Nikita's hiss of indrawn breath as if Jade had stabbed her and her shocked, hurt eyes confirmed what Jade already knew. Whatever Jones plan was it had nothing to do with Nikita setting her up although Jade didn't totally discount the fact that her reactions about George wasn't a cause of some concern to Jones. After all, Jade could cause quite a lot of damage to the man should she choose to, and Jones was well aware of that fact. However, whatever his plans toward her, it was obvious Nikita wasn't a part of it. Jade released a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, 'Kita." Jade answered softly. "I didn't mean any of that, but I had to know."

"Know what?" Nikita asked when she was sure her voice would work again.

"Whether or not you knew something I didn't that Jones may have told you."

Nikita slowly walked back over to Jade and sat back down next to her. Jade had changed positions and was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest and her glorious hair fell around her shoulders to her feet as she frowned in deep thought. Nikita had seen her like this many times. It was her favorite thinking position. Whenever she got like this, Nikita knew it wouldn't be long before she figured out the solution to whatever difficult problem it was that needed solving.

"Jade? What do you think Jones is up to?" Nikita asked carefully aware for the very first time that maybe Jade was really on to something. Nikita had the same niggling, feeling that her friend had been carrying around but she had ignored it, knowing that she couldn't do anything about it, until Jones played his hand, or in this case until Jade forced it.

Jade turned her head slightly and focused on Nikita.

"I don't know … yet." Jade responded. "But I intend to find out."

"How can I help?"

Jade for once looked startled at Nikita's question. Studying her friend she decided that maybe she had been a little hard on Nikita. She was usually much quicker. It was suddenly evident to Jade that Nikita was an even better actress than she had first thought. Losing everyone close to her had taken its toll. She knew that Michael's loss had to be the worst one and Nikita was beginning to lose the ability to hide it. Nikita needed to talk or neither of them would be able to concentrate on their objectives for Jones or whatever else the man had planned.

"You can help by telling me about Michael." Jade said deliberately.

"How is that going to help?" Nikita asked suddenly cautious.

"Maybe it won't help me figure this out, but I suspect it might help you." Jade answered, her voice suddenly full of compassion.

Nikita looked away for a moment, wondering just how much to tell Jade. On the one hand she couldn't risk telling her too much, but on the other her need to purge was so strong that the invitation to talk to Jade was just to tempting to pass up in this case. She just reminded herself to be very careful in what she said.

"Okay." Nikita agreed. "What do you want to know?"

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

Chapter 14

Dropping her feet back to the floor Jade swung her hair out her face and turned towards Nikita in sudden attention. She was a little surprised that Nikita had agreed and she wasn't willing to pass up the opportunity to find out some much needed information.

"When did Jones make his decision that Michael had to be eliminated?" Jade asked, figuring that was the best place to start.

Sighing deeply, Nikita braced herself against the rush of memories.

"That decision had been made from the very beginning."

The Center five years earlier.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nikita stood with her hands folded lightly behind her back in Mr. Jones office as he sat behind his desk taking in her appearance as he questioned her on her readiness to return to the Section.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Nikita responded softly, knowing Jones wanted no other answer. After all he had spent the last six months quizzing her on everything and everyone in the Section so that she wouldn't forget her objective and what she was going back for.

"There's something you should know before you return." Jones said carefully as he moved from around his desk and took up the same position as Nikita as he came to stand in front of her.

"What's that?" Nikita asked looking straight ahead.

"There are some people's fates who are already sealed, no matter what the outcome of this evaluation. It's best you know that now." Jones began as he started to pace in front of Nikita.

Nikita continued to stare straight ahead, not showing her reactions to Jones statement. Knowing this was as much of a test to her new lessons in keeping her composure, as well as a test of her loyalty to him and the Center. He had deliberately chosen a sensitive topic to do just that.

"I'm speaking of Michael of course." Jones continued. "His loyalty to the Section is very much in doubt considering his actions in allowing you to escape. He would be a dangerous man to have as an enemy. The Center can't allow that. No matter what decisions are made after this is over, Michael has to be cancelled. Is that understood?"

For the first time, Nikita turned to meet Jones gaze that was locked on her.

"It's understood." Giving him the only answer she could give.

"Ah, It's understood, but you don't agree." Jones said after a moment, knowing he was correct.

"No, I don't agree." Nikita answered, careful to keep all emotion from her tone. "He's as loyal to the Section as they come. He made a mistake, but you have achieved the advantage from it. It doesn't seem like a just reward considering that he has inadvertently helped the Center."

"You make a good point, Nikita." Jones responded. "Of course, you would have me think that I wouldn't have been able to achieve my goal any other way. Still you do have a point, but unfortunately I can't allow him to live if his slight error in judgement where you're concerned was the only thing I had to be concerned about."

"Why, what else has he done?" Nikita asked carefully.

"Come now, Nikita you've seen his file." Jones said.

"I haven't seen his entire file." Nikita interrupted.

"No, it's not necessary for you to see everything, just yet. Some of your reactions still need to be genuine so there are some things I'm keeping from you." Jones patiently explained ignoring Nikita's short burst of emotion. He carefully noted that she had herself back under control almost immediately.

"You and I both know that Michael is the key to Madeline and Operation's success. He is a danger to the goals of the Center for the simple fact that he has too much of Operations views ingrained in him. He has to be eliminated."

"What if that can be changed?" Nikita asked.

"You're proposing that he can be brought over to our way of thinking? Alright, Nikita. I'll give you the chance to try, but it has to be done without him breaking the original Section charter. If that happens then he's gone. Agreed?"

Meeting Jones gaze she knew he thought that it couldn't be done. Nikita refused to believe he that he was right even if he was the Head of the Center, so she had accepted his challenge and gave him the answer she knew he was waiting for.

"Agreed!"

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

"So you fought for Michael's life even then, although Jones had already made up his mind?" Jade asked as soon as Nikita stopped speaking. Not at all surprised to hear her suspicions confirmed about Michael's actions all those years ago. She had always suspected that he had a hand in letting Nikita go. Many people did, but it was one thing to suspect and another to have it confirmed. Even then, Nikita had meant a great deal to Michael.

