Nikita stood in the foyer of the retreat, bundled up in a heavy ski jacket and pants. She looks like about seven layers are on underneath those. Mylo and Julie stand nearby holding their bags. Yet, they are not as heavily bundled up as Nikita is.

Gannon walks into the foyer and notices Nikita's clothing. He is only wearing a black ski jacket. Her face is white as the 17 inches of snow outside, and her eyes, black as coal.

"Nikita, are you cold?" Gannon asks as he touches her shoulder. She only numbly nods her head. Gannon remembers how he told Michael he would watch her, but Nikita is a strong fighter, and it had become difficult.

For a couple days it seemed like Nikita had jumped back. She was up and about the retreat like before. She hammered away at the couples furiously, but when she got notice of her soon departure for headquarters, she slumped again.

Gannon pulls a blanket from the closet and drapes it around Nikita. She pulls it tightly as the driver enter the retreat.

"Roads are as good as they are going to get." the driver says as he wipes his snow covered boats off on the rug. Mylo and Julie say goodbye to Gannon quickly and bound out into the snow. Nikita slowly tries to pick up her bag. Gannon grabs it instead.

"Let's get you on your way." Gannon says. The two walk out of the retreat into the snow. Nikita stumbles on the treated sidewalk and Gannon catches her.

"Watch the ice." Gannon says, knowing that Nikita will soon say something similar to that. He helps Nikita into the van and then pushes her bag into the van.

"Thank you." Nikita says softly through her scarf. Gannon smiles at the woman. He shutters at the thought of how much she changed. She started out here like a vision of god, and now, like a half shadow of death.

"No problem." Gannon says as he tries to shut the door. Nikita places a hand out and stops him.

"For everything." Nikita says firmly. Gannon nods his head and shuts the door.

Gannon moves to the driver and takes the keys out of his hands.

"Why didn't you just tell them?" the driver asks as Gannon moves to the driver's door.

"I'm going on vacation for a few days. Madeline thought it would be better for me to drive them in than you." Gannon says as he gets into the driver's seat.

"Watch out for the icy spots." The driver says as he backs away.

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

Michael sits in his office when the phone rings.

"They are on their way back." Madeline says softly, and Michael closes his eyes. "Are you going to make special plans?"

Michael sits for a moment in silence.

"No. I can't...I don't know..." Michael stumbles around with the words. Michael sits dumb, worried that Nikita wouldn't be able to do anything. He knows nothing of how she is.

"I understand." Madeline cuts off Michael. "But, I'm sure it will bring tears to her eyes to see you."

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

Life Support 2

Julie and Mylo jump out of the van and stretch like kittens. Julie takes Mylo out of his jacket and they run down the hallway to find some friends that they haven't seen since they left.

Nikita steps out and looks at the driver, and smiles.

"I knew you'd drive." Nikita says as Gannon steps out of the van. She reaches in for her bag, but Gannon stops her.

"I'll take it in. Go ahead." Gannon says. Nikita kisses his cheek softly and start off down the hallway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Birkoff looks up from his computer and immediately covers his dropped mouth. He knows in his mind that the figure that just turned the corner is Nikita, but his heart screams with the torture of seeing her withering body. Although she wears baggy heavy clothes, Birkoff knows that he does not want them to come off.

"NIKITA!" Birkoff finally says and Nikita stops. She braces herself for Birkoff's oncoming hug. Birkoff hugs her hard, and can feel her body struggle to keep on balance.

"Here, let me take your coat!" Birkoff says. Nikita smiles and starts to take the outerclothing off. Nikita stands there, in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and Birkoff tries to breath as he moves away.

Birkoff looks away, but can't get the ghostly look of Nikita's face out of his vision.

"Nikita, I have a lot of intel to go through. Let me tell Michael the van has come in." Birkoff says as Nikita slowly sits on a chair by his work station. Birkoff leans down and presses the buttons for Michael's, Walter's and Madeline's intercoms, hoping that they will rescue Nikita.

"Michael...Nikita is back." Birkoff says as steady as he could. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Madeline looks at the intercom, surprized that she got such a message. She thinks for a moment that it must have been a mistake, but then remembers, Birkoff just doesn't make mistakes. Not wanting to be unwelcomed at the welcome back party, she flips on her computer and navigates herself to the camera near Birkoff's station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael jumps up from his seat in their office and runs out of the office. He moves quickly, but then stops as he sees Nikita struggle to stand up.

"NOOOO!!!" Michael's body screams out as he takes in this skeleton that is Nikita. After taking a breath to assess the situation, he smiles and heads towards Nikita.

"Nikita!" Michael says and Nikita turns around, which scares Michael even further. In an instance, he realizes that even some of the people he have killed with five or seven bullets looked better than Nikita.

"Michael!" Nikita says and she steps into his hug. She takes quick breaths in, trying to keep her lungs filled with air.

Michael closes his eyes and tries to ignore the loud wheeze coming from Nikita.

"I missed you. How do you feel...after the trip?" Michael asks and he looks over at the visually shaken Birkoff.

"Tired... I hope you didn't have anything special planned." Nikita says softly as she leans her body against Michael's.

Michael holds his blank stare as he realizes he hardly feels Nikita's body.

"Why don't you go see Walter and Madeline? I have some things to tie up and we'll leave early." Michael says holding Nikita. He watches her sit down slowly and her smile shine as it always has.

"Sure." Nikita says and Michael walks off.

