LA FEMME NIKITA
War

#119 "War"
Written by: Maurice Hurley
Directed by: Rene Bonniere
Edited by: David B. Thompson
Transcript archived at TWIZ TV.COM
Originally posted at Flash Mission
Transcribed by: Christine
Guest Starring: James Faulkner
 

NIKITA’S  APARTMENT

Nikita is in her living room area, working out strenuously.  Someone is watching her, using a small square mirror, unbeknownst to her.  Through with her workout, she grabs a bottle of water and drinks, before sitting on her couch’s edge and removing her shoes and outer workout clothing.  She now wears only the body leotard – like a one piece bathing suit, which she slides off her arms and down to her waist, as she makes her way to her bedroom, loosening her hair from it’s ponytail as she goes.  She slides the leotard completely off and heads into her bathroom naked, flipping on the light.

We see that an intruder has entered her living room through the balcony doors and is making his way toward her loft stairs.

Toweling off her sweaty face in the mirror, Nikita stills as she hears a noise.  She turns slowly and closes the bathroom door, then turns on the shower spray.  Taking an aerosol can and lighter in hand, she turns off the bathroom light.

The intruder and another man have stepped into Nikita’s bedroom and stare at the closed bathroom door, behind which Nikita is waiting quietly.  As they burst inside the door, they take a stand beside the shower’s sliding doors and begin to fire into the shower stall.  Nikita steps out from behind the door and depressing the aerosol tip holds the lighter’s flame below the flammable spray, creating a torch effect, which blasts one of the men in the face.  As he falls screaming, she lunges for his gun and shoots the second man.

Quietly she steals out of the bathroom into her bedroom.  Looking into the area below, she sees a shadow move across her living room.  She crosses her bedroom and quietly unlatches the window and steps out, her bare feet stealing up the fire escape, as the third intruder steps into the bedroom.  He sees the two dead men in the bathroom, then the open bedroom window, and heads for it.

Nikita has rounded to the balcony doors in her living room from the outside and she steps into the living room, sees the third man heading for the bedroom window, and shoots him down.  Afraid to move, she pauses where she is crouched.  Her telephone rings loudly and she jumps, pointing her gun at the sound, before slowly crawling toward it.  She picks up the phone from her coffee table and sets down her gun, looking over to her bedroom from the couch and seeing the dead man lying on the floor in the loft.

MICHAEL: (voice)  Josephine.

NIKITA:    Michael.  What’s going on?

MICHAEL: (voice) Come in.

NIKITA:    I’ve been compromised.

MICHAEL: (voice) Is it under control?

NIKITA:    I think so.

MICHAEL: (voice) Come in.

WAR ROOM

As Nikita enters the Main Area behind Madeline, we see that everyone is busy and moving about quickly and with purpose.

NIKITA:  Madeline, what’s going on?

MADELINE:  We’re under attack.  Operatives are being hit worldwide.  Section’s being evacuated.

They head to the War Room, taking their seats.  Operations rounds the door, entering the area, already speaking as he approaches.

OPERATIONS:  Red Cell broke our directory.  They’ve launched an invasion.

BIRKOFF:  Three more agents have been hit - one in Tokyo, two in Hong Kong.

OPERATIONS:  We’ll break into two-men cells.  Get your specific assignments from Birkoff.  We have to locate their Command Center before they find ours.  We’re moving to a substation.

MADELINE:  If you are taken, and some of you will be, Red Cell will do anything to make you talk.  You cannot give them the location of the substation; therefore it will be kept secret, even from you.

OPERATIONS:  Understand this very clearly - we are at war, and right now we are losing.

COMM

Operatives are about, busily gathering key computer components to take with them, as Birkoff mans his computer, gathering the latest intel.  Michael and Nikita approach.

BIRKOFF:  One of our operatives was working counter-intel in Tunisia, managed to send a message before he got hit.

On the monitor, we see a man’s image, which Michael immediately recognizes.

MICHAEL:  Garsha.

BIRKOFF:  He brokers assassins.  Red Cell must have given him a massive contract when they cracked the directory.

MICHAEL:  Do we have an address?

BIRKOFF:  Rabat, Morocco.

MICHAEL:  Good.

