Time

Nikita was quietly enjoying her first night off in a long time. There were no missions to think about, no breaches of security, no governments to topple or prevent from being toppled. Tonight, Nikita was going to curl up with a good book; or at least a good book for her. It was one of those trashy romance novels about a hero, with a tortured soul, that needed to be saved.

"Yeah right!" Nikita said aloud to herself. For whatever reason, she began thinking of Michael again. Now there was tortured soul that Nikita wondered if she would ever understand, let alone save. Too many times, Nikita had gotten so close to finally understanding Michael, only to be "pushed" away or to have Michael use her for some Section One purpose. Well, tonight she would not be disturbed. Just then, the phone rang. "Damn! Leave it to Michael to ruin a good night." Nikita got up from her couch and stomped over to the phone.

She picked up the phone, preparing to tell Michael where to go, when she was caught off guard, "Josephine . . . . . . "It was Michael's voice but he didn't sound good.

"Can you come over? Please?" Now Nikita was really worried. Michael had rarely invited Nikita over to his place, other than to use her for some misguided purpose or to talk about a mission.

When Nikita arrived at Michael's apartment, she knocked on the door. At first, it appeared that no one was answering. Nikita was about to use her key that Michael had given her once, when the door opened. Standing before her was Michael; or at least it appeared to be Michael. He didn't look good. He was very pale; almost an ashen white in color.

Michael wasn't even sure of the answer to that question. However, before he could answer, he doubled over in pain. Michael would have collapsed to the floor if Nikita hadn't caught him.

"Since last night. It just came on suddenly. Look, I'm sorry for bothering you. You can go home and I can take care of myself." Nikita took one look at Michael and shook her head.

"No, I'm not leaving. Now, lay down and close your eyes. You need some rest. I'll be right back." Michael didn't feel like fighting and so he laid back and just shut his eyes. Then, just as quickly as he closed his eyes, he opened them again. He felt something cold against his skin. He looked up and realized that Nikita was gently swabbing his arms and legs with rubbing alcohol. It did seem to have a somewhat soothing effect on him. He closed his eyes once again and let out a deep sigh, releasing a breath that he seemed to have been holding in for the longest time.

"There . . .better?" Nikita's voice was very relaxing and almost soothing. Michael nodded. Gradually he felt himself becoming more and more drowsy until finally he fell asleep.

Nikita looked at Michael. He seemed to be so . . .she couldn't find the word. Michael was such an enigma to her. There were times that she loved him, and times that she wanted to kill him; not literally, just figuratively. Well, she thought to herself, guess my work is done. Nikita decided to stay the night and see Michael through until the morning. She rummaged through his apartment and found a blanket and a pillow. Nikita then made herself comfortable on his couch and was soon fast asleep.

Nikita was awakened the next morning by the rumblings of Michael in his kitchen. Nikita got off the couch and walked over to Michael, who appeared to be fixing some small breakfast. "You look better." Nikita observed. Michael smiled back.

"Yes. Thank you. I . . ." Michael's words were abruptly interrupted as he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground. The pain he was feeling was unbelievable. Nikita raced to Michael's side.

Madeline calmly replied, "We're sending someone now." Nikita hung up the phone. Michael was now shaking, unable to control himself as spasms wracked his entire body. Nikita felt so helpless. "Hang on Michael. Please . . . hang on." She cradled him in her arms, rocking him back and forth, fighting back the tears of terror; terror of what was really wrong with Michael.

It only took about fifteen minutes before there was a knock at the door. Two medical transport specialists quickly carried Michael out to an awaiting van. Nikita followed behind them. Once inside the van, Michael was placed on a gurney and strapped down. He was still shaking violently. One of the specialists now produced a syringe and injected its contents into Michael's arm. The drug had an almost immediate calming effect on him. He stopped shaking and seemed to finally rest. Michael was still mumbling incoherently, but his body had stopped convulsing. Nikita gently dabbed his forehead with a damp cloth. "M'am, that's not doing him any good." One of the specialists commented. Nikita didn't seem to care. All she wanted was for Michael to get well as soon as possible.

Nikita felt as if she had no choice. She followed Madeline to her office, looking a little dejected. "Don't feel bad. Right now, Michael needs you more than you can realize."

Madeline was always someone who could be so secretive and yet come straight to the point. "Michael's been poisoned. He has approximately seventy-two hours to live." Madeline let the shock of things sink into Nikita.

