La Femme Nikita. Adam Samuelle. 038. Touch.
Title: Safe in Your Arms
Fandom: La Femme Nikita
Characters: Michael/Nikita; Adam, Elena, Operations, and two canon characters mentioned
Prompt: 038. Touch.
Word count: 639
Rating: PGish
Summary: Love provides the healing touch
Author's Notes: Spoilers through mid-Season 4; snippets of original dialogue from “Into The Looking Glass.”
Safe in Your Arms
Nikita was sleeping again. Not peacefully, but she wasn’t trying to fight Michael any more. She’d collapsed in his arms when he tried to bring her back, the pain and pressure too much to bear.
Michael wasn’t sure how much time they had. If Operations had been able to trace Nikita’s call, even on a public and unsecured line, it might not be long before Section Ops burst through the door of the cabin to take them back. The thought that he might, no, *would* be cancelled, didn’t bother him nearly as much as what would become of Nikita.
“What have they done to me?” Her voice had been raw with pain; confusion. “It hurts. It hurts.”
Nikita knew she had been “processed”; made “better” she had told Michael just days ago. But now there was a pain that came with awareness; and Nikita wasn’t “better.” She was very ill. The Gelman process, left unchecked, would eventually kill her, as it was already killing Adrian. Had he been able to reverse the damage in time?
Softly, Michael descended the wooden stairs to check on her, his boots removed to eliminate noise. Noise was pain. Touch was agony. Michael felt helpless, but he knew he was doing the right thing in pulling back, leaving Nikita isolated in her black cocoon.
Nikita groaned, but Michael resisted the urge to touch her, to smooth the damp hair from her furrowed brow. She had vomited when he got her back to the cabin, and nearly passed out again from the pain as he placed her in the nexus chamber. The cure, if that’s indeed what he was doing for her, had given Nikita the mother of all migraines.
Adam had migraines. They started shortly after his third birthday, and Elena had been in tears with worry and fear. Michael recognized the symptoms as she described them; his sister Martine had also suffered from migraines as a child. Naturally, Michael couldn’t share this knowledge with Elena, and had experienced both relief and sorrow when Adam’s pediatrician had confirmed Michael’s ad hoc diagnosis.
When the headaches came, Adam stayed in his room with the lights off, blinds pulled, with no appliances that created noise or motion in use. The first few times, Elena had tried to stroke Adam’s head, but it made the pain worse. It was difficult for her to watch her child suffer; knowing a soothing touch was anything but.
Michael felt the same about Nikita. The ultrasonance unit strapped to her head was heavy, and had to be agony to wear in her condition. But the sensory deprivation mode was a vital part of the treatment. As Adrian had explained succinctly, Michael needed to stimulate “obstructing emotions”; specifically sympathy, fear, and love. To that end, all other sensations had to be deadened, in effect, for the stimulation to work.
He reached inside the unit, carefully holding his flattened palm just above Nikita’s forehead. The fever seemed to have abated; at least he wasn’t sensing heat the way he had a few hours ago. As if aware of his presence, Nikita’s eyes flickered open, then quickly shut again even though Michael had darkened the room.
“I slept.” A statement and a question.
“Yes.” Fitfully, in and out, but she hadn’t moved in nearly four hours.
“There’s still pain.”
“It will go away.”
“When?” Michael had no answer. Not for what she was going through. So he told her what he had told his small son; it seemed to reassure him.
“When you let it.”
Nikita processed his words. She believed him.
“Michael. I love you.”
It wasn’t a ruse. Nikita wasn’t going anywhere this time. She didn’t want to. For the first time in months she felt vulnerability, and sought safety and love in Michael’s arms; brought back to life by his touch.
My fanfic100 prompt table is here.
Fandom: La Femme Nikita
Characters: Michael/Nikita; Adam, Elena, Operations, and two canon characters mentioned
Prompt: 038. Touch.
Word count: 639
Rating: PGish
Summary: Love provides the healing touch
Author's Notes: Spoilers through mid-Season 4; snippets of original dialogue from “Into The Looking Glass.”
Safe in Your Arms
Nikita was sleeping again. Not peacefully, but she wasn’t trying to fight Michael any more. She’d collapsed in his arms when he tried to bring her back, the pain and pressure too much to bear.
Michael wasn’t sure how much time they had. If Operations had been able to trace Nikita’s call, even on a public and unsecured line, it might not be long before Section Ops burst through the door of the cabin to take them back. The thought that he might, no, *would* be cancelled, didn’t bother him nearly as much as what would become of Nikita.
“What have they done to me?” Her voice had been raw with pain; confusion. “It hurts. It hurts.”
Nikita knew she had been “processed”; made “better” she had told Michael just days ago. But now there was a pain that came with awareness; and Nikita wasn’t “better.” She was very ill. The Gelman process, left unchecked, would eventually kill her, as it was already killing Adrian. Had he been able to reverse the damage in time?
Softly, Michael descended the wooden stairs to check on her, his boots removed to eliminate noise. Noise was pain. Touch was agony. Michael felt helpless, but he knew he was doing the right thing in pulling back, leaving Nikita isolated in her black cocoon.
Nikita groaned, but Michael resisted the urge to touch her, to smooth the damp hair from her furrowed brow. She had vomited when he got her back to the cabin, and nearly passed out again from the pain as he placed her in the nexus chamber. The cure, if that’s indeed what he was doing for her, had given Nikita the mother of all migraines.
Adam had migraines. They started shortly after his third birthday, and Elena had been in tears with worry and fear. Michael recognized the symptoms as she described them; his sister Martine had also suffered from migraines as a child. Naturally, Michael couldn’t share this knowledge with Elena, and had experienced both relief and sorrow when Adam’s pediatrician had confirmed Michael’s ad hoc diagnosis.
When the headaches came, Adam stayed in his room with the lights off, blinds pulled, with no appliances that created noise or motion in use. The first few times, Elena had tried to stroke Adam’s head, but it made the pain worse. It was difficult for her to watch her child suffer; knowing a soothing touch was anything but.
Michael felt the same about Nikita. The ultrasonance unit strapped to her head was heavy, and had to be agony to wear in her condition. But the sensory deprivation mode was a vital part of the treatment. As Adrian had explained succinctly, Michael needed to stimulate “obstructing emotions”; specifically sympathy, fear, and love. To that end, all other sensations had to be deadened, in effect, for the stimulation to work.
He reached inside the unit, carefully holding his flattened palm just above Nikita’s forehead. The fever seemed to have abated; at least he wasn’t sensing heat the way he had a few hours ago. As if aware of his presence, Nikita’s eyes flickered open, then quickly shut again even though Michael had darkened the room.
“I slept.” A statement and a question.
“Yes.” Fitfully, in and out, but she hadn’t moved in nearly four hours.
“There’s still pain.”
“It will go away.”
“When?” Michael had no answer. Not for what she was going through. So he told her what he had told his small son; it seemed to reassure him.
“When you let it.”
Nikita processed his words. She believed him.
“Michael. I love you.”
It wasn’t a ruse. Nikita wasn’t going anywhere this time. She didn’t want to. For the first time in months she felt vulnerability, and sought safety and love in Michael’s arms; brought back to life by his touch.
My fanfic100 prompt table is here.