It's a mishmash of narrative and screenplay form, but hey, this is just for fun--

SCENE: MIAMI'S SOUTH BEACH--MORNING.

(A slow pan of the empty beach, early morning, just as the sun is rising. The only sounds--the cry of seagulls. The camera stops on reaching a bench, on which figure is asleep, covered so we can't tell who it is.)

A rollerblader passes on the sidewalk--the camera pans with her and then suddenly drops to the ground. We cut, and realize we've been looking through the lens of a still photographer's camera. A shot of the photographer, Jake, a sleazy paparazzi type--real low-life, leaning against a car parked along the street. From his pocket he takes a flask, downs a drink. Then his cell phone rings. He puts away the bottle and takes out the phone.)

JAKE: Yeah. . . . No, still dead out here--nothin' but fitness freaks and homeless. What a country. . . . I'm tellin' you, this source of yours better be on the level. . . . Yeah, yeah, I know, Madonna's personal trainer told you himself. . . .

(While he is talking, a car pulls into the space next to his, and out of the car comes a mother and two daughters--one a sullen 13-year-old, the other a little cutie about six years old. They unload the car and head for the beach. Jake watches them idly. The 13-year-old sets up her chair and radio a little ways from Mom and Little Sis. She plops down, opens a paperback, and turns on the radio. Mom spreads a blanket and sets out the day's accessories while the little girl, cradling a doll, stares at the figure on the bench.)

From the radio, we hear the beginning of Sheryl Crowe's "Home."

"I woke up this morning / Now I understand / What it means to give your life / To just one man / Afraid of feeling nothing /No bees or butterflies--"

A slow-motion shot of the figure on the bench, shifting around. Blond hair spills out. It's Nikita.

The music slowly changes from the radio to the TV soundtrack, gaining resonance.

"My head is full of voices and / my house is full of lies / This is ho-o-o-ome / Ho-o-o-ome--"

On the first "home," Nikita's eyes open. On the second, she sits up abruptly, disoriented, miserable.

"This is ho-o-o-me / Ho-o-o-me--"

She closes her eyes, bends over. Music stops--

FLASHBACK: "Mother," Michael stroking her eyebrow; "Friend," Michael lifting her down; "Brainwash," Michael taking her distraught face in his hands)

LITTLE GIRL (voice over): Do you want some breakfast?

Back to the beach. Nikita looks up.

NIKITA: What--?

(The little girl, still cradling her doll, is holding out a cookie. Nikita looks around--Mom has gone back to the car for something, and Big Sis is engrossed in her book.)

LITTLE GIRL: You can have a cookie if you want.

(Nikita hesitates, then accepts it with a small smile.)

NIKITA: Thank you.

(FREEZE FRAME, and a CLICK--WHIRR. A shot of Jake, lowering his camera, having captured the moment.)

Back to Nikita and the little girl. Nikita takes a bite of the cookie, then nods and smiles as if to say "um-um good." The little girl rocks her doll and watches Nikita.

Big sister appears on the scene. She takes the little girl's hand and starts pulling her away. The little girl resists mightily but is overpowered.

CU Nikita, letting the cookie drop. She looks terribly hurt and sad, a little desperate. She closes her eyes and slowly falls back onto the bench.

MUSIC RISES--Sheryl Crowe again:

"I'm going crazy / A little every day / And everything I wanted / is now driving me away / I woke up this morning / to the sounds of breaking hearts / Mine is full of questions / and it's tearing yours apart / tearing yours apart--"

A YELL. Nikita looks up. The little girl has broken free of her Big Sis and is running away, toward the street and the traffic. Nikita jumps up and runs after her, reaching her just as she enters the street. She grabs her, pulls her back--they both fall on the sidewalk, Nikita cushioning the little girl with her body.

FREEZE FRAME---CLICK-WHIRR.

(CU Jake, lowering the camera again.)

JAKE: Not bad.

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

SCENE: SECTION ONE BASEMENT, HOME OF MST-14 (ALSO KNOWN AS THE BUG ROOM.)

If a place 500 feet underground could have a basement, then the room where MST-14 is located is in it. Small and cramped, it is little more than a closet, jammed with computers, scanners, monitors, and printers, and littered with Frito crumbs, candy wrappers, and pizza crusts. On the walls are pinned an assortment of Playboy centerfolds, their bounties outlined in black pen and their mouths spouting cartoon bubbles ("Section this, big boy," "You can cancel me anytime"). There is also a humongous picture of the X-Files Lone Gunmen, with a homemade caption reading, "The truth may be out there, but the studs are in here."

The occupants of this particular Section domain are a hapless trio of MIT rejects who, unlike most ops, believe they have found a real home in Section's underground world. As members of the Media Surveillance Team (Area 14), they spend their days reading newspapers, listening to radio broadcasts, watching TV, and trying to outeat, outspit, and outgross each other. They are less human beings than bugs, scurrying through Section's upper reaches every morning, keeping their heads down and eyes averted until they reach this room, their hole in the wall, where they let loose their innate gluttony with adolescent glee.

On this particular morning, they are indulging their favorite game--the "if" game--while keeping eyes on their particular monitors and feeding their faces.

BUG #1: I'm tellin' you, if I were a cold op, that Saddam wouldn't stand a chance. I'd just a fly a little Stealth bomber over Baghdad, and BOOM--

BUG #2: Yeah, you and whose army?

BUG #3: Man, that ain't the way to go. You gotta be more creative. I'm thinkin' I'd set a tectonic wave inducer underneath the palace, set it off, and watch the walls come tumblin' down.

BUG #2: Yeah, right. And while you're diggin' yourself outa the rubble, I'll be right here, helpin' that new trainee with her--uh--training.

BUG #1: Sure, like Michael's gonna let you anywhere near that girl now that he's taken over her training.

BUG #2: Michael don't give a damn about her.

BUG #1: He better. Ops'll have his butt back in abeyance so fast it'll make his head spin.

BUG #2: (resentfully) Fine by me.

(BUGS #1 and #3 exchange looks.)

BUG #1: I can't believe you're still bent outa shape about this. Six months, man. Get over it. She's gone. It happens.

