Aly rushed through her breakfast. She was running SO late!! Well... what ELSE was new?? This new job had been a god-send and she was only in her second month.

Running to the sink, she brushed her teeth hurriedly and grabbed her coat. *Sheesh!! 4am comes WAY too early!!* She thought to herself as she locked her small apartment and raced down the stairs. It was a good thing that she was considered a *morning person*.

Making good time through the deserted streets of Toronto, Aly sped along trying very hard to be on time! Her new job as Production Assistant was very hectic and filled with pressure and stress. However, she seemed to work well under stress so she thrived at this job.

Screeching to a stop in her parking space, she lept from the car and ran to the set. They were to begin shooting at first light today and she was to make the rounds this morning.

Greeting her grouchy co-workers, she gathered up her clipboard and made her way to the rooms. Moving to the first door she tapped lightly: "Miss Wilson? This is your 15 minute call. Due on the set in 20!" Aly paused a moment to see if her call had been heard. Hearing nothing, she moved to the next door.

"Mr. Dupuis?? It's Aly. This is your 15 minute call. Due on the set in 20!" She waited a moment to see if he would answer as he usually did in his charming French-accented voice. But this morning... nothing.

Aly moved away to finish her rounds, only slightly uneasy about the lack of replies from her two favorite actors in this ensemble. She had been part of the production crew at LFN Productions for a short time, but had fit in with the crew and talent quite easily. They were in their second season with the show and everyone had really good feelings about the direction the show was taking.

She looked down to her clipboard and took interest in the name displayed there for the next set of rooms. Stopping in her tracks, she felt a shiver run down her spine. *Bruce Payne? Isn't he that insane guy from Passenger 57??* she thought to herself. Very hesitantly, she tapped on his door and called out his time to be on the set. No answer.

Aly moved on to the next door. *This is getting very strange.....* she thought to herself.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

The young blonde sat staring at herself in the mirror blankly. She knew only that she felt trapped and wanted out. Pulling her hair back from her face and tying it into a knot at her nape, she turned towards the door in response to a soft tapping she heard. A soft, southern-accented voice drifted to her from the hallway.... "Miss Wilson? This is your 15 minute call. Due on the set in 20!"

*The set... ? Doesn't she mean the mission?* Nikita rose to her feet and crossed the space to the small cabinet and picked up her weapon. She checked the clip, chambered a round and squared her shoulders with steely resolve. *One way or another... I am out of here today!* Moving to the door she pulled it open slowly and peered down the hallway.

Seeing no one but the young production assistant ahead, she moved carefully to the next door and entered that room. Closing the door behind her she turned to address the man sitting at the desk, "Michael. What is going on here?"

Crossing the space to stand before him, she stared into his seafoam green eyes and waited for his answer.

Michael could not make sense of the day so far. He was already up and dressed after a brief nap. He almost never slept.

Just as he was shrugging into his jacket, he turned as there was a tap on his door. Moving quietly to the door and holding his gun at the ready, he heard a softly accented southern voice: "Mr. Dupuis? It's Aly. This is your 15 minute call. Due on the set in 20!"

Holding himself ready, he waited until he heard her move from the doorway before easing his weapon into the wasteband at the back of his pants. Her words replayed in his mind as he tried to make sense of them.... *... Dupuis.... 15 minute call..... due on the set...?* It made no sense to him whatsoever.

Moving to his desk, he sat and tried to bring up his laptop. Nothing. He blinked in confusion at the blank screen.

Suddenly, the door opened and Nikita lurched through the doorway and closed the door quickly behind her. Turning towards him, she voiced the same thing he was wondering himself. "Michael. What is going on here?" she asked impatiently.

He waited while she came to stand before him and he met her eyes. What he saw there mirrored his own confusion and annoyance. Rising to his feet, he buttoned his coat and reached for his cell phone. "I don't know. But I am certainly going to find out." Dialing a number quickly he placed the small phone to his ear.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Jurgen was having the strangest dream. He and Nikita had been growing quite close. Michael was very unhappy with this development. He tossed and turned as the fragmented images raced through his head in his sub-conscious. A mission... shooting Michael... getting blownup...