Nikita was speechless. Poisoned? How? Who? Nikita knew that her questions were rhetorical in nature but that didn't stop her from wondering. "Madeline, how did this happen? How was the poison introduced?"

Madeline sat back in her chair, looking over a file. "That is what you must find out. This is the only clue we've received." Madeleine handed Nikita a file with only one piece of paper inside it. On the paper were the following words: I hurt. You hurt. I died. Now you must die.

Nikita didn't know what to think. The message didn't offer much. It was almost childlike in nature. All she knew, was that she had seventy-two hours to find out who had poisoned Michael. Once she knew that, she could then find out what kind of poison it was and get the antidote. "Where do I begin?" Nikita asked.

"Begin with Michael. Find out everything you can about him. Get him to open up." Madeline responded. Get Michael to open up? Oh brother!! It was one thing to help Michael, but it was something entirely different to have to fight Michael just to save his life.

Nikita entered the medlab, only to find Michael sitting up in bed. It appeared as if he was perfectly fine. Nikita was a bit confused. "Michael?" Michael had been talking with Birkoff, when Nikita had interrupted.

He looked at her and calmly answered, "I'm not dead yet, at least that's what Birkoff's been telling me." Birkoff then went on to explain that Michael had been injected with a new experimental drug.

The drug's purpose was to act as a slow poison so that one could kill their target and then be away when the final moments came. Birkoff had already put a call into the agency responsible for the drug's creation. The lab technicians were working on an antidote but they didn't expect one for at least four days; one day too short for Michael.

"To try and figure out who did this to you. Michael, I need your help. I need to know everything that you1ve done within the past two days. We've got to retrace your steps so that perhaps we can find a solution."

Michael paused for a moment. His privacy was the one thing that he valued highly. However, his life was at stake and for some reason that was as yet unclear to him, he wanted to live.

At that moment, Birkoff spoke up, "Nikita, Michael? " Both Nikita and Michael turned in his direction and Birkhoff continued, "As best we can figure out, Michael can go out in the field on a limited basis. You'll need to stay nearby Nikita and give him some of these painkillers. The progression of symptoms should be nausea, weakness, convulsions, and finally blindness which will conclude when your body begins to shut down all functions until you're dead."

Nikita was clearly worried but managed a small joke, "So what's the bad news?" Michael smiled too, but more as a means not to worry Nikita. Right now, he could tell that she was terrified of losing him and strangely enough, Michael was afraid of losing Nikita.

Nikita looked at Michael. "You ready?" Michael nodded and Nikita handed him his clothes. Within a matter of a few minutes, Michael was dressed and heading out the door with Nikita. Their first stop would be his apartment. Michael had been there for about the past week. The last mission that he had was about two weeks ago. Madeline told him to take a week off and rest and it was towards the end of the week that Michael had first become sick.

When Nikita and Michael arrived at his apartment, the first thing he did was to check his answering machine. There were the usual calls about when his laundry would be ready as well as some reservations that he made for a restaurant had been confirmed. Michael was about to rewind the tape when he heard one more message.

"Michael . . . so how are you feeling? In much pain? It can't be nearly as much as what you caused me. I'm going to enjoy watching you die. Die you bastard! Die like the coward you are!!!"

Nikita guided him to the sofa and went to get some water so that he could take the painkillers. When Nikita arrived back, Michael was sitting, teeth clenched, as if he were trying to hold back the pain. "Here. Take these." Nikita handed him the painkillers and he took them.

"Thank you 'Kita." Michael offered her a weak smile. Nikita smiled back and responded, "Well, at least we've heard the voice of your attacker as it were. Now, if we get a copy of it to Birkhoff, maybe he can run an analysis to see who it is."

A large mansion in the countryside Lisette played back the tape again. "Learn to fly . . . " He'd left it for her sister when he broke off the relationship. Lisette came across it when she went through her sister's personal belongings in a safety deposit box at the local bank. She had some papers to sign for the inheritance and one of the bank managers informed her that there was a safety deposit box registered in her sister's name. She had left instructions that if anything should happen to her, the bank was to give its contents to her sister Lisette. She sat curled up in the same chair as her sister, much as before, simply staring into space; staring into the void that Michael had left in her life. It was about three months ago when she died; three months ago when Michael killed her; Lisette's sister, that is.

