Doppelganger

I've never thought I'd feel like this. I am looking into the empty eyes of death and all I want is to close my eyes and surrender to it, to be engulfed in its darkness. You probably want to know the reason to that. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

And so it begun...

I've never been what you'd call a 'good girl', always the troublemaker. It's not that I came from a dysfunctional family, life had always been ok for me. But it wasn't enough. Already since childhood, I've been hanging out with the wrong kind of people. When I turned sixteen I joined this gang. We were really bad. We used to break into booze stores and get seriously drunk. As expected, one day the police caught us. We were all sent to this juvenile institution. I was lucky I was underage, 'cos I could end up in prison. Well, it was a prison, only with young people. I could always get along, though. I had this talent to make people afraid of me. Brigs, one of the old gang, said that I have a vicious nature. Maybe I do, I don't give a damn, it had helped me get along my whole life. After a too-long period of time in the f***ing institution, I was released, and was sent back home. My parents cried. Stupid, pitiful people.

You probably think that since then I've been the goody-two-shoes that brushes her teeth on time every night and do what her parents tell her to do. That was never me. I kept hanging out with the wrong kind of people. A few years later, one night, something happened that changed my life forever.

I was walking near this abandoned factory and suddenly I heard gunshots. I hid in the shadows and saw the whole thing. At first, I thought it was a gang fight, but when I saw the black gear the people were wearing, I understood that they're a lot more than street-kids. I'll skip the whole shootin' part and tell you how it ended. One of the shooters located me in the shadows and before I noticed, the whole shooting ended and three large men grabbed me. All the kicking and screaming on my part weren't helping at all. I ended up in a place that looked like a huge warehouse and smelled like rat-shit. Even then, I wasn't scared, just furious. If I die in this hellhole, my parents will go ballistic when I'm not home for dinner.

I was tied to a chair and all the people around ignored my loud cursing.

Then, a tall man with a red scarf around his neck stepped in front of me. "What is your name?" he asked. I spat in his face. He wiped his face with his hand, "feisty, are we?" he said. Then he added, "If you want to stay alive, you better cooperate."

"And who said I want to stay alive?" I asked him mockingly. He really annoyed me; he was all too calm. I wanted to irritate him, to make him yell. He just smiled and said, "I think there's a room for someone like you in our organization."

"Go to hell." Was my answer.

He laughed, "I like you. Untie her," he ordered one of the goons in the room. The man untied me and I stood up and launched myself at him, swinging my fist at his face. He caught my hand easily and flipped me over. I landed on the floor with a thud. Son of a bi*ch. He captured my wrists and pinned my to the floor.

"You're combat skills are very poor," he said, smiling smugly.

"I'll show you poor," I murmured and slammed my knee into his groin. He was quick enough to move, but yet, I think I hurt him. He moved away from me and extended his hand to me, pulling me up from the floor.

"What I'm offering you is a chance to become an excellent warrior, expert in all weapons, to have the ability to kill with your bare hands," he said.

"And what do you want in return?" I asked scornfully even though the offer was becoming very tempting, "you want me to become your little whore? Well, forget it, I'm my own's boss." I wanted him to know that I don't come easily.

He laughed again, "All we want from you is to take part in... missions, like the one you witnessed today."

As much as I liked being on my own, the idea started to sound better and better. In short, I eventually accepted and thus became an agent of "Red Cell", one of the largest, most dangerous terrorism organizations on the planet.

I won't tell you all about my work in "Red Cell". It was pretty much the same all the time. As they promised, I was taught how to fight, how to handle weapons, computers and all the other crap. Those years have been good actually. I got some twisted pleasure from all the missions. I told you I have a vicious nature. It was exciting, and I loved the danger.

I heard a lot about Section 1 during my work. They are our worst enemies. They're this governmental agency that is trying to clean the world from scum like us. They are very good at their work, and they managed to stump many of our plans. One of the agents once told me that the mission I saw the night I was brought here was thwarted by Section 1. So, we have a lot of history with them, and they are also a major part in my story.

