Michael sat quietly in the meeting at Center. His expression intent, but to anyone who really knew him, would know that his mind was elsewhere.

The meeting had been dragging on for hours. Everyone was here, Section One and representatives from the other Sections, Oversight and Center. It was a chance for everyone to get a good overview of what was going on, voice their concerns and just air out their various grievances.

But the more the meeting dragged on and the more petty the bickering became, the more Michael's mind wandered. Across the table sat the reason for his mind going where it didn't belong- Nikita- tall, blonde, beautiful. Always Nikita. A smile briefly tugged at his face as his mind went back to the beginning...

***********

The day had been long, mission profiles to start, reports to complete and a new recruit to initiate into the world of Section One. He briefly thought about assigning her to someone else but then decided it would be a nice break from his days filled with paper work.

As he opened the door to the White Room and listened to the screech of the hinges, he thought for the 10 thousandth time to bring a can of WD-40 the next time he came.

She lay on the table, restraints in place, blonde hair spread around her face. She seemed in good shape, not gaunt from living on the streets or from drug use. Then he really looked at her face and his heart seemed to clutch in his chest... in repose, her face was beautiful, almost angelic.

He loosened the restraints and injected her with the stimulant and waited for her to awaken. Her eyes snapped open and were instantly alert. As he continued to talk to her about her life in Section and watched her reactions to his talk and to him, he was glad he had decided to work with her. This one, this Nikita, would be very interesting, indeed.

Her training went as expected. She adapted well after some initial reticence. She excelled in most areas but continued to fight when confronted with scenarios where innocents were place in danger. He knew that her compassion was both a strong point and a major weakness but hoped that with time she would be able to balance her compassion with survival instincts.

Her first mission went as expected, even though Operations was certain she would fail under pressure. That she performed well and could still spit in Michael's face just strengthened his opinion of her. When they walked into the apartment and he told her it was hers, the expression on her face was one that he would retain for a long time- such happiness and joy. If only she could stay that way.

***********

She sat across the table from him. From where she was sitting, she could look through the holographic data to his face and study him without anyone else being the wiser.

And study him she did, his face, his eyes, the way he sat. She knew that he wasn't concentrating on the meeting and from the occasional smiles that glanced across his face, she had a pretty good idea what he was daydreaming about, or should she say who.

Life in Section was intense, constant training and learning. Especially learning that she was always being lied to or manipulated in some way shape or form.

But Michael, that was a whole other story. Tall, dark and handsome was putting it mildly. How about intense, mysterious and heart stopping.

Even with all of the lies and manipulations, she remembers the good times. Even though she never admitted it, even to herself, she knew that Michael had protected and saved her life many times- both from the bad guys and from Operations. Then there were all the times that his feelings surfaced even while carrying out the dictates of Section One. How he manipulated the final outcome of Grey Wellman and his daughter for their ultimate survival. When he came to apartment to keep her from leaving and being canceled with Eric- the dance still made her heart beat faster and heat course through her body. That was probably the first time she wanted to take his cell phone and stomp it into the ground. She would never forget his words when they were held prisoner by Red Cell. She'd know he was telling the truth. She was just too pig headed and stubborn to admit it, at the time.

Her months away from Section and induction into Center were lonely. She missed Michael and Mick certainly knew that. While he didn't capitalize on the factor, he also knew that it affected her decision to return to Section. She could have stayed at Center.

No one would have been the wiser but she truly needed Michael, both for herself and because her performance showed definite improvements when teamed with him.

**********

Their glances met across the table, both with the same sad smiles across their faces at the same time. Their memories briefly touched on the hard times in their lives. Her return to Section, Jurgen,, their almost constant struggle to develop and maintain a relationship, Adrian, Elena and Adam, and the continued and massive manipulations by Operations and Madeline leading up to the Gelman process.

