"You don't know that." Michael said and Madeline swallowed. This was going to test all of Madeline's abilities of manipulation and trickery. Yet, as she looked into Michael's eyes, she knew that it wasn't going to come down to her fine-tuned skills and abilities. What Michael needed compassion and Madeline was unsure if she could do that for Michael.

"I know she is going to be right... I've been told that... Guaranteed, but what if this time it's wrong?" Michael questioned as he turned his head away and then the feeling hit him.

It was everything. Was it Nikita calling him? Was it Jurgen controlling his mind again? Was Jurgen going to appear again and make everything go haywire? Was Jurgen going to make Michael look crazy in front of Madeline? Was his body reacting to Nikita? Was Nikita reacting to his body? Was he making Nikita worse by being there?

"Who told you?" Madeline whispered as her eyes narrowed and studied the eyes that flickered back and forth between objects and people quickly, as if he was still assessing the situation. Walter had cornered her about Michael's behavior, how he suddenly knew exactly what was going on with Nikita and then how he was starting to trust in intuition.

"Jur... ah.. mmm.." Michael said as he stumbled as he almost admitted to Madeline what was going on. He looked to Madeline and dropped his head, trying to get out of the situation. Madeline grabbed Michael's arm, forcing him to look into her face.

"I can't tell you." Michael firmly stated with rushed words that indicated that Michael was just hitting an area that he was uncomfortable at. It showed that he had some problems still accepting this newfound connection to Nikita.

"Why not?" Madeline firmly spat out, not wanting to lose this chance, but she saw it slipping away from her as Michael gained his composure as he turned his head and looked down at Nikita. The doctors were ready to drill the holes into Nikita's skull to release the pressure in her brain.

"Nikita... I know you are in there." Michael said as he slowly touched Nikita's chin and saw that the doctors had covered Nikita's head in order to do what they wanted to do.

"The pressure is coming down..." Michael said and Madeline pressed her lips together and motioned for the doctors out of the room for a few moments.

"You know, although she is unconscious, she does hear you, Michael." Madeline said as she tenderly dropped her hand to his shoulder and lightly rubbed at the muscles, feeling the tension that should have been there. It was the first time that Michael was the way he should have been. He was normal.

"Can I have some time if you aren't going to believe me. The pressure in her head is dropping... She is going to be fine without the holes." Michael said and Madeline moved her hand from Michael's shoulder to his face to wipe as his tears. Madeline looked at her fingers, as Michael didn't try to shrug her touch off as she completed an action that was so loving and definitely not Madeline.

"Michael... I don't understand what is going on with you? Is this a faith I am hearing?" Madeline queried as she pulled her wet fingertips away from his face. Michael looked at Nikita and swallowed.

"I always had faith in her... I didn't doubt her at all on this mission... I doubted everyone else involved.... I always believe in Nikita.... But this isn't faith, Madeline.. Have them recheck... I haven't been wrong!" Michael declared openingly as his hands flared in the air. Madeline stopped them and nodded her head.

"Why don't you talk to her... and I will see what I can do." Madeline instructed as she whisked her body away from Nikita's bed. Michael's words were effecting her in ways that she didn't understand for the first time in a long way. Maybe it was because everything that had been happening with Nikita seemed to be unexplained and she didn't want to make a mistake. What trouble would it be to have the doctors to check once more?

"You have to wake up, Nikita... You are the only one who would understand..." Michael whispered as he bent his head closer to Nikita. He could feel her breathe coming out of her mouth like she was awake and looking at him. He didn't want to leave her and he just wanted to touch her until she woke back up. He knew she was right there.

"Do you need a reason to come back?" Michael questioned as he stroked her cheek and he felt a slight ripple. Michael pulled his hand away and looked down at her.

"I can give you a thousand reasons.... A million... I will tell you every day that I love you... I swear... Nikita..." Michael whispered out as he pressed his hand to her cheek again as her facial muscles rippled again and alarms started to blare.

"What's going on?" Michael shouted as the doctors rushed in. He looked at he machine and then stepped back as he swallowed, finding it hard to look at Michael. Madeline had arrived in the room and blinked her eyes as she saw the change of facial expression on Nikita's face, a small smile was now on her face, and it could not be denied.

"The pressure is dropping." The doctor said tensely and Madeline looked to Michael and pressed her lips together. She didn't want to have to go and explain this to Operations. He was already upset with the rumors that Michael was psychic when it came to Nikita. This would only feed into those rumors.

"You may want to check her arm too.... There is a hairline fracture." Michael said as he pointed to the forearm and the doctor looked down and grabbed a pen.

"Show me where..." The doctor said in rushed words and Michael carefully pointed to the spot. It would not surprise Madeline when after the x-ray was completed that Michael had the exact location pin-pointed and she was not surprised to find the theory that Michael had about the renegade group of operatives seeking out to injury Nikita on her desk. She wasn't even surprised when she confronted Giles with the charges and he broke down and told Madeline that he was suppose to injury Nikita, but not kill her, because all the operatives wanted a chance to get to her.

"We are in danger." Michael softly said as the night started to fall again and Michael looked at Nikita and turned his head away from the chill, knowing that the ghost of Jurgen had returned.

*

Operations had waited for Michael to arrive at his office and waited. When it didn't arrive after an hour he had sent his first message, he sent another message. He waited and waited, and puffed at the cigars as if they were made out of candy and not going to destroy his respiratory system and give him cancer. He waited a bit over an hour and sent the third message, this time, sending two operatives to drag Michael if needed. It was ten minutes later that the staff from medical notified Operations that both men were now under the care of medical due to their current unconscious state.

The proverbial mountain went to the man, as it was needed. Madeline was already waiting outside the room and dropped her head down as if she knew all along that Michael would not move and that it would be a dangerous situation for all involved. Operations glowered as he entered the room and saw Michael leaning towards Nikita's head, stroking it affectionately.

"I called for you." Operations said as he surveyed the bitterly sweet tableau in front of him of the love between a man and a woman, a love that was strictly forbidden inside of Section One, yet there it was, in it's most basic form.

"I called for you." Operations reiterated and Michael turned his head and looked towards Madeline before looking to Operations.

"It isn't important. You are just going to tell me to get some rest and allow Nikita to be alone. It isn't going to happen." Michael said and Operations blinked his eyes and stepped back to the doorway and looked at Madeline. He turned his head as Madeline turned hers.

"I don't have any reason behind his abilities right now. I think in a way it is allowing him to protect Nikita." Madeline whispered into Operations ear. He didn't want to hear any more of this nonsense and stood there, observing what was going on.

In fact, for Michael there was a lot going on, as the pasty-formed ghost that was known as Jurgen had reappeared to scrutinize Michael's actions and his thoughts. The ghost regarded Michael's behavior as being counterproductive, especially when it came to finding the others that helped in this.

"Michael... they will come tonight!" Jurgen cried out in anger as he pushed Michael's hand off of Nikita's arm. Michael looked to his hand turned his head away from Operations and Madeline.

"No.. Everything will be fine." Michael stated and Jurgen closed his eyes and placed his glasses back on his eyes before staring at Michael.

"Do you want to ruin everything that you have succeeded in doing all ready? You have to listen to me!" Jurgen cried out and Michael turned his head defiantly away from the ghost. He had had it with the ghost and wished he would go away and let him be with Nikita.

"I can't watch this." Operations stated and moved out of the room. Madeline grabbed his arm before he walked down the hallway.