He woke with a start and sat bolt upright in bed. Blinking a few times to clear his vision from the disturbing dream images, he was just about to lie back down when he heard a tap on his door. A young woman spoke through the door and told him something about a *Set Time*. He had no idea what she was talking about.

Rising from the bed, he crossed the room and was just about to run his shower when his small cell phone began to chirp on the nightstand. Retrieving the phone, he answered the call with an impatient "Yeah?" as he turned the water on for his shower.

Pausing while listening to the other party, he stopped the water a moment so that he could hear better. After nodding in agreement, he answered, "Yes. She was just by here also. Ten minutes? Ok. I'll be right there." With that, he ended the call and jumped into the shower.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Michael closed the phone and turned to Nikita, "Jurgen will meet us in the briefing room in 10. Let's go."

The two Operatives made their way down the halls and into the center of Section One.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Aly struck the names off her list and noted the time of her visit to them. She made her way back to the small trailer that housed her *office* and got her walkie-talkie. Putting the clipboard back on its nail, she stuck her pager on her belt and headed for the set. The only talent due on board for the first scene today were Peta, Roy and Bruce.

They had a few scenes to shoot on the main set before the other actors joined them. She was humming as she headed towards the set to watch the shooting today.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Michael and Nikita were waiting for Jurgen by the large briefing table. Nikita was nervous and it showed in the way she paced about, never staying in one spot for more than a moment.

Michael was watching her covertly. He knew how unhappy she was here in Section and he knew that she had established some sort of connection with Jurgen over the past few weeks. As much as he hated to admit it, it might be good for her. She needed someone, and he was just not at a point in his life where he could be what she needed.

"Nikita, I just wanted to...." he was interrupted by the arrival of Jurgen.

Nikita came to an abrupt halt at Michael's words and looked at him curiously. *I wonder what he wanted to say....* she though with a small smile. Shaking it off, she moved to join Jurgen and Michael over at the table.

Michael waited for them to have a seat before addressing them. "There seems to be some sort of anomoly here. I have not been able to get in touch with Operations and have no intell on his location. The same goes for Madeline, Walter and Birkoff. We will have to assume that they are on Mandatory Refusal and act accordingly. Jurgen, check the weapons inventory and give me a report." Jurgen rose to his feet and headed towards the munitions area.

Michael turned to Nikita, "Nikita, you run a search on their last known whereabouts and give me some simms for possible rescue." Nikita rose and moved towards Birkoff's station. Seating herself in the chair she tried in vain to bring the system up. Nothing was happening. She rolled to another station only to be met with the same thing.

"Michael. Can I see you for a second?" She asked and he turned to head in her direction. He closed the distance smoothly and asked what was wrong. Nikita showed him that the entire Comm Center seemed to be deactivated somehow.

As they tried to find a reason for this impossible event, they were joined once again by Jurgen. Jurgen had a puzzled look on his face and he held one of the many comm units in one hand and a handgun in the other. Lifting his eyes to Michael's, he dropped the items on the desktop and took his glasses off to rub his eyes wearily.

"Michael, there seems to be some sort of problem with the hardware." Michael looked from Jurgen to the equipment. Reaching out for the gun, he lifted it and checked the condition of it. It seemed far lighter than it should be and almost like... plastic. He turned and took aim at the farthest wall and gently sqeezed the trigger.

The gun only made a very small *snap* sound and no round was fired or expelled from the weapon. Michael turned back to Jurgen and Nikita and flung the gun onto the desktop. "Section has been com- promised. Somehow... some way... someone has gained access to our equipment and sabotaged it."

As this information was sinking in on the three operatives, they heard footsteps approaching from the outer corridor. Suddenly, a young woman with short brown hair rounded the corner and almost ran smack into Jurgen. He grabbed her and held her by her shoulders until she regained her balance.

Aly became quite flustered and embarrassed at her near-collision. With a shaky laugh and a quickly mumbled "Thank You" she stepped back from Jurgen and addressed the three of them. "I see you all have made it right on time! I love punctual people! It certainly makes the job easier, does it not?"

