"Nikita...."

Nikita's eyes flickered but did not open. She turned her head with a loud groan and continued to hold her eyes shut tightly.

"Nikita...."

The pain in her body had tripled in intensity since she was last aware of the pain. She rolled over onto her back and felt the pressure releasing itself from her neck. Again, she tried to open her eyes and nothing occurred.

"Nikita.... Wake up..."

Nikita opened her eyes and swallowed. Something fell onto her hands as she struggled to make images of what she saw and what she didn't see. She struggled to remember what she had been doing and what had happened to her body.

"MICHAEL!" Nikita finally cried out as her body propelled forward to look around the dark room. She saw nothing and swallowed.

"Meow..."

"No... no... Not again... please let that be a dream..." Nikita started to stutter out, knowing what had happened the last time she heard noises and such that was like that cat's meow. She didn't want to see another.. Another.. Another.

Ghost.

There, Nikita had finally thought the words as he materialized in front of Nikita. She tried to pull away but Jurgen reached for her. Nikita couldn't fight it; her body was too weak to do anything against the man.

"Please... leave me.... I did nothing to you!" Nikita cried out and Jurgen's cold hand touched Nikita's face and lifted the tear away from her cheek. He pulled away and suspended the tear in the air, allowing a stray lay of light to hit the surface and to surround Nikita in a glowing rainbow.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Nikita. I am here to help you." Jurgen whispered and he watched as Nikita shook her head back and forth, despite her injuries. She took her trembling hand and used it to move her body about, finding that comfort was something that she was not going to find soon. The added stress of the events of supernatural proportions were bothering Nikita even further.

"No... YOU ARE DEAD!" Nikita hollered and Jurgen nodded his head and waited as Nikita settled again. He wished he could touch her and make her feel better, because then, maybe Nikita would understand what was going on here. She was frightened and Jurgen understood why.

"Nikita... That is not the case now... Michael needs you." Jurgen said and Nikita closed her eyes tightly, looking on the verge of collapsing again. The ghost moved away from Nikita, trying to lower the stress and her eyes fluttered and then focused on him again.

"Why?" Nikita gasped out and Jurgen rubbed his hands together. He looked around the room and then down at Nikita, who was trying to hold onto her composure. He couldn't stall much longer.

Who said ghosts have all the answers?

"He was taken.... And you have to find him." Jurgen declared and Nikita dropped her head forward as her jaw dropped in the same movement. The shock was all over her body, showing that Jurgen's words had not eased her mind at all.

"He loves you, Nikita... and I'm going to make sure that my past enemies don't take you two away from each other." Jurgen openingly admitted. It took him to be in the form of a ghost, but his support was still there. Nikita tried to stand up and Jurgen moved to her, shaking his head, knowing that it was a bad idea. Nikita collapsed backwards and began to cry again.

"He doesn't love me... he feels guilty..." Nikita spat out and Jurgen nodded his head as the paper floated back to Nikita. It was the letter that Michael had left for Nikita. She stared at the handwritten name, in his own writing, addressed to her.

"What is your point?" Nikita questioned and Jurgen tilted his head to the side and looked around. He wished Nikita had the faith in Michael and visa versa. It was so hard to work with trying to help the other and to protect both of them. The faith was a difficult thing to master and had it been mastered, Jurgen's work would be much more.

"He wrote you... that says a lot." Jurgen responded and Nikita shook her head carelessly from side to side, until she pulled her hands up and braced her neck. She could feel the weight of each arm, she felt like she was carrying weighted bags on each arm. The pain shook her body to the core and Nikita struggled to keep her eyes opened.

What if this was a dream?

What if she was drugged?

What if there was no ghost?

"NIKITA!" Jurgen hollered and Nikita looked down at the letter and to the words that Michael had left. Some would look at the words and knew that it was extremely bland and without emotion. Yet, the letter itself had some emotional content. He had left it for Nikita to stop her from worrying.

"Does Section One know who has him?" Nikita questioned as she struggled again with her eyes. She tumbled to the side, losing strength.

"Nikita... keep your eyes open...."

"It hurts..." Nikita said with her mouth parted, but her eyes closing.

"I need you to work with me, Nikita...."

"Please... just a few more hours of sleep..." Nikita begged out as her eyes briefly looked up at the ghost and then closed once more. Jurgen moved around the room, looking at the stereo and turning it on. He looked around and turned on the heat, trying to do anything to wake Nikita up.

"Walter will be here soon to give you pain medication.... But Nikita.. I need you to stay awake..."

"Sleep..." Nikita battled with tired words and Jurgen could see that he was losing. He touched her but saw that she was no longer scared of him and his presence.

"Nikita..."

"Meow..."

"Baker... Baker... Bake me a cake...."

"Just a few hours.... To stop the pain...." Nikita moaned out as she settled back down on the mattress that graced the floor. There was no blanket to curl up on; she just stopped her movement where her body was at that time.

"NIKITA!!! Michael needs you!"

"Come on, Nikita... Be strong..."

"Michael would understand..." Nikita softly stated in a heavy sleep. Jurgen blinked his eyes as the lights started to flicker, but nothing woke Nikita's slumber again.

Nikita had spoken the truth...... Michael would have wanted Nikita to rest now.

*

Walter hurried down the hallway with the additional intelligence that he had gathered. There wasn't much to be found in Michael's car, just his fingerprints, and nothing else. There wasn't a hair sample that wasn't Michael's or anything else that directly linked to Michael. Walter rushed into Madeline's office and saw her pointing at Birkoff.

"Do you think this is tied to the ghost?" Madeline questioned and Birkoff sighed harshly and looked around. He knew that the proof he needed was going to be hard and he knew that he was wasting time now as he found with Madeline now going on for the thirteen minute.

"Why else would Michael's cameras be going off and on in his apartment? They go off for odd periods of time, just as Nikita seems to be stirring and when they come back on... Nikita is asleep again." Birkoff insisted and Madeline rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Birkoff... I know we took you at a young age... and maybe your mother didn't teach you this.. THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOSTS... and this one... sounds like it would have to be an old operative to know what was going on so well to cause interference in the cameras." Madeline said defensively as she turned away from Birkoff. Birkoff looked over his shoulder at Walter as the young man tried to swallow.

"Madeline... there are phenomena in which the ghost's energy infers with the electrical equipment." Birkoff challenged and Walter looked at Madeline and swallowed. He knew a bad situation was going on. He didn't understand what all the talk about ghosts were about, but definitely felt that his feelings and opinions should be heard.

"If these are Section One ghosts... can't we... no.. shouldn't we, believe that they are here for a reason..." Walter questioned as he looked at Madeline. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the older man and she slammed her hands down on the desk with closed fists.

"Next you are going to be telling me that the ghost is Jurgen.. ENOUGH! NO MORE GHOST TALK!" Madeline shouted out, and Walter dropped his head along with Birkoff, knowing when to battle with Madeline and when not to battle with her.

"Madeline... What about Nikita?" Walter inquired softly after a long pause. Madeline blinked her eyes and rubbed her hands together deep in thought. Madeline slowly closed her eyes and turned around to the side and then back to Walter and Birkoff.

"I can't bring her back here... We still have Josh on the loose." Madeline stated firmly as she sat down in her chair and looked at the worried and drawn faces on Walter and Birkoff. She then rubbed her fingers across the surface of her desk.

"Does Josh have Michael or does someone else?" Birkoff challenged Madeline to exercise her brain and her analyzing prowess. Walter looked to Madeline and pressed his panel to her desk and cracked his fingers loudly.

"There was nothing on the car that indicated that no one but Michael had touched the car." Walter explained without looking at Birkoff. He tried not allow his emotions overflow, but now he was worried about everyone, Nikita.... Michael... Nikita.... Michael...

"Walter.... Walter?" Madeline called out, seeing that his mind had wondered off with worry. Walter blinked his eyes and turned to look at Madeline.

