Canadian Chick's Saved Stories

ATTENTION: Stories marked with an * may contain material which would be better appreciated by those over 18. Parental Discretion is advised. This is your responsibility, not ours.

AU

Story Summary: I am a firm believer that whom we know in this life, we have always known in past lives. I had an idea, what if Nikita never lived on the streets? What if Section never existed? Please bare in mind that these are the same characters, the ages may be different however. I hope you enjoy.

Rating: PG for now, R eventually

Nikita Ralston was getting married. She stretched and smiled to herself and thought how her whole courtship with her fiancé Chris had happened so fast. She listened to the birds singing outside and saw that the sun was shining brightly outside. How could it not be nice on her day? She moved closer to the window and looked down below, watching the people scurrying down below getting ready for her wedding.

“Nikita?” her Mother said softly knocking on her door. “Can I help you get ready?”

“I'm okay, Mom.” Nikita said, “is Chris here yet?”

Her mother nodded, “I saw him arrive a few minutes ago.”

“I need to go see him, I know its bad luck…”

“You know we don’t believe in bad luck, Nikita. First though, lets get your dress on, okay?”

Nikita nodded and moved to where her dress was hanging. Her dress was made from pure silk and was long, with a five-foot train. Nikita had never seen such a beautiful dress. She gingerly put on her dress, and admired herself in the mirror for a few moments. Her hair and make-up had been done earlier that day; she was almost ready to get married.

Chris and Nikita had known each other for only a short time, less than six months. It had been love at first sight for the both of them. They had met while Chris was working at the hospital she had been volunteering at. Chris had just finished medical school and was doing his residence at St. Mary’s Hospital, when Nikita met him. He asked her out immediately and they had been dating steadily ever since.

Four weeks ago he surprised her and asked her to marry him and their wedding was being planned within a few days after that. Chris had wanted to get married immediately; Nikita had tried to postpone the wedding, saying that she only planed to get married once so she was going to do it right. Initially she wanted to wait six months, Chris pleaded with her to do it immediately, they settled on a month. Nikita still felt somewhat rushed, and when she would ask Chris about his reasons for wanting to get married so quick he wouldn’t say anything, except tell her how much he loved her and that he just really wanted them to be man and wife.

“Nikita?” She heard her mother say softly, “Are you okay?”

Nikita smiled toward her mother, “I'm fine, just thinking.”

“About your new life?” her mother asked her, “I know you and Chris will be so happy with each other.”

“I thought, you thought we were rushing into things,” she asked her mother, “You said that you wanted no part of this marriage?”

“I overreacted, Nikita. I can't say I don’t wish you and Chris would wait a little while longer before you get married, but we are here now and I will make the best of it.”

“Make the best of it,” Nikita said softly.

“Is something wrong?” Her mother asked her, “are you having doubts?”

Nikita shook her head, and said, “No.”

“If you have any doubts Nikita, you need to discuss them with Chris….”

“He wants to get married right away, we have the dress, and we have the food, the cake…. everything.”

“That’s not enough to force you into a marriage, Nikita. If you have any doubts, tell Chris, if he loves you he will understand.”

“I'm okay, Mom. Really. I'm just a little bit scared that’s all; everything will be fine. Chris loves me and I love him. It will all be okay.” She told her mother.

Nikita's mother tried to smile for her daughter, truth was she did like Chris; but if Nikita was having doubts about marrying him, she felt that her daughter needed to postpone the wedding. “I will stand by your decision, Nikita.”

Nikita nodded, “Thank-you,” She moved closer to her mother and hugged her; “I need to go talk to Chris.”

"He’s getting ready in the spare bedroom,” Her mother told her.

“Thanks,” she said and gathered up her dress to go in search of her groom.

Nikita approached the spare bedroom and heard voices behind the door, not just Chris’s but a woman’s as well. “You can’t marry her, Chris.” She heard the woman say, “she doesn’t love you, you know that. No one can love you as much as I do.”

“Katherine…please…don’t do this. I told you, we can still be together… even after Nikita and I are married. I will find a way to be with you.”

“Why you marrying her?” Katherine asked, desperation in her voice.

“Yes, Chris… why are you marrying me?” Nikita asked opening the door.

Chris said nothing, but just looked at his fiancée.

“I'm waiting for an answer.” Nikita said, her voice trembling, “Why the hell are you marrying me?”

“I….” He turned to Katherine, “could you excuse us for a moment?”

“No… she stays... just tell me Chris, why did you ask me to marry you, when it is clear you are in love with another woman.” Nikita remained calm.

“I… I love you, Nikita.”

“Oh really?” Nikita asked him, “then why are you promising this… this girl, that you are still going to be with her after we are married?”

“Nikita, please… just listen to me.”

Nikita shook her head, “I don’t think so,” Nikita said walking away, “I need to get some air.”

“Nikita, wait… please.” Chris said, trying to make her stay, “I only said what I did to Katherine to appease her… its you that I want… you that I love.”

“Don’t fool yourself, Chris.”

“I'm not… please…”

Katherine took it upon herself at that time to blurt out, “I'm pregnant.”

“You’re what?” Chris said whipping around so he faced her, “you cant be…we used protection.”

“Not everything is foolproof,” Nikita told him, “I'm going to go tell our guests there will be no wedding.”

“Nikita…wait…please..” He said, “I just need to talk to Katherine for two minutes, can we talk after that…please?”

“It's not necessary, Chris.” Nikita told him, “we really have nothing to say to each other…we were rushing into this.” She began to walk away, “you know that is one thing I never could figure out, why you wanted to marry me so quickly?”

“I love you, Nikita. That’s the only reason.”

Nikita shook her head, “no, if you loved me, Chris; you would tell me the truth…”

“Nikita…”

“Tell me why… why were you so intent on marrying me… so quickly?”

Chris looked at the ground, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Nikita sighed, and said, “goodbye Chris.” Nikita walked away from Chris and Katherine, fighting back her tears. She made her way to where her guests were beginning to conjugate; she summoned up all her strength and went to let her guests know that there would be no wedding.

“Excuse me,” she said standing in front of everyone, “may I have your attention for a few moments.”

The guests stopped to look at her, a few people whispered to each other, but for the most part they gave her their undivided attention.

“I'm sorry to inform you, but there will be no wedding today.” Was all she could get out, she gathered up her dress and ran towards her bedroom. Once she was safely behind closed doors she allowed the tears to flow, she sobbed for what seemed like forever. She then got angry. She ripped off her veil and threw it to the ground, her ring was the next to go, she tore it from her finger and threw it against the wall. Nikita then fell against her bed and bawled. Her mother found her that way.

“Nikita, darling, what happened? What did Chris do?”

Nikita breathed in deeply, “he… he…” she couldn’t get the words out, “he… he is in love with another woman.”

"‘Kita,” her mother called her affectionately, “I'm so sorry.” She wrapped her arms around her daughter; “It’s going to be okay, he was no good for you anyway.”

Nikita sniffed back her tears, “you have never liked him, have you?” She asked her mother.

Her mother shook her head, “no my dear I'm afraid I have not.”

“I should have listened to you then. Because I don’t like him very much right now either.”

Her mother held her for a long time, not wanting to go and leave her. Finally, Nikita assured her mother that she would be okay, that she should go tend to guests while she got changed. Once her mother was out of the room, Nikita took her dress off and laid it on the bed. Nikita got up and went to her closet, pulling out an old suitcase from the top shelf. She filled it with enough clothes to get her by for a while. Her mother would try and get her to stay with her at her house, but Nikita couldn’t stay there… to many bad memories—eventually those would fade, but right now it was all too raw for her. She needed to get away; go somewhere, where she was not known.

* * *

Seymour Birkoff placed the enormous stack of papers he was carrying on his boss’s desk. It was time for their annual ‘spring’ cleaning and Michael had asked, no demanded that all the old paperwork be looked through and filed away. Seymour Birkoff, or Birkoff to his friends, had worked for Michael Samuel for just under 3 years. When he first came to work for him, the business was inundated with paperwork, paperwork that Birkoff was still trying to get computerized.

Michael’s business was security - - he knew everything there was to know about the security business. He travelled all over the world installing and designing security systems for the rich and famous. Michael ran a great business; he was a fair-minded man and always paid a good wage. Michael never turned down a person in need of a job either, if someone came in and it looked as if they were on their last dime, Michael always found work for them.

Birkoff walked out of Michael’s office and when in search of his boss. He passed by the stacks of inactive files; he had yet to touch and sighed. He glanced to his right and saw Walter, a man still stuck in his sixties, looking at him strange.

“What’s wrong, Walter?” Birkoff asked him.

“Nothing, Amigo… what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Birkoff told him, “have you seen Michael?”

Walter laughed, “he’s romancing the new temp.”

Michael had a way with women, it didn’t matter who they were or where they came from; all of them sooner or later started to fall for Michael. Birkoff shook his head, “thanks, Walter.”

“No problem.” Walter said, as he got back to work. Walter had worked there longer than Birkoff had. Walter was in charge of developing new equipment. In his spare time he tinkered with developing new products; anything that would help them do their job better. There were rumours that Walter had started the business but given it over to Michael when he eventually turned out to be a better businessman that Walter ever could be. It was obvious to everyone that Michael felt close to Walter and valued his ideas very greatly.

Birkoff walked over to where Michael was talking to a cute red head. “Ahem,” he said clearing his voice. When he finally caught Michael's attention he asked, “can I talk to you for a moment?”

“I'm kinda busy here,” Michael said, in his thick French accent.

Birkoff tried not to laugh; he noticed that whenever Michael was trying to seduce a woman his accent became more pronounced. “It will only take a moment,” He told him, “it's important.”

