This story is written for entertainment purposes only. If you're under age, go someplace else. Children's Internet use should be monitored by their parents, not me.

My thanks to the very clever Emmachen1312, who came up with the concepts for this story. She inspired me to give it my best shot and I only hope I do it justice.

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Tick Tock, Watch the Clock

Ambushed

"Alex, get Sean and put your phone on speaker, you both need to hear this." Birkhoff's stomach churned and his heart hammered in his chest. He knew to be effective he had to be detached and remain objective, but this was very personal.

"We're both here, what's happened?" Alex knew, the minute she heard his voice that something was wrong. His serious demeanor was a dead give away.

"It's Emma. She's been abducted and this is Amanda's doing." Saying the words out loud made it real and he felt like he had been slapped hard across the face.

"Jesus Christ…" Sean muttered. "Are you sure it was her?"

"The Bitch left a note for Nikita. We're sure. How long before you can get to the island?"

"Tell Nikita and Michael, we're on our way. ETA, forty-five minutes." Alex swallowed the lump in her throat and fought back her tears.

"Make it thirty." Birkhoff hung up the phone and felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. He always knew Amanda would re-surface and when she did, it would be very bad.

"Congratulations! It's definitely twins. See here? Those are two separate heart beats."

Nikita looked at Michael, her eyes wide with shock. Once she saw the same frozen look on his face, she knew she had heard the doctor correctly. Twins. Both of their expressions melted from disbelief to shock.

"Everything looks fine, but we treat multiples as a high risk pregnancy." Dr. Keller helped Nikita sit up and get down from the examining table. He looked sincerely happy for them. Even under these strange circumstances, a baby or babies in this case were the most natural and normalizing event for a couple like Michael and Nikita, even in Division.

"I'll let you two digest this news." The doctor smiled, but like everyone in the clandestine organization, a more serious expression took its place. "You'll need to tell Ryan and soon, in just a few months it will be evident." He patted Michael on his back before leaving.

Nikita emerged from the bathroom. "Michael? You are happy aren't you?" She had been through it all, but this was ultimately going to be the biggest event in both their lives. Although she knew better, she went there. She went to that place which undermines us all, called doubt.

The crinkles around Michael's eyes deepened and he looked thoughtful. He reached out and took her into his arms. "Despite all of the insane and deplorable things in our lives, this is pure and will give everything we do some perspective." He kissed her. "I've never been so happy!"

She kissed him back and any lingering uncertainty disappeared. This man, who she had shared so much with, loved her and she loved him back. "I never considered myself as a mother... but I know you will be the the best father."

"We have a lot to consider. We'll need to make some decisions and there will be some made for us. Are you ready for this?" Michael smoothed her hair back and looked her straight in the eye.

"I don't know if I'm ready, but I do know that I'll never turn back! Oh my God, twins! " She threw her arms around his neck and thought she was the luckiest woman in the world.

The whirr from the helicopter blades was deafening and the force of the wind whipped Alex's hair around her head. Sean joined her on the helipad and they both squinted as the chopper rose up into the sky and banked to the left before taking off. Both of them shared the same sense of foreboding as they power walked to the house.

Michael and Nikita's two and half year old daughter Emma had vanished. She and her bodyguard Sam, were ambushed on the way back from the toddler's pre-school. Even in this quiet island community, the unspeakable had happened.

Sean was greeted by a member of their security team and followed him to the home office, while Alex made her way to the kitchen.

She saw the strained look on Nikita's face. To see her friend and mentor like this was heart breaking. She hugged her and rubbed her back and they sat down at the kitchen table.

"We will get her back. Emma will be back in your arms before you know it." Alex would be strong for her, the two of them had been through so much together, the bond between them was unbreakable.

Her phone rang and she picked it up. "Sonya... Birkhoff... what did you find?"

The two former Division Agents staid behind to work from the company office on the fifty-sixth floor of the Union Building. They had all become family and were equally rattled by this frightening news.

Sonya's soothing voice came over the speaker phone. "We haven't found any evidence of private traffic in or out of the Island. No boats, planes or helicopters. We leaked a bomb scare to the ferry system and they've halted all service. Emma has to be on the island."

