Michael, resplendant in his understated silk suit, let out a breath, squared his shoulders, and strolled casually up to the hotel bar.

"Milk," he ordered in a soft voice.

The bartender nodded and filled his order, shoving the tall glass across to him. Michael picked it up and sipped, not because he wanted anything to drink, particularly, but because he knew it would give him a chance to look for his target while appearing innocuous.

And milk was the most innocuous drink he could think of.

He took another sip, turning away from the bar to study the other patrons and the doorways, eyes searching.

Another sip, another turn, and he saw her- Lisa.

She was just beyond the closed glass doors of the private dining room, being seated at a table and handed a breakfast menu. Michael tensed, and brushed his hand nervously across his mouth, removing the slight trace of milk left there.

She was so close. She was the one person who could keep Nikita alive. The one thing David Fanning had demanded in exchange for Nikita's life.

"You took my woman, now I'll take yours." David's words echoed in his head, chilling him. Michael saw in his mind's eye how the deranged killer had looked, holding a struggling Nikita around her waist, pulling her hard against him, using her as a shield.

He knew just what to say to get Michael's instant obedience. Though not brilliant, David had an almost instinctual cunning when it came to sensing his opponent's weaknesses. And David knew Nikita was his.

"I want my wife back," Fanning had demanded. "You've got forty-eight hours."

Michael had had no idea where to find her. And so little time. As soon as he had flown back to the city from the woods where David was hiding Nikita, Michael sought out Birkoff. If anyone could trace Fanning's shy wife, Section's resident computer specialist could.

Michael was not dissapointed. In a very short time, Birkoff had given him a location, a swank hotel where Lisa resided in the penthouse on the top floor.

And now his target was just beyond the beveled glass doors. She was so close, in three quick strides he could have reached her. There was nothing between them - nothing but the doors, and her four large, armed, body guards.

Michael set his glass down on the bar and stared at her, concentrating. She was studying the menu, a smile on her face, when suddenly her head came up and she turned in her seat and gazed in his direction.

It was as if she had felt his green eyes concentrating on her, felt the force of his entire being focused on her, longing for her---but not in quite the same way she had longed for him for over a year.

Their eyes met, green locking with shocked blue. Lisa gasped and jumped up from her seat, jostling the table hard enough for her silverware to clatter noisily to the floor.

"My God, Michael!" Lisa gasped out, her mouth hanging open, her eyes never leaving his face.

Michael held the look, his eyes wide and pleading. He gave her a slight nod of his head.

"You want me to get rid of this guy for you, Ma'am?" Randy, the largest of her bodyguards, asked eagerly.

He could see his employer trembling in distress as she looked at the man in the bar. Randy was hoping she would tell him yes. It had been a while since he'd had a good fight. It would relieve the boredom of the day if he could bounce this long-haired guy, even though he didn't look like much of a challenge. The guy was drinking MILK, for chrissakes.

"Uh, no... no..." Lisa said, sinking back into her chair. She sighed a huge sigh, and then looked up at Randy. "Ask him to come here," she ordered breathlessly.

Randy nodded. So the long-haired guy was an old boyfriend. Well, maybe they would argue or something, Randy thought hopefully; I may still get a chance to toss this guy out.

Randy straightened his considerable shoulders and opened the doors, walking up to Michael. He stood close to the other man, letting the fact that he was 6'6 and twice as wide as Michael sink in.

Michael was not intimidated. He merely lifted his head slightly to meet Randy's eyes with a cool, blank stare.

"Yes?" he said calmly.

A little annoyed at the effect, or lack thereof, that his presence had elicited, Randy stated his mission. "The lady would like you to join her for breakfast."

"Thank you," agreed Michael politely.

He followed Randy through the bar and up the steps to the glass doors and into the small dining room. Randy held the door open for him and then shut it behind them, taking a protective stance against the door, arms folded across his vast chest.

He was with her at last. Lisa.

With nothing between him and his target, Michael's gaze locked with Lisa's again. With his most sensuous voice, low and accented, his tongue sliding carressingly over her name, he greeted her.

"Hello, Leez-za," he breathed softly. "It's good to see you."

**********

Lisa's eyes drank him in greedily. The wavy hair brushed back from the noble forehead, the compelling green eyes, the full, sensuous mouth that had kissed her so expertly, the lithe body that had joined with hers...

The man who had lied to her, seduced her, and betrayed her. The only man she had ever loved. He was here, before her- Michael.

