Putting the Gun Down

Chapter 8: Nikita

Going through the air vents wasn't easy. By the time Elizabeth had made it to the boiler room, she was covered in sweat from being enclosed for so long. Elizabeth stopped at a vent cover when she noticed something suspicious. The head of Prince Eric's security, Zahidov was rolling a large, tan, vinyl cart down the hall.

"What the hell?" Elizabeth whispered to herself. Zahidov stopped just a few feet from right above where Elizabeth was crouched in the vent. She watched him pull out a knife with his right hand and lunge towards the cart. He flipped the sheet inside the cart over and just as he did so, Nikita's head popped out. She kicked Zahidov in the chest with a grunt. As he swung the knife at Nikita's head, she ducked and Elizabeth sprang into action. She jumped down, out of the vents with her hands and bare feet landing hard on the cement floor.

After Zahidov turned the cart onto its side, he stabbed the knife through the vinyl. Elizabeth grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around and punched him in the face. That only seemed to make him angrier and he swung the knife towards Elizabeth. She ducked and then punched him again, only this time in the stomach.

Elizabeth was a good distraction for him and it gave Nikita time to roll out of the cart, wrap the sheet around him, and knee him in the stomach several times to knock him out. Nikita tossed him to Elizabeth who then threw him into the cart, turned it right side up, and pushed it away. But not before taking the knife out of his hand.

Elizabeth and Nikita stood for a second, both trying to catch their breath.

"Crow," Nikita said letting out a small chuckle. "Who knew you were still small enough to fit through a ventilation system."

Elizabeth felt a sudden burst of rage run through her. She moved quickly toward Nikita and pushed her up against the wall with the knife up against her throat. "I don't want to fight," Elizabeth gritted through her teeth. "We both know neither of us would win."

"Then maybe you should put that down," Nikita said, her eyes drifting towards the knife. "And then we can go save the Prince."

"I said I wanted to talk to you. I didn't say I wanted to help you."

"Well, we can't do either with a blade pushed onto my throat."

Reluctantly, Elizabeth let go and stuck the knife in the back pocket of her shorts.

"Here's the deal," Nikita sighed. "You help me save Prince Eric and I'll answer any questions you have." Nikita could tell Elizabeth was worried about being caught. "Our goal is to avoid the cameras, so as long as everything goes smoothly, Division won't know a thing."

"Fine," Elizabeth replied fiercely. "But this doesn't mean I'm on your side."

"Understood," Nikita nodded. "What time is it?"

Elizabeth looked up at the clock behind her former partner. "We've got five minutes till the Prince makes his speech, which means-"

"Division's on their way," Nikita finished. "Let's move." She moved quickly over to a large wooden crate, took off her shoes and broke the heels off. While doing so a voice over a walkie talkie spoke out, "We are now standing by with the prince." Nikita swiftly put her shoes back on.

As they ran through the boiler room Elizabeth said to Nikita, "You know I don't really get why you broke those cute shoes. You could have just as easily taken them off and stashed them somewhere for later."

Nikita rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. "Shut up Crow."


"I can't believe you actually won," I said as we walked down the path of the carnival with the ferris wheel on our left and a tiny roller coaster on our right. Sey was carrying a giant stuffed animal on his back.

"I told you not to doubt my skills," he laughed. "I happen to have great aim."

"Yeah," I said. "But only with a gun that squirts water into a fake clown's mouth. And what do you have to show for that? A giant dog-bear thing…" I trailed off perplexed by the awkward looking stuffed animal.

"You're always so negative," Sey replied. "Besides I didn't win it for me." I blushed. I couldn't help it. A small smile creeped out on my face. "I've been waiting to see that all night."

"Great, so that means we can go back to Division?"

"Hell no," he said. "You haven't even tried carnival food yet."

"If I gain weight, Amanda's gonna want to kill me more then she already does."

"Amanda won't kill you," Birkhoff said. "You're her favorite."

"Nikita is – was her favorite," I shook my head and stopped walking. For two minutes it had almost seemed like I had forgotten about the past few days occurring. Saying her name out loud only made it worse. "Why are you so worried about me? I'm not the only one who lost someone. So did Michael. So did you."

