“Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished .... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.”

The above mission statement began every episode of the television series Quantum Leap. Following is essential information on Quantum Leap for those unfamiliar with the series. I feel that it would be more beneficial and less confusing to write everything in this format rather than sprinkle information throughout the story.

Project Quantum Leap is a time travel experiment that, in the words of Admiral Calavicci “went a little ca-ca.” The project is located in a vast mostly underground facility.

Dr. Samuel Beckett is the founder of the project. He was the youngest summa cum laude graduate of MIT. He holds seven doctorates including one in Quantum Physics. He met two star Rear Admiral Albert (Al) Calavicci while the two were working on a government project called Star Bright.

By the time the two had met, Al had hit rock bottom. He’d been a pilot, shot down in Viet Nam after which he had been a POW for several years. His career had faltered after his return and designation to desk duty. Al was drinking heavily and in danger of getting washed out of the Star Bright project and most likely the navy as well. Sam saw something in Al and Sam went to bat for him.

They became fast friends and when Sam started the Quantum Leap project, Al was there for him, going to bat for funding, helping to build the accelerator and volunteering to become his observer.

As for the project itself, Quantum Leap is Sam’s brainchild. It was supposed to be a time travel experiment where a person would be able to travel within his own lifetime to observe history.

When funding was threatened and shutdown ordered due to unfeasibility, Sam stepped into the nuclear accelerator chamber before it was ready. This is where the experiment went wrong.

Rather than being an observer, Sam physically leaped into the body of a person whose life he was supposed to fix.

When Sam leaps into another person a blue light appears over the person’s body for a moment. When the blue light disappears, Sam ‘takes over.’ Everyone around him sees and hears the other person. While physically Sam looks like the other person, he retains his own mind and persona. The only time he can see the person he’s leaped into is by looking into a mirror.

Conversely, the person Sam leaps into, ends up in the Waiting Room of the Project. This person is called a ‘visitor’ and the people at the Project see Sam, not the person he’s leaped into. If the visitor looked into a mirror, he’d see Sam, not himself.

The exception to the above is Al. Through a neural link Sam had established between himself, Ziggy and Al, Al can find and accompany Sam on his leaps. Al appears to Sam in the form of a hologram that, in most cases, only Sam can see or hear. Since leaping causes holes in Sam’s memory, Al, through the handlink with Ziggy, provides Sam with vital information.

Al sees Sam and everyone around him as a hologram as well. Al steps into a room called the Imaging Chamber which is in his own time but it enables him to see and interact with Sam. However, being only a hologram, Al has no physical presence and cannot intervene in a physical manner.

Al is the only person at the Project who sees the visitor as him or her self, usually before entering the Imaging Chamber to find Sam. He also sees Sam rather than the person Sam has leaped into.

Finally, this brings me to Ziggy. Ziggy, (“she”) is a parallel hybrid computer Sam designed to run the Quantum Leap project and oversee the entire facility. Sam gave Ziggy an ego and that brought on complications.

Ziggy comes up with probability percentages of what Sam is supposed to fix in the person’s life he leaped into. Ziggy is not infallible, but for the most part she ‘guesses’ correctly. Once Sam successfully completes his ‘mission’ the unknown force leaps him out and everyone waits to see where he leaps next.

While Al is in the Imaging Chamber he communicates with Ziggy (and the rest of the people at the Project) via a handlink. Ziggy is not always as forthcoming with information as Al and Sam would like. Sometimes she doesn’t have information fast enough, sometimes she just doesn’t want to share. Al has been known to abuse the handlink, mostly in frustration, on more than one occasion.

Sam doesn’t leap in chronological order, he can be in 1995 in one leap then jump to 1988 in the next leap or vice versa.

That ends the background information on Quantum Leap. For anyone interested in more QL information, this a great site to start with: http://www.finifter.com/quantum-leap/

Also, you can watch reruns of the TV show itself on the SciFi channel.

A final author’s note: In the show, Sam Beckett didn’t *start* leaping until 1999. And by now he’d have been leaping for at least seven or eight years, making it 2006 or 2007 in Al’s time. So, a couple of years after ep 508 would still be in Al’s past. I hope that clears up any confusion.

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

A blue light appeared and spread itself over the form of police officer Paul Cone. By the time it was gone, Dr. Sam Beckett had switched places with the officer.

As sometimes happened, less often than Sam would have liked, Al appeared almost right away. Also as sometimes happened, *more* often than Sam would have liked, Al appeared agitated, concentrating on the hand-link to Ziggy, the supercomputer that Sam had built for his time travel experiment.

“Stop, Sam. You’re going the wrong way.” Al told him impatiently. “Well technically, sticking to your beat, you’re going the right way, but Ziggy says that’s a bad thing.”

“So, where am I supposed to go?”

”To an alley a few blocks from here, I’ll fill you in on the way.”

“Great, you actually have some answers *before* I get into trouble.” Sam retorted then quickly followed his hologram friend.

“Your name is Paul Cone, you’re a beat cop about to help in the arrest of the wrong person for murder,” Al gave Sam the information obtained from Ziggy. “In the original history a street kid was wrongly accused of killing a cop. The real perp got away but nobody believed the kid when she claimed she didn’t do it, cos nobody saw him.”

“What happened to the kid?”

“The kid’s name is Nikita Wirth…Jones. She was convicted and subsequently recruited into a covert antiterrorist organization in…” Al paused, striking the hand-link impatiently, as was sometimes necessary. “Europe. Section One. Damn, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Anyway, she eventually rose to the top of the organization…”

“That’s a bad thing though, right?” Sam asked as they rounded another corner.

“Yeah, her father ended up getting killed. A couple of years after that she tried to bring down the organization because the higher ups…” Al slapped the hand-link again. “Killed her former lover and his son cos they were a liability and a weakness.”

“Did she succeed?”

“Enough to bring chaos to the Agency and for terrorism to flourish in the meantime,” Al paused. “Come to think of it, I remember now. It took the Agency two years to recover. Hell, they’re still not up to what they used to be.”

“So, what am I supposed to do about it?” Sam asked, rounding one final corner into an alleyway as the blue light appeared once again.

Entering the alleyway, officer Cone, back in his own body, heard a girl screaming, “Help!” as a man stabbed a police officer and turned towards the girl.

“Drop the knife,” Officer Cone quickly draw his gun and yelled.

“Yes?” The man known as Mr. Jones answered his ringing phone.

“The mission has been aborted,” A male voice intoned.

“Aborted?” Jones asked angrily. “Why?”

“Actually, sir, it failed.”

“How?”

“A beat cop stumbled onto the scene too early, saw the whole setup,” He paused. “I checked it out. It was a random.”

“I see,” Jones returned thoughtfully, his mind already working on a contingency.

“Would you like me to initiate a new profile?”

“No,” Jones replied. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Sir?”

“I’ll recruit her myself.”

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

It had been over five years since that fateful blue light changed the course of Section and Agency history. Much had changed thanks to the interference of the quantum leaper.

Phillip Jones personally took on Nikita’s ‘case.’ His other daughter Michelle, was already working for him. When he decided to bring Nikita on board, he sent a grateful Michelle, by then a veteran of the Agency, into the ‘real world’ on an extended leave of absence. The only stipulations were to maintain reasonable contact, keep a low profile and return in four years to re-join her sister in the organization they would someday run in his stead.