BUG #2: It didn't have to happen. She was the only one of them upstairs who ever treated me decent.

BUG #3: She said good morning to you. Once.

BUG #2: Exactly.

(They fall silent, watching their monitors.)

BUG #1 (trying to get the mood back): Man, if I were training that new girl--what's her name--

BUG #3 (sitting up, startled, staring at his monitor) Nikita!

BUG #2: (disgusted) No, her name's Katie.

BUG #3 (turning slowly to the others and pointing at his monitor): Nikita!

The other two wheel their chairs to his side quickly. They stare at the screen: a newspaper front page, with two photographs--Nikita accepting the cookie, Nikita on the ground with the little girl. The caption reads: "From Homeless to Hero." Neither picture is full front, but there is just enough so that it's clear it's Nikita.

The bugs look at each other and then, in unison, turn to look up at the air conditioning vent.

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

SCENE: MICHAEL'S OFFICE

Michael sits at his computer, typing mechanically. He looks pale and thin, the dark circles under his eyes showing his fatigue. Still, his expression is his usual enigmatic Section face.

At a knock, he looks up. A young woman enters--this is Katie, the new trainee. She is young, uncertain (sort of like Karen, but without the sociopathic side), eager to please. It is clear to almost anyone that she hasn't what it takes to make it in Section One.

MICHAEL (totally impassive): Yes.

KATIE: Um, I finished my sim exercises. Here's the scores--

She holds out a disc. Michael looks back at his computer and resumes his typing.

MICHAEL: Fine. That'll be all for the day.

After a moment, she sets the disc down on his desk. At the door, she pauses--

MICHAEL (without looking up): Was there something else?

KATIE (wistfully--she's got a crush on him): Um, no. Um, good night, Michael.

MICHAEL: Good night.

As she leaves she nearly bumps into Madeline. Ever gracious, Madeline steps aside to let her pass. Michael glances up as Madeline enters. He notes that Madeline is watching Katie as she passes Michael's window, and then he returns his attention to the computer.

MADELINE: How is she doing?

MICHAEL: Fine.

MADELINE (a little sharply): Are you sure?

MICHAEL (stopping his work on the computer abruptly and giving Madeline his full attention): Of course. Why do you ask?

MADELINE (standing by his window, looking out rather than at him): So she's ready for her mid-training eval.

MICHAEL: Yes.

MADELINE: (smiling--gracious again) Good. I'll expect a scenario before the end of the day.

She turns to leave, but at the door turns back.

MADELINE: Michael-perhaps you should use this evaluation to do a little assessment of your own.

MICHAEL: Meaning what?

MADELINE: Meaning--you survived abeyance on sheer willpower, but surviving field work requires a lot more than that. You have to believe, Michael. (a pause) Do you still believe?

Michael doesn't answer her.

MADELINE: I thought so. (She sighs, looks a little sad) You know, I miss her, too. But the job is bigger than any one individual, and if you can no longer see that, then--

She leaves the sentence hanging, ominously, and turns to leave his office.

Michael stares at his computer. A close up of his hand, one finger on the "N" key, stroking it softly.

MICHAEL: Then why bother?

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

SCENE: SECTION ONE BULLPEN

Operations is standing near Birkoff's station, looking at a file. Madeline approaches, and he looks up at her quizzically.

OPS: Well?

MADELINE: Well...(she shrugs) We'll see.

The camera pans, and we see, in the background, BUG #2 and Walter in an intense conversation. Bug #2 hands Walter a disc.

SCENE: MICHAEL'S OFFICE

Michael shuts off the computer, takes out a disk, and rises, just as Walter enters.

WALTER: Uh, Michael, I wonder if you got a minute--

MICHAEL: I've got a meeting with Madeline.

WALTER: I owe you an apology.

MICHAEL: For what?

Walter holds out the disc. After a second, Michael takes it.

WALTER: She doesn't look so good.

CU Michael, eyes opening a little bit wider....

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

SCENE: MADELINE'S OFFICE

Michael stands beside Madeline's desk. He looks a little different--energized, more his old self. Madeline is reading something off her computer.

MADELINE: Larry Temple?

MICHAEL: He's the leader of a right-wing militia group known as the Freedom Guard. It isn't a very big operation, maybe twenty, thirty members. Temple is an ex-Marine, he knows weapons and military strategy, and he has a political ideology just to the right of Hitler

MADELINE: Yes, I know. He and his group have been very vocal of late, threatening to commemorate the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing with another bombing. And you think this is an appropriate assignment for Katie?

MICHAEL: Her father and uncle were prominent members of the KKK, and her brother died in prison after being convicted of hate crimes.

MADELINE: All the more reason to keep her away from such fanatics. If Section ideology has not taken root in her, she could prove quite vulnerable to their rhetoric.

MICHAEL: Temple and his group are mostly blowhards. There's very little genuine threat. I would put risk assessment--low to mid range. As soon as she has established a cover and gained their trust, I will pull her out.

Madeline gets up and walks around her office, thinking. Michael stands statue-still, waiting.

MADELINE: (making eye contact) Temple's group is headquartered in the Everglades.

MICHAEL: Yes.

MADELINE: South Florida.

MICHAEL: That's right.

MADELINE: (after a breath, deciding) All right. Make the arrangements.

Michael heads for the door, but stops on being called by Madeline.

MADELINE: Oh, and Michael--while you're in the area, you might want to take care of another matter.

MICHAEL: What?

MADELINE: Bring Nikita home.

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

SCENE: Homeless shelter, night. Nikita is asleep on a cot in the shelter. The scene opens with an extreme close up of her eyes, closed and REM-quivering: FLASHBACK: "War": "They're going to have to update my file," "Verdict," Nikita shooting the father, "Recruit," Nikita saying "Cancel her," "War" "update my file," "Mother," shooting, "That's for Chuck," "Voices," "I'm going to give you a choice," "War," again, "update my file," which repeats over and over and over until finally, an EXPLOSION (take your pick from the episodes).

Nikita's eyes fly open. A hand is reaching inside her jacket. She grabs it, twists it back, and sits up all in one motion. This is the Nikita of old.

