More flowers! Everytime she stepped into her apartment at the end of the day, all she saw were flowers. This had been going on for quite some time now, but the frequency had picked up. It use to be that she got them every other week, then it went to every week and now it was happening every day. There was never any card with them and when she tried to find out where they had come from, she ran into a dead end. None of the florists in the area could remember filling an order for these flowers.

Putting her keys down on the bureau by the door, she slipped her jacket off and hung it in the closet. She was a bit troubled about the flowers. She had even tried to find out which, if any delivery service had delivered them. Even with her resources at Section she had not been able to find anything out. She had checked her surveillance cameras but they showed nothing. Obviously whoever it was doing this had the knowledge to tamper with them and then return them to working order.

Taking off her shoes, she made her way to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. It had been a long and gruelling day and she was exhausted. After she put the kettle on, she walked over to the windows to let in some fresh air. The fragrance from the flowers had become overbearing. She looked out over her deck at the profusion of flowers sitting there. She had no place else to put them. The older ones had been discarded a long time ago but she was running out of room. Hearing the whistle on the kettle she wandered back into the kitchen.

Taking her favourite teapot out of the cupboard and rinsing it with the boiling water, she finally had her tea steeping. She went to the fridge and got a lemon out and proceeded to quarter it. Placing a piece on her saucer she returned the rest of it to the fridge. Pouring herself a cup and inhaling the pleasant fragrance she was starting to unwind. In her stockinged feet she made her way to her favorite chair while squeezing the lemon into her tea.

Just then, her doorbell rang. Placing her cup and saucer on the table, she got up and went to the door. Looking out through the peephole she was not surprised to see who was standing there. She undid the chains and the deadbolt and opened the door.

"Why doesn't it surprise me to see you here." she stated.

************

Part Two

"I guess you know me too well." he answered back. Stepping into the entranceway he glanced inside and saw the profusion of flowers. "What, did you buy stock in a nursery or do you really love flowers this much?"

"No. In fact I was hoping you might have some answers for me." she watched his face closely looking for any signs.

"Why me? You think I sent these?" he looked surprised as he answered her. "Believe me if I sent you any flowers you would definitely know that they were from me. I certainly wouldn't go overboard like this. I would go for the understatement rather than overstatement as this person seems to have done."

"Why do I believe you?" she asked more confused than ever now.

He looked at her with concern. "Because you know me and most times trust me."

"Yes. I do trust you most times." she agreed.

He laughed as she said this but then got serious again. "How long has this been going on and why have you not mentioned it before?"

"I thought I was capable of handling it on my own. I don't come to you for everything that goes on in my life, so why should this be any different? Although I must admit that whoever is doing this is very cunning and sly."

"And you have no idea who is sending these to you? I'm not sure I like the implications of this."

She looked at him and saw the concern written on his face. This was a side of him she had not seen too often except for the rare time when he thought she wasn't watching him. "Well, I have done everything I could think of with our resources and nothing is coming up. That in itself is making me a bit suspicious."

"Yes. I would agree with you there. So I take it then that there were no cards sent with these." he inquired of her.

"No. Nothing." she replied. Then remembering her manners she asked him if he would like some tea.

"Yes. Thank you. As long as it's no trouble."

"No, no trouble. In fact I had just poured mine when you came to the door. Just let me get you a cup and we can sit down. Go on in and make yourself comfortable and I'll be right back." with that she made her way back to the kitchen once more pausing for just a moment before entering. "You want milk or sugar with yours?"

"No, black is fine unless you have some lemon?" he answered back.

Within minutes she had returned and placed his tea and lemon on the table in front of him and joined him on the couch.

************

Part Three

They sat quietly for a few minutes sipping their tea. It wasn't often that they had the luxury of relaxing together. At least not in recent memory. Things had been so hectic at Section in the last few months. The start of it had been when Adrian had come back into the world of Section and tried to destroy it.

"So what brought you here today?"she finally thought to ask of him. It use to be that he would drop by unexpectedly but lately he hadn't come around at all. That had hurt her feelings along with everything else she thought he had done to her.

"Oh. That's right. I had completely forgotten about that when I saw the flowers." he responded. "Well, to be perfectly honest," he smiled as he spoke, "I came over to see how you were doing. I had noticed that you were a bit preoccupied at the briefing this morning and by the time I came to see you in Section after the debrief, you had already left."

She took a sip of her tea before answering. "I had a few errands that needed to be attended to."

"I see. Guess that would explain it then." He looked at her with a questioning look on his face. "You know, I can remember a time that you would talk to me about anything that was going on in your life. What happened? It can't still be about Adrian can it?"

"Well...... that and a few other things. I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"But why not? We're here, no one else is around to interupt us. We may not find a better time than the present time." He spoke softly not wanting to alter the mood too much. It had been a long time since he had dropped by. He felt bad about the way things had happened but he didn't have a choice in his actions.

