Nikita swallows as she enters Madeline's office. Michael is seated down and Nikita walks over and licks her lips.

" I am sorry about..." Nikita starts out but Madeline raises a hand. Nikita looks at Michael as she sits down and waits for Madeline to speak.

Madeline does not say a word, but hands over two PDA's. Nikita shuts her eyes and uses her internal control to keep herself from complaining. She didn't want to go through another fight with Madeline, and if there was another mission on the floor, it needed her attention.

" We are taking down a power station?" Michael asks as Nikita finally looks down at the PDA. It was extremely detailed for a mission that was full out warring tactics.

" Yes. It is the best way to get to Hector Havocs." Madeline says and Nikita looks to the wall as she reads her plan. It was very skilled for Nikita, and given normal circumstances, she could do this.

What about now? Nikita thought to herself. Now, with all the problems she have been having with the Loving2000, she doubted herself. She never felt on more unsteady ground than before. It was shaking her world apart. She looked to Michael.

She wanted to tell him that now, in the last half hour, her Loving2000 levels had dropped below the lowest point they had ever been before, and did so without taking the leveling pill. Nikita didn't know what was going on, and found it impossible to believe that she was going to achieve her part of the mission successfully.

" Isn't this too much for me?" Nikita asks and Madeline and Michael both stare at her.

" Only if there was something wrong? Is there?" Madeline asks and Nikita presses her lips together to form a line.

" Is it the lack of sleep, Nikita?" Michael asks and Nikita shakes her head and stands up.

" I've never worked with these kind of panels before. It may not work." Nikita comments and Madeline smiles and looks at Nikita.

" I will give you full contact with Walter." Madeline replies and Nikita nods her head lightly. Michael did not speak a word.

Worries flew into Nikita's head as Michael stayed quiet. Now he was working a plan against her. He wasn't going to help her out of this mission. He wanted Madeline to know about the levels and this was a way. If Nikita would fall during a mission like this, with Walter constantly connected to her, she would not be able to get away from Madeline. Walter would tell Madeline and then confront Nikita. It had to be Michael's plan.

" That should be fine." Nikita replies as she turns and looks at Michael. She could do this. She had to do this. She wasn't going to hand Madeline over her entire life.

" When are we scheduled for sleep?" Nikita asks as she turns her head back to Madeline. Madeline looks to Michael and then to Nikita.

" If all goes as planned, after this mission you should have some well deserved time off." Madeline replies and Nikita nods her head.

" It is based off of our mission or someone else's mission?" Nikita asks as she stands up. Madeline raises her head and Nikita realizes that even if their mission was successful, their sleep depended on some other operatives completing their missions properly. Nikita shakes her head and leaves the office quickly. Michael is not far behind.

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

The van pulled up to the power station and Nikita took one long deep breathe. It was time to hope everything worked fine, and hoped that if she did run into a problem, that she could create enough confusion in Walter's mind that he didn't say anything.

Michael pushed the motorcycle for their escape into the bushes as Nikita started out. She moved quickly, there was no time to wait for the Loving2000 to start playing around with her body. Nikita swallowed hard as her stomach turn over again.

" Walter... I'm in." Nikita says softly as she hears Michael killing a guard.

" Up the stairs, sugar." Walter says and Nikita starts up the stairs. It was the beginning of the end for Nikita. Her legs just didn't want to work. Nikita tried to grab for her medicine, and the bottle feel down.

" Sugar.. what is taking so long?" Walter asks and Nikita focuses on the top of the stairs. She sprints quickly and stops at the top to gather her balance.

" I'm there." Nikita says as her world begins to haze into twos, threes, and fours. She moves forward and staggers and almost falls.

" Go to the panel with the six drawers. Place the small unit on each drawer." Walter says and Nikita starts to work. She places her hand out to steady her body as she works as quickly as possible.

" Sugar... you have to go faster." Walter calls out and Nikita starts to shake. She can barely see the lines of the drawers and she uses her fingertips to make sure the placement of the units are correct.

" Done." Nikita says and she waits. She looks behind her as she hears more gunfire. Nikita gasps as she struggles to keep her legs underneath herself.

" Twist the top unit in half and run." Walter says and Nikita braces herself to do just that. She twists the until and starts to run. The coverage area is about five hundred yards away, halfway there, Nikita falls, and she quickly crawls.

" Nikita.. are you down?" Walter asks as he hears the noise. He looks at the screen and then turns to Birkoff when there is no explosion.

" Sugar... we have to try the bigger units." Walter says and he starts to hear the sobs. He disconnects his line from Birkoff and moves away.

" Sugar..." Walter calls out as the sobs stop.

" I can't, Walter..." Nikita cries out as she struggles to pull her body to a standing position.

" Nikita... what is wrong?" Walter calls out and then looks around to see if anyone else heard him.

" Walter... I CAN'T. My world... is spinning.. I don't have the strength..." Nikita cries out as she hits the top of the stairs.

" Nikita.. pull out.. to the motorcycle." Michael hisses over the unit. Nikita starts down the stairs, half falling down them. She pulls out her gun and fires at the running guards.

They hit the floor as Nikita stumbles and picks her body back up. She runs, knowing that she had to get out. She turns out into the woods and grasps a tree.

" Nikita.. now..." Michael says as he extends his hand from the already running motorcycle. Nikita stumbles and walks forward. She is still about five hundred feet away.

" NIKITA!" Michael hollers and with the last bit of strength she has, she throws herself onto the motorcycle and grabs Michael's body.