Birkoff stares at Nikita until she finally turns around.

"I'm going to see Walter." Nikita announces as she stands up. Birkoff's eyes open widely.

"I can get him down here!" Birkoff says, worried that Nikita will fall over dead if she walks anywhere.

"What's wrong with you, Birkoff? It's like you've seen a ghost or a zombie?" Nikita laughs but then stops. "I forgot... I'm sorry about Melissa."

Birkoff sits as his mouth hangs wide open, watching Nikita sway down the hallway. Never in this time had he even thought of Melissa.

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

Life Support 3

A slight knock at Walter's workspace jolts Walter's head up from his work. He looks over at the blonde hair that is streaming into his doorway. "SUGAR!!!" Walter says happily as he looks at the girl. Walter realizes why Madeline had the brief conversation with him. She warned him of how Nikita looked. Walter hugs Nikita and jots down in his head that Madeline really has to learn to be more concrete on her warnings.

Walter starts to hear the short gasps of air and pulls away from his hug with Nikita.

"Why so short?" Nikita asks with a giggle. Walter struggles to maintain a smile when he really wanted to pick Nikita up in his arms and take care of her weak body until well again. Yet, Walter realized what his duty was to be here. Madeline asked that he kept Nikita for about ten minutes as she tried to figure out how to approach the situation.

"Just wanted to see my Sugar's body more... can't do that while I'm hugging ya!" Walter says with a laugh. Nikita smiles and leans against his table.

"What are you working on?" Nikita asks and Walter smiles. Ten minutes was going to be easy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Madeline walked firmly into Operations office, the first time since they offically broke it off. Operations turns in his chair and stares at Madeline not saying a word.

"You said you needed to speak with me." Operations says coldly as he folds his hands in front of him.

"Your daughter is back." Madeline says without blinking at his bad attempt at shaking her. Now, had he looked like Nikita, that would have shaken her.

"Melissa is back in the area?" Operations says raising his eyebrow. He smiles lightly at Madeline and Madeline does not react.

"No. Fine, don't care about your daughter. I'll take care of her too." Madeline says as she throws a picture that she pulled off the screen as she viewed it. Operations picks it up and holds it. His smile disappears.

"I thought Medlab clear her." Operations says as he drops the picture. Madeline looks hard at Operations, surprized that he knew even that.

"Yes. She was. I'd like to put her back in Medlab." Madeline says stepping closer to the desk.

"No. She hasn't shown us that she needs to be put in there. She will only go to Medlab if she voluntarily goes in."

Operations says as he shakes his head. Madeline stares at Operations, anger, because he knows Nikita would never willingly sign herself into Medlab.

"FINE" Madeline says and she turns herself out of the office, not looking back at once. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Madeline looks up as Nikita steps into her office. Madeline wanted to make sure Nikita was looking as bad as her face looked.

"I wanted you to try on some new clothes I bought for you." Madeline says pointing at some short dresses on hangers.

Nikita smiles.

"Sure. No problem!" Nikita says. She steps into the bathroom and Madeline moves from her desk.

"So, did you get the flu that was going through the retreat?" Madeline asks Nikita as she changes.

"No." Nikita answers shortly. Madeline steps out as Nikita steps out in the dress.

"Are you sure you bought the right size?" Nikita asks as she looks at the extra material on the dress. Madeline turns her back and closes her eyes. It hurts Madeline to even look at Nikita. She shallows hard and manages to say. "I must have bought the wrong size... don't try the others on."

"Sure." Nikita says as brightly as she can. Madeline leans against a chair as Nikita goes back into the bathroom.

Madeline shutters as she thinks, "How can she even be living like that?"

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

Life Support 4

Michael turns on the light to their apartment and drops Nikita's bag on the floor. Nikita walks in slowly. She stops at the kitchen counter and takes some deep breaths.

Michael closes the door and picks the bag up. He tries to push away the thought that Nikita's bag is probably heavier than she is now.

"Just leave it, I'll go unpack." Nikita calls out as Michael disappears into the bedroom. He stands in the dark, remembering the mass meeting that spontaneously occured in Madeline's office. Michael walked in, worried about Nikita. No more than Michael was sitting down with Madeline than Walter busted through the door yelling, "Why isn't she in Medlab!" But Michael was never as worried when Birkoff walked in. Birkoff actually looked green, and admitted, that seeing Nikita had made him stop eating Oreos.

Michael steps out of the bedroom, remember the objective Madeline gave all of them, to get Nikita to willing place herself in Medlab.

"Walter and Birkoff are coming over later." Michael says as he sees Nikita holds a hand against the wall as she headed towards the bedroom.

"That's nice." Nikita says without looking at Michael. She steps into the bedroom, and Michael moves to the kitchen.

Nikita stands just inside the bedroom, focusing on the bed that seems like fifty feet away, and constantly moving. Her head starts to bounce to the side, and with a blink of her eyes, she falls to the ground hard. Her head hits the ground hard, and she instantly starts to cry.

"No more... just stop..." Nikita cries as she lightly pounds the floor. She tries to stand up, but just achieves falling to the ground again.

Michael turns off the water in the sink, and drops the head of lettuce into the bowl. He hears the light sobs and the heavy breathing. Michael steps out of the kitchen and sees Nikita's body sprawled out on the bedroom floor. He drops to his knees and touches her shoulder.

"Nikita!" Michael calls out as he sees her body shutter with each quick breath.

