Chapter 24

A couple of days had passed with nothing much out of the couple's normal routine. Michael was fully back at the office. Nikita ended up deciding to stay home while Sam was there. She worked more from home anyway so that wasn't a change. She did take Sam out with her to explore Brighton and spend some time with him. He was still being closed off and kinda weird but at least he didn't bring up the Carters anymore. Nikita breathed more easily because of the fact.

Michael had decided to make an effort (for Nikita) with Sam and had made some fun weekend plans for the three of them. Nikita appreciated it so she tried to rest as much as possible to be able to enjoy her weekend.

16th September, Friday

6:00 am

The familiar sound of Michael's alarm filled the bedroom, signalling it was time to get up. Neither Michael nor Nikita had gotten much sleep that night. Nikita was throwing up most of the evening and into the early hours of the morning. Michael didn't leave her side. He made sure she was staying hydrated and as calm as possible. Nikita hadn't thrown up so much since the time she was taken to the hospital so it made her anxious.

Michael comforted her as much as he could. He would immediately take her to the hospital if he even thought for a second there was something wrong. He hadn't done so yet because there was a reason why his wife was throwing up again. Nikita had forgotten to take her medication that day which resulted in her pregnancy sickness coming back in full force. That medication must have really worked wonders if even one missed day made such a difference.

Michael turned off his alarm and reached for Nikita. He could tell she wasn't sleeping but just having her eyes closed. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her she snuggled closer. "How are you feeling?" He caressed her cheek ever so gently and whispered.

"Like a truck ran over me over a thousand times" Nikita groaned. The anxiety mixed with the sickness sucked everything out of her. She was never going to be missing her medication again. The one time Michael didn't remind her about it was of course going to be the only time she missed taking it.

"I'm sorry" He kissed her forehead sweetly and held her tighter. It physically pained him to see her unwell "It passed at least. You should feel better after you take the pills this morning." He was going to go after her with that pill bottle every morning from now on.

"I hope so. I don't think I can stomach breakfast yet though" She was hungry but just the thought of food made her stomach feel uneasy again.

"That's okay. It said that you could take them on an empty stomach too. I can make you some lemonade again to manage the nausea" Michael was going to try everything to make her feel better and recover as fast as possible.

"That would be lovely actually. I can take it with me to yoga" She sighed and kissed his cheek.

"Yoga?" Michael was confused. There was no way she was thinking of going out this morning after the night they had just had.

"Yeah, for my morning class" Nikita was too exhausted to put together what Michael was asking her so she elaborated.

"Yeah, I know but I didn't think you'd be going this morning. You should stay back and rest" She hadn't slept at all or had anything solid in the last 12-14 hours. It wasn't smart to put her body through anything physical right now.

"No, no I don't want to stay in bed. I just get more anxious" She had to get her body moving. That was something that always made her feel better.

"I can stay with you" Michael had already been contemplating it even before this conversation so there was no need to worry about that.

"I'll be fine. It's better to get myself moving" Nikita explained to him as well.

"Baby, you're drained. You can barely keep your eyes open. At least go to a later class" He knew his wife well enough to know that she wasn't going to drop the class so he tried to work around it.

"I've been trying to fall asleep for the past few hours and it's not working. It's not going to change if I stay in bed more" Nikita understood his logic but her body didn't work that way.

"I'm staying home with you today" It was decided. There was no way he was leaving her.

"No, you're not" Nikita instantly shut it down.

"Nikita"

"Michael"

"You do realise that if I go to work I'll be calling you every 10 minutes to check up on you" She was usually on his mind all day even without having something to worry about but now? He wasn't going to be getting anything done while knowing she wasn't feeling well.

"I know. My phone will be on me at all times" She had no problem with that.

"Why? We can have a chill day. Stay in bed, watch lots of movies, I'll make you something good to eat, and we can go on a walk later if you feel better" Michael knew how to take care of his wife if she only let him.

"I appreciate you but we can't do that this whole pregnancy" Michael had already skipped work enough or gone home early because she wasn't feeling well. As much as she liked having him around for comfort it wasn't ideal.

"Who says we can't?" Michael didn't care. Nothing was more important in his life than her.

"I do. It makes me anxious when I focus on it too much. My brain just comes up with the worst possible scenarios. I want it to be like normal" She was capable of taking care of herself and she knew her body's limits. Most pregnant women face some kind of difficulties during pregnancy. Hers was apparently going to be sickness and exhaustion. She could take that as long as everything was okay.