While Michelle enjoyed her ‘extended vacation,’ the first since she started working with her father as a teenager, she had no qualms about returning. She didn’t always *enjoy* what she sometimes had to do, but Michelle understood the importance of the Agency and her father’s work and couldn’t see herself doing anything else for the long term.

Nikita for her part, after some initial misgivings also took to Center. Her initial reluctance and anger at her father for abandoning her and her mother was dealt with. Mr. Jones explained that he only tried to do what was best for them. By the time he had found out that Roberta Wirth was pregnant as a result of a brief but memorable affair, Nikita had already been born and the two had moved away.

Thinking he was doing them both a favor by keeping them out of his work, Jones left them alone. It had been a painful decision but one he thought had been right. It wasn’t until years later that he finally convinced himself, with a bit of prodding from Nikita’s half-sister Michelle, that checking up on his ‘second’ family would not irrevocably bring them into his shadowed world.

By then, it had been too late. Roberta had been well on her way to self-destruction with Nikita an unwilling along for the ride. By the time Jones caught up with his former lover she had, in a drunken stupor, kicked their daughter out on the street to fend for herself.

Jones had originally thought to recruit Nikita into Section One and watch from afar as she (hopefully) stood on her own. He’d then bring her in to Center to help right the wrongs that were becoming more commonplace in Section One and throughout the entire Agency. When the profile for her recruitment failed Jones had changed his mind, reasoning that she’d had enough tribulations already in her relatively young life. In Center, Nikita would finally have some semblance of family and a chance at a better life.

In the four years that Nikita in essence traded places with her sister, she proved to be a great asset to the Agency. Just like her father and half-sister, Nikita was intelligent, quick-witted and sharp, a good strategist as well as tactician. Just as importantly, she was a good politician, garnering loyalties equal to her father’s.

By the time Michelle returned from her sojourn to the real world, the Jones’s were already on their way to reforming the organization. Eighteen months after the three ‘reunited’ the entire Agency had been evaluated. Phillip had taken responsibility for Center and assigned Section One, the cornerstone of the Agency, to Nikita. As Michelle, due to her many years of service, had a more extensive knowledge of the Agency than Nikita he assigned the remaining Sections as well as Oversight to her.

“Sir?” Gail’s voice came over the intercom in the Perch where Operations, Madeline and Michael were discussing the outcome of the latest mission. Birkoff had been sent in to infiltrate and help dismantle a cult that doubled as a terrorist group and had succeeded.

The triumvirate had disagreed on the wisdom of sending the young head of Comm inside in the first place. Michael had been against the idea, arguing that Birkoff was too valuable to risk on the mission. He had been overridden by Operations, still smarting over Hillinger’s ‘employment’ by Oversight, who felt Birkoff had been coddled too much and needed to prove his worth. Madeline had agreed and Birkoff had been sent.

Thanks to some off-profile activity courtesy of Michael and Walter Birkoff had returned in one piece. Of course, as far as Paul and Madeline knew, the mission never went off profile. As a reward for his success Birkoff was given a week’s downtime after his debrief, leaving Gail in charge during his absence.

“Yes?” Operations answered, hitting the intercom button on the wall by the tinted window overlooking his ‘domain.’

“We’ve received an encoded transmission from Center.”

“Have you deciphered it yet?” Operations asked.

“Yes, sir,” Gail answered. “Your presence is requested at Center.”

“By who?” Operations asked.

“Mr. Jones,” Gail replied.

“Are you certain?” A surprised Operations asked, his mind furiously working on puzzling out the question of ‘why now?’ In his twenty plus years in Section he’d never met the man responsible for running the Agency. The recent standoff with George fresh in his mind, Operations knew this summons was not a coincidence.

“Yes, sir. The signature’s unmistakable.”

“When?”

“Immediately, sir.”

“Very well, you can tell Mr. Jones I’m on my way.”

“Madeline and Michael’s presence has also been requested. He’s downgraded missions on pad in the interim,” Gail relayed the rest of the message.

“Fine, we’ll be on our way in five,” Operations severed the connection and turned to his second in command. “Well, this is unexpected,.” He commented with more calm than he felt.

“Yes.” Madeline agreed serenely even though she wasn’t comfortable with the development either.

“What do you suppose triggered the summons?” Operations wondered aloud.

“I don’t believe it was the stalemate with George. That would have been dealt with sooner,” Madeline replied, addressing the obvious first.

“Perhaps it’s a culmination,” Michael threw in thoughtfully.

“Of what?” Operations asked.

“We’re due for an evaluation by Oversight. With George proving to be ineffective in…controlling us, perhaps Center is stepping in instead.”

Section’s top three were escorted through Center by four burly operatives after their identities had been confirmed and their bodies checked for weapons. A short elevator ride preceded a walk through a long, wide corridor. When they reached the frosted glass double doors at the end of the corridor they were motioned inside, the doors sliding open.

The escorts remained outside as the trio entered the futuristic looking office. Seated behind a squared off glass topped desk was a stout sixty-something male and standing on his right was a slim, blonde twenty-something female.

“Please sit down.” The man directed, gesturing to the three chairs on the opposite side of the table and waited for compliance before continuing. “As you’ve already undoubtedly discerned, I am Mr. Jones, the head of the Agency. This is my daughter Nikita,” Jones nodded at the young woman. “You’ve been summoned here for evaluation. Any questions before we begin?”

“Why now?” Operations, the least patient of the three, asked.

“Certain events have necessitated immediate action,” Nikita answered vaguely, taking over the meeting, as pre-arranged with her father. “The motivation will become clear shortly.”

“Of course,” Paul ceded.

“We have studied Section One at length and I have come to definitive conclusions.” Nikita switched to the singular and forestalled any questions about her capabilities, “Be assured, my proficiency extends beyond mere genetics.”

“Who is the performing the evaluations?” Madeline asked for clarification.

“I am,” Nikita answered decisively.

“Justification?” Operations asked.

“Eighteen hour days spent studying every detail of Section One,” Nikita answered Operations’ *real* question.

“From the outside?” Madeline interjected.

“From the inside,” Nikita countered, pressing the intercom button underneath the desk. “Send in Mr. Crawford.” She commanded in response to the voice asking “yes?”

The hidden door behind the desk immediately slid open and a young man emerged. The identity of the newest participant in these proceedings stunned the three Section members.

“Birkoff?” Operations stood. He was not the first to recover from the shock, but he *was* the obvious choice to verbalize the astonishment.

“Actually,” Nikita contradicted. “Mr. Birkoff hasn’t set foot in Section in two years. *This* is his twin, Jason Crawford.”

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

Three years ago Jason Crawford had been the president and majority owner of a multimillion dollar computer software company he’d founded five years previously at the age of eighteen. Set for life and beyond, Jason should have been content. But he wasn’t. He was unhappy and, even worse, bored.

It dawned on Jason that what he was really missing was his old solitary working habits. Sure, he had dozens of people working for him, but he had been happiest when it was just him against the ‘big boys.’ No partners, no backup, no ‘net.’

