Part 19 by Lease

*****

Meanwhile.... Back at Section:

"Good morning Paul!" said a low toned scratchy female voice. Turning around Operations was surprised to see Adrian standing there looking at him.

"Adrian?" he started... "But... You can't be here! We had you cancelled!"

Laughing softly and evilly, she suddenly turns into George. "Thank you Paul. That was all that I needed to know."

"You tricked me!" Operations said pulling out a gun with a silencer on it as George turned his back to him.

"I wouldn't try it if I were you Paul. You are being aimed at even now as we speak." George said turning around. "You see, I told you that Adrian was very special to me. And you had her cancelled. It was very prudent for Madeline, Michael and Nikita to come clean with just a small bit of incentive. I don't plan on canceling you Paul, but you are now to be in Abeyance for a while."

"Where are they?" Operations asked uncertainly.

"They are all being looked after. Too bad that the mission has gone sour isn't it Paul. Maybe now you won't forget that you are all powerful. You still work for me. Just remember that before you try to play God again. Next time you will be cancelled."

"How did you know that the mission wasn't going well?" Operations asked incredulously.

"Why because I saw too it." George said as he walked out the door.

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

Part 20 by N507

Nikita waited as Michael was hanging on her every word. She could lie or she could tell the truth. She looked to her stomach and sighed. If she lied, she would never be able to work with Michael the way that needed to be done for their child, but if she told the truth, Michael might leave.

"Madeline drugged you... she need us to get in an accident...." Nikita said and Michael stared at Nikita as she turned her head away, sure that Michael was either going to kill her with his own bare hands or run away and never return to her.

"She told me.. that I shouldn't be hurt too badly.. But to give her some time..." Nikita whispered and Michael stared at her as he wrenched her chin over to look at him.

"You faked it! You faked all of this!" Michael hissed and Nikita allowed the tears to roll down her face.

"Not the baby, Michael... I didn't know. And if I had... I wouldn't have done it, Michael..." Nikita sobbed out and Michael shook his head.

"Why would you do this for Nikita? Was it an order?" Michael hissed and Nikita shook her head.

"She needed time... to save her daughters..." Nikita whispered and Michael shook his head.

"Madeline doesn't have twins, Nikita..." Michael said and Nikita looked at him.

"She does, Michael.. And Birkoff is trying to save them.. Before we have to kill them!" Nikita cried out and Michael shook his head.

"I've had it with the lies. I don't know how you convinced the doctor to say that you were pregnant, Nikita. But I will never.. never.. listen to you again.... " Michael said as he turned out of the room with a rush. Nikita looked at the swinging door and screamed.

"WALTER!!!" Nikita finally screamed a real word and the old man walked in. He rushed to her side as she screamed. The nurse was standing outside the door, unsure what was going on. She had heard they were NSA agents, and she was sure if Mrs. Samuelle was pregnant, it would jeopardize their work.

"Shhh... shh..." Walter tried as he looked at the door. Nikita started to tremble in pain and Walter beckoned the nurse in, with fear written across his face. He wasn't sure if Nikita was even distressed about the pain in her stomach, as it might end some of the problems, but she was distressed over Michael. Walter knew that if she allowed this to happen.. if she didn't fight to keep the baby and to keep Michael, then Section broke her.

**** MEANWHILE***

Birkoff huffed down Bourbon Street, finding the crowds amazing. The people just kept on coming and coming. He knew the twins were following him, and he huffed around, and then he stopped. He might as well make it fun, since the girls made him so made.

*ACTS OF PLEASURE*

Birkoff read the sign across the street and laughed. He wanted to see the girls follow him into their. He walked quickly across the street and was pulling his ID out, when a firm and strong man ran into him. Birkoff looked up and saw eyes that he knew, but eyes that contained something new and different in them.

"Michael!" Birkoff cried out and Michael looked to Birkoff and shook his head. He did not know why Birkoff was here. He looked at two girls charging Birkoff, identical in looks and Michael shuttered. Nikita was telling the truth.

"Look at this stud.. he should be in the show!" Copper laughed as she ran her arm across his chest.

"That will be enough fondling men, girls." Madeline said as she walked out of the *ACTS OF PLEASURE* door, staring at the four people, surprised at what she found on Michael's eyes.

"Now, we are all going to leave Bourbon Street, get into a van, and discuss what is going on." Madeline said as she led the four younger people out of the Bourbon Street area, and into the Van she had waiting.

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

Part 21 by Jade

The twins continued to fuss over Michael until his nerves threatened to snap. He turned around and fixed with a look that instantly silenced them. Birkoff winced. Something had happened. He assumed that it wasn't something good, judging by Michael's mood.

Michael whispered something to Madeline that Birkoff couldn't quite catch. Madeline looked afraid for a moment. She glanced at the twins, then at Birkoff, then back to Michael. "Michael, if you need to be angry with someone, please let it be me. Don't take it out on Birkoff, he was just trying to help me find my girls. So was Nikita. She--"

Michael cut her off in mid-sentence. "I don't want to hear it, Madeline. I'm sure you had a good reason for involving Nikita in your plan. Section always has a good reason to manipulate people. Who would know that better than me?"

The look in Michael's eyes scared Madeline. He was on the verge of losing control. Something must have happened to Nikita. Oh, no, Madeline thought, maybe her injuries were worse than we heard. She knew Michael would never forgive her if something happened to Nikita. She was his reason for remaining in Section. Even if Operations refused to admit this or come to terms with it. She had. Long ago.

She touched him gently on the arm. He flinched. Birkoff's eyes grew wide with surprise. He had only seen Michael flinch once. After Adam was taken away from him. Whatever this meant, it couldn't be good.

"Drive, Madeline," Michael ordered.

