AN well here is the next chapter, sorry for the delay.

The click of the door alerted Birkhoff to someone else in the room which made him turn around. He would have expected Michael or Nikita, maybe even Ryan, but never had he expected Sonya to visit him in his room. She seemed irritated about something and that made him even more confused. What was up with the women in Division these days?

"Can I help you with something?" he questioned her when she stayed quiet.

"I heard some interesting news today" she began, which made Birkhoff realize it probably wasn't good news. "Apparently you are taking a holiday, with Alexandra…in Paris." Ah, so that was what her problem is.

"Yes, I don't see the problem. Alex wanted a companion for the trip so she asked me, I said yes because I need a break and she is my friend." He shrugged his shoulders hoping the issue was put to rest now.

"Oh really, there is no problem with that? Have you ever given it a thought on how it makes me look…or feel?" Why was it that her lowered voice was scarier than when Nikita screamed at him.

"What are you talking about? It's just a vacation with a friend. People do it all the time." He was getting annoyed now. What right did she have to judge him on what he did or didn't do.

"I am talking about you kissing me in front of almost everyone from division only to go on a vacation with an entirely different girl!" She hissed back at him. "Everyone seems to have gotten word of your little trip. I am not some common whore you can kiss whenever you want to only to drop me for someone else!"

"Now wait a minute, just because we kissed once doesn't mean you have some kind of claim on me. And what are you on about: " Dropping you for someone else"? Alex is still in a relationship with Sean in case you haven't noticed….we are just friends." He enunciated the last words as if talking to a child.

"Oh please, if she was still happy with that seal she would have taken him to Paris, not you." She crossed her arms defensivly.

"Please keep your nose out of her business Sonya, I never thought of you as such a jealous bitch."

"You seem rather defensive of her Seymour, I think I have a right to be a "jealous Bitch" " the darker skinned woman growled.

"Of course I am defensive of her, we have fought together god damnit and that is more than I can say of you! There is nothing between us Sonya. You are hot, but that doesn't mean we immediately start some sort of relationship! I was willing to give you a chance, but right now the odds are strongly against it." He pulled the door open for her. "If I hear you slander Alex her name in any way, I will make sure your time at Division is at an end. Take this vacation as a time to think, we will talk again after I come back. Got it?" He made a sweeping motion with his arm to indicate that she should leave.

"Crystal, Seymour." He slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. Sometimes women were more trouble than they were worth. Why did everyone think there was something going on between him and Alex? First Sean and now Sonya. Okay, he understood how it sounded; going to Paris with a pretty female. He however did not see the problem of being close with Alex. Like he had told Sonya, they had both been in the fight against Division and that created a bond. The same way he was close to Michael and Nikita. There was nothing wrong with that. Even if they didn't understand that they certainly had eyes didn't they? How could anyone see him with someone as insanely beautiful as Alex? She was a foreign beauty with a lot of money in her bank account, he was a typical looking nerd and no one knew he was rich. So how did they ever get the idea that something could happen between him and Alex? They were idiots, the whole lot of them.

"Okay, explain to me again why you and Birkhoff are going to Paris?" Michael questioned Alex once again as he and Nikita watched her pack. He neatly averted his eyes when she packed her lingerie. 'Birkhoff would have a heart attack if he ever saw Alex in one of those.' Michael thought as he caught a glimpse of green satin.

Alex sighed, getting quite irritated at the judging looks she had been receiving all day. "I wanted to see Paris and Sean didn't feel like going there, so I asked Birkhoff instead. I am allowed to hang out with guys that aren't my boyfriend, you know. Birkhoff is a good friend and it will be fun getting away from Division for a while." She moved past Nikita who was standing against one of the cabinets to grab her hairbrush and a few pieces of jewelry.

"You could have asked me, I'm your friend as well." Nikita told her smugly, having caught Alex in het preference to Birkhoff. Alex scoffed in reply.

"No offence to you two, but you have become a package deal. If I asked you I'd immediately get Michael as well, and you can't both be away from Division now. Birkhoff and I will not be missed as much if we go away for a week or two."

"Doesn't Paris sound a little too romantic to take just a friend? You know the rest of Division will speculate about you two. Sonya won't be happy." Michael interrupted.

"Let them, we all know the truth. Sonya has nothing to fear from me, besides she is not even dating Seymour yet so she has no claim." She zipped up her bag after checking her passport and such were all sorted.

"Now can we stop talking about it for the hundredth time? More importantly can I take your handbag with the special gun compartment with me? Just in case of course. I just don't want to be stopped at the border for carrying a gun." Nikita gave her consent and pulled Michael with her out of the room. A few hours later the bag was in Alex her room. It had a special compartment that wasn't visible if you x-rayed it so the gun would not be noticed.

Alex sighed as she fell back down on her bed. Tomorrow morning she and Birkhoff would board the plane towards Paris for two glorious weeks of fun. A small niggling part in the back of her head told her that there might be some truth in what everyone was saying. Perhaps it wasn't smart to take Birkhoff with her to a city known for the romantic scene. Not because she was attracted to him. That was just a ridiculous thing, she loved Sean. She would never cheat, but it might make things uncomfortable as Birkhoff was very much single.

Birkhoff had Sonya though, didn't he? It would be fine, just fine. So what if some people thought there was something going on between them. Just because they saw smoke didn't mean there was a fire. She turned around on the bed, trying to find a more comfortable position. It was nearly midnight now and she should sleep. Their plane would leave around seven am, which meant getting up in a couple of hours. She would hate it if their journey started off with a bad vibe because she was cranky. Let people talk, she decided. They knew the truth; there was nothing going on.

Birkhoff put in their bags in the back of the car as Alex said goodbye to Nikita and Michael. He rolled his eyes, they would be gone for two weeks, not two months. He donned his shades and walked over to where they were standing. "Ready to go sunshine?" he questioned, checking his watch to see how much time they still had before they needed to be at the airport.

"I still don't see why you won't just use the private plane." Michael grumbled, he hated getting out of bed early, but Nikita had forced him.

"Because I want to be able to do normal things for a while. That does not include private jets." Alex answered with a smile pulling the older man in for a hug.

"You are filthy rich you know, private jets could easily be "normal" for you. You get used to it, I'm sure." Nikita joked.

"Alex do tell me we have at least first class seats." Birkhoff groaned, he should have done the booking.

"Stop grumbling Birkhoff, I did get first class seats. God knows I do not need to have you whining the entire journey." Alex shot back.

"Excuse me, I do not whine. I just point out the obvious."

" Sorry captain obvious, but I do not need to have it pointed out to me on such a long flight."

"Ah Birkhoff, who knows, you might be able to join the mile high club." Michael interrupted the two before they went into full argue mode. They could do that when Michael wasn't around.

"Who says I don't already belong to the club." The other man shot back, getting an incredulous look from Michael.

"Just go you two." Nikita shooed them to the car. If they kept this up they would miss the plane entirely. As the two agents drove off Michael came to stand next to her. "Can we go to bed now? It's early and I want to get some more sleep."

"Oh I know a few things we can do that involve very little sleep." Nikita teased him. "but if you prefer your rest…" she was silenced by a kiss, all thoughts of Birkhoff and Alex forgotten.

AN: Hope to get the next one up a little sooner. Please review and let me know if you have any suggestions for the story.