She remembered that day all too well. Lisette had come home from school that day to her sister's big house. She had moved in with her when her sister's husband had died. Apparently, it was a heart attack. However, whenever Lisette asked "Fanny" (her sister's nickname) about visiting her brother-in-law's grave, all she got was a very evasive answer. "I'm busy. Maybe next week." was always her favorite reply.

On that fateful day, she walked into the living room and didn't find Fanny in her usual spot. "Hey sis? Where ya at?" She called out. She proceeded up the staircase and noticed a trail of blood leading to the bathroom. It was there that she saw Fanny; lying in a pool of blood in the tub. Both wrists were slit. "Oh my god!!" She cried out. She ran to her side. "Fanny, wake up!! Dammit wake up!!" Slowly, Fanny's eyes opened. "H . . .i . . ." she responded weakly. "Tell Michael, I still love him. I just couldn't live without him. I couldn't learn to f . . .l . . . y" With those words, she closed her eyes for the last time. The young lady swore at that moment that she would avenge her sister's death. She would make Michael pay. Oh and he would pay dearly!!

It didn't take too much for Lisette to begin her plans for revenge against Michael. She began by starting her own surveillance on him. Within a month, she knew where he lived, what he ate every morning and night as well as every tiny little aspect of his life that you could think of possible. That was the easy part. The hard part was going to be finding a way to make him suffer. Luckily, money buys quite a few things, including a very deadly poison with no known cure. Oddly enough, Michael was going to pay for his own extermination. Lisette found the irony amusing for the moment. Now, Lisette needed to find a way to inject Michael with the poison.

She waited one night 'til she saw him arrive at his apartment. Once Lisette insured that he was inside long enough, and saw his lights go out, she put her plan into action. It was simple enough. She fed a line of "sleeping gas" into his apartment. The gas would render any of the occupants, inside the apartment, unconscious in less than five minutes. Lisette waited ten minutes to insure that there was no possibility that Michael was awake. She managed to "pick the lock" and quietly entered with extreme caution while her heart pounded.

The surroundings of Michael's apartment came as a small surprise to Lisette. For some reason she expected to see a place that was dark and dreary. While doing surveillance on Michael, the one thing that Lisette noticed was his penchant for black; it seemed that everything he wore was black. Looking now at his apartment, she noticed certain "splashes of color" everywhere. Although she was wearing a mask, Lisette could see that there were paintings of all types everywhere. Remember her days as an art student, Lisette also noted that they were fascinating to look at; however,she then reminded herself that Michael was the one that killed her sister. He may have been kind to her once, but he had used her for his own purposes. He therefore must suffer. She needed to find Michael before the gas wore off.

Michael was sound asleep as expected. Standing over his sleeping mass, Lisette pulled out the syringe. She checked to see that it was full. Lisette hesitated for one moment. "Snap out of it stupid!!" She told herself. It was now the beginning of the end for Michael. Lisette placed one hand on Michael's forehead and turned his head slightly to expose his neck.

Michael would never know from where the mark had come. He would simply assume that it was just another "Section One scar"; just like the others he'd dealt with so many times in the past. "Now you'll suffer, just like my sister, you bastard!! I hope you rot in hell!!" Once Lisette was done with her business, she left like the grim reaper, eager to spread pain and suffering through the night. Then Lisette simply faded back into the shadows of the night. Now it was simply a matter of time; something which Michael was going to find that he had very little of at the moment.

Nikita watched as Michael continued to sleep. For once in his life he seemed to be at peace. Nikita shuddered at her choice of words; at peace. "Stop it!" She told herself aloud. Michael is not going to die. I will help him find the antidote. Just then, Nikita heard Michael mumble. He appeared to be coming out of his slumber.

Nikita moved towards the couch with a glass of water in hand and two more painkillers. "Here take these." She knew the meds would be wearing off soon and that despite the fact that Michael would be in pain, he'd never let it show. "Now, you were saying something about knowing who it was?" Nikita was curious as to any clues that would lead to the possible identity of Michael's attacker.

"Because of the money I gave her, the connections she has, plus the fact that my phone has an automatic tracer on it. recognize the phone number." Michael closed his eyes, trying to shut out the impending pain.

"What money? Michael, you're not making any sense." Nikita was thoroughly confused. Michael went on to explain how he had left one million dollars to Lisa after he and Nikita, along with Section, had taken down her husband, David Fanning. He had hoped that the money would somehow atone in one way or another for the pain he had caused her. It was now apparent, however, that the money was put to another use.

