"Samantha Saunders…huh! Sounds like a made-up name to me." Walter smacked Birkoff lightly on the head.

"You never even met the chick, Birkoff. How do you ever expect to get anywhere with a…woman?" Walter lowered his voice conspiratorially, rubbing his nose with the backs of his fingers.

Birkoff sighed. "Oh, well, Walter. Guess I'm just doomed to live without Cyber-Chick in my life." He tapped the keyboard rapidly, and the beautiful young girl's profile disappeared from the screen.

"You could do worse…" Walter whispered into Birkoff's ear with a sly grin.

"I could do better, too." Birkoff snorted. "Seriously."

"Hey, I think she's cute. Kinda like…a younger version of…Nikita." Walter tried in vain to pronounce Nikita's name the way Michael did. Birkoff laughed.

"Nice try, Walter. But I'll hold out for the real thing."

Walter turned his head and grinned. "Wellll," he drawled, "the real thing just walked in…"

Birkoff turned and looked in the same direction. "Well…DAMN!"

She was beautiful. Her hair was long and blonde, her eyes clear and blue. She was the picture of innocence. Birkoff smiled in anticipation.

Then she spoke. "Heyyyy…" she whined. "Where's my PDA, Walter? You promised I'd have it back by Friday at the latest, and here it is, already the following Wednesday." She tapped her foot impatiently. Walter handed the girl her PDA, then studied her as she waltzed away on black patent leather high heels.

"You've already met her?" Birkoff frowned at Walter.

"Hey…a whine is a terrible thing to waste." Walter smirked at Birkoff.

"What's up with that voice?" Birkoff whispered to Walter.

Walter sighed blissfully. "She uses it like a weapon."

"Kinky?" Birkoff almost salivated at the thought. Walter eyed the younger man and chuckled. "You don't know what to do with straight yet, and you're worried about kinky?"

Michael stole in behind the two operatives, so quietly that neither one of them noticed. Until he spoke.

"Walter…is there a meeting going on that I don't know about?"

Walter flushed. "No, just chatting with Birkoff."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"About ten minutes, Michael. See ya. Gotta go now." Walter spun on his bootheels and almost ran back to Munitions.

Michael smiled at Birkoff. "Would you care to tell me what that was about?"

Michael's smile was evil. Not reassuring, not kind. Not even just plain interesting. Evil was the only word that suited.

Birkoff began to stammer nervously. "Um…uh…"

Michael's eyes twinkled unexpectedly. "Wouldn't happen to be about…Sam?"

"Who's Sam?" Birkoff almost launched himself off the chair and out of the area, but Michael grabbed him by the shoulders. He wrenched the younger man around until he could not help but catch a glimpse of the retreating girl's blonde hair.

"That, Birkoff, was Sam…" Michael sounded almost amused. Not to mention interested.

"Michael, are you…um…interested in Sam?" Birkoff's eyes almost popped out of his head as he contemplated the idea of Michael being with anyone who was not Nikita.

"She is…" Michael's eyes followed Sam's exit from Section. "…interesting."

"Maybe it's the resemblance to Nikita, Michael," Birkoff felt compelled to add.

Michael's eyes flickered from Sam to Birkoff and back again. "Maybe…maybe it's the way she says yes, when Nikita only says no…" He patted Birkoff's arm gently and walked off.

Birkoff's mouth dropped open.

Michael wasted no time in finding out where Samantha Saunders had gone. He found her chatting with Walter, of all people. Walter grinned at Michael. "What brings you to my neck o' the woods, Michael? No missions going out for a day or two. Things are slowwww ‘round here."

He nodded perfunctorily, his gaze fixed on the beautiful young girl beside Walter. "Yes, they are. I have some downtime. Thought I would find someone…interesting…to spend it with." To say this remark was out of character for Michael was a major understatement. It was downright provocative.

Walter colored. "Why, Michael, I didn't know you felt that way ‘bout me." Michael's eyes shifted to Walter, and he looked at Walter with something akin to pity and disbelief. "As if…"

"Sam…" Michael drawled Samantha's name in his curiously accented voice, and she tingled all over her nubile young body.

"Yes, Michael?" she asked throatily. Apparently, a whine wasn't her only talent. A husky voice was a definite trigger for Michael. He didn't know why he found the smokiness of her voice arousing, but he regarded her with renewed interest.

"Would you like to go out for coffee?" Michael let his dark green eyes roam the entire length of her body before returning to her face. The half-smile Sam wore was all the proof he needed that she had noticed.

"Actually…I don't drink coffee. I'm into Diet Dr. Pepper." She held up a can of soda for Michael to examine. He gave it a cursory glance and smiled lazily, like a panther about to spring upon its prey.

"Whatever…" He continued to study the girl for long moments, all the while missing the fact that Walter was observing the action. Walter was practically beside himself with envy. Sam was what they called a "looker" in his day, and to have a young girl like that fawning over him was quite an ego boost. But it looked like she had seen and snared Michael. Strange. He'd thought that Michael and Nikita were inseparable, no matter what Section did, and now this tall leggy blonde with certain enviable attributes had laid waste to the competition with little or no effort.

