This story is slowly coming to a close, only one chapter left after this one. It's been kind of quiet but traffic stats show people are still reading, so here's the next part. Enjoy!


*13*

Inwardly cursing in every single language he knew, Michael resisted the urge to jam the keyboard through the screen of the station he was working on. A persistent stabbing pain behind his eyes, threatened to develop into the mother of all headaches. The price he'd pay for lack of sleep and unsuccessfully sitting behind a monitor for too long. He rolled his head from one side to the other, trying to relieve some of the stress on the muscles in his upper back and neck. His head felt heavy and the muscles between the base of his skull and his neck too short.

He'd been trolling through Division's computer system for the past several hours hunting for something on the guardians and the remaining black boxes. Without luck. Of course he hadn't expected there to be a directory named 'guardians' or 'black boxes' or anything of the sorts, but he also hadn't expected not to find a single clue or trace.

Taking a deep breath to curb his frustration, he tried the one last thing he could think of. Typing in the string of code he started his last search attempt. One file stood out. He opened it and saw it was some kind of log, different from the ones he dealt with on a day to day basis. In it he found mention of locations, rarely distributed assets, dedicated money flows and communication patterns. This could be something. The only problem was recognising the definitive pattern, if there even was one.

At first glance it was clear that everything mentioned in this file was in some way connected to one of thirty-something big metropolitan areas in the world. For a split second Michael imagined there being more black boxes than they had thought up until now, but shoved that idea out of his mind again immediately. More than thirty was too much. In such an amount lay liability instead of security. Percy was a lot of things, stupid wasn't one of them.

Still, that knowledge didn't get him and Nikita anywhere near finding and destroying the remaining boxes though. More than thirty possible locations was too much without knowing who they were looking for. It would take them years to search through them all. He looked at the data carefully once again but couldn't find anything to narrow down the search. Thirty-four possible locations...

He'd need more intel, names preferably, since he was familiar with most agents scattered around the globe on routine Division business or in more definitive covers. But for that he would have to dig deeper, something he wasn't prepared to do because sooner or later his attempts would be noticed by Birkhoff and there was no telling whom the computer-whizz would inform of Michael's unauthorised search attempts first. Himself or one of their leaders? Usually Birkhoff would confront Michael before doing anything else but in this case... Michael was not prepared to take that risk.

They would have to figure out another way to find the remaining guardians and their boxes. Michael had a feeling Nikita wasn't going to be pleased at his reluctance to dig a little deeper, or maybe it was just that he was disappointed with himself on some level and frustrated with Percy at being kept out of the loop on this. He was supposed to be his damned second for crying out loud.

The stabbing pain inside his skull got to an intolerable level so Michael erased his search queries and file entries and logged off of his workstation. Seven thirty already, his watch told him. He wondered if this was what Nikita had had in mind when she'd told him to come to the loft a bit earlier this evening. In any case that's where he was headed as he left the darkened halls of his self-awarded prison for the day.


Nikita sat on the edge of her large freestanding tub as she turned on the tap. Warm water gushed from the wide spout over her hand. Finding the temperature to her liking, she took a sip from the glass of merlot she'd brought with her, before pouring a generous dollop of her favourite bath-foam into the rapidly filling tub. She had no idea when Michael would actually come over tonight, but since she wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing while she waited for her man to show, she was going to pamper herself and have a nice little soak.

After her brunch date with Alex this morning, the two women had gone their separate ways again and Nikita, not wanting to return to the loft quite yet, had gone on an impromptu shopping spree. She'd treated herself to a few new outfits and when she passed a window with a gorgeous little set of purplish lacy lingerie on display, she couldn't resist getting that too. On her way home she'd stopped by a very good little Vietnamese take-away restaurant she hadn't frequented in some time to pick up an easy dinner for tonight.

