continue on to Promises to Keep, Part 3
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Claude glanced in their bedroom and found it empty. Puzzled, he wondered where Annie was. A small knowing smile crossed his lips. He knew where she was. He went up to the third floor and down to the end of the hall. The door was ajar and he pushed it open. Annie sat in a rocking chair in front of the window, contemplating the sky. Reese slept quietly in the crib along the far wall.
She turned as she heard the door and smiled at her husband as he leaned against the side of the window. "Hi," she whispered.
"Hi yourself. Why aren't you in bed?" He knelt down on the floor and laid his head in her lap. Slowly she stroked his hair.
"It's a new baby's first few nights in the house. You know I don't sleep. If he wakes up he'll be frightened. I don't want a child to ever fear being in our home."
"I'm glad I have you Annie. I love you. Maybe someday our own..."
"Shhh...no false hope. I've accepted that. Don't talk about it." They were silent for a time. "Have you looked at him?"
Claude sat up and then stood. He walked over to the crib and looked down into it. Annie came up beside him and wrapped an arm around his. He reached in and drew the blanket up around the little shoulders more. "He looks like Merle."
"Yeah, he does. How upset do you think Michael is?"
Tilting up her face to his, he watched her eyes. "A lot, from what Nikita says, but we stay out of it. Let her fix it. Ca va?" Then he kissed her. "Come with me for a little while, then you can continue your vigil."
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Christine leaned against the wall on the floor, watching Michael. The sedative was beginning to wear off and he was becoming more active. Several times he had moaned names, looking for Nikita, Katie, Reese and Merle. She hesitated giving him more of the drug. Mixing it with even the tiny amount of painkiller she had given him was dangerous. But she wanted him to be comfortable. She leaned her head back against the wall, promising herself to leave her eyes closed for only a second....
Michael's dreams became clearer. He hadn't been here in a while. The pain of the dream was strong and fresh...just like the first time. He didn't want to be here. The darkness and senselessness were better but his mind wouldn't let him back there....
*"Donnez-moi une petite cle`.
S'il vous plait
Pour ouvrir la porte au soleil.
Donne-moi une petite cle`.
Je vous prie
Pour fermer la porte a` la pluie
Une cle` qui fait clic
Une cle` qui fait clac."
The two small children held hands and splashed in the mud puddle in front of a small cottage as they sang the song together. The boy had cinnamon brown hair and intense green eyes. The girl had medium brown hair and brown eyes the shade of soft fresh dirt. They ended each line with their feet stomping in the muddy water. They were wet and splattered with mud. The smell of lilacs was everywhere. Spring was revealing herself in all her glory. "Michel!! Paige!! Allons c'est immediatement!!!" A tall woman with her long reddish brown hair tied in a pony tail came out the front door. She shook her head and said, "Ughh!! Mon Dieu!! Vous regards!! Que vous ferais!! Je n'ai pas le temps pour vos espieglerie!! Vos pere ici serat bientot. Maintenant allons!!" They laughed and shouted happily. Papa would be home soon. He would not be pleased about the mud but then Papa did not stay mad for long. Mama did not either. She liked to smile too much to stay angry at anyone. No matter what kind of mischief you caused.
The boy pulled on the hand of the girl trying to get her out of the puddle and instead to run towards the cottage. Suddenly there were screams, the sounds of gunfire, people running to and fro. The small house was in flames. The boy stood frozen in the midst of the chaos. His hands were clasped over his ears and his mouth was open in a scream of his own. The girl huddled on the ground, at the feet of the screaming boy, screaming as he was with her hands clutching his leg. A figure in blackish green grabbed the small boy and ran into the smoke with him. A man in greyish white grabbed the girl and shouted after the running figure. Above the dim, the child screamed for his mother.
Slowly Michael approached the burning cottage, through the smoke he could see a tall figure with long blonde hair. He reached out a hand, amazement on his face. He tried to go to her. Then a figure appeared on the ground in front of him. He knelt beside her. It was the woman who had come out of the cottage before it had exploded in flames. Her eyes were staring blankly and her forehead was covered with clotted blood. A man with features similar to Michael's crawled towards him through the smoke. His words echoing eerily above all the noise. "Mon fils! Pour quoi?" Another figure took shape from the first. "Poltron! Sans valeur! Es un faible! I will take your heart! I will take your soul!" With the last word he disappeared. Michael swung around.
