Please note: situations in this chapter are speculation only. I have no inside track on what's happening in future episodes of Season 6!
Chapter 8
"This is Sam." He answered his phone as he drove down the causeway in his Cadillac, and he hoped that Pearce didn't want him to go to the CIA offices to debrief or something. The mission was over and they reached a satisfactory conclusion. Now he just wanted to go to the hotel, grab a shower, and snuggle up with Elsa.
"Sam, you need to get over to Maddie's immediately," Pearce barked into the phone.
"What? What happened?"
"It's Michael, Nate and Madeline. Anson was here, and it's not pretty."
"Oh god," Sam muttered. "I'll be right there!" He found a break in the median and made a quick u-turn, not caring if he cut off another vehicle or two. Once he straightened the car, his foot stomped on the gas and he hurried to Maddie's house. All the way, images of what might have happened, none of them good, flooded his brain. They involved either Maddie dead, Nate dead, Michael dead, or a combination of the three. Or all. He didn't like that thought, and that's the one that made him crazy. He took risks driving, but all he cared about was getting there.
Sam found a slew of police cars blocking the street, so he slid to a stop in front of the house and ran around the side. Officers held him back. "Hey! These people, they're like family! Let me go!"
Pearce turned and saw him on the fringes of the flood lights. Her eyes were full of sorrow as she ordered, "Let him through!"
Sam wasn't sure what kind of pull she had to get the cops to listen to her, but whatever it was, he was grateful. He pushed past them and approached Pearce. She stood between the garage and the house and looked down at the figure on the ground. Sam followed her eyes and sucked in a breath.
"Mike. Is he okay?" He looked for a way to get down beside him, but there were too many medical personnel and a gurney in the way.
"Looks like he just got the wind knocked out of him and a concussion from hitting the pavement," Pearce reported. The sadness never left her eyes.
"Where's Maddie? Nate?" Every second she didn't answer was complete torture.
She swallowed hard. "In the garage. They just removed Anson's body."
Sam never heard the last sentence. He raced to the open door and pushed past the police presence to see the blood, so much blood, drying on the vinyl tile that he and Michael put into the garage a couple years earlier when Maddie was considering renting out the garage as living space. It was an ugly pattern, made even more so by the staining. Nate lay in the middle of it, arms spread out wide. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he was caught taking a nap on the floor, but the dark red stain spread over his chest was the giveaway that not all was well.
"Sam," Maddie's voice was hoarse. She knelt at Nate's head and held it in her hands. She couldn't see anything through the tears. Inside, it felt as if her heart was ripped out and a bleeding, empty hole left in its place. It was a miracle that she was still breathing.
"Maddie," Sam whispered, the second syllable catching. He moved forward, side-stepped the blood, and knelt beside her, holding onto her shoulders with his hands. She began to tremble in his grip, her sobs shaking her entire body. He felt himself slipping, losing control as he turned her in his grasp to sink into his arms. Maddie's wails were unlike anything he'd heard come from her, and it was his undoing. He hid his face in the crook of her shoulder and broke down, both their bodies shaking with the sorrow they felt.
They stayed that way until they were spent. A gentle hand laid on Sam's arm, and he looked up into a pair of kind eyes that felt their pain. "I'm sorry, we have to take care of your son now, Mrs. Westen."
Maddie nodded, not sure if the man meant Michael or Nate. Little did she know that Michael had already been transported to the hospital. "Okay." Her voice sounded so rough, she barely recognized herself speaking.
"Let's get up, Maddie. Come on." Sam got to his feet and hauled Maddie up with him. She clung to him as if they were in the ocean and she would drown without him to hold onto. Sam felt the same way, but he also knew they had to leave. There was no way Maddie was staying in her house tonight. "Maddie, let's go in the house and pack you a bag. You're coming with me to the hotel."
She whimpered. "No. I want to stay here, stay with Nate."
"Maddie, they're taking him to the morgue. He won't be here." Sam pulled her away far enough to be able to look into her eyes. "He's gone. I'm sorry, but he's gone."
Her knees weakened and she crumpled, but he was stronger and held her up. Yet, she was unmovable. He dipped, got his arm behind her knees, and picked her up. Her arms circled his shoulders and she buried her face in his chest. People parted for him and he walked her to his car. To his surprise, Pearce was still there. She opened the door for him and he set the distraught woman inside.