"Yes. I did." Nikita said. "At first I thought it would be fairly easy, since I thought I knew better than anyone how unlikely it was for Michael to break the Section charter. I think the only reason he broke it in the first place is because I had finally convinced him that I never should have ended up in the Section. Besides, it didn't take him anytime at all to resume his Section mask the minute I walked back through the doors. Although I wanted to disprove Jones theory I was angry at Michael for his callousness, so I tried to pushed harder than I had originally intended by using Jurgen to try and push him over the edge. Of course it didn't work because I didn't understand at the time that he was protecting someone other than me."

"You're talking about Elena and Adam." Jade stated.

"Yes." Nikita confirmed quietly. "That was the information that Jones thought it was necessary to keep from me. In that he was right, had I known about Michael's blood cover beforehand there's no telling what I would have done."

"Then what happened?" Jade prompted Nikita.

"Every time I reported to Jones that Michael was fully Section and wasn't a threat to the Center's goals, he would simply tell me to continue to observe. I was convinced that Jones had changed his mind during the Bates mission with Terry. I mean that was when Jones was in rare Mick Schtoppel form. Pretending to pop designer drugs, hitting on Terry. Essentially making a nuisance of himself. When Terry ran, and Michael found out why, I was hoping against hope that Michael would make the right decision. I couldn't believe that he actually listened to me, and then threw Mick out of the car just to get him to shut up."

Nikita smiled briefly at the memory remembering Jones surprise at suddenly finding himself rolling on the hard asphalt thrown there by a surprisingly angry Michael.

"Poor, Michael." Jade groaned. "He never would have done that had he known who Jones was. God knows the number of times he's had the right to light into Operations and never did it. Why did Jones persist after that?"

"I'm not sure." Nikita answered softly. "Although he was glad that Michael wouldn't have simply sentenced someone to be cancelled just because they were pregnant he still insisted I provide him with solid proof that keeping Michael alive was the right thing to do. Later on, Terry sealed her on fate when she made her deal with Bates and sold the Section out. Jones didn't blame Michael for that since he was responsible for not reporting her break in protocol the first time. I continued to watch Michael as instructed and I thought I had finally convinced Jones again after the Peruze mission."

Jade remained silent as she watched Nikita struggle with her memories. After a moment Nikita continued.

"Right after the Peruze mission I went to Jones and assured him that Michael was as Section as they came, and wouldn't go against the charter for anyone… not even me. I was so angry I truly believed what I told Jones, almost positive I could convince him that Michael wasn't a danger, although, I was angry enough to wonder why I was even bothering to save his life. It was the same reaction I had right after Jurgen killed himself." Nikita said in a wry tone. "I blamed Michael for both incidents because it was convenient and he had no idea what I was doing."

Jade could only guess at how Nikita must have felt. Although Michael and Nikita had overcome the obstacle of Jurgen tearing them apart, she could understand Nikita's anger at being used yet again in a ploy for the Section. Michael had no way of knowing she had just put herself at risk to save him from Mr. Jones. Then just when she thought she had understood his motives for his loyalty to the Section, he proved her wrong by allowing Madeline to use him to get her through a valentine mission. Nikita had been justifiably angry at the fact that they had used her emotions for Michael to get her to fall in love with a man that had been depraved beyond words, and the fact that Michael had allowed it made it even worse. Ironically, enough that mission had been the turning point for both of them.

"So, thinking that Michael more than anyone had reason to be glad that the Section would be restructured because of his mission with Adam and Elena, he pretty much shot your new understanding of him when he went along with the Peruze mission." Jade said aloud. "Still, it proved your point to Jones that Michael was loyal to the Section, and he did what he did because Madeline and Operations were holding Adam and Elena over his head and not because he liked being their number one errand boy."

"That's what I thought too." Nikita agreed. "But, then Michael surprised even me by doing a complete one hundred and eighty degree turnaround. Suddenly he became reckless, and openly defied whatever Madeline and Operations commanded if he thought they were in the wrong and it concerned me."

"So instead of being ecstatic that Michael decided to announce to all of Section by his actions how much he cared for you." Jade began.

"I was worried, because I knew it was only a matter of time before he proved Jones right." Nikita finished. "Jones surprised me by telling me that just maybe I was right about him when I reported the success of the Philo mission and just how much of the Section Michael had on his side should he choose to stage a coup. Jones was forced to agree with me. He told me that as long as Michael's little war with Madeline and Operations didn't affect the Center's original goals then he would change his mind. To show me he was willing to be reasonable he set up a mission for Michael to run the Section for a short period of time by ordering Operations to Section under the guise of needing his expertise on an important political situation. Michael ran Section like he owned it. That was good until Michael met with George. Michael made a grave error when he caved to pressure from George who had given up the key file by this point, and Jones questioned Michael's judgement. He was back under scrutiny. I tried to distance myself knowing what was coming, but I just couldn't do it. Things went downhill from there, especially after Madeline used the Gelman process on me."

"And Michael did his best to move heaven and earth to get you back." Jade surmised.

"Exactly. He openly challenged his Superiors in a way that he never would have done had they not pushed him." Nikita reminisced softly, remembering the explicit details of Michael's behavior given to her by Walter and Birkoff.

"A direct violation of the charter." Jade commented.

"Jones saw first hand how far Michael was willing to go for me. Even going so far as to liberate Adrian to use as bargaining leverage against Operations and Madeline. After that his mind was made up, and I couldn't change it."

"So you resolved to spend as much time with Michael as you could."

Nikita nodded her head momentarily unable to speak as all the sorrow came flooding back.

"It was all I could do to stay focused." She continued after a moment. "Half the time I was with Michael I was miserable because I knew what was coming. On the one hand I couldn't wait for it to be over, and on the other I wanted the time to go slow. Jones wouldn't change his mind and I had to convince him I was still loyal to him. I bargained with him for some private time away from Section with Michael and he agreed."

"Hence your little escape artist act before the evaluations." Jade supplied.

"Yes." Nikita answered. "It was also Jones way of proving to me, that no matter what, Operations and Madeline weren't half as powerful without their enforcer. The lesson was unnecessary since I was already aware of that, but that was the only thing we agreed on where Michael was concerned."

"I find it hard to believe that Jones couldn't justify Michael's actions when without him Operations would have succeeded in getting rid of you years ago." Jade said.

"I told him the exact same thing when he told me that Michael's fate was sealed." Nikita said in agreement.

"Well, what was his reasoning?" Jade asked.

"He said that Michael was no longer loyal to anyone but me. Despite the fact that he was the best operative Section had, he couldn't be trusted if he couldn't be controlled. Even though I insisted that Michael had only come down so strongly on Operations and Madeline because they had backed him into a corner, Jones said as long as Michael withheld the whereabouts of Adrian and continued to use her as leverage for my continued safety, his loyalty to anyone other than myself was in question."