When Michael and Nikita had asked Birkhoff and Sonya to join them in their private security business, they were thrilled to be part of this new venture and out from under Division's thumb. They helped set up an office near the financial district, it had a panoramic view of the water framed by mountains in the background, and it was only a few blocks from the ferry terminal.

Alex and Sean were the next to come on board. They left Division armed with new identities, birth records and social security cards. It wasn't a hard adjustment and they were committed to each other and to this new opportunity. They joined the company that provided security to individuals and agencies across the globe. Their clients included Presidents, Prime Ministers, Government Diplomats and helping the innocent who had been cruelly victimized.

Alex took a deep breath. "Sonya, Sean will want to coordinate a sweep of the island, he's with Michael, wait for his call."

"Hey Nikki, it's gonna be okay!" Birkhoff chimed in. "She won't get away with this." He knew he and the others had to keep it together. This wasn't about transferring some dubious foreign dignitary from one extradited country to another, this was about Emma, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

"Thanks. Let us know what you find on the security cams at the ferry dock." Nikita's voice quavered.

"You know it." Birkhoff huffed out.

"What about Sam?" Sonya sounded as tentative as she felt.

"He's alive, but in a coma, he's been med-evac'd to Division." Nikita tried to keep her voice steady. "We're concerned for his safety and when he wakes up, we want to be the first to debrief him. He can tell us what happened." All of them knew Emma's bodyguard would be devastated. All of them prayed he would wake up.

Michael walked in and Alex stood up from the table and reached out toward him. She squeezed his hand in support and empathy. "I'll be in your office." She walked out hating feeling helpless.

Nikita's face was void of emotion, ghostly pale and set in stone. She stared at Emma's booster seat across the kitchen table from her. When she looked up and acknowledged Michael, she kept herself in check. It was a necessary mask to keep her under control.

The silence between them roared in his ears. "Sean's heading the search. We've got every square inch of this island covered."

He looked at her sorrowfully. "Nikita, I'm sorry. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't pushed you into letting her go." He had told her it would be good for their daughter to be enrolled in pre-school with other children. She wasn't convinced until he finally agreed to hire Sean's friend to be Emma's unlikely nanny. Sam was a gentle giant, whose background was in Special Forces.

She shook her head and looked up at him. "This is not your fault." She said the words with conviction. "I know everything you do is for us. I know you would never put either of us in harms way. This is on me. Amanda hasn't given up on hurting me…" Nikita's mask crumbled and she choked back a sob.

Michael pulled a chair up next to her and sat down. He took her hands in his. "No, this isn't on you, it's on Amanda. She's sick and twisted, but we will get Emma back. You have to believe this."

She wiped the tears off of her face and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Michael, I know how you feel, but remember, we don't blame each other for being human, for trying to be normal." She embraced him and laid her head on his shoulder. Michael grimaced at her words, she was right, blame would never change what was happening to them or bring their losses back.

The call from The Island Sheriff's Department seemed like a dream. At first, she was sure she heard them incorrectly. Then she practically begged them to recant their words and tell her it was a mistake. She replayed the conversation in her head, and each time she went through it, it made her cringe.

"Nikita, this is Deputy Sheriff Campbell, there's been an accident. You and Michael need to get down here immediately."

Her heart stopped and she felt numb with fear. "Where's Emma? Put Sam on the phone, I want to speak to him."

"Sam's alive, but unconscious. The SUV he was driving, it went off the road."

"What are you saying? Where's Emma? Is she hurt?" She felt the panic bubble up from her core, invading all her senses.

"We don't know where Emma is, but we found a note. It's written to you."

"Read it to me." Nikita started shaking.

Deputy Campbell read the few words to her.

Dear Nikita,
We have so much to catch up on. Tick Tock, watch the clock.
Faithfully, Amanda.
P.S. Game on.

Nikita felt weak and she leaned against Michael. She vaguely remembered calling out to him. She heard him on the phone asking for details and she saw the look of horror in his eyes.

Her voice cracked and she could barely articulate the words. "Michael, I just need to talk to her..."