A/N: This definitely isn't canon, it's set somewhere during Season 2 and pulls at plot points through 2x12, Echoes. I'm still stockpiling fics for June...but I'm posting this for paperwings075 who is always oh so supportive and kind of done with her semester...


"We'll reconvene in fifteen minutes. We have some more questions for you Agent Warren," Clarke said, dismissing Mike from the meeting that would decide whether or not he would be indicted for targeting Sid.

"Yes, Sir." Mike respectfully nodded, making a hasty exit from the conference room at Headquarters. He glanced at Briggs who was sitting outside the door, expectantly waiting for an update. "It's going okay, but I need some air," Mike said, breezing past his former training officer. Fifteen minutes meant he had about ten minutes to get some air and clear his head before answering the another round of questions.

Again.

More than most, he understood The Bureau's interview tactics, but there were only so many ways he could say that he hadn't purposefully targeted Sid. Even though that was a lie. He had definitely been operating outside of the law when he targeted Sid's safety deposit boxes and planned the bank robbery. It hadn't been some questionable grey area, what he did was illegal and he knew it. Clarke knew it. Sid knew it. His entire team knew it. But right now, it only mattered if they could prove it.

If they could prove that he found out what bank Sid was using and planted a counterfeit bill at a pizza place that used the same bank. If they could prove he recruited a genius bank robber to rob the bank in order to steal Sid's nest egg to force him to make a move. If any of that could be proven. But if the things he had been incessantly questioned about were any indication of what they knew, Clarke knew nothing and could prove even less. But even though he wanted to believe that they were just going through some formality, part of him wondered if there was some piece of evidence they were holding back to watch him dig his own grave.

Surely, it had to count for something that Sid was currently sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial on multiple counts of corruption, trafficking and murder. The US Attorney had to take into account that he was the one that put Sid in that jail cell and Sid was furious he had gotten caught and was lashing out the only way he could, by filing bogus charges against him. But he refused to let Sid get under his skin. He had a mile high stack of evidence against Sid that would lock him up for the rest of his miserable life.

Right now the only thing that mattered was if the US Attorney had one shred of evidence against him.

Making his way outside, Mike pulled out his phone and saw a flurry of text messages from Paige.

How's it going?

I should be there. Briggs is there

Call me when you can

?

Doing surveillance for Johnny, can't talk. Update me!

He started replying to her texts, hoping she wasn't so busy that she wouldn't have a chance to respond.

I think it's going okay. On a break right now, then more qs

Clarke asked Briggs to give his statement today

This is my mess. I don't want you getting mixed up in this

Paige had been called in to give her statement the day before and insisted she come with him today, but he needed to do this on his own. She had been part of the op and hadn't wanted to shy away from her share of the blame, but he had been the one in charge. If any of them were going to take the fall for this, it had to be him. He wasn't going to let anyone's career get ruined, especially Paige's.

His decision to keep Sulla's open for as long as he had, almost strained his relationship with Paige to the point where it was non-existent. But once her girls were out and he came clean about what really happened with Lina, he and Paige slowly managed to get their relationship back on track. She had been understandably pissed at him and he would've understood if she ended things between them, but by some miracle she was able to get past it and they set some ground rules for keeping work out of their personal relationship, but agreed that honesty was the most important thing and without honesty and trust, they had nothing.

After arresting Sid and Carlito, things started to settle down for the both of them. They had a few days to themselves and before he realized what was happening, he was informed that Sid was moving forward with his decision to press charges against him. It was up to the US Attorney's office whether or not he was indicted, so his roommates had spent the past week making sure all of their stories matched up and that they had supporting evidence to back up their stories.

Good. We still on for later? Celebratory drinks?

The US Attorney'd be insane to press charges

Mike smiled at her response and checked his watch before replying. He still had eight minutes before he needed to head back inside.

Drinks on me

Just so you know, AD Foster is here. I didn't know she'd be here

As much as he didn't want to bring up Jessica, Paige would strangle him if she heard that Jessica was out here from anyone but him.