"Leave me alone." Nikita barely says and Michael is taken back by the statement. He grabs her hand and touches the ring.

"That means I can't." Michael says firmly. Nikita continues to struggle to take in air, and Michael rolls her over onto her back. "Calm down.. deep breathes... Nikita, you need to calm down..." Michael says, and sees very little success.

"Am I doing this to myself?" Nikita cries out loudly. Michael shakes his head no violently. Nikita looks up and sees his hair fall in front of his tear covered face.

"No." Michael finally says. "Please, calm down... breath slower..."

"You can heal yourself... why can't you kill yourself?" Nikita asks as she continues to struggle.

Michael bites his lip and closes his eyes.

"If you believe that.. then lets get you help." Michael says softly. He waits for Nikita's words, but is rewarded with hearing her breathing slowly return to a more normal pattern.

"You can't help me." Nikita finally says. Michael slides his legs out and props Nikita's body onto them.

"But, Madeline can." Michael says in a metered way. In his heart he knows that Nikita is not doing this to herself... but realizes that if she thinks it, it was important not to discredit it.

"How?" Nikita says, letting the word go quickly, like she was giving in. Michael sees the fight gone from her blue eyes, and knows that she will now listen.

"Check into Medlab." Michael says softly. Nikita only nods her head. Michael strokes her head and cries softly. With only a few moments passing, Nikita drifts to sleep. Michael picks her up and places her under the covers of the bed. He moves to call Walter and Birkoff and tell them not to come over.

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

Life Support 5

Michael moves towards Madeline's office. He looks back over his shoulder at Nikita in the hallway with Walter and Birkoff. Michael sighs and heads quickly on.

Michael walks into the office and Madeline is waiting for him.

"You said that you needed to talk to me." Madeline says as she moves close to the chair that Michael had sat down in.

"Nikita is checking herself into Medlab." Michael says with a frown and a closing of his eyes.

"It's for the best, Michael." Madeline says as she touches his arm. Michael pulls back.

"Madeline, she believes she is causing this herself." Michael says, and this statement causes Madeline to lean back.

"That is outrageous!" Madeline reacts immediately. She studies Michael and nods her head, knowing that Nikita must truly believe this.

"She has no reason to do that to herself!" Madeline continues on. Michael stands up and touches Madeline's shoulder in comfort.

"But what matters is that Nikita thinks this to be true." Michael reminds Madeline softly. Madeline turns her head to Michael and nods again.

"Your right." Madeline says as she pushes back her hair from her face. "Has she signed into Medlab yet?"

"No. She is with Walter and Birkoff. I was hoping you could talk to her before..." Michael says and stops. "You know how much she hates Medlab." Michael finishes.

"Yes. I do." Madeline says as she twists her hands together. "Let's go." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nikita is standing in the hall and Michael smiles as he hears her laugh. Walter and Birkoff are nearby, but not to close.

Michael notices that Julie and Mylo are there. Madeline smiles at the laughter.

"Maybe it's not as bad as we think." Madeline says. Michael turns his head to looks at Madeline and immediately there are three screams.

Michael turns back around to see Nikita on the floor. He breaks into a run as Walter leans down to Nikita.

" 'Kita!!! Nikita!! Sugar, hon! Sugar wake up now!" Walter says as he lightly pats her face. Michael slides into her body as Madeline is not far behind.

"NIKITA!..." Michael says and he looks up at Madeline. "She was always conscious before." Michael says dryly.

Birkoff stands against the wall, paralyzed in fear of what is going on. Michael pulls the Nikita up into his arms and starts walking to Medlab. Everyone follows. Before Madeline turns to go, she glances up at the glass window and sees Operations staring with his hands glued on the window.

Half way to Medlab, the doctors are running towards Michael with a gurney. Michael lays her down, and the doctors take over. Madeline pulls Michael away into a tight hug. The parade of worried friends stop in the middle of the hall, and stand in silence as they gather the strength to continue down the hall, which may hold many different endings.

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

Life Support 6

Nikita is placed in the heart of Medlab, with no others in Medlab, every doctor, nurse, and the entire support staff swarm around Niktia's case. Michael sits next to her bed. Madeline stands outside the room, watching. There is a glass wall separating Madeline from the rest of the group that had continued to move and change. It mostly consisted of Walter, Birkoff, Julie and Mylo, but someothers have been in and out.

A tap on the window cause Madeline to quickly turn around. There firmly stood Operations. Madeline's jaw tenses up and she walks to the opening and walks to Operations.

"What is the status?" Operations asks and Madeline wants to spit in his face.

"They have run all the basic tests two or three times, and have found nothing. No cancer, no genetic disorder, no diabetes... everything has checked out all right." Madeline says, showing her worry easily now.

"Something must be wrong." Operations says shortly with Madeline.

"I'm not stupid! We are running every test for anything and everything that we can think off." Madeline says loudly.

"I don't need this attitude from you!" Operations says even louder.

"I didn't see you standing here all night, watching the tests being performed and being here for Michael!" Madeline screams as she moves closer to Operations.

"I don't need to be here!" Operations says back with almost closed eyes.

"GOD HELP YOU... IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG HERE... NEVER...NEVER...WILL YOU SEE ANNA!"

Madeline yells and then turns on her heals and moves back to her previous spot. Operations leaves quickly.

Michael holds onto Nikita's hand. She hasn't been totally unconscious, but rarely conscious enough to understand.

Michael lifts his hand as he feels as light squeeze.