"What do you want?" she demanded, the words coming out more tentatively than she had planned. Lisa's words sounded more like an anxious plea than an angry request, even to her ears.

Her tone was not lost on Michael. He pressed home his advantage with his wavering prey.

"You," he told her. "I wanted-- needed-- to see you again. To be with you..."

Lisa took in a sharp breath. The words were what she had dreamed of hearing, but deep down she knew it was all lies.

She turned her head away from him angrily. "No," she said, almost sobbing. "It's another trick. Another assignment..."

"Leez-za, please," he begged again in the caressing voice. "Please... can we talk alone?"

She looked up at him for a long moment, assessing him, calculating.... Something had brought him here, something besides his longing for her. Curiousity and self -interest joined with heart's demand to give in to his request. Lisa, unable to stop herself, capitulated to his soft pleas.

She glanced at her bodyguards, one at each corner of the room. "Wait in the hall," she ordered.

The men nodded and left, Randy the most reluctantly.

"Thank you," Michael said when they had gone.

"Sit down," Lisa told him, trying to sound stern.

He seated himself in the chair opposite hers and reached across the table for her hand. Before he could touch her, Lisa snatched her hand back from him.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, a little bit hysterically. "Just tell me what it is you want. What kind of job is it this time?"

Michael settled back in his chair and ran one hand nervously over his jaw.

"You're right, you have no reason to trust me. And I have no right to ask, but I don't have much time and.. and.. I need you..." Michael pleaded truthfully.

Lisa looked up at him again, impressed by the sincerity in his voice. It was her undoing. She was immediately ensnared in the depths of the sensuous green eyes.

"Tell me," she said, caving in. "What's going on? Why are you here?"

Michael leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I don't have much time," he said again. "They're probably already looking for me...."

Lisa's eyes widened. "You ran away? From the .. organization?"

Lisa recalled the devastating moment when she learned that Michael's love, his words of devotion, had all been a trick. That he and Nikita worked for some undercover law enforcement agency, and their friendship and caring had all been part of a carefully calculated plan to bring down her husband, David.

She remembered, too, Michael's emphatic words to her right after he wrested the gun away from her- the gun she had turned upon herself, wanting to end it all.

"You're free," Michael had insisted. "David's out of your life, and you're free. Nikita's not, and I'm not, but YOU ARE."

"I don't want to be free," was Lisa's anguished response. "I just want to be with you..."

To be free. That was something she knew was important to Michael. In the last year, it had become something important to her as well. And now he had made a bid for his freedom. She was worried now for his safety.

Michael reached across the breakfast table again for her hand and this time she did not pull back, but gripped his fingers tightly in hers.

"Yes, I ran away," he said huskily, words tumbling out passionately. "But I realize I.. I need you. I thought I would forget you, but I couldn't."

"Being free means nothing to me if I can't be with you." He looked pleadingly into her eyes again, as his fingers rubbed across hers.

"Come away with me," he begged.

***********

With his eyes still locked with hers, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it hungrily, lips soft but full of promise on her skin.

Lisa closed her eyes, feeling herself go weak at his touch.

"I.. I need time... to think..." she stammered, the feel of his hand on hers making her feel dizzy and disoriented.

"There is no time..." he insisted again.

In an instant, he was out of his chair and kneeling beside her. Lisa turned toward him and he kissed her, gently at first, and then with more urgency, tongue exploring, hands still gripping hers. Lisa closed her eyes again tightly, wanting to cry at the beauty of it, this wonderful, sweet kiss of reunion.

If only she could believe him.

"Please. Leez-za," he begged again.

She smiled at him, making a decision. "All right, Michael," she promised. "All right. I'll go away with you..."

Michael smiled back, his shoulders heaving in a huge sigh of relief. He rose from his kneeling position beside her, and hand still in hers, pulled her to her feet.

"Come, my Love, let's go..." he urged her toward the door.

Lisa still smiled at him and follwed him meekly to the door. Michael opened it for her and she stepped from the dining room into the hall, where her bodyguards waited.

She pulled her hand away from Michael's and gestured to the men as she stepped away from him. Her smile faded.

"Take him," she ordered coldly.

Michael's eyes widened and he took a step toward her. "Leez-za, no..."

He stopped abruptly and raised his hands when Randy pulled his gun and aimed it at him. The other three guards moved closer, surrounding Michael in a tight circle.

