Infinity and Beyond
-Chapter 20-
The Next Seduction, Part One
"Happy Valentine's day." Mommy smiles happily at Alex as she's holding my hand as we walk up to her. Mommy tosses a package to her. "You toss the old one?"
"My gift to the Hudson River." Alex smiles back before she crouches down in front of me. "I've a present for you."
My oval-shaped face smile as I tilt my head. "What's Valentine's day?"
"It's a day when you do or get something nice for someone you love." Alex tells me with a smile. I bite down on my red lips sadly. I don't have anything for mommy...
Alex pulls out a clear, glowing photo frame. Inside, there's a picture of me and mommy. "Ohh, it's pretty." My almond-shaped dark brown eyes widen happily. "Thank you."
"Come here." She laughs a little as she picks me up and rubs my head. "You're so cute."
"Yeah." Mommy rolls her eyes with a grin. "Which makes it even harder for her to not get kidnapped."
Then, mommy turns serious. "Remember to rotate the hiding place." She tells Alex. "Oh, and new protocol, call the loft, pretend it's the wrong number, you shout me on that, alright?"
Alex nods silently, but mommy frowns. "What's wrong?"
Alex puts me back down before speaking up. "I just thought it would be easier for us on the outside."
"It's never gonna be easy, Alex." Mommy says to her as she waves a hand to me for me to go to her before she picks me up. "You can't let your guard down. Got to live the lie."
I frown silently. What does it mean to live a lie?
"Till the lie becomes your life." Alex mutters as mommy sits down in front of the computer with me on her lap.
"Yeah, that's right." Mommy says sadly. She pushes something on the keyboard and a short moving image comes out as the computer beeps.
"What is that?" Alex asks as she walks over to us.
"I hacked a traffic cam in DC." Mommy sighs. "It will alert to me when that heart shows up."
"Who's it from, mommy?" I ask.
Mommy smiles a little as she rewinds the image until we can see Ryan. "It's from Fletcher."
"So that's your CIA guy." Alex smiles crookedly. 'CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.' I still don't get it...
"Michael's been talking about putting a survey team on him." Alex says.
Mommy puts me back down before standing up. "Yeah, I figured." She says as she walks over to the big black box where she keeps all of her scary guns. "Which is why we've to so all these stupid coat and dagger stuff."
"He's cute." Alex smiles. "Are you two, you know... Connecting" I tilt my head silently. What does that mean? 'She's teasing Nikita. Tease: to say something in a playful way.'
"No." Mommy says, she sounds annoyed. "But if we were, it would be none of your business."
"He's fighting Division too, that is my business." Alex says.
"Oh yeah?" Mommy smiles crookedly as she turns to look at Alex. "What about you? That neighbor of your's, what's his name? Nathan? You two connecting?"
"You're right." Alex says quickly as she stands up to go grab her bag. "It is none of your business."
I look between mommy and Alex. I don't know what's happening...
"I thought so." Mommy mutters with a smile as she puts on her jacket while holding my jacket in her hands.
"Mommy?" I tilt my head at her as she crouches down in front of me with a smile.
"Put this on." Mommy says as she helps me put on my jacket. "We're gonna go see Ryan, okay?"
"Okay." I nod. "He's the grown-up that mommy likes to make kissy faces at, right?"
"Oh, sweetie..." Mommy's face looks a little red. "Shush..."
Alex laughs lightly as she heads for the door. "Right..."
"Shut up, Alex." Mommy rolls her eyes as Alex walks out the door.
I raise a hand to touch mommy's forehead. It's what Wendy did when she's checking if I'm getting sick. "Is mommy not feeling well?" I ask worriedly. "Wendy said that our faces are a little redder when we're getting sick."
"No, honey." Mommy smiles softly as she picks me up before leaving our home. "I'm fine."
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"Couldn't wait to use the back signal, huh?" Mommy calls out to Ryan as she's holding my hand as we walk up to him. I'm wearing light purple Cinderella gloves as we're standing outside.
"Thanks for coming." Ryan says. "Remember when you promised to make me a hero? I need you to listen."
"You're not gonna make me read all that, are you?" Mommy raises an eyebrow as I stand on my tippy toes and tilt my head up so I can see over the table.
"Chris Connelhan." Ryan says as he points to a picture of a dark-skinned man. "One of ours, murdered in Berlin three days ago."
"Why are you telling me this?" Mommy frowns. "Isn't the CIA all over it?" I don't get it, all over what?