One night he got his wish, an offer he didn’t want to refuse. He had come home after a typically long day at the office to quite a surprise. Seated on his couch, looking completely at home, was a blonde woman a few years older than him.

Recognizing the woman as the magazine writer who had interviewed him two weeks prior, Jason demanded to know what she was doing there, and better yet, *how* she got there. Security in the apartment building was supposedly state-of-the-art and airtight.

After a vague comment about state-of-the-art being relative, Nikita went on to explain that she had actually been interviewing him for a job rather than a magazine article. She then went on to explain what she had to offer and Jason found himself intrigued.

Finding out he had a twin was shocking enough. Finding out where that brother had been all these years was something else. Nikita had then gone on to tell Jason that they wanted him to impersonate his brother - for several years. She explained what was going to be expected of him in that time. She gave him a cell phone and told him he’d be contacted in a week for his answer. Unspoken was the threat of consequences if this conversation was revealed to *any* one.

Jason didn’t know that Nikita’s charade of two weeks ago had been for research, to determine what approach would be best. If she had had any doubts that Jason would have declined the offer, they wouldn’t have presented it to him as an offer. It served Center’s purposes for Jason to believe he was a willing participant rather than a ‘recruit.’

One week later when the cell phone rang, the young computer wiz said yes. The next evening, as far as the rest of the world knew, Jason Crawford died in a ten car pileup on the freeway. Section One who themselves had been keeping an eye on him for possible future recruitment were disappointed at the loss.

Jason spent the next year studying his heretofore unknown twin, backwards and forwards, inside and out. He was remade into Seymour Birkoff’s mirror image, even undergoing eye surgery to match his brother’s less than perfect vision.

Jason actually only met his brother briefly, barely long enough to exchange their current attire and receive final instructions. He didn’t know that Birkoff was not doing this by ‘choice,’ that he had been grabbed on one of his few outings out of the Section and told to cooperate, or else his friends in Section would suffer the consequences. The two stared at each other for long moments and each swore silently to himself that once this ‘assignment’ was over they’d get to know the other. Assuming they were both still alive, of course.

Every aspect of his brother’s life had been relentlessly driven in to Jason so that when he made the switch the ‘integration’ went smoothly and no one in Section was the wiser.

One of the stipulations Jason was working under was that his safety net was very minimal, he should not expect Center to run any interference for him. Sink or swim, he was on his own.

It wasn’t long before it hit Jason what he’d really gotten himself into, but by that time it was too late. He was far from stupid and understood that once he started, there was no backing out. He also understood why *he* had been chosen to replace his brother rather than a look-a-like. Knowing it was his twin that was impersonating him, Birkoff would be less likely to try to ‘interfere’ than if it had been a stranger. Just like Jason, he wanted to one day get to know his brother and wouldn’t intentionally jeopardize his life.

Although he’d been briefed on the people he’d come into contact with, the reality was still startling. Jason couldn’t understand why there was an underlying fear in Birkoff even though he was obviously the best at what he did, no one else in the organization even coming close. It didn’t take long at all for Jason to conclude that in Section, being the best wasn’t always good enough. It also wasn’t long before Jason ‘figured out’ the people around him.

Walter genuinely appeared to care for ‘him’ almost like a son and he was an interesting guy to be around to boot. Walter, even at his age, was still a ladies’ man and Jason, unlike Birkoff, appreciated that aspect of Walter’s personality as well.

Chuck was great, a level four op who actually had a personality, very rare for Section. It was no wonder that Birkoff liked him. Mowen was another high level op that was okay. He wasn’t as animated as Chuck or Walter, but he was a good guy in his on way.

Davenport, a level five op, also seemed okay, but Jason was reserving judgment on him because of the company he kept. ‘Errand boy’ and ‘watchdog’ for TPTB were a couple of the nicknames Davenport had been saddled with.

One guy that Jason didn’t like even though he didn’t exactly know why was a spec op named Jurgen. Granted spec ops were different, had to be in order to be successful, but Jurgen just plain gave Jason the creeps.

As for the ‘major’ players, Jason learned quickly that Operations’ wrath was best avoided - at all costs. Regardless if you were the one to screw up or not, if a mission went wrong, stay out of the man’s reach.

Madeline, Operations’ longtime second in command was even scarier. At least Operations showed some emotion, even if it was anger most of the time. Madeline’s sole purpose it seemed, was the betterment of Section, whatever the cost. Jason had a feeling that no matter their seemingly unbreakable relationship, if push came to shove, Madeline would sacrifice their leader if it benefitted Section’s cause. ‘And,’ Jason thought, ‘she wouldn’t regret it for more than a moment. Lucky for Jason, he’d been briefed on Madeline and knew enough not to fall for her ‘mother hen’ act or (as many ops dubbed it) her ‘Mona Lisa’ smile.

Jason also figured that he had the unofficial third member of the command chain, level five op Michael, pegged as well. At least he thought he did until his sixth mission in Section.

Jason’s first mission upon his ‘entrance’ into Section was a retrieval mission and it had also been the first of many lessons that things were seldom as they seemed in Section.

While he oversaw another operation, Michael had gotten shot on a mission to destroy a chemical plant in Klodno. He didn’t make it to the van, but he wasn’t confirmed dead or captured either. A faulty remote detonator had sent Michael in to detonate manually and he had been hit at least twice trying to get back to the van.

Funny thing was that Walter wasn’t censured for faulty equipment and when Jason asked Walter, the older man just gave him a dubious look and told him that his equipment *never* failed.

At first there was no rescue planned, the odds against bringing Michael out too high. Then suddenly things changed and Michael’s life became valuable again. Of course, it was all a cover to bring out a deep cover op without casting suspicion on him.

Jason decided that although the thought of Operations and Madeline playing such ‘games’ with their top operative and protégé was scary, Michael’s reaction, or lack thereof, was even scarier. He’d gone about his business like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t been nearly killed because he didn’t ‘need to know.’

Sure, Jason had already heard about Robo-Op, Terminator and Machine Mode, had himself met the man briefly just before the ill-fated mission had gone out and thought Michael extremely cold, even for Section. But still, something like that *had* to bother you, didn’t it? Michael just shrugged it off like it was normal and expected.

Ever since then Jason had given the man a wide berth. Well, as wide as it could be, given that he was head of Comm and Michael was the field leader.

A few weeks and five missions later, Jason was sitting in a Section van waiting for Michael to plant trackers on a bunch of Stinger missiles. Unfortunately, the team was somehow compromised and the perimeter breached. Jason had undergone firearms training in Center but he’d never actually shot anyone. Hell, he’d never even shot *at* a real target.

Panicked, Jason fairly shrieked into the comm. unit on an open channel. Michael had, predictably, been the first to react, calmly telling him to switch to B channel. Once he did, Michael’s terse, but calm “report” reassured Jason enough to follow the level five operative’s instructions and (repeatedly) shoot the hostile.

Luckily for Jason, Birkoff had never shot anyone either so Section didn’t suspect anything. Upon their return, Jason went to Medlab to get checked out, as per standard procedure. He wasn’t worried about any anomalies in the medical records as he had hacked into the system and changed the records to match his right before leaving Center.