NIKITA: I wouldn't go there if I were you.

The would-be thief, a young punk, is leaning back, crying "Ow--ow" in pain. Nikita gets up and grabs him by the neck, pushing his face into the cot on which she had been sleeping, keeping his arm behind him. He struggles but she has him braced.

NIKITA: Let's see what other goodies you've snitched today. Oh, my, what have we here--

Frisking him, she finds a .38 in his pocket.

NIKITA: Just what I was going to ask Santa Claus for this year. Thanks ever so much.

She shoves the gun in her waistband and then leans forward to hiss in his ear.

NIKITA: Now you're going to get up and walk outa this place and leave all these nice people alone. All right? If you don't, your arm won't be the only thing I twist off. You got it?

His head still jammed into the mattress, he nods. Nikita stands up, hauls him to his feet, and pushes him toward the door. She quickly closes her overshirt to hide the gun.

From behind her a voice with a heavy Jamaican accent, belonging to Jean, the man who runs the shelter.

JEAN: So, mon, I guess it not my day to play da hero after all.

Nikita gives him one of her defensive, heads-down, eyes-up look.

JEAN: You are all right?

NIKITA: I'm fine, thank you. (She begins gathering her meager belongings--a hat, a jacket.)

JEAN: Please, you must not leave without I repay you. Come, have someting to eat--

NIKITA: Not hungry, but thanks--

JEAN (following her across the room): I see you here before dis. You come two, tree times a week.

Nikita doesn't acknowledge him.

JEAN: You are da one with da bad angel on your shoulder.

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

SCENE: Low-rent motel room in a small town outside the Everglades. A close up of Katie's face as she looks through the blinds at the scene outside. Michael appears at her shoulder.

MICHAEL: The diner is down the block. Your assignment is to apply for a job as a waitress. That's it. Nothing more.

He walks away, toward the bed, and Katie turns.

KATIE: What if they don't have any openings?

MICHAEL: We have arranged for an opening. (At the bed, he opens a very large black satchel and takes out an ID packet..) Your name is Kate Carlson. You are recently widowed--your husband was killed during a mugging and you are moving here in hopes of getting away from city life and all the memories.

KATIE: (taking the ID) I take it the mugger was black.

MICHAEL: Or Hispanic. Temple hates anyone with dark skin. (He closes the satchel and lifts it onto his shoulders.) I have another matter to attend to, but I will be back within twenty-four hours. Remember--you are to do nothing except apply for the job. After that, come back to this room and wait for me.

KATIE: (trying not to smile at the thought of waiting for Michael in a hotel room) I understand.

Michael leaves without giving her a second look.

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

SCENE: Parking lot outside motel. Michael puts the satchel in the trunk of the car, and then pauses. He leans in, opens it, and slowly pulls out another I.D packet. From it, he takes a passport and opens it: the face is Nikita's. He stares at it.

KATIE: (from behind him) Who is she?

Michael slams the passport shut, shoves it in the satchel, and closes the trunk.

MICHAEL (cold and furious) That's none of your concern.

Surprised, Katie steps back. She looks pouty, ready to cry.

KATIE: I'm sorry--I didn't mean. I was just going to the diner--

MICHAEL: Then go.

Katie walks away, head down. She looks over at her shoulder at Michael, resentfully.

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

SCENE: Homeless shelter kitchen. Jean has put Nikita to work peeling potatoes.

NIKITA: So how long have you been here?

JEAN: At da shelter? Or in dis country?

NIKITA: Both.

JEAN: I come here years ago, to get educated, and den return to my country and save eet from eetself. (shrugs) Dere is no fool like a young mon with a dream.

NIKITA: Sounds like a pretty good dream to me.

JEAN: I tink all I need is my passion to be good and right. Dere is only one way, I tink--my way. But soon I learn, dere are many ways to help people, not all of dem noble.

NIKITA: (slowly) So you think it's OK to be bad if your goal is good.

JEAN: I tink we are all da human being, with da good and bad. (He smiles, wipes his hands on a towel, and picks up a newspaper from the counter. He shows it to her.) And I tink you have much good in you.

Nikita drops the knife and the potato. She picks up the newspaper slowly.

NIKITA: Jean--what--what exactly did you mean when you said I had a bad angel on my shoulder?

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

SCENE: Aerial shot of Alligator Alley. The camera flies along beside a small black car, racing along the interstate.

MUSIC rises: the Rolling Stones'

"Anybody Seen My Baby." "She confessed her love to me / then she vanished in the breeze / Trying to hold onto that was just impossible / She was more than beautiful / closer to ethereal / with a kind of down to earth flavor--"

The camera flies down, closer to the car. We see it is Michael at the wheel, hair blowing in the wind. He runs a hand through it.

"Anybody seen my baby / Anybody seen her around / Love has gone and made me blind / I've looked but just can't find / She has gotten lost in the crowd--"

Cut to a CU of Michael, looking into the rearview mirror, and then: FLASHBACK to Madeline's office, while the Stones play through.

MICHAEL: So you've been tracking her.

MADELINE: Of course. The device was inserted after the Red Cell incident last year.

Michael stares at her, but refuses to ask any further questions.

MADELINE: When I realized she was becoming suicidal, I knew the only course of action was to give her what she thought she wanted--her freedom. It was the only way to show her that she had indeed become one of us. Turner reports that she is very close to coming to that realization now. (She senses his question.) Turner is her shadow op.

Michael blinks.

MADELINE: We also knew that the bond between you had grown so close that we could count on you to find a way to keep her from being canceled. (small smile) And as always, Michael, you didn't disappoint us.

Michael looks away.

MADELINE: And now am I hoping you will not disappoint again. This is your final test, Michael, to be fully released from abeyance. It's your job not just to bring Nikita back, but to make her want to come back.

Michael lowers his head a fraction, his classic deflecting move.

MADELINE: You set her free, Michael. Now open the door to the cage and make sure she flies back in.

MICHAEL: All right.

BACK TO THE PRESENT: Michael in the car. He looks up, sees a sign that says "Miami xx miles." The camera stops and lets the car go ahead.