" 'Kita..." Michaels says softly as he sees Nikita's blue eyes focus on his.

"Mi..hel.." Nikita struggles to say. Michael looks out of the room at Madeline and nods her in. Madeline steps in and looks at Nikita.

"Hello, Nikita." Madeline says softly. She sees Nikita try to break a smile. "We are all here..." Madeline says softly.

Nikita's eyes soon close again and Michael hangs his head low.

Madeline touches Michael and pulls him out of the room. He stares into Nikita constantly.

"With each test that comes back negative... I get more and more worried." Madeline says. Michael stares at Nikita, and doesn't look at Madeline.

"Worried that she is doing this to herself?" Michael says dryly. Madeline closes her eyes and mutters yes.

"One of the test will come back positive... one has too..." Michael says, moving back into the room.

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

Life Support 7

Michael shots up from his position, leaning over Nikita's body. He shakes his head as he sees Nikita's body shaking back and forth and yells as he hears the louds gasps of air.

"NIKITA!!! NIKITA!!!" Michael screams as two doctors try to pull him away from her seizure ridden body. Finally Walter and Gannon step into the room and pull Michael away.

Madeline stands next to the window and watch the doctors work in a frantic pace. First they place restraints on Nikita's body to help the doctors work on her. One of the doctors place a syringe into her IV line and soon her seizure slows.

Madeline knows that the syringe had contained the medicine to do that. But she closes her eyes as Nikita's frantic gasps for air continue.

A doctor is soon shoving a tube down Nikita's throat and Madeline pulls away from the window.

Birkoff walks over to Madeline and helps her away.

And then they sat. Everyone but Operations in that room, waiting. Minutes ticked on for hours. Michael held his head in

his hands as he tried to think of anything else but what was happening. Madeline leaned against a wall, upset at herself for letting this going on this long. Walter sat with Gannon, who returned to headquarters when he heard of Nikita's lapse.

The doctor walked into the room and motioned for Madeline and Michael to go into the other room.

"We have stablized her. SHe is on a respirator now. We have no idea what is causing this. We are running every test STAT. We are keeping her in a coma state for now.. because she was fighting the respirator." the doctor says and walks away.

Michael walks silently out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael moves into a small closet, and is followed in by Gannon. Michael closes his eyes as he sees Gannon.

"Just leave!" Michael demands. Gannon does not move.

"Michael, I never believed that she was this bad." Gannon says softly. Michael turns around and violently grabs Gannon's head tightly.

"GO AHEAD... PUNCH ME!!!" Gannon says and Michael does punch him and let go of Gannon. Michael moves further into the closet. But Gannon runs towards Michael.

"You should have come up yourself... You! This is not my fault!" Gannon screams and then he slams his fist into Michael.

"Fine..." Michael says as he sinks down against the wall. "I should have known..."

Gannon slides down the opposite side of the wall.

"No, I should have known..." Gannon says sadly.

Silence echoes in the closet as the two grown men, with a bit of blood running down both of their faces, cry.

"Nikita would laugh at us." Michael says softly as he looks up at the ceiling.

"Nikita... ah.. she is a joker..." Gannon sighs as he looks at Michael.

"Yes, she is." Michael agrees with a smile.

"She once told me that she took a drug to be 'all better'..." Gannon continues to laugh.

"Loving2000..." Michael says as he sits up a straight.

"No.. I think she called it LOVES..." Gannon says and he looks at Michael with a puzzled look. Michael looks at Gannon and runs out of the closet.

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

Life Support 8

It had been an hour since Michael ran into Medlab screaming out, "LOVING2000.. LOVING2000..."

Everyone turned to look at him, and before Madeline could turn to the doctor, he was starting to run the tests.

Gannon walked in not long after, wondering what was going on. Madeline looked at the two men with their bloody faces and throws a towel at the both of them.

"I don't understand." Gannon says softly to Walter.

"It's a long story... it started before Michael and Nikita were 'allowed'." Walter starts to explain. Gannon looks at Walter intensely, wanting to know more.

"We are only going to wait here." Gannon says as he drops the towel. Michael had resumed his position at Nikita's bedside.

"Loving2000 is a nasty little drug that Nikita and Michael got off of the streets. It like causes a state were a person can totally control your every action, while you are totally conscious of it all." Walter says and Birkoff moves away.

"I don't understand." Gannon says as he looks at Birkoff sit across the room.

"It's a nasty story.. Birkoff hates it... but you'll understand." Walter says in a whisper.

"I want to know." Gannon informs Walter. Walter leans back in his chair.

"Nikita was kidnapped by a person inside Section who was working on Loving2000 for our own purposes. He injected her with the drug." Walter starts and then pauses for a breath as Madeline walks out of the room, back to Michael. "Then she was sold to the highest bidder."

"What? Sold.. for se.." Gannon starts and then stops as Walter shakes his head yes.

"The drug made her.. but her mind knew exactly everything that was going on. Her mind couldn't override the drug so it really messed up her mind." Walter informs Gannon and then Gannon takes a deep breath.

"But Nikita called it LOVES." Gannon interjects. Walter raises his eyebrows and takes a sip of the stale cola in his cup.

"LOVES was a Section attempt to create the perfect operative. But, since she had been exposed to it before.. it became hightly addictive.. very quickly." Walter says as he briefly looks into the room with Nikita in it.

"Michael had to play hardball.. him or the drug... and it made Nikita suffer hard." Walter said.

"Could this still be her system like LSD would be?" Gannon asks.

