Kind of strange. Didn't think it would take me more than 44,000 words to write this thing when I started it. But it did and this is it, the last chapter of Interlude. Enjoy.


*14*

The next day went by without anything notable going on at Division for Michael. That wasn't to say he wasn't kept busy. He'd left Nikita's bed early again but not as early as yesterday, allowing himself the luxury of six hours sleep after the much shorter nights that had preceded it. He'd spared a lingering thought for what Percy and Amanda might have to say about him arriving an hour later than as per usual. As it turned out, the one thought he'd spared them was one to many as they hadn't deemed to come in before 8 a.m. themselves this morning, by which time he was already onto his third cup of coffee of the day.

He'd intended to let Nikita sleep this morning, she hadn't woken when he had carefully rolled from underneath her to have a quick shower and she hadn't woken from the smell of the fresh coffee he'd brewed and placed on the nightstand next to her gun and phone. He had tried to refrain from disturbing her peace by touching her face just before he left, but the angelic picture she presented had proven too difficult to resist. When she also hadn't woken from his featherlight caress over her features, he'd grown a bit bolder and had dared to softly press his lips against hers. He had lingered a bit, having trouble pulling away and figuring he'd better write her a note or something explaining his leaving without saying goodbye, when she'd stirred anyway.

And then he just had to reach out and touch her again, "Good morning."

"Hi", her sleep hoarse voice had greeted him.

"Sleep well?"

"Hmm", she'd stretched prettily, "You have to go?"

"Yeah."

She had curled her hand around his neck and kissed him sleepily, "Okay".

Michael knew he had not been able to help the grin pulling at the corners of his mouth and had kissed her again before telling her, "Go back to sleep Nikita".

She'd smiled at him while she lay back again and closed her eyes, "Maybe."

His grin hadn't left him until he'd entered Division. He also had not quite been able to keep from thinking about her during the day. Pictures of her popping up in his mind at the most inopportune moments, thoroughly distracting him from the business at hand and feeding his longing for her.

Michael finished up at close to 9 p.m. and even though he and Nikita hadn't spoken about when he would be able to come over again and he hadn't really been planning on that being tonight either, he found he couldn't stay away. He just needed to see her again. He'd pick up a change of clothes at his apartment before going to the loft and he would leave again tonight or early tomorrow morning at the latest. Nobody would know, he told himself, pacifying the nagging feeling of unrest in his stomach at taking the risk of going to her place again.

About an hour later Michael dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs in the entrance to Nikita's loft. The lights were on but he didn't spot her anywhere in the open living space. Figuring she must be in the bath - he didn't hear any water running, so that ruled out the shower - he was looking forward to joining her there again and made his way over. The tub was empty though, she wasn't in the luxurious bathroom. He checked her kitchen space next, no Nikita. The roof then, she wasn't there either.

An uneasy feeling started to settle in his stomach when he entered her living space for the second time. A feeling that spread when he noticed a half empty mug of coffee next to her computer along with her gun and phone. Wrapping his hand around the mug he noted its contents were cold, had been for a while too, judging by the oily film covering the surface. He took out his own phone sending a message to hers in the hope that the phone he was currently staring at was an extra. His hope was short lived as the device vibrated and lit up with a preview of his message.

"Damn it", he cursed aloud and then silently asked, where are you Nikita? Despite his growing concern for her he told himself not to jump to conclusions and that she probably only had just stepped out for a minute, he sat down to wait for her.

Fifteen minutes later, restlessness drove him to pace up and down the length of the loft, unable to sit and wait any longer. Wondering where she was, if she were okay, was slowly driving him crazy. Why hadn't she taken her phone? Or her gun? Was she even armed? Was she safe? Had anyone found out about her hiding space and taken her? His thoughts escalated as minutes passed. He had no way of contacting her, no way of finding her if she was in danger. The loft provided zero clues as to whether she had left willingly or not, or where to.

Forty-five minutes later he was still waiting, now sitting stiff as a board in the same chair he'd sat in a little more than a week ago when he'd first discovered her hiding place. The only real difference in stance being the handgun he now held in his lap instead of the monster he'd held then. Quiet footsteps sounded on the stairs and Michael aimed his gun in the direction of the entrance.

He'd thought he'd be able to breathe easily again when he would see her safe and sound. The opposite was true. A rush of adrenaline gushed through his veins at the sight of her entering, her eyes falling onto his carelessly dropped bag, high heels in one hand, her dress coat draped over her other arm that was left bare by the little black cocktail-dress that was hugging her slender figure.

A smile transformed her face as she recognised him instantly, "Hey…". She took another few steps, not quite able to focus on his face just yet as it was partially hidden by the shadows and therefore not fully taking in his expression. "I didn't think I'd see you tonight".