Tears streamed down his face. He looked down as he felt clawing at his leg, The little girl pulled at his pants. "Don't you love me, Michael? Why did you not come for me? Pourquoi d'me ne cherches pas? Pourquoi Michel? Pourquoi? J'ai la frousse mon salopard de frangin. Te soucieres? No because you don't know how? You'll never know how!" The girl started to hammer his shin with the small fists, blood-curdling screams came from her lips. He looked up in time to see the figure from the ground pull a knife across the throat of the blonde figure as he pushed her out of the smoke and to the mud. Michael lunged forward screaming.*
His scream woke Christine and she hurried to her feet. Michael was trying to get out of bed.
"Kita, no, no.....no....please...mine...not hurt....aaagghh....no." She managed to get him lying down again.
Quickly she administered just enough sedative to quiet him again. It would take a little while to work. She sat down on the bed, one arm over him, holding down the arm with the IV in it. With her other hand she smoothed hair from his forehead and whispered soothingly.
"Shhh....Michel. Suis ici. Cabot, sleep. Drift off. I'll protect you while you sleep. I won't let anything happen to You, petit frere."
Michael's eyes opened wide. In his mind, he could hear Paige but for some reason he could see Christine. Paige sounded so far away but Christine was so close. *Why are you together? Paige, did you get hurt?* "Bambin?" he whispered. "Paige?" He closed his eyes and murmured again for Nikita before he drifted off.
Christine exhaled loudly. He had scared the hell out of her, not only the scream but the recognition in his eyes. He had used his own nickname for her. He was the mutt and she was the brat. Feeling eyes, she looked at the door. Claude and Annie both stood there and she could see Simon lurking behind them. "He was dreaming. I fell asleep and he started to come up. It's ok. I'm sorry." Nodding, Claude pulled Annie out of the doorway and closed the door. Impulsively she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Sleep Michael. It's time for me to take care of you. Simon and I are watching. Rest easy."
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The house was finally quiet again and Katie's heart has stopped hammering in her chest so hard. The scream had woken her up and frightened her. The things she had seen in the past few days had scared her. Especially when Oncle Claude had burst in with those people. Katie had seen blood before like when Gilbert had broke his leg during a football game at school. It had been awful to see but she had been the only one not to run away. She had stayed until the doctor came with Monsieur Templineau. But never as she had seen it like it had been in the kitchen.
Being at Meghan's had been terrible because she didn't know what was going on. Katie hated not knowing what was going on. You either missed the good stuff when it happened or you saw it happen and then couldn't figure it out. Nothing was worse than not understanding something. Except for not knowing something. And that was what she was feeling right now.
Something about the woman that man, Simon, he said he name was, had carried in. Katie had seen her face and it reminded her of her own. The hair was almost the same color as hers and she knew her hair was an unusual color. A lot of people had told her that. And Katie just knew that if the woman's eyes had been open, they would have had the same color eyes.
As she sat there, she tried to remember the families she had been with. There were the two people she called mommy and daddy. She had been really little though and had a hard time seeing their faces when she closed her eyes. Then there had been Grand-mere Rosaline and Pieter. Pieter had died and Tante Edlyn had come to live with them. Then both of them died and she stayed at school for a lot of the time, sometimes going home with friends on the holidays but most of the time by herself. Then around her birthday this year, a lawyer from Switzerland had come and taken her here. She had told her that this was going to be her new home until her parents were able to come for her.
That made her think of her real mommy. Katie knew she wasn't the little girl of the first people she could almost remember. Pieter had her told that. According to him, her mommy had been like an angel making sure that someone loved and cared for her. Her real mommy had not been able to care for her and given her to a mommy and daddy who could. However they had died and then it had been up to Pieter and Grand-mere Rosaline to do that.
In her daydreams, she tried to figure out what mommy looked like. It was only mommy she wondered about. She had never heard anyone mention daddy. Katie knew there had to have been one but he was not a big thing. He probably didn't like mommy anymore anyway. A frown crossed Katie's face. She knew she was too big to be referring to her 'mom' as mommy. But she hadn't ever known mommy, so how could she call her 'mom'?
