Burn Notice: I don't own it, I just like to play with it.
Redefining Normal
By WritePassion
When Michael walked away after saying goodbye, the other four people who played such an intricate part in the burned spy's life were left devastated. Fiona would have crumbled to the concrete in tears, except Sam moved forward, wrapped his arms around her, and kept her on her feet as the Feds escorted them to a waiting vehicle. They all remained silent, overwhelmed by what had happened and unsure of where to go from that point forward. The CIA helped give them a push. The four piled into a black SUV that took them home, one by one.
The driver dropped Jesse off at his apartment, still stunned by what had happened. He watched the black SUV drive away, hands stuffed into his back pockets, wondering what he was supposed to do now.
First, he had to check on the apartment. He couldn't remember how long it had been, how many months, since he'd seen it last. He hadn't paid rent in all that time. The landlady was nice, but... Jesse sighed. It was time to face the music, to see if anything was left for him to pick up the pieces of his life and move on.
He entered the apartment building and walked straight to the elevator like he'd done so many times before, hit the button, and waited for a car to take him to his floor. As the doors opened on the fourth floor, he swallowed and forced his feet to move. A sense of dread flitted around in his stomach, and with each step it grew in intensity. He stopped at 409, fished in his pocket for the key, amazed that he still had it after all they'd been through and lost. He stuck it in the lock.
I don't remember it being so difficult.
He jiggled it until the key went in all the way and he turned it, or at least he tried. It wouldn't budge. He knew right away that someone had changed the lock. A deep, sorrowful sigh escaped from him and he pressed his forehead against the door. When he lived there, he hated it. Well, he hated being alone more than anything, but he didn't like the layout or the way he could hear his neighbors party upstairs. Now that the apartment was no longer his, he felt like a piece of his history had been ripped from his soul.
A snapping noise sounded through the door, and suddenly it flew open. Jesse stepped back in time to avoid tumbling into the apartment. A woman stood before him, tall, slim, with smooth cocoa skin and a don't mess with me look in her eyes.
"Who are you? Why are you trying to break into my place," she barked. She held up a Beretta nine millimeter aimed directly at his face.
Jesse took another step back, hands raised, and cool as could be as he said, "Hey, woah, no need for guns. I... I used to live here. This was my apartment, and I thought..."
"You thought you'd stop by and see how the place looks. Feeling nostalgic, huh?"
He tried an innocent smile. "It's more complicated than that. Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." He glanced at the lock. "Mind if I get my keys? Then I'll leave you alone. Sorry to have bothered you."
"What's your name," she asked, her eyes studying him with distrust.
"Jesse Porter, ma'am," he answered, reaching for the door handle. "Could I please just get my keys? Then I'll be gone."
The woman reached for the keyring and yanked it away from the lock. Dangling it between them while she still held up the gun, she said, "Here you go."
"Thanks." He bobbled the keys in his hand, listening to the tinny jingle. "If you don't mind my asking, how long have you lived here?"
"Three months."
Jesse nodded. So Mrs. Pitts must have held out for awhile before cleaning it out and renting it to someone else. He always liked that old lady. A slight smile crossed his face when he thought of her. "So, uh, you like it?"
"It's okay. Why? You planning on trying to kick me out? I have a lease."
"No," Jesse replied and shook his head. His eyes went up toward the ceiling. "I won't miss the people upstairs."
"Oh yeah, them." For the first time, the woman's expression softened and she lowered the gun. "I take it you had a lot of problems with them?"
"Yeah."
She smiled, and Jesse liked what he saw. "Well, I don't have any trouble with them anymore, not since I went up there and threatened to arrest them for disorderly conduct."
"You're a cop?"
"Yeah. I'm a detective with the Miami PD. Michelle Oglesby. I waved my badge around, and I haven't had any trouble with them since."
Jesse smiled in return. "Must be nice to have that kind of power." At the moment, Jesse felt completely powerless, not only in his life and future, but in the attraction he was starting to feel for Detective Oglesby. It was time to stop this before he let it carry him away. He had business to attend to, in order to rebuild his life.
"Yeah. Was there something else, Mr. Porter," she asked, and the way she said it reminded him of Agent Riley.
