| Subject: Priority Mail 106 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Saturday, January 01, 03:25:06pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 97+" on Thursday, December 23, 07:37:51pm
Nikita was at the kitchen table sipping some tea while Michael washed the dinner dishes. Adam was upstairs working on homework. It seemed like a normal night, but Michael couldn’t shake the events the day. He felt like he had something to do with why Nikita believed that she would not have episodes of memories taking over her mind. Since they had left, Nikita hadn’t spoken much at all and Michael had allowed it.
There was a knock at the door and Nikita stood up. Michael cleared his throat. “I can go…”
“It’s Davenport,” Nikita replied as she didn’t look back at Michael. He wasn’t surprised that it was Davenport that came into the house, but he was surprised that Nikita knew this. Davenport waved towards Michael. “I got your email, Nikita… I am a bit confused.”
“Adam is still upstairs?” Nikita inquired of Michael and Michael nodded his head. “Do you want some coffee, Dav?”
“No thank you,” Davenport replied as he sat down. “You had questions about photography?”
Nikita looked at Michael and then to Davenport. “Adam found an instructor for me… but I don’t care for him.”
“What did he do?” both men asked immediately. Nikita exhaled slowly and shook her head. “It’s just the way he makes me feel… he didn’t do anything… really.”
Michael shook his head. He didn’t believe Nikita. He could see that Davenport was pushed back from the table, thinking the same as he was. “If he did something inappropriate…”
“He is a dirty man, Davenport,” Nikita spoke as she then looked at Michael. “What will hurt him more is that I don’t go back. But Adam expects me to get good at this camera… and I didn’t even really get to use it at all today.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Michael asked as he interrupted the conversation. “And this all happened before the doctor’s appointment? Kita, you set yourself up for a bad appointment.”
“Not now,” Nikita corrected Michael as she reached out and squeezed his hand. “We have a guest.”
“It’s Davenport,” Michael declared with a shrug of his shoulders. But he saw the ice in Nikita’s eyes and backed away. “I’m going to go check on Adam.”
“You should stick around,” Davenport spoke up before Michael could leave. “I was going to stop by before Nikita asked me to come over.”
Michael sunk back into the chair and groaned. The hits were just coming right now. He had a feeling that it had nothing to do with Mick Schtoppel either.
Nikita tensed up as she folded her hands into her lap. “Something wrong, Davenport?”
“Let’s talk about your photography thing first,” Davenport directed Nikita as he didn’t want to lose that Nikita had asked for something. Michael might not realize it, but it was very big for Nikita to ask for something.
“I need to learn how to use the camera… to take a picture or two… so Adam knows how much I love this gift… but I can’t go back to that class,” Nikita clearly explained as she turned the cup around in her hand. Michael leaned back in the chair, trying not to be hurt that Nikita was now deciding to talk to Davenport after not really talking to him the balance of the day.
“I can take photos on that camera of yours… but if you are asking me to teach you… I’m the worse teacher,” Davenport shook his head from side to side. “There is a reason why Michael never put me on the track to be a trainer...”
“It’s not in his nature to teach,” Michael commented as he remembered clearly the one time that he had pushed Davenport to train another operative in some driving maneuvers and it was a bad situation.
Nikita rubbed her head and swallowed hard. “Ok…”
Davenport looked at Michael for a moment and then back to Nikita. “You aren’t going back to that place with that man, Nikita.”
“I concur,” Michael interjected but now he caught a glare from Davenport. Michael lifted his hands as if he was not going to say anything further. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong right now, but he wasn’t doing the right thing in most of the eyes at the table.
“There is a photographer not far from here… Her name is Whitney Huwe. She taught me what I know and she turned her wedding photography clients over to me. She was a great mentor and I’m sure that she would enjoy mentoring you also,” Davenport outlined quickly what he knew would work. Whitney took a long time warming up to Davenport, but Davenport could see the older woman enjoying Nikita immensely. Plus, Whitney loves to mother people and that was the type of person that Davenport thought Nikita needed right now, although Nikita probably wouldn’t admit it.
“She retired then?” Nikita shook her head. “I can’t ask someone…”
“Whitney would tell you that photographers never retire… they move onto new subject material,” Davenport stopped Nikita’s statement right away. He leaned back and grinned. “I’ll call her and ask her to get together for lunch sometime next week… the same time that your class is supposed to happen.”
Nikita nodded her head up and down with a smile. “Thank you.”
“No reason to thank me, Nikita,” Davenport shook his head from side to side. He owed Nikita a lot and he would do small things like this for Nikita for the rest of his life for what she had given him. He would never be able to repay her.