"Pearce, can you do me a favor? Go inside and grab some things for Maddie, at least a couple days' worth."
"Sure, Sam." Her voice was soft, full of emotion. She blinked and quickly turned and ran to the house. Until she returned, Sam crouched by the open door and held Maddie's hand while tears continued to streak down her face. "Here you go." Pearce threw the bag into the back seat. "Are you taking her to the hotel?"
"Yeah."
She led him away from Maddie's earshot and said, "We have to talk about what happened."
"Get in line, sister," Sam growled. "The cops will want to know everything too, and you can see she's not in any condition right now to talk to anybody."
"I understand that," Pearce replied coolly. She applauded Sam's protectiveness, but she had a job to do. "I have to explain to my superiors how Anson wound up dead. Why he was even here."
"Did your intel point to him being somewhere else?"
"Yes. A contact inside Fiona's prison said he was scheduled as a psychiatric visitor tomorrow. It seems that because his inside assassins were unable to do their job, he was planning on taking care of things himself."
"Inside the prison. The snake was crazy."
"I don't know. There are plenty of ways he could kill Fiona without anyone suspecting him." She said it, but she wasn't proud of knowing more than a few of those methods. "Anyway, we lost him and somehow he wound up here."
"So if your people had had a better handle on him, Nate might still be alive. Thanks a lot, Pearce." He knew it wasn't fair to pin that on her and her team, but he couldn't help himself at the moment. Sam walked back to the car and closed Maddie's car door.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Westen." Pearce leaned into the open window. She ignored Sam's glare.
Maddie, with eyes still full of shock, looked up at her. "Thank you."
Sam belted himself in, started the car, and without another word to Pearce, pulled away. He was flaming mad at the moment, and anything he said to her would have done nothing more than add fuel to the fire. As they put distance between themselves and the house, he cooled down a little and thought of his main objective: getting Maddie to the hotel and into a nice safe bed. He doubted she would sleep, but he could hope. If it really came down to it, they could call a doctor to prescribe something. He glanced at her, and in the glow from the dash she looked catatonic.
"I want to see Michael."
"Aw, Maddie, no. You can do that in the morning. Tonight they'll be swarming all over Mike, running tests and stuff. We'll go first thing in the morning. I promise." He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in reassurance.
She glanced at him, and a small voice came out of her. "Okay." Her eyes blinked furiously, but her action couldn't stem the tide. The road got blurry, and Sam prayed he could hold off until they got to the hotel. All the way, he gave Maddie the use of his hand to hold onto, and she took full advantage of it.
Sam was relieved when the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the penthouse. Andrew waited, despite the late hour. He should have been gone a couple hours ago, but he stayed. His face wore a sympathetic smile as he approached and took Maddie's bag from Sam.
"Mrs. Westen, my sincerest sympathies."
"Andrew, how'd you know?" Sam eyed him.
"Agent Pearce called to tell us you were on the way with Mrs. Westen. She explained briefly what happened." Andrew returned his attention to Maddie. "I am sorry for your loss, madame."
"Thank you, Andrew."
Sam led her past the butler and into the living area. Elsa sat up waiting, and when she saw Maddie, she hurried forward and enveloped her in her arms. She didn't speak, but it was unnecessary. Sam stepped back and let Elsa take charge of her.
"Would you care for a drink, Sir," Andrew asked.
"No, thanks." He held out his hand and took the suitcase from Andrew. "Why don't you just go home, Andrew. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright. Thank you, Sir."
He stood in the middle of the living area, not sure what to do next. He dropped the case outside Maddie's closed door. As he straightened, he heard their voices inside, the sounds of crying, and it stabbed him in the heart. This is unbelievable! Nate! Why did he have to kill Nate? Sam retreated to the master suite, stripped off his clothes and tossed his bloodied pants into the trash. He considered doing the same with the shirt, because he didn't want any memento of this night. But it was one of his favorites, so he reconsidered. After a long hot shower, he finally felt as if he'd washed away the stains, but never the memories. For just a few seconds, I wish Anson was still alive. That's all it would take to get my hands around his scrawny neck and squeeze the life out of him all over again. Thank God somebody in the Westen family had the chance to take him down. That's justice.
Sam couldn't sleep except for brief periods of snoozing, and considering that Elsa never came to bed, he supposed that Maddie was awake through the night as well. It was only natural. He couldn't even imagine how much it hurt to lose a child. It hurt like hell for him, for Mike's sake to lose his brother, but if Maddie's pain was any worse than his, he wasn't sure how she could handle it.