Katie just knew that she looked liked her too. Pieter had said mommy was like an angel. And didn't angels look like Katie? Everyone always called her that, except when she 'xgaspearated' them. Katie reminded herself to find that word in the dictionary. She wanted to know what it meant. Briefly she thought about daddy again. Did she have one? She had to, that was how a mommy got to be one.
Quietly Katie got out of bed, ignoring both her slippers and her robe. She slipped out of her room and went to the stairs that lead to the floor above. Though it hadn't been a really long time since that lawyer brought her here, she knew the house well. If you were going to win at hide and seek or find and destroy and were new, you had to learn it quick. Katie had done that. She knew every creaky spot on the stairs from the third floor down to the bottom. And on all the floors too. She was good at sneaking up on the boys when they least expected it. Being alone at school, she had done the same thing with the staff..
It didn't take her long to get upstairs and get to the doors. There were 3 bedrooms up here plus the baby room and Tante Annie's sewing room. She never sewed in it but adults usually named things in dumb ways anyway. Now which room was she in was all Katie had to figure out. The first door on the left was open and the room empty. The next one on the left was closed. She leaned her head against the wall and could hear someone whispering in French. It was a woman and she sounded like she was trying to comfort someone named Michel. Not the right room either.
That left the two on the right. Katie knew the one at the end was the 'nursery' because it had a crib in it along with a rocking chair. The woman wouldn't be in there. That left the first one on the right. She leaned her ear against the door and listened . It was quiet. Very slowly she turned the knob and pushed open the door. The light from the nightlight in the hall didn't go far into the room but Katie could just see...
The woman with the blonde hair laid face down on the bed. Her face was towards the door. On tiptoes, Katie crossed over to the bed and sat on the floor so she could study her. She was very pretty and didn't snore either. Not like Tante Edlyn, she had snored terribly. There were some nights where it had been hard to sleep because if it. Katie looked to the end of the bed. She would be tall if she stood up. She looked strong too, her arm that laid up over her head had muscles.
Suddenly, the woman moved and pulled her other arm out from under the covers. Her fingers dug into the pillow as if she was trying to hold onto something. Her legs moved a little and then Katie realized she was making noises that sounded like words. Hoping to hear them, Katie held her breath. She heard her say 'Michael', that had to be the man across the hall. After all didn't the voice in there say 'Michel'? They had to be the same person. She was quiet for a moment and then she said 'Reese'. What was she asking about candy for?
The next two words made Katie jump to her feet. First she said 'baby' and then she said 'Katie'. Fearing she had been discovered, Katie scurried down the stairs, not taking the care she had before. In scant seconds she was back in her bed with the sheet over her head. Hardly daring to breath, she waited and listened. There was nothing. Slowly she pulled the covers down off her head. A smile appeared on her face. *I just found my mommy.* Feeling happier than she had in a long time she snuggled into her pillows. She reached up to her headboard and pulled down a large white stuffed animal. She tucked it under the covers with her, arms wrapped tight around it and watched the curtains dancing in the breeze.
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Dawn slipped between the slats of the blinds in Reese's room. He opened his eyes and didn't know where he was. Pulling himself up by grabbing onto the side of the crib, he looked around. He screwed his face up in disgust. "Mama," he said softly. No one appeared. He tried again. Nothing. "Mi...Mi?" That didn't work either.
Reese looked behind him and grabbed the teddy bear. He put his thumb in his mouth holding it, waiting for someone to appear. He was wet and hungry and he wanted Mama and Mi....Mi, now. Yanking out his thumb and tossing the bear, he let out a yell. "MAMA!! MI.....MI!!!" There was still no response. Now the little boy got scared. He gave one of his screeches. No one appeared again. Then he started to cry. And as he cried, he got louder and louder...
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*The cliff face was rugged and the places for her hands and feet were few. They were also far apart and they made her stretch in many directions. She couldn't figure out why Martina and Momma had made her follow them like this. What could possible be up here that she had to see? Hopefully it was better than the awful scenes below her. Maybe if she just let go, she could fall into the clouds below her and drift off on one. Then she heard the yell. It was Reese. He was calling for her. But he was down there. Momma and Martina were up above. She had promised to follow them.
