Subject:  Mirage - 13 |
Author:
Asrai
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Date Posted: 10:31:31 03/18/01 Sun
Mirage - 13
The walls of the shower were covered in steam and the water was already getting cold again but Elena stayed a little bit longer under the refreshing stray, just to enjoy the cleansing feeling that came with the water.
When she stepped out of the shower she stood in front of the mirror, clearing it from the steam with her hand, so she could see her reflection.
The face that stared at her wasn't the face that had entered Section six months ago. It was fuller, tanned due to two weeks survival training in wilderness, and the dark circles beneath her eyes were long gone. She looked down at her body; it had changed, too. She'd gotten muscles and had never been in a better shape. Elena almost didn't recognize herself anymore and sometimes she wondered who this girl in the mirror was; this girl who sparred daily with her sensei or Nikita, who made jokes with Walter while cleaning a gun and who almost fell asleep while running sims.
She went to her wardrobe and opened it- today was her free day and she was going to spend it with Alex. Alex worked at level 10 permanently, teaching her and the other recruits how to use the computers. The two women quickly became friends, as Alex had been pretty new in headquarters, too. And because Elena couldn't leave Section alone she'd asked the younger woman to go with her. Well, she'd asked Nikita first, but she just had had a week downtime herself and had no time to skip her schedule for a shopping trip.
Sometimes Elena wondered how her trainer spend her free time. Where did she live? Did she have an apartment or a house? Did she have friends outside Section, a boyfriend?
While she decided for a long skirt Nikita would scold her for because it was unpractical to run in, and a white blouse she made the decision to prod Alex about Nikita; perhaps she knew something.
After a week for herself, without calls in the middle of the night, not even her full schedule could bring Nikita's good mood down. A week with scented bubble baths, long sleeps until noon, shopping trips, a good book and, of course, the best... Michael. She sighed happily and stared dreamily at her computer screen. Michael could take only two days off, but he'd managed to come home every evening and she'd almost felt like a normal wife with a normal husband who was always home in the evening... and the nights... her smile began to wide to a grin when the intercom beeped.
Damn, you couldn't even have a decent fantasy without being interrupted.
"Yeah, what is it?" she snapped somewhat impatiently. "Could you come to my office, Nikita?" When she heard her husband's slightly amused voice, Nikita almost blushed as she stuttered out a "Yes" and hurried to get out of her office.
Michael was seated behind his desk, reading Elena's file. It was good, most of her scores were above average. She'd done well; he was a bit surprised by that. He'd expected low scores in the first week because of Adam's death. The thought of Adam caused still pain in him; but it was a small pain and Michael had realized long ago that he'd really grieved for his son the time he had to leave them.
But with Elena, it was a different matter: she'd watched her son die a terrible death; it was amazing how stable her psych profile seemed. Then, on the other side, recruits were kept busy during training; you hardly had time to think.
As Michael saw one of Elena's latest pictures he smiled. She looked healthy. Almost happy. Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary to let her know the whole truth; perhaps it would be possible to let out certain parts in the story of her father and the role he had played. For this purpose he'd called Nikita: Elena's training was almost finished; she was ready.
The bright colors and the lively noises of the town never ceased to make Elena happy and so she spent a very pleasant day with Alex, shopping, watching a movie, talking. The chance to ask Alex about her trainer came when they had a late lunch. She waited until the waiter had taken their orders and asked as casually as possible:
"What can you tell me about Nikita?"
The other woman looked surprised. "Nikita? She's your trainer, I think you know more about her than I do."
Elena looked down for a moment. "Well, it's just she never talks to me about her personal life. She's always serious and businesslike."
"That's funny." Alex said "Nikita's one of the most open and friendly people in Section. All people like her; especially the people who knew Paul."
Elena nodded. She knew that story: it was an open secret that Nikita had helped the current Operations to get his power and rumors were that Paul had ordered her cancellation more than once. Which seemed strange because Nikita was one of the best operatives Section had. But she asked nevertheless:
"What was it like? Was all really so different then?"
"Well, I'd been in Section just for a short time when the commando changed and I was at a Substation; but yes, it was different, very different. You got in abeyance much easier, for example; only one botched mission and you had a nice little number on the termination list. Another factor was the permanent surveillance. Speaking freely inside Section wasn't possible; there were cameras everywhere. And even if you got your own apartment eventually, that was observed, too. Can you imagine what it was like to be watched 24/7?"
The waiter interrupted their talk, bringing water and a coke. Alex took a sip and continued. "You could handle all this once you'd gotten used it. Kind of habit, I guess. But the worst thing was that personal relationships were forbidden."
"What!" Elena exclaimed. When several people looked at her she blushed and spoke in a hushed tone. "But... how's that possible? They can't prevent that if you are in Section all the time."
"It wasn't exactly forbidden, but unwanted. Besides, most of the people stayed to themselves anyway. You couldn't be sure if you friend was really your friend or just an operative with the mission to watch and manipulate you."
Elena stared at her hands. How could you live like this? No own life, no friends... now it was understandable why Nikita's and Walter's eyes seemed so old sometimes.
Her friend smiled slightly. "That, however, is luckily the past. But you wanted to know something about Nikita, right? As I told you, I don't know her that much longer or better than you do, but there are rumors that she and Operations are involved with each other."
For the second time during this conversation all Elena could say was "What!"
Alex began to grin. "Have you ever seen her when she comes out of his office? Sometimes she smiles so broad you'd think she won in lottery. And if you see both of them together... considering the looks of him, I don't wonder." Her grin broadened. "It should be against protocols to have a boss who looks like him, or what do you think?"
"Well..." Elena hesitated. She had never noticed, but as she thought about it now, she'd never seen Operations. Why not? Yes, she was most of her time at level 10, but when she was at the main level he was never present except that one time six months ago- that strangely familiar person in the perch had been him, she was sure.
She was about to answer when Alex' cell phone rang; the younger woman scowled and picked up her call from Section.
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