I do not own Madam Secretary because if I did, I would have kept Mike and Nadine together and also gotten into Mike's character a little more than snippets of his family life here and there.

Title and lyrics are from Taylor Swift's Enchanted.

Chapter 1: I Was Enchanted to Meet You

Your eyes whispered "have we met?"

Across the room your silhouette starts to make its way to me

The playful conversation starts

Counter all your quick remarks, like passing notes in secrecy

2012

Elizabeth McCord looked at her close friend and colleague, Michael Barnow. He was just fresh out of a horrid marriage and was unbearable.

"Uh, Mike," she asked, as he just chewed out his TA.

He looked at her and she blinked, tilting her head. "Is everything okay," she asked.

He just flopped down onto her couch. "My date from last night, she was a complete airhead. I thought she was smart! Remember that new Poli Sci adjunct? Yeah, wasted my favorite place on her," he muttered. "I am done with the teachers and the lawyers and the political nut jobs. I need something new. But smart," he went on.

Bess nodded. "Okay," she said, smirking. She got up and walked to the door. "I have a class," she said.

"I'm going to grab lunch anyway. But seriously, I am done with lawyers," Mike said, getting up.

"I hear you," Bess nodded, walking the opposite way.

Not two months later, Mike was at the annual Polisci Christmas party, talking to one of the other professors in the department when Bess came over to him with a tall young man next to her.

"Hello," he asked, confused.

"This is Blake Moran. One of my best students. He has a friend of a friend who is coming by. She's a grad student in finance and very smart," she replied, smiling.

Mike groaned. "Bess, I don't want a fix up. You sound like my mother when you do this. And I'd be in Shreveport if I want to be fixed up," he said.

Bess waved his concerns away. "I've met your mother, she is very nice. She should be here soon so let me know what you think," she grinned.

Blake looked at him. "I never actually met her but my friend wouldn't shut up about her," he said, patting him on the shoulder and walking away.

Mike sighed. "I'm moving into a monastery," he muttered.

Ten minutes later, he felt the telltale feeling of being watched, while he was still in a riveting conversation with the department head. He turned his head slightly and saw the most stunning pair of greenish blue eyes of some blonde staring back at him. He was thrown off for a moment but she kept waiting to speak and he gave her a look.

"What," he asked, annoyed that she was listening in.

That startled her, her face twitching as she looked around. "You're in front of the coat rack. I need to put away mine," she said, pointing to the rack next to him.

Mike blinked and they moved as she took off her grey wrap coat and scarf. He helped her hang it and went to say something to her when someone came over and whisked her away. Her startled laugh rang in his head as he went back to the conversation he was having.

"You don't think that was your date you just blew off?" the older man teased.

Mike thought, then groaned. "Most likely," he muttered.

A little while later, he found her again, coming back around from the back patio, an empty glass in her hand. He leaned against the entryway as she came over.

"Sorry about earlier," he said, making her turn to him.

"It's okay. No hard feelings," she replied, smiling.

The way she tilted her head at him made him pause. She was pretty. She had a round face and her hair was falling on her shoulders in waves. The eyes he noticed first changed into more of a blue color now. The grey sweater dress with black tights showed her slim figure. He put his hand out.

"Mike Barnow," he introduced himself.

She smiled at him. "Kate Anderson," she replied, shaking his hand. Her next worlds were cut off as someone bounded over to him.

"Oh, you're Mike? Hi, I'm Sydney! I'm Trevor's friend, it's so nice to meet you," a bubbly brunette said, smiling at him.

Mike inwardly groaned. Of course the pretty blonde wasn't his fix up.

Then Kate surprised him.

"Babe, could you please get me another drink. I had an impossibly long day at the hospital. And if I have to miss the Harvard game to be here for you, I need a stiff drink," she said, smiling, putting her hand on his chest.

He looked at her and he hoped his eyes conveyed how grateful he was. She winked and he smiled.

"Well, sweetheart, why don't you come with me so I don't make a complete fool of myself and get you the wrong thing. I think there's food too," he said, jerking his thumb to the bar.

Kate nodded. She smiled at Sydney, who beamed back at them. "Oh, I was thinking you two weren't together. God, I'm so sorry," she said.

Kate smiled. "Not a problem," she said, putting her hand in his as they walked away. Sydney found someone else to talk to, making them both sigh in relief.

Mike smiled as they walked to the bar. Kate smiled back at him. "That was fun," she said, signaling the bartender. "Vodka soda," she added.

Mike nodded. "I was thinking scotch but thankfully you came with me," he said.

"Oh I love scotch but it's not a first date drink for me. I find it tends to scare the guy off that I have better taste in my liquor than he does," Kate replied as her drink was put in front of her.

