Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing. Never have and never will.
A/N: Guys, I gotta say: THANK YOU SO MUCH! You guys have been so kind on your reviews and I couldn't be more grateful. It really means a lot to me! :)
So, back to the story.
I'll admit it, I had a little trouble writing a story for this week's episode. So forgive my apparent writer's block. If I can come up with something better this week, I'll post it to make it up for you.
You guys know the drill with the grammar/coherence mistakes, right? :)
This is set right after Nikita saves Birkhoff, and before their final scene when they're back home.
Enjoy!
"How come you can afford a helicopter but never occurred to you to get a medical insurance?" Nikita chided.
Birkhoff closed his eyes at the sharp pain in his head "Well I was inside division for a long time, and when I finally got out of there, I never even had a cold" he answered "or got severely injured. I had other things in mind."
"You're lucky you have that much money, 'because otherwise you'd still be on an ER waiting room, and God knows what could have happened if you hadn't had immediate assistance and..." She started rambling.
"Nikki" he interrupted her in a low, calm tone "I'm fine now, breath okay?" he advised, seeing how shaken up she still was.
Nikita took a deep breath and sat in the chair by his bedside, exhausted.
"Nikki, relax… Look, you've been through a lot lately and I don't wanna add one more thing to your suffering. Please Nikki, I hate seeing you so miserable"
Nikita exhaled a laugh, drying the few tears that had formed in the corner of her eye "You're the one who's been through torture, including a needle almost draining you brain, and I'm the one you're worried about? God your priorities are screwed up"
"Well, you're the one going through a bad break up" he added in an humorous tone, and she reached for his hand " me on the other hand, I will be as good as new as soon as get out of this hospital"
"Well, I don't think you're getting out of here so soon. You're in a pretty bad shape"
He snorted "Gee, thanks Nikki. You're charming as usual"
She smiled, amused "Okay, you're getting cranky. I'll see if I can get you some more painkillers" she kissed the back of his hand and got up.
"Make them strong" Birkhoff said with a sigh, resting against the pillows and closing his eyes again.
He woke up at dawn, to see Nikita asleep curled up in the small couch on the corner of the room. He sighed in relief; at least she was getting some sleep. He knew she was having trouble sleeping, and the fact she was using her solo missions to get her mind off Michael really concerned him. But he smiled seeing she was there, safe and alive.
"Thanks for saving me, Nikki" he thanked her, even though he knew she probably wasn't listening. He would thank her properly later. He decided that for now it was enough, so he let sleep overcome him again.
When he woke up a couple of hours later she was already up, looking something up on one tablet.
Nikita put the tablet down and sighed, running a hand through her hair in aggravation.
Peering on what his friend was doing, he frowned at the sight of a picture of Michael and Max.
"Now you're a stalker, Nikki?" he asked, startling her.
"God, Birkhoff, you could have let me know you were awake" she complained.
However, he kept his inquisitive gaze. He was slightly worried she might be losing her sanity; she'd been suppressing her feelings for the past weeks, and now she was looking at pictures of her ex and his son for no apparent reason.
Birkhoff found it slightly alarming.
Nikita rolled her eyes "No, I'm not stalking them on street cam, nerd. Cassandra sent me this picture"
"So, you and Cassandra are friends now?" He questioned, arching one eyebrow. Why Nikita would talk to the woman who now lived with her ex-boyfriend was beyond his comprehension.
"Cassandra and I were never enemies" she stated, her tone apathetic "and we are not exactly friends either".
"So you're frenemies?" he questioned, getting one of the little jellies that were on the tray on the table next to his bed.
She gave him a mock-frown "What the hell does 'frenemie' even means?"
"Frenemies, you know…You guys are friends and at the same time you're enemies and…" he stopped mid-sentence when she chuckled "Never mind…why are you talking to her anyway?"
"I didn't. She did. We respect each other and she thought I would like to know how he was doing so…" she trailed off, her voice failing her.
"Did you?" he asked, but she just stared at him blankly "Wanted to know how he was?"
His question caught her off guard, and she felt her throat tighten and she thought of Michael and how much she missed him. Feeling tears forming in her eyes, Nikita bit her lip to prevent it from trembling.
