(for those who have the Pilgrimage---9 songs of ecstasy.. listen to Campus Stella/Field of Stars)

Nikita opens the door to the large hallway. She is wearing a short red wig and a skin tight blue dress. She looks down the hall and waves to the guard on duty. He waves back.

Nikita steps to the middle of the empty hallway and spreads her legs apart and blows him a kiss. The guard licks his lips and Nikita walks towards him. She sways her hips with each stride and smiles at him. Two doors before she hits the station, she turns to the left into a file room.

The guard looks around, glances at the screens and follows her into the room. Nikita is bending down to a file at the bottom drawer. Needless to say, she doesn’t bend her knees.

Nikita knows he is there and stands up with the file. She jumps back as she turns to see him standing there.

“HARRIS!” Nikita laughs out with a bright high pitch voice. She could almost hear Birkoff cringing in the van right this second.

“Vicki... I didn’t know you were working late.” Harris says as he looks up and down Nikita’s body. Nikita smiles and giggles. It gives Harris a bouncing effect that he stares at.

“Yes... you know Dr. Amanda Peterson... work, work, work... Barely leaves time for fun!” Nikita says in the high pitch voice. She steps forward and starts to cough.

“Are you ok?” Harris asks as he takes advantage of the situation to place his hands on Nikita’s shoulders. Nikita looks at him and makes a signal for water. He takes her and leads her down the hall to his station. Harris opens the little refrigerator and opens a bottle of water for Nikita.

“Thank you...” Nikita says slowly as she holds the bottle of water after taking a sip. She stills a glance at the screen and looks back at Harris.

“My, my, Ms. Vicki.. you are looking might fine this evening...” Harris says as he stares at Nikita’s legs. The dress has pulled up a tiny bit when Nikita sat down in his chair. Nikita smiles and winks back. She takes the bottle and flicks her tongue around the opening.

“I want to have fun when I get off later...” Nikita says as she stretches her arms and slides the devise onto the computer. She then uses her elbow to touch off the alarm.

“OH NO!” Nikita screams in her high pitch voice as she pushes away from the computer. Harris steps forward and punches the three digit code and smiles.

“That should take care of any distractions.” Harris says with a smile. He licks his lips and runs his hand down Nikita’s cheek.

“I always thought you were an up and *GO* kind of guy....” Nikita says in a deeper voice.

“Team One, move in.” Michael’s deep voice echoes as he opens the door that Nikita entered in. He looks down the hallway and sees Nikita smile at him. He moves in the opposite direction.

“I always thought I was a *long haul* kind of guy.” Harris says as he tries to move his hand further down. Nikita starts to couch and Harris steps back. He looks at the bottle and Nikita takes a sip and then smiles.

Nikita, looking for a distraction to keep Harris’s hands off of her, she closes her eyes and licks at the outside of the bottle. She then licks the inside before sliding the bottle deep into her mouth. Harris is panting like a dog.

“Why don’t we go back to the file room?” Harris asks and Nikita laughs.

“I am at the computer.” Michael reports as he walks into the room and turns the computer on. He quickly starts the download onto a disk. This mission was too risky to download to Section One.

“Harris!” Nikita exclaims as she stands up from the chair. She stretches her long legs and lets the skirt to flirt up a tiny bit so he can see the tops of her stockings.

“I don’t do quickies...” Nikita says as she levels her blue eyes to Harris. He stops and stares at Nikita. She licks her lips and smiles.

“I get off in an hour...” Harris says and Nikita lets her own hand flutter down her chest.

“Team One, back to van. Nikita... wait for my signal.” Michael says as he enters the hallway. Nikita sways side to side, so she can see around Harris. Michael looks at her and nods his head as he ducks out of the door.

“Why don’t you show me something about your computer for an hour then...” Nikita says softly. Harris takes Nikita to the computer. Nikita lightly lets her hands flutter down the sides and pulls up the tiny device.

“OH! Is there a bathroom on this floor?” Nikita asks softly in an embarrassed voice. Harris nods.

“Right across from the entrance... want some help?” Harris says as Nikita pulls away from him. Nikita smiles and shakes her head no.

“Just want to release some fluids to make up for the fluid I’m going to gain tonight...” Nikita says as she slowly struts down the hallway. Harris watches Nikita’s every movement as if in a trance.