But she had promised Reese too. And she promised Michael. Reese was crying louder and louder now. Momma and Martina didn't matter now . He did. Climbing down would take so long. She took a deep breath and let go.*
Nikita's eyes snapped open and her breath can out in a gasp. Reese was calling for her. She started to move. Pain shot through her back and shoulders. Her head throbbed and the world whirled around her like a cup and saucers ride. A loud moan escaped her mouth. It hadn't hurt like this a second ago. Blackness swept in from the sides of her vision. Then she heard him screech.
Fear gave her the strength to move. She fought the pain and dizziness as she got to her feet. Her knees refused to hold her and she almost dropped to the floor. Now her stomach joined the general protest of her body in response to the dizziness. She fought the nausea down too. Reese was scared and he needed her. Stumbling to the door, she tugged it open and squinted into the bright sunlight of the hallway. Orienting on the sound, she turned to the right and made it to the door just after the one she came out of.
As she pushed it open, he screamed out loudly, "MAMA!!" A small sense of relief flashed through Nikita as she saw him in the crib, standing up. He looked fine, face a little red from crying but that was it. Her legs held up until she got to the side of the crib. There they tried to buckle but she grabbed the rail, holding on til the sensation passed. Reese dug his hands into the t-shirt she had on, trying to climb up her.
"Uht, Mama. Ba? Mi..Mi?" Nikita pushed his flattened curls off his forehead with her hands and kissed him on top of the head. He squirmed away from that, pushing her hands off his head..
" Na! Ba!" he said demandingly.
"Let me keep my head going right...." *Where is Michael? Why didn't he come when Reese called?"* She started as she felt the hand on her arm. Snapping open her eyes, she looked at Annie's face. In her hand was a cup with a lid and something that looked like a spout. She handed it to Reese.
He held it upside down and watched the liquid drip to the mattress. A smile broke across his face. He held it up in the air upright and looked at Nikita. "Mama, ba." And then he promptly shoved it in his mouth, trying to figure out how to get the drink to come out. After a couple of tries, he tilted the cup up. With a sigh around the spout, he sat down, having figured it out.
"He's used to a bottle." Nikita whispered. She felt Annie gingerly adjust the t-shirt across her back.
"And more than old enough to be used to a sippy cup. He'll be fine for a few minutes while I get you back to bed."
Nikita shook her head and pushed off Annie's hand. "No." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Where's Michael?" She steeled herself as best she could. Not matter what, it was going to be a blow. "And Katie?"
"Sleeping in the room across the hall from yours." She held Nikita's arm as she watched the other woman's knuckles turn white on the crib railing. A soft hiss came from between Nikita's teeth. " I know what you saw, it was just one of Claude's gadgets. He's fascinated with Hollywood stuntmen and their equipment. For once, I appreciate that fascination. It saved your lives."
"Will he be ok?"
"In a few days. He needs rest, time to heal. Like you do."
"Katie?"
"Hopefully still asleep. If she gets up now there will be no living with her later. She is not a morning person."
"Does she know?"
Annie started to move Nikita back to the door. She could sense Nikita's need to lay back down and also her fight to stay on her feet. "Does she know what?"
"Who I am."
They had gotten out the door and were starting down the hall. "No, she knows you and Michael are here but not who or what either of you are."
"What.." Nikita gave a short bitter laugh. "Good thing to call me." She stopped as they got to her door, turning to the door across from hers. She looked at it and Annie could feel the tremour that ran up her body.
"Do you want to see him?"
Slowly Nikita shook her head. "No." And then turned away, her head hanging down. "He doesn't believe in us anymore. Just like that...." Sensing eyes on her, she looked towards the stairs. All she saw was a whirl of color and the top of a blonde head. Nikita knew who had been standing there..watching and listening. Annie saw the look on Nikita's face. Things were not going to easy around the house for a while, she just knew it.
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Chapter 4
Birkhoff looked up at he heard the footsteps. Operations entered ops with Madeline close behind him. Both acted worn out and Operations' face looked greyish and drawn. Madeline seemed more relaxed than she had in weeks but the tension was still there. It was impossible to miss in the set of her shoulders and the stiffness of her back. He stood as they stepped up on the platform. On his feet was where he wanted to be when he delivered the news.
