This would have made a good Michael Westen story, if people were allowed to tell Michael Westen stories. ~Jason Bly (Burn Notice Season 2).
Spoliers: contains spoilers for the series Finale.
A/N: This story has Michael and Fiona settling in a different location than the traditionally accepted Northern Ireland. But seeing as they only show the cottage and they don't actually say that it's Ireland, I've decided to exercise creative licence with where I see them ending up.
When they settled together in New Zealand with Charlie, Michael and Fiona both agreed that they would sever all ties with the past. Michael could not stay in America because the CIA would have something to say about that and Fiona could not stay in Ireland because the IRA and MI6 would have something to say about that. In the end, they settled on a neutral country that was as far removed from where they came from as they could find. Here they raised Charlie - as a Kiwi. It was a much appreciated break. Michael didn't have a hundred enemies trying to kill him and Fiona did not have to deal with the injustices that she had seen in Ireland and in Miami. New Zealanders, for the most part, were quite reasonable with one another.
And in keeping with the theme of a clean break. Michael took a job as a cook in a local takeaway shop while Fiona became a florist. They tried to stay as far from violence and intelligence as they could.
Michael was used to intelligence gathering from trained operatives. If someone was trying to gather intelligence off him who was not an operative, he could usually see right through them. But he didn't expect intelligence gathering - from a twelve year old child.
Charlie had become close to a boy called Finlay. Fiona thought it was hilarious because it sounds like Finley, the name that Sam always uses for his covers. Michael did not. Aside from the unfortunate name though, the child was a good kid and he was actually a positive influence on Charlie. Being like Nate but without a big brother, Charlie needed a peer with whom he could bond and look up to. Like Michael, the child was very inquisitive.
"How come you don't have any photos in your house?" Finley asked Charlie.
"Uncle Mike doesn't like photos," Charlie replied.
"How come you guys don't hug when he comes to pick you up from school?" Finlay continued his line of questioning.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, taken aback.
"Most parents will go up to the child when they collect them and kiss them or hug them. They do it for show because they know that other parents are watching them. Your uncle doesn't do that. He just stays where he is and he looks at you like he's watching you." Finlay explained.
Charlie hadn't really noticed that. Michael had always been the one to collect him from school and Fiona had always been the one to drop him off. They always behaved as only Fi and Mike could but Charlie never noticed any different because he didn't have anything to compare it with.
"When their child hasn't come out yet, most parents are either gossiping with other parents or playing on their mobile phones but your uncle doesn't do that. He's always looking around him like he's trying to find something or he's watching the other parents but he never joins them." Finlay continued his observations.
"What are you trying to say?" Charlie asked, frowning.
"He's different." Finlay stated simply.
Although Michael couldn't hear the full conversation, he could tell from Charlie's posture that something was worrying his nephew so he approached them casually. Well casually for Michael Westen was still different to everyone else.
"What are you two jabbering about?" He asked them.
"See what I mean?" said Finlay.
"What's Uncle Mike doing different this time?" Charlie sighed.
"He sneaked up on us," said Finlay.
"What are you guys talking about?" Michael's expression was guarded.
"Finlay thinks you're different," said Charlie, looking depressed.
"Different, how?" asked Michael.
"You sneaked up on us," Finlay noted. "Like you actually did. My mum always tries to sneak up on me but she always makes some kind of noise. You were actually completely silent. That's different."
Michael frowned to hide his astonishment at the child's observation skills.
"I'm wearing slippers. I couldn't be noisy even if I tried." He said.
"How come you don't have any photos in your house?" Finley continued to question his friend's uncle. "Every other house I've been to has photos everywhere."
"These days it's all online now isn't it?" Michael asked with surprise. Unless he was much mistaken, Facebook was now the default photo album for most modern parents.
"But you don't have any trophies or certificates either," Finlay observed. "My mum has her medical degree framed and put on the mantlepiece. You guys don't put anything out. It's like you don't have a history."
Michael smiled broadly like he always does when he's trying to think of a way out of a situation. He just hadn't expected there to be a situation with a twelve year old.