"I understand but we do have to have some adjustments to our normal" It was totally acceptable for him to stay back and take care of her.

"I'll be fine when I take my medication. You said it yourself. Nothing to worry about" If she had taken it she wouldn't have been sick. Everything else was fine. There was no need to stress over it.

"I can't argue this more can't I" Michael sighed. Nikita had already made up her mind. There was nothing he could do about it.

"No, but I like the extra cuddle time so do go on" She snuggled more into her husband and smirked.

That got Michael to laugh and kiss her. "You know you can ask me to stay longer in bed every morning and I would never say no"

"I know but it's more fun when I make you late" She teased. Having Michael struggle to get out of bed because he couldn't stop kissing her and then watching him run around the room trying to get dressed as fast as possible was the highlight of most of her mornings.

"I love you" Michael shook his head and got another kiss.

"I love you too"

9:30 am

M: How was class, love?

Are you feeling better?

Michael stared at his phone and waited for a reply. He was probably overreacting. He had called Nikita just before her class to make sure she got there safely after she dropped him off at the office. Nikita did feel a little bit better, so she was optimistic that as soon as she cleared her head a bit from all her anxious thoughts, she would be all good for the day.

She promised to call him afterwards and Michael has been staring desperately at his phone for half an hour now. He didn't want to call her in case she was driving. She had the tendency to talk on the phone while driving and Michael didn't like it.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait for much longer. Nikita was returning his call.

"Hey, sorry. I stayed back with Macy and lost track of time. I'm fine" At first Nikita was going to chat with Macy for a few minutes but it was never just a few minutes with her friend. She didn't realise when a half hour had passed.

"How was the class?" Michael wasn't going to settle for I'm fine. He needed to know everything.

"It was good. Not too busy. My medication kicked in by the time we started so I was alright during the class" She was glad she came instead of staying at home. It would have made her feel worse.

"That's good. You need to eat something though. You haven't had anything since yesterday afternoon." Michael was starting to regret not fighting harder on staying with her. He had this bad gut feeling that something was wrong. What if she passed out and there was no one around?

"I grabbed a smoothie from the place around the corner and already finished most of it while I was with Macy. I'm okay" Nikita felt like she needed to say that a thousand times for Michael to actually believe it. She was way better at taking care of herself so she had already planned on grabbing something to eat before she went home.

"Do you feel dizzy or nauseous? Any pain?" Michael had to go through everything to be able to stop worrying.

"No, I'm just tired and have a bit of a headache from not getting much sleep. Other than that I'm okay. I'll get home and try to take a nap. That should work" She always got headaches when she didn't get enough sleep. That wasn't anything concerning.

"Yeah, you should. Even if you don't fall asleep just rest. You need it" He didn't know how she was functioning right now with the night she had.

"I will, I promise. I don't want you to worry about me"

"First of all, I will always worry about you. That is my job. Second, I will be coming home on my lunch break. Do you want me to pick something up or make you something at home?" There was no way Michael was going to last so many hours without seeing her today.

Nikita rolled her eyes but still cracked a smile. But of course he will be home every two hours to check up on her. Sadly she would have to ruin his plans. "Sorry, but I have a lunch date planned with Sonya already"

"Is it work-related?"

"I mean yeah kind of. I need to discuss some things with her but it wasn't that major so we thought we could talk over lunch" Nikita and Sonya often did that. They both despised official meetings.

"Okay. Why don't you guys have lunch at the office then?" Michael was not going back down on this one this time.

"Michael" She chuckled.

"What?"

"Stop. You're sending stress waves through the phone I swear. I'm okay. I will be okay." She repeated again and again.

Michael huffed and paced his office. He was having these horrible scenarios playing in his head over and over. It was messing with his head. He knew Nikita would take care of herself just fine. She had gotten so much better about it over the years. There was no need to be so nervous.

"Breathe, baby. I will call you when I get back home too if it will help" Nikita tried to offer something that would help him relax more.

Well, that was a part of the issue and why Michael was worrying so much. "I'm heading into a long meeting and phones will be locked away. We still can't find where the leak came from so Birkhoff wants to take precautions"

Now Nikita understood but she was surprised "How come you haven't figured out how to sneak in with your phone yet?" Michael was a rule follower to his very core but when it came to her Nikita had learned that the only rule he followed was to protect her.

