| Subject: Priority Mail 179 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Monday, February 21, 09:50:31pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 173+" on Saturday, February 19, 04:56:05pm
With a heave, Nikita pulled out the duffle bag and dropped it on the floor in front of her. She swallowed hard as she looked at the bag that had been hidden deep within the guest room closet.
It hadn’t seemed odd to her to be in clothes like this when she was living in the convent and going to her own personal condo to take care of business. But this was inside the home. The home that had become her home too.
”Madeline taught you well,” Michael whispered as he sat across the intimate table that was romantically set for the two of them. He tilted his head as he observed Nikita carefully. She couldn’t help but feel the heat of a blush cross her cheeks.
“It's hard to believe I'm here,” Nikita found the words to respond. It would be rude not to response. Madeline had taught her that.
“Where else should you be?” Michael questioned and she was surprised. She didn’t think that Michael wanted to learn anything more about her. He was just her trainer and now he looked, almost human.
“I don't know,” Nikita replied as she forced herself not to shrug her shoulders, something else that Madeline had taught her. “It's just that I lived on the streets for so long.”
“Why did you run away?” Michael inquired as he was staring at her, focused on only her. She didn’t understand why a man like Michael was showing her this type of attention. Not with the other women who were in the same restaurant.
“I didn't. My mother preferred her new boyfriend. And he didn't like me. So she told me to get out,” Nikita replied as she simplified her story to the basics. This wasn’t the place to get into that type of conversation.
“Sorry,” Michael responded as his eyes seemed to be so very green. It wasn’t something that she had ever noticed before.
“Don't be. I never was,” Nikita spoke and then she swallowed hard. That statement revealed too much and she regretted it.
“You’ve come a long way, Nikita,” Michael said and the little bit of magic that had been spun had been broken. He reminded her what was going on in her life and what type of life she had been living inside of Section. A life of a spy, or worse.
“I feel… “ Nikita stopped as she looked up at Michael. “Go on, say it.”
“Happy,” Nikita’s voice rasped as she wasn’t sure if that was the right word. She watched Michael move closer. “The blond haired man sitting behind me has a PDA in his briefcase. Get it.”
Nikita didn’t jerk her head to stare at the man, but she was shocked. She wasn’t sure what was going on or she wondered if Michael was joking. “How?”
Michael blinked his eyes and the green in his eyes had vanished. “When you get the unit, don't leave through the front. There's a window in the ladies room. Use that. It leads to an alley. The car will be waiting.”
“I - I thought we were –“ Nikita started to protest as she was caught off guard.
“If you're not out of there in five minutes, the car will leave without you,” Michael continued to recite the orders. “I can't do this!”
“Five minutes,” Michael directed again and did not address Nikita’s concerns. He shifted and started to stand up. “If you don't mind, wait till I leave.”
“Michael –“ Nikita’s voice broke as she was almost ready to cry. She stood there with the gun that seemed to materialize out of nowhere and the details of what was going on didn’t sink in. But she had been given an order and Michael had walked away. She wondered if he didn’t expect her to make it out of there and if he was already onto his new material.
Not wanting to give Michael the pleasure, Nikita moved quickly and approached the blonde man that had been identified by Michael with the gun extended. “Open it!”
The man chuckled as he opened up the case. “I've got my men everywhere. You'll be dead in a matter of seconds.”
The action happened so quickly. She wasn’t sure how she knew what to do and how to know where the danger was coming from. She wasn’t about to admit to anyone it was as if Michael was inside of her head telling her wait to do to get out alive. It wasn’t like she could hear him counting the time down and to tell her to hurry up. As the firefight and physical fight continued, her body just moved and in ways her mind checked out.
That blank mind lasted until she climbed into the car with Michael calmly waiting there. “You knew?”
Michael didn’t look at her but looked straight ahead. “We had to see if you could improvise. Did you get the PDA?”
Nikita was tempted to throw it at his head. Instead she lifted it and dropped it. “Why didn't you tell me this was a job, instead of pretending?”
“No matter what state of mind you're in, you have to be able to perform.”
The word performed inflamed Nikita. He didn’t know what it meant in her life and how many ways she had heard people asking her to perform. She swallowed back the desire to throw up. “You're sick. You don't want a person, you want a machine. I can't do that.”
