| Subject: Priority Mail 522 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Sunday, February 24, 07:00:21pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 513+" on Friday, January 25, 07:15:33pm
Calvin Coolidge said that ‘Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.’
I believe that it is Christmas, the cherishing of peace and goodwill, which Section One protects. To wipe it entirely out of the presence of mind from our operatives gives them nothing to work for, despite being given a life sentence of service here. They still need to have bits and pieces of humanity in them, to stop them from being just mammals. Of course, Paul is diabolitically opposed to my thoughts on the topic, so I must work underhandedly to achieve what is necessary to keep our operatives operating at the levels that Paul wants, all the while not allowing Paul to realize his shortcomings in his decisions.
Paul believes that it is the perfect time to plan missions. Others are busy with the holiday, attach when they are down. But that does not happen often for us and I ensure that it doesn’t, as much as I can. We protect the world and the world sometimes needs to protect my operatives.
It is always the hardest on the newest recruits. That first year, they can’t have the holiday. Hell, most of them aren’t even aware what day of the week it is, let alone what month it is.
But once we sent them out, living in the world, they have to take on traits to blend in with the world. To pull them entire always from that and say that you have to live in a world that has holidays but you aren’t allowed to celebrate in any manner is an ill-conception in Paul’s mind.
It became so difficult when Nikita arrived. Especially once I realized how well paired she was with Michael. But the girl had no good memories. She was more mammal than human in many ways. Michael may have thought that he was breaking her, but in ways, he was giving her so much more than he ever would be aware of. But Paul was going to send her out for the third year in a row on a mission, a bloody one at that. I took care of the issue, but found that Nikita was going to go back to her lonely apartment to just spend the day like it was any other day. She had borrowed a microwave meal from Birkoff because she had forgotten to shop and had nothing in her apartment.
It was Walter who came to me first. He was ready to pull on the ratty Santa Claus outfit and hightail it to Nikita’s apartment, but Paul was behind me. He could not allow me to do what I needed to do. Plus, it was not a father figure that Nikita needed on this holiday – not one where she needed to just admit what she didn’t have in her past and what she was afraid to wish for.
But when I went to Michael’s office, I had to play a fine line. He was solemn as he wanted to be with Adam, but Elena had gone off with friends to England for the holiday and it was not feasible for him to be with them. He was going to tow the Section One policy that Paul so gleefully put in place. I entered his office and looked around the sterile environment and cleared my throat. “Walter may need to be watched this evening.”
In his patent look, Michael glanced at me and I swear that he looked right thru me. He was not cold right now. He hated what I represented, not realizing that I did not agree with Paul’s hard-line. Michael didn’t comment nor ask what was going on. He knew too well that if I wanted him to do something, I would say more. “He may get shot if he shows up as Santa Claus at Nikita’s house.”
“She doesn’t need company tonight,” Michael replied with no outward sign that he was concerned about what I was saying.
“The mission wasn’t difficult. She seemed relatively calmer than she has been after other similar missions.”
Michael almost snorted. I could hear it happen mentally inside of his head. “Starting out with a mission like Suba does that to an operative.”
“But that didn’t happen near Christmas.”
“Nikita doesn’t celebrate.”
“I know,” I nodded my head up and down. “Her mother didn’t remember when the holidays were… so Nikita never had a Santa Claus. That’s why Walter could get shot if he goes over there with a ‘ho ho ho’ booming from his voice. I wouldn’t want that on my conscience. Maybe you can talk Walter down.”
Without emotion, Michael blinked his eyes and turned back to his computer. “I have reports.”
I left the office, but I knew Michael. He would be gone within the half hour and within the hour he would be at Nikita’s doorstep.
Would it save her? Would it save him? I don’t know. But for now, Paul would think he ruined Christmas for both of them and I had to hold onto the hope that both of them got a few more hours of feeling more like humans.
“Mom… mom… aren’t you so happy that I came home from school and now I’m on holiday break for almost two weeks!” Sabina ran into Michael’s and Nikita’s bedroom and jumped on the bed. Michael kissed Nikita’s cheek and placed the journal into the nightstand and then slipped the lock into place. He had no doubt that Adam could get around the lock, but he wasn’t the problem.
Nikita rubbed her hand on her stomach and smiled at her daughter. “It’s going to be fun, Sabina.”
“So how was your last day of school?”
“It wasn’t really school. It was a party. I thought you were coming for the assembly…. Which I told you not to waste your time on since I hate all that singing…. But you said that you were coming and you weren’t…” Sabina rattled off and Nikita sunk back into Michael’s arms. “Sabina… I was tired today.”
“Is the baby ok?” Sabina questioned as she extended her hand out towards Nikita’s stomach, but Michael intercepted the hand and pulled Sabina away. “The baby is fine, Sabina. You know that your mother doesn’t like you touching her all the time.”
Sabina huffed and rolled her eyes. “I have all of these new dumb rules on me… first I have to lie to all of my classmates and act like I still believe in Santa…”
Nikita blinked her eyes as she still didn’t like the fact that her daughter didn’t believe in Santa. That had been another big fight last week, the first being that Sabina would just touch Nikita’s stomach without asking. Nikita was at a stage that she was just becoming uncomfortable and Sabina just didn’t understand it. But not believing in Santa broke Nikita’s heart.
“Sabina… I told you to leave them alone.”
“And you didn’t tell me that they weren’t coming today,” Sabina pointed out to Reagan as she stood in the hallway. She slipped off of the bed. “I guess I just don’t matter that much today.”
Nikita dropped her head to her hand and Michael kissed her forehead. She hadn’t felt good all day, fighting a headache. She had argued with Keane when he said she should stay home and take it easy today. He thought it was the stress of the holiday and Nikita just needed a break.
“Don’t buy into what she is saying. Sabina knows that it isn’t true but she is just acting out right now,” Michael whispered to his worried wife. He didn’t like when Sabina deliberately said things to hurt Nikita and she knew that was what she was doing when she had said what she had said. Michael would have to talk to Sabina, but right now his focus was his wife and their unborn child.
“I know that….” Nikita nodded her head as she leaned her head against Michael’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t have read the journal today.”
“You were thinking that was why you weren’t sleeping… I think you just have to slow down.”
“We’ve been focused on the holidays… and we haven’t started the nursery because we can’t have the holidays be about the baby because of Sabina… and there is so much to do,” Nikita spoke, but her words were slowly as she rubbed her fingers against Michael’s arm. She was so nervous about what she wasn’t doing.
“Your job is to be there for the baby, Kita. You are doing what you need to do. All of these other things will happen when they need to happen,” Michael soothed his wife. Their friends were planning a baby shower for the day after Christmas but now Michael was wondering if it had been the right thing to do to wait to do it. Nikita was already hunting for deals to get at the store after Christmas as she was afraid that she didn’t have anything. “And Sabina has almost two weeks to help me paint the baby’s room.”
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