A/N: One more week until Season 3 starts! As promised, I will be posting one fic a day from now until the premiere and here's the first one. This was inspired by two twitter pics that Daniel posted a few months ago...if you saw them, you should know which ones, and one is layered on top of the image used for this fic. Let me know what you think and if anyone has theories about what they think will happen...I'm always happy to chat about them :)

Posting a little earlier, because I have a busy day on Thursday.

Mike groaned as a gun was forcibly pressed into his side. He still wasn't completely healed from the gunshot wound he suffered a few weeks earlier. But Sid knew that. Sid knew way more than he should. Knew all about his injuries. Knew where he lived. Knew the alias he had been using when Paige gave him up. Knew exactly where to find him and how to kill him. Knew where to find his hideout when that failed.

But Sid failed.

Sid took great pride in calling him stupid. Cocky. Sloppy. Maybe he had been. Choosing to act on his own. Reacting instead of methodically planning. But that was before.

Sid was the cocky one now. Sloppy. And Sid was the one alone, not him.

Sid roughly dragged him across the warehouse, hellbent on killing him. Mike stubbornly kept silent, because it was the last thing Sid would expect. Besides, he needed to be as still as possible to give one of his roommates a clear shot. There wasn't a TAC team standing by waiting for his order to rush the building and arrest Sid for one of his many crimes. This went against everything he learned at Quantico and was purposefully kept off the books, since none of them wanted any sort of trail that tied them to Sid's inevitable execution.

Every single detail was carefully planned out, from orchestrating ironclad alibis to using unmarked firearms that couldn't be tied to any of them. Briggs was the one that lured Sid to this location so he could find Mike alone and unprotected. They hadn't wanted to be too obvious, but they needed to lull Sid into a false sense of security, to catch him off guard. Sid entered this warehouse, secure in knowing one man wouldn't be leaving alive. What he didn't realize was that he would be that man.

As much as Mike wanted Sid to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life and knew that that was the right thing to do, Sid had to die. He knew too much. Caused too much damage. Him being alive put all of their lives in danger. He knew their real names. Where they lived. They couldn't chance it. Couldn't chance that Sid would sell them out to some cartel they put behind bars in order to protect himself.

"Nothing to say Warren? That's a first," Sid said, pushing him forward. Mike stumbled, but he wasn't afraid. He knew there were five guns trained on Sid. "You sure you don't want to beg for your life? Maybe I'll show some mercy and kill you quickly." Sid stopped walking and jerked him back towards him, purposefully shoving his gun in his side. "Then again, I tried that already. It didn't work."

Mike hissed at the sharp pain, but stubbornly kept silent.

"You were yapping for weeks and now you don't have anything to say?" Sid taunted. "I won't make the same mistake I made last time. You're not in the hospital and none of your friends are around to save you this time. Any last words?" Sid leaned forward and lowered his voice, cruelly whispering, "What do you want me to tell that blonde broad of yours before I blow her brains out? Or do you not care?"

Mike clenched his fists, forcing himself not to react to Sid's taunts. Sid was moments away from dying and he didn't want to give him an ounce of satisfaction by letting him know his words affected him. Mike wanted to take Sid's gun away from him and shove it in his mouth and pull the trigger. He had seen firsthand with Eddie that it was a brutal way to die, but Sid deserved it. But he couldn't risk that his reflexes would be off or that Sid would best him in a fight.

"Still nothing to say?" Sid asked. "You disappoint me." Sid pushed him forward. "Get on your knees."

Mike complied and the second his knees hit the concrete floor, two shots rang out in the abandoned warehouse. Mike dropped to the floor as Sid collapsed in front of him, his gun falling on the floor. Sid groaned as he blindly reached out for his gun, but it was just out of his reach. Lunging forward, Mike quickly grabbed Sid's gun and aimed it at Sid. But Sid suddenly stilled. Keeping the gun trained on Sid, he noted that Sid was shot in the same place he had been shot in Tecate. How was that for poetic justice?