"We still have three operatives we haven't apprehended.... Their plans are on Nikita. Are you ready to sign her off?" Madeline questioned harshly and Operations rubbed at his chin. If anything, the image he had seen, Michael's distressed body hovering over Nikita's body that was still on the medical bed, influenced his decision. It did make Michael weak, but Michael was the best in Operations book and now was not the time to test the man again in the category of emotional fortitude, he would lose.

"Make plans to protect her.... And see to it as soon as she is stable enough to be removed from Section One to do so. If she isn't here, it will be harder to find her." Operations stated as he tried to pull his arm away from Madeline's hand. Madeline continued to hold tightly and tilted her head to the side.

"With Michael, correct?" Madeline stated, as it was not really a question.

"I don't think I have a choice anymore." Operations clamored as he succeeded in pulling his arm out of Madeline's clutches and returning to his perch high above everyone else.

"I can't even believe you are suggesting that something is going to happen tonight... Everyone is going to be watching!" Michael cried out with his hands flailing towards the ghost. Madeline stopped on the threshold and swallowed as she watched Michael's tirade and turned her head.

"Michael.... We will protect her.. But you need some sleep." Madeline said and Michael turned his head and blinked his eyes, not believing that Madeline of all people had caught him. Jurgen was violently shaking his head back and forth, knowing that nothing good could come from Michael going to sleep.

"I'd like to sleep here... in a chair." Michael stated and Madeline brandished her head from side to side, showing Michael that she was not going to give into that demand. She touched Nikita's foot and tilted her head to the side and gulped at the air as she was readying herself for her next words towards Michael.

"Who were you talking to, Michael?" Madeline inquired and Michael turned his head powerfully away from the face of Madeline and more importantly, the force of her words. His eyes fluttered for an explanation and knew that in a way, he couldn't unless he told the truth.

Jurgen is a ghost and he as told me everything about Nikita and he says that it is not safe to leave Nikita.

It sounded ridiculous to Michael and knew that Madeline would call for the straightjacket immediately. She wouldn't care if Michael did know everything, she would have him sent to get drugged and he wouldn't be able to be by Nikita's side at all.

"No one." Michael responded and Madeline nodded her head. She parted her lips and sighed. Personally, she thought that Michael was just tired, but something else was bothering her. What if there was something more going on? She knew that Michael wasn't crazy, but nothing seemed to explain what was occurring. Madeline was not one to believe in the paranormal, and she pushed those thoughts away and looked to the door.

"I think you need to sleep for the benefit of everyone. You will do not good to Nikita if you are asleep on your feet and unable to defend yourself." Madeline stated and Michael nodded his head, giving in, as the notion of sleep sounded good. He was also sure that Jurgen, the ghost would be able to find a zillion of ways to wake him up if problems occurred. Yet, why would problems occur?

They were in Section One.

"Only for a few hours." Michael stated and Madeline reached for Michael and led him out of the room.

"Michael! DON'T!!! Nikita needs you!!!" Jurgen yelled as he followed behind Madeline and Michael.

"You are not going to sleep for a few hours! It is going to be a trick! A TRICK! A TRICK!" Jurgen yelled as Madeline pushed another medical door open and motioned for the bed. Michael trudged to the bed and kicked off his shoes.

"Don't trust her, Michael! Don't!" Jurgen yelled as he tried to pull Michael off the bed that he had pulled his tired and weary body up onto the bed.

"Michael... I'm worried about you." Madeline stated as she looked around and smiled as the doctor walked by the room and handed Madeline the syringe. She turned her head and walked back to the bed.

"I'm just concerned over Nikita..." Michael stated and Madeline smiled and stroked at his hair with her empty hand.

"And a bit tired?" Madeline stated and Michael closed his eyes in response. Madeline looked to him and grabbed the arm and added the medicine to him, jolting Michael off of the bed.

"Don't fight it, Michael... It's for your own good." Madeline said as she saw his body easily being effected by the sedative. His eyes tried to fight it, but Madeline knew that he couldn't. They had given him a large dose because he was known to feign sleep on smaller dosages and starts walking around like nothing had happened. He would be out for a good ten hours with the dosage Madeline had given him.

"I'll watch, Nikita." Madeline said as Michael's eyes shut tightly and she pulled a blanket over his chest and tucked it under his chin. She felt strangely wrong with what she had done and shook her head.

"DAMN IT!" Jurgen yelled as he tried to wake the slumbering man and knew that it was going to be a long and nervous night for the ghost.

He didn't want Nikita to join his party at the ghost bar.

*

Birkoff turned his head to the side abruptly as he felt a chill go through his body. It was like someone was passing about the hallways of Section One, being the guard that Michael couldn't be. Birkoff turned his head back to the computer and flipped through the screens, wondering were the other three renegade operatives were and why he couldn't find them.

Jurgen was busy, trying to keep an eye on the two operatives that mattered and trying to find the operatives that were out to end Nikita's life way too soon. He floated around and felt like he had in Section One, trapped. He closed his eyes and went back to Nikita's side.

Her room had been darkened and he moved to the side of her bed and looked down at her. He saw different things now that he was a ghost. It wasn't an aura or anything dealing with colors. It was like he could see the life vibrations and although Nikita was battling against the life-threatening injuries, she would make it if no more operatives got into shortening her life. Jurgen pressed his hand to her head and ached he could make her better, as her injuries didn't just effect her and Michael. It profoundly changed the entire chemistry of Section One, making Walter, Birkoff and Madeline extremely short and cross with the operatives and that only started the domino effect that was disastrous in a place like Section One.

The door slid open and Jurgen flew to the sky. He looked down and saw the face of Stacy, in the nurse's outfit. Jurgen rushed her and tried to use the strength he had been able to use on Michael and Madeline but found no success. Now, Jurgen's only hope was to wake Michael up.

Yet the drugs were going to hamper that and Jurgen tried as he moved into Michael's room. He was able to move Michael's bed up and down, but the man only rolled his head to the side. He stopped when the nurse saw it raising without any reason. She screamed and run down the hallway, proving that loud noises right now weren't going to wake him up.

It took a while for Jurgen to remember all about Section One. He had been in the ghost world a while and allowed the details to slip from his head. It wasn't until he thought about how to get the doctors to give Michael the antidote of whatever Madeline had given him that he remembered. If there was a serious emergency, or if alarms of all sorts started to blare, the doctors would medical wake anyone they could, and that would naturally have to be Michael.

Before Jurgen could continue with his plan he went back to Nikita's room. He looked at Stacy and saw that she wanted to spend some time with Nikita, explaining the pain that she had been in since the mission with Nikita and Jurgen. Nikita was in danger, but for the moment, Jurgen had a few moments to create some havoc throughout Section One.

Birkoff lifted his head as the little bells started to ring, indicating that some of the computers were overheating. He moved across the room and turned off the alarm and sighed when he had to turn those computers off. He rolled his head around and he stopped and turned around.

"Who's there?" Birkoff questioned out but nothing happened. The young man turned back to his desk and started back up the work on the profile that he needed to change due to Nikita's injuries and Michael's lack of sleep. It was tedious to say the least, Michael and Nikita worked too well together and it was an extreme lost for Section One.

"HONK!!! HONK!! HONK!!!" An another alarm sounded and Birkoff leapt up from his chair. He frowned and moved to the other control panel. He stared at the panel and shook his head as suddenly they were losing water pressure for some unknown reason. Birkoff restricted the water output and turned off the alarms.

"Birkoff?" a voice called out and Birkoff turned around in a circle and saw no one around to make the noise. He swallowed and moved back to his desk. He was trying not to stress out over the alarms, as they were minor things that seemed to happen more often than it was suppose too.

Another alarm started to ring and Birkoff scowled as he stared at the computer and used the cameras to see what was going on. The alarm was blaring throughout Section One in a second, before Birkoff even knew why they were. He frowned and shrugged his shoulders towards Operations, not able to describe what had happened.