Mike leaned against the bar and regarded her. "Maybe you have been with the wrong guys," he said.

Kate laughed and smirked. "Well, maybe I should go for the coat rack blockers," she said, sipping her drink. She sighed as the coolness of the drink filled her. "God, I needed that."

"How did you put it, impossible day," Mike asked, grabbing a refill of his drink and leading her to the couches. He saw her clench and unclench her hand.

"I'm a neurosurgeon fellow at the university hospital while I'm working on my PhD in neurobiology. I finally presented my dissertation this morning and then some moron biker plowed into a Christmas shopping village. I spent my afternoon in the OR, drilling holes in his head to keep the pressure down," she explained, putting her drink down and rubbing her hand again.

Mike took it and massaged it, making her moan lightly and lean back into his shoulder. He smirked at her. "Usually I try not to have a woman sound like that outside of bed," he said.

Kate smirked. "Keep doing that and I just might have to see about that," she whispered.

Mike looked at her and saw her honesty. He swallowed and continued to massage her hand, moving to the other. He spotted Bess and Henry and groaned as they made their way over to him.

"What? The cheerleader is back," Kate asked, looking around for the perky woman.

"Don't make fun, I was a cheerleader," he replied, stopping the massage as the other couple came over.

Kate raised her eyebrow. "Oh, sweetie, don't give me ammo like that," she smirked. She smiled at the other couple.

"Hi there," Bess said, cutting off his retort, sitting down with Henry. "I'm Elizabeth and this Henry," she added.

"Kate," she replied, shaking their hands.

Bess smiled at her, giving Mike a look. "Not too bad, huh," she asked.

Mike gave her a look. "No, no, you were going to set me up with a human jack in the box," he said.

"Yeah, I had to save him," Kate nodded. Bess cringed as Henry chuckled. Kate pointed to him. "You just at the Medical Ethics forum, right," she asked, her eyes shining.

"Wait, I thought I recognized you. You gave your presentation on the effects of neurological defects on moralistic ideas," Henry nodded,

Kate nodded. "I have been meaning to find time to talk to you about a couple of cases I have had," she said. "I actually just had a Christian Scientist almost deny his daughter a lifesaving operation. If it wasn't for his mother and wife, she would have died. He called it an error," she asked.

As the two debated, Bess looked at Mike. He was watching Kate with curiosity, amusement, and something underneath. She smiled as she figured out as he went back to massaging her left hand.

He was smitten.

Later that night, the party was winding down and Kate got up, saying goodbye to the McCords.

"Okay, I should head out too," she said, smiling.

Mike got up with her. "I'll drive you," he offered.

Kate raised her eyebrow. "Buy me dinner first," she said, going to the coat rack. He took her coat and helped her into it.

Mike laughed and she returned the favor, helping him to put his coat on. They walked out together and he pointed to his car. "No trouble at all," he said.

Kate smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

Mike smiled and led her to the car. He opened the door and she slid in. He closed the door and got into the driver side, driving away.

"Did you mean what you said," he asked, seeing his favorite diner coming up.

Kate looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "About dinner or the other thing I said about the sounds I was making when you decided to massage my hands five minutes after we met," she asked.

Mike laughed. "Dinner, mostly," he replied, smiling at her. "This place is actually good," he added, pulling over in front of the diner.

Kate smiled and took his hand. "Lead the way," she said, biting her lip.

Mike grinned and led her into the restaurant. They sat across from each other in a booth and he noticed she didn't let go of his hand as the waitress came over with the menus. Kate ordered a chicken club salad and an extra order of fries. She also eyed the hand mixer and ordered a vanilla shake. Mike raised his eyebrow and ordered a burger and a coke.

"So...why neurosurgery," he asked, as the waitress went back to the counter.

Kate smiled. "I like the challenge. Also, I love the brain. I love the science behind it. My dream is to come up with a way to map the brain to retrain paralyzed people to walk again. My brother works with a lot of veterans and many have lost the ability to walk. Technology has been evolving and I think we can do it. Also, I want to find a more effective way to treat Alzheimer's," she replied. She played with the napkin. "Why politics," she asked.

Mike blinked. No one ever asked him that before.

"Well, I went into law because I grew up in Shreveport, and that's what you did. You either went into the family business, you become a doctor or a lawyer. My Mom's a nurse but I didn't like medicine. And law made sense to me. Politics was just a natural progression. I wanted to be part of the action. I like trying cases, don't get me wrong but I love the ins and outs of the government and the different departments. I actually work in D.C a lot as a consultant to different departments," he replied.