Mike stood up as his roommates ran towards him, emerging from their various hiding places in the warehouse. The once silent warehouse was now filled with activity as the next phase of their plan started. Sid was dead and it was time to dispose of his body.

"He dead?" Jakes asked, kicking Sid's foot and nodding when the cop didn't react. Just to be sure, he checked Sid's pulse. "You okay Levi?"

Mike stared at the man that almost succeeded in killed him, desperately wanting to empty the bullets from Sid's gun into his lifeless body, but didn't see the point. So instead he stood there and watched the blood pool on the floor.

Sid was dead.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, pulling him into her arms.

"I'm fine," Mike insisted, grimacing as pain shot through his side, signalling that the adrenaline had worn off. He stepped back from Charlie and took a deep breath as he waited for the pain subside, holding out his hand to stop her from fussing over him. She held out her hand for Sid's gun and he readily handed it to her.

Briggs and Johnny assessed the scene, discussing the final details of their plan. Mike knelt down, pressing his fingers to Sid's neck to feel for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he didn't feel one. Jakes had already checked, but he needed to check for himself. His eyes were drawn to Sid's bullet wounds and before he could stop himself, he pressed his fingers near the wounds, fascinated by how the blood continued to spread onto his hand despite Sid's lifeless form.

He felt like he was being watched and he looked up, noticing Paige for the first time since everyone had arrived at the warehouse hours earlier. She hadn't fully approached the group and was standing off to the side, looking shell shocked. Mike's eyes darted around the warehouse and looked at Sid's wound again and where Paige was standing, realizing that she had been the one that killed him. He turned his gaze back to Paige and the second she noticed him watching her, she started retreating. She bumped into a crate and the loud noise drew everyone's attention.

"Paige!" Briggs called. "Charlie - "

"I got it," Mike said, sprinting after Paige, feeling winded after a few steps, but he pushed through the pain to get to her. He wasn't used to seeing her like this and wasn't sure what to make of her reaction. This whole ordeal had been a nightmare from the day he arrived from DC. From almost being killed by the Solano hitmen pretending to be Caza, to everything that went wrong with the Op. At Sylmar. Paige. His career. He made one bad decision after another and Paige betrayed him. Sid almost succeeded in killing him for good, but now Sid was lying on the ground with two bullets in his gut courtesy of Paige. "Hey."

"Go away," Paige warned.

Her eyes were wild and her gun was still in her hand. Not aimed at him, but he couldn't help but be a little wary.

"You saved my life," Mike quietly said, carefully approaching her. The last thing he wanted to do was spook Paige when there was a loaded gun in her hand. He didn't think she'd shoot him, but she was this close to freaking out unless he could get her to calm down. What was it about this girl that made him want to make things okay for her, when she was the one that betrayed him? He nearly died, well for 1 minute and 27 seconds he was dead because of her, yet he still felt the need to fix things both for and with her, when she did everything she could to break him, not their connection, but him.

It was twisted how he kept letting Paige hurt him. He should've cut his losses and ended things after she made things clear that she wanted nothing to do with him after he got her out of Sulla's, but he spent months trying to fix things and ended up making a bigger mess. Maybe there was something wrong with him. He loved her so much that he was willing to let her hurt him over and over again, because the fact that she cared enough to hurt him somehow proved she cared. Because if she didn't care, she wouldn't bother hurting him.

"Seems fair, since I almost cost you your life." With her hands shaking, Paige pushed her gun into his hands. "I betrayed you. I gave you up to Sid and I should suffer the same fate."

Mike looked down in disbelief at the gun in his hands, Paige's hand was still wrapped around the barrel as she pressed it into her chest. "Paige, you don't know what you're saying."

Looking down, Paige adjusted the gun so it was aimed at her heart, before meeting his gaze so he would know she was serious, "Aim for my heart. Make it a clean shot or let me suffer if you want. Shoot me. I don't deserve to live. Kill me so we'll be even."