Nikita took in the information that Michael had given to her. She knew that the only ones that could help were those at Section One. Nikita glanced at him and knew that he was in no shape to go anywhere.

"Michael, I'm going to have Birkoff check into Lisa Fanning; her contacts, whereabout and any other information that we can find. Why don't you rest here?" Nikita looked in Michael's direction and saw his response; He was fast asleep. Nikita paused a moment to look at his sleeping form. She wondered if there would come a day when she and Michael would ever find a certain peace before . . . time . . . ran out.

Before leaving, Nikita found an extra blanket and placed it over Michael's sleeping form. He seemed so small. She bent down and gently kissed his lips, savoring one last kiss. With a small tear in her eye, Nikita left for Section.

Upon arriving at Section, Nikita debriefed with Ops and Madeline. They quickly reminded her that she had only forty-eight hours left before Michael would die. Nikita nodded while at the same time she fought a sickening feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach. It was the apprehension she was feeling from an impending doom. She made her to Birkoff's station.

"Well, simply put, she's dead." Birkoff responded with no emotion in his voice. Now Nikita was really confused. "What do you mean? Michael told me that he heard her voice. He told me about the money he gave her. He told me . . ."

Birkoff also took a minute to calm himself down as he relayed the information he had gotten in the past hour. Lisa had a younger sister named Lisette. She had been in a boarding school under a different name. Her sister had been afraid that one of her husband's associates would find out about Lisette and do something to her in order to get to David. Lisette hadn't seen her sister for almost five years. However, they shared everything that was going on in their lives. Lisa had apparently told Lisette about some mysterious man in her life. It was Michael. When Lisette did come home from school, she found her sister in the bathtub, both wrists slit, an apparent suicide.

Nikita found that she was taking three steps instead of the normal one as she ran up the stairs. When she reached her apartment door, her worst fears were confirmed. Michael was gone. There was a small pool of blood where he had been sleeping. Laying in the blood was a note.

Nikita, for once in her life was scared; scared for Michael. Where was he and what condition was he in?? She put her hands in her coat to keep them from shaking.

Michael awoke in a room of darkness. He tried to move and found that he was shackled to a wall. He also winced in pain from the blow her had taken to his skull. Where was he? What happened to him? It took Michael only a few minutes to gather his bearings and then it all came back to him . . .

Michael had been asleep on Nikita's sofa when he heard the doorbell. He either assumed that it was Carla or that Nikita had locked herself out. Michael made his way to the door, each step an effort in itself. He knew the poison was taking effect and did his best to fight off the effects, but to no avail. Just as Michael opened the door, another wave of pain hit him. He looked up to see the strikingly beautiful figure of a woman. She reminded him of . . . Lisa Fanning?

"You don't know me, but I know you. You killed my sister. Now I'm going to make sure that you die and that Nikita watches you wither away, just like my sister did that fateful day. The only difference is that you'll have company. My sister had NONE!!" With those words, Lisette raised her hand high in the air and the metal pipe she had been carrying made contact with Michael's skull. Michael slumped to the floor.

Lisette then acted quickly. She needed to put her plan into action before Nikita came back from Section. These people were so predictable. Lisette knew it was simply a matter of time before Section learned of her identity. What Lisette wanted now was the ultimate in revenge. She wanted Michael to suffer just like her sister did on her last day on earth.

Although Nikita was scared for Michael's life, she knew she had to be strong. Michael was counting on her and she couldn't let him down. She quickly put herself back into the "operative" mode and dialed Section. Birkoff answered.

"He's been kidnapped. I think, no wait, I KNOW that Lisette is behind this. Birky, what do you have as far as possible locations for Lisette Duprès?" Nikita knew she was grasping at straws but she didn't have much time. There were only twenty-four hours left. Twenty-four hours til Michael would die.

Nikita quickly put that thought out of her head when Birkoff spoke. "Nikita, our records show only one place still listed, the old Fanning estate." Nikita shook her head. "That's too easy Birkoff. Lisette wants Michael to suffer. She has to have chosen a place that has some significance fo her." Nikita continued to think. Where could Lisette have taken Michael? What place would have a strong emotional tie for her? Then, as if out of nowhere, it hit Nikita.

