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written by Athena
This is the second part of my Discovery
series. The first was Innocence Lost.
I know that you are getting a little tired of me doing these
dedications, but they are my favorite part of a book. It is like
a peek into someone else's life for a moment. I may not
understand what is being said, but I always kind of wondered who
they were talking about. Now, I don't fancy myself an
"author" but since I have finally gotten the courage to
show these stories to the world, I am going to pretend, for a
moment, that I am an "author", so I will write a
dedication.
To Kim and Sunny who, even though they don’t watch the show,
listen patiently, or in Sunny's case not so patiently, as I try
out plot lines on them. Astred, without her encouragement,
praise, and patience, I would have trashed this story long ago
along with all the others. To my parents, I love you. To my
nephew, B-man, you are the future of this big 'ole world. Be
anything you want to be!! And finally to Nathan and Jill, growing
up with you was the greatest…mark time, hut… Thanks to
everyone!!
Disclaimers: I don't own these characters…kinda wish I
did…but I don't. You can sue me, but all you would get would
be a nearly worn out 'N Sync cd and my collection of movie
posters. I have never been to Paris or know how to speak
French…basically I am guessing.
"We have three days off... what should we do?" Nikita
asks Michael as they are finishing dinner.
"Well...we could go somewhere?"
"Won't Ops get ticked that we left town?"
Michael laughs at her choice of nicknames for their
"esteemed" boss. "Hold on."
Michael reaches for his cell phone and quickly dials a number.
"Astred, it's Michael...can you patch me into Operations or
Madeline?"..."Thanks...Hello...Would it be possible for
Nikita and me to leave town for our days off?...Okay...That can
be arranged... Okay....Thanks...We won't...Goodbye." Michael
turns the phone off and turns to Nikita. "We can go as long
as we use Section transport, go someplace where there is a
substation and carry our phones."
"We can do that...so where should we go...Disneyland?"
"Nikita...we didn't just win the Super Game..."
"Superbowl, Michael, Superbowl. You have got to get out
more." Nikita laughs.
"Whatever. So...where should we go...Europe?"
"I would love to, but we only have three days and the flight
would take too long...Mexico?"
"Too hot. I love you, but resembling a lobster is just not a
good look for you."
"Ha Ha, very funny...Skiing...Sun Valley, Idaho...I heard
Brad Pitt goes there and...well you know...he is kinda
cute."
"Skiing? Sounds good. I am not sure I like the fact you
suggested it because Brad Pitt is going to be there..."
Michael says with just a tinge of jealousy.
"Michael, Michael...granted Brad is a cutie...but he has got
nothing on you. To get a little mushy on you, he does not make my
knees go weak with a look like you do...and anyway...I heard that
tone you used with Astred..."
"What?"
"You were flirting with her."
"I wasn't."
"Well...anyway...when do we leave?"
"Right now!!!"
[a little while later]
"What to bring...what to bring..." Nikita mumbles.
"Nikita, what is taking so long...bring a snow suit, a
bikini for the hot tub and nothing else. You won't need it."
"Won't need..." Nikita asks but then sees the knowing
look in Michael's eyes and realized that they probably would not
be spending a whole lot of time anywhere, but the slopes and the
bedroom. "Oh...but maybe a dress if we go down to
dinner?"
"Okay, but that is it!!!"
"What about skis, I don't have any skis."
"Have you ever heard of renting?"
"Oh, shut up you overbearing, unrelenting,
know-it-all...male!!"
Laughing, Michael grabs the overnight case with the toiletries
and the shared suitcase. "Let's go."
On the flight to Sun Valley, they are talking about how they had
met as children.
"I can't believe the coincidence." Nikita says.
"Well, its true."
"That would explain the feeling I had that we had known each
other. That the connection we have runs deeper than sex and work.
We were meant for each other." Nikita says as she lays her
head on Michael's shoulder.
Michael is remembering the very first time he saw her. She was
laying on the bed in the white room. He sat there for at least a
half an hour just staring at her. Wondering about her. He had
felt something even then. A bond that he had never really felt
with Simone. He had loved his wife, but felt something a little
deeper with Nikita. He didn't want to analyze his luck at finding
two wonderful, giving, loving, beautiful women in his lifetime,
but felt that maybe a guardian angel was looking over his
shoulder.
"Nikita, we are there."
"I just remembered something. Does Sun Valley have a
substation."
"No, but Pocatello does and it is only a couple hours away.
In fact that is where we are landing."
"Oh."
They disembark the plane at the Section landing strip north of
Pocatello. They grab their luggage and climb into the Section
issued 4x4. They head west to Sun Valley."
[later]
"Wow...this place is nice." Nikita gushes as they check
into a luxury resort in Sun Valley. "It is lush...are you
sure we're not on a mission."
"We are."
"What!?!?!" Nikita yells.
"Not so loud...we are on a mission, to relax, ski, and take
unbelievable advantage of each others bodies."
"Oh well, when you put it that way..." Nikita replies
with a blush staining her cheeks.
The couple, unbeknownst to them, was being observed...watched by
an elderly couple sitting in the lounge.
"They are so in love with each other." the woman says
to her husband.
"Just like we are, darling." he says with a smile.
