CHAPTER ELEVEN - VENGEANCE

Her chest hurt and she's not wounded. No. It hurts inside. If only she can rip it out, she would. When she's not hurting, she feels empty.

Michael is dead. It's the only thing she can think about. They shot him in cold blood as she watched the life leave his body. She pounded the glass door as hard as she could, but it did not break. She couldn't save him. She failed him.

How dare those people say he's alive? Who are they anyway? Who was that man?

He kept saying that he's Michael, but she knows that he wasn't. She could see that he believes it though. She saw it in his eyes. Those eyes…he has the same eyes as her Michael and that what makes it even painful. She wants to believe that the man was telling the truth. It would be easier, but she had seen the love of her life die. There's no way she can unsee that. Those eyes were the only ones that stopped her from killing all of them.

She has a top priority and that's to make those responsible for Michael's death…every single last one of them.

The mission, Nikita mused, was sanctioned by the president. She had sent them to that place saying it's one of those missions that only Division can handle. Ryan bought it completely, of course, anything to please the president for their precious pardons. As always, she took the job so the others wouldn't be in harm's way. Michael came along with her because he's her partner in everything. What's supposed to be a simple retrieval mission became a trap for them. Armed men came in and fired at them. They weren't from the gang they were trying to steal from. They're government. It was trap. The president set them up and now Michael's dead.

Amanda…something whispered in her ears.

The man earlier also mentioned her name. What does Amanda have to do with Michael's death? She wasn't there but then again; she does not need to be. Amanda likes to work behind the curtain.

The last time she saw her was—her head started throbbing—she couldn't remember the last time she saw Amanda but she felt like it's only been recent.

Nikita needs to start somewhere. Yes, the president is at the top of her list but there are people who acted on her orders. She's going to kill them all.

Amanda…

She winced. Something deep within her guts tells her to start with Amanda.

Michael was the obvious target. That much she's sure of. The door closed as soon as she stepped out of the room. It was meant to trap Michael inside. Why? It couldn't be Heidecker. She already paid the price for Michael's hands. She took the hit jobs for his medication. They almost killed her when she failed to kill the last target. As far as she knows, Division steered away from Shop's business.

Amanda…

Why is she being so quiet? Most of their rogue agents have aligned with her. Where is she getting the money to pay them? Ari was already out of the question. Who's backing her?

Percy used to do business with the Shop. It's creepy. I really don't like those crazy people but they seemed to jive with each other…even with Amanda…Birkhoff said once.

Amanda and the Shop…Nikita's fingers fidgeted. It's not that far of a reach since they knew each other. The Shop is into developing new ways to either improve a person's life or kill someone. Amanda's specialty is to meddle with someone's brain.

Nikita…please, it's Amanda. She did something to you. It's me. I am here. I am alive. I am not dead…

Them working together made sense. That could be her start and then the goddamn government.

She sniffed the trail of Heidecker and it hadn't been easy. The Shop covered their asses quite well. She reached out to her former contacts and paid handsomely. Tracing money trail took a few days but eventually it all came down to one person: Phillip Jones of MDK.

Getting inside was nothing. What she saw in that building confused her. Clones. Doubles. A bunch of fakes. The Shop has been abducting people to clone them to replace important people in the government. Now, Nikita understood why Amanda is working with them. She conditioned those poor people's brains to become the person they're pretending to be.

But why kill Michael?

Perhaps, it's all Amanda. Maybe that man was right but not about her brain being messed up. It could be her, to take revenge from her. She knows that hurting Michael will break her and it did. What Amanda failed to foresee is that she'll do everything in her power to avenge her dead fiancé.

Nikita sees red. She didn't know how she did it but once she's through, there was no one to stop her from walking out the front door. Everyone was down. A piece of paper in her hand. It took twenty minutes of torture before that computer geek gave her the list of doubles they've placed in the government.

They're her next target. They took Michael from her. She's going to destroy something they've carefully planned for years. She's going to kill all of those doubles. The moment she saw the president's name on the list, she knew that she was right. It was the Shop and Amanda who killed Michael. The president is not the president. Ryan does not know. Division does not know.

Perhaps, she should warn them but she cannot bring herself to step inside that place anymore…not after Michael. It would be too much. It's easier to just go and kill fake government officials than to go back to Division.

…and so, that's what she did.

FBI Director, Secretary of Defense, members of Forbes' Top 10…they were all no match for her. She's just one woman and she managed to slip past their securities and kill them all. The names on the list dwindled one-by-one. She went in and out. Break some necks, slash someone's throat, shoot someone on the head…it didn't matter how she did it as long as the job's done.