Jurgen threw the bedpans all over Michael's room. The alarms were blaring so loudly and the doctors had given him the medicine, he just didn't seem to be coming out of it. The doctors stepped away from the room as the bedpans, about ten metal ones, flew around the room. Not only did they fall to the floor, but also they rose off of the floor and then were chucked against the wall.

Jurgen could feel the bad presence down the hallway, time for Nikita was running out and he couldn't wake Michael up. He looked around and pulled at the oxygen tanks, causing huge hissing to occur from the broken valves but Michael still didn't move his head or flutter his eyes.

"MICHAEL! IT'S NIKITA!" Jurgen screamed as his ghost hands took a hold onto the bed and started to pound it up and down. The doctors now fled, not caring what happened to Michael, as they were scared and going to find Madeline as soon as they could.

"What?" Michael stumbled as he tried to shake his head. Jurgen pointed to the door as Michael stumbled and moved. He saw the ghost and followed behind in the mess that Jurgen had made in the medical room.

Jurgen flew ahead and yelled bloodily as Stacy had the syringe near Nikita's arm and was ready to plunge whatever it was into Nikita's system.

"I wished that you were paralyzed... that way... I could have waited for you to be up... with your eyes staring at me... but not able to defend me..." Stacy hissed out as she looked at Nikita and grinned with what she believed was her winning.

"MICHAEL!" Jurgen screamed out and Michael rounded the door and watched as the syringe had punctured the skin and sunk in.

"NO!" Michael yelled and leapt for Stacy in the same movement. Jurgen noticed that none of the medicine and most likely a poison had gone into Nikita's system yet. Jurgen pulled the needle out and placed it on a table as Michael tiredly struggled with Stacy. He would have subdued her in three seconds flat, but he was still fighting off the heavy dosage of drugs that Madeline had seen were administer.

"What's going on?" Madeline demanded as she rounded the corner and found Michael standing up and moving to look at the needle and then to Nikita. He rubbed Nikita's cheek softly and swallowed.

"Please be all right, my Nikita." Michael softly whispered and her eyes fluttered open for three seconds before falling back down.

"She opened her eyes!" Michael exclaimed and Madeline nodded her head and looked out of the room, wondering if she would even have videotapes to back up the doctors' stories of what happened in Michael's room.

"Michael... let them help you out of your drugs...." Madeline said and Michael nodded his head and swallowed. He didn't think about the other two operatives that were after Nikita as he looked at Jurgen and smiled.

"Thank you." Michael firmly stated and Madeline raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you thanking, Michael?" Madeline questioned as she pressed a hand to his head, wondering if maybe his behavior was due to a fever. She pulled away and stared at Michael.

"Ah... God..." Michael said and Madeline nodded her head and left.

"So now I am god?" Jurgen questioned and he disappeared as Michael's glare pierced through his ghost body. Michael stood up and went to Nikita's side again and held her hand.

She was soon to return.

*

Michael leaned his head back and closed his eyes briefly, but never for long and never leaving the area of Nikita's face. He didn't need to turn his head to feel Madeline and Walter standing at the doorway. It was the first time that they had arrived together; usually they had arrived in the room to nag at Michael one at a time. Michael didn't like the feeling and started to feel the muscles in his back tense with their dual presence.

"Michael... I never thought you to be a worry wart." Jurgen commented from behind Michael's shoulders. He wanted to turn and spout evil words at Jurgen and to ask the ghost to leave him be while others were able to view him. Yet, he knew Madeline and Walter were watching him.

"No change?" Madeline questioned from the doorway as her eyes dropped. She had read the chart and saw that the pressure in Nikita's brain had returned to normal about an hour ago. Now Madeline had a concern about the other two operatives that were after Nikita.

"Sugar open her eyes again?" Walter questioned as he took a position on the opposite side of Nikita's bed. He lightly stroked her face and looked to Michael. The young man only blinked his eyes and continued to stare at Nikita, and Walter knew that Michael wouldn't move until Nikita did open her eyes again.

"We must discuss what is going to be happening soon." Madeline stated and Jurgen started to hum the JAWS theme song behind Michael's ear. Michael swatted his hand to his ear as he turned his body on the wooden chair to study Madeline's taunt body as she looked at him.

"It won't matter if Nikita does not wake up." Michael responded and Madeline pressed her lips together, noting that Michael's point was well taken. The discussion between the heads of Section One and two powers that be in Oversight decided that if there was no noticeable cord damage to Nikita and that her head injury had resolved, as it had, that she would be transferred to a place outside of Section One. It couldn't be Nikita's apartment, because the operatives that were after her would go there. Madeline had decided on the location and even withheld it from Operations.

Michael's apartment.

"I told you, Madeline... Let's wait for her to wake up." Walter said as he pulled his hand away from the spot that it had been resting on Nikita's arm, which had a slight splint in it. The fracture was only a hairline and they felt that it would only have to be monitored but would not need a cast.

"Nikita's almost there, Madeline... Just some more time." Michael whispered as he felt the chill of the ghost placing his hand on Michael's shoulder. Jurgen had argued for sometime for Michael to remain as quiet as possible because it was safer inside of Section One for Nikita. Michael knew that he hadn't been wrong yet and was attempting to do just that.

"Then you should try talking to her, Michael... that's an order!" Madeline stated out and Michael sighed and looked as Madeline blinked her eyes to Walter. The older man dropped his head and moved out of the room as Michael's heart started to pound harshly in his chest, knowing that Madeline was going to be at least listening, if not listening and viewing as it happened.

"Michael... Don't do it!" Jurgen cried out and Michael looked at Nikita's face and knew he could not follow Jurgen's words any longer. It didn't matter if it was going to be harder to protect Nikita outside of Section One, but with a ghost, Michael could do it.

Michael had hoped for enough other problems to keep everyone in Section One busy. Madeline found that the medical doctors were refusing to go back to medical because of what they claimed to see in Michael's room. Yet, there was nothing on the tape. When Birkoff claimed something of the same sort of thing, that a ghostly presence had helped to destroy the alarm systems in Section One, Madeline and Operations grunted and dropped the subject. It was not what Michael needed.

"Réveiller mon seul amour" Michael whispered as he bent his head and pressed a soft and feather-light kiss to her cheek and then lifted his head. In his heart, he wished that it was that easy, that Nikita would respond to his light request, that since his body had been in synch with her body so well that hers would react in the same manner and fashion.

"Michael... does Nikita know French?" Jurgen questioned sharply and Michael lifted his head and looked at the ghost. Michael's face dropped, as he knew the point that Jurgen was trying to make. It was sometimes so easy for Michael to express what he was feeling in French, that was the way that he thought most of the time, and most of the time, he didn't even notice when he slipped back to the native language. Of course, Nikita only had a limited language in French.

"Nikita.... Come back my love... mon ours de teddy doux..." Michael whispered as he brushed another kiss down to her cheek. He blinked his eyes as he felt the rippling that his hands had felt before. He backed his head away and looked down at Nikita, seeing the preliminary fluttering of her eyes underneath the closed eyelids.

"Nikita... Nikita... It's Michael... I love you.... Open your eyes..." Michael murmured quietly, so silent that only the ghost had been able to hear the words as he peered over the bed and at Nikita's face. The smile spread across the face, acknowledging the words that had been said.

"Please, Nikita..." Michael begged out in short words as he closed his eyes briefing. It appeared as if he was offering another prayer as he imagined the eyes of Nikita's opening and staring at him with the love that he knew that was there. When his own green emerald eyes opened, he was rewarded by the image that he had seen in his mind's eye.