"I can't get the people upstairs to listen to me." Ryan sighs. "Which means I've got no one else to turn to. Now, the irony, this has nothing to do with Division, but it may have to do with a terrorist attack on US soil."
'Terrorist: someone who sets up bombs to blow up places.' That sounds scary as it makes me shiver.
Mommy sees me shivering before picking me up. "Come here, sweetie." She says as I wrap my arms around her and lay my head on her chest. I love mommy!
"Why do you think that?" Mommy asks him.
"Part of my fantastic new career has me monitoring Cold War substations in Europe." Ryan says. "I picked up on some chatter about a phone call about a cutting edge weapon coming into the US. Callers mentioned courier for the device. A guy by the name of Yergen."
I don't know why, but mommy hugs me closer when she hears that name. I turn my head, she looks as if her insides have been kicked out, so I tilt my head to let my red lips stay on her cheek.
"Connelhan told the superiors that he was meeting an asset, also named Yergen." Ryan continues as mommy continues hugging me as she turns away from him. "If you ask me, Yergen is bringing a weapon into the US, he's arming the terrorists."
Mommy looks like something's bothering her as she gives me a silent kiss on the cheek before turning back to Ryan, almost as if it helps her in some way.
"Yergen is an alias." Mommy tells him. "For Emil Voss, German arms dealer, educated at Oxford, he's probably about thirty-six by now."
"Wait, you know him?" Ryan sounds surprised. I bite down on my bottom lip as I'm thinking of what present to get for mommy.
"I slept with him." Mommy says as she hugs me tighter. I'm not sure why, but when something's bothering mommy, she likes to hug me, so I always hug her back. "For about two weeks. It's a Division OP." She sighs.
"Nikita, if this intel is solid, we're talking about a serious attack." Ryan says, he sounds sorry. "And Voss has the weapon, but I can't ask you to help. I can't make you go to him."
I feel mommy's hand on the back of my head as I lay my head on her shoulder. "No one at the CIA knows Voss the way I do." Mommy says. "I can find him. I can do this my way."
"Nikita!" Ryan calls out as if he's not sure about something.
"I'll do what I've to." Mommy tells Ryan before turning away from him. But mommy looks like she might cry...
"Mommy, are you okay?" I tilt my head at her. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay." She tries to smile as she kisses me on the lips. "I love you."
"I love you too, mommy." I say as my lips brush her cheek.
I hear her murmur something quietly to herself. "It's what gets me through."
I frown silently. I don't really know what she's saying...
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Vision
"I thought we were done with these kind of missions." Mommy said to Michael.
"Amanda recommended you." Michael said. "She thinks that you're getting too comfortable with your extended cover."
"She told you about Daniel?" Mommy sounded like she wasn't comfy.
"She's concerned." Michael muttered. 'Concern: to worry about something.'
"She's concerned?" Mommy didn't sound happy.
"Are you seeing him?" Michael asked quietly.
"I don't know what else to do." Mommy said worriedly before she looked like she was going to cry. "Michael, why are you sending me on this mission?"
"I didn't order this." Michael said as they look at each other. "Trust me."
They looked away as there was a moment of silence. "Relationship with outsiders are dangerous, Nikita." Michael told her. "Not just for you, do you understand?"
Mommy looked sad and angry. "I'm not ready for this, Michael."
Michael looked at her silently for a moment before speaking up. "This isn't just about Daniel, is it?" He said. "This is also about Infinity, isn't it?"
I tilt my head, why did my name come up?
"I miss her, Michael." Mommy said quietly as a few tears fell out of her eyes. "So much." There was a pause before she continued. "The only time I will ever get to see her again is in my dreams, isn't it?"
Her words makes my oval-shaped face frown. That's not true, I'm with her all the time...
Michael looked as if he wanted to say something, but before he could, mommy quickly grabbed her handgun and bag and walked away from him...
End Vision
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I know what present to give to mommy now. I look over at her as she's packing things. Mommy told me that we've to go somewhere again, so I'll give it to her later.
I see her carry a big bag as she walks over to the computer. There's a picture of a very big and pretty house on the screen. I can see it as I'm sitting on the floor playing with play-doh.
Mommy types things on the keyboard as words and other things pop up and covers the picture. The computer makes small beeping sounds as mommy turns around to face me. She looks very sad as she walks up to me.
"Mommy?" I tilt my head and frown as she sits down on the floor too before pulling me into a tight hug. "Is something wrong?"
"Shh, just stay put for a little while, okay?" She whispers quietly in my ear. She sounds as if she's going to cry soon. I drop the play-doh and wrap my arms around her too.
