TEASER

SCENE: AIRPORT GATE. A flight attendant opens the deplaning door, and passengers begin exiting. The camera pans slightly, and in the back of the waiting area we see Nikita watching the passengers exit. Beside her is a skinny, nervous guy, dressed in a grungy t-shirt and jeans. He's a snitch.

NIKITA: Do you see him?

SNITCH: Not yet.

Back to a shot of the passengers. A man exits. He is carrying an overnight bag over his shoulder, his arm wrapped around it protectively.

SNITCH: There he is.

NIKITA: Michael, we got him.

CUT to a shot of Michael in the van.

MICHAEL: Good. Don't lose him.

CUT to airport. Nikita stands, ready to follow the mark, and turns to the snitch, but he's vamoosed.

NIKITA: Michael, we lost our snitch.

MICHAEL'S VOICE: Doesn't matter. Stay with the courier.

Nikita follows the courier out of the gate area. He is walking fairly slowly, keeping his arm wrapped firmly around his overnight bag.

CUT to central terminal. The courier stops in the middle of the terminal, looks at his watch, and starts looking around. Nikita ducks toward a rack of tourist brochures off to the side. She pretends to read one while watching the courier surreptitiously.

NIKITA: I think he's meeting someone.

MICHAEL: Activate visual.

Nikita "clicks" a necklace hanging around her neck.

CUT to van, where Michael and Birkoff watch a shaky picture of the courier.

MICHAEL: (to Birkoff) Try to get an I.D.

Birkoff's fingers fly over his keyboard.

CUT to airport. The courier is looking around still, frowning.

NIKITA: I think our boy has been stood up.

CUT to an airport security guard, standing near the exit doors. He pulls a gun and aims it at the courier, lowering his sights to the courier's shoulder bag. He shoots. The bullet goes through the bag and nails the courier, who falls.

NIKITA: Michael!

MICHAEL'S VOICE: What happened?

Nikita rushes over to the courier and kneels down at his head. Around her, people are screaming and running, except a man who also hurries over to help, kneeling on the opposite side of the body. From the way he examines the wound, he appears to be a doctor.

MAN: Abdominal wound. (To crowd) SOMEONE CALL 911!

He returns his attention to the wound, but first he glances at the man's bag, which is beside him. The bag was apparently full of little glass vials, most of which shattered and spilled liquid all over everything. He frowns and looks up at Nikita.

MAN: What is that smell?

He returns his attention to the wound, shaking his head as if to clear it. A shot of Nikita, grimacing and turning her head at the smell.

MICHAEL'S VOICE: Nikita report.

The courier looks up at Nikita.

COURIER: (hoarsely) Get away--

He falls back, unconscious. Nikita looks over at the doctor. He is getting woozy, swaying back and forth. Nikita also finds herself getting light-headed.

NIKITA: Michael, something's wrong--

MICHAEL'S VOICE: Get out.

The doctor keels over. Nikita gets to her feet with difficulty. She begins backing away from the body, then turns for the exit. A point of view shot of the exit doors: they sway and turn.

NIKITA: I'm not going to make it--

She falls.

CUT to van: they see that she has fallen from the video from her necklace. Michael jumps up and leaves.

CUT to shots of Michael, running hell-for-leather through the parking lot, past the arriving paramedics and the crowd gathered outside the door. He bursts in through the exit doors, looks around, and sees Nikita on the floor. The crowd in the terminal is standing away from her and the courier and doctor's bodies, all holding their noses and mouths.

Michael gently picks Nikita up and carries her to safety.

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

ACT I

SCENE: SECTION INFIRMARY. Begin with a close up of Nikita's face, eyes closed. Slowly they flutter open. She looks around. Michael sits beside her bed, a black-garbed sentinel.

NIKITA: Wha--what happened?

MICHAEL: How do you feel?

NIKITA: (grimacing) Like I have one hell of a hangover.

MICHAEL: You're going to be fine. Your exposure was limited.

NIKITA: Exposure to what?

MICHAEL: (standing) We're not sure yet.

NIKITA: Well, that inspires confidence..

Nikita tries to sit up, but falls back in pain, clutching her head.

MICHAEL: (touching her arm) You need to rest.

NIKITA: What about the courier?

MICHAEL: (after a pause) He's dead. And so is the doctor who tried to help.

NIKITA: Dead? From the same thing that knocked me out?

MICHAEL: We're trying to determine that now.

The doors open and Madeline enters.

MADELINE: (smiling) Good, you're awake. How do you feel?

NIKITA: Terrible.

MADELINE: (to Michael) The briefing is about to start.

MICHAEL: (nods, and then looks at Nikita) I'll stop by later.

He looks as if he'd like to say more, but instead he gives Madeline a quick glance and he leaves. Madeline takes the chair he vacated.

NIKITA: Aren't you going to the briefing?

MADELINE: My presence isn't required. Besides--

NIKITA: Besides what?

MADELINE: I wanted to see just how terrible you felt.

