I tried to make this one perfect, so it took little bit more time to update than I expected but... I think you will forgive me for that delay when you read the comment below the chapter , ;)

This is one of the longest, but you earned it,

Enjoy! :D

:) Hugs for Bellamodel1:* for editing ;)

Chapter 8

Cold autumn winds carried the scent of grilled beef and humidity so characteristic of Budapest's old town.

Everything here smelled of old times and food.

Historic alleys were crowded every time of a day and night. People strolled on the walkways by the river or just sat down in one of many little cafés and taverns enjoying the exceptionally beautiful evening.

The sun was hiding itself behind high buildings on the horizon, lighting the streets with a gentle autumn glow. Tress were covered with golden and brown leaves which were grabbed by the wind and thrown on the pavements creating a thick crispy carpet.

Tourists were hanging around Margaret Bridge taking pictures or just admiring the incredible view of the city and the Danube River.

Only one tourist seemed to be blinded to that charm.

A man in his mid 30s in a black leather coat was so preoccupied with his phone that he didn't even react when someone bumped into him. He murmured something under his breath and glanced at his phone one more time.

Michael was staring at the display for a while now, still unsure of what he was seeing.

17 missed calls from an unknown number.

It had to be Nikita. But what was weird was that she had apparently forgotten to follow their protocol.

No... She never forgets about stuff like that. She knew how important security was. Something must have happened.

He cursed under his breath. There was no way in the next few days that he could check on her.

He was in Hungary- Eastern Europe-where Division was currently taking down one of the members of parliament.

It would be too dangerous to contact her in the middle of a Division mission; too many eyes and ears. He would check on her personally, first thing after returning to the country.

Michael sighed. It was going to be a long week.

They got back to the States six long days later. The hit on the parliament member turned out to be a failure. Everyone was in bad mood during the flight knowing that as soon as they returned, Percy was going to cut off some heads.

Michael intended to break off for a couple of hours and go to Nikita straight from the airport. Disappearing right from Percy's nose wasn't easy but manageable. It's not like he hadn't done it before. He was trained to be a ghost, they all were, but Michael knew tricks that no one else did. He was the one who had trained all the agents, after all.

Everything would work out if only Percy wasn't in such a bad mood after an unsuccessful mission and didn't have other plans for Michael as soon as he landed.

"I want you to debrief agents and report to me immediately." Percy's voice was more strained than usual.

Though Michael wanted to scream from frustration, he just clenched his teeth and with a simple "yes sir", walked away to do as he was told.

At first he thought it was going to be quick and painless, but by the time the 7th moron was in front of him, he was starting to lose his nerve.

Aiden Thomas was going over the operation again. Hearing the same story for the 7th time was enough for Michael.

Not letting Thomas finish the sentence, he closed the briefcase with a loud slam and quickly left the room. He needed a moment to get some air and clear his mind or he was going to do something he would regret. A shocked Thomas was left disorientated with this sudden outburst. Michael was never that short-tempered.

Michael was standing by the railing, lost in thoughts when someone approached him. He glanced at the person and his mood went from bad to worse. The last thing he needed right now was Birkoff's advice or worse- good ideas for spending tonight's evening.

Making it clear that he was not in the mood for a friendly talk by ignoring the Computer Tech and turning his back to him, Michael was surprised to hear a hushed "Go". Michael faced him one more time, making sure he had really said something and it was not a delusion.

"Go. I will cover for you" Birkoff repeated.

Michael immediately understood what he was talking about and looked at him with suspicion: "I thought you weren't helping us."

"I'm not. Right now I'm helping myself." Birkoff took on his usual carefree facial expression to hide that he actually cared about Michael and Nikita. A little. Maybe a little more than he would like to admit. He cleared his throat." You have everything engraved on your face, man. If you stay here you will just make a mess. I value my life too much to let you get caught; you know who they will interrogate first when someone has any suspicions about your weird behavior. So you need to get the hell out of here. Go to her and don't come back until you are able to focus on work."

Michael read the message between the lines. His lips curled into smile. Birkoff was always a good friend.

"Thanks Birkoff" Michael reduced his gratitude to a simple slap on his friend's back and walked away as fast as possible.

He parked his car outside the local bar as always and headed towards Nikita's beach house.

All that worry and uncertainty had grown to an absurd size within those 8 days of not hearing a word from her. Anxious as to what he would find there, Michael sped up his pace.

He was almost there when some lady in a blue dress waved to him.

He stopped, baffled.

At first he thought she had confused him with someone else but she was heading quickly in his direction with a big smile on her face. Not wanting to draw unnecessary attention Michael decided to wait and see what happened next. He placed his right hand near the gun behind his belt.

"Hi" the woman said when she approached him. She acted like they were long-time friends and was constantly smiling.

"Don't her facial muscles get sore?" He thought.

-"Hello." –he said carefully, wondering how on Earth she could know him. He got the answer a few seconds later.

"I'm Tasha. Nikita's neighbor."-She held out her hand in his direction.

"Oh…right! It's nice to finally meet you. "He shook her hand "Nikita told me so much about you." which was an obvious lie but Tasha seemed to be happy with it.

"You must be Michael" she said. "I've seen you couple of times with Nikita. You look like a very happy couple"

"Yeah… that's …exactly who we are. "He smiled, putting on the mask of a careless man and soon-to-be father.

"Are you back for good?" she asked.