“Important,” Michael said sighing, he turned to his redheaded companion, “I'll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” He kissed her softly on her lips. Michael walked towards Birkoff, “what’s so important that it couldn’t wait until I am less occupied?”

“I’ve found something,” he told him, “you know Maria…. She is stealing from the company.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Maria, your assistant.” Birkoff told him, “The brunette you hired on a whim during your business trip to England?”

Michael smiled, “oh that Maria. How do you know she’s stealing from us?” Michael glanced over to where his red headed companion was patiently waiting for him.

Birkoff rolled his eyes, “as you will recall, the reason you hired me was to clean up the incomplete records… I have been doing that, slowly at best, but it is getting accomplished…”

“Could you hurry this along?” Michael asked, interrupting Birkoff.

Birkoff cleared his throat, “Listen Michael, you asked me to help this place run more efficiently… so I did. If you remember, about a year ago I gave everyone ID numbers, so we could track what was going on within the warehouse. It was also a security measure; it helps me keep a track on how much money each employee is bringing in. Two weeks ago I noticed some irregular activity in one of our bank accounts. Maria’s ID number was attached to all the withdrawals. She tried to cover it up, make it look like she had authorization to remove the funds. Now I did not give her authorization, and you and Walter are the only other two that can give authorization for removal of funds. I asked Walter about it a few days ago, and he assured me he gave no authorization to remove money. So I'm left to ask you… did you give her authorization to remove over a half a million dollars from our primary account?” Birkoff asked him, pushing up his glasses.

Michael grunted and moved they stray hairs from his forehead, “no.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Birkoff asked him.

“I’ll deal with it.” He told Birkoff, “put an ad in the window, maybe we don’t have to look far, for a new assistant.”

Birkoff looked at him, “what are you going to do about Maria?”

“Fire her.” Michael said simply.

"Nothing more? Not get the police involved?”

“Birkoff you know how I work, I deal with my own problems, there is no reason to involve the police. Maria may have a good reason for taking that money, and I'm going to find out that reason before I do anything.”

“So let me get this straight, you want me to just sit back idly while you talk to her? For Christ sake Michael, she stole 50,000 dollars.”

“I'm aware of that, Birkoff.” Michael said calmly.

Birkoff shook his head, “Fine, deal with it how you want.”

Michael turned away from Birkoff and went to where his female companion was waiting for him patiently, “I'm going to have to postpone this little soiree,” he said his voice deep with sexual lusting.

“Please, Michael…” she said softly, “don’t make me wait.”

Michael licked his lips and smiled, “it will only be for a few hours, wait in my office.” He told her softly, “I'll come for you as soon as I can.” He wrapped his long arms around her body and nibbled her neck, whispering in her ear, “I'll try to be quick.” He pulled away from her and watched her walk away. He then went to look for Maria.

Michael moved up to the second level of the warehouse, “Steve,” he said to the man moving crates, “have you seen Maria?”

Steve nodded, “she’s out back fucking Lou.”

Michael bit his lower lip and said in a low voice, “thanks.” He left Steve and went back downstairs; walking towards the door that led to the back of the warehouse he grabbed a drink from the cooler. Cracking it open he kicked the back door so it swung open, “Maria.” He said, not concerned that she and Lou were in the throws of passion, “in your office now. Lou, take the rest of the day off and don’t show your sorry face back here until you have 5 good reasons why I shouldn’t call and tell your pregnant wife about this.”

Lou jumped back from Maria at the mere sound of Michael’s voice; he pulled his pants up and ran back into the warehouse, not even making eye contact with his boss.

Michael went back into the building and sighed quietly to himself. He knew Maria was going to be trouble from the moment she walked into his life; but he felt sorry for her and hired her as his assistant because she had nowhere else to go. They had met six months ago, when Maria had propositioned him; offering sex for money so she could pay her bills and support her two kids. Michael had turned her down, saying he had never paid for sex in his life and he wasn’t about to start. Instead he offered her a job and she took it immediately. She started changing slowly over the months that passed, becoming more demanding with the need for time off; she would constantly ask him for more responsibility, for more access codes to secure documents. Michael approached her office and saw that she was already in there waiting for him.

“Why did you do it?” He asked her calmly.

“Do what?” Maria asked nervously.

“Don’t.” Michael said, his voice rising, “don’t pay dumb.”

“I'm not… Michael...” she got up and walked towards him and touched his chest, “what are you talking about?”

Michael removed her hands from his chest. “It will be easier on you if you just tell me why.”

Maria swallowed tensely, “I had to.” She told him. “You don’t need the money, you have enough to last you ten lifetimes.”

“It doesn’t matter how much money I have, Maria.” He told her, “Why did you take it? Why didn’t you come to me if you needed money?”

“I couldn’t… you wouldn’t understand.” She said, visibly upset.

“You should have trusted me,” he told her, “that’s one thing I ask of all my employees.” Michael moved away from her, “I expect you to be packed and out of here by the end of the day, keep the money and consider it severance pay.”

“Is that all you have to say to me?” Maria screamed after him, “you are such a male slut… you know that…that’s all you are..” She threw her paperweight at him as he moved quickly through the doorway. As soon as Michael was sure that she was not going to fling anything else at him he said one more thing to her, “we were never lovers, Maria. You and I owe nothing to each other.” He then left Maria to pack up her things. Glancing at his watch he realized that it was going to be a very long day.

***

Nikita walked downstairs slowly, keeping an eye out for any sign of Chris. When she was sure he was nowhere to be seen, she went in search of her mother. She needed to tell her, her plans. She was leaving later that afternoon, she would stay with friends in Paris and if everything went according to her plans, she would find a job and live there for a while. She saw her mother standing by the east window talking to her Aunt.

“Mom.” She said softly as she approached the two women, “can I talk to you for a moment?”

Her Aunt stepped closer to her and took her hands in hers, “Nikita, I am so sorry, my dear.”

Nikita nodded, “thanks Aunt ‘chelle,” she said softly, “It wasn’t meant to be.”

Her Aunt nodded in agreement, “he wasn’t your soul mate ‘Kita…. You will find him though…when you least expect it.” She told her smiling, “and when you do, you bring him to me, and I will tell you if he is one of them.”

“One of them?”

“The men you wait your whole life for.” Her Aunt hugged her tightly, “you are leaving us aren’t you?” She whispered softly against her ear, “I will miss you, my little ‘Kita Cat.”

Nikita smiled as her Aunt used her childhood nickname, “that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, both of you. I'm leaving later this afternoon, I'm going to stay with Will and Jess in Paris. I'll find work there.” She looked at her mother, “please don’t worry about me, I'm not as fragile as you think I am.” She hugged her mother closely before she could say anything sappy to her. “Please don’t worry about me.” She turned to her Aunt, “take care of her please, Aunt ‘Chelle.”

Her Aunt nodded, “always. Now I'll leave you two alone to talk.” Michelle kissed her niece on her cheek.

Nikita and her mother took a walk outside. It was her mother who first spoke, “so you are leaving me, baby girl?”

“I need to, mom. I need to be away from memories.”

“I can help you heal, Nikita.”

Nikita smiled, “I know, mom. You are probably the only person, who can, but I need to do this for myself, I need to discover who I am. I seem to have lost part of myself during my relationship with Chris.”

“You need to find yourself?”

Nikita nodded.

“I felt that way after your father died,” she said softly, “I felt that I couldn’t look around this place without seeing his face somewhere.”

“There’s a difference though, dad died, Chris just broke my heart.” Nikita said thoughtfully, “You still miss him, don’t you.”

“I will miss him always.” Her mother told her, “Until the day I die.”

“He was a good man,” Nikita said softly. Nikita’s father had died when she was ten years old; a boating accident ripped him from her and her mother’s life. That was twelve years ago, and Nikita’s mother was still grieving over her loss.

“When will you leave?” Her mother asked her.

“As soon as I'm finished here,” she told her, “I really hate leaving you to clean up this mess though.”

“Do not worry yourself about it, ‘Kita. We will make the best of it.” She told her, “Most of the guests have left anyway.”

“I will repay you….”

“Nikita… please not another word about money.”

Nikita clasped her mother’s hand, “how’d I ever get so lucky to have you as a mother.” She smiled at her mom, “I'll call you as soon as I get to Will and Jess’s okay?”

Her mom brushed away the few stray tears, and said, “You are a very brave women.”

“I learnt it from you.”

“Call as soon as you get there,” her mother told her, “no matter what time it is. I just want to know you are all right. And I expect a phone call from you at least three times a week, if not more.”

Nikita nodded, “I'll call as soon as I get there. I'll be fine.” She said hugging her mom, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said softly and watched her only daughter walk away from her and begin to start a new life.

“Where the hell is the Beducci file?” Michael yelled from his office. When no one responded, he yelled a little louder, “anyone, know where that file went?”

“Maria had it last,” Birkoff said entering Michael’s office, “and if you wouldn’t mind, could you lower your voice? We are trying to run a business here.”

“Don’t start with me, Birkoff.” Michael warned him, “I’ve had just about enough problems today.”

“Where’s Sonya?” Birkoff asked him.

“Sonya?” Michael questioned.

“The redhead you were romancing earlier.” Birkoff told him, wondering just how Michael could forget a woman’s name the instant they left his direct line of vision.

“She left,” he said simply.

“Oh one of those quickies hey?”

“Ya something like that.” Michael said, still looking for his file.

“Are you ever going to grow up, Michael?” Birkoff asked.

“What?” Michael said, tossing a few files on the floor.

“Hey, I just organized those.” Birkoff said picking them back up, “maybe you could be a little more careful?”