"Yes?" Walter questioned and Madeline stood up and grabbed his sturdy hand. She saw that the older man was concerned and that he probably had a billion reasons to be distraught and worries. Madeline knew that she didn't want to have the task of telling Nikita, after the ordeal that she had been through, that her protector had suddenly been snatched during and extremely routine extraction.

"You were to go give Nikita her medicine..." Madeline said and Walter nodded his head in the affirmative as he looked around the room. He lifted his hand to his chin and frowned.

"I can't tell her, Madeline..." Walter said and Madeline looked to Birkoff and swallowed.

"Were there any other operatives that might have been working with Josh?" Madeline inquired and Birkoff started to immediately indicate in the negative as he blinked his eyes as Walter.

"No... that mission there were only four other operatives working with Nikita and Jurgen. Josh might have found another person." Birkoff stated without a tremble in his speech. It only indicated that the young man was sure in his words and in his assessment. Walter turned around in a circle and sought out a chair to sit in as his body trembled.

Walter's mind was everywhere. Back to the conversation that Michael had with him about the ghost formerly known as Jurgen. Walter was wondering what happened to the ghost if it was trying to protect Nikita. He was wondering how he was going to keep Nikita calm down. Michael had mentioned that Nikita knew some about the ghost. What if Nikita started to blame ghost? Did Walter have to tell her who the ghost was?

"Who do we look at next for enemies? Do we look at Nikita's enemies, Michael's enemies.... Enemies of them both?" Birkoff questioned and Walter snapped his head up and clapped his hands together.

"Neither.... This is still about Jurgen.... Look at enemies that would have worked with Michael and Jurgen. That is your key." Walter announced and Madeline arched an eyebrow as she studied Walter's sudden awareness of what was going on. Plus, his words sounded to firm to just pop out of no where.

"Why do you think that, Walter?" Madeline firmly questioned, in a tone that told Walter that he had to think of a reason to give to Madeline and to do it quickly. He rubbed his chin again, feeling that his beard was growing. Talk about paranormal, Walter's facial hair would also grow faster when he was under stress.

"Well... the people who were after Nikita... were because of Jurgen... Now if Josh took Michael... it is likely that he worked with someone who hates Michael and Jurgen. Jurgen is the tying bond.... Not Michael's quasi-relationship with Nikita." Walter explained quickly and then blinked. He wasn't sure he would have understood his own words if they were repeated back to him. Birkoff looked to Madeline with his own raised eyebrows, indicating that it was at least a good starting point.

"Point taken. Birkoff..." Madeline said as she waved her hand and Birkoff looked around and tapped Walter's shoulder.

"Do you know how many enemies that Michael and Jurgen made together just inside of Section One alone.... If I have to expand outside of Section, it might be one quarter of the entire underground world!" Birkoff exclaimed and Madeline looked to the door and watched it open, indicating to Birkoff less chatter and more work. She waited for the younger man to leave before she rounded the desk and looked at Walter.

"I think you and Michael have been talking." Madeline said as she angled her head to the side and studied Walter's older eyes. There was something there that was being clouded by the need to help Nikita.

"I talk to all the operatives, Madeline." Walter stated coolly and she shook her head. Walter blinked his eyes and knew that no more quick comebacks were going to be needed with her. Madeline might just accepted what was going on.

"I want you to go to Nikita... Don't tell her." Madeline said and Walter chuckled.

"Do you think Nikita won't suspect?" Walter questioned and Madeline looked around in the office. She blinked her tired and dried eyes. She wanted to go to bed and now she had to deal with a missing Michael. She looked to her computer and saw that the doctors, half of them were still refusing to go back inside of Section One.

"At this rate... with all this supernatural mumbo-jumbo that is going on.... Nikita is going to know!" Madeline said as she stormed out of her office. It was time that she went and taught a basic lesson to the medical doctors that their parents should have taught them, and at least they should have learned in medical school.

There were no such things as ghosts.

*

"Nikita.... I don't want to scare you..." Jurgen softly said as he floated above Nikita's body. At the moment, he didn't know what was going on. Nikita might have passed out once again because of the injuries, which made it critical that she got medical care. She may have passed out because she saw him. He needed to wake Nikita up and continue on with what needed to be done.

"Michael is in trouble, Nikita..." Jurgen softly whispered and the words started the process of Nikita flickering her eyes once again. It was a tried and true way to get to Nikita. Jurgen didn't want to do it, but he needed Nikita to be alert, to at least open her eyes and to communicate with him.

"Nikita.. Wake up!" Michael's voice flooded the room and Nikita's body snapped up to an erect position without hesitation. Her eyes weren't even fully open and Jurgen looked at her. She searched the room with tears rolling down her face.

"You are a ghost... this isn't good, is it?" Nikita questioned and Jurgen shook his ghostly head. Nikita started to pull her arms protectively around herself and showed signs of being cold. Jurgen looked around and sighed.

"Michael is in trouble.... I need you to help him." Jurgen announced and Nikita's body started to falter.

"You? Need me? YOU ARE THE GHOST!" Nikita screamed and Jurgen discontinued looking at Nikita. He looked around the room and sat down on the mattress with Nikita Indian style.

"I can't do anything.. I can scare you.. and I can scare all of Section... But that isn't going to find Michael..." Jurgen said and Nikita rubbed at her hand and she noticed more swelling in her arm where her hairline fracture was. The world was spinning yet again and Nikita knew that the pain medication was well overdue and she was hanging onto that fact, that someone had to come to see her like Michael promised in the note.

"Go ask someone else... YOU HURT ME ENOUGH!" Nikita shouted out as the tears cascaded down her cheeks and spat at Jurgen with each hateful word. He tried to reach for Nikita, but his hands went right through Nikita. He had been doing too much human contact and losing some haunting abilities at the time.

"I do this because your love for Michael.. It would mean absolutely nothing if Walter or Birkoff or some other Jane, Dick, or Harry went and found Michael." Jurgen said as he pulled his glasses off and stared at Nikita with eyes that she had spent too long trying to forget.

"You are ghost... You should scare me... NOT HURT ME! NOT LIKE THIS!" Nikita shouted out as she started to slip down. Jurgen floated back to a standing position, seeing how he was losing Nikita again.

"Nikita... don't block me out!" Jurgen hollered as he started to panic. He didn't need to be vanished by Nikita like Michael had. It had been late to see this current twist of fate, but Jurgen had work to do. This wasn't a real enemy of Michael's that had teamed up with a real enemy of Nikita. None of this would be happening had it not been for him.

"Leave.... Me..." Nikita cried out and Jurgen shuddered to draw in a breath. He waved his hand and the curtains in the room started to rise and the ceiling seemed to be dropping.

"NO! STOP THIS!" Nikita sobbed out as she tried to move again but suddenly she felt like she was being tied down to the mattress. She looked and found jump ropes around her wrists and then her ankles.

"Listen to me, Nikita.... It is an old enemy..." Jurgen said and Nikita tossed and threw her head from side to side.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS! I DON'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS!" Nikita shrilled out loudly and Jurgen lifted his head and looked as the black balloons filled the room. Nikita gasped as the image from her dreams during her time off after Jurgen exploded in the building.

"This is where you saw me... in a room.. with a mattress on the floor... and you saw black balloons.... This is the place you dreamed of over a year ago Nikita... You have the power... believe in it!" Jurgen demanded and he watched her face pale passed the color of chalk, to something with the absence of color.

"HELP ME! STOP!" Nikita cried out as the tears ran down her cheeks, causing the only color on her face. Jurgen looked at Nikita and swallowed.

"You have to look for the mission with the paperclip." Jurgen said and Nikita wheezed air into her body and he knew that he was pushing her tired and weary body.

"LEAVE ME JURGEN! I DON'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS!" Nikita shouted, this time louder and Jurgen swallowed and blew open the window that wasn't meant to be opened.

"The mission with the paperclip!" Jurgen stated angrily back at Nikita, wanting her to repeat it back before it was too late.

"YOU'RE NOT A GHOST JURGEN! I DON'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS! HELP ME!!! HELP ME!!" Nikita proclaimed in her hoarse voice that also sounded like a dying plead of sorts.