“Nikita... what is taking so long?” Michael hisses as Nikita enters the bathroom. She goes to the last stall and pulls out the bag she stashed there earlier in the day. Nikita pulls out the wig and shakes her blonde hair free. She pulls out a long white lab coat and covers the blue dress. She then places a pair of black combat boots on and a pair of huge Drew Carrey black glasses on.

“VICKI! We will be here all night!” Nikita says in a deep voice as she exits the bathroom. She looks down the hallway to find Harris staring at her.

“Is everything fine, Doctor?” Harris asks nervously.

“No. The bathroom is broken upstairs...” Nikita says as she steps towards the doorway to the stairs.

“Aren’t you suppose to be watching that monitor!” Nikita booms. Harris shakes his head and runs back to the computer. Nikita smiles and jogs across the hall.

Harris looks back down the hall and hears nothing. Usually the stairway door was loud, but it made no noise.

“DOCTOR? VICKI?” Harris calls out but gets no response. He swears to himself and turns to the computer.

Nikita steps into the van and the operatives look at her as she pulls off the glasses. She walks to Michael’s side and looks at him.

“Get it?” Nikita asks and Michael nods his head.

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

Nikita pushes her hair back out of her face as she rubs her eyes. She stares back at the screen and places her head down on the desk. She pushes away from the desk and stretches her arms out.

“Nikita, we need that information.” Michael says tensely from the computer next to Nikita. Nikita looks up and pulls herself back towards the computer.

“Why did Birkoff take this week off, of all the weeks?” Nikita questions as she stares at the screen. The disks were a mess.

“Just do it, Nikita.” Michael says as he looks at Nikita. She throws a glance back at Michael and rolls her eyes.

“It wouldn’t be a problem if we had those new computers!” Nikita sighs as she starts to type into the program again. She needed to uncode the information. It would have taken Birkoff three minutes, but anyone else.. hours.

Finally, Nikita raises her hands in victory as the computer starts to translate the images into a language Nikita could understand. Some of it was in English and some of it was in French. Nikita scrolls down the screen and stops as strips are shown on the screen.

“Michael...” Nikita says as she pushes back from the desk a little bit and stares at Michael. He looks over and shakes his head. He pulls his chair over and stares.

“It’s strands of DNA.” Michael says and Nikita rolls her eyes. Nikita knew that and didn’t need Michael to tell her.

“But who’s and why?” Nikita asks as she pulls her head close to the screen. She squints just at the bottom of the screen. Nikita snaps her fingers and stands up and walks to Birkoff’s desk.

“Nikita, what are you doing?” Michael asks as she starts going through Birkoff’s things. Nikita pulls a few items and then goes to the next drawer.

“That special wavelength reader.... that little green thing...” Nikita says and Michael nods his head. Birkoff had made the viewer in protest to his computers. He was looking for a new one, and it was just one of the many reasons why. Nikita pulls the item out and moves back to the computer.

Nikita looks closely at the screen and finds the small numbers quickly.

“Cross reference this... 467513....” Nikita says.

“Francis Redlinger.” Michael says immediately and looks into his files. “It’s a dummy file.” Michael announces and Nikita looks up at Michael.

“Next number... 79043....” Nikita says and Michael immediately shakes his head.

“Another dummy file...” Michael says as he pushes back in his chair and looks at Nikita.

“Try them in reverse.... 315764... and 34097...” Nikita says as she looks at Michael. Michael punches the numbers in and Nikita looks at the computer screen.

“Richard Callahan.. and Raymond Callens...” Michael says and Nikita looks at Michael. She stands up and points to the initials.

“Red Cell... I bet you if I ran every single number into that reference.. all would be RC.” Nikita says with a raised eyebrow. Michael looks at Nikita. He trusted Nikita and it all made sense.

“Should I tell Operations or shall you?” Michael asks as he stands up and stretches. Nikita looks up to the glass office and smiles at Michael.

“He always enjoys a visit from his daughter at 4:36 in the morning...” Nikita says as she pulls at her jacket. Although it is wrinkled and smells of coffee, Nikita felt more protected wearing it than not wearing it.

**********

The blonde hair hangs from Nikita’s head as she swings her arms and head back and forth between her legs. Michael is wiping a little bit of left over sweat from the back of his neck. Michael rolls his neck and still finds Nikita bent over.