After he left Medlab, Jason sought out Michael to thank him for his help. True to form, Michael merely nodded in acceptance. What *did* surprise Jason was the ‘pep’ talk that followed. Michael told him, it could happen to anyone and offered a few lessons at the target range and simulator.

When Jason told his new friend Walter about the incident and Michael’s subsequent offer, Walter shrugged it off. The cynical, grizzled veteran told Jason that Michael was merely ensuring that the head of comm. stayed in one piece until someone better came along. As for offering to ‘help’ afterwards Walter muttered that he had just caught Michael on a good day.

Unconvinced, Jason made a mental note to figure out if Michael’s thoughtfulness was a singularity or if he had been genuinely concerned.

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

Author’s note: Just a reminder that in *this* timeline Any Means Necessary followed Three Eyed Turtle

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

Over the next year and a half, Jason had come to doubt his original opinion, deciding that Walter was probably right. Sealing that belief was Michael’s response to him when Jason asked for his help in dealing with Felix, an operative recently placed in abeyance. The cold op had it in for Jason, blaming him for being put in abeyance.

Jason went to Michael for help. He told him that Felix threatened to kill him and asked him what he should do. Michael’s answer? “Don’t let him.” At the time, it sure as hell sounded like a rebuff. Fortunately for Jason, the problem was taken care of, although not before he ended up pulling a gun on Operations, mistaking him for Felix.

As much as he wanted to believe his original gut instinct about Michael after that first incident, the man had given him nothing to ‘work with’ since. With evaluation fast approaching, Jason had nothing to back up his original impression and classified Michael in the same category as his superiors.

Even though Operations had wound up with a stalemate with George, he was still upset. Most disconcerting to him was the fact that George had stuck his own mole right under their noses. The cocky computer genius they thought they had gotten rid of, Greg Hillinger, was very much alive. Worse, he had stolen the Gemstone file and brought it to George.

The Gemstone file contained very damaging information, not the least of which was evidence of Section’s cancelation of Adrian, the mother of Section, after they discovered her plans for a coup. While that information would damage only Section’s relationship with the head of Oversight, there was plenty of other intel on that disc that would destroy Section’s leaders if it got out. Thankfully, their obtaining the Key file, an equally damaging disc on George, allowed the stalemate.

Still smarting at opening the chicken coop door to the wolf themselves by recruiting Hillinger in the first place, Operations decided that it was about time for Birkoff to be tested in the field. He was old enough, and had been in Section long enough. If he couldn’t perform in the field, they’d replace him with someone who could.

‘Birkoff’s’ test came in the form of a cult/terrorist group called ‘Soldats de la Liberte.’ The head of Comm was sent in to infiltrate without any prior field training. Jason almost didn’t make it back. He thought for sure he was a goner when Michael appeared out of nowhere with a gun to his head, especially given the fact that he had used the man to establish his loyalty to the group and nearly gotten him killed.

Granted, Jason had used Michael because he figured the level five op could get himself and his team out of *any* situation, but Michael hadn’t known that. When Michael trained his gun on Jason with that infamous ‘blank stare’ of his, Jason was ready to upchuck his stomach’s contents.

On the way back to Section, Jason once again thanked Michael for asking questions before shooting and then believing the answers. Michael simply nodded his approval at Jason’s tactics, telling him he understood that the younger man had merely done what he had to complete the mission and return in one piece.

Jason figured that since Michael was in such a talkative mood, well talkative for him anyway, he’d ask a question that had been bugging him for a while.

“Why didn’t you help me with Felix?” Jason asked quietly, trying to keep the conversation private as he turned around from the console to face Michael who was sitting on the bench behind him.

“I did,” Michael countered, his surprise at the question masked by his impenetrable gaze.

“Huh?” Jason asked, confused.

“I knew you could handle him,” Michael elaborated. “You needed to know it, too.”

Jason was still pondering Michael’s answer when he to went to Madeline’s office to debrief with her and Operations upon their return to Section. After a very thorough debrief, Operations smiled his wolf’s smile and told him that as a reward for his first successful field mission they were granting him three days of downtime.

When he got home after his debrief (he had moved out of Section as quickly as possibly without arousing suspicion), he found he’d come full circle. Sitting on the couch just as she had almost three years ago was Nikita Jones.

Jason’s work in Section was finally over. It was time for evaluation.

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

Before the implications of Jason Crawford’s impersonation of his twin could sink in, the trio was split up.

Jones and Jason left the office for parts unknown while Nikita remained behind with Operations and Madeline. Michael was ushered into the waiting room where Jason had come in from and was left alone to ponder his fate in light of the separation from his superiors. As Section’s efficiency had remained constant and he’d been almost as large a part of Section command and policy as his superiors, Michael ruminated on why he had been separated from them.

Michael didn’t think the separation boded well for him. There were no ‘openings’ in the other Sections. They had recently been evaluated and necessary changes made. If it had been as simple as promoting Operations and possibly Madeline to a position in Oversight, there would be no reason to exclude him from the proceedings - unless he wasn’t slotted for the Perch.

Although Michael saw nothing in his performance to suggest dissatisfaction, he knew that didn’t mean Center wouldn’t. Perhaps they felt his primary strengths were in the field and had decided to keep him where he was. Recognizing the futility of debating an already determined fate, Michael sat back and concentrated on an upcoming mission he was due to lead. He’d familiarized himself with the schematics of the weapons warehouse earlier so he mentally went over all the possible ingress and egress points again and considered alternative contingencies.

While Michael was busy trying not to think about what was going on the other side of the door, Nikita had begun Section One’s evaluation. Operations, Madeline and Michael were the only ones who’d been ‘invited’ to Center, the rest would be evaluated inside Section One.

“Section One has gone down an interesting path in recent years,” Nikita began, sitting behind the desk her father had vacated while Operations and Madeline sat across from her. “As time is of the essence, we’ll just hit a few highlights.”

“Of course,” Operations stated blandly for the both of them while Madeline sat on his right side, an almost thoughtful expression on her face.

“Let’s start with Dorian Enquist,” Nikita looked at the two in front of her for a reaction. She didn’t need to look at her computer screen as she had all the facts memorized.

“What about him?” Operations asked tightly, remembering the late green-listed supplier and informant.

“You jeopardized a mission and sensitive material…” Nikita answered, her tone deceptively mild.

“Madeline was not acceptable collateral,” Operations interrupted while Madeline remained silent, not surprised that this episode was coming back to haunt them. She *knew* Operations had made the wrong decision back then in sending a retrieval team to stop Michael who was in mandatory refusal. In the end Michael completed his mission and got Madeline out, but not before getting shot by the retrieval team. He’d ended up spending more time in Medlab as a result than Madeline.

“Since when do we put ourselves before the unprotected public?” Nikita asked, her tone less mild. “Before you answer that one, let’s talk about Nikolai Markali. The evidence was soft, yet you proceeded anyway.”

“Had we waited until after the election it would have been too late. He was on Badenheim’s payroll, the people Markali would have put in place would carry on even without him.”

“The fact that as a result of your still unproven contention your ex-wife was placed in a sanitarium had nothing to do with it?” Nikita asked rhetorically then continued. “Even more disturbing, the election proceeded and Badenheim placed a proven puppet in the position.” She turned to Madeline, “And you supported the profile, even though you had doubts from the outset.”

