Author notes: Burn Notice is a show on USA, I won't be following the same bath as the show, but rather I'm borrowing basic plot premise from it. Heero, the equivalent of Michael has a different goal in mind and that will come through as we go along.
My name is Heero Yuy. If you are reading this, I am dead or you are about to be. Twenty Four hours ago, I was a spy. I woke up this morning over 800 miles away from the place I called home and got a call on my phone telling me I was burned. Once you are a spy, there are only three ways out. You die, you become mentally incompetent, you die, or you get a burn notice if you are lucky, it's the first one.
A Burn Notice means your done, you have nothing. They take your life, your money, anything you had to your name disappears overnight. You are stuck in whatever town they drop you in and you are expected to never leave it. If you are lucky, someone in the city will be on speaking terms with you. Not many get that lucky. Above all else, they give you a somewhat subliminal message, if you come after anyone, you will be dead. In short, getting burned is not a pleasant experience.
I "officially" went to work for the CIA when I was 24 years 1 week old; The day after I got out of the corps. I was in the company for 2 and a half years and I did my job well. I don't have the first clue why someone would burn me, but I don't get any say in the matter, and there is no appeals process either. It could be worse, but I have never let not expecting something to keep me from preparing for it. I have some money stashed away, money that no one knows about and has no trail to me so it should be safe. Getting to that money though, is going to require a little time, effort, and resources and unfortunately I lack any of the later.
Yesterday, I was in the D.C. offices, getting ready for an upcoming briefing I had. It was to the best of my knowledge just a normal day. I was in a conference room, making sure the projector worked so I wouldn't have any issues. I noticed the gas probably within a few seconds of it being put in the air, unfortunately it didn't matter because they had locked and sealed the door trapping me in. I tried to fake it, 'collapsing' and then 'passing out' but unfortunately whoever was doing this knew how resilient I could be and waited for a half hour to be sure the gas had gotten to me. They probably kept me drug for the full flight to Miami. The jerks even took my gun, not the company issued one (although they did take that to), but MY gun that I bought when I was 18. It was a real piece of work, smith and weston revolver, the kind of gun that wouldn't ever jam could be a real life savor. If I ever find out who did this, I'm going to make them pay, and I'm not talking about a refund on my gun.
Too tell you the truth; I'm surprised they didn't kill me. I worked counter-intelligence and foreign ops. In English that means if the president decided Jugo Chavis is a problem, I get the call to take him out and make it look like one of his general's did it. I might also have been known to manipulate an election or two in my day. Above all else, I've been known to be true blue, loyal to the USA. My grandmother was an immigrant from Japan after world war two, who raised me to appreciate freedom.
If I were the boasting type, I would bring up my excellent record. I had one of the best success rates in the company, but if i told you about any of them i would have to kill you. What I did wasn't always pretty, but it was what had to be done. I made sure the enemy stayed beyond the gate so that you could live your life without worrying about the next act of terrorism. I looked out for our allies; making sure was the needed level of communication between the good guys. I was the kind of guy you wanted and needed working to protect the country.
I speak 5 languages, fluent in English, Japanese, and Russian. I speak rough Farsi, and I'm decent enough with my Latin. My IQ, well, I don't want to brag so I won't go there. After a 6 year hitch as a marine, I reached the rank of commander. I've trained with the Navy seals, and Army Rangers, I'm in peak physical condition. That's not bragging, really it's not, just a simple statement of fact.
I could have stayed in the corps, probably made general one day, but when the chance to work with the CIA came along, I thought I could do more working for them. Hindsight is 20/20. I always try to make the best decision based on the information I have; at the time a career with the company looked promising. I soon learned the difference in military intelligence verse civilian intelligence. The nice thing about military bureaucracy is that it's military first; the bad thing about civilian bureaucracy is that it's a bureaucracy first. Heaven help you if you want a report on an investigation in another agency.
On the battle field, it's relatively simple to identify the bad guys; they are the ones shooting at you. I have had to learn that it isn't always simple to identify who the enemy is when they are wearing a business suit and may be your coworker, or even your boss. Just so I don't leave you with a bad impression of the intelligence world, there are a lot of good people doing their honest effort best to keep your safe. Unfortunately, some are there more for the power or glory then for the whole defending the flag thing and they have a habit of popping up at exactly the wrong time in exactly the wrong place, to do exactly the wrong thing. I wonder if they ever realize that, and I wonder if they ever will realize they did it with me.
The things I know, they could get people hurt, killed, or even worse. Just what I had been working on lately has serious national security concerns, again, I can't tell you or I'd have to kill you. The people I know, well they probably will never speak to me again. I did a pretty good job of cutting off anyone in my life prior to joining the company, and no one there is going to risk getting burned themselves to help me out. The best case scenario for a guy like me is that you made a friend with a foreign intelligence service like MI6 or mossad, and they are interested in giving you a job. The trouble with that is they might not find out you were burned for over a year, then they have to go to the trouble of finding you, and by then any information you had probably isn't useful anymore. So you only get an offer if you are an extremely good operative, worth more to them on future operations then the ire they might raise over the fact they hired you in the first place.
