When Claire was a fetus.

…...

Michael Westen was helping unseat a dictator when someone handed him a post it note that said 'message' on it.

He took a deep breath and put it in his pocket before grasping the arm of the woman he was 'escorting' out of the country. Westen dropped her into the car before turning and looking at the driver.

"Where are we going anyway?" Michael asked. Edfu Naifeh shrugged before opening his car door.

"Nearest Friendly. Probably Saudi Arabia." The spy raised his eyebrows quickly before glancing back into the car he looked and the frightened woman and her son. He smiled and spoke to them in Arabic.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." The mother sighed in relief, but the boy still looked unsure. Michael wished his Arabic was as good as hi Farsi. He wished he could say something to put the boy at ease. He mentally kicked himself for giving a damn. Spy's didn't care if kids were scared of them. He climbed into the front seat of the car tried to remind himself that he didn't care.

"Why'd you ask?" Naifeh wondered out loud, looking at Michael with a bored attempt at chit chat. "You expecting a little R & R before we get back under?"

Westen looked at his new partner. Edfu was calm and collected, he had the stunning ability to look bored even in when the world around them was falling apart.

"I got a message." He held up the paper. "I'm guessing it needs secure channels."

"You think we're blown?" He asked lazily.

"No. I think if our covers were blown they would have just said so." He shook his head. "I don't know what this is."

He watched the scenery go by trying to shake the low feeling of dread that was building. If it wasn't about the job, that meant it was about home.

Home. He'd been trying not to think about Miami. Or the way that Fiona had sobbed in the bathroom the morning he'd left. He tried not to remember Sam's awkward grunts as they waited for his flight. Or the way his mother had told him she'd say her goodbyes at the house. He remembered Fiona's soft fingers tracing his face in those final minutes before he left. No matter how hard he tried he knew that moment would be behind his eyelids every time they closed.

Edfu prattled on as they drove to the airstrip and 'escorted' the family out of Egypt. Michael tried to keep up, he tried to occupy his idle mind with details from their current mission. He tried to think about anything else but what could have possibly happened in Miami that warranted a message.

…...

"Mr. Westen?" He blinked, turning his face towards the woman. "Your call?"

Michael made his way into the office and picked up the phone.

"Westen."

"Mike?" Jesse's voice was firm. Michael swallowed hard.

"Jesse." He didn't know what else to say after that and it made his chest burn.

"Man I don't know how to tell you this.." Porter murmured.

"Jesse what happened?" Michael waited taking slow breaths and trying to convince himself that no matter what Jesse had to say he could handle it.

"Mike.. I went to your mom's today. You know I see Sam. I've even had lunch with your mom once or twice but this was the first time I've seen Fi and-."

"Jesse?" My breath quickened. Fiona. He knew this was about Fiona. "Just tell me."

"She's pregnant." Porter blurted.

"She's.." Michael felt the words ripple through him. Pregnant.

"At least six or seven months-." He continued and Michael strained to hear him over the sound of his own rushing blood.

"She's.."

"Mike.. " Jesse mumbled. "I don't know what I expect you to do with this information but I thought you should at least have it." He waited through Michael's silence before taking a deep breath. "Stay safe Man." He muttered, hanging up before Michael found a way to say another word.

"Planes ready." Edfu came around the corner, a piece of licorice hanging out of his mouth. He stopped and starred at his partner, his eyes widening."Everything okay?"

He didn't move.

"Mike?" Westen turned his face towards him. "Bad news?"

"No." He said softly.

"You look like someone just told you the world was coming to an end." Naifeh chuckled, patting Michael on the back.

"No I.." Westen couldn't bring himself to consider what this meant. "I'm going to need to make another call before we go. You should tell them to hold the plane." He started back towards the room. "You should probably tell them to get a new plane."

"Sure. Whatever man. Just make sure you snap out of this before we get back to Pakistan."

...

He'd sat starring at the phone for almost an hour before he'd called the house.

"Hello!" Sam's easy going tone floated over the crackling phone line. Michael surprised himself with a smile. "Hello?"

"Hey Sam." There was silence for a moment before he heard his friend take a long breath.

"I figured we'd be hearing from you, Brother. I just didn't think it would be so quickly." He sighed. "Jesse wasn't wasting any time."

"Sam.." Micheal rubbed his hand over his face. "When?"

"Probably while you were having sex."

"When is she-? How long until-?" He sputtered.

"She's got six weeks to go." Sam cut him off, sparing him the discomfort of saying the words.

"Six weeks?" Michael shook his head. "I can't-."