“Paul’s track record was impeccable,” Madeline finally spoke up. “Regardless of my… feelings on the matter, I believed Paul knew what he was doing.”

“Yes, you certainly believe in each other more than the Section, I’ll give you that.”

“Meaning what?” Operations asked.

“Rather than conforming to standard policy you decided to try to circumvent or suborn it to suit your own purposes, not Section’s,” Nikita replied. “We could continue on this course and discuss, among others, Charles Sands at length, but I’d like to address more current utilization of Section for your own agenda.”

“George,” Madeline guessed that the means they used to gain their stalemate with the head of Oversight did not go unnoticed.

“Yes,” Nikita confirmed. “As we speak, George is being retired as a result of his role and his inability to control the Sections, mainly One, but the others as well.”

“And our fate?” Operations asked, knowing now that his and Madeline’s would be similar.

“The same,” Nikita answered. “With the stipulation that there will be no challenge. Any attempts at obstruction will result in immediate cancellation.”

Once the two former leaders of Section One were escorted to their new ‘home,’ Nikita sat back for a moment. She didn’t think the two who’d just left would go quietly, but she was prepared. The ‘community’ they’d been sent to was under strict surveillance and Nikita had several operatives who’d be taking advantage of that close surveillance. Worst case scenario, she *would* keep her word. Any attempts to come out of retirement would be met with swift cancelation.

Now, unto the next evaluation. Michael Samuelle, senior cold op and field leader, unofficial third in command. Interesting dossier was an understatement. He’d been brought into Section a decade ago, graduated training in a little over half the allotted time and immediately attained level three status.

Michael had very rarely failed to do Section One’s bidding or achieve successful closure on a mission. The last glaring failure had been about five years ago, ironically not long after Nikita begun working for her father. He’d been put into a long term undercover mission. A blood cover was very rare for the Agency, only a handful of them attempted over the years and only when all other options failed.

Michael had had to be pulled out of the mission after several months. While he had progressed to a close relationship with Salla Vacek’s daughter, Madeline felt that Michael would not be able to maintain a convincing appearance of attachment for the long term that this mission would no doubt require.

Madeline had tried distracting him by having him mentor a female recruit. She’d hoped that between these two duties Michael would come out of the emotional abyss he’d fallen into following his wife’s ‘death’ on a mission.

But when her strategy failed, Section pulled Michael off the assignment and put his aloofness and emotional detachment to better use. Since then, going by the numbers, Michael’s single-minded devotion to Section One’s goals, as structured by its leaders, and his record had been impeccable.

Nikita’s instincts were hardly ever wrong and in this case they were telling her that what she was about to do was a mistake. She had the feeling she would regret this later, but the decision had already been made and her word given.

“Sit down, please,” Nikita swiveled her chair towards the opening door behind her. She waited until Michael settled into one of the chairs vacated by his ex-superiors. “Paul and Madeline won’t be returning to Section One.” Nikita didn’t pull any punches.

“Oversight?” Michael asked even though Nikita’s tone made him think otherwise.

“Retirement.” Nikita answered.

“Why?” Michael asked, trying to gauge his own fate without giving her the satisfaction of asking directly.

“They deviated from the Agency’s goals.”

“How?”

“Rather than serve the greater good, they’ve been serving their own agenda,” Nikita answered. “Paul has been slowly drawing the map of the world in his own image and Madeline has been going along with him rather than setting it right. Attempting to impede Oversight, Section’s governing body, was the last straw.”

“Section One’s success against terrorism has been constant,” Michael countered.

“Perhaps the numbers were high, however, the ends were no longer just but rather self-serving,” Nikita contradicted. “Regardless of your opinion on the matter the decision has been made, debate is futile.”

“Am I being retired as well?” Michael finally asked evenly, even though he was fairly sure of the answer. Had his fate been the same as his former superiors’ he wouldn’t been separated from them in the first place. Not that he really cared one way or another. If he was truthful with himself, he’d admit that he’d been unconcerned with his own fate for a long time now.

“I will be assuming command of Section One for the immediate future,” Nikita answered. “My father and I both feel that you are too much Paul’s protégé to adhere to the significant policy changes I will be implementing. Furthermore, you have shown ruthless tendencies rivaling Paul’s. You show no regard for innocents or your fellow operatives.”

“Am I being slotted for cancelation?” Michael asked blandly.

“That was the original plan.” Nikita drawled. “I don’t think you’re capable of adapting.”

“I see,” Michael commented calmly, prepared for his fate.

“However, someone disagrees,” Nikita paused. “For whatever reason Jason thinks you’re still salvageable. In his two years in Section, he thinks he’s seen something that I’ve missed.”

“What?”

“Potential,” Nikita replied. “So, you have three months to prove one of us wrong.”

“How?”

“You’ll be moved to second in command and replace Madeline.”

“What are the conditions?” Michael asked, understanding he’d be on ‘probation,’ something he hadn’t been subjected to in almost ten years, for the duration.

“Your mind-set has to change,” Nikita answered. “Every mission that goes out will optimize civilian and operative survival. Furthermore, a majority of the abeyance pool will be reintegrated into the mainstream and you’ll be expected to help accelerate retraining.”

“Is that all?” Michael asked, blank stare still intact.

“No,” Nikita answered. “Your current position needs to be filled. Whatever the outcome of the next three months, you will not be returning to field command. The best in-house candidate is Davenport. However, he isn’t ready yet so I’m transferring an operative back to fill the vacancy in the meantime.”

“I understand.”

“Good. If you adapt, you’ll take over the Perch and the field leader will take over as second with Davenport succeeding him in the field.”

“Who are you bringing in?”

“Jurgen.”

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

*Author’s note: since TPTB didn’t give us too much about you-know-whose background, as my favorite ‘houseboy’ (a cross between Lucy and Desi) said, “I make it up, I make it up.” :) ************************************************************************

Jurgen had come to Section One fifteen years ago. Never completely comfortable in Section, he nevertheless had always been two things: a good soldier and a survivor. Both traits came in handy and he flourished despite his initial reluctance.

Although he wasn’t overly extroverted, Jurgen developed a few friendships in Section. One of those friendships had been with an operative named Simone. Contrary to popular belief their relationship had always been platonic. Jurgen’s affections were always those of an older brother, not a lover.

Because of his military background Jurgen had ‘graduated’ six months early and had been an operative for over three and a half years by the time Michael arrived in Section. At the time Michael was brought into Section, prison recruitment was still a fairly new program, only in existence for a few years. They’d originally started the program to increase the number of operatives, still low after the coup that dethroned Adrian several years before.

The two leaders, Madeline especially, saw almost unlimited potential after Michael’s initial evaluation upon his recruitment. Jurgen had been given Michael to train with orders to train him ‘intensely.’ Jurgen followed orders and trained Michael almost mercilessly. His methods were a success as evidenced by Michael’s unprecedented graduation nine months ahead of the two year schedule and immediate promotion to level three.

While Jurgen had merely been following orders in his training, Michael didn’t exactly see it that way. Though Michael eventually understood that Jurgen was only doing his job, that didn’t mean he ever thought of his trainer as a friend either.