"Why is Adrian so important to him?" Jade asked quietly.

"Jones doesn't like it that the founder of Section One is out there loose somewhere." Nikita answered.

"Why does it matter to him if she is out there?" Jade demanded. "I mean even if by some chance she does remember who she is, let alone the Section, which is highly unlikely, it's not like anyone is going to believe what she has to say. She would be considered little more than a raving lunatic if the Gelman process was as effective on her as it was on you."

"I agree." Nikita responded. "But, Jones didn't become the Head of the Center by being careless. He wants her back in the Center's hands, if for no other reason than for her own protection. Besides it was also undone on me, that means it could be undone on Adrian if she fell into the wrong hands."

Jade couldn't argue there so she asked another question instead.

'"Why didn't Michael tell you where he put her?"

Nikita looked down at her hands for a moment before boldly meeting Jade's gaze.

"Stupid question." Jade said again, answering her own inquiry. "Once again he was trying to protect you. The blame for Adrian's liberation from the Section fell solely on him. They couldn't pressure you to reveal something you don't know."

Nikita nodded in agreement and completely left out the fact that the Michael was still alive. She also didn't tell Jade that Michael's continued good health was due to the fact that Nikita had convinced Jones she could find out the whereabouts of Adrian from Michael after he had some time away from her. It was the only reason Jones had allowed it. She knew that sooner or later, Michael would snap out of his despondency and check up on Adrian. He knew that Madeline and Operations had never stopped looking for her, so he moved her periodically without their knowledge. He needed to know that the woman would be taken care of because he always kept his word. She had helped him, so Michael would protect her. Nikita would simply track Michael when he went to move her again then she would give Adrian's whereabouts to Jones, but before she did any of that, Michael would be safe from Jones and the Section for good...she would make sure of it.

Jade wasn't paying much attention to Nikita because she was assimilating the new information she had received. It appeared she had forgotten someone who would be a danger to Jones who was very much alive. Jones must be trying to ensure that Adrian was indeed unable to share any of what she knew to the outside world. Nikita couldn't possibly know what it was Jones was after and why unless he had told her the whole story, which Jade very much doubted. Suddenly her sudden summons by the Head of the Center made a whole lot more sense. Jade admitted that Jones had put something together that not a lot people had ever considered, which Jade found amazing when she thought about how easy the connection could be made.

Unwittingly Nikita had given Jade a big answer to the puzzle she was attempting to put together. Actually, puzzle pieces were flying into place everywhere Jade looked. If he had Michael cancelled because of his suspicions that could mean only one thing. He wasn't telling Nikita the truth about what he really suspected. That meant he was probably lying about a few other things as well. Jade smiled in triumph as yet another piece fell into place. It seemed there was one person she had missed after all. She supposed that a lucid, coherent Adrian could definitely be a big danger for the clever Mr. Jones. Now all she had to do was to set about proving what she had already figured out…at least now she knew where to look.

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

Chapter 15

Jones was sitting at his desk, reviewing Section statistics that Operations had condescended to send over, when he heard a soft buzz that signaled the arrival of his late night visitor. He reached underneath his desk to push a button on the console behind his desk as soon as the footsteps came closer. Another door concealed in the wall of his office opened and a colleague of his walked across the room to stand before him.

Jones studied the poised, woman before him and smiled as he realized the fortitude he had so admired was still firmly in place.

"I see your meeting didn't go as well as planned." Madeline said by way of greeting as she took a seat.

"On the contrary, it went quite well." Jones responded as he got up to come around his desk and sit at the low table which held the steaming tea, Monique had provided for him and his guest before leaving for the evening.

"How so?" Madeline questioned as she took the cup of tea from Jones extended hand. "They lied to you. According to Paul, Nikita has had a series of little accidents, Jade has had trouble gaining Quinn's slightest cooperation, and Jason can't glean anything from the system. Section's status has decreased since their arrival and Operations has done nothing to curb the problem."

"He doesn't suspect you at all, does he?" Jones asked quietly, momentarily ignoring Madeline's other statements.

"He has no reason to." Madeline assured him. "I've always convinced him that Oversight should be his, not mine. He wouldn't begin to make the connection even if someone tried to tell him."

"Good. What do you propose we do about Nikita and Jade?" Jones asked turning the subject back to the matter at hand.

"Do you think the two of them have figured out what you're really after?" Madeline asked. "After all, Jade seems to be up to something.?"

"No." Jones said as he steepled his fingers under his chin. "I think she's fishing for information."

"I agree." Madeline responded as she took a small disc out of her pocket and handed it to Jones.

Without hesitation, Jones took the disc and put it in the mini-tape deck sitting next to teapot on the table. Pushing play he picked up his cup of tea and quietly sipped while he and Madeline listened to Jade and Nikita conversing.

Once the tape ended, he allowed the tape to click off and he studied Madeline carefully.

"When was this recorded?" Jones asked quietly. His voice held just a tinge of disappointment.

"Late last night." Madeline answered just as quietly. "It was retrieved this morning after their departure to the Section. I'm surprised they never questioned your moving them into new quarters."

"I'm not." Jones stated. "The surveillance equipment wasn't installed until yesterday morning while they were here with me."

"When did you begin to suspect?" Madeline questioned effectively masking her surprise at how quickly he had guessed that Jade had started to do some research of her own.

"Almost immediately. Of course, Jade confirmed it when she questioned me about my actions just before George's death." Jones answered carelessly.

"Why would that alert you?"

"Jade never asks anything without a purpose behind it. Despite his foolishness in sending her away, George was important to her. She's not going to let what Paul did or that I allowed it slide, no matter how hard she tries to convince me otherwise."

"What about Adrian? Do you think she extends her loyalty in that direction as well?"

"That's what I intend to find out?"

"How do you propose to do that?" Madeline questioned Jones. "Not many have made the connection of Adrian and Jade, although it's not a difficult conclusion to come to. She suspects your motives already. She'll be more cautious."

At Madeline's statement Jones elicited a deep laugh.

"Jade is as subtle as a sirocco. She's refreshingly honest and quite predictable."

"What do you propose?"

"I propose a distraction." Jones said after a moment of thought. "Leave it to me, I'll arrange everything."

