"Nikita, my office, ten minutes!" Michael barked his order at her.

Nikita shrugged at Birkoff and waved Michael off.

"You summoned me?" Nikita smiled as she entered the office. She hadn't knocked- never did.

"Sit!"

Nikita remained standing. Something was wrong. She was certain as soon as he snapped at her to sit again. Still, she remained standing. "Spit it out, Michael."

He glared at her. And as he did, he frightened her for she saw his emotions clearly in his eyes. She forced herself to take a step forward instead of running. She had waited for him to let her inside- this wasn't what she had in mind but she refused to let the chance go because of something so foolish as fear!

The next instant his eyes were blank again and he turned from her. Nikita sighed. "Michael, talk to me."

"We have briefing in two hours." He was dismissing her.

Nikita's laugh caught his off guard. "You are good, Michael, but I have learned enough." And she sat down.

Michael glared at her, silently trying to will her away.

"Do what you have to do. It is Section's motto and for once I am going to use it. I will remain here. Nothing you can do will force me out, Michael. If you pick me up and dumb me outside, I will only return. Don't forget, you taught me well, Michael." Nikita smiled.

Michael shrugged and walked out.

Too bad it gave her the means necessary. On his desk was the file he had been carrying since his "discussion" with Operations. She opened the file and began to read. And she began to understand not only why Michael was so angry but why he had turned that anger on to her as well.

As Nikita listened to Operations and Madeline give the details of the mission, her mind brought back the file she had read. And understanding dawned within her. For the first time since her arrival at Section, Nikkita hid her emotions- and hid them well.

Madeline noticed Nikita's cool blank stare and was puzzled by it. Usually the young woman let her eyes betray her anger at the deaths of innocents. Now there was nothing- she had learned well from Michael.

Nikita bided her time, waiting for an opportunity to present its self. She refused to watch Michael go through another bout of torture for the greater good of the Section!

"No!" Michael's soft cry was barely heard as he watched Nikita being taken away. It was supposed to him they took! Him! The one with nothing left, not the only one that still held the light of innocence about her!

"How the hell was Nikita taken?!?" Operations snarled. The fate of the Section now rested on a operative who was not only not briefed on the true mission but wasn't trained for it!

"I have no idea." Michael was honest.

Madeline spoke up then. "I believe she will surprise us all."

Operations and Michael stared at her.

Madeline offered a cold smile. "If she survives this, she will regain what she lost during the War with Red Cell."

Michael glared at the older woman. "Survive? Nikita? She is the only one of us who has any clue on how to survive! She will survive, Madeline, but at what cost?" And with that said, he left the office.

"I may not like the girl, but I never wished this upon her!" Operations whispered.

Michael had just sat down in his office when Walter entered. "What happened out there, son?"

"They took her instead of me. Somehow she stumbled on to them before I did." Michael sighed- Walter knew more about the missions than most.

"Stumbled? Or did she set herself up, Michael?" Walter smiled.

Michael looked up sharply. "She couldn't have known." He breathed then caught sight of the folder- too sensitive for the computer Operations had told him. He thought back and realized he himself had given her the opportunity to read it- had he played right into her game by storming out?

"She knew." Michael looked up at Walter. "Why?"

"Don't play stupid, boy! It doesn't become you!" Walter snapped and left the office.

Michael dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face. He knew all right. She may not have forgiven him for his betrayal and lies int he War but neither did she like to see him tortured on in pain.

"She knows the true mission." Michael announced to Madeline late that night.

Madeline smiled and nodded. "She read the file when you left your office in a huff. I know."

"You knew? And you didn't stop her?" Michael's calmness belied his anger.

"I know now. I knew there was something different with her at the briefing- she hid her emotions even as Operations spoke of the innocents who would die. I never expected her to go this far. None of us did. But it can not be undone now. She may not be trained for this, Michael, but she has taken on the mission knowing what could happen. She found a Choice, Michael, and she took it." Madeline stated quietly.

***

"You are not the operative we expected." Nikita heard the man on her right announce. "But you will do."

Nikita repressed the shudder his voice sent through her. She couldn't see anything- it frightened her but she knew that was the intended purpose. She just hoped it was temporary or she was as good as dead either way. A blind Section One operative? She laughed harshly at the thought.

The laugh surprised the man on her left. He wondered who this operative was. For a moment, he had a sinking feeling that this woman was going to be worse that the operative they had planned for- Michael. The man shook the feeling off and stepped toward the woman.

"This should help you." The man snarled and injected her.

Nikita took the injection stoicly and prayed for the strength to get through this torture.

For six days, they gave her injections, keeping her high on the heroin. They- the two men- also caressed her body- a body they kept naked.

Her vision was badly blurred but she had begun to be able to see shadows again after the first five days. She also saw other things- rats, snakes, Michael canceling her, Operations yelling at her, Madeline molding her.

She was beginning to go through withdrawal as the seventh day passed. She shook. She trembled. She gaged. She coughed up her own blood.