"My love..." Michael gasped as he saw the sight. Although it was what he had wanted to see and what he needed to see, the sight still took his breath away. It was not until Nikita gasped in slight pain and started to shift her body up to look at him and to assess what happened to her.

"What happened?" Nikita gasped as Michael gently pushed back on her shoulders, sure that she shouldn't move too quickly. She rolled her head to the side and then used her hands to pat at her head as Michael leaned down at her and used his fingers to guide her head silently back to look at his eyes.

"There was... an accident of sorts... Your in medical." Michael explained, wondering if Nikita even remembered anything that did happen. It wasn't until he saw the fear splitting across her blue eyes and then the closing of her eyes, he knew that she did remember, but then he was worried that she was going to be able to verbalize what she saw.

"It wasn't an accident." Nikita stated out clearly with a voice that stated and showed the pain that she was in. Michael nodded his head and took her hand and held it.

"We'll discuss that later." Michael confirmed as he raised her slender hand to his mouth and placed his barren lips to her skin, but she lightly smiled either way. Michael moved his head to the side and saw the smiling Jurgen floating slightly above what was going on and he turned his head back to see Nikita again, gasping in pain as she tried to shift her position in bed.

"What happened to me?" Nikita simpered and Michael's eyes ruffled as he tried to find the words. There were a lot of items that didn't happen but could have and there were a lot of things that Michael was going to have a hard time explaining to Nikita himself. He was sure that in time that the stories of his acute knowledge of what was going on with her body was going to get to Nikita's impressionable ears.

"At first, the concern was the head injury and the neck impact.... There was some minor damage to your C4 vertebrae...."

"But I can move! Look... I'm wiggling my toes... Aren't I?" Nikita questioned and Michael bent down and rubbed her toes and then lightly allowed his fingers to tickle the soft surface. Nikita gave a giggle, but it was one that held some horror in it.

"It was bruised... no damage to the cord... Its going to sore for some time." Michael stated and Nikita blinked her eyes as she felt the pain, but to be honest, she felt the pain everywhere.

"Then the concern powerfully moved to some internal bleeding.... They had to remove your spleen." Michael said and Nikita blinked her eyes and looked down to her stomach. She now knew and could identify what was causing that pain. She closed her eyes and Michael bent down and kissed her nose softly.

"You had some swelling in the brain... and it went down... and a bruises everywhere... But your going to be fine..." Michael self-proclaimed as he lightly backed up and rolled his head from side to side. His eyes closed briefly, but snapped back open, as the sound that arose from Nikita's chest was one of horror.

"What is that?" Nikita said and Michael looked around and saw Jurgen standing there. Michael worried, as he wouldn't be able to explain about the ghost since Madeline was watching them. He knew that the situation was going to be dangerous.

"What do you see, Nikita?" Michael questioned with a wavering voice. He reached and held both hands and Nikita turned her head away with pain shooting down her back.

"What is it, Michael! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" Nikita screamed as Michael moved closer to her and tried to put his body in front of the image of Jurgen.

"What is that red thing... It is so dangerous! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU MICHAEL!!! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" Nikita screamed and he swallowed. Although what she was still looking at, was in the general direction of where Michael's Jurgen stood, but for now, she hadn't identified it as Jurgen.

"I'll protect you, Nikita... Nothing is going to happen..." Michael whispered as he tried to hug her. Her body jumped to his skin and he knew that this was only the beginning and the rest would be hard to describe and explain.

*

"Nikita... calm down..." Madeline said with a rushed voice as she saw the young woman pawing at Michael's back, trying to escape from Michael's grasp and out of the room. Everything in the situation had declined quickly once Nikita started to describe what she saw and where she saw it. Madeline had started to move immediately, to find herself with the hysterical woman and the man who was only looking out for her life. He was torn, and Madeline could see that too.

"It's here... Close to me! GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY!" Nikita screamed at Madeline as she tried to reach for the older woman, hoping that Madeline would take her hands and pull her up and over Michael's back and out of the room. Madeline stood still and watched the fear in Nikita's eyes and she saw that fear a lot on this day. It was similar to the medical doctors and Birkoff and she was sure that she had seen it in Michael's own eyes.

Michael snapped a glare over to Jurgen, wishing that the ghost would disappear so he could calm Nikita down. The ghost was being stubborn and was swearing at Michael that it wasn't him, that Nikita was seeing a long red blob sort of thing.

"It's a dead presence... GET RID OF IT!" Nikita screamed and Madeline shook her head back and forth, not liking the words that Nikita was using and the words that she was using to describe what she was seeing when she did use words to describe it. Most, Nikita was screaming her want to leave the room.

"Nikita, you will do damage to the incision they used for your surgery... Do you want more pain?" Madeline questioned with steady words and Michael pushed Nikita back to the bed.

"NO! NO! NO! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Nikita screamed as her body lurched forward again, and before Michael's hands could wrap around her to stop her progression, Nikita fell weakly down with tears down her face and pain in her eyes.

"Nikita?" Michael questioned as she used her hands to hold onto her side, where the surgery had taken place. Michael rolled his eyes and Madeline stepped back to gather some doctors to look at the damage that Nikita's hysterics had caused.

"You don't believe me! Michael! YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!" Nikita sobbed out and Michael angled his head to the side and used the back of his hand to press it to her cheek and her hand grabbed his and kept the flesh to her cheek.

"I believe you, Nikita... I also believe that you need to calm down...." Michael softly explained as the tears started to slip from Nikita's eyelids and travel down her cheeks.

"Maybe we should arrange the move now, Michael?" Madeline inquired and she waited to see Michael recede before he consented to nod it in agreement. Madeline blinked her eyes some thanks to Michael and moved out of the room, noticing that maybe that her mere presence had compounded the issue with Nikita and Michael might have been able to handle it. It also gave Madeline some time to think about the paranormal things that operatives had been claiming were going on around Section One.

She found her heels clicking grimly on the metal floor that paved her way to her office. Madeline was never one to believe in factors like this. Like Michael, she didn't want to believe in things like this because it made logic so hard to keep strictest belief in. She grounded her teeth together as she round the corner, playing with the fact that maybe something more was going on here. If any place were going to be haunted, it would be Section One. And they wouldn't be the kindest of spirits either.

Yet didn't explain some other annoying facts. How did Michael know that Nikita was hurt? He was at home. What was Nikita seeing and how and why was it different from the reports of the flying bedpans? And why red? Madeline shook her head as her office door opened.

She was supposed to make the final plans on moving Nikita to Michael's apartment. She needed to make sure the proper furniture was in the apartment and that she could get the proper equipment there. She needed to device a plan to divert attention away from Nikita and Michael and to run interference as they traveled to Michael's apartment. Yet, as Madeline sat down, she didn't turn to work on that immediately.

"Birkoff.. Find me everything that we have about auras... Now." Madeline ordered as she pushed her hair off of her face and then turned on her computer. That overpowered her thoughts as she worked on the plan of escaping Michael and Nikita from Section One without detection.

"Nikita.... Please..." Michael softly said as she continued to move her head about, even as the doctors told her of the risks of continuing that movement and how it was going to hold back her recovery. She continued to cry and continued to mutter about the red spot she saw. Michael didn't know what to do until the doctor's left.

They had given her something to sleep while they slipped a few stitches to repair what Nikita's thrashing had undone. Michael looked at her, as she continued to turn her head from side to side, knowing that the doctors were going to put her in a neck brace to cease the movement.

"Jurgen, what the hell are you doing?" Michael yelled out as he looked at the ghost. Jurgen only moved his eyes around and folded his hands in front of him.