*****

It was one fateful night that it happened, the thing that brought me to this rotten situation. I guess that if I knew how it would end, I wouldn't accept. But, at that time, it seemed exciting, dangerous- exactly what I like.

I was called to the leader's office. The smart thing about Red Cell is that the organization is worldwide. There are a lot of leaders, a lot of headquarters, so if one of the stations is destroyed, there are always more.

The local leader, Dominic, asked me to come in and sit down. He didn't look so good, maybe because he's in a wheelchair, that's another one of Section 1's doings.

"Abby," he said, "we have a mission for you. It's the most important mission you'll ever have."

"Of course," I said. My blood was humming with anticipation.

He then clicked on his computer screen and showed me a picture of a young woman in her twenties. She was blonde, and her eyes were blue, like mine. She reminded me a little of Barbie.

"This woman," Dominic said, "is a Section 1 operative. Your mission will be basically to become her. We will modify your looks and behavior pattern so you will become exactly like her. Eventually, you will take her place in Section 1."

I was stunned here. But, come on, if somebody told you something like that, wouldn't you be?

"I understand," I said, even though I didn't understand anything, "and how much time will this mission take?"

He smiled than, the spookiest smile I've ever seen, "Indefinitely." He proceeded to give me all the details. How they will change my face, my body, my voice and everything else so no one will be able to tell the difference between Nikita and me. That's her name, the name of the woman that I will become.

"I need to know you can do it, Abby," he leaned towards me with a serious expression, "this is very important. Can you handle it?"

I smiled. I must say, this was the most brilliant plan I've ever heard. Section 1 will have a mole and they won't even realize it. I was very excited that I could be a part of this plan.

"You can count on me, Sir," I said, "I will not fail."

He leaned back and smiled, "Good."

"May I ask a question?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Why her? Why this woman of all Section 1's personnel?" I inquired.

"Does it matter?" he asked back.

"No, just curious," I answered.

His eyes darkened and his mouth tightened to a thin line, "She's the one who put me in this chair."

I nodded. Interesting. So, what he wants is revenge. No problem, I will give him what he wants and I will enjoy it.

*****

I was told from the beginning that I was chosen because my body is very similar to hers, so no extensive surgeries will be needed. No extensive surgeries? Crap. I spent years coming in and out of surgery rooms with millions of big and little adjustments. It wasn't all that fun. They narrowed my hips, changed my chin, lifted my cheekbones and many, many more.

They even had me do a hair transplant. It was awful. They shaved my head and then changed my hair somehow and made me blondie. It was really annoying, but I think the hardest one was when they shrunk my boobs. Why do I have to suffer because this Section op is almost flat-chested? Well, I guess that when I agreed to this mission, I agreed to everything that comes with it.

Along with the physical adjustments, there were so many more. They taught me how to walk like her, to act like her, talk like her. It took me forever to master her annoying Australian accent. And apparently, she has this protecting-the-innocents complex.

During all that, they also briefed me about Section 1. They gave me all the information they had about it. The people, the way the mission go, the rules and all the other crap. It was hard, it was exhausting, but... it worked. I, literally, became her.

The most interesting part in all the briefing was those about Barbie's Ken. His name is Michael. He's her boyfriend and he is the one that for him Barbie will let us take advantage of her. I read his profile. Boy, this guy has been through a lot. A death of his parents, his wife, his son. He's also a level 5 operative and number 3 in Section one. Seems like she found herself a good deal.

My venerable leader told me all about the incident that eventually caused him to be in a wheelchair to the rest of his life. It was a war between Section 1 and Red Cell. Michael and Nikita were captured and Nikita revealed the new location of Section 1 because she wanted then to spare her boyfriend's sanity. He also told me that this new location was bogus and the whole thing ended with a shameful defeat to us. He said that Nikita didn't know that then, that Section 1 lied to her so she would be believable. It worked.

