Infinity and Beyond
-Chapter 10-
One Way, Part One
Flashforward
Mommy holds my hand as she's quietly following Michael without him knowing. Michael puts his bags on the floor of the hotel room.
He walks to the window before turning around quickly just as I run up to him to give him a big hug. "Hiya, Michael!"
Michael looks surprised but he smiles as he bents down and hugs me back. "Hey, kiddo."
Then, just as he lets go of me, he takes out his handgun and points it toward mommy. "Michael, no…"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Michael growls at mommy.
"Thanks, my flight was lovely, how about your's?" Mommy ignores his question. "I'm pretty sure that taxi driver ripped me off…"
Mommy says the last part at the same time Michael's speaking. "If you think you can stop me…"
I look to Michael nervously as he still hasn't put his gun down. I quickly pull on the bottom of his jacket. "You won't hurt her right?" I whimper.
Michael's eyes turn to me and he softens. "Go take a seat, kid." He says quietly. "It's safer for you."
His eyes turn back to mommy, he looks angry again. Something in my throat feels like it's about to jump up. I'm going to cry soon.
I turn to mommy. "Mommy…" I sniffle.
"Go sit down, sweetie." She tells me gently. "I'll be okay."
I hug Lily tightly as I go take a seat…
"You picked the wrong mission to mess with." Michael growls at mommy.
"Relax." Mommy tells him. "I'm not here to stop you."
End Flashforward
Mommy holds my hand as she leads me to a red box by the wall. She breaks the glass at the front with her elbow and takes out a black car key.
She points it toward a shiny red car as it beeps and flashes yellow lights. She leads me to it and opens the back door. I climb inside before she shuts the door and opens the driver's door and gets in herself.
She starts the car as the black screen beside her lights up and the image of a man pops up. "Ah! Nikita! Right on time."
"Hello, Henry." Mommy says. "What did you do? Rewire the navigation system so it can accept a close-circuit feed?"
"Satellite." He points upward. "Harder to track."
"You said you had something for me."
"Yeah, keyword plate you had me set was tripped."
"Where's the report?"
"Look under the seat."
Mommy reaches a hand under the driver's seat and pulls out a folder.
"The person you're interested in is coming out of hiding for a meeting. Kasim Tariq, personal for ya?"
"You could say that, though it's gonna mean more to… a friend."
'Michael.' Something in my chest jumps happily. Does that mean I'll get to see Michael?
Vision
"Intel came by the CIA." Percy said as he walked over to Michael "Keeping tabs on an Uzbek money launderer named Timour Ackmadov. He has a meeting next week with Kasim Tariq."
"Kasim." Michael said quietly as he looked down at a picture of a man with dark hair.
"Yes, Kasim." Percy nodded.
"Where's the meet?" Michael asked.
End Vision
Mommy: Michael's on the move. I know roughly where he's going, but I don't know the exact destination. So I need you to find the frequency of his tracker.
Alex: The one in his body?
Mommy: Yes.
Alex: How am I supposed to get that?
Mommy: All trackers are implanted by the doctors in medical; their computers have a database with everyone's individual frequency and decode, which changes every week. Normally, medical's a fortress, you still have yourself a free pass.
I brush the hair on my favourite doll, Jenny. Mommy's packing again as she waits for Alex to give her what she wants. '134KHZ, 3835.' I don't know what that means…
Alex: Michael's frequency digits, 134KHZ, ID code, 3835.
Mommy: Rock and roll.
Mommy types something before an ugly-looking map with a flashing red triangle pops up. 'That's where Michael is.'
88888
I look to Michael nervously as he still hasn't put down his gun. I quickly pull on the bottom of his jacket. "You won't hurt her right?" I whimper.
Michael's eyes turn to me and he softens. "Go take a seat, kid." He says quietly. "It's safer for you."
His eyes turn back to mommy, he looks angry again. Something in my throat feels like it's about to jump up. I'm going to cry soon.
I turn to mommy. "Mommy…" I sniffle.
"Go sit down, sweetie." She tells me gently. "I'll be okay."
I hug Lily tightly as I go take a seat…
"You picked the wrong mission to mess with." Michael growls at mommy.
"Relax." Mommy tells him. "I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to help you kill Kasim."
"Gun on the ground." Michael says, making mommy roll her eyes, but she does do what he says. "And the baby." He continues.
Mommy pulls out another handgun from the back of her waist and drops it on the ground. "The knife in your boot." Michael speaks up again.
"Michael…" Mommy starts.
"The knife." He repeats.
"Michael, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Really? You know my shoulder's still sour from when you shot me."
"Then I saved your life."
"And then I saved your's."
"Great. Co-dependent relationship."
"I'm going to ask you again. What are you doing here?"
"I told you. I'm here to help. I know what Kasim took from you."
"And what makes you think I need help?"
"What makes…" Mommy makes a sound that computer mama calls a scoff. "Well, let's see uh… You're flying solo in a hostile environment, trying to take out one of the world's most elusive terrorists with nothing to go on but the name of a shady Uzbek money launderer. At the very least, I think that might be a two-men op."
