Disclaimer: I don't own any of the actual characters of LFN…this is all in good fun…

Summary: There is a new operative in Section and she's anything but typical. She's younger than her peers, but just as lethal. More importantly she is the key to some of Section's darkest secrets. Will Nikita be able to figure her out?

Timeline: Takes place during Season 2 roughly after "New Regime" – it will not follow the series directly, but aspects of certain episodes will be worked into the script.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this one…happy reading!

Chapter One: The Invisible Girl

"Who is it?"

Charlottes voice echoed through the speaker outside her room. She and Nikita had successfully completed their mission, although it was not without difficulty. Tannic was truly a disgusting man, but the team came in before anything terrible happened; Charlotte had survived, like she had been trained to do her entire life.

"Its Nikita."

"One second."

The lights on the door blinked and it slid open. Nikita stepped in the modern-styled room to find Charlotte seated at her desk.

"What's up?"

"How was your debrief?" Nikita sat down in the chair opposite of Charlotte. "It was your first, right?"

"Third actually." She glanced up from the computer screen for a moment, but looked down quickly. "The debrief went fine."

"Thats good."

Nikita watched her shut down her computer. The actual room reminded her vaguely of Birkoff's quarters, but Charlotte's seemed much less techno and a little more severe. It was very linear and simple with a contrast between light and dark. The only color in the room was provided by an herb garden on one wall and a visualization screen on the other that projected a constant movement of calming colors along with soft music.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I was in the middle of a game."

"What were you playing?"

"Chess." Charlotte typed a quick command into the keypad and the computer screen slid into the table. "So whats really up?"

"Im here to offer you a girls' night out of Section, are you interested?"

"And just what would this evening entail?"

"Movies and ice cream in my apartment."

"Sure, let me just tell…"

She was interrupted by the beeping panel on her desk. The word 'Comm.' appeared on the digital screen, and she tapped it lightly opening the channel.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Charlie." Birkoffs voice filtered into the room. "Madeline wants to see you in her office."

"Yeah, okay." Charlotte tapped the screen again, turning off the speaker.

"Charlie?" Nikita questioned.

"It's a nickname." She shrugged off the question and stepped over to the walk in closet at the corner of her room. "Madeline should only take a minute, so I'll grab some clothes and we can leave from there."

Charlotte walked into Madelines office and sat down. "You wanted to see me?"

"How was the mission?"

"Fine." She folded her hands in her lap. "You saw my debrief."

"The parameters put you in a difficult situation."

She matched her calm tone. "And the profile had Michael intervene in time."

"Nonetheless, it was a difficult mission for you."

"I knew that going in." Charlotte gave a half smile. "It was my choice – you made that abundantly clear."

"Nonetheless, it affected you, did it not?"

"Yes." She paused briefly. "It did, but it was nothing that I cannot put behind me."

"All right." Madeline accepted that as an answer. "What are your plans for this evening?"

"Im spending the night at Nikitas." Charlotte tried to gauge her reaction, but not surprisingly failed.

"You two became close on this mission."

"Relatively." She looked at Madeline whose eyes urged her to elaborate. "You know that I have had minimal contact with any other operatives in Section, and Nikita is nice. Will this be a problem?"

"You cannot…"

She cut her off: "I know – I never would."

"Very well then." She dismissed the young operative, who rose from her seat gracefully. "That will be all."

"Goodnight Madeline," Charlotte called over her shoulder as she joined Nikita, who was waiting in the hall with the duffle bag of the girl's belongings.

"Everything went well?" Nikita asked and the girl smiled. "You know, Charlotte, you are the only person I've bent here who can come out of that office with a grin."

"I've known Madeline for quite some time now." She shrugged. "I suppose I'm not scared of her – scratch that, she's terrifying – but I'm used to it."

"Interesting."

"Not really." She changed the subject. "Do you mind if we stop by Comm.?"

"Of course not," Nikita told her, actually interested in seeing her interact with the people of Section.

"Mo." She walked up behind the communications head. "Im going out tonight."

"Really?" He smirked. "I think that this is the first time you ever told me that."

"Jealous?"

"No, I just think it's about time."

"Oh shut-up." She rolled her eyes. "You barely leave yourself."

"But I do."

"Whatever."

"Just get out of here," he told her. "I'll see you tomorrow, after your lessons?"

"Of course." She smiled, returning to Nikita. "Lets go."

"Hello." Madeline looked up when Operations entered her office.

"Hello." He walked in and sat down opposite of her. "I read the report on the Tannic mission."

"Our teams performed well."

"Michael's stated that Charlotte's performance matched that of the older, more seasoned operatives. It's difficult to believe that this was only her second mission."

"Section trained her well."

"You trained her well." He watched her reaction. "You did good work with her."