Arriving home, she decided on a workout after she'd put away her purchases and take-away and now here she was, preparing to relax her tired muscles, just like last night only minus the frustration she'd felt then. All in all she was feeling pretty good about her day and was looking forward to the rest of the evening.

Nikita gathered a few other necessities and placed them and her wineglass on a little end-table strategically positioned next to the tub. She stripped out of her sweaty workout clothes, kicking them into a corner before stepping into the tub and sinking herself into her own little bit of citrus-scented heaven.

And that's where Michael found her not ten minutes later.

A sight for sore eyes, that's what she is, thought Michael as he silently stood in the doorway of the candlelit bathroom. She looked completely at peace and so very beautiful with her shoulders only partly visible above the bubbles, damp skin glistening, her delicate features totally relaxed and her long dark hair piled haphazardly atop her head in a loose bun.

He just stood there drinking her in for a few minutes and was quite certain she was oblivious to his presence until she spoke, not bothering to open her eyes just yet but with a smile ghosting around her lips, "Are you just going to stand there and stare all night, or are you going to come here and kiss me already?"

Michael's lips tugged up into a small smile and in a few steps he reached her, taking off his customary leather coat and draping it over the vanity in the process. Kneeling beside the tub, he leaned over her and touched his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, "Hi."

Nikita opened her eyes at that, "Hi yourself." She sat up a little and then added, "You're here early." One of her hands snaked up out of the water to frame his chin and guide his mouth to hers again for a slightly lengthier kiss.

Her lips were soft and warm against his. She tasted of red wine and Michael found himself savouring her taste even though the strain on his neck from his awkward position over the edge of the bath made his headache intensify for a moment. Nikita seemed to pick up on the fact that he wasn't quite feeling his best, because her fingers released his chin to lightly stroke his jaw and her mouth left his to ask, "What's wrong?"

Michael kept his eyes closed, let out a sigh and carefully shook his head. "Nothing." He just wanted to be with her. Just being with her had already made him feel much better than the industrial strength painkillers he'd downed on his way out of Division had until now.

Nikita frowned. She studied him closely for a second and came to her own conclusion, "You have a tension headache."

Michael sighed again and let his head hang forward a bit, she knew him too well. Nikita's fingers made their way over to his neck to softly stroke his skin, "How bad is it?" She remembered from years ago he'd suffered them every once in a while, usually after a period of time with a very demanding workload. The worst ones had left him next to incapacitated until they passed.

"It's okay. I already took something for it." He did the math in his head, "It should kick in soon."

Nikita watched him carefully once more, concern written plainly across her face, "Are you feeling sick?"

"No."

"Light sensitive?"

The corners of Michael's mouth turned up slightly once more in amusement and affection over her concern for him, "No".

Nikita let out a relieved breath, "Good". She was glad for him it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She pressed her lips against his forehead in a lingering kiss, her fingers all the while softly stroking his neck. "Why don't you take off your clothes and join me then?", she suggested.

One of Michael's hands cupped her face and he brought his lips to hers for another sweet kiss, before he stood up and started to unbutton his shirt. He still hadn't opened his eyes, which told Nikita all she needed to know. He might not be sick, but he was definitely in pain.

He let his shirt drop to the floor and kicked off his shoes, pushing them out of the way with his feet so they wouldn't trip over them later. Nikita sat watching him as inch after inch of skin was revealed, admiring how beautiful he was, how very male and so very incredibly sexy. The sight of his naked body made butterflies take flight in her stomach and a tingle travel trough her body. She bit her lip as pure, unadulterated lust pooled low in her belly and then berated herself for her semi-lewd thoughts and feelings as Michael pushed the pile of clothes next to him over to his shoes. Leave him be Nikita, he's not feeling well.

"Come sit here", she softly told him as she indicated the space in front of her. Michael did as she directed, getting into the water a bit more gingerly than she had expected, and slowly lowered himself to sit between her bent knees.