Michael looked past the men to look at Lisa, standing a few steps away from them down the hall, her expression no longer soft and yielding.

"No, don't do this..." he pleaded.

"What were your last words to me, Michael?" Lisa said mockingly, her voice still cold. "Oh yes, I remember now..."

She moved closer and glared into Michael's face. "I'm SORRY. That's it."

She hissed out the words as Randy stepped toward Michael and handcuffed his wrists together behind his back. "I'll make sure you're still very sorry for what you did, Michael..."

She waved the men away, and watched as her bodyguards marched their captive down the hall to the elevator, Michael still struggling and calling out her name.

"Leez-za, please.." Michael moaned out hoarsely, desperation in his voice and eyes.

Lisa merely glared after them. It wasn't until the elevator doors had closed behind them that Lisa slumped disconsolately against the wall in the deserted hotel corridor.

Burying her face in her hands, she wept.

**********

Michael assessed his chances of trying to escape Lisa's bodyguards, and decided against making the attempt. The four men were all built like Hulk Hogan, all taller and heavier than he was, making him look almost fragile in comparison.

Michael was outnumbered, but beyond that, he was unarmed, and had his hands handcuffed behind him. But even more importantly, he was being taken to Lisa's suite where he needed to be. Escape was not an option.

Unresisting, he allowed the men to push him into the elevator and take him for the long ride up to the top floor to the penthouse.

Randy grinned at him, enjoying himself. Finally, the beefy guard thought to himself, a little action for once.

"In here," he ordered his men, indicating one of the bedrooms in the suite. Randy pulled out a straight-backed chair from the dining room table with one hand, the gun still in the other.He then went back with his burden and set it in the center of the small bedroom.

"Put him here," Randy told them.

While the others shoved Michael roughly down in the chair, Randy held the gun on Michael as the men undid his handcuffs and pulled Michael's arms around the chair back and cuffed him again.

Michael watched the men warily, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as the men approached nearer, expressions of anticipation lighting their faces.

"I want to see Lisa," Michael told them quietly.

"Shut up," said Randy, pocketing the gun. He grabbed Michael by the hair and jerked his head back roughly. He grinned again and pulled back his fist to strike the captive. Michael tensed in preparation for the blow.

"Stop!" said a voice from the doorway. Randy and the rest turned to see their employer standing just inside the room, staring at Michael.

"Let him go," Lisa ordered.

Randy reluctantly loosened his grip on Michael's hair and lowered his fist. This is the last time I'll work for a woman, he thought. Too squeamish by far.

Lisa looked at each of the men in turn and stated in a firm voice, "I don't want him hurt. Just make sure he stays here, understand?"

The men nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," Randy muttered.

"Wait outside," Lisa told them.

The guards filed out and Lisa closed the door behind them. She turned to face Michael who gazed at her again with his soulful, innocent green eyes.

"Leez-za, please," he begged again, straining against the handcuffs. "Let me go."

Lisa slumped wearily down on the bed and sat watching him. "I WILL, Michael. I'll let you go...."

Blue eyes locked with green. "As soon as you tell me the truth," she added.

Michael closed his eyes and lowered his head, the brown waves of hair falling forward across his face. "It was the truth," he said softly.

He did need her. He needed her badly. To save Nikita.

Anxiety knotted in his stomach. While he was here, helpless, at Lisa's mercy, Nikita was at the mercy of David. Michael tried not to panic, tried not to think about what David might be doing to her....

Tears of real anguish brimmed in his eyes, and as he raised his head to look at Lisa, the tears spilled over and fell down his cheeks.

"Please," he groaned. "I need you..."

Lisa bit her lip and looked uncomfortable, trying to remain objective, but his tears were making that very hard to do.

"So, you need me?" she said sternly, but with a little catch in her voice. "And I suppose you love me, too?"

He raised the green eyes to hers. They still glistened with unshed tears. "Yes," he said hoarsely. "I do."

She was off the bed in a moment, coming toward him, hand outstretched. Michael thought she was going to slap him. Instead, the hand touched his cheek gently, pushing back the thick curls from his face.

Michael looked into her eyes hopefully. "Leez-za," he breathed.

Very carefully, she brushed the tears from his cheek and then leaned down toward him, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Oh, Michael," she sighed, and kissed him.

*********

Miles away, David Fanning was also contemplating his captive handcuffed to the chair. Nikita was lovely, even with no make-up and in masculine garb. She stared at him defiantly, showing no fear.

