Part 12 by Lauren

Walter looked at Michael and then to Gwen doing a double take. He was speechless. Michael looked down at the sleeping Nikita. He really didn't have time for this. Walter opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Michael knew what he was going to ask. "Yes.... Birkoff is George's grandson." At that point Walter's jaw nearly hit the ground. "We don't have time for this." Michael said.

"But Michael..." Walter started to say. "Does...does he know?"

Michael was getting a bit impatient. "Not now Walter!" He said firmly. He looked over at Gwen. "I need your help." Michael said shifting his eyes down to the tired body of Nikita. Gwen kneeled down next to the couch and looked at her, with almost a look of compassion, then she looked up to Michael with a blank stare

"What the hell did you do?" She asked.

~~~~~~~~

Madeline made her way to the observation deck looking a bit disheveled. Operations had woken her. She quietly slipped through the doorway. Operations back was to her as he looked out over section. "You wanted to see me?" Madeline asked softly.

"Yes." Operations said as he fluidly turned around. "I was just curious.... About where everyone is?!" Operations said in a sarcastic tone.

Madeline looked a bit shocked at him. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I want to know where my best people are and why the all have disappeared." Operations said slowly as to insult Madeline. There was obviously something else that was bothering him.

"It's 2 am, I assume that they are sleeping as I was." Madeline shot back.

"Really? Then why is Birkoff not in his room? Why has Walter been gone half the day? And where the hell is Michael and Nikita?!" Operations yelled.

"How should I know?" Madeline replied impatiently, she was tired and Operations was acting like a lunatic. "Do you want me to find out?" She asked, trying to appease him.

"That would be good." Operations said sarcastically. She turned on her heel and made her way out of the office. Operations turned around and leaned on the glass. He took in a deep breath and looked down as an operative made his way across the floor and then over to Comm where two operatives sat.

Madeline entered her office. She knew Operations was worried about something, but she had no idea. She sat down at her desk and turned to her computer. She started to type and pulled up surveillance on Birkoff's room, it was empty. She continued to type, and pulled up Birkoff's clock. She blinked and she suddenly felt sick. The signal was faint and Madeline wasn't sure that it was giving an accurate reading, she hoped to God that it wasn't, it said he was...

======================

Part 13 by Jade

...right smack dab in the middle of Oversight! Madeline blinked hard, willing her eyes to re-focus and somehow come up with a different result. In George's office, no less!!! What was going on here? And how could she find out before Operations heard about this latest snafu? She was personally acquainted with what would happen if George should be even mildly perturbed, and things were not looking good right now.

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George looked fondly at his grandson, whom he saw all too infrequently. "So what brings you here, at this hour of the night, no less?" He waited patiently for Birkoff to answer. The boy did not look particularly well, in fact, he looked decidedly under the weather.

Birkoff gritted his teeth at the unfortunate effect just the idea of this conversation was having on his headache. "I need to ask you for a favor, sir." He took a deep breath. "I know what happened to great-aunt Adrian, sir."

Before he could continue, though, Birkoff was interrupted by George's unexpected and eerie laughter. "And you think I don't?" Birkoff gasped.

"But--!"

"I know all about the theft of Gemstone, my dear Seymour. I know everything." He smiled, but his eyes remained cold and dead, like a predator's. "I know that Adrian is dead, boy, and I know who is responsible. The only reason I have not moved on this sooner is I have been considering the consequences of taking down Section myself. Tis a very delicate maneuver, and there is much to be contemplated yet."

Birkoff's mind felt like it was filled with snakes. There was a great hissing in his head, and suddenly, he wasn't sure he was awake or dreaming. Maybe he was really back in his bed at Section. Maybe any moment, he was going to hear Operations yelling, Birkoff! Get in here!

"But I digress...you have a favor to ask, boy? Ask."

Besides asking that his life be spared from the hellish reality that was soon to come? Birkoff shuddered. And I was worried about Nikita being pregnant, Birkoff told himself.

Birkoff ventured tentatively into the fray. "Well, sir, I'm not sure you know everything that happened. You see...great-aunt Adrian isn't dead.... Madeline refused to carry out Operations' order to cancel her. She had me bury the exact location of where she was taken in a Z-cubed file. I have it right here."

He handed the PDA to his grandfather and glanced at him nervously. George looked up in surprise, his cold eyes meeting Birkoff's startled eyes.

"Sir? Please don't think I wanted to hold back this information--"

"Why would I think that, boy? Now that I know she is hidden away in….."

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Part 14 by Lafemme

...Section itself. George chuckled to himself. He remembered an old saying. "Keep you friends close and your enemies closer." He handed the PDA back to Birkoff.

"Go back now. I have to think." Thinking was a mild way of putting things. It was time to teach Paul a lesson. Section had always been a family and now Operations would learn that blood ties are always the strongest.