Vision
Michael and two other men kicked the door open as they rushes into the room. "What the hell is this?" A man who was with mommy said. 'He's Voss.'
"We're not here for you, Mr. Voss." Michael said before walking up to mommy, who was wrapped in a white bed sheet. "Josephine Vesont?" Michael looked at mommy, who must have been pretending to be someone else again.
"Interpole." Michael said. "Would you step outside with me for a moment?" He must have been pretending to be someone else too. Why do grown-ups do that?
Michael pulled mommy out of the room before shutting the door. "Are you alright?" Michael asked her quietly as he took off his black jacket.
But mommy just glares at him before walking down the hallway. "Hey!" Michael called out as he stopped her steps by putting his jacket on her.
Mommy turned to him, looking tearful. "You get what you wanted?" She was almost crying.
"You'll never have to be Josephine again." Michael tried to comfort her. "You've my word on that."
But mommy just looked at him tearfully before walking away quickly...
End Vision
I don't know how long we've been on the floor, but I don't mind. I'm happy as long as I can help mommy feel better.
When we finally stop hugging, mommy stands up and I follow. "Is mommy feeling better now?" I ask as I bite down on my lips.
"Yeah." Mommy smiles a little before crouching down again and kissing me on the forehead. "Thank you."
"Nuh-uh." I smile and shake my head. "Mommy always makes me happy so I want to help mommy be happy too."
"Oh, sweetie..." Mommy says as she gently pulls me into another hug. "You really do love me, don't you?" Mommy murmurs quietly as her lips brush my cheek.
"I'll tell mommy that as many times as mommy wants." I nod my head.
"I love you too." I'm glad that she sounds happier than before...
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'French', computer mama says that's the language mommy's using while she's talking and laughing on the phone. A man comes and opens the car door for us. It's all white and snowy outside. I like it, it's pretty.
Mommy steps out of the car before helping me get out. Mommy's wearing the same wig as she was on the vision computer mama showed me. So she must be pretending to be someone else again.
Mommy gives the man some money. "Whoa, is there something I can..."
"Yeah." Mommy tells him. "You can carry the rest of our bags." She says before going back to her phone conversation. She holds my hand as we're walking toward the pretty building that's on the picture on mommy's computer.
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"I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Yergen." A dark-haired woman behind a desk says as mommy and I walks toward them. "The room is under your name, it appears that our electronic key system was hit with the computer virus."
"Then, my timing's perfect." Mommy smiles at the woman before picking me up.
"Josephine?" Mr. Yergen frowns at mommy as she turns to him with a smile.
"Mon ami!" She gasps in surprise. "What a surprise!" She laughs a little.
"Who's this?" Mr. Yergen looks at me. I bite down on my red lips as I hug mommy.
"Oh, this is my daughter, Infinity." Mommy tells him with a smile.
"You've a daughter?" He sounds surprised.
"Yeah, I do." Mommy nods happily.
"So, what in the world are you doing here?" He asks.
"I... I'm not being in prison." Mommy grins. "That's what I'm doing." I see her glance outside a window for a few seconds. 'Ari Tasarov's here.' I hug mommy tighter. I don't like that man, he's scary...
"Are you here alone?" Mommy asks Mr. Yergen as she rubs my head.
"You and your daughter can join me in my room." He tilts his head.
"That would be great." Mommy smiles before she follows him with me still in her arms...
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"Do you know what they never tell you about prisons?" Mommy says to him as we enter his room. "Terrible smells. Never go away, you know, they just sort of move around. I remember you going on and on about the air up here."
"Smells can move, mommy?" I tilt my head. "How?"
"Smells are in the air, sweetie." Mommy tells me. "So they move around in the air."
"Oh." I nod.
"When did you get out?" He asks.
"Last month, girl needs to get some time to make some spending money." Mommy says.
"So, you're back in business." He says. I don't know why, but his words make goosebumps pop up on my olive skin.
"Once I get my daughter settled." Mommy smiles crookedly.
"A lot of time behind bars." He says. "You ready to get back to where we left off?"
"You know, I've never really stopped thinking about you." Mommy says as she walks a little further away from him. "Where you were? What you were up to?"
She looks around the room before turning back to him. "You here on business?"
"Pleasure." He says as he's pointing a gun at mommy.
I gasp quietly before whimpering. "Mommy..."
"Shh." Mommy whispers quietly in my ear. "Go hide behind the couch." She puts me back down before I run behind the couch and crouch down on the floor.
