Part 11 by Northstar
"Why you are." Walter answered her. "It seems as though you must have knocked your head and it's confused you a bit."
"Knocked my head? On what? And who are you? You seem familiar to me but I just can't place you."
"It'll come to you sooner or later sugar."
"Nikita, you and I were in an automobile accident earlier tonight." Michael explained. "You just came out of surgery a while ago."
"Why were you and I together? And when will it come back to me?"
Michael just gave his usual patent answer. "Just be a bit more patient, Nikita."
Just then the doctor came back in. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to step outside for a minute. I just want to do a last check on our lovely patient before I go off duty."
"You take good care of our girl, won't you doctor?" Walter said with a glint in his eye as he winked at Nikita.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh, I almost forgot. There is someone waiting at the nurse's station for you Mr. Samuelle"
With that Walter and Michael left the room and headed for the nurse's station.
"What?" he answered back impatiently. Birkoff was getting a little ticked with Ops for being so short tempered lately. It all started when George came visiting a while back to check up on things.
"What is the latest status on Michael and Nikita?"
"Nothing new sir. Michael hasn't reported back in yet. Besides, it's not time yet."
"Get me Walter up here." he barked.
"Uhhh, sir, Walter isn't here right now."
"And where exactly is he? Oh, never mind, get me Madeline up here then."
"Yes sir. Right away sir." Birkoff smirked as he said this. Operations must have a hair sideways. Constantly barking orders instead of asking. But with him you never knew what to expect.
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Part 12 by Sherry
The doctor held the door open for Walter and Michael to leave. Once they were outside, the doctor closed the door. "Now Mrs. Samuelle, we are going to just do a quick check one more time and then we'll let your uncle and husband back in. Of course, we will want you to get some rest. You need it, and so does your baby."
Nikita's head was swimming. Mrs. Samuelle ... husband, uncle ... BABY? What was he talking about? "Excuse me, doctor, but did you call me Mrs. Samuelle?"
The doctor smiled. He knew his patient was suffering from a case of amnesia, but he thought if he tried to help her fill in the blanks her memory just might surface quickly. Sometimes it worked after a trauma to just hit the patient square in the face with the facts. Other times it took much longer. He was just going to have to play it by ear. "Yes, I did. Your name is Nikita Samuelle. The young man that was here with you is your husband, Michael. The older gentleman is your uncle, Walter. You and your husband were in an accident. You've sustained a few injuries, but nothing life-threatening. Your uncle came to see how you are. Does any of this sound or seem familiar?"
Nikita thought for a moment. "Well, the older man ... Walter? ... he seems familiar. But I can't remember Michael at all. If he is my husband, I should remember it, shouldn't I?"
The doctor nodded. "Normally, yes. But I get the impression from your husband that maybe you two had a disagreement before the accident. He didn't say anything, but that's the impression I got. Maybe you were upset with him. If that is the case, your emotions might be blocking out the pain of having disagreed or argued with him. Maybe you had a serious disagreement ... maybe you have some issues to resolve. I don't know. But if you get some rest and try not to push, your memory should return relatively quickly."
Nikita listened closely to what the doctor was saying. An argument ... now that did seem familiar. Maybe they had had an argument right before the accident ... but she couldn't be sure. She would have to ask Michael about it when he came back in.
Meanwhile, Michael and Walter were headed for the nurses' station. Michael had no idea who could be waiting for him. No one knew he was here except for Section and Trooper Daley. Walter was puzzled as well.
"Michael, who knows you're here besides Section?" Michael turned to the older man and said "No one. Except for the state trooper who was here to question me about the equipment they found in the van. I explained to him that we were NSA agents and were on a mission when the accident occurred. He checked and verified it. There is no one else who could possibly know."
Just then they rounded the corner to the nurses station. Standing there in front of them was ... no, it couldn't be ... Michael stopped dead in his tracks. Walter continued to walk a few steps until he realized Michael had stopped. Fortunately, the man at the nurses' station had turned his back to them and didn't see them coming.
Michael quickly grabbed Walter and pulled him back around the corner in the hallway. "Michael, what are you doing?"
Michael pushed Walter further up the hallway. "Didn't you see who was there, Walter? It was Rudy. You remember ... the pizza deliveryman that got mixed up in one of our missions. What is he doing here and how did he find out about us?" Michael pulled Walter back towards Nikita's room.
"Walter we have to do something. Rudy could blow this big time for us. No one is to know we are here. We've got to get him out of here fast."
Back in Nikita's room, the doctor had finished his exam and was just about to leave when Nikita remember. "Doctor, wait. Did you say something about a baby?"
The doctor smiled. "Yes Mrs. Samuelle. You are pregnant ... about three months along. But don't worry, from what we can tell, the baby is fine. We do want to monitor you for another day before we release you though. Just to be safe. Now you get some rest. I'll send your husband and uncle back in."
