Sorry again, but here's another chapter. Happy Holidays, and have a great new year. My resolution is to update more ;). Feel free to tell me yours with a review! Enjoy :)
After Nikita told Alex about the shop, they talked for a little while about what to do. The only thing they could think of was to kill Amanda. Nothing they haven't thought of before. Nikita was the only one who didn't think it would help the situation at all. The rest of the team went to sleep. Nikita and Michael were in their room, getting ready to go to bed but Michael wasn't quite ready to drop the subject.
"We know Jones won't come after us if Amanda is dead... He has nothing personally against us, only Amanda does." Michael interjected into the silence.
"It doesn't matter. Even if Jones doesn't come after us, his target is much bigger... It's the entire world, and we have to stop him." Nikita said simply and quietly as she threw her dirty clothes into the hamper.
"Nikita... We can't keep saving the world..." Michael said cautiously grabbing the back of her shoulder.
"I don't want to save the world, Michael!" She turned around quickly almost yelling. "I just want to be normal... Happy, like before! I want it to be just like it was 3 months ago just as much as you, but we cannot just kill Amanda and ignore The Shop! Do you know what that means?" Nikita asked quieting down. "We are part of the world. If we don't stop them we're in danger too."
"Why didn't you kill Amanda..." Michael asked ignoring most of what she said.
"I already told you." Nikita started but Michael interrupted her.
"No Nikita, before! Why didn't you kill her that night at the Zetrov conference?!" Michael asked slightly yelling, making Nikita flash back to that moment 'You wanna know the difference me and you? You see a moment of weakness, and I see a moment of strength.'
"That was a long time ago..." Nikita said quietly shook her head.
"Why?!" Michael asserted.
"I will never be able to kill her, Michael!" Nikita yelled.
"Why?! Why does she mean so much to you?!"
"Michael! This woman, She was my only hope for years. In Division, you were ready to cancel me! But, Amanda saw something." Progressively, her voice got softer. "She taught me to be the girl you fell in love with."
"So what? You're grateful for her?" Michael asked angry and confused.
"No... No, that's not what I'm saying." She paused to think "I'm just saying... I don't think I'll ever find it in myself to kill her." She finished. After a few second of silence, Nikita grabbed a blanket off the edge of their bed. "I'm going to sleep on the couch."
"Nikita wait..." Michael couldn't finish before Nikita slammed the door. "Dammit!" Michael threw his dirty clothes at the hamper.
MEANWHILE
"They're fighting again.." Sonya pointed out laying next to Birkhoff in bed.
"I know..." Birkhoff rolled over to look at her. After hearing a door slam he sighed. "You think they'll ever stop?"
"Of course. They still love each other. They're just both on edge." Sonya explained.
"They were also on edge when she left for three months, but I've never seen Mikey and Nikki fight like this before." He recalled. Sonya put her hand on his face.
"Everything is going to be fine." She told him with a reassuring smile.
"You can only hear that so many times, and believe it." Birkhoff told her honestly. She smiled sadly.
"Go to sleep. It'll be better in the morning." She reassured once again. Birkhoff rolled over.
"Yeah..." He said with a little sarcasm. Sonya sighed.
Amanda was in her office when the team ordered to kill Alex returned to give Amanda the bad news.
"What do you mean she's not dead?!" She yelled.
"We're sorry, Amanda. She was too fast... She killed Cliff." A man dressed in all black with two other almost identically dressed men behind him, told Amanda.
"Unless you want to end up like Cliff, I suggest you get out of my office." She said through gritted teeth. They stood still for second. "NOW!" Amanda yelled. The men rushed to get out. Amanda sat at her desk and flashed back to the day Nikita spared her life. 'Breach the door now... NOW!' 'You double-crossed me... I was going to help you, and...' One thought cut off another 'You want to know the difference between me and you? You see a moment of weakness, and I see a moment of strength.' Amanda heard herself being hit with the gun. "I should've killed you." Amanda whispered to herself.
The next morning everything felt a little awkward in the house. Michael and Nikita would not talk to each other and nobody wanted to talk to them. Les was the only one who lightened the mood. As always...
"So you've met the President?" Les asked Alex amazed.
"Almost all of us have." Alex answered.
"Even when everyone thought she was dea-" Birkhoff started but was cut off by Nikita.
"Birkhoff." She glared at him.
"Even when she was lost... We found her." Birkhoff made the story more kid friendly.
