Nikita.......Nikita!.....wake up.....can you hear me?
Nikita cannot see or move... she hears other voices, murmurs, conversations of a few people who think she is still unconscious... She feels her hand being gently caressed by someone - Sergio... it must be Sergio... she cannot see him or move or let him know she is awake, she does not know where she is or what has happened, and she cannot seem to connect her mind with her body - she wants to squeeze Sergio's hand, she wants to see him, she wants to tell him she is awake and she seriously wants to know what the fuck has happened to her body... the voices continue to talk about her, and she is able to make out a few phrases...."the gas should have worn off by now"..."Look at all the pinch marks on her arm, I've never seen anything like that" ... Do you think removing the implant has anything to do with that swelling" ..."How can we tell her what happened without...."
"Shut up!"
An asian accented woman speaks, "Sergio, you can't possibly expect us to..."
"Shut the fuck up NOW! I take full responsibility for the situation and will tell her myself, but I'm for damn sure not going to sit here and listen to you over-think the incident - she may be able to hear everything you're saying - I'm pretty sure the gas will wear off and these side effects will all go away within several hours or days - for now, if we need to debrief further, do it without me. I'm staying here until she comes around"
The asian woman speaks again, "Your valiance is pitiful Sergio - you've compromised our entire operation for sex one too many times, and I think this time you've fucked up everything enough that even your service record won't keep you safe from what's coming down on you."
"Kiss my ass, Luli - you weren't there and you have no idea how close Nikita came to offing Ozerov, and if we hadn't gone in when we did, Ozerov would be dead and Konrad and Grigori would be using Nikita for a sex toy, or worse, uncovering our entire operation and finding out everyone's identity, even yours....Why are we even having this conversation now ? I think all of you need to leave. Save your breath for the meeting tomorrow."
A door opens and Nikita hears the sound of several people leaving the room. After the door closes, she feels Sergio draw near - she still cannot communicate with him whatsoever - it's as if she is frozen solid - she hears and feels, but cannot move anything - he is holding her hand - Sergio speaks in a soft voice, "Nikita my darling, I'm so sorry - I don't know if you can hear me - I've done something terrible and you must hear it from me - Ozerov had to be kept alive - you were killing him, and I could only think of one way to keep the situation from spinning more wildly out of control...
"The anti-sanctity compromised your ability to think, reason, and make sound judgements - can you hear me? can you move anything? I'll tell the story - maybe you'll hear it and begin to process the ramifications before you actually become conscious. I don't know what else to do...
"When Grigori showed up at Konrad's, I knew we were in way too deep - You were quickly becoming schizophrenic from the implant effects and Konrad had all the cards - Grigori had been sharing everything we are working on with Konrad, plus the entire structure of the organization he knew of - I had a strong feeling that Grigori had turned, or was playing both sides to his advantage, but this was too much - That fucker had to go down, and I didn't care enough about him to make it painless...
"We heard a horrible scream coming from inside just after your transponder quit - That was enough of a signal that it was go time for our team - The plan was to hit Konrad (and anyone else that wasn't singing kum-by-ya) with tranquilizer darts filled with Ketamine - if its good enough to take down large zoo cats and make college kids looking to trip lay there and drool for half an hour, it should override anything Konrad was taking...
"We hit the room from three sides, all five of us sporting tranquilizer darts and automatic weapons - we knew there was no threat from the sanctity crowd, so it seemed simple enough for us to overwhelm any resistance from within - we neutralized the outside guards when the screaming started, so I was certain the five of us could easily overpower Konrad, Tad, and Grigori - I figured you'd let go of Ozerov when you realized we were operational and help us take down Grigori and Konrad. From your description of Tad, I didn't think he'd be much of any trouble at all...
"First lesson of espionage Nikita - remember? when the shit starts to go down, never underestimate a jilted lover - especially one hopped-up on anti sanctity - Tad was the first to see us enter, and things began to go wrong shortly thereafter - I've never witnessed a person undergo such an instantaneous transformation as Tad did - he looked like any other hot gay man - clean shaven, well dressed, perfect shoes - he looked at me and for an instant seemed confused, but just as soon as I prepared take him out with a dart, a crazed look came over him, and he charged me straight on - it's like he was the Terminator or something - I hit him with two darts to the chest and he just kept running at me full speed - I was so stunned when he didn't go down that I was unable to react with another round of darts - The fucker ran me down like a bull having a good day in Pamploma... oh Nikita...
Do you remember Pamploma Nikita? That little cafe where we ate fresh tomatoes and drank way too much homemade wine with the gypsies? It was such a lovely place and time....
"Sorry. I'd rather think of happy stories and simpler times, but I must go on with this one....Where was I...
"Oh...Tad knocked me backwards into a hall tree full of coats and we tangled, trying to get the best of one another - I couldn't figure out how in the world he wasn't out like a light, but I didn't have much time to ponder, as he was trying to turn my pistol on me - I was amazed at how strong and focused he was - the whole situation seemed to be in slow motion, a surreal movie that I was watching happen from another person's point of view, yet I was about to be killed if I couldn't get the better of this man - a man you had described earlier in the evening as utterly weak and pathetic...
