Author's Notes: A little dirty fluff piece to ease tensions PIKE tensions after what happened in the last episode. After I thought about it more, I came around to Mike's way of thinking for the last episode.

This is set between Season 1 and Season 2.


It's nine pm, and Mike is just getting home. He actually left work at a reasonable time for once, but traffic in DC is torturous. Mike rifles through his mail in the lobby of his apartment building. It's mostly junk mail. He has not even been living in DC long enough to get his first bill, but he smiles when he sees an incredibly inappropriate postcard of tan topless women on a beach. He flips it over and reads the message from Johnny and laughs.

The old woman who is checking her mailbox beside him sees the postcard he's laughing at and gives him a disapproving look. Mike apologizes, and flips to the next item in the pile, which is a plain white envelope addressed with familiar handwriting. He's burning with curiosity, but it feels like too private of a treasure to open in front of his noisy neighbor. Filled with anticipation, he nods politely to the woman, turns, and tries to resist the urge to sprint back to his apartment.

Once he's in the safe and sterile walls of his small barren studio, he looks down at the envelope in his hand. He carefully opens it, and is disappointed when he sees it's just a single sheet of paper with one sentence.

There's nothing quite like the thrill of flying…

Mike stares at the paper, confused. If Mike hadn't memorized the soft scroll of her handwriting, he wouldn't have even known the letter was from Paige. She didn't sign her name, or write any sort of correspondence other than the cryptic message.

He stares at the paper in his hand, rereading the words again and again. He remembers saying these words to her at the Drop, when they were talking in code in front of Abby and that asshat Paige was with. He remembers the secret smirk she gave him. He remembers every detail of every moment with Paige. It's like the moments with her stand out in vivid color in an otherwise black and white landscape of memories. He can't figure out why she would send him this though. Is she flying out to visit? Is she in trouble? If this is her way of telling him she's dating that asshat drug dealer, he may kill himself. He stares at the paper, completely befuddled by her riddle.

After twenty minutes of intense staring at the letter, he finally gives up, and goes to grab himself a drink from the fridge. The only alcohol he has in the house is a bottle of bourbon he got as a housewarming gift from some cute blonde who's technically his superior at the FBI. Jennifer or Julia or something. Superior or not, the woman definitely seemed to want him, but he couldn't be bothered by that at the moment. He pours himself a drink and holds the page up to the light, wondering if maybe there's more she's written in secret ink or something.

This is pathetic. He is one of the brightest young minds on the FBI and he can't solve this riddle. He may just have to call her and admit he can't figure it out. He walks back to the small entry table where he left the envelope to make sure the letter is addressed to him, when he sees the ticket lying on the floor that must have fallen out of the envelope in his haste to open it.

He picks it up and stares at the ticket, a grin spreading across his face. It's for a flight out of DC to Oklahoma next Friday at 5:00.


Mike gets off the plane, and worries for the hundredth time this is a bad idea. He has no idea what he's doing in Oklahoma. He hasn't talked to Paige at all this week. He tried calling earlier in the day and his call went straight to voicemail. Finally he'd just sent her a text that said "Getting on the plane."

He hadn't gotten a response.

Now he walks through the crowded airport with his carryon dragging behind him. He looks around the airport and realizes he doesn't have a plan or a clue where to go. He is never this unprepared. He almost expected part way through the flight for a stewardess to ask him if he was Special Agent Mike Warren, and tell him to wait in the baggage claim, but nothing happened. He looks around, feeling lost, wondering why he did something so stupid and impulsive.

Then he sees his answer.

A sign held up, that says "Levi" on it.

He stops for a moment with a grin, and just stares. Her face is hidden by the sign, and he takes a moment to openly admire the long tan legs and lithe body encased in a clean white dress. He takes a deep breath and then purposefully walks across the airport to where she's standing.

"You look lost." She teases him playfully, shouting over the crowd hustling by as he strides purposely towards her.

"Not anymore." He mutters, and in a surprise move of bravery he reaches his free arm out and pulls her to him.

His lips crash down to meet hers, and he kisses her deeply. Instead of pushing him away, her arms wrap around him, pulling him even closer, returning his kisses. Here in the middle of Oklahoma, feeling anonymous in a crowd of strangers they flaunt their public display of affection. There are no roommates here to catch them, no possibility of blowing their covers. In this new location they are free from lies, and secrets. Even free from the ones they told themselves so they could remain platonic and professional. Here it is like they are new versions of themselves, ones free of the darkness. Mike wonders if maybe he should have taken things slow, taken her out to dinner to catch up before kissing her deeply, but then her fingernails scrape up his back under his shirt and her tongue slips past his lips and he loses all thoughts.

Mike lets go of his carryon and uses his other hand to come up to cradle the back of her head. He has no clue how they got here, and never would have suspected this, but now that it's happening he's not going to argue.

