Nikita sat at the computer as Michael entered the office.

"Did your meeting with Madeline deal with our wedding?" Michael asks softly as he closes the door.

"You have a mission." Nikita says without looking away from the computer.

"WE have a mission." Michael says weakly, hoping Nikita just said the wrong pronoun, but knew instantly that she said it correctly.

"You have a mission." Nikita says, still keeping her eyes from making contact with Michael's eyes. She slides the PDA down the desk, towards Michael.

"You are to make Leslie feel... whole, again." Nikita says as she presses down on the spacebar, and tries to keep her emotions in check.

"I won't do it." Michael response immediately, and with that comment, Nikita turns towards Michael. Their eyes make contact.

"You must... it is most likely a test for us... we knew it would come sooner or later." Nikita says firmly as she turns her head back at the screen.

"Maybe I can make Leslie feel whole another way..." Michael comments, feeling Nikita's pain. He wish that he could take all of the pain.

"Leslie's breast was cut off during a mission... what else do you think is going to make Leslie feel whole again!" Nikita fires back at Michael, and he sits down into the chair, and glances at the PDA.

"And this was the meeting with Madeline?" Michael asks as he sets down the PDA.

"Yes." Nikita says.

"Will it be monitored?" Michael asks, instantly worried that Madeline, in some weird tactic, would make Nikita listen.

"No." Nikita says.

"And what will you be doing?" Michael asks with an arched eyebrow.

"I won't be sitting at home waiting for you." Nikita comments sarcastically.

"Seriously, Nikita." Michael hisses out.

"I have a debriefing to attend... I'm waiting until your mission has started to complete it." Nikita says, still with her brave face.

"Nikita..." Michael says, trying to say something to soothe the pain he sees right behind her fake fascade.

"Michael, why don't you go somewhere else and study the mission profile." Nikita says sharply, and again, their eyes meet.

"I can't do that... We need to talk." Michael says with slow words.

"No. The more we talk about it... it makes it more real... To me... you went out with the guys, and I know nothing." Nikita says as she turns back to her computer, and tries to focus on the screen.

Michael stands and grabs the PDA. He rubs his hair back in utter disguise that Madeline would do this to them, in shock that she told Nikita first, and worry because Nikita is hiding her pain, yet again. Michael aches to kiss Nikita on the forehead and tell her everything will be alright, because he knows that he can't.

"Remember, Michael. It is more than likely a test." Nikita says when she senses Michael staring at her. He slowly exits, and no more than the door closes, Nikita's head drops forward, with tears running down her face.

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

Nikita stepped out into the halls of Section and walked slowly. Birkoff jumped up from his seat and ran towards Nikita.

"Nikita! Did you hear the one about the Medlab opera..."

"I don't want to hear it, Birkoff." Nikita says strongly as she looks him in the eye. Birkoff immediately steps back, giving Nikita personal space.

"Sure, Nikita." Birkoff further mutters as he feels Nikita's blue eyes were burning holes into his skull.

"Did Michael leave?" Nikita asks as she pulls her eyes away from Birkoff. The movement struck Birkoff as odd.

"About ten minutes ago." Birkoff confirms, feeling the urge to get Walter on the ball about his feeling.

"Good." Nikita says, as she looks at her hands and starts to walk again.

Birkoff walks back to his desk, but pays particular attention to Nikita. Although, she looked as if she was taking her normal powerful stride, they were actually quite small, and she was moving quite slowly. Birkoff immediately pulls up the bloodwork from Nikita's last check of her LOVING2000 levels, and lets a deep breath go as he finds them at normal levels.

"Birkoff, I will be debriefing Ms. Gwen Evans." Nikita calls out, and she exits his field of view.

*

"Sugar, you know that Michael left?" Walter calls out as he walks behind Nikita.

"Yes. I have to debrief someone." Nikita says without turning her head back to Walter. Walter quickens his walk to catch up to Nikita. Nikita not looking at him, confirmed for Walter that Birkoff's feeling was correct.

"Oh, why didn't you do that sooner so you could go home with Michael? Sugar, don't tell me you two had another fight?" Walter says as he places his hand on Nikita shoulder. Nikita squirms away quickly.

"He is on a mission." Nikita snaps out and then quickens her walking pace.

"Are you feeling ok?" Walter asks.

"I'm fine. Look, Walter, I'm quite busy." Nikita says, finally looking at him, but moving her eyes quickly away. Walter nods and turns back around.

*

"Walter." Madeline's voice echoes as she slowly steps into his workspace.

"Madeline, what mission is Michael on? And why does it have Nikita so upset?" Walter asks as he looks up at Madeline.

"Walter, I need you to observe the debriefing of Ms. Gwen Evans." Madeline says, not paying attention to Walter's question.

"Isn't that the debriefing Nikita is doing?" Walter asks.

"She has been doing them all since she ordered everyone around." Madeline says without blinking her eyes.

"And why would I have to observe this.... are you playing mind games again?" Walter says as he walks towards the doorway.

