I do own burn notice or any of the characters.
Chapter two.
He woke slowly, fearing it was a dream. He was on a soft mattress, the was a pleasant breeze against his skin. He felt clean for the first time in, in a very long time. A hand touched his cheek and he flinched, panic welling up.
"Shh, Michael it's OK. You're safe." It was fiona's voice. "You're home, you can rest now."
He groaned and moved his head from side to side. "My eyes, Fi I -" He couldn't bring himself to say he couldn't see.
"They're going to be fine the Doctor, David, you remember him? said they have to stay covered for now." She spoke softly trying to calm him. " He washed them out, it was some sort of irritant. He reset your fingers and you're on some pretty strong painkillers." She ran her fingers through his longer than usual hair. "Go back to sleep I'm here." She coaxed.
She stayed with him as he fell back to sleep. Gently caressing his cheek, soothing him as if he was a child. In her mind she was trying to work out how they were going to tell him he was now trapped between two warring factions with no idea who was who.
The photographs that had been left with his body was a stark warning, that they were all at risk.
What had been more frightening was Michael's reaction to David's examination. Barely conscious he had put up such a fight he had to be sedated before the Doctor could get near him. He didn't know where he was and wouldn't believe they were trying to help him.
Vaughn was another problem, they had seen his men lurking around. So far they had put him off, but soon Michael was going to have to face him. She wondered now how he would cope. It wasn't only his physical condition that worried her. The doctor had said he would make a full recovery, but she had seen victims of torture before, in Ireland. Some were never the same afterwards.
"Fi, I thought I heard voices, how is he?" She turned to face Madeline.
"He woke up for a moment." She tried to smile.
"I'm making coffee, come and have a drink and something to eat."
"I should stay with him." Fiona turned back to the sleeping figure.
Madeline came into her son's room and lent down wrapping her arms around the tiny woman feeling how frail she had become. Before they had rescued Michael, Fiona had been like a tornado, never still and leaving devastation where ever she went. Now she was still, and the strain she had been under showed. Even Sam had noticed and had convinced her to watch over Michael while he and Jesse tried to find out anything about the bible.
"He's resting, and you need to eat or you'll be no good to him when he needs you." Madeline spoke softly. She gently pulled Fiona up, leading her into the lounge. "We'll hear him if he stirs." She promised.
"The only way I can see we're going to get anywhere with this damn bible is if Mike can get something from Vaughn." Sam looked across the table at Jesse. They were taking a lunch break at Carlito's.
The younger man nodded glumly. He and Sam had gone through every bit of paper he had on Barret's people. They were trying to find any clue to the identity of the third party who had taken the bible from the crashed car. Sam had used his contacts to get a look at the closest CCTV cameras to where the gun battle that had taken place hoping to see which way the mystery man had gone. But some one had got to them before him.
"Vaughn's going to know for sure Mike hasn't just been recovering from a bullet wound when he sees him. The is hardly an inch of the man not bruised." The younger man commented.
"We should go and see how he is doing," Sam decided. He was not keen on leaving the others alone for any length of time. Fiona was perfectly capable of dealing with any danger but it wasn't the same as him being there himself.
This time when he woke up he knew he was safe. He could hear voices coming from the lounge.
He reached up with his very sore hands and gingerly uncovered his eyes. The pads came away easily once he pulled the tape off. He gritted his teeth as pain pulsed through his hands from trying to use his broken fingers. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes, daylight instantly set up a throbbing headache but he persisted and looked around. Everything was ringed with red and his eyes streamed sending tears down his cheeks. Next he attempted to sit up, his plan to get up, he had spent to long lying down unable to make his own decisions.
"Michael what do you think you are doing!" He could just make out a fuzzy image of his mother in the doorway.
"Getting up." He told her his voice little more than a whisper.
"No you're not." Fiona flew into the room pushing him back down. Batting his hands out of the way as she tried to put fresh dressings onto his eyes. "Are you trying to blind yourself." She snapped.
He lay back, he didn't have the strength to fight her. As she finished fixing the tape over the dressing he sighed, "Fi, Fiona I can't stay laid up I need to be up and helping you and Sam. They did not just let me go, they must expect something in return. What is it?"
"You have to lie still and let your eyes heal." She tried to dodge his question.
"I'll stay put, but answer my question. Why did they let me go?"
"Me and Sam," She paused "And Jesse, found where we thought you were being held. We caused them a lot of trouble, cost them quite a bit of money. They gave you back to us." She paused again. Trying to speak lightly, hoping he would, for now be satisfied with the bare facts.
"Jesse, is helping us?" He had thought Jesse shot him, maybe he was mistaken.
"He came to us. I was going to kill him. But Sam stopped me. I'm grateful he did now, as with Jesse's help we found out who had you and persuaded them to let you go." She gently kissed his forehead.
Before she could say more they heard the click of the front door being opened. Madeline's head swung round to the sound then relaxed as she saw Sam and Jesse. Fiona, her hand reaching for the gun she kept in her waistband stopped when she noticed Madeline's reaction. "It's the boys." Madeline told her. She then moved out of the way to let Sam into the room.
"How ya doing Mikey?" Sam kept his tone cheery.
"I'll be better when I'm allowed up." Michael complained.
" The doc's going to call round later give you another look over. See what he says humour us till then please."
"OK, fine." He grudgingly agreed.
" How long was I gone?" He had so many questions.
Sam was glad Mike could not see his face, he knew he had to tell the truth, but wondered what effect it would have on his friend.
"Sam?" Michael wasn't sure he was still in the room.
"Sorry five weeks Mike, you were gone for five weeks."
"Is that all." He sighed "Where does Vaughn think I've been all this time? If he knows what happened." He didn't finish the sentence.
"No we hid it. Convinced him you were recovering from being shot. He wants to see you though."
"Sam I want to get up." He changed the subject. "I've been lying down too long."
"Fine, but just into the lounge." Sam could understand that he needed to take back some control over his life.
"Get me some clothes." He kicked off the covers and swung his legs slowly and carefully out of bed and onto the floor. He let Sam help him into a pair of jeans and a t shirt that Sam had found in one of the drawers. The clothes hung off him showing exactly how much weight he had lost.
"We're going to have to fatten you up Mikey." Sam tried to joke.
Standing up Michael ignored the remark he could only guess how he looked. If was anything like he felt it had to be pretty bad. He swayed disorientated from not being able to see, he almost fell when he tried to take a step.
"Jesus, Mike take it easy let me help you." He slipped his shoulder under Michael's arm and helped him slowly into the lounge. He chose to ignore the death glares he received from Mike's mother and from Fi.
"He would of just got himself up if I'd said no." Sam defended himself.
Once he was sat down and had been made to have a drink and a bite to eat, he insisted they told him all that had happened while he was gone. He smiled at the image of Fiona being allowed to unleash her inner terrorist. It amazed him what they had done to get him back. It made him determined that he would keep them all safe. The man who had interrogated him had threatened to bring in all these people and torture them to get him to talk. To identify a person he hadn't even seen. A shudder went through his body. He quickly brought his emotions under control.
As a spy you are taught to lie. You are encouraged to practice. If you are really good you even lie successfully to yourself.