Michael looks to Nikita, indicating they need to get moving.  As they both head out, Birkoff calls out.

BIRKOFF:  Michael…

Michael and Nikita stop and look back at him.

BIRKOFF:  Operations wants to see you before you leave.  Alone.

As Michael immediately walks off to go see Operations, Nikita stays behind.  Birkoff throws her an uncomfortable glance.

MUNITIONS

Walter is in the process of pulling out large storage containers in which to pack equipment when Nikita walks up.

NIKITA:    Hi, Walter.

WALTER:  I don’t have enough boxes.

NIKITA:  Well, just take the important stuff.  Leave the rest.

WALTER:  Everything’s important.  They’ve given me twenty minutes.  I can’t do it.  What’s the difference, we’re all going to get whacked anyway.

His tone is fatalistic.

NIKITA:  (frowns) Don’t say that.

WALTER:  It’s true.  Oh, they won’t tell you that.  No, they gotta go through their procedures, but our safety net is not adequate to repel this kind of attack!  We ought to just stay right here and fight it out!

As he talks, Nikita glances up at Operations’ loft, where he stands with Madeline and Michael.  Michael walks out, and Nikita turns and fully faces Operations, who stares down at her with a hard expression.

Breaking the contact, Nikita glances to her left and watches thoughtfully as the other operatives busily prepare to leave Section.

VAN ACCESS

Michael and Nikita are carrying their gear as they round a corner into the corridor quickly, then Nikita turns into another corridor on her way to Van Access.  Before she gets too far, Michael grabs her arm and pulls her back.  She turns back and looks at him.

MICHAEL:  Nikita…  The location of the substation…

NIKITA:  (puzzled) What about it?

MICHAEL:  I want you to know where it is.

She looks about them, as if to see who might have heard him.

NIKITA:  I thought Operations wanted it kept a secret.

MICHAEL:  If something happens to me, I want you to go there.  It’s the only safe place.  It’s the subbasement of the abandoned rendering plant at the end of the canal in Frankfurt.

He moves off and heads into Van Access, while Nikita pauses a moment, puzzled that he told her the secret location.

RABAT, MOROCCO

We see various scenes of the bustling city and its people, then Michael and Nikita, who are clearly looking for Garsha.  In the distance, they see a cigarette-smoking man emerge from a tent with a woman.  It is Garsha.  He speaks a few moments with another man, then saunters away from the group alone.

Nikita walks up to him, and bumps into him.

NIKITA:  Excuse me.  Sorry.

As Garsha eyes her with interest, Michael steps up from behind and jabs a gun in Garsha’s back.

MICHAEL:  Please, come with us.

He puts a hand on Garsha’s shoulder and propels him away from the crowd.  Nikita follows.  They come to a wall, which Michael positions Garsha against, taking a stand before him.

MICHAEL:  Who’s your contact, and how do you get paid?

GARSHA:  I don’t know what you’re talking about.

MICHAEL:  Step back, Nikita.

Nikita nods amiably and takes a step back, as Michael places the gun under Garsha’s jaw.  Garsha laughs nervously, realizing Michael will shoot him.

GARSHA:  Wait.  I get paid from an office at the back of a warehouse.

Michael is not satisfied with the answer.

MICHAEL:  On your knees.

He shoves Garsha down, as Nikita kicks Garsha behind the knees, buckling him to the ground.  He yells with shock and falls.  Michael points his gun to the back of Garsha’s head, who raises his hands in surrender.

GARSHA:  I’ve got no reason to lie.  It’s where Red Cell does all their business.  All their records, whatever you want… is there.

Keeping the gun to Garsha’s face, Michael yanks him upright.

MICHAEL:  Show us.
 

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

Shimmying between two closely placed brick walls using her butt and feet as leverages to pull her up, Nikita climbs to the roof of the warehouse.  Below, Michael stands as lookout holding Garsha at gunpoint.

MICHAEL:  Are there any guards?

GARSHA:  Maybe.