Miami, it's a big city. It's also overrun by a Cuban-exile population, has terrible traffic, is too big for its own good, and I could keep going all day with reasons to hate it. When you're burned, you get even less of a say in where you end up. Of all the reasons to hate being in Miami, there is one thing I can be grateful for. I have one fri- guy who doesn't hate my guts in this city. His name is Wufei Chang and he runs a martial arts dojo, Natuaku I believe is what it's called.
I walk in to see he has a class going, so I hang a round in the lobby to wait on him. He has mirrors on the back wall so that people can watch their form to be sure they are executing correctly. Make no mistake, a guy like Wufei will use something seemingly innocent to be ready for anything. The way he stands in front of the class means that he can see a reflection of the entrance before they can see him. So if someone unsavory comes in the door, he has time to get ready. If I walk in the door, he can extend the class just for the purpose of making me wait. I said that he didn't hate me, not that he liked me.
If you want Wufei to do something for you, there are rules you have to follow. Primarily, the rules are about respect. If you slight him, you'll go home empty handed. If you patronize him, he'll probably knock you senseless. If you try to learn martial arts from him and ever forget to use a term of proper respect, he kicks you out and puts a lifetime ban on you ever reentering his premises. If you pull a stunt like Duo did, well, let's not get in to that. He is making them repeat something for the third time, so he should give up on stalling after another half hour or so.
He surprise me by only taking another 10 minutes, I wonder if we left on better terms then I thought. He comes out with a bit of a scowl on his face as if I was interrupting something. I wait for all his students to file out, not wanting to talk business in front of them. Time to break the ice I suppose "Wufei." He just sort of grunts slash huffs at me "If I had known you ran a class that advanced I would have sent more agents to train here." That got his interest; a sincere compliment about his martial arts is the best way to get on Wufei's good side.
"Whatever you want the answer is no." Like I said, Wufei's good side, if he was mad he would have tried to break a rib or two.
"You haven't even heard what I need." People make misconceptions all the time, especially with people they know. When they think they know you well enough they try to guess what you are thinking and what you want. Some people are really good at that, some people aren't. Some people are good at it, but happen to be unlucky and get it wrong.
"Another black-ops mission? No thank you, I've had my fill." When someone is used to you only showing your face when they want help with a mission, it's easy for them to think any time you show up, it's about a new mission.
"No ops, no mission; nothing at all that endangers your life, health, or property." When someone is skeptical of you, the best thing you can do is be honest with them. It shows trust in them and that you are treating them as an equal. At the same time you have to recognize when someone is willing to listen to you or else you are wasting your breath. When faced with a skeptic, work your way up. Ideally, you want to get to the point where they ask you, it's the best sign they are at least willing to hear you out.
"I can't think of a single meeting we have ever had that meets with that criteria." Of course, if you have a history of putting their life in danger, they might be a little less willing.
"Things have changed." There is such a thing as being too obscure, but when you have spent most of your life never being straightforward with people it can be a hard habit to get out of.
"Things, 'things' you say? Always dodging, doesn't seem like there is any difference to me." In any conversation there comes the pivot moment, where one sentence makes or breaks you, so you better choose your words carefully.
"I'm out." I think he got whiplash with how fast he turned his head to look at me in disbelief.
"That has to be the last thing I would ever believe from you." When your telling the truth and someone doesn't want to believe you, there isn't a lot you can do other then stick to the truth, ideally with supporting evidence and hope that they come around.
"It's true, I woke up this morning with a burn notice." Every line of work has trade talk, things that a passer by would not understand, but said to the right person a word or two means more then any detailed explanation you could give.
"IF, I believed you, what would you want out of me?" Then there comes the time to level, put all your cards on the table come what may.
"All I need is a ride for the afternoon, beyond that is up to you." Pauses are not automatically a bad time in a conversation; someone is considering what you said and weighing things out in their mind. It means that they listened to you instead of instantly rejecting what you said.
"Define 'up to me'." Before you agree to something, it's a good idea to fully understand the terms of your commitment, especially if you are someone who would feel honor bound to follow it through once you give your word.
"It's whatever you want, if you want me to take a hike and leave you alone that's what I'll do. But I would owe you one." Owing someone can get tricky. They have leverage on you that they get to call up when they feel like no matter how inconvenient it is to you. Owe a debt to the wrong person and it can have disastrous results. So the best policy is to never owe anyone anything, but sometimes there is no other way.
"You don't give out debts lightly, all right my classes are done for today so let me get a shower and we will get going." When trying to get someone's help, being honest will usually get you what you want.
"Oh and Yuy, good to see you again."