I asked him then if Nikita wasn't mad at Michael for lying to her and sent him to hell for that. He laughed than. "She loves him," he said, "and she won't stop so easily." Love is such a stupid thing. I mean, look what it makes people do? I don't believe in love, all I know about is power. These things are practically the opposites of each other. Love makes you weak, vulnerable, while power is exactly the other way around. I'm happy that I'm smart enough to see which one of them is better.

It had finally arrived. The day I will switch with Barbie and take her life away from her. The bogus mission was prepared and everything was ready for the switch. I was practically vibrating with anticipation.

We waited until the Section team was in the building and then we advanced towards them. 'We' meaning me plus three guards. I hear her voice, that voice that I spent years trying to imitate. "Let's go," she said. And then there was an explosion.

*****

The guards that were with me killed her team and then I stepped forward and shot her with a tranq dart. She groaned when the dart hit her and collapsed to the ground. I got to glance at her face. So familiar. The face that I see in the mirror every day for a few months now.

"We've got 60 seconds, hurry." I said, taking off my clothes. They stripped her down to her black spandex and I dressed quickly in her black field gear. The last step was taking her comm unit. I pressed it behind my ear and immediately heard the voice of the young computer whiz I know as Birkoff.

"Nikita, what's going on?" he asked. I saw the guards take Nikita, zipping her in a body bag and wheeling her away.

"Hostiles grabbed my team," I answered quickly while pulling my hair into a knot.

"You've got 30 seconds, get going." He said.

"I'm on my way," I answered and ran out of there. I had no desire to stay there when the entire place blows up to hell. I ran outside, noticing Michael waiting for me outside the van. "Ambush," I screamed and shot a guard that ran out as well.

"They cut off our retreat," I informed and entered the van quickly. Michael entered the van and we moved. We all felt the impact of the explosion when the building went up in flames.

We sat in the van in silence. Everybody fell asleep except for Michael. He just sat there, typing in his computer.

"How's your cold?" It took me a few seconds to realize that he was talking to me. Everybody except us was asleep.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"Your cold." He clarified. Damn, she must have a cold.

"It's better," I smiled to him, covering my initial confusion, "much better. I just need to get a little bit of rest."

He looked thoughtful but he let it go and went back to his computer.

The van continued moving in silence and then I heard Dominic's voice through the transmitter he gave me. He was talking to Nikita. I heard her saying that she knows that 'she's not there at all'. She probably saw me just before she collapsed from the effect of the tranq dart. She was cocky and 'bored' until Dominic mentioned Michael's name.

"Abby," I heard him call my name, "it's show and tell time." I took the pair of glasses Dominic gave me and put them on. Those glasses are not a simple transmitter, they contain a camera. Dominic and lovely Nikita can see everything that I see. Way cool gadget. I picked up her gun, my gun now.

"Put the target in focus," Dominic says. I moved the gun slowly and aimed it directly at... Michael. They were seeing the whole thing.

"That'll do for now, Abby," he told me. And to Nikita, "Still bored?" She didn't answer. I could almost hear and frustration. I pulled the trigger and the gun clicked. Michael raised his eyes to look at me.

"Nice gun," I murmured and put it down. I removed the glasses.

"Nikita," Michael spoke to me, "the tape shows 45 seconds of silence after the ambush. Why didn't you call Birkoff immediately?"

"Well?" I heard Dominic ask Nikita through the transmitter.

"Frequency was jammed. I couldn't get through, Birkoff must have called in the same time as you did. " She whispered. I repeated her words to Michael.

He glanced at me and back to his computer. I put my glasses back on and closed my eyes.

Finally we arrived Section 1. I was really excited, I hoped nobody noticed. We entered a passage that Nikita introduced as 'Van Access'. It leads directly to Section.

I heard Dominic order Nikita to tell me exactly what to do.

She sighed and told me, "Go to Systems, fill out a mission report, take the corridor on your left."