Just as Michael and Walter got back to Nikita's room, the doctor opened the door. "Gentlemen, you can come back in. Mr. Samuelle, I've explained to your wife about her amnesia, and the fact that she is pregnant. She seems to remember something about her Uncle, but she is still having some difficulties with the rest of it. You two can visit for a while and try to help, but don't push her. And she needs her rest. So keep it brief. You can come back later after she's had some rest." Then the doctor left.
Walter walked over to her bed. "How are you feeling, Sugar?" Nikita smiled at him. She did remember this man calling her Sugar. And she knew they were friends. She couldn't remember much more than that though.
"I'm feeling better. And I am starting to remember you, Uncle Walter." Walter and Michael exchanged glances. She might be starting to remember things, but she was being swayed to remember things that weren't true, because of the cover they were using as NSA agents. Things were going to get very complicated here. They would have to proceed very carefully.
Nikita turned to Michael and held out her hand. Michael hesitated, and then walked over and took her hand. He sat down on the side of the bed. Then Nikita spoke. "Michael, what did we argue about? The doctor said we probably had some kind of disagreement and that's why I can't remember you. It's scary, you know? You are my husband and I do feel safe with you ... very safe, but I can't remember anything. Please, tell me something, anything about us. I know, let's talk about the baby. The doctor said I'm about three months pregnant. What have we been planning?"
Walter coughed and looked to Michael. Michael turned his head and stared out the window. He remained silent for a long time. Nikita noticed the look on his face.
"Michael, it's the baby isn't it? That's what we were fighting about. You don't want the baby ... is that it?"
Michael's heart was breaking. He was in an impossible position. How did he explain this to her? He wanted nothing more than to tell her how much he desperately wanted the baby ... and her. How he wanted them to have a normal life ... the three of them as a family. But it could never be ... for the foreseeable future. Should he just tell her what she wanted to hear for now, until she regained her memory? Or should he explain the truth?
He looked to Walter, who had a very compassionate look on his face. The old man knew Michael was in a terrible spot. He just didn't know what to tell him either. Then he looked at Nikita, made his decision and spoke.
"You listen here, Sugar. Michael loves you very much ... and your baby. If you had an argument, it wasn't about that, I do know that much."
Tears streamed down Nikita's face. She looked at Michael and held on to him tighter. "Michael, I'm sorry. I'm just scared. Will you forgive me?"
Michael nodded and said "Of course, Kita." Now he really felt awful. He needed to get out of this room and get some air, clear his head. They all had to get out of here quickly or they would end up losing ... a lot more than just their memories.
Just then a nurse came into the room. "I'm sorry, Mr. Samuelle, but the gentleman that is waiting to see you is getting very agitated. Could you please come and deal with him?" Walter and Michael exchanged looks.
Michael nodded and headed for the door. Walter called to him. "Wait Michael, I'll come with you. Sugar, here, needs her rest." Then they left the room and headed for the nurses' station and Rudy.
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Part 13 by Laurenne
Birkoff rubbed his eyes and glances at his watch. 'Good, I'm outta here.' He thought. He got some downtime. He got up stretched his legs and headed out of Section. As he rounded the corner he came face to face with Madeline. She had a pleasant smile on her face.
"Hello Birkoff." She said kindly.
"Hi." Birkoff replied.
"You have some downtime now don't you?" Madeline asked.
"Yes...I was just on my way out." Birkoff said pushing the words out.
Madeline smiled again. "Any plans?" She asked.
'Why is she asking me all these questions?' Birkoff thought. Madeline usually didn't ask these things, if she wanted know there were other ways she utilized to find out. "I was planning on going to the cafe. Messing around, nothing special, as usual..." He replied.
Madeline nodded and smiled. "All right then, I won't keep you then. Make sure you have your cell phone with you though, we have several important missions pending right now." She said.
"Of course." Birkoff replied. She nodded and she made her way around Birkoff. That woman never ceased to worry him! ' What was she up to?' He had no idea. He made his way out of section. He had to do something about those kids and soon, before Michael and Nikita got back up and running.
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Nikita sat up in her bed. Nothing was clear. Walter...no she remembered him the most. But she had this picture of him with guns, God what was with that, she must really be messed up! She also remembered this younger guy, like her brother. Kinda cute, with glasses. And a computer. She laughed to herself, thinking it was funny she remembered a computer as a part of his description, no one spent that much time on a computer to always have one with him! She breathed in Deeply now Michael...
She closed her eyes. ' I so desperately want to know him.' She thought. He seemed such a caring man so loving, though something was missing, a longing in his eyes. She had a feeling she hadn't figured him out, and never would. Just then Michael walked back into the room followed by Walter. Michael smiled. "Who wanted to see you Michael?" Nikita questioned.
