Nikita was at home busily rummaging through her cupboards and refrigerator. As she did so, her mind reflected back over the past week. Not only had Section One been destroyed -- through their own hands -- but she had actually been out on a mission with Operations of all people. That was definitely one experience she never wanted to repeat. The man was way too emotional and hot-headed to work in the field. If she hadn't intervened, he would have killed two innocent people rather than just one. She just couldn't let that woman die. The woman had done absolutely nothing worth dying for. And wasn't that what Section was about anyway -- saving innocent people?
The week had started with a hostile getting loose inside Section. How Tyco managed to get the drop on Madeline, let alone escape from the White Room was still a mystery to her. Certainly Madeline wouldn't have been so careless as to leave the door open when she went in to interrogate the prisoner. And there were no handles or door knobs on the inside of the door. Michael had, of course, tracked the man down and killed him.
However, Tyco had managed to rewire some of section's computers and transmit all their data before he could be stopped.
Birkoff had been insightful enough to encode the information as it went out, at least they would have time to find out who received the information and hopefully destroy them before they could figure out what it was. Unfortunately, there was a portion of the transmission that hadn't been encoded. The location of Section One. Why in the world would Section One put their location coordinates in their header???? She had never claimed to be a genius, but even she would know better than that!
There was a mad scramble to relocate Section. They had two hours to get it done. She had never seen anything like it. Everyone was scrambling around like mad. Everything needed to be packed up and taken to the new location. It was amazing ... all that stuff and they had still managed to do it. Then, once everyone was out, Operations had incinerated the place.
Operations ... she still got mad thinking about the way he treated her. It wasn't her fault that Section was destroyed. She didn't leak the intel ... she didn't leave the coordinates unencrypted. She had only been trying to help when she got a sample of the driver's blood when she and Michael had picked up a second hostile. An identification might have helped them discover who was after them. But what did Operations do? Did he thank her? NO! He got all sarcastic and told her if she found a lab in this place to let him know. Really!
Walter had explained then that Operations was loosing everything he really cared about. She knew that was true. Section One was Operations' heart. He lived it ... breathed it. If it didn't benefit Section, or his idea of what Section should be, then it was totally and completely worthless and useless.
Michael had tried to keep her occupied and out of Operations' way by having her help him check satellite data. It was nice working with him for a change ... not out in the field, but actually sitting side-by-side in Section doing something that didn't threaten their very existence.
Then Operations had walked up and told her she was going on a mission with him. She knew she hadn't heard him right. There was no way Operations would go on a mission. Surely he meant to say he would brief her on her way out. But no, she had heard correctly. She was going on a mission, with Operations! She exchanged glances with Michael. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't thrilled with that idea either.
And the man had totally lost it. He yelled at her again before they even got to the location of their target. Telling her he would kill 10 innocents to get to Allen, the man that had sold them out, and so would she. Then he gave her all of one minute to get inside and start to inquire about Mr. Allen before he had come barging in with his gun drawn. She went along with him as long as she could, but his insistence on killing the innocent gallery worker was too much. She finally told him to take a good look at himself. He was on the verge of killing the very people they were supposed to protect! To his credit, he had backed down and, later, had even attempted as much of an apology as he was capable of.
And she had been the only person to come through and actually locate Allen. Of course, it was actually Mick who found him, but he was HER source. She had saved their hides. Actually, Operations had been having another tirade aimed at her when Mick had called. Operations had been telling her that she wasn't there to think. "Those who are trained to think, think and those that are trained to fight, fight." He had actually had the nerve to say that to her. She had always known that Section wanted nothing more than marionettes who reacted only when their strings were pulled and did only those things they were told to do. Operations have finally confirmed it for her.
And then to find out who was behind the whole thing. Glass Curtain! The very people who were responsible for Michael's wife, Simone's, death. How had they survived the blast when Section took out their headquarters a couple of years ago? And had Simone managed to survive? That had Nikita worried. She and Michael were finally ... FINALLY ... beginning to make some headway with no obstacles (translated ... other wives) in their way. And now she had to worry that Simone could pop up at any second. Michael, however, didn't even seem to consider the prospect. He hadn't questioned it at all. Section had once again prevailed and taken out Glass Curtain ... or at least Sparks and Siobhan and their headquarters. They had also destroyed the computers that had housed the downloaded Section intel.
And Section had moved to a brand new location. She had been shocked when Operations told her that there were four compounds ready and a fifth would be built in the fall. She thought it would take a while before Section would once again have a permanant home. Of course, the new Section looked a lot like the old one, with a few changes.
And then to top it all off, she had actually invited Michael here for dinner tonight. She didn't know what had come over her. Her brain must still be addled from all the excitement. Michael had been pretty much avoiding her lately. But he had accepted her invitation, which surprised her as well. Maybe she felt safe in inviting him, thinking he wouldn't come. But he had thrown her by accepting. She should know better by now. Whatever she thinks Michael will do, he almost always does the opposite.
Thus, the rummaging in her cupboards and fridge. She had to find something to make. Something easy. She really wasn't up to anything too taxing. She checked through all her cupboards and refrigerator and found all the ingredients she needed to make lasagna. She could put it together now, and then wait until closer time for Michael to arrive to actually bake it. She put the lasagna together and then headed off to the store. She needed some salad fixins. As she passed by a local restaurant on her way home, she noticed the pies for sale in the window. She went inside and looked them over. She did need something for dessert. Then she saw her favorite ... French Silk Chocolate Pie. Perfect!
Nikita went home, changed and put the lasagna in the oven. The salad was made and the pie was waiting to be served. She was just putting the fininshing touches on setting the table when there was a knock at the door. She stopped, straightened her hair and clothes and then went to the door.
"Hello Michael," she said as she moved aside to let him enter her apartment.
Michael handed her a bottle of wine. "Hi. Thank you for the invitation. Something smells good."
The End
this story ©copyright Sherry, 1999