They had exited Section One just as the sun was rising. Both wanted some more physical activity, so they ran lightly around the neighborhood they haven’t been able to explore yet.

“Michael... why DNA? Do they want to create a virus?” Nikita asks as her face looks at Michael from between her legs. Michael looks down and sighs. He has no idea on this intel.

“Are they trying cloning? Maybe they have been cloning? What if they want to mutate the water supply? Give everyone another thumb?” Nikita asks as her face starts to turn a prettier shade of red. Michael looks at Nikita and shakes his head. Nikita slowly raises out of her position and goes to the kitchen chair. She places a foot on the chair and stretches her legs out.

“Nikita, We have to worry about stopping the meet. Then we can find out why.” Michael says firmly and Nikita shakes her head as she rolls her shoulders.

“But we don’t know what we might walk into. There could be an army of 50 men with Rambo mentality.” Nikita says and Michael looks at Nikita and shrugs his shoulders.

“Isn’t that Section?” Michael questions and Nikita stares at him firmly. Nikita rolls her eyes and stretches back wards, letting her fingers run to her ankle.

“What if Red Cell has been cloning Section One operatives and placing the clones in with us?” Nikita asks and Michael rolls his eyes.

“Nikita, the issue is how we stop them.... We can’t get into them.. they know us.” Michael says and Nikita stands up straight and takes the water bottle.

“We can’t attack them... they expect that all the time and it would take too many personnel.” Nikita says as she walks to the stairs and bend her head down again.

“We can’t take their people because it might be a ploy to get a bomb into us.” Michael says and Nikita shakes her head.

“Why can’t we just use the computer?” Nikita questions and Michael stares at Nikita.

“Red Cell hadn’t been using the on line services until most recently. They have a person who is always in contact with that group Madeline started.” Nikita says and Michael shrugs his shoulders. Michael thinks for a moment and sighs.

“Because Birkoff is on vacation.” Michael says and Nikita rolls her eyes.

“Well... Maybe I should just visit my best friend and see how Birkoff is doing.” Nikita says as she stomps up the stairs.

“NIKITA!” Michael calls out after her, shaking his head in a need for sleep. He walks to the stairs.

“Aren’t you coming to bed?” Nikita calls out and Michael sighs. He jogs up the stairs and to Nikita.

**********

Melissa shouts in happiness as she opens the door to find Nikita. Nikita steps into the apartment, dressed in blue jeans and a flannel and hugs Melissa. Birkoff walks out of the bedroom and shakes his head. He doesn’t like Nikita’s visit one bit.

“Nikita... you have to hear the good news!” Melissa shouts with a brilliant smile. Nikita shuts the apartment door and walks towards the middle of the room. Melissa has joined Birkoff’s side.

“Melissa... I wasn’t going to tell anyone at work until I went back!” Birkoff says firmly and Nikita tilts her head. Instead dread fell through Nikita’s body as momentary terror filled her with the possibility that Melissa was pregnant.

“Birkoff! Nikita.... Birkoff asked me to marry him!” Melissa exclaims and Nikita smiles brilliantly. She walks over and hugs both Melissa and Birkoff.

“I’m so happy for you two... Where is the ring?” Nikita asks and Melissa laughs.

“Birkoff didn’t want to pick one without me. We are going out tonight.” Melissa says and Nikita shakes her head.

“She would have taken any ring... or you could have asked me.” Nikita says as she looks at Birkoff. Birkoff smiles and stares at Nikita.

“You would have told Michael and Walter. And Walter would tell Madeline... I guess that is going to happen either way.” Birkoff says as he pulls away from Melissa and to the other room. Nikita watches Birkoff, knowing he wants Nikita just to leave.

“Why are you here, Nikita?” Melissa asks and Nikita snaps her fingers. She pulls out of her purse the disk and turns towards Birkoff.

“Look what my friend got for me!” Nikita says as she waves the disk in the air. Birkoff looks at it and his jaw opens wide.

“Angus 34!!! Nikita... how did you get that!” Birkoff exclaims as he grabs the computer disk and heads towards his computer. Nikita turns to Melissa and shrugs her shoulders. Melissa walks to the kitchen and Nikita follows, leaving Birkoff with the computer.