"Funny, you used to know how to show a girl a good time." Mommy doesn't sound nervous at all.
"You wanna know what's funny?" He says as he's pouring a drink. "Right after you were taken by Interpole, my best suppliers started getting arrested by American Intelligence."
"You believe I had something to do with that?" Mommy smiles crookedly as she walks up to him.
"Believe? No." He says as he hands her a drink. "Wonder, yes."
"And now, you show up out of nowhere." He says. "Who do you really work for?"
"You know who I work for, Emil." Mommy says. "Moi, but I'll admit, I did come here looking for you. You said that you liked to hide out here when you were doing business in America. And well, I'm looking for business. I can help you with your current operation, you know."
"What makes you think I've one?" He asks.
"Oh, silly me, you're just here for the mud baths." Mommy sounds almost like a cat. 'She's mocking.' I still don't really know what mocking is...
"I know you're planning an attack." Mommy continues. "And I know about the weapon. And I also know that you're working with Gogol." I hear mommy walking around. "You don't think I saw them pulling up downstairs?"
"Gogol..." He says.
"Oh, come on, Emil, since when do you work with Russian mercenary?" Mommy says.
"Gogol!" He says loudly. "Gogol's here?!"
Just then, I hear someone opening the door really hard. I'm starting to get scared...
"Get down!" Emil yells.
I quickly squeeze my almond-shaped dark brown eyes shut and cover my ears with my hands as I hear gunshots.
I only opens my eyes a peek when I feel mommy's arms around me. She hugs me as she too crouches down behind the couch. I feel my eyes growing fuzzy as I'm starting to cry a little. "Shh..." Mommy whispers quietly in my ear. "We'll be okay. You just stay put."
Mommy gets up quickly and pushes a small cart at the guy's that's shooting the gun before she starts fighting him. I peek out from behind the couch just a little.
I gasp and starts crying harder as I see the big, scary man kicking mommy onto the sofa and floor. Mommy's going to get hurt...
But mommy quickly gets up and starts fighting him again. She smashes a glass bottle on his head, but he slaps her so hard that he sends her flying onto the floor.
I can't stop crying anymore as my body's starting to shake. When mommy gets hurt, it makes me hurt...
Emil gets up and tries to help mommy, but he quickly gets knocked down. I see mommy rolling a red thing up with a yellow cloth before using it to fight him.
Mommy throws the yellow cloth down onto the floor after finally knocking him down. It's over, but I still can't stop crying as something in my throat feels tied up and makes me cough really hard as more tears fall out of my eyes.
"Oh, sweetie..." She quickly rushes over to me and picks me up. "Shh..." she rubs me back gently. "Breathe in and out, sweetie." She kisses my wet cheeks until I finally quiet down.
"Are you okay?" Mommy says softly as she hugs me warmly.
"Is mommy hurt?" I sniffle and tilt my head.
"Mommy's fine." She smiles and shakes her head. "See?"
"Then, I'm okay too." I say as I wrap my arms around her.
Mommy walks over to Emil with me still in her arms. She points a handgun at him. "Well, you certainly don't fight like a banker." He says while raising his hands.
"You definitely do." Mommy growls at him.
"What are you?" He asks. "American CIA?"
"I'll ask the questions." Mommy says angrily. "If you're not working with Gogol, then how are you pulling off the attack?"
"There is no attack." He says.
"Get up." Mommy tells him. He does what she says.
"Then why is Ari Tasarov here?" Mommy snarls at him.
"He's trying to stop me." He says as his hands are still raised in the air.
"From what?" Mommy asks.
"From defecting." He says. "I've Gogol's weapon. I want to turn myself over to the US authorities to get immunity. I tried three days ago, my contact was killed in Berlin."
"What about the weapon?" She frown.
"It's a dirt bomb." He says. "Completely undetectable and especially designed to kill civilians."
"You built it." She says.
"No, Gogol built it." He says. "And they hired me to auction it off, and that's why they killed the American agent in Berlin. Josephine, he was the only American agent I trusted, and I've been trying to find someone else, and now I have."
There's a short pause. "This is the part where you lower the gun..." He sounds hopeful.
But mommy doesn't lower the gun. "Infinity, sweetie." She says to me. "Take off mommy's wig."
"Okay, mommy." My oval-shaped face smiles happily as I raise my hands and gently pull her wig off. Mommy's real hair is much prettier...
Then she glares at Emil again. "Show me the weapon first..."
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Author's note: alright guys, here's another chapter. And as always, please remember to review!