"I feel it best to have this debriefing monitored." Madeline says firmly and is about to leave. "Can you watch Anna tonight?"

"Sure..... Madeline, I know something is up here. I can see it very clearly." Walter says.

"You'll find Anna a great use tonight." Madeline says and turns away.

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

Michael stood outside Leslie's apartment, and slowly knocked at her door.

"Michael? What are you doing here?" Leslie said as she pulled the door open slightly.

"You look lovely tonight." Michael says slowly, like a machine, hating himself more for each word.

"Michael? Did you and Nikita have a fight?" Leslie asks with a smile as she tugs at the sweatshirt she is wearing.

"Can I come in?" Michael asks softly.

"Sure." Leslie says with a smile and she opens the door for Michael. He walks in with a smooth move, and is hit with the appearance of her apartment. 'God, what is Madeline doing... her apartment looks exactly like it did when Nikita lived here.' Michael thinks to himself as he looks at the place. He could almost see himself dancing with Nikita, until he flushed the image from his mind.

"Did you know Nikita use to live here?" Michael asks as he turns to face Leslie.

"Well, maybe then I'll find my knight in shining armour someday." Leslie laughs as she closes the door. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No."

"Why are you here, Michael?" Leslie asks as she moves to the kitchen and opens the refrigerator.

"They wanted me to check on you." Michael says as he moves closer to Leslie.

"I'm fine.... I was on a mission three days ago... why would they challenge how I am now?" Leslie says, and Michael reaches out and touches her cheek.

"I mean... they wanted me to check on you." Michael says with intensity, and Leslie steps back.

"No. Madeline knows I am fine." Leslie protests. Michael turns and walks into the living room.

"It must have been hard on you." Michael says as he sits down on the couch.

"Yes, but Nikita helped." Leslie says as she goes and sits on the coffee table.

"Nikita helps everyone." Michael says, wishing her name would stop coming up. It was enough that it was her old apartment, but her name was calling her image to his mind over and over again.

"Michael, why are you here?" Leslie asks again. She watches his stare.

"I never fail a test." Michael says, and Leslie turns her head.

"Maybe this isn't your test." Leslie says and turns away, knowing exactly what was going on.

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

Nikita stood with her back to Ms. Gwen Evans. She looked out at the hallway, and saw no one. Late night debriefings are known to be particularly brutal, and Nikita herself, never took part in that aspect of the debriefing.

"I've told you everything..." Gwen begged from behind Nikita. Nikita turns around slowly, and looks at the lady, who somewhat looks like Madeline.

"How can I be sure?" Nikita says as she walks closely to this woman.

"I don't care about what you think... Just kill me!" Gwen says with very little emotion, which also reminds Nikita of Madeline.

Nikita slaps her across the face, smearing blood as she went.

"I don't deal with attitudes." Nikita says as she stares into the woman's face.

"They killed my family... forced me to work for them... and I told you everything I know!" Gwen begs as she tries to struggle in the chair, only creating more pain.

"Stop that." Nikita says firmly, and when Gwen continues, Nikita punches her in the ribs, and feels the ribs break.

"I was told once... that the way to measure life is by measuring what you can endure..." Gwen says, and Nikita's eyes fly straight open in anger. Instantly, Nikita is thinking of conspiracy. Madeline had told Nikita exactly the same thing as she told of Michael's mission.

"I'll make sure your life is worth something..." Nikita spits out, and quickly attacks the woman. She kicks first, making the head slam against the metal chair even harder. Nikita follows with two punches on the chin. Nikita gets up close and tries to choke Gwen.

"NIKITA!!! STOP IT!!! NIKITA!!!" Walter yells as he pulls Nikita by the waist away from Gwen who has started to turn blue. Nikita still tries to grab for her neck as Walter drags Nikita. "Nikita.. stop!" Walter says firmly.

"Fine." Nikita says, letting her arms drop lifeless. Walter nods his head, and lets Nikita go.

Nikita springs back onto Gwen. Her nails scratching at her eyes, her face, and Nikita's leg slamming into her chest. Again, Walter drags her away, and continues to drag Nikita out into the hall.

The door slams shut and Walter lets go of Nikita. She pounds on the wall, but then leans her forehead against the wall. Walter motions for the Torture Twins to finish what Nikita has started.

"I wanted to kill her..." Nikita mutters as she turns around and faces Walter.

"Why, sugar?" Walter asks. Nikita looks up at the ceiling and then down at her feet, before leveling her eyes with Walter.

"Not here." Nikita says. Walter walks towards Nikita, trembling with fear of what Madeline has done this time. Walter had saw the resemblence of Gwen to Madeline, and Nikita, was attacking her while screaming at Madeline.

"I have some Irish Creme Coffee at my quarters..." Walter says, placing an arm around Nikita. Nikita feebly nods her head and walks with the direction of Walter.

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

Nikita walks into Walter's quarters and immediately falls into his arms. She didn't even look at the cameras, she turned and cried into Walter's arms.