"Michael's way of coping is by throwing himself into his work," Sey replied. "And frankly I don't know if there is a way of helping him. He loved her Lizzie. That's not something I think he's ever going to get over. We cared about her a lot, but we can move on. I don't think Michael can.

"You loved her too." I had never said it out loud before or confronted him about it, but it was true. He loved Nikita, and he had no idea how much that hurt me. Sey wasn't quite sure what to say, so I didn't let him speak. "How do you plan on coping?"

"You," he said. "I always feel better when I'm around you. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can actually make you crack a smile, so I figured we could help each other out."

And I did just what he said. The smallest and yet somehow somber smile peered across my lips.


Elizabeth and Nikita moved quickly back to the main hall of the museum. On the way down a short corridor behind a stage, Elizabeth called Ryan. "How we doin' Fletch?" she asked through her headset.

"You guys might want to pick up the pace a little," he said. "They're here."

"Nikki, Division's in the building."

"Great," she seethed sarcastically.

Just as Ryan hung up the phone, the two women turned the corner and stood directly behind Prince Eric and his bodyguards. Nikita took out one, while Elizabeth took out the other. Needless to say, it was an easy victory.

"Who are you?" The prince said. He didn't sound afraid, but he did sound threatened. "What is this?"

Nikita grabbed him and pulled him back by his arm. "Your life is in danger. You've got to come with us."

Elizabeth pulled back the curtain slightly and saw the Division agents firing bullets into the ceiling. "Nikki we gotta go."

"Who are they," he asked. "Who are you?"

"Intro's later," Nikita replied. Her voice rose as she said, "Now run!"

The three ran into a room one floor above where they had been minutes before. "They're probably at the security room by now," Elizabeth said quietly. "We should stay low."

Nikita and Elizabeth moved up against a wall. "Don't stop," the Prince said. "What is going on?"

"People are trying to kill you," Nikita replied.

"I gathered that," he told her. "Why?"

"You're a prince, why do you think?" Elizabeth smirked.

Nikita carefully moved behind one display while Elizabeth and Prince Eric moved behind the one next to hers. "Why?" Nikita repeated him rhetorically. "Power. Who? Well, Zahidov's in on it." Nikita paused and looked at the prince for a second before continuing. "So is Christina."

"Chritina?" The trio moved behind another display while the security camera moved.

"Wait, the Princess?!" Elizabeth responded. She honestly didn't think that woman had it in her.

"I never thought she would go this far," he said.

"What do you mean go this far?" Nikita moved further into the room. She looked around to see if Elizabeth and the Prince were clear. "Go." The two moved slowly following Nikita.

"The wedding," the prince whispered. "Our marriage, it was something for our people to Rally around. Our families thought that together we could help restore constitutional monarchy to Georgia. The way it had been before the Russians."

"Sounds good," Nikita replied while slowly moving past another display. "What happened?"

"I told Christina I was done after this trip. I'm giving up the throne."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked, confused.

Both women saw Prince Eric look away and take in a deep sigh. They looked at each other and nodded. Speak simultaneously with understanding they said, "You don't love her." The trio moved quickly up against a wall and out of sight from the camera.

"People in love don't try to kill each other," Prince Eric said.

Nikita looked up at him and she retorted, "Are you serious?" Elizabeth chuckled.

The trio moved quickly back behind another case once again with Nikita and Elizabeth on one side and Prince Eric on the other. "I'm in love with someone else," he admitted.

"Who? The Little Mermaid?" Elizabeth said. Nikita and Prince Eric both looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Leela," the Prince confessed

"Leela, the assistant?" Nikita's voice raised slightly.

"Well that's-"

The Prince cut Elizabeth off. "It's not what you think. Christina knows. I told her. She doesn't care."

"Apparently she does," Nikita returned. "You step down, she loses her path to power."

"Yeah, and on the other hand you die a martyr and she rides that wave of sympathy to the throne," Elizabeth continued.

