowned. “Ok, if you’re here, who’s watching Section?”

“Michael.” She left her seat on the couch and picked up her coat from a chair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be so tired. I’ll leave.” Still the professional, her smile never wavered.

An arm shot out and caught her just before she reached the door. “Where are you going?”

“Back to Section. I wasn’t aware I’d be intruding.”

“You are never intruding.” His arm swiveled her around, and he held her there until he caught her eyes. Paul dropped his bags and coat, but didn’t let go. The minute both arms were free he pulled her into a kiss.

“You are *never* intruding.” It was barely a whisper, his breath tickling her lips.

Madeline’s eyes closed. “You know I would never want to...”

“You. Are. Never. Intruding.” Each word was punctuated by a kiss as he traced her jaw line to her neck. Madeline smiled and closed her eyes.

“You know that we have to be back in three hours?”

Paul’s mouth never left her neck. “I doubt the world will end if we’re late.”

Chapter fifty-nine
___________

“Hey, Jack?” Nikita flopped into a chair and waited for a reply. When she didn’t get one, she yelled louder.

“Hey, Jack!”

Jack’s head popped over a gun rack. Nikita squinted up at him.

“So, Jack, when did you grow four feet?”

“Very funny.” He disappeared for a minute and then he came around the side. “Ever hear of a step ladder?”

Nikita smiled. “No one appreciates my sense of humor.”

Jack shook his head. “Not if we can help it. What can I do for you?”

She pulled the bracelet out and held it up in front of her. “Can you fix this?”

Jack took it and put it under a light. “Of course I can fix it.” He gave her an odd look. “Who gave it to you?”

“What makes you think it was a present?”

Jack just stared at her.

“Ok, fine. It was Berkoff. And I don’t know why.”

He put the bracelet down and walked behind a crate. “Berkoff? Berkoff gave this to you? That better not mean what I think it means.”

“No.” Nikita looked down at her fingers and started playing with the hem of her shirt. “At least, I hope not.”

Jack came back out, holding a few tools, and glared at her. “What do you mean, you ‘hope not’? Don’t you think you ought to *know*?”

She bit her lip. “I ought to, but I don’t.”

Jack looked at her for a second, then went back to the work bench. “Ok, well, if you come back in about a half hour, I’ll have this fixed.”

“Would it be ok if I wait? I need some advice.”

Jack turned his back to her so she couldn’t see his smile. “You’re always welcome here, Nikki*.”

**
Berkoff studied the man who was obviously supposed to fix the bracelet. The guy was in a room that looked like a odd contortion of Walters area in Section. Guns and electronics right alongside swords and knives.

Interesting.

Berkoff ran the picture through the computer. Nothing came up. The guy wasn’t in the system at all.

Berkoff leaned back finished his coffee.

-- This is making less and less sense.

__________________
* Nikki: Affectionate term for Nikita - Jack’s use only.

Chapter sixty
___________

“There are three missions underway, all going as predicted.” Michael handed a sim pad to Operations and waited.

“Yes, you did very well. Madeline?” He turned and smiled. “Where are we in Sima?”

Madeline shook her head. “I’m not sure. Let me check.” She left the room.

Operations waited for her to leave. “We need to talk.”

Michael nodded and glanced out the windows. “Where would you like to start?”

“With an apology.”

Michael didn’t react.

“I wish someone could have told me that the two of you were Circle, though, as I understand it, you didn’t know when you came to Section.”

“Nikita brought me in.”

Operations nodded, though Michael couldn’t see it. “I’ve been told. But you both were in when we...I wish someone had said something. If you didn’t know, she did.” He stood beside Michael and watched Birkoff decoding a message from Oversight. “But no one said anything, and as my sister is found of saying, ‘If wishes were fishes then beggars would eat.’ So...we have to go from here.”

Michael finally turned his head. “Do you understand why Madeline can’t know?”

Operations nodded. “I do. I’m not happy with it, but then, since I decided to work with the Sections, I’ve rarely been happy.” He frowned and lowered his voice, as if he were really only talking to himself. “Sometimes I wonder if it was the right thing to do.”

Michael looked back out the window. He thought for a moment, but decided against saying anything.

There really *was* nothing to say to that.

Chapter sixty-one
___________

“When do you leave for Oversight?”

Madeline didn’t look up from her computer. “Two days.”

Operations nodded. He was looking over a mission profile on a pad. He’d read it already, but, even after only a week at the caves, he was finding himself falling into old patterns.

“So, if I may ask...what do you do there?” He couldn’t help it. Knowing she was at the caves for these trips was...

It was something. And Paul felt the need to tease her about it.

“Do?” Madeline looked up. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

“At Oversight. What does George have you doing?”

Madeline smiled and her face relaxed. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

He smiled.

-- Good Girl

“Had to try.” Operations stood up and came around her desk. “What are you doing now?” His hands dropped unnoticed to her shoulders.

“Berkoff is doing odd things to the system lately. I’m just checking up on him.”

“Odd things?”

She tilted her screen so he could see. “He’s planted new monitoring programs in the main computer, and he’s checking everything that goes in and out.”

“He’s keeping tabs on everything?”

“Yes.”

“Where is that feed coming from?” Operations pointed on the screen.