"Keeping them distracted hasn't seemed to work. Perhaps we can try something else." Madeline suggested.

"No, no, no." Jones disagreed lightly. "It's time Jade was taught a lesson. This particular distraction will take up all of their attention, as it will be a matter of life and death. It'll be a warning they won't be able to ignore."

"You're sure that Jade will see it as such."

"I'll make sure of it."

"What about Nikita?" Madeline asked carefully. "She won't take lightly to your threatening Jade."

"Nikita will do as she's told." Jones said determinedly. "She doesn't have much choice, considering the position she's in. In the meantime, keep me posted with your progress. We'll reconvene in a few days."

"Of course." Madeline replied graciously.

Without any more words being spoken, Madeline left as quietly and as quickly as she appeared.

Jones watched Madeline leave his office and briefly contemplated his next move. He and Madeline had made as unlikely alliance as he and Nikita did. He had learned long ago not to put all of his eggs in one basket, as the old cliché went but he had never planned to have Madeline as a partner in his bid to get what he wanted. He had been forced to reevaluate his opinion when he discovered that Madeline had not been as off the mark as many people supposed she was when it came to evaluating the operatives within her care. She had been on to Nikita about two months after her return to the Section. Jones first clue of Madeline's discoveries had been what she had supposed were her secret inquiries with her contacts concerning Nikita's capture by the Freedom League. Her first test had been the infamous mission with Adrian and the Gemstone file. When Nikita had come to him telling him of Operations assignment for her concerning Adrian, he had little choice but to agree, considering to refuse meant he would have had to show his hand to Operations and Madeline a lot sooner than he wanted too. Knowing that Madeline had orchestrated the whole plan based on Nikita's confirmation he half suspected it had been Madeline's way of trying to draw Nikita out. He knew when Madeline had spared Nikita's life after her challenge to Operations after Adrian's capture that she had found out whatever it was she wanted to know. At the time Jones hadn't been too concerned with Madeline's actions, considering the fact that she had unwittingly provided him a solution to a distressing problem when they had disposed of Adrian for him…or so he had thought. However, wanting to be on the safe side, he planned a contingency and simply waited for Madeline's next move.

It wasn't long in coming when he had found out about Madeline contacting George informing him that she was ready to roll over on Operations due to his callous treatment of her during the Brulois mission. George, of course had fallen for the bait, going after Operations without thinking, and in a moment of haste gave up the key file. Jones had been alerted the moment the file had left the Agency building. He was good enough to know that he had to have people watching his people. It was one of the reasons he was so well connected on both sides of the terrorist community. It hadn't surprised him at all to find out that Madeline had orchestrated the whole plan to fool George into giving up something as important as the key file although George had been smart enough to have his own mole planted within the Section in the form of Greg Hillenger. Madeline had to have known that the importance of the key file missing would have been reported to the Center. It was the equivalent of the directory missing from the Section being immediately reported to the Agency. From that moment on Jones kept a closer watch on Madeline and continued to wait to see what she would do next.

Madeline had turned out to be a wildcard he hadn't quite planned on. Despite the impression she gave to Operations that she was fixated on the personal aspect of Michael and Nikita's relationship, Jones came to the conclusion she was using that as an excuse to take drastic actions against Nikita in the hope that the organization she thought Nikita was working for would be exposed. She had no way of knowing that he was the one that Nikita was working for, but her inquiries were getting closer to him than he had expected through her considerable network of contacts. Unfortunately, while he was thinking of ways to deal with her another of her little experiments caught his attention as he knew she intended it should. She neatly set the trap for him by endangering all of his plans when she used the Gelman process on Nikita under the guise of trying to sever the ties between Nikita and Section's top operative. The whole situation had been intolerable for Jones because as Schtoppel he had to administer the Gelman treatment, and that put him in direct contact with a very determined, extremely ruthless Michael who wouldn't have hesitated to do away with him had he given the man the least provocation. Jones quickly realized that he was in dire jeopardy of being exposed, since Nikita couldn't remember anything except her manufactured loyalty to the goals of the Section, much to his and Michael's dismay. Madeline's plan had been subtle enough, but dangerous enough to bring Jones to the determination that Madeline might be useful to him in other ways if she worked with him instead of against him.

He was positive that Madeline would have no problems aligning herself with the Center at the expense of her close ties to Paul if Paul was no longer an ally to her. Unlike Madeline, Paul was predictable and Jones was counting on it to bring Madeline in on his plan without Operations knowledge. As predicted thanks to events orchestrated by George, Paul went after Red Cell at the expense of everyone involved…including Madeline. Jones seized the opportunity and went after Madeline while the memory of Paul's betrayal was still fresh unbeknownst to Nikita. Still maintaining his cover as Schtoppel, he set up a meeting with Madeline. Madeline had been resourceful and not at all shocked by the summons, although it had come directly from the Center. Following instructions she had met at the arranged meeting place and answered the questions his capable assistant, Monique had put to her. Madeline had surprised Jones with the knowledge she had gathered on Nikita and what the younger woman had been up to, even going so far as to accuse her of being a mole for another organization. Monique had followed Jones orders and said nothing of Nikita's involvement in the Center, instead she had ordered Madeline to keep a close watch on Nikita and the Center would take care of the rest when the time came.

To keep Madeline under his control and to ensure her silence with Operations he instead used the opportunity to find out about George, the key file, and why he was so intent on eliminating Operations and Madeline. Madeline had then explained about George's vendetta against them because of Adrian. An Adrian who Jones now knew was unfortunately still very much alive. She was a danger to Jones for many reasons, not the least being that other than Nikita she was the only other person who knew exactly who he was. Madeline had never spoken with him face to face and Jones had kept it that way until the last possible moment. When he had arrived at the Center to conduct the evaluations and Nikita's true identity had been revealed Madeline's surprise had been genuine. She had been justifiably angry when Nikita was revealed to be a mole for the Center on all Section personnel including herself despite her own connection with the Center. Jones knew that Madeline could indeed be a dangerous enemy so he had taken the time before the evaluations commenced to explain his real plan with her, explaining that in this particular endeavor Nikita was in the dark. Once she had the details she was more than willing to assist him in his new quest. His gamble had worked and he and Madeline had come up with a suitable plan to extricate her after the evaluations. Granted, Madeline's exit was a bit dramatic, it had worked and no one had suspected that the two of them were now working together towards a common goal. Everything had fallen into place and had been going along smoothly, until he made a tactical error in summoning Jade back to the Section.