"Sugar, what did Michael do?" Walter asks slowly as he runs his hands through Nikita's hair as he moved towards the couch. He sits down together with Nikita. He can feel her tears hitting his chest.

"It's what Madeline is making him do..." Nikita cries into his shoulder, and Walter struggles to understand.

"Nikita... what?" Walter says, and Nikita leans her head up.

"He is to *BE* with Leslie to make her *Whole* again." Nikita cries out. Walter's heart does a flip and he pulls her head to his chest. Walter no longer wonders why Nikita has done what she has done. The only thing that Walter can wonder about is how bad is this going to mess up Nikita.

Walter sat there for a good twenty minutes as Nikita cried on his chest. He smoothed her hair out softly, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Anna cries out from the room Walter has created for her. Walter can hear her little bare feet hit the floor, and Anna comes running out.

"Walt...Walt... help... help... me... me... help... Walt.... ahhhh..." Anna screams as she flies into his arms, barely missing Nikita's crying head.

Walter moves over and sits Anna down on his other side. Quickly, Anna is quiet and looking at the crying Nikita.

"Kit?" Anna asks Walter, and Nikita, with hearing her voice, lift up her swollen face to Anna.

"Kit... cry? Kit... cry?" Anna asks as she points to her own face and motions tears running down her face. Nikita's head hits Walter's chest again, and Walter nods yes to Anna.

"Kit cry... I cry!" Anna says, and instantly her tears start. Nikita immediately lifts her head, and wipes her eyes.

"No... Anna.... I'm fine... You don't need to cry." Nikita says softly. Anna slides from Walter's side, and climbs up with Nikita and lays down like her.

"You mad, Kit?" Anna asks, looking up at her. Nikita shakes her head no.

"You sad, Kit?" Anna asks, again looking up for her response. Nikita gives another no.

"You scared, Kit? Me scared." Anna says and Nikita nods yes, and wraps her hand around Anna.

"But I wuv you, Kit." Anna says, which causes tears to run again. "No tears!"

"They are happy tears... because you love me.... I love you, Anna." Nikita says.

"Happy tears?" Anna asks with a large yawn. Walter looks at the two.

"Anna... I'll tell you and Nikita a story about happy tears, ok?" Walter asks softly.

"Ok, Walt. I wuv stories!" Anna says. Nikita softly pushes her head down, so that Anna will go back to sleep. Walter does the same with Nikita's head.

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

Michael walked into Section, having already checked the apartment. Birkoff moved towards Michael very angry. "Why don't you just go back from were you came from." Birkoff spits out, and walks pass Michael.

"Birkoff... I'm looking for Nikita." Michael says without turning his head.

"Of course you would be..." Birkoff says. "Walter's quarters... watch out for explosives."

Michael walked down the hall, knowing that his mission profile had been leaked, and he didn't need to know by whom. He didn't even knock on Walter's door.

Walter looked up and saw Michael staring down at the sleeping Nikita and Anna. Walter slowly slide away from the sleeping ladies and pulled Michael towards the door.

"Just leave if you did... I won't allow you to continue to hurt her in this way." Walter says firmly as he holds tightly on Michael's shirt.

"Nothing happened. We both decided to fail this mission." Michael says. Walter instantly believes Michael and lets him go.

Michael walks over to the couch and squats down to be level with Nikita's head. Anna stirs and moans as Michael softly touches Nikita's forehead. Nikita's eyes slowly open.

"Is it over?" Nikita says through her dry mouth.

"It never happened." Michael says, hoping to bring a smile to Nikita's face.

"But it was a test..." Nikita says as she notices Anna sleeping against her. Nikita slowly rises and lets Anna sleep on her lap.

"Shh... Leslie said she'd rather die than complete this test... and I knew if I did this mission... I would die all over again." Michael whispers.

Tears run down Nikita's face. Michael kisses her lips lightly and Anna slowly wakes up, to see the kiss and tears.

"Uncle Mikey gave Kit happy tears!!!!" Anna excited says as she leans up and wraps her hands around Michael's neck. Michael smiles at Nikita and Nikita leans in and places her own hands around Michael's neck.

Walter stands back, lost in his own thoughts.

*

"Walter, I monitored the whole situation... it would have never occured." Madeline says as Walter stands in her office.

"Fine... just don't do it again." Walter says, trying to put this nasty chapter behind him. "But there is one more thing..."

"What is it, Walter? I'm awfully busy." Madeline says as she moves away from her desk.

"Last night... well, why don't we just let Nikita and Michael take care of Anna... they spend more time with her than you do." Walter says, remembering the image in his quarters.

"Anna is my daughter!" Madeline screams.

"She is yours and Operations daughter.... and I have never seen Anna so attached to two people than Michael and Nikita... Maybe you just think about what this says." Walter fires back, knowing that Madeline will hold this grudge for a long time.

Walter walks out of the office thinking, "Hey, even these days, tattoo's aren't permanent."

Send suggestions and comments to ranma.
OR
If you would like to send a comment to Nikita507, click HERE!!