“You should have Erma have lunch with me soon. I can help explain where you are and soothe out the rough edges you are going through right now,” Nikita spoke up as she looked carefully at Davenport. Davenport felt goose bumps rise and fall up and down his arms and back. He didn’t know how Nikita knew that he was struggling with his relationship with Erma right now because of all the time he was spending right now with Michael and Nikita. He had never even mentioned Erma to Nikita directly. But yet she knew.
“I’d take her up on the offer, Davenport,” Michael stood up and retrieved a cup of coffee. Michael leaned against the counter and sighed. He did not doubt that if Davenport didn’t actively arrange for the meeting that Nikita would do it on her own. It was easier if Davenport knew about it.
Davenport shifted on the seat uncomfortably and then nodded his head. “I’d like that… if you can try to give her some sort of story…”
“As much of the truth as I can,” Nikita jerked her head up and down once and then looked at Michael. She groaned. “Michael… my mind doesn’t work like you think it should right now… I didn’t want to hurt Adam… and I was ashamed of how I felt…”
“Stop,” Michael shook his head as he came back to the table. He settled back into the chair and leaned forward to look at Nikita. “I’m glad that you just knew that you couldn’t go back… and I know that someday you will share with me first… I know it will take time for that to happen for both of us.”
Davenport twitched and pushed his hand through his hair and then slapped it to the table. “Damn… I hate to bring back bad news….”
Both Michael and Nikita stared at Davenport. He knew that he had to talk but he looked over his shoulder to make sure that they were still alone. “Jason came across something and I told him not to tell you two yet… but I made the decision later to tell you… and then I changed my mind… over and over and over again.”
“Spill it,” Nikita’s voice was precise as she sat there, looking much more like the intense woman she was as Operations than ever before. Davenport needed that right now. He exhaled to start his report. “Jason has elaborate alerts up… searching for all types of people… and he is frustrated right now.”
Nikita jerked in her seat and Michael moved to take her hand. Nikita wrenched it away and tried to stand up. Michael looked at Nikita. “You know what is upsetting Jason?”
“She didn’t give him the full databases when she got him a copy,” Davenport spoke as he looked directly across to Nikita’s turned head. Michael didn’t respond and he simply nodded his head. “I understand why she would do that.”
Davenport wasn’t sure if Michael would have done the same, but he showed Nikita that he supported her and it made her turn back to look at Davenport. “There was some information that wasn’t needed.”
“Who is alive and isn’t alive from Section would be helpful,” Davenport snapped and then he shook his head. “But that isn’t the issue… it’s one of Jason’s issues… but not what I have to tell you…”
Again the eyes from Michael and Nikita were focused on him. “It isn’t about Mick either.”
There was still silence.
“He got a hit on an alert that is running on David Fanning,” Davenport reported and he watched for a response. But Michael and Nikita continued to stare at him and he couldn’t tell anything from those blank stares. “Damn… it’s been a long time since I got that look… from one person… but from both…”
Davenport squirmed in his chair as neither replied. “It was a vague hit…. Nothing to really go off of to know that it isn’t a false hit… Fanning is reportedly dead…”
“We couldn’t verify if Lisa gave him the isotope, took it herself, or got rid of it and it didn’t bother either of them,” Michael finally broke the silence. Michael’s eyes had grown to almost a steel color as he didn’t like the thought of David Fanning. “Where?”
“Not in the area… not in this country and not even in this hemisphere…” Davenport answered as he started to tap his hands on the table out of nerves. “I told Jason not to tell you both… and it was more because he is really on edge about missing information… I told him to try to find something more specific about this alert but he hasn’t gotten anything.”
“Seems to be a trend,” Nikita rasped as she stood up and moved to look out the window. “He found a picture of Mick… and now Fanning… It doesn’t feel right.”
“Jason isn’t against us, Kita,” Michael pointed out as he turned in his chair to look at Nikita’s back. She was shaking her head slightly from side to side. She then wrapped her arms around her body. “What if we aren’t safe?”
“It was an alert, Nikita,” Davenport stressed. “Jason gets hundreds of them and almost all are absolutely nothing. Most of the operatives that are out are doing good things.”
“That’s because they were good people to start with,” Nikita announced as she whirled on her heels to stare at Davenport. She rubbed her forehead for a moment before shaking her head from side to side. “It’s a false report, Davenport.”
“I’m hoping that is what Jason verifies,” Davenport replied as he was so relieved that he didn’t have Jason come here to tell them about this. Nikita was on edge and it wouldn’t have been a good mixture. Nikita rolled her head to the side. “I have a headache… I’m going to go upstairs…”
Michael nodded his head as Nikita didn’t wait to get any response before leaving the room. He leaned his head back and groaned.
“I have a feeling that there is a lot going on,” Davenport winced as he looked at Michael. He stood up and looked around the kitchen. “Got anything harder to drink than coffee?”
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