He had barely talked to Jessica after she showed up over the summer. It made sense that she would be here for his preliminary hearing, since she was technically his boss and oversaw the op from DC, but so much of what he had done had been so far off the books that she had no clue about any of the questionable details he and his roommates left out of their statements.

He still regretted not being completely honest with Paige about being involved with Jessica back in DC, but he honestly didn't think she would just show up with no warning. He also hadn't expected Paige to react how she did, but even though all of that was in the past, Paige made it perfectly clear she was not a fan of his boss.

What are you wearing?

Mike looked down at his phone in confusion, this definitely hadn't been the reaction he had been expecting from Paige after mentioning Jessica. He double-checked his last text, making sure it went through and wasn't sitting in text purgatory or something. But she had seen it and was apparently choosing to ignore it.

You saw me get dressed. Isn't that my line? ;)

Wrong answer. You're supposed to ask me what I'm not wearing...

His heart started racing at her response. Mike glanced at his watch again. Six minutes. He had a few minutes to let Paige play her game.

Tell me, what are you not wearing?

He impatiently tapped his phone waiting for her response and groaned when a picture popped up on his phone of Paige holding a pair of turquoise lace panties. The same pair he saw her put on this morning. And knowing Paige, she had no intention of putting them back on until after he saw her.

You're killing me

;)

He started typing out a response to her winking smiley face when another picture appeared. Her shirt was completely off and her arms were covering her bare breasts.

Thought you could use a pick me up..distractions are good :)

"Jesus..." Mike mumbled as he slowly raked his eyes over the photo. Fully clothed, Paige was drop dead gorgeous. Without clothes, he could barely think straight. Just seeing this one picture made desire pump through his veins, and had him contemplating leaving here and dealing with whatever consequences came his way as long as he was near her.

This photo was definitely a pick me up and he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to focus on the rest of the meeting with this photo on his mind. Maybe that was the point. To distract him so he could relax. He glanced at his watch again. Three minutes.

Fuck. You're gorgeous

Want

You

Now

He pictured Paige, all alone in the surveillance van, at least she better be alone and wondered how far she would go to distract him if he could talk to her and if he had more time.

"Mike?"

Mike looked up at the sound of Briggs' voice and he quickly shut off his screen, trying to keep the guilty look off his face. The last thing he needed was for Briggs to see semi-naked pictures of Paige on his phone.

"You should probably head back in, I know you said you wanted some air and I thought I'd give you a few minutes. I figured you'd want to check in with Paige."

He had definitely checked in with Paige. "Yeah."

"Are you doing okay? You look a little flushed. I spoke with AD Foster and she thought things were going pretty well. She seems optimistic. You don't have anything to worry about, relax."

Mike coughed, "I just need some water. I've been doing a lot of talking." He motioned for Briggs to head back inside and he followed him.

Mike snuck another glance at his phone before heading back inside.

At ease soldier. See you soon ;)


"My man," Briggs said, good naturedly slapping him on the shoulder as they exited Headquarters. "I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

"I am so glad that's over," Mike admitted, unbuttoning his suit jacket. He had been confident that the US Attorney wouldn't indict him, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was afraid they would find some piece of evidence that disproved the elaborate story his roommates spun. The most damning piece of evidence would've been security camera footage of him planting the counterfeit bill, but he was relieved to know that he covered all his tracks. They all covered their tracks.

He needed to call Paige, but wasn't sure what would happen if he turned on his phone. He couldn't risk anyone glancing at his phone just in case the picture Paige sent him was still open. He needed to step away for a few moments in order to call her, just in case.

"Mike, we should get a drink to celebrate. Briggs, you're welcome to join us," Jessica said.

Briggs gave him an uneasy glance at her suggestion, "Let me start calling everyone and I'll tell them to meet us at The Drop. Mike, call Paige, and I'll call everyone else."

"Yeah, just give me a minute," Mike said, stepping aside to let Briggs and Jessica walk in front of him before pulling out his phone. He grinned when her photo immediately popped up on his phone. He quickly hit save and started to call Paige when Briggs called out his name. Mike looked over at him and turned his head slightly to see what caught Briggs' attention.

