Michael's son, Adam is a hostage of The Collective. Michael must save his son in a trade proposed by The Collective. Meanwhile, Haled is confronted by Michael on an offer to get rid of Graff, then leading Haled to become the head employee. Nikita & Michael do so, but this isn't good because Haled isn't alive anymore. This doesn't look too good for Michael. Two new candidates, Myra Mauk & Kelley are hoping for a spot at Section. Walter didn't have the best history with Myra, so he asks Jason Crawford to take her out of the running, he does so. More trades are offered later in the episode. Nikita is now running Section One, she lets Michael go to spend time with his son. Nikita says good-bye to Michael & continues are duties at Section One.

With Adrian's help, Nikita manages to breach the most sensitive area of Section and secure a file, code named Gemstone, which contains evidence which will bring down Operations and destroy Section One. Meanwhile, Operations forces Michael to identify the Section operative most likely to work with Adrian to undermine Section, Nikita. Michael confronts Nikita in order to try to find a way to protect her, but she denies any association with Adrian. Now Michael is forced to kidnap both Nikita and Adrian and bring them back to Section, knowing that Nikita and Adrian will be cancelled and that the incriminating Gemstone file will be permanently erased.

While Nikita is reassigned to Special Operative Jurgen, Section is contacted by one of Freedom League's operatives in order to verify Nikita's story about her capture.

Birkoff may have stumbled on Section One's biggest coups yet, a chance to nab a top Red Cell operative by the name of "The Cardinal", who has eluded Section One for more than 15 years. Unfortunately, Birkoff's arch-nemesis Greg Hillinger is convinced that Birkoff is wrong, and Hillinger convinces George that Operations and Section One are walking into a trap. Based on Hillinger's intellect, George moves against Operations on the assumption that the operation against The Cardinal is bogus. Is Birkoff right after all? And if Birkoff is wrong, is this the end of Operations, and Birkoff too?

When Nikita fails to assassinate Grenet, a Red Cell agent, and is unknowingly injured, Michael goes to her apartment to have dinner. It ends in disaster, when his water is poisoned and Nikita hands him over to Red Cell in exchange for his cornia files. She deletes herself from Section's databases and escapes to where they can't find her.

The situation is dire as The Collective, still led by Graff and Haled, is cleaning Section's clock. But, just in time, Michael asks Nikita to help him return to Section, where his re-emergence is viewed with suspicion by both Mr. Jones and Operations. While new missions continue against The Collective with Michael's return, Nikita admits that she lied to him in "Four Light Years Further," and that she does indeed love him. Operations discovers that The Collective has infiltrated Section's mainframe to try to locate and kidnap Michael's son Adam, in attempt to re-assert control over him. Can Operations foil The Collective's plans?

Section believes that terrorists are after the nuclear power source of a downed satellite. They later discover the terrorists are actually after it because it is a military satellite and it will give them access to the Pentagon if they are able to salvage it and crack the codes. Nikita grows closer to Jurgen and Section uses it to their advantage.

When the founder of Section One comes back to destroy her own creation, Nikita must make a choice between the life of Michael or the existence of Section.

Nikita continues to show evidence of the "reprogramming," including ordering the elimination of a captured Section operative and endangering the lives of children during a mission, and taking part in the beatings of a captive. Michael is determined to reverse Nikita's reprogramming, and he soon determines that the former Section operative who came up with the "reprogramming" process, Ross Gelman, may be the key. Meanwhile, Operations couldn't be more proud of the "new" Nikita, but Madeline is still worried. Eventually, Operations concludes that Michael's attempts at restoring Nikita have gone too far, and takes extreme measures.

Michael kidnaps Nikita with Walter and Birkoff's help, and manages to reverse Gelman's process. Together, they outsmart Madeline and Operations leading them to return to Section.

After Substation three is destroyed by self-destruct, Section One investigates and finds a trace to Red Cell. What they also discover is that Red Cell has been taking similar blows. Operations decides to become allies and for each other to send top-notch agents. Operations sends Madeline, though Operations is willing to risk her.

Michael escapes Red Cell and is assigned to meet Nikita and kill her, however she doesn't show up and an Alpha Team is assigned to track her down. Michael leads the team with Kate Quinn. Before the mission, Michael discovers Quinn is Nikita and that he could leave Section. The Alpha Team is wiped out and Michael escapes with Nikita.