Nikita placed her hands against his muscled back, fully intending to wrap them around him and guide him to rest against her, when she felt the tightness in them and another idea struck her. Gently pressing her lips to his neck for a brief moment, she reached for the body oil she'd placed on the small table next to the tub to rub into her skin after she'd finished her bath. It would work nicely for what she now had in mind too. It would definitely kill the bubbles but she found she didn't care about that all that much.

Unscrewing the cap, she poured some in her hand and warmed it between her palms before she spread it over Michael's shoulders and back. He let out a groan as she did so, so she took care to keep her touch as light as possible while her hands slowly traveled up to his neck, coating the back of his upper body completely with a light sheen of oil.

"Nikita", Michael called to her, his voice low and quiet.

"Hmm?", she replied as her fingers got to work on the tense muscles beneath his shoulder blades, gently kneading them.

"You don't have to…"

"Shh." She pressed her lips to his shoulder this time, "Let me."

Michael let out a shuddering breath and leaned into her touch a little more. A calm settled over him as her clever fingers slowly manipulated his muscles into releasing the tension they held. For the first time that day he felt as if he could breathe deeply again. And that's what he did, filling his lungs with fresh citrus-scented air as he concentrated on her fingers slowly working their magic on him.

Nikita's hands traveled slowly upwards, paying special attention to a knot between his shoulder blades, patiently rubbing it over and over until she felt it give way enough that she dared increase the pressure a little. Maybe she was too bold, because as soon as she pressed her thumbs into the muscle a bit more firmly Michael let out a low groan.

She eased up immediately. "Am I hurting you?", she spoke in a low, slightly more husky than usual, tone of voice.

"No", his reply a whisper, "That one is just a little tender."

Nikita sighed and continued on. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, she worked up towards his neck and as Michael relaxed, he let his head lean forward more and more until it rested comfortably in his hands lying atop his pulled up knees.

Her fingers and hands were getting tired but still she worked on until the tension in his neck slowly started to melt away too and Michael turned his head in his hands. Nikita smiled a secret smile. She could tell he was just enjoying the feel of her hands on him now instead of focussing on relaxing the muscles she was massaging and that was something she herself enjoyed immensely.

Tired or not, she was happy to give him this small comfort and kept on lightly kneading. When her hands were rubbing over his shoulders for a second time, Michael let out a sigh and lifted his head from his hands, sitting up himself. He grabbed one of her hands within his and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles, "Thank you."

"You're welcome hon", she smiled at him as he turned his face towards hers. Catching her lips with his, he kissed her, deeply and full of tenderness at the same time. Her one arm still held against him, her hand enveloped in his, Nikita dropped her other hand from his shoulder to wrap around him. Snaking it underneath his arm to splay her fingers over his heart. She pressed his back against her chest a little more and coaxed him to lay back against her when their kiss came to an end. He went more than willingly and rested his head against her shoulder as her back connected with the back of the tub.

They settled in. Michael wrapping one hand over one of her knees as they framed his lower body, while the other still covered one of hers, softly stroking those wonderful fingers of hers. Nikita pressed her lips against his temple and sighed.

"Feeling better?", she asked. She took his drowsy "Hmm" for a yes and squeezed him to her a little tighter, resting her head against his and closing her eyes too.


"I've been digging around for info on the black boxes and the guardians", Michael's smoky voice called to her.

They were sitting on opposite sides of the sofa in the living space of her loft, the containers of reheated take-out shared between them. Both of them had dressed in nothing more than their underwear and a comfy shirt, both of which happened to belong to Michael.

Her mouth full with a big bite of Vietnamese food, Nikita tilted her head at him and implored him with her eyes to elaborate as she chewed.

"I can't narrow it down to less than thirty-four locations, without risking compromising my cover."

Nikita couldn't decide if the little tidbit of inability he just revealed was due to his more cautious nature or not. What she did see, was that he believed it was impossible at this moment and that this clearly made him uncomfortable. So she decided forgoing on asking why exactly he thought it impossible and exploring other options. She wasn't going to push him, not yet at least.

