| Subject: Priority Mail 15 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Tuesday, October 26, 06:18:34pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 11+" on Saturday, October 23, 03:47:01pm
Michael never thought that he would be a man who could find washing the dishes relaxful. The first several times he had to wash the dishes he had memories of Nikita. He remembered when she was brainwashed and she had been sitting on the counter with her feet in the sink and having no idea why she was doing such a thing. He remembered the time that she blew a bubble from the soapy water so that it snapped in his face. He remembered Nikita with her shirt slightly dampened from washing the dishes. He thought about all of those thoughts almost every time that he did fill up the sink with water, but those thoughts normally brought him a feeling of peacefulness in the past couple years.
But not now.
He had been working hard on cases and getting things caught up. Michael was starting to screen his calls and make responses to those who were not pushing his buttons. He had numerous calls from his previous friend Nat McCarty, but Michael was not the type to handle breaking the rules lightly. Nat knew that Michael had things in place and he could not believe that Nat had used a tentative friendship to just break the rules.
The solace of washing the dishes as a change needed today. Adam had come home sulking about something but refused to talk to his father about it. Michael knew that he would find out what it was sooner or later and did not pry too much into Adam’s life. Michael instead made sure that there was enough of the General Tsao’s Chicken with steamed rice to make Adam happy. Michael had thought fondly of the times that he had shared the meal with Nikita, often take out over Michael making it. Nikita always liked it hot and Michael could almost feel his mouth burn with how hot Nikita would order the dish. Michael could never make it that hot for Adam.
But it was eerily quiet in the house as Michael finished up cleaning the kitchen. Adam had a pretty regimented homework schedule that the school fostered. Today should have been math and reading. Adam had told Michael what each homework assignment was and that he had most of the reading assignment done already. Adam had always been a fast reader so it did not surprise Michael. But what surprised Michael was how silent it was in the house right now. If Adam wasn’t in the living room playing his video games he would have been in front of the television.
“Adam?” Michael called out as he walked up the stairs. He saw the sign on the door and tilted his head. Crudely drawn it said simply, ‘Stay Out’. Michael took the sign off and twisted the knob to the room and stepped in. “Hiding a girl in here, Adam?”
“Dad!” Adam sang out as he jumped to his feet. “I don’t want you in here.”
“Which is exactly what I need to be in here,” Michael countered as he moved quickly and swiftly. Adam had made it clear with his protective stance that he did not want his father seeing what was on his computer. Michael knew that he had to see it before Adam flicked away from the screen. Michael yanked the keyboard up even as his mind was registering what was on the screen.
“You are so mean!” Adam huffed as Michael lifted the keyboard high in the air so that Adam could not reach it. But what Michael saw made him almost drop the keyboard. “What is this Adam?”
The screen was on a website that advertised that it would help someone search for a missing person. But Adam had gone a step further and was filling out the information, entering in information about Nikita. Michael turned his head to glare at his son. Adam stepped in front of the desk and in front of the screen. “Walter has asked you to look for her…. And you haven’t. So I am going to look for her.”
“Adam, this isn’t going to be as easy as punching in her information into a website,” Michael whispered as he placed the keyboard down and sat on the foot of Adam’s bed. “And I’m not sure if it is the best thing for you.”
“For me to look for her? Yes… because you’ll be happy. You’ll have Nikita back!” Adam declared and Michael shook his head slightly. “We don’t even know if she lived, Adam.”
“She didn’t die. You said so yourself!” Adam huffed and Michael swallowed hard. “It isn’t just about finding her… I worry about our safety.”
“But how are you going to find your daughter if you don’t find Nikita?” Adam asked as he placed his hands on his hips. Adam was not letting his father go on this. “I know that you want to do this.”
“Adam…”
“I hear you at night,” Adam snapped and Michael jerked his head. “What?”
“You used to call out for Nikita a lot when… after you… when you got me back,” Adam admitted as he looked down at his feet, unable to look at his father’s eyes. He slowly looked up and shrugged his shoulders slightly. “It started to drift off… especially after we moved into this house… I rarely heard you call out her name… but every night now… since you saw Walter… you call for her… over and over again…”
Michael tensed and turned his head to the side. He knew that he had been dreaming about Nikita in many different variations, but he didn’t realize that he was talking out loud in his sleep. Michael rubbed his elbows with his hands and swallowed hard as he turned to look at his son again. “This isn’t easy.”
“It is,” Adam declared. “You always told me that you shouldn’t be afraid of anything as long as you are taking action. I don’t think you are taking action and I’m tired of you being afraid about what will happen if you find her – no matter how you find her. So, I’ll take the action and you can wait for me to find her.”
Michael stood up and pulled Adam into his arms. “You are too smart for your own good.”
“Walter was going to help me,” Adam looked up at Michael. Michael knew that in just a year or two his son would be looking him in his eyes and Michael shook his head. “You don’t know what you are getting involved with. Walter shouldn’t help you.”
Adam stepped away and Michael grasped his son’s arm. “Is he helping you, Adam? Or is he helping me?”
Adam shrugged his shoulders slightly and Michael groaned. “You have to stop this, Adam. I have told you the truth about a lot of things… but you didn’t live that life and you don’t know what kind of bad things could happen.”
“But Walter said…”
“Walter doesn’t know what happened,” Michael interrupted his son’s argument. Michael sighed and let go of Adam’s arm. “We have plans this weekend.”
“What does that have to do with any of this?” Adam asked as he was confused. Michael rubbed his forehead feeling a growing headache. “We are going to have another discussion with Walter.”
“Don’t be upset at him… He didn’t know…” Adam spoke, defending Walter. Michael knew better. Walter would have known better. Walter had to have known that he was communicating with Adam and he had gone ahead on that path. It was a dirty path to get what Walter wanted.
If Michael was going to get involved in this, Walter was going to have to play by Michael’s rules and direction. He needed to think about his actions and what the feasible reactions were. He had to plan, and Walter was never strong on planning.
“We have ice cream downstairs,” Michael nudged Adam towards the door. Adam looked back at the computer as Michael turned it off. “I don’t want to see you on this site again.”
Adam didn’t comment as he walked out of the room. The unspoken response told Michael that if he didn’t do as Adam wanted to in some extent that he would pick up right on this path again.
Michael didn’t think he was this big of a troublemaker when he was young and he knew from lots of research that Elena was not a troublemaker. Michael walked downstairs and wondered if he had been a handful after all.
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