“Check Maria’s office, if its not there… if its not there, we’re screwed.” Michael said sinking into his chair.

Birkoff shook his head and headed out the door.

“Birkoff?”

“Yes?”

“The answer is no.”

“No?” he questioned.

“No I don’t ever plan to grow up.” Michael said with a smirk on his face, “in fact I have a new rule here, no one should ever grow up.”

Birkoff shook his head again, “I'll check out Maria’s office and get back to you.”

Birkoff walked towards Maria’s office and was disgusted to find it the way she had left it. There were papers strewn everywhere, she had broken whatever glass she had in there and her filing cabinet had been turned over. It was an absolute disaster. Birkoff began to pick up papers and placing them on her desk, keeping an eye out for the Beducci file. Birkoff sighed as he cleaned up her office and made a mental note to only hire men from now on – not that he had a say on who got hired there. That was Michael’s department and for a man who prided himself on being able to read people he sure had a soft spot for a woman with a hard luck story. Birkoff still wondered what made him hire Maria and how she had manipulated herself into becoming his personal assistant. It couldn’t have been because she had slept with him, Michael vehemently denied sleeping with her; and somehow Birkoff believed him. Michael never lied about his sexual escapades; he never tried to hide them from the people he worked with. If he found a woman attractive, chances are he would seduce her long enough to get her into bed – and the seduction often took place in the workplace. The only time Michael was ever truly uninterested in women was when he was doing a security job, no matter how bad a women he was protecting would come on to him, he never took it to the bedroom; when it came to work he had only one thing on his mind, having the job be successful.

“Did you find it?” Michael asked, walking into Maria’s old office.

“It could be here, but hell who knows with this mess.”

“Jesus,” Michael said, “what the hell happened here?”

“Maria happened here, Michael. You really do have to be more careful who you hire.”

Michael ran his fingers through his hair, “I guess so.”

“What?”

“What?” Michael asked back.

“Did you just agree with me?” Birkoff asked is disbelief.

“Don’t get excited, I'm just saying that maybe you should do the hiring from now on. I'd ask Walter but….”

“Its okay, I can do it.” Birkoff said with a sudden sense of pride.

“Great. You can start by finding me a new assistant.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Michael nodded.

“Just why do you need an assistant? Don’t I do everything for you anyway?”

“Just find someone.” He said, “and preferably blond, leggy…” Michael said, smiling, “and female.”

“I'll do my best.” Birkoff told him.

Michael left Birkoff to find the file, and smiled to himself. He loved to torment Birkoff; he was such an easy target.

“Michael…” Walter said, seeing him come out of Maria’s old office. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course, Walter.” Michael said.

“I have a job for you.”

“Walter…you know we really are okay financially, it's not like the old days when we needed you to drum up business.” Michael told him smiling.

“It's for a friend,” Walter informed him, “they can't pay much, but it's important that they have a good security system.”

“Why is that?” Michael asked intrigued.

“They are about to have a new baby for one thing.”

“And?” Michael asked.

“They have a friend coming to stay with them, they want her to feel safe…” Walter said, “Will you do it?”

“I'll think about it, how’s that?”

“Good enough for me,” Walter said, “thanks.” Before he walked way from Michael he asked him, “what happened to Maria?”

“She and I came to an agreement that she would no longer be employed here.”

Walter nodded.

“Anything else?” Michael asked him.

“No.” Walter said, “You’ll let me know about the job?”

“Of course.” Michael said and walked to his office. He sat down and saw that the Beducci file had been found and was on his desk. He smiled to himself and made a mental note to thank Birkoff later.

* * *

Nikita tore up the highway; she couldn’t wait to get to her destination. Jess was having a baby; she still couldn’t believe it, her little Jess, the girl she grew up with for half her life. Nikita smiled despite her present mood. She knew she would have to deal with her feeling sooner or later, but as far as she was concerned, later would be fine. She cranked up her radio and sped on down the highway.

* * *

Jess Martin grabbed her husband’s jacket and threw it at him, “you forget how to work a hanger?” She asked. “I could show you again, I know how much you loved our step by step toilet paper on the holder lessons.” She smiled sweetly at her husband, “well.”

“No, I did not forget how to hang up my jacket. I just forgot.” He smirked at her and walked over to the closet, smacking her ass as he did.

“Hey,” she said as she felt his hand make contact with her, “what was that for?”

Will finished hanging up his jacket and slinked behind his wife, wrapping his hands around her growing middle, “I just like to touch you, that’s all.” He said whispering in her ear, he nibbled on her lobe, “is it a crime for a man to want to touch his wife.” He inhaled her scent, “I love you, Jess.”

Jess arched like a cat and turned around to face her husband, “I love you too,” she kissed his lips softly, “I just wish you weren’t such a slob.” She broke away from his embrace and continued to clean up for him, “you know I'm six months pregnant and still taking care of you… is this how its going to be for the rest of my pregnancy?”

“Jesse,” he said, pulling her down with him onto the couch, “you know I do a lot around here.” He kissed her forehead, “what is it you are so worried about? I'm sure Nikita is not going to judge us if I leave my jacket on the couch.”

Jess smiled at him, “I know she won’t… I just...I'm just in this nesting period. I want to have everything perfect,” She told him.

“It will be perfect, the baby’s room is almost ready, it’s going to be fine.”

She snuggled into her husband, “I love you.”

“I know, my sweet. I asked your Uncle about the security system.” Will told her, “he will talk to his partner.”

“Michael, his name is Michael.”

Will said nothing for a few moments, “I know his name,” he said quietly.

“You never use it.”

"It's not a matter of not using it, Jess. I just chose not to.”

“Because we were lovers?”

“Must you remind me of that,” he said gently pushing his wife off of him, “I try to forget that fact about your past. As for as I like to know, you were a virgin when you met me.” He winked at her.

“If I was a virgin, I would have never been able to…” She teased.

“Enough Jess.” Will said, not wanting to get into that conversation.

“You know I love only you.” Jess said, struggling to get up off the couch, her belly giving her trouble.

“I have no doubts,” Will said, helping his wife off the couch, “you loved only me from the moment you met me.”

“That’s what Nikita said. She told me the night we met you, that she had no interest in you because she knew we were meant to be.”

Will grinned, “I always said she was a genius. Speaking of Nikita, when did she say she was coming?”

“She was leaving right away. I feel so bad, Will that we couldn’t go to the wedding.”

“Not for the lack of trying. We have had one too many scares, Jess, I won't put you in any more danger of losing our child.”

“I know.” Jess said quietly. The doctor had warned both her and Will that any travel may do more harm than good for her and the baby. She was supposed to stay at home and relax until she was ready to give birth. Jess had, had three episodes in which she was sure she was losing the baby, once when she was three months along, again when she was four months along and finally just two weeks ago during a trip to the park for a picnic. “She understood, she always understands.” Jess said, wiping the stray tears from her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Jess.” Will told her, “see that’s why I'm so glad Nikita is coming here, she can keep you occupied and you won't be able to worry about Jackets on the couch.” He smiled softly and kissed his wife.

Jess smiled back at him.

“Oh, no.” He said laughing. “Jess, I know what that smile means.”

“Come on, let's go upstairs and I'll show you what this smile really means.” She took her husbands hand, “come on my jungle man, let's go.”

Will growled and walked upstairs with his wife. “This is okay, for the baby?” He asked her softly, helping her off with her summer dress.

“Mmhmm,” she purred, “very okay.”

“But what about…”

“Will, either you want to make love with me, or you don’t, but make up your mind quick here.”

He kissed her hard, “do I even have a choice.” He ran his hands through her hair and pushed her upon the bed, “I love you so much, Jess.”

“Less talk more action.” Jess said, pulling her husband down to the bed, kissing him sweetly as she did so. The two continued to make love, knowing full well that they were meant for each other and no one else.

*****

Jess stretched and turned her body towards her husband, “That was… incredible.” She told him, kissing his jaw, “what time is it?” She asked him.

“Almost three, she should be here soon?”

Jess nodded, and drummed her fingers on Will’s chest, “soon.”

Will smiled, “no more, we need to get you something to eat.”

“I'm not hungry,” she said pouting, “at least not for food.”

“Jessica Elizabeth Martin, do not give me that look.”

Jess pushed herself away from him, and sat up, “fine.”

Will shook his head and laughed, “what would my love like to eat?” He asked her leaning over to kiss the top of her head, “I'll make you anything.”

“Really, Will…I'm not that hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten since Breakfast,” he said worried, “should we call the doctor?” He got up out of bed and pulled on his sweats.

Jess shook her head, “I'm fine, Will.”

“Jess...” he said, concerned.

“Really, I'm fine. I guess I could go for some tomato soup.”

“Just soup?” He asked.

“Soup, I think some soup would be good.”

“Your wish is my command,” he said turning to leave the bedroom.

“If that was the way, you wouldn’t be leaving this bed,” she called after him. She heard him laughing all the way down to the kitchen. Jess got up from the bed and pulled on her clothes that were thrown around the room. She then went downstairs to join her husband.

* * *

Michael checked his watch and saw that it was just past 3. He gave up trying to get any more work done and went in search of Walter. He needed to talk to him about the job he wanted Michael to do; Michael was sure he knew who it was for, but he wanted to hear it from Walter.

* * *

Nikita pulled into the driveway of Will and Jess’s house and parked her car. She smiled to herself, and thanked her lucky stars she had Jess to turn to. She grabbed her bag from her car, and walked up the driveway, knocking on the door when she got to it.

Jess pushed her bowl of soup out of the way and sprang from her chair, “she’s here,” she said as she quickly went to the door.

Will got up and followed his waddling wife.