Their kisses get deeper and hungrier, and he's barely able to pull away long enough to gasp for deep breaths of air before he needs to have his lips on hers again. His body is pressing against hers, and she stumbles backwards with the extra weight, nearly knocking over his suitcase in the process. Mike catches her and his falling suitcase at the same time. Holding her dipped in his arm, he stares down at her panting for breath. He's suddenly very aware that they are in the middle of a very public venue and are starting to draw a crowd of people pointing and whispering.

"Hi." He laughs sheepishly to her in a soft whisper.

"Hi." She smiles back up at him like the cat who ate the cream and it's so sexy, Mike nearly kisses her again.

"Maybe we should go somewhere more private?" He offers shyly, hoping she doesn't slap him at the suggestion, though given their current situation he's beginning to doubt she would. "Or, um…We could maybe go get something to eat and catch up?"

"There's room service at the hotel." She grins coyly up at him.

"The hotel, huh?" He smiles, confident now that this is actually happening. She nods and gives him that sexy smile again and he can't help it, he has to kiss her again. He finally pulls away, straightens up and collects his carryon.

"Let's go." He slaps her ass playfully, suddenly feeling as cocky as she must have felt meeting him when he was just a nervous stammering rookie the first night in that karaoke bar.

She turns around, with a shocked grin on her face, clearly liking this new side of him. The two begin to walk quickly through the airport, Paige slightly ahead of him, leading the way. Mike suddenly feels awkward in the silence, having no clue what he should say. Paige seems to have no other thought in her mind other than getting him to the hotel as she expertly ducks through the crowd.

Looking down at her empty hand hanging at her side as she walks, Mike takes a deep breath and a huge leap of faith as he reaches down and entwined his fingers with hers. She pauses, thinking he's trying to stop her, and looks at him curiously waiting for what he has to say. He just shrugs and starts to walk again, his hand holding hers, and she follows wordlessly. She looks down at where their hands are joined, and smiles to herself at the simple gesture.

The only time Mike lets go of her hand is when he opens the cab door and helps her into the back seat before walking around and throwing his suitcase in the truck. He hurries back and jumps into the seat, like he's afraid she's going to have disappeared suddenly. She gives the driver directions to the hotel, and Mike feels nervous butterflies in his stomach. This is happening. He feels like he's drunk, or at least like he should be.

He lets his hand rest on her bare knee. Partially because he saw the way the taxi driver looked at her and he's feeling possessive, partially because only by touching her can he make sure she's real.

"How are things at the house?" He murmurs, her soft skin under his fingertips distracting him.

"Good." She closes her eyes and leans back in the seat, presumably focusing on the way his fingers feel gently curling around her knee. "Strange without you there."

"I've only been gone a few weeks." He says, watching her reaction with fascination. He wishes the cabby would drive faster.

"It feels like longer." She says, and his fingers are inching their way up to the hem of her dress, softly tracing circles on the tan skin. "I'm glad you managed to get away this weekend. I didn't know if you would come."

"Well then you're stupid." Mike's rude words make Paige's eyes fly open to glare at him, but he gives her a sweet smile and leans in to kiss her angry lips softly. "I will always come for you." He promises her.

She melts into the kiss, and now that it's started Mike can't seem to pull away. Mike can feel the cabby's eyes leering back through the rearview mirror at them. Mike protectively swings his body so he's hovering over Paige, blocking the driver's view of her. The new position has the added benefit of having her pinned below him and his kisses get rougher as he braces himself against the seat behind her.

"God, how far away is this hotel?" He mutters against her lips.

"Less than five minutes from the airport" Paige answers him in between kisses.

"God, that long?" Mike lets out a groan as her hand snakes between them and she grasps him through his pants. The surprise is enough to make him pull his lips away, staring down at her in shock. She brings her lips back up to meet his, and Mike tried to keep up with her kisses even as he's distracted by her hand. She rubs him through the fabric of his jeans, and Mike nearly loses it in the backseat of a cab as his hips involuntarily thrust against her palm.

"Ahem." Mike and Paige both pause what they're doing and look guiltily over to where the cabby is standing beside them holding the passenger door open, Mike's luggage in hand. They'd been so wrapped up in the moment they didn't realize the cab had already parked in front of the hotel.

They both scramble out of the cab, embarrassed. Mike tries to reach into his pocket to fumble out cash for a tip, but his pants feel uncomfortably tight and Paige has taken care of the payment and tip and his dragging Mike through the doors of the hotel room before he can even adjust his pants to hide his state of arousal. She drags him past the bellhop, tossing him Mike's bag and some cash, and past the front door into the elevator.

Mike realizes she's already checked in and is beginning to wonder exactly how much planning she's put into this when suddenly the elevator doors close and she's back in his arms again. Suddenly there is no thinking, there's just him and Paige, and he backs her up against of the wall of the elevator accidentally hitting multiple floor buttons. The doors open and an elderly couple enter the elevator with Mike and Paige and they have to compose themselves, breathing deeply as they stop at every floor on the way to floor 23.