"You're asking a lot of questions today, Finlay." he said.
"But you can see that it looks bad right?" said Finlay.
"Excuse me?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah excuse us," said Charlie. "What are you suggesting?"
"I'm not," Finlay replied, taken aback. "I'm just saying that it looks bad."
"Okay, what does it look like?" Michael asked.
"You don't want anyone to know who you are and where you come from. When you're with Charlie, you look like you're terrified that someone will take him away from you." Finlay observed.
"And?" Michael prompted.
"Well there are only certain people who act like that. A fugitive might act like that." Finlay suggested.
"But you don't think that we're fugitives." Michael guessed.
"No I don't." Finlay agreed. "It's just that you hear stories in the media."
"What stories?" asked Charlie, bewildered.
"Say that a couple really wants to have children but every agency they've applied with won't let them adopt. So they kidnap someone else's child. Then they skip town and raise the child as their own. They sever all contact with their past and they're paranoid that something will happen to that child."
This was such a freakishly accurate observation that Michael had to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Fiona asked as she came into the kitchen where the boys were gathered.
"Finlay here, thinks that we kidnapped Charlie & ran off with him," Michael replied, still chuckling.
"Who told you?" Fiona asked with a guilty expression on her face.
"Don't do that. He'll take you seriously." Michael advised.
"How come you're still laughing?" Charlie asked, still confused.
"You're right Finlay. Fiona and I did skip town as you call it. And we did sever all contact with our past. But it's not because we kidnapped my nephew." Michael shook his head.
"So he really is your nephew," said Finlay.
"Yes. He really is." Michael smiled.
"See? I told you he doesn't look as much like Nate as you keep saying." Fiona interjected.
"You didn't know Nate when he was twelve," Michael countered.
"Finlay, you know that my dad is Michael's brother. I can't believe you didn't believe me." said Charlie.
"Well, like I said. Your uncle and your aunt are a bit different." Finlay shrugged, "It got me thinking."
"What do you mean we're a bit different?" Fiona asked with suspicion.
"I'll explain later," said Michael. Then he turned to his nephew's best friend. "Finlay, you're right about us being maybe a bit overprotective of Charlie. But it's not because we kidnapped him or that we're fugitives."
"But you are different," said Finlay.
"Why does he keep saying that?" Fiona asked, annoyed.
"He's trying to ask me a question without actually asking a question," said Michael. "He's a very proactive kid."
"Thanks." Finlay smiled.
"Intelligent and arrogant," Fiona noted. "Remind you of somebody?"
"The reason that Fi and I are so protective of Charlie is because we've had people in the past who would very much like to hurt us. We don't want them to hurt Charlie so we like to keep an eye out. Just in case." Michael explained.
"What kinds of people?" Asked Finlay.
"I don't think you really want to get into that," Michael replied quickly.
"So they're bad guys." Finlay deduced.
"Well they're not good people." Fiona agreed.
"How come you have bad guys chasing after you? Were you a cop?" Finlay turned to Michael.
Once again, Michael found himself biting his tongue so as not to laugh at Finlay's quick and logical mind. If he inclined toward intelligence as a career, he would make a hell of an operative for the New Zealand SIS.
"No. I wasn't a cop." Michael shook his head.
"So what did you do?" Finlay continued his line of questioning.
"I was self-employed." Michael smiled.
"Whatever you did. You should keep doing it." Finlay advised.
"Why do you say that?" Asked Fiona.
"Because you can." He replied simply.
The kid was happy to talk in riddles and he knew when to stop pushing. He had all the right instincts to be a spy if he wanted.
Michael knew that although Finlay's questions were finishing or at least put on hold for now, Charlie's questions were just beginning. For the most part, Charlie had just accepted things for how they were but now that Finlay had drawn his attention to some of the things that he didn't question, the floodgates would be sure to open. While Michael had never outright lied to Charlie, most of the time he just didn't explain. In place of a fabricated story, he had settled on just not saying anything until Charlie was older. Or at least until he got curious and wanted to know himself. It seems that his curiosity was being piqued by Finlay.