NIKITA: Why?

MADELINE: Because Michael is going to need you on this mission.

NIKITA: Madeline, what's going on?

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

SCENE: CONFERENCE ROOM. Operations, Birkoff, Michael, and a geeky Extra Op (a chemist) named Morton sit around the conference table. Morton has a case in front of him.

OPERATIONS: It took some time but we have finally identified the courier as a man named William Kendall, a low-level executive for an import/export company. Both Kendall and his company appear legit, but what Kendall was transporting was definitely not. Morton?

MORTON (taking out a vial from the case): We were able to obtain a sample of the material in Kendall's bag. Preliminary tests showed it to be nothing more than ordinary perfume, well, if you consider it ordinary for perfume to have no fragrance.

He opens the vial and holds it out for Michael and then Birkoff to smell. They do so reluctantly.

MORTON: It wasn't until one of my assistants tried some of the perfume on herself that we realized something else was hidden inside the chemical formula.

He dabs a minute portion on his wrist and holds it out for Michael. Even more reluctantly, Michael leans forward to sniff.

MICHAEL: (reeling a bit) What is it?

Morton holds the wrist out to Birkoff, who declines. Morton puts the vial away, and takes out a bottle of alcohol and a piece of cotton. While he talks, he meticulously cleans his wrist.

MORTON: It's a bioactive agent that is catalyzed on contact with human skin. The reaction produces a toxic nerve gas similar to triphenzaline but significantly less potent.

OPS: Clearly, this would not be the weapon of choice for the average, everyday terrorist, since there are far more deadly toxins available. However, Morton tells me this same bioactive agent could be used in a variety of common substances and could be nearly untraceable.

MICHAEL: Do we know the source?

OPS: (a bit hesitant) We think so. A list of the customers for Kendall's import/export company contained one distinct possibility. (Pause, with a direct look at Michael) Elise Cosmetics.

***********

SCENE: MISSION DEPARTURE PORT. Michael is conferring with an extra op, when Nikita rounds the corner. Michael dismisses the extra op and looks at Nikita in surprise. She doesn't look well--pale and a bit shaky, but game.

MICHAEL: What are you doing here?

NIKITA: (trying to smile) I'm going in with you.

MICHAEL: On whose orders.

NIKITA: (surprised) Madeline's

MICHAEL: (frowning) What did she tell you?

NIKITA: Just that we were scouting a cosmetics company and that you needed a woman on point.

Michael looks away, seeming angry.

NIKITA: Is there more to it than that?

MICHAEL: You aren't well enough for the field.

NIKITA: I'm fine, Michael. Really.

She heads into the van. Michael stands there, fuming. Abruptly, he turns and follows Nikita into the van.

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

SCENE: CORPORATE LOBBY. A large, elegant lobby. It is dominated by a huge portrait of a white-haired man: a fierce-looking fellow with piercing blue eyes. Over the portrait is the company name and logo: Elise Cosmetics. Under the portrait is the man's name: Charles Whitney. On either side of his portrait are considerably smaller, black-and-white photographs of a series of businessman, mostly older and all white.

Beside the portrait are elevators. When the scene opens, Nikita is staring at the portrait of Whitney while waiting with Michael for an elevator.

NIKITA: Wow. I'd hate to face off with him in a boardroom.

MICHAEL: you won't have to. He's dead.

Nikita gives him a look. He points to one of the smaller b/w photos: a thin older man with a mean look.

MICHAEL: that's the man you'd have to face.

NIKITA: (reading the caption) Henry Dowling. Well, he doesn't look so tough. Is he the President of the company now?

MICHAEL: No.

The elevator doors open and he gets inside. He offers her no further information. Nikita waits a moment before joining him.

NIKITA: (facing forward, not looking at him) You know, Michael, this strong but silent routine is getting old.

The doors close. The cameras pan over to the picture of Dowling.

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

SCENE: EXECUTIVE OFFICE. Dowling is on the phone, obviously agitated.

DOWLING: Yes, I know the media is saying it was perfume and that the doctor died of a heart attack, but.............No, I still don't like it. There was no need to go so public. You have put us in a very dangerous position...........I might just do that! (He slams the phone down and stalks out of his office.)

SCENE: RECEPTION AREA. There are several secretaries--apparently this is a central area--and around them are the entrances to various corporate offices. Dowling exits his office and heads for one of the secretaries. He is standing there, apparently issuing orders, when the elevators open and Michael and Nikita exit. They stop and look around. Dowling approaches them, suspiciously.

DOWLING: Can I help you?

MICHAEL: We're looking for--

A woman's voice suddenly interrupts them.

ELISE: Michel!

All turn and watch as Elise Whitney crosses quickly and elegantly across the room. She is stunningly chic and beautiful: short dark hair, startling blue eyes, and New York/Paris elegant in clothing and demeanor. She goes right for Michael, whom she embraces, and then kisses on both cheeks and then the mouth.