Unfortunately it appeared that the partner he had provided for Nikita to get the last of the intel he and Madeline needed to finalize their plans had somehow began to uncover his latest plot. His plans had been in the making for years and he was so close to his goal he could taste it. It was only a matter of time before he would have achieved everything he had set out to do. He wasn't about to let anyone unravel all the hard work he had managed to achieve. It had taken him years to get to this point. Just to ensure his continued success, he would make sure that both Jade and Nikita understood that his word was law. The little distraction he planned, should put them back on the right track, and remind them not to meddle in things that were not their business. If his plan didn't work, then the next lesson would have to be harsher…he would make sure of it.

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

Chapter 16

High beam lighting and low ceilings did little to lighten the dark and dank atmosphere in the small meeting room where five figures sat discussing the logistics of a planned raid of one of it's most dangerous enemies.

"Now is the time to attack while they're weak and distracted." Mason Zellick said forcefully. "Schtoppel's intel is always accurate. We won't get another opportunity like this."

Shane Mallory stared at Mason and decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. He never really trusted Mason's slimy contact. He couldn't pinpoint why he didn't like the guy. His intel had been good so far, but ever since Black Storms failure the last time Schtoppel had given them the inside track, his suspicions had grown. Shane looked around the table and met the gazes of his three other comrades and he could see the mutual agreement to Mason's statement in their eyes. Evidently he was the only one who had reservations about the hastiness of the plan they had concocted. So he simply leaned back in his chair and chose to say nothing else about his thoughts.

Shane Mallory was an eight year veteran in Black Storm and because of his strategic and profiling abilities he had risen to the status of third tier op in that record breaking time. With his pretty boy blonde looks, startling blue eyes, and his muscular build many people overlooked the uncanny intelligence he kept concealed. Shane figured that because he had the look of the stereotypical high school quarterback, and didn't talk much, enemies and co-workers alike saw him as the typical dumb jock. Ironically enough it was the men who tended to underestimate his ability discounting him as nothing more than someone Black Storm used as a mindless bodyguard, and the women who were much quicker to catch on to the fact that there was more to him than his being decidedly pleasing to the eyes.

He and Mason Zellick were recruited by Black Storm at the same time, but Mason had just recently been promoted to one of the Commander's second in commands. Shane himself had been passed over for the promotion because he didn't have or want Mason's single minded tenacity for destruction of anything and everything that stood in the way of his objective. While both men were well respected, Mason had gained his respect through fear while Mallory had gained his through leading by example. Unfortunately for Shane his 'softness' as the Commander had put it, made him lose a position that held considerable power. Still Shane knew that on Mason's current course he would not survive long enough to appreciate his newfound authority. Already he had made grave errors in judgement due to his impulsiveness and heavy handed tactics. While he and Mason were very different in attitude and temperament they had become friends during their first year of recruitment. Shane often found himself protecting Mason from himself. It appeared that this time would be no different. This latest scheme was by far the most dangerous and the most reckless Mason had come up with so far.

Four months ago, Section One had infiltrated their base of operations in the United States and destroyed their one chance of gaining the upper hand in the terrorist community by destroying a satellite that held critical intelligence necessary for them to establish a larger presence among their many counterparts. To make the situation more intolerable was that they had lost their means of operating in North America and now Section was based in their old headquarters. The fact that they had been so thoroughly beaten by only two, albeit highly-skilled operatives made the insult even worse. Section sent two operatives who had blithely waltzed in, eliminated the entire Black Storm team, the coveted intel, and taken their base had thrown Mason into quite a frenzy.

After several months of monitoring Section's supposedly 'covert' activities, leaked intel from Mason's source showed that Section was in the middle of a serious internal battle. They had also lost key people in their organization, one of which had been instrumental in the North American Black Storm operation. Mason now thought that attacking Section when they appeared to be weak was the perfect time to retaliate. His plan was to take one of Section's substations, capture all the critical intel the substation had obtained while handling Section One mission, and then completely destroy the base for Section use. Mason planned to use the opportunity to reestablish Black Storms presence in the terrorist community. Shane had a healthy respect for Section One and any retaliation they chose to mete out would be far more severe than what Mason could imagine. For all they knew the rumors about the problems at Section One had not been confirmed by their source and it could be a way to weaken the other terrorist groups and get them to be incautious. Unfortunately, no one was willing to listen to Shane's warnings of caution.

"We don't have time to wait." Mason continued fiercely.

"Perhaps there is another option."

All heads turned toward the newcomer who had dared to enter into the briefing without invitation or permission. She smiled beguilingly at the reactions her entrance caused and used the distraction to her advantage as she walked forward and insinuated herself within the group.

Tia Calloway had been with Black Storm for ten years and was well-known for showing up unexpected to offer her expert advice on those matters with which she felt were critical to the continued success of Black Storm operations. All other missions were considered below her standards and not worth her time. Her position as second in command of the central headquarters of Black Storm allowed her to appoint those other less important duties to anyone she wished. She was sharp, resourceful, intelligent, and she was ruthless, greatly feared by lower ranking individuals within the organization, and highly envied by her equals because of the favor shown her by the Commander of Black Storm. Mason was one of those members who envied her the favor she had with their boss, because while he held the same rank as herself she was by far the more respected. It was no secret that given the chance he would try to discredit her or eliminate her at the first opportunity.

Unlike other terrorist organizations, Black Storm was unusual in its makeup and hierarchy of command. The leader of the group liked to foster competitive battles wherever he could. While lower ranking operatives in the organization were given clear cut, outlined instructions of who they reported to, who they listened to, and what they were required to do to continue to be a part of the organization, higher ranking individuals received the exact opposite information. The higher the rank, the more ambiguous those drawn leadership lines became. As a result, higher ranking commanders were always competing with each other to advance within the group. They knew that more rank, meant more power, and more power meant more loyalty to those that served you, and more loyalty meant that one of them was that much closer to being the successor when the time came. It had been their Commander's idea to have two second in commands. It meant that both parties spent more time trying to gain his favor and less time plotting ways on how to take his position. For the hardened, disillusioned misfits that made up the operatives of Black Storm the ideology worked.

Tia was well aware of the Commander's games but she refused to play them. She didn't have to because Mason's ambition made it easy for her to gain the loyalty and support of their comrades. Unfortunately for Mason, he would never figure that out. Taking her own good time about it, she took a seat and studied the hard glittering blue eyes of Mason as he continued to bristle at her unwanted presence. Shifting slightly in her seat she turned her attention to Shane and found him watching her with an amused expression. Her attention was gained once again, however, by the tiresome Mason's near shout.

