Set sometime in season 3. The unstoppable force of Michael's protective nature clashes with the immoveable object that is Nikita's stubbornness.
Alex and Sean agreed to meet Nikita and Michael at the coffee shop around the corner for breakfast before they had to fly back to Division. After their mission the previous night, the agents crashed in a nearby motel. Not only were they absolutely strung out and exhausted, but also, some heat had to die down first before they could leave the country and travel home. Resting before they returned to the constant shitstorm the black ops group always fell into was a good thing anyway. The four could take a moment to breathe and relax.
Sean and Alex had been able to, at least; they woke up the next morning feeling fresh and peaceful. Michael and Nikita, on the other hand, were more pissy than they had been after the mission. The second anyone looked at them funny, they were going to snap.
Walking into the coffee shop, Alex instantly sensed that something was wrong between the engaged couple. Nikita sat alone at a table, slouched in her chair and slowly sipping her coffee, and Michael stood stiffly at the counter, waiting on their breakfast order. With one glance at Sean, Alex silently ordered him to talk to Michael (and buy their breakfast) while she talked to Nikita. It was a simple enough plan; however, as Alex neared her best friend, she had the feeling that she might be too upset to talk to. She really didn't want to be yelled at that morning, so she tentatively asked before she sat, "Is it okay to approach?"
"It's okay if you do," Nikita muttered as she sipped her coffee. Kicking out a chair for Alex to sit down, she shot a glare in Michael's direction. He quickly caught the look and rolled his eyes in irritation. His fiancée huffed and shifted in her seat so her back was towards him. He turned his back to her as well.
Witnessing the entire interaction, Alex felt even more awkward and confused than before. The night before, Michael and Nikita had entered their motel room hand in hand. What could've possibly happened to make them despise each other in the morning. Alex probably shouldn't pry. Yet she didn't want to deal with the engaged couple fighting all day. Even if she was uncomfortable, it was better to get involved and help resolve the tension than to let it fester, "So, uh, what happened to you two last night?"
Nikita sighed and slid further down in her chair. It was then that Alex noticed how exhausted she looked. The caffeine in her giant cup of coffee wasn't going to help her. She was bone tired, about to die on her feet. A long, strenuous mission plus a bad night left her ready to collapse- and maybe scream, "We got into a fight. And because of that, we didn't sleep well."
"Was it about the mission?" Alex wondered. The only thing she could think of that the engaged couple could've potentially fought about was the recent mission. However, the op had been fairly standard. Nothing too dramatic had happened, and it pretty much went according to plan. There couldn't have been anything to fight about; Nikita, for once, hadn't been reckless. However, with Michael and Nikita, anything was possible.
"No," Rubbing a tired hand over her face, Nikita replied. She wished she and her fiancé had fought over the mission. Then, they could've at least come to some sort of conclusion or compromise. Fighting over nothing just left them confused and hurt. It was as though there was no real end. But maybe if Nikita talked about it- specifically, ranted about it- then maybe she could find an answer.
Nikita had collapsed in bed first. After she showered off the mission and pulled on clean underwear, she crawled under the covers and let exhaustion drag her down. Michael had taken over the bathroom after her, and by the time he was ready for bed, she was already asleep. Well, mostly asleep. She had opened her eyes and poked her head up when she heard the bathroom door open. But when she saw that it was only her fiancé, she fell right back to sleep. Michael couldn't help but chuckle softly at her. She had come a long way from freaking out over every small noise he made during the night. Although she was still on guard, she found comfort in him.
Michael found comfort in Nikita as well, and he couldn't wait to crawl under the covers beside her and cuddle with her as they slept. However, when he moved to the empty side of the bed, he noticed a problem. It wasn't that big of a problem. He tried to ignore it. But a nagging anxiety had settled in his stomach, and he couldn't let it go. He had to do something about it if he wanted to be able to sleep that night. And God was he so fucking tired.
