~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael and Travis sat there staring at each other for ten minutes before Travis finally spoke. "Listen, I'm not trying to take her away from you, Michael. I know you don't believe me. I'll admit I'm attracted to her, and if she were free, I'd go after her. But she's not free. I know that now, and I knew that when I treated her. For heaven's sakes, you're practically living together," he said as he pointed to the connecting door
to his apartment. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you've got to work on your jealousy."

Michael nodded. "I know. And I know it's not your fault you're here, or that you were assigned the room next to hers. It's just that we've had a rough patch recently and we were finally getting things back on track. I know Operations brought you in here to break us up."

Travis nodded. "So don't let him win, Michael. If you don't watch yourself, you'll be playing right into his hands."

"I can't promise anything, but I will try once this stalker situation is taken care of. But right now her safety is my main priority, along with yours and mine," Michael said.

Travis nodded. "I know. And my offer still stands. I'll do whatever I can to help." Michael nodded and got up. He walked over to his apartment and called out to her. "Sherry, you can come back now." It had been almost 30 minutes since she left. He called again and walked into his apartment further. He could tell there was no on there.

Quickly going back into her apartment, he moved to the door and pulled it open. Sean, Roarke and Dylan were also missing. "Where are they?" he demanded.

Davenport walked over. "Sherry said she needed to work off some stress. They headed for her office." Michael was furious, but he controlled it. He turned back into her quarters. "Come on, Travis. We've got to go find her."

Michael and his entourage stormed through CLHQ heading for Sherry's office. What he saw as they entered the hall made his heart go cold. Dylan and Sean were lying on the floor. Quickly pulling his weapon, he ran quietly to her office door, as only he can do. The others quickly followed, making sure Travis was safely in the rear. Michael bent down to check the Operatives. They were still alive, which was a relief.

Standing up, he quickly assessed the situation. Roarke must be inside with Sherry, which would give them an edge, if he was still awake or alive. The door to her office was closed, so how had the perpetrator gotten inside? He must have been there before the group arrived. He had to have been waiting inside.

Michael motioned for Sinjin to move Travis off to a safer distance. Davenport and Xavier moved Dylan's and Sean's unconscious bodies out of the way. Michael motioned for the rest of them to stay posted outside the office. He would go in alone. He could tell they were all opposed to his plan, but he was the senior operative and he made the decisions.

He walked a short distance away from the door and contacted Comm. "Birkoff, I need you to unlock Sherry's office for me. But I need you to do it in stealth mode. We can't have any sound."

Birkoff quickly called up surveillance on Sherry's office and the outside hall. Her office feed was nothing but snow. "Michael her surveillance is off."

"Acknowledged. Let me know when you've got the door open." Michael stood stock still waiting for Birkoff to give him the all clear.

"Okay, Michael, it's open. What's going on?" he asked, knowing Operations would want an immediate debrief.

"We believe the stalker has Sherry in her office. Dylan and Sean are down. Roarke is in her office with her, condition unknown. Can you get a body heat reading from her office.

"Let me try. Just one sec." Birkoff typed some codes into the computer and got the information. "Michael, I've got three heat signatures. One seems to be prone on the floor, one seated and the other standing."

"Thanks Birkoff." Michael quickly assimilated the information and laid out the probable configuration of those inside the office. Sherry was most likely the one seated and Roarke was probably out like Dylan and Sean. That left the stalker as the one standing, most likely facing Sherry. He must have a weapon on her or she would have taken him out by now. That made the situation worse. He didn't want to risk scaring the guy into shooting her.

Deciding to simply go in quickly and shoot the man before he could move, Michael check with the others to make sure they were ready. He put his hand to the door, took a deep breath and then swung the door open. He pointed his gun where he thought the stalker would be, only to find that it was Sherry he was pointing it at. He was glad he hadn't pulled the trigger right away. He looked to the chair and saw that it was Roarke seated there, unconscious. So that left the person lying on the floor as
the stalker. He shifted his gun down, only to find no one there.

In the moment that he had taken his eyes off of Sherry, Corda had slipped in behind her with a knife to her throat. "So, Michael. We finally meet in person," he smiled politely.

"Corda," Michael spit out. He was surprised. He had been so certain it had to be a Section operative since they knew Section's habits so well.

"Yes, Michael, I'm back. Only this time, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take her with me for good. I gave her back to you last time, but you sent her away to that doctor to get better instead of killing her like you were supposed to. So, I'm going to have to do the job myself this time. Oh, and let me put your mind at ease. She didn't break and spill all of Section's precious secrets when we had her. You would have been so proud. I was," he said as he stroked her hair with the hand not holding the knife.

Michael saw the fear in her eyes, but also the steely determination. He knew if there was an opportunity to distract Corda or to get herself away from him, she would take it. So his job was to keep the man occupied until she could make her move. "If she didn't break, then how do you know so much about us?"

