The only thing I can claim is Maxime.and the plot. The rest is not mine.

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"I have this vague memory. It comes in snippets every now and again. My dad and a woman I don't recognize, but sometimes I do, which is kind of odd. She has blonde hair, but sometimes its long and sometimes it's short. Lot's of black clothes. I think she is my Dad's one and only. I don't know for sure, but my gut instinct tells me that it is. Crazy huh?" said the young man to his companion, lying in his arms.

It's that twilight time of day where everything is a little fuzzy. The fire warmed the room and the two lovers lay entwined on the couch, relaxing after suffering through end-of-year exams. Two glasses of wine lay untouched as they were loathe to break the precious contact even long enough for a sip.

"How come after three years of dating, you are just now telling me this?" Maxime asked Adam teasingly.

He grinned and replied, "Because I have just decided to do something about it."

"What?" she asked as she snuggled deeper into his embrace.

"I don't know yet, but something."

two days later

"Dad, who is Nikita?" Adam asked as he cut into the steak his dad had just placed onto his plate.

"What?" Michael asked, startled at the nature of the question.

"Nikita. I remember somebody named Nikita. She had blonde hair. I don't remember much else about her. But, for a long time, you said her name in your sleep."

"She was somebody I knew, a long time ago." Michael answered as he sat down across from Adam.

"Did you love her?" Adam asked quietly.

"Yes." Michael whispered.

"Is she the reason you have never married. Hell, you have never even been out on a date."

"Yes."

"Why aren't you two together, then?"

"She was a part of my life, a long time ago."

"The train station." Adam suddenly blurted out.

"Yes. She was at the train station."

"And that day." Adam trailed off, memories flooding back, memories of the day he got to see his dad again....The day he saw a man get shot. ".that day, she was there. Wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"What aren't you telling me, Dad." Adam asked angrily, slamming down his knife and fork.

"You know there are things I can't tell you."

"Why is everything a damned mystery around here? I know my last name isn't really Jamison. I know that my mother died when I was young. I know you had some job that kept you away for weeks on end, and then you were gone, and then you were back again. What the hell is going on?"

"Samuelle?"

"Sorry?"

"Samuelle, your last name is Samuelle."

"That's something. What happened to my mother?"

"She died because of the work I did."

"What kind of work?"

"I can't tell you."

"Damn it."

"Please, don't ask. It's for your own safety."

"Dad."

"Please, Adam, don't push it."

"Fine. So my last name is Samuelle. Why haven't we been using that name? Are we in hiding?"

"We have, to some extent, been hiding, though only for the first ten or so years."

"Ok, ok.back to the original question. Who is Nikita and why aren't you with her?"

"I couldn't be with her and you. I chose you."

"Dad, I'm an adult now. I don't even live here anymore. Can't you be with her now?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"If I do, I can't be with you."

"Again, why not?"

"It's complicated."

"No. It's not. You love her, you should be with her."

"I can't."

"You keep saying that. Why the hell not?"

"If I tell you, you will know secrets that could get you and Maxime killed."

"So tell me. I can handle it."

So he did. Michael told Adam all about Section and what he did to get there and what he did in there. Adam heard all about Operations, Madeline, Walter, and Birkoff. He heard about the missions and all the risks his father took. He heard it all. The story finished at the train station.

"There will be a time when Adam won't need me."

"You know where I am. I love you."

"I love you."

"Dad, I don't need you anymore. I know that sounds harsh, but you gave up so much for me isn't it time it was your turn."

"No, it doesn't work that way. I won't allow it." Michael said as he got up from the table and walked into the living room. Adam didn't follow immediately, but instead cleared the table and did the dishes, letting his dad catch his breath for a while. When he was done, he cautiously approached the living room. He found his dad on the couch, staring into the fire. He stepped into Michael's line of vision and knelt down, locking eyes with his dad.

"Dad, I love you. But please, find your Nikita, before it tears you apart. I have every faith that we will see each other again. Please don't make me the barrier to your happiness"

With tears in his eyes, Adam stood and walked out the door.

For several hours, Michael sat and pondered. Long after the fire had diminished to embers, Michael stood and walked into his bedroom and began packing a bag. He was going to find his Nikita.

thousands of miles away

Nikita stood in her perch, high above the bustling Communications Center.

"Operations?" came a disembodied voice.

"Yes?"

"We are receiving an unusual incoming signal."

"Why is it unusual?"

"It's an outdated code."

"How outdated?"

"About 20 years."

'It couldn't be, could it?' she thought to herself. "Decipher and deliver it to me."

"Ok. Comm out."

Ten minutes later, Nikita had the following information:

Ready to come home. At first haunt.

Immediately Nikita felt the flush of emotion as she realized that he was in her old apartment. She alerted communications that she would be off the premises and to contact her second-in-command, Kendall, with any problems. She would check in the next day. After doing that she took an old familiar route to an old familiar place.

As she opened the door, she smelt the burning wax of candles and the spicy aroma of familiar cologne. She walked into the room and got her first glimpse of somebody she had only dreamt of for 20 years.

"Michael." She whispered.

"Nikita." She heard.

And the years were erased as two long lost souls melded into one.