MICHAEL: Elise--

Elise steps back and looks at him, head tilted. She reaches over to finger his coat.

ELISE: Oh, le noir, c'est magnifique, Michel. Tu va bien?

MICHAEL: Fine, thank you. I--I wasn't sure you would see me.

ELISE: (now stroking his lapel) Yes, we did leave things rather...unsettled. (She steps in a little closer.) I have come to understand many things since then. (She looks up into his eyes.) Beaucoup des realitees deplaisant.

MICHAEL: Je regrette beaucoup des choses.

Elise puts a finger over his mouth.

ELISE: Non, non. Pas des regrettes. Des choses--ces sont passee.

Nikita makes a move. Elise steps back with a smile.

ELISE: Ah, and is this your assistant?

MICHAEL: No. This is Nikita. (To Nikita) Elise Whitney. (A pause) An old friend.

ELISE: A friend? Oh, mon cher (to Nikita) Beware a man with a poor memory, Nikita. (She holds out her carefully manicured hand.) What an interesting name. Nikita what?

NIKITA: (with a sarcastic smile) Just Nikita. (Then) You must be Elise of Elise Cosmetics.

ELISE: Actually, that was my maman. My father simply adored her--she was a true French beauty. I fear I inherited just her name.

NIKITA: Pity.

MICHAEL: Elise, is there somewhere we can talk?

ELISE: Certainly. My office. (She gestures with her hand for them to precede her.) Apres vous.

Michael heads immediately for her office. Nikita ducks her head like a bull ready to rip through a red cape and follows him. Elise looks over her shoulder at Dowling. They exchange a long look, and then Elise follows her guests through a door marked "PRESIDENT: ELISE WHITNEY."

Dowling reaches for his secretary's phone and quickly dials a number.

CUT to a garden. The shot is of a man's shoulder and right arm, his elbow resting on the arm of a wheelchair. Beside the arm is a small table with a phone. The phone rings. The man reaches out and hits the "audio" button.

DOWLING'S VOICE: We've got a problem.

MAN'S VOICE: (metallic, as if speaking through a machine) I'll see you now.

He reaches over and shuts off the phone. The camera pans around to reveal that it is Charles Dowling, alive but wheelchair bound and suffering from a throat injury.

ACT II

SCENE: ELISE'S OFFICE. Nikita is sitting, slumped on a sofa, staring morosely at a large advertisement across from her: the ad reads "Personal: The Fragrance for Only You" and the model in the ad looks something like Elise. Across the room, at Elise's desk, she is showing Michael a layout.

ELISE: We're having the press conference at the end of the week to announce the campaign, but I'm giving some of our major stockholders a preview tomorrow evening.

MICHAEL: Very impressive.

ELISE: I'm very pleased by it. This product is what's going to save this company.

MICHAEL: There have been problems?

ELISE: (shrugging) Let's just say not everyone on the Board of Directors was thrilled when I took over the presidency. Quite a few of my father's supporters still remain.

Michael looks a little uncomfortable.

ELISE: It's all right, mon cher. My father--his methods--like every great tragic hero, he brought on his own downfall, n'est-ce pas?

A shot of Nikita, showing some curiosity. Michael looks at Elise intently.

ELISE: (showing a steely edge) But I do not have to follow in his path.

MICHAEL: This new product of yours--

ELISE: Personal.

MICHAEL: What is so special about it?

ELISE: (with a big smile) Oh, I am so glad you asked.

From her desk she takes a small perfume bottle filled with colorless liquid.

ELISE: Smell.

Michael, after a moment, does. Nikita sits up and narrows her eyes.

MICHAEL: I don't smell anything.

ELISE: Precisely. (She dabs a small portion on her wrist.) Now smell.

She holds out her wrist daintily. He leans forward and smells.

MICHAEL: Very nice.

ELISE: But wait (she looks over at Nikita) Nikita, would you like to try some of this? You look in need of something to raise your spirits.

NIKITA: Thanks, but--uh--I'm not into perfume.

ELISE: Oh, just a touch--

Reluctantly, Nikita rises and crosses over to them. She holds out her wrist, staring at Michael. Elise dabs some perfume on her.

ELISE: Michel--

He takes Nikita's hand in his and raises her wrist up--smells it.

MICHAEL: Hmm--

ELISE: Different, isn't it? The fragrance is different for every person who wears it.

MICHAEL: How is that possible?

ELISE: (airily) Oh, something to do with some kind of bio something or other. (She smells her own wrist.) Just marvelous, isn't it?

She puts the perfume bottle away, and then smiles at them with an edge.

ELISE: Believe it or not, we have had this formula for years, but that old dinosaur Dowling was sitting on it until I came along. He is still resisting this promotion (she breaks off) Are you all right?

Michael turns and sees that Nikita has dropped her head in her hands.

NIKITA: I'm fine--just a little--

She reaches out for Michael's shoulder, as if to brace herself.

NIKITA: Just need some fresh air, I think.

MICHAEL: Come, let's go.