She looked at him with pain in her eyes. He had betrayed her, not once but a few times in the last few months. She didn't know if she would ever get back to the way they were. Here he was holding out the olive branch and all she had to do was grasp it, but still she hesitated.

"You're probably right but I still need to get a few things clear in my mind before I can talk about it. I'm sorry."

"Fine. For now. But, know this, I will not let this drop. We need to get things right between us again." he agreed for the time being. "Now, we need to figure out what we are going to do about all these." He glanced around the room again taking in all the plants.

"I know. The only alternative I can think of is to have someone in here at all times when I'm at Section, but I don't know who to trust right now. Do you have anyone that you trust enough?"

"Let me think about it. I'm sure I'll come up with something. In the meantime I had better head back in." and with that he got up and made his way to the door. "I'll be in touch real soon."

"Thanks. I appreciate this and for you not pushing me to talk." With that he walked out and she stood in the doorway and watched him walk down the hall.

************

Part Four

As she turned back inside, she didn't know whether to feel relieved or upset that he didn't pushed the issue on her feelings. She certainly missed the comraderie they had once shared. Shaking her head, she slowly walked into the kitchen and poured herself another cup of tea. Just then the phone rang. Picking it up off the counter she placed it to her ear.

"Josephine"

Without so much as a word, she placed her cup in the sink, grabbed her keys and jacket and headed into Section.

****

Nikita walked up to the comm center. "Hey Birkoff. What's up? I thought we were clear the rest of the day."

Birkoff seemed startled to see her standing there. "Wha.... Oh, Idon't know. Operations said that there would be a briefing in ten minutes." He turned back to what he had been doing.

"Is Michael here yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, he just got here." he answered. "Walter came in a while ago. He should already be in the briefing area."

Nikita glanced over her shoulder to the briefing area, but didn't see anyone waiting. She turned to Birkoff again. "I don't see him. You okay? you seem kinda out of it."

"I'm fine. Why can't eveyone leave me alone to do my job." He turned his back to her again.

"Okay. I'll go see if I can find him. I need to talk to him." With that she left and turned towards the munitions area where Walter could usually be found.

Walking over to Walter's area, she looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. She decided that she would see what Michael was up to and if he knew what was going on. Something must have come up suddenly for them to be called back in so soon. Walking down the hallway she turned the corner and bumped into someone coming the other way.

"Whoa Sugar!! Where's the fire?"

"Oh hi Walter. No fire. Just on my way to see Michael to see if he can shed some light on why we were called in again."

"He's not there. I was looking for him too. I asked Birkoff but he didn't seem to know where he was."

"Speaking of Birkoff, did he seem a little preoccupied to you?" Nikita asked. "When I talked to him he just about jumped down my throat."

"Yeah, I noticed the same thing. Kinda jumpy if you ask me." Walter agreed. "Wonder what's up with him. I'll talk to him after the briefing and see if I can't find out what's bugging him."

"Well, guess we better head there now. I don't want to be late again. The last time Operations glared daggers at me."

"Hey sugar. He lives for those moments." Walter laughed. "Why would you want to take that away from him."

They were both still chuckling as they entered the briefing. Operations looked up annoyed by the interuption. "I'm glad you two could join us. Is there something you wish to share with us?"

Walter and Nikita just slid into their chairs without saying anything.

"Fine. I'll continue then." Operations went on with the briefing. When he was done he left abruptly leaving the rest of them to get on with the mission. It was nothing major but it needed to be done right away in order to set up the next one in two days time.

***** "Hey Birkoff." Walter said as he ambled up to him. "How's it going?"

Birkoff looked up from his keyboard. "Hi Walter."

"That's it? Just hi Walter? Okay buddy, I know we haven't exactly had things go our way lately, but this cold shoulder treatment has got to end. How was I to know we were set up?"

"I have other things on my mind. I need to get back to work."

"Nope. We need to talk." Walter continued. "Something has your shorts in a bind and I aim to find out what it is."

"It's nothing." Birkoff insisted. "I have a lot of work."

"Try again. You and me are gonna have a little talk. Come with me." and with that Walter took him by the arm and led him into a quiet corner.

************

Part 5/End

Nikita arrived home completely exhausted and was looking forward to a nice glass of wine and a hot bubble bath. Kicking her shoes off and letting her jacket slide to the floor she went first to the kitchen to get her wine. She was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice that for once there were no flowers.

Taking her glass and sipping from it, she slowly made her way to the bathroom to start the water when she stopped dead in her tracks. She had finally noticed. Looking around she saw no sign of flowers anywhere in her apartment. Someone had been in here while she had been out and removed any and all traces of them. With a puzzled frown she continued on her way to the bathroom.

Once she had her bath water running into the tub she went into her bedroom. As she started to take her clothes off she noticed a single rose on her pillow. She went over to it and picked it up. Underneath it was a envelope. As she smelled the rose she picked up the envelope and opened it. Inside it on a plain card were the two words: "I'm sorry". More puzzled than ever now she set the rose down on her dresser as she continued to undress. She hoped that Walter would have something for her soon. In the meantime she had a nice bath waiting for her. She would call him after she had relaxed for a bit.