Maybe if they were staying in a hotel, he would've been fine with it. Hotel room doors were interior- to even get to a room, one had to be waved through the front door and then had to walk past a desk full of people. There was more security and peace of mind with a hotel. However, at a motel, the doors to the rooms were all exterior. Anyone could just come in at any time. There was nothing stopping someone from just bursting into their room and attacking whoever slept closest to the door.
And Nikita was sleeping closest to the door.
Michael had to move her before he could go to sleep. He had to be the one sleeping closest to the door. Incase anything were to happen, he had to be able to protect her. Unfortunately, moving a sleeping Nikita was no easy task. It was like poking a sleeping bear. The instant Michael hovered over her and nudged her, she woke up and growled, "Michael, what the fuck are you doing?"
"Moving you so I can sleep on this side," Michael explained briefly. He definitely should've explained himself further, especially if he wanted Nikita to move. But he was tired, and he didn't want to hear her complain about him being overprotective. So, he just left it at that and attempted to push her over again.
"It doesn't fucking matter," Nikita refused to move. With her eyes still closed, she curled into a tight ball and somehow found a way to burrow into the mattress. Michael couldn't make her budge despite all his efforts. For such a small and light woman, she was impossible to move when she didn't want to. It felt like he was dealing with Hayley when she had thrown one of her temper tantrums, but way worse.
"Yeah, It kind of does," Again, Michael definitely should've just told his fiancée what he was thinking. But did he really have to give her an explanation whenever he wanted her to do something. Or could she just listen to him for once.
"Since fucking when?" Eyes snapping open, Nikita glared at Michael. Even in the dark motel room, he knew that look well. He better drop the subject or else she'd rip his head off. The fact that she was exhausted wouldn't diminish her destructive anger. In fact, it enhanced it.
"Since fucking always," Although Michael knew better than to argue with his fiancée over nothing while they were in their current state, his anxiety couldn't be stopped. He had to follow through with his plan to move Nikita and sleep closest to the door. Otherwise, neither of them would be sleeping that night.
Sitting up on the mattress, Nikita maintained her glare. She had no clue what had gotten into her fiancé, yet she really didn't care. She just wanted him to shut up so she could sleep, "Why are you so stubborn?"
"Why am I stubborn? You're the one who won't move over," Plopping down on the mattress next to Nikita, Michael continued to try and move her. She still wouldn't budge. She was rooted in her spot, refusing to give up her position. The two were reaching the point in their argument where, no matter what, they wouldn't back down from their side. Even explanations wouldn't get them to back down. Their stubbornness and pride were on the line, after all. They were going to explode.
"And you're the one making a big deal out of nothing," Nikita couldn't care less that she was whining. She didn't understand why her fiancé couldn't just lay on the other side of the bed and hold her as they slept. There had been no need for him to wake her and make a big fuss over who slept where. They'd be back in their own bed and on their own sides tomorrow. Couldn't he just suck it up for one night.
"It's not nothing," Michael should've told Nikita about his intense anxiety over just the possibility of her getting hurt. That was the main reason he wanted her to move, not because of some stupid side of the bed. His anxiety wasn't something he could ignore. It was also something his fiancée had to know about. However, he couldn't find the right words to express that. Maybe in the morning when he wasn't strung out and tired after a mission he could actually say what he needed to. But then, all he could do was stare.
"Fine then," Unable to read her fiancé's expression in the dark (and too sleep deprived to even understand it if she could read it) Nikita grabbed the comforter and some pillows from the bed. It was Michael's turn to be confused. He watched her frustratedly move around, having no idea what she was up to. Then she cursed at him again and muttered harshly, "Have it your way. I'll sleep on the floor."
That was absolutely not what Michael wanted. Even though Nikita was sleeping on the floor on the other side of the bed away from the door, he did not want to go to sleep without her next to him. He tried to make her stop, yet it was way too late. She had already made up her stubborn mind, "Nikita…"
"Goodnight," Wrapping the comforter around herself, Nikita collapsed on the floor and shut her fiancé completely out. With a frustrated groan, Michael gave up. He simply flopped onto the mattress and tried to find warmth in the thin sheet she had left him.