Using a laser bead, Nikita cuts a circular hole in a windowpane, then reaches an arm in the hole and unlatches the window’s lock.  Opening the window, she climbs through.  Across the crisscrossing roof tresses, with her gun clamped between her teeth, she makes her way down into the warehouse.  As she gets lower, she notices a man’s shadow in a lit room below.  The man steps out of the room and looks around, going back into the room when he sees nothing.  Nikita continues her descent, jumping onto the room’s overhead ceiling.  When the man emerges from the room this time, he looks up to the ceiling area.  Nikita is up there, but a few feet down.  She jumps down to the man’s level, firing at him as he spins toward her.

Rounding the door into the room cautiously, she peers inside, crouching down on her butt and sliding carefully in further.  She reports her progress to Michael.

Flash to Michael outside with Garsha

NIKITA:  (voice) I’m in.

MICHAEL:  (to Garsha) Where do they keep the records?

GARSHA:  In a safe at the far end of the room.

Back in the Room

Nikita crawls carefully toward the safe, seeing that it is wide open.

NIKITA:  It’s open.

She reaches inside the safe, feeling for any kind of paperwork, when she notices that sitting on top of the safe is a smaller safe.  She takes the handle of the second safe and swings open the door.  It explodes, knocking her down, as she yells out in surprise.

Flash to Michael and Garsha

Garsha wrenches away from Michael and tries to make a run for it, but Michael takes aim and shoots him down.  Garsha tumbles down a steep slope, dead.

Back in the Room

As Nikita recovers from the blast’s impact, two men stand over her, grabbing her by the arms.  She cries out angrily as she struggles against their hold.

Outside, Michael can only listen in with frustration.

SECTION SUBSTATION

Madeline steps into the basement they are hiding out in.  Operations and Birkoff watch Michael on the monitor.

MICHAEL:  We found Garsha.

OPERATIONS:  And?

MICHAEL:  He brought us to a location.  When we were trying to penetrate, Nikita was grabbed.

OPERATIONS:  Is she alive?

MICHAEL:  I don’t know.  Should we bring in a team?

OPERATIONS:  Go alone.

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

Two Red Cell guards drag Nikita up a set of iron stairs.  There is a hood over her head.  Though she is bound, she continues to resist as they strap her to an upright steel board.  They place electrodes on her head, throat, and hands, which connect to a monitor system set up behind the steel board.  Dominic, the head of this faction of Red Cell, walks slowly up to Nikita.  Her hood is removed, and she throws an angry look to the guard nearest her, before swinging her gaze to the approaching Dominic.  She looks to him stonily.

DOMINIC:     Good.  You look at me.  You realize it’s important to know the inquisitor.

He steps up closer.  She continues to regard him directly.

DOMINIC:     You’re well trained.  Even now, even here, you look to find an edge.  What do you see?

Nikita raises her head boldly.

DOMINIC:     Tell me.  What will soften my heart?  Tears?  Courage?

He steps closer still, watching her very carefully.  Nikita softens her face, also watching him carefully.

DOMINIC:     I have your file.

He holds a hand-held PDA type unit, which shows Nikita’s image and Section information.

DOMINIC:     Josephine.

Nikita does not react to the name.

DOMINIC:  Right here in my hand is everything that Section knows about you.  Says here that you’re strong-willed.  They consider that both your greatest strength and your personal flaw.  Doesn’t always follow orders, thinks for herself, a highly-developed sense of honor.  I like this one – fair play.

Nikita give him a pat smile.  Dominic steps up directly to her, a hand on either side of the board.  Nikita looks at him with a cold wariness.

DOMINIC:  I need to know the location of Section One’s new Command and Control.  Where did Section relocate?

NIKITA:  Toledo.  Everything’s controlled from Toledo.  Spain, not Ohio.

Dominic smiles at her sarcasm.

DOMINIC:  Your file doesn’t indicate a sense of humor.  That should be updated.

NIKITA:  (sarcastic) I’ll be sure to tell them.

Dominic begins walks down the catwalk, while the two guards wheel the steel board holding Nikita after him.  At the far end of the catwalk is cage full of rats.  As Nikita sees it, she looks away fearfully, the cockiness knocked out of her.

DOMINIC:  I’m told everybody’s afraid of something… something that causes an emotion beyond terror; a horror that defies description or definition.  The senses shut down, the mind leaves the body, and… reason is no more.  Do you believe that?

Nikita stares directly ahead at the rats, her face fearful.  Her heart rate begins to climb steadily.