*******

Nikita walked down to her living room wrapped in her oversize robe still towel drying her hair. Walking over to the stereo she picked out her favorite CD, inserted it and pressed play. Seconds later the soothing sounds of a rainstorm were coming out of the speakers. Whenever she had things bothering her she would sit in the dark and listen to the sound of rain and thunder. Heading into the kitchen she poured herself another glass of wine and went to sit in her chair, grabbing the stereo remote on her way.

Turning the volume up, she took sip of wine and then placed the glass on the table, then she leaned back and closed her eyes. Letting the music soothe her, she finally felt herself completely relax. She could feel herself drifting into sleep when the doorbell rang.

Taking her time, she got up and went to see who would be bothering her this time. Seeing Walter standing outside her door, she quickly unlocked the door and let him in.

"Hey Walter." she greeted him as she closed the door behind him.

"Heya Sugar." he said in return. "Like the music." He looked around and noticed that the flowers were gone. "What happened? You clean house when you got back?"

"No. When I got home after the last mission, they were all gone. Except for a single rose on my bed." she explained. "Oh and a card." She led him into the living room where they both sat down.

"Ohhhhhh? What did it say?"

"Just the words "I'm sorry" no signature or anything."

"Hrmph..... that's interesting. Anyway the reason I'm bothering you so late at night, I found out who has been sending you all the flowers."

"You have? That's great. But how did you get the intel so quickly when I have been searching for a few months?"

"Ahhh, wouldn't you like to know." he laughed. "Actually it wasn't too hard. I noticed the way that Birkoff has been around you for the last little while and I talked to him tonight after the debrief."

"Wait a minute.... " Nikita said surprised. "Are you saying that the flowers have been coming from Birkoff? That he's the one that has been breaking in here and leaving no trace or clue? That certainly doesn't seem like Birkoff."

"Well, let's put it this way. He had a little bit of help."

"From who?"

Walter looked at Nikita with a glint in his eye. "You're not going to believe this."

"Believe what??" She was getting impatient . Walter was taking way too long giving her the information she had been seeking for a while now. "Out with it Walter. And I mean NOW."

"Okay, sugar. I'm getting to it. You sure you're ready for this??"

"Walterrrrr....."

"Okay, if you're sure. It was Operations."

Nikita's mouth dropped open as he dropped this bombshell on her, and she was glad that she was sitting down. . "Operations? Now I know you're pulling my leg."

"No way Sugar. I wouldn't do that to you about this. He had Birkoff do the dirty work for him, but he was calling the shots."

"But why would he be sending me flowers?" Nikita still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It's not like he likes me or anything."

"Bingo." he said as he watched comprehension sweep across Nikita's face.

"I see. Another one of his tests." she said slowly. "No wonder there were no signs of a break in."

"Yeah, he had Birkoff and a few other ops do the dirty work for him cause they owed him. He knows how to intimidate Birkoff and knows exactly what buttons to push." Walter continued. "It seems that he wanted to see if you would say anything to anyone about them. He was watching you to see how you would handle this. Probably trying to see if you would go a bit crazy not being able to find anything out about where they came from and who was sending them."

Nikita frowned as she thought about something else. "But what about the rose Walter? Why would Operations say he's sorry?"

Walter thought for a minute. "Birkoff probably sent that one. I know he feels bad about being a part of all this. You know how he can be."

"Yeah, he's not very good with words, but even this surprises me."

"Yeah. He does have a romantic streak after all." Walter agreed. "By the way, you'll still be getting some for the next few weeks. It also seems as though someone screwed up either by mistake or on purpose."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, apparently there were suppose to be cards with the deliveries the past few weeks. It seems that Ops wanted you to believe you were getting flowers from a ghost."

"A ghost? Who?" Nikita was even more perplexed trying to figure this one out.

"Jurgen." he told her. "I'm not sure if you remember the date from the first time you got any flowers but according to Birkoff this started on the anniversary of his death."

"But I was there Walter. I saw that building blow up and there was no way that Jurgen could have come out of there alive.

"I know that sugar." Walter sighed. "Anyway, I had better get back to Section before they miss me. You just have to remember now not to give this away, you know that you are aware of who is doing this."

"Yeah, I know. How I wish I could turn this around somehow though." Nikita got a thoughtful look on her face.

Walter watched her as he got up to leave. "Hey, don't you be getting any of your schemes going on in that pretty little head of yours." he warned.

"I wouldn't dream of it Walter." she grinned.

Walter walked to the door and turned to her before he opened it. "Remember. Operations is out to get you one way or another and if driving you nuts is part of it, he won't stop at this."

"I know. I should have seen it as coming from him. I'll have to be more on guard with him now." Nikita gave leaned over and gave Walter a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Walter. I owe you one."

With that Walter opened the door and took his leave.