"We don't know. Operations banned all testing when he found out Nikita was his daught.." Walter says and then stops too late.

"What?!?" Gannon almost screams and falls out of his chair. "Did you say what I thought you did????"

"Yes. Now forget it." Walter says standing up and Gannon looks at Walter in shock.

"And how do I exactly do I do that?" Gannon asks.

Walter turns around. "Operations did it... so you should just follow the example of our superiors."

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

Life Support 9

Madeline walked into Operations' office and sat down. Operations just looked up at her with his tired eyes and looked back at his desk. Madeline could barely sit still as the two stayed in silence.

Madeline opens her mouth to finally say something when the doctor walked in. Madeline grabs some more tums, which she had been downing since the doctor asked for a private meeting with Operations and herself.

"For some unexplained reason, the level of Loving2000 in Nikita's body is toxic... heading towards lethal." The doctor says as he places the results on the desk. Operations looks at Madeline sharply, and she can see the concern on his face.

"What must be done?" Operations asks as the doctor continues to stand.

"Since we don't know how the Loving2000 got there, we have to lower the levels, and quickly. We've opened her IV lines all the way and are currently trying to flush her system with saline, but it doesn't seem to be helping." The doctor says and then stands very still.

"What else can be done?" Operations asks and Madeline looks at the doctor.

"She needs clean blood." Madeline answers and the doctor nods his head yes. Operations stands up and starts to roll up his sleeve.

"That is no problem." Operations says, but the doctor does not move. The sleeve is all the way up before Operations looks at the two.

"Your blood is not good enough." The doctor says simply.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY BLOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! I'M HER FATHER!!!" Operations roars.

"Not that you act like it." Madeline mutters lightly and Operations throws a glare at Madeline that causes her to turn away.

"Your blood is under a fifty percent match.. We need something much more closer." the doctor informs Operations and he sits down.

Madeline looks at Operations. She pushes away thoughts that maybe he really does care for Nikita. Madeline screams at herself..."He only cares because she is a damn good operative!"

"I'll get her mother's blood." Operations says standing up from his chair. Madeline raises an eyebrow at the comment.

"You told me over a year ago that Nikita's mother had died." Madeline challenges Operations.

"No. I know where she is." Operations says and the doctor sways back and forth in reaction to the tension building between the two.

"I can't believe this!" Madeline hollers and stands up.

"She has terminal brain cancer..." Operations starts to explain.

"We can't use the blood if she is having.." the doctor starts but then stops as Operations glares at him.

"The only drugs she has been using is alcohol." Operations says sourly. Madeline stares on in disbelief. "I'll need a month's supply of Morphine."

"Why?" Madeline demands.

"We don't know how long we are going to need her mother's blood." Operations answers simply. The doctor nods and leaves in a hurry.

"What are you going to do?" Madeline continues to demand.

"I'm going to get the blood." Operations says as he changes his coat. "I'll need a safe house and Gannon to go with me."

Madeline shakes her head and pushes the buttons, but then pulls back.

"It's your mission, you do the dirty work." Madeline says leaving in a huff.

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

Madeline walks over to Michael, as he holds Nikita's hand tightly. She touches Michael's shoulder and he weakly looks up at her.

"It's Loving2000... we still don't know how.." Madeline explains softly. Michael shuts his eyes, and Madeline strokes Nikita's face.

"We are going to do our best.. but right now she needs blood." Madeline says slowly. Michael looks up and smiles.

"But Operations is here." Michael says with full of hope. Madeline softly shakes her head no.

"He is less than a fifty percent match." Madeline informs Michael and he closes his eyes again.

"But..." Madeline says and waits for Michael to look back up at her. "He has gone to retrieve her mother's blood."

"Didn't you tell me her mother was dead?" Michael asks softly.

"We were all lied too." Madeline explains as she pulls up a chair next to Michael to continue the watch together.

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

Life Support 10

Operations walks into a small safehouse on the edge of London. Gannon follows behind Operations carrying a small doctor's bag and a suitcase. Operations had carried in a briefcase and once Gannon closes the door, Operations opens it. From the briefcase he pulls a file out and hands it to Gannon.

"You are to find Ms. Yvonne Andrews and bring her here." Operations says and he sits down at the table. Gannon looks at the picture of the a woman who appears to be rather ill.

"And how am I suppose to do that?" Gannon pushes Operations as he sets the file down on the table.

"Tell her you know about Trevor." Operations says without looking at Gannon.

"Who the F@#$ is Trevor?" Gannon almost screams. Operations grabs the man by the throat and tightens his hand.

"Just do what you are told. No force." Operations says and he lets go of Gannon. Gannon shakes his head and stands straight up. He pulls the picture from the file and starts to walk out of the safehouse.

"If she won't come for Trevor... tell her you know about her cancer and you know a man who can help end her life."

Operations says softly before Gannon opens the door.

Gannon shuts the door and sighs. He finally rubs his neck were Operations had almost choked him. Gannon steps out quickly, realizing that this had to be about Nikita. He knew that Operations didn't know that he knew of his relationship with Nikita.

Gannon crosses the street in a hurry, and starts to almost jog. He thinks of Madeline's face stained with tears as she stopped before speaking to Michael. Gannon knew that the situation was near grave, and hurried on to the shelter that Ms. Yvonne Andrews was suppose to have stayed.