As three more days passed, she refused to scream at the images or the pain. Her only asset was these men did not know of her life before Section One- a life on the streets.

They came to her again with promises of easing the pain, with promised of clothes, with promises of freedom.

***

Walter closed his eyes. Michael hadn't left his office in ten days. If Michael slept, it was fleetingly and if Michael ate, it was only because he had forced the food down the younger man's throat.

"Michael, you will be no use to her if you are sedated in Medlab. Anymore of this foolishness and I will do it myself!" Walter declared on the eleventh morning.

Michael stared at old man but he caught the determination in the other man's eyes and silently nodded.

"Michael, did you ever stop to think that she did this to teach you a lesson? To show you how hard it is for her to watch and wonder when it is you they take and torture? Did you ever ask yourself if it was a payback to not only you but to all of those who doubt her?" Walter asked softly. "Maybe she is testing Section One this time around." He quietly planted the idea in Michael's head.

Michael almost smiled at that though- almost.

"Anymore information?" Operations asked Birkoff.

With the computer whiz's negative shake, Operations closed his eyes. He wished her dead at the moment- not because she could have betrayed the Section, but because he never wanted anyone in the kind of pain this group was capable of. For the little sleep Michael had over the last ten nights, Operations had less. Nikita my have been insolent, haughty, unconforming, and a bitch but it was her spirt that he, in the first months, had tried to break, not her being. When it had become obvious of her ability to help Michael, he began to test her harder, to test the bond between the two. The War had been hell, but it had been for the greater good. And her spirit remained! Operations smiled. In truth, her spirit grew in the face of the test. He knew she was a valuable operative- not because of her ability with Michael- but because she could get anyone to warm up to her. She befriended Michael and Birkoff, for christsakes!

"I may have a way to find her." Michael announced that night. It had taken him all day to go over his plan- every option that could come up.

Operations snapped his head up to look at him.

Birkoff stared.

Both smiled suddenly- Michael was back. Nikita would be found and soon.

But not soon enough.

***

"Please." Nikita moaned. "Please what ?" The right man prompted. Four days of heavy withdrawal. He was pleased with the operative- he himself would have broken before this.

"Give me clothes." Nikita whispered. She still refused to admit to the pain.

Left man smiled. She was theirs now.

***

Birkoff was asleep at his computers. She frowned. He should be in bed but she resisted the temptation of caring for him. She had a job to do.

She slipped inside Madeline's office, joining the shadows as she planned her next move.

"Operations was shot last night. Madeline is mission." Walter found Michael. "In Section."

Michael stared. Someone had broken into Section while they had slept? Undetected? mpossible!!!

"Nikita." Michael whispered. He knew then that they had finally broken her. Section One with its test and her captors with however they tortured her.

"Operations has ordered a cancellation on sight." Walter whispered, his eyes adding "I'm sorry."

Michael swore. "He knows the mission!"

"Michael, the man doesn't trust you and it has been twelve days." Walter reminded the younger man.

***

"This is Operations?"

"She is now. I shot Ops last night before I took her." Nikita nodded, her gun never wavering off of Madeline.

Madeline saw the emptiness in the young woman's eyes. She closed her eyes. At what cost? Michael's words came to her again. Now Madeline knew- Section had finally broken her spirit- the essence of Nikita was gone- replaced by drugs and emptiness. Madeline waited patiently for the bullet. She heard the report of the gun but felt nothing. At the second report, Madeline understood.

"Let's get out of here. Madeline. The place is wired. We have less than a minute."

"How is Operations?"

"I shot him in the shoulder. I hope." Nikita whispered the last two words.

Madeline heard them and a shiver of fear went down her spine. She looked over at the young operative and smiled. They- including Michael- had underestimated her.

***

At the sight of Nikita with Madeline, everyone drew their weapons.

"Put them away!" Madeline hissed.

"Do it!" Operations bellowed.

Nikita stared at him. "Did I hit you last night?"

"The bullet grazed my left armpit." Operations nodded.

"Oops. I aimed for the right shoulder." Nikita giggled. The drugs were beginning to win again. "I think you'd better take this, Madeline." And she handed Walter her gun.

Michael was the first one to react. He caught her as she collapsed.

"We all underestimated her." Operations admitted as he clicked off the video screen showing Michael holding Nikita as she began to go through withdrawal again.

"That we did." Madeline nodded and waited for him to continue. "When she is through, give her and Michael three weeks off. Tell him to take her some place quiet. After this- mission," Operations hesitated over the word, "she deserves the break."

"We failed, you do know that." Madeline stated.

"I know. It will not happen again. Next time, we will pass her test." Operations smiled. Nikita was proving to be an unpredictable operative- an operative whom strove to test the Section. It would take her far, but it would target her as well.

