Billie paced outside the room of new recruits. Her eyes glued away from the room as the new recruits, all female, were screaming. Billie wondered about these new recruits, did they suffer like she had, did they kill like she did, did they wish they had died also, do they think that life is over? The questions flood her mind as she waits. Billie glances down at her watch, a smiley face looks up at her and Billie's frown goes to a straight line. Nikita had given her the watch, hoping to give Billie something to smile about, but also because she tended to be late.

Billie continued to pace, as for once Nikita was late, and not herself. Billie had heard rumors that Nikita use to always be late herself, and that it had been Michael who kept her on time. Billie drifted through the thought that Michael was proabably the reason why Nikita was late.

Sick of pacing, she leans against the wall and listens to the cries from inside the room. The sobs and cries were loud and under such distress that she wondered how many new recruits were in the room. Billie walked over to the file and sees three names listed.

"Three?" Billie says outloud in disbelief. How three woman could cause so much noise was beyond her. Billie then began to wonder why Nikita wanted her to meet her here. Billie knows that she hasn't been truthful to Nikita, let alone anyone at Section. Billie bits her lips as she thinks of the possibility that John told Nikita of the nightmare she had.

Billie walks back to the space on the wall and hits her forehead lightly. Instantly, she remembers that this is Section One... and cameras are everywhere, probably four or five in their living quarters alone. Billie knows that John didn't have to tell Nikita anything, that any nighttime operative who was assigned to watch her quarters could have watched her nightmare and reported it to Nikita or Michael.

"LET ME OUT!!! PLEASE!!! NO MORE!!!! NO MORE!!!" a woman's scream is heard loudly as she pounds on the door. Billie watches the door vibrate lightly, but then closes her eyes. She tries to be like Michael, who so many times she had seen totally shut his emotions off, as long as they dealt with anything else other than Nikita. Billie struggles to keep her eyes from watering and wonders why she can shut her emotions off from John, but in this instant, with woman she didn't even know her emotions were overloading her system.

"LET ME DIE!!! I WANT TO DIE!!! KILL ME!!! KILL ME!!! KILL ME!!!" A woman screams out, and Billie can imagine the room in the room, pounding on her body and on the floor.

Billie walks away from the room a few feet, but the same screams that drove her away, bring her back. Billie impatiently looks at her watch again and looks up at the ceiling, trying to focus on the ceiling, but her heart, connecting with those woman inside.

"PLEASE!!!! HELP ME!!!!" A voice echoes in Billie's ears and she drops her head and closes her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opens her eyes that Nikita would be there.

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

Billie opens her eyes, and the person she see standing in front of her is not the one she wanted, in fact, it is the one person in the entire Section that scares her more than anyone in her past could.

"Nikita is finishing something else for me." Madeline says as she stares at the pale face woman. Billie nods her head and is forcing herself not to listen to the screams of the woman behind her locked in the dark room.

"Did she have time to explain to you who these woman are?" Madeline says as she draws Billie down the hall, and Madeline in her own expertise, took Billie away from the very uncomfortable situation, that was written across her face.

"No... she was running out on that mission with Julie and Mylo." Billie says as she starts to twiddle her thumbs against each other. Madeline notices the action out of the corner of her eye and decides to continue down the hall even further.

"They should have been back... but the Van, got a flat tire." Madeline says with a soft smile and the comment makes Billie laugh.

"I thought nothing broke around here, but operatives." Billie says softly back, yet the comment was funny, causing Madeline to chuckle softly.

"Ask Nikita about the heaters.... her and Michael's office doubled as the Section's sauna for a couple days." Madeline adds, sensing that the humor had relaxed Billie some more.

"I'll have to do that." Billie comments as the two stop walking.

"Now...those ladies... they aren't expected to make it through the basic training..." Madeline starts and she sees Billie gasp in horror.

"Nikita and you are their last hope..." Madeline finishes and Billie looks at Madeline with wide eyes.

"Why me?" Billie asks softly as she begins to twist her hands together gently.

"Nikita believed that you could benefit from this, since all of these woman have had tragic lives, I have to wonder why Nikita said this." Madeline says.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Billie responds with her best impression of Michael's black stare. Madeline looks at Billie and knows that Nikita must know something, because Billie is trying her hardest to hide her lies.

"Well, when Nikita starts working with them, it will be intense... but all things that occur in that room, stay in that room." Madeline says firmly and Billie raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing is ever a secret in Section." Billie responds tightly.

"Nikita will expose things to you and those women, that no rumors in Section could tell you. Nikita's stories... well, you'll see." Madeline says and she steps away from Billie. Madeline looks back down the hall. "You better get back, Nikita won't be long."

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

Billie leans agains the wall again as Nikita strides down the hall in a bright yellow skirt and a blue loose top. Nikita's hair flows softly from her head, and Billie looks up and forces a smile.

"I see you got to take a shower..." Billie says as she pushes away from the wall. Nikita stops and picks up the file.

"Nope.. this was what I wore on the mission." Nikita answers as she glances down the file quickly, but then looks up at Billie.