Walter had just stepped out of his car when he heard the words and Nikita's hysterical crying. He turned and hurried up the stairs, fearing the worse, not sure what he was going to walk into. He looked around and pounded on the apartment door. "Sugar? Nikita?"

"What do you believe in?" Jurgen challenged Nikita as he heard the knocking on the door. He knew that Walter wasn't far off from busting the door open and claiming the screaming Nikita into his arms.

"I believe in Michael! I BELIEVE IN MICHAEL! NOT GHOSTS!" Nikita shouted as her head flopped backwards and Jurgen say the door budging at Walter's pounds. He floated away and looked down once more at Nikita, wishing he could have spared her tears.

"SUGAR!" Walter bellowed as he entered the apartment. He saw the hospital bed that Madeline wanted Nikita to be on was empty and saw easily that no one had slept there. He moved down the hallway and saw Michael's master bedroom empty, but definitely someone had slept there. He continued down the hallway, scared of why it was so quiet suddenly.

"NIKITA!" Walter shouted as he saw her sprawled out on the mattress. She opened her eyes and he saw the evidence of the tears of fear and fright on them. He rubbed at her cheeks and looked at her body.

"Is he gone?" Nikita questioned with a broken sob. Walter looked around and nodded his head as Nikita reached for his chest. Walter allowed Nikita to press herself against his broad chest while she cried. He thought that the drugs would be important right now, that Nikita's body must be in a state of constant pain. Yet, Walter couldn't move as he sunk to the mattress.

"What did you see, Sugar? You can tell me." Walter said and he felt the miniscule shakes of her head, indicating that she didn't want to speak about it. Walter carefully kissed the top of her head, knowing that her injuries seemed to be everywhere. He felt her pain and didn't want to add to it.

"It would be easy to tell me, sugar... I'm scared out of my wits for you." Walter added and Nikita tried to tilt her head back and moaned in pain. Walter rubbed his hands to her neck and supported it. She seemed to relax a bit, knowing that she didn't need to support all of her body.

"Where is your neck brace, Sugar?" Walter questioned and he looked into her eyes and saw that she didn't even know what Walter was speaking about. Walter would have started to plan on how to hit Michael upside the head for this one.

"Come on... let me settle you down and I'll get you all fixed up, sugar..." Walter said softly and Nikita moaned, now in the mercy of Walter's hands.

"Jurgen is dead, right?" Nikita questioned and Walter settled Nikita's body onto the bed. He rubbed her cheek and she closed her eyes and swore lightly.

"What is happening?" Nikita brokenly questioned as it sounded like she was choking on her tears. Walter looked around and rubbed her hands.

"Let me get you that pain medication..." Walter whispered as he rubbed his hands over Nikita's eyes. He was grateful to see Nikita keeping them closed. Now he had to go find everything that Nikita should have had to start with.

Then he would go ghost hunting

*

"Are you feeling any better now?" Walter questioned as he moved back into the room after he had disposed of the needle that he had used for Nikita's medicine. She slightly nodded her head, although it was now securely in the neck brace, where it should have been the entire time. Walter looked at Nikita's shining eyes and knew that she was tormented by a lot of things of late.

"Why don't you just tell me, sugar?" Walter approached the subject again. She turned her body to the side, trying to avoid Walter's eyes and his stare. Nikita gasped and closed her eyes, wishing she could just jump away from Walter, to run away, to forget what happened.

"Michael has been taken..." Nikita softly moaned and Walter opened his mouth and reached for Nikita's hands. He felt the trembling in them as he tried to squeeze support into them, but Walter couldn't even hide his own shocked and confused state.

"Who told you that? We are keeping that under wraps." Walter said as he moved one hand to Nikita's wet cheek. She fluttered her eyes and then stared off way past Walter's shoulders to some unknown spot.

"He did..." Nikita managed to moan out as she continued to keep her tears in check. Walter looked over his shoulder, not sure if there was a clue back there to what Nikita was speaking about. There was nothing but an empty room and Walter angled his head to the side to look at Nikita's puffy eyes.

"He.. As in the ghost?" Walter questioned and Nikita blinked her eyes and Walter paused. Her hands squeezed Walter and he sighed loudly.

"Who is the ghost, Nikita?" Walter inquired, but was immediately met with Nikita shaking her head. She tried to stand up, but Walter kept his focus on keeping the injured girl on the bed for at least the time being. She floundered for a bit, trying to work against Walter's goal of keeping her on the bed, but soon gave up.

"He... he told me I had to find Michael..." Nikita revealed in words that seemed to bellow from her soul like a fog horn that had no one to sing too. Walter ran his hand that was on her cheek to her trembling lips and outlined them softly.

"Who is he?" Walter requested with words that were sterner and almost like orders. He saw Nikita moving away from him, trying to balk at his request, trying to keep her mouth closed. Yet, he saw the crack that was forming, as Nikita did believe in the paranormal, and although this ghost scared the hell out of her, she still believed in it.

"I don't believe in ghosts... they can't exist..." Nikita lied with tears rolling down her face. It was the answer that Section One had told her through years of training to believe in and to take as being correct. Walter moved in the mattress and helped Nikita to lean against the wall. He slowly settled there too, taking Nikita carefully into his arms and to lean her against his body, allowing her to feel supported.

"I shouldn't tell you this... But I really believe in ghosts... Nikita.... I think that it is the way that stops the really wrong stuff from happening... That there is a reason for you to be seeing something... and why things happen..." Walter started to softly explain as he looked at Nikita. She relaxed slightly, molding more to Walter's body as he settled his body one more time into a more comfortable position.

"I saw one ghost that scared me out of my mind.... It had to be about eight years ago... When I was working on a mission in Pittsburgh. Someone was going to bomb their glass building... I think they call it PPG Place..... And I was sent in..." Walter rasped out as he looked and saw Nikita's eyes slightly closing. Sleep wasn't what Walter was wishing for, but it would be just as good.

"Well.. I was a steelworker that came in... and the foreman told me of the legend of the green man... or something like that... He was a man that worked out in a place called South Park... One night, during a terrible storm, he was killed when an electrical line hit him... It was said that he haunts the streets of that Park with his glowing green body... because so much electricity ran through his body..." Walter continued, pausing dramatically and pacing himself. He didn't want to finish the story too quickly.

"And you saw him?" Nikita's voice questioned and Walter dropped his head to see that Nikita was very much awake. He gently rubbed her arm as if he was warming it up and looked off to the wall of the spare bedroom.

"Hell yeah... that foreman took me up on some old road in that beautiful park around sunset... I didn't believe it... but then around ten.. it got really dark... and there was this glowing in the distance... and let's just say... I ran to the car so quickly that I left the foreman behind.... And sent someone else to go get him..." Walter said with a seriousness that turned into a chuckle. He saw Nikita even chuckling and nodded his head.

"But he wasn't telling you anything..." Nikita stated and Walter blinked his eyes and rubbed at her arm more.

"Yours was speaking to you, personally, Sugar?" Walter pondered as he looked at Nikita. She squeezed Walter's hand lightly and turned more on her back, so that she could look at Walter.

"Yeah.... He told me that Michael was taken... told me a clue to who has Michael... I don't know..." Nikita said as she wondered off with the track of her statement. Walter blinked his eyes and then used the hand that had been rubbing Nikita's arm to rub off the hair from her face.

"Some ghosts... are good, Nikita... And those are the ones we don't hear about.... I think Belinda is a ghost..." Walter said and Nikita shut her eyes and the tears started to form with Walter's tender admittance.

"She'd be a good ghost to see...." Nikita stated with a voice that showed Walter that Nikita was almost afraid to say who her ghost was.

"Who is yours, Nikita?" Walter questioned again, seeing and feeling that she was ready to tell. He watched the tears overflow her eyes and he rubbed them away.