Nikita is brought back to full operative status when Birkoff discovers a six-man terrorist team are making several random attacks.

Section falls into a trap when a mission to take out a Red Cell munitions base causes a virus to be spread throughout Section.

Egram Petrosian, the former Section deep cover agent rescued by Section One, takes over and promotes Nikita to second in command when Operations is seriously wounded by an insane operative.

Section believes that an imprisoned terrorist leader is ordering an attack through his lawyer. Nikita and Michael go undercover as a couple, and Nikita is supposed to be a psychic. The terrorist's lawyer asks Nikita to contact his dead son, but Nikita is shocked to discover something else.

After Michael eludes Operations' first cancellation attempt, Operations puts all missions on hold and sends out a team to kill him. Michael again manages to escape certain death, but this time he returns to infiltrate Section. Determined to find the files that possess the formula for deprogramming Nikita, Michael is stunned to discover who Section's first test subject was; Adrian, Section One's founder, whose effort to topple Operations failed two years earlier. To gain leverage against Operations, Michael kidnaps Adrian, but her help proves limited when Michael discovers her mind is gone.

Michael and Nikita have been traveling from place to place, keeping one step ahead of Section One's attempts to find them. When George is eliminated from the picture after leaking intel to Red Cell in order to discredit Section One, the newly-empowered Operations and Madeline finally track down Michael and Nikita. They bring them back to Section. Just as Michael and Nikita are about to be cancelled, all of Section's systems suddenly stop. Mr. Jones, the mysterious head of Center, is on his way to Section One in order to conduct an evaluation, and has put Section in stasis. When Jones arrives, he is really Nick Shtoppel Nikita's neighbor and Section informant. He reveals that Nikita has been secretly working for Center for the last three years. Nikita assists Jones with his evaluation, and things change radically. Operations is forced to remain at Section One for the next seven years. Madeline takes her own life rather than be cancelled. Walter is transferred to the Farm, where he will

Section One is hot on the trail of Tyler, one of the world's most dangerous terrorists. After Tyler kidnaps a young inventor who has created a new, completely un-detectable plastic explosive, Nikita is sent to try and rescue the inventor and keep his knowledge out of Tyler's hands. When the mission is unsuccessful, Nikita is given orders to cancel the inventor, but she refuses. Operations decides that Nikita has crossed the line, and he purposely sends her on a suicide mission to destroy a terrorist hideout. Michael intervenes and gives Nikita the means to escape, but her freedom will change both of their lives forever.

With Michael's help, Nikita survived the destruction of a Freedom League hideout in the first season's final episode. Since then, she has been on the run from Section One. While working as a waitress, Nikita is captured by the Freedom League and used as bait to lure Section One into a trap. During a raid by a Section team led by Michael, Nikita saves Michael's life and they manage to escape together. Later, on an abandoned ship, Nikita and Michael share a night of passion. However, Michael's lies about Nikita's whereabouts are in danger of being exposed.

Nikita is promoted to team leader early and is sent on a much more dangerous than expected mission with a disobedient operative.

Michael is captured and interrogated by terrorists, then loses his memory and does not know who he is.

When Section discovers a wealthy terrorist plans to fund upcoming civilian attacks, Michael and Nikita pose as money launderers in order to stop him. However, his assistant, Giraldi, claims to be a Section operative who has been in the field for nine years and wants to be brought back in. When Nikita informs Operations, he tells her to ignore his request, but when Madeline finds out, she insists Nikita bring him in. Now, Nikita is caught between Madeline and Operations, and a man's life hangs in the balance.

Michael discovers that Adrian's mind is not blank as he thought it is. Together they try to save George from Operations and Madeline's attempt to assassinate him. Meanwhile, Michael kidnaps Nikita in a futile effort to reason with her.

Section One is finally moving hard against Red Cell. Their objective is to capture Chief Strategist (Madeline's opposite) in Red Cell, a man code-named Leon. Once captured, Leon and Madeline begin a dangerous game of mental and emotional cat and mouse. Is Madeline actually developing an emotional attachment to Leon that is interfering with her objective? And what is with the incision that Birkoff discovers behind Madeline's ear? Meanwhile, Birkoff is giving Walter the cold shoulder, and continues to investigate the whereabouts of his twin brother, Jason Crawford.