Michael and Nikita follow the bellboy into
their suite. Michael tips him and he discreetly leaves as the
couple join in a loving embrace.
"I love it here. Let's go skiing." Nikita says in a
rush.
"We just got here."
"So?"
They don their ski suits and hit the slopes. Nikita had only
skied a few times in her life, when her mother was lucky enough
to find a rich boyfriend. She was not surprised to learn that
Michael was an excellent skier. "Is there nothing he can't
do?" she wonders to herself as she tentatively heads down an
easy slope.
They hit a few runs. Nikita finds her skills coming back and even
attempted a moderately difficult run, with Michael coaching her
down.
They changed and went down to the hotel dining room for dinner.
After dinner, they danced then retired to their rooms for, well,
you know for what. The next morning went as the previous
afternoon, food, skiing, food, more skiing, dinner, and
passionate lovemaking.
On their last day there, they decided to go on one more run
before leaving. Afterwards, they packed ate lunch and checked
out.
On the drive back to the airstrip in Pocatello, Nikita drifts off
to sleep.
She is dreaming of a time when she was a teenager. Her mother had
found a rich sugar daddy and was milking him for all he was
worth. She finally convinced him to take her to Paris. He was a
nice man and invited the 16 year old Nikita to go with them. Her
mother, Marcia, was a little pissed, but consented, knowing they
could ditch the kid there.
"The Louvre." Nikita says waking up.
"What?"
"The Louvre. In Paris."
"I know, I've been there."
"I know"
"How do you know."
"How old were you in the summer of 1989?"
"18 or 19. Why?"
"I think we have another coincidence."
"What do you mean?"
Nikita tells Michael about her mother getting some guy to take
her to Paris and he brought Nikita along.
"They didn't want me cramping their style, so to speak, so
he gave me some francs and she told me to get lost. I found
myself drawn to the museum. I guess the pictures there allowed me
to forget reality for a while and pretend I was somewhere or
someone else. While I was there..."
"We met again." Michael breaks in.
"Yes. Do you remember?"
"Yes. I had started going by my middle name, but, with it
being a different pronunciation in French..."
"I didn't connect it...with Peter or Michael."
"Yes."
The car grows quiet as they each reminisce about their time in
Paris. It was a short time, only three days, but for them it was
a lifetime, a wonderful time.
They had met in front of the Mona Lisa. She was sitting on a
bench that sat in front of it and he walked up and inadvertently
stood in her way.
"Excuse me?"
"Hmm?"
"Please, you are in my way."
"I am sorry. Is this seat taken?" pointing to an
unoccupied cushion next to her.
"No, please" she indicates with a wave of her hand.
Michael sits down and asks "May I ask your name?"
"Nikita, and yours?"
"Michel."
"Oh."
They sit there for awhile, casually talking about the interesting
pieces they had seen.
"May I buy you a drink?" Michel asks.
"Well, okay."
They go to a small café outside of the museum. The drink grew
into lunch. Michel asks her if he can show her Paris. She
realizes that she just met this man, but feels like she has known
him forever.
"Sure."
Michel shows Nikita all of the tourist sites in Paris for the
rest of the day, only stopping for dinner. They agree to meet at
the café the next day.
"Good morning. How is everything." Michel asks upon
seeing her the next morning.
"Fine. And you?"
"Wonderful now that you are here."
Nikita blushes at the endearment. Michel decides that they have
had enough of the touristy things in Paris and decides to show
Nikita his Paris. The real Paris.
The entire day was spent seeing things that average tourists
miss. Small shops and out of the way museums. A fountain in the
middle of a small park. They stopped for a drink in a small
café. The entire day was spent, hand entwined, with only good
thoughts on their minds.
That night Michel asks Nikita to dinner at his apartment. They
eat and as Nikita finishes, Michel asks her when she is supposed
to leave.
"Tomorrow." She answers. "But I don't want to
leave you."
"I do not want you to leave either, but you must. You must
return to your life."
"What life. I have told you about my mother. She is
horrid."
"But you must. There are things about me that I have not
told you."
"I don't care."
"But I do." Michel replies "I care very
much."
"I won't forget you." she vows.
"Nor I you." he replies taking her into his arms. He
gives her a sweet kiss then releases her. "My life is fuller
because I've met you."
Nikita starts to cry, knowing that the same applies to her. She
turns, opens the door and leaves, without looking back, knowing
if she did she might never leave.
Present Day on flight back to Section
"Michael. Twice we met before Section."
"Nikita, I must tell you something. I loved Simone, but was
never able to commit to her totally. I told her of the woman I
had met in Paris before I was recruited. She knew, but accepted
me anyway. When she died, it tore me up, but when I met you, from
the first moment I laid eyes on you, lying on the gurney in the
White room, I knew I had found the other half of myself. I know
that sounds corny."
"No, because I felt it too. Why did you fight it?"
"Too many years of training. But you opened my eyes."
"How long after we met were you recruited?"
"Six months. When we met, we were already planning the
bombing, that is why I made you leave. I didn't want you
hurt."
"Michael?"
"What?"
"I love you."
"And I love you. More than anything in the world"
THE END
written by Athena
©1998 La Femme Fiction
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