Walter ran the glasscutter one more time around the inside of the window. It had taken him nearly an hour to disarm the latticework of circuits that connected the window to the security system. He wiped his forearm across his eyes again to catch the river of perspiration that dripped down from beneath his bandanna. It was hotter than hell in here, as though he needed one more thing to make this mission impossible. Yeah, he thought to himself with a grin, wish he had Jim here with him now.

"Birkoff?" he asked for the hundredth time, not expecting an answer, just like before.

He sighed and pulled the suction pads from his pack, placing them firmly against the window. He tapped gently around the edges of the lines he had traced. With a grunt he pulled back, the glass coming away cleanly and, more importantly, quietly. He placed the sheet of glass on the floor then loaded his gear back in his pack.

Glancing at his watch, he did some quick calculations. Just on four hours to get to this point inside the complex. Nearly six hours since he'd lost contact with the others in the retrieval team. Three since his last communication with Birkoff. He figured he was close, maybe ten minutes, to where Birkoff said they should be. Provided he was where he thought he was. He looked at the timer counting down on his watch, forty minutes until the perimeter charges turned this place into dust. The numbers swam in his head, whichever way he added them up they all said not enough time.

He could go back the way he had come, it would probably only take him twenty minutes now that he had a safe passage through the security system. He could go back, but then, could he live with himself afterwards, always wondering if he could have done it? With a deep breath he climbed through the hole he had made in the window. What the hell, so far so good.

This lab was different to the others, bigger, brighter, just as hot and still. He looked around. Clean white benches supported all manner of high tech equipment. A row of cages lined one wall. He crouched down and took cover in the passage between the cages and one of the benches. Moving forward slowly he scanned for the infrared sensors he had encountered throughout the building. With a smile he started moving forward quickly, pressing against the cages. They wouldn't have motion detectors where there were animals moving. It didn't matter that all of them were dead. Rabbits mostly, the occasional cat.

Stopping for a moment he heard a noise, like a whimper. He moved forward slowly, towards where he thought the noise had come from.

Then he saw them. A tangle of arms and legs in what looked to be some sort of bath. Her gaze locked on him the moment he came into view. Eyes huge as she looked at him. Pleading.

Walter scanned the area between them to check for sensors before he rushed to her, running a hand down her tear-stained cheek.

"Walter" his name came out in a rush, her voice grateful, relieved.

"I'm here sugar, have you out of here in no time." He forced a smile as he looked down her body to the wires that connected her to Michael, then saw the bomb nestled snugly between them.

"How much time?" Nikita asked, her eyes suddenly guarded.

"Enough" Walter lied.

"The samples are in the cold room behind us, Michael managed to download the information before they found us, the disc is in the computer on the end of the bench, just there" she indicated the direction with a slight movement of her head. "Get the samples and the disk and get out of here Walter. Leave us, no point all of us dying over this."

She shifted slightly then let out a pitiful moan. Walter watched as the tension increased on the labyrinth of wires. He followed one to where it cut into Michael's neck, causing a fresh stream of blood to flow down towards his shoulder. Walter noticed Michael's shirt was wet, drenched with blood. It dripped steadily, accumulating in the dark red stain beneath him. The contrast with his ashen skin was alarming.

"Shit, razor wire" Walter mumbled as he pulled his pack off and retrieved a pair of slender-nosed pliers.

He was about to cut the wire when Nikita hissed "No!"

He followed her gaze to where the wire passed through the trigger mechanism of the bomb.

"Michael was trying to disarm it before he passed out. All the wires pass through the trigger. It's pressure sensitive, release the tension and the trigger will arm. He couldn't find a way." Her voice was remarkably calm, all things considered. Just sort of hollow, sad.

"Why this, why not just ... you know?" he asked, emptying his pack and sorting out the gear he needed.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She smiled, tried not to laugh in case she moved again. "Michael really pissed them off, you know how he gets. Maybe I pissed them off too."

Walter smiled at her, letting out a knowing chuckle. He shook his head slowly and squeezed her hand, then quickly set to work, tracing the maze of wires and their connections to the bomb.

"One of the guys was bald, real stupid. Michael made a crack about Dr Evil. It didn't go down real well." She stared across at Michael, eyes so sad. Walter had to turn away so she wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. "He picked a strange time to find humour" she murmured.

"That's Michael. Just when you think you got him pegged." Walter chuckled. "What happened then sugar, tell me" he smiled encouragingly. His fingers traced the wires, working with an assurance and finesse that belied his growing anxiety.

"They wanted to know who we worked for. Started in on the serious business. They tied me to a chair, made Michael watch. Dr Evil started feeling me up. That set Michael off." Nikita talked in a monotone, eyes fixed vacantly on Walter's hands. "He killed three of them before they even had a chance to blink. We nearly got away. He's got a bullet wound in his thigh, straight through, pretty clean. One gouged my hip; I can't feel it anymore. They beat him pretty bad before they put us in here."

She sighed and Walter felt the wires tense again.

"I'm so tired Walter" she whispered.

"You'll be OK sugar, just hold on a bit longer. When this is over I'll draw you a real bath, bubbles, candles, the whole shebang. Maybe you'll even let me wash your back. Then you can sleep for as long as you want." Walter tried desperately to sound cheerful.

"Wash my back" Nikita snorted. "You're a classic Walter."

He held his breath a moment and clipped one of the wires. "Yeah well, I'm feeling lucky," he said as he breathed out slowly.

"At least they didn't put sharks in the bath with us."

Walter chuckled "I think it was mutated sea bass, wasn't it? Ill tempered, if memory serves."

Nikita frowned at him for a moment and then gave a soft snort.

"Oh yeah, that's right."

She watched him work. "How's it going?"