"Wow..." Les awed. Nikita went over to Les and knelt down to Les's level.
"Ready to go to the park?" Nikita asked tiredly.
"Yeah! I'll go put some shoes on!" Les ran to her room. When Nikita stood up, Michael walked over to her and asked quietly;
"You're taking her to the park?"
"Yeah, me and Alex are. She's feeling well enough and wanted to get some air, so we're having a girl's day. Also, Sonya and Birkhoff are going out with some hacker friends so it's just you and Sam." Nikita explained putting her jacket on and grabbing Les's.
"Alright." He nodded. Les came running toward Michael.
"Bye, Daddy." She hugged his legs.
"I'll see you later Les Lee." He kissed her forehead, then walked away from the door, not even looking at Nikita.
"Come on, let's put your jacket on." Nikita told her watching Michael walk away. When she saw Alex walking toward the door she looked at Les to finish putting her jacket on then to her.
"Where's your jacket?" Nikita questioned.
"I don't need one." Alex replied.
"Alex, It's freezing. You need a jacket." Nikita asserted.
"Nikita..." Alex tried to argue.
"At least take one with you." Nikita pleaded.
"Fine." Alex gave in and walked back to her room. After she got it, they left.
As soon as they arrived at the park Nikita sent Les to play on the playground. After about two minutes of sitting on the bench Nikita saw Alex putting her jacket on. She smirked.
"I told you you would need it." Nikita bragged smiling.
"Yeah." Alex replied with a smile, as she finished putting her arm through the second sleeve. "You did always know what was best for me." She turned her body toward Nikita and leaned on the bench.
"Only most of the time." Nikita said. They both laughed.
"So... What happened between you and Michael. The door slamming last night woke me up, and now you and Michael won't even look at each other." Alex finished. Nikita sighed.
"I'm just glad Les didn't hear anything." Nikita watched her little girl go down a slide then start to run up to go down again. She looked back at Alex and sighed again. "He thinks if we kill Amanda, it'll all be over, but it won't." Nikita started. Alex nodded signaling for her to go on. "He asked me why I didn't kill her at the Zetrov conference like 8 years ago."
"Whoa, flashback." Alex interjected.
"Right." Nikita agreed. "So, I told him that I would never be able to kill her. That as much as I resent her for everything she has done to me, to us... I don't think I will ever be able to kill her."
"You were ready to. After what she did to Ryan..." Alex reminded her.
"I know, but if I actually got that far and I had a gun to her head..." She didn't need to finish for Alex to understand what she was saying.
"I understand... she was like a mother to you for the longest time..." Alex put a hand on her shoulder.
"It was like, he completely changed. At first he was telling me it's okay that I have history with Amanda, now he's acting like he had no idea. " Nikita explained.
"Was that before or after he knew you were pregnant..." Alex asked. Nikita had a sudden realization.
"Dammit..." Nikita sighed.
"He's scared... Especially because your carrying his future child." Alex finished.
"I've been so busy worrying about myself, and the shop. I never put two and two together..." Nikita said disappointed in herself. "I almost forgot I was pregnant.." Nikita joked. Alex smiled and looked back at the playground, moving her body.
"Ahh..." She winced in pain.
"Are you okay?" Nikita questioned concerned.
"Yeah... Yeah, just still sore." Alex said still in pain.
"We can go back..." Nikita offered.
"No. It'll go away." She said.
"Okay..." Nikita sighed "Are you ready for lunch?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure." Alex answered.
"Alright let me grab Les, and we'll go." Nikita got up to get Les. She found her on the swing, told her they were going to get lunch now, then they all left to go to the local restaurant they always went to. A hole in the wall place called "Jackie's."
"Want a beer?" Sam asked Michael, who was sitting on the couch.
"Yeah, please." He replied. Sam grabbed two and sat next to Michael.
"So what's going on between you and Nikita." Sam asked and opened his bottle.
"Amanda is what's going on... She's been tearing us a part since the day she came back. Now that she's pregnant, and Amanda knows..." He opened his bottle and took a drink.
"She needs space man. Nikita and Amanda's relationship... It isn't explainable." Sam told Michael.
"I know... But she's carrying my child, I just want to help."
"Yeah, and she wanted to help when you got your hand cut off..." Sam Paused, and Michael looked at the scar on his wrist. "You know better than anyone that sometimes the only way you can help is by giving some space." He finished. They both took another drink of their beers, then leaned back.