"Am I at least one of the men?" Michael tilts his head, making mommy smile.
Michael lowers his gun and walks over to a table. "Still doesn't mean I can work with you."
"Why not?" Mommy asks.
"Because I'm still Division, and you're still…"
"Nikita." Mommy finishes for her.
"Right."
"Look around Michael, we're in Uzbekistan. No Percy, no Division, no rules."
"It's not that simple."
"Because you make it complicated."
"That's not it."
"Then why won't you believe…"
"Cause I don't trust you." Michael interrupts her, sounding a little angry.
Mommy takes a step back and turns around. "Fine." She sounds hurt.
I stand up and walk over to her quietly. I pull on the bottom of her jacket lightly. "Mommy?" I say softly, tilting my head as she looks down to me.
I raise my arms up in the air so she would pick me up, she does. Then she turns back around to Michael as she hugs me.
"You wanna know what I want?" Mommy says. "After we kill Kasim, I want you to take a good look at your loyalties. I mean a good look. You're not blind to what Division's become. Hits for hire, mop-up duty for thugs, is that what you signed up for?"
"Percy has his reasons."
"Percy's out of control." Mommy says loudly as she steps closer to him. "And you've ignored that in the hopes of through Division, they'll be able to help you find Kasim."
Then she continues more quietly. "If we do this, you're free and clear."
"To do what?" Michael says. "Leave Division and join you?"
"Baby steps." Mommy says.
They standing very close to each other. I feel a little weird as I'm between them because mommy's holding me. I try not to move too much.
I suddenly feel Michael tickling me from the back, making me giggle loudly. "Uh-oh, someone's got ants in their pants." He says as he's tickling me.
He takes me from mommy's arms as I'm still giggling. "You wanna see something fun?"
"Uh-huh." I grin happily.
88888
"If we do this, we do this on my terms, not your shots." Michael tells mommy.
"It's fine." She says. "What kind of intel do you have?"
"Not much…" Michael begins as he opens up a folder on the table. I'm playing with a very, very big piece of bubble wrap. I smile happily every time a bubble pops.
"The money launderer." Mommy says.
"Right." He nods. "So I figured…"
"We follow Ackmadov, he leads us to Kasim." She finishes for him before asking him. "Where's Ackmadov staying?"
"Five floors above us." Michael answers. "Ackmadov's light, he only has one guard."
"What are you thinking?"
"Shoot and scoop. Take out the guard, grab Ackmadov, and pump him for info."
"We could do that, or we could get what we need without him even knowing we took it."
"Okay. So what weapons were you thinking of?"
"I've the perfect weapons in mind."
"And what do you suppose we do with the little pumpkin?"
I look up at Michael's words. "Are we going to make pumpkin pie?" I ask hopefully.
Mommy walks over to me, smiling. She bents down and rubs my head before turning back to Michael. "I think we'll manage."
I frown and tilt my head. I don't get it.
88888
Michael holds my hand as he leads me toward mommy as she's walking toward us too. She walks to Michael's other side and passes us. I smile and give her a quick wave.
Michael takes me up the elevator and into a hotel room. "Starting my sweep of the room." Michael speaks with an earpiece on.
Then, he picks up a black briefcase from the floor and opens it up. There's a lot of money inside it. He takes them out and puts them on the table.
After that, he flips up the bottom of the case. He finds a black notebook and takes it out. He flips it open, looking for something.
Once he finds it, he uses his phone to take a picture of the page. Then he put everything back to where it was before.
Just then, the doorknob starts turning. Michael quickly leads me to a hiding spot. We leave after the man that comes in leaves.
88888
"Now, according to Ackmadov's itinerary, the meet's gonna take place in this abandoned farmhouse, just outside of town." Michael says to mommy.
"Isolated, single access to the road, smart." She says.
I stop listening for a while as I find my bubble wrap again. I continue popping it. It's fun.
"So close-quarters kill would be…" Mommy starts.
"Suicide." He finishes for her. "That's why we go long."
"Do you have the hardware?" Mommy asks just as Michael pulls out a very, very, very big black case from under the bed.
Inside it, there's a very, very, scary (and big) gun. I stop listening again as I get up to go to the washroom.
When I come out again, I try to lift a chair. I haven't washed my hands yet, because I can't reach the water.
"What are you doing?" Mommy frowns at me.
"I can't reach the water." I whine a little.
Michael smiles and walks over to me. "Come on, I'll help you." He takes me back into the washroom, turns the water on, and lifts me up so I can wash my hands.
"Thank you." I smile happily at him as I shake my hands to get them to dry faster. By the time I walk out of the washroom, my hands are still very wet, so I wipe them on my Hello Kitty sweater just as mommy begins talking. "Oh, sweetie, don't wipe your hands on…"
Mommy doesn't finish and just sighs and looks back down. Oops… I forgot.
"Looks like you're too late." Michael smiles at mommy.
"That's not funny." Mommy shakes her head, but she looks like she might smile.
Michael looks like he finds it funny. "If you say so…"
I walk over to mommy and pull on the bottom of her jacket. "I'm sorry, mommy." I tell her. "I forgot."