“Nikita!” Jess exclaimed and threw her hands around her best friend, “I can’t believe you are here.”

Nikita laughed as her friend hugged her tightly, “Jess, you are huge.” She said before she realized what she was saying, the last time she had saw Jess she was no more than a size zero.

“Yes I know, it seems you and my husband love to point that out.”

“Where is Willy?” Nikita asked smiling.

“You know, only you are allowed to call me that,” Will said peaking from around the corner, he reached out and drew her into a hug. “Only you, Nikita.”

“You love it,” She said pulling away from him, “so you are going to be a dad, hey?”

Will nodded, “it’s the second best thing to ever happen to me,” he told her.

“Second best thing?” Nikita asked.

“The first was meeting, Jess.” Will leaned over and kissed Jess’s temple. “Well come on in.” Will said talking her bags. “I'll take these up to your room.” Will told her; before he left he said quietly, “I'm glad you are here, Nikita.”

Nikita knew what he meant; it was his way of saying ‘I'm sorry about what happened to you’.

“Come, sit… let’s talk.” Jess said, pulling Nikita towards the couch. As soon as they were sitting she asked, “So did you punch, Chris out?” Jess asked her eyes wide with curiosity.

Nikita shook her head, “no, I didn’t.”

“Well why not?” Jess asked, “After what he did to you… I surely expected you to kick his ass, Nikita. I'm so disappointed.”

Nikita tried not to laugh, “Jess…”

“I know he broke your heart.”

“He did,” Nikita, told her, “I thought he loved me. I was certain I loved him.”

“And now?”

“Now, now I realize that I didn’t love him as much as I thought I did. It hurts Jess, but… not as much as it should.”

“Nikita.” Jess said softly as she hugged her friend, “you just need to allow yourself to be angry.”

“I am.” She told her, “I just don’t want to cry. He doesn’t deserve my tears.”

“Do you want to tell me what went wrong? When you called you just said that the wedding was off and you were coming for a visit.”

“I'm sorry about that, Jess. I really shouldn’t have just invited myself here.”

“Nonsense,” Jess told her “You know you are always welcome here.”

Nikita wiped the few stray tears from her eyes, “thank-you.”

“Don’t start crying now, Nikita… because you know once you start… I'll be soon to follow.” Jess said her eyes feeling wet.

Nikita smiled at her friend, “I'll stop.”

“Good.”

“Do you really want to know what happened?” Nikita asked her.

“If you want to talk about it.”

Nikita nodded, “you are going to keep asking me about it, if I don’t tell you now. Aren’t you?”

Jess nodded, “you know me too well.”

Nikita cleared her throat, “you know it seems like a lifetime ago this happened. Everything was going to be perfect, Jess; my mom had given us her blessing, the guests were arriving—everything was just perfect. I had gotten my hair and make up done earlier and had just put on my dress, when I had this urge to talk to Chris… I just needed to see him, to have him tell me he loved me and that it was going to be a wonderful day. He was in the spare bedroom down the hall, you know the one that doubled as my mom's office?”

Jess nodded.

“Well I went to go see him, but when I got to the room he wasn’t alone. I heard another woman’s voice. She was his lover, Jess.” Nikita started to cry, “his god damned lover.”

Jess grabbed some tissues and gave them to her.

“Thanks.” Nikita said wiping her eyes, “he was promising her that they would continue to see each other after we got married. That’s when I went into the room,” Nikita stopped for a moment and then got up from the couch, “she’s fucking pregnant Jess.” Nikita said, angrily. “Sorry,” she added as an afterthought. “I shouldn’t yell.”

“It's okay, Nikita… I'm not going to break.”

“I know, but I don’t want you getting upset. Have you had any more scares?” She asked her, softly.

Jess shook her head, “not since the one that stopped me coming to your wedding. If I had been there…”

“You would have kicked his ass.” Nikita said laughing.

“No, but I would have made Will do it.” She told her.

“Would have made me do what?” Will asked as he came into the living room.

“I would have had you beat the crap out of Chris.” Jess told him sweetly.

“You would only have made me do it because you are carrying our child, otherwise I'm sure you could have beat him up yourself.” Will told her.

Nikita stretched and yawned.

“Tired?” Will asked her.

“It's been a trying day,” she told him.

“I bet.” Will told her, “you are staying with us till after the baby is born?” Will asked.

“Well… I…”

“I'd feel better if you were here,” Will told her.

Jess turned to her husband, “don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t talk about me as if I'm not here.” Jess said getting up, “you need to stop worrying about me.”

Will sighed, “Good god, Jess… I will worry about you till the day I die.”

Nikita didn’t know what to do, get up and leave…stay… “I'm going to go check out my room.” She said quietly.

“No.” Jess said, “Stay here. Obviously Will wants to talk to you… and it's probably better if I'm not around.” Jess walked towards the kitchen and left Will and Nikita alone.

“Mood swings?” Nikita asked softly.

“It's getting better,” Will told her, “she’s just so stressed, though she doesn’t want to admit she is.”

“You are worried about her, aren’t you?”

“Extremely. That is why I'm glad you are here. I'm working a lot, Nikita and I'm not always here to do things for her, when she needs them done; so she does them herself and ends up overworking herself.”

“She’s always been that way,” Nikita told him, “I can remember in seventh grade when she broke her leg, she refused to let anyone help her.”

“It's not that she’s refusing to let me help her. She does ask for help, it's just when I can’t do it right away, she gets upset and ends up doing it herself.”

“Well I'm going to stick around for a while. I can’t honestly say how long I'm going to stay.”

“Please, Nikita…stay until the baby is born.”

Nikita could hear the desperation in Will's voice, “what is it you are so scared of?”

“That she is going to overdo it…”

“It's not just that, it's something else. Something you aren’t even telling Jess.”

Will got up and walked around, “how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Read people like that. God it's enough to freak me out.”

Nikita laughed, “So there is something more.”

“Yes there is something more.” Will told her, “I can’t get into it right now, however.”

Nikita walked towards him, “why is that? Are you in some sort of trouble?”

“Can we talk about it another time?” Will asked her.

“How bad is it? Does Jess know?”

“It’s not bad and no she doesn’t know. I need you to keep her safe, Nikita.”

“Safe?”

“No that is the wrong word…just keep an eye on her. Everything will be fine. I'm having a security system installed here at the house and you are here, so she won’t be alone.”

“Are you gone a lot?” Nikita asked him.

“Not a lot, but enough to make me worry about Jess being alone.”

“Whatever it is that’s going on, Will… you need to talk to someone about it. If not me…at least Jess.”

“It's going to be fine,” Will told her, and kissed her on the cheek, “I'm just glad you are here.” He walked away from her, “I think I should go find Jess, and make she can still sleep in our bed tonight”, Will whispered winking at her.

Nikita watched him walk away and wondered what Will had gotten himself into. And just how she was supposed to keep it from Jess, while all the time trying to protect her.

* * *

Michael found Walter in his workshop.

“Walter, can I talk to you for a moment?” He asked, knocking on the doorframe.

“Sure, what is it, kid?” Walter asked him.

Michael grinned, “I was just wondering how you were doing.”

“Great, as always.” Walter told him, “Had a hot date with Chelise last night.”

“A new one?” Michael asked sitting on the counter.

“New enough,” Walter told him, as he continued to tinker with what he was working on.

“You are happy then?”

“What's with all the questions, Michael?” Walter asked him, putting his work down and looking at him.

“I just realized we don’t talk enough,” Michael said, “We need to talk more.”

“We do?”

“Walter, that job you wanted me to do…” Michael began.

“Yes.” Walter answered, “what about it?”

“Is it for Jess?”

“How did you know?”

Michael shrugged, “I had a feeling, she’s the only pregnant woman that I know you know. Plus she’s your niece, and I know you want her to be safe.”

"I do…”

“However, Walter, she and I have somewhat of a history and…”

“And you are afraid of what will, Will say?”

Michael nodded, “I really don’t want to start something with him.”

Walter laughed.

“What are you laughing for?”

“I'm laughing at you.” Walter told him, “That you think that Will cares about whatever non-relationship you and Jess had, years ago. It's crazy.”

“Well I…”

“Look, Michael. I'm sure you and Jess had a fun time together and as her Uncle I was happy to see you two kids together; but that’s all you were… Kids. She is happily married now and has been for five years now.”

“Well thanks for the update.” Michael told him, “I just thought…”

“You just thought that Will saw you as a threat.” Walter finished for him.

Michael gently nodded.

Walter smirked, “Michael you may have your pick of women, but Jess loves Will very much and Will is secure in knowing that. And besides…”

“Enough, enough, okay Walter… I'll do the job.”

“I had no doubt. I'll call Will tonight and let him know.”

Michael nodded, and jumped off the counter, “you wouldn’t know of anybody looking for a job, would you?” He asked him.

“Not anyone that I would let work here, at least anyone of the female persuasion.” Walter said grinning.

“I'm not that bad.” Michael told him, “at least… I'm not that bad am I?”

“It’s not your fault, kid.” Walter said, “you have this way about you, women find you irresistible.”

“Thanks,” Michael said, “I'm heading home, if anyone needs me, that’s where I'll be.” He told Walter and left his workshop. Michael felt a little disheartened, Walter was right… he did worry that he was a threat to Will, because of his relationship with Jess. ‘You self-centered bastard,’ Michael thought to himself and walked to his car.

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

Nikita sat down at the table, and asked Jess, “How are your parents?”

“I wouldn’t know,” she said, taking a sip from her glass.

“You still haven’t talked to them? I thought you guys had worked things out.”

Jess shook her head, “not when they found out I was pregnant.”

Nikita shook her head, “they still think Will is the wrong man for you?”