"I haven't had such a physical man to man fight in years Nikita - I usually do my killing with tools, aides, surprise, treachery - this was two people with a very strong will to live - a will to triumph over an enemy - his fight was valiant and he managed to get on top of me and pin me down - a sick feeling came over me, as I thought my time was going to be up at the hands of Tad - No saving you, no reckoning with Konrad or Grigori - he was holding me there - pinned down, but unable to let me go long enough to grab my gun and finish the fight - He hesitated for a second, thinking what to do now that we were at an impasse - he looked at me - no, he stared at me deeply, as if trying to say something to me with his eyes - a new look came over his face, and I could feel his grip beginning to loosen - I swear I was reading his mind and he began to smile at me - his hips started to grind on me, and he loosened his grip more. He leaned in to kiss me - I knew this was coming, and I had to play along just long enough for him to let my hand loose - he was wanting, willing me to grab his ass, but instead I grabbed my knife, and somewhere between his third and fifth rib, I opened his lung and aortic artery to the sanctity filled room - he wasn't going to get his last orgasm from me....
"While I was preoccupied with Tad, my men had met some unexpected resistance from you - It turns out Ketamine wasn't immediately effective with the anti-sanctity, and all of you - Konrad, Grigori, and you were like villains with super powers - when we entered the room, all three of you were hit with one or several darts, and the idea was to extract you and Ozerov while Konrad and Grigori were in la-la land. We were to secure the area and move Konrad and Grigori to a secure location where we could determine the damage Grigori had caused the organization. Konrad had to be stopped, but we couldn't kill him without first dismantling the failsafes he designed to poison millions if he was caught or killed unexpectedly. It should have gone so smoothly......"
Nikita is listening, still motionless and unable to sleep, but she feels a strange sensation in her left thigh, like a tingling numbness deep inside her muscles. Her eyes sense light, but she is unable to open them - Is Sergio rubbing my thigh? What is he doing? Is he putting his hand up my...what the fuck am I wearing anyway? She screams, "Sergio! Stop! What are you doing to me?".... (Turns out Sergio was just checking the shunt in Nikita's leg, one of three placed to drain the serious wounds she sustained in the botched rescue/raid. Sergio hears nothing from Nikita - she imagines she is yelling out loud, but silence and stillness are all Sergio observes while attending her leg wound. Sergio covers up the leg and walks over to a table with a large assortment of medical devices. He ponders the instruments, wondering if and when the doctors will use them to relieve the fluid pressure building in Nikita's brain. He turns toward the bed and begins the story where he left off.)
"My men Niko and Karl came into the room through the doors that led to the deck - you had Ozerov in the near corner - his feet were off the ground and he was only making a rasping sound by the time they got to you - the Sanctity trippers were gathered around singing love songs, trying to calm you down. Apparently, you were holding Ozerov with one hand and tearing off the fat suit with the other, screaming hardly intelligible rants about the balance of power and false righteousness and the meek meeting a horrible end. You saw me being attacked by Tad while Grigori and Konrad were hit with darts from my other two guys Boris and Vlad, who had come in the windows at the back of the great room.
Grigori and Konrad both took two darts (enough in each dart to stop a 500 pound tiger) and stood there laughing. They were enjoying the Tad and Sergio sideshow but were much more distracted by your fat-suit strip show/metamorphis into the lean killing machine that was Nikita. Boris and Vlad were slowly approaching Grigori and Konrad, waiting for them to go down, but that wasn't happening. They literally removed the darts from themselves in an all to calm and cold manner. Niko and Karl were trying to reason with you to let go of Ozerov and relax as your mission was over, but they were interrupted by Konrad and Grigori who began to act like they were at a strip bar, saying things like,"don't stop now, take it all off baby" and "bring that sweet ass over here so I can fill it with what it really needs." This banter caused you to lose interest in killing Ozerov, and you suddenly composed yourself as if a long lost love had just entered the room. You turned toward Konrad and Grigori and spoke slowly and deliberately, with a voice that I thought was reserved only for me.... "let me take care of a few things first, my dears..."
You let a limp and possibly dead Ozerov fall to the floor and turned toward Niko and Karl. Your blue eyes were ablaze with an unknown purpose, and your t-shirt and leggings bulged with tensing muscles. Your arms had horrible purple and blue bruises from the constant pinching and self mutilation, but you were every bit the magnificent warrior you have always been, except your loyalty was now to Konrad and Grigori, and my team had no idea how to deal with this new development.
A single gunshot shattered the quiet chants of the trippers, and Grigori went down with a gaping bullet hole in his left leg. For all the problems Grigori had caused me over the last several months (or years?), shooting that fucker in the leg was the least I could do for him -He was still screaming when Boris and I landed on top of him and proceeded to do our best to incapacitate him. Konrad took off running toward the kitchen, and Vlad followed close behind. Even with both of us on top of him, Grigori was still fighting us and inflicting some damage - He was flailing with all of his might and caught both of us a few times with his remaining knee and arms. At the time, I was wondering what the fuck is in this anti-sanctity that it makes people so strong and able to fight, even under extreme injury or duress...
Niko and Karl were still trying to reason with you, but were beginning to understand you weren't the same Nikita they had known for years - this Nikita could not or would not reason - this Nikita had some untapped source of power to resist heavy sedation - This Nikita was preparing (unbeknownst to them) to tear both of their heads off.
Karl took the first vicious high kick from you and went down hard. Niko managed to get behind you and grab your arms, but was no match for your strength - you acted like a wild animal who refused to be caged - you reverse head butted Niko hard enough to knock him off. You turned around and grabbed his head with both hands, bringing it hard and square onto your kneecap - if he wasn't dead by that, the 3/4 melon twist at the end surely did the job - you looked like a chiropractor on super steroids. Karl was still fumbling for his dart gun when you came at him, and all I can say is he died quickly. Your skills were overwhelming and lethal, and in that moment, I feared for both our lives.
