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Date Posted: 04:38:14 06/15/11 Wed
Author: asiacheetah
Author Host/IP: ppp-71-128-195-9.dsl.sndg02.pacbell.net / 71.128.195.9
Subject: 15 Days - Chapter 17 - Day 15 - Endings - Version 2
In reply to: asiacheetah 's message, "15 Days" on 00:00:02 06/02/11 Thu

Chapter 17 – Day 15 – Endings - Another way it could have ended:

“You will sacrifice much for what you believe in and you will realize too late that you gave up on what truly mattered.”

Nikita tossed and turned in bed, the words of Madam LaRue running endlessly through her head. She jerked forward with a gasp then buried her head in her hands. She had a feeling that what she decides to do next, will impact the path she would take.

Michael sat up and gently caressed her shoulder before asking: “What’s wrong?”

She looked up to meet his concerned stare, shook her head and buried her face in the palms of her hands again. He ran soothing hands down her back, wordless offering comfort. She closed her eyes, enjoying the strength and care he provided, feeling like she could tackle any obstacle as long as he was besides her.

The doubts, uncertainty, and her duplicity over the last few years whirled in her mind. Those thoughts mocked her that he would turn his back if he ever knew what she was really doing. She looked up at Michael, into those eyes that were open and unguarded. She didn’t deserve his love and trust. What she will have to do will destroy the bond they had spent years building and may scar Michael for life.

No, she could not lead him down this path blindly without warning just to pull the rug out from under him. She had made a decision on his life for him, and it was time to offer him the choice to make his own decision.

She leaned back against the head board and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Michael, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

She took a deep fortifying breath before replying: “I’ve been working for Center as a mole for the last 3 years.”

Michael’s eyes were unreadable as he kept silent at her announcement. She went on to describe how Center found her while she was hiding from Section after he had warned her to escape. They had trained her in various tracing and hacking programs to prepare her for a life as a double agent inside Section. She explained about Center’s attempt to draw Section’s attention by ‘leaking’ her location to the Freedom League. She told him about escaping from her abductors since she wasn’t about let herself be raped.

Once she was out of the Freedom League’s control, she had to find another way into Section. She had shown up at the ambush site prepared to draw the attention of Section personnel and use them to take her back in. She hadn’t counted on it being Michael, however, and fled on an impulse.

“I need to tell you, Michael that I never purposely drew close to you as part of the undercover assignment.”

Michael had sat silent through her entire story, not betraying a single thought. He finally spoke: “You weren’t ordered to get close to me?”

She shook her head adamantly: “No, never. In fact, it probably made my assignment harder.”

He was quiet for a long while before asking: “Why are you telling me this?”

“My assignment is almost over.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Mr. Jones wants to cancel you.”

“Because I’ve betrayed Section for you?”

“That’s the excuse he gave. I won’t let him do this, Michael.”

“What can you do?”

“I’ll make sure you get sent on an abeyance operation so you can escape.”

Michael gave a small ironic smile at her announcement. “Can I ask when this event shall take place?”

“Any day now. Michael, we have to do something.”

He quirked his eyebrow at that and asked: “I thought you have it all planned out.”

“I don’t want to go through with this.” She bit her lips before continuing: “I don’t want to live without you.”

He looked at her intensely for a moment before reaching out and caressing a finger along her eyebrow. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief and pleasure, the weight of this enormous secret lifted from her chest at long last.
She opened her eyes and met his intense glance. She spoke from the depth of her soul the truth that was the foundation of her being: “Michael, I love you.”

He didn’t respond, but the intensity of his stare lessoned and warmed in response. He drew her into his arms and kissed her deeply. She grabbed onto his shoulder desperately, intensely needy to reestablish the close bond they had forged the past few weeks. They came together, without deception or lies, just with the soul deep passion that burned endlessly between them.

*****

Nikita lay in Michael’s arms, deeply content and in peace at long last. She knew whatever she had to do next, she wouldn’t be alone. She propped her chin on his chest and looked up at his face. He was deep in thought as he absently stroked her shoulder.

“What are we going to do, Michael?”

“What do you want most, Nikita?”

“Truthfully? To be free with you by my side.”

He met her gaze for a moment before smiling: “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“We’ll have to sink our files and fake our deaths so they can’t track us.”

She asked hopefully: “Us?”

“Of course.”

“Is that what you want, Michael? You don’t want to lead Section?”

“I never wanted to lead Section.”

He shook his head when she started to question him. “I never did.”

“What about Adam?”

“He’s with his mother. As long as people think I’m dead, there’s no reason to go after them.”