David was tempted to reach for her, to kiss her, to take from Michael what Michael had taken from him- his woman. He was also tempted to slap Nikita until the defiant look was gone, until she cowered in front of him, afraid.

But David did neither of those things. Operations had assessed him quite correctly- he had a strong will to live, and would do nothing to jeapordize his chances of survival.

And one thing he was sure of- if he laid a finger on Nikita, Michael would never rest until David was dead.

So instead, David whistled happily while rummaging through his supplies in the small cabin, and daydreamed about what it would be like to be with Lisa again.

He smiled, thinking back to the day they met. Lisa was just out of high school, working as an underpaid secretary for one of his clients during the day, and going to college classes at night.

David, even though he was fifteen years her senior, knew immediately that she was the one for him. Something about her shy, timid ways turned him on, stimulated him, drew him to her, like a shark was drawn to the scent of blood.

Her uncertainty and lack of confidence brought out his cruel streak. He got her to date him, pointing out that her employer wouldn't like it if she wasn't nice to his business associates. He implied, but did not say, that he would get her fired if she didn't co-operate.

Lisa's parents had died when she was young, and the elderly maiden aunt who raised her was now dead as well. Lisa, on her own, living from pay-check to pay-check, was terrified of losing her job. There was no one and no money to fall back on.

David found it incredibly easy to push that button with her, to make her afraid and insecure. Reluctantly, she went along with what he demanded.

To his further delight, David realized that Lisa was as inexperienced in the ways of sex as she was in the ways of the world, her virginity a result of both her aunt's strict upbringing and Lisa's own natural shyness.

It was so easy to terrorize her, mused David. With sex. With beatings. With the threat of being left destitute. And, with the threat of his leaving her.

David shook his head in amazement at how quickly he had been able to strip Lisa of any self-esteem she had, and how easily she had come to believe the lies he told her- that she needed him, that she would be lost without him, that she was just a stupid female who needed to learn how to OBEY.

After they were married, he controlled her even further. He watched her, had her followed. She was no longer allowed to go to her night classes or to work, or go out to see friends. She was his property now.

Things had been fine, David thought, until Nikita and Michael came along. Lisa, who had been dead inside, found herself alive with new hope.

It didn't have to be this way, Lisa realized. She could escape with Michael, a tender, caring lover who was only the second man who had ever touched her. And the first man she had ever loved.

He was wonderful. They would go away together, live happily ever after- Michael had promised.

But it had all been a trick, to get David. Michael had used her to get into David's computer system, then, when he had what he wanted, he had thrown her away, leaving her more crushed than before.

David smiled again. After what Michael did to her, he imagined Lisa would be glad to be back where she belonged, with David. She should realize by now that no other man really wanted her. She should realize that she was nothing without him.

He couldn't wait to see her.

The thought made him so happy, he even forgot himself enough to go so far as to give Nikita some breakfast and smile at her.

Nikita ate her food warily, watching David as he moved around the cabin, humming to himself.

He really was a damned psycho, she thought. Poor Lisa.

***********

Michael leaned into the kiss, pressing his face against Lisa's cheek. That's when he felt the tears. Her tears, this time, mingling with his own.

Lisa pulled back, breaking the kiss, but her hand remained on his face, and she again caressed the lock of long, wavy hair, pushing it behind his ear.

He gave her a puzzled look, and she kissed him lightly on the forehead, then sat again on the edge of the bed, facing him.

"Michael," she pleaded. "Please. No more games. Tell me the truth."

She wiped at her eyes and paused, giving him a moment to speak. When he said nothing, she went on.

"I've changed," she told him softly. "I'm not the stupid, gullible girl you fooled..."

Michael looked down. "I never thought you were stupid," he whispered.

Lisa laughed brokenly, her voice catching on a sob. "That's nice, Michael, but you know that's a lie.."

She lifted his chin with her hand and looked into his eyes. "You manipulated me easily, as easily as David did...."

Michael frowned, and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Lisa put her finger lightly on his lips. "Shhhhh, I know you are..." she reassured him.

Michael opened his eyes and looked at her wonderingly.

Lisa smiled shyly at him. "I accepted your ... apology that you sent me," she said softly. "And the money..."

Michael knew she was referring to the check for a million dollars that he had siphoned from David's account before Section claimed his assets, and to the recorded message he sent with the money, telling her she should learn to fly, take up painting again, and never be with a man who didn't treat her as she deserved.