"What are you doing here, Tia!" Mason demanded furiously.

"Don't get your feathers ruffled, Mason." Tia interjected in a soft, soothing tone. "I'm only here to observe."

"Your statement wasn't an observation. It was an opinion." Mason shot back.

"You're right about that. I apologize, it won't happen again." Tia offered graciously.

"You weren't on the list to attend the briefing." Mason continued in his hostile tone.

"Well, that's true, Mason, but the Commander thought I should be present just the same. I'm sure you understand."

Mason didn't understand nor did he like it, but he wasn't about to give Tia the satisfaction of letting her see his disapproval more than he already had. Nevertheless, if Tia was in front of him, then she couldn't be somewhere else outdoing him. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Satisfied that Shane wasn't going to offer up any more objections, he began to outline his plans to the other members of his team. After much deliberation, arguments and finally agreement the plan to strike Section substation six was approved. Four agreed it was fitting retribution for retaliation against Section for converting their Black Storm's North American operation to another Section substation. Shane and Tia simply exchanged disgusted glances before both made their own separate contingency plans to defend themselves against Section when they came to retrieve what was theirs if their base was successfully taken.

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Chapter 17

A couple of days after Jade and Nikita's late night chat, Jade received a notification that she had a briefing in fifteen minutes. She was a little surprised at the suddenness of the meeting after a relatively slow week, although she was well aware of how quickly an international incident could occur. Quickly shutting down her computer, she grabbed her PDA and quickly left her office in order to make the briefing on time. Jade turned the corner just in time to fall in step beside Nikita.

"What's this about?" She asked quietly as she watched operatives rush past the two of them.

"One of our substations was hit a few hours ago." Nikita responded quickly.

Nikita didn't have time to say more as she and Jade entered the briefing room and couldn't help but take note of the complete silence that reigned, although Operations was nowhere in the vicinity. If it were possible after they had come back from their trip to the Center, the attitudes had gotten even worse. Jade could feel Nikita mentally brace herself as she walked forward pretending to be unaffected by the coldness that seemed to permeate the attitudes of those operatives sitting around the large briefing table. There were two seats left vacant at the table but they weren't together. Nikita simply headed for one, and didn't even flinch when the operative she would have sat next too got up and reseated himself in the chair furthest from Nikita.

'Great, we're back in high school.' Jade thought snidely as she rolled her eyes at the immature behavior of a cold op who should have known better, and simply took the seat he vacated.

Jason, who had been back at the Section for only two days wanted to stand up and cheer at Jade for her support of Nikita but contained himself to directing a smile in her direction instead. She returned it briefly and then looked away from him. He knew she was still uncomfortable in his presence and that was expected since she had dated his brother for such a long time. It was also evident that she didn't trust him all that much, considering the fact that he had been the only one who treated Nikita with any semblance of respect, although he made no bones about the fact that he hated what she had done to Michael. He knew how Michael must have felt considering the girlfriend Jason had dated for years turned out to be a Section snitch assigned to watch him like some watchdog. Still he was inclined to be more sympathetic towards Nikita since he himself had the misfortune of dealing with Mr. Jones, knowing she probably hadn't had much of a choice when it came to Jone's orders concerning Michale. The man was a lot more dangerous than people gave him credit for and Jason was beginning to find out just what he was capable of. He only hoped that Jade figured that out soon.

Jason no longer had any time to think about Nikita or Jade because Operations quickly walked into the room to begin the briefing.

"It seems that Section's problems aren't exactly as secret as we'd like them to be." Operations began as he picked up the vid screen remote control.

"Black Storm has resurfaced to take advantage of our temporary setbacks and has hit one of our substations. In retaliation for our elimination of their North American operatives, and the take over of that base for Section use a few months ago, they've raided substation six. Jason."

"Substation six is one of Section's main transfer centers." Jason began. "We use it as a base of operations for some of our more experimental missions." He continued in that lazy slight southern drawl of his. "When we transferred several of Section One's critical missions to this substation, Black Storm took the opportunity to gather as much intel as possible. When they achieved their goal they destroyed what was left of the base."

"The point is Black Storm has it's hands on too much valuable intel. Our objective is too get the intel back before Black Storm has an opportunity to use it." Operations interjected smoothly. "Quinn."

"They had the element of surprise on their side." Quinn said as Operations switched on the picture of the vid screen to show a 3-D picture of the substation. "They were able to infiltrate the areas here and here."

Jade and Nikita carefully studied the red x's which marked the points Quinn was referring to.

"Black Storm's base of operations is also very similar to the setup of Section." Quinn continued as Operations changed the picture to that of another compound. "From our calculations the compound holds anywhere from thirty to forty operatives at any one time. Normally this would be a problem, but Black Storm is also very regimented and a bit archaic in their group ideology. Everything is done at a set time. The least amount of resistance will be encountered at 2400 hours during training exercises in an area that's about ten miles away. At that time only fifteen operatives are in the main compound and most of those are guards. They don't need more because they have an advanced laser beam system which can be activated from six areas within the compound. Should the beams get activated throughout the compound and you're not out death is instantaneous. So while their operations are slightly archaic, their technology is extremely advanced. On top of retrieving our intel, we also want access to their technology for use here within the Section. The data center in the heart of the compound is your objective. In order to get through Jade will tap me into their system, while the teams set the charges. You'll have thirty minutes to infiltrate while the teams set the charges and get out."

"Their security system won't be a problem?" Nikita asked as she continued to carefully study the compound.

"No." Jason answered lazily. "Their security system is as almost as thorough as ours on the outside, but we were able to circumvent it. There won't be a problem getting in. It's getting out that will be the challenge."

"So if our security system was better than theirs, then how did they get in to begin with?" Jade asked.

"In taking our base it appears they had inside information." Quinn answered as she glanced at Nikita before looking away. "It's the only way they could have taken the substation so swiftly and quite unaware. They were in and out before anything could be done. The first our people knew of an infiltration was when the self-destruct was remotely activated."

"Yeah, well traitors seem to be cropping up in all sorts of places lately." McDaniel, the operative who had gotten up to move away from Nikita commented.

