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Date Posted: 19:21:23 04/10/08 Thu
Author: Mary
Author Host/IP: cpe-71-65-120-3.woh.res.rr.com / 71.65.120.3
Subject: Characters & Shadows - Chapter 50
In reply to: Mary 's message, "Characters & Shadows - Cont." on 19:20:18 04/10/08 Thu

Chapter 50

Dinner turned out to be grilled salmon with vegetables. Michael watched as Nikita once again picked at her food, eating occasionally, but mostly moving it around the plate. She was animated and inviting to Marco and the dinner had been warm and comfortable.

Marco had been worried about seeing them after all that had happened but he was put at ease by the openness of the couple. He had wanted to ask Jasmine to join him for this dinner but he had hesitated for two reasons. One, he wasn’t sure that Michael’s invitation included a guest. And two, he also wasn’t sure about seeing Jasmine now that he was out of the hospital. She had been there to take him home and then she had left and he wasn’t sure where he stood now with his beautiful second-in-command.

So in the end he had come by himself and he was glad that he did. It gave him a chance to really watch the couple that he dined with. He found out multiple things as he watched and listened to their interaction. They both loved each other very deeply, that was openly obvious and they were meant to be together. Michael was the dominant in the relationship at the moment, but that was probably because they were at his house and he felt like he needed to take care of Nikita. But Marco knew that Nikita would not allow that dominance for very long. She had a very strong personality and soon she would be back and Michael would have his hands full when that happened.

Marco would have grinned at that to himself but he was instead a little worried about the other thing that he was seeing. Nikita was on an edge. She was antsy, nervous, her eyes kept darting around and she didn’t sit still for very long at all. He noticed that while he and Michael ate quite a lot at dinner Nikita did not. Her eyes took on a look occasionally that he knew he had seen before. He hoped that a little talking after dinner would confirm his thoughts and then he might be able to help.

Now as they sat in the living room with the light music playing and a fire going they were all comfortable and Marco settled in, as comfortable as possible, to talk.

“So Michael will you two go back to the theater?”

He watched as Michael and Nikita gave each other a look, they had obviously already talked about this. “We plan on going back as soon as Nikita feels that she is ready. I think another couple weeks in order for us to get settled back into our lives and then we might be ready.”

Nikita asked, “What about you? When will you start back?”

“Tomorrow.”

She was shocked, “That fast? Don’t you need more time…?”

He smiled, “I’ll be fine. Terrorists don’t get time to rest and neither do I. I need to get back into the agency. And I need to find Suba.”
Marco watched as Nikita visibly flinched at the name and she paled right in front of his eyes. Michael took note of it too and went to her side. It was obvious he was concerned and talked to her softly before turning back to Marco, “I’m going to take Nikita to lie down for a while. Will you wait for me here?”

“Of course.”

It didn’t take long before Michael returned to the room. “Nikita wanted me to send her apologies. She didn’t mean to be rude.”

But Marco was quick to shake his head, “She wasn’t.”

Michael sat with a large sigh, “Something isn’t right with her.”

“You have noticed?”

Michael just nodded, “You too? What’s going on with her?”

“It looks to me to be a form of PTSD, Post Trauma Stress Disorder. She’s having trouble adapting.”

“Adapting?” Michael asked perplexed at the use of that term for what was going on.

“Yes. She has been under stress for years running from David. We removed that situation, but not completely. Now she’s surrounded by people trying to keep her safe. She’s having trouble figuring this all our in her head. How she should act now.”

“What can we do?”

“My first suggestion is don’t wait two weeks to go back to work. Get back as soon as possible. She needs normal. She needs routine. Let her go to the store, let her run errands, just live life. We have both of you under protection at all times.”

“That might be part of the problem.”

“There is nothing I can do about that. Even I have my orders that I have to follow.”

“But I think she feels uncomfortable by the fact that they are watching.”

“She probably does. But I imagine it also makes her feel like she is still trapped just in a different way.”

“So what else can I do for her?”

Marco knew that Nikita was very lucky to have this man love her so much, “The signs I am seeing from her tell me that for now her symptoms are still minor. I don’t think you need professional help with this is what I am saying. Get her out, live life, be there for her. Have her talk and listen, get her to tell you her fears, let her hear them out loud and then they won’t seem so scary.”

Michael thought through what he heard from Marco and it made sense, Marco was a good man. There was the other concern though, “What about what’s going on with Paul?”

Marco had been wondering when Michael would get to that point, “We have him under surveillance. So far there has been no contact from Suba. But it won’t take long, Suba will need the money. When he contacts Paul we’ll get him.”

“Meanwhile we just…”

“Yes. We can’t tip our hand with Paul by removing him from the production. But he is not a threat to you or anyone on the show. We have people watching him and he won’t get away with anything. You have my word on that. Now, it’s time for me to go and for you to go be with Nikita. She needs you.”

*****

Michael thanked Marco for his advice and showed him out. He then locked up the house tightly making sure that he and Nikita were safe for the night. He warmed some milk and took it into the bedroom with him. He knew that she wouldn’t be sleeping and she wasn’t. She was propped up in the bed, lights on and pretending to read. He sat the milk on the stand and sat next to her on the bed, “Marco just left. Don’t worry, he understands. You really need to get some rest.”

She reached out for him and he took her in his arms holding her as close as possible, trying to convince her that she was in fact safe from harm. He finally pulled back and handed her the glass of milk, “Here, drink some of this. It will help you sleep. I’ll be right back in.”

Michael quickly changed and joined her in the bed. They hadn’t really talked about it, but since the first day they arrived Nikita put her things in Michael’s room and they had slept in the same bed each evening. Noting serious had happened yet, only because Michael was worried that it was too soon to push Nikita. But he did very much want to make love to her again, but he worried that doing it too soon wasn’t a good idea for either one of them.

So instead he did what he had done for the last few nights, he pulled her over against him and gently held her in his arms and let her decide what she needed from him. She settled in his arms and placed her head on his shoulder and he felt her soft breath against his skin. They lay in silence with Michael’s arms surrounding her and offering her what warmth and comfort he could.

“It isn’t about you. You know that right?” she quietly asked him.

“I know.” He whispered. He felt her tremble slightly and pulled her more firmly against him.

“Michael?”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”

He brushed back her hair and softly kissed her forehead, “Oh, Nikita, I love you too.”

*****

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