It didn't take Gannon long, since Yvonne sat on the stairs outside the shelter. Gannon slowly approached the woman, and could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"Ms. Andrews?" Gannon asks as he tried to ignore the smell.

"No one calls me that. I'm Yvonne." Yvonne says with a great huge smile as she looked up and down Gannon's body.

Gannon tries to ignore her eyes looking him up. He notices that she looks rather sick, and for a moment wonders how this woman is going to help Nikita.

"I was told to tell you I know about Trevor." Gannon says and the woman literally jumps.

"No...no... no... YOUR FROM THERE!!!!... NO.. No.." Yvonne starts to chant as she grabs the sides of her head.

Gannon notes the movement and quickly deducts this woman probably has brain cancer of some sort.

"But I come to help you..." Gannon starts to say in a smooth voice. "I can help ease your suffering..."

"My suffering started with Trevor.. oh, god no... leave me... leave me..." Yvonne cries weakly, and Gannon grabs her hand.

"I mean, EASE your suffering." Gannon says with special emphasis on the word ease.

"End my life?..." Yvonne asks, and Gannon shakes his head yes. "Let's go." Yvonne responds and she takes hold of Gannon's hand.

Gannon tries not to pay attention to the woman's mutterings, but some statements stand out to him.

"I loved Trevor... and he... he.. left.. and then... she... and then... police... and.. gone... gone.. all gone..." Yvonne muttered as Gannon crossed the street. Gannon thought to himself, "God, could this be Nikita's mother?... Then Trevor.. is Operations..."

"This way, Ms. Andrews.." Gannon says as he leads her up the stairs of the safehouse.

"I changed my name.. hoping that Trevor would never ever ever find me... but... I...dreamed... oh... Trevor..." Yvonne says as Gannon opens the door.

Yvonne steps into the small house and at first sees no one. Gannon shuts the door and Operations appears from the kitchen.

"TREVOR...Oh dear god!" Yvonne says loudly and Gannon steps forward to help the sickly woman into a chair.

"Why don't you leave us alone." Operations says, and Gannon leaves through the front door.

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

Life Support 11

Michael lifted his head as a buzzer screamed behind his head. Madeline pulls Michael roughly away before he even looks at Nikita. Medical personal jam into the room and Michael tries to pull out of Madeline's arms.

Michael can't understand why he can't shove Madeline away when Walter screams, "Michael.. let them work!" Michael turns to the voice and sees Walter holding him tightly around the waist. Michael slumps in horror, and Walter continues to hold.

The medical personal are running in and out of the room. Madeline watches as they attach more IV lines into her body. A nurse comes out and asks for Madeline.

"I've been asked to ask you... How far do we go?" the nurse says softly.

"All measures." Madeline responds quickly. The nurse rushes back into the noisy room.

"It's a nightmare... a nightmare..." Michael mutters as Madeline nods her head for Walter to let go of him. Michael slides into a chair. Madeline looks around the room and about ten operatives sit in silence, most looking away from the room and to the walls, and some looking at Madeline.

"We have to be able to do something." Walter says softly.

"We're waiting for that blood." Madeline says angerily. "Why did he leave... we could probably get a decent match from within headquarters!" Madeline says as she bangs on the wall with her fists.

Walter looks at Madeline as she becomes fully aware of what she said. She calls for one of the doctors.

"Madeline, we are really busy..." the younger doctor says with a loud voice.

"How good of a match are you looking for?" Madeline demands as she grabs hold of his scrubs.

"Right now.. probably anything above 80%." the young doctor says as he looks back into the room. "Maybe even 75%.. the less the match the more the blood we'll need."

"We have an entire headquarters worth of blood givers... start running the figures!" Madeline yells at the young doctor.

"And then what?" The doctor asks and Madeline slaps him across the face.

"THEN GET THE BLOOD FROM THEM!" Madeline yells. The doctor runs over to the computer and starts typing quickly. Madeline watches hims struggle with the computer.

"Birkoff, go help him." Madeline demands. Birkoff walks to the computer without looking at the room with Nikita in it.

Birkoff sits at the computer and quickly starts spitting out names. The doctor writes down three and passes them off to a nurse, who then in turns hands it to Madeline.

Madeline looks at the first three names and passes them to Mylo. Mylo looks at them and shrugs his shoulders.

"Get them in Medlab now." Madeline orders and Mylo runs out.

Madeline starts to tap her foot nervously, as a doctor starts to scream, "We are hitting lethal.. more saline..."

Birkoff pokes his head around the corner. "JULIE... 90% match." Birkoff screams. Before Julie could react, Madeline has her arm and is dragging her into the room that the doctors are working on Nikita in.

"GET OUT!" a nurse yells and tries to push the two to the side.

"HERE IS YOUR FIRST BLOOD DONOR!" Madeline screams. The nurse pulls Julie in and pushes Madeline out.

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

Life Support 12

Yvonne looks at Operations and Operations looks back at her. He starts to feel uncomfortable as she cries, and doesn't stop. Finally, Operations touches her hand.

"Trevor..." Yvonne sighs as she stares at his hand. "I have something to tell you...."

"That is not important." Operations says, as his stomache starts to get upset each time Yvonne says Trevor.

"No... you don't understand... there.. was something... you never knew..." Yvonne says as she grabs her head again.

Operations rubs his chin roughly, realizing that he was going to have to listen to this to get what he wanted.

"Yvonne, I never wanted to hurt you... but I was never Trevor." Operations says, trying to maintain his composure.