"She doesn't see me... Only you do." Jurgen said and Michael shook his head back and forth.

"You made the alarms go off, Jurgen... and she knows you are here! You are scaring her!" Michael stated loudly as he turned in a circle, pushing his hair off of his face and neck, feeling the sweat of confusion and anger running down his head to his entire body.

"I did those things to wake you up. I'm here to protect Nikita, through you... she can't see me." Jurgen stated again as he started to move. Michael closed his eyes and sighed heavily, feeling like he was talking to a brick wall. Actually, it felt like he was still talking to Nikita. She was always too difficult to talk to when she was in a mood like the one Jurgen was in.

"Let's get this straight... If you want to help me... You are going to leave before you upset her more." Michael stated firmly and with stern words. Jurgen only smirked and looked around.

"You must look like a real fool talking to yourself.... Do you think Madeline is buying this supernatural stuff, Michael? You didn't at first." Jurgen stated and Michael nodded his head, as he knew that to be true. He didn't believe in the ghost at first but he had proven to be right.

"I don't care how I look now! You started all of this and you are going to get it all to stop! NOW!" Michael stated and Jurgen shook his head.

"Tell me where the other two renegades are!" Michael demanded and Jurgen rolled backwards and leaned against the wall.

"What do you want? The renegades or for Nikita to stop seeing the red blob. The choice is yours!" Jurgen stated as the choices and Michael swallowed. He looked at Nikita and swallowed.

"Go away you ghost and don't come back!" Michael shouted and Nikita's eyes opened and stared at Michael as he pushed his hair back and swallowed, still not looking at Nikita.

"Ghost?" Nikita questioned and Michael turned and rubbed Nikita's head. He didn't want Nikita to worry about what was going on. He wasn't sure if he was even going to attempt to explain it to Nikita.

"Don't worry, my love." Michael stated and Nikita narrowed her eyes as she didn't see the blob and swallowed.

"You will tell me, correct?" Nikita questioned with a shaking voice, showing the worry that he would hold something else from her.

"Of course." Michael stated as he pressed a kiss to her head and stayed there, knowing that Nikita needed his physical presence and his love. With that, she would be saved.

Damn that ghost.

He didn't exactly matter.

*

It did not take much to settle Nikita into Michael's apartment, as Madeline had seen to every detail, except one. Michael was not going to settle Nikita into the huge and looming hospital bed she had placed in the little den like room. He held her in his arms and moved immediately to his bedroom and caressed her in the blankets that held his scent and rubbed at her skin gently. He placed her somewhere that he was sure that she would like, and possibly enjoy in time.

None of this all mattered to Nikita, as the heavy pain medications knocked her eyes out and made her oblivious to the world around her. She was carried almost like a rag doll, even though the doctors had pushed for a stretcher. Yet, the move to Michael's apartment couldn't be done with a flourish of activity and the neighbors around Michael would have noticed a stretcher.

There were precautions made for Nikita and one that Madeline wanted strictly enforced. She wanted Nikita in the neck brace as now that she was able to dream, she was dreaming something violent. Michael looked at Nikita on the bed and her eyes trying to keep close, as she was uncomfortable. Michael looked around and shrugged his shoulders as he pulled the neck brace away from Nikita's neck. She pressed her face to the one side and felt the coldness of the satin pillowcase on her cheek. She had found comfort.

"Sleep my Nikita..." Michael whispered as he slipped out of the room, finally feeling comfortable to leave Nikita for a few moments. He moved to the kitchen and started to brew himself a pot of coffee. He leaned to the counter and felt his eyes closing. He fought the urge and poured the water into the coffee machine and went to pull out the written instructions about Nikita's care.

The first couple days was about rest, sleep, eating, and medicine. He knew that the later was going to be the difficult part, as Nikita had learned that terrible and evil habit from Michael himself. Before Nikita was never one not to take medicines, but Michael was an example for her and so if one wanted Nikita to take medicine, it wasn't given to her orally, because she knew every trick in the book to hide pills.

Finally, Michael sat down with a harsh sigh that showed the tiredness in his body. He didn't know how long he had been by Nikita's side and he didn't know when he had run out of the apartment. It felt like he had been there months by Nikita's side. It also was giving him a time to think about everything that happened.

It was difficult to even think about Jurgen's ghost. Now as he looked back, Michael couldn't place his thumb on if the ghost was good or bad. Yes he knew information about Nikita out, but who says that Michael wouldn't have noticed all of this without the ghost around. Plus, it was difficult to put your trust in a ghost that you wouldn't have placed trust in his human body.

Does death change the essence of a person?

Aren't most ghosts evil?

Michael could only stare off in space and feel his eyelids struggling against the surging caffeine in his blood and body. Everything told Michael to sleep but his mind, as it wanted to stay up indefinitely to stay by Nikita's side, to be on alert, and to see if that ghost would came back.

In the end, the eyelids were winning and Michael pulled his body off of the place he had dropped it at. It was his mind leading the lifeless shell of the body to the room with Nikita. She had not even moved herself, but that did not surprise Michael. He yanked his clothing off, feeling them dirty with days of being in the same clothes and sat down on the bed.

Madeline warned and wrote in big letters for Nikita to sleep in a separate bed from Michael. The doctors had agreed, but none of them knew Nikita as well as Michael did. She needed to be touched by the one that loved her. It would help her to heal quicker than being separated from her and only having passive touch. She needed to be held and squeezed. Cuddling was the acute therapy that was being called for and Michael was going to give that Nikita for one reason.

She was Nikita.

Oh, and the fact that he loved Nikita.

It was not Michael that made the first move towards Nikita. Nikita rolled towards him as he settled down in bed. One second he was adjusting his legs and the next second, Nikita had placed her head down on his chest, protecting her surgical incision and holding the person that loved her in the same movement. Michael carefully splayed his hands into her hair, feeling the knots and bumps that had occurred due to the accident, but he didn't cease his rubbing. He softly ran his hands through the hair and gently lulled himself into a slumber like Nikita's.

Peaceful.

In a room far away from Michael and Nikita, Madeline sat with various books surrounding her and a stack of prints out that Birkoff had done so quickly for her. There was a knock on the door and Birkoff handed the tape to Madeline.

"There is nothing on it but Nikita screaming about that red blob thing." Birkoff stated and Madeline nodded her head. She had seen the entire thing live and knew that nothing was there, but the events were starting to bother her. What if some of the things were explainable by the paranormal? What if Nikita did really see something there? Should Madeline be scared of what she saw?

"Birkoff.... Where is the chart about what the colors of auras mean?" Madeline questioned as she looked at the five piles of materials that surrounded her. The last time she investigated a problem as much as she was studying this was when Michael was dealing with Nikita's 'death'. She knew it had PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, but didn't know enough to give Michael what she needed too.

Now she had an injured operative, Nikita, seeing things that weren't there. Nikita was eccentric and she did things the unorthodox way. She was even a bit paranoid every once in a while, but she was not one to lose all her marbles that quickly. Madeline had tried to play with theories that it was the trauma that she had been through, but still felt that it was all wrong.

Now she was researching one of the millions of possibilities to explain what Nikita had seen. It could have been a combination of the drugs that Section One had given to her and maybe it was an allergic reaction. It was difficult to deal with and the fat that Madeline had delved into the paranormal research only meant one thing.

Madeline thought it was possible.

Madeline picked up the chart that Birkoff had finally fished out of the pile and handed to Madeline. There was so much information about the colors. Red could mean a lot of things, as she was finding out. Some people had different theories about everything, but there were some basics that Madeline had picked up in her research, not that she had become an expert on a long shot. She had some basic information in one way of interpreting what Nikita had seen.

