a/n- Hi everyone. I can't thank you enough for the amazingly kind reviews. They had me on cloud nine for days! You guys seriously rock!
Disclaimer- I don't own anything Burn Notice related.
After saying what felt like my millionth thank you Michael awkwardly shook my hand, said goodbye to his mother and left, Leaving Madeline and I alone. She kindly gave me my freshly dried clothes along with a blanket and two pillows and told me to set myself up in the spare bedroom she had.
The spare bedroom was small, cozy and smelled of moth balls. Looking around at the scuffed floor and sun worn walls I suddenly wondered if this was Michael or Nate's room. I silently put the blanket and pillows on the bed and folded my ratty pair of jeans and old, light blue t-shirt. I was lost in my own thoughts for a while. "What if this all blows up in my face?" I whispered to myself as I sat on the edge of the bed.
I spent a semi-sleepless night pacing around the bedroom, thinking.
To my surprise, during the course of my pacing I had apparently tired myself out because, the next thing I knew I woke up with a start in a strange bed, the sun was up and someone was lightly knocking on the bedroom door.
"Sarah?" Madeline called through the door. I silently got out of the bed and opened the door, giving Madeline a small smile. "Oh good you slept." Madeline replied as she took in my disheveled form. "Michael called; he should be over in a little while." My heart hammered in my chest at the mention of Michael and I could feel a hot blush creep into my cheeks. I didn't know what to say so, I nodded dumbly in reply. Without another word Madeline smiled at me, knowingly and left me to get ready.
With my clothes in hand I slipped out of the spare bedroom and down the hallway. I silently hoped, as I quickly made my way to the bathroom, that my face didn't look as bad as it felt. As much as I hated to, I flicked the on light switch in the bathroom, took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.
A terribly bruised, broken and frightened looking girl sadly stared back at me. Scrapes and bruises littered my face and forearms here and there but, the worse of it all was my left eye, it was swollen and terribly bruised. Suddenly I was repulsed by my own pitiful reflection. I hated myself with every fiber of my being.
I lightly brushed the purple, bruised skin around my eye with the tips of my pointer and middle fingers "How could I let things get this bad?" I whispered angrily. I took a deep breath and a few moments later I managed to pull myself together.
After searching the bathroom I found a hair tie and small tube of unopened toothpaste under the sink, I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth with the tip of my finger and ran my fingers through my hair to get whatever tangles I could out, After quickly tying my hair securely into a low side ponytail I grabbed my borrowed sweat pants and t-shirt and glanced at myself in the mirror one more time.
As I walked out of the bathroom I was greeted by the fresh smell of cigarette smoke and the familiar voices of Madeline and Michael, to my surprise there were also two voices that were unfamiliar to me, another man who had a cool, smooth voice and a woman.
I hated meeting new people, especially when evidence of my abuse is displayed so clearly on my body. I stood in the hallway biting my lip, contemplating if I should just go back to the spare bedroom, hide. I quickly turned on my heel to go back to my room when I suddenly heard a voice behind me. "I thought I heard footsteps..."
My heart nearly stopped. 'Busted' my mind screamed. I clutched my borrowed clothes to my chest and slowly turned around to look at Michael. "It's okay, it's just me." He said gently. "No need to look so frightened." He raised his hands slowly in surrender.
"Good morning, Michael." I whispered.
He smiled at me. "Good morning, Sarah." He replied. Silently, Michael motioned for me to follow him down the hallway and into the kitchen.
The unnamed man and woman sat at the table talking in hushed tones, while Madeline bustled around the kitchen. The woman was the first to look up at Michael and I. She was pretty and skinny… very skinny, with straight brown hair and a distinguished looking face. She was dressed in a plain pair of jean shorts with a white top. I felt inferior just being in the same room as her.
The man sitting opposite her was kicking back what looked like to be his third beer judging by the two bottles in front of him. He was older looking; with streaks of grey littering his hair here and there. To be honest, he had a nice face. I was sure that he was very good looking when he was younger. He was dressed in a bright blue Hawaiian print shirt, cargo shorts and flip flops. He looked very comfortable to say the least.
"Sarah, meet Fiona Glenanne and Sam Axe." Michael said motioning to the man and woman. Both Sam and Fiona nodded and smiled. Michael walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for me. I inwardly cringed as I sat down and I smiled awkwardly at the two strangers.
"It's nice to meet you, Sarah." Fiona said a little too sweetly.
"How's it goin', Kid?" asked Sam with a smile and a tip of his beer bottle.
"Here, put this on your eye." Michael said as appeared at my side and handed me a bag of frozen vegetables.
"You're serious?" I questioned looking at him, not taking the bag from him.
"Michael, put my vegetables back and give that poor girl a proper ice pack." Madeline said, scolding her son.
"Ma, these will do just fine." Michael replied curtly.
One smack to the head and a scowl from Madeline was all it took for Michael to give me an actual ice pack.
"Sam and Fi are here to help with your case." Michael began to explain to me. "We are going to start off with surveillance. Any and all information you could give us about your Husband; His full name, what kind of car he drives, his habits and the address of his work would be a great and it would help Sam and Fi to start as soon as possible."
I thought for a moment before speaking. "So, you're going to watch my Husband?" I asked bluntly.
"For a little while, just to see if we can catch him in his drug act. If we can this will be the single smoothest case we have ever done." Sam answered.
"So, what if you don't come up with anything? Jacob is smart. He will know if he's being watched! What happens then?" I questioned.
Fiona answered me this time "Then we take him down from inside his little drug gang." She said simply with a smile.
"Don't worry about it. We'll handle it." Michael assured me. "After you give us all the information you can Sam is going to take you to see your Son while Fiona and I get some supplies together for the surveillance."