"We had a daughter!!!!" Yvonne screams out! Operations closes his eyes and all of the emotions that he had pushed away about Nikita flooded back.

"And I couldn't care for her... my mind was gone... and did her bad...." Yvonne starts to explain. Operations reaches for her hands that still press into her forehead.

"It doesn't matter..." Operations says, and Yvonne looks into his eyes.

"She was on the streets... drugs... killed.. killed... and then...killed.. herself!" Yvonne screams and drops her head on Operations shoulder. Operations takes a deep breath. He knows from the medical files that he has on Yvonne that she may have four months to live, if given extreme medical attention.

"Yvonne. You don't know who I am... I was Trevor to you...." Operations says slowly. He had brought Gannon in case he couldn't handle the situation. He needed to get Yvonne's blood, and he knew that he would most likely need to tell all.

"Then who are you?" Yvonne asks weakly. Operations looks into her eyes.

"Could you just trust me, if I told you that Nikita isn't dead?" Operations asks slowly, and Yvonne starts to shake her head violently.

"How do you know her name?.. HOW?... HOW?... You didn't know I was pregnant!" Yvonne gasps as she grabs her head again.

"Nikita works for my organization, and we will provide for you." Operations says as he stands up, and retrieves the bag.

He opens it up and shows the morphine to Yvonne.

"I know of the brain cancer... this will help." Operations says. Yvonne reaches for it, but Operations pulls it back. "But, I need your blood."

"Why my blood?" Yvonne asks as she stares at the morphine. Operations looks into her eyes until she looks into them.

"Nikita is alive..." Yvonne stampers as she continues to look into Operations' eyes.

Gannon slowly walks in and Operations nods him over.

"Gannon will stay with you till your last day, providing you enough to pass without the pain." Operations says. Gannon stares at Operations as he stands up and moves away from Yvonne. She silently rolls up her sleeve.

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

Life Support 13

Madeline walked over to Nikita's bed and brushed the blonde hair from her face. No longer on life support, Nikita' cheeks start to appear beige and not white.

"She is looking better." Madeline says to Michael, who has agained claimed his spot next to Nikita.

"She hasn't been awake yet." Michael says tensely, and Madeline steps away, and shakes her head.

"Michael, Nikita has been through a lot." Madeline says, and Michael grabs Madeline's hand before she leaves.

"Can we put the ring back on?" Michael asks softly and Madeline grabs it from the table. Michael slides it on the finger and grabs the hand tightly.

"OUT OF MY WAY... I GOT *THE* BLOOD!" Operations yelling voice echoes into Medlab. He holds the bags of blood in his hands and hands them to one of the doctors.

"That is her mother's blood." Operations announces to the all in the Medlab, not knowing that ten others had already helped to purify Nikita's blood.

"No." Nikita says in a whispered protest, and she struggles to keep her eyes open. Michael jumps up and drops his head down by hers.

"Oh, Nikita!" Michael says softly as he rubs her forehead. Madeline leans over Nikita's legs and watches.

"No... no blood..." Nikita says again, and her eyes flutter closed, but not long, she opens them again.

The doctor walks in a whispers something to Madeline. Madeline nods her head, and the doctor places the blood of Nikita' mother into the line.

"Nikita, you need this blood." Madeline says and Operations walks into the room. He leans into Nikita, and she turns her head to look directly at Michael.

"Fine... but get him out." Nikita says, and she falls back to her sleep.

Madeline walks Operations to his office, as he bumps into many operatives with hard hits.

"I can't believe this that I went through all this trouble!" Operations starts as he closes the office door, but Madeline steps firmly into Operations face.

"SHE WOULD HAVE DIED!" Madeline says with the coldest eyes that Operations have ever seen. "And what exactly did you do to get Nikita's mother to give over the blood?"

"That is for me to know." Operations says as he turns his back on Madeline.

"I know you told her that Nikita is alive! I know she knows..." Madeline says firmly, and Operations turns around, his face red as a fireball.

"You didn't want Yvonne to save Nikita because you believe yourself to be Nikita's mother!" Operations yells.

"I'm the closest thing Nikita has had to a mother! Nikita was going to be saved.. we never needed her mother's blood!"

Madeline fires back as she steps three steps back, to keep herself from pouncing on Operations.

"But you didn't give your blood!" Operations says, and Madeline grits her teeth hard before attacking back.

"I was a 76% match, but there were 15 people infront of me... mine was never needed!" Madeline yells back. "But her own father, ran away! Ran as quickly and left me to deal with this.... to deal with Michael... to deal with every other operative in Section!" Madeline continued.

"Don't question me... I am her father!" Operations yells and he slams his fist on his desk, causing the phone to go off of the hook. He does not realize that it also activates the entire P.A. system in the headquarters.

"We use terms of father and mother to liberally. Remember all you are D.N.A." Madeline spits out.

"I AM NIKITA'S FATHER!!!! I AM MORE TO NIKITA THAN YOU EVER WILL!!!" Operations yells, and stops as he hears the loud words echo through headquarters. Madeline steps forward and hangs up the phone.

"No more secrets." Madeline says and she turns and exits.

Walter is running down the halls of Section, heading towards Operations' office to find Madeline. He started as soon as the words echoed through Section. Not only were the operatives talking about Nikita's illness, but now that she was Operation's daughter.

Walter saw Madeline take off for her office, and soon caught up with her.

"Madeline." Walter says, and as Madeline turns towards Walter, he grabs her into a bear hug. He silently walks with the sobbing Madeline to her office, and shuts the door quietly.