"What's the word, Birkhoff?" To his own ears, Operations thought he sounded tired but things had reached a critical junction considering the phone call he had just completed with CC. He had to know what news or intel they had received here. And by the way Birkhoff had flown to his feet, it was not going to be good.
"Can we talk in the loft? This shouldn't be discussed down here."
"Spill it, Birkhoff!"
"I got a report that Michael and Nikita are dead. They went after a group of Agency ops. There was a firefight. They were both killed. Orders were supposed to be from you. To get rid of them before they got away. I don't believe it....that wasn't in the profile...I know it couldn't have been...you wouldn't have ordered that ....something weird is going on around here and it is starting to get....."
Madeline came around Operations and started hitting keys on Birkhoff's keyboard. She stood up as the info scrolled across the screen. "Just as CC said. But as I told you, Simon and Christine were to make it look good and get them the hell out of there. I don't see any mention of Reese. That makes it a gimmick, they want to see our reaction."
Nodding, Operations paced for a moment. "Where were they going to be hidden?"
Birkhoff began to feel heady with relief but also like he was in a tennis match. Only thing was he was the ball instead of one of the players. Madeline and Operations were the rackets and they were hitting hard. It had been a ploy. He had fallen for a trick from Red Cell just as they had wanted you to. Caroline had been right to 'sit on his hands' as she had put it. A million things tumbled around in his head to say but he felt so confused that it was probably better to keep his mouth shut.
Shrugging Madeline answered, "I thought it would be safer if they handled that information themselves. I didn't know exactly what I had on my hands. I can try and find out. I had a second source on it with them as well."
Tilting his head to the side, he studied her. "Who?"
"I can't reveal the identity. The person has to remain secret. What the person takes care of is very important. I made a promise to never tell."
"Even if it means their lives and Reese's?" Operations demanded.
"Those lives will be protected at almost any cost by this person. Don't ask me again. The items being protected are much too valuable. If the information dies with me, so much the better. The person exists, that's all I can say."
His lips formed a hard line as he looked at her. Operations knew she wasn't going to change her mind. Madeline had to be protecting something very precious. He would deal with it later. "All right, Birkhoff. You can relax your little head now. Back to work, wonderkid. Start pulling the following profile/mission records...."
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A computer had the ability to sort through millions of facts at once. Though the brain was considered nature's perfect and first computer, it left the mind with only the ability to focus on a few facts or thoughts at any time. As he had many times since he realized what had happened, Jon Jae sat and thought. Detail after detail was rolled around in his head. Never was he pleased with what those details revealed. Not only the revelations about himself but the revelations of his knowledge of who Margeaux Linsdon was. Or was the proper phrasing now had been.
He twirled the pen in his hand as he stared at the fish swimming serenely in the tank in front of him. Before they had always given him a sense of peace and the ability to disconnect from the world and relax. He couldn't reach that place now. He had not been able to since he had found out what had happened. How a minor glitch in his thinking had lead into the situation he now found himself immersed. He had allowed himself to feel again and that mistake could cost him everything. Again. L' Araigne would not have been proud of him. Jon had shamed himself and now was paying the price.
Loyalty was the most precious commodity in the world to Jon Jae. It gave power to everything in his world. As long as that was present then everything else fell into place. Betrayal was the way of a disloyal person. Hadn't he learned that lesson the first time? No, because that was what Margeaux had done...betrayed him. Sworn her undying loyalty to him and then shoved it down a dirty hole. The pen snapped in his hand and he dropped uncaringly to the floor. Ink oozed unheeded from the shaft into the creme colored rug. The world had started to close in a little over a year ago. Margeaux has said she was pregnant and he was the father. Her tearful letter had indicated that she knew the child would not be accepted and that she would take care of the situation.
Now that supposedly taken care situation was troubling his well constructed world. There was no place for a child in his world. A child was a pawn, a bargaining chip for your enemies. He had personal experience with that. Wasn't that what he had been for all those years? And now this child would be used the same way. He struck the top of his desk with a fist. A child had not supposed to have been born. The situation was to have been dealt with. Margeaux had lied to him. In more ways than just the birth of the child.
