Okay - Chapter 2 -- The Beta Board

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Date Posted: 11:08:04 04/04/05 Mon
Author: Diane
Subject: Okay - Chapter 2
In reply to: Diane 's message, "Okay" on 11:00:56 04/04/05 Mon

�This is ridiculous,� Nikita snapped at herself as she pulled the brush through her hair so quickly at crackled with static electricity in the dry air. �Michael was gone for almost a year, and you were fine. Now he leaves for two days and you�re falling apart.� She set the abused brush down on her dresser and stared herself in the mirror. This time was different, and she and her reflection both knew why. He wasn�t coming back this time. No ifs, ands, or maybes. Possibly not for years. Probably not ever.

She stared at her reflection. Geez, that woman looked like hell. Her cheeks were sunken, she had dark circles under eyes, and her chin-length hair was flying every which way. Nikita applied more powder, and her standard solution to every fashion problem, a hat. She checked her reflection again. Good thing Michael wasn�t her to see her looking like this. She smiled wryly. From now on, Michael was out of the equation entirely. She was Operations, damn it, and she�d better look damned good because the job required it. She freshened her lipstick, grabbed her keys and bag off the kitchen counter, and left her apartment to drive into Section.

Nikita knew eventually she would have to move into the Tower, but she was delaying the moment by having the entire edifice redecorated. After all, Paul had been there nearly 30 years; the place obviously needed fumigation. She had been very specific with Housekeeping what look she was going for, and even gave them sketches for the kitchenette and bedrooms. No one on the staff had blinked an eye, but she knew what they were thinking: �We�ve got ourselves a real wacko this time.� Nikita didn�t care. Her father may have forced her into a position she didn�t want, but Center couldn�t change her personality. She wouldn�t let them break her. She hadn�t yet, and it wasn�t going to happen. Of, course, she had had some help in the past, but she has grown stronger over the last seven years, and learned to stand on her own two feet. She never really got to know her father, but in some perverse way, she wanted to make him proud of her.

She sauntered in passed Munitions, swinging her bag and humming. �Hiya, Walter!� she called out gaily.

�Hiya, Su-, uh,� he stumbled. Since Nikita had become Operations, he was still confused as to how well their previous easy banter would be received.

�Su-gar,� she enunciated slowly, then winked as she headed over toward Comm.

�Hey, Jason. Anything on the pad this morning?�

�Not a thing, darlin�� he drawled, giving her a long, appraising look.

�That�s �Ni-ki-ta�� she corrected him for the first time today.

�Whatever you say, darlin�� he fired back with a smirk.

She slapped him upside the head and ignored his startled �Hey!� as she approached Quinn.

�Anymore news on the splinter group of Black Storm you located in Ankara?�

�No,� Quinn answered in a clipped tone, then realized that Nikita had just given her full credit for locating the terrorists by herself. �They�ve been ominously quiet, I�m afraid,� she continued in a friendlier manner.

�We�ve got our team in place. Let me know if they make a move.�

�Yes, ma�am,� responded Quinn efficiently, before she returned to her screen.

Nikita sighed. The �You can call me Nikita� speech could wait for another time. She knew Quinn was on edge. Nikita had not picked a second-in-command yet, and she knew that Quinn desperately wanted the job. She also knew that she and Quinn did not have a good working relationship. Nikita and Jason got along well, but he was not as qualified as Quinn. Nikita pondered the decision as she ascended to the Perch. The only one in Section she really trusted to be her second was Walter, but he wasn�t a tactician, and she couldn�t possibly imagine him interrogating someone in the White Room! No, Center was sending over three candidates from different sections today for her to interview; they expected her decision in three days. Yep. In-house dynamics were going to be a little interesting for a while.

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[> [> Sorry about posting the entire chapter above. Oops! -- Diane, 11:13:03 04/04/05 Mon

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[> [> [> Hey, Diane -- Shanola, 19:54:59 04/12/05 Tue

Since the second chapter is posted here, I've gone ahead and removed the one you accidently posted in the open. =P

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[> [> Hmm. -- Shanola, 20:32:45 04/12/05 Tue

Okay, I have some issues with this version of Nikita. I think her character did change over the course of the show. Too many things happened to her for it not too. Yes, I can agree that she will be the eternal optimist, but I have a hard time seeing her accepting/insisting on the extreme casualness with the members of Section. She sort of breezes into Section all smiles and wants to be everyone's best friend. I think that by the time Nikita took over Section, she could feel the weight of her world. I think she was naive, yes. But I can't see her this light-hearted.

Plus, her staff will soon rebell against her, if they are allowed to treat her in this manner.

JMHO, of course.

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[> [> [> Re: Hmm. -- Diane, 22:49:15 04/13/05 Wed

This is still her first couple weeks as Operations, and I think she *is* still in her fantasy world; probably still in shock. She still hasn't quite assimilated that she had a father, who is now dead and left her in this mess, and that Michael is gone and she has to figure it all out on her own. In ensuing chapters, she learns what it takes to run the place pretty quickly.Showing a bit of the old Nik to compare her to the new. I've got 24 chapters set down, now--she has changed immensely, and not particularly for the better (maybe for the better of Section, though).

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