There were a lot of comments Alex could've made after Nikita finished telling her story. The main thing she wanted to ask was why was Nikita so damn stubborn that she chose to sleep on the floor instead of just moving over. But, knowing how grouchy (bitchy) her best friend could be when she was tired, Alex refrained from saying anything (that was probably the same conclusion Michael had come to when he hadn't stopped his fiancée from sleeping on the floor). Instead, she asked a simpler question that might help them get to the bottom of things, "What do you mean he had to sleep on that side of the bed?"
"I don't know," Nikita collapsed in her chair and slammed her head against the table. Honestly, if it was dead silent in the coffeehouse, Nikita could fall asleep right on that table. She had not slept at all on the motel room floor. If she had, it was only a slight doze. One good thing about flying back to Division was that she could sleep on the plane. The bad thing was she had to deal with an airport while sleep deprived.
"Is that the side of the bed he sleeps on?" Alex couldn't help but wonder. Sean had a specific side of the bed he liked to sleep on. Maybe Michael was the same way, and Nikita had never noticed until then.
"No. That's the thing. We've never had a consistent side of the bed that we sleep on. Each new bedroom we've had, we've changed," Lifting her head, Nikita whined. She still had no idea what Michael had been thinking the night before. She had tossed and turned all night trying to figure it out. Yes, the motel floor was uncomfortable and gross. Yet, she had slept on worse. Her mind had only been on her fiancé and what could've possibly been wrong with him.
"Huh," Alex could not understand Michael's thought process either. If he hadn't cared about which side of the bed he slept on before, then what had changed his mind. Spotting Sean and Michael approaching their table, Alex just decided to ask him. Michael looked just as exhausted as Nikkita; he probably tossed and turned as he shivered with the sheet he had been forced to sleep with, feeling terrible for making his fiancée sleep on the floor. He was probably so exhausted that he'd answer any questions thrown at him. So Alex just blurted, "Michael, which side of the bed do you sleep on?"
Michael sighed. He had been expecting that question all morning. In the clarity of daylight, he realized he seriously should've just told Nikita about his anxiety; she would've moved and comforted him if he had. She would always comfort him if he told her. He planned on telling her soon just so they could talk. However, he wouldn't say anything about it in front of Sean and Alex. That was a conversation he was more comfortable having with just Nikita. So, for the meantime, he handed his fiancée her breakfast, sat in the chair next to her, and answered, "The side closest to the door."
"Hey. Same," Sean smiled. Unlike the engaged couple, he and Alex sat so closely that they touched as they ate their breakfast. Except, when Sean admitted that he slept on the side closest to the door, his girlfriend pulled away from him in confusion. Nikita also glanced at her fiancé, puzzled. She didn't stop eating, though. She'd probably listen and understand better if she had food in her stomach.
"What?" Alex, on the other hand, put down her breakfast to better comprehend what her boyfriend had said. She thought he slept on the right side of the bed. That was the side he always landed on, at least. Though, as she thought about it, Alex realized Sean was correct. He did always sleep by the door. The door just happened to be on the right side of the room. Seemingly reading her thoughts, Sean solidified the idea with a nod.
Nikita mostly ignored the other couple as she ate and worked out what Michael had confessed. Eating really was working wonders for her. She was able to relax next to her fiancé, and he was able to relax next to her (also feeling better with food in his system). Eating also helped Nikita think. She soon had an example that argued against Michael's statement. He didn't always sleep by the door, "Wait. But our bed at Birkhoff's faced the door."
"But you were on the side of the bathroom that had the locked door," Michael shrugged. There were going to be exceptions to his own rules. But, as long as he could find a way to keep his fiancée safe- like having her sleep by a door that locked so she could have a place to hide just incase- he was alright. Admittedly, thinking like that, Michael could understand why Nikita said he was paranoid and overprotective. He probably did have a problem. But he wouldn't stop trying to keep his loved ones safe.