DOMINIC:  I looked at your file.  I know where your fear lives.

He steps to her side and touches her face.  She instinctively tries to pull away from his touch.

DOMINIC:  Can’t take your eyes off them, can you?

He smiles a pleased, cruel smile, walking behind the steel board and seeing that her heart rate reads 99.

DOMINIC:  Look at my meters.  The files were accurate.

As Nikita eyes the cage full of rats fearfully, she speaks.

NIKITA:  It’s an abandoned military base.

DOMINIC:  What?

NIKITA:  Remote Command and Control for Section One.  It’s camouflaged as a garbage scow.  Go check.

DOMINIC:  I don’t have to.  It’s a lie.

She turns her head away in defeat.

DOMINIC:  You’re not ready to tell the truth yet.  Just in a bit.  This is a very simple technique.

He touches the rat cage.

DOMINIC:  The case fits onto your head.  I will remove the wire screen and torch the rats.  I’m told they’ll do anything to get away from the fire.  Anything… including… eat through you… to escape.  Of course, this is all theory.  It’s going to be a first for both of us.

Nikita is afraid to look at the rats now, and her heart rate continues to climb. The guards begin wheeling her steel board toward the cage, and she begins gasping with fear as her face nears the opening.

The wire screen is removed and she closes her eyes tightly, moaning with trepidation.  As the rats are torched and race toward her face, she screams with terror.

Flash to Outside the Warehouse

We see a guard’s body hurtling over an outdoor staircase, then Michael watching the body fall to the ground.

SECTION SUBSTATION

As Operations paces, he talks agitatedly on the phone, clearly angry with what he is hearing.

OPERATIONS:  Why not, George?  That’s not good enough.  We are under fire!  They are not.  Then, bring it to them.  Get it signed off.  I don’t need to hear that.  This conversation is over, George!

He angrily hangs up.  Madeline stands beside him, and Operations passes weary hands over his face.  Walter sits nearby to his left.

WALTER:  Let me guess.  They’re hanging us out to dry.

Operations looks over at Walter, who holds a rifle in his hands.

OPERATIONS:  In effect.

WALTER:  I knew it.  They’ll treat us like an infected limb.  Cut us off without even blinking.

OPERATIONS:  No one’s getting cut off.

Walter laughs snidely.

WALTER:  Oh, do you believe that?

Irritated, Operations storms over to Walter, not in the mood to listen to him, too.

OPERATIONS:  Look, Walter, we’re in a situation.  If you have something constructive to contribute, I’m all ears.  If not, do your job, and stay out of my face.

Walter stands up and gets in Operations face.

WALTER:  What gives you the right to talk to people like that?

OPERATIONS:  I’m in command - that’s what.  You wanna try to relieve me?  Go ahead.

He slaps a pistol in Walter’s hand, daring him to make a move.  Birkoff sits uncomfortably watching the exchange, while Madeline steps forward, watching the stare-down ensuing between Operations and Walter.

MADELINE:  Are you two finished?  Because all that stands between Section One and extinction are the decisions we make right now.  We have to be clear-headed, not divisive.

After a moment, Walter gives up, backing up out of Operations face.

WALTER:  Nobody’s challenging your authority.  I…  I’m just… worked up.

He hands the pistol back to Operations and turns back to where he had been sitting, looking down, calmer now.

MADELINE:  We all are, Walter.

Operations begins to says something to Walter, then changes his mind and walks off.

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

Dominic watches as the rats continue to be torched.  Nikita moans in pain.

Flash to another area in the Warehouse

Michael makes his way through the warehouse en route to rescue Nikita.  He slides down some piping, killing a guard from overhead as he does so.  He jumps down, stepping past the dead guard and continues on.

Back to Nikita

Rats continue to scurry inside the cage, as Nikita groans pitifully.  Dominic smiles broadly.

Flash to Michael

Heading down a set of iron stairs, Michael takes out another guard, jumping over the railing of a second set of stairs.  He backs up behind the stairwell.  From above, a grenade is tossed down, rolling down the stairs and dropping to the level where Michael stands.  Before he can do anything other than lunge for cover, it explodes, knocking him unconscious.  Two guards rush down the stairs, and drag him through a door.