"Would you like to know what I did with the money, besides rent this place?" she asked.

"What?" Michael asked.

She smiled shyly again and blushed, lowering her eyes. "I got three women's shelters established so far, here in the city. So that other women, women like me, could have their freedom."

She lifted her eyes and looked at him thoughtfully. "Freedom like you gave me."

"I'm willing to return the favor, Michael," she went on. "I'll help you to be free, too, if that's what you want.."

Michael sighed and looked at her with hope in his eyes. "Yes. Yes, that's what I want..." He struggled again, pulling his wrists against the handcuffs. "Please..."

"Lisa, I...." Michael began.

She stopped him from saying anything further by placing her hand against his lips. "Shhh, no more lies, Michael," she said, still smiling her sad smile.

"You don't have to say you want me, or that you ... love me," Lisa told him. "Let's just say you turned to ... to an old friend when you needed help, O.K.?"

The tears were back, shining in her eyes.

"Okay," Michael answered softly. "Thank you."

She patted him briskly on the shoulder. "All right, then, let's not waste any more time."

Lisa walked to the door and opened it, signalling to Randy to come into the room.

"Yes, Ma'am?" he asked eagerly.

"Release him," Lisa ordered, "and then get the jet ready. We're going on a little trip."

Michael looked at her in amazement as Randy undid his handcuffs. "You have a jet?" he asked in surprise.

Lisa smiled and linked her arm in his as she led him from the room.

"Of course, Darling. You told me to learn to fly, remember?"

Michael looked at her, still in shock, then broke out in a wide grin. "So I did," he answered.

New hope filled him; there might be hope for a future after all, for Nikita, for him, and for Lisa. His mind worked busily, turning over ways to save all of them from David.

He kissed her on the cheek, his one-time lover, now friend.

"Let's go," he said, and followed her out of the room, away from captivity to freedom, and Nikita.

**********

The sky was a brilliant blue around them and the clouds pure white and soft, almost like a pillow, beneath the small private plane.

Michael sat silent, almost in reverence to the scene, in the co-pilot seat next to Lisa as she guided the small aircraft expertly through the clouds. They sat quietly, side by side, enjoying the peace. Both knew once they landed that this brief moment of calm would be over.

Lisa glanced over at Michael and noticed his wry smile. "What?" she asked, curious. "What's so amusing?"

"I was wondering if you painted now as well as you fly," he answered with a laugh.

Lisa laughed in return, blushing slightly at his compliment. "Well, that's a matter of opinion, I suppose."

She glanced at him briefly, then back at her controls. "I do take lessons, though. There's an art instructor I've hired who gives lessons at all the shelters. I think self-expression is important..."

Michael nodded. "So, your life is much better now. It's how you want it to be...." His voice had a somewhat wistful, almost envious, tone to it as he compared his life to hers.

"You're not stifled anymore- you're free," he went on. "And you're no longer afraid.."

Lisa sighed. Her life wasn't quite as perfect as Michael made it sound. She longed to have Michael back in it, or, she amended, she longed for the illusion of what she had believed Michael to be- a loving partner.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," she answered. "I don't live in fear anymore."

"Then why all the bodyguards?" Michael queried. "Were you expecting some trouble?" He was trying to see if Lisa suspected anything about David.

"Oh, that," she said nonchalantly. "A month ago, the husband of one of the women at the shelter made some threats against me. I thought it would be a good idea to take precautions."

"I see," said Michael, impressed by her apparent courage in the face of yet another man's intimidation.

"I started taking some self-defense classes, too," Lisa added. She gave a sideways glance at Michael, then said, "I think Nikita would be proud of me, don't you?"

"Yes," he said softly. "Very proud."

The tenderness in his voice made her blush again, but then she sighed and asked him a question in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So," Lisa demanded, "You didn't come here to catch up on current events with me..."

She turned her head and gazed at him steadily. "When are you going to tell me what's going on? What is this all about, Michael?"

He returned her look, silently assessing her and trying to decide how much, if any, of the truth to tell her.

She turned back to her instruments, scanning the scene outside the windows once more. "It's all right, Michael. I won't scream and get hysterical if you tell me."

She held his gaze once more, frank blue eyes looking into green. "This is about David, isn't it?" she asked calmly.

Michael looked at her appraisingly again. This was not the same young girl who he had duped so easily before, the girl who had been so eager for any small scrap of attention and affection he had given her, the girl he had seduced so easily into doing anything he wanted.