All three looked perplexed as if they were almost out of options. Nikita was the first to speak. "Do you trust Leela?"

"With my life," he answered honestly.

Nikita passed her walkie talkie to Elizabeth and without even having to tell her what to do, Elizabeth started working her magic. "Good, that's what we're gonna do."

"What's this? The Prince asked.

"Leela has a headset on," Nikita replied. "It shouldn't be hard for Crow to find the frequency. We need you to get a message to her."

"Done," Elizabeth announced immediately after Nikita stopped talking. "Looks like those private lessons with Sey payed off."

"Funny, I never thought you learned anything in those lessons. Well, at least not about computers and frequencies," Nikita mumbled not really meaning for Elizabeth to here.

"What?" Elizabeth could feel her anger as well as the heat in her cheeks rising.

"Nothing," Nikita smirked. "Give him the walkie talkie." Elizabeth threw it at the prince for him to catch.

"Leela," Prince Eric spoke quietly through the mic.

"Eric?" a soft, feminine voice was heard clearly through the speaker.

"Shhhh, don't talk," he whispered tenderly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Leela replied.

"Thank god you're okay. I'm going to save you," the Prince began to speak a little faster out of urgency. "You need to know something. Christina is behind this."

Prince Eric looked at Nikita and Elizabeth for instructions. Nikita made a hand motion telling him to hand over the walkie-talkie. "Leela, do you see the terrorist; the brunette? Give her your headset. Don't worry she won't hurt you."

Nikita gave Leela a few seconds to give her headset to Alex. "Alex it's me."

Elizabeth could here Alex's large sigh of relief through the speaker "Where are you?" the younger agent asked.

"I'm safe," Nikita said. "I'm with Crow and I have the Prince. I'm guessing agents are looking for us?"

"Two," Alex replied. "And what do you mean Crow's with you? Is she on our side?"

Elizabeth gave Nikita a cold stare. "It's a long story," Nikita said.

"Yeah, and not enough time to tell it," Elizabeth snapped. "So what's the plan?

Nikita put her mouth to the walkie-talkie and said, "okay, here's what I need you to do. There's a trigger for a silent alarm in the security office. I saw it earlier. I need you to trip it.

"Who is it?" a low male voice was coming through the walkie-talkie.

"It's Nikita," Alex replied slipping back into her status as a division agent. "Listen bitch, I caught you once and I can do it again." Elizabeth found herself very impressed by Alex's skills of perception.

"Can you get to the security office? Nikita asked.

"I think you know the answer to that," Alex yelled into her headset.

"Good, the prince will be safe with the police, but I can't get to them. You need to bring the end zone to us. You and the other agents can just surrender. Percy will save you."

"You're never getting out," the young agent yelled once more.

"And another thing. The woman who gave you the headset," Nikita explained. "She's with us. Protect her."

Nikita waited again until she heard Alex give the headset off to a fellow agent named Stephen. "I'll give you one chance. Leave now and none of you will get hurt." Elizabeth couldn't help but note that Nikita sounded completely calm. She wasn't threatening the agent. She was warning him.

"The fact that you want us out, means you're still in here," Stephen said. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his usual cocky tone of voice. "And that means we'll eventually find you.

And then they'll eventually find me, Elizabeth thought.

"You can try," Nikita replied. "But you'll have to divide your forces. Those hostages are gonna want to leave."

"You think you can wait us out?"

"Here's a better question. At what point do you think Percy will chalk this mission up as a failure? When I was at Division," Nikita and Elizabeth smirked at each other. "I mean I never got one of those demerits, but I here they suck."

The sound of the door opening forced the group to duck lower underneath their hiding spots.

"Think about it," Nikita whispered into the walkie-talkie. She looked back at Elizabeth and gave her the signal that there were two armed Division agents in the room. "You take one, I'll take the other?"

"Camera," Elizabeth reminded Nikita by pointing to the device on the ceiling. "I shouldn't be seen. Not while a Division agent could be in the control room. And my bet's on Tattletale Stephen."

"Fine," Nikita whispered back in frustration.