"We know one of them is in London."

Michael looked at her in surprise at her knowledge of another definitive location.

Nikita shrugged impishly at his surprise, offering up a non-verbal apology at not sharing this bit of intel sooner and then continued, "What we don't know is, who and where exactly in London."

Michael's eyes narrowed as he carefully took in her words and focussed on one word in particular. We, she said. Not I. We. "Who's we exactly?"

Nikita locked her eyes with his briefly and supplied him with the information as she brought another forkful to her mouth, "Me and Owen." She chewed her food as she almost immediately transferred her attention to the nearly empty food containers again, digging around in one of them for another piece of carrot and totally missing the not so happy look surfacing on Michael's face. When he stayed silent for longer than she expected she gave up her search and looked at him again. He was frowning now.

"Owen Elliot?", he asked, his voice darkening with dislike for the former cleaner.

"Hmm-hmm", Nikita confirmed as she swallowed her food. "He's supposed to call me when he knows more. It's been a while though."

Michael grumbled. He didn't like her working with Owen. Truth be told he didn't like her working solo with any other man, but especially not with Owen Elliot. He didn't even trust the guy as far as he could see him, just like he didn't trust any other cleaner not to behave erratically. She couldn't know what Owen had been, what he'd done. Michael had thought her and Owen's 'involvement' a few months ago had been a one-off thing, learning that it wasn't made him feel like he'd swallowed a smouldering piece of coal. And not just because of worry for Nikita's safety, although that was certainly part of it.

Nikita studied Michael intently, he was jealous! Nikita bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Just like years ago when his jealous streak had surfaced, she felt a weird kind of special for provoking this feeling in him. Dark and brooding Michael, always serious, capable of great and all consuming fiery passion as she knew from first hand experience since only a couple of days ago, and with a tendency to get jealous too apparently. She found it sort of cute. Possessive, but cute.

Michael sighed, considering her alliance with Owen once more but knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind on him just like that. He'd have to go about it carefully. He was about to speak when she beat him to it.

"Babe?", Nikita crawled over to him to straddle his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck as she sat down in his lap before coaxing him to look at her. "You do know you have nothing to worry about right?", she whispered as his own arms wrapped around her of their own volition. Her lips pressed against his cheekbone, she added in an even quieter tone, "Never really had for that matter."

That last part threw him for a loop, what about Daniel then? Michael was still wondering whether he'd heard her right, when she pulled back a little and demanded his full attention again.

"You have me… I'm all yours", she breathed over his lips while resting her forehead against his and framing his face in her delicate hands. He kissed her then, unable to resist and forgetting all about Owen and Daniel and what he had wanted to say in the first place at the feel of her in his arms, her body a pleasant weight against his own, her fingers tugging slightly on his hair as she moved against him. Nikita deepened their kiss, stroking his tongue with hers and sucking his bottom lip in between hers before releasing him. Desire catching flame and turning into explosive fire between them like a bonfire doused with gasoline.

"How's your head?", she enquired hoarsely.

"Better", he managed, nipping her lips while his hands disappeared underneath the shirt she was wearing, caressing warm and soft flesh until he encountered the lace of her bra.

"Take me to bed then", she told him and then added, "Love me."

Capturing her lips with his again, he folded one arm beneath her bottom, stood up and did exactly that.


"Oh god", her warm unsteady breath was a whisper against his neck. She moaned against his skin, "So good." And then he experienced the joy of feeling her body clenching around his for a second time this evening just before he felt her teeth grazing his shoulder as she shuddered in ecstasy.

"Yes", he breathed into her hair. 'So good' is right. That's exactly what this is. So very good, he thought to himself, absorbing her body's tremors with his own. There's nothing better.

Michael placed one hand on the small of her back, while the other wrapped around her shoulders and sat up with her in his lap. The change in position brought their pelvises into even closer contact and Nikita let out a loud moan as she felt him going deeper inside of her than before. Her nails bit into the skin of his shoulder blades as her hips jerked against his.