Yes she had given birth to a son. Named him after her own father. Then raised him with the man she was married to in her world. But that hadn't been her world either. She was in fact two women. The woman they all knew and someone else. She worked with Section One. She was one of them. And she had manipulated that world to protect the child from him. To turn him into the thing he swore he would never allow to be used against him. And one day to become that which he despised.
Jon Jae stood as his hatred coursed through his body. The disloyalty and lies had been one thing but the person to whom she had turned for that protection was none other than that bastard who had taken his real father away from him for so long. Him and that other sniveling little conniving bastard who had wormed his way into L' Araigne's soul. Sucked everything out of him and turned that which Jon Jae had held to close to his heart away from him. And now his father was no more, just a memory like all the rest. Just another ghost who haunted Jon Jae's dreams begging for revenge.
He had been grateful for that surprise attack, what now was just about 15 years ago. Until he realized just much had gone with Michael. The only part of him that wasn't completely L' Araigne disappeared too when Section One had infiltrated L' Araigne's world and taken 'his angel' from him. Jon Jae sneered at the thought. Michael had been no angel. To him, the man had been a creature from hell bring up to torment him and shred his life into nothingness.
Just like that he had been gone and for years he heard the stories and saw the results. But Michael's deeds happened to others. Because they were in different worlds, as long as one didn't stray into the other's domain, there were no difficulties. And for that he had been glad, he did not want to see that face in person again. Or those cold silent eyes that watched you as you berated or hit him, that one day you just knew would come back to haunt you. Those silent eyes that had taken everything that mattered and made it into his own....
Then that idiot's mistake to take on Section One by using the information they got from a disk. Waging war on Section One had been stupid. Operations had struck back viciously with his best weapons, Michael and with him a woman who was called Nikita. They were partners and more too. That had become evident quite quickly, obviously the past didn't matter much to him. The European sector was destroyed with the woman killing Dominic. Then Elouette had gotten her brilliant idea and ..... Jon Jae shook his head and clench his fist tightly. She had suffered the same fate as the first. At the hands of the same person. Their lives had been interwoven again. He had finally gotten out the strain and it had reappeared again.
Jon Jae snarled as he thought of them with the child, turning him against his heritage, mixed as it was.. And even worse, besides not being able to find any affection for the child inside, was the disgust over the influence Michael would have on the child. The want to get him away from that man's persuasion, away from that other creature that now shared a bed with him was like an acid eating holes in him. "If I must have a child, he will become like me....not like HIM! I don't care about him. He means little or nothing to me. However I can not allow him to be with Michael!! The man destroyed my life. It's his turn."
His voice only carried through the room. There was no one there to witness the confession. Something as simple as locating a child had grown into this. It had unburied his hatred for someone from the past. He wasn't going to tolerate it. George was useless. Jon Jae unclenched his fist. He'd finish it himself.
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Operations stood in his darkened loft, staring out the glass down into ops. No one could see him which was a good thing. He didn't want to be seen. The things that had been found in mission records disturbed him. They had all been tampered with to make him look like a murderer. There had been false records too. Birkhoff was still cleaning things up. The only one he hadn't let Birkhoff change was the one about Nikita's cancellation. That one had been true. That he had ordered. It was something he had not really wanted to do, but they had to know. They'd found out more than they had expected from that one.
The whole mess he had drawn Michael and Nikita into was regrettable. He had toyed with them for a long time to get them to the point where he could use them this way. It had not been his desire to do it but as had been with L' Araigne 13 years ago, he had no other choice. The future's best interests were at stake and they had to be preserved. But another player had entered the game. And what he brought to the board was more of the same. More danger and uncertainty for all of them.
But there was some fear in him. *Some, my ass...I'm scared. I'm not on top of everything. There are too many variables. Some of which I don't even know about. And what about Jon Jae...will he be another L' Araigne? Do we have to deal with that again? Martina, Why? Wasn't just one place good enough? Why another? And more dangerous than the first? What possessed you?*
"Why are you up here in the dark?"
Operations blinked rapidly at the voice. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't heard Madeline come in. She stepped up beside him and perused the scene in ops herself.
"It is too quiet around here. There's something missing." she said softly.
"I know. It's not safe yet. Did you go over what I gave you."
"Yes, it's L' Araigne all over again. We can't let it fester like last time. We deal with it not them. We stop it before it gets worse."