"Michael…have you seen Nikita lately?" Walter just couldn't resist mentioning Nikita's name, wondering if Michael would show any visible response. As expected, he didn't. But his answer revealed something about how he viewed Nikita.

Michael's lips parted involuntarily at the sound of Nikita's name. He smiled. "No, Walter, I haven't. But if you do, tell her I said hello." Michael was totally and utterly preoccupied with the young woman.

"Hello." Walter shrugged, then smiled. "I think you may be able to tell her yourself, Michael. Here she comes." Walter stood back and crossed his arms. This could be…what was Michael's word?…interesting.

Nikita approached Walter's workshop, completely unaware of the undercurrents being generated. "Hi, Walter."

Walter grinned at Nikita warmly. "Hi, Sugar. How's by you today?"

Nikita shrugged her shoulders in response. "Not bad." While she had been speaking to Walter, Michael and Sam had moved into a corner of the corridor, talking with considerable intensity, from the look of it. Walter laughed to himself. Who would have thought things would turn out this way?

Michael ran his hand lightly over Sam's upper arm. She was like silk to touch, all soft and feminine where Nikita was hard and muscular. He tried to resist comparing them, but it was inevitable. Of course, he thought charitably, Nikita was an operative, and physical training was something he had worked hard on with her. He actually admired the look of Nikita's body, all athletic and resilient. He had a momentary flash of holding Nikita in his arms while they made love in Lyons. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Headache coming on.

Sam noticed Michael's reaction and wondered what he was thinking. He was definitely the most intriguing man in Section One, though their paths had never crossed until recently. But she had thought he was Nikita's exclusive property. Apparently not. She smiled secretively. No stranger to competition, despite her young age, Sam thought, she'd give Nikita a run for her money. May the games begin…

Nikita said goodbye to Walter and moved away, not realizing the couple she passed in the corridor was Michael and Sam. When she was several feet away, however, she abruptly remembered something she wanted to tell Walter and doubled back the way she came. That was when she saw them. Kissing.

Michael had Sam pressed up against the wall. His right hand was creeping slowly under her skirt, while his left hand was caressing her face. That stung. Nikita thought of that as their special gesture. For him to do that to another woman was worse than kissing her. Nikita could feel the heat coming off them as she went by.

She knew the exact moment when Michael saw her. He had just broken off the kiss and was staring intently into Sam's eyes when he heard Nikita's footsteps. He turned and faced Nikita, his body still tightly against Sam's. He froze, a guilty look on his face for one moment before he became inscrutable again.

"Nikita…" His voice was mere whisper. Hard to tell what he was thinking.

Nikita shrugged. "Not to worry, Michael. You don't have to explain anything to me. It's not like you belong to me…you never did." Nikita thought she was doing an admirable job of hiding her jealousy of Sam until that last part, which was cloaked in such bitterness, even she cringed at the explicit longing that conveyed to Michael.

Nikita walked away, not even pausing by Walter's workshop, though that had been her original intention. She couldn't speak to Walter right now. He would see right through her bravado. He always did.

She stopped behind Birkoff's computer workstation. "Hi, Birkoff." Birkoff smiled warmly, then noted Nikita's wan expression. "Okay, Nikita, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Birkoff. Why?"

Birkoff snorted. "You can't fool me, Nikita. I know you."

She shrugged, saying almost as an afterthought, "Michael's seeing someone else." Birkoff's eyes widened. He whistled softly. "No way."

She looked down at her hands, examining each finger carefully. "Yeah, he is. I just caught him kissing her in the hallway. Here at Section."

"Oh, man…that's so…" Birkoff looked torn between conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he thought that Nikita might finally realize that there were other men in the world. On the other hand, he thought she looked miserable enough to make him regret thinking he might be one of the other men.

"It's probably just a libido thing, Nikita." Birkoff stammered out, hoping that were true.

"You mean it's just a fling? Somehow that doesn't reassure me. Being tossed over for a casual thing is no more flattering than finding out Michael might fall in love with someone else someday." Nikita couldn't believe she had actually said that, and to Birkoff, no less. She had to get a grip on her feelings, she was conceding defeat before she had even engaged her opponent in battle. Who was this Sam anyway?

"Birkoff," she said seductively in his ear. "Tell me what you know about Sam…"

"I want to meet you…how about tonight?" read the message that flickered across Sam's computer screen. She was not at all inexperienced with computers, and she loved hanging out in the net chat rooms, looking for other Section members. She had been online for about an hour, reading her email and fielding instant messages from amorous males, in search of female companionship. But this last in a series of messages intrigued her. It had all the elements she was in pursuit of: a male who liked Chinese food, drove a black car, and liked to listen to rock music. How could she pass up an opportunity like this? Even for someone like Michael? Michael wasn't a sure thing. Sam liked sure things.

In that decisive way that only the young have of making up their minds, Sam decided to meet the male in question. She would find a way to compensate Michael. Ha, she laughed to herself, they would both be grateful after she finished making things up to him.