His blood ran cold at the thought of a world without Paige. Memories flashed through his mind as she begged for him to kill her. The first time he saw her. Her looking amazing in the new bikini that Johnny used to drag him out of bed the morning after Eddie killed himself. Their first fight. First kiss. Late night bonfires. The first time they slept together. Stolen kisses. Definitely not enough moments to fill a lifetime.

Didn't Paige realize that she was his heart? Yeah, he was pissed at her. He had every right to be pissed at her. But he didn't want her dead. Maybe he was being naive, but he didn't honestly believe she wanted him dead. Maybe in that moment, in a fit of rage, in the wake of his betrayal. She acted impulsively and her actions almost cost him his life. But he wasn't so arrogant that he couldn't recognize the part he played. "Paige, what happened with me, it's not all your fault. I - "

"Stop making excuses for me! I need everyone to stop making excuses for me! I did this! I'm the reason you almost died! End this," Paige pleaded.

"You don't know what you're saying," Mike slowly said, gently prying her fingers off the gun. Did Paige actually think he would shoot her? That he could shoot her? Things were beyond broken with them, but he could never kill her. He wasn't sure where they stood or if they could fix things, but the idea of losing her terrified him. If she thought he could do this, she didn't know him at all.

"Yes, I do," Paige cried, stepping forward so the gun was pressed against her chest again. "All of this needs to end. End this, Mike, because I can't."

He had never seen her like this. Not even after they first encountered each other after she gave him up to Sid. She had been so wary around him. They had both been keeping their distance from either other, not even fighting. They just went back to ignoring each other like had been doing for most of the summer. Because the days where they automatically took each other's side or found any excuse to spend time together were long gone.

By now, the rest of their roommates had taken notice of their encounter but he didn't want to take his eyes off Paige for a second. Didn't want to chance that waving them away could make her lunge for the gun. Mike made sure the safety was on as he slid the gun into the waistband of his jeans. Mike grabbed Paige's wrist and roughly pulled her against him. "You want me to end this?" Mike growled, tightly gripping her wrist, uncharacteristically ignoring his instinct to release her when she whimpered in pain. He was hurting her and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do, but this was the only way to make her understand. "Is that what you really want?"

"Yes," Paige pleaded, her face anguished as tears streamed down her face.

He could see the guilt in her eyes. Regret. Desperation. But not fear.

Even now, she was begging him to kill her because she was drowning in guilt but she wasn't afraid. Wasn't afraid of dying. But she was afraid of living with the guilt of what she did.

Releasing her wrist, Mike gripped her face hard, forcing her to look at him. "This isn't how we end," Mike harshly whispered. He pressed his lips to hers, forcefully kissing her. Paige gasped and tried to push him away, but he stubbornly kept his hand on her face until her resistance faded. Letting go of her face, he moved his hand to the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair as he hungrily kissed her. Paige was no longer fighting him and she desperately kissed him back with equal ferocity. He refamiliarized himself with her mouth, his world making sense for the first time in months, despite none of this making sense. He had a fleeting thought of how wrong this was. How kissing Paige was the last thing he should be doing. The only place they could end up was in heartbreak. He lied to her repeatedly and she sent someone to kill him. But, if they crashed and burned again, it couldn't get worse than it already was.

After everything, he couldn't let her go. After everything she did. After everything he did. They had a hold on each other so tight, that not even their betrayals could tear them apart. Kissing her opened a floodgate of emotions that they both buried down and were now threatening to consume them.

Paige fisted his shirt in her hand, wedging her leg between his as she pressed herself against him. He grabbed her leg and lifted it, wrapping it around his waist as he backed her up against a stack of crates. Neither of them were able to get as close as they wanted. Mike was positive that if he wasn't covered in someone else's blood, with a dead body nearby and their five roommates watching, clothes would be falling to the ground at an alarming rate. Angry sex. Makeup sex. Something in between. Sex had always been easy between them. It was everything else that was hard. Honesty. Communication. Forgiveness.