“They always will.” Will said, sitting down. “To this day, I don’t know what I did that was so wrong to piss them off for all these years.”

Jess touched her husband's hand softly, “it's not something that you did.” She told him, “They just always think I make the wrong decisions. They always have.”

“It's okay, Jess.” Nikita said.

“How’s your mom?” Jess asked, “She's good I hope.”

“She's great,” Nikita, said, “A little worried I'm sure. Damn.” Nikita said, suddenly remembering she was supposed to call her mother. “Can I use your phone for a second? I was supposed to call her as soon as I got here.”

“It's around the corner,” Jess told her.

Nikita got up from the table and went to call her mom.

Michael’s house

Michael turned up his radio and continued to beat the hell out of his punching bag. He needed a good long workout, a place to squash his sexual tension. The day had been a complete washout; he had succeeded in firing one person who he thought he could trust and taking on a job for someone else who he was sure hated him. Michael wiped the sweat from his forehead and thought about the time he had spent with Jess. He surely didn’t love her anymore but he couldn’t deny he was still attracted to her. He grabbed his drink from the counter and sank into his couch. He would go check out Jess and Will’s place tomorrow, check out the parameters and decide on the best system to use. Michael felt melancholy, he hadn’t seen Jess since Walter had announced that she was pregnant, he wondered how much she had changed.

* * *

Nikita hung up the phone and smiled, “Mom says hi.” She said walking into where Jess and Will were. She bent over and kissed Jess on her cheek, “that’s from her, and she says as soon as you have the baby she expects a visit.”

Jess nodded in agreement, “of course, I had already planned on it.”

“Should we have some dinner, girls?” Will asked them, “I'll order in.”

“That’s Will's way of saying that he doesn’t know how to cook.” Jess told her.

“I'll make something,” Nikita said standing up, “What do you feel like Jess?”

“I know I should be hungry, but I'm just not.” Jess said, “really…”

Nikita looked at Will, who shrugged.

“Are you eating at all Jess?”

Jess shook her head, “a little soup.”

“That’s it, we are going to the doctor.” Nikita said grabbing her keys, “I'll drive.”

“Nikita…”

“No, Jess… you are going to the doctor, I don’t want any arguments.”

“It's just a touch of the flu.”

“The flu?” Nikita questioned.

Jess nodded, “just the flu… listen if I'm not feeling any better by tomorrow we will go, okay?”

Nikita said nothing.

“Please, I'm fine. I just need to lie down for a little while.” Jess said getting up, she kissed her husband and went upstairs.

When Nikita was sure Jess was upstairs she asked Will, “Why doesn’t she want to go to the doctor?”

“She’s afraid she will be told something horrible,” Will said grabbing a beer from the fridge, “want one?”

Nikita nodded and grabbed a beer from Will, “so she's afraid she will be told that she is losing the baby?”

Will opened the bottle and took a long drink, “unfortunately yes. I once asked her how it could be easier not know. She told me that her body knows when there is something terribly wrong and until she feels that way, she will just go on about her life.” He took another long drink.

“I'm worried about her,” Nikita said taking a sip of her beer, “she looks tired. You aren’t overworking her are you?” Nikita asked smiling.

“If you mean in the bedroom, well that’s not my call. She is the one that initiates sex every time and how the hell can I turn her down?” Will said simply.

“You are such a brave man.” Nikita said taking a longer drink this time, “how could anyone expect you to turn your wife down for sex?” Nikita tried not to laugh.

“Oh you mock me now, but just wait until you are six months pregnant and you can't get enough of your husband, we will talk then. I look forward to advising your husband on the perks of having a pregnant wife.”

Nikita looked down at the table and said nothing.

“Damn, Nik. I'm sorry.” Will said softly, “I have a big mouth sometimes, just big enough to insert both my feet at the same time.” He lightly touched her hand, “he was a jerk.”

Nikita nodded, “I know, I’ve called him every name in the book in the last 10 hours.”

Will smiled, “wanna share some of ‘em with me?” He winked at her, “I know I'm not as good as Jess for coming up with seven hundred different ways to call a guy a jerk, but I'm a good listener Nik, if you need to talk…”

Nikita smiled at Will, and pushed her long blonde hair out of her face, “I know you are, Will. I just don’t think I'm ready to face those demons yet.”

Will nodded, “understandable.”

“She's lucky to have you.” Nikita told him, “I thank my lucky stars she found a man like you. After all she went through…”

“I'm lucky to have her, Nikita. She saved my soul.” Will told her, “and if anything were to happen to her, I would…”

“What's going on Will? You are giving me all these cryptic messages and for the life of me I can't decode them, so a little help would be greatly appreciated.”

“I'm in a little bit of trouble, nothing I can’t handle, however.” Will told her.

“Is it involving your father?” Nikita asked him.

“Jesus.” He said softly, “What the hell are you? A psychic? You freak me out.”

Nikita laughed, “no I'm not a psychic, but what I do know what Jess told me two months ago, that your father was released from prison.”

Will nodded his head in agreement, “he was, and he still blames me for his imprisonment.”

“You were 14!” Nikita said standing up and getting herself another beer, “14, what were you supposed to do?”

Will’s father was placed in prison for secondary manslaughter. A robbery he was involved in went horribly wrong and two people died because of it. He got seven years for each life he took. Not nearly long enough according to Will.

“I don’t know, Nikita. He expected me to cover for him, to testify that it was his partner that fired the gunshots that killed those two tellers, but I couldn’t lie. He never understood that.”

“I'm sorry, Will.” Nikita told him, “What makes you think he's coming after you now?"

“Letters I have received from him over the last six months.” He walked over to the fridge and opened up the cupboard above it, taking out a mini locked filing cabinet he brought it to the table, “I keep the letters in here, so Jess couldn’t read them.” He grabbed his keys and opened up the filing cabinet, “I got six letters, all saying the same thing. ‘Pay back is a bitch, son.’”

“What are you going to do?” Nikita asked, “you certainly can’t keep this from your wife, Will. Or the Police.”

“I have to, Nikita. If I tell Jess now, before the baby is born…I'm afraid of what it will do to her. That’s why I'm glad you are here, you… well I know you and I know that you would protect Jess as much as I would… you would give your life for her.”

Nikita couldn’t deny that, “but what about when you father comes looking for you Will? What then? What if he kills you… have you thought about that?” Nikita said getting angry, “do you think leaving Jess a widow is going to accomplish anything?”

“Of course not,” Will, said tucking the letters away, “I'm not going to leave Jess a widow.”

“By not going to the police; by taking matters into your own hands, Will that’s exactly what you will be accomplishing.”

Will scratched his head, “I have no other choice.” He said softly, “if we can make it to the end of her pregnancy without any violence from my father, then after she has had the baby I will go to the police, but not before then.” He looked at Nikita, “can I trust you to not tell her?”

"I think you should tell her, Will.”

“Can I trust you or not?” Will asked again, “I need to know, Nikita. I need to know that you won't go tell her, I don’t need to worry about that.”

“Yes, all right, yes I won't tell her.” Nikita finally said, “I still think you are making the wrong decision.”

“I'll deal with that okay.” Will said. “I'm going to go up to bed. You okay?”

Nikita nodded, “I'll be fine.”

“Kay,” Will said, lightly touching Nikita’s shoulder, “I think Jess left some towels on your bed, the shower is in the bathroom next to your room. See you in the morning.”

Nikita sighed and got up from the table, she took her beer and herself and went to sit outside.

* * *

Michael tossed and turned in his sleep, he felt restless. He could have called one of his many female companions to join him; to help take his mind off whatever it was that was bothering him. He didn’t however; he chose to spend that night alone. He had many reasons for it, one was to punish himself, and another was that he needed the time to think. Michael realized that he needed to re-evaluate his lifestyle. He punched his pillow and tried to get comfortable. He laid in his back, his front, and his side; it was useless he was not going to get any sleep that night. He got up and walked outside to sit under the stars.

* * *

Nikita crossed her legs and sat down on the grass, it was a gorgeous night. She looked up at the stars and wished silently to herself that Will and Jess would be okay. She couldn’t help but worry about Jess and Will too. She realized that there was nothing more she could do, but watch out for Jess and hope that Will knew what he was doing. She suddenly had a longing to talk to her father, he always had an idea or two on how to get people out of tight jams.

“I wish you were here, Dad.” She said softly. She sighed to herself and let herself feel sad, not over Chris, but over her situation. She wanted desperately what Will and Jess had. Maybe that was the reason she agreed to marry Chris so fast, Jess was having a baby, she was so happy. That’s all that Nikita wanted, she pulled at a flower beside her and thought about what her aunt had said. That we all had soul mates out there, it was just finding them that was the real journey. A journey, Nikita was prepared to go on—eventually.

***

Nikita eventually drug herself up the stairs and into her bedroom. She had spent most of the night outside, drinking and crying and drinking some more. Nikita wasn’t a big drinker, but before she knew it last night, she had 5 empty beer bottles around her. When morning came she wasn’t surprised that she had a hangover.

“I will never drink again,” She said walking into the kitchen, “aspirin?” She asked, “I need aspirin.”

Jess looked up when she heard Nikita come down the stairs, “drink a little too much, Nik?” She asked, trying not to laugh. “Lemme guess, was Will your drinking partner?”

Nikita shook her head, “No I have only myself thank for this.” She slid into a kitchen chair, “about that aspirin?”

“I'll get you some.” Jess said, leaving the kitchen and coming back a few minutes later with 3 little white pills. “Here,” She said handing them to her, “water or milk?”

“Water, please.” Nikita answered.

Jess nodded and got her a glass of water, “so what made you think you could drink your troubles away?”