I went left. That's weird. It seemed that everybody else turned right.

"Where are you going?" I heard Michael's voice behind me.

"To make out my report," I answered, wondering what the hell went wrong already.

"That won't be necessary," he said.

I stopped and turned around to face him. "Operations wants to debrief you directly," he informed me.

"Now?"

"In a half an hour." Whatever . I nodded and kept walking. "You have to return your communications device first," Nikita interrupted, "It's the other direction." Great. Now she tells me. I changed directions and passed Michael on my way. "Almost forgot," I smiled to him, pointing to my Section 1's comm unit. He kept staring at me until I disappeared around the corner. What is it with this guy?

I entered what looked like the main area. Wow, that's amazing. It's nothing like the depressing warehouse-style compounds Red Cell has. I think I'll actually like it here.

*****

"About twenty meters straight ahead, ponytail and a bandanna, at a work station," Nikita guided me. I stepped forward, looking for the place she was talking about. Oh, there it is. Nikita said that his name is Walter. He's her friend and Dominic instructed her to guide me word for word. I entered the workstation.

Walter smiled to me, "Hi, Sugar." We carried out a really boring conversation about his love life. Barbie must be really bored to be talking about this stuff with him. Isn't she getting' enough from her boyfriend? But the stuff that were there, wow! Really cool weapons. I looked around, giving Dominic a full view of all the cool stuff. I was itching to try out some of them but, unfortunately, I had to go and see Operations for debrief in 20 minutes. I better go and take a shower first. Nikita told me the way to the showers and to her locker and I showered quickly and put on some close. I picked a black blouse and skirt. A little conservative for my taste, but it'll do for now.

The debrief went smoothly. It was easy, actually, I didn't really need Nikita's help in this. Dominic expected this and told me before what to say if they question me. I was in Close-Quarter Standby. Meaning there will be a follow-up mission and I'll have to stay in Section until then.

To Dominic's instruction, Nikita guided me to her workstation and I turned the computer on, looking for details about the mission. But what was there wasn't enough; Dominic wanted a specific mission profile.

"The profile won't be released until an hour before the mission," Nikita told him calmly.

"Well, that will be too late," he said, irritated.

"There's nothing I can do," Nikita returned him.

"How very sad for Michael," he said harshly.

She didn't say anything for a few moments and then said, "There might be a way." I had to smile. It just gets to her every time.

Seducing the sex-deprived computer geek was easier than I'd expected. All I had to do was rub his back, tell him that he was a 'good man' and he was putty in my hands. I placed my glasses near the computer screen in the meantime and Dominic got the whole thing. I kind of enjoyed it. Not that he was that good, I prefer my men more experienced and creative, but it was so easy, so ridiculously easy.

After we finished, I got up and dressed quickly. The poor guy looked a little dazed, a stupid puppy-dog look on his face. I winked at him and left. I went to grab something to eat until the briefing began.

On the briefing, Michael took the seat to my left. I glanced at Birkoff who was sitting to Michael's left. He looked at me and I looked away. I hoped he wasn't going to be walking around me all the time now.

Operations gave the details of the mission and everybody left the table except of Michael and I. He turned his chair sideways and stared at me. I started to feel uncomfortable under his probing gaze.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Why are you wearing glasses?" he questioned.

"My eyes... they've been a little sensitive lately," I improvised.

"Maybe you need some rest," he suggested.

I nodded, "After the mission I'll get some. Thanks." I turned to leave. I looked at him. He kept staring at me. What's wrong with him? It seems that Dominic thought the same because he told Nikita, "Something's wrong. Abby's doing something wrong." Great, blame it all on me.

"No," she said quietly.

"He seems edgy," Dominic said.

"That's just the way he is," she answered, still quietly. She misses him, I suddenly understood. Well, she won't be near him again, so she better gets used to it. Her life is mine now.

"I'm surprised you put up with it," Dominic remarked, and added sarcastically "perhaps he has hidden charms." I had to smile at this.