“You just did.”
“Kita?” Michael questioned as he walked into the room. Nikita looked at him and then back down to the bag. She dropped to her knees. She ripped the zipper back. “I’m not even human… not even human.”
“Kita,” Michael spoke again as he stood there and watched Nikita pull away from the bag as she stared inside of it. He could see her body recoil from the clothes and the supplies. “You don’t need to do this, Kita.”
“What person… does what I do?” Nikita questioned as she extended her hands but pulled them away.
Nikita stood on the other side of the glass and reported back with just the simply information. “Michael, she's here.”
“What about hostiles?” Michael inquired from the other end of the communication device.
“I took out three, I didn’t see anybody else,” Nikita replied back as she continued to stand there.
“And Kerensky?”
“Still alive. Looks like a remote interrogation,” Nikita answered as she lifted the gun and rapidly shot off a couple shot to see if the glass would break. But it resulted with nothing. “She’s behind bulletproof glass.”
“Nikita, how does it look?” Operations interrupted.
“She claims she hasn’t given information yet,” Nikita answered as she stood there, calm and ready to act. Her mind snapping to what to do next.
“What’s your recommendation?” Operations inquired, wondering what Nikita was going to say.
Kerensky was sweating and starting to gasp. Nikita blinked past the reaction from the operative. “If we incinerate, we’ll have 100 percent containment.”
“Destroying an embassy is severe. There will be fallout for months,” Madeline pointed out with some sage advice, almost surprised of Nikita’s initial first option. She knew that the work on Nikita was good, but she didn’t expect it to be that good.
“Taking Section operatives is severe. I want our enemies to know that. You think she’ll do it?” Operations questioned only Madeline with small grin on his face. He liked this change in Nikita.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Madeline replied as she basically shrugged her shoulders with her eyes.
“Okay, Nikita, you’re request for incineration approved. Set the sequence for thirty seconds,” Operations accepted her plan of action. Nikita moved quickly and started to plant the explosives, not noticing the panicking operative behind the glass.
“All teams evacuate,” Birkoff directed to all of the other operatives in the field.
“Nikita stand by – I’m working on a contingency,” Michael interrupted with a rushed voice.
Nikita didn’t not hear him. She moved right to the glass were Kerensky was staring at Nikita and planted the large explosive device, making it quite clear what she was going to do and telling Kerensky goodbye with that explosive. “Thirty seconds.”
“Nikita, can you hear me?” Michael shouted out of horror. “There are children on the premises.”
“I hear you Michael. 25 seconds,” Nikita replied as she turned her back on Kerensky and started out of the building. She didn’t notice the fire alarm that sent the children out of the building before the explosion. Nikita just continued to walk as if on a Sunday stroll.
Nikita reached into the bag and pulled out the shirt. “I’m a monster… A monster.”
“Nikita,” Michael spoke as he reached out for her shoulders, but she pushed him away. She dropped the shirt to the floor and shook her head. “Why pretend that I’m not this person? This monster? This non-human.”
“You are having a PTSD flash, Kita… and it’s rough for you right now,” Michael said as he sat there on the floor behind Nikita. He watched as she pulled out the gun and lifted it into the air. She looked up at the ceiling and to the gun. She placed it to the side and Michael could exhale again. He thought that all of the guns were locked up. He was going to have to search the house again with Nikita here like this. He wanted to get the gun out of the room but he was afraid to move right now.
Her mind was shut off as it often was when she was at the computer. The letters were just letters and the emotional context was gone from all the letters. The words didn’t seem to matter. The end mattered. The ends justified the means. She found this time when she could rest and her body felt like it didn’t exist. The pain was gone and the stress of everything did not matter.
“Nikita, you’re wanted in tactical,” the computer voice spoke. Nikita blinked her eyes as her mind started to process the directions. “Who?”
“Nikita, you’re wanted in tactical now,” the voice spoke again and Nikita straightened up. She could not disobey an order a second time. “I’m on my way.”