He stepped into the light and at noticing the sternness of his features the smile faded from her lips and she tilted her head at him inquisitively. He had yet to speak. "Michael?"

"Where have you been?", his gruff voice demanded.

She frowned, oh-kay… Was it just yesterday she had liked him being jealous and somewhat possessive from time to time? Had thought it sort of cute even? That feeling had entirely left her now. Michael took another step towards her and as he did so she saw the light reflecting off his gun, held by his side. Resisting the urge to take a step back, she took another good look at his face and then remembered she'd left the burner she used to communicate with him next to her preferred gun near the computer. Damn it… It suddenly wasn't hard to put two and two together and figure out he'd arrived at six instead of four. He wasn't jealous. He was worried for her, had been scared for her safety.

"I'm fine Michael", she offered placatingly, "I was meeting a contact about Gogol. He insisted on meeting in that fancy new jazz club downtown."

She put down her shoes and draped her coat over a chair. That done she opened the hand that had been hidden under her coat to reveal another cellphone, "I took this one, because that's the number he has for me."

Placing the phone on top of her coat, Nikita reached underneath the skirt of her dress and unclasped the thigh-holster holding her 'baby' with a practised move. She presented the holster and gun to him for a second before dropping those onto her coat as well, "No place to hide the other one with this dress." She waved her hands in front of herself, indicating the short and sleeveless number she wore and emphasising the near impossibility to conceal any weapon underneath it.

Nikita watched him breathing hard. One hand clenched around his gun, the other fisted by his side, but other than that he didn't move. "I'm fine hon", she repeated and took a tentative step in his direction.

She didn't see the break in him, it happened so fast. One second he was staring at her, rooted to the floor, the next he'd put down his gun somewhere and had her in his arms. Pressing her body tightly against his own and crushing his lips against hers in a fierce kiss. Nikita wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back just as fiercely, one hand tugging on his hair a little. Apparently this only fuelled the fire in Michael more as he turned her around and backed her into the nearest wall rather roughly, cushioning her head with a hand while at the same time pushing his burgeoning arousal against her belly.

An answering shock of need travelled from her belly to her sex. She felt herself getting wet and she moaned through their kiss. Nikita lifted one long leg to wrap it around one of his, grinding down on his thigh. Emboldened by her response, Michael dropped his hands to her bottom and lifted her up. Both of her legs went around his waist immediately, squeezing his waist almost painfully.

He let out a moan of his own and thrusted against her roughly while his hands got to work on the zipper of her dress, but it seemed his fingers would not fully cooperate and as he fumbled, the zipper snagged on fabric just a few inches down. Leaving the zipper the way it was, his mouth latched onto the junction between her shoulder and neck, scraping her skin with his teeth. Hard enough to sting but not to leave a mark, wondrously. He pushed one wide strap of her dress down her arm as far as it would go considering her dress was only partly undone and growled in frustration at the fact that it wasn't very far and that she was wearing a bra, another barrier that prevented him from getting his eyes and hands on her skin the way he wanted.

In the meantime Nikita had made short work of undoing his pants, her hands busy between their bodies. And then Michael sucked in a harsh breath as one of her hands disappeared inside his boxers and grasped him tightly. Her clever fingers fondling his hot flesh, Michael forgot all about his frustration at her wearing far too much clothes to his liking.

His knees buckled for just a second before he locked them and held her securely against him with one hand as the other joined hers between their bodies. He pushed her dress out of the way and slipped his fingers past the edge of her wet panties to caress the damp flesh between her legs while his lips were busy kissing up her neck to her jaw, lightly abrading her skin with his stubble.

"Oh god", Nikita gasped as Michael's mouth closed over her jaw and his fingers started to insistently stroke the bundle of nerves at the centre of her desire. Fumbling with his boxers to free him from them, Nikita wiggled her hips a bit and lifted herself up just enough to guide his length towards the sleek hollow between her folds. Her intentions more than clear, Michael helped her in joining their bodies by ceasing his feverish massage of her bud and folds and dragging aside her panties far enough to let her guide his throbbing flesh to hers.

As soon as she touched the tip of him to the heat of her, his breath shuddered out of him and Michael couldn't help but thrust home in one sharp move. Nikita mewled and grasped at his shirt-covered chest with her now free hand while the fingers of the other tightened on his shoulder harshly. Both momentarily catching their breath as Michael let her adjust, their eyes locked and then all bets were off. Lips crushing together, hands groping and pelvises grinding, they hurtled to completion. The mating of their bodies hot and heavy, devoid of any tenderness, just driven by a need that was sparked by a soul-searing love for each other.

They came together, hard and fast. Both of them out of breath and completely spent, they slid down the wall together, landing on the floor in a tangled heap of limbs.

"Wow", Nikita was the first to find her voice again after their explosion of passion.