Back to Nikita

Nikita is wheeled away from the cage.  She is in bad shape, her face covered with scratches, bites and blood.  Dominic steps to her and grabs her face by the chin, examining her degree of breaking.  He turns to one of his men.

DOMINIC:  She won’t crack.  Kill her.

The two guards begin wheeling the board away.  As they get to the other end of the catwalk, the other guards are dragging Michael up the stairs to present him to Dominic.  Nikita glances over and sees Michael.  Michael looks at her, seeing her cut and bitten, bloody face.  She turns away, not wanting to appear to recognize him, but Dominic steps forward, having already noticed that they know each other.

DOMINIC:  A rescue attempt by a fellow operative.  How romantic.

Michael looks at Dominic stonily, with no fear.  Just then, Dominic hears Nikita’s heart rate monitor beeping out of control.  He moves behind the board and sees her heart rate reads 163.

DOMINIC:  Don’t kill her just yet.  Put them both in the cages.  Find out who he is, and why he is on this heroic mission.

There are two cages suspended from the high ceiling, side by side.  Michael is led to one and put inside.  Nikita is unstrapped from the board and hauled over a guard’s shoulder, and thrown unceremoniously into the adjacent cage.  As she collapses to the cage floor, she moans with pain, completely exhausted and spent from her ordeal.

From his cage, Michael looks over at her, seeing she has suffered a lot.  Dominic and the guards go down the stairs, leaving Michael and Nikita alone.

MICHAEL:  How are you holding up?

She doesn’t respond, just stares miserably out the cage.

MICHAEL:  I’m sorry, Nikita.

Dominic now comes back, running up the stairs.  He stops before Michael’s cage.

DOMINIC:  Michael, this is a very impressive file.  It also indicates that there’s a certain closeness between you and Nikita.  You’re her guide and mentor… perhaps something more.

Nikita casts a miserable glance away hearing this.  Michael hasn’t looked at Dominic, keeping his profile to him.

DOMINIC:  Now, I want to try and save time and any further discomfort for either of you.  Section will be breached.  We have other Section operatives - one of them will break.  When they do, you will be killed.  Right now, I can make this easy on everyone.  I can offer you money, new identities, a safe place to live.

Now Michael looks pointedly at Dominic, as if to say ‘no deal’.

DOMINIC:  Oh, well, don’t say I didn’t try.  So, Michael… it says here that you’re subject to dreams.  Nightmares.  Perhaps that has something to do with the death of your child.

This piques Nikita’s interest, and she turns her head toward Dominic.  He notices, and immediately steps to her cage and opens the door, crouching down to tell her what he knows.

DOMINIC:  Oh, you didn’t know?  Yes.  His wife, Simone, had a boy, but unfortunately, the child died.  It seems that Michael thought that somehow Section One was involved.  Now, why would he think that?

Nikita refuses to look at him, and Michael stares stonily ahead.

DOMINIC:  Perhaps because Section believes that having a child might alter the effectiveness of an operative.  That’s very sad.

Dominic stands, closing Nikita’s cage and going back to Michael’s, who remains silent.  Dominic is angry that he can’t crack these two.  He turns to his guards.

DOMINIC:  Take him!

As they yank Michael out of his cage, Nikita worriedly grabs the cage wires, and watches as the guards drag him down the stairs.

SECTION SUBSTATION

Operations again talks on the phone with George, his boss.

OPERATIONS:  All right, I hear you, George.  Oh, yeah.

He hangs up the phone and turns to Madeline.

OPERATIONS:  We’re on our own.  Birkoff, where are you with the Zurich operatives?

BIRKOFF:  The ones that survived the initial hit are safe and in passage.

OPERATIONS:  And North Africa?

Birkoff:  Nothing’s changed.  We won’t know until tomorrow.

Madeline looks at Operations.

MADELINE:  There’s nothing we can do for now.  Why don’t you get some rest?

OPERATIONS:  I couldn’t.

BIRKOFF:  What’s gonna happen?

OPERATIONS:  What do you mean?

BIRKOFF:  If we can’t maintain structural integrity?

Walter looks over at Birkoff.

WALTER:  You mean, if we lose?  If Section One goes down, we all go down with it.

This scares Birkoff.  He hadn’t considered this possibility.

