Every little thing
A/N- this one shot was a crazy idea I got once, it may have happened, no?
dedication for Titi, who is so awesome that she won a signed copy of Nikita S1 DVD signed by miss Maggie Q herself :D, and that helped a lot during this whole process of writing *muah*
and also for Marty, my very own fanfic expert...love you girlies
"Target is Denis Sokolov, 35 years old, responsible for the death of our team in Kuban last week," Percy said pointing at the screen," based on the intel we have, he's in Krasnodar for several days, which gives us a small window…"
"For the extraction?" Nikita wondered looking at Percy," we're bringing him in for questioning?"
"No…this is not an extraction, this is a kill mission, and I'm sending my best agents expecting the best results. It needs to be done quick and without a trace. You're leaving in one hour; Birkoff will send the info on your phone."
"Of course… I'll go get ready."
Percy nodded and Nikita left the room feeling a little uneasy… she was trying to calm down, and considering the short amount of time she had to do that, practicing the shooting at the range was the best way to go, but she was surprised to find Michael there, who already shot at five targets and was going for the sixth.
"Michael," she smiled at him," did you come here to practice before the mission? As if you needed that."
"I'm not…this is not my mission, not anymore," Michael told her as he emptied another clip into the fake target.
"What do you mean? Not your mission…we were both briefed on it last week after the incident, you were supposed to lead the team; you made the plan of attack."
"Nikita you're going to be leading the team on the field…you can use my plan or have your own if you like."
"I can't…that's your job Michael."
"My job is to set up priorities, and right now I have some another mission to take care of."
"Michael…did they," Nikita didn't know if she should ask that question, she wasn't sure how Michael would react," take you out of this mission, on purpose?"
"Nikita, this is not the place, nor the time to talk about this," Michael's voice was a little too harsh," you have a mission to go to and I need to…"
"But you'll be in Operations, right? We'll be reporting to you from the place?"
"No…you'll be reporting to Birkoff, and he'll tell Percy," Michael answered and went out the door, but stopped and turned to look at Nikita who was getting her gun ready. He looked at her for a few seconds then approached her and whispered," When you're out there, don't let him talk to you Nikita…at all, you just go straight for the kill, or he will find a way to let Gogol know he's in trouble."
"Are you sure you can't…"
"No…I can't officially help you on this," she looked so hopeful, but he needed her to focus on the target at hand," oh, and…take with you the rifle and that other weapon we practiced on last week. It doesn't sacrifice the range and it makes less noise."
Lying on her bed Nikita remembered how this op started, and the level of anger kept rising again because she couldn't believe Michael lied to her. She took the alarm clock from her table and smashed it into the wall, imagining Michael was standing there. Then she heard a knock at her door, but didn't make even the slightest move to open it, hoping he would go away. But of course he didn't, and the knocks started to get more insistent, so with a final huff she got out of the bed and went to open the door, her hand lingering on the doorknob.
When she finally opened the door, and her eyes met Michael's, there was a short audible gasp, but neither of them knew whom did it came from. Nikita quickly composed herself, and let him in closing the door with a loud bang.
"And what is supposed you're doing here?"
"I came here to talk to you, and I'm not leaving until I do," Michael informed her in a firm voice," I need to explain how…this happened."
"This? As in me getting shot and you being responsible for it?"
"It wasn't me Nikita; I had no idea…"
"Fine…let's do it your way; Michael tell me this one thing…did you know this was…"
"Yes," he answered immediately figuring there was no point in lying anymore," I knew this was a test."
"That's it…I am done," Nikita's voice was angry, as the pain of her wound started to be even more searing than before," get out. I 'm not sure I can deal with you right now."
"Nikita let me explain…"
"Get out of my house; I need to rest so I can come back to work tomorrow. Unlike you, I'm not one of Percy's favorites, I don't get passes." Seeing as he was about to protest, she motioned towards the door;" you can close it on the other side."
Michael sighed and looked at her, he wanted, no…he needed to explain what really happened, but there was no way she would listen to him right now. But they couldn't talk inside Division either, so he couldn't leave. He made a step towards her and she made a step back, motioning for him not to get close to her and then he decided it was best to leave, and not push her now when she was still in recovery.