Observant as he is, Dominic is still a man. A woman would be able to see Michael's not-so-hidden charms right away. I mean, how can you tell a man that Michael's butt looks great in those sinfully tight mission pants? Doesn't matter. Dominic will understand in time.

The mission had started. The team, me included, went out of the mission van. We went into the building. The building was empty, Dominic had already took care of that. Birkoff gave the order to get out of there. We ran outside.

Two Red Cell operatives shot us, gunned down everyone except for me. I must admit, Dominic did a really good job with those goons. They actually recognized me and were careful not to shoot me. I went back into the van and we went back to Section in silence. Michael was staring at me again.

*****

After I showered and changed, I went to system to do some things Dominic wanted me to do. I felt somebody stop in front of me. I raised my head. Michael.

"We need to talk," he said. Damn! What did I do now?

"All right," I said.

"Not here," he said in a lowered voice, "Level Four in 15 minutes." He left.

"What does he want?" I heard Dominic ask Nikita. Good question, I've been wondering about it myself.

"I don't know," she answered.

"Take a guess." He was a little angry already.

"I can't," she exclaimed, "we'll have to wait and see."

"If you've done something to jeopardize my operation..." he started.

"No. I want Michael to live."

"Then I suggest you handle the next few moments very carefully," he said threateningly.

Nikita told me where to go and I started walking up the stairs, heading to Level 4. While on my way, I encountered Birkoff.

"Nikita," he said excitedly.

"Hello, Birkoff," I murmured. Damn, I really didn't need him tailing me like a lovesick puppy.

"I had a great time the other night."

"Great."

"Want to go grab some dinner?" he offered.

"I'm beat, no thanks."

"We don't have to go out. I can bring some over." Jeez, can't the guy take a hint? He needs to understand that when a woman says 'I'm beat' it's kinda like 'not tonight, honey, I have a headache'.

"Some other time," I answered. I tried to make my most uninterested voice.

"Maybe just a drink or something?" he tried again.

I stopped. "Sorry, Birkoff." He finally left, thank god!

I arrived to Level 4 and met Michael.

"They've put a watch on you," he said without introduction, "probably on me as well."

"Because we survived the mission?" I asked innocently, repeating Nikita's words.

"Yes."

"All the other operatives shielded me."

He wasn't buying it. "You weren't hit even after they went down, and they didn't fire at them, not once."

"Michael, no matter how bad it seems," I said softly, "we're innocent. Sooner or later, that will become clear."

He didn't say anything, just stared at me.

"Now what?" Dominic asked Nikita nervously.

"It's a night off," she said, "We usually get together." Cool. Maybe finally I'll have some action.

"Than why doesn't he say anything?" Dominic continued.

"Because he likes me to make the first move," Nikita replied.

I could almost hear Dominic roll his eyes. "Than MAKE IT!!!" he ordered impatiently.

"We'll talk later," Michael said and started to walk away.

"What about tonight?" I asked, repeating Nikita's exact words.

He stopped and half-turned towards me. "Tonight?"

"Well, we're both off," I said, "unless, of course, you're not in the mood."

He looked at me, thoughtful. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Well, missions have gone bad before," I said, "as far as I'm concerned, tonight should be just like any other night between the two of us."

"You're right," he said, his eyes studied me intently.

I stepped towards him, standing impossibly close to him.

"My place? In an hour?" I whispered seductively.

"I'll be there." He whispered back.

Oh, yeah, it seems I will have some action tonight. I left the hallway, satisfied with myself. I thought I was getting better at this.

*****

I went to her apartment and raided her closet, trying to find something... adequate to wear. I picked a narrow skirt and a blouse with a very low neckline. No bra. I pulled it low on my chest, just enough to give him an enticing view of the tops of my breasts. I think I looked great.

I looked for a bottle of wine and just as I was opening it, there was a knock on the door.

"He's here," I said and went to open the door for him.