“I really have to meet this friend of yours..... so I can get Birkoff a gift sometime.... Sometimes I swear he wrote the NIKITA: THE GAME! It’s so much like you!” Melissa says and Nikita smiles softly and nods her head.

“I got mistaken everywhere because of that game. But, Birkoff looks out for his friends!” Nikita says a little louder so that he hears what Nikita has said. Nikita still won’t let Birkoff forget that mistake.

“I guess it would be possible to look like that girl... I mean, we get, are you two sisters? All the time!” Melissa says and Nikita nods her head as she glances over her shoulder.

“Nikita.. this won’t work with my computer....” Birkoff says and Nikita rolls her eyes and sets the drink down.

“Sometimes they can’t do the easiest things!” Nikita says as she turns and heads to the computer.

DO NOT USE A SECTION BASED COMPUTER.... USE A CYBER CAFE... OTHER CHANGES DONE IN PROGRAM.

“See. I was worried that they didn’t work all the bugs out yet!” Nikita says as Birkoff slides out the disk and smiles at her. Birkoff understands the chances that Nikita and Michael were taking to protect his vacation. He hands the disk to Nikita and she sighs.

“I’ll see if I can get another.... Do you want me to drop it by?” Nikita asks and Birkoff looks firmly into her blue eyes.

“Only if you want too.... Call.” Birkoff says and Nikita turns a slight shade of red.

“Ok... I’m out of here. You two go buy the ring. Congratulations...” Nikita says as she slips out of the apartment quickly.

**********

“Hello, I called about the M5F computer about an hour ago.” Nikita says as she plays with the sharp black shoulder length wig on her head. She chews gum and licks her bright red lips to the man at the desk. The man is wearing leather and so is Michael who is tightly holding Nikita around her waist.

“Well... I had it, until T-Bone came in. He likes to take his time, if you catch my drift.” The man behind the desk says and Nikita turns to Michael and grips his face.

“I can scare him away.” Michael says as he looks Nikita up and down firmly. Nikita wrinkles her eyes and smiles at Michael. She rubs her bare leg against Michael’s cool leather pants and licks her lips again.

“I got the goods to get him off that computer.” Nikita says with a wink as she runs a hand up Michael’s chest, before moving to the computer in the corner. Michael and the man behind the desk watch Nikita slink her way over to the computer with a skirt that barely covered anything. Michael glanced at the man at the desk and then back at Nikita. Nikita told Michael not to be overprotective.

Nikita pulls a chair up to T-Bone’s computer and places a long leg up onto the chair before leaning towards the quite large man. He looks to the side and sees the expanse of long bare leg.

“Nice computer.... A M2F... gives you a lot of ability to load the cyber sex pages at a quick speed.” Nikita says as she allows her finger to graze the screen, which held the pornographic material that this specialized cyber cafe allowed it’s attendees to view. They even rented out private rooms. Nikita wouldn’t be surprised if they kept women in the back either.

“Ah, yeah... You are a mighty fine looking lady...” T-Bone said as he stumbled over his words as Nikita leaned in closer to him, allowing him a fine look at her chest. Nikita smiled and ran a finger over his chin.

“I got a picture on the net... wanna see it?” Nikita asks with a bright smile. T-Bone starts to nod his head quickly. Nikita leans to the keyboard and pushes a few keys. Up pop a bad looking picture of some girl, that vaguely resembled Nikita. She was pointing a gun towards an area in a crude gesture.

“I usually prefer other guns...” Nikita says as she licks her lips. T-Bone looks at Nikita and shivers.

“Would you like to use the computer... show me more?” T-Bone asks as he stands up. Nikita smiles and takes the seat with a slow gesture.

“Why, thank you. Now, why don’t you go sit in the corner and I’ll call you when I need satisfied.” Nikita says. T-Bone nods his head and runs off to the opposite corner and sits down at a lower speed computer. Nikita looks at Michael and nods her head to bring him over.

Michael walks over and sits backwards on the rolling chair that Nikita had placed her leg up on. Michael leans in and deeply kisses her. Michael lets his hands play with the short hair. Michael couldn’t believe that there were cyber cafes that specialized in this type of topic. Nikita giggled.

They moved towards the computer, looking at the screen. Michael grabbed her head and started to kiss Nikita. As Michael did this, Nikita attached the small devise on the back of the computer. Nikita then moved both hands to Michael’s head and rubbed her fingers slowly in his thick and soft hair.