"There's a fucking scanner at the door and also inside" He muttered bitterly. He had tried and failed miserably at getting his phone in there. Even his work phone didn't work. He wasn't the techy one in the relationship so he had to lock away his phone like everyone else.

Nikita burst laughing. Of course, he had already tried. She shouldn't have doubted him.

"Don't laugh and tell me how to get passed it maybe" His wife definitely had the skills to help him out.

She laughed even more. "Yeah, I'm not doing that. I don't even know what type of sensor it is. I'm not some tech magician" She could probably figure it out easily but that was way over the top of protectiveness even for him.

"I can send you a photo" He was determined.

"Stop" Nikita couldn't stop laughing. Only her husband could make her laugh like that. "I'm not doing it!"

"So what you're saying is that you don't love me anymore" He was going to mess with her until she said yes.

"Don't you use my tactics against me, Sailor" She loved to tease him like that just to see his reaction. It was her thing and she was the only one allowed to use it.

"I think what you were trying to say is yes send me the photo, baby" He corrected her.

Nikita chuckled and rolled her eyes amused. "Still not happening"

Michael sighed "So no to lunch and also no to helping me out?" He had to try his luck one last time.

"Yeah, but I promise to text you when I get home and you can call me as soon as you get out of you're meeting. If there's anything wrong which there won't be but if I'll call Birkhoff or Sonya" Nikita provided an easy solution that was hopefully going to ease his anxiety.

"Okay. I can survive with that" He only had to last the meeting. Then he can cancel the rest of his day and get home to her.

"I can come to pick you up after and we -" Nikita stopped talking abruptly.

"What happened?" Michael instantly became alert.

"This is the third time Sam has called while we've been talking. It must be an emergency" Nikita had ignored his previous two calls so that she could talk with her husband longer but Sam was persistent. "Wait" Nikita looked at the time just then "Don't you have to be in your meeting already?'

"Yeah" He shrugged and replied as if he was confirming the weather.

"Michael" She used her warning tone to get him going.

"What? I like to be fashionably late" He didn't give a care in the world. He wasn't going to rush his conversation with her because of a meeting. Nikita was more important.

"Go! We'll talk after. I love you" Nikita had to end the conversation or he would decide to miss the meeting entirely.

"I love you too. Be safe" Michael regretfully put his phone away and went into his meeting. Even though Nikita reassured him more than enough times that she was okay he still had that bad gut feeling.

12:35 pm

Sonya exhaled relieved to have finally found a parking spot. She was running a little late for her lunch with Nikita. She grabbed her phone to text her.

S: Just parked. I'm on my way!

She hated being late. It didn't matter that it was for lunch with her friend who would absolutely not mind. Sonya liked being on time. She rushed into the restaurant and scanned the room full of tables. Oddly she didn't seem to spot Nikita anywhere.

"Welcome. How can I help you?" The hostess approached her.

"Hello. I made a reservation for two under Sonya Birkhoff at 12:30. My friend should already be here" Sonya didn't doubt at all whether Nikita was there or not. The former agent was always early.

"No, you're the first to arrive. We were just about to give you a call actually since it's been 10 minutes" The girl informed.

"Oh" That was strange. Nikita was never late. Maybe she had hit traffic on the way or struggled to find a parking spot as well. Sonya brushed it off. "I apologize. Finding parking right now is nearly impossible"

"We have your table ready for you. Just this way" The hostess seated Sonya and gave her a menu. Sonya grabbed her phone and checked for any messages from Nikita but there were none. She hadn't even read her previous one.

S: I'm at the restaurant. How far are you?

Sonya waited a few more minutes but there was nothing still. That was not like Nikita. Even thinking about it more now it didn't make any sense. Nikita would have accounted for the traffic and the parking situation and she would have left earlier to make sure she was on time. Even on the off chance she didn't she would have called or texted Sonya to let her know. Something else was up.

Sonya decided to give her a call and thank god she did because that solidified it even more. Nikita's phone was off. Sonya tried again to make sure it wasn't some glitch. When had Nikita's phone ever been off? She stood up and informed the waitress that she had an emergency and jogged to her car. She had a bad feeling so she wasn't going to just sit around and wait. She knew where to go and what to do to ensure her friend was okay.

