Nikita
Transcript by Cathy

Nikita walks along a street, smoking a cigarette. Her hair is tangled and she's wearing grungy clothes. She eats a burrito, we see her talking to other street kids and then running down the street with them. Flash to Nikita from above, lying strapped to a table in the White Room. Back to Nikita, on the street, in the rain, smiling at a small kitten. Flash to the White Room - Nikita's face, mouth moving silently, hands clutching at air, struggling to free herself. Flash to the street, Nikita's face, Nikita walking along a dark alley - you just see her feet stepping on the pavement. Flash to struggling on the table in the White Room. Back to Nikita on the street - she hears a man's cry and turns her head to see a bald man who has just killed a police officer. The bald man leaps up and slams her against the wall and they struggle - she screams but you don't hear the sounds - suddenly, the man withdraws leaving her with the bloody knife in her hands. She backs away, terrified, but you hear sirens and she finds herself surrounded by police officers. She raises her hands and drops the knife.

Voice over of judge: You have been found guilty of murder in the first degree. I'm sentencing you to life in prison.
Shot of Nikita in police car.
Flash to Nikita in the white room, being injected with something.
Flash to Nikita behind bars in prison, screaming "Noooooo! I didn't kill anyone!"
Flash to hands loosening Nikita's restraints in the White Room. Close-up of Michael's lips.
Michael: Good morning.
Nikita springs off the table like a wild animal and backs up to the wall.
Michael: I'm not going to hurt you.
Nikita: What is this? (extremely wary, whispering)
Michael: You're not in prison anymore. The world thinks you're dead. Suicide. This is your funeral. He hands her a photograph Row 8, plot 30.
Nikita: My momma...
Michael: Row 8, plot 30.
Nikita: My momma... didn't come? (starting to cry, she clutches the photograph to her chest)
Michael stalks around the room as Nikita slides to a sitting position.
Michael: We've decided to give you another chance. This is where you'll train. This is where you'll learn. After two years, if everything goes well, you'll work for us.
Nikita: Why me?
Michael: A woman with your looks, who can kill in cold blood...
Nikita: I didn't, I didn't, I didn't kill anyone! (stands up again, back against the wall)
Michael goes to leave but she attacks him from behind. He neatly flips her back onto the floor and leans over her.
Michael: When you attack someone from behind, go for the kidneys. It disables and they can't fight back. Consider that your first lesson.
Nikita: I don't want - I don't want lessons!
Michael gets up.
Michael: We start tomorrow at 5 a.m.
Nikita: (still lying on her back) And if I don't want to?
Michael: (points at her) Row 8, plot 30.
He leaves.

SECTION ONE - COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Michael walks through, Nikita following. She is seeing it all for the first time. We see Birkoff bending over his computer, Operations in the Perch, Walter working on something. When he sees her he walks over to get a better look.
Nikita: Where am I going?
Michael: To meet your new mother.
Nikita: So who are you, my father?
Michael: (smiles) Wait here.

MADELINE'S OFFICE

He leaves and the doors she stands before open outward; she has to step back. She then proceeds into Madeline's office. Nikita looks at a screen that shows her psychiatric profile. The camera shifts to the view from above and we see a woman's right hand with a large ring on the index finger. Then we go back to Nikita and see Madeline, standing on the balcony above.
Madeline: They seem to think you have potential.
Nikita: Who's "they"? Who are you?
Madeline: I'm Madeline. They are Section One. They own you now.
Nikita: Didn't know I was for sale.
Madeline: Please sit down. (Nikita looks at her warily and doesn't move.) If you want to live, it has to be on their terms. So please, do sit down. (Nikita sits and Madeline stands beside her and gently turns her head so that she is looking in the mirror.) Look at yourself. Admire yourself. See your beauty. You can learn to shoot. You can learn to fight. But there's no weapon as powerful as your femininity. Madeline strokes Nikita's cheek and puts her hand on her shoulder. We're family now, Nikita.
Madeline turns and walks away.