"Thank you." She gave a smile that showed a bit more pride than her normal one.

"Is she in her room?"

"No, she went out with Nikita."

He raised an eyebrow at Madeline's response "Is that wise?"

"I believe it was." She paused. "They became close during the mission. If I were to forbid outside contact, Charlotte would rebel against the Section. She is a teenager, after all."

"This is it." Nikita opened the door to her apartment, allowing Charlotte to enter.

"It's nice." She surveyed her surroundings closely. The room was modern with clean lines and a distinct – somewhat funky – style.

"Thanks." She watched her take in the room. "You're staring."

"Sorry," she smiled, "It's just that you can tell a lot about someone from where they live."

"And what does my place say about me?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," Charlotte leaned against the counter casually, "So what's your plan for tonight?"

"I figured take-out would be best, unless you want to cook?"

"Well, I do have had extensive training." She smirked. "But I'm not really in the mood, so take out will have to do."

"What do you like, pizza, Chinese?"

"Thai?"

"Sounds good to me." She excused herself to make the call. "It will be here in 20 minutes."

"Good."

"So, can you really cook?"

"Yeah." She crossed the room to sit in one of the armchairs. "It's one of my passions."

"And you've been trained?"

"Yes."

"By whom?" Nikita sat down opposite of her.

"Section."

"That doesn't seem like a standard training protocol."

She cracked a smile. "It's not."

"You sure?" Nikita joked back. "I could have sworn that after self defense and munitions, came the lessons on dicing tomatoes and mincing onions."

"Don't forget the proper methods of carving a turkey."

"Now that actually sounds like Section." Nikita smiled when Charlotte gave a girlish giggle.

She noticed Nikita watching her. "What?"

"I was beginning to think that you never laughed."

"Well, I guess I just proved you wrong." She smirked.

"That you did." She paused briefly. "Charlie."

"Don't call me Charlie."

"Birkoff can, but I can't?"

"I've known Birkoff longer than I've known you," she answered simply, ignoring the fact that both Operations and Madeline despised the nickname. "Besides, Charlotte is more professional. How would you like it if everyone called you Niki?"

"All right, Charlotte." She gave her an amused smile. "Do you have a last name?"

"Do you?"

"No."

"So you're just Niktia?" Charlotte got a nod for a reply. "Why can't I just be Charlotte?"

"Because I think you have a last name."

"Sabler."

"Charlotte Sabler – nice." She put the two names together. "So, how long have you known Birkoff?"

"Long enough."

"Well, you have the patented Section response down, so that means you've been there at least a few of years." Nikita deduced getting her a glare in response. "And that steely glare of yours is freakishly Madeline."

"I've known Birkoff for as long as I can remember," she admitted, not wanting the discussion to settle on her similarities to Madeline.

"Did you know each other before…" she trailed off as it hit her. "You've been inside your entire life?"

"Yes."

"That's insane." She shook her head. "I can't believe Section would take a child."

"It wasn't like that," Charlotte said quickly.

"Then what was it?"

"My parents were operatives."

"Both of them?"

"Yes."

"I thought personal relationships among operatives were frowned upon."

"They are." Charlotte paused. "But my parents were very good at hiding their relationship – until my mother was 7 months pregnant with me."

"She wasn't cancelled? I mean – I'm sorry, I…"

"It's all right," she responded with a detached maturity. Taking on the disconnected tone was easy. After all, the story she was about to tell was a mix of truths and lies. Her entry into Section was extremely classified – only three people knew the full story. "I have been told that my parents were high level operatives and that exceptions were made. We lived on the outside, but during the days I couldn't go to regular school because I had no real birth certificate."

"So you never existed?"

"Technically no – outside of the Section I'm invisible." She shrugged. "I was at a Section controlled daycare of sorts and at nights when there was a mission I had a nanny. When I was seven my father died during a mission, that's when Section became my home."

"What about your mother?"

"She died during childbirth."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she repeated herself.

"So you met Birkoff during that 'daycare' thing?" Nikita changed the subject.

"We didn't have neighbors or at least any that I was allowed to play with," she explained. "I was three when I met him, and we became fast friends, even though he was over twice my age. Apparently I was gifted, so I guess age did not matter. Although, I could not for the life of me say 'Seymour'. I had a problem with my pronunciation, so I called him 'Mo' – I still do."

"That's adorable."

"Which is on of the key qualities of a good operative, right?" Her voice was completely serious.

"Right." Nikita tried to remain serious but could not hide her laugh completely.

"What?" She grinned but kept her tone professional. "I know that's what I think when I see Michael."

"I'm sure." She stood up to answer the knock at the door and returned with the food. "This looks good."

Charlotte helped her unload it from the bag. "Smell's good."

"So what did you and Birkoff learn during those lessons?" she asked once they had food on their plates.

"You ask a lot of questions."

