Kitten001 is not currently signed on.

The keys type quickly again. It was the third day in a row, and with no e-mail contact, fear was starting to set in quickly.

Kitten001 is not currently signed on.

The hands ball up into fists and slam hard onto the desk. There is a brief scrape as the chair is pushed back across the tiled floor, before the body stood up. Michael moved from the computer to the sink in his kitchen. He slowly turned on some cold water and filled a glass. There was no explanation why he should be worried about this person. It was possible that Kitten001 was not a woman, but a man, who was playing around with his mind. But Michael could not shake the feeling that it was something more.

Michael turns and lets several mouthfuls of water drip down his throat and he glances at the computer once more. He had the urge to break the system down and get some more information on Kitten001. He had never missed her that often. Her quick and sweet sense of humor lightened his heart, while he come to notice the slight undertone that she was as lonely as he was.

Michael sets the glass down and turns towards the computer once more. He rubs his face and then turns away. He will give her one more day. Then it was going to be an all out search for Kitten001. If he could wait that long.

Kitten001 is not currently signed on.

Michael dropped his head. It felt as if something was being torn out of him. It was almost like the time when Michael set Nikita "free". Michael stopped and turned to the computer. No, this didn't hurt as much as that did, but it was close. Maybe it was the uncertainity of everything. Maybe it was that it could be someone who really needed his help. Or it could be someone who didn't want to ever be found again.

Michael walked back to the computer and sat down. It did not matter anymore. He was going to find out who was behind Kitten001, be it a little girl, which Michael knew it could not be, a man, or a desparate housewife with six kids running around her feet. There was a connection.

In a mechanical way, but based out of emotions, Michael barrowed his way into the companies records. There was not a lot of security, and it was actually quite easy in a way.

Kitten001-----> user through system S234

Michael blinked and stared.

S234

S234

That was the three number access code that the operatives are given to use to gain access to the company. Michael turned to the computer and began to type more. Maybe if he could access the e-mail of Kitten001, Michael could find out what operative it was. Then Michael stopped.What if it was Madeline? What if Madeline was talking to Michael to find out that what he was feeling? What if it was Operations checking up on him?

It was too late. Kitten001 had Michael's attention. If it was an operative, he needed to know if Kitten001 had been compromised. Michael swallowed and turned his head down, not wanting to see the connection to Section until he got a name.

Kitten001----->connected through S234----> operative number J37982J23589MN.

Michael stared and stared. He could not believe this. Operatives didn't get assigned numbers. Numbers gave proof to them. There was no proof to them. Numbers just did not happen and occur in Section One.

Michael tried a different approach. He knew the possibilities that the computer was going to be connected through four different computers before it hit the real person who was Kitten001. Michael knew operatives who did that and to the extreme. Most operatives would think that Michael would do that... but then on the other hand, most operatives believed that Michael never left his office for long.

Michael's computer set up was simple. Straight in. No games, no fuss. With his schedule, he didn't have to have tons of codes and systems to worry about updating in his free time.

Michael drops his head to the desk and looks at the screen. He could not believe his luck. Of course the e-mail traced directly to an apartmen that Michael did not want to think about and to a person he did not want to speak to.

NIKITA

"What are you doing here?" Nikita defensively asks as she opens the door and leans against it. She is wearing a bright pink sports bra and a pair of tight gray shorts. Michael turned his head and looked past her shoulder.

"Alone?" Michael asks and Nikita stares at Michael. Nikita takes a step out into the hallway.

"Look Michael... I am not going to allow you to search my apartment at your free whim. It's my apartment!" Nikita says as she half way shuts the door.

"Nikita... I need..."

"I don't care what you need Michael. We have down time, and I don't have to do anything for or with you until I get called in with the damn french accented Josephine of yours!" Nikita says and Michael takes Nikita's shoulders and slams her against the hallway wall.

"You will do what I need to be done." Michael says and Nikita squirms away and slaps him across the face.

"Get the hell out of here, Michael. You don't belong." Nikita says and walks back into her apartment, slamming the door on Michael's face.