TRAINING

Next we see scenes of Nikita being taught to shoot by Walter and learning hand-to-hand combat, all while being watched over by Operations. Flips to a scene of Nikita in super-high heels in Madeline's office. She is slouched in a chair, Madeline picks up her leg and crosses it over to a more ladylike position as Michael looks on. More of Nikita shooting - she's learning how now. Nikita applying lipstick in Madeline's office with Madeline in the background smiling. More combat - Nikita flipping a guy down on his back.

THE PERCH

Michael comes in.
Operations: You're late.
Michael: Training went long.
Operations: Take a look at this.
Operations hits some buttons and a picture comes up.
Michael: Van Vactor.
Operations: He's brokering an alliance between multiple anti-western terrorist groups. Shining Path, Hezbollah, everyone from the Middle East to the Far East.
Michael: That doesn't make sense. Half of them are enemies to each other.
Operations: But their biggest enemy is us. He's coming here to put an operation in place.
Michael: Do we know the when and where?
Operations: No, but we think there's an itinerary downloaded onto a PDA. Walter's on it, he'll update you. Michael, about Nikita.
Michael: What about her?
Operations: I've been watching her. She lacks discipline.
Michael: She needs a little more time.
Operations: It's been two years. That's our policy. We start making exceptions, we're no better than the CIA. Cancel her.
Michael: I think that would be a mistake.
Operations: It would be a mistake to become emotionally attached to the material.
Michael: It has nothing to do with that, I think she could be a good operative.
Operations: If she fails, you fail.

MARTIAL ARTS

Next scene is Nikita practicing martial arts. She sees Michael arrive and bows to her opponent.
Michael: How's it going?
Nikita: You tell me.
Michael: Have Madeline get something nice for you to wear. We're going out.
Nikita: What do you mean, going out?
Michael: Dinner, tonight.
Nikita: Why?
Michael: You've earned it.
Michael leaves; Nikita looks up at the Perch and sees Operations watching her.

RESTAURANT

Nikita getting out of a car in spiky heels and a black minidress. She and Michael are having dinner.
Michael: Madeline taught you well.
Nikita: It's hard to believe I'm here.
Michael: Where else should you be?
Nikita: I don't know. It's just that I lived on the streets for so long. (smiles)
Michael: Why did you run away?
Nikita: I didn't. My mother preferred her new boyfriend. And he didn't like me. So she told me to get out.
Michael: Sorry.
Nikita: Don't be. I never was.
Michael: You've come a long way, Nikita.
Nikita: I feel... (laughs)
Michael: What? Say it.
Nikita: Happy.
Michael brings out a gift-wrapped box from beside him on the seat. Really? She is gleeful. She unwraps it, smiling all the time, but her face freezes when she realizes it's a gun.
Michael: The blond haired man sitting behind me has a PDA in his briefcase. Get it.
Nikita: How?
Michael: When you get the unit, don't leave through the front. There's a window in the ladies room. Use that. It leads to an alley. The car will be waiting.
Nikita: I... I thought we were...
Michael: If you're not out of there in five minutes, the car will leave without you.
Nikita: (shaking her head) I can't do this.
Michael: Five minutes. If you don't mind, wait until I leave.
Nikita: Michael...
Michael has already gotten up and left. Nikita loads the gun and keeps looking at the man. She walks over and puts the gun to his head, simultaneously smashing his companion's head down on the table.
Nikita: Open it!
He shakes his head, and she shoots at the ceiling above him.
Blonde guy: I've got my men everywhere. You'll be dead in a matter of seconds.
Nikita shoots the briefcase, which springs open. She grabs the PDA and heads for the ladies' room only to find that the window is bricked up. Gunfire erupts and she hides behind a wall. She then escapes into the kitchen where two men start shooting at her. Hidden by a wall, she temporarily flips out and sinks to the ground, but then she scoots along until she's behind a table and starts shooting back. Nikita launches herself into a garbage chute just as one of the men shoots off a bazooka. She lands in the dumpster outside and, limping, crawls out and runs to the waiting car. Michael is inside. Outside, sirens go off.