2 pm

"Hey, babe. I thought you weren't coming in today" Birkhoff was surprised to see his wife exiting the elevator. It was a nice surprise. He beamed at her and reached to pull her in his arms. As he got closer though he noticed the look on her face. "Is everything okay?"

"Where's Michael? I have been calling him but he's not answering" Sonya was relieved that she managed to find her husband so fast. There was no time to waste.

"Ughm…I think he's still in a meeting. His phone is in his office probably. I forced the no phones thing I was telling you about. What's wrong? Let's get inside" Birkhoff took hold of Sonya's hand and pulled her towards his office. He could tell there was something.

"No. We need to find him" Sonya stopped him.

"Why? Has something happened?" The hacker couldn't understand what had his wife so serious and worried.

"I can't get a hold of Nikita. She missed our lunch. Her phone is off. I went to check their house but nobody was there. Something is wrong" The first place Sonya thought to look was Nikita and Michael's house. Maybe Nikita fell asleep or forgot about their plans. Sonya hoped that was the case. She had spare keys in case of emergencies so she was able to get inside but there was no one home. There were no cars in the driveway or the garage. Sam wasn't even home. She tried calling Nikita again but her phone was still off. There was no other option she could try but to go to Michael.

"What?" Birkhoff froze in place. That was concerning. Nikita didn't just disappear like that. Something had happened.

"Okay…ughm" The Nerd had to gather his thoughts. "I will go get Michael. You go into my office and start a trace on her phone"

The couple instantly got to work. Birkhoff ran down the hall to the conference room where Michael was. They had to find Nikita and make sure she was okay. The hacker hoped they were overreacting but it didn't make sense. Why couldn't they find Nikita?

"Sorry, guys to interrupt. There's a bit of an emergency. Michael, I need you with me" Michael threw a puzzled look at his friend but complied without asking questions.

"What's up?" He asked as soon as they were in the hallway.

"Where is your phone?" Maybe Nikita might have called him or sent him a text.

"In my office. Birkhoff, what's going on?" Michael was starting to get worried.

"Let's go get it" The Nerd would explain after he verified that Michael also had no contact with Nikita. He didn't want to scare his best friend. Michael would flip out.

"Okay, now what?" Michael got his phone off his desk and stared at Birkhoff.

"Do you have any missed calls or messages from Niki?" There was no other way to say it without it sounding alarming.

"What?" Michael's heart skipped a beat for a second or two then started beating rapidly as if about to explode. "Has something happened?" He rushed to check his phone. There was nothing. No missed calls. No new messages from her. "No, I don't have anything. Why?"

"Let's go to my office. Sonya will explain and we'll figure it out" That was not good.

Both guys ran to Sonya in desperate need of some more explanation.

"What's happening?" Michael asked as soon as he laid eyes on Sonya.

She repeated what she had told to Seymor. Based on Michael's reaction she could tell he also had no idea where Nikita was. "When was the last time you spoke to her?" They could start from there. She was still working on the trace of her phone. Birkhoff moved behind the computer to help more.

"We talked before I went into my meeting so like at 10" Michael started pacing the room trying to find some logical explanation but there wasn't any. It didn't make any sense. "She was throwing up all night because she forgot to take her medication yesterday. She insisted on going to yoga this morning. I talked to her before and after her class. She said that she was feeling better. She sounded better." Michael started freaking out even more. What if she was passed out somewhere or worse? What if there was a car crash or some other incident?

"We have to start calling hospitals" He needed to know immediately that she was okay. This was not real. This had to be some sick joke or a horrible twisted nightmare.

"We'll certainly check. Let's narrow down a window though. I think that will help us get to the bottom of this faster. Did she say where she was going after her class?" They had to pinpoint when exactly Nikita went MIA.

"She said that she would go home to rest" Michael tried to keep focused and not imagine the worst possible scenario. His friends were right. They had to trace Nikita's steps.

"Okay. Check the cameras and see if she got home at some point and then left maybe" Birkhoff suggested. The trace of Nikita's phone was almost done.

Michael pulled out his phone again to check their security system. There had to be some explanation. Nikita couldn't just disappear out of thin air. As he kept rewinding the footage from this morning though his hopes were quickly dying. "There's nothing on here. She hasn't come home after her class"

Silence. Michael could feel his heartbeat in his ears. Where was she? What had happened? Why hadn't she made it home? Why had no one heard from her for hours? It hit him then "Sam" He jumped up. "When we were hanging up she mentioned that Sam had called her 3 times so she was going to call him"

"Okay" Birkhoff dialled Sam's number.