“It's not that.”

“Tell me about it,” Jess said, “because when Will came to bed last night, I could smell liquor on his breath too. Where you trying to get my husband drunk so you could take advantage of him?” Jess asked, winking.

“Funny.” Nikita told her, “I don’t know what made me drink so much… oh there are so many reasons… and Chris is one of them. Not the main reason however.”

“What is the main reason, Nikita?”

“How are you feeling?” Nikita asked, trying to change the subject.

“Great.” Jess told her, “I'm actually very hungry this morning.”

“That’s good.” Nikita said, wishing the pain in her head would cease.

“Will thought so too, he made me breakfast, there’s still some bacon if you are up to it.”

Nikita shook her head and said, “No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” Jess said sitting down, “I do want to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

“I'm sure Will mentioned that we are getting a security system installed.”

Nikita nodded, “he mentioned that.”

“Well…”

“Oh no.” Nikita said, “don’t tell me.”

Jess nodded, “he asked my Uncle Walter to have his company install it. Michael is going to be looking after the whole process.”

“You have got to be kidding.” She said softly, “how does Will feel about this?”

“He asked Walter to have Michael do it.” Jess said, shrugging.

“Well that’s very big of him.” Nikita said.

“Will knows I love only him. I'm having his child, I'm married to him… he owns my heart.” Jess told her friend, “I haven’t seen Michael for six months. Not since he found out I was pregnant, every time Id go into see Walter, he wouldn’t be there. Not that I wanted to see him, mind you… I just found it odd that he avoided me. We used to be friends, even after we stopped being lovers.”

“How long were you two together?” Nikita asked.

Jess had met Michael during a time when Nikita didn’t have any contact with her. Jess had left the town both her and Nikita had grown up in, when she found out that her life had been a lie and her father wasn’t really her father. She picked up and went to find herself, or at least that’s how she described it. Nikita knew very little about Michael, only that he and Jess had, had a relationship and she had introduced him to her Uncle Walter; thus forming a long lasting relationship with Michael that not even her marriage to Will could break.

“That’s the funny thing, Nik, we weren’t together for very long. We met during a fucked up time in my life, I was young, immature and felt very threatened that every woman he met wanted to sleep with him. He is a ruggedly handsome man, Nikita. I will be very surprised if you, yourself aren’t attracted to him. In fact I'm sure he isn’t seeing anyone seriously right now.” Jess said smiling.

“Forget it, Jess. I'm not ready to see anyone.”

Jess leaned in close, “he's great in bed, in fact I'm sure now that he's older, he's even better.” Jess laughed, when she saw how Nikita was looking at her, “oh don’t get me wrong, Nikita… he is no way in the same class as Will… but Michael did have his talents.”

“I'm going to go get dressed.” Nikita said getting up, “I'm sure your husband would be so happy to hear that he is better than Michael in bed.”

“As a matter of fact, I am delighted to hear that,” Will said coming into the kitchen. He smiled at Nikita, “how are you?” He asked.

“A little hung over, but Ill be okay.” Nikita said blushing, “I'm going to go get dressed now.” She left the kitchen and ran upstairs to her room.

“So I'm better in the bedroom than Michael, hey?” Will asked raising his eyebrows.

“You are better in every way than, Michael.” Jess said pulling her husband into a sensuous kiss.

“Mmmm.” Will said, breaking away, “how’s that? I thought Michael was this great man.”

“Oh he is, just not for me. Maybe for Nikita though… I think she may be able to tame him.” Jess told him, smiling. “You going to work?”

Will nodded, “I have a few things to do today, but I will be back before Michael leaves, I want to talk to him about the system.”

“Love you,” Jess told him.

“Love you, too. I'll see you in a few hours.” Will started to walk away, “Jess?”

“Yup?” She answered.

“Do me a favour, try not to push Nikita upon Michael too hard. I don’t know how ready she is to start a new relationship.”

Jess nodded, “I'll be gentle.”

Will blew a kiss to his wife and left the house.

* * *

Michael walked into work with a chip on his shoulder, he wasn’t looking forward to the day ahead of him, but he knew it had to be done. “Where’s Walter?” He asked Birkoff, who was waiting outside his office.

“He told me to tell you that he's already gone to Jess’s and you are to meet him over there.”

“When did he leave?” Michael asked, completely exasperated, Walter couldn’t even wait to go over there with him.

“About ten minutes ago,” Birkoff told him, “do you want me to go with you?”

“Sure, fine, whatever.” Michael said, “I mean,” he began, remembering that he was going to try and be nicer to Birkoff, “if you want to come along that would be great.”

Birkoff shook his head, “Ill meet you at your car in five.”

Michael sighed and grabbed his bag. On his way to the car he tried desperately to figure out how he was going to handle this situation. It was funny to Michael that he was so worried about how Will was going to react to him. He and Will never really had any problems, but Michael still felt uncomfortable going over to their house. Michael got to his car and got in, he wanted for Birkoff to join him and then they both went over to Jess’s house.

Jess heard the doorbell ring and went to get it. “Uncle Walter,” Jess exclaimed and hugged her uncle.

“How you doing, Jessie?” Walter asked her. Walter had always called her Jessie, in fact he and Will were the only ones that Jess would allow to call her that.

“I'm doing good, how are you?” Jess asked, “You haven’t been around much.” Jess told him, “You need to come around more.”

“I'm sorry, Jessie girl. I’ve been busy.”

“Finding new ways to spy on people?” Jess asked, smiling at her Uncle.

“You know we don’t do that stuff, Jess.” Walter told her sitting down. “Michael should be here soon.”

Jess nodded, “I'm aware of that.”

“How do you feel about it, kid?” Walter asked him, “are you worried?”

“About what?”

“That he and Will will get into it again?”

“Good god, Walter… the incident you are talking about happened many years ago. I was just dating Will and I wanted to make him jealous, I’ve grown up a lot since then, you know.”

“I know Jessie Girl, but I still…”

“Will does not feel threatened by Michael, besides I have someone else in mind for Michael.”

“You do?” Walter asked her.

Jess smiled, “you haven’t met her yet, but she should be down soon.”

“She’s here?”

Jess nodded, “remember my friend Nikita? The one I told you about, the girl who has been a great friend since I was a little girl?”

Walter nodded, “what makes you think that she and Michael will be good together?”

“She has this way about her, Uncle Walter. She is exactly what Michael needs, someone to ground him, to make him realize that monogamy is not a bad thing.”

Walter laughed, “she better be a really incredible woman. ‘Cause that is what Michael needs.”

“Just wait until you meet her.” Jess told him.

“Are we going in?” Birkoff asked, as Michael and he sat in Michael’s car outside Jess’s house.

“Just gimme a minute.” Michael said.

“What are you so scared of?”

“I'm not scared.” Michael said, “I just need to prepare myself.”

“Are you still in love with her?” Birkoff asked.

“No.” Michael said looking at him, “of course not. Jess and I were together a very long time ago.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know,” Michael said, “but I just have an un-easy feeling about going inside. Like my life is going to change once I step foot into that house.”

“Well get over it, Michael.” Birkoff said, “it's just another job.”

Michael knew in his head that Birkoff was right, but in his heart he had this feeling that his life was about to spin out of control.

*****

Nikita sighed and dug through the clothes she brought. She really did need to go shopping, she decided and would ask Jess to go with her later this afternoon. It had been a very long time since she had last been in Paris and truthfully, she was afraid she would get lost if she was to go out on her own. Not that that would have been a bad thing, Nikita was always up for an adventure now and then; for now however she didn’t want to be too far from Jess, in case she needed her. Nikita stretched upwards and decided to wear her hip hugging khakis and a blue-jean shirt, she finished off the outfit with a pair of brown hiking boots and went downstairs to see Jess.

Michael looked at the door and summoned up all his courage to knock on it.

“Do you want me to knock?” Birkoff asked, slightly annoyed, they had been standing there for almost five minutes already.

“What?” Michael asked, obviously very spaced out, “what did you say?”

“I asked you if you, wanted me to knock on the door.” Birkoff said, and waited for some sort of response from Michael. “Michael!” Birkoff said exasperated, “look we spent five minutes in the car, because you had to get your head straight, and now we are standing out side the front door. Are we going in, or aren’t we?”

“We are.” Michael said and knocked on the door, “now don’t say I didn’t warn you, this may not be pretty.” Michael said grimacing, praying that the day would turn out okay.

Nikita walked down the stairs and saw Jess sitting with an older man in the living room, she heard the front door and not expecting Jess to get up from where she was sitting said, “I'll get it.”

“You don’t have to,” Jess said attempting to stand up, “I can get it.”

“I'm already there,” Nikita called to her opening the door. She was hit by the most amazing slate gray eyes piercing back at her, in actual reality Nikita was unsure of just what color his eyes really were. She realized that she was staring and blushed. “Can I help you?” She eventually stammered out.

Michael couldn’t form the right words to say to her, her beauty amazed him. He remembered who he was, only after Birkoff nudged him forward. “Michael...I mean I'm Michael.”

Nikita nodded, “you are here about the security system?” She questioned, trying desperately to avoid looking in his eyes again. Jess was right about one thing; he was a ruggedly handsome man. He had a few days growth covering his face, and even though Nikita usually despised unshaven men… on Michael it looked absolutely divine. She pushed the thoughts out of her head as soon as they entered and remembered that just two days ago she was supposed to marry the man of her dreams, and she should start acting like it. “Come in.” Nikita said eventually.

“Thank-you,” Michael said softly. He looked back at Birkoff who just smiled back at him.