“Somewhere...somewhere in the Atlantic.”

Paul cringed.

-- The Island. He’s got a feed from the island.

“I’ll see you later.”

Madeline didn’t even look up when he left.

Chapter sixty-two
___________

“He has a feed from the *Island*?” Lalia’s voice came through the locket, and it was a good thing it was so expressive. Paul could barely see her face in this thing.

“Apparently. Video, no audio, and I have no idea how.”

He barely caught the mumbled reply. “Great, just great.” Lalia turned her head to say something to an assistant then turned back. “Ok, I don’t suppose you have any great ideas for getting rid of this feed?”

“I have a few, but I’m fairly certain that they don’t meet with Circle approval.”

Lalia raised an eyebrow. “My god, are you actually asking your little sister for permission? I think I might faint. Someone get me some water!”

“Ha ha.” Paul closed his eyes and ran a hand over them. “I can only think of a few ways to stop Berkoff from doing this, and they’re all Section type methods. I’m pretty sure you’d hate them a lot.”

“Right.” She bit her lip. “Ok, well...” Sighing, Lalia picked up a cup of something at the other end of the connection and took a sip. “Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Right.”

Paul knew that tone. She was having an argument with herself out loud. Dad used to do that too...

She sighed again. “Right. Ok, go for it.”

Both his eyebrows shot up a that. “Are you sure?”

Lalia nodded. “But if you hurt him...”

“I wouldn’t. You know that.”

“Right. So...do whatever it is you think you can do. Just...”

“Be careful? Lalia, you know damn well I’d never hurt your son.”

Lalia smiled. “I know.”

Chapter sixty-three
___________

“Nikki?” Jack waved a hand in front of Nikita’s face.

“Wha-? What? Jack? What?”

He smiled. “Zoned out a little, did ya?”

She grinned back. “Sorry.”

“No problem. I got your bracelet fixed.”

She took it and put it back on. “Thanks.” She didn’t move to get up.

“Still not sure, huh?”

She bit her lip. “What would you do?”

“What would I do? Interesting question. I’ve never been brainwashed by a man who claims to love me like a daughter...at least I hope not, being a man.” He’d hoped to get a laugh from that but none came. “So...I’m probably not the person to talk to. You might ask Kryn.”

“If she can tear herself away from Niscia for five minutes.”

“Niscia’s in Jamaica for the week.”

“Why?”

“Some kind of conference. Kryn stayed. Go talk to her.”

“Right. Go talk to her.” She still didn’t get up.

“Nikki?” Jack crouched in front of her chair and took her hand. “You have to make this decision. And you can’t do it in your current state of mind.”

“I know. I just haven’t really talked to anyone but Lalia and you since I got back, and...and.” She sighed.  “And, I’m not sure....I’m nervous.”

“You afraid no one missed you? I really don’t remember you being this insecure.”

Nikita shook her head. “No, not that. I’m just thinking that no one really needs me anymore.”

“Ah.” He looked down at her hands. Then he looked up at her. Reaching out, he caught her chin and made her look into his eyes.

“That, my dear, is possibly the stupidest thing you have ever said.”

Chapter sixty-four
___________

“Berkoff.” Michael didn’t stop to answer questions. He simply grabbed Berkoff’s arm and led the young man to Michael’s office.

After sitting him in a chair and soundproofing the room, Michael knelt and stared into the tec’s eyes.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“What?”

“I asked if you are trying to get yourself killed.” Michael stood and walked around his desk. He called something up on his computer and swiveled the screen to face Berkoff. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Berkoff glanced at the screen and then back at Michael. “What makes you think there’s something wrong with *me*?”

“This is not exactly a safe way to live.” Michael gestured at the screen, showing the feed from Nikita’s bracelet.

“What isn’t? Her or me?” Berkoff clenched his fists around the arms of the chair in an effort to calm down. Michael ignored it.

“You.”

“And why is that?”

Michael walked around and sat down behind his desk.

“Berkoff, this is Section. I think you can figure that out for yourself.”

“I just want to know what’s going on. I think I have a right to know.” Berkoff’s fists tightened around the arms of the chair.

“Do you?”

“Yes!” The shout echoed in the small room.

And the arms on the metal chair broke off

Chapter sixty-five
___________

Paul watched as Berkoff finally woke up.

“What happened?”

Operations looked down at a pad. “You contracted a planted virus on a mission. Do you remember anything?”

Berkoff scrunched his face and closed his eyes. “I remember the Red Cell incident.” He was careful with what he said, not wanting to get Walter in trouble.

“With the directory?”

Berkoff nodded. Operations nodded back.

“That was four months ago. The doctors say that your memory may or may not come back. I’ll make sure that you are updated on all current missions.”

Berkoff nodded again, trying to search his memory for the missing time.

Operations stood to leave, but turned back before reaching the door. “You will need to get used to the new computer system again.”

“New system?”

“Yes. In place for a few months now. Newer technology. Less susceptible to hackers.”

 Berkoff nodded again.

“Do you feel that you can work?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Operations left.

And Berkoff sat in the bed with a new computer, familiarizing himself with the new system and hardware.

“Nice. But I wish I could remember picking out a new laptop.”

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