With NaNoWriMo and the holidays behind us, it is finally time to get back to business. This is part 4 of my Seven Habits series. Chronologically this series is set between seasons 2 and 3 of the show. Check out Part 1 - Be Proactive, Part 2 - Put First Things First, and Part 3 - Begin With The End in Mind if you want to start the series from the beginning and Hard Habit to Break if you want to go back to the very beginning before Season 1.

**Make It Rain, Michael Burks **

Tom's pulse jumped when Kara startled him out of a bit of absent minded worrying about his kids. Yesterday he'd been sure that he wanted Jed to bring them to St. Louis. Then last night there had been three different reports of looting and one outright river battle between the sheriff and a group of river pirates trying to hijack a barge of grain. Now he wasn't so sure what would be safest for them. "Mike's on the sat phone Sir. He wants to give you an update. It's as secure as we can manage."

He was eager to know how things were going. They had confirmed arrival at Great Lakes but it had been two days since he'd had an update. "Alright, grab a pen and transfer it here."

He punched the flashing button on his phone and the speaker crackled to life. "Mike! Glad to hear from you. I've got Foster-Green here in my office too. How are things in Chicago" She shut the inner door and quickly joined him at the table.

Mike's familiar voice boomed. "Well, I've had a bit of a shock actually."

Tom chuckled nervously. "What? Like the Cubs won the World Series by forfeit?"

"No Tom." He didn't even respond to the joke. This must be serious. "I found my family." He didn't sound as happy as Tom would have anticipated.

"That is excellent news Commander." Kara's face split in a wide smile.

But Tom had heard something in Mike's voice that gave him pause. He wasn't quite as overjoyed as he would have expected.

"All of them are OK?" He asked.

Mike chuckled. "Ha, well yes, all of them and then some. It seems my family has grown, and is about to grow some more."

Tom could see that Kara was mentally counting the months backwards, a troubled furrow between her brows. "I think you're going to have to explain that further." Tom listened in amazement as Mike detailed the situation. He wasn't surprised that Christine had moved on, but he had a hard time picturing Riley married and ready to give birth. But, he was relieved to hear that they had found other service members ready and able to work.

"…So I sent Simpson to Detroit under Green's leadership. Velasquez is going to come back with me and then take his team on to Fort Leonard Wood to set up training." Mike's voice was firm and Tom could tell that the subject was not really up for discussion.

He was relieved when Kara also read between the lines and turned the conversation back to business. It was true that she was technically excellent and that was why she'd risen so fast as a SWO. But it was her ability to read people and situations that was her true strength and the reason he'd asked her to transition to her new role. He hadn't told her yet, but he secretly hoped she'd choose to continue in this new career track after her maternity leave. Like Mike, he trusted her absolutely, and it would be good to create allies in the political sphere over time. "Did Velasquez know anything about survivors in the intelligence community? We really need some ins on that front. I hate the idea of sending our people overseas without good info on conditions." Tom noticed that she didn't mention their data leak. She'd never explicitly listed Mike on her list of possible actors. If she had, he would have protested vociferously. But he had to admit that before everything with the Red Flu had happened, Mike had all the markers of someone who could carry out espionage activity and keep it secret; personal upheaval partially motivated by his job, financial pressure, access, and technical ability.

"I'll work on that with Velasquez, see what I can get out of him. He may know more than he realizes. Remember when we found my family's belongings in Deer Park? He was there when Granderson started rounding up people, read the situation, and defied orders to move them all to rural West Virginia. I think you'll like him Tom."

"Good. We need partners and we need bodies. And we especially need some people who worked stateside before. Keep up the good work Mike."

Tom imagined Mike nodding his agreement, lips pressed together firmly. "Yeah, well as far as intel goes, I'd like to say that taking Mittens to Canada is no problem. Until the flu struck, the threat level there was certainly low. But then again, we thought that about CONUS and look what happened here. I wouldn't have sent Green on if I didn't have confidence in him and his ability to handle the unknowns. And he was the one that requested Simpson's team on this. Given the meeting location, Green felt they could be a good asset."

"No need to defend your decision to me, Mike. I agree with your assessment of Green's abilities and he's got great people to rely on too." He sighed. But what of Michener? This was a big test of how well he could fill the role he'd been thrust into.

He shouldn't have been surprised that Kara beat him too it, given his earlier musings of her perceptiveness. But she didn't even know the whole story of Michener's history. "How is Michener holding up? Is he winning the battle for hearts and minds?"

There was a pause and Tom wondered if Mike was trying to formulate an answer that didn't include Michener's mental well being. "You know, he's surprised me by turning out to be a dynamic speaker. He's made some good connections in the communities we've been to. I think people sense his willingness to listen and believe he can really do something for them. Of course, time will tell if he can actually get enough structure back together to accomplish all the things he's promising. He told me he views this trip like his first campaign tour."

Tom's jaw dropped. Nothing Jeffery had done had indicated that he would actually run for president given the chance. He noticed that Kara looked skeptical as well. "Do you think that's a real possibility?" She asked.

"Honestly? Aside from the fact that I don't agree with the guy's politics, I don't think he can hack it. He wants to promise the moon but he can't even collect taxes yet. So he can promise all he wants but it doesn't matter until he actually has a government in place."

"So far no one has come forward to challenge him." Tom added.

"Yeah, but they will. Eventually someone's going to challenge him and we'll have to decide where we stand. I guess you know where I stand then."

They wrapped up and Kara took herself back to her office to prepare for a meeting of her own. Tom spun his chair toward the outer wall and leaned his elbows heavily on the windowsill. He needed to strategize for the arrival of Major Velasquez. Fort Leonard Wood was a great location to revive for recruiting and training, but the inclusion of Army personnel raised a slew of complications that he ought to plan for if he wanted to get off on the right foot.