Jesse frowned, as if he'd just been doused with a bucket of ice cold water. "Uh, no. Thank you for your time, Detective." He took a couple steps, waved, and turned, walking with long strides to the elevator. He didn't notice that the detective stood in her door watching him, whether it was from curiosity or caution, if you would have asked her, she wouldn't have been able to say.
When the elevator deposited him in the lobby, Jesse hurried to the apartment office to see Mrs. Pitts. He entered and found a younger woman sitting at the desk, not the kind, elderly woman he expected.
"Hi, I'm Jesse Porter. I used to live in 409."
She looked up and frowned. "Oh yes, Mr. Porter. I suppose you want to know where your stuff is."
"Uh, yeah, that would be kind of nice."
The woman got out of her chair, turned to a file cabinet, and rooted around inside. Pulling out a file, she slapped it onto her desk surface, pointed to a clause in the contract, and spoke. "When you signed the lease, you agreed that if you abandoned the property that management would have authority to dispose of your belongings as management saw fit." She looked at him. "Everything was sold, and along with the security deposit, the profits compensated for the lost rent."
"You... you sold all my stuff?" He swallowed hard. He had some nice things, and he was upset to lose them. After such a hellish year, he'd hoped to come back to something comfortable, but he was left even more adrift than before. "There's nothing left?"
"Nope. You should have thought about the consequences before you took off, Mr. Porter." She picked up the file again. "If you've come back to rent an apartment, I'm sorry, but we won't rent to you anymore. You'll have to find some other landlord who will tolerate your behavior."
Jesse gaped, frozen to the carpet. When he realized that she was done with him, he managed to ask, "What happened to Mrs. Pitts?"
"She died, and her estate was liquidated. Hanover Management bought the property and now manages it."
"I see. Thank you." Jesse didn't know what else to say. He turned and left the office, the grip on his suitcase tightening. Everything he owned was in it. As he stood in the bright sunshine, he muttered to himself, "What do I do now?"
The vehicle stopped in front of the hotel to let Sam out. By now, Fiona stopped crying but she sat in the middle of the seat with Sam and Maddie flanking her, not moving, her eyes staring straight ahead.
"Your stop, Mr. Axe," the agent who drove them said as he opened Sam's door.
"Thanks." Sam turned to the two women, his brown eyes full of sorrow for Fiona. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better. Deep down it felt like someone died, but Mike was very much alive. He promised Sam he would fix things, and he did: just not in the way that any of them ever would have expected. His throat closed up, preventing him from saying anything.
"Go ahead, Sam. I'll take care of Fiona," Maddie whispered and patted his shoulder.
Sam nodded. "Uh... Fi..."
She came to life and blinked, then looked at Sam with a tear streaked face.
He lost it, and he pulled her into his arms and held her close. She cried into his shoulder and he into hers, while Maddie held onto both of them. When Sam managed to compose himself, he pulled away enough to look into Fiona's eyes. With an emotion-laden voice, spoke, "If you need anything, and I mean anything, you give me a call, Sister. Don't be a stranger, okay?"
Fiona nodded as she swiped the moisture from under her eyes, streaking her makeup. "I promise, Sam. And the same goes for you."
He sniffled and gave her a sad but tender smile. "You got it." He placed a warm kiss on her left cheek, caressed the right one, and got out of the SUV. He backed up and stood on the curb, waving to the women as the driver left. Another crushing blow of sorrow threatened to take him there, and he squeezed his eyes closed until it passed. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears. It wouldn't do for him to go inside looking like he'd just buried his best friend, although that's how it felt. As long as Michael was with the CIA, he was gone again out of their lives. Who knew if he would ever come back, and would it be on his terms or the agency's? Sam didn't want to think about that, because it would only depress him all over again.
Instead, he thought about the future. It was time to see if Elsa would take him back. Sam picked up his suitcase and approached the entrance. The doorman smiled in a friendly manner as he held the door, but then he got a good look at Sam and he gasped.
"Mr. Axe," he breathed. "You're back!"
Sam smiled, flashing a dimple. "I sure am, Scotty. Is Elsa here?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Axe. Does she know you're coming?" He peered over his glasses at Sam with a conspiratorial expression.
"No. I didn't even know until this morning that I would be back," Sam answered. "I hope she'll be glad to see me."