Nikita walked in the middle of the hallway. She could do that now. She commanded the respect of other operatives. They no longer tried to get in her way and they stayed away from her. She liked it that way. No one cared to get close to her so she didn’t have to get close to them. It made her feel better to keep everyone at a distance. It was better that way.
Michael was suddenly on her, taking the surprise to get the gun off of her and to stand there.
“Michael. Hi,” Nikita answered as she fought through a fog, split between two thoughts about this man in front of her. “You frightened me.”
“Are you wondering why I disarmed you?” Michael inquired as he didn’t blinked.
“No,” Nikita answered as if it was a multiple choice answer. “You're protecting me. If you were caught, I wouldn't be blamed.”
“Do you know who you are?” Michael questioned as he looked at this woman. Nikita didn’t flinch and Michael continued to stand there.
“Do I know who I am?” Nikita gently said although her mind didn’t want to say it. She was on some sort of auto pilot that she couldn’t stop. She wanted to tell Michael so many things. She wanted him to run. She wanted him to be away. “I'm me.”
Nikita stepped closer although her mind was screaming inside. It was like she was in a movie watching herself, but she wasn’t in a movie and she was moving. “And I love you.”
“Do you? Or do you want to kill me?” Michael bluntly spoke as he didn’t even react to her touch.
“Why are you talking like this?” Nikita replied while her mind shouted for Michael to leave. She was caught inside and she couldn’t break out.
“If I hand you this gun, are you going to shoot me?” Michael questioned as he looked at the gun. “You won't have any reason to hesitate. The order has been given.”
Michael looked at the gun and then placed it firmly in her hand. He turned his back on her and started to walk away.
“Michael,” Nikita spoke and then the gun was up. Her finger was pulling the trigger as it is pointed directly at him. She heard the clicks and her mind was splintered further between happiness and disappointment. Michael turned and Nikita hurled the gun at him. “You don’t belong here anymore, Michael.”
“Why are you saying that?” Michael inquired.
“Cause you don’t have what it takes,” Nikita answered. She jerked her head as her heart just grew heavier. No matter which part of her mind, she knew that the next words were correct. “If you did, I’d be dead.”
Michael slammed her against the wall hard. Nikita looked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Taking your access card,” Michael replied back firmly.
“I can’t let you do that,” Nikita replied and then she saw the taser before she felt it. The numbness that was in her mind disappeared as her whole body went down and the details of what was next were not meant to be known.
“Don’t!” Nikita shouted as Michael touched her again. She jerked away as if she had been shocked. Nikita realized that he didn’t use a taser against her and rolled over the bag. It put the bag between them. Nikita pulled out the pants and the boots and tossed them away. “I’m in this bag… just as disposable… and I’m a monster…”
“Kita, you are under a tremendous amount of stress… and I want you to know that I’m here for you,” Michael spoke as he stayed right there, but was able to ease the gun under the bed, putting more distance between Nikita and the gun. “Let me help you.”
Nikita looked at Michael as the tears rolled down her face. “I was going to use Adam… Your son, Michael! What kind of person uses an innocent boy in an attempt to get another kid back… a monster does that! That’s what I am…”
Michael shook his head back and forth. “Your mind knows that I trained Adam in a lot. You know that we have multiple plans on what to do if things go wrong. Adam knows what to do if we get separated or if we don’t come back. He knows how to get to Walter. He knows how to get to Davenport. He knows how to get to Tom… he has plans to plans to plans….”
“I don’t use children! Not your son… I can’t use Adam… and I can’t do this, Michael… I can’t!” Nikita cried out as she rolled forward over the bag. Michael stroked her hair and then Nikita pulled away and tossed the bag far away. “What hell am I doing? Why is my mind snapping to what to do? I don’t want to be like this… I don’t want to be back to that person… never…”
Michael moved and pulled Nikita into his arms. He wanted to know what was going on in her head, but right now, it had scared her too much. She was terrified and she was scared. He couldn’t make her talk about that. He almost wasn’t sure if he did want to know about what she had flashed back too. He held her and rocked her. “You need to rest, Kita…..”
“Veronica… needs me…”
“She needs us,” Michael whispered as he didn’t let Nikita go. He felt her body stop the fight against his hold and he leaned back against the bed as he held onto Nikita.
And he didn’t dare let go.
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