When Simone and Michael started seeing each other Jurgen figured it wouldn’t last, nothing in Section really ever did. Most operatives, cold ops especially, took comfort from each other more than anything else. Even that didn’t often last too long, the possibility of not returning from a mission usually a deterrent from getting too close.

Such ‘casual’ relationships were tolerated, even encouraged by Operations and Madeline, by then in command of Section for several years. Outside relationships were, for obvious reasons, frowned upon in Section, so operatives’ ‘dependency’ on one another was considered the lesser of two evils.

To everyone’s surprise though, Michael and Simone grew closer and closer. Jurgen, like many others, couldn’t understand what kept the two together. They were as different as night and day. Where Simone was warm, Michael was cold. She was outgoing, he was reticent. The only thing they seemed to have in common was the ability to complete a mission and immediately move on.

Regardless of his opinion, Jurgen saw how happy Simone was with Michael so he and his former material ‘tolerated’ each other. Michael for his part, despite assertions to the contrary from both parties, was never completely convinced that his former trainer’s feelings for his wife were strictly platonic. All in all it made for a tense relationship between the two most important prople in Simone’s life. Tense, but civil. At least until the mission that ruined all three lives.

Operations and Madeline did not put up with Michael and Simone’s marriage for very long. The couple had ‘eloped’ while on mutual downtime. But rather than force a separation and negatively impact morale, the Section leaders decided to show the newlyweds exactly what permission to maintain a marriage in Section would entail.

In Section One Operations ordered it and Madeline carried it out. He dictated the destination while she dictated the course. Operations’ destination was the breakup of Michael and Simone.

Even as far back as the pair’s frowned upon marriage, Operations planned on eventually moving up into Oversight and had already slotted Michael for the Perch. He wanted no interference in his protégé’s ascent. In his opinion, Simone was a stumbling block.

Operations believed there was no room for emotion at the top, only duty. It wasn’t so much that he conveniently forgot his own occasional emotional ‘outbursts,’ but rather that he wanted to eliminate what he perceived as a weakness of his own from his eventual heir.

A hard wedge was not a viable option, the disintegration of Michael and Simone’s relationship had to be appear ‘natural,’ the result of life in Section rather than the result of machinations, to discourage others.

The first thing Madeline did to that end was convince Operations to promote Michael to level four while keeping Simone at level three. No longer equal, Simone would have to follow orders while Michael gave them. Madeline assigned the most difficult missions she could for the pair, not so much *physically* difficult as emotionally.

When that didn’t bring about enough of a wedge between husband and wife, Madeline assigned Michael a blood cover mission. The timing of George’s ‘request’ to step up their efforts against Salla Vacek coincided perfectly with Madeline’s plans.

Under the guise of doing anything and everything possible to expose the exceptionally insulated terrorist, Michael was assigned to seduce and then eventually marry Vacek’s daughter Elena.

Again, the pair persevered, but Madeline did so love a challenge. Finally, three months after the Vacek assignment, Madeline found the perfect mission. A husband and wife scenario was needed for a six week long mission. Due to the Vacek mission still being in its early stages, Michael could not simply disappear for that long without losing whatever ground he had gained with Elena. Madeline’s solution to the ‘problem’ was sending Simone in with Jurgen.

The two operatives came back from the six week long mission with their relationship unchanged, but the mission served its purpose. Michael and Simone were never the same. Michael’s earlier doubts about his wife and his former trainer resurfaced, reassurances from Simone not enough to extinguish the old doubts completely.

Simone soon began to wonder if maybe Michael’s doubts were based on his experiences in his undercover mission. Perhaps he had begun to feel something for the target and was trying to put the blame on her to alleviate his own guilt. Mistrust rapidly reigned in their private lives and before long bled into their professional lives.

A few scant weeks later, after another argument that seemed the norm recently, the duo was sent out on what was supposed to be a cold mission against a group calling themselves Glass Curtain. Simone asked for backup upon which a still irate Michael asked her if she was now doubting his skills as an operative as well as his continued commitment to them. An angry and exasperated Simone told him to forget it and they left without backup.

Jurgen never forgave Michael for allowing Simone to ‘die’ because of what he perceived was petty jealousy and ego. Whatever fragile truce they had was severed after that mission and their animosity became palpable.

Also palpable as a result was Michael’s descent into an emotional abyss. He shut down completely, refusing any human contact and became more machine than human. The shutdown was so complete that he had to be removed from the Vacek mission as Madeline feared his coldness and detachment would make any union between him and Elena very short-lived.

Two and a half years later Jurgen led a mission against a resurrected Glass Curtain and found a tortured Simone in the compound. A fire-fight ensued during egress and Simone took a bullet that had been heading straight for Jurgen. He managed to get her out and on to the waiting Section helicopter.

Simone’s injury was severe and coupled with her two years spent as Sparks’ ‘plaything’ she didn’t make it back to Section. Before she died however, she managed to tell a newly promoted Michael (who had been overseeing tactical from Section), via comm. link that she loved him.

The tables turned and Michael never forgave Jurgen for Simone’s death and he wasn’t the only one. Jurgen never forgave himself either and knew he could never return to field work under Section’s current regime. He’d suspected that they, at the very least, knew of Simone’s continued existence. He’d been gathering blackmail material on Operations and Madeline over the years and finally put it to use to get himself out of the field.

Jurgen was transferred to Spec Ops and he and Michael stayed out of each other’s way for the next year until a highly irregular transfer to Center took him out of Section. Jurgen was still an honorable man, at least as honorable as one could be given their occupation. Once he was confident in his latest superior and his new position he destroyed the blackmail intel against his former superiors, thereby not allowing it to get into the hands of people who might put it more sinister use than he did.

Center would have transferred him sooner, but Nikita waited an extra six months until they were sure Jason was ‘secure’ in Section. Jurgen was well thought of in Center and after half a year of observation and testing, Nikita decided he was the right person for what she needed.

Nikita explained Center’s plans to Jurgen. Years spent in Section under Operations and Madeline and their constant mind games more than convinced Jurgen that Section needed change and he was ready to do whatever was asked of him.

For the next year Jurgen trained and learned all he needed to in order to assume field leader position upon his return to Section. He also trained with Nikita and others for Madeline’s position, something that was a certain eventuality as well. In that year Jurgen and Nikita developed a friendship that had recently turned into something more. What that ‘something more’ was exactly was something they were both still trying to figure out.

Eighteen months after Jurgen left Section, Nikita told a resigned Michael that his former trainer would be taking over his position.

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

Shortly after Operations, Madeline and Michael departed for Center an Agency housekeeping team swept into Section. As they sanitized the Perch and Madeline’s office they were observed by the few operatives still milling about at that late hour. Sanitation complete, they split up, one group heading for the Tower, Operations’ in-house lodging the other to Madeline’s Section quarters.

Once they left Davenport and Chuck congregated by Munitions, figuring if anyone was privy to what was going on, it would be Walter. The two field ops had been around long enough to know that something big was happening. Neither could remember the last time any Agency sweepers came in to Section.

Davenport, Chuck and Mowen had been on the way out when the team had come in, assuming they’d hear all about their leaders’ summons in the morning. Reckoning that the summons would mean ‘shaping up and shaking up’ for Section personnel, they figured they’d better get a good night’s sleep before the shoe dropped in the morning.