Michael's miraculous rescue of Nikita from that time was the turning point in their relationship. No matter what Paul and Madeline thought and wanted, Michael and Nikita knew that they needed to be together. Sure, there were still times that she hesitated and delayed. So much had happened. It took time to change from Robo-kita and Helmut's wife to knowing what was true and real. There was give and take on both sides, patience and finally, real love.

It was also a time to learn how to turn the tables. How to manipulate Paul and Madeline in those final days of the old Section. Making Paul think that Michael had been sacrificed in that final abeyance mission. Sending him away had been the hardest thing that she ever had to do but it had to be done to make others think that he was really dead. She mourned him in public but in private, she counted the days until his return.

***********

Surprisingly, Paul learned from his continued incarceration at Section One. And learned quickly. He was re-evaluated in 4 years instead of 7 and moved up to Oversight as promised. Over the following years, he redeveloped Oversight into the most organized anti-terrorist grouping in the world.

The bigger surprise was Michael's induction as the head of Oversight in the 4 years Paul remained at Section One. Initially, his return and take over was ken a need to know basis, only. Which meant Mr. Jones, who put him there and Paul, who needed to work with him. As more sections were let in on the information, it became evident that Mr. Jones had informed Paul before the abeyance mission that this was to come about and Paul's continued survival depended on his acceptance of this turn of events. Even at the highest levels, secrets were kept with some regularity.

After initial power struggles, Paul and Michael learned to work together and that ability assisted them in the new recruitment and training programs for all of the Sections.

When he was advance to head Oversight, Paul realized that he had gotten as far as he was competently able. He became content with that and continued on with plans that he, Michael and Mr. Jones had developed all of those years before.

Michael, of course, took over for Mr. Jones. Still Mick to Nikita. By that point, he had developed his own power base and friendships with outside agencies. The transfer of power was smooth and swift. Mick retired without incident to open a restaurant where he regularly entertained or worked to create wonderful gourmet meals for his friends and colleagues.

Nikita thought of where she had been over the last several years. The day she and Michael came together was the happiest one in her life. They were together. No further surveillance, no restrictions. They took time to be together, alone- no section, no Center. Just the 2 of them. Alone ( :) ) They spent the time learning who they were, both to themselves and to each other. They learned that they really did love each other and belonged together.

Their wedding was private. No one from Section or Center. Just the 2 of them and the minister in the small chapel in the French countryside. The honeymoon was spent at a country inn. Most of the time was spent in the bedroom, of course, but many wonderful hours were spent exploring the countryside. It was on one of those explorations that they found their future home. It was a large cottage with a caretakers house on many acres of forested land. It even had a bard and fields in back and was in remarkably good shape. They put in their notice for an extended vacation time and spent many weeks in remodeling and redecorating the cottage to their satisfaction. They found a wonderful older couple to take care of the field and the horses they purchased so with contented hearts, they were able to return to work.

For awhile, Nikita continued to work at Center with Mr. Jones, growing with job and becoming his second in command. When Michael took over Oversight, she went to become his second, initially being his intermediary until he was re-introduced to all. They worked side by side, each feeding off the other to increase their overall effectiveness. They still fought and argued occasionally on how to profile a mission when innocents were involved but each had learned to give a little, to compromise. They were a pair without rival.

Their return to Center was quiet with little disruption. Initially, it had been difficult for them. Everyone wanted Michael's attention but he quickly learned to delegate and things settled down to managed chaos. But at the end of every day, he now went home to Nikita and learned to leave the job behind.

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

The lights came back on. Michael and Nikita both slowly blinked and came back to the present. The meeting was over. All of the problems had been solved. People slowly got up from the table, made small talk and trickled out of the conference room, leaving it quiet and empty- only Michael and Nikita remained. Slowly, she got out of her chair and walked around the conference table. She stood in front of Michael and looked long and hard into his eyes. He held out his hands to her and she slid onto his lap. They sat together for several long minutes just enjoying the touch and closeness of each other. Then by mutual agreement, they stood up and while still holding hands they walked out of the room together. A few seconds later, Nikita walked back in to the room, turned off the lights and with a smile on her face, hurried back to her Michael.

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