"Smart," Sean was on Michael's side. Even kickass warrior women girlfriends needed to be protected too. They simply had to come up with creative ways to keep them from constantly jumping right into the fray.
"How is that smart?" Alex immediately questioned. She was glad Nikita was just as confused as she was. Their boyfriends were acting so weird. Why were they that obsessed with the doors in their bedrooms. As long as they locked, were they really that big of a deal.
Sean considered how he should phrase his answer before he replied. He and Michael talked briefly about the engaged couple's fight the night before, and he found himself agreeing with one particular thing: he didn't want to hear the same arguments from Alex. If he went into detail about how smart it was to have your girlfriend sleep on the interior side of the bedroom, he'd only hear about how she could protect herself just fine. But that wasn't the extent of it, "Well, if someone were to break in…"
"That's why you were so anal about which side to sleep on last night? Why didn't you just tell me?" Nikita hastily interrupted Sean (much to his relief). She finally figured out why Michael was so pressed about which side of the bed he slept on. He had to sleep near the door so he could protect her from whatever might come crashing in. Of course he couldn't have let that go and left her alone. She swore, his need to protect her would be his undoing.
"Because I didn't want to hear the whole 'I can protect myself' thing," Michael admitted a part of the truth. He honestly didn't want to keep having the same argument with Nikita. He knew she could take care of herself. That was never what protecting her was all about; he wasn't dissing her ability. She should know that. There was no need to keep fighting.
"I can," Nikita couldn't stop herself from saying. The words, however, didn't have the same usual stubborn bite to them. She simply softly reminded and gently reassured her fiancé that she'd always be alright.
"I can too," Giving her boyfriend a pointed look, Alex added. Later, she would love to hear what he'd have to say about the bathroom door. Although she suspected it had to do with his need to protect her, she wanted to hear his explanation for how that was the smartest and safest option. Because to her, it just sounded ridiculous.
"I didn't say anything," Sean wasn't sure what exactly he had to defend himself against. But the glare Alex shot him wasn't something he could ignore. Unless, she was just messing with him. It was hard to tell before he had finished his morning cup of coffee.
Leaning against his fiancée- mostly because he was grateful she wasn't going to argue with him, and partially because he was still exhausted- Michael sighed. They were approaching the part of the conversation that he'd need more caffeine to be able to get through. But he could at least make one comment while he looked at Nikita for strength, "It's not that you can't. It's that we want to keep you safe."
"So, have you always been like this? Or is this a new thing?" Nikita recognized the look in Michael's eyes. How had she not seen it earlier. His anxiety had gotten the better of him last night. That happened sometimes on the nights right after a mission. She should've been more understanding. He couldn't stop his fear, especially when it came to those he loved. Which, made her wonder, had that anxiety always been there. Or, had it appeared after Hayley and Elizabeth. When they talked in private later about what had happened, Nikita could ask Michael more directly about that. For the moment, though, she hoped he'd catch her vague hint.
"Since OCS," Michael grinned softly. He had understood what Nikita had meant. And, although Hayley's and Elizabeth's deaths had made it worse, he had always had anxiety regarding his loved ones' safety. They could discuss it more in depth when they were free to talk in private. Until then, he'd just hold his fiancée's hand under the table and squeeze tightly.
"Officer Candidate School," Sean explained for Alex's sake. Apparently, he had been remiss in teaching her some Naval lingo. The next time she sat him down to teach him some Russian, he'd share some phrases with her. At that moment, though, he'd just focus on partially explaining where some of his protectiveness came from, "And same."
"Oh. So this is an inherited trait," Eyeing both Sean and Michael, Nikita smirked. It was about time they brought some humor into their conversation. Michael and Sean were easy targets to poke fun of. So why not start lightning up by dragging the two Navy men.
Nikita, after all, had Alex as an ally. If she decided to tease their boyfriends, then her best friend would happily tag in. She already had a quip at the ready to taunt with, "So overprotectiveness plus Naval training turns you into dumbasses."