"Jurgen..." Nikita said firmly and Walter felt his own blood drain from his face, shocked by the name of the one person he did not expect to hear from Nikita. Walter started to fret and even moved away from Nikita, not sure what he was going to do.

"Look, sugar... I'm only telling you this because Michael is in trouble and all that... Michael was seeing ghosts..." Walter said as he nodded his head up and down. He was being the stubborn old man that Nikita cared for and she lightly smiled.

"Don't try that, Walter... Michael doesn't believe in ghosts... Next you will be saying that Michael saw Jurgen as a ghost!" Nikita fought back and then she froze. She watched as Walter's eyes dropped to the floor and she felt her stomach drop along it his eyes. She tried to shake her head and found her neck stuck in the brace. She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, and she wanted to go back to sleep.

"Michael told me that Jurgen was his ghost... that Jurgen helped protect you... and helped Michael know what was wrong with you..." Walter said and Nikita moved to the edge of the mattress and rubbed her hands against the bare surface. Slowly she raised to look into Walter's eyes, closely.

"Then I should listen to him." Nikita stated and Walter stepped back and moved his eyes away. He didn't want to give Nikita the advice that may be incorrect. He really felt that Nikita needed to make this important decision herself and not because Walter was reporting to her what Michael had said.

"Ultimately, sugar, that is your decision." Walter finally said and Nikita moved to the wall and leaned against it. She looked at Walter and then studied the air, as if she was waiting for Jurgen to appear.

"He is a ghost.... How can he be right? Why isn't he telling me more?" Nikita cried out and Walter tried to reach for Nikita again, but this time she backed away, keeping her distance. Walter snarled as he looked around, deep in thought about what was going on.

"I don't know sugar... but you kind of have to decide if you are willing to put your faith in him.... Then you can make your decision." Walter stated and Nikita placed a hand on the neck brace, as if she was going to take it off. She pulled it down and looked at Walter.

"Can you get me a nightgown from my apartment? It is peach and has butterflies on it..." Nikita requested softly and Walter chuckled.

"Letting me go through your panty drawer?" Walter joked and Nikita barely turned up a smile. She was lost in thoughts and then snapped out of it.

"I just need it." Nikita replied without even a registering of Walter's comment. It only showed the severity of the events that were occurring.

"Why don't you use on of Michael's shirts?" Walter stated as he looked around. Nikita folded her hands and started to indicate no immediately.

"They smell like him too much." Nikita remarked and Walter sighed and threw his hands up in the air.

"If it means you are getting some rest as order... I'll go get it." Walter happily replied, glad to be of a service to Nikita. He turned and grabbed his coat and then Nikita's keys. He moved quickly away.

Nikita looked to the door and pulled off the neck brace. She looked around the room and swallowed.

"Paperclip?" Nikita questioned the air as she moved to gather what little supplies she did have and went back to Section One.

*

"Hurry.... The coast is clear, Nikita." Jurgen said as he turned around the corner and motioned for Nikita. She stepped forward and started the painful walk down the hallway, knowing the set destination was still a far way off. She had taken the neck brace off and somehow fought the waves of dizziness while driving her car back to Section One.

When push came to shove, Nikita took the pasty image of Jurgen and believed him.

"STOP! Back up!" Jurgen shouted and Nikita looked around and stepped into one of the many dark alcoves that were around Section One's hallways. She pressed her body against the wall and allowed tears to seep out of her eyes as the wall pressed against her back and neck.

She remembered walking down the street, stumbling. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this bad and that out of control of her body. Nikita almost fell into someone and she couldn't have reprimanded herself long enough or strong enough. She should have been blaming the injuries, but she didn't. She blamed herself.

"Nikita! Let's move!" Jurgen shouted out for the forth time. The ghost turned and looked at Nikita's paling face. He wondered how a white face could get any paler. Much longer and her face would look just like his. Jurgen didn't need Nikita passing out and ending back in medical on this day. There was too much that needed to be done.

"Nikita! Michael needs you to get up and move!" Jurgen bellowed in his ghostly voice and she raised her head. He frowned as he watched her jump, still showing that she wasn't fully accepting seeing him constantly and his present state of being a ghost.

"I can't do this, I can't do this..." Nikita whispered out in a gasping voice. Jurgen watched the tears glisten in the misty and filtered light that Section One had. He looked around and shook his head. He was not going to accept a failure in this.

"You have too... Do it for Michael..." Jurgen softly urged Nikita, knowing that he had to control his voice. Screaming at Nikita now was going to be counter-productive. He needed to be supportive.

"Do it for me..." Jurgen added and Nikita pushed her body away from the wall. She stepped back into the hallway and continued down the hallway. She ran a hand against the wall in a motion that showed that she was weaker than she appeared.

It wasn't that Jurgen didn't know that Nikita was hurt. He had been there through the entire thing. He just knew the ending was not going to help Nikita at all, if she didn't do this now. Section One was notorious for looking for new enemies when operatives suddenly went missing. They wouldn't be looking backwards.

"You are almost there.... Let me distract Birkoff and you can make it into Michael's office...." Jurgen said and Nikita stopped against the wall and carefully looked around the corner. She didn't fret when Jurgen's body suddenly had disappeared. In fact, she was relieved that the ghost was going to do the distraction and not herself. It was the one break she found joy in and she also found herself wondering what he would do.

Birkoff was drinking his milk as the computer screen flashed. He turned his head down and looked at the screen. It had a cow, with a party hat on it. Birkoff turned around and saw that he was strangely by himself. Had he noticed that sooner, he may have realized that Madeline was attempting to lower his stress, since the ghost happenings.

"Ferris... come over here and look at this computer screen..." Birkoff called out to the passing operative. He wanted someone else to see it too. The operative hunkered down to the computer and jumped back as he saw the cow. It was not what the operative expected and Birkoff moved the mouse, thinking that some computer-smart operative placed the screen saver on, but nothing happened.

"What..." Birkoff muttered as he looked at the computer screen. Ferris walked to the side and pointed to the screens.

"That is so cool... they are on all the computers!" Ferris laughed with that sun-bleach surfer dude laugh. Birkoff looked at him and swallowed. He didn't know where that came from.

"Moo..."

"Did you hear that?" Birkoff questioned and Ferris slowly nodded his head. Birkoff watched as three more operatives moved into the area, looking around for the sound.

"You did that!" Ferris said as he pointed to Birkoff. Birkoff raised his hands and looked over his shoulder as he felt the passing coldness.

"Moo..."

"This isn't funny! Whoever is doing this... STOP IT!" Birkoff cried out as the coldness was growing on Birkoff even more. He started to shiver and swallowed back a scream.

"Moo..."

"Who is making that noise?" Birkoff questioned and Ferris shook his head. Birkoff looked around, wondering how that noise was being produced and then transported to different speakers.

"Moo..."

"Birkoff... I think you can stop your joke now..." Ferris nervously laughed, still sounding like that washed up surfer.

"I am not making that noise! I had nothing to do with this!" Birkoff declared with a raised voice that echoed in the hallway. It was only going to be echoed minutes later.

"Moo..."

"Well if you aren't doing it.. STOP IT!" Ferris screamed out in response. Birkoff looked around and pounded his hands on the computer, still seeing the cow there. Now it was sticking its tongue out at Birkoff.

"If I knew how it was being done, I would!" Birkoff clamored as he tried to move away from the computer. He really wanted to pull the plug, but that wasn't necessary yet.

"Moo..."

The operatives started to point at Birkoff and he looked slightly to the side. His mouth dropped as the glass of milk that he had been drinking was being lifted off of his desk.

"Moo..."

Nikita looked at the sight and swallowed herself. If she didn't know it was Jurgen being a jokester, she would have been afraid too. She slowly walked down the hallway, with no need to tip toe. All the operatives were glued to the events of watching the glass float up in the air.

Nikita opened the door and then shut the door. She didn't turn on the lights, as it would only show that someone was in the office of a man who was currently captured by someone. She looked around and then closed the blinds. It created more darkness, but it was necessary and her eyes would adjust soon enough to work.

