Chapter 7: Words Behind Doors

Nikita waited for him to answer with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. It made her nervous. Since they were no longer truly together, she felt as if she should not call him unless it was for something important. She felt as if she should not bother him with her problems anymore; he had his family to worry about. It was late in the night, but she knew it would be better to call him now. Otherwise he'd stay up waiting for her call.

Her eyes flashed open when she heard his voice.

"Nikita?" He spoke in a coarse tone. She could hear the restlessness in his voice.

"Hey Michael…"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm okay."

"Birkhoff told me you ran into someone from Division?"

"Yeah my…sister's boyfriend disguised himself until he met me."

"Did you find out more about…wait—your sister?"

"Yes. I have a sister. I found her. Her name is Alyssa." Michael didn't say anything at first.

"…Nikita that's…amazing. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks."

"Why—why didn't you tell me?" He asked. She could tell he was hurt and she felt guilty. He told her before that he'd would stick with her through it all and now she was avoiding his help.

"I'm sorry I just…I acted on it as soon as I found out which was… a little less than 24 hours ago. I just…I didn't want you to worry and I thought it'd be best if I did this on my own anyway. Besides you're not…here." She immediately felt the weight of her words and heard him sigh on the other end.

"I—you know Nikita that I'll do anything for you. Even though I'm not right there I'm always here for you. If you need me to catch the next flight to come see you, I'll do it. Nothing has changed."

"But it has, Michael. It has."

"Nikita…"

"Michael I know you may not see it but it's fine. "

"Regardless of what things may seem like I will always be there and if you need me to come to today, tomorrow, whenever I will. Let me know."

"Okay…thank you."

"I love you."

"You too." Nikita hung up the phone and felt even worse than she felt beforehand.

Before she knew it she drifted off to sleep. When she awoke in the morning she was the first one up. She quietly walked to Birkhoff's room to check on Alyssa. She was about to knock when she heard Alyssa's muffled voice. She tried to listen and only heard a few things.

"No! I don't know what to believe... I saw you...now I'm hours away from home... Things turned out differently than I expected...what about us? Was everything a lie?" There was a long pause. "I don't think I want to see you again...you stay away from them."

After that Nikita did not hear anything. It was silent and her hand inched toward the knob of the door. She knocked quietly.

"Alyssa? Can I come in?" Nikita asked.

"...yes." Nikita hesitated before turning the knob. She went inside the room and saw Alyssa sitting on the edge of the bed with her hand over her face.

"Hey...how are you feeling?" Nikita asked already knowing the answer. She knew that Anthony called and Alyssa was having conflicting feelings about him and everything that happened to her since Nikita came.

"I'm okay."

"I thought I heard you talking on the phone. Was that your job?" She played naive.

"I already called them and let them know that I am taking a personal day."

"That's good."

"It was dad... I told him I was coming over...today."

"Today? With me?" Alyssa nodded and tried to smile. Nikita looked down at her hands not sure what to think. Her whole life all she wanted was to meet her real parents. She just wasn't sure if she was ready.

"Don't be scared Nikita." Alyssa rested her hand on Nikita's back.

"I want to go, but I don't know of it is a good idea Alyssa."

"Why?"

"Who were you really talking to on the phone?" Nikita saw Alyssa tense up.

"Anthony called me."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that he cares about me. He told me not to trust you."

"I don't think you should trust him, Alyssa. He is Division, the government agency I told you that I used to be a part of. He is going to tell you anything to make you believe him."

"Maybe he isn't lying. He has never given me a reason not to believe him. I just met you and within less than 24 hours, I saw you hold a gun up to him and now I'm at least 3 hours from home. My life was fine until you showed up." Nikita sighed with frustration.

"If you don't believe me then believe this: when he came into the living room as I was on my way to sleep and put a gun up to my head I fought him but I didn't hurt him. I know that you love him and I didn't want to be the one to take him away from you." Alyssa didn't say anything. "But if he threatens to hurt you, me, or anyone else I don't know if I can hold back. "

"I'll make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." Nikita looked her in the eyes and saw her determination. She didn't know how things were going to end up but she knew that with Anthony around she had to be the one to protect everybody.

"Maybe we should go visit your parents and warn them." Alyssa nodded.

"We should go soon." Nikita noticed how worried Alyssa was.

"I'm going to get dressed." Nikita told her and left the room. She knew that Alyssa wasn't telling her something.