I heard Dominic talking to Nikita, "I hope this won't be too painful for you." Oh, I hoped it will. Otherwise, where's the fun?

"Hi," I said with my most sexy smile.

"Hi," he answered with a small smile. His hand touched my arm and we leaned forward for a kiss. Mmmm, the guy can definitely kiss.

What followed definitely proved Dominic's 'hidden charms' theory. God, he was amazing. The first thing I did was to strip him down to his snug black briefs. I tell you, the man has a body of a Greek god, all smooth skin and hard muscles. Good enough to eat. He kissed me, touched me, dazed me, made me cry out, and all that even before we got to the bed. But when we finally did land on the bed... Oh, my. That was a different story entirely. The man has talents you can't even begin to imagine. I deliberately placed my camera/glasses on the bedside table, the camera's eye square on us. I wanted to give HER an eyeful. I wanted her to see me and her beloved boyfriend scr**ing our brains out.

The one thing that disturbed me was that he was suspiciously quiet. Would it kill him to at least moan my name? Or give any other indication that he's enjoying himself? Well, I thought, I guess he's the silent type. Never mind. His... other... endowments compensate. He was a real improvement after the green computer geek.

Afterwards, I just laid there on top of him, slightly bored. His cell phone rang. He answered it and closed it after a second. He smoothed my hair. "We have to go," he said. Good, I was starting to get bored. I'm not the cuddling type. So we got dressed and went back to Section.

"Michael." We turned around. It was Operations.

Michael turned to me. "I'll catch up with you," he said.

I went into the briefing room and ran into Walter. It was a good chance to pump some information from him.

"Hey," I did my best to look cheerful, "What's going on?"

"Oh, a flash-mission," he explained, "they located Klaus Honig."

"Flash-mission?" What the fu** is that?

"Yeah, a FLASH mission." He looked surprised. Oops. I guess I shouldn't have said that out loud. I made a face like it was all cleared to me. "Right."

Shit, that was close. I probably should be more careful.

Nikita said what a flash-mission is and Dominic was frustrated that he can't put his hands on the profile.

We all approached to van access. "Is everything alright?" I asked Michael. I had a bad feeling from some reason.

"Everything's fine," he replied.

The elevator's door closed, but Michael just stood there.

"Tactical delay," I heard Nikita say, "It's common."

Suddenly, the door opened and two operatives stepped inside. Michael turned around to face me.

"What?" I asked. I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all.

Michael lifted his hand and removed my glasses. I watched with horror as he smashed them to the floor.

He turned his green eyes to me. "Game's over." He said coldly. Two operatives grabbed my hands and took me away. To the notorious White Room.

*****

Oh, god. Oh, God. I never knew pain could be so intense. At first, when Madeline stepped into the room and started questioning me, I wasn't answering any of her questions. And then she brought the two freaks with the briefcases. They opened them and... Oh, god.

So, here I am now, sitting, waiting to the blissful death. Madeline is back in the room, holding a gun.

"Nikita," she turns to the blonde, who's standing right outside the door, "would you like to step inside?"

She steps inside and looks at me. Madeline hands her the gun.

"What's this for?" she asks.

"The debriefing is over," Madeline answers, "we have no further use for her."

"I'm not in the habit of killing people in cold blood," Nikita says.

"In that case, you might want to make an exception. In a manner of speaking, she possessed you, in body as well as mind," Madeline explains.

Nikita takes the gun and aims it at me. I can feel the tears glide down my cheeks. Please, my mind screamed, kill me and take me out of my misery.

"Your psyche file suggests that by killing her, I can best exorcise her?" Nikita asks Madeline.

"Yes."

Nikita is still looking at me. "I don't think so," she finally says, handing the gun back to Madeline.

"If I do it instead, I think you'll regret it," Madeline warns her, "but the choice is yours."

Nikita looks at me again, pondering. She turns her look back to Madeline.

"No."

Madeline nods slightly and lifts the gun towards me.

A shot rang out.

-The End-

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