She looked away from him "It doesn't matter what I want" she said with a loud sigh.
"Nikita, you gotta stop suppressing your feelings. All this pent up emotion it's harming you" he tried to make her understand.
"Birkhoff…" she pleaded, her voice a little shaky.
"No, Nikita. Listen to me. It's okay to feel. It's okay to miss him. It's okay to be sad. ..Just stop pretending it doesn't hurt you. Stop trying to be Wonder Woman or you'll just hurt yourself even more, both physically and emotionally" he saw the unshed tears in her eyes and gave her a comforting look "He'll come back to you. I know he will."
"What if he doesn't?" she questioned, her low voice almost breaking. She couldn't get her hopes up only to have them shattered later on.
"He loves you, Nikita"
She shook her head "You say that, but you didn't hear his voice when I called him last night" a tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it away, trying to remain composed "He just…didn't seem to care. At all"
She sounded so broken and upset Birkhoff felt his blood boil. Michael would pay for what he was doing to Nikita; he would make sure of that. Michael couldn't just hurt his "sister" like that.
"It hurts so badly…"she continued her rant "When I needed him the most he was just not there" she closed her eyes to prevent more tears from falling "I miss him so much"
"You can cry if you want" Birkhoff said in a sympathetic tone "I won't tell anybody, promise"
She gave him a sad smile as the tears streamed down her face "What would I do without you, nerd?"
He laughed "I bet your life would be much more boring".
She laughed and wiped her tears "Why don't I go find you something tastier than this jellies?" she asked getting up.
"That would be great" he conceded, knowing she just wanted a reason to leave the room and re-compose herself.
Before she left the room, he called her again.
"What?" she asked.
"Trust me, okay. He will be back. And if you want, I'll be happy to kick his sorry ass and make him beg for your forgiveness. Then you two can resume your relationship and turn my life back into a living hell with all the lovey-dovey annoying habits you yours. Okay?" he asked her "It will be fine, you'll see."
"Thanks nerd" With a small smile, she walked towards him and kissed his hair "I hope you're right"
"I don't know what you did Mikey, but if she thought you didn't care about her, now she's sure of it" Birkhoff growled at his computer screen later that night; Nikita was home and he was alone with his computer. And a very distressed Michael.
He could see Michael running his hands nervously over his hair.
"I didn't mean it" he said with a sigh "I just wanted to keep her focused. She was nervous and clearly upset for many reasons. And she had to save you! She wouldn't be able to do it if I let our personal problems get in the way"
Birkhoff snorted "Well, your personal problems was what got me in this situation in the first place. If you weren't such a jerk, she wouldn't need be on a crusade to hunt Oversight . She's only doing it so recklessly to get her mind off you!"
Michael narrowed his eyes "Do you think I like this? Do you think it was easy for me to listen to the anguish on her voice and not be able to do anything about it? Do you think it was easy for me to listen to her desperately scream at me for not being by her side and not being able to hold her and comfort her?" he barked at the computer screen.
Birkhoff remained silent for a few moments, now knowing how to proceed. He was angry at Michael for hurting Nikita, but he felt bad for his friend as well.
"How is she doing know?" Michael asked, eager to know if she was okay.
"She's calmer. But she's acting impulsively. Not only she's buying a fortune worth of clothes with my money, but's she's hunting the bad guys all by herself. I'm worried, Mikey. Her emotional is too confused, she's not 100% focused. And she will get hurt at some point" he sighed "I try talking to her, but I can't control her, you know that when she makes up her mind, there's not much I can do."
"This is getting out of hand" Michael closed his eyes in frustration "I'm glad she has you to look after her, though."
"I'm a good sidekick, Mikey. But we both know who she really needs" Birkhoff said.
Michael sighed again, conflicted.
"She's going after the other black box" he Birkhoff warned him "She won't be able to do it alone, so I'm telling you Michael, you better fix this" he added in a more serious tone " I don't care what you do, just fix it. Fast."
A/N: As I said, not my best. But if I can think of a better story line in the middle of the week, I'll make it up for you then.
Anyway, tell me your thoughts!