After breakfast, which Maddie ate mechanically, Sam and Elsa took her to the hospital to see Michael. It was strange to walk into his room and not see Fiona there by his side. Her absence made the loss even more unbearable. Pearce was there, which surprised Sam. She and Michael were talking when they entered, and she turned at the sound of their footsteps.
Pearce tried on a thin emotion laden smile for them. "Good morning. I was just getting a report from Michael on what happened last night. Mrs. Westen, did you shoot Anson?"
Maddie nodded. "He... he shot at me while I was going for the gun, but he missed." She shook her head. "I don't know how he missed. He was so close." Her eyes teared up. "But I got the gun and fired it before he got off another shot. He pitched forward into the wall, and then he left the house. I should have followed him and shot him again, but I was too scared. I called the police."
"It's okay, Maddie. You could have been killed if you tried to confront him again," Sam said with a supportive hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged it off and looked up at him. With anger in her voice, she replied, "If I had, Nate would be alive! Maybe I wouldn't, but he would be alive!"
"It wasn't a good situation anyway you look at it," Pearce spoke softly. "Unfortunately, things happened the way they did. But at least Anson is gone now, and Michael is free."
"Mom," Michael croaked. His hand lifted off the bed and reached for her. "I'm sorry about Nate, Mom. I wanted to stop Anson, but he flew down those steps and knocked me over, took the breath right out of me. Otherwise, he never would have made it to the garage."
"What's done is done," Maddie whispered as she took his hand and came forward to stand beside him. Pearce moved out of her way and stood back by Sam and Elsa. Maddie ran a hand through Michael's hair, and their eyes locked as they drank in each other's grief.
"Let's get out of here for a little bit," Elsa said wisely as she took Sam's elbow and led him toward the door. "Agent Pearce?"
"Yes. Coming." She glanced one more time at mother and son and keenly felt their pain. After losing the one she loved, she could understand how deep the cuts were.
Michael was released from the hospital in time for the funeral. He was in a daze, and not having Fiona there to hold onto him made things that much worse. He saw his brother lying peacefully in the coffin, and he wondered when he would wake up and tell everyone that it was just some sick joke he came up with. Before they closed the lid for good, Michael swept his hand across the lapel on Nate's dark suit, whisking away a piece of lint. His hand moved down to cover the cold ones folded at his brother's waist. A sob exploded from him, followed by another, and then his knees gave way. He wanted to climb inside and take his brother's place. After all, Nate was still married to Ruth. Maybe they could reconcile, and Charlie would have his daddy home again. But it was too late for all that. He knew better. Yet it didn't stop him from wishing.
"Come on, brother." Sam's gentle, soft voice served as a lifeline, and his hands kept Michael from collapsing completely. "Let's go sit down. Come on."
"No. I have to see him once more. I... I can't say goodbye."
The hands on his upper arms tightened, and Sam spoke through his own tears, his voice not so strong. "You have to, Mikey. He's gone. Your mom needs you to be strong." He sniffed a couple of times. "Get up. Take one step, then another. We'll get you back to your seat."
Michael let himself be gently driven toward the padded chair next to his mother. Thorough his tears, her face looked more like the mottled surface of an impressionistic painting. Nothing was clear. Behind her, he saw Ruth with Charlie in her lap. Despite whatever caused their rift, she was a mess with trails of mascara running down her cheeks. She still loved Nate, and his loss would affect her for quite some time. Sam set Michael in the chair, and Michael leaned into Sam even though he knew he was barely hanging on himself. Somehow they would all have to get through this. Anson was gone, but Fiona was still in jail. Sam said they found lots of evidence to sift through in Anson's car, as well as a hotel in which he was staying. Maybe those things would be what brought her home.
But right now, all that mattered was burying his brother.
Michael went to stay with Maddie, and they spent the first couple days like two bookends on the couch, staring into space. Now and then, one of them broke down and held the other. Sam and Jesse took care of them and made sure they at least ate something now and then and kept hydrated. This was so unlike the Michael Westen that Sam knew, but these were trying times and circumstances. He didn't blame him for being emotionally paralyzed.