I smiled at the thought of my son. "Alright" I agreed.
"Fi, I'm going to need to borrow your car." Sam said flatly.
"What?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.
"You heard Mikey, you're going with him, you two can take the Charger."
Fiona rolled her eyes "What's the matter with your own car, Sam?"
Sam took another drink of his beer before answering "Chuck Finley knows his way around Miami Beach and Chuck Finley drives a nicer car than Sam Axe has" he said with a grin.
Fiona shot Sam another icy look before groaning and nodding her head. "Oh, alright… I'll need to empty the trunk if you are taking it…"
Sam grinned again. "Alright! Now you're talking!" He said as he tipped his beer bottle toward Fiona. "Let's go empty that baby out!" He said jumping up from his seat at the table. "Where can we put her toys, Maddie?" Sam asked turning to Madeline who was leaned up against the kitchen counter smoking.
"I've got a tarp in the garage" She answered simply nodding through the kitchen toward the back door.
Fiona waited until Madeline and Sam were out the back door before leaning over and whispering to Michael. "I hope I don't regret this later." Michael chuckled in response.
"Fiona! Let's go sister! Time's a-wastin'!" Sam yelled from the back door.
Fiona groaned and stood up from the table "I hate him sometimes." She whispered to us as she walked out the back door.
I laughed lightly "Who is Chuck Finley? And what are Fiona's 'toys?'" I asked, amused.
Michael laughed. "He's Sam's cover alias. If you stick around long enough you'll see him more and more, and Fiona's 'toys' consist of Guns, blocks explosives, Tasers things like that. She's trigger-happy." I stared at Michael "You asked."
"Sarah" Michael began in a serious tone "As soon as you finish up at your in-laws Sam is going to bring you right back here, understand? You…"
I felt my insides go cold "No!" I cut in. "I can't come back here. Jacob will become suspicious. I need to go home." I said firmly.
Michael shook his head "It's not safe for you there, Sarah" he said warningly.
"I can't just up and leave, Michael I have obligations! I have to go to work. I need to be putting away money somehow. I'm also throwing a lot of hard earned money at college classes. I need to go to class! If I leave out of the blue, especially after what happened between us last night he'll find me and I'll pay for it! I need to go on with my life, I…"
"I can keep you safe!" Michael exclaimed, cutting me off.
My heart thudded in my ears. I suddenly felt suffocated, trapped. I hurriedly got up from my seat.
"Sarah…"
I walked passed Michael, ignoring him.
"Sarah, where are you going?" Michael called after me as I walked toward the front door. I heard his chair scrape across the kitchen floor. Ignoring him again, I pulled the front door open and closed it quietly behind me. I sat down at the top of the porch steps, pulled my knees to my chest and rested my right cheek on my left knee. I didn't know what to do. I needed help but, at what cost? I sat in blissful silence, thinking.
Suddenly, felt a hand on my shoulder, I was so lost in thought I didn't even hear the front door open, footsteps or even feel someone sit down next to me. "You know… if you need to talk…" Michael said breaking the silence.
"Michael, I…" I struggled to find the words. I turned around, locking eyes with him. He stared down at me, his eyes filled with nothing more than patience and understanding. "I've made a decision." I said sounding more confident than I felt. "Give me a week to go on with my life as usual."
Michael opened his mouth in protest but I went on. "If you allow me to do that I'll go wherever you want me to go and do whatever you want me to do when the week is up. I know you think this is dangerous but, this is something I need to do. Let me tie up loose ends at work, inform my professors that I will be missing a few classes let me say goodbye to my old life before everything changes…"
We sat in silence for a few minutes. "Do you have a cell phone?" Michael suddenly asked. I stared at him, confused. I shook my head no. "I don't necessarily agree with your plan but, if you are going back home for a week we need to get you a phone, just for emergencies." I silently nodded my understanting. "Come on" he said offering me his hand as he stood up. Michael quickly pulled me up from the stairs and onto my feet. "Sam and Fi should be done clearing out Fi's trunk by now." He said as he led me around to the back of the house.
"You just about ready to go, Sarah?" Sam called when he saw Michael and I.
I quietly nodded my head and smiled at Sam in response.
"I just need to get some information from Sarah and you two can be on your way" Michael said as he led me up the back stoop and into the kitchen.
When I had finally given Michael all the specifics he asked for I found myself a bit upset that he wasn't the one taking me to see my son.
'I'll see him again in a week' I told myself as Michael shut the passenger side door for me.
He leaned on the door to talk to Sam as he got in the driver's side "Take Sarah to get a cell phone, okay?" Michael said as he reached passed me to give Sam a wad of cash.
"You've got it, Brother." Sam answered as he stuffed the cash into his pocket.
Michael turned to me "If you need anything Sarah, anything at all day or night you call me…" Michael was suddenly interrupted when he was pushed aside by Fiona who stuck her head into her car.
"I swear to god, Sam if anything happens to this car I will kill you." She threatened.
Sam mearly chuckled darkly in reply.
"I mean it!" She shouted before getting pushed to the said by Michael.
"Get back, Fi" He groaned. I looked at Michael, worry clearly written across my face. Michael laughed "Don't look so worried." He said as he stepped away from the car. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I nodded.
"Alright!" Sam exclaimed as he backed Fiona's car out into the road. "Let's go cell phone shopping!"
a/n- And that's a wrap for chapter 3. Please read and review! And if you have any suggestions please feel free to voice them. Thank you so much for reading! You guys are awesome! EDIT: I have NO idea what happened with this chapter. I went back to look at it in the website and the paragraphs were all messed up so, I had to go back through and revamp the set up… smh.