"Nikita." Michael says as he pounds on the door.

"Why don't you kick in it, Michael? Oh.. because I would have to call for a replacement and Madeline will give you the lecture about too much externalizing emotions!" Nikita hisses.

Michael stops and turns down the hallway.

"Coming up the stairs!" A man hollers and Michael pulls off to the side. The box was huge and it moved slowly up the stairs. Michael rolled his eyes as he noticed the two delivery men. They should have carried air tanks with them.

They pushed through the doorway and started down the hallway. Michael turns and starts back down the stairs. He stops at the landing and then walks back up and looks at the hallway. There was Nikita standing in her bright pink sports bra. Michael turns away as he hears Nikita laughing with the delivery men. Michael hurries back down the stairs.

"Hey.. we forgot her speakers!" A younger delivery man says and then smiles as he sees Michael.

"Sorry.. I thought you were someone else." the man says and Michael glances at the order and then continues down the stairs. It was when Michael's hand presses against the cool glass that the reality of the situation hits him.

Nikita was getting a new computer. Nikita was Kitten001.

Michael turned back around and runs up the stairs. He stops and looks at the young delivery man leaning against the wall.

"There is more to a person than their looks and their smiles. It's the bad things that make them good, sometimes!" Nikita giggles out and Michael stops.

For a few moment, as Michael ran up the stairs, he thought that maybe Nikita wasn't Kitten001. Maybe she was just forwarding the mail for Kitten001. But then, Nikita wouldn't do that for just anyone, and the only friends Michael knew of Nikita's were Birkoff and Walter.

"Well, I can show you a hundred and eighteen bad things that make me good." Michael says from down the hall and Nikita turns and stares at him.

It was a part of their chat that was said at least once daily. It was part of a script. They would be talking about something not related to relationships, and somehow slide into the conversation, always ending the same. All the time, Kitten001's guy was the man she was talking too.

"Michael." Nikita says as she stares and the delivery man stands away from the door. He turns and heads back down the hallway, as he notices Michael approaching. There was a connection between Michael and Nikita that could not be denied.

"Your computer has been down,.... ah, Kitten001." Michael says as he stands infront of Nikita looking at her blue eyes. Nikita tilts her head to the side and briefly smiles.

"Come in." Nikita says as she gives Michael access to her apartment.

Michael walks in and Nikita walks to the computer and places the plug in. She turns around and looks at Michael. She drops her eyes and looks back up.

"This really says something about us." Nikita says as she turns around and Michael looks at Nikita and follows her back to the kitchen.

"What?" Michael asks and Nikita looks and then turns away.

"That we should hide behind screens when we talk to each other because then we would be more open to each other." Nikita says and Michael smiles softly.

"Nikita..." Michael says and Nikita smiles softly.

"So you would rather me be named Emily?" Nikita asks and Michael bursts out in laughter.

"And should I change my name to Mylo?" Michael asks and Nikita smiles broadly.

"At least your initials would stay the same!" Nikita says and Michael walks to her and pulls her into his arms.

Slowly, but yet quickly, their heads moved towards each other. Soulmates they were, as their lips brushed each other. Lovers they were, as their mouths parted and allowed the tongues to mingle in a sweet tango of heat and passion.

Nikita pulls back and takes Michael's hand and starts to lead him to her bedroom. Her smile is sexy and making the walking difficult for Michael.

"I always wondered you weren't like the other men on line." Nikita says softly as she takes her hands and pushes his shirt up. Her fingers walk up his chest and caress his broad muscles firmly before she runs her lips across his nipples.

"And what do you mean by that?" Michael asks as he pulls the sports bra off and exposes her white chest as he leans her down on the bed.

"You were the only one who didn't want to cyber." Nikita comments and Michael rolls down on top of her.

"I guess I subconsciously knew I could have you for real." Michael murmurs as they quickly finish undressing.

The new computer, never gets hooked up.

THE END

This story © Copyright 1999, Nikita507