"Lost, lost and never found / I must have called her a thousand times / Sometimes I think she's just my imagination / Lost in the crowd."

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

INT DINER

SCENE: Low-rent diner. It is half full of customers and has only one harried waitress. Katie sits at the counter, filling out an application. She looks up at the arrival of Larry Temple and other members of the "Freedom Guard." They are dressed in fatigues and swagger like the fascists they are are. Temple is tall, muscular, and blond--Katie is taken by him immediately. He "manfully" twirls a chair around backward and straddles it. Katie, busy watching, doesn't notice the waitress coming up behind her.

WAITRESS: Finished, honey?

KATIE: (startled) Oh, yes, here--

The waitress gives the application a quick once-over.

WAITRESS: I see you got experience. Good enough for me. Wanna start right now?

KATIE: (nonplussed) Uh, well, I--I don't know--

WAITRESS: (leering a bit) I'll let you wait on the soldier boys over there.

KATIE: (getting an "I'll show that mean Michael" look in her eye) OK. Sure, why not?

WAITRESS: there's an apron and an order pad right here under the counter. Jump on in, honey, the water's fine.

Katie dons the apron, watching Temple. He notices her watching him and winks at her. She smiles, picks up the order pad, fluffs out her hair, and heads for the table.

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

SCENE: Early evening, Jake the photographer's apartment. It is an "old" Florida house--stucco, jalousied windows, an iron flamingo screen door--and not in great shape. There are four apartments--to reach Jake's, one has to climb rickety stairs on one side of the building. Across the street is a strip joint with a neon sign blinking.

A bus pulls up, and Nikita, her hair piled under a large hat, gets off. She looks around, checking the address, and then heads up the stairs to Jake's apartment.

CUT TO inside the apartment. It is a mess--clothes, food, magazines, liquor bottles, and camera equipment strewn everywhere. The curtains are open, so the neon side blinks red, blue, and white into the room. Jake exits what appears to be his darkroom, the red light inside still on. There is a knock. Jake puts down the picture and answers the door. He is greeted by a gun--and Nikita.

NIKITA: Jake Winston?

JAKE: Uh, yeah, I guess--

NIKITA: I want the negatives.

JAKE: Wha--what are you talking about?

NIKITA: (stepping in, forcing him inside, and shutting the door) You took my picture without my permission and printed it on the front page of this newspaper. I want to make sure you never print it anywhere again. I want the negatives.

JAKE: Hey, look, lady, I wasn't breakin' no laws. Freedom of the press, you know. The watchdog of democracy.

NIKITA: (cocking the gun) Try watching this.

JAKE: Look, I'm just tryin' to make a living, you know? Pictures like that--they bring in a nice chunk of change. Remember the fireman and the baby? People love that saving children crap--

Nikita sighs, dropping the arm with the gun.

NIKITA: You're right, you're right. I'm overreacting. I tend to do that sometimes.

Jake, relieved, steps forward--only to have Nikita punch him in the mouth, sending him sprawling.

NIKITA: See? I did it again.

She tears down the curtain string and begins tying him up.

NIKITA: Guess I'll just have to find the negatives myself.

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

SCENE: Street outside Jake's apartment. Michael parks his car, then gets out and crosses the street to another car, parked along the curb. The driver's side window rolls down at his approach, but all we can see is an arm and a gloved hand. The driver stays hidden--this is Turner, Nikita's shadow op.

MICHAEL: She's here?

TURNER: Across the street. Top right apartment.

MICHAEL: You have the monitor?

Turner passes a small electronic device through the window. Michael pockets it.

MICHAEL: You're relieved. Report back to the Section for reassignment.

TURNER: But--

MICHAEL: That's an order.

He steps back, waits and watches while Turner rolls up the window and drives slowly down the block. Then he looks over at the apartment.

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

SCENE: Jake's apartment. Jake is tied and gagged--the room is, if anything, more of a wreck. Nikita is in the darkroom, going through a filing cabinet. There is a knock. She pauses in her search, looks out to check that Jake is secure, and then resumes searching. Another knock--this time she freezes, as if recognizing the knock.

Cut to hallway. Michael takes out a thingamajig and opens Jake's door. Inside, he finds Jake, gagged and tied, but no Nikita. The darkroom door is closed.

MICHAEL: (to Jake) Where is she?

Jake motions with his head to the darkroom. Michael looks at it, and then moves toward it deliberately. He opens it slowly. The door hinges creak.

Nikita stands bathed in red light, her gun pointed at Michael.

MICHAEL: Nikita--

NIKITA: Have you come to finish the job?

MICHAEL: Not the job you think.

NIKITA: Oh?

MICHAEL: They didn't order me to cancel you.

NIKITA: Then what did they ORDER you to do?

MICHAEL: To retrieve you.

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

SCENE: A dirt road. A pick-up truck drives along it, careening all over. Temple is driving, drinking a beer. Beside him, Katie also swigs a beer, that is, when she's not hanging all over him.

TEMPLE: I'm tellin' you, honey, we got the plan. The Freedom Guard is gonna take this country back for all the right thinkin' white people, for those of us who are pure in heart and pure in blood.

KATIE: (swoony, tipsy) You sound jus' like my daddy.

TEMPLE: Yeah? Well, sounds like your daddy was a man who knew what was up.

Suddenly he brakes. Squealing, she goes flying.

KATIE: What--why are we stopping?

TEMPLE: Cuz I'm gonna show you somethin' honey. Somethin' I bet you ain't never seen before.

He gets out of the truck, stumbling a bit and fumbling for keys. She clambers out after him and looks around. There is a large old cypress house in the distance, built on stilts with a deep front porch. Pickups and cars are parked in the yard in front of it, and men in fatigues lounge on the porch.

Next to Temple's truck is a smaller building--an obviously homemade affair of concrete block. It is to this building that Temple stumbles. Katie follows, tripping and giggling. Temple opens the door, swinging it with a flourish.

TEMPLE: Ladies' first.

