It's Not Over Yet

Chapter One- When Nikita Left

Alex was the first one to notice that Michael still had not returned to the group.  She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach- it could not be good news.  Everyone looked nervously at each other and Alex stood up to go find Michael.  Her mind was racing- there was no way that Nikita would abandon them- she had to know that they were a family and they would all protect each other as they had through this whole fight.

                As she made her way down the stairs, she tried to convince herself Nikita just needed some air, needed a moment to herself to think things out.  When she saw Michael standing frozen in the open doorway, she immediately knew that wasn’t the case.  In Michael’s hand Alex caught the gleam of something shiny- and her breath caught in her throat as she realized it was Nikita’s engagement ring.  Michael’s body was outlined by the setting sun as he stared out into nowhere.  In the other hand, an unanswered cell phone being clutched mindlessly.

                Alex slowly approached Michael, but he did not move.  “Michael?” she gently said.

                Michael did not flinch.  As Alex moved closer yet, she realized the big, strong agent, one that hardly ever showed any emotion, was crying, his eyes puffy and red.  It felt strange to see Michael this vulnerable.  “We will find her Michael.” Alex tried to reassure him, gently placing a hand on his back.

                “I can’t lose her like this.” Michael sobbed.

                “We will find her Michael.” Alex repeated.  “C’mon, we have to go back to the others and come up with a plan.  We have to find her and we will all retire together if it’s the last thing we do.”

                Hesitating, Michael slowly followed Alex back upstairs to where the others waited.  Normally they would have been laughing, sipping champagne in celebration, but no one felt like celebrating now.  The last day’s events had put an extreme damper on the satisfaction that should have been. Everyone in the group could tell things were bad when Michael came up the stair behind Alex.  “What happened?” Ryan asked.

                “She’s gone.” Alex replied, “Won’t answer her cell.  And she left her engagement ring.”

                Birkhoff was the first to respond.  “Listen, Mikey, I’m really sorry.”

                “We’ll find her Michael.” Sonya added, “We will bring back the missing part of our family.”

                “We will get her back.” Michael mechanically insisted.

                “No arguments here.” Ryan agreed, “So what’s our first step?”

                Birkhoff instinctually sat behind a computer, cracking his knuckles over his keyboard at the ready.  “Would Amanda’s tracker be useable?” Alex asked.

                “It is.” Birkhoff frantically typed into the computer, ‘But she is not going to let us get to her that way.  Nikki’s too smart for that.  We have to convince her to come back and she has to feel ready to do it, otherwise she will just run again.”

                “So how do we get her?” Michael wasn’t thinking straight.

                Everyone thought for a minute.  “We have to eliminate the threats.” Sonya finally replied, “We have to take Amanda down and clear up the confusion about the President, and that will make Nikita safe.

                “Only then will she come back home to us.” Alex agreed.

                “Right now she’s only putting distance between us because we are being threatened by her being here.  We eliminate the threat and she feels safe- she can come back.” Ryan agreed while thinking out loud.