Scotty's eyes sparkled. "This will be a fine New Year's present for her. I can assure you of that." He frowned and his tone took a serious turn. "Since you've been gone, pardon me, sir, I know I shouldn't talk about this, but... Since you've been gone, Ms. Elsa has not been the same. I believe she's been quite depressed."
Knowing he may have caused her such enduring pain stabbed Sam in the heart. He blinked, sensing a new crop of tears on the horizon. "I'm sorry about that. She knows I couldn't prevent it."
"Well, that's all over now, isn't it, Mr. Axe?" Scotty's face beamed again. "You're back now, and all will be right with the world again."
"I sure hope so," Sam said, even as he knew deep inside that nothing would ever be completely right without Mike as part of their team. He stepped inside the lobby and said, "Thanks for the heads up. I'll see you later."
"Yes sir, Mr. Axe. Welcome back." Scotty turned back to his work, allowing a couple to enter the hotel with a flourish of his hand and a friendly welcome.
Sam felt eyes on him as he moved toward Elsa's office, and a gasp of surprise here and there. He turned his head and scanned the lobby, checking out the staff. They scurried back to work, afraid to let him know that they were watching him. Some faces he didn't recognize, but most were familiar. He nodded to Theresa, from housekeeping, who dusted and watered plants in the lobby.
"Mr. Axe," she greeted him with a shocked tone.
He kept going. Later he could talk to the staff. Right now, there was only one person he wanted to speak with, and he made a beeline for her office. Elsa's assistant gaped when she saw him, but she recovered, gave him a quick hug, and hurried to the office door. She knocked on it and Elsa responded.
"Yes?"
Opening the door, her assistant announced, "Ma'am, there's someone very important here to see you. May I let him in?"
Elsa looked up at her after scanning her schedule. With a puzzled expression, she said, "I don't have any meetings scheduled with anyone."
"No, ma'am. This one is a surprise." She could barely contain her excitement.
"Well, who is it?"
She stepped out of the way so Sam filled the doorway. Grinning, he said, "Hey, beautiful, I'm home."
"Sam," Elsa choked out his name. She couldn't get out of her seat fast enough and almost twisted her ankle running to meet him. She lost her balance and stumbled right into his waiting arms. She wept with joy and couldn't kiss him enough, and he felt the same as they kissed, their lips meeting briefly before covering each other's faces with their lips. Sam couldn't hold her tighter without squeezing her to death, and she did the same.
When she could finally find her voice, Elsa said, "Sam, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"I know, baby. I felt the same way. But I'm here, we're done with the CIA, and it's just us."
"No more running around with Michael and your friends," she asked and sniffled.
Sam pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked into them, memorizing their depths again. "Mike..." A pained expression crossed his face. "Mike went back to the agency, and he's working for them. He pretty much broke Fi's heart, and the rest of us, well, now we've gotta figure out what we're going to do with ourselves without him."
Despite her own personal feelings about Michael Westen and the wringer he put his friends through, her face registered her own pain for the people he left behind. Caressing his face, she said, "Don't worry about that. I know you, and I'm sure your friends will bounce back from this. But you don't have to make any decisions now. Let's just be together." Her eyes brightened as an idea took hold. "Yes, let's get on the catamaran and take a trip, just you and I. We'll go to the Bahamas or something, and..."
"No, Elsa." He took her face in his hands and said, "I just want to be alone with you. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything, just relax and be together. Can we do that?"
Her smile widened. "We can do that. Let me finish up what I was in the middle of, and I'll let Nancy know I'm leaving for a few days. Or maybe a week." Elsa grinned. "The staff can handle things while I'm gone, and Nancy can reschedule my appointments." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and ran her hands over his back. "It feels so good to have you here."
"I know what you mean." Sam kissed her, capturing her lips and plying his until she weakened in the knees. When he released her, slightly out of breath, he said, "I think I'll go upstairs and meet you there. Sound good?"
She moaned, her eyes smoky with desire when she opened them and zeroed in on his. "That sounds really good."
All the way to the elevator leading to the penthouse, Sam's steps were lighter than they'd been in a long time. It felt really good to know he was able to come home to the one thing that meant the most to him. Before the week was out, he intended to ensure that Elsa would be his forever. When he walked in the door he was afraid that maybe she would have found someone else, but her reaction told him she'd been holding off for him. He wouldn't make her wait anymore. If she wanted to be his wife, he would give that gift to her. What a great way to start a new year and a new life.