Michael hissed, he was close himself, so very close. The tell tale quiver that danced up his spine and the tightening of his muscles, signalled his own need for release that wouldn't be denied for much longer.

Nikita was letting out soft, incomprehensible sounds of pleasure. The bliss she experienced as she came, made him want to follow her into it and at the same time, hold out just a little longer to watch and enjoy her experiencing it. He kissed her, her closed eyes, her cheek, her jaw, that little spot below her ear that made her moan.

Nikita's legs tightened around Michael's waist and she rocked her hips against his without her being consciously aware of doing so. Her body seemed to have taken on a mind of its own, operating on pure instinct, on something primal. Her breath came out in short puffs and when she felt his lips moving over her face an unbearable need to kiss him came over her. Her arms traced down his back and over his sides to travel over his chest until she could cup his jaw in both hands and bring his mouth to hers.

Her lips tingled when they touched his, her palate freed of that hollow feeling when their tongues met and stroked each other. Her hips canted to his again and together they rocked, slowly. Michael felt that overwhelming feeling preceding climax come over him and moaned. His arms full of Nikita, her soft, warm skin underneath his fingertips, her lower body meshed to his as closely as humanly possible, he kissed her with everything in him.

Michael stroked her shoulders, traced his hands down her arms - both of them folded between their chests as she held his face in hers. His fingers grazed the sides of her breasts and lightly tickled her sides as they passed on their way to the small of her back, pressing her belly firmly against his before finally landing on the smooth curves of her bottom. Nikita moaned again as he lightly squeezed, her inner muscles contracting around him for a third time and then he was gone, tumbling over the edge with her and nothing left for them to do but hold onto each other tightly in bliss.


Several heavenly lengthy moments later Michael became capable of conscious thought again. Nikita was still in his lap, draped rather bonelessly against him as he held her close, and still breathing hard, like he was. His killer headache was long since a thing of the past, heavy duty painkillers combined with Nikita's skilful touch ridding him of it.

He didn't even feel as tired anymore as he had felt all day, their lovemaking seemed to have had an invigorating effect instead of leaving him very pleasantly drowsy in the wake of it. He lifted his face from the top of her head after pressing a lingering kiss to it, his fingers tangling in her shiny, dark tresses as he raised his eyes to the ceiling.

Amazing, he actually couldn't believe how well they were matched, mated even, in body and in mind it seemed when it came to their lovemaking. Easily taking each other to such great heights, their bodies instinctively knowing each other. Knowing how to bring each other to the pinnacle of delight and both already knowing all their tells of reaching it without really learning. He hadn't thought such a connection possible, but Nikita and he seemed to have it without trying.

Her breathing had slowed to resemble something like normal again against his neck, but still Michael gently cradled the back of her head in one hand while the other was wrapped around her lean back. Keeping her in a protective hug as she came back to earth. The minute she did a happy giggle escaped her. He pulled her back from him a little to ask her what was funny, when she just smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes and all his words died in his throat as he was overcome by her once again.

He kissed her anew, passionately, adoringly while he manoeuvred them both to lay back down on the bed. Nikita's back came to rest on the mattress anew and he stretched out above her, keeping most of his weight on his elbows as he trailed his fingers through her hair again. He traced the shell of her ear with a fingertip, her eyebrow with his thumb, her jaw with a few fingers at the same time and all the while he kissed her. Over and over. Not getting enough of her, never enough.

"I love you", he whispered huskily over her lips. One of her hands caressing his strong back and the fingers of the other tickling his neck at his hairline, she repeated his words back to him, "I love you too". And there was that happy giggle leaving her lips again. Contagious this time as he laughed softly with her.

His forehead pressed to hers and their bodies still intimately joined, they kissed and caressed to their hearts content until sleep finally claimed them.