Michael didn't know how to answer. He had no idea what cover story Nikita had sold her.

"I…"- he started but Tasha took his hesitation as the sign of confusion and added quickly:

"Oh, I know you are a sales representative and travel a lot but I guess you will be here more often since the baby has been born-"

Michael's face froze. The woman was still talking but he was no longer listening.

Baby. Born. Those two words seemed to stick in his head.

He wanted to run to Nikita or ask the lady if they were all right but he knew it would be suspicious so he just forced a smile, cleared his throat and mumbled:

"Yeah, I got to go. It was nice meeting you Tara...-"

"Tasha"-she corrected him.

"Right…Tasha, Bye"

"Goodbye Michael."-she waved to him.

He walked slowly until the woman disappeared from his sight and then almost ran to the beach house.

How could he miss the birth of his own daughter? When was she born? Was she all right? How was Nikita feeling? Questions were rushing through his head.

He knocked on the door impatiently.

Nikita opened it almost immediately and her face lit up when she saw her visitor. She had begun to worry when she hadn't heard from Michael for such a long time.

Michael, not able to say a word, took her in his arms and hugged tightly. She was almost as slim as before her pregnancy. The space between them was smaller than usual. He pressed her closer.

"Everything is ok. With her and with me" Nikita answered the unasked question.

Michael felt like a stone was taken off his chest. "Thank God." he sighed.

"Come on in. She just fell asleep"

Michael realized Nikita was whispering. She smiled and gently took his hand, guiding him to the nursery.

His heart was pounding madly as they were climbing up the stairs. He still couldn't shake the shock of hearing all the revelations today. All his thoughts were squashed when Nikita silently opened the door to the last room on the left. She placed her hand on his back and, with a warm smile and simple nod, encouraged him to enter.

When he saw their daughter sleeping carelessly in the crib, his whole world stopped. His lips trembled in an unvoiced gasp of admiration.

She was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his life. So little and fragile, body of their bodies. Her slightly open lips-so similar to Nikita's, her little fingers with tiny nails clamping into fists….

"We still haven't picked a name." he heard Nikita's voice.

-"Right." He couldn't stop looking at their little miracle. She had some brown hair and a little tint to her skin. "What should we call her?"

"I was thinking about Maya" she said looking at him with anticipation. His eyes met hers and he saw the same fascination he felt right now.

"I like it" then he turned to the little sleeping beauty in the crib "Welcome to the world Maya. "

"She has your eyes." Nikita said with smile. "And I'm afraid your nose as well"

They both chuckled quietly.

"When was she born?" Michael asked when they sat down with coffee outside the house. Here they could talk normally, not being afraid that their little angel would wake up.

"9 days ago, at 11 p.m." Nikita answered.

Michael instantly regretted every second of those 9 days spent away from them. "How did you manage with the labor?"

"I got some help. Luckily, one of my neighbors is a doctor."

"The weird woman who has that creepy smile?" he asked, which reminded him of the meeting earlier that afternoon.

"Yeah. Tasha Elpherson-" Nikita nodded.

"How much does she know?"

"Not much. I told her we have no insurance policy and no money to cover the hospital bills. My doctor was on vacation and she was the only person I could think of. She promised she would keep a secret. But I bugged her and her house." Nikita shrugged her shoulders seeing Michael's amusement. "Just in case she changes her mind."

Michael nodded. "We will still have to find another place, just to be sure…"

"I know. But it will be good to stay here for a while. Maya needs to grow up a bit before she will be ready for move. Two more months I think." Nikita said and cautiously took a sip of hot coffee.

They both sat in silence enjoying one of the last warm afternoons, each of them lost in thoughts. Michael felt weird considering that four hours ago he was sitting on a plane, dying from worries about Nikita and now he was here with her, and their daughter sleeping upstairs.

Yet Michael had to admit that he felt a glimpse of grief and fear when he saw their daughter.

She reminded him of another little girl sleeping in crib, sneaking into her parent's bed each Sunday, listening with eyes wide in amazement of the bedtime stories her father read to her every night. A girl who had a long and happy life ahead of her until it was unfairly taken from her.

All the memories of Hayley broke loose through every barrier he had built through the years. It was not easy to leave it behind. It was not easy to live knowing that they were gone. And it would be unbearable to survive this again. Fear of losing Maya clenched his heart for a short moment. But then he took a deep breath and made it go away. He wouldn't let it happen. Not this time.

A Father. A smile widened on his lips. He had never thought this would happen to him again. And yet suddenly it had.

Well, not so suddenly considering he had about eight months to get used to that thought but it still felt so unreal, so normal, so happy….

Michael felt like there was nothing more in the whole world that would make him happier. After everything that happened to him he didn't expect much from life. And yet it still surprised him…..

"You think we can do it?" Nikita asked breaking the silence. Her thoughts, on the contrary, were full of worries and doubts. "I mean this life under the radar, raising a kid. Do you think it can work?" she looked at him with worry.

Michael smiled warmly and grabbed her closer. "Of course we can." He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "As long as we have each other, we can get through any difficulties. I promise"

Nikita felt relief, cheered up by his words. With Michael by her side all worries faded away. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled.

Michael was right. They could do it.

It looks like and end doesn't it?

But here is the latest news, there will be another chapter! :D

Obviously if you want to!

I have an idea in mind, let me know if you think it is good to end right here or should I write one more epilogue.

Please review!