BIRKOFF:  What do you mean?  All of us in here are still safe, right?

Madeline looks to Operations, who says nothing.  Walter is irritated by the whole situation.

WALTER:  Go on, tell him the truth.  He deserves it.

OPERATIONS:  If we don’t sustain critical mass of our personnel, the Agency will disenfranchise.

BIRKOFF:  What about survivors?

OPERATIONS:  No.  The risks are too high.

MADELINE:  We’ll be exterminated, all of us.  But, let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

She tries to placate Birkoff with an encouraging smile, but has little success.  Birkoff looks at them disturbed, not believing what he’s just learned.

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

The two guards drag a beaten Michael back up the stairs and throw him in the cage.  His face is pale and bleeding.  His feet block the cage door, so one of the guards kicks them in.  Nikita now sits in her cage watching with concern at his condition.  The guards leave.

NIKITA:  Oh… Michael…

He doesn’t respond, but begins swinging his bent legs back and forth to rock his cage closer to hers.  Nikita sees what he is doing and looks on with surprise.  When the two cages are close, he grabs a hold of the wires on her cage and holds the two cages together.  He looks into her face.

MICHAEL:  We’re okay, so far.

Their faces are close, only the wiring of the cages separating them.  Nikita looks at him tenderly, while Michael’s eyes take in her face.

MICHAEL:  When I was in there, and it started to get bad…

NIKITA:  Michael, don’t.  Save your strength.

MICHAEL:  (softly) … I thought I was gonna break, but I didn’t.  I thought of you.  You’re the only one of us who still has a soul.

Nikita gives a tremulous smile.

MICHAEL:  I’m sorry, Nikita.

She smiles, wanting to reassure him that she’s okay.

MICHAEL:  We’ll never leave this place alive.  I don’t know what love is anymore… but the only part of me that’s not dead is you.

His expression is one of sadness.  Nikita is touched by his declaration and she reaches out and places her fingers over his that hold the cages together.  She closes her eyes overcome by the moment, as does Michael.

Dominic runs up the stairs, witnessing this moment between them.  He mocks them.

DOMINIC:  Very touching.  Both of you, so strong, so committed!

Now he kicks the cages and breaks them apart.

DOMINIC:  We will try again.  I think I have the key.

He slaps a black case that he’s holding for effect, then hands it to one of his men, who holds it while Dominic removes a vial and syringe from the case.  Two guards open Michael’s cage and haul him out, strapping him to the same steel board they had had Nikita restrained on.

DOMINIC:  Michael’s greatest fear is that he will dishonor himself.

Nikita stands in her cage, gripping the wires tightly.

NIKITA:  Why don’t you just kill him?

Dominic hold up the vial filled with red liquid.

DOMINIC:  I’m going to fill his mind with madness.  Later, I will dump him on the streets of some remote city, and… let him wander.

He fills the syringe with the red liquid, and stands next to Michael.

DOMINIC:  This is your hell.

NIKITA:  He won’t tell you!

DOMINIC:  Amongst the gibberish, he’ll speak, he’ll reveal the location.

Nikita shakes her head.

NIKITA:  He won’t break.

With a violent thrust, Dominic jabs the syringe needle into the side of Michael’s neck.

DOMINIC:  Then, we both just watch him go mad.

Nikita becomes desperate to save Michael.

NIKITA: (screams)  PLEASE!

Dominic looks to her.

DOMINIC:  Tell me the location.

Nikita is crying, hating to betray Section, but desperate to save Michael.  She lowers her head and mumbles.

NIKITA:  … Frankfurt, Germany.

DOMINIC:  What did you say?

NIKITA: (muttering) … Frankfurt, Germany.

DOMINIC:  Louder, so I can hear.

MICHAEL:  Nikita, NO!

Now Nikita has broken.  She is crying and yelling angrily as she gives up Section’s location.

NIKITA:  It’s the subbasement of the abandoned rendering plant at the end of the canal in Frankfurt, Germany!

Dominic yanks the syringe out of Michael’s neck, and turns to his men.

DOMINIC:  Put him back in the cage.

He steps before Nikita’s cage and looks at her.

DOMINIC:  Until I check the information.