He puts an arm around her to help her.

ELISE: Oh, dear, I am sorry you aren't feeling well. (She follows them to the door.) But if you're better by tomorrow, please both of you come to my soiree. You can help me convince the old goat that I'm right.

MICHAEL: We'll be there.

He and Nikita leave.

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

SCENE: MADELINE'S OFFICE. Michael enters.

MADELINE: Yes?

MICHAEL: Nikita nearly collapsed on the mission.

MADELINE: Is she all right?

MICHAEL: I took her to the infirmary.

MADELINE: Then we should know soon enough if she's able to continue.

Michael looks down at the floor--Mr. Obstinate.

MADELINE: What is it?

MICHAEL: There is no need for her to continue on this mission. (He looks Madeline in the eyes.) It was over ten years ago. I was young and inexperienced. I no longer need a watchdog.

A beat.

MADELINE: (with a smile) Why don't we wait for the doctor's report?

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

SCENE: INFIRMARY. Michael and Madeline enter. They find Nikita and the doctor. Nikita is in a hospital gown, sitting on the bed.

NIKITA: I'm fine.

MADELINE: Doctor?

DOCTOR: She's fine. Or she will be after a good meal and a good night's rest.

MADELINE: So you have no objection to her going out into the field tomorrow?

DOCTOR: Just stick to cold missions for a few days.

MADELINE: Thank you. (The doctor leaves and Madeline turns to Michael) Michael, perhaps you could see to it that Nikita gets that good meal the doctor ordered.

Madeline leaves. Michael turns to Nikita.

NIKITA: Did Madeline just order you to take me out to dinner?

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

SCENE: PIZZA PARLOUR. CU of jukebox, and a hand punches a tune: Melissa Etheridge's "Like the Way I Do." A pan of the room: Michael and Nikita are in a back booth. Nikita is finishing off a piece of pizza while Michael sits back and watches, absently fingering an almost untouched mug of beer in front of him. "Is it so hard to satisfy your senses / You found out to love me you have to climb some fences--"

NIKITA: God, I was hungry. I had no idea how hungry I was. (She looks over at Michael as she reaches for another piece) You know, Michael, Section does not prohibit the consumption of food.

MICHAEL: (with a half smile, his thoughts elsewhere) You go ahead.

NIKITA: Well, if you won't eat, maybe you can talk. Tell me about this Elise.

Uncomfortable, Michael looks away. "Scratching and crawling along the floor to touch you / And just when it feels right you say you found someone to hold you / Does she like I do--"

NIKITA: OK, then let me guess. You used her to get to her father, and then you dumped her.

MICHAEL: (slowly) It was one of my first missions. First undercover job. She was eighteen, a student in Paris. Interning at a French perfume company before going into the family business."

"Tell me does she love you like the way I love you /Does she stimulate you attract and captivate you--"

NIKITA: What was she like?

MICHAEL: She was eighteen. Smart, talented, thought she knew it all--but what she didn't know was that the family business was just a cover for smuggling drugs.

NIKITA: Since when does Section concern itself with drug dealers?

"Tell me does she miss you existing just to kiss you / Like the way I do--"

MICHAEL: When they start expanding their inventory to include biotoxins.

"Tell me does she want you infatuate and haunt you / Does she know just how to shock you electrify and rock you--

NIKITA: So she was eighteen and you were (pause and a look) younger than you are now, and you romanced her to get to her father.

MICHAEL: Something like that, only--

"does she inject you seduce you and affect you / Like the way I do--:

NIKITA: Only what?

MICHAEL: Before we made our move on her father, I warned her of what was coming. She didn't take the news well. In fact, she went right to her father. (He pauses, looks away) As it all turned out, I ended up being the one who had to--

NIKITA: To kill him.

"Can I survive all the implications / Even if I tried could you be less than an addiction--"

MICHAEL: Yes.

Nikita puts the pizza down, having lost her appetite.

NIKITA: You must have cared for her a great deal.

MICHAEL: I was young. I didn't fully understand what the job required.

They exchange a long look, a look filled with history. "Don't you think I know there's so many others / Who would beg steal and lie fight kill and die / Just to hold you like I do--"

Michael sits forward and takes out his wallet, as if preparing to leave. Are you finished?

Nikita reaches over and stills his hand with both of hers.

NIKITA: Michael--

"Tell me does she love you like the way I love you / does she stimulate you attract and captivate you--"

MICHAEL: What?

NIKITA: I think this is the most honest conversation we have ever had.

"Tell me does she miss you existing just to kiss you / Like the way I do--"

Michael throws some money on the table, and they get up to leave. The camera stays on the table, zooming in one the one piece of pizza left. A moment later, a man's hand (with long sleeves) appears in the frame and takes the last piece. Music stops.

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

SCENE: ELISE'S PARTY. New music begins: ??? The scene opens with a close up of escargot on a gold-rimmed plate. The camera pulls back to show Nikita--vibrant in gold and white evening gown--staring at her plate. Beside her is Michael, looking oh so Michael in formal clothes. Nikita leans over and murmurs to Michael.