"Birkoff, what's the location of the house Michael used to seduce Lisa Fanning?" Now, it made sense. That house was the turning point in Lisa and Michael's short-lived "relationship." If Michael wasn't there, Nikita didn't know where else to look.

Once Nikita had the location, she quickly got into her car and sped away. Fortunately it took her only about thirty minutes to get there; and that included running a few red lights. Oh well, Nikita didn't give a damn about the tickets. Ops could take care of those if he wanted Michael back in one piece.

Upon arriving at the house, Nikita made a quick check of the layout. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She proceeded around to the back sliding glass door, in order to get a look inside the house. She couldn't believe what she saw: Michael!! Without thinking, Nikita opened the sliding glass door and stepped inside. "Michael?" She called softly. He didn't answer. Nikita proceeded foward and then stopped. She noticed two small pools of blood on each side of the chair in which Michael was seated. Nikita reached out to lift his head and then she saw what was causing the blood to form. Michael's wrists had been slit. Lisette must have wanted Michael to suffer much the way her sister did. All Nikita knew at the moment was that she had to get Michael out of there.

"Welcome Nikita." Lisette said as she hit Nikita in the face with the butt of the gun. Nikita fell to the ground unconscious. Lisette walked past Nikita and over to Michael. She lifted his head by the hair. "Time to get ready for the final curtain call Michael. Gotta hurry, cause time's . . . almost up!!"

When Nikita awoke, she found herself in the same cold dark cellar that Michael had been in earlier. She tried to stand, but found that she too was shackled to the wall. Nikita took in her surroundings, searching for any possible way of escape. In the corner of the cellar, came a moan. She recognized that voice; it was Michael. He was tied to the same chair she had found him in earlier. Nikita couldn't tell if he was conscious or not.

She knew that he wasn't okay but that didn't matter. All that concerned Nikita right now, was finding a way to save Michael. Just then, a door from above opened, and Nikita heard the definitive clicking of a woman's heels. It was Lisette.

"Well, well, isn't this fitting. The two people responsible for my sister's death are finally going to meet their end together. How romantic!" The sarcasm dripped from Lisette's voice like blood on a dagger.

Nikita knew that she had to try and reason with her. It was the only way to save Michael. "Lisette, Michael and I didn't kill your sister. We were on a mission. She took her own life after the mission. Michael even gave her money; to help her survive."

"SHUT UP!! YOU DID KILL HER!!" Lisette closed her eyes and placed her hands over her ears, trying in vain to shut out Nikita. It almost worked until Michael spoke.

"Lisette . . . please listen to Nikita." Michael's breathing was becoming more labored but he continued. "Your sister was involved with David Fanning, a professional assassin. He'd murdered hundreds of people in his lifetime. I did what I had to do to save the innocents. I'm truly sorry for the pain I caused your sister."

Lisette was beginning to cry. Nikita hoped that Michael was getting through to her. Lisette's voice became louder and louder, almost as if she were releasing a lifetime of pain. "You used her Michael!! And then when you were done, you tossed her away like a dirty rag. You deserve to die. Don't you know that the money you left couldn't buy her happiness. You destroyed her soul. Do you hear me?! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!!"

Michael nodded his head weakly. "Then kill me, but leave Nikita alone. She doesn't deserve to die. Please Lisette . . . do it for . . . Lisa . . . I'm the one who hurt your sister; not Nikita. Please?" Michael's eyes looked into Lisette's almost in a pleading fashion.

"I . . . uh . . ." Lisette stammered, distracted for a moment. That was all Nikita needed. During Michael and Lisette's conversation, Nikita had managed to free herself from her chains. She leaped foward and knocked Lisette to the ground.

"Where's the antidote?!" Nikita demanded, but before Nikita could get an answer, Lisette managed to hit Nikita with a small metal pipe, that was lying on the basement floor.

Lisette used that moment to make her escape. She began to run up the staircase. Nikita was dazed but quickly chased after her. Nikita was stopped dead in her tracks when Lisette turned around and now Nikita was staring at the barrel of Lisette's gun. In one hand, Lisette held the gun and in the other hand she held a small vial.