Sam's phone rang, echoing in the stillness. It was late, Maddie dragged herself to bed, and Michael twisted himself into his sheets in his old bedroom upstairs. A floorboard in his room creaked every time he threw his body around and caused the bed to jerk slightly.
"Yeah, it's Sam."
"I need you and Jesse to come to my office as soon as you can."
"Mike and Maddie... I don't want to leave them alone. I'll call Elsa and see if she'll come." He almost said 'Fi'. After a couple months, he still hadn't gotten used to her being in jail.
"Hurry. We've got a lead on who's trying to kill Fiona, and we need to move on him as soon as possible." She hesitated. "Better yet, meet me at hanger 12 at the airport. We're taking a flight to DC tonight."
"Wait a minute. I thought you said Anson was trying to killl Fi."
"I was wrong. Yes, Anson wanted her dead, but someone else was pulling the strings."
"Card."
The line was silent for a moment until Pearce responded with an embarrassed tone. "Yes."
"You got it, we'll be on our way ASAP." Sam closed the connection and turned to Jesse, who stood in the kitchen doorway with a confused look on his face. "Saddle up, pardner, we're going to DC. I'll call Elsa and have her come over." He pushed speed dial and hit her number. "Hi honey, it's me. Can you come over to Maddie's and stay with her and Mike tonight? I have to go on a quick mission. I'll probably be back tomorrow sometime."
"Be careful, Sammy."
"I will, baby. See you soon." He smiled. "I love you."
"Love you too. I'll be there in a little while. I know where the key is to get in, so lock up."
He was proud of her. After Nate's death, he worked out an emergency plan with her just in case something like this happened, and she was ready and willing to participate. It made him love her all that much more. After he hung up, he shoved the phone into his pocket. "Elsa will be here in a little while. I'm going to let Mike know we're leaving."
"I'll be out in the car."
Sam climbed the stairs and carefully approached Michael's room. He could tell by his friend's breathing in the tiny space that he was awake. "Mike?" He called out to him softly, trying not to wake Maddie across the hall.
"Yeah, Sam." Michael sounded so weary, it tugged at Sam's heartstrings.
"Jesse and I are going to DC with Pearce." He entered the room and Michael turned on the bedside lamp. They squinted at each other until their eyes got used to the light. Sam sat on the edge of the twin bed. "You're not gonna like this, Mikey. Card had something to do with trying to kill Fi. Anson was scheduled to go in to see her and do the deed, but because your Ma killed him, he didn't make it there." He sighed. "Look, I don't wanna get into all the details, just wanted to let you know that Jesse and I are leaving right now, and Elsa is coming to stay with you guys until we return."
"She doesn't have to do that. Her dad..."
Sam held out a hand. "He's fine on his own, Mike." A slight smile crossed his face. "You should see the guy! He's as spry as ever. Must be all the babes, they're keeping him feeling young." A short chuckle came out, but he quickly squelched it. He replaced the smile with a sober expression. "Anyway, we're hoping we can wrap this up in a day or two. In the meantime, Pearce's people are working with the cops going over the evidence they found in Anson's car and hotel room."
"And?"
"Things are looking good for Fi. Just based on what Pearce has seen, she thinks Fiona will be released before the end of the week."
"Why? He was always so careful. Why would he leave evidence behind that exonerates her?"
"My guess would be arrogance. He thought he had the perfect plan, and at some point his pride drove him to record it. They found diaries, encrypted, of course, but the CIA broke the code. Everything he's ever done for the past five years, or more, is in those diaries."
Michael looked stunned. "So hopefully they point to this whole organization and how it worked, how they burned me and others, and created situations that forced us to work for them."
"Yeah, pretty heady stuff." He heard the thump of a car door. "Oh, that sounds like Elsa's here. I better go. I'll talk to you later, Mike."
"Thanks, Sam, for everything." Michael was still emotionally fragile, if his blinking eyes were any indication.
Sam was halfway to his feet, but he leaned over and gave his friend a quick hug. "It'll be okay, Mike. Eventually, you and Maddie will heal. We all will."
Without another word, Sam left Michael's room and hurried downstairs. Elsa came in through the back door, smiled at him, and moved into his embrace. He smelled deeply of her perfume and kissed the side of her neck.
"Be careful, Sammy."
"I will, sweetheart." He kissed her lips.
"I'll take good care of Maddie and Michael."
He smiled warmly. "I know you will. 'Bye." One more quick kiss, and he was gone.