NIKITA: What is it?

MICHAEL: Escargot.

NIKITA: Ah. Of course. She smiles around the room. A pan of the room, and we see Elise's guests--mostly older men and their wives, all dressed in formal clothes. The dining room is spacious and luxurious. One wall is made of glass and overlooks a terrace; a door to the terrace is to the side.

Elise is at the head of the table, looking sleek in a black and silver gown. To her right is a sour-faced Henry Dowling, who watches her with something close to hatred. She, however, is the gracious hostess, laughing at something her companion to the right is saying. Michael is seated next to that companion, with Nikita on the other side of him.

Elise turns toward Henry, then looks past him to Michael.

ELISE: Michel, you remember this? (She holds up her wine glass.)

MICHAEL: the Cafe du Monde.

ELISE: Oh, mais oui. What an evening that was--Nikita, you must insist Michael tell you about the evening we spent at Cafe du Monde.

NIKITA: (with a party smile) I'll be sure to do that.

Henry says something to Elise that only she can hear. With a small frown, she turns toward him, and the two of them exchange words under their breaths, Elise keeping an icy smile on her face while Henry does little to disguise his anger. Finally, he drops his napkin on the plate and stands.

DOWLING: If you will excuse me--

He gets up and leaves. Elise turns to her company with a smile.

ELISE: I am sorry, but dear Henry was not feeling well.

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

SCENE: Cut immediately to a small room. Whitney watches the party from a video monitor. Beside Whitney is a man of Middle Eastern descent.

WHITNEY: (through his throat microphone) Right on time, Henry.

***********

SCENE: THE PARTY, LATER. A waiter takes away Nikita's dessert while she is just finishing it with definite delight. She is nonplussed, but recovers to finish licking her spoon clean.

MICHAEL: You liked it.

NIKITA: It was fabulous.

Michael almost smiles, enjoying the sight of Nikita healthy again. They are both distracted by Elise, ringing a spoon against a glass.

ELISE: (standing) Ladies and gentlemen, I know that you all believe you were invited here this evening to satiate your palate, and indeed you were, but the time has come for me to confess that there is another sense that I intend to stimulate. As you are all stockholders, you know that Elise Cosmetics has suffered a few setbacks over the last few years, and I want to thank you for your loyalty in sticking with us. Beginning this evening, I plan to begin repaying your loyalty.

She nods to a servant by the door. He opens the door and several other servants enter with baskets filled with small vials. The waiters begin passing the vials around to the guests.

ELISE: Mesdames et monsieurs, je presente "Personal."

Nikita accepts a vial with a sick smile. She promptly puts it down, having no intention of sampling this one. Michael accepts one with an enigmatic look.

ELISE: Please--try it.

The women guests, murmuring, all begin opening the vials and dabbing it on their wrists. The men sort of look around, as if wondering if they should. The woman next to Nikita sniffs her wrist.

WOMAN: How unusual.

She holds her wrist out to Nikita, who leans over to sniff it reluctantly. Nikita's eyes fly open. She looks around--everyone is sniffing wrists.

NIKITA: (jumping up) NO! Don't!

MICHAEL: Nikita, what--

NIKITA: Michael, it's the--

People all around them start swaying, some moaning in pain. A woman falls over to the side.

NIKITA: We have to get out of here!

Michael jumps up and pushes Nikita toward the door to the terrace. He grabs Elise and pushes her as well.

ELISE: Michael, what are you--

MICHAEL: Get out, now!

They run out onto the terrace, and then stand, horrified, watching the scene through the glass. People are falling over left and right. The woman who sat beside Nikita falls on the floor. Blood starts seeping out of her nose and mouth.

NIKITA: Michael, this was much stronger--

MICHAEL: I think you're right.

ELISE: (hysterical) What was much stronger? What's going on here? Michael, tell me what's happening!

Michael grabs her by the shoulders.

MICHAEL: Elise, listen to me. Ecoutez! (Elise quietens) Someone in your company is using the bioactive agent you developed for something other than perfume.

ELISE: No--no--

MICHAEL: The substance in those vials was a nerve toxin.

ELISE: No, it can't be--all my work--(she buries her head in his shoulder)

MICHAEL: who would do this, Elise?

Her head raises up. She is all steely-eyed again, and she has Michael's gun.

ELISE: Dowling.

She turns and runs off the terrace.

MICHAEL: Elise!

He runs after her, and Nikita follows.

MUSIC begins again, the remaining lyrics of Etheridge's song. "Tell me does she want you nfatuate and haunt you--:

A shot of Elise rounding the corner of the house (a mansion) and seeing a chauffeur leaning against a limo. She runs up to him, asks him something, and he points. She runs off, toward a maze on the edge of the property.

"Does she know just how to schock you electrify and rock you--"

Michael and then Nikita round the corner of the house and see her disappearing into the maze.