Michael is thrown back into his cage, and Dominic and his men leave.  Nikita looks over to Michael, who rests his head on the side of the cage, his eyes closed and his breathing heavy.

NIKITA:  Michael?

He doesn’t respond.

Flash to Dominic’s Office

There is a map spread out over the desk, which Dominic and his 2nd in Command study.

2ND IN COMMAND:  It’s a difficult area to defend.  They are vulnerable here (he points) here (he points) and here (he points).

DOMINIC:     Good.

2ND IN COMMAND:  We can start mobilizing now, or we can wait ‘til nightfall.

DOMINIC:  Time is their weakness, not cover of darkness.  Go now.

The 2nd in Command leaves the office to implement his orders.

SECTION SUBSTATION

Operations walks over to Birkoff, wanting an update.

BIRKOFF:  The sims are completed.  Right now, we’re running at a 40% loss expectation.

OPERATIONS:  That’s too many bodies.  Extrapolate that over the next ten hours.

BIRKOFF:  Assuming we keep mobilizing at the same rate, the projected loss will drop dramatically in about 90 minutes.

Operations turns to Madeline.

OPERATIONS:  How are we doing in Europe?

They begin walking away together.

MADELINE:  The initial wave of hits sustained the most damage.  We lost eight locations.  Everyone else is webbed into secondary sites.

OPERATIONS:  Can we bring them here?

MADELINE:  Transport’s already on it.

OPERATIONS:  Get them here as soon as you can.  It’s going to be a bloodbath.

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

In his cage, Michael opens his eyes and looks at Nikita.

MICHAEL:  You told them.

Nikita looks up at him, then back down quickly, not proud that she gave up Section.

MICHAEL:  It doesn’t matter.  We’ve got to get out of here.

She watches with surprise as he fishes out a piece of thin wire from his jacket collar, bends it, then lodges it by the cage door on the bottom section.  He looks around to see if anyone’s coming.

MICHAEL:  Cover your eyes.

Nikita places her hands over her eyes.  The wire begins flaming, searing through the cage’s wire.  Michael kicks out the cage bottom and jumps to the level below.  Nearby on an upper level, a guard patrols.  Michael runs over beneath the catwalk where the guard walks, reaches up and yanks him down.  Michael then takes the guard’s gun and goes back to Nikita’s cage.

MICHAEL:  Get back.

He shoots out the lock and Nikita kicks out the floor, just as Michael had done to his cage.  She jumps down into Michael’s arms.  They look at each other a brief moment, before he sets her down.  He is now all business, calculating his next move, while Nikita watches him, her expression puzzled.  As Michael goes to lead off, Nikita reaches out and stops him.

NIKITA:  Michael, what’s going on?

MICHAEL:  Later.  We’ve got to go.

He grabs her hand and pulls her into a run.  They run down a dark corridor, ducking into the shadows to detection.  Nikita hears Dominic voice coming from a nearby area.

DOMINIC:  (voice)  As soon as you’re certain, let me know.  I’ll clean up here and join you.

Michael sees that Nikita is bent on revenge.

MICHAEL:  Forget him.  We’re finished here.  We can’t do anything to interfere.

She doesn’t understand what is happening.

NIKITA:  Interfere?  With what?

MICHAEL:  Our job is to get back to the Section.

But, Nikita doesn’t care and runs toward the sound of Dominic’s voice.

MICHAEL:  Nikita, no!

She rounds a doorway that has a long stairway leading from it to an office below.  Dominic sits below at a desk.  As he turns to look up at the door and sees her, he tries to make a move for his gun, but she already has hers leveled at him.

DOMINIC:  I’ve read your file.

He sets his gun down on the desk.

DOMINIC:  You won’t shoot, unless provoked.

She looks at him full of hate and revenge after what he has put her through.

NIKITA:  They’re going to have to update my file.

She shoots him, and he falls back in his chair.  Nikita stares at his body coldly, while in the hallway Michael takes out an oncoming guard.

SECTION SUBSTATION

Operations and Birkoff watch the monitor as Red Cell military trucks converge outside the Section substation.

BIRKOFF:  It’s starting.

Scores of men emerge from the back of the trucks, armed and running into the facility.

OPERATIONS:  Have the perimeter troops fire and pull back.

