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Date Posted: 23:10:16 05/20/09 Wed
Author: Odelle
Author Host/IP: CPE0013f7f24246-CM0013f7f24242.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com / 99.234.121.213
Subject: When A Time Comes (Chapter 34)
In reply to: Odelle 's message, "When A Time Comes" on 11:23:04 04/14/09 Tue


Nikita couldn’t decide what emotion she should muster for the man standing before her. Anger? Hurt? Indifference? Betrayal?

Pity, even?

That she was stuck for a feeling didn’t surprise her – she had systematically removed every trace of his existence from her organization as well as her life. No doubt she had done the same with her own emotions as well. Shame. She was tired of feeling so hollow – a bit of rage would give her some focus beyond the purely tactical.

She was just so profoundly tired.

Blinking, she shook herself out of her circular thoughts and walked to the door of the pod.

As the space in the wall hissed open, Guillaume looked up toward her. He was held immobile in the centre of the seamless room, his arms firmly at his sides, his feet at an even stance.

Nikita was not the slightest bit threatened by his physical presence, but removing his captivity served no purpose, so she left him as he was.

His jaw tightened as she walked smoothly into the centre of the room, stopping four feet in front of him. His shoulders bunched, showing her that he tested his bonds.

“I hear you are not being cooperative with the interviewers,” Nikita began in a low voice.

“Should I be?” Guillaume retorted.

He hadn’t been tortured – Nikita had ensured that all interviews were conducted solely on an information-collecting agenda only.

She looked down to gather herself for her task of eliciting the right responses from him. Colouring her voice with just a touch of need, she met his eyes again, “You said that you want to help me.”

“I do,” he replied immediately; not earnestly but with sincerity, “I only want to help you.”

“I need you to tell me who is trying to hurt me then, Guillaume,” Nikita answered.

He shook his head, “I didn’t try to hurt you.”

Nikita felt her patience prickle, and took a breath to calm it down. She was just tired, she told herself – just be more patient. “I know. But someone else is, Gui – the person who was helping you – “

“I was protecting you,” he interrupted, a little agitated.

She stopped and softened her posture, looking at him. He was rumpled and worn and restless – not at all like the immaculate man she had lived with for two years. Undoubtedly all he desired most at the moment was a hot shower and a cleanly pressed suit. She shifted tactics.

“Yes, I know you were,” Nikita nodded. “And what I need is for you to help protect me now, Guillaume. You can – if you help me find the person who was helping you to protect me, I will be more safe. Please,” she took a step toward him, “Help me, and we can get things back to normal.”

Guillaume stared at her for a long moment, and then chuckled humourlessly, his laughter rising to fill the room. “Do you really think I’d buy that we’d work to get things back to normal together, Nik?” He scoffed, shaking his head and shifting in vain to move back from her, “Don’t you think I know that I won’t be seeing daylight again? Ever. Again. I’m not naïve, and I’m not stupid.”

Nikita’s eyes fell. She knew that ultimately he was right – and of course he knew it too. She doubted there was any tact she could take with him to generate the right responses. He likely would never give her the information she required.

Guillaume continued to press; his tone frustrated, surrendered, and a little mad, “You need me, Nik. That’s what you need to realize. You need me. There is no grand plan beyond that.”

Nikita met his gaze evenly and tried to keep the sarcasm from her voice. “I don’t need you, Guillaume. I never did.”

At this he barked out a laugh. “Sure,” he shook his head as if it was the funniest thing he’d heard. He bent his head toward her, and curled one lip, “Tell me, when was the last time you slept?”

Finger, meet button. Something in Nikita’s eyes snapped, and he grinned broadly as he saw it. She bristled with anger, because he knew this weakness about her.

“Not since the last night we were together, am I right?” He cocked his head to one side, “It’s been three nights, Nik. Your short-term memory must be going about now. The edges of your peripheral vision are becoming increasingly blurred. You probably don’t remember the last time you ate something – ”

Nikita turned on her heel. His voice penetrated to the back of her head, sliding like a cruel hand down the back of her spine – pinching, putting pressure on her posture.

“You need me!” he yelled angrily as she walked away from him.

The door slid effortlessly open to receive her, and she kept walking until it locked shut behind her again.

She reached the far wall of the observation ring, and pivoted to face the man inside the cage. She was furious with herself for letting such simple accusations steal her power over him. She was even more angry that it was all so very true.

Glancing around the deck, she was momentarily grateful that she had dismissed all operatives before she had begun her private interrogation.

Just then a wave of dizziness took her, and she leaned heavily against the wall, closing her eyes until it passed.

She wanted to cry, to scream. The control that Guillaume had wielded in her life because of the simple act of sleep was overwhelming. And not for the first time, she wished desperately she had never been so foolish to allow herself to depend on anyone.

************

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