Nikita stared at Michael for a while before responding: “You’ve been thinking about this for a while haven’t you?”

“Since I decided I wanted to live instead of merely survive inside Section.”

“When was that?”

He reached out and caressed her cheek before replying softly: “When you convinced me to find a reason to live.”

She melted at his words knowing that if she wasn’t in love of him before that statement, she would be head over heels by now. “Okay, what do we do now?”

*****

Operations paced furiously inside the perch and barked out an order at Comm: “I want an update as soon as possible. I want to know what went wrong and whose fault it was. I want answers NOW!”

Quinn: “Right away sir.”

Madeline walked quietly into the perch and stood back and watched Operations pace. He shot a glare her direction before barking out: “Well?”

“It appears the explosion was triggered by a shadow program undetectable to our analysts.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s brand new technology never seen before.”

“That’s your excuse? It’s brand new? We lost two of our best operatives in that explosion!”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Has the DNA results come back?”

“Yes, they were a match to Michael and Nikita.”

“Could it be possible that they made it out alive?”

“I ran the Sim. There’s a 0.1 percent chance of survival.”

“Damn! George and Mr. Jones are breathing down my neck about this. I want the report ready to submit to them before the end of the day.”

“It will be ready.”

“That will be all.”

*****

Many, many years later…

She unloaded the grocery from the truck and made her way to the farmhouse. She checked to make sure all the security was still engaged before making her way inside. The farmhouse was the last in a long series of safe houses they stayed at since they left Section.

Although they never lifted their guard and kept ever vigilant, Section had never sent operatives after them. It appeared the mission death ruse worked perfectly and Section never realized they had escaped. Even if they had realized it, they couldn’t have traced them. Michael had sunk their files and replaced it with dummy profiles filled with seemingly innocuous information that would skew any search generated.

She looked around at the scenic beauty of the old growth forest around her and sighed happily. They had finally set down roots after 3 years of constantly moving. She had finally put her foot down, told him he was being paranoid, and demanded they stay put for more than a few weeks at a time. It helped that she was 7 months pregnant and extremely cranky at the time. Michael had given in gracefully in defeat and settled them to this rural area just outside of Montreal.

She made her way into the farmhouse both arms loaded down with grocery. She called out: “Walter, help me with the groceries.”

A curly chestnut haired teenager bolted out of the living room and grinned at her as he made his way out to the car. She looked back at her first born, always stunned by how much he was growing to resemble his father.

She made her way to the kitchen and sat down the bags. In the living room Roberta and Seamus were battling each other on a Wii game. She called to the kids to turn down the volume as she made her way to the office.

She peaked into the office and smiled at the sight of her gorgeous man seated in front of the laptop. They were both older now with more gray hairs and wrinkles. While she frets about every new line that appears on her face, on Michael she could only stare in wonder. He had taken to growing out a short beard, which were dotted with gray hair. That and the gray hair around his temples made him look even more devastatingly handsome.

He wears reading glasses now, which was now perched on the edge of his nose as he peered at the computer. Glasses that their youngest was busy attempting to reach and take hold off. The little blonde hair girl on his lap has her blue eyes, but her father’s curly hair. She also had adorable dimples when she smiled and a small dip in her chin modeled after her father’s.

Helen noticed her peaking from behind the door and reached out toward her: “Mama!”

Michael looked up, not betraying any surprise, revealing that he knew she had been standing by the door staring, and most likely drooling at the sight of him. He smiled warmly at her as she came forward to kiss him and their little girl. He reached out and gently caressed her eyebrow as they wordlessly reaffirmed their bond.

The tender moment was interrupted by a loud crash in the living room and a chorus of voices: “Mom!”

“You better go see what that’s all about.”

She frowned at him and pouted: “How come they never ask you to referee?”

He shrugged: “They don’t like my judgment calls I guess.”

She grinned at him: “I’d say. Your last punishment resulted in the boy chopping a month worth of wood and had Roberta crying for a week.”

He grinned impishly: “They got off easy.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously: “You did that on purpose so they don’t bother you didn’t you?”

He was saved from answer by another loud crash and another chorus of voices calling for her. “You better go see what’s going on before they tear the house down.”

She left but glared warningly back at him over her shoulder: “This discussion isn’t over.”

Michael bounced the toddler on his lap making her laugh in glee, a sight that melted her heart even further. He replied to her threat with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes: “I look forward to it.”

Something tells her that she would really enjoy the upcoming discussion. She sighed in anticipation and left to tend to her destructive children.

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