Thanks for all the great reviews. Also, I should credit my beta reader, Riter's Fury, who created the monster of my Burn Notice fascination.
Chapter Two "No Good Deed"
Dani Pearce smiled as she settled into her desk that morning. Those months in Mumbai had been challenging for her, but in the end, it had been worth it. She was back home where she belonged. Her career was back on track. Things were looking up, and apparently, her day could only get better because soon after arriving to work that morning, she received an unexpected visitor.
Dani often felt that her time spent getting to know Jesse Porter had been too short. In their brief acquaintance, she had known him to be a loyal friend and good support when she needed it. His help in catching Jay's killer had meant the world to Dani, and after receiving that closure, she felt her eyes once again open to the world and the happiness that could be.
Perhaps she was being a silly romantic, but Dani couldn't help noticing that Jesse was the first one to visit her upon her return to Miami. It didn't have to mean anything, but she would be fine if it did.
"Hey, I heard you were back in town," Jesse said with that trademark smile in his eyes and upbeat tone in his voice. "How'd that happen?"
Dani smiled back. "Didn't Michael tell you? He was able to get me transferred back."
"Michael?" Jesse looked confused as he sat in one of the empty chairs across from Dani. "I haven't heard from him in months."
Dani frowned. "Then how did you know I was here?"
"I am still a member of the intelligence community, albeit on the fringes."
Dani shook her head. "The fringes of the fringes. But what's this about not talking to Michael? I talked to him yesterday."
"It's... complicated." The lightness in Jesse's eyes was gone.
Dani crossed her arms on her desk. "Jesse, what's going on?"
He averted his eyes for a moment and sighed. "After Mike went back to the CIA things got... strained. Especially with Fi, but we all kind of had issues with that."
"I'm missing something." Dani unfolded her arms. "From what I understand, he made a deal to keep you all from facing prosecution for helping him after he killed Tom Card."
"That's the simple version, but nothing's ever simple with Michael Westen."
"So... you wanted to go to prison?"
"No. Of course not. It's—complicated."
"You said that."
"Look, we were on the run for a long time. We accepted the fact that we couldn't go home. Then Mike makes this deal, and it's supposed to be like nothing happened. But it's not. It's different."
Dani leaned back in her chair. "Oh. I see."
"Yeah, well, that's not why I came here. I just wanted to welcome you back and invite you to come have drinks with us tonight. It's Sam's turn to buy." The lightness was back, though somewhat disingenuous.
Dani smiled softly. "I wouldn't miss it."
Jesse smiled back, more real this time. "I gotta run." He got up from the chair and headed for the door. "See you tonight."
Dani watched Jesse go and couldn't help wondering what had gone so wrong that Michael wasn't in communication with his friends. When she had worked with him before, it seemed like the only people Michael really trusted were Sam, Fiona, and Jesse. It was so wrong for the four of them not to be