"We can't move on it yet. George is still protected. CC says soon."
"Why are you allowing her so much control?"
"Because she is there under his glass ceiling. She can see, she knows. She goes where we can't. She talks to those who won't deal with us. She has command where neither of us do. She's beyond her years, Madeline, you know that. We wait."
"I don't like this not being in control. She will expect something. I hope it will not be Section related. She does not fit here. This is uncomfortable, not knowing everything or anything really."
Operations turned from the glass. Madeline could make out his figure as he went to his chair and sat down. "Maybe it's good that we don't know everything. If he takes one of us, they and Reese are still safe. How long did you give Simon and Christine again?"
"2 weeks then back here alone. Then we would figure out how to bring them back."
"That gives us about 10 days. Let's see what develops."
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The kitchen was empty as had been the rest of the house when Nikita woke up. Or that was the way it seemed. She had hesitated at Michael's door but had known she wouldn't have been welcome there. That knowledge hurt. With a sigh, she carefully sat on a chair at the table and stared quietly at her hands ignoring the throb of her back and leg. For the first time in a long time, she felt totally lost, unsure and alone. Looking up, she glanced around the kitchen.
The white cabinets and walls were the perfect background for the bright flowers that adorned the curtains and the border at the top of the wall around the ceiling. Some of the cabinets had glass doors and these held various colored glass dishes. Nikita ran her hands across the table. It felt smooth and oddly warm to her hands. A sad smile crossed her face. The table and the rest of the kitchen felt like home, felt like family.
But of course that was a feeling that, like a lot of similar ones, was going to be fleeting. At least for her that was. Katie had a really good place to grow up. She felt grateful to Michael for that. Slowly she traced the woodgrain on the table as she thought of him. She looked up at the ceiling quickly. He was just two floors above her but wasn't he really thousands of miles away?
The things he had said in the woods hurt worse than what the bullets had done to her back. Twice now she had been treated to how vicious he could be with words. He was just as accurate and deadly with them as he was with a gun. How he had acted wasn't fair or right. He refused to listen to her and worse of all, he had somehow lost his trust in her. After everything they had been through lately, that issue rose again to kick her teeth in. His words played repeatedly in her head.
Nikita lowered her head as the wound inside seemed to grow. She had tried so hard but as usual it just wasn't good enough. She had wanted so much to make sure he could have it. To have what had been ripped away. And what did he do? Curse her for it and refuse to see the truth. His only focus had been his own perception of what was happening.
He had called her a liar and a bitch. That she had betrayed him and condemned Reese. Even that she had betrayed them. Betrayal had been the farthest thing from her mind. She had almost felt a someday there while they had sat on the floor watching Reese sleep and waiting for Greg to call. Now they were here and someday was now nowhere in sight.
Things that had been said during the fight at the cottage filtered into her head too. How could he be like that and then be the way he had been when she had been attacked at the house. Or as he had been that night at the cottage when she had surprised him. The endearments, the caresses, the feelings. She closed her eyes at the memories. "After that, how did it come to what I'm facing now. I never meant to hurt, only to help. I love you." she whispered hoarsely. She stood up, pushing the chair back but not moving.
What was she going to do now? He didn't want her. Her daughter who was here somewhere didn't know who the hell she was and probably shouldn't, either. And there was that little boy who thought she was his mother and there was no way she would ever be able to be that. It was all so damn unfair. Nikita raised her hand and squeezed it into a fist. She felt the tremour in her arm the harder she squeezed and the nails digging into her palm when another hand wrapped around it. She opened her eyes to see Annie through her tears.
"None of it is fair. I was trying to do right. I wanted to give him what he wanted. Why didn't he just listen to me? Why couldn't he trust me?!"
Annie grabbed Nikita in a hug. Christine had told her about some of the things he had said to Nikita before the shooting had started again. He had not been fair, which was unusual for Michael. Especially when it came to Nikita, from what she had been told. As soon as he had his head half way clear, Annie made up her mind to knock some sense into it. And she was going to do it too, no matter how hard Claude said Michael's head was. "He was upset, confused and not thinking. Maybe even completely bewildered. But I know he loves you. I know the man who isn't that place. Don't think otherwise."
There was a clamour in the living room. Shouting, yelling, laughter and squealing that signaled the arrival of everyone who had been gone.
