La Femme Nikita. Adam Samuelle. 001. Beginnings.
Title: In the Beginning…
Fandom: La Femme Nikita
Characters: Michael, Operations, Madeline; Elena and Simone mentioned
Prompt: 001. Beginnings.
Word count: 577
Rating: PGish
Summary: The beginning of the end?
Author's Notes: Spoilers through mid-Season 3
*To preserve continuity, this story should actually be read between Team Leader and I Love Paris.*
In the Beginning…
“I think that would be a mistake.” Those were the words that came from his mouth. Calm, cool; emotionally detached. Michael’s carefully blank face revealed nothing of his inner turmoil. He wanted to scream. No! I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Isn’t that enough?
Instead, he waited patiently as Operations lit his cheroot. “Sims show a high probability that Vacek will be more likely to make contact with Elena.”
“Sims have been inaccurate before,” the younger man reminded him. “Sims showed a high probability that Elena’s father would initiate contact on two separate occasions; when she announced her engagement, and then again at her wedding. Yet Vacek remains in seclusion. A child will make no difference.”
“I disagree,” Madeline interjected. “Elena wants children. If the sims are incorrect and, as you believe, the birth of her child does not produce the expected results, we can then explore other avenues. For now, a child will not only prove to be a distraction, but will solidify your cover. A content family: father, mother, and child.”
Madeline’s use of the word ‘will’ rather than ‘would’ was not lost on Michael. In her eyes, a pregnant Elena was a foregone conclusion. Continuing to object would make no difference. His breathing remained steady. Only the most minute change in the color of his eyes from silver-green to greenish silver revealed the havoc being wreaked upon his psyche. He blinked, once, but Madeline had already noticed.
“We are not unsympathetic to the loss of Simone, Michael.” The touch of her hand on his arm, meant to reassure, raised gooseflesh beneath his black Armani jacket. “Perhaps, if the child is female, you can name her after your late wife.” Madeline was pleased with her proposal. As if his ravaged heart could be soothed by naming an unwanted child after Simone. Not even flesh-and-blood so much as the means to an end; bait for the trap. Michael had hidden his despair, successfully, from Elena for the three months since his love had died, taking his spirit with her. He neither needed nor required a daily reminder.
“I would suggest naming a male child “Adam.” Operations was proud of his own proposition. He liked the symbolism. The first-born male
Michael didn’t need their sympathy. Or their ‘symbolism.’
Michael had lost his beloved, unable to turn to his “wife” for comfort as she had no knowledge of her “husband’s” duplicity. Operations and Madeline could never understand the depth of his loss; would never understand his fear that, perhaps because of that loss, he was becoming more attached to Elena. He cared for her. She was a good woman-far too good for him. And when the Vacek mission wound however slowly to its inevitable conclusion, Michael would lose Elena as well. Now, they also expected him to sacrifice a child.
He looked up to see two pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly. One pale blue, one deep brown, yet eerily similar. Michael stood. “Of course,” he responded mechanically. He had no choice, and they knew it. He would give Elena her child. Hers; not his. An it; not a child. Certainly not his child. He would simply disengage.
“Michael?” He had reached the top of the stairs which would take him away from this torment, yet he paused, the hairs of the back of his neck rising. “I meant what I said. You must name your son ‘Adam.’”
“Of course,” Michael repeated, thinking, And so it begins.
My prompt table is here.
Fandom: La Femme Nikita
Characters: Michael, Operations, Madeline; Elena and Simone mentioned
Prompt: 001. Beginnings.
Word count: 577
Rating: PGish
Summary: The beginning of the end?
Author's Notes: Spoilers through mid-Season 3
*To preserve continuity, this story should actually be read between Team Leader and I Love Paris.*
In the Beginning…
“I think that would be a mistake.” Those were the words that came from his mouth. Calm, cool; emotionally detached. Michael’s carefully blank face revealed nothing of his inner turmoil. He wanted to scream. No! I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Isn’t that enough?
Instead, he waited patiently as Operations lit his cheroot. “Sims show a high probability that Vacek will be more likely to make contact with Elena.”
“Sims have been inaccurate before,” the younger man reminded him. “Sims showed a high probability that Elena’s father would initiate contact on two separate occasions; when she announced her engagement, and then again at her wedding. Yet Vacek remains in seclusion. A child will make no difference.”
“I disagree,” Madeline interjected. “Elena wants children. If the sims are incorrect and, as you believe, the birth of her child does not produce the expected results, we can then explore other avenues. For now, a child will not only prove to be a distraction, but will solidify your cover. A content family: father, mother, and child.”
Madeline’s use of the word ‘will’ rather than ‘would’ was not lost on Michael. In her eyes, a pregnant Elena was a foregone conclusion. Continuing to object would make no difference. His breathing remained steady. Only the most minute change in the color of his eyes from silver-green to greenish silver revealed the havoc being wreaked upon his psyche. He blinked, once, but Madeline had already noticed.
“We are not unsympathetic to the loss of Simone, Michael.” The touch of her hand on his arm, meant to reassure, raised gooseflesh beneath his black Armani jacket. “Perhaps, if the child is female, you can name her after your late wife.” Madeline was pleased with her proposal. As if his ravaged heart could be soothed by naming an unwanted child after Simone. Not even flesh-and-blood so much as the means to an end; bait for the trap. Michael had hidden his despair, successfully, from Elena for the three months since his love had died, taking his spirit with her. He neither needed nor required a daily reminder.
“I would suggest naming a male child “Adam.” Operations was proud of his own proposition. He liked the symbolism. The first-born male
Michael didn’t need their sympathy. Or their ‘symbolism.’
Michael had lost his beloved, unable to turn to his “wife” for comfort as she had no knowledge of her “husband’s” duplicity. Operations and Madeline could never understand the depth of his loss; would never understand his fear that, perhaps because of that loss, he was becoming more attached to Elena. He cared for her. She was a good woman-far too good for him. And when the Vacek mission wound however slowly to its inevitable conclusion, Michael would lose Elena as well. Now, they also expected him to sacrifice a child.
He looked up to see two pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly. One pale blue, one deep brown, yet eerily similar. Michael stood. “Of course,” he responded mechanically. He had no choice, and they knew it. He would give Elena her child. Hers; not his. An it; not a child. Certainly not his child. He would simply disengage.
“Michael?” He had reached the top of the stairs which would take him away from this torment, yet he paused, the hairs of the back of his neck rising. “I meant what I said. You must name your son ‘Adam.’”
“Of course,” Michael repeated, thinking, And so it begins.
My prompt table is here.