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

Life Support 14

Madeline walks into Medlab the next morning, and finds a showered and shaved Michael standing in the room with Nikita. Madeline smiles as she hears Nikita laugh. The doctor notices Madeline and walks over.

"She is amazingly well." The doctor says and Madeline smiles more.

"How long for a recovery?" Madeline asks as she continues to hear giggles from the two lovers.

"She could be out of here in two to three days. Quicker if we find what caused the levels of Loving2000 to skyrocket.

But, she has lost a lot of strength, and will be easily tired." The doctor says as he glances down at Nikita's chart.

"Any leads on what caused the levels to peak?" Madeline asks as she looks down at the chart.

"We are running tests now... if we don't find a cause, we will have to closely monitor her." The doctor informs Madeline with a serious voice.

"Even if we find the cause, we will be closely monitoring her." Madeline corrects the doctor and Michael sees Madeline.

He waves and says something to Nikita before walking towards her.

"She is doing very well." Madeline says as the doctor leaves. Michael turns his back to Nikita.

"When can I get her out of here?" Michael asks as he looks at the door behind Madeline.

"You two will be staying in Section quarters, maybe tomorrow, could be tonight." Madeline says with a smile. Michael grabs her hands and smiles.

"She woke up and was more worried about my cut than herself." Michael comments as he takes one of his hands and points to the cut he received from Gannon.

"She will need intense retraining, and she won't be up to speed for a real long time." Madeline says as she pulls her hands away and assumes her professional mode.

"Are you going to assign her to someone else?" Michael asks as his smile moves back to his blank stare.

"No. I need the relationship between you two to monitor her. Look how long she hid this... and you have a sense..." Madeline starts to explain but then stops.

"I understand." Michael says with a small smile before going back to his blank stare.

"And there are many other issues." Madeline says, and she turns her back to the window and Michael. Michael moves towards Madeline and stops.

"What issues?" Michael finally asks. Madeline looks over her shoulder and then back at Michael.

"She told you she was scared that she was causing this herself..." Madeline says slowly and measured.

"But it wasn't." Michael replies quickly.

"But, she thought it." Madeline corrects Michael's line of thought. Madeline looks back at Nikita again, and Birkoff walks through the door with a large bouquet of flowers. He waddles pass Madeline and Michael without an hello and walked to Nikita's room.

"And there is her mother." Madeline says, and Michael shakes his head.

"Don't tell her, she needs not to know." Michael says as he continues to shake his head.

"I wasn't planning on it... but then, we have the P.A. mishap... and that, that is going to take some time." Madeline says as she bows her head. "I wish I had known."

"It wasn't your fault... there is only one person to blame." Michael says as he turns back to watch Birkoff in Nikita's room. Nikita laughs as Birkoff stumbles into the room.

"And he will suffer in his own way... my concern is to make Nikita suffering easier." Madeline says as she turns back around and smiles at the scene in the room.

"Then release her." Michael says as he faces Madeline.

"I'll see what I can do. But, I must talk with her." Madeline says as she steps forward in the room.

"Can it wait until Birkoff is done?" Michael asks with a chuckle as Birkoff slides out of the chair, and lands on the floor.

"He is like Gilligan!" Madeline laughs as she watches Birkoff struggle to get off of the floor.

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

Life Support 15 and End

Madeline walks into Nikita's room, in which Nikita is now sitting up, with no tubes on her. The color has been restored to her face, but the circles are only starting to fade, and the face is still drawn, but yet Nikita smiles.

"You'll be going to your quarters tonight, with a monitor." Madeline says as she pulls out a monitor about the size of a walkman and places it on the bed.

"Thank you." Nikita says with a sigh of relief. Madeline sits down on the edge of her bed.

"Michael told me something very disturbing before all of this." Madeline starts slowly and looks at Madeline.

"Madeline, I barely remember getting back to headquarters." Nikita lies and Madeline frowns.

"Nikita, you know me. Why that lie? There is nothing to be hiding her now." Madeline says, givning the soft lecture.

"This is about me thinking I did this to myself." Nikita responds in a split second. Madeline pauses, as she was not ready for this response.

"Yes." Madeline finally says and Nikita turns her head away. "Why did you think this?"

Silence rings through the air. Madeline hears the doors to Medlab open, and sees Michael standing nearby. She shakes her head no and Michael enters another room.

"Because..." Nikita chokes as she turns her face to Madeline with streams of tears. "I'm afraid each morning I'm going to wake up and be alone.. that I'll say something or do something and lose Michael... or that I'll come to Section and Operations will send me away from Michael..."

Madeline opens her mouth, but no words come out. She touchs Nikita's check and finally speaks.

"Why do you think that?" Madeline says as she struggles to keep back the watery form in her eyes.

"I've never been so happy in my life.... and it scares me... wondering what's going to happen next..." Nikita says and she starts to wipe her eyes.

"You didn't have a good childhood." Madeline states and Nikita almost laughs.

"At the most it was bad, if not terrible." Nikita says with a slight sense of humor.

"You are going to be struggling with a lot in the next few weeks, it's not going to be easy." Madeline starts and Nikita grabs her hand.

"Everyday, four o'clock." Nikita says, and Madeline smiles.

"If that is good for you." Madeline says as she stands up.

"Give five minutes here and there." Nikita says with a bright smile. "Now, can you get Michael out of that other room and in here to claim me back?"

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