LIMO

Nikita: You knew?
Michael: We had to see if you could improvise. Did you get the PDA?
Nikita: Why didn't you tell me this was a job, instead of pretending?
She throws the PDA at him.
Michael: No matter what state of mind you're in, you have to be able to perform.
Nikita: You're sick. You don't want a person, you want a machine. I can't do that.
Michael: You just did.
The limo pulls up to an apartment building. Nikita looks up.
Michael: Let's go?
Nikita: What's this place?
Michael: You'll see.
Nikita: No. Not until you tell me what we're doing here.
Michael: Nikita, please.
Michael unlocks the door and they enter the apartment.

NIKITA'S APARTMENT

Nikita: You live here?
Michael: No. You do. It's yours.
Nikita: Mine?
Michael: I hope you like it.
Nikita: What do you mean, mine?
Michael: Everything you need is in there - I.D., driver's license, credit cards. Tell no one who you are or what you do. Anyone asks, you're between jobs and taking some time to figure things out. (Michael walks close to her, she smiles.) Your codename is Josephine.
Nikita: What do I do now?
Michael: Wait.
Nikita: For how long?
Michael: Depends. Could be a day, could be a month. Goodbye.
Michael leaves and Nikita starts to walk around and explore her new home. She runs out to the balcony and lets the evening wind whip through her hair.

Still at the apartment, Nikita is hanging sunglasses on a string. She has replaced the conservative furniture with brightly colored pieces. There is a knocking on the door. She jumps up to open it but then reconsiders. Nikita walks up to her door and looks through the peephole but all she can see is a large plant. Then the person turns and she sees Carla. Nikita leaves the chain on but opens her door.
Carla: Hi, I'm Carla. I live across the hall. Welcome to the building. It's a coffee plant.
Nikita: (very suspicious) Who sent you?
Carla: (puzzled) Who sent me? Listen, if this is a bad time for you I can always come back later. Carla goes to leave, but Nikita flings open the door and smiles.
Nikita: Carla? I'm Nikita. (they shake hands) Do you want to come in?
Carla: Sure.
Nikita: Yeah?
Carla: Okay.

NIKITA'S LIVING ROOM

Carla: I'm a carpenter. Yeah, I know, my mother still hasn't recovered from the shock of it all yet. Whenever anyone asks her what I do, she tells them I'm an interior designer.
Nikita: At least you like what you do.
Carla: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, ever since I was a kid, I wanted to build stuff. So what do you do?
Nikita: I'm between jobs at the moment.
Carla: Well what do you want to do?
Nikita: I don't know.
Carla: Hmm, well, you'll figure it out. Do you want to go get something to eat?
Nikita: Yeah, sure.
Nikita's phone rings.
Carla: I know this great burger joint.
Nikita answers her phone.
Nikita: Hello!
Michael: (on the phone) Josephine.

HOTEL BASEMENT

Nikita comes in. Michael looks at his watch impatiently. Madeline comes in.
Madeline: Take off your clothes.
She helps Nikita undress... Michael steals a glance at her bare back. Walter comes over and stands at her shoulder. He holds up a lipstick
Walter: Okay, this opens like a normal lipstick. This is your explosive right here. You jam it into the door, and then you arm it right here.
Madeline comes over and wires up Nikita with something.
Michael: Okay, target's name is Gideon Van Vactor. He's in Suite 2105 with his mistress. We have a thirty minute window. She's expendable, he's not. Take him alive. Team one, you'll be the coolers on this one. Stay in position as long as possible, if you have to break, two pulses. Team two, you'll be working the rim. Okay, one more thing. We don't know what all these people are. Be prepared for everything.
Madeline puts a maid's costume on Nikita and a gun into an attached holster I need her now.
Madeline: This is your comm set. Remember, try and keep your head still.
Next scene is the hotel - Nikita pushing a maid's cart. Back at Section, everyone is watching.
Voice on comm: Team One in position
Michael: (to Nikita through her comm set) Just two more on the left.
Voice on comm: Good job, Nikita's confirmed. She has access to the room.
Nikita: (aloud) Housekeeping! (to her comm set) Now what?
Michael: Put the plastique on the door. And remember, be quiet, he's in the next room.
Nikita puts the explosive on the door.
Birkoff: On two!
Michael: (to comm set) Jo, someone's coming in.
A bellhop enters and sees her. Nikita draws her gun.
Nikita: Who are you?
Bellhop: (raises hands) Hey, hey, hey - I'm leaving, I'm leaving now.
Michael: (to comm set) Shoot him!
Nikita: What are you doing in this room?
Michael: (to comm set) Nikita, he's one of them. Shoot him. Shoot him now. Now Nikita, now!!!
Nikita disobeys, knocking him unconscious instead of killing him.
Michael: Everyone abort! Get your teams off the perimeter now!
Voices on comm sets: Let's move, let's move!
Nikita jumps over the bed and runs down the hallway