"Who forget that we can kick their ass," Nudging her fiancé, Nikita proudly added. Whereas Alex smirked in support, Michael and Sean grumbled and rolled their eyes. If she wanted to make claims like that, then she had to be prepared to back them up. The men doubted she could. They had some stories that contradicted her.
"I beat your ass sparring all the time," Michael started the list, nudging his fiancée in retaliation. He also stole a melon from her fruit bowl that he knew she wasn't going to eat. She, in turn, took his coffee and drank it. The glare the two leveled at one another was nothing like the threatening ones they had thrown the night before. It was all flirtatious and teasing. They had moved past their stupid little fight, just like they always did, and they were far better then.
"Oh no. We flirt and then you pin me to the mat. That's the last thing I want," Mockingly, Nikita negated Michael's claim. Sure, there were times when she was a recruit and a few instances after where Michael had actually beat her in a sparring match. But recently, whenever they trained, she let him pin her down so she could pull him against her and kiss him. She was positive that he had known that. But if he didn't, she had other examples that proved she was the better fighter (or at least the fighter who'd do anything to win and survive), "Besides, out in the field where it counts, I beat your ass every fucking time."
Alex and Sean had been laughing at the engaged couple throughout their latest tiff, but Nikita's latest comment sent them over the edge. Michael was not amused. Okay, maybe a little. However, if he was going to be put in his place, then he had to drag someone else down to his level. The easiest target was Sean, "I don't know why you're laughing when Nikita was able to neutralize you with just a basketball."
While Sean fell silent, Alex and Nikita erupted in laughter. It was true that each of the agents at the table were incredible fighters. Each had their own skill sets and strengths that made them unbeatable. However, some of them were just a bit more creative in the field, putting them up top. Trained by the Navy, Michael and Sean were a bit more tactical and precise in their fights. But raised on the streets and in dangerous situations, Nikita and Alex were scrappier. In a dirty fight, they'd win every time. Which was why, according to Alex, they might be better fit to face an intruder if there ever was one, "Maybe we should be the ones sleeping by the door."
"Ooh, and that sidewalk thing. What is it again?" Nikita added. Michael had told her something about sidewalk etiquette before. She honestly didn't think it was as overprotective as the bed thing. And she did prefer not to walk near the street while on the sidewalk. But it was still something ridiculous she and Alex could make fun of the men for.
"The man walks on the side closest to the street," Michael replied. His father had actually taught him that when he was a kid. It was just basic chivalry that applied to any man and woman- their relationship status didn't matter.
"And, if single file, the man walks in front," Sean knew about the sidewalk rule as well. Though, he never actively thought about it; he just did it. He was fairly certain that, no matter who he was with, he'd always walk in front or along the side of danger. That was just what he was built to do- protect and serve, and save the world on occasion.
Opening then closing her mouth, Alex didn't know what to think about the information. She had noticed Sean following that etiquette or whatever, but she had never really put much thought into it. When she tried then, she couldn't decide if it was insane or sweet. She soon settled on both with a shake of her head and a slight joke, "What are we? Invalid?"
"Nah. We're precious," Nikita decided. It was fairly obvious that protection was one of Sean's and Michael's love languages. Both believed it was their duty to always care for their loved ones, and wrap them in maybe too much bubble wrap. Although Nikita was often annoyed by the lengths Michael went to at times to ensure she was safe, she loved that he cared so much. She had never had anyone look out for her the way that he did. She would never trade that for anything, not even the right to sleep on a certain side of the bed.
"The difference food and coffee makes," Michael couldn't help but comment on Nikita's attitude shift. It earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs. Yet he managed to catch her arm and hold her close to him while Sean and Alex laughed. Jokes and laughter finished out the agents breakfast and carried them to the plane home. Once they were thousands of feet up in the air, however, the engaged couple fell asleep slumped together and with their arms wrapped around each other for protection.
Thank you so much for reading!