As soon as the door closed Nikita collapsed on the couch, and closed her eyes willing for the pain to stop. She was used to handling worse pain, but now it wasn't only psychical pain…she needed to worry about Michael too. Wait…worry? Nikita caught herself on that though, and she couldn't believe it, but deep inside she knew she should have listened to him…maybe; just maybe he had the answers she was looking for at the beginning of this mission.
Nikita remembered watching as the doors of the elevators closed, and Michael with his strike team left for the mission he was assigned to. His stance was all rigid, more that usual, yet just for that fleeting second he told her about the weapons she should take on the mission; he was the Michael she knew, so something happened since yesterday…so what about last week? When Percy briefed them about the mission, he told them Michael will be in charge of it, and now all of a sudden something more important comes up?
That thought alone made her stand up from the couch, and with small steps she went to open the door…again. The moment Nikita did that, she saw Michael with the phone in his hands ready to knock. Crossing her arms in front of her she asked:
"Were you letting Percy know where you are?"
"No," Michael smirked at her," I was asking Birkoff to take care of that…why did you open the door?"
"Because…because I wanted to take a walk, clear my mind, the weather is lovely."
"And the doctor said you should rest, no sudden movements. You got shot and it was pretty bad, you lost a lot of blood."
"Were you spying on me?" Nikita asked in a slightly mocking tone," why am I even asking? Of course you were."
"I wasn't spying; I just needed to make sure…" Michael stopped mid sentence when he noticed Nikita's wound was bleeding through her shirt," Nikita your wound is bleeding…what did you do?"
"Let me see…oh I know, I got out of bed to open the door for you…as you can see you're too dangerous for my well being."
She wanted to say something else, but she felt dizzy, her knees buckling up…but Michael caught her in time. Seeing as she was about to wiggle out of his hands, he quickly closed the front door, scooped her into his arms and took Nikita to her room, but stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw the mess in there…there was broken furniture, pieces of broken glass and the destroyed alarm clock next to his feet.
"What happened here?" Michael asked while lowering Nikita on the bed," it looks like after a war or a Division search up…and I can guarantee you the last one is out of the question."
"You happened Michael, and before you start lecturing me on how I'm too impulsive, how I need to think before doing…stuff, save it."
"I wasn't going to do that…come on, let me have a look at that wound of yours."
"I can take care of it myself thank you very much," Nikita insisted and stood up to go to the bathroom," my emergency kit is there. You go ahead and…whatever."
Michael walked around the room collecting the broken glass and threw it away so that later she won't hurt herself. He knew she was mad, and she had every right to be, but usually he wouldn't care…not as much as to come himself and explain what really happened and then ask her to keep the secret, and she would do it if he asked, that much he was sure of. Sitting on the bed he remembered the moment when he decided to tell her the truth.
"One agent down, two injured," Michael heard Birkoff saying this over his com," the grab team is on their way."
"Who's down Birkoff?" Michael asked with evident panic in his voice. "Tell me, which agent is down."
"I don't know Michael…we lost the transmission, and I can't get them back. Where are you anyway?"
He barely heard what Birkoff asked, the one thing on his mind was that Nikita's team was compromised and one agent was down, and they had no idea who he was. So basically until the grab team was back, there was this slight possibility that she was…no, he wouldn't allow himself to think that, not her, and certainly not now. Michael also noticed his strike team was eyeing him suspiciously, so he quickly composed himself, and made a sign that everything was all right.
"I'm on my way back…I'll be there in 10 minutes. Keep me posted."
"Michael?" he was brought out of that flashback by Nikita's voice, and he noticed she was already sitting next to him on the bed." Where did you go? You seemed pretty far away, if you didn't even notice me; usually you turn around the moment I enter the room."
"I'm sorry; I guess you could say I spaced out."
"Which never happens, and that means…you're human after all." They both smiled, and then he helped her get comfortable on the bed." You can start talking…sadly I don't have anything else to throw at you, so you're safe."
"Nikita…like I said before, I knew this was a test, but I had no idea they were testing you," Michael admitted looking her in the eyes," I thought that if I distance myself from you before the mission, they wouldn't drag you in."
"If you ask me, they were testing both of us, but I have no idea why…Michael, so you really had no idea about Gogol ambushing us in that building?"
"I would never put you in the crossfire, you know me; I found out about Gogol's interference when Birkoff told me. He also said one agent was down, we didn't know who it was," Michael admitted his voice a mere whisper," that's why I wasn't spying. I need to make sure you were ok."