This time, she really does smile as she picks me up and kisses me on the cheek. "It's alright."
88888
I'm lying on the ground in a forest with a downhill. Mommy and Michael are on either side of me as I'm collecting the red and orange leaves while crunching up the yellow ones.
Mommy is looking at something a little further away while Michael is holding onto his very big (and scary) gun.
"Ackmadov's here." Mommy says to Michael.
"Yeah, I got him." Michael tells her.
"It's Kasim." Mommy's eyes widen. Michael looks a little surprised too. "Target acquired?" She asks a moment later.
There's a pause as Michael looks like he's trying to focus. "No shot." He sighs a moment later.
"There's a propane tank out back." Mommy frowns. "It goes boom, they run out, you take Kasim."
"No, that's too dangerous. I can't let you go down there alone."
"We can't wait it out. We've to control the plan, Michael."
"You've to take out his car." Michael starts. After a moment, he takes out a small knife and hands it to mommy.
"I've one." She frowns.
"Mine's better. I don't need it up here, and as long as you bring it back…"
"When the mission is over." Mommy finishes for him. "I know Michael, I'm a big girl, I don't need a good luck charm."
"Yes, you do." I frown and tilt my head. "You need one so you won't get hurt."
For some reason, this makes Michael laugh silently as mommy just smiles and rolls her eyes. I don't know why grown-ups do that, I tried doing it once, and it made me very dizzy.
"Take it anyway, big girl." Michael tells her once he stops laughing. I still don't know why he thinks it's funny.
Mommy takes the knife from Michael's hand before standing up. I start pushing myself up too. "I'll be right back." She murmurs to me, stopping me from getting up. "You stay here and wait with Michael, okay?"
"Okay." I nod before she walks away toward the direction she was looking at.
There's a looonnng pause before I hear Michael whisper. "Atta girl." 'Nikita knocked someone out.'
'Car's down, he's not going anywhere, going for the tank.' Computer mama is telling me what mommy's telling Michael through his earpiece.
"Copy that." Michael whispers.
'Nikita's in a fight.' Computer mama tells me after a moment. Then, after another minute, 'Nikita's lost her earpiece. Division's here to capture her.'
My eyes widen and I look toward Michael. "Michael…"
Michael's muttering a few no's under his breath. 'He already knows.'
"Nikita, Division agents are here." Michael speaks into the earpiece, but mommy can't hear him. "Son of a—" He suddenly looks at me quickly and stops mid-sentence.
Then, Michael stands up, picking me up along with him. He lifts me up onto the thick tree branch of a tree with a very, very, very wide tree trunk that blocks me from seeing anything in the direction that mommy went.
"Stay here okay?" Michael tells me quietly. "And whatever you do, don't make a sound. Your mom and I will come and get you okay?"
Now, I'm getting scared. I know the bad guys are here to hurt mommy. I don't want mommy to be hurt. "Is mommy gonna be okay?" I whimper as something feels like it's going to climb up the throat. I'm going to start crying soon.
"She'll be fine." Michael says quickly. "Wait here okay?"
I sniffle and nod as Michael runs in the way mommy went.
I get more scared as I wait. I keep hearing noises that makes me nervous. Things like a quiet crunching sound and the whistling sound the wind's making.
Just then, I hear footsteps getting closer to me. I feel the goosebumps on my olive skin pop up. I try to be as quiet as I can.
"Infinity?" It's a voice I haven't heard in a long time, but I still know it. Something in my chest jumps happily.
I turn to the way the voice comes from. "Wendy…" I hear myself whisper as I feel the tears fall out of my eyes.
I see her standing there, just below the tree I'm on. "What are you doing up there?" She sounds nervous. "Why are you here?"
She reaches her arms up toward me. "Come down. This place isn't safe. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"
I hug the tree trunk tightly and shake my head. "No!" I tell her, shaking my head. "I've to wait for mommy. She's gonna come and get me."
"Mommy?" Wendy frowns.
"Uh-huh." I sniffle and nod. "She always keeps me safe."
Right on time, I hear mommy's voice speak up. "You need to get away from my daughter."
I turn my head and stretch my neck forward a little to see mommy pointing a gun towards Wendy as she slowly raises her arms in the air.
"Mommy, that's Wendy…"
Mommy looks surprised, but then she narrows her eyes at Wendy, who looks stiff. I tilt my head, mommy and Wendy doesn't look as if they like each other very much.
Just then, before either of them can say anything. The ground shakes and there's a very, very loud, scary sound.
My foot slips as I start falling off the tree. I gasp and squeeze my almond-shaped dark brown eyes shut just as a pair of arms catch me.
I open my eyes to see that it's mommy. I hug her tightly as there are thick black smoke coming toward me, making me cough. I wrinkle my straight nose, it smells bad.
I turn to look at where Wendy's standing, but she's not there anymore…
"Come on, sweetie." Mommy says as I turn back to her. "We're gonna go get Michael." She raises a hand and wipes away the tears on my cheeks. I forgot that I've been crying…
88888
Author's note: Hey, guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long, been busy with university work. Anyways, please remember to review and give me any thoughts that you might have about Wendy.