Nikita hadn't given enough information about the type of color red she had seen. It could mean anything from physicality if the red was bright and clear, to anger if the red was in flashes or murky. It was all confusing Madeline even more... and then auras were suppose to be around those that were alive. She had never heard of an aura being around something that wasn't there any longer. She couldn't identify what was going on as she threw down the chart.

"Madeline.. These people don't have all the answers... most of them don't even have one or two." Birkoff commented as he picked up the chart and looked at it. He shook his head and dropped it back down.

"It's not like the paranormal is an exact science... we don't know everything about the realms beyond the one that we live in... we can't know that stuff... and until we can know all the facts about those realms like we know the numbers and alphabets, there are going to be places where the material doesn't match the happenings." Birkoff explained and Madeline tipped her head to the side, taking back with the maturity and strength spoken from Birkoff's voice.

"You were sure that there was a ghost." Madeline said and Birkoff nodded his head as he looked around the room. He shrugged his shoulders as he moved towards the door.

"Would it be that bad?" Birkoff hypothesized and Madeline furrowed her brow as she studied the question that Birkoff had posed to her. She found it difficult to process but knew that she had too.

"Nikita needs to rest and not be scared out of her mind..." Madeline stated with a hesitated voice and Birkoff rolled his eyes as the door opened to allow him out.

"Yes... but who do you think gave Michael all the answers?" Birkoff hauntingly questioned and Madeline stopped and stared as the door closed in front of the young man.

Was this ghost a friendly ghost?

*

It was late into the next morning that the dull ringing of Michael's cell phone breached his sleep and pulled his eyes open. He looked around and saw Nikita still tightly snuggled into his arms and entangled with his legs. Slowly he pulled one arm out of her grasp and pulled at the small cell phone and turned his head away. He knew how important it was for Nikita to sleep and rest. It would help in healing Nikita quicker.

"Yes?" Michael susurrated as his eyes rolled around, knowing that the contact could not be a good one. His heart told him to place the phone down and to tend to Nikita's needs. His mind told him that this might be important.

"We need you to come in, Michael." Madeline stated with firm words that tried to express the urgency that they were going to need Michael at. He shifted in the bed and found it difficult as Nikita moaned softly with the movement.

"I am to protect Nikita. She hasn't woken up once yet." Michael settled quickly, knowing what he needed to do. Slowly he studied the room and then pulled his other hand away from Nikita's body and to push his hair away off of his face.

"We have a location on Fricks. We need you to bring him in." Madeline delegated quickly, with a rushed tone to each word. Michael shifted and looked at Nikita. He felt like he was being torn. He slipped out of the bed and stared down at Nikita.

"Nikita can't protect herself, Madeline." Michael stated as he pulled at his dirty pants, pulling them up and over his legs and buckling them. He didn't kid himself, he knew that he needed to handle Fricks and Madeline was giving him that opportunity. It was what Michael wanted and dreamt about also. To get to one of the people that helped plan to do this to Nikita.

"They do not know where Nikita is staying." Madeline said in order to rouse Michael's response, to make the man move quicker, to have him heading back to Section One where he was needed.

"She needs to get her medicine, Madeline.... And the bandages on her head need to be changed." Michael fretted as he looked at the paper and the things the doctors and Madeline told him that were important to do. He had barely been able to drag his body out of bed to get the medicine for Nikita six hours ago. He rubbed his face and cursed himself as he saw the long list of things he still had yet been able to do.

"I'll have Walter or Birkoff go over to assist Nikita once you go out on this mission." Madeline offered, feeling the young man's resistance to leave Nikita's side. It did not surprise her, as she didn't want to force Michael to do so. She had read so much information about auras and some other paranormal things dealing with colors and Madeline didn't like what Nikita claimed to have seen. If something was going on, Madeline hoped that it was a good spirit or something like that and not a demon. Michael would kill her in a second if something happened to Nikita now.

"I'd rather wait for them to arrive. You won't send them immediately and Nikita isn't well enough." Michael responded quickly, renouncing Madeline's plans with such few words, but easily pointing out what Madeline was going to do. Madeline rolled her head back and sat down. Her hands were being tied by Operations, who declared that Michael was the only man that would be allowed to go get Fricks.

Madeline didn't like that either, as Fricks was not the brightest of all the operatives that had been working together to get to Nikita. Josh was the operative that Madeline saw has having the scheming plans and tactical knowledge to play Section One against themselves. He was a level four operative before the mishap on with mission with Nikita and Jurgen. Since then, he had been demoted to three and then down to level two.

In fact, Madeline had not been worrying about Fricks, because the man couldn't walk up on anything without them knowing that it was there. Had Fricks found out about Nikita's location in Michael's apartment, she was sure that a sleeping Michael would have heard him about three blocks away. The operative didn't know how precious the silence skill was, and Josh, he did. Yet, Josh had the knowledge of other ways of getting to Nikita, and it scared Madeline.

"Michael.. This isn't a request and this isn't an offer... This is an order." Madeline stated and Michael turned his head and looked at Nikita. He used his free hand to rub across his bare chest as he shook his head, feeling a numb feeling just being away from Nikita. It was like something was telling him not to go, but he was sure that if Jurgen knew this was dangerous, that the annoying ghost would have made his presence loudly known and told Michael the way of the paranormal world.

"Can I have a few moments... I need to change the bandage at least and give her the medicine so she won't have to get up when no one is here?" Michael questioned, but Madeline knew it to be more of a statement. She knew that Michael wasn't going to leave her side until he did those two things that he spoke of. She could either allow it or not, but Michael was going to do those things either way. Madeline wasn't up for fighting as she felt the strain of being up all night herself, searching for the information that gave more confusion into what Nikita may have seen.

"Fine, but Michael..."

"Yes, Madeline." Michael stated as he wait, knew the conditions about to be placed on his activities.

"Be in within the hour." Madeline implored Michael before she disconnected her telephone and shut her eyes. She knew that it was an hour too much for Operations, but the man was just going to have to learn to deal with it.

Michael shut the phone and pulled at the bag that contained the gauze that was needed for the gash that was on Nikita's head. Michael unwrapped the original bandage and swallowed as he looked at the long area that was hurt. He was wondering if it was going to require plastic surgery afterwards. Michael cleaned the cut and started to wrap the gauze around her head again.

"Nikita.... I don't want to leave you..." Michael softly beseeched Nikita, hoping that if she did awaken from her sleep that she would understand why he had to leave. He looked around and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, as he did not want Nikita to worry about his absence.

"Damn Section for this, Nikita... Damn them." Michael said as he folded the paper and placed her name boldly on the paper and placed it on the bed stand not far from where she was laying at. He got on the bed and pulled at the medicine bag. There was one more thing he must see too before he could leave. He rubbed at the arm; opposite from the one he had used before. He prepared the needle and then dropped his hand.

He looked at Nikita. She didn't look much different from when she was in medical. He started to fret over what if Nikita had started to lose her progression. He wondered if the reason why she didn't wake up was because the pressure in her brain had started to go back up. Michael rubbed his free hand across his chin and then down to the needle.

"I'm sorry, Nikita..." Michael softly said as he administered the medicine into Nikita, knowing that the antibiotic was needed and that the pain medication would only make her sleep easier on her body. He waited as he looked at her peaceful face, still with the soft smile across its surface. Michael stood up and moved as quickly as he could. He was sure if he looked at Nikita once more, he would not leave and would break all the orders he had been given.