"Derek saved my life Michael, he was basically the shield that protected me after I got shot, that's why I got so mad when you said you knew about the test."
"Nikita sometimes Percy uses to test his agents loyalties once in a while and maybe if I had been there…"
"You wouldn't have been able to change a thing. Gogol and his agents appeared out of the blue, just when we were exiting the building, and judging by the time, they were told about our arrival long before we even got there."
"Which means they were told at least a few hours before you even landed; Nikita, can I ask you something in return: what made you think I had something to do with Gogol being there?"
"When Amanda was debriefing me, she may have implied that," Nikita said looking out the window," I didn't even take the time to think this through…I was so mad, and thought that you did that because they sent me on the mission instead of you."
"Look at me," Michael said, taking her hand in his," what did I tell you back when you were still a recruit?"
"A lot of things…like don't trust anyone but yourself. You do know that if Amanda knew you told me that, we'd both be in trouble, because according to her, nobody keeps secrets inside Division…at least not from her."
"We still managed to keep a few, no?" Nikita nodded her head and yawned," Oh, I guess I should go…you need to get your beauty sleep, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"No, stay…" Nikita took his hand and curled next to him putting her head on his shoulder," at least until I fall asleep. I'm sorry I yelled at you, and didn't let you explain…should have known better by now."
"I think I'll survive this one time, but you have to promise me next time you have doubts like that you ask me before trashing the room."
"I can also promise you something else; I will continue to be impulsive, talk back to you," Nikita said closing her eyes, and curling further into his embrace," thank you for coming to talk some sense into me, guess you could say I needed that."
"We both needed that, I'm just really bad at words…I wasn't like this."
"You're getting better;" she whispered and put her hand over his heart." Some time ago you told me you owe your life to Percy, is that why you never question his motives?"
"Do you really want to go into this right now?"
"I guess not, it was just a thought, but I will get to the bottom of this."
"And I don't have any doubt about it. You just wouldn't be yourself if you didn't try to fix things. This is one of those things that make you special for…the world."
Nikita sighed and Michael thought she heard him, but she was already asleep. He thought it was for the best, even though he had no idea what prompted this honesty talk. Letting her know about Percy's tests, going out of his way to make sure she believed he had nothing to do with the set up? That certainly wasn't part of his plan, but for the time being she would be safe…out of any suspicion. It suddenly dawned on him that this wasn't the first time Nikita came as a priority, as something much more important than a mission or a test.
Nikita stirred in her sleep forming this adorable crease on her forehead, and he couldn't help, but reach out and try and smooth it with his fingers. After a while she started trembling and mumbling incoherent things, so he just started whispering soothing words into her ear while rubbing her back. Nikita sighed saying his name and then turned on her other side smiling, which completely mirrored Michael's smile.
The next day while walking through the hallways of Division, Nikita felt better, more powerful than yesterday, and to every greeting she replied with a smile. Dropping by the tech room she noticed Birkoff wasn't there, so she left him something on his desk, and went to Operations where she found Michael and Birkoff working on some report.
"Hello Birkoff…Michael," she nodded and barely hid a smile," missed me?"
"You have no idea how much, right Mikey?"
"Nikita, can I speak to you for a moment?" Michael asked looking her in the eyes," it's about the report you need to write."
"The report will have to wait, I need to go check into Medical first, so if you'll excuse me…"
She headed towards the door, but Michael blocked her way and raised an eyebrow at her. Nikita just shrugged him off, but before leaving she heard him whispering into her ear.
"You're doing great."
Birkoff rolled his eyes, and got out of the room after slightly punching Michael into his arm. When he got to the tech room he noticed a six pack of red bull on his desk, and smiled knowing instantly whom they were from. Meanwhile Amanda was talking with Percy in her room:
"You think it was wise sending her alone to kill Sokolov and involving Gogol? It was a risky move."
"Percy, I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't sure she'll make it out…Nikita needs to know she won't have Michael by her side at all times."
"Yes, she went on missions alone before, but he was always there in charge of the op."
"It was needed Percy…I wanted to make sure we didn't make a mistake by allowing them to work together, and by the things we just saw, the test paid off. Take it as a reality check."
Amanda didn't say anything else; she just silently fixed her hair and just smiled at whatever idea was running through her head.
A/N- that was basically it...I admit wanting to write something like this, since early in the S1, but never got around it...