"Does she inject you seduce you and affect you / Like the way I do--"

A shot of Elise entering the maze, holding the gun and looking determined. She goes around a curve stops and raises the gun.

"Nobody loves you like the way I do--"

A shot of Michael and Nikita entering the maze. They hear a gunshot.

"Nobody wants you like the way I do--"

Michael rounds a corner of the maze and sees Elise standing there, gun in hand. Dowling is on the ground, dead.

"Nobody needs you like the way I do--"

Nikita rounds the corner of the maze. She sees Michael gently take the gun from Elise. Elise looks at Michael, tears glistening on her face.

"Nobody aches nobody aches just to hold you--"

Michael turns her around, puts his arm on her shoulder, and leads her out of the maze, past Nikita.

"Like the way I do--"

*********

SCENE: MADELINE'S OFFICE. Nikita sits on Madeline's sofa, her knees up, a disk hanging from her fingers, her expression thoughtful and distant. Madeline enters.

MADELINE: Nikita, I wasn't expecting you.

NIKITA: Is this a bad time?

MADELINE: No, of course not. What can I do for you?

NIKITA: Answer a question.

MADELINE: (with a little smile) Depends on the question.

NIKITA: Why did you assign me to this mission?

MADELINE: (rounding her desk and taking a seat) The mission's over. Dowling is dead, the patent has been revoked, and we recovered all the samples of the bioactive agent from his house and the company.

NIKITA: That's not an answer.

MADELINE: (pointing to the disk in her hand) What's that?

NIKITA: Loose ends. (She gets up and takes the disk to Madeline) Autopsy and forensics on Dowling. (She stands, fiddling absentmindedly with some other disks on Madeline's desk.)

MADELINE: (removing the other disks gently but firmly) And what is bothering you?

NIKITA: They found seven bullets in Dowling's body. Only six are from Michael's gun. The seventh was lodged in the temporal lobe and was probably the cause of death.

After a moment, Madeline stands up.

MADELINE: Do you know why you were assigned this mission, Nikita? Because I knew I could trust your instincts. Come on.

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

SCENE: CHANGE TO HOUSE.................A cemetery. A funeral is just ending. Elise, in black with dark sunglasses, stands stone-faced on the edges of the crowd. As the minister finishes, she turns toward her limousine and sees Michael standing beside it. The chauffeur stands nearby. Slowly, Elise makes her way over to them. She speaks to none of the other mourners.

MICHAEL: I came to see if you were all right.

Elise looks at him, and then at the chauffeur.

ELISE: Back to the house, Andrew.

The chauffeur opens the door and she gets in. After a moment, Michael follows her into the car. The chauffeur closes the door.

CUT TO inside the limo. Michael sits across from Elise, who stares out the window, still wearing her dark glasses.

MICHAEL: So how are you?

ELISE: This is my third funeral in two days. I have another one this afternoon, and yet another one tomorrow morning. My company is on the brink of financial ruin, and I might well be facing murder charges sometime in the near future. How do you think I am?

MICHAEL: There won't be any murder charges.

ELISE: Oh? Pourquoi pas?

Michael doesn't answer.

ELISE: Ah, yes, the non-answer answer. How well I remember that. L'homme de silence.

MICHAEL: I want to help if I can.

ELISE: (after a moment) Make yourself a drink. I need to change into a different black suit.

She leaves. Michael looks around the study and crosses quickly to the desk. He sits down and logs onto the computer.

CUT to small room. Whitney watches Michael on the video monitor.

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

SCENE: SECTION ONE CHEMISTRY LAB. Madeline and Nikita enter and find Morton hard at work.

MORTON: Good, there you are.

MADELINE: You have something to report?

MORTON: Yes. About the samples of the bioactive agent we confiscated.

MADELINE: From Dowling.

MORTON: (nodding) I've tested each case and I can't find any concentrations strong enough to do anything more than give a person a bad headache. They are all identical to the original sample from the courier.

NIKITA: Yeah, but that was strong enough to kill two men.

MORTON: Only because they were exposed to a large quantity.

NIKITA: So you're saying that whatever was used at that party--

MORTON: Wasn't from this batch.

NIKITA: (looking around) You got a phone in here?

***********

SCENE: ELISE'S HOUSE. Michael is working quickly on the computer. His cell phone rings.

MICHAEL: (answering it in a low voice) Yes.

NIKITA'S VOICE: Michael, where are you?

MICHAEL: I'm at Elise's. Why?

NIKITA'S VOICE: We have some new information--

ELISE: (from the door) Find what you're looking for?

Michael hangs up the cell phone and logs off the computer. He stands and comes around the side of the desk.

MICHAEL: Unfortunately, yes.

Elise crosses to the drink cart and, turning her back on Michael, starts pouring a drink.

ELISE: And what would that be?

CUT to small room, where Elise and Michael can be seen on the video monitor. Whitney, however, is gone.

BACK to study. Michael steps forward to Elise.