Several of the operatives sat in stunned silence waiting for Nikita to react. She didn't bother to give him so much as a glance. Jade on the other hand pinned him with an icy glare. She remembered McDaniel well. He always made himself known by his uncanny knack for being a jerk. Jade knew McDaniel didn't really care one way or the other. After all it wasn't so long ago that he had attempted to humiliate Michael when Madeline had been trying to teach Michael a lesson about choosing Nikita over the Section. Now he was trying to do the same thing to Nikita.

Normally Operations would have reprimanded McDaniel and swiftly put a stop to his being out of order during a briefing and the renewed animosity he had caused by his remark. Unfortunately, for Nikita Operations wasn't in the mood to intervene. He had made that clear by the smirk on his face and his lack of response to the comment. For some reason McDaniel took that as a sign to continue what he had started.

"I don't want to go anywhere with a traitor." He continued belligerently. "The risks are high enough without not being able to trust your team lead."

Jade looked around the table and read the agreement in several of the operatives eyes although they let McDaniel do all the talking. Operations may not feel inclined to curb his attitude, but Jade wasn't going to stand for anymore.

"Amazingly enough, McDaniel, with all the traitors cropping up lately as you so blithely put it, it's amazing not one of them has taken a shot at you and your big mouth." Jade responded in a deliberately dry, unconcerned tone. "Maybe that can be remedied."

Jade ignored Jason's laugh that had quickly turned into a cough as she met the resentful glares now turned in her direction. She knew she had just set herself up for the same treatment that Nikita was getting by coming to her defense, but she would take care of that problem later. Right now it was important to remind them just who had the authority in this place.

"Anyone who has a problem with the current status quo can of course say so now. I'm sure we can find a workable solution for everyone concerned to solve the problem satisfactorily." When she was quite sure that her threat had been absorbed she focused her gaze back on Operations who now had a slight smirk on his face. He inclined his head in her direction as if conceding the round to her before he turned to face the group.

"We have an objective here people, I suggest we remember that and get back to the job at hand." Operations continued smoothly. "Quinn and Jason are on Comm, Nikita is on point, and Jade is on tactical. Get your profiles from Jade. You leave in two hours."

The group broke up as they quickly went about preparing for the mission. Jade watched as Quinn gave her a cold stare before departing for her workstation with Jason following closely behind.

Operations threw the vid screen remote on the table and then pinned Jade with an icy stare.

"You need to remember that you two may be here on loan from the Center, but I'm in charge of the Section. So before any decisions are made of dealing with my operatives are concerned you need to remember that those decisions are mine alone. Not yours."

"Really?" Jade replied sarcastically as she matched Operations glare for glare. "Mr. Jones will be interested in knowing that you're slacking in your responsibilities then, or maybe you approved of McDaniel's insubordinate behavior? I mean I can't help but wonder about your hesitation in dealing with a subordinate when you had no problem getting rid of a superior."

"My actions aren't in question here, Jade. Yours are." Operations repeated hardly, ignoring her heated reference to his cancellation of George.

"Mabye so." Jade conceded, "But it really doesn't matter either way because when it's all said in done I think Jones has the final say on what the three of us do, doesn't he? Now who do you think he's going to be more inclined to listen to. You should think about that, Paul. Maybe next time, I won't have to do your job for you."

"I believe you two have a mission to be prepare for, I suggest you get to it.." Operations responded lightly. Then without waiting for a response from either of them he simply turned on his heel and left them.

Jade watched him until he disappeared from sight and then turned from her seat to get up only to be halted by Nikita's husky voice.

"You think that was wise?"

"We'll find out soon won't we?"

Nikita stood up and Jade followed suit while she waited for Nikita's next question.

"What are you up to?"

"It's nothing for you to be concerned about." Jade responded smoothly. "Just a little theory I'm testing."

"Really?" Nikita questioned sardonically. "And just what are you trying to find out, who's going to try to kill you first!"

"No, whose guinea pigs we are."

Nikita watched Jade walk off realizing that the other woman had figured out something during their talk that she was choosing not to share with her. Nikita wasn't sure what it could be, but she realized that Jade would tell her when she got ready and not one minute before. Until then she hoped Jade knew what she was doing by deliberately antagonizing these people and throwing up Jones in Operations face. As she walked away to get ready she looked up to find Operations staring down at her…watching and waiting for the opportunity to retaliate.

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

Chapter 18

Quinn had just finished uploading the panels with the current profiles for the mission when she looked up to see Jade standing next to her. The woman had approached so quietly, Quinn hadn't heard her.

"Do you always sneak up on people, or is that your way of spying on me." Quinn snapped in her clipped British accent, annoyed at being caught off guard.

Jade raised her brows slightly and then smirked in sudden amusement, realizing why Quinn was so snappish.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to scare you."

Ignoring the smooth apology, Quinn gave Jade a swift head to toe eye sweep before turning her back on her as if she had determined that Jade wasn't worth paying attention too.

"What do you want?" Quinn asked coldly swiveling in her chair to face Jade once again when she realized the other woman wasn't going to go away.

Jade held out her PDA that contained the profile Quinn had just finished uploading to the mission panels.

"You want to tell me why you changed my profile by leaving point open for attack on our way out?"

"How di—"

"You're not the only Com expert, Kate." Jade interrupted in a hard tone, not giving Kate a chance to ask her how she had gotten into Quinn's directories. "Now how about giving me an answer."

"That's the profile that will work for this mission, the one you had didn't have all the current data." Quinn answered silently seething at the other woman's high handedness.

"Really, well I disagree, Kate." Jade said carefully. "Nikita is point and she needs more protection on her left flank. Updated intel or no. You've got backup to far away to help us should we encounter any problems."

"Excuse me, but I didn't ask you to critique any changes to the profile. If you have a problem with what I've done take it up with Operations since he is the one that approved it." Quinn answered sharply. "Besides, from what I understand Nikita can take care of herself."

"Maybe I wasn't clear." Jade began again only to be halted by Quinn's hand going up in the air to halt any other words she would have spoken.

"Spare me the do-you-know-who-I-am-speech. I know all about you, Jade. Your benefactor was a Section traitor and ended up cancelled for his trouble. Just because you're here from the Center doesn't make you the one with the authority despite what you may think. So don't think you can come in here and throw your weight around like you used to, just because George allowed you to come in and take over. Operations informed me when you and Nikita arrived that he was the only one I was to report to. Besides it's apparent you have a thing for traitors in this place, therefore I don't need or want any advice from you."