But before she could write her reply to her suitor, her cell phone rang. "Dorothy…" the husky voice on the other end said. Damn! Now everything would be on hold until she came back from her mission.

Birkoff's hands flew across the keyboard. He had to intercept Sam before she actually got to Section. He patched himself into her cell phone, and moments later, he had convinced her that the mission team was meeting outside Section. He told her he was sending the mission van to pick her up, and she never questioned him further. That surprised him. He knew she disliked authority, and she often ran into trouble following direction, even from Operations. It was a wonder, frankly, why she hadn't already found her way into abeyance. But no, Operations specifically stated that Sam Saunders still had untapped potential that Section could utilize. Someday.

Meanwhile…Michael picked up his cell phone and spoke one word, "Yeah?" The husky voice on the other end said simply, "Jacques." He frowned. He wasn't supposed to be called in. He was off for two whole days. God knows, he never requested time off, but when an opportunity like this arose, he took it. He raked both hands through his hair.

Birkoff intercepted Michael before he left his apartment, telling him there had been a change in plan. The team was meeting outside Section. He gave Michael the address and grinned to himself. Oh, to be a fly on the wall…

The lights were dim, the shadows invitingly sensual. Sam stretched her arms and wondered if she had too much clothing on. She made a polite moue with her mouth. She would have them off soon enough. Knock, knock. Someone was at the door. About time. Flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder, she walked languidly to the door to open it.

In her sheer black negligee and opaque black thong panties, she was every man's erotic dream sprung to life. She ran a high-heeled foot up and down her other leg, watching as the man in black studied her carefully. Michael looked vaguely disquieted. Was he having second thoughts? She would change all that.

She turned and walked away from the door, clearly anticipating that Michael would follow. He did. He swallowed hard, briefly wondering what he had gotten himself entangled in. But his desire for Sam was such that he overrode his conscience and his pounding headache. He winced at the renewed throbbing in his head, but he knew it was the result of having seen Nikita. Why did he feel like he was betraying her? He had a right to some happiness in his life, too. Didn't he? Then why did he feel so conflicted?

She stood at the edge of the bed inside the darkened bedroom. Michael came up behind her, convinced that she was even more remarkably beautiful than before. "Tu es si belle…" Michael said softly in French. She turned and put a finger to her lips. "Let's not talk," Sam whispered threadily.

Michael pressed his lips to her shoulder and she arched her back in response. He ran both hands down to her buttocks, vaguely surprised to find them as firm as they were. He slid his hands inside the back of her panties and pushed them down, all the while taking her mouth in a sensual, open-mouthed kiss. He felt aroused at once. Again, his response surprised him. He had been a long, long time, though, without a woman. No. That was a dangerous direction to take his thoughts. He couldn't start thinking about Nikita now.

His tongue plunged inside her mouth, and he groaned at the sweetness within. His hands worked back and forth along the sides of her face, first framing her face, then pushing her hair back in a touching yet sensual way. He leaned his forehead against hers, as he stopped for a moment, quite breathless. His fingers lightly grazing her breasts, Michael closed his eyes, letting his other senses guide him. The smell of her on his hands was incredibly erotic. He wanted to spend himself deep inside her, but he imagined she wasn't ready for him yet. Foreplay. Something he never needed with Nikita. Maybe because they were always in a constant state of anticipation with each other. Maybe because they had been prevented from acting on those feelings so many times, when they did get together, their coming together was fierce and almost violent.

He nuzzled Sam's neck, and he heard her intake of breath. It seemed she shared that same trigger point with Nikita. He trailed kisses down her body, licking lightly at her breasts as he passed them, then down to her navel. When he reached her navel, he swirled his tongue around it, blowing warm breath on the spot until he felt her goosebumps arise. He touched her groin with one hand, feeling the moisture there, and he knew she was ready.

He pushed her down onto the bed, very gently, spreading her legs apart. Without removing any of his clothing, he bent over her, pressing his arousal against her lower body. He slid off the bed then, pulling his jacket off, then his T-shirt. He threw his pants onto the floor with the rest of his clothes, then quickly rejoined Sam on the bed. He nudged her thighs apart with his knee, and entered her quickly. Her gasp, followed by a sigh of pleasure so deep it made him ache, aroused him further.

He brushed her breasts with the weight of his chest, tantalizing her further when he wet his palms with his mouth, then scraped them lightly across her nipples. Her eyelids fluttered and she moaned in a low, deep voice. Slowly he began to move inside her, the rhythm increasing gently at first, then more erratically as it picked up speed. It was all going to be over too soon. This wasn't the way she had imagined it would be. More. More. She wanted more. His hands splayed on either side of her body, Michael pounded against her body, again surprised that Sam would prefer it this way. She'd seemed so soft and innocent when he'd kissed her earlier. This was like making love to Nikita. Nikita! Oh, my God…Michael couldn't even complete that thought as he spent himself within her body. She shuddered beneath him, her body contracting in time to his.

"Oh, God…Michael…"