The question that remained was how George was going to punish Paul. What instrument of torture would he use? Then it came to him. Nikita. She'd help. He knew her weakness and weaknesses were always meant to be exploited.

*************

Nikita was still trying to get her head clear. There were two many things that had happened in the last few days. Discovering that she was pregnant was more like the icing on the cake. Seeing all those children die, needlessly was almost too much.

Nikita next question why she went back to drugs. She'd been clean for so long and now she may have killed her own child. She'd be no better than her mother. Nikita figured that she'd be better off dead. The question was how could she go about it? She had an idea.

*************

Michael returned following his meeting with Gwen. He had another one set up for tomorrow at approximately the same time. His main concern for the moment was Nikita. When he left her, she seemed fair. He could imagine though what may be occurring next.

His worst fears were concerned when he arrived at Nikita's apartment. Michael saw that Walter was still asleep. He quickly woke Walter from his slumber. "WAKE UP!!" Michael shouted. "Where's Nikita?"

Walter slowly awoke and mumbled. "She's in her room."

Michael ran to the room and returned. "She's not there."

Walter was now worried too. "Where could she be?"

Their worst fears were confirmed when they heard a scream from the hallway. Walter and Michael both ran to see what was wrong. A woman was standing there screaming. "She's going to jump. Someone called the police."

Michael immediately took action. "It's ok. We're the police. Where is she?"

"The roof. That way." The woman pointed and then returned to her room.

Michael and Walter quickly climbed two flights of stairs and out the door that led to the roof. The sight presented before them made them worry. Nikita was standing on the ledge of her building. If she took one wrong step, she would fall.

"NIKITA?" Michael called.

Nikita turned. She'd been crying. Michael knew it was the effects of the drug. "Don't stop me Michael. I'm better off dead. I kill everything I touch. I can't make anything right."

Michael slowly approached. "Nikita . . . shhh . . . let's just go back inside."

"NO!" She screamed in return.

The negotiations went on for the better part of fifteen to twenty minutes. Walter was making preparations in case Nikita did jump. Finally, Walter smiled when he thought she was coming down. He was wrong.

"Michael. Goodbye. It was nice talking, even it if was all lies."

"Nikita. It wasn't all a lie." Michael took a step towards Nikita but he was too late. She lost her balance and was about to slip. Michael tried to pull her back but instead she ended up pulling him over the edge. The two of them plummeted to their . . .

================= Part 15 by Sherry

{Oh that was nasty Lafemme! Plummeting to their ... Well, let's just see now...}

Michael's life was passing before his eyes. He couldn't believe it. They were actually going to die ... Nikita, himself and their child, the child he would never know. They would die before they ever got a chance to be a family. He had wanted that more than anything. And he had been prepared to fight for it. Now it was too late. All the things he had wanted to tell her ... the things they should have done together, things they would never be able to do now.

Walter was stunned. He couldn't look. His Sugar and Michael ... both of them ... it was too much to handle. How would he ever explain it to Operations? What would he tell him? "Oh by the way ... Nikita and Michael are dead. Nikita was despondent after their last mission and all the children died. I took a few "party supplies" over to her house ... she got drunk, smoked a few joints ... Michael found her and sobered her up.

Michael beat her up to get her to cooperate. Then she told him she was pregnant.... Michael had to leave for a meeting and left me to watch Nikita. I fell asleep and she disappeared. When Michael got back we found her on the roof, ready to jump. He tried to stop her, but she slipped and they both fell off the roof." Yeah, that would go over real well. He needed to come up with a plan.

Nikita was helpless to stop Michael falling off the roof with her. She hadn't wanted him to fall. That wasn't part of the plan. She just hoped it didn't mess things up too much. Maybe, just maybe, if things worked out....

Michael and Nikita were plummeting faster and faster towards the ground. Michael wanted to reach over to Nikita and grab her hand. Let her know that he loved her, but it was too late. The ground was rushing up to them faster and faster. Michael sighed, closed his eyes and....

WHOOSH. Michael didn't know what was happening, but it certainly didn't feel like he was dead, or even injured. He laid there for a few seconds and then opened his eyes. He looked over beside him and there lay Nikita ... his Nikita, very much alive, watching his reaction.

"Kita, what..." Nikita reached over and grabbed his hand. Come on Michael, we have to get out of here. I'll explain it all on the way. Right now we have to move."

They scrambled up from the huge air mattress and over to a waiting van. Nikita and Michael were told to undress and change into the clothes that were provided for them. Then they watched as the air mattress was quickly deflated and removed. Then two deceased bodies, dressed in their clothes, were positioned on the sidewalk to make it look like they had fallen and hit the pavement. Blood was added to the scene to make it all look authentic. The two corpses were in bad shape.