Michael was more than inclined to second her remark, but he was also thinking clearly again and something else was foremost on his mind, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yes", she replied huskily, a lazy smile tugging at her lips.

Michael wasn't so sure. "Did I hurt you?", he asked as he gingerly caressed her face.

Nikita's smile blossomed, "Not even a little." And then she kissed him, slowly and tenderly to reassure him. "I'm fine. More than fine to be exact", she smiled at him again and then they both laughed as they looked down upon themselves and each other, intimately joined with their clothes only slightly askew.

Nikita was the one to bring back the seriousness to their conversation this time as she remembered what had been the catalyst for their current state and asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah", was all he said as he hugged her close.

She buried her face in his neck, "Let's think of another system, okay? One were we can safely let each other know if we're going to be somewhere else unexpectedly…", her voice trailed off on the last few words. It didn't matter though, Michael had caught them anyway, just as he had caught their hidden meaning. His reply was a loving kiss to her temple and the tightening of his arms around her.

They sat on the floor wrapped in each others embrace, until it became too uncomfortable to stay like that. By mutual agreement they got up and stripped out of their clothes. Leaving on their underwear, they climbed into bed. Cuddling close underneath the sheets like two little kids and falling asleep almost instantly.


The shrill sound of the alarm on Michael's phone woke both of them the next morning. The first rays of sunlight shining brightly through the windows reminded Michael that he'd forgotten to reset his alarm to an hour earlier yesterday and squashed his plans to leave for Division before dawn. Nikita's arms tightened around him, hugging him close, while he reached over to turn off the annoying sound, knocking his phone to the floor in the process.

"Just a few more minutes", she whispered without opening her eyes and tangling a silky smooth leg with his.

Michael kissed the top of her head. He needed to go, but her skin was so soft and warm against his, her body wrapped around his in a perfect fit… A few more minutes won't make a difference, he told himself and pulled her just a little closer with one arm while moving the other to link their hands, twining their fingers closely together.

She lifted her head to kiss him good morning. Fingertips lightly touched his stubble, tracing over his chin as her tongue gently stroked the seem of his lips, begging entrance. She got it. How easy it was to just forget the world in her embrace. The fleeting thought passed trough Michael's head as he rolled with her and lost himself in her kisses. The feel of her hand in his hair and on his neck after he let go of it to stroke down her arm, over her side, across her stomach and to her hip. Her foot that traveled daintily up and down his calf while his thigh was pressed up against the heat between her legs…

Michael imagined the look on Percy's face if he could see him now, his second in command involved in quite the make-out session with his former recruit, the recruit that had become the nail in the older man's coffin. The thought made him chuckle slightly even as it brought him back to reality.

"I should go…", he said and Nikita's eyes locked with his, "…This is too dangerous."

"For who?", her breathy voice asked and he saw the unspoken desire for him to stay right where he was plainly reflected in her eyes. She turned her face to lightly kiss his knuckles.

"I have a tracker implant, remember?"

"Yes", she breathed, a small smile forming, "and I have a signal jammer." The conversation they had had two mornings ago drifted back into his mind. Nikita lifted herself up to briefly catch his lips, hoping to seduce him into a lighter mood. His hand wandered over her belly, his fingers tickling her skin as they toyed with the waistband of her panties. "Or we could just take it out completely", she continued, her own hand coming down on his firm buttock slightly harder than intended, the slapping sound resounding harshly through the loft. She squeezed him slightly, soothing the sting as he vocalised his discomfort and replied, "Ow. Yeah I'm sure that wouldn't…", for a second, he pointedly looked down both their bodies, "… arouse suspicion."

Catching onto his double entendre easily, Nikita kissed his fingers again. "Yes, let's hope", she couldn't keep the smile from her lips.

"Nikita, I'm serious", Michael for his part, tried to get her to focus on the danger of what they were doing once again and failed miserably. Her arms came around him, pulling him closer, that humorous glint still present in her eyes.

"Yes I know", she said playfully. "Very serious, Michael's always so serious Michael." She kissed him then, catching his second and third uttered "Hmm-hmm" with her luscious lips. As far as directing him towards lighter issues went, it did as much good as his attempt to get her to fully focus upon the predicament they were sure to find themselves in if they weren't careful enough.

The next words to tumble from his lips didn't really surprise her then, "When are you going to tell Alex about us?", but Nikita couldn't prevent a sigh escaping at hearing them anyway, "Not now. She's under a lot of pressure right now."

Michael touched his lips to her fingers while she elaborated, "I don't know if she can handle…" A short silence fell as she lifted herself up once more before she continued, "… any big surprises." The last three words were a warm breath over his lips just before she kissed him again, demanding his full attention this time.

And then, just as both them were about to lose themselves in the sensual, unhurried meeting of their lips and tongues, an unexpected voice rang out, "Nikita?"


Finis

Thanks for reading!