"Sounds like the mall rats are back. Wonder what they'll come home with this time. Last thing they carted home was a lizard. Yuck!!" Annie made such a face and rung her hands in disgust that Nikita had to laugh. A little hope flickered with that laughter and Annie's words.
"What did you make them do with it?" Nikita hastily wiped away the tears as the kitchen door burst open with the kick of one of the younger boys. The noise made it impossible for Annie to answer.
The boy had a plastic bag in his hand filled with water. Proudly he shoved it up at Annie. "Piranha!"
"It's not a piranha, stu...." The little figure behind the boy stopped in mid sentence and step as she saw Nikita. She stared at Nikita with huge eyes. Katie had to stop herself from doing a jig. *Her eyes are blue like mine!!!! She is! I know she is!!!*
Nikita didn't move. She knew her feet had melted into the tiles on the floor. The face that stared back at her was almost her own. She realized Katie was as transfixed on her as she was. Vaguely Nikita had the impression of the door swinging into the kitchen again. Before she could get her mouth to open, it slammed full force into Katie. Katie careened into the fishboy who fell over. His plastic bag flew from his hand and hit the floor. The bag broke and water and fish sloshed across the floor.
Katie sprung to her feet and turned to the culprit. It was the boy Nikita had seen her challenge that day Michael had brought her here to show how safe her daughter was. "LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING NEXT TIME GOURDE!!!"
The redhead glared down at her. "Hey Blue Thunder!! Don't leave your rump in front of the door where it can be knocked over! And Dad warned you about cursing in French!"
A general melee ensued. Annie had already scooped up the fish and had them in a mixing bowl. Before Nikita knew it, all the children were in the kitchen yelling and fighting with each other. Annie leaned against the sink, watching her watch. Claude held the door open and Reese in his arms. Reese watched the going ons with fascination and a grin on his face. He had a pair of sunglasses in one hand and a backwards baseball cap on his head.
Suddenly Annie clapped her hands. "All right. POUCE!!!! Corners now!!!" Quiet reigned over the kitchen almost instantly. Nikita covered her mouth with her hands. The scene had been precious. She wished Michael had seen it. "Upstairs and separate rooms now!! 1 hour cooling off!!" Claude moved out of the doorway as the group started to stomp out of the kitchen. The redhead was the last to go to the door.
He turned to look at Annie. "I want the evidence to show that I did not..."
Annie pointed to the doorway. "I told everyone to go to their rooms and that means you too, Esquire."
With a roll of his eyes, he shrugged past Claude and a disgusted , "God!"
Reese looked up at Claude with huge eyes and then whipped his head around towards Nikita. "Mama!! Uht!!!" He held his arms out to her. With a genuine smile, she went over and took him into her arms, wincing a little as she pulled on her back. He promptly tried to put the sunglasses on her.
"I don't think they're going to fit me tiger. You wear them." She was quiet for a moment watching him try to put them on. Then she looked up at Claude. "You took him out in public?!"
"He had on the hat and the sunglasses the whole time. No one could have possibly told who he was or what he looked like. Though he did charm every lady he saw. That kid has personality. A ton of it. Reese, show Mama the superdude."
Reese had managed to get the glasses on one ear but not the other. He looked up at Nikita with a huge grin on his face and the glasses hanging half off. Then he stuck out his thumb pressing it against her nose. "OOOde..."
All three adults broke into laughter. Reese looked around at them and broke into giggles himself. "Jerrod has been practicing that with him since we left this morning. He finally got it at the ice-cream shop. Had every girl in the place gushing."
Nikita looked at the front of his shirt. "I didn't think this shirt was a Picasso print. Ice cream looks good on you Reese."
"Na," he answered back to her, pushing her chin to the side and giggling.
"I think we will go and clean you up. Then how about some eats?" Slowly she walked out of the kitchen with him. Engaging in their own little conversation, they didn't notice the eyes that followed them.
"It's going to break her heart." Annie said as she looked over at Claude.
"I don't think we're going to have a choice," he replied. "We can't risk their safety."
With a small smile at her husband she said, "I'm going to follow her up. I think seeing Katie is going to hit in a minute or two."
End of Part 2
continue on to Promises to Keep, Part 3
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