Michael turns the bike quickly and faces the building. Pushing one button, two missiles rocket off of the motorcycle to the power plant. Michael gets a chance to see Nikita's white face as the building explodes. He feels Nikita squeeze his chest tightly, and he quickly moves back to the rendezvous spot with the van.

**********

Nikita walks ahead of Michael in the hallway, until Michael pulls her to the side. He stares at her eyes and shakes his head.

" To MedLab." Michael says and Nikita shakes her head.

" Michael... I just dropped the medicine... and that is it. I am fine." Nikita says and continues walking down the hallway. She had to go see Ayn, and that was all that she cared about.

" NIKITA! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Walter hollers out as he sees Nikita. Nikita stops and leans against the wall as Walter walks up to her.

" Sugar.. that wasn't you on the field today. Are you sure you are fine?" Walter asks and Nikita nods her head.

" OH, so you are going to lie to Walter too.. It's good to know that you don't just like to your husband." Michael says as he stares at Nikita. Nikita closes her eyes summoning the strength to continue on down the hallway.

" Look, I'm fine. Maybe a bit tired, but I am fine!" Nikita says and looks to Birkoff.

" Have you seen Ayn?" Nikita asks and Birkoff points down towards Medlab. Nikita nods her head and continues down the hallway.

" Nikita.. does this mean you will have yourself checked out?" Walter asks and Nikita stops and turns to him.

" I understand you concern, Walter. But you need to understand. There is nothing to be worrying about." Nikita says as she turns back around. Michael stares at Walter and then looks away.

" And you are just going to let her to get away with this?" Walter asks and Michael shakes his head. He looks behind him and starts after Nikita.

******

" I heard the mission was interesting." Ayn says as Nikita enters the office that Ayn was using in Medlab.

" Yes. I dropped the medicine." Nikita says and Ayn nods her head. She sets the pill bottle down on the table.

" Nikita, what if the Loving2000 is just an effect of something else going on. How would you know?" Ayn asks and Nikita picks up the pill bottle.

" Not you too. This is my body.. they run my entire life.. they aren't going to tell me when to hand over my body too." Nikita says as she hears the door slam.

" They are concerned, Nikita." Michael says and Nikita turns to face him.

" LOOK! WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE WERE ALLOWED TO SLEEP FOR A NIGHT!" Nikita screams and Michael frowns.

" Nikita, there is something wrong here." Michael and Ayn say together. They stare at each other as Nikita starts to move in circles.

" NO! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG! THE LEVELS ARE A LITTLE MESSED UP, BUT THAT'S IT!" Nikita screams.

" Nikita... if you think this is having control of your life, then you are wrong. This obsession is making you lose control." Ayn says and Nikita starts to cry.

" Do you know what it is like to be checking your blood every two hours? Do you know what it is like to know you need food but find out that you don't have time to eat for two days? Do you know what it is like to suck someone's blood and then kiss your husband? Do you know what it is like not to be with your husband for weeks?????" Nikita screams out and Ayn looks at her in silence.

" Enough. Elana, draw some blood." Madeline says and Nikita drops her body to the floor.

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

Walter exits the room that Nikita is staying in and closes the door. Four heads turn quickly towards him, Ayn, Madeline, Michael and Elana. Walter looks at them and then looks back to the closed door.

" How many more variations are you going to look at?" Walter asks and the focus moves to Elana. She frowns and looks down to the chart.

" I haven't established a pattern yet. She will have to run the mile, eat a fast food meal, and sleep for ten minutes. That is just the beginning." Elana says and Michael looks at her.

" Elana, I have never seen her like this... We've done some nasty stuff to her... you can ask Madeline about that, but this is almost bordering how she was after she delivered Anna." Walter says and Madeline stares at him. That was saying a lot.

" I' ll see how she is." Michael says softly and he moves to the room.

Nikita is crying in the chair and Michael walks over quietly.

" Nikita... this isn't you." Michael says as he touches her hands softly. Nikita looks up.

" Michael.. I am so scared now. They haven't found anything, have they?" Nikita asks with tears running down her face.

" No." Michael replies and Nikita rolls her head away.

" I know that this is difficult, Nikita, but we are all trying to find out what is wrong." Michael says and Nikita shakes her head.

" I AM TIRED! I WANT TO SLEEP FOR FOUR DAYS! I AM TIRED!" Nikita cries out and Michael nods his head and pulls Nikita into a hug.

" With all these mood swings, if I didn't know better, I would say you are pregnant!" Michael jokes and Nikita starts to laugh loudly.

" I have to say.. that was funny!" Nikita says with a huge smile and Michael joins in with her laughter.

****

Michael steps out of the room, after making plans to meet Nikita at home in an hour. She needed to give one more sample and then she would be released. Michael looks at Madeline as he pulls his jacket on.

" Michael... if we don't gather anything from this test... we will have to test for other things." Madeline says and Michael licks his lips.

" Cancer?" Michael asks and Madeline nods her head.

" And assorted other rare virus, genetic diseases that she could have." Madeline says and Michael nods his head.

" Can this be done with the blood you have already collected?" Michael asks and Madeline looks to Elana. Elana shakes her hand back and forth.

" It would give us a start. I will hold off on any further testing for three days." Madeline says and Michael nods his head.

" Don't tell Nikita. She does need to get home in one piece." Michael says and Madeline nods her head.

" What were you laughing about in there a while back?" Madeline asks and Michael smiles.

" Oh, nothing." Michael says with a smile and walks out of the Medlab.

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