Nikita moved to the chair and carefully sat down, finding relief in the movement. She relaxed and shut her eyes as she tried to pull herself together. She had heard that there was a note left in his car. She wondered if she would be able to access that material without being caught.

"Moo..."

Birkoff pushed his chair back as his voice had become paralyzed. He turned and stared at the glass of milk as it slowly started to tilt backwards. There was more movement in the hallway.

"What is going on here... Birk..." Operations said and then stopped as he saw the milk pour out some... and then disappear.

"Moo..."

"Stop this game, Birkoff!" Operations bellowed and Birkoff shook his head back and forth as he rummaged his hands from side to side. The young man was frightened and so was the rest of the operatives standing there. Operations was looking at the scene and started to get cold. He didn't like this.

Birkoff looked around as the empty glass of milk dropped to the ground, leaving shards of glass, but no milk substance anywhere. He turned his head and found the cow on the computer screens were gone.

"NO! NO! NO!" Birkoff screamed as he jumped back even further, the first operative able to speak verbally.

"MADELINE!" Birkoff cried out and started to run down the hallway. Operations backed up some as he noticed all the operatives that had gathered staring at one another, wondering what they had seen.

"I see you can get into his computer..." Jurgen said as he looked over Nikita's shoulder. She looked up and lightly smiled. She heard Birkoff running down the hallway shouting for Madeline. She was sure that Birkoff was going to get reprimanded for that move, but Jurgen did scare the boy out of his wits. Nikita was surprised that he didn't pee his pants.

"Nikita... look for the paperclip." Jurgen said and disappeared from behind her. She looked to her shoulder and sighed. She had tried to search of Michael's files for that word. There was no reference to it in the computer and what little bit of paper files there were in Michael's office, none of them had a paperclip on them. Nikita was lost on Jurgen's clue.

So she started to scan the individual files with Michael being involved with Jurgen. Page by page she went through, but saw nothing unusually. There were a lot of enemies that both men made and now Nikita leaned back and blinked tears away. She was hurting so badly. She slightly closed her eyes.

Nikita didn't think she would go to sleep for an hour.

*

"Where is that ghost when you need him?" was the first thoughts to Michael's mind as he assessed where he was without opening his eyes. He felt the pain in his head, but knew that it was no where like the pain that Nikita had been dealing with. His second thoughts were of Nikita and hoping that someone would be good enough and not involve her in this. Did he think it was possible?

No.

Knowing Nikita, she found out first. Or worse, Michael thought, the ghost told her first.

It wasn't for a long time before Michael opened his eyes to look at the dark details of where he was being held. In fact, there were not a lot of visual details to be told. He looked at the pipes over his head to which his arms were strung up too. They were strong and Michael didn't feel that he would be breaking them with his body weight alone.

The walls were similar to Section One's walls too. Filled with pipes containing information to other sources of information and things. This place was much more dirty, filled with grim and Michael swallowed. The last time he really saw dirt was the dirt that had been in Nikita's hair.

He had to wonder about her more. She was not doing well when he was pulled in on this mission. The pain medication was purposively strong in order to stop the stubborn girl. It would be difficult to control her once she started to fight taking the pain medication. He rolled his head around and saw the metal straps that were holding his feet to the ground.

Some little terrorist groups aren't well acknowledged with Section One training and such. Even Red Cell and Glass Curtain had made some major mistakes with Section One personnel in the past. The person who made sure that Michael's feet were secured was well trained and Michael had a feeling who it was.

So far there was no evidence of drugs, which meant that the entire operation was run on a short budget, maybe enough for weapons and nothing else. Michael didn't put it past that these could be some Section One operatives trying to buy their freedom by taking Michael as their security. It had happened once before, right before Nikita was brought into Section One. Michael was extremely cocky then, and laughed into their faces. They weren't a wise bunch of operatives; all of them lower than a level two operative. Michael was able to break free and kill all six of them within two hours of waking up.

Michael was not surprised when the door opened and light poured in from the hallway. It was hastily closed and Michael knew the figure before it arrived in front of his face. Michael tilted his head to the side, still commanding a respect from his bound and tortured stance.

"You don't think you are going to get away with this, Josh, do you?" Michael questioned with a voice that belittled the man greatly. He struck out as Michael's chest, but Michael didn't even groan. Michael smirked softly and cursed himself for it, as it only earned him another smack, but that one also didn't hurt.

"Revenge for the sins are going to be exacted." Josh said with a pompous voice that only caused Michael to straighten his head.

"You found religion or you found someone who is playing you like a puppet.... What is it, Josh?" Michael questioned, still holding that voice of confidence and strength. He could see that Josh was afraid of him and he must have been threatened by the one that was controlling this adventure. Michael wasn't worried about Josh, he was small potatoes. Who was important now was the person behind the entire scheme and plans.

"I am working with someone... Someone you helped hurt..." Josh spat out as he looked at Michael. He moved over and splashed some water on Michael. Michael blinked his eyes.

"So you hurt Nikita to drop my defenses?" Michael questioned and Josh laughed. Michael already knew the answers, but it didn't matter. Josh didn't know that Michael knew. Some thought that Michael was just Operations' muscle man. Rarely did an operative know Michael's own knowledge and skill. Those that did, were Michael's inner circle: Nikita, Walter and Birkoff... the people that Michael would trust with his life.

"No.... we used hurting Nikita... and my other friends from that Queberick mission to send Section One on a goose chase... My crystal was removed long ago..." Josh said with an evil laugh. Michael nodded his head and pressed his lips together.

"And now the real plan.. Torturing me.... For something I did with Jurgen, correct?" Michael questioned and Josh smiled.

"You may have some brains.... Maybe not later.. But now you do." Josh said as he turned and left. Michael watched the light fade as he closed the door and left. He closed his eyes briefly, bring his breathing back to a controlled state, not wanting to waste energy that wasn't needed to be wasted.

He started to think back to missions he had with Jurgen. It was almost too difficult as it predated events with Nikita. In ways, his life didn't matter before Nikita and most of the details of missions with Section One before that time were foggy at best. Plus, there were a lot of people in Section One that hated Jurgen and therefore hated his student, Michael.

One person.

Partner.

Josh had revealed more to Michael than he even knew. The way the room felt only told Michael that it was probably an abandoned warehouse or something. It was be the second place that Section One would look after checking the normal terrorist groups and such. There were always problems with splinter groups of known terrorists groups trying to take control of the huge terrorist group by proving themselves by taking someone from Section One.

They never succeeded.

Section One had a great resource and a great search and rescue. Yet, Michael trembled. If he didn't know better, he would have said it was his imagination. He didn't know if Jurgen was there or if he had gone, since Nikita was now fine and safe. But, that shiver, told Michael something and it helped him narrow things in his mind.

One way for Josh and is silent partner to be so secure is if the partner still appeared to be working with Section One, hand in hand. If that was so, that person could know where they were looking for Michael and cause diversions. Even better, if that person was in the specialty group that ran retrieval in special cases like this.

There were a lot of people in that division of Section One that hated Michael. He closed his eyes and then lifted his head. He really didn't care what happened here as long as Nikita was safe. What he wanted most of all was that Nikita stayed out of that mess.

He thought that the ghost of Jurgen was for his eyes only. He thought that he was the only one who would see the physical outline of the ghost. Maybe Jurgen had caused some disturbances, but Michael had seen his face and he had seen Jurgen pulling off the glasses. Michael had seen those eyes and that stare looking back at him. He heard his voice and he had felt the man touching him. Michael believed it would be the only one.

Michael never thought that Jurgen was, in the end, concerned about Michael's life too.

*

There was not a good feeling in Walter as he waited for the doors to Section One to open. He felt a panic searing through his body, knowing that Madeline was going to hold him personally responsible for everything that was going on with Nikita. No one was going to be blamed for Nikita walking out of Michael's like the trained Section One operative she was but himself. It wasn't that Walter needed Madeline to yell at him for it either, he was blaming himself to living hell for falling for Nikita's lies and deceptions. He should have been more careful.