"Mike." He pulled his attention back to the man on the other end of the phone. "Fiona's still up. I'm going to go get her and let you two... do what you do..."

Michael pressed his eyes shut and tried to steal himself against the sound of her voice.

"Come on Fi. Talk to him." He heard Sam coaxing her. "It's time. It's past time."

"Michael." Her voice was sharp and guarded. It hurt his head.

"Fi.." He tested her, approaching her with his defenses down.

"So I'm assuming you spoke to Jesse." She told him her voice a little less harsh, but still full of defensiveness.

"Are you alright?" He whispered.

"I'm fine Michael. It's a pregnancy not a terminal illness." She was down right warm that time.

"Fi." He whispered mournfully, sorrowfully into the shoddy crackling phone connection. "Jesus Fiona what did you do?"

He knew it was the wrong thing to say the second he said it.

"I gave my self a reason Michael." She whispered harshly. "A reason to wake up in the morning."

Right.. because he'd left her with nothing. He'd left her behind with out looking back. Blah Blah He was so sick of that song and dance.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He said sharply.

"Don't bother. We don't need you." She said coolly.

He rolled his eyes. Yeah right. Sure 'don't come home' that'll give her something else to hang over his head for the rest of his life.

"Oh, bother." Sam's voice makes him jump. "We need you, Mikey."

…...

Naifeh blinked at him. It wasn't that he'd he hadn't spoken at all on the flight, that wasn't uncommon. Michael was always silent. It was the completely annoyed look on his face. Michael Westen's face did not have looks. It had one. Flat.

"You want to talk about it?" Edfu finally decided to ask, his eyebrows arching at his partner.

"No." Michael muttered.

"Some thing happen at home?" He prodded. Westen gave him an evil glare. Naifeh lifted his hands up in defense. Edfu nearly jumped when the man suddenly started talking a few minutes later.

"You know, you think you know someone and they turn around and do something so-."

"Ah.. it's a about.. Fiona..." He drew Fi's name out, accentuating each letter. Michael's back went rod straight, he turned to stare at the man he suddenly realized barely knew. He couldn't remember ever telling him about Fiona. Edfu laughed at him. "When you had that fever in Kurram? You called out to her for days."

"I did not." Michael snorted.

"Fi.. Fiona.. Fi.." His partner moaned.

"Okay Okay." Michael looked around sharply before looking back at Naifeh.

"So what did she do, Fiona?" The Arabic man leaned back in his seat. "She cheat on you?"

"No." He whispered softly.

"Then what?" The man waved his hand dismissively, as if there was nothing else that mattered

"She's pregnant."

"Mabrouk!" Edfu clapped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations my friend!" Michael looked at him like he was insane. "You should be happy!"

"Happy?"

"Yes! The woman you love is giving you a child. What better gift can you receive?" He listened to the smooth way the man's accent made it sound like something nice. Something possible. "And I know you love her. A sick man does not call out for a woman unless it is the woman he loves."

Michael thought about that. He remembered very little from the days he'd been ill, but he did remember wanting her there, wanting her cool fingers on his hot skin. Wanting the soft weight of her head on his chest. The-.

"Michael?" He looked up again. "When is the big event?"

"Six weeks." He sighed, looking out the windows of the jet.

"Six?" Naifeh shook his head. "You need to get home." Michael looked back at him. "We need a new plan."

…...

"I don't feel right about this." Michael whispered, looking back over his shoulder at the door way.

"No." Edfu looked at him a grin coming to his features despite the seriousness of his mission. "You have to go. This is more important."

"You better be here when I get back." He leaned forward, looking into the other man's face.

"If I'm not, promise me you'll name the baby Edfu." He teased, gripping Michael by the shoulders. Westen laughed.

"You better be here when I get back." He repeated with a true Westen grin. "Fiona would never forgive me for 'Edfu Westen.'" Naifeh chuckled. "Allah Ma'ak, my friend."

"Ela Al lekaa"

…...

Michael leaned against the window of the plane, his mind still full of what he'd just left behind. Edfu Naifeh. They'd grown closer in the the last month, he'd opened himself up to someone more than he had since leaving Miami. He knew that leaving him behind put his life at risk. He knew that there was a good chance that he wouldn't be there when he returned. If he returned.

He couldn't be sure now. He couldn't be sure of anything. Fiona was angry, he knew that, and for once since the burn noticed was lifted, he knew she had the right to be.

Because he had left her with nothing, with out looking back. She'd given up everything to be there for him when he needed her and he'd left her pregnant and alone and angry.

Right now he just needed to get home.