MICHAEL: Dowling, and every stockholder at the party--all their shares of Elise Cosmetics revert to you in the event of their death.

ELISE: (sipping her drink) So?

MICHAEL: So you are not only the president of the company, now you practically own it outright.

Elise turns to Michael.

ELISE: What are you implying?

MICHAEL: Don't do this, Elise. I'll take you down just like I took down your father.

The study door opens. A manservant pushes Charles Whitney's wheelchair into the room.

WHITNEY: (through his throat microphone) Take down whom, did you say?

Michael looks back at Elise.

ELISE: (smiling) Papa--

She strolls over to her father's chair, leans over, kisses him on the cheek, and then stands, her hand resting on her father's shoulder, looking at Michael.

ELISE: You remember my father, don't you, Michael?

She looks over at the manservant. He nods, and pulls out a gun, aiming it at Michael.

SCENE: STUDY. Michael looks from father to daughter, and then nods his head slightly. The manservant takes his gun and his cell phone.

MICHAEL: Now it makes sense.

ELISE: What?

MICHAEL: You could not have pulled this off alone.

ELISE: Oh, yes? (Smiles coldly) I'm not the stupid little girl you tricked in Paris all those years ago, Michael. I'm my father's daughter now.

MICHAEL: You certainly are.

WHITNEY: (to manservant) Take him.

The manservant grabs Michael and pushes him to the door.

MICHAEL: Where am I going?

Elise comes up to him and stands very close, running a finger along his lapel.

ELISE: You offered to help me, Michael. I'm going to take you up on that offer.

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

SCENE: SECTION VAN. Nikita is strapping on reconnaissance gear while Birkoff reports.

BIRKOFF: I've got several warm bodies on the first floor, three in the basement. Impossible to tell who's who.

NIKITA: Any idea if any of them are Michael?

BIRKOFF: Can't tell.

NIKITA: Well, I'll just have to go one room at a time. Talk me through it, Birkoff.

BIRKOFF: You got it.

Nikita gathers her stuff and leaves the van.

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

SCENE: Basement room. The room is dark and damp. There is a row of cabinets with a sink along one wall, and is a video camera posted in one corner. Michael is being tied to a chair by the manservant, while Elise is opening a cabinet and taking out supplies: rubber gloves, a gas mask, and so on. From another, locked cabinet she removes three small laboratory beakers, two of which contain a colorless liquid.

The manservant, having finished tying Michael, stands and awaits orders.

ELISE: Is he secure?

MANSERVANT: Yes.

ELISE: Fine. Go attend to my father and our guest.

The manservant leaves. Elise turns to Michael and slowly begins pulling on the gloves.

MICHAEL: You have a guest.

ELISE: Yes. You might even know him. He is--in the business.

Michael looks around--a shot of his hands behind the chair shows that he is slowly working them free--and nods to the video camera.

MICHAEL: I assume he's watching us.

ELISE: Oh, bien sur. What good is a marketing demonstration if the customer is not there to watch?

MICHAEL: I would have thought the party the other night would have been sufficient.

ELISE: So would I, to be frank, but the monsieur is in the market for something far more--subtle. He was not pleased that your Nikita recognized the fragrance and was able to escape the room before suffering any adverse effects. (She turns back and begins carefully pouring the liquid from one beaker into the empty beaker, and then adding a little from the third beaker. The liquid changes color.) We offered to test our newest product for him: one that does not alert prospective victims with a distinctive smell.

While her back is turned, Michael works harder to free his hands. Elise holds up the beaker in a sort of toast toward the video camera.

ELISE: A mon pere.

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

SCENE: SMALL ROOM. Whitney sits with the customer and watches Michael and Elise on the video monitor. The manservant enters, crosses to him, and whispers something in his ear. Whitney turns to the customer.

WHITNEY: If you will excuse me a moment--

The customer waves his hand, too engrossed in the image on the screen to care. The manservant wheels Whitney out.

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

SCENE: A FIRST FLOOR BEDROOM. Clearly, this is Whitney's room, since it is set up for someone in a wheelchair. The manservant wheels Whitney to a window; Whitney looks out.

A shot of Nikita sneaking over the wall of a terrace outside Whitney's room. It's a long terrace, running the length of the building.

WHITNEY: Get her.

The manservant nods and leaves. We watch with Whitney as Nikita inches along the terrace, looking into windows and doors. She stops at one door to look through her backpack, from which she pulls out a tool to break in. The manservant steps out on the terrace behind her and pulls out his gun. He says something. She freezes and holds up her arms, one hand still holding the tool. The manservant comes up to her and slowly walks around her. She smiles. He waves with the gun to tell her to drop the tool. She does so, from high above her head. It clangs loudly, distracting the manservant. Nikita chops the gun out of his hands and then chops the sense out of his head.

CUT to Whitney. He begins wheeling his chair to the door.

Nikita enters from the terrace door.

NIKITA: Hold it.

Whitney stops and holds out his hands. Nikita comes further into the room and levels the gun at him.