He had arrived at Nikita's apartment and found it eerily fine. It only helped Walter to believe that Josh was not readily seeking Nikita. If he were an operative, searching another operative, Walter would have been in that apartment, looking for any clue of where she had gone. It was too clean and Walter looked around it slowly. It was so uniquely Nikita, but then the nightgown, that Nikita sought out, didn't exist. In fact, Nikita didn't own any nightgowns. There were a few large t-shirts that Walter couldn't identify as being truly Nikita's or 'borrowed' from Michael. He grabbed one of them and took off for Michael's apartment.

Walter hadn't been told that Michael took Nikita to his apartment in her car. Walter didn't even notice the car, so when he walked into the apartment and found it empty, he almost feared that Nikita had been taken too. That was until he found the wash cloth, towel, and neck brace together. Then all the pieces fell together and Walter knew that Nikita was seeking knowledge on how to get her Michael back home.

"Birkoff... have you seen Nikita?" Walter questioned as he walked past a trembling Birkoff. Birkoff looked around and pointed down a hallway.

"You want to go that way..... Don't go by com..." Birkoff said and Walter raised an eyebrow at the stuttering words of Birkoff that indicated a strong fear in the young man's body.

"Birkoff... I asked about Nikita... What's going on?" Walter asked as he leaned closer into Birkoff. Walter looked down and saw Birkoff twisting his hands tightly with a cord nervous was an understatement.

"Nikita's not here.... But the ghost..." Birkoff said and Walter blinked his eyes.

"What ghost?" Walter questioned and Birkoff attempted to roll his eyes and only succeeded in shaking his head back and forth. Birkoff perfectly did not want to remember what he saw and what he heard. Had Madeline not caught him, he would have been half way around the world at this point.

"He is back..... He drank my milk..." Birkoff said and Walter slowly nodded his head, still lost to what happened. He tried to walk down towards com, but Birkoff pulled on him, making grunts and moans. Birkoff pointed in the other direction and Walter did as he was directed.

Madeline was pacing in the hallway that Walter walked down. In a white room there where three operatives all looking to be in the same state as Birkoff and waiting for Madeline's assistance. Walter chewed on his bottom lip, knowing that bringing up Nikita's disappearance now was only going to further the problems that Madeline was currently having.

"Ghost problems?" Walter questioned as he raised his eyebrows to look at Madeline. Walter stepped back as he could tell that Madeline was not amused by his comments. He rubbed his hands together and rubbed his chin with them.

"This time... Even Operations is claiming to have seen it." Madeline announced and Walter was taken back by the words. That was a major person to be claiming to have seen the paranormal activity. To Walter, he was sure that it was Jurgen, making sure that Nikita got access to the computers and places that she needed to be. Walter was only concerned with her health, as it was not very well and she could get injured if she tried to access certain areas of Section One without the proper help.

"Well.... I might need Birkoff in com soon." Walter stated and Madeline turned her head and looked at Walter with eyes that would have melted ice in less than a second.

Talk about bad timing.

"I went to go retrieve a nightgown from Nikita's apartment that she requested... and when I got back to Michael's..." Walter said and turned his head and then turned his body. He heard the stomping of Madeline's foot, the rare move of anger from Madeline, especially in the very public hallway.

"Let me guess... she was gone!" Madeline huffed out as she stepped forward and leaned on the glass that allowed her to look at the operatives that she was observing. Walter dropped back and turned his back on the glass and looked at Madeline.

"I know you declared no more ghost talk, Madeline.... But Nikita..."

"Nikita saw one?"

"She was screaming bloody murder when I got to Michael's apartment."

"She does that with nightmares, Walter. She probably was seeing that accident again." Madeline explained away and Walter dropped his head. He could have dropped the subject there, but that wasn't getting any help in finding Nikita and if he found Nikita, then he could help find Michael.

"No Madeline..."

"I'm sure it was a nightmare... She has had violent ones in the past..."

"Madeline, this was different..."

"How do you know, Walter? You haven't had the chance to observe her nightmares. How did you become an expert?"

"I know Nikita, Madeline. Don't try to deny it."

"I think you know her but you don't know psychology."

"You once said that I knew Nikita almost as well as Michael did... and that you were still lost most of the time, Madeline."

"She knew." Walter avowed quickly with a voice that stop Madeline's mind in a freeze frame. She stared at Walter and wetted her lips with the tip of her mouth, finding a sudden dryness that wasn't there before. She didn't understand why it was more frightening to hear that Nikita knew that Michael had been captured over having several operatives, including Operations, seeing a floating glass of milk and the sound of mooing.

"Knew what?" Madeline interrogated Walter and he only turned his eyes to look at Madeline. Walter was not one to waste words, but saw that even though Madeline all ready knew what he meant by the statement, that she needed to hear the words.

"She knew that Michael was taken." Walter enounced and Madeline closed her eyes and delicately budged her head from side to side, showing her utter disgust of the situation that she was finding herself in.

"She wasn't doing good medically... I found her without her neck brace on and she was in a lot of pain." Walter stated and Madeline sighed heavily, but it did nothing to relieve her stress. She rolled her shoulder and turned to face Walter once again.

"I want you to find her... Have you tried Michael's office?" Madeline suggested and Walter shook his head no as one of the operatives collapsed down sobbing. Walter looked in and it was not as bad as what he saw Nikita going through.

"She knows who the ghost is." Madeline averred when Walter turned away and tried to leave. Walter turned back, but did not move back. It wasn't that distance was going to stop Madeline from going where her mind had already jumped.

"You must tell me, Walter..." Madeline demanded and Walter averted his eyes, as he didn't even have the strength to shake his head. He looked around and then looked to the room, the operative still crying.

"You have enough problems, Madeline.... If Nikita knows the identity of the ghost... She hasn't told me." Walter lied effectively and Madeline opened the door to walk to the operative that didn't even raise their head. She looked back through the glass and watched Walter look on for a few more moments before he turned to leave.

The list in Madeline's mind started to run in her mind. There were lots of people that she could think would try to haunt Nikita and Michael. The two had made a lot of enemies and they had seen a lot of people die because of their effective and sometimes not as effective work. Madeline's mind didn't start in the right area; she was far from where she should have been.

She hadn't linked the ghost to Nikita's injuries and Michael's disappearance.

If it weren't for the ghost, it would have been a grave mistake.

*

The office was black and Walter stopped. He heard Birkoff's screams from down the hallway, shouting at Walter to leave the area, that it was dangerous. Walter couldn't be stopped though as he was faced with finding Nikita and he had to find her before she did more damage herself.

Walter opened the door and saw Nikita craning her neck around and then holding it with her hand. Walter shut the door lightly and cleared his throat. Nikita turned her head towards him as he moved closer.

"That's what the neck brace is for." Walter said and Nikita pulled her hands abruptly away from her neck and waved them at Walter. She instantly turned her attention back to the computer screen and Walter frowned, not liking her behavior one bit.

"Nikita... Let Section One find, Michael..." Walter said and Nikita lifted her eyes once more. She stared at Walter and then pounded her hands into the keyboard, frustrated that she hadn't been able to find anything yet.

"Jurgen told me that I have to find him." Nikita finally firmly stated. The words were so heavy in the room. It was like Nikita had no knowledge what Jurgen done to Birkoff. To Nikita, he was still the friendly ghost, trying to protect everyone.

"Didn't you hear Birkoff? Can't you still here him? Jurgen is no good, Nikita!" Walter cried out harshly. He stopped as Nikita pushed back from the desk and crooked her head to the side to study Walter.

"You said that he was part of the five percent club, Walter.... How can he be bad?" Nikita rebutted and Walter dropped his eyes. His world was spinning. He was sure that Nikita's world was spinning faster. Walter didn't know what to think.

"Look, Sugar... If I believe you... and your ghost... That means Michael is going to be might angry at me for not taking care of you...."

"Walter..."