"So far so good." He smiled and swept his knuckles across her cheek, then leant back down and slowly unscrewed the cover off the bomb casing.

"Where are the others, how come they only sent you?"

"I don't know where they are. Five of us came in to look for you, we got separated back in the ground floor foyer where the bad guy's were waiting. I seem to have lost contact with them." Walter continued working as he spoke. He followed the wire circling Michael's neck. It had worked its way under the skin a couple of millimetres and as he tried to tease a section out, the remaining wire cut in deeper. Realising there would be no easy way he found the weak pulse of Michael's jugular vein. Working quickly, he dug the wire out above where he thought the vein should be and cut it. Holding it taught he wrapped it around one of the taps beside him. He heard Nikita sigh with relief. "How long has Michael been out?"

"A couple of hours, I think, maybe longer." Nikita gazed across at him. "It seems like a long time" she whispered. "I've been trying to keep still, Walter."

He heard a whimper again.

"You've done well sugar, real good, it's OK. Just hold on, I can get you out of this" he said softly, eyes and hands focused on untangling wires.

"I know you can Walter, it wasn't me" Nikita whispered.

Walter continued to work, not registering her words for a moment. He looked up at her, then at Michael's pale, still face.

"Huh?" he asked, confused, going back to his work.

"It wasn't me" Nikita repeated.

Walter looked up.

"The dog" she said softly flicking her eyes to indicate something behind him. "She's here, been with us. I would have been so lonely, without her, after he passed out. Michael named her Espérer." Nikita sighed again, then looking across at the dog she whispered "hope."

Walter heard a soft "yip" and turned. A pair of bright eyes and alert ears following his every move. The tail wagged slowly.

He grinned. "Hi Hope, glad to have you here with us." He turned back to his task as Nikita continued to talk softly.

"We were ready, you know Walter, for whatever was going to happen. Nothing like ten hours of this to force a reality check. We talked for a long time before he couldn't manage anymore."

"That's good Nikita, I'm real glad. You two sure had some things to sort out." He reached out and squeezed her hand, smiling.

"How's it going?" she asked, her gaze fixed on Michael, a hopeless look in her eyes.

Walter smiled and held her hand for a moment longer before focussing back on his task. "So far, so good, sugar."

"Good" she repeated softly.

She was silent for a while watching him, watching Michael. He heard her choke back a sob.

In a voice so low he barely heard her she whispered, "I'm killing him."

Walter looked up and saw the tears streaming down her face again.

"No sugar, you're the only thing keeping him alive" he said softly, eyes fixed on hers so she would see the truth of his words. She nodded slowly, her lower lip trembling with suppressed emotion.

He took off his bandana and wet it with some water from the tap. He gently wiped her face, frustrated it was all he could think of to try and calm her. Removing the water canister from his pack he held it to her lips, she drank greedily. He was rewarded with a fragile smile. He turned back to the bomb and the maze of wires, only a few to go, so far so good. He didn't want to look at his watch.

A shrill ring made him jump. Walter cursed and steadied his hand as he cut another wire.

"It's the phone" Nikita said vaguely "it's been ringing every fifteen minutes or so for the last couple of hours. The first time was when Michael finally passed out. It made me jump too."

Walter stood and followed the ringing to a wall phone. He paused for a moment before picking it up.

Silence, then "hello, who's this?" the boyish voice all too familiar.

"Disable the perimeter now, I have them, give us an hour."

"OK, good," then a disconnected tone. He replaced the receiver.

Walter took a deep breath and moved back to Nikita. He knelt down beside her and grinned, squeezing her hand as he looked at the tangle of wires lying across her legs.

He shifted slightly and picked up his pliers again. Two wires to go and a big decision.

"What do you think Nikita, white or black?"

She didn't hesitate.

"White Walter, always trust the light."

He winked at her in confirmation, he would have picked the white one also. He placed one of Michael's limp hands in hers then covered them with his own. Nikita squeezed strongly, her eyes fixed to him, trusting, calm. With his other hand he snipped the white wire. Tick, tick, tick, nothing.

Walter sighed with relief and quickly cut the wires connecting Nikita to the remains of the bomb. He helped her out of the bath, supporting her weight as her legs buckled under her for a moment, the blood flow slowly returning. She picked up a pair of pliers and helped him remove the wires cutting into Michael's limbs and torso. Together they gently lifted him out of the bath and laid him on the floor. Nikita brushed the hair from Michael's forehead, then leant down and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I'll get the samples" Nikita whispered, standing and walking stiffly towards the freezers at the rear of the lab.

Walter pulled out his medical kit and tried to do something about the flow of blood from the myriad of wounds on Michael's body. He soon gave up and settled for cutting the blood-soaked shirt away. He found some towels in a nearby cupboard and wrapped a couple around Michael's upper body, securing them in place with his mission jacket and some bandages from his kit. Not very effective he thought, but it would have to do for the moment.

Nikita returned and squatted behind Michael, placing her arms gently around his chest. With a quick glance at Walter she stood and pulled Michael upright. Walter leaned in and, with a groan, hoisted Michael onto his shoulder. Nikita smiled and scooped up Walter's pack, putting the sample and disc inside before slinging it on her back.

Soft lips pressed against Walter's cheek.

"Thank you Walter" she said softly, kissing his cheek again. "Thank you. You can watch my back anytime."

Walter grinned, "thanks sugar, that's a good offer for a guy like me. Now let's get out of here."

He moved off, half way down the lab before he realised Nikita wasn't beside him. He turned and saw her fumbling with the lock on the cage.

She looked up at him. "The dog isn't acceptable collateral." As she spoke a glorious smile emerged on her face. "Even Michael agreed."

Walter laughed as the dog scampered down towards him, tail wagging excitedly, followed by a beaming Nikita.

"Welcome to Section ... Hope" he grinned.

Finis

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