NIKITA: Where's that bitch you call a daughter?

***********

SCENE: BASEMENT ROOM. Elise stands in front of Michael, holding the gas mask.

ELISE: Have no fear, Michel. You won't feel a thing.

She puts the mask on. Michael, his hands free but his legs still tied to the chair, lunges for her, knocking her down. Her head bangs against the floor, knocking her silly. Quickly, he unties his legs. Elise starts coming to and tries to reach out to stop him. In doing so she knocks the beaker with the liquid over, and it spills on her. Michael runs out.

Elise screams.

CUT to Nikita in a hallway. She hears the scream, coming from the other direction. She turns and runs toward it, and runs right into Michael as he bursts through the door that leads to the basement.

NIKITA: Michael! Are you all right?

MICHAEL: We have to get out of here!

NIKITA: Is it the gas?

MICHAEL: (pulling her toward the door) Yes!

NIKITA: Wait.

She stops, dropping her backpack on the floor. She takes out two gas masks and gives him one. They put them on just as Elise bursts through the basement door. She is still wearing her gas mask, and she is holding out an arm as if it is injured. She looks at Michael and Nikita, and then runs into the room on her right. Michael makes a move to follow her, but Nikita grabs his arm.

NIKITA: Michael--

CUT to inside the room Elise entered: it is Whitney's bedroom. Elise is in the bathroom, frantically scrubbing her arm. She does not see the figure on the floor in the bedroom: her father, where Nikita had left him--on the other side of the bed, next to a nightstand, away from his wheelchair and his throat microphone.

Michael enters the room and walks over to Whitney's body. Blood seeps from Whitney's nose and mouth. His expression is contorted, as if his last moments were an attempt to speak, maybe to warn his daughter of what she was doing to him.

Elise, having rinsed her arm, looks out the bathroom door and sees Michael. Furious, she charges to him, ready to beat him with her fists.

ELISE: You'll never get--

She sees her father on the floor.

ELISE: Oh, mon Dieu--oh, non, non--Papa!

She kneels beside him, in shock and grief. Michael stands looking down at her, without expression.

A close up of Elise. Grief turns to anger. She wrenches open the drawer of the nightstand next to her father's body and pulls out a gun. She turns and points it at Michael.

ELISE: (with pure venom) I HATE YOU!

A shot rings out: from Nikita's gun. Michael turns and sees Nikita, at the terrace door, lowering her weapon.

Elise falls over her father's body.

Michael looks at Elise, and then back to Nikita.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

NIKITA: Je vous en prie.

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

EPILOGUE: PIZZA PARLOR. Nikita enters and walks up to the "Take Out" counter. She says something to the clerk, who turns away, apparently to get her order. While she waits, Nikita looks around.

MUSIC begins: The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin."

Nikita sees Michael sitting in a back booth. He is alone. On the table in front of him are the remnants of dinner--calzone and a half-finished glass of wine. His attention is engrossed in whatever he's working on: he has a large pad of paper and a pencil and appears to be sketching something.

In slow-motion, Nikita begins walking toward him. "Nights in white satin / never reaching the end / letters I've written / never meaning to send--"

NIKITA: (reaching his table) Michael.

He looks up and abruptly closes the sketch pad.

NIKITA: What are you doing?

MICHAEL: Um--having dinner.

Nikita leans against the booth and gives him a "no kidding" look. "Beauty I've always missed / with these eyes before--"

NIKITA: I mean what's with the--(she gestures to the sketch pad)

MICHAEL: It's nothing.

Nikita slides into the booth opposite him. She has a determined look on her face. "Just what the truth is / I can't say anymore--"

NIKITA: Oh, come on, Michael. You know I won't tell anyone.

"Cuz I love you / Yes, I love you / Oh-ho, I love you--" After a moment, Michael slides the sketch pad over to her. She opens it: the first page is old, somewhat yellowed. On it a sketch of Elise, when she was very young. Her hair is longer, and she has a bright, open smile. Nikita looks up at Michael. He looks back, expressionless. Nikita turns the pages slowly. Another picture of Elise, and another.

Then: a picture of Simone.

Nikita closes the sketch pad and slides it back to Michael.

NIKITA: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude.

"Gazing at people / Some hand in hand / Just what I'm going through / They can't understand--"

MICHAEL: You're not intruding.

NIKITA: It wasn't your fault, Michael. She chose her own path.

MICHAEL: Did she?

"Some tried to tell me / thoughts they cannot defend /Just what you want to be / You will be in the end--"

NIKITA: Yes, she did.

She reaches out and awkwardly squeezes his hand. Then, not looking at him, she gets up and returns to the take-out counter, where she quickly pays for her pizza and leaves.

Michael watches her go. Then, he opens the sketch pad again. There, on the most recent page, is a sketch of Nikita. He picks up a pencil and starts working on it again.

"And I love you / Yes I love you / Oh-ho I love you--"

THE END. ROLL CREDITS

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