"Let me finish, girl!" Walter shouted out with anger on his voice. "If you tell me what Jurgen told you... I can slip it to Madeline and let them find Michael..."

"Walter.... It isn't that simple."

"It should be, Sugar.... It damn well should be! Why does he need you?" Walter unleashed and Nikita did not waver in her stare. She only blinked those clear blue eyes three times before passing the statement away.

"You should be asking who needs me, Walter. If you think I am doing this because of Jurgen, then you are wrong."

"I am?"

"I'm doing this for Michael. Who else matters to me that much, Walter?" Nikita posed and Walter leaned back and tossed his hands into his gray hair. Walter rubbed at it as he scowled; knowing that Nikita's point was more than valid. It was the truth.

"But I can't find the old missions on here..." Nikita said slowly as she pointed to the computer. Walter nodded his head and looked to the door. There was commotion of Madeline in the hallway. It didn't take much to figure out that she was trying to get Birkoff and the rest of the operatives to go back to work. It was going to be a difficult task for Madeline.

"That's right... His computer would be filled with old missions and all that fun stuff... You need to access his files on Level Eleven." Walter said informatively and Nikita stood straight up. Walter shook his head as he went to Nikita's side and grabbed her elbow.

"You can't go down there!" Walter exclaimed and Nikita's eyes plastered themselves on Walter. The older man could only roll his eyes, as he knew the argument that was going to proceed now that Nikita got an idea in her head.

"Yes I can."

"It's secure, Sugar... You don't have clearance."

"Do you think that is going to stop me. Surely you are joking?" Nikita said as she stepped away from the desk and pushed at Walter. He stepped back three steps, still trying to stop Nikita's progression.

"There is no way that they won't notice you down there!" Walter protested and Nikita looked around and smiled at the corner.

"Oh... I think that there is a way...." Nikita said with her eyes narrowing. Walter looked around, feeling a chill in the room.

"You can't use old tricks, Nikita....." Walter warned, knowing that Nikita did have even knowledge due to the Adriana mission. Nikita though, smiled and it told a story of another kind.

"Oh... no, Sugar... That isn't a good idea either..." Walter cried out and Nikita looked to the side and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know what you are speaking about, Walter." Nikita innocently played off. He narrowed his eyes and Nikita looked to the corner again.

"Come on... Don't use the ghost again!" Walter shouted out and Nikita's soft smile dropped.

"I want Michael back... NO... I need Michael back. The ghost is fair play... And he does what he wants too." Nikita said and Walter leaned his head back. It did not surprise him as the lights went out and the screams echoed in the hallways.

"And how do we use the elevators?" Walter questioned and Nikita opened the door to find the operatives scattering around. She slowly moved down the hallway. She looked to be shaky on her feet and Walter was right behind her. She pressed the pad and the elevator was ready and waiting.

The lights were flickering in the hallways. There were so many noises happening that Nikita and Walter couldn't have identified them all.

"Good, Nikita.... I love playing this game." Jurgen said as he settled in the elevator and pressed the button. Walter didn't seen Jurgen, but he watched as the button was depressed and let go.

"How long do you plan on allowing them run like crazed children?" Nikita questioned and Jurgen laughed.

"Until Madeline threatens to drug all of them." Jurgen said with a smile, waiting as the elevator dropped. Nikita turned her head and looked at Walter and she smiled shyly.

"I guess you've never seen a person talk to a ghost before...." Nikita stated and Walter looked to Nikita and then the door. He knew his job, make sure that the ghost doesn't burn Nikita.

*

Nikita pressed her fingers down on the keyboard and looked at the computer. Walter was pacing in the hallway. Nikita knew that Jurgen went back upstairs, probably to haunt Operations or Madeline, but Walter didn't know that.

"Did you find it yet?" Walter questioned and Nikita rolled her eyes and blinked at the screen. She wished she could find it that easily.

"Walter... I don't know what the paperclip is even referring too!" Nikita whined out in an attempt to explain what was going on. Walter didn't look amused and she could tell that the emotion that was plaguing Walter's mind was fear. She didn't blame him. If she did stop and think about it, she would be afraid of what she was doing, but other forces were helping her. It was so odd for Nikita, she never wanted to think this way, but she was.

"Is it a password?"

"No. I tried that." Nikita spat out and Walter moved to the computer and looked at the computer screen.

"Did you limit it to Michael and Jurgen missions?" Walter questioned and Nikita rolled her eyes to the side to stare at him in frustration. He knew that she would have done that straight off. Walter stared at Nikita's face as she pounded her fingers into the computer screen.

"So.. What does it refer too?" Walter asked and Nikita stepped back from the computer screen and turned to Walter. She placed her hands onto Walter's shoulders and started to press.

"If I knew, I would probably have a location on Michael, wouldn't I?" Nikita responded and Walter grounded his teeth together, to stop himself from yelling at Nikita.

"I thought your ghost friend would just tell you!" Walter shouted out and Nikita stared to cry.

"Do you think he is a friend?"

"I think he could be more helpful."

"He scares me Walter... and the only thing I can do is find Michael."

"You could tell Madeline, Sugar. It wouldn't hurt you any."

"It could make him mad... As long as he is about... I know that Michael is alive!" Nikita shouted out as she turned her back on Walter. He stopped and dropped his head. He looked at the swelling and the bruising that was visible on Nikita's back. It was only symbolic of what was going on in her heart and soul. She was missing Michael's presence something fierce.

"Nikita... Sugar... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be.... I'm use to feeling this way..." Nikita moaned out, as she didn't even have the strength to lift her arms to dry her tears. Walter stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in to kiss her shoulder.

"I don't want you to cry.... I'm just worried about all of this..."

"You are worried that Michael is going to kill you because I've been running around." Nikita confirmed and Walter started to nod his head. He had the need to look at Nikita. Slowly, Walter walked around Nikita's body to look into her tearstained eyes.

"That is correct.... But I'm worried mostly about you.... Nikita, do you realize how bad you were just a day ago?" Walter questioned and Nikita stared at him and didn't move. He could tell that Michael must have said a few things to her, but she hadn't comprehended exactly what she had been through.

"Don't you know that the reason why your neck hurts so badly is because they at first thought it was broke? Do you know how amazing it is because you are walking? Do you see why I am concerned?" Walter questioned as he lifted his hands and wiped at the tears. Nikita chewed on that bottom lip and Walter realized that maybe she did know how close it was, and that she didn't want to think about it.

"I need Michael, Walter... You know that." Nikita said in a trifling whisper that Walter could barely hear. He nodded his head sympathetically for Nikita and then hugged her gently.

"I know that, Sugar...." Walter stated as he stepped back and looked to the computer. Nikita blinked her eyes a few times and stared to run through the files.

"You said that Jurgen said to look for the paperclip?" Walter questioned, asking for a confirmation. Nikita nodded her head slightly, despite her injury. She didn't move her eyes from the screen and searched steadily for the answers.

"You know... There was one mission that there was a problem with a paperclip trigger... We used to use them... but we don't anymore..." Walter droned on as he thought about it. He rubbed his chin.

"We were after some nasty terrorist group.... And there were lots of operatives in the compound... and the terrorist wasn't supposed to know the bomb until much later.... And a magnet attached the paperclip... Or something like that... and it slipped..." Walter continued, noticing that Nikita was only half paying attention.

"We lose about twenty operatives.... The leader died.... And a lot of operatives got promotions..." Walter said as he was lost in his own thoughts. He didn't notice that it got extremely quiet in the area until Nikita placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Promotions? Who was on this mission? Michael? Jurgen?" Nikita questioned and Walter rubbed his fingers across his mouth and then snapped his fingers.

"Michael was just a recruit.... It wouldn't be in his personal files... It would be in Jurgen's files...." Walter exclaimed and Nikita shut the computer down and ran down the hallway as she moaned and groaned in pain. She looked at the markers and opened another computer.

"Jurgen.... Jurgen... Jurgen..." Nikita chanted as she looked at the computer screen. She frowned and slammed the cover down and moved to the next one on the right. She pulled the cover up and started to work.

