The emotions swirling around the Headquarters were potent. There was unrest, sorrow and simple dissatisfaction with the way things had gone done. Rita and Nabiki walked through the corridors that were strangely empty.

"I guess the grapevine is working efficiently." Rita noted.

"Yes, everyone must be at Section waiting for O'Brien to get there. I don't know if we will be able to keep Sherry from going down."

Rita face took on a thoughtful expression. "You keep her busy while I talk to Michael. Let's see what he thinks. Sherry is in a rather fragile state right now."

Nabiki agreed. They had arrived at Sherry's door and knocked. Michael opened the door. Michael appeared at the door.

"Michael, we need to talk." Rita whispered as Nabiki walked into the room and began talking to Sherry.

Rita walked past him. "Hi Sherry." Sherry was still looking tired from her ordeal.

"Rita, any word."

"North has decided the service will not be held until O'Brien has been captured and interrogated." Rita decided to skirt around the issue by playing with the truth. She hoped that Sherry would be too tired to see that she was hiding something. "But I do need to borrow Michael temporarily. Do you mind?"

"What for?" She sat up from the bed she was resting on.

"Oh they need him down in Section to run tactical on a mission." Nabiki injected. "So I am going to keep you company until he returns."

"Fine." Sherry lay back down.

Michael took her hand and kissed it. "I will be back soon."

Rita walked beside Michael as she thought about Sherry. She hoped that Sherry would be her usual self soon. "Michael, I am worried about Sherry. She can't continue like that. If Madeline catches wind it could be trouble."

"I know but we will deal with that later. What did you need me for?"

"Roy and Davenport captured O'Brien. They are bringing him in on a one way ticket to the white room."

"Good. I will deal with him."

"You might want to get in line. Something else there is an undercurrent going on in Section. It seems that Oversight is interfering in our missions. Operations is edgy to say the least."

"We will discuss internal politics later. First O'Brien."

They arrived at Section there was a large group waiting their arrival. North walked over.

"Michael, they are holding O'Brien in the White Room."

"I will go in and interrogate him. This may take awhile keep an eye on Sherry."

Both North and Rita agreed. "O'Brien would have done better with self termination." Rita commented. Now all they had to do was wait.

***********

Part Thirty-Nine - Northstar

Everyone waited with bated breath to hear how the interrogation went. It had been over 3 hours since Michael had gone inside and then the Torture Twins. Madeline also had her turn before handing over to Michael once more. The silence was finally shattered with a sound of a shot.

The bastard was dead. Michael came walking into Comm with a somber face. "He's dead."

"Did he say anything? Did he have any remorse?" The questions came from all over.

Michael just looked at everyone with his patented blank stare. "You will be briefed when the time comes." With that he turned away and headed back down the hallway and to the elevators.

North turned to the girls that were waiting around, "Okay, I think we can have the memorial service for Sophie as soon as I get it planned. I need to get in touch with her twin and see when she can make it."

"Twin?" Aly asked.

"I didn't know she had a twin." Trace said.

"Yes. Sophie had a twin. She is known as DragonLady and she is a very formidable woman. I met her only recently myself. I am hoping that we can persuade her to stay on here at CLHQ and Section."

"Wow. A new recruit for Michael to train." Grace commented.

North looked over to Grace. "No. She will need no training. Not much anyway. And besides, Michael will be spending the next few days with Sherry I would imagine. Sophie's death has hit her really hard and she is going to need some down time. Madeline has given Michael a few days as well. Now, the rest of you may as well take advantage of this and take a few hours for yourselves as well. I will let you when the service is once I get in touch with DragonLady."

North left to go to her office while the rest of them slowly made their way to their rooms.