Set sometime in Season 1. Adore this couple. Enjoy.

She feels his presence before she sees him. Since she was a recruit, she has been acutely aware of all of his movements when he was around her. He takes the bar stool next to her and quietly orders his drink. She briefly wonders how he's found her, but then remembers that it's Michael and he has his ways. For a moment they don't speak, each sipping their drink and it's so normal that Nikita can almost convince herself that they're just two ordinary people having a quiet drink. It's the first time in a long time that she's felt peaceful. But then their past floods back to the forefront of her mind and there is no more pretending.

She regards him carefully looking for a clue of what this is all about, but like always, Michael's face remains emotionless.

"What are you doing here Michael? Are you here to take me back to Division or are you going to let me go?"

"I just want to talk." His voice is steady, not giving away any possibility of why he's here.

Nikita doesn't respond. She's still suspicious that he hasn't come alone and there's a load of agents surrounding her. She tries to hide her unease as he looks at her for the first time since he sat down.

"Why? Why did you have to leave?"

"You know why."

He sighs impatiently. "Nikita."

"Division took everything from me. There was nothing left for me there."

She hopes to see a flash of pain, anything, but his stoic mask never slips. "Nothing?"

"You chose Percy over me continuously. You never gave me a reason to stay Michael."

"I-" Michael exhales slowly and for just a moment the mask disappears, and he's Michael the man again, not Michael her mentor. "I wanted to. I wanted to give you a reason to stay. I still do. But nothing's changed Nikita, you know why I can't." And though it pains her to hear the words from his mouth, she knows that he's speaking the truth. It's not just about how he still believes that Division is good, but he still isn't ready to be with her when he still seeks revenge for his wife and child. And until he finds his own form of justice, he's not going to come to her.

She isn't sitting with the Michael who is loyal to Division, who is trying to hunt her down and take her back to Percy. The Michael who stares at her with forlorn eyes is the one who used to look out for her and protect her when he could, the Michael who thinks that he needs to protect her from himself.

She loved Daniel, she truly did. He was the one person who showed her that she could have a life outside of Division. But he wasn't Michael. She's loved him for years, and she will continue loving him no matter what. It doesn't matter how many times he takes a shot at her or bests her in a fight, it's always been him. For years all she has dreamed about is having a normal life, with a house and maybe even a child, and she wants this with him. She's willing to wait for him, because taking down Division isn't worth it if he isn't by her side at the end of it all.

"I can't leave Nikita."

"I know." She presses her lips to his cheek and whispers, "But one day you will, and I will be here." She starts to pull away but Michael's hand cups her cheek causing her to pause. Ever so gently, he presses his lips against hers. She can't help but feeling a spark of happiness for the first time in years, though it's not the passion of what they had shared so many nights ago, it's so much more, because this kiss is a promise that one day he will be ready.