Seeing the housekeeping team arrive postponed their departure. The three found things to do until the sweepers finally left. Davenport and Chuck were waiting with Walter until Mowen returned with confirmation that the Agency team had cleared van access.

“Damn,” Walter cursed as soon as Mowen joined them. “I wish Birkoff was here. He’d be able to hack in to that transmission Center sent and see what the hell is going on.”

“What do you think it is?” Davenport, the highest level op of the group asked Walter.

“I’m betting on a new regime,” Walter replied.

“You think Operations finally got Oversight?” Mowen asked. It was a well known fact that Operations was after George’s job. If he was moving up, it’d stand to reason that Madeline was going with him. It would explain housekeeping, preparing for the next Section chief.

“Maybe,” Walter answered. “But, I don’t know if that would be such a good thing.” “What do you mean?” Chuck asked, surprised. “You’d be sorry to see him go?”

“To Oversight, yeah.” Walter confirmed. “You’d think they’d have better sense than that.”

“All I know is I’d be one happy camper if he and Madeline were gone. Better Oversight’s problem than ours.” Davenport chimed in. “You think they’ll give the Perch to Michael?”

“Hope not.” Walter muttered then elaborated before Chuck could protest. “A few years ago, I’d be thrilled with the move. But you gotta admit your friend died along with his wife. He ain’t the same man anymore.”

“Can you blame him?” Chuck retorted, about to say more when Walter interrupted again.

“Besides, if that was the case, they’d have moved Michael’s things to the Tower to make room for his replacement.”

Before the four men could discuss anything further, they heard a commotion and turned to see seven people entering the main area.

A twenty-something blonde woman, flanked by two bodyguards, came striding purposefully in, her destination the Perch. Following closely behind were Michael and former Section op Jurgen. And just behind them were what appeared to be two Birkoff’s.

By noon a briefing was underway, all the furor had died down to whisperings and mutterings and it was almost back to business as usual. Nikita had thought it best to show Jason and Birkoff together to avoid complications later.

Jason could not remain in Section because regardless of the secrecy surrounding his ‘duplicity’ intel would filter out and rumors would inevitably make the rounds. Rather than leaving Section personnel wondering about the authenticity of Jason and doubting that there was in fact a twin, Nikita felt it best to show irrefutable proof that it hadn’t been Birkoff who’d been ‘spying’ on them. It was necessary to smooth Birkoff’s reintegration into Section and avoid operatives’ need to take the new regime’s word for the truth.

Birkoff had already been instructed to say nothing other than that he was pulled out without warning and isolated with the threat of cancellation for himself and anyone he tried to contact. Of course, most operatives, knowing the way things worked would have no doubt believing Birkoff’s claims.

The noon briefing consisted of Nikita laying out a new mission’s objectives and Michael’s elaboration of the strategy. It was a simple search and destroy of a small cell of an up and coming terrorist group calling themselves The Collective. Nikita felt it was the perfect test for all involved. There were a half dozen or so Collective operatives holed up in an abandoned warehouse in a relatively busy waterfront.

Davenport would be team leader with Jurgen overseeing tactical in-house. Since this was Jurgen’s first tactical oversight command as field leader, Michael would be listening in to evaluate and help out if necessary.

As the mission would not go live for another six hours, Michael retreated to Madeline’s former office, now his. His excuse was that he had a lot of work to do to familiarize himself with his new responsibilities.

When they’d returned to Section, Nikita had given Michael the Collective mission to profile, her instructions clear. The terrorists were collateral, everyone else wasn’t. Michael had done as he’d been told, biting back any comments. He knew he was perceived in the same category as his former leaders, obtaining goals at *any* cost, including civilian and operative lives. Disputing claims to the contrary would be fruitless.

Michael strode into his new office and sat down behind the desk. He’d been offered the choice of renovation, but declined anything drastic, merely getting rid of the flowers and changing the desk and chair. Why bother? Either way he was only going to be there for three months.

Sitting down and logging on to the computer Michael checked to make sure there were no urgent matters that needed his immediate attention. That done, Michael sat back, rubbed his chin thoughtfully and finally allowed himself to reflect on his so-called promotion.

Center’s evaluation of Michael did something to the new second in command for only the second time since reaching operative status in Section One. It made him doubt his abilities, something very dangerous in his line of work.

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

The first time Michael had doubted himself professionally was over five years ago, after Simone ‘died.’ They’d had an argument and Michael let his emotions get the best of him. He’d told her in anger that backup was unnecessary rather than thinking it through clearly as he would have done had the suggestion come from anyone else.

Michael himself was injured on that mission, badly enough to keep him in Medlab for a few days. The Michael that emerged from Medlab was not the same one who’d left for the mission three days prior.

Guilt and grief followed by fear motivated Michael from the moment he woke up and remembered what had gotten him admitted into Medlab. The fact that his wife died on a mission because of him was too much for the ‘old’ Michael to handle. To cope, he emerged a new man.

Michael had always known that he belonged in Section. At first he believed he was doing penance for the youthful transgressions which had resulted in the death of almost a dozen people. The fact that he’d been betrayed by his comrades in L’heure Sanguine when they’d ‘mistakenly’ set the bomb off in the university for noon rather than midnight didn’t change the fact that he’d been the one to build the bomb in the first place.

Ultimately, he’d come to regard his work in Section as more than reparation. Michael started to believe in what he did, moving up the ranks quickly as a result of both his natural and learned skills. While he wasn’t exactly happy, he was content with the good he knew he was doing.

Gradually, Michael carved out a niche for himself in Section One, developing a few close friendships while still maintaining his unprecedented numbers. He and Simone had started out as friends, as she’d been one of the few females he worked with who didn’t immediately invite him into her bed.

Friendship eventually turned into more and Michael and Simone ended up falling in love. Falling in love hadn’t been the mistake, alerting Section by getting married had been. After his wife’s death Michael blamed only himself for allowing something or someone to distract him from what he’d come to regard as his duty.

His shut down was a direct result of that guilt and grief as well as the fear of letting it happen again. Other than having had to pull him out of the blood cover Operations and Madeline were happy with the new, and what they’d deemed improved, Michael. So much so, that they’d promoted him to level five far ahead of the normal curve and anointed him the unofficial third in command.

Just when Michael thought it was safe to go back into the proverbial water, to once again establish some close human contact without fear or guilt, he received a painful reminder that it wasn’t.

A previously inactive Glass Curtain made their presence known again by downing airplanes. Not trusting Michael to lead the team in the field on this one, Operations sent Jurgen. When it was all over, Simone was found only to be lost again, this time permanently.

Whatever niche Michael had managed to carve out of for himself again so recently was gone in the space of a few minutes. This time, the abyss was deeper. So deep, that even Operations and Madeline worried about his state of mind.

Recklessness and suicidal tendencies prevailed and Operations needed something to keep Michael from going over the edge, thereby losing their ‘investment.’ Madeline, as usual, was ordered to find that something.

Madeline knew exactly what needed to be done, but she decided that she needed an indirect approach. She sent Michael to meet a contact in a public park. Michael was told to be there at two even though she told the contact to show at two-thirty.