"He wasn't at the house. Maybe they went somewhere" Sonya started thinking out loud.

"Ughm, guys…Sam's phone is also off" Birkhoff had tried twice and it was the same as Nikita's phone.

Michael and Sonya stilled. A few moments later Michael was kicking a chair. "That's not a fucking coincidence! I swear this time I will kill him!" Red. Michael was seeing red. There was no way that bastard wasn't involved in this especially when he was the last one to see or hear from Nikita. "Trace his damn phone"

"Already on it" Birkhoff had jumped to the same conclusion.

Sonya didn't know what to think. She wasn't the biggest fan of Sam but she also didn't share the same strong reservations against him as the rest. She fell somewhat in the middle. She couldn't believe that Sam could put Nikita in danger yet again after she had invited him into her home and also shared special news like the fact that she was pregnant.

It took a few more agonizing minutes in silence but the trace of both phones was finally done. Birkhoff blew up his screen on the TV so that Michael and Sonya could see as well. "Their phones went out at the same location and time"

Michael kicked another chair. "Where?! Send me the location I'm going" Michael was out the door in seconds.

"Mikey wait!" Birkhoff yelled after him but his best friend wasn't stopping for anything. He was on a mission. "Babe, stay here. I'm going with him. We'll call you from there" Birkhoff grabbed his tablet and ran after Michael. Thankfully he managed to catch up with him.

"I've called the security guards. They're a few minutes behind us. We don't know what we're getting into" The hacker informed but all he got was a nod. Michael was white as a ghost and furious as ever. He drove like a racedriver and in no time there were at the location.

It was a remote field just outside of the city. It appeared to be a construction zone for office buildings. Some were finished others were just getting built. "What the hell is this place?" Birkhoff muttered. He didn't have a chance to look around properly though. Suddenly Michael slammed his foot on the gas and they went flying.

"Jesus, man!" Birkhoff shrieked.

"It's her car" Michael explained. He had spotted it with the corner of his eye and there was no time to think about it twice. They were there in seconds. Birkhoff understood then and relaxed after Michael stopped the car. He was definitely in no condition to drive so Birkhoff quickly swiped the keys of the car while Michael was getting out. The Nerd could drive from now on.

Michael circled Nikita's car trying to find any traces of scratches or a possible struggle. There was nothing. It was as if the car was just parked there. He reached for the handle. It was unlocked. Why was her car left unlocked here?

He got in while Birkhoff circled around with the security guards. Nikita's yoga mat and bag were on the backseat just like she usually had them. Michael took her bag to see if anything was missing but that was another dead end. All of her belongings were there. He turned to the passenger seat and saw two phones left on it. One of them was Nikita's. The other one Michael guessed was Sam's.

Nothing made sense.

"Anything?" Birkhoff came and opened the car door to have a look tоо. His eyes also narrowed on the two phones. "Turn on Niki's phone. Maybe there's something in there"

Michael shook himself from the dark hole he was getting into again and grabbed his wife's phone. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to look for. Her last conversation was with Sam but they already could piece that together. He checked her texts and saw that Sam was the one that had sent her this location but that was all there was to the message.

"He made her come here" Michael revealed to his best friend.

"Okay, so we can rule out that this was an ambush for the both of them" There was a chance even though slim that it could have been someone from their past looking for revenge.

"Sam has my car and since it's gone I can only believe one thing" Rage was filling up Michael's blood again. He shouldn't have let that son of a bitch close to Nikita. He knew from the start that he could pull some shit again and get Nikita hurt. He should have protected her better. Who knew where Nikita was now?

"So he called her. Told her to meet him here. Got her out of the car and into yours and they sped off somewhere" Birkhoff tried to work it out. Something didn't seem right. Nikita had some strong instincts. She would have sensed danger.

"She wouldn't have gone with him. I know for a fact that she knew something was wrong as soon as she pulled up" That thought made him sick. She should have turned around and drove straight to him.

"Why do you think that?" Birkhoff also didn't like that train of thought. It was sickening. They had invited Sam into their home. Only a week ago they had a family dinner together. The fact that someone could sit at a table with you and share your special moments then turn around and betray your trust like that was mad.

"She keeps a pocket knife strapped on the side of her seat…it's gone now"

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You guys motivate me to keep going! x