*

The computers were running slow as Michael stood behind Birkoff, waiting for the incoming intelligence. He turned his head and found Madeline and Operations deep into a conversation that he was not about to interrupt. He pressed a hand down on Birkoff's shoulder and shook his head as he looked at the satellite scan.

"Where is Josh, Birkoff?" Michael questioned and Birkoff could only shrug his shoulders. He hadn't been able to locate him by the crystal and had been hacking into all the small time terrorist who would be stupid enough to welcome Josh into their programs, not wise enough to realize what Section One would do to them.

"Is his crystal gone then?" Michael questioned and Birkoff looked up and Michael before he felt the pain in his chest. He didn't want to admit it to Michael, but he was sure that the expert operative was able to figure it out all by himself. Michael didn't wait for a response and walked to Walter's area and motioned with a slight tilt of his head for Walter to follow him deep into his area.

"What is it?" Walter questioned immediately as he looked over Michael's shoulder to see that no one had followed them or were able to see them. Michael was pacing back and forth and seemed to be highly agitated.

"Hey, man... as soon as your team gets the weapons... I'm out to your apartment to check on my sugar... I swear!" Walter promised with his hands up in the air. Michael barely moved his head from side to side before he grabbed Walter's hands and pushed them back down towards his body. Then it was Michael's turn to investigate the area they had left before continuing.

"Do you believe in... ghosts?" Michael questioned softly and Walter froze in his position, blinking his eyes in rapid procession, not able to process that it was Michael that had said this.

"What?" Walter chuckled the questions out nervously, afraid that Michael had asked that question. He was sure that that one word would never be muttered out of Michael's mouth, let alone asked in a question towards Walter.

"Do you believe in.. ghosts... a fantôme, or el fantasma... a geist?" Michael questioned, giving Walter as many different languages to translate the words as he could, until Walter raised his hand up and stopped Michael's rambling.

"I know what a ghost is, Michael. I'm just surprised to hear you even asking about anything that is paranormal. You aren't that sort of man." Walter bluntly replied as he looked over Michael's straight shoulders to see that they were still alone.

"You don't know what I believe in and what I don't believe in." Michael retorted with short and articulated words. Walter raised his eyebrows and initiated to nod his head towards Michael's question. The words didn't come immediately, but the motion of his head helped Walter to form the words.

"There is definitely more in the world that just us... Call them ghosts if you must." Walter stated and he paused to look at Michael. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Michael replied too instantly, and Walter pulled at Michael's arms and Michael tilted his head to the side. Walter could read the young man now, and that alone was starting to scare him. In fact, anything that Michael was doing anymore was scaring almost all of Section One with just looking into his eyes.

"You know François de La Rouchefoucauld..." Walter said and Michael nodded his head up and down, although he was unsure of where Walter was going with this conversation.

"Well... he said, "It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks about it, but few have seen it." And I think you have seen true love... so maybe if you are seeing ghosts... it wouldn't surprise me." Walter said and Michael shook his head back and forth and stepped away.

"I didn't say I was seeing ghosts, Walter." Michael defended himself, but the white, colorless face showed Walter that Michael was lying on the subject.

"Come on Michael... Do I have to quote a whole slew of French authors for you to admit you saw a ghost?" Walter questioned and Michael turned his head away from the belittling Michael.

"Rejean Ducharme said that "No living being has as much human warmth as my ghost, or can better bring me to rest and sleep. Even talking to it means something." Do you think I know these quotes because I don't believe in Ghosts?" Walter shouted out and Michael flipped his head around to stare at Walter.

"I do believe, Michael... And I will not hold anything against you.... It actually explains that psychic stuff you were doing with Nikita." Walter quipped quickly and reached out for Michael's arm.

"What... who are you seeing?" Walter questioned and Michael pushed his hand up and tried to break Walter's hold. Walter continued to look over Michael's shoulder, knowing that their voices were getting louder than was needed.

"I can't say... he is gone now..." Michael said and then stopped as Walter leaned back. He had at least learned the sex of the ghost. Walter looked off to the side.

"Just tell me, Michael..." Walter said and Michael leaned back and then stepped forward. The look on the face illustrated the difficulty that Michael was having with telling Walter this information. He was so close to disclosing the identity to Walter, but was still afraid that it would not work out right.

"Michael..." Walter said again, pushing Michael to part his lips and to look frantically around to make sure with his own green eyes that no one was watching. When the perimeter was checked and cleared, Michael dropped his head.

"Jurgen." Michael confided and Walter's eyes started to expand in size. That was one name he never expected to hear again from Michael, especially in this context. Now it was starting to fall together.

"He came back to protect Nikita." Walter stated, but with an inflection on his voice that was questioning Michael. Michael nodded his head up and down and gnawed on his bottom lips slightly.

"He knew everything... and he played me... Made me look like a fool... I'm sure Madeline was about to lock me up." Michael stated and Walter sighed and signaled that Michael was close to the truth. Walter raised a hand as an operative was looking back for Walter. He dropped it when the operative moved away.

"She was concerned you were losing it.... But from what I hear from Birkoff... since the doctors saw the flying bedpans and Birkoff felt chills and swears a ghost was walking around... And Nikita's red blob thing... She might start believing all of this." Walter said and Michael seized Walter by the shoulders and pushed him to the wall. The cold metal of the wall pressed into Walter's back and he opened his mouth, but knew that he could not fight Michael on this point.

"You can't tell anyone, Walter. Not one soul." Michael said and Walter only wearily nodded his head. The young operative looked to his watch and noted that his mission was soon leaving. Walter looked around one time and grabbed Michael to ask one further question.

"Does Nikita know?" Walter questioned and Michael sighed and rubbed his forehead, showing signs of a good headache starting to pound right behind his eyes. It was not a good state to have going into a mission.

"She heard me mention it... but she doesn't know that the ghost was Jurgen. Doesn't matter... he has moved on." Michael announced and Walter sighed in relief.

"We really didn't need that sort of ghost staying around..." Walter commented and Michael's fatigued head nodded up and down, finding reasons to thank god for the small blessings.

No more ghost of Jurgen.

So he thought.

*

An eerie sound of wind whistling high pitchy through a window woke Nikita out of the slumber that she had rejoiced in until that moment Michael walked away. Then the littlest things were starting to bother that slumber. First it sounded like chimes outside, probably hanging off of someone's window, hitting off of one enough for a long ten minutes. Then there was the flapping door. Had Nikita been more aware of her surroundings, she may have been more noticed by it, but it wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized that she was at Michael's place.

"Ah... ugh..." Nikita moaned out as she started to move in the bed, trying to gain her bearings while dealing with the surging tides of pain that washed over her body with so much force, she dropped her head back down into the pillow. It was there that she smelt Michael. A scent that was everything he was. It was strong yet a bit sweet. It was athletic, but also sympathetic. It was dedication and it was love.

Simply, it was Michael and Michael alone.

Nikita almost found herself descending back into her slumber until another odd noise pulled her head up. It was like the banging of metal garbage cans and it was reminiscent of a time on her streets, were the same noise would signal the garbage men outside collecting the waste, and therefore indicating that it was time to wake up and get out of whatever box she had found during the night.

Her hands splayed against the sheets as Nikita took stock in the room, trying to identify what she knew and what she didn't. What she realized quickly was that she never stepped foot in this room and it's heavy décor. She rolled her head to the side and then she saw it.

Nikita.

His handwriting was so boldly say on the piece of white paper, propped up so that she would hopefully find it as soon as she woke up. She closed her eyes and shook her head, knowing that Michael, the one that she used to know, would never do something so thoughtful and considerate. Most likely, it was because she was injured, but still, she saw the paper and couldn't help the smile spreading across her face.

Nikita.