We see Section operatives fire at the oncoming Red Cell troops, then retreat.  The Red Cell men far outnumber the few Section shooters, who are all killed.  The Red Cell troops advance closer to the Section hideout.

BIRKOFF:  They’re in!

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

As Nikita reloads her gun, Michael is intently listening for any hostiles.

NIKITA:  Michael, we have to notify the Section that their location’s been revealed.

MICHAEL:  They already know.

He moves ahead, forcing Nikita to follow.  She is confused.

NIKITA:  Already know?  How?

Michael glances at her, but won’t respond.  He moves off again.  Suddenly, everything begins to dawn on Nikita.  Her face registers shock as understanding comes to her.

SECTION SUBSTATION

Operations and Madeline calmly watch heavy steel doors close the entrances to their secured position.  They walk past Birkoff, Operations reaching out and patting Birkoff’s head reassuringly.

The Red Cell troops converge on the basement.  The 2nd in Command descends a flight of stairs to take the lead in anticipation of taking Section by surprise.  One of his men blast open the steel door with a rocket launcher, and all the Red Cell men rush into the interior of the room.  They see all of Section’s equipment and computers, clearly it is a Command Center, but it is empty.  There are scores of Red Cell men in the basement room, all looking about with puzzlement.  Suddenly, secondary doors begin slamming shut, trapping them inside the large room.  They begin to realize that they have walked into a trap.  A timer starts ticking, and we see the Red Cell 2nd in Command’s face register shock before a bright, white light of explosion takes them all out in one fell swoop.

RED CELL WAREHOUSE

While Michael is intent on getting back to Section, Nikita has other matters and questions on her mind.

NIKITA:  (angry) You used me!  You fed me the location thinking I’d crack under torture.

MICHAEL:  We knew you wouldn’t crack, that’s why I was sent in.

NIKITA:  What about all your words?

Michael looks down, having no defense, and Nikita is crushed.

NIKITA:  (disgusted) I finally get it.  I finally know… what attracts me to you.  It’s the character you pretend to be.  The real Michael would disgust me, I’m sure.

MICHAEL:  Can we finish this later?

He begins to run up a set of stairs, but Nikita puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him.  He looks back.

NIKITA:  (angry) We’re finished!

He continues up the stairs and Nikita follows.  As they run across an area on the next level, a Red Cell guard appears and shoots down Nikita.  She cries out, falling.  Michael turns and shoots down the Red Cell guard.

SECTION

Everyone has made it back to Section and are busy reorganizing.  Operations and Madeline walk down the hallway, having just made it back.

OPERATIONS:  Have Birkoff flush all data bases.  We’ll put together a new directory in the morning.

MADELINE:  We’ll also want to implement measures to restore morale.  Our people have to get past these losses as quickly as possible in order to return to status quo.

OPERATIONS:  Yes. In the meanwhile, let’s pump up the recruitment.

Behind them, Walter and Birkoff are also arriving back at Section.

WALTER:  Clayton didn’t make it either?

BIRKOFF:  No.  You have my backups?

WALTER:  Yeah, yeah, I got them stashed.  I’ll get them to you.

MEDICAL

Operations and Madeline enter Medical, where Nikita lies asleep curled on a gurney hooked up to monitors and equipment, Michael standing at her side.  He obviously has also been treated for his wound, as he wears white scrub-type pants and a white tank top.  His still pale face, with deep under eye circles, looks like he also took a hard beating, but he watches Nikita with concern, whose face is still a mess with the bruises and bite marks.

Operations and Madeline take a stand beside Michael and look at Nikita.

MADELINE:  How is she doing?

Michael turns and looks at them dully.

MICHAEL:  Better than any of us.

Operations and Madeline don’t respond to his bitter accusation, but look at Nikita a moment more, before exiting Medical, leaving Michael alone with Nikita again.  He rounds to the other side of the gurney - her face is turned in that direction.  At her side, he bends down to her, so that his face is close to hers.  His eyes travel all over her face tenderly.

MICHAEL: (whispers) It wasn’t all a lie.

He presses a gentle kiss to her lips, but even in her sleep Nikita jerks away from his touch.  He sees this and slowly straightens, then moves away.

END OF EPISODE