Deep inside, Nikita knows Michael wouldn't be happy with what she's doing. He's the only one that can calm her down, tame the beast inside, keep the monster at bay. This is for him, she justified in her brain. He will be avenged no matter how much the bloodshed.

The time comes for the biggest fish to fry.

Nikita went through the tunnel going straight to the White House. She let the Secret Service searched her for any weapon. She didn't bring any. There would be no need for that. She can take out one pesky fake president with her bare hands.

They escorted her to the Oval Office. She told them it's an emergency, a matter of national security. When she got inside the office, the fake president looked at her and appeared to be bored.

"Agent Mears, what can I do for you?" she asked while signing some papers.

The Shop managed to place a double at the highest position in the country. No doubt they're not being caught nor exposed. They have this fake of a president protecting them. The Shop basically runs the country for goodness' sake.

"I came here to warn you, Madam President", Nikita muttered as she approached the desk.

"…about what?"

"We've come to discover about another secret organization that's not funded nor created by the government and yet, they hold this government by the neck with their cruel hands", she answered.

The fake president frowned at her.

"What are you talking about? No one is certainly holding my government by the neck", she asked again.

Nikita raised a brow in challenge.

"Are you sure it is really your government or your nothing but a puppet who answers to your real masters…the Shop?"

She saw the way the woman tensed, and she got her confirmation. Before the fake president can make a move to alert the agents outside, Nikita grabbed the pen from the desk and stabbed the woman's neck with it. It was quick and clean. The double choked with her own blood before dying.

"Good talk, Madam President", she muttered before tossing the pen aside.

The two agents posted outside didn't have the chance to react before she grabbed them inside the office and knocked them out. Nikita left the same way she entered the White House and no one stopped her.

She knows it's only a matter of time before her face grace the evening news. Her life is over. Well, it has been over the moment Michael drew his last breath.

"It's done, Michael. We did it. It's over", she breathed out with a smile on her lips.

It does not matter what happens to her now. They're all dead. Her job is done.

As soon as she stepped into the parking lot looking for a car to steal, something stung her neck that had her halting in her steps. She put her hand over neck to check what it was and managed to pull out a tranq dart. Her vision suddenly swayed, and everything went black.


The next time Nikita woke up, she felt the cold metal cuffs wrapped around her wrists and legs. She's bound to the bed inside the Medical. She's back in Division, she realized. Her heart started pounding. How many times did she and Michael spend time there? Why is she back in Division? She should be on the run right now, being the most wanted person on the planet. She should be caught and thrown into prison. She should be back on death row and soon to be reunited with Michael. Frustrated, she tried to break free from the restraints.

"Easy, we're not here to hurt you, Nikita. We're here to help you", the man from the basement said.

He's Division agent? Why else would he be there? How come she does not recognize him though? By the time they took over Division, she'd come to know every single face of the agents. She does not know the man next to her. Unless, of course, the government had taken over Division while she was gone. If that's the case, Ryan, Alex, Owen, Birkhoff, Sonya, and Owen are all in danger or dead too.

"Where are they? What did you to Ryan and the others?" she growled.

A frown formed on the man's face before sighing deeply.

"They're fine. Everything is going to be fine, Nikita. I promise", he answered.

She wanted to accuse him of lying but there's something about his eyes that tells her he's incapable of lying to her.

"What is this? You're going to torture me for information? Don't bother. You'll know soon enough what I've been up to on the news", she spat.

Worry flashed across his face. Was it worry for what she's talking about or was it for her? Then again, why would he worry about her? She does not know him.

"No. We're only here to help", he muttered.

Looking at his eyes hurts. He reminds her so much of Michael and she cannot take it anymore. It just hurts too much.

"There's one thing you can do to help me…" the man perked up and waited. "You can help me die",

"Nikita",

"There's nothing left for me in this life. You keep acting like you care. You want to help me? Then, kill me. I've already thrown away my life. Killing me wouldn't be a waste. You'll be doing me a favor. I want to die…so I can be with him again. That's how you'll help me", she added.

She saw the way his eyes watered as he nervously ran his fingers through his hair. Even the way he moves is so like Michael. Maybe if she closed her eyes, he can be him even just for a little while. No, she told herself. She can be with her Michael…in the afterlife.

"Everyone ready?" Nikita turned to the man standing by the door. Another new face, she mused. The man next to her nodded. "You're going to be okay, Nikki. We're just going to reset your brain and you'll be back to your real self in no time",

She didn't have time to react nor process what he said. She just felt the jolt hit her brain fast and she screamed.