The person he saw before him now was not a frightened young girl but a strong woman, tempered by adversity, tested and strengthed by hard-won battles for dignity, for respect, for life itself.

And yet, her trials had not dimmed or altered the underbed of her basic personality that had appealed to him, that had shone out even under the layers of fear- her basic child-like sweetness and generosity of spirit.

It was this sweetness and generosity that made her help other battered women, that made her want to help him now, to trust him again, even when she knew it was foolish, even dangerous, to do so.

A sudden thought hit him- If he didn't care so much for Nikita, if his heart weren't already engaged, he could care deeply for this woman now, this new Lisa.

Michael made a decision. He would show her enough respect to not lie to her again. She deserved, she had earned, the right to hear the truth.

"Yes," he told her quietly. "David is still alive."

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

Lisa's hands tensed on the controls and she swallowed nervously, but those were the only outward signs she gave of her inner distress. Her voice was still level and calm when she spoke to Michael.

"Tell me," she demanded, not looking at him, "So, you really don't need my help to escape the people you work for. You're not running away after all. This is all just another job to you, isn't it?"

"Leez-za, no..." Michael protested, not sure how to explain.

She looked at him then, unable to keep the tears welling in her eyes from over-flowing.

"It's not a job," Michael said grimly. "It's ... personal."

As she still looked at him, he reached toward her and pressed the button that transferred control of the plane to the co-pilot's seat, then expertly and smoothly took over from her.

Lisa made no effort to stop him, just buried her face in her hands and shuddered for a moment, leaning back in her seat. After taking a few shaky, deep breaths to calm herself, she lifted her head and looked at Michael.

"What has he done to you?" she asked.

Glancing from her to the horizon, Michael began his tale. He told her everything, how David had been assigned to a mission with them; how he had killed their teammates and kidnapped Nikita; how he had demanded that Lisa be brought to him in forty-eight hours or Nikita would be killed.

"So, you're just going to leave me there with him?" Lisa choked out.

She realized now that the genuine emotion and tears Michael had displayed earlier were real, but not for her- he was worried about Nikita.

"No," said Michael, shaking his head. "David needs to be stopped, to be put out of business for good..."

He took a small vial filled with some dark red liquid out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"This will let you finish the job," he told her. "You can use this to free yourself from David."

Lisa stared at the small tube in his palm, but did not take it from him. Crossing her arms across her chest, she backed away from his offering, shaking her head in vigorous refusal.

"No!" she said vehemently. "No, Michael. I'm not a killer, I...."

Michael pursed his lips in a grim line and extended the vial out to her again. "It's your way out. You'll never be free of him until you kill him yourself..."

Lisa was stunned by his words, and froze in her seat again. Then she recovered and took his hand, folding his fingers over the vial so that they made a fist, then she shoved the fist and his offering away from her.

"You don't understand, do you, Michael?" she said shaking her head. "I'm already free from David...."

"What do you mean?" Michael said, bewildered.

"I mean, I've put him and that part of my life behind me. He can't hurt me anymore. It's over..." Lisa said earnestly.

It was true, although she hadn't quite realized it until just then. She had no feelings of anger toward David, no hatred, and no shame. The only thing she felt for David now was... pity.

Her feelings toward Michael were the ones she wasn't over yet.

"Leez-za," Michael insisted. "You'll be a David's mercy again- and it will be worse than before."

He stared at her with concern in the depths of his green eyes. "You'll need a way to get rid of him."

He explained how the isotope worked- how all she had to do was put it on his skin or in his drink, and in a few hours he would be dead.

Lisa cringed as he described the process-- the pain, the paralysis...

"No, I told you," Lisa almost shouted. "I can't do that. I won't!"

She stared wide-eyed at Michael. "Find some other way, because I'm not doing that," she declared stubbornly.

"All right," Michael finally gave in, pocketing the isotope again. "We'll find another way."

Lia sighed, and realized Michael wanted her to be free, too, as well as Nikita, and that he wasn't planning on just giving her to David and abandoning her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

In answer Michael gave her a small smile, and brushed a lock of her long, curly hair away from her face. He let his hand linger on her cheek for a moment while his eyes looked into hers.

Breathless, Lisa closed her eyes, knowing that this brief caress might well be the first, and the last, gesture of real affection that he had shown her, despite all his words and the lovemaking that had gone on before.