“Let’s find them...” Nikita says with a small laugh. Michael smiles back at Nikita. He knows that Nikita will take three minutes to find the site, post the message and sign out. And that is what Nikita does as Michael does the display to keep eyes either plastered on their bodies or somewhere else.

Nikita pulls the little device up and smiles at Michael.

“Now we wait...” Nikita says with a devilish smile. Michael licks his lips as he pulls Nikita’s wandering hand off of his pants. He shots Nikita a glare and she gives puppy eyes.

“Why this cyber cafe, Nikita?” Michael asks and Nikita smiles.

“Access is from one and only one direction. And we can provide a better distraction...” Nikita says as she rubs Michael’s back as he flutters a hand across her face. Nikita smiles.

“So... what do we do until Red Cell sends out a hunter?” Michael asks and Nikita smiles.

“I have been watching this show... called LFN.... I heard they have some great storyboards of fan fiction....” Nikita says with a smile.

“LFN?” Michael asks with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s some terrorists show.. so unreal from true terrorists life!” Nikita says as she types the address and moves to the site quickly.

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

Nikita swings her body around with the beat of the music. She looks at Michael and laughs loudly. He runs his hands down her side and to her thigh.

“I hope there is more of the story soon.... I want to know if the operative dresses as the Wicked Witch of the East has any fun at all!” Nikita whispers into Michael’s ear. He shakes his head.

“I feel sorry for Frick and Frack. Everyone will be M&M’s this year.” Michael says as he squeezes Nikita’s kneecap lightly. She leans her head back and laughs. Michael leans his head down and grazes his lips across he skin of her neck.

Nikita sees a man enter that the operatives had seen dropped off. Nikita laughs loudly and grabs Michael’s head into her hands and pulls him in for what seems like a kiss.

“He is at the desk. Get us some drinks.” Nikita says. She lets Michael’s head go and he moans lightly.

“Honey.. I’m just parched!” Nikita says with puppy eyes and Michael struggles to stand up from the chair. He nods his head and stares at Nikita as she runs a hand down her shirt that Michael had managed to unbutton one extra button to just expose her black bra underneath.

Michael moves to the drinks and looks out of the corner of his eye at the man that has been identified. Michael pays for the drinks and waits for them to be served.

The man approaches Nikita.

“Have you been at this computer a long time?” The man asks and Nikita licks her lips and walks her eyes down the mans blue jeans. She settles in that spot and raises her smile up when she sees a reaction.

“Yes. Why are ya asking?” Nikita asks as she rolls her head around and the man sits down on Michael’s chair.

“So you posted this on a message board?” The man says as he extends his hand out with the piece of paper on it. Nikita strains her head up and smiles.

“Of course.” Nikita says and she leans back with laughter. The man looks at Nikita’s body. Nikita knows. Michael knows. Everyone knows.

“We don’t appreciate games... If you can just tell us your source...” The man says as Michael spills a drink on the man’s shirt.

“I’m sorry...” Michael says as he exposes the gun and points it into his chest. Nikita stands up and smiles.

“Our source.... ha! Looks like you just became ours!” Nikita says as she whispers into his ear. He frowns and starts to turn angry.

T-Bone stands up as Michael starts to lead the man out of the cyber cafe. Nikita turns and looks at him.

“Where you going? I thought you needed satisfied.” T-Bone growls out and Nikita smiles.

“We had to recapture our slave. We knew we could find him. Are you into bondage?” Nikita asks and T-Bone smiled. Getting the man was easy from just a cafe. The behavior of both seemed so normal.

T-Bone nods his head as he looks Nikita’s more opened look. He licks his lips and Nikita stands up taller to give him a better view of what she had. She wanted to make sure that T-Bone stayed behind a computer and didn’t follow them.

“I left a gift on your computer. I’m sure you will enjoy it.” Nikita says as she runs her hand low lightly and turns to leave.

T-Bone looks at the man at the desk and whistles.

“I’ll pay her bill.” T-Bone says before he turns to the computer.

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

Nikita sighs as she looks at the computer screen in front of her. She pushes buttons in annoyance with the lack of the information. Ayn moves to Nikita and sits next to her.

“Would it help if we had Birkoff?” Ayn asks and Nikita shakes her head. Nikita pulls her blonde hair out of her face and stares at Ayn.