"Check back there," one of the agents said. As they moved further away from the trio, Nikita silently stood up. Nikita grabbed a large metal pole and rushed toward the two agents as if she was in jousting match. Both agent fell to the floor with gunshots hitting the ceiling.

"Duck down," Elizabeth shouted to the Prince. They put their knees to their chest and covered their heads with their arms. Nikita grabbed a katana sword off of one of the exhibit's statues and used it to ward off the agents. When Elizabeth stopped hearing gun shots she peered her head out watched Nikita slash the sword across both men's chest one by one. She turned around to face Elizabeth and the prince and just as she placed the sword back in its holder, the two agents fell to the ground.

The voice of an angry and determined Stephen shouted over the intercom. "We will get you."

The Prince stood as Nikita turned off the security camera and was quickly followed by Elizabeth. "Nice move," Elizabeth said to Nikita.

"Thanks," Nikita replied. "Would've been faster with someone's help though." Nikita winked at Elizabeth before bending over and grabbing one of the now deceased agent's guns. Elizabeth grabbed one from the other.

"You're hurt," Prince Eric noticed.

"We gotta go," Nikita said quickly and through heave breathing. The group ran quickly out of the room.

The trio made it to the roof. As they got to the edge where the fire escape was kept, they stopped. The sound of police cars were already being heard.

"You need to go," Nikita said. "The police will protect you."

"I'm not leaving, not without Leela.," Prince Eric insisted.

"We're going back for her. You need to get to safety."

"We?" Elizabeth retorted.

Not now Crow," Nikita demanded.

"I'm willing to give up the thrown for this woman," the Prince said looking Nikita directly in the eye. "You think I'm gonna run and hide when she needs me most?"

"Love over duty huh?" Nikita said more to herself than the other two.

"Who wouldn't make that choice?"

"I know someone," Nikita admitted.

"So do I," Elizabeth mumbled slightly under her breath.

Nikita thought for a moment, and then a sudden force of fierce determination jolted into her eyes. "We're not going anywhere."

The prince nodded and the three started running once more until Elizabeth came to a realization. "Stop."

Nikita and the Prince stopped in their tracks. "The agents on the main floor are probably going to start wondering where I am if I don't show back up there soon."

"Ryan's on the other end of that headset right?" Elizabeth nodded yes to Nikita's question. "Give me your headset. Have Ryan give you his. You'll be our eye on the ground."

"You got it chief." Elizabeth said handing over the headset. "Sorry I couldn't be more of service to you earlier."

"It's okay," Nikita said. "Let's just get these two outa here."


"Okay, so you were right. Fried Oreos are pretty incredible," I said. Sey and I were standing in front of one of the food stands. "And the lemonade is pretty awesome too."

"I told you," Sey said. "Come on let's go ride some bumper ca-" he was cut off by the sound of a bang. I went straight into my fighting stance and then all the sudden all I could hear was Sey laughing.

"It's just fireworks," he said.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, I adjusted my clothing, pulled the bangs out of my face and said, "Oh."

"You are way too paranoid," he continued laughing.

"Shut up Birkhoff," I said pushing him backwards.

Hearing his usual nickname , Sey slowed down his laughter. "Just look up."

When I did, I saw the most beautiful bursts of color exploding out into the night sky. I could remember the last time I had seen fireworks. I was eight. It was fourth of July and my parents and I went out to celebrate. It was good memory.

I smiled over at Sey and then looked back up at the sky. "We should kiss." My heart stopped. His voice was quiet, sudden, and somewhat awkward. I almost didn't even hear him say it. I was too focused on the fireworks and their sound nearly drowned out his soft voice."

I looked at him. "Wha-" And before I could even get the chance to say something his lips were on mine. I could honestly say kissing him was the last thing on my mind. I felt like a rebound. Nikita was gone and now all he had was me.

But for some reason I didn't care. I kissed him back. My hands clutched onto his sweatshirt pulling him closer. I wanted him to care about me and love me the way he loved her, and maybe in that moment that was the closest I was ever going to get. He was using me, but in all fairness, I was using him too.