He smiled widely when he saw Paige leaning against her car, clearly waiting for him, dressed in a knee length grey skirt, a white button up Oxford shirt that he swore was his because she didn't own one and a simple pair of black heels, making her look like a very sexy librarian. The only thing she was missing was a pair of glasses and her hair being up so she could take it down. Paige looked completely professional, like she was just here for a day of work at the office, but he knew she wasn't wearing anything underneath her clothes. If he didn't know any better, he was pretty sure her shirt was completely unbuttoned, but because of the way she had it tied, she was completely covered. Mike grabbed his car keys from his pocket and tossed them to Briggs as he walked past him and Jessica. "Change of plans," Mike said, flashing an apologetic smile as he quickly made his way towards Paige, resisting the urge to run towards her. "Bonfire, later!" Mike called over his shoulder.

Paige offered Briggs and Jessica a small wave, laughing as Mike wrapped his arms around her and he lifted her up, spinning her around in a circle before setting her down. "You're not in handcuffs, that's a good sign right?"

"No charges."

Paige brightly smiled at him, "See, I knew things would work out."

Mike lowered his mouth to hers, passionately kissing her. Hard. He had been all worked up since she sent him those pictures. He didn't care that they were in a parking lot. Didn't care that Briggs and Jessica were probably watching. All that mattered to him was that this ordeal was finally over and she was in his arms. Mike pulled back slightly, his breathing ragged, laughing softly as Paige tugged on his shirt to bring him closer. "Better than fine."

"Let's get out of here and go celebrate." Paige patted his chest, motioning for him to move, but instead he caged her body against the car.

"Let's talk about that picture you sent me," Mike began. While part of him believed Paige had been trying to distract him, he also knew how possessive she could be. How she wanted to make sure his mind was only on her, despite his ex-fling being in the same room. She would never admit to being jealous, but she wouldn't hesitate to tell some girl hitting on him that he was taken and she had no problem kissing him in public to prove her point. And if he asked her about it, she would just tell him she didn't like some other woman messing with what was hers. As much as he would love to tease her about that, he got a thrill out of Paige claiming him. "If telling you that Jessica's around, results in pictures like that, I just might have to transfer to DC."

Paige narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. "Don't even joke about that."

Mike kissed her a few times as a silent apology. "Sorry," Mike murmured, even though he was secretly wondering what lengths Paige would go to in order to keep his attention solely on her when one of his exes was around, fueling her jealousy. Not that he would risk what he had with Paige to find out. He almost lost her due to his stupid pride. He wasn't about to put what they had on the line in order to play games.

"You better be," Paige said. "Because it's not too late for me to leave."

Mike kissed her neck, sliding his hands up her back, caressing the exposed skin near her waist, knowing that if he tugged on the ends of her shirt, it would probably come undone and as much as he wanted to do that, he was well aware of the fact that they were in a parking lot and he wasn't afraid to admit he was jealous and possessive, and that he didn't want anyone else looking at her.

"Better," Paige whispered as Mike settled his mouth on her neck. Paige slid her hands up his chest, before running her fingers through his hair, softly moaning as he trailed kisses along her neck. "That picture, it didn't distract you too much did it?"

"A little," Mike said, pushing her further back against her car. The last thing he wanted to do was discourage Paige from sending him pictures like that. But in all honestly, it distracted him just enough that he didn't overthink things. The anticipation of seeing her, erased his anxiety about potentially getting indicted.

Mike fingered the collar of her shirt, peeking inside.

"Like what you see?" Paige asked, smirking.

"I like what I don't see," Mike said, placing his hands on her hips, pulling her flush against his body. Smoothing his hands over his hips, he gently ran his hand over her ass, confirming that Paige wasn't wearing anything underneath her clothes.

Paige smirked at his inspection and grabbed his tie, wrapping it around her wrist as she pulled him down for a kiss. "Well, if you want to see more, we need to get out of here."

THE END