When Birkoff was sure Michael was not going to introduce him to Nikita, he took it upon himself to do it. “I'm Birkoff.” He said extending his hand to her, once they were all safely inside the house.

Nikita took his hand, “Birkoff?” she questioned, “that is a very interesting name.”

“It’s actually my last, but I prefer it to my first.” Birkoff told her.

“Your first?”

“My first name is really Seymour…” Birkoff said somewhat shyly.

“Well Seymour is a lovely name,” Nikita said softly.

“I'd prefer it if you called me Birkoff.”

Nikita nodded, “Birkoff… got it.” Nikita smiled at the two men and led them to where Jess was. The next few minutes ended up being severely tense.

Michael approached the living room where Walter and his niece were sitting talking. He let out a soft breathe at the sight of Jess, god she was even more beautiful since the last time he saw her. He closed his eyes and finally said, “Hello, Jess.” He walked over to her and kissed her softly on the cheek, “you are looking well as always.”

“Michael,” Jess said smiling, “I'm very glad to see you,” she attempted to sit up, “you will forgive me if I don’t get up, the extra weight is a burden these days.”

Michael forced a smile, “when are you due?” He asked somewhat saddened, but trying desperately not to let it be known. e assured himself that it wasn’t Jess exactly that he was upset about, but the idea that he was very much alone, while she was obviously very much in love. Michael quickly looked over to where Nikita was standing, Jess may be beautiful he thought, but this creature standing in front of him was exquisite. From her long blond hair to her smile… she was a beauty. He forced himself to not look at her and turned his attention back towards Jess.

“Not soon enough,” Jess said laughing lightly, “I still have eleven weeks to go.”

Michael nodded, “where is your husband?” He asked, his accent becoming very pronounced.

Jess shifted uncomfortably in her chair and Nikita was very much aware of how tense the air had become between the two of them.

“He will be here later on,” Jess told Michael, “he had a few errands to run, but said he would be back to talk to you before you left.”

Michael nodded and turned to Walter, “did you bring the equipment?”

Walter nodded, “Steve’s checking out the outer parameters as we speak.”

Michael scratched his neck, “did you bring anyone else, or just Steve?”

“Steve was the only man available, and the only man besides you that I would trust with my niece and her families safety,” Walter said.

Nikita watched the exchange between Michael and Walter and decided that they were very close. She brushed the hair back from her forehead and moved beside Jess. She was worried about her friend, only because of the way Michael kept looking at her.

“Can I get anyone anything to drink?” Nikita asked the three gentlemen.

All three men declined, Nikita’s offer.

“Lets go outside,” Michael said to Birkoff, “Walter if you want you can join us, if not I'll call you when I need you.”

Walter nodded and decided to stay in the house with Jess and Nikita.

“Nikita…” Walter began, “Jess has told me so much about you… I feel like I know you, even though we have never met.” Walter smiled warmly towards, Nikita. Walter leaned towards her and whispered to her, “I was sorry to hear about your troubles.”

Nikita couldn’t help but return the old man's smile, “thank-you, Walter.”

Jess was about to burst; she had seen the way Nikita had looked at Michael and the way he had looked back at her. She very much wanted to get her friend alone to discuss what she thought of Michael but she was not prepared to usher her Uncle out to join Michael and Birkoff, the talk would have to wait until Walter left them voluntarily.

“So what are your plans while you are here?” Walter asked, “How long do you plan to stay?”

“No plans as of yet, to find a job maybe…I have some savings to tide me over for a little while. And I plan to stay here at least until Jess has had her baby. After that, we will see.”

“She will be staying forever,” Jess told them both.

Nikita looked at her friend strangely, “Jess, what are you talking about?”

“You will find out soon,” Jess told her, smiling.

Walter understood what Jess was saying; he too had witnessed how Michael had looked at Nikita. “You are looking for a job then?” Walter asked Nikita.

Nikita shrugged, “I suppose in time, I will need to work.”

Walter didn’t know what to say, should he tell her they were looking to hire someone? Would that be the best idea? Knowing Michael and his history with the women he worked with part of him wanted to shelter the young girl from his wicked ways and the other part of him knew that it might be inevitable that the two of them would get together. Walter then took it upon himself to offer Nikita a job. He took in a deep breath and said, “turns out we are looking for someone, it’s a pretty easy job. You would be Michael’s assistant, helping him when he needed you, doing odd jobs around the warehouse during other times, the pay is good and the benefits even better.” Walter told her.

Nikita shook her head, “thank-you, Walter. I'm flattered you would offer me a job, but you don’t even know me.”

“You are a friend of, Jess’s. That is all I need to know.” He said getting up, “let me know if you want the job, Ill hold it till I hear from you.” Walter smiled at the two women, “I'm going to outside to see how much trouble Birkoff is giving Michael.” He then left the living room.

Jess couldn’t take it anymore and finally blurted out, “you are attracted to him!”

“Who, Walter?” Nikita asked, “your Uncle is handsome and all, Jess, but I do think he is a tad bit too old.”

Jess rolled her eyes, “not Walter, Michael. I saw the way he looked at you.” Jess couldn't help but smile; she looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.

“And I couldn't help but notice how he stared at you,” Nikita said softly.

“You have got to be kidding right?” Jess asked her. When she saw that Nikita was serious Jess began to laugh. “I can't believe you are serious, you actually believe for one instant that Michael was staring at me? And if he was it was just because he hasn’t seen me all fat and pregnant.” Jess told her, “He was definitely consumed with the very sight of you.”

Nikita shook her head, “I think you are mistaken. Besides what does it matter?”

“It matters because I just find it interesting that’s all,” Jess said remembering her promise to her husband. “Did you at least find him attractive?”

Nikita couldn't lie to Jess, “of course I found him attractive. You were right, he is a ruggedly handsome man.”

Jess smiled at her friend, “so are you going to take the job?” She saw Nikita’s face fill with worry, “don’t get me wrong, Nikita, you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you want, rent free. Will makes enough money to take care of all of us, I just think that maybe this is a great opportunity for you that’s all.”

Nikita got up and went to the window, “I'm afraid, Jess.”

“Afraid of what?”

“That I'll fail, just like I failed at all the other things I have done in my life.”

“Like what?” Jess asked, not believing what she was hearing come out from Nikita’s mouth.

“My engagement to Chris, my relationship with Paul, my ever so brief career as a motivational speaker,” Nikita said smiling.

“You were never a motivational speaker,” Jess told her.

“See I wanted to be one though, I even fail when it comes to dreams I have.”

“Nikita, you have not failed at anything you have done. Chris was a jerk who used you. Paul was an abusive ego manic. You fail to remember the great work you did for the pediatric ward at St. Annes Hospital, or your extensive training in self-defense. How many women have you helped by teaching them how to defend themselves? Hundreds, maybe more…I included among them.”

Nikita wrung her hands together, “You are over exaggerating, yet again.”

Jess struggled to stand up, “I am never going to sit in this chair again,” she said when she finally stood up, she then turned to Nikita, “I am not exaggerating, I am speaking the truth and you know it. What makes you so afraid to take this job my Uncle has offered you? Is it because deep down you know you are terribly attracted to Michael and working with him in such close quarters may make you want him more?”

“You don’t know how wrong you are,” Nikita said, “You are way off base.” She turned her attention back to looking out the window and gazed upon Michael down below, he caught her attention and she quickly looked away, “in fact you are so very wrong that I will prove just how wrong you are… I will take the job.”

Jess smiled, and said, “we shall see.”

“Yes we shall,” Nikita told her, “I'll go let your Uncle know right now.”

Jess nodded, “oh please do.” She couldn’t help but feel just a little bit victorious.

*****

Nikita was somewhat infuriated, for Jess to goad her like that; it was… it was… it was exactly what Jess always did to make her do what she wanted her to do. Nikita sighed, she couldn't very well go back in the house now and take back what she had said, that she really wasn’t going to take the job; no Nikita had let Jess get the best of her yet again, and now would have to accept the job, Walter had offered her. Nikita wanted to cry. She shook her head and opened the door to the backyard. She heard the arguing almost immediately.

“You what?” Michael said, not believing what he just heard.

“I offered her a job, Michael.” Walter told him, “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Of course I have a problem with that, the chit can't be more than 25 years old.”

“That never stopped you before,” Birkoff said almost under his breath.

“Don’t you start with me now,” Michael told him, adding a look that stopped Birkoff cold.

“Walter, you really had no right,” Michael began.

“Do not tell me what I have the right or not the right to do, Michael.” Walter told him, “if you still remember this is my company and I may not act like it half the time but I do have a vested interested in it and in your life.”

Michael groaned, and muttered in something in French.

Walter just smiled and saw Nikita from the corner of his eye, “Hello, Sugar.” He said softly.

Nikita came out from behind the shadows and looked at the three men. “I'm assuming the job is no longer mine?” She said.

“You are assuming wrong, Sugar.” Walter told her, already growing very fond of her. “The job is still yours if you want it.”

Birkoff couldn't help but smile at the visible discomfort Michael was feeling.

Nikita shook her head, “you may think the job is mine, Walter, but your partner certainly doesn’t.” Nikita said, looking directly towards Michael. “I don’t want to be anywhere I'm not wanted.”

Michael groaned again and thought how very wrong she was; it should be illegal to feel this amount of want for a woman. “The job is yours, if you want it.” Michael said softly.

Nikita couldn’t help but smile, “I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.”

Michael cleared his throat, “I said, if you want the job it is yours.”

Nikita smiled, “I will take it.”

“Great,” Birkoff said, “you can start by helping me.”

Michael flashed Birkoff a look of anger, but Birkoff ignored it. “Do you have any experience with computers?” Birkoff asked, hoping she did.

