| Subject: Jericho, 10 |
Author:
Anon
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Date Posted: 21:33:01 03/08/02 Fri
**
The corners of Operation’s mouth curled upward as he watched a video feed of Nikita having dinner with Alex Chandler. “She likes him!”
Madeline, standing to his right, allowed a small smile to hover briefly upon her lips. It was as she had predicted. Nikita may have been an unwilling participant going into this mission but once she learned that Alex Chandler owned several shelters for teenage runaways, Nikita had warmed considerably towards him.
Michael too noticed the change in Nikita’s demeanor. He stood several feet behind and to the left of Operations, his eyes carefully devoid of any emotion as he watched the monitor.
She was at ease with Chandler, even more relaxed then she was with him. That came as a small surprise to Michael because Nikita was not the type of woman to trust men easily. And yet, there she was, smiling and openly flirting with the mark. He wanted to believe that all of the extra training was paying off and that this was all a performance for the mission’s sake, but Michael didn’t kid himself, he new her well enough to recognize that the growing admiration in Nikita’s eyes for Alex Chandler was genuine. She really did like Chandler.
“Maybe we should tell her the truth.”
Operations head whipped toward him. “Are you kidding? You know as well as we do that that is the last thing we should do where Nikita is concerned.”
Michael kept from sighing. Yes, of course he knew. It was stupid of him to even have suggested it. The words had slipped out before he could stop them and now Madeline was regarding him with that questioning gaze of hers. Michael kept his expression impassive, his shoulders relaxed. “If we don’t tell her and she discovers the truth on her own, she may try to take matters into her own hands.”
“Meaning?” Operations turned more fully and he jammed his hands into his pockets.
“She may try to kill him.”
“Her psyche profile suggests the opposite.”
“It depends on how angry she is,” Michael replied. He wasn’t certain if Nikita would go so far as to kill Chandler, but there was that possibility that she would. Her attraction to Chandler was based largely on her belief that he was a champion of teenage runaways. That was understandable considering her own troubled youth, but when she discovered that Chandler was using his shelters to supply a lucrative white slavery business in the Middle East, Nikita would be angry enough to indeed kill.
Michael looked over at Madeline. “I’m not certain what she’ll do,” he said truthfully.
“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?” Operations voice tightened. “You’re her trainer, Michael. It’s your job to know how she’ll react.”
Michael didn’t remind Operations that it had not been his choice to use Nikita on this mission. She was still too new. But he couldn’t voice that opinion either because that would give credence to Operations belief that Nikita did not have what it took to survive in Section. And so, drawing upon a lesson he learned a long time ago in Section on how to respond in a no-win situation like this, Michael remained silent.
Madeline turned, folded her arms and studied him further. “Do you have a suggestion, Michael?”
It was the opportunity Michael had been waiting for. “Send me in as her back-up. Having another operative nearby will remind her of her priorities.”
Operations let out a laugh that came out sounding more like a hiss. “This is exactly what I meant about when we start to make exceptions. Her training period is over, she should be ready to go it alone if we tell her to.”
Michael didn’t give up. “She has weaknesses that will take a little more time to correct. Given time, I can fix them.”
“How much time?”
Michael’s gaze flicked back to the monitor and he watched Nikita laughing at something Chandler was saying to her. “A year.”
Operations shook his head. “Too long. You’ve got six months.”
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