For nine days, Michael remained by her side as the drugs left her system. He silently cried for her as she gaged, shook, and clawed at the walls but she never uttered a scream or moan. And as much as he admired her for it, he hated her for it. She broke the remainder of his heart as he watched her, held her, comforted her through the days. When she finally fell into a peaceful rest, when Michael finally knew it was over, he left her room and did not return.

Two days later, when Nikita walked out of Medlab- refusing anymore treatment, she went to find Birkoff.

"Seymour, I am sorry." Nikita whispered.

Birkoff hugged her tightly then let her go. "Be careful, Nikita. You are Section One's only shining star."

Nikita smiled. "Thank you. Oh, and, Birkoff, you have your new game."

Birkoff smiled, his mind already wondering where she hid it this time.

"Walter." Nikita smiled and hugged the dear old man.

"Sugar, you are liable to give a man a heart attack!" He whispered fiercely as he hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Walter."

"I know you are, honey. Just as I know you are disappointed that they all failed- especially Michael." Walter looked into her eyes.

"Actually, Walter, he and Madeline reacted as I thought they would. Operations was a little surprising. I heard about his anger at not being able to find me- as well as his remorse that I was the one they had taken. His remorse surprised me. He may still hold some human qualities after all." Nikita tried to smile- it didn't reach her eyes, nor did it remove the sadness from them.

"I didn't say he didn't react as you thought. I said you were disappointed in his reactions. And you are- you hoped he'd have reacted differently." Walter admonished her gently.

"Truthfully, Walter, I'm more sorry for hurting him than I am disappointed in him. This showed me how much the past hurts him and still controls him. Maybe one day I'll get him to open up and the past won't hurt him as much. But I am afraid he doesn't want to see me anymore. He suggested that I might not be ready for missions for a long time- Operations disagrees with him, of course." Nikita shook her head sadly.

"I am sorry, girl. I thought he was smarter than that." Walter offered her a small smile.

"So did I. Oh, by the way, I left you a new toy." Nikita chuckled as Walter immediately turned to find it. "Bye, Walter."

He waved, distracted.

Nikita sat in Michael's darkened office, replaying Operations' words back. He had summoned her after she had talked with Birkoff.

"Good job." He had told her. Then he asked her questions about the torture and how she had gotten through it. She had told him only about the heroin and just that on the streets she had learned a couple tricks from addicts.

Then he had asked her why she had done it.

"Why? I was tired of seeing you use Michael as your torture subject. He's human, whether he hides it or not." Nikita shrugged.

Just as she reached for the door, Operations stated softly, "I am sorry we failed you."

So he had known she was testing them all and that she knew of their reactions.

She allowed her head to drop back and her eyes to close. Her body was protesting at leaving Medlab so early but she had business to take care of.

She flinched at the sudden bright light and realized she must have fallen asleep.

Michael was surprised to find her I his office. He thought she had gone home hours ago. Madeline had informed him about her leaving Medlab as well as her opinions about his actions.

"Michael." Nikita whispered her lips forming a slight smile.

"Did you want something, Nikita?" He asked coldly.

Her smile broadened. Her instincts had been right- he was angry with her. "Don't I always, Michael?" She asked flippant.

He growled. "What is it?"

"Just to inform you that you have a briefing in," Nikita looked at her watch before she continued, "five minutes." With that said, she stood, gave him a small smile, and glided out of the room.

Michael stared at the door. What the hell was going on?

But he went to the briefing room. It was empty. He had a sinking feeling. It grew when only Nikita arrived a few minutes later.

Nikita smiled. He was nervous- as well he should be! She waited until the five minutes she had given him was up before she began to speak.

"The mission is simple, Michael. You will be accompanying me to Ireland. Once there, you will act as my guide around the beautiful isle." Nikita watched his muscles tighten. And she wasn't even finished yet. "You will show me the countryside, the out of the way sights. And you will show me your favorite places there. Our window is three weeks and I've been told it will take the entire three weeks."

Michael stared at her. Was she insane? Operations would never allow it!

For once, Nikita knew what he was thinking. She smiled. "Operations said to tell you bon voyage. Madeline packed a couple bags for you. I told her I was going to buy a few things for this trip."

Michael saw the seriousness in her eyes and knew he was in trouble. Three weeks with her- alone? How was he supposed to survive this? He realized he wasn't. His questions poured out then. "Why, Nikita? Why did you take my place? Why did you take the torture? Why did you read the file?"

Nikita closed her eyes at the last question. It was the only one she could not answer with the truth. "I refused to let them use you as a torture subject again. I refused to wonder at your pain. I refused to watch you heal again. I wanted you to know how I felt every time they did this to you. And I tested you all." Nikita's eyes turned hard then. "Needless to say, you all failed. All of you."

Michael was shocked. Walter had been right? She had been testing Section? "Why?" He whispered.

"I got tired of them testing us. I decided it was time to test them. You disappointed me, Michael. We leave the day after tomorrow at 05:30 GMT. Meet me at Section's plane at 05:00 GMT." Nikita ordered and walked out.

The End