She turned the key in the ignition and looked at Michael questioningly. "Where?"

"Back to the hospital."

****

Meanwhile...

Nikita cried in Walter's arms, her body limp like that of a broken doll. "Ssh, sugar, the nurse is gonna give you a shot to calm you down..."

"No! I don't want any drugs! I don't want anything else to risk my baby! Please, Walter!" Nikita was virtually hysterical, and the nurse looked skeptically at Walter.

"If she refuses the medication, there is little I can do, I'm afraid. Perhaps when her husband gets back, he can calm her down?"

Nikita began to cry harder. Michael wasn't coming back. He hated her now. It was astonishing, truly, when she considered how many times he had lied to her, or manipulated her, or refused to answer her, that he could become so completely outraged by her feeble attempts at deception during this one mission. But she knew why it hurt him. He didn't expect it from her, of all people. He expected everyone else in Section to lie and manipulate and evade, but he believed in her innate humanity. And she had betrayed that.

****

When they got to Nikita's floor, Michael waved Birkoff back. "You, stay with the girls. And don't let them out of your sight. Madeline, I need to speak to you right now. Privately." He emphasized the last word.

He found an empty conference room, apparently used for in-service education and the like, and walked inside, indicating that Madeline should follow him. He closed the door and backed Madeline up against it, his eyes narrowing in anger he could scarcely conceal at this point. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Madeline, lost for words, sputtered at Michael. "Now wait a minute, Michael, I tried to explain, and you cut me off earlier. If you'd just let me--"

"There is no excuse you can give me for what you did! None!" Michael's voice grew ragged as emotion threatened to grab him, quite literally, by the throat.

"I admit drugging you was not my finest hour, but I was desperate!" Madeline tried to inflect a calming influence into her voice, but Michael was clearly past such subtleties.

"I'm not talking about what you did to me!" Michael shouted.

Madeline looked frightened. "Is it Nikita? Is she okay? I thought they said she was going to be fine..."

Michael ran his hands jerkily through his hair and grimaced. "She most certainly is not fine, Madeline! It was bad enough you jeopardized my life, or her life...but were you aware that she was pregnant?"

Michael stopped, out of breath. Madeline couldn't do anything but stare. "Oh, my God, no...I didn't know, Michael...I swear I didn't..."

He flung his hands into the air. "Neither did I! Always the last to know, right?" He passed a hand over his eyes and suddenly his anger left in a rush of air, as he exhaled hard. "God, Madeline… I don't even know what to say to her."

"Is she in danger of losing the baby?"

He glanced at Madeline briefly, his eyes flickering back and forth with some unnamed emotion. "I-I don't think so." He paused. "But I left her, crying her heart out...I know it's not the first time, but...I can't take much more."

She patted his shoulder. He looked up at Madeline, his heart in his eyes for a moment, then carefully hidden once more. "You need to be with her, Michael," she said softly.

"I know that," he said almost crossly. "But I don't--"

"I don't mean just now, Michael, I mean, you two need to be together." She waited as Michael took in what Madeline had just said. He shook his head in disbelief. His lips parted as if he would speak, but no words came out.

He searched Madelines face for a hidden meaning, an ulterior motive, and found none that he could determine. "Madeline..."

Madeline sighed. "I missed my opportunities, Michael...that doesn't mean you should have to."

****

Michael stood in the doorway, listening to Nikita's harsh sobbing. He felt afraid now. Vulnerable. Out of control. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, came unbidden into his mind, and the irony was not lost on him.

Walter saw him and beckoned him forward. Michael shook his head. Walter walked over to Michael. "She needs you, boy, I ain't never seen a woman grieve that way over a man. God, what did you say to her?"

"You don't want to know." Michael bit his lip and Walter saw that he was being uncharacteristically hesitant for once.

Walter looked him up and down and clapped a hand to Michael's arm. "You go fix it, man, that's all. Just tell her you love her, and be done with it. Nothing is worth that kind of pain. Nothing." Walter stared at Michael, and Michael finally shifted his gaze to his beloved Nikita.

She had finally seen him, and her sobbing had stopped. Good, because her crying was making him feel...choked up inside...like something had to spill out of him...and soon...

Walter walked through the doorway, indicating the nurse should follow. Michael walked over to Nikita's bed and sat carefully on the edge. He took her hands in his, and idly played with them, fixing his eyes on their intertwined fingers. Nikita looked at him, her lips trembling, her eyes still wet with tears that had not yet dried.

"Michael? You came back..."

He looked up, startled. "Of course, I came back, Kita. Did you--oh, you thought I was gone for good."

She nodded without speaking. "You hate me." It was a statement, not a question.

"No," he said in a voice that was barely audible. He looked at the wall, then at the ceiling, then back at their entwined hands. He kissed her hands. "I love you." He could hear her tiny intake of breath. It was the only sound in the small room for long moments. She grasped their hands and pulled Michael closer to her.

"I love you, too," she said hoarsely. "I hated lying to you, Michael--" the words came out of her in a rush.

He bent his head and kissed her then. "I know." He made eye contact, searching her face for something, then smiling as if he had found it. "About the baby--"

She closed her eyes in renewed pain. "I'm sorry, Michael, but I refuse to be unhappy about the baby. It's a part of you...and when I thought I'd never have you--"

"You have me, Kita." Her eyes flew open, and he looked deeply into them, feeling his vision blur with unshed tears. He traced her cheek with the back of his hand, slowly, as he was wont to do.

"We have each other. And now the baby."

Her smile was a long time coming, but it was like the sun coming out after a hard rain had blown through.

****

Suddenly Madeline was standing in the doorway, anxiously wringing her hands. "Michael! Birkoff is gone! And so are the twins!"