"Why didn't you tell me that we are their last hope, Nikita?" Billie asks with a tinge of anger on her voice.

"It doesn't matter... you're all experiencing the same thing." Nikita says as she starts to go towards the door, until Billie pulls her back.

"I passed my training." Billie says firmly.

"But you're still fighting the demons... as am I...this is more about telling stories..." Nikita says, trying to beat around the bush. Billie stares into Nikita's eyes and Nikita pulls her back down the hall, but not as far as Madeline took her.

"Look... Madeline believes that most of the woman recruits aren't doing as well because of Me... because of the rumors..." Nikita says like a shrug of her shoulders. Billie grabs the chart and starts back to the room.

"And who listens to rumors?" Billie questions as she walks into the room.

Nikita pauses in the hallway and looks behind her shoulder and sees Madeline in the shadows.

"Shouldn't you be doing something, Madeline?" Nikita asks as she turns her head back around and slowly strides towards the room.

"Good luck, Nikita." Madeline says softly, barely heard by Nikita, and she turns and walks down the hall.

Billie was surprized to see the condition the woman were in. From the screams, she expected them to be in rags, beaten, in the dark, and dirty. They sat on their beds, in the Section's clean white Medlab outfits. Billie pulled the two chairs near the beds before Nikita stepped into the room.

"I'm Nikita." Nikita says as she enters and closes the door. "And with me, you get past the shock, or you die."

The three new woman look at Nikita in horror and then at Billie.

"This is Billie... she has much to learn." Nikita says and the three woman stare at her.

Billie in turns, stares at Nikita. Does this mean that she could die if not doing what they believe is right? Is she going to have to tell all to keep the air she breaths?

Billie is lost in her thoughts as Nikita identifies which woman is which, and explains that all they will really have to do will be to listen. Nikita looks at Billie.

"You'll be asking the questions." Nikita says and she drops the file down to the floor and looks at Billie.

Billie sits in amazement. She gets to ask the questions, and there was so much that she wanted to ask Nikita. Was Nikita going to say something beforehand? Can I ask about anything? Even Michael?

Nikita looks into her eyes and can see her questions, but they aren't the questions Nikita is looking for.

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

Nikita looks at Billie and then turns to the other woman.

"You are going to hear a lot about me... That I have a heart and soul... and to be honest, most of the time I can't see it anymore, but I know it's there if I need it... it is what makes me strong... it is what makes me weak...it is what makes me Nikita." Nikita says with emotional words as she scans the woman's eyes for a reaction, and then back at Billie.

"But, I thought that Michael was your strength and weakness?" Billie questions softly, and Nikita smiles inside.

"He is my strength and weakness... like everything else.. my knowledge is both strength and weakness... my common sense... my gut feeling... my past..." Nikita says driftly off slightly. "Only I concentrate on all of them being strengths, and push away the knowledge that they are my weaknesses.... and you all must do that." Nikita says, again looking at the women.

"And your past?" Billie asks, and Nikita softly smiles.

"About what of my past... past is too broad..." Nikita says back to Billie, who turns red. Billie had just hoped that Nikita would spill it like a storybook.

"Let's start with the most important... I heard rumors that you were innocent of the crime that got you here." Billie says with a raised eyebrow.

"If I told you I was, would it change who I am now?" Nikita fires back quickly. "I'm alive because I kill... and I don't like it... but it's better than being dead." Nikita says without blinking.

"So your innocent?" Billie asks.

"No one is ever innocent... but that part of my past plays no rule anymore." Nikita says, and she grabs the file. "And it shouldn't play a rule with you.... so what if you killed brother because he brought the car home five minutes late... so what if you killed a clerk to get a drawer with $52.34.... so what if you strangled your next door neighbor...." Nikita says going down the line, looking at each woman as she said their crime. Nikita pauses and looks at Billie. "And so what if you killed your lover because he cheated.... So what!"

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

"Ok, Nikita.. so what!" Billie finally says after a moment of wierd silence. Billie is beginning to get mad at the whole tone of this.

"What about your home... your mom... your teen years?" Billie challenges.

"You missed my father." Nikita says looking directly into Billie's eyes. "Everyone knows... Operations is my father. My father..." Nikita says and lets the informations sink into the room. "But he had absolutely no influence on my life until I got here."

Nikita stands up and looks at the woman, Billie begins to sweat some.

"But... let me remind you of yours... You, got accepted to Penn State.. full soccer scholarship..." Nikita says pointing a the one woman. "You... four sisters and one brother... parents won the lottery..." Nikita says pointing at the woman in the middle. "And you... had a vacation home..." Nikita says as she looks at the last woman.

Again, anger builds in Billie as Nikita turns towards her. "I had straight A's... graduated college... business woman." Billie supplies for Nikita. Nikita stands up straight.

"I barely knew how to read or write... I lived almost 10 years on the streets off and on... everything that could happened to a person on the streets happened to me... I knew what being shot felt like, what being stabbed felt like, what a man forceably being with you felt like, and I knew what hate felt like before I was even inside Section." Nikita says as she looks hard into the woman's eyes. She turns and looks at Billie.