Jade's eyes narrowed in anger as she quickly got tired of the barbed insults Quinn felt free to throw her way. It was getting neither of them anywhere. Stepping closer to Quinn's chair, Jade leaned down until she was speaking directly in Quinn's ear and no one else could overhear their conversation.

"Listen very carefully, Quinn. Your life could depend upon my words. You're siding with the wrong party if you think loyalty to Ops is going to get you anywhere." Jade's voice was deceptively soft yet Quinn didn't mistake the quiet menace with which Jade uttered each word. "You shouldn't spout off on things you know nothing about. For the record, George earned his own cancellation through his desperation to get rid of Operations and Madeline. His desperation and his audacity made him stupid, but don't think I'm cut from the same cloth. Secondly, I don't throw my weight around, it's not necessary since I have very effective methods of dealing with those who cross me. Those methods have little to do with threats and everything to do with immediate results. George had little to do with the decisions I made while I was here. Thirdly, you know little of the situation that's occurred here concerning George, Nikita or their betrayals. All you have is third hand information. There are many here who are angry and want revenge. Despite what Nikita did to you, you're not one of them."

Jade straightened back up and stepped away from Quinn's chair and waited. She wasn't disappointed.

"Are you finished?" Quinn asked in an unconcerned tone.

Although Jade could see that Quinn was pretending her words hadn't affected her, Jade knew better.

"No. I'm not finished." Jade responded mimicking Quinn's tone.

She held out her hand and gave Quinn the small circular disc she had come to give her.

"My last comment about the profile wasn't going to be a suggestion, nor was it a critique. I've already included the necessary changes that need to be made and all you need to do is upload the new profile to the panel. You can check with Operations if you like, but it seems he's changed his mind about your changes and has accepted my original one."

"Is that all?" Quinn asked yet again, her words more clipped as she unsuccessfully tried to hide her rising anger at Jade's goading.

Jade simply smiled and turned to walk away. She waited until she got to the edge of the steps leading down to the main center of Section before she turned to face Quinn once again. She wasn't at all surprised to see the other woman watching her every move.

"There is one more thing, Kate. I would be very careful about any comments you make concerning Nikita. You two have more in common than you know."

"Really." Quinn answered sarcastically. "What could that be?"

"You two feel you're qualified to be judge, jury, and executioner of those who have been her longer and been through much more than the two of you could ever imagine. That doesn't make for healthy living in this place. You might do well to remember that. "

Jade was satisfied to see the shocked look on Quinn's face and turned away to find herself standing face to face with Nikita. She could tell by her friend's snapping blue eyes that she had heard the last comment.

"We need to get ready." Nikita said quietly. "The mission is loading in half an hour."

Jade stepped off the platform and fell in to step with Nikita as they headed away from Com and toward the locker rooms to get dressed for the mission.

"What are you doing?" Nikita asked between gritted teeth as soon as they were in the locker room and out of earshot.

"I'm working on something, and if I'm right we've got a serious problem. Just play along a little while longer, Nikita. I'll fill you in after the mission."

"Don't you think antagonizing Quinn before a relatively dangerous mission is a little foolish." Nikita asked, her voice full of exasperation at Jade's continued evasiveness.

"Sure it is, if I didn't know what to expect from her." Jade replied candidly. "I told you, I'm working on something, you'll just have to trust me, 'Kita."

Nikita wanted to pursue the issue, but Jade's stubborn look, told her that she wouldn't be getting anything out of her right now.

They dressed quickly and were almost out of the locker room before Nikita halted in mid-stride.

Jade turned to see what the problem was only to find Nikita staring at her.

"What is it? What are you waiting for?" Jade asked in a puzzled tone.

"Did you mean what you told, Quinn?"

"You want to talk about this now ." Jade demanded. "We've got a mission to get going on."

"Yes. I need to know, now." Nikita insisted.

Jade looked away for a moment and then returned her gaze to Nikita.

"Yes. I did. I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but I think the Center was wrong for allowing you to conduct the evaluations. Six years in the Section doesn't qualify you to be the one to pass judgment on people who have been here twice that long. Granted they put you through hell on earth, and half the time you were the only one willing to speak up. It doesn't make it right that you got to make the decision on who lived and who died, no more than it makes it right that Operations and Madeline got to decide the same thing. None of you have the right to play God, no matter how justified you think you are. Not even me."

Both women continued to stare at each other, both of them holding fast to their convictions, neither one willing to concede. Nikita let out a short derisive laugh at herself for asking, but glad that she had. One thing she knew is that Jade would never lie to her about her feelings. She could trust her and that was what she needed to know. Somehow Jade had understood that and told her the truth, whether Nikita agreed with her or not was better left for another time and place. Right now they had a mission.

Nikita strengthened the resolve she had made as soon as she began to realize that somehow Jade was methodically and carefully putting pieces of a puzzle together. Nikita wasn't quite sure what that puzzle was, or how Jade was accomplishing her goal by deliberately antagonizing Operations and Quinn along with Mr. Jones, but she knew that the game she was playing was dangerous. Nikita knew it was time for her to protect her friend. While, their relationship the past few weeks had been a little rocky as Jade tried hard to overcome her own anger at Nikita, she had still been the support that Nikita needed in Section. Nikita was very aware that Jade in her own way had been protecting her, now it was her turn to protect Jade from Jones, from Quinn, from Operations and especially from herself.

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

Operations watched as Nikita and Jade made their way to van access and loaded the mission to retrieve the substation.

"Did you fix the parameters?" He asked as he turned to face his visitor.

"Yes, sir." Quinn answered. "I skewed the numbers just like you said, so that Jade would rewrite the profile and insist upon them being changed back."

"Good. Change the numbers back to their original figures and destroy any trace that an alteration was ever made. That will be all. I'm sure tactical will be needing you in a few minutes." Operations said in a self-satisfied tone.

Quinn left and Operations once again turned to stare out at the Section. In another hour he could call Mr. Jones and give him the sad news that Nikita and Jade had been killed in a mission gone horribly wrong. He would then explain that Jones could hardly blame him for a tactical error on Jade's part due to her insistence on changing the profile at the last minute. By the time Jones investigated, the original numbers would be back in the profile and even Jones would have to concede that Jade had made a fatal error that had cost her and Nikita their lives.

Picking up his phone and accessing a secure line, he called Madeline to tell her the good news. For the first time in weeks, Operations allowed himself to smile.