Corda laughed. "I was waiting for that question, Michael. I'm assuming you retrieved all the little toys we left behind when you found her?" Michael nodded. "Well, as you know, we had pictures of all of you going about your daily routines. We watched you all for a long time. We learned your habits, schedules and tendencies. It really wasn't all that difficult, just time-consuming. And I've been watching Sherry since she came back after her deprogramming. It's been quite fascinating really."

Sherry was reaching the end of her patience. She knew Michael could talk to the guy all night if that's what it took, but she couldn't take it. She tried to signal Michael with her eyes that she would make her move during his next question. She hoped he understood.

Michael shifted his weight and directed another question at Corda. Sherry sighed with relief. He understood. "If you didn't kill her last time, why do you want to kill her now? What's changed?"

"Well you see, Michael, it was my intention to make you kill her the last time. She was out of Section long enough that the protocols called for her cancellation. Apparently someone, and I'm guessing that was you, wouldn't allow it. Therefore, I had to finish the job myself. I was waiting for the right time. And imagine my glee when I found out the good psychiatrist who deprogrammed her was being brought into Section. You were all together in one place, and bickering amongst yourselves. It made my job much simpler."

Sherry reached up with her left hand and pushed with her right shoulder to get his hand with the knife away from her throat. The movement momentarily threw him off balance and it was enough for her to start to get away.

"Oh no you don't," he yelled and swung the knife in her direction. She wasn't far enough away and he managed to catch her in the shoulder with the blade. She moaned in pain but continued to try and get away from him. Michael had pulled his gun and was waiting for her to get clear. Sherry knew she needed to get out of the way, so she slumped down to the floor. Michael quickly shot Corda. Unfortunately, as he fell, the hand with the knife came down on Sherry's leg and stabbed her in the thigh.

Michael was at her side immediately. He yelled to the others to get medical. Travis came rushing into the room. He was a doctor, so he quickly began assessing her injuries. Sherry turned her head toward him. "So, Doc, am I gonna live?"

Travis smiled faintly. "Yeah, you're gonna make it. You need some stitches and you'll be stiff and sore for a while, but you should make a full recovery." Jace and two technicians arrived quickly. They loaded her onto a gurney and headed for Medlab. Michael and Travis followed. Sinjin, Davenport and Xavier helped Roarke to Medlab as well as Dylan and Sean. Jace was going to have a busy night.

The next morning Sherry woke in Medlab to find Michael sitting by her bed. "Hey, there handsome," she said.

Michael picked up her hand and kissed it. "Good morning. How do you feel?" She thought about it for a second. "Like I've got a hot poker in my leg and one in my shoulder." Michael handed her a flower.

"A peace rose?" she asked. Michael nodded. "Yes. I wanted to let you know that Travis and I have come to a rather tenuous understanding. For now anyway." Sherry smiled. "I knew you boys could be friends if I gave you the right incentive."

Travis walked into the room in time to hear that last statement. "Do you think maybe you could pick something a little less dangerous next time? I think we could probably come to an agreement before you are stalked, stabbed and almost killed next time." She laughed at that. "Okay, I'll try, but I can't promise you anything."

Travis left shortly afterwards. Sherry turned back to Michael. "It was you that killed Corda and save me, right?"

Michael nodded. "Yes."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said and then kissed her lightly. He saw the expression on her face change. Brushing the hair back from her face, she asked her what was wrong.

"It's this whole Corda thing, Michael. He was actually watching me all this time. Watching us. It's creepy."

Michael nodded. "He knew you very well." He noted the slight shiver that went through her body and moved in closer. "You're safe now, he's gone."

She nodded. "He did know me well, Michael. He knew my moods, everything. I'm not sure I can deal with this. What if someone else does the same thing?"

Michael knew this was going to be something that took time to get over. Stalking was not something you forgot about overnight. "You don't have to worry about that. Section has already implemented changes in security and surveillance. Everything is going to be a lot tighter around here from now on."

Sherry nodded and sighed with relief. "Good. That's a start."

"You know I will do anything I can to help you through this. Anything. Maybe you should set up some sessions with Travis. He can help you come to terms with what happened."

Sherry looked up with surprise. "You're suggesting I see Travis?"

Michael grinned. "Yes. Don't look so surprised. He's a good doctor. He wants to help. He couldn't do anything before, but he can help you now."

Sherry nodded. "Thank you. I seem to keep telling you that lately."

"You don't have to thank me. I will do anything it takes to see that you are safe and happy. It's my job."

Sherry smiled. "Well, don't let Operations hear you say that. He already thinks I'm too much of a distraction to you. If he hears that, I'll be shipped off to the plains of Siberia."

"You are not a distraction to me. You're the woman I love and it helps me just knowing you are here. If you were gone, then he would see distracted. So, I don't think we have anything to worry about on that front. Besides, hopefully he'll be gone one day soon and we will run this place. Then we can stop worrying about someone trying to come between us."

Smiling a playful grin, Sherry said, "Well, I don't know. There's always Duncan, or ..."

Michael growled and leaned over to silence her with a kiss.


The End
This story ©copyright Sherry, March 2001