Nikita walked in the door and hung up her coat along with Les's. Alex walked straight to Sam and kissed him. Les went to her room to play with her toys, and Michael walked toward Nikita who was still standing by the door.
"Can we talk?" He asked.
"Yeah.." She said walking to their room for privacy.
"I'm sorry." Michael started. "I should've known that your relationship with Amanda isn't really something that can be explained." Nikita shook her head.
"I'm sorry too. I'm carrying your child, and you only want keep me and..." She looked down at her stomach and held it. "The baby safe." They both smiled. Michael grabbed both of Nikita's hands.
"You scare the crap out of me, but I love you anyways." He quoted himself. Knowing how long ago it was when he told her that Nikita laughed.
"I love you anyways too." They kissed, and smiled at each other now that they felt more comfortable. A couple minutes later Nikita got a call from an unknown number.
"Hello?" Nikita questioned cautiously.
"Nikki? Is that you?" Birkhoff answered from the other side. He sounded out of breath, and anxious.
"Nerd? What happened to your cell phone?" Nikita continued to fire questions.
"We were attacked. They kept shooting the car... I told her to get down..." Birkhoff had a hard time getting words out.
"Slow down Birkhoff. Where are you?" Nikita asked almost as concerned as Birkhoff.
"The hospital. Sonya got hit, it's really bad." Birkhoff replied distracted.
"Okay, we're on our way." Nikita assured him, then hung up.
Twenty minutes later they all met with Birkhoff in the waiting room. It was about 6:30 pm. They left Les with the Neighbor, Debbie.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked Birkhoff.
"The bullet grazed me, I got lucky. Sonya wasn't lucky..." He shook his head starting to cry. Nikita hugged him.
"We'll get through this. Where was she shot?" Nikita asked.
"Stomach... twice." Birkhoff replied tears in his eyes.
"It's slim.." Sam thought out loud.
"But, possible..." Michael added.
"Come on." Nikita took him to the chairs, everyone else also sitting. They sat there for hours in anticipation. Everyone trying to comfort each other, but they couldn't be comforted until they knew. They remained there till 12:30 am, when the doctor came back with answers. They were all looking in any direction but the doctor's, half asleep. Until the doctor called;
"Birkhoff." They all jumped out of their seats and met the doctor in the middle. He looked down at his clipboard, then back to them.
"I'm sorry... We did everything we could to save her..." After the doctor said this, he backed away giving them space to react how they needed to. Alex cried, Sam comforted her, Michael and Nikita comforted Birkhoff, who was speechless. He didn't react for about 15 seconds which scared Nikita. When he did react, he stormed put of the room. Nikita sighed.
"Stay with Alex and Sam." Nikita commanded Michael, and chased down Birkhoff.
"Birkhoff!" Nikita called chasing after him. When she finally got close enough she grabbed him and turned him around.
"What!?" He yelled, with tears in his eyes.
"Where are you going?" Nikita asked, checking Birkhoff's priorities.
"I'm going to kill her." He said plainly. Then turned back around and started walking again. Nikita shook her head and walked behind him.
"Birkhoff, you have to think before..." She was cut-off by a very on edge Birkhoff as he turned to her.
"NO! I AM TIRED OF THINKING WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING NOW BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DIES!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. His cheeks were wet with tears.
"I know that's how you feel. Believe me I do. When I found out about Daniel..." She paused. "I was going to walk into Percy's office, and shoot him in the head." Nikita walked closer to Birkhoff and grabbed his hands. She had tears welling in her eyes. "It wouldn't have helped. I had to stop and think about what I would've really been doing, and as much as it hurts I need you to be strong. Sonya needs you to be strong, everyone does." Nikita had to take a deep breath to keep from crying. Birkhoff couldn't stop himself. "We will get Amanda. But we need a plan." She paused. "Right now, we need say goodbye..." Nikita looked at Birkhoff. He nodded then they hugged both with tears in their eyes. They re-entered the hospital then they all went to see the body through a window. Birkhoff shook his head.
"She didn't deserve this." He said barely audible. Nikita put her hand on his shoulder.
"No one did..." She told him and leaned her head on his shoulder. They all left the hospital soon after that. Nikita picked up Les and they all went home. After Les was asleep, they spent the whole night talking, but not about Amanda. Just about Sonya, and how much they would miss her. They comforted each other until they all fell asleep on the couch together, once again. It always seemed like Michael and Nikita's couch could make them all feel safe and comfortable. It was something they needed in a time like this.