"So?"

"Why?"

"Because I like answers."

She took a bite with her chopsticks. "Oh."

"Will you give me some?"

"Will you?"

"What do you want to know?" she challenged. "You want to here how I got into Section?"

"I already know."

"You do?" Nikita was genuinely surprised.

"I'm a Level 2 operative," she told her nonchalantly. "I had access to your file before our mission."

"Level 2?" She took a drink of water. "You're 8 years younger than me and you outrank me."

"Birkoff outranks both of us," Charlotte smiled. "He's Level 4."

"Still." She shook her head in disbelief. "What did those lessons teach you?"

"General academic knowledge and skills we would need." She shrugged. "His were technical – they gave him codes, he cracked them – that kind of thing. Pretty soon he was making them himself."

"What about you?" Nikita took a bite of food. 'What were you taught?"

"Combat, marksmanship, and standard operative skills. Plus there were languages, logic, profiling – the mental aspect of the job."

"And they started all of this when you were young?"

"The languages and logic puzzles started immediately, but everything else was gradual – martial arts and gymnastics became combat and defensive skills as I progressed."

"Interesting."

"Now can we please stop discussing Section?" she begged with a dramatic emphasis. "I thought the point of tonight was to have a girl's night out?"

"Yes, sorry." She laughed. "Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Weather?" Charlotte shook her head. "That's the best you could come up with? My best friend may be Birkoff, but even I could have found a better topic."

"Sorry. You pick a topic."

"Did you know that more people are killed annually by donkeys then in air crashes?"

"No, I didn't," she answered seriously, and then laughed. "That was terrible! I can't believe you mocked my weather comment."

"Okay, I have another one." She smiled. "If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

"What would you choose?"

"Popcorn."

"Popcorn?"

"Yes, and not the fresh popped kind – I mean the microwave kind." She bit her lip a bit sheepishly. "It's awful really, especially with how well I cook, but I just love it."

"For me it's French Fries. When I was a kid, I would scrounge up whatever money I could find and sneak off to get them from McDonald's."

"Can you believe that the first time I ever went to McDonald's wasn't until I was ten years old?"

"Really?" she was grateful for the distraction from thinking about her past.

"It was my tenth birthday, and I had been watching too many sappy sitcoms so I told Mo that I wanted a 'normal' birthday." She remembered with a smile. "We were never supposed to leave the Section, but I must have whined enough to convince him to make a daring escape with me."

"How did you leave without anyone noticing?"

"We had the day off from lessons in honor of my birthday, and he put in a temporary feed of us watching a movie into the Section surveillance system."

"Did you two do that kind of thing often?"

"Only occasionally." She shrugged. "I would have liked to do it more, but Mo was always the voice of reason. Or he was just less willing to risk punishment in the name of mischief." She shook her head. "Anyway, we left Section and he took me to this old theatre where they were playing La Belle et la Bête."

"Beauty and the Beast?" Nikita translated.

"Yes, but not the cartoon Disney version. This version is based on the darker folklore," she continued. "Afterwards he offered to take me to any restaurant I wanted and I chose McDonald's."

"Did you return to Section after that?" She was completely amused by the image of a young Birkoff and Charlotte watching a movie in an old French cinema followed by fast food.

"Yes, but we had an escort."

"Escort? Were you caught?"

"No one had noticed the feed, until Madeline physically dropped by the room and saw the absence. The minute she walked into the restaurant we knew we were busted."

"What did she do?"

"Well, she was pissed as hell, but being Madeline she didn't show it." She rolled her eyes with the pent up frustration she remembered from that day. "She ordered food and sat down at a table across the room. Never once did she make eye contact with either of us. When she finished her food, we followed her out of the restaurant, and she opened the backseat door of her car and we got in. That ride back to Section was the longest of my life."

"What happened when you got back to Section?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Madeline told us to go to our rooms, so we did. She never spoke of it again."

"You got lucky."

"Well, yeah, I guess." Charlotte chuckled. "But do you have any idea how terrified we were that she was just waiting for the best time to use it against us."

"Did she ever?"

"No, but who knows? I could walk into Section tomorrow, see a McDonald's bag and then I'll know my cancellation is imminent." She groaned at herself. "Sorry, that was a terrible comment. I really should learn to sensor that kind of thing."

Nikita laughed. "Maybe just a little."

"You like the Bangles?" She changed the subject when the music switched to the next song on the play list.

"Well, sort of – mainly just this song."

"Foreign types with the hookah pipes say ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh," Charlotte immediately sang along.

"Walk like an Egyptian," Nikita joined in pulling Charlotte up to dance with the music. They danced and sang to the entire song and collapsed onto the arm chair into a fit of giggles. It felt good to laugh, for both of them.

A/N: Let me know what you think….I love the feedback!