Madeline’s reasoning? That particular park was popular among the upper middle-class families who lived in the surrounding neighborhoods and Madeline had it on ‘good authority’ that a particular mother and child often frequented the park after lunch.

While waiting for the contact, Michael watched the patrons of the park detachedly until he saw a familiar face - Elena Vacek. Taking refuge behind a tree, Michael watched as Elena cheered on a young boy playing soccer with a few other children. Once, in scolding the boy because he wasn’t playing ‘gentlemanly,’ Elena called out the boy’s full name in a warning tone.

The boy’s name? Adam Michael. Looking at the child, Michael guessed him to be about four years old. Quick calculations brought forth suspicions that Michael investigated as soon as he’d concluded his meet with the contact.

Less than two days later, after hacking in to hospital records and medical files Michael confirmed his suspicions. Adam was his child, conceived just before he had been pulled out of the blood cover. Hacking into Section records, Michael discovered that Doug Carter, a level four operative with a background in valentine operations was now ‘on the case.’ He and Elena had married just under two years ago and Section was still waiting for Salla Vacek to make an appearance.

Michael had been in Section far too long to believe in coincidence and he knew enough to recognize their games. So, Operations and Madeline wanted him to know that he had a son without telling him directly and overtly blackmailing him into returning to form.

Fine, if that’s the way they wanted it, Michael would play along. He was a patient man, knew Section wouldn’t move while the mission was still in play and risk losing their quarry in any way. Until the endgame was achieved Michael would monitor. Once Salla Vacek was caught, then they’d ‘negotiate.’

Vacek *was* caught eventually. Six months before Center decided to step in and turn Section upside down a scenario was enacted. Elena was poisoned and thinking that his daughter was dying Salla Vacek came to her hospital bedside only to be gunned down along with his supposed son-in-law.

Negotiations began soon after with both parties laying their proverbial cards on the table. Since Michael was back in the fold, Operations was content to let things remain status quo.

In exchange for Michael’s continued high level performance Adam (and Elena) would be taken care of and records altered to erase Michael from the equation. Changing the records was easy. Section swooped in and took Elena and Adam under the guise of witness protection and explained that falsifying data would better ensure their future anonymity.

Michael accepted the terms and continued to produce. Operations had given his word that he had taken care of Adam’s safety personally and Michael had no reason to doubt the man’s word, at least in this case. Operations had given Michael his word of honor in the past and had kept it, and this time was no different. He’d used one of his many outside, non-Section resources to ensure that no one besides himself, Michael and Madeline would be privy to the truth.

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

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Michael understood that things were different now and the new regime expected a different kind of production from him. Adapting was something he normally did exceptionally well, but the truth was that he was tired.

Michael knew that if he was honest with himself, he’d acknowledge the fact that Jurgen had what it took to replace him as field leader until Davenport was ready. Furthermore, psych ops was always a specialty of his former trainer’s and it would serve him well when he’d become second in command in three months. He’d never be right for the Perch but Madeline’s old position suited Jurgen well.

Michael was no fool, knew what would happen after the three month probationary period ended. He’d either be given the Perch and Nikita would return to Center or he’d simply be canceled with Jurgen replacing while Nikita remained in the Perch until someone else was ready.

The only thing Michael didn’t know was whether or not he cared about which of the two scenarios would play out.

Nikita stood by the darkened windows looking down from the Perch. Her first day in Section was finally over. Jurgen had successfully run tactical oversight for the mission against the Collective and Davenport had performed well in the field. The team had retrieved some useful intel that she’d immediately forwarded along to Michael for profiling a follow up mission.

After debriefing Jurgen had gone to his new place to finish unpacking while Michael had retreated to his Section quarters claiming it was too late to go home, especially given that he needed to be in by five.

Taking one last look at her ‘domain,’ Nikita sighed and headed for her own temporary quarters. The Tower would be ready in a couple of days, the remodeling she wanted negligible.

On her way out Nikita spotted Walter closing up Munitions. Taking a detour Nikita walked over to the older man and waited while he closed up shop and lowered the gate.

“Hello,” Nikita smiled in greeting.

“Ma’am,” Walter turned to his new boss, not sure what to call her.

“Nikita’s fine.”

“Well, that’ll take some getting used to,” Walter returned, uncomfortable in the woman’s presence. While he may have been unhappy with Operations and Madeline’s way of doing business over the last few years, he didn’t yet know if this change was for better or for worse. “Something I can do for you?”

“You’ve been here the longest of anyone. You’ve also seen the most,” Nikita began. “I’m curious, what’s your take on this place?”

“You don’t want my opinion. If you did, you would have asked before not after,” Walter answered, unafraid of the consequences. He *had* been in Section a long time, almost thirty years. Cancellation and retirement were threats he’d lived under for more years than he cared to count. “So, what is it that you *really* want?”

“You’re wrong,” Nikita contradicted Walter. “I *did* count your opinion.”

“How? I never talked to anyone from Center,” A light bulb went off. “Jason.”

“Yes, Jason,” Nikita confirmed. “You and he were very close.”

“Yeah, now I see why,” Walter returned. “Don’t know why anything around here still surprises me.”

“Actually, his only job was to gather information and stay alive.”

“Whatever,” Walter was unconvinced. “What’s your point?”

“Like I said, thirty years and you’re still here. What makes you come to work every day, so to speak, after all these years?”

“Someone’s gotta make sure these kids come back in one piece,” Walter answered. “As long as I can keep helping to make sure that happens, I’ll keep coming to work.”

“So, it’s not the place but the people?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, then,” Nikita paused, changing tactics. “I noticed you haven’t had a physical in quite some time.”

“Don’t need one,” Walter countered. “I can take care of my own aches and pains, been doing it for years.”

“Nevertheless, I expect you to get checked out in the next couple of days.”

“What for?”

“To make sure you can help the ‘kids’ come back in one piece for another thirty years,” Nikita answered then turned around to go ‘home’ while Walter stared thoughtfully at her retreating figure.

Four weeks had gone by and things settled into a routine, or at least as routine as they could be in Section. After an initial wariness, Nikita had come to be accepted and respected by most of the operatives. The sweeping changes she’d made in her first month didn’t hurt.

The fact that Walter, whose opinion was one of the most respected among recruits and operatives of all levels, had taken to affectionately calling her Sugar within a couple of weeks helped, too. That Nikita (having from day one abolished the title of Operations) allowed it helped even more.

What helped the most though, were Section’s numbers in that time period. The overall success rate remained where it was but losses, both Section and civilian, dropped. The operatives weren’t stupid, they knew that Nikita wasn’t solely responsible for the numbers shift. Michael had been responsible for strategy, Jurgen oversaw tactical and Davenport, Chuck and Mowen led most of the teams. What *was* credited to Nikita was the fact that acceptable collateral was no longer so readily acceptable.

Jurgen was fitting in well, too. He established himself as competent rather quickly. But he established something even more important just as quickly - his accessibility and affability. It was something his predecessor hadn’t done in almost five years, a long time in Section years. So long in fact, that few remembered Michael as anyone other than ‘The Terminator.’

Opinion on the former filed leader and current second in command was still up for debate.