A police cruiser pulled up and a group of operatives dressed as policemen guarded the scene in case anyone tried to get too close. An ambulance drove up and emergency personnel quickly moved to the fallen victims.

The van carrying Michael and Nikita quickly pulled away. Michael turned to Nikita. "What is going on Nikita?"

Nikita sighed and turned to him. "Michael, I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to be involved in this. It was supposed to be just me. I hope George isn't too upset when he finds out you got involved too."

Michael was listening and couldn't believe his ears. "George? What is this all about? You were just going to let us believe you jumped and were dead? You were going to let ME believe it? After what we just found out?"

A couple of stray tears started down Nikita's face. "I'm sorry Michael. I didn't want to deceive you, but George insisted. He has come across some information that makes him believe Operations is no longer capable of running Section. He wanted everyone to believe I was dead to help bring the rest of you together against him. And Michael, he promised that if I went along with the plan and took down Operations, then we could be together ... the three of us ... as a family. Well, that is, if that's what you want."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter had waited a few minutes but then decided he would have to check out what happened to them. He wandered downstairs to the back of Nikita's building. Police and emergency personnel cordoned off the street.

They were loading two bodies into an ambulance. However, both bodies were completely covered. They were dead.

Walter's cellphone rang and he jumped. How long had he been standing there just staring at nothing? He didn't know, but he wanted to run away and hide. He couldn't face going back to Section, knowing that Nikita would never be there again. Or Michael. He and Michael had never been best friends, but they had respected each other.

Walter answered his phone on the fifth ring. "Yeah." Walter listened. Operations' voice came through the other end. "Walter, where are you? Get back here now, we have a mission to prep!"

=================

Part 16 by Kit

"I'll be right in," Walter answered tersely, clicking the off button of the phone as soon as he spoke. I've had it with this bloody place, he thought. First Belinda, now Nikita … I've had it…. Now he's going to pay … the stinking b*****d. Walter turned, a plan now brewing in his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Operations stood in his perch, smiling to himself. This day was going better than he had hoped. Finally the troublesome Nikita was out of the way. She had been a good, even brilliant operative at times, and had showed promise of being an excellent leader. She was bright, beautiful, and quick to learn.

She should have been one of their best operatives. She *was* one of their best operatives, in fact, he acknowledged to himself reluctantly. Despite this, she had certain flaws of character that he found completely unacceptable. Ex-military man that he was, Operations could not abide Nikita's lack of discipline, and her vastly annoying habit of occasionally defying orders and thinking for herself. To Operations these qualities outweighed *all* her good qualities, and made her a liability to the Section.

She was a cancer that needed to be cut out. And now she was gone. Operations rocked back and forth on his heels and smiled in satisfaction. The fact that Michael, third in command, was now also gone, was regrettable, but not entirely a disaster. Michael was going soft, in Operation's opinion -- the young man's attachment to Nikita clouding his judgement and undermining his loyalty to Section One.

Losing Michael was acceptable, and the loss of the troublesome Nikita was a real coup, in Operation's eyes. Yes, today was indeed a good day, he thought. There was only one thing that could possibly make it even better…. With this in mind, Operations turned away from his window and went to his intercom. "Birkoff?"

"Yes, sir?" the young man answered tersely.

"Locate Madeline and tell her to meet me in the Tower at 8pm for dinner."

"Yes, sir"

Operations again smiled in satisfaction. It really was going to be a wonderful day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter strode into the central area of Section and went directly to Birkoff's desk. "Have you heard about Michael and Nikita?"

At his words Birkoff and the other operatives sitting in the Comm area gathered around the older operative, concern and anger evident on their faces.

"Yes," Birkoff answered sadly, shaking his head.

"Well, this is the last straw as far as I'm concerned," the older man continued. "Operations has got to pay. This hellish place has killed too many people. Nikita chose death rather than live a life in this place. They don't even treat us like human beings. We're slaves … mere animals to them. It's got to be stopped!"

"I agree," conceded Birkoff, "But what can we do?"

"We take Operations out."

"Take him out?" repeated Birkoff.

"Yes, eliminate him, as soon as possible, no delays. What's his schedule for the next twelve hours?"

"Well…" Birkoff replied, quickly punching up Operation's schedule on his computer monitor, "He has a meeting with George in an hour, and then he's meeting Madeline in the Tower at 8pm. He's asked that he and Madeline not be disturbed for the rest of the evening after that … all urgent problems are to be directed to Blanchard - he's now third-in-command."

Walter pondered this information for a minute, and then said decisively, "We'll get him tonight, when he's with Madeline … he'll be distracted, vulnerable then … we can take him out and be rid of the heartless monster forever."

The operatives gathered around began to murmur their approval of this plan.

"I'm in"

"Me, too. Let's do it."

"Yes, let's do it," agreed Birkoff. "What about Madeline, though, should we take her out, too?"

Walter replied…