She wanted to stare at it forever. In a way, she wanted to pick up the paper and read every word that was written in his handwriting. On the other hand, she wanted to cherish, to preserve this happiness that she was feeling by just seeing her name in his handwriting, on something that was distinctly for her. Maybe it was also because she was afraid to read what was inside of it, because it may not match up with the fairy tale that was playing along in her mind, giving her heart an extra romantic boost to everything that Michael was doing for her.

He had brought her to his house.

Nikita.

Finally, her fingers reached out for the paper, and caused pain to reign throughout her body. She had to mentally remind herself of the injuries that Michael had recited to her when she woke up in medical, remembering that she no longer had a spleen because it had been damaged during that accident.

The letter was not what she had expected. Her fantasy world had overrun her body and the words she wanted to see where not contained on the paper. The words she saw where hastily written, without much love or attention to them at all.

Nikita,

Called in on a mission. Walter or Birkoff will be by to help you with your medicine. Please stay in bed and rest.

Continue to get well Michael

It was a letter that Nikita imagined saving and holding dear to her heart. Instead it was cold and short, with nothing much showing how Michael thought about her. She rolled it up into a ball and chucked the paper away and moaned in pain.

The sounds of the garbage cans were back along with the sound of the hissing window. Those sounds caused Nikita to look around. There was no reason for them to be happening. Michael's windows didn't open as he had climate control and if she heard the garbage cans earlier, the garbage men wouldn't be making their second rounds.

"Nikita...."

Nikita lifted her head as she rolled her feet off of the bed and onto the cold wood floor. She wiggled her toes and felt the strain of almost standing up was causing on her body. She should have taken heed to Michael's words, to stay in bed, but things weren't right and she didn't understand how to explain it all.

"Meow..."

Nikita turned her head and swore that she heard the cat meowing from the closet. It would be like Michael, Nikita decided. She knew that the man had a cat that Birkoff had given him for sometime. Nikita never knew if Michael got rid of it so she moved to the closet, expecting Michael to have locked it up there so Nikita wouldn't find it. All she found when she opened the door was hanging black clothing and nothing else.

"Nikita..."

"Who is there?" Nikita called out as she shuffled her feet and placed an arm around her stomach, almost not able to walk due to the pain. The world was spinning around her, and she would have sat down on the bed if the fear didn't run with her, but also the need to go to the bathroom.

The bathroom presented a problem. She didn't know where it was and with that thought, she started to head out of the bedroom to discover that Michael inhibited a rather large apartment in comparison to hers. It was at least four times as big, if not more. She only allowed her mind to think briefly about how Michael found the time to keep care of his apartment as he was almost always inside of Section One.

"Meow..."

"Kitty? Kitty?" Nikita questioned as she looked around and passed an empty room that was in a corner. She looked into the room and felt the extremely cold draft that hit her body. It should have made Nikita run the other way, but oddly it brought her into the room.

"Nikita..."

The garbage cans crashed.

"Meow..."

Drums of sorts started to pound.

"Nikita..."

Footsteps were walking on the harsh wood floors. Nikita turned around and expected a cat at her feet and a person at the doorway.

"Michael? Is that you?" Nikita gasped out, as she looked at the mattress that was on the floor. She tried to hold her head and tried to steady her feet. She turned in a slow circle and then started to feel the prickly sensation cross her arms and back, weakening her already slow and weak body.

"Nikita...."

The hissing window and wind doubled in intensity and length. The papers in the room started to blow around although there was no vent, no fan, and no open window. Nikita looked around and swallowed as she collapsed to her knees.

"Baker... Baker.. Bake me a cake... as fast as you can..." children sang out and Nikita started to wail with the voices, as they seemed like they were right out of her school yard. The wind continued around the room and a jump rope fell in front of her. She gasped and started to slip from her kneeling position, using her injured arm to stop her body from hitting the mattress extremely hard.

"Nikita...."

The garbage cans sounded like they were in the room with her, being banged right next to her.

"Please... MICHAEL!!!" Nikita shouted out as the temperature in the room continued to drop and her body started to shiver in response to everything that was going on.

"Meow..."

"Baker... Baker..."

"Nikita...."

"Bake me a cake...."

"Meow...."

The Indian drums continued.

"As fast as you can...."

"Nikita..."

Nikita looked around, terrified of what was happening and found herself without air. She crumbled to the ground with one last sob.

"NO!!!"

*

It was almost too easy to apprehend Fricks once his location was found and then tagged. Michael followed him into the mall and watched him pretend to browse. Michael spoke to Madeline how this felt like a set up of sorts, but she said to continue as planned.

He turned to go to the bathroom and Michael pressed the gun to his side. He looked at Michael and dropped his head. He said not a word and followed Michael to the backup team that was waiting outside the exit. They pushed him into the door and Michael looked around and sighed.

Since he had arrived in his own car, he was cutting back through the mall to pick it up. He was going to go straight to the car when he stopped and saw a nice pillow in one of those specialty stores. It wasn't for himself; it was for Nikita, knowing that the pain in her neck was not going to be helped with the super soft pillows that graced Michael's bed.

He moved into the store and made the purchase, hoping that the pillow would help to speed up Nikita's recovery. He started to move out of the mall with a speed, knowing that he should return to Nikita. Yet, again, another store called out to him, with a special display proclaiming GHOSTS. Michael entered the store and made the purchase of four thick and scholarly books about ghosts. Finally, Michael was able to leave the mall.

The first thing that Michael noticed was the location of his car. It had moved to the very first parking spot, when he had placed it about twenty spots back. Michael looked around the car, when a door flew up and smacked him in the head.

The purchases were thrown into the car, with a note and Michael was pulled into a white van and drove off to some other location, but definitely away from Nikita.

~~

Walter walked around and picked up the phone to call Michael's apartment. He knew that the young man would be upset that he hadn't been able to go and check in on Nikita and had not been able to give the medicine. There was no answer and Walter dropped the phone to find Madeline walking down the hallway.

"Madeline... Isn't Michael's mission over?" Walter questioned and Madeline nodded her head and looked at Walter. Birkoff stood up and waved at Madeline. Walter followed behind, not liking how all of this was folding out like.

"Michael's car was found in the mall... with some purchases and a note, For all times." Birkoff said and Madeline lifted her head and Walter stared at Madeline.

"Josh couldn't have done that by himself." Madeline commented and Walter looked down to the floor and swallowed.

"What about Nikita?" Walter questioned and Madeline and Birkoff both stared at Walter.

~~

Nikita pushed her stiff body off of the mattress that she found herself on, almost forgetting why she was there.

"Nikita..." a voice echoed out and brought tears to her eyes. She wanted Michael and no one else. The pain was growing and something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

"Lift your head... look for the book..." the voice continued to say and Nikita did as it said. She looked around and felt the coldness from a spot to her left. Her eyes opened and she swallowed.

It was an old journal that she had used about a year and a half ago, when she had been seeing Jurgen. She had burned it during her time off, declaring whom the true love of her heart was. Nikita reached her hand out for it and she felt the ice gripped her fingers and the book disappeared.

"MICHAEL!" Nikita screamed out as she felt like a vice was gripping her head and pushing her ears together in pain. She could barely hold her head up.

"Nikita... he needs you..." The voice said and Nikita flipped from her hands and knees to her buttocks. She braced herself and looked around in the darkened room.

"Who is there?" Nikita cried out and the image started to lower from the ceiling. Nikita gasped and shook her head.

"NO!" Nikita cried out and dropped back into a slumber as the ghost of Jurgen nervously rubbed his hands.

Things had just escalated too quickly.

Time was not a friend any longer.

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