“Madeline is meeting with him now.” Nikita says as she rolls her shoulders back. Ayn pushes the computer off and looks at Nikita.

“What do we know?” Ayn asks and Nikita sighs.

“Not much. His name is Randy Coon... another R.C. We can’t prove that he has ties with Red Cell but we have linked down a link with the DNA stuff. We have to wait to see if the strand that has been identified is really his.” Nikita informs Ayn as Michael walks down the hallway, looking as tired as Nikita.

“Bad news.” Michael says as Ayn stands up and Michael sits down. He looks at the computer and realizes that Nikita got almost no where either.

“Randy Coon is dead.” Michael says and Nikita stares at him.

“After we got the information, right?” Nikita hurriedly asks and Ayn walks behind Nikita. This mission was stressing Nikita out. Ayn lightly rubbed her shoulders.

“Not enough information. He is not Red Cell. That is all that we got.” Michael says and Ayn looks at Michael. He closes his eyes briefly and sighs.

“HOW! He wasn’t injured in the intake.” Nikita questions and Michael looks at Ayn. He couldn’t even watch Randy’s death. It was not a pleasant one and Madeline watched the entire thing.

“There was a capsule in his blood stream that exploded when he was taken under the ground further.” Michael says. Nikita stares at him and blinks. Nikita’s mind was tired and she wanted a straight answer.

“Nikita, it released a pocket of air into his bloodstream....” Ayn says slowly and Nikita stops her. Nikita knew enough to stop the explanation. Michael sighs as he looks at the computer and shakes his head.

“Nikita, have we found any other connection?” Michael asks and Nikita shakes her head.

“Michael, R.C. doesn’t give us enough information!” Nikita says and she drops her head down against her chest.

“I need specifics to give Operations. That is not good enough.” Madeline says as she turns the corner. Nikita looks up at Madeline and shakes her heads.

“Madeline, I can’t do that!” Nikita exclaims out of her tiredness. Madeline moves forward and grabs the disk out of the computer.

“Birkoff can... call him...” Madeline starts but Nikita grabs the disk out of Madeline’s hand. Nikita holds it tightly against her chest.

“Birkoff is on vacation... it should be respected.” Nikita says firmly and Madeline lowers her eyes at Nikita. Michael moves behind Nikita and touches her shoulders.

“Nikita...” Madeline says and Nikita tightens her jaw. Her eyes start to blaze of the protection that Nikita has always had for Birkoff.

“We don’t know if this disk means anything.... It may be nothing. If it did mean something.. We have the information. We don’t have to push at this!” Nikita says firmly and Michael looks at Madeline.

“Madeline, I have to agree with this.” Ayn says and Madeline stares at her tightly.

“I’ll get Birkoff started on it, but he doesn’t have to turn in a report until his vacation is over. OK?” Nikita says and Madeline nods her head.

“Give it to Birkoff... and go home and get sleep. I have a mission briefing for you two at six this evening.” Madeline says as she turns and leaves. Nikita sighs and stands up, with the disk in her hand.

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

Nikita is meet at the door with a ring on Melissa’s finger. Nikita grabs the hand and smiles broadly. She can’t believe how awake Melissa is at seven o’clock in the morning. Nikita is pulled in by Melissa as she continues to show Nikita the ring.

“It is so pretty.” Nikita says as she lets go of Melissa’s hand. Melissa looks at it and blushes. Nikita smiles at Melissa.

“You should have seen the one Birkoff wanted to buy. It was huge. I wouldn’t have been able to pick that finger up!” Melissa exclaims as Birkoff enters the room, still half asleep. Nikita smiles at Birkoff as he heads for the coffee.

“This one is perfect.” Nikita says and Melissa shrugs her shoulders.

“I just didn’t want to break Birkoff. It cost a fortune!” Melissa says and Nikita looks over to Birkoff.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Birkoff lives below what he makes... He likes the simple things in life.” Nikita says as Birkoff rounds the corner and looks at Nikita.

“I have the game... somehow it just popped up!” Nikita says as she lifts the disk to Birkoff. Birkoff slowly takes it and goes to the computer.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Nikita asks and Melissa laughs.

“I was kind of hoping that you and Michael would have a kid to be the flower girl or ring bearer!” Melissa exclaims and Nikita swallows deeply.