MICHAEL'S OFFICE

Michael is pacing back and forth. Nikita is seated.
Michael: Get up! STAND!
She does so.
Michael: Section One is the most clandestine organization on the planet. It's our job to bring down the criminals and terrorists that no one else can get.
Nikita: I can't do what you want me to do.
Michael: Mistakes are not an option.
Nikita: I can't pull the trigger.
Michael: Why not?
Nikita: Because I'm not who you think I am. I'm not a killer.
Michael: comes around the desk and talks right into her face in a hoarse whisper The moment I believe that, Nikita, you're cancelled. Michael leaves the office

COMM

Birkoff is typing at his computer.
Birkoff: I've got something!
Operations: What is it?
Birkoff: It's Van Vactor. He's on his way to the airport.
Operations: All right, find an intersecting point and start sequencing.

STREET - ACCIDENT SCENE

A traffic jam caused by a bad accident. The limo carrying Van Vactor pulls up.
Van Vactor: What's going on?
Chauffeur: Looks like a car accident.
The chauffeur, Van Vactor and other henchmen get out of the limo and look around. An ambulance pulls up. We see some construction workers busy on a rooftop. The ambulance workers load the accident victims onto stretchers.
Van Vactor: It's a trap!
Everyone starts shooting. The construction workers, the ambulance crew, everyone. Van Valder grabs a pedestrian and uses her as a body shield.
Nikita: He's running!
Michael: (in the mission van with Birkoff) Team two and three, neutralize the area. Team one, pursue.
Nikita and another operative run into a warehouse, searching for Van Vactor. They cautiously proceed to the basement, guns drawn.
Birkoff: Damn it. We've lost team one.

SEWER

Nikita: (into her comm set) Michael!
Other op: They don't work down here.
He steps through an archway and is grabbed by Van Vactor's henchman. Nikita holds her gun on them both. Then she drops it.
Van Vactor: In here. (Nikita is pulled inside and he looks at her.) Why don't I know you? See, I make a point of knowing my enemies, of which I have many. Yes, I definitely would remember those eyes. (He shoots the other operative in the leg.) Okay, shall we end this misery? (Nikita just stares at him; he shoots the other op again and smiles.) Let's prolong the entertainment. He's a friend of yours, isn't he?
Nikita: Go to Hell.
Van Vactor: Let's try something different. (His henchman grabs Nikita and holds a knife to her throat.) Where do you come from? (screaming)
Suddenly Michael drops down as if from the ceiling and shoots the henchman. Nikita kicks the gun out of Van Vactor's hand and holds him at gunpoint.
Michael: (to Nikita) You okay?
Nikita moves the gun until she's aiming at him. Michael looks stunned. She fires the gun, and another of Van Vactor's henchmen falls to the ground behind Michael. It is the bellhop from the hotel. He was about to shoot Michael. Other operatives come in and handcuff Van Vactor; Nikita walks away, stunned, and looks at the man she just shot. The gun falls from her hand.

NIKITA'S APARTMENT

The next scene is Nikita in her apartment. Candles are burning. She looks at the picture of her funeral. She crushes it in her hand and then burns it. The phone rings. We don't see anything but the screen goes black and we hear Michael's voice.
Michael: Josephine.

THE END

Edited by Claudia and Dana

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