She moved across the room and flipped a switch. Michael, Nikita and Jurgen all watched her curiously. Suddenly, the comm center hummed to life and the screens each displayed an ongoing game of Solitaire.

Nikita moved over to Birkoff's station and tried to search out the intel that Michael had requested. No matter what she did, or which button she pushed, the Solitaire game played on and on. Michael joined her and tried to enter his personal access code, to no avail.

Aly laughed and watched the actors curiously. "My, my, my... we are really getting *into* our characters today are we?" She picked up the gun and swung it around casually as she walked to the munitions room to replace it. Jurgen looked at Michael and made a circular motion with his finger beside his temple indicating that the young woman must be slightly unstable.

Nikita snickered at this and Michael only stared blankly. They were joined once again by Aly.

"Okay you guys. The crew is right behind me, so take your marks and lets get ready, ok?" She waited, yet they did not move. Suddenly, Michael stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm roughly and pulled her along with him. Nikita and Jurgen exchanged glances and hurriedly followed.

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Aly was scared.

She sat strapped into the chair in the center of this all-white room. Michael had made sure that she was restrained, yet not in pain. She licked her suddenly dry lips nervously as she watched the trio re-enter the room. Nikita and Jurgen stayed near the wall as Michael came over to her.

He stared at her for a few moments before voicing his first question.

"Who are you?" He waited for her answer and she stammered, "It's me, sir. Aly. You know me!" Nervous beads of perspiration dotted her forehead. *I don't like this game at all!* she thought!

Michael looked at her as if she were a monkey or something. He asked more questions... "How did you find us? What has happened to the rest of our personnel?"

Aly could feel her fear being replaced by anger and impatience. "Now see here Buck-o! You had best get me out of this chair and back out on that set before Mr. Heyn arrives or we are ALL in trouble! Or at least I will be!! I don't like this game and I want you to stop right now!" She started to struggle against the bonds.

Nikita looked at Jurgen and started to move towards the frightened young woman, but he held her fast. Placing his finger to his lips, he indicated for her to be quiet and wait.

Michael could not figure this one out. If she was clever enough to break into Section, obliterate all other Operatives and personnel, and corrupt their computer system, then she might make a pretty good operative. If... they could get to her.

He tried once more. Hunching down to her eye level, he asked once more, "Who are you and how do you know us?"

Aly had had enough. Finally wriggling one hand free, she landed a slap across his face before he could blink. Quickly moving to free her other hand while he was in shock, she lept up from the chair. Nikita and Jurgen were speechless with shock. Nikita started to giggle as the redness appeared on Michael's cheek with a clear imprint of Aly's hand outlined in full relief.

Placing her hands on her hips indigently, Aly spoke as if to small children," Now listen and listen good you all. You are Actors!! Not Michael, Nikita and Jurgen. You perform these roles day in and day out for the production of La Femme Nikita, a TV SHOW! And... if you are not ON that set in ONE minute, I will lose my Job!!"

Turning on her heel, she was just about to brush past Michael and out into the corridor when he shot out a hand and yanked her back. Barely getting the words past his teeth from anger, he said sharply, "I have NO idea what you are talking about! What you are saying makes no sense whatsoever!"

Aly glared at him coldly and snatched her arm from his grip. "Mr. Dupuis, I think you have put in one too many days here on the set. I will see about getting you some time off." Finally freeing herself from his grip, she addressed the others as well, "And as for you Ms. Wilson and you Mr. Payne. I apologize for this mess and hope to see you both on the set asap!"

With that, Aly made her exit. Speaking in exasperation to herself, "Sheesh!! Talk about your *Alternate Realities*!! These peeps REALLY need a LIFE!!"

Nikita, Jurgen and Michael stood in stunned silence in her wake. Finally, Nikita spoke. "Wow. Imagine that. She must be in some sort of denial since entering Section. She really needs help."

Jurgen agreed and Michael only stared at them both blankly.

(The End... )