She preens a bit and goes inside. He waits until she's all the way into the dark interior before he flips on a light switch. Katie catches her breath. It's an arsenal--guns piled everywhere. In the center, the place of honor, sits an anti-aircraft stinger on a card table.

KATIE: Oh, my God. How'd you get a stinger?

TEMPLE: (disappointed that she already knows what it is) One of my old Marine Corps buddies got it for me.

She wanders around, mouth open.

KATIE: Nine-millimeters--AK-47s--grenades--Jeez, you got enough firepower here to blow away California.

TEMPLE: Now that's one hell of an idea. (He finishes his beer with a glug and, after tossing the can out into the yard, he closes the door.) And you are one hell of a lady.

He takes her in his arms with the grace of a gorilla. She runs her hands up his forearms.

KATIE: So big and strong--

TEMPLE: Everywhere you look, honey.

They go to it, right there in the middle of all the guns.

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

SCENE: Jake's apartment. Nikita sits by the window, the neon light playing on her face. Michael exits the darkroom, where he has just deposited Jake. He stops to look at Nikita.

NIKITA: I felt them, you know. I felt their eyes on me the whole time. After a while, I just didn't care. It was like I was falling into a black hole and couldn't find my way out.

MICHAEL: And now?

NIKITA: Now? I don't know. When I saw that little girl in trouble, it was like--I don't know--it was like getting a shock treatment. All of a sudden I woke up--only I'm not sure to what, and where. (She looks over at Michael.) So Section One wants me back.

MICHAEL: Yes.

NIKITA: Why?

MICHAEL: Because you were a good operative. Good operatives aren't easy to come by, especially when your main labor pool is the prison population.

NIKITA: Well, I guess I should be glad to be good at something, even if it is killing people.

MICHAEL: Nikita--

NIKITA: (remembering the newspaper) What about the pictures?

MICHAEL: I have the negatives.

NIKITA: (glancing at the dark room) You always were better at the gentle persuasions than I was.

MICHAEL: And exposure was limited. There shouldn't be a problem.

NIKITA: Then that's that. Let's go, then.

She gets up, puts her gun away, and starts for the door. Michael steps in front of her, seemingly impulsively.

MICHAEL: No. You're not going back.

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

SCENE: Temple's arsenal. Katie is snuggling against Temple on the floor. They are covered by an army blanket.

KATIE: (dreamily) Larry, do you believe in love at first sight?

TEMPLE: (yawning) Sure, honey.

KATIE: I can't believe this is happening. I mean, two days ago I'm fighting for my life in the Section, and now all of a sudden (sighs happily) it feels like I've come home.

A beat.

TEMPLE: The Section?

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

SCENE: Street outside Jake's apartment. We see Turner's gloved hand put something behind the license plate of Michael's car. He gets up and walks away. The camera pans to Jake's second floor window, where Michael stands, looking down.

Cut to inside Jake's apartment. Michael is now at the window, Nikita in the room behind him.

MICHAEL: You were right, Nikita. You don't belong there. I'm sorry it took me so long to understand that.

NIKITA: Michael, what are you saying?

MICHAEL: I shouldn't have let you go without a safety net. I won't do that this time. I've brought you cash and credentials. And (turning to her and taking out the tracking monitor) I've arranged for a window of opportunity to have the tracker removed.

NIKITA: Tracker?

MICHAEL: Behind your ear most likely.

She feels behind both ears. Finds it--looks up at him wide-eyed.

NIKITA: When did they--

MICHAEL: Doesn't matter. Just have it removed some time in the next 48 hours. (He pockets the tracking monitor)

NIKITA: (frozen) Michael, I don't know what to say.

They stare at each other.

NIKITA: They won't let you off with abeyance this time.

MICHAEL: I can take care of myself.

NIKITA: But why are you doing this?

MICHAEL: (a bit stricken) Don't you know?

A pause.

NIKITA: I--I can't bear the thought that you could--you could die for this. For (almost a whisper) me--

MICHAEL: No one's died yet, Nikita.

He glances toward the window, and then lowers his head and starts for the door. Nikita stops him by stepping in front of him. Suddenly, as if electrified by a sudden thought, she puts her hands up on either side of his.

NIKITA: (low, intense, half-afraid of what she's saying) Michael, come with me--

MICHAEL: (taken aback) What?

NIKITA: We could do it. You and I together--WE could outrun them.

Michael, swiftly, impulsively, mimics her gesture, putting his hands on either side of her face. They just look, both holding their breaths, as if about to take a dive off a very high cliff.

MICHAEL: (so softly it's more a breath than a word) Nikita--

They move together simultaneously, inching to each other.

It is a soft, sweet kiss, a promise.

MICHAEL: Let's get out of here--

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

SCENE: South Beach strip, night. The camera tracks down the street behind a tall, statuesque blond (not Nikita) past various clubs, hearing snatches of music from each one: reggae, salsa, blues. The woman turns, and we see it's not a woman but a drag queen. She stops, and the camera tracks past her, coming upon a street performer, a man in an African mask doing a tribal dance to a rap song. As the camera passes him, he turns, showing the face on the other side of the mask. The camera moves on, a little quieter now--the camera slows and stops just before reaching the front of a small, elegant hotel. A slow upward pan, we see Michael, leaning on the balcony rail, watching the scene.

Cut to inside hotel room--spacious, luxurious in an understated way (no tropical prints). On the bed is a dark blue shirt and dark pants, obviously new. On a nearby table is the black satchel Michael had put in the trunk. From the bathroom comes the sound of a shower running.

Michael, still on the balcony, looks at his watch, straightens up, takes out his cell phone, and dials a number. While he waits for an answer, the shower stops. The phone keeps ringing, and he frowns--then the bathroom door opens and he hangs up. Turning, he sees Nikita, emerging from the shower. She is in a thick white bathrobe, supplied by the hotel, and is toweling her hair dry. She looks fresh and bright-cheeked.

NIKITA: God, I forgot how good a shower can be.

Michael puts away the cell phone and leans against the balcony rail, crossing his arms and watching her. She spots the clothes on the bed.

NIKITA: Where'd these come from?

MICHAEL: The shop in the lobby.