"I never had a relationship with anyone... just a fleeting two day partnership.... I never felt love until I was in Section... and it wasn't from Michael. Walter and Birkoff provided for me, and then Michael..." Nikita explains and then sits down.

"Yet, we must forget that past... luckily, you're not going to find your father standing in the halls you walk down. You may even get a chance to love someone... You'll walk the line of life and death everyday... and Section One will become your family... or you die." Nikita says and looks around the room.

Billie's leg starts to tap as she feels anger building. She stares at the side of Nikita's head, and what to strike out, and with one leap, she does just that.

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

Nikita takes the blow, grabs underneath Billie's arms, and flips her over. Nikita stands up and looks at Billie as she stands up. The ladies moves away, towards a corner.

"How dare you lecture us... me... on this... You've led the charm life of Section!" Billie screams as she attacks Nikita.

"Billie.. I've been beaten... I've been drugged... I've been raped... Funny.. I never thought that to be charmed." Nikita rattles off in a metered voice as she keeps away Billie.

"YOU ARE SOOO STUPID! I can't stand you!" Billie screams, and Nikita, steps to the side, and let's Billie walk by.

"I can tell you the truth... about anything... how I lost a Michael's baby.... I'd even tell you how good Michael is!" Nikita says as Billie takes heavy breathes, and Nikita is not even sweating.

"I hate you! I hate you!" Billie screams as she tries to pound Nikita, but it ends up being like slaps.

"I can tell you that I was free... out of Section... but was never really free... because Section was my family I never had... I came back for Michael... and would only leave for and with Michael." Nikita says, as she allows the slaps to hit her forearms. "Can you be truthful with me? Can you?" Nikita challenges Billie.

"I hate you!!!! I hate you!!! I told you to not watch me at night... I want not to kill innocent people!!! I want to kill Francis over and over and over again for what he has done and made me do!" Billie screams as she slams her fists into Nikita, but Nikita grabs her wrists and pulls Billie down.

At first, Billie tries to pull away from the hug that Nikita has clasped around Billie, but her tired body stops. Soon sobs are heard.

"Don't hide things from Section... lesson number one... And we all forget this lesson... I do.. Michael does... everyone forgets it... until it starts to eat them up..." Nikita says as Billie continues to cry.

"You've held your anger from something six years ago... for six years... you've dreamt about killing Francis over and over again... and it scared you... because before... you hated your actions... but now... you enjoyed it..." Nikita mutters, and Billie pulls her head back in shock, that without telling Nikita, Madeline, or John, they knew... Billie didn't want to admit it, but with each dream that she smiled a little bit more with, she had become more and more a complete cold operative... willing to kill without a blink. And Nikita knew.

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

Billie now sits in a chair and Nikita stands behind her. Nikita looks at the woman and smiles.

"You all can go back to your substations... thanks..." Nikita says softly, and Billie looks up in disbelief. The first woman walks to Nikita and smiles.

"You tell a good story, 'kita..." the woman says and Nikita chuckles.

"It's all on the Section WebSite... Now get back to Hong Kong!" Nikita laughs.

Billie is shaking her head now, not believing that this was all a set up, for her. A SETUP!

"Nikita... chow babe!" the second woman says.

"I still dress better than you... Italy isn't that big of a fashion meca!" Nikita says with a huge smile. Nikita sees out of the corner of her eye, the movements of Billie. Her heart aches that she had to do this to Billie, but Billie had had a easy walk through training... because she had pushed her feeling down deep. Even now, had Billie and John not moved to Headquarters to be Nikita's and Michael's new couple, the emotions would not have been known.

"Are you coming to see Lion King soon?" the last woman asks.

"It is among the list of possible things to do on our honeymoon... get lost on Broadway... Say hello to all of the New Yorkers!" Nikita says, and Billie doesn't look up until the door shuts.

"Do you still hate me?" Nikita asks as she sits down in the chair.

"Nikita... I'd just like to leave." Billie responds, and she stands up.

"You know.. that everything that I said is the truth... what those women did to get into Section was the truth... what they had in their lives was the truth... All walks of life are in Section..." Nikita says slowly. Nikita stands and faces Billie.

"If you can't be truthful to me... be truthful to John... so you can keep your sanity." Nikita says and she walks out the door before Billie can.

Nikita walks into the office and leans onto Michael's chair. He looks up and smiles.

"Michael... you know that not everyday I spent on the streets were bad." Nikita says slowly.

"Yeah.. the ones you were high, you must have felt were good." Michael says slowly, and he looks up at Nikita. He sees in her eyes the pain of that day. He touches her arm, and brings her to sit on her lap, and just holds her, like he loves to do. Michael lightly kisses her check, knowing that the truth is always held between their eyes.

Billie walks through the halls of Section, not caring were she is going. She passed Madeline's office, but barely blinked. She now opens the door to her quarters and finds John sitting and waiting.

"Let's talk..." Billie says as she takes his hand and leads him to the table.

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