Nikita nodded, “I have some experience,” she said softly, “however,” she said looking at the screen in front of her, “I have no idea what you are doing here.”

Birkoff smiled, “it's easy actually, what I need from you is to tell me when you see a red dot flash.”

“What will that tell you?”

Birkoff stopped smiling, “it will tell me if there is any surveillance equipment around the outside of the house.”

“I don’t understand,” Nikita said looking at Birkoff, “why would there already be surveillance equipment up?” She sat down on the chair Birkoff provided her.

“That’s what we will need to find out, if we find any.” Michael told her, moving closer to her.

Nikita nodded, feeling a little light headed with having him so close. “I see.” She said, wondering if she sounded as breathless as she felt.

Michael sat down beside her, “see these green dots,” He said brushing his arm against hers. “Those are areas we have already gone over, they are clear.” He pointed to the green areas on the computer screen, knowing that he was only hurting himself by being so close to her.

Nikita nodded again, “green clear, red not clear. Got it.” Nikita said quickly trying to focus on the computer screen instead of the tingling she felt in her stomach having him so close. He smelt manly, the mix of a musky aftershave and sweat. She smiled despite herself.

“I'll be up on the roof,” Michael said, getting up.

“What?” Nikita asked, somewhat worried, but not really knowing why.

Michael smiled at her, “I'll be on the roof, and we need to do a sweep up there to see if there is anything abnormal.”

“It's… dangerous.” Nikita finally sputtered out.

“I’ve been in more dangerous situations before,” He told her. Like I will be in danger if I stay any closer to you, Michael thought.

Nikita tried to even out her breathing, “be careful,” she said softly.

Michael just nodded and went towards the ladder that was to his left.

“Does he always do dangerous things like that?” Nikita asked Walter.

“It's his job,” Walter said shrugging, “I don’t believe that I have ever seen Michael afraid of anything.” He went over where the ladder was, “let us know when you are ready,” he yelled up to Michael.

Nikita pushed her hair back and sighed. She was convinced the man was insane, the way he was walking so close to the edge of the roof she was sure he was going to kill himself. She tensed when Michael asked Walter to throw him up his equipment.

“You have got to be kidding,” she said quickly, “there is no way that it will get all the way up there.”

Michael grunted, she was going to prove to be tiring soon. “Why don’t you bring it up to me, chit?” He asked her teasingly.

“Fine.” She said, and grabbed the equipment that Walter was about to toss up to him.

Michael didn’t honestly believe she was going to climb up that ladder to bring him his equipment. He signed loudly and walked back towards where the ladder was, “no, I'll come back down and get it.”

“I'm not afraid of heights,” Nikita yelled to him as she began the long climb up the ladder, “stay where you are.” She said forcefully.

Birkoff and Walter looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say to the other, they had never heard a woman talk to Michael that way and wondered how he would adjust to it.

Michael took a step back and let the chit come up the ladder. He was smiling broadly when she finally reached him. He took the heavy equipment from her.

Nikita waited for him to thank her. When he didn’t immediately do so, she told him “you are welcome.”

“For what?” Michael asked her as he went to work.

“For what?” Nikita said, not believing what she heard, “for bringing that to you.”

“It was not necessary,” he told her, “I could have come and got it. Your help was not needed.”

Nikita let out a groan and started to climb back down the ladder. When she hit the ground she glared at Walter and Birkoff and stormed into the house.

“Argh.” Nikita said entering the house, “didn’t need my help… I'll show him didn’t need your help.” She opened a cupboard door and then slammed it shut. She turned to the doorway that led into the living room and saw Jess standing there smiling. “Don’t start with me, Jess. He is the most…the most…”

“The most what?”

“The most infuriating man I have ever met.” She finished, “I can not believe that you used to date him.”

“I was young and foolish.” Jess told her, “Besides we never really dated… just fooled around.”

“Whatever.” Nikita told her friend.

“You are attracted to him.” Jess said.

“That is besides the point.” Nikita told her, “sure I may find him attractive, but I also find him maddening.”

“Good.” Jess told her.

“Good?” Nikita questioned, “How can that be good?” She turned on the tap and filled her glass.

“Nikita, sit down. We need to talk.”

Nikita gulped down her water and sat next to her friend at the kitchen table.

“I have watched you, ever since you got here. I'm concerned. Its like the life has been sucked out of you, you say that Chris doesn’t matter that what he did to you didn’t hurt you…if that is the case…then I'm even more worried about you.” Jess reached out and grabbed her friends hand, “I'm not saying that Michael will be the love of your life, what I am saying is that he may be the one to help you return to the Nikita I used to know. The one who would never let a man get her down, would never let a man talk her into marrying him when she really didn’t want to.” Jess stopped for a moment as Nikita looked at her, “I know you didn’t want to marry, Chris.”

Nikita nibbled her lower lip, “I thought I loved him.”

“I know you did, Nik. You have to realize that its all right for you to be angry with him, the pain is still there…so raw. It is also okay if you find yourself attracted to Michael.” Jess let out a soft sigh, “but there is something that you should know.”

“What is it?” Nikita asked softly, not really sure she wanted to hear what her friend had to say to her.

Jess cleared her throat, “Michael is a player. I don’t think he means to be, but he gets scared when things get to close for comfort.” She explained, “I think its because he hasn’t met the woman he belongs with yet, but I wanted you to be aware of that, so that you can go into this with open eyes.”

“Go into what, Jess?” Nikita said standing up, “there is nothing to warn me about, because I am not going to get involved with Michael.” Nikita didn’t know why Jess was so insistent that she was going to fall into Michael’s arms.

Jess looked at Nikita and knew she was lying, “have it your way, Nik.” Jess said, “I will be sure to tell you how wrong you were at the wedding.” Jess laughed.

“You are incorrigible,” Nikita told her friend, “how does Will put up with you.”

“He does just fine,” Jess told her, “Will says I have a fiery spirit.”

“Will is blinded by love.” Nikita teased, “if he wasn’t he would see you for the evil person you really are.” Nikita smiled.

Jess stuck her tongue out at Nikita, “you will find love like mine and Wills, Nik.” She said turning serious, “I feel it in my heart.”

Nikita looked out the window above the sink, “I don’t know, Jess. In order to be in love, you have to accept love.”

“Allow yourself to accept it, Nikita.” Jess said.

“I'll try,” Nikita told her friend, “now if you will excuse me, I am going to meekly go back outside and join my new employer.”

“I'll join you in a little bit,” Jess told her, “bring some drinks.”

Nikita nodded and walked back outside. She hadn’t realized how long she had been inside, for Michael was already back on the ground when she got out there.

“I'm glad to see you didn’t kill yourself,” Nikita said.

Michael didn’t say anything to her.

“Birkoff, did we find anything?”

Birkoff shook his head, “no, not yet.”

Nikita walked towards Walter, “why does Michael seem like he believes you will find something?”

“He has a sixth sense,” Walter began, “he feels something is not right here.”

“But he hasn’t found anything yet?”

“Not on the outside of the house, at least.” Walter told her, “but we haven’t even began to sweep the inside, and that is a two day job max.”

“Two days?” Nikita said. Two days. Two days with Jess hovering over her. Two days of Nikita avoiding the truth, the truth being that she felt extremely attracted to Michael and was afraid she would do something about before she was really ready to.

“Is that a problem, Sugar?” Walter asked her.

“No, no problem at all.” Nikita said, “I just…”

“Is everything okay?” Michael asked her, coming behind her. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck.

“Everything is fine,” she said softly, “Walter was just telling me that it will take two more days to fully…” she tried in vain to remember what he had said.

To sweep the inside,” Michael finished smiling at her, “and Walter is right. We have done all we can do, with the equipment we brought.”

“You are leaving?” Nikita said somewhat saddened that he was going already.

“I didn’t say that,” Michael told her, “I heard rumours that Jess was making us lunch.”

“You heard right,” Jess said coming outside, “I am making lunch. Besides, Michael you can't leave until Will comes home.”

Michael nodded, “of course, I will stay until Will gets here.”

Nikita let out a soft sigh.

“Did you find anything?” Jess asked him.

Michael said nothing.

“I have a right to know,” Jess told him, “besides, Will will tell me whatever you say.”

“Then I will let your husband inform you.” Michael said walking past her, picking up the laptop.

Jess shook her head, “if anybody cares, lunch will be ready in a few minutes. I will warn you, it only consists of sandwiches.” Jess said turning around and going back into the house.

Nikita walked towards Michael, “what do you know of Will's reasons for installing this system?”

Michael said nothing.

“I am not Jess, you can talk to me.”

Michael looked up at her, “I will not.” He said simply.

“Why?” She asked him.

Michael moved around the yard picking up equipment, noticing that Walter and Birkoff had already gone inside.

Nikita walked towards him, “Look, Jess is my oldest and dearest friend, I have a right to know what you know.”

Michael still said nothing, but looked at her intently.

“Are you just going to look at me or answer my question?”

“Neither,” he said softly closing the gap between them, “now if you don’t mind, I'm going to kiss you.”

Before Nikita could stop him, she felt his lips on hers. His lips were soft, his taste sweet. His tongue played with hers and she opened her mouth so he would have better access. He kissed her harder and the passion between them increased. Nikita slowly brought her arms so they were around his neck. He pulled her roughly closer to him and brought his right hand so it was at the base of her skull allowing him to hold her as close as he could to him. He kissed her more forcefully, feeling her tongue dancing with his. He was losing breath fast, he pulled away from her and noticed how swollen her lips were. This pleased him greatly.

Nikita didn’t know what came over her, but she couldn't stand the sight of his self-satisfied smile. She brought back her hand and slapped the smile right off his face.