“Then your at least looking at over two years! Isn’t that long!” Nikita asks in surprise of the comment. She knows Birkoff is ready. Nikita didn’t want to tell Melissa that it might never happen.

“Oh! Birkoff... I meant to tell you... this version is correct.. but the guy needs it back when your back from vacation.... Said something about updating it!” Nikita calls out and Melissa smiles. Birkoff only nods his head and both ladies laugh.

“You look tired!” Melissa says as she looks at Nikita. Nikita laughs gently.

“Who could get some sleep with Michael around.... Believe me.. marriage hasn’t slowed anything down!” Nikita laughs out loudly. Melissa smiles broadly. Nikita looks at Birkoff, struck by the conversation. Where they friends because they liked each other... Or were they friends because they were half sisters?

“Actually, Michael and Me went to a cyber cafe and found the weirdest story boards!” Nikita exclaim broadly. Melissa nods her head. She was the one who told Nikita of the boards.

“Sweetplum... do we have bagels?” Birkoff asks and Nikita tries to eat her laugh at Birkoff’s pet name for Melissa. Melissa smiles.

“I was heading out the door when Nikita came.. Do you want something from the bakery?” Melissa asks. Nikita shakes her head and Melissa walks to Birkoff and kisses him. Nikita watches Melissa exit before walking to the computer.

“Madeline really should have brought me in.” Birkoff says as he looks at Nikita.

“No. This is the only copy of the work.” Nikita says as she looks at the computer screen.

“But you must have stuck your head out for me... what? You told Madeline about me and Melissa?” Birkoff says and Nikita shakes her head.

“Nope. I took care of it.” Nikita says and Birkoff touches Nikita’s forearm.

“You are really tired!” Birkoff says and Nikita nods her head.

“I spent about five hours in that cyber cafe and then all last night looking for this man. I’m heading home after this to snuggle up next to Michael and go to sleep. Then we have a briefing at six. I’m not waking up until 5:10!” Nikita says and Birkoff smiles.

“You should go home.” Birkoff says and Nikita forces a smile up.

“I’m going to go and snuggle up to Michael and fall asleep.” Nikita says as she turns. She sees a picture of her and Melissa and stops.

“Birkoff?” Nikita asks and Birkoff turns to her. Nikita fingers the picture a little bit.

“Nikita... I don’t know if I could tell her... I gave her a lecture how yours and hers DNA could be similar from generations and generations ago. I told her you didn’t know your father... and she dropped it. Melissa once dreamt that you and her were sisters.” Birkoff says and Nikita looks away.

“I’ll see you when you come back.” Nikita says fighting her yawn and walks out.

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

Nikita walks up the stairs to the bedroom and stops as she sees Michael sitting at the desk. Nikita smiles and drops her purse.

“That was long. I was worried.” Michael says and Nikita sighs and smiles. She starts to pull her shirt off and glances over at the desk. She sees the psychological magazine that she had left on the nightstand. Nikita walks away. She knows the article that Michael read and hides her eyes.

The word still stings, and it is all her fault. Nikita knows that is why Michael was up now. He would have been asleep. Nikita slides her nightgown on and moves to the bed. Michael turns and heads to the bed himself.

Nikita lays her head back. She smiles softly.

“Birkoff asked Melissa to marry him.” Nikita says as she lays her head against Michael’s shoulder. His arm softly wraps around Nikita as she closes her eyes.

“That’s so nice to hear.” Michael says as he stares at the ceiling. And time passes.

“Nikita... I don’t care what it takes... I’m going to do anything... You deserve to be a mother. We can do it.” Michael says as he rubs Nikita’s arms softly.

“We need something that binds us together forever... In time.. I will rub your stomach as you protect our child.. .and someday, not to far from now.. I will hold our baby... and we will be a family.. Be something you never had ... And we’ll watch our child walk and talk and grow...” Michael says as he lets the few tears run down his face.

“Nikita.. I should have never let you take that bullet... and if it is the Loving2000 stopping us.. I should have known sooner.. I should have protected you.. But I’m going to do that now... We will have our child...” Michael says as he turns his head and looks at Nikita. Her eyes are closed softly and Michael kisses each eyelid and sighs.

“We have to have a child.” Michael murmurs as he lets his own tired eyes fall asleep.

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