Kate nodded. "Did you ever think about running," she asked.

Mike turned away and looked outside. He squeezed her hand and Kate stroked her thumb over his knuckle. "Once, a while ago," he replied.

Kate smiled and their food came out. They ate and kept talking. She told him about growing up in Boston and about some of the cases that she handled and he told her the reason for cheer-leading in high school. They ended up sharing her fries and Mike found himself wanting to make her laugh because he loved the sound of it. Kate, in turn, wanted to make him smile because of the way his eyes sparkled.

When they were done, Mike paid the bill in full when Kate went to the bathroom, even though she gave him money for her halff. She came back as the waitress was going back with the little tray. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look.

"I never let a lady pay on the first date," he said, getting up.

Kate raised her eyebrow. "Fine then. The next one is on me," she said, trying to crack a smile.

Mike did a double take and she smirked, putting her coat back on. "Really," he asked.

Kate grinned and pulled him to a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and she gasped as he slid his tongue into her mouth. They pulled back and she chased him with little pecks on the lips. He grinned and held her close.

"Really," she replied. "I have the day shift tomorrow and barring any traumas, I should be off by six. Meet me at the 4th floor nurses station."

Mike nodded and led her out of the diner. Kate smiled as she hailed a cab. He tried to stop her but she took his hand.

"I have to try to be a lady. If you drive me home, I'm going to want to take you up to my apartment and while I want that...I want to see how long we can hold out," she said, kissing him again.

Mike sighed and pushed their foreheads together. "Fine. That would be a change of pace," he admitted.

Kate smiled and took out her phone, opening a new contact page. "Number please," she requested.

Mike grinned and put his number into her phone. She smirked and texted him back, kissing him one last time, before he opened the door.

"Be patient with me," she whispered against his mouth and slid into the cab.

Mike smiled as the cab pulled away. He thought back to what he said months ago in Bess' office and he thought about how his wish came true in the form of a Boston bred doctor that was way smarter than him but asked the questions that some people hadn't asked in years.

Getting into his car, his phone chimed again. He smiled as he pulled it out to find a picture of Kate, clearly home in her apartment and in a Dartmouth t-shirt and a pair of short shorts. Damn crazy woman...he swallowed as he read the caption.

"I forgot to tell you that I run hot at night. For future plans ;). I had fun tonight. Let's do it again tomorrow."

Mike ran a hand over his face and chuckled as he typed a reply, starting his card.

"Don't worry, I have been told I am the Goldilocks of bed partners, not too hot, not too cold. I'll text you when I get to the hospital."

He pulled away from the diner as he put the phone in the cup holder as he drove. It chimed again and he read it after pulling into his driveway and walking into his house.

"Haha, I love that! And sure, that sounds good. Goodnight, Mike," she replied.

"Goodnight, Kate," he replied.

End of Chapter 1

There you have it! Chapter 1 is in the books and finally published! I have been working on this pretty much since the pandemic started and have been going back and forth making them meet off screen before season 4 and making Mike still be with Nadine in season 3 but then I heard how Kevin Rahm actually came to meet his wife (if you haven't heard the story it's part of his interview on the podcast, Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, snippet found here: watch?v=dAJ8I3381ac) and I kinda liked the idea of Mike being a little brash with her but then instantly apologetic.

Also, I threw in another nod to Kevin in the way Mike was a cheerleader in High School. That nugget of trivia came from another podcast, the Kevin Pollack Show: watch?v=LGklkfkYWjA&t=4963s. (I love to listen to different podcasts and interviews about actors, their stories and their craft since I am in the media business myself albeit on the techincal/broadcast side)

The good thing is is that I have this pretty far mapped out in two seperate Google Docs and I just need to add in more actual quotes in the episode specific chapters and also flesh out a couple of more characters and details. The next chapter should be up by the weekend and I hope to also keep working on my other works. I personally cannot wait to introduce his four sisters (I nearly fell off my chair hearing that in the Series finale. Thank God, we finally saw his son!)

Also, Mike may seem out of character at times but I always think about how smitten he was with Nadine and I think that someone like Kate, who I plan to be very bad-ass in her own right and smart, will balance him out and make him soft in his personal life. She wouldn't care for the "Mike B. show". She would just want Mike at the end of the day. Finding that balance will also help me in writing his friendships with Elizabeth and Blake.

Lastly, I have created a Pinterest board if anyone wants to take a look. I modeled Kate after Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) but a lot less dark and twisty as Meredith. I can send the link to anyone who is interested. It really just keeps me focused on the visuals and gets my characters in order.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please drop a review with any comments, criticisms, or suggestions! And please, stay safe everyone!