Warmed by this touch, Lisa sighed, and let go of her fear. She leaned back in her seat where she sat quietly for the rest of the flight, trusting that Michael would, once more, find a way to save her life again.

**********

"No! Let me go!" Lisa cried out, squirming in Michael's grasp as he led her through the woods to their rendezvous point with David.

Michael snaked his arm roughly around her waist and pulled her back against him. "No! Please! I don't want to go.." Lisa squealed again, as Michael had instructed her.

She was to play the part of frightened house-wife again. Lisa frowned as Michael marched her closer and closer to where David was waiting. It wasn't difficult to pretend to be afraid, because she was.

"No..." she whimpered again, twisting from side to side. Suddenly she felt Michael's grip slacken at the same time his whole body tensed where he held against his chest.

She looked up at him; Michael had frozen, looking past her to a point beyond them in the woods.

Lisa turned quickly to look in the same direction, and that's when she saw them- David and Nikita.

Nikita had her hands handcuffed behind her and was being led through the woods by her captor; David had his gun out and one arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her like a shield in front of him.

Michael halted where he was, waiting for the other two to approach. He was silent, his face impassive, until they came a little closer and he saw the blood on the shoulder of Nikita's jacket.

His grip on Lisa tightened again, and she could feel him trembling with rage.

"Fanning!" Michael called out angrily. "What did you do to her?"

David stopped a few yards in front of them and looked at Lisa hungrily, a smile spreading across his face. Then he forced himself to tear his eyes away from his wife and he looked tauntingly at Michael.

"Don't get excited, there, Michael," he said in his bully's voice, tormenting the other man. "I didn't hurt your Beloved.....much."

David laughed, and pulled Nikita's shirt back to reveal the top of a bandage sticking out from her undershirt.

"She tried to escape, and we couldn't have that, now could we?" Fanning gloated, his mouth close to Nikita's ear.

"It's O.K. The bullet just grazed me," said Nikita wearily.

She had mangaged to free herself the night before from the handcuffs using a small piece of wire she found on the floor. David appeared to be sleeping when she slipped out of the cabin.

But she hadn't gotten far. Fanning had unusually good instincts, almost like a predatory animal, and had sensed her absence a few seconds after she had gone.

Fanning had gathered up his gun and followed after her. In the night her blond hair shone just enough through the trees for him to see her, fleeing quickly. He had to make a decision. He needed her alive, but without a hostage, he had no way to get Lisa back.

Deciding to take the chance, Fanning raised his gun, and, carefully aiming, shot her.

The bullet grazed her shoulder, and Nikita went down. She was only on the ground for a few moments, adjusting to the pain, before she was up again, running.

But the delay had been enough for Fanning to reach her. With the gun held on her and his grip firm around her good arm, Fanning had led Nikita back to the cabin, where he did not make the mistake of falling asleep in her presence again.

Instead, he began to treat her wound after he had handcuffed her back to the chair. Nikita endured his ministrations silently.

David again whistled to himself. He was in a happy mood. His prey had not escaped; he had won. Winning always made him cheerful. The thought of seeing Lisa again in a few hours time elevated his mood further.

Now, seeing his wife squirming in Michael's grip and the stricken expression on Michael's face as he stared at Nikita, Fanning felt even more gleeful. Everything was working out as he had planned it.

David grinned and held the gun up to Nikita's forehead. "You know," he taunted again, "I could just kill her now, but I know you'd come after me," he said to Michael.

"So let's just stick to our original agreement, all right?" Fanning shoved Nikita roughly in front of him.

"Give me Lisa, and you'll get your woman back," David went on. "And we'll all go our separate ways, deal?"

"Deal," said Michael, an impassive look on his face. He shoved Lisa away from him so that she took a few staggering steps toward David.

"No!" said Nikita in protest.

Lisa straightened and began walking toward them, he head held high.

David pushed Nikita forward, releasing her. She rushed as fast as she could toward Lisa, standing in front of the smaller woman between her and David.

"Lisa, no," she whispered to the girl as she stepped around her. Nikita, handcuffed as she was, had no way to stop her, other than with her pleas.

"Don't go back to him," Nikita begged.

Lisa patted her on the arm and gave her a small, reassuring smile. "It's all right," Lisa told her softly.

She turned around to look at Michael one last time before going to join her husband.