Nikita turned around for a brief moment and saw that Michael was going into convulsions. His time was almost up. It was now or never. As if possessed by some unseen force, Nikita made one final leap for the antidote. Lisette was clearly shocked. She dropped the vial. Nikita watched as it fell to the ground. The shattering of the glass was the final straw for Nikita. Like a crazed animal, Nikita went after Lisette. Lisette fired and hit Nikita in the stomach but it didn't seem to affect her. Nikita was about to wrap her hands around Lisette's throat when operatives from Section burst into the room. Nikita fell down the staircase. She came face to face with the broken vial. Nikita was about to cry when she saw a small piece of the vial that still contained the antidote.

"Michael? I think that we have a chance." She told him before the blackness overcame her. Quietly, the operatives made arrangements to bring Michael and Nikita back to Section. Their conditions were extremely critical.

"Well that team better get themselves here pronto or there's going to be some cancellations!!" With those words, Ops stormed off to his perch. Birkoff was clearly surprised by Operations display of emotions. Madeline just smiled. Now all they had to do, was wait. It was all a matter of . . . time.

Michael was alive, but he did cut it close. The team arrived with approximately five minutes to spare. Before Nikita could manage so much as a goodbye, Michael was quickly wheeled away into a waiting room. Specialists of all types were on standby. They knew that allowing Michael to die on the operating table was not an option. It was clear to everyone that Operations was not about to lose his most prized possession. While Michael was undergoing medical treatment, Nikita was debriefed by Madeline.

"Michael's going to live. So I guess we'll never know the answer to your question." Madeline continued to debrief Nikita and when she was done, Madeline allowed Nikita to look in on Michael. He was sound asleep. After checking on Michael, Nikita went to get some much needed rest.

Nikita was so exhausted that anyplace sounded good. She was only able to sleep because of physical exhaustion. For once in the past seventy-two hours, Nikita didn't have to think of Lisette or for that matter, Lisa. Operations would deal with that problem. Nikita stretched out her long body. It was tired. Her body needed the rest and the couch was vey comforting. It took no more than five minutes and Nikita was sound asleep. It wasn't until four hours later that Walter came in to wake Nikita from her deep slumber.

"Nothing Sugar. Michael woke up about an hour ago. He's back in his office." Walter helped Nikita up from Madeline's couch. Nikita was clearly surprised. She quickly put her shoes on, and went down the hall to Michael's office.

Sure enough, Michael was there, busily typing away at his computer. Nikita opened the door. She closed it behind her. Michael didn't seem to notice her. Finally, after a minute of silence other than the tapping of Michael's fingers on the keyboard, Nikita spoke.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting? I mean you've been through a lot in the past three days." Nikita couldn't help but show some concern. After all, if he wasn't careful, he could put himself back in Medlab.

"REPORTS!!! YOU WANNA GET CAUGHT UP ON REPORTS??!! Michael, I can't believe you. You've been poisoned, kidnapped, tortured and you almost died today. Can't the reports wait? Why do you have to do them NOW??" Nikita's voice was becoming so loud that operatives in the hallways could hear her voice. Even Operations could hear it. Madeline just smiled, as usual.

That comment enraged Nikita even more. "LIKE HELL I WILL!! I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOU!! JUST KILL YOURSELF AND YOU'LL SAVE SECTION SOME TAXPAYER'S MONEY!!" With those words, Nikita stormed out of Michael's office. She ran into Birkoff, sending his oreos flying to the floor.

Nikita spent the evening gorging herself on a half gallon of haagen daäz ice cream. She wanted to kill Michael. 'Hmmmm...maybe Operations would give me a promotion?' she chuckled to herself. Nikita knew that she would never understand Michael. So for the moment, she decided to enjoy her ice cream.

"Please do." Nikita started to turn away when she saw Michael begin to stumble. She caught him and led him to her couch. "Are you okay? You look a little pale. Why DID you come here Michael?"

Michael sighed as he began his explanation. "Madeline wants me to rest for three days. When she saw me working reports, she told me that I had two choices. My first choice is the medlab for three days." Nikita made a face. "With restraints." Michael added. Nikita laughed. She knew how much Michael "loved" medlab.

"Oh, I think we can manage something Michael. Let's just make sure to make the most of our . . . time." As Nikita finished her words, Michael leaned foward to take her in his embrace. His lips lightly brushed hers. Nikita was not one to take lightly to his teasing. Michael had come to her but she would have things on her terms and not his terms. She threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled his head to her lips. This time, she kissed him very deeply. The passion between them was burning. This was going to be a very long three days. Nikita chuckled to herself when she wondered if it would be enough. 'Oh well', she reminded herself. Better make good use of the time.