"Just an old acquaintance, love." Michael said surprised at himself for saying that. Nikita looked at him with such love in his eyes that he felt like crying. All he wanted to do was hold her and mumble sweet things to her. He smiled at Nikita and looked to Walter who couldn't believe the exchange in looks between them. In all his years, Walter had never seen Michael like this in all his years at section. Not even when he had first come in. He remembered that first day.
~~~~~FLASH BACK~~~~~
Walter stood at munitions working on his latest project. "DAMN!" He said as something sizzled. He looked up having heard operations bark at someone across the room in comm. Walter turned and Madeline came into view followed by a man who was obviously taking in everything for the first time. He had a pleasant look on his face, clam, and relaxed, unlike most new trainees.
Walter had known he was coming, he had a session with him later on. The young man was named Michael. His eyes finally set upon Walter and munitions. Walter smiled a greeting at Michael being the pleasant easy going guy that he is, and the young man serenely smiled back at him. And then turned taking in Comm which is where he was headed.
Apparently he had just come from physical training and was up for a round with Simon, Section's prized communications expert. Unfortunately Simon didn't get along with the new "boss" of section
one, and Walter had a feeling that Simon was going to find himself replaced sooner or later unless he kept out of Operations hair, he of course was the new head of Section One. Later on Madeline led the new trainee over to Walter.
She smiled at Walter and then walked away. "Hey." Walter said. "Hello." Michael said giving Walter a small smile. After that smile, Michael slowly became what he is today, of course with Madelines help among other.
~~~~~PRESENT TIME~~~~~
Walter snapped back to reality. That was a long time ago, and now was now. He was different, but Walter swore that Nikita would eventually change Michael for the better. Walter smiled to himself. He only wished that those two didn't have to be involved in Section. But then again that's all Michael knew and where they were, and perhaps in some sad way belonged.
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Part 14 by Marie
Birkoff took another sip of coffee and replanned and replanned. What the hell was he to do about those kids? Well he couldn't call them kids actually. They weren't much younger than he was. But Section would get suspicious.
"How's it going stranger." A voice told him and looked up. To his utter horror that faces that looked down at him were other then the two girl's he had meet, Copper and Fiona.
"What. How did you find me?" He asked startled.
"Come now cousin." Copper laughed as she watched the eyes zeroing on them. Birkoff glared angrily up at her, but soon caught on to her attempt to draw attention away. It was hard to tell the two girl's apart. If it wasn't for the shade of their eyes you could almost swear they were twins.
"We have to go." Fiona said holding a tracker type device in her hand, it wasn't much bigger then her palm.
"Come on cousin." Copper said pulling his arm.
Birkoff blinked several times and followed into a waiting car. "Where are we going?" He asked finally.
"We're not stupid Birkoff." Fiona told him setting the palm device on the seat beside her.
"I'm surprised Birkoff that you don't remember our families." Copper told him coolly.
"Your, your families?" Birkoff questioned.
"Of course, my real name is Juliana Copper Mackenzie. My father was Jonas Mackenzie and my half-brother was Jeremy Mackenzie." Copper told him. "And this is my twin Jessica Fiona Mackenzie." She finished.
"I don't recall." Birkoff told them.
"I'm sure you remember our mother then. You see her every day of your life." Fiona told him stonily.
Then it dawned on him. "So glad of you to remember Madeline." Fiona told him.
"Drive." Copper told the driver
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Nikita blinked twice and smiled to herself. For once she had Michael running in a circle. Somehow in the back of her mind she didn't like lying to him, but this would buy Madeline some time. Sighing to herself she returned to blankly staring at the magazine in front of her and wanted until Michael returned.
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Madeline thanked Nikita silently and thanked the blond for the time she had bought her. She had to find her daughters before they caused any more havoc. She had had very little to do with her twin daughter's upbringing and to this day she had regretted it. Her brief marriage to Jonas had been of convenience. Adrian had arranged it, and one night of brief passion had been the result of Fiona and Copper.
Before Operations had taken control of Section, Adrian and Jonas had let her visit the trouble causing twins and children, but after Operations took control the visits were ordered to cease and both her daughters became non-existent to her. She had also discovered that both Jonas and his first son, Jeremy, had been killed in a mysterious car accident some years earlier leaving the twins to their own devices.
Even as children Copper and Fiona had been smart and devious. They had stopped nothing sort of trouble. And now as young adults' trouble wasn't all they were causing. She knew it had been Fiona and their friends that had hacked into Section. Copper had taken her own terms to find her and now that Section was tracking them she had to save her children from it's terrible future, that of the shadows of Section.