"Alright, we have to go help Aunt Alex so if you could keep the nauseum to a minimum, that'd be great, thanks," Nikita spoke to her stomach as she placed her hands on the (for now) flat abdomen.
It was a few days after her and her partner-in-crime's latest pow-wow and today was Alex's mission aka Nikita's first while pregnant. The beauty had actually managed to squeeze in a doctor's appointment- something she hadn't done since her pre-Division days. Usually, Nikita hated to use her forged I.D. and other goodies from her masterfully crafted identity package, but this was a neccesary fate she could not escape. Prescribed prenatal vitamins and to relieve herself from any tense situations, the medical professional covered all of Nikita's concerns.
However, the air in the small exam room seemed to evaporate as soon the doc saw the marks of previous injuries (the few that were visible!) Nikita had sustained over the years. Always the skillful performer, the assassin laughed it off and claimed they had been from her strenuous career as a stunt double. Ofcourse, the OBGYN ate up the story, "oohing" and "awwing" at the "difficult" tasks she must have to experience on a daily basis.
"Oh you have no idea," Nikita had replied honestly.
The doctor expressed her surprise Nikita had even been able to concieve with the particular distresses her body seemed to portray, and strictly advised an immediate maternity leave, not simply for the danger factors, but "too much stressful activity could potentially have harmful effects towards the baby."
Because in her daily life, stress was so easily avoidable; This warning had warranted a discreet eyeroll.
The last thing Nikita wanted was to intentionally put the person growing inside her in harms way, but aside from her and Michael's "miracle" (the doctor's term, one whose irony was not lost on Nikita), Alex was her family and she had to keep her safe too.
Checking the time, she was proud pregnancy hadn't thrown off her timing and left the lair.
Elsewhere, Nikita was not the only one preparing to shadow Alex- Michael was secretly waiting in the wings of the mission location. Now that he knew Nikita and Alex were the one's in cahoots, he took the responsibility of protecting them both fervently.
He always wanted to shield Nikita from the time she was his student to recent months when she was considered "the enemy". He couldn't bear the thought of her hurt or in danger (even though he knew she could protect herself better than he probably could), it killed him. For extremely different reasons was his urge to safeguard Division agents and recruits like Alex, with them it was basic human nature; With Nikita, it was love. No matter how hard he tried, his attempts to dissolve his feelings for her were futile. His feelings remained and in fact everytime he saw her, it was as if his love for her grew, even while holding a gun on her (or vice versa).
He knew that Nikita would make an appearance on this mission and he yearned to catch a glimpse of her. He had very few chances to see her since they spent the night together. Just a couple of miscellaneous nights had he been able to sneak over and spend time with her, but none of them very recent. He needed to see her, hold her, kiss her beautiful lips, to show her (although he was posing in Division) where his true loyalties lied.
He scoped out the venue, no sight of the mark, Alex, or Nikita. The spot was a luxury hotel, Alex was to position herself at the bar in the hotel lounge and ultimately find herself in the mark's suite to retrieve a flashdrive Percy coveted. A relatively simple task that normally a field agent would not be heading, but this distinctly required a beautiful female and Alex fit the bill better than other recruits (Or at least this is how it was explained to him by Amanda). Honestly, he didn't much care considering there would be less risk of endangerment and he would get the opportunity to interact with Nikita. Michael took a seat in the lounge where he had an ideal view of the bar, but where he was unnoticable, too.
Suddenly, a larger man Michael recognized as the target for Alex's op approaching the bar. It wasn't long after that a woman sauntered up beside him, but it wasn't Alex- It was Nikita. Michael resisted the desire to go to her, and instead sat and observed her actions.
A short while later, he watched as she managed to swindle the man's keycard and excuse herself. Michael slipped out of the lounge, seeing Alex enter the bar out of the corner of his eye, before he began following his favorite rogue agent.
Nikita took the elevator to the 7th floor where she knew Stefan's (the mark whose card she had just swiped) room was located. Smiling innocently at the mair she passed in the hallway, she made her way swiftly to the room. She had a few minutes to get into his suite, find the flashcard, copy the files onto her own device, delete the ones on the original, and leave it for Alex to retrieve. It was simple enough, she had done mundane missions like this one numerous amounts of time, however, as the chruning in her stomach reminded her, this was her first time doing it with child; the nauseum and light-headedness was overpowering.
Pushing the key into the door, she took the brief two seconds to inhale and exhale a breath. But the few seconds were taking longer than expected as the dizzy sensation was getting stronger and more forceful. She pressed her forhead to the cool surface of the hotel door. This couldn't be happening; She couldn't let Alex down and she could not allow Percy to get what he wanted.
However, what Nikita longed for was irrelevant when the darkness took over.