He still wanted her. He always wanted her and maybe she was ready to admit that she still wanted him. But none of that mattered right now, because they did have an audience and even though this was the first time they kissed in front of everyone, they all knew. Everyone knew. But that didn't mean he wanted to have this conversation in front of everyone, not that he trusted his words. So instead he found himself trying to say everything he couldn't say with one kiss.

I'm sorry. I forgive you. I trust you. I love you.

As far as Mike was concerned, this was his one chance to apologize. Forgive. Beg for forgiveness. Let her know he wanted her. Breathless, Mike pulled back from Paige and rested his forehead against hers, tuning out the presence of his roommates who were oddly silent. But he didn't care. Didn't care what they were thinking. If they were watching. What they were doing. All of his attention needed to be on Paige right now.

He needed her.

Needed her to forgive herself. Forgive him. Hell, he just needed her.

Their lips were swollen and their breath mingled together as their breathing evened out. He was positive that Paige's heart was racing as much as his. "This isn't how we end," Mike whispered, repeating his earlier words as he cupped her face in his hand, gently rubbing his thumb along her jaw, hating that he got a few traces of blood on her face. Mike kissed her slowly, without all of the urgency that had been present moments before. Mike gently pushed her hair back from her face, meeting her gaze.

Paige wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as she started to cry, breaking down in his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

A simple I'm sorry shouldn't fix anything between them, but at the same time it fixed everything. What Paige did was unforgivable, but he forgave her. Maybe he was pathetic. Or worse a masochist, turning his heart over to the one woman that had the ability to break it again and again, but he loved her.

Mike hugged her tightly, ignoring the flash of pain that shot through his stomach as Paige clung to him. Mike pressed his lips to her forehead, "I'm sorry, too. So sorry." Mike gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. He was positive she was okay with killing Sid and that it was the emotion of everything else was overwhelming her. Paige relaxed in his embrace and he sighed, grateful that they were finally finding a way to leave the sins and lies from their past behind them.

Lifting her head, she stepped back slightly and reached for his hands. Noticing the blood on his hand, she looked up at him, frantic. "Did it graze you? Did your wound reopen? What happened?"

"It's not mine," Mike said, lifting his shirt so Paige could see for herself. He hissed as Paige lightly traced her fingers along his still healing scar, leaving a trail of bloody fingerprints on his abdomen. He reached for her hand and she let go of his shirt and he kissed her knuckles, laughing softly when she gave him a small smile.

Mike stepped behind Paige, both of them in desperate need of a hot shower after the day they had. The adrenaline from earlier had worn off a while ago and he was grateful to be home. Alive. Both of them. His bedroom was far from small, but it was definitely the smallest bedroom in the house, but he wouldn't trade having his own bathroom for having a bigger room, especially on a day like today, when everyone else had to wait to take turns after cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of Sid's body. Mike pushed all thoughts about today from his mind, stopping for a moment to admire Paige.

Her hair was already damp from the water, hanging around her face in loose golden waves. Her eyes were closed and she rotated her neck, trying to work out a kink that could easily be attributed to the stress from the past few months, particularly the past few weeks. He moved his hands to her shoulder, frowning when he noted the dried blood on his hands dripping onto Paige's skin as it got wet. He pulled his hand away and she turned, looking over her shoulder with a questioning glance.

Following his gaze with her eyes, she noted the problem. Before turning around, Paige reached for a washcloth, squirting a generous amount of shower gel on it and let the water spray it until it was all sudsy. Holding his hands in hers, she scrubbed his hands clean, before gently wiping away the traces of blood from his abdomen.

He brushed her hair back her face, "It's over," he whispered, as the water washed over them. Everything with Sid. Sulla's. The case. Their mistakes and betrayals. It was all over.

Paige nodded, reaching up to touch his face. "Is it? Everything?"

He knew what she was asking. She wanted to know if he could put everything that happened the past month behind them and start over. He had to put it behind him. He didn't really have a choice. Because faced with the choice of a life with her or without her, there was no choice. He would do anything. Forgive anything. Make any promise. He didn't care if that made him weak or a masochist. All he knew was that he needed her. "Everything."

THE END