Nikita stood, impotent and furious, as she watched Fanning shove Lisa into the jeep that Lisa and Michael had arrived in and drive off. She could hear Fanning's laughter even over the sound of the tires squealing on the gravel road.

Nikita closed her eyes, shaking her head. When she opened them again, it was to see Michael standing next to her. He carefully pulled back her shirt to look at the wound.

"I'm sorry he hurt you," said Michael tenderly. "Are you all right?"

He waited breathlessly for her answer. It was his way of asking if Fanning had molested her in any way.

Nikita jerked away from his touch and stared off down the road where Lisa and Fanning had dissappeared.

"Im fine, Michael," she said, part anxious, part frustrated. "Uncuff me and we'll go afer Lisa.."

"No," Michael said calmly.

Nikita's eyes widened. "But we can't just leave her with him!" she protested.

"She'll be fine," said Michael, as he led her toward the road where one of the Section vehicles was parked. "Fanning will be taken care of."

Nikita looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "What did you do?"

Michael gazed back at her solemnly. He took a small key from his pocket and undid the handcuffs. While she stood looking warily at him, rubbing her wrists, Michael opened the car door for her.

"I told you," was all he would say. "She'll be fine."

Sighing, Nikita shook her head and got in. Michael pulled the seat belt tight for her and closed her door, then went around to the driver's side.

He let himself drink in the sight of her; even bandaged, grubby, her hair wild, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She was especially beautiful when she was angry.

"Dammit, Michael," she said, blue eyes flashing, "Sometimes I think you are the coldest man I've ever met. You have no heart. You....."

Michael couldn't stop himself. He turned in his seat and swiftly gathered Nikita into his arms and pressed his mouth to hers, stopping her words.

He kissed her with all the fervency and passion in him. His kiss told her of how relived he was that she was alive, that he was with her again, that he loved her...

Nikita surrendered to the kiss and placed her hand against his chest, where she felt his heart beating fast and hot for her.

They stayed locked in each others arms for a long time, lost in their own world of sweet reunion.

Their intimacy might have startled an observer, but there was no one there to see them but a small song-bird, who looked down on them from his high perch who, his song echoing through the deep forest, warbled out his approval. *********

Epilogue and End Lisa smiled and straightened one of the knick- knacks on her mantel in the penthouse. It was a small, lumpy four-legged creature of papier-mache'that one of the children at the new shelter's art class had made for her.

Lisa wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a horse, or a bear, or a dinosaur, maybe? It didn't matter. She would cherish it anyway.

Just as she would always cherish the note that had come along with the check for five million dollars from Michael.

It had arrived shortly after Lisa had returned to her penthouse after David's dissappearance.

They, she and David, had returned from Europe and David had set them up in hotel suite in a major Midwestern city. As soon as she had a chance, when David had gone to take a shower, Lisa called the phone number Michael had given her.

A recording asked her to state her message. She spoke clearly, if a little breathlessly, into the phone, leaving her location- city, state, hotel, street address, room number- then hung up.

Grabbing her sweater, she slipped out of the room and went to wait in the lobby. A short time later, several large men in black suits entered the hotel and went into the elevator. They never came back down, and neither did David.

While she waited, Lisa pondered why one of the men in black had seemed so familiar, and then she remembered. She had seen the man's picture in the newspaper clipping pinned to David's office wall when she had broken into his computer that night with Michael's help.

Anton Kurackas. The father of the boy who was killed on his wedding day in Greece. The boy David Fanning had coldly executed.

Karmic payback is a bitch, Lisa thought. She knew David would never hurt her or anyone else again.

Two hours later, feeling she had waited long enough, Lisa left the lobby and went out on the sidewalk to hail a taxi.

Now, safe and free in her penthouse, Lisa smiled recalling how Michael had explained in his note that the five million was the reward money the Kurackas family had paid for the whereabouts of the assassin who had killed their son.

Michael's note had also gone on to say that he wished her well, that she should enjoy her freedom, that she should go on learning, go on painting, go on flying....

Go on to love someone else that deserved her.

Lisa sighed and walked into the large, sunny bedroom that she used now as a studio. The painting in progress, her latest project, stood on the easel. Lisa pulled back the cloth covering it and then put on her smock and gathered her supplies.

Soon she was lost in her work. The portrait was coming along nicely.

She stepped back from it, pondering the handsome face that smiled back at her from the canvas.

"Mmmmm," she said to herself. "Aren't his eyes a little greener than that?"

Sighing softly again, Lisa went on with her work.

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