"I got his files.... Do you know his password?" Nikita questioned as she turned her head and her blonde hair rippled in the air. They froze, neither one knowing the answer.

"Simone." Jurgen's voice filled the hallway and Walter turned around and jumped.

"Oh my god... it is him!" Walter said as he continued to stumble backwards. Nikita turned to the computer and hurriedly typed.

"Since you are here... can you tell me the mission?" Nikita questioned and Walter tried to wet his lips, finding them constantly dried. He couldn't get past the presence of Jurgen.

"It was the Hamburg mission." Jurgen stated and Nikita pulled the file and started to read. Walter blinked a few times, still trying to pull his own memories of the mission.

"I see you are still protective of her, Walter..." Jurgen spoke and Walter lifted his head with a grunt and then clapped his hands together as if he just won the lottery.

"You were dating Yamini... Didn't she get really hurt?" Walter pondered and the ghost nodded his head and then he stopped.

"She blamed me for losing her hand.... Because I went and saved Michael... As I was ordered to do." Jurgen said and Nikita looked to Jurgen and pulled up the file. She looked at the picture of the very beautiful woman that was Yamini. There was an explanation of her name was Indian for night and that she was very well trained by none other than Adrian.

"What happened to her? She was level five but I've never heard of her." Nikita stated and Jurgen looked to Walter and Walter stopped.

"The last I heard... she was working in the States.... Doing some minor profiling... She had been demoted again.. She was level two.." Walter stated and Nikita looked at the file and licked her lips.

"She is extremely dangerous..." Nikita stated and Jurgen nodded his head.

"Lethal in her time." Jurgen commented and Nikita dropped the cover and turned to the ghost and the older man.

"Not in her time... She is lethal.... What if she was be playing this injury for all it is worth... Until it appears that the one person that Jurgen had been order to save, has something worth losing?" Nikita questioned and Jurgen dropped his head.

"She was a spiteful person." Jurgen commented and Nikita started to walk down the hallway, quickly, and soon found herself slipping outside of Section One as Birkoff was shouting about how it was snowing.

The beauties of having a ghost around.

*

Walter pulled up at the elevator and pressed the up button as Nikita moved and pressed the down button. Walter stared at her and shook his head.

"What are you doing?" Walter spat out and Nikita blinked her eyes and looked to the door as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that would send them deeper into Section One. Nikita looked at the twirling lights of the elevator panels and pressed the buttons that Walter tries to stop.

"Look.. We know how it is, we go tell Birkoff." Walter shouted out and Nikita waited for the doors to close and the elevator to start dropping. She watched the lights change around her, knowing this route oh too well. She looked to her hands and felt that eerie feeling pass into her body again. It wasn't deja vu; it was something more than that. It was like Nikita knew her decisions were correct and that in the end, she would have the support she would need.

"Birkoff is scared. He isn't going anywhere but to get medicated because of Jurgen." Nikita stated in a cool and monotonous voice. Walter can barely turn his head, finding it difficult to even focus on Nikita. It felt like she was working on some other world. There felt to be this barrier between her essence and his. It felt like he was being tagged along, although he knew what Nikita was doing and why. He did not feel like he was an active part of the happenings.

The doors opened and Nikita looked at the hallway that she had been in before, but a hallway that had changed. She felt her heart stop and she wondered why she felt so damn confident as she entered the hallway. It wasn't her skills that she was relying upon. It was her relationship with a ghost that happened to disappear. She turned and found Walter cowering back in the elevator. She raised and eyebrow and he stepped forward.

"Ah... Walter..." Nikita stammered and Walter only blinked his eyes. He placed one of his wrinkled and used hands on her shoulder and squeezed it. There was a half-crooked smile on his face as Nikita nodded her head and pounded the keys. Nothing sounded right away. She moved down the hallway with Walter, seeking the computers that would give her the information that she was going to need.

" Here..." Nikita said as she stopped her body. She groaned in mounting pain, feeling as if the weight of the extra levels of Section One that they had tunneled themselves into where sitting on her shoulders. Nikita fought off the urge to roll her head around, to ease the pain, knowing that she would only be tempted to continue the movement.

"Before I start... You do have weapons in your car?" Nikita said as she stared at Walter. He nodded his head and looked at the computer as the keyboard exited the safety of the computer and glowed in front of computer. Ease took over her body as she typed in the name Yamini and it appeared in the greenish blue letters on the screen.

The alarms started to scream and Walter jumped five inches into the air, pushing against Nikita. He hadn't even realized his errors in his movement until he heard the grunt from Nikita's mouth and her violent shove of his older body. He staggered backwards and saw the utter stillness in Nikita's body. Her eyes were flickering from side to side as she scrolled down the information that she had been able to pull up about Yamini in mere seconds. Walter looked around and touched Nikita's shoulders.

"We are going to be caught in here." Walter said and Nikita did not move and did not budge. Her body was frigid as stone and her fingers moved in a blur that he often saw only in Birkoff. He hadn't realized how smart and intelligent that Nikita was. Walter licked his lips and looked around, wondering how they were going to get out of here.

"Look.. We don't have Adrian telling us how to get us out of here! We have to go!" Walter shouted in a voice that indicated his panic. In a flash Nikita stepped back from the computer and assessed the situation with a smile finding its way to Nikita's face.

"Where is that ghost?" Nikita questioned as she closed her eyes and looked at the computer screen once more before allowing it to close. She had found a possible location. In fact, Nikita knew that it was the location that Yamini was holding Michael hostage.

"Nikita.. We can't rely upon that ghost!" Walter berated Nikita as he turned and shook her. She slowly blinked her eyes and looked at Walter.

"I know where Michael is.... Yamini owns an old warehouse... She acquired it some six or seven years ago." Nikita stated softly, as if there were no alarms going off in the hallways that surrounded the room that Nikita had dragged herself and Walter into.

"Nikita... don't worry." Jurgen said and Nikita moved to the doorway with an air of confidence. She would have looked like her normal and strong self had it not been the wincing that was accompanying now her every move. She craned her neck and moaned as she saw the operatives running down the hallway with their guns drawn.

"Yeah... How is a ghost going to protects us from those machine guns, Nikita?" Walter hissed and Nikita pressed her body against the wall and suddenly, like on the floors above, the electricity seemed to have gone out. She heard the operatives falling down on one another. Nikita turned and went in the other direction, instinctively knowing that it was the safe way and the way to go find Michael in.

There was a shaking on the ground that stopped both Walter and Nikita. Nikita grabbed onto the wall and Walter skidded past Nikita and finally grabbed hold of the wall just shy of six feet away from Nikita. The lights were gone and now there was a strobe light effect going on in the hallway. There was rumbling and moans from the floor and Nikita watched as the floor seemed to have rolled and wave in motion.

"Please tell me everyone sees that." Nikita stated as she looked at Walter and he terrifiedly, nods his head in agreement, but finds that he cannot produce words anymore.

"This way!" Jurgen called out and Nikita turned and followed. She could hear the mass panic on all levels of Section One. If Madeline didn't believe in ghosts before this point, Nikita was sure that Madeline would be ready to call Ghostbusters herself.

There were operatives running down towards them, not caring what level they were running on and Walter saw that the path out of Section One was a bit more clear that it had seemed just a short few minutes ago. Nikita turned and stared up the stairs, with Walter no more than eight steps behind her. He was slowly down though and was amazed at the amount of energy that Nikita had with the injuries that she had.

Maybe he thought too positively too soon.

One second, Nikita looked like she did on 99.9% of the mission, the strong, athletic, and invisible Nikita. She was moving like the well oiled machine that Section One had required her to be and then continued to demand that she be, even when injured. Yet, in a matter of a second, that all slipped as her head dropped forward, tilting her body forward and causing her to stumble and fall up the stairs.

"Sugar!" Walter cried as he stepped up and grabbed underneath her armpits and pulled at her muscular body. She gathered her feet and tried to continue and Walter shook his head.