NIKITA: (with a small laugh, tossing the towel back to the bathroom) Michael, it's after midnight. I'm sure the shop is closed.

MICHAEL: (after a pause, lowering his head and coming into the room to stand in the doorway, like a sentinel) If we're going to make this work, Nikita, you're going to have to stop thinking in terms of conventional behavior.

Nikita, who had been reaching for the clothes, stops and looks at him, startled. Her head pulls back slightly.

NIKITA: I see. (looking away, she spots the black satchel) What's in the bag?

MICHAEL: See for yourself.

She goes to the bag, unzips it slowly, and looks in with a little trepidation. Her eyes widen, and she pulls out a large plastic bag of cash, stacks of bills so neat they look shrink-wrapped.

NIKITA: My God--how much is in here?

MICHAEL: Seventy thousand in cash. There's also a key to a safety deposit box in Zurich that contains bearer bonds worth over two million.

NIKITA: Is this Section money?

MICHAEL: No--

NIKITA: Then where'd it come from?

MICHAEL: (reluctantly) I had an uncle Bob who was very generous.

NIKITA: (nonplussed) Wow. You had an uncle Bob. (Looks at the cash) A RICH Uncle Bob. (Dumping the money back into the bag with a strange, strangled laugh) What I don't know about you, Michael--

Head down, arms still crossed, he moves further into the room, coming to stand beside her.

MICHAEL: There's more.

Nikita gives him a look, and then starts riffling through the contents.

NIKITA: Well, let's see. We got weapons, we got ammo for the weapons, we got identification--(she stops, then pulls out a small box) and we got a little brown box. Now what kind of things come in little brown boxes? (She shakes it.) A bomb?

MICHAEL: It's---insurance.

Nikita, still with an attitude, sets the box on the table slowly, without taking her eyes off Michael. He returns her gaze steadfastly. She looks down, opens the box, and then carefully takes out a small computer disc. She turns it over, then holds it up.

NIKITA: I'll bite. What is it? (Michael doesn't answer--just gives her one of his "You Know" looks--after a moment, she does) Oh, my God--it's the directory. (She does a little turn around, away from him, back against the wall) Oh, my God--Michael!--THE DIRECTORY! If Operations found out--

MICHAEL: Operations won't find out. And if he did, there's always this--

He reaches into the box, pulls out a tape. Nikita stares at it, at him, as if it were a snake.

NIKITA: That's my tape.

MICHAEL: A copy of it, yes.

Her head goes back, her eyes filling with tears of anger, the disc slipping from her fingers, which then clench into fists and bang against the wall behind her.

NIKITA: You took it--you kept it for yourself--

MICHAEL: (firmly) No. Not for myself. (He throws the tape down, goes to her, but doesn't touch her.) Nikita, listen to me. It isn't just Section One we're running from. Once the word is out that we have gone rogue, every terrorist on the planet will be after us for what we know. We have to be prepared, we have to be ruthless from this point on just to stay alive. You must understand that, or else we won't have a chance.

MUSIC begins: Natalie Merchant's "Carnival."

Her head falls forward, as if desolated by the picture he paints of a life of fear, of running. Her hands grab at the lapels of his shirt, trying to keep her balance. Gently, he lifts her chin with the tip his finger.

MICHAEL: You are right. Together we can do it. But it won't be easy.

The lyrics begin:

"I've walked these streets / a virtual stage / it seemed to me / make up on their faces / actors took their places / next to me--"

Nikita stares at him, the desolation in her eyes darkening to desperation, to a stiffening resolution not to be denied again. She clutches his shirt more tightly, bringing him in closer.

"I've walked these streets / in a carnival / of sights to see / all the cheap thrill seekers / the vendors and the dealers / they crowded around me--"

Michael runs his finger along her cheek, down her chin, her lips, tracing the edge of the lower lip. Her lips part, her breath quickens--and then his hands are in her hair, pulling her to him. No sweetness in this kiss--it is all thick-tongued, open-mouthed hunger, the fierce desire to swallow the other whole.

"Have I been blind / have I been lost / inside myself and my own mind / hypnotized, mesmerized / by what my eyes have seen?--"

With one sure move, he undoes the belt of her robe, pushes it off her shoulders, onto the floor. He grabs her face, kisses her, his hands run down her back, his lips down her neck......

"I've walked these streets / in a spectacle of wealth and poverty / in the diamond markets / the scarlet welcome carpet / that they just rolled out for me--"

With a cry of frustration, she grabs his shirt, yanking it out of the waistband over his head. Rationality is gone--she runs her hands along his chest, her lips following their path. Her hands slide down to his belt......

"I've walked these streets / in the mad house asylum / they can be / where a wild-eyed misfit prophet / on a traffic island stopped / and he raved of saving me---"

He grabs her wrists, pulling them up. They stand separate for a moment, taking in the glow, the smell of skin, of each other--

"Have I been blind / have I been lost / have I been wrong / have I been wise / have I been strong / have I been hypnotized, mesmerized / by what my eyes have found / in that great street carnival / in that carnival--"

He is lifting her, she is wrapping her arms, her legs around him, they are moving, pressed together, to the bed--

Michael's cell phone rings.

NIKITA: (breathing so hard she can barely talk) Don't answer it.

MICHAEL: (after a long moment) I have to.

He sets her down. She stands, lost, while he grabs the phone.

MICHAEL: (hoarsely) Yes. . . . Yes, what is it? . . . (angrily) You what?! I told you--. . . No, you will not. You will get out of there, NOW. . . . All right, now, LISTEN--this is what you are going to do. You will find a quiet corner and you will wait. You will do nothing more. Do you hear me? I'm a few hours away . . . . If you want to live, you will do exactly as I say.

He hangs up, stands there fuming, and suddenly launches the phone across the room.

MICHAEL: Damn--stupid--!

NIKITA: (pulling on her robe, a little frightened by the unusual display of anger) Michael, what's wrong?

MICHAEL (controlling his anger) I have to go. (Without looking at her, he jerks his clothes off the floor and begins dressing.)

NIKITA: NOW? You have to go NOW?

MICHAEL: Yes. Now.

NIKITA: But why?

MICHAEL: (through clenched teeth) I have to pull a stupid little girl out of a fire she started.

Nikita drops to the bed and stares dumbly as he finishes dressing. When he is finished, he turns to her--anger gone, nothing but loss now.

MICHAEL: I am so sorry, Nikita.

Nikita puts one hand up on her knee; she regards him with her head tilted, her eyes narrowed.

NIKITA: Could you use some help?

Michael just looks at her.

NIKITA: (shrugging). Hey, one more mission for old time's sake.

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

SCENE: Miami street, night. Nikita and Michael exit the hotel, Michael carrying the black satchel. She goes around to the passenger side of his car and gets in. He opens the trunk and puts in the black satchel. Then he just stands there a moment. He looks down at the license plate--where Turner had placed a tracker. He looks up--a moment of decision for him.

He closes the trunk, stands there looking at the back of Nikita's head through the rear window. CU Michael. CU slow mo Nikita, turning to look back at him, see what the hold-up is. CU Michael. He looks away.

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

SCENE: An abrupt cut to inside the car. They are on the interstate. It's empty, dark, lonely, slightly raining. No music, just the sound of the windshield wipers.

NIKITA: So who's the target?

MICHAEL: (his voice thick) An extremist group--they call themselves The Freedom Guard. Mostly just bigots and big talkers. Our intel is scarce, but what we have gotten isn't enough to send up any alarm bells. They're all talk, with little firepower. No real threat to the home front.

NIKITA: So this is to be a surgical. Just get the girl out.

MICHAEL: Yes. Get the girl out.

Nikita nods, looks out the window. Silence for a few moments. Just the sounds of the windshield wipers.

NIKITA: (musing) We should go to Greece. Set up on one of the islands, maybe open a taverna-- A beat.

MICHAEL: That would be nice.

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

SCENE: Temple's compound. Michael's car, headlights off, inches forward and stops near the concrete-block arsenal. The house is beyond the arsenal, across a field on the right. It is entirely dark inside, but there are floodlights that provide some illumination. No one is around.

Michael turns the car off, and then reaches into the back seat for a case. He opens it and starts taking out Section equipment: ear comm pieces (or whatever they're called), a thing for opening locks (whatever it's called), and nine millimeters (I know what they're called). They work to prepare themselves in harmony--old habits.

MICHAEL: I'll take the house. You check out that building there. (He indicates the arsenal.)

NIKITA: Got it.

Equipped, she moves to get out of the car, but he stops her.

MICHAEL: Nikita--

NIKITA: What?

MICHAEL: Nothing. Just be careful.

NIKITA: Oh, Michael, you're no fun--

She smiles and gets out. He follows suit. They hunker down and begin moving--Nikita to the arsenal, Michael to the house.

A shot of Nikita--kneeling down to open the locked arsenal door. She's rusty--it takes her two tries, but finally she's in.

A shot of Michael, moving low and swift toward the house. He reaches the front steps--takes a look around--and then moves up to the porch.

A shot of Nikita--stepping into the arsenal, turning on the lights. Like Katie, she is dumbstruck at what she finds.

NIKITA: Oh, my God, Michael, our intel was wrong. They're armed for Armageddon--

A shot of Michael, looking through a front window and reacting to Nikita's comment. Suddenly, Katie's voice comes from around the side of the house.

KATIE: Glad you could make it, Michael.

She steps around the corner of the porch, followed by Temple. They are dressed in his and hers fatigues. Michael turns--finds himself surrounded by Freedom Guards, all cocking rifles.

KATIE: I've been telling my new friends all about Section One.

A shot of Nikita, heads up, alarmed.

A shot of Michael, staring stone-faced at Katie.

MICHAEL: You just failed your evaluation.

Katie flushes with anger. Temple raises his gun.

TEMPLE: Drop the gun and hands up.

Slowly, Michael complies. Temple gestures to the house.

TEMPLE: Inside. NOW.

Michael is shoved into the house. Katie glowers at him as he passes.

Cut to a shot of Nikita, in the doorway of the arsenal. She closes the door, leans against it, breathing hard. Then she straightens up and looks around her.

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

SCENE: Inside the Temple house. Michael is brought in and pushed onto a chair. Next to him is a table with a phone. Katie enters with a swagger, followed by Temple and two of his men. She goes up to Michael and smirks.

KATIE: And you thought I didn't have what it took to be an operative.

Michael looks at her without blinking--a withering stare for those who can read Michael's blank expression. Katie picks up the phone with mock nonchalance and dials a number. She examines her fingernails while it rings.

OPERATOR (vo): Password.

KATIE: I have no idea what the password is cuz I'm just a trainee. But be sure to tell Ops that the Freedom Guard has their precious Michael, and he's gonna tell us all about Section One.

She hangs up, looks at Michael archly, and then smiles over at Temple.

KATIE: The team will be here by sunrise.

TEMPLE: Good. We got time for breakfast before we start killin' spooks. (He cocks his rifle.)

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

SCENE: Nikita in the arsenal. She turns around, looking at all the weapons.

MUSIC begins: Chris Whitley's "Still Point." (many thanx to morgen for sharing this song with me)

Nikita begins arming herself. (Picture Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, getting ready to take out the Mother alien...)

Cut to a shot of the field in front of the house--men in fatigues and guns lounge on the porch. .

"Right to left, left to right / Light to dark, dark to light"

Cut to Nikita, armed to the teeth, sneaking out of the arsenal, running along the edge of the field (mucky, swampy ground, on the edge of the `glades).

"But who could care from here my girl / At the still point of the moving world / The still point of the moving world / Still point of the moving world / The still point of the moving world")

Nikita stops just opposite the house and kneels. She pulls a grenade from her pocket, takes out the pin with her teeth, throws with all her might back toward the arsenal:

EXPLOSION!!!!

The men on the porch fall, jump up, grab guns, yell. Men from inside the house run out. All begin running off the porch, toward the arsenal. Nikita sets herself and begins mowing them down with an automatic rifle.

"One in four, two in three / She to him and he to she--"

Cut to inside. Temple is at the window, trying to see what is going on. Katie runs out. One of the other men steps forward, and Michael takes him out. He grabs his gun, cancels both guards, and turns the gun on Temple.

TEMPLE: (dropping his gun with a smirk) Hey, I ain't no Rodney King. You cops can't shoot an unarmed man.

MICHAEL: I ain't a cop.

He shoots Temple, sends him flying back through the glass.

and then cancels Temple.

Cut to outside: Nikita makes her way to the porch, then inside the house. In combat mode, she begins going from room to room.

Cut to Michael, also moving from room to room. From the window of one room, he spots two Freedom guards outside, making for the swamp. He shoots them, bang bang.

"The still point of the moving world / Still point of the moving world / The still point of the moving world--")

Cut to kitchen--a big, old fashioned kitchen. Nikita enters, gun drawn. She sees Katie, cowering and whimpering in the corner. Nikita approaches her, towering over her with her gun pointed right at her.

NIKITA: Section One must be really hard up if they recruited you.

A man's voice behind her:

VOICE: There she is.

Nikita turns. It's Jean. He is also holding a gun, and he no longer has a Jamaican accent. In his other hand is Michael's black satchel.

JEAN: There's that bad angel again.

He shoots Katie with a Michaelly ease, and then turns the gun on Nikita.

Then, behind him, Michael appears, also with gun drawn.

MICHAEL: Turner.

They all freeze. Turner, after a second, raises his gun and hands it back to Michael, who pockets it.

NIKITA: I don't understand--

MICHAEL: (taking the black satchel) You don't have to.

But she does. Her face darkens--the bad angel makes its presence known with a vengeance.

NIKITA: (glaring at Jean/Turner) What are you waiting for, Michael? Cancel him and let's get out of here.

MICHAEL: No.

He looks at her sadly.

MICHAEL: I can never leave the Section. You know that.

NIKITA: Michael--

MICHAEL (holding out the satchel) The door's open, Nikita. Go. If you can.

Cut to outside again. The sun is just beginning to rise. Begin with a close up of Nikita's hands, one holding the satchel, the other holding a gun.

"As the laws are broken after all / But who could care from here my girl / At the still point of the moving world / The still point of the moving world--"

As Nikita moves across the porch, down the stairs, the camera pulls back (a crane shot) moving higher into the air as she slowly makes her way past the bodies that litter the field. She comes to a stop in the middle of the field, in the middle of the destruction. Her head falls back, she drops the satchel and the gun, and she looks up as if seeking answers from above The camera begins slowly turning around.

"The still point of the moving world / Still point of the moving world--"

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

SCENE: Section One: a shot of Michael, Madeline, and Ops--same positions as their final meeting in Mercy. Madeline is talking but we hear none of the conversation. Instead, all we hear is the music: Sarah McLachlan's "Possession":

"Listen as the wind blows / from across the great divide, / Voices trapped in yearning / memories trapped in time--" Michael nods, says something, turns away slowly, and leaves Ops and Maddie, much like he does in Mercy. "The night is my companion / and solitude my guide / Would I spend forever here and not be satisfied--"

Cut to a low angle shot: Nikita's legs walking down a hallway, swift and sure. Music picks up speed:

"And I would be the one to hold you down , kiss you so hard"

Long shot view of Section: panning from Walter to Birkoff to the three Bugs, huddled together in a corner.

"I'll take your breath away / and after I'd wipe away the tears, Just close your eyes dear."

Nikita appears, passing the three Bugs.

NIKITA: Hi, guys.

They freeze, mouths open. Nikita, hands casually in pockets, moves on into the Section, and we watch Walter, Birkoff, and other operatives seeing her, greeting her, surrounding her with smiles and (from Walter) a huge hug.

"Through this world I've stumbled / so many times betrayed, / Trying to find an honest word, to find the truth enslaved--"

Michael enters and then stops to watch the scene from the outer edges. After a few moments, he begins to walk slowly around, circling slowly toward the group in the center.

"Oh you speak to me in riddles / and you speak to me in rhyme. / My body aches to breathe your breath, / your words keep me alive, / And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard--" Nikita spots Michael, and their eyes lock as he slowly approaches her. "I'll take your breath away/ and after I'd wipe away the tears / Just close your eyes dear--"

MICHAEL: You came back.

NIKITA: Yes. Just as you wanted all along.

MICHAEL: Not "wanted," Nikita--

Cut to Madeline and Ops, watching the scene from above.

MADELINE: You realize the bond between them is even stronger now.

OPS: A Chinese puzzle--

MADELINE: If we separate them, we destroy them.

OPS: Fear and desire--the two great human motivators. (a small shrug) Well, we'll use it while we can, but if it gets to be a problem--

Back to Michael and Nikita--Nikita's attentions are reclaimed by Walter, Birkoff, and the others. She chats and smiles, but keeps an eye on Michael standing nearby.

"Into the night I wander / it's morning that I dread, / Another day of knowing / of the path I fear to tread, / Oh into the sea of waking dreams / I follow without pride, / Nothing stands between us here/ and I won't be denied--"

The crowd moves on, back to work. Nikita and Michael face each other from opposite sides of the screen. Nikita's hand rests on Birkoff's table. Between them in the background, overhead, are Ops and Maddie.

"And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard--"

Michael reaches out and gently places his hand on hers. Nikita looks down, and then slowly turns her hand, palm up, to hold his. FREEZE FRAME.

"I'll take your breath away / and after I'd wipe away the tears / Just close your eyes dear..."

Music stops. FADE TO BLACK. Then, the sound of a key being turned, the creak of hinges. A door opens, and we realize we are inside a locker, like the kind people use to store luggage at the airport. We see Michael, impassive, through the doorway. He bends, out of sight for a moment, and we get a quick view of a waiting room (airport, train station, bus station...). Then he stands and in slides the black satchel. He is about to close the door, when he remembers something. He unzips the satchel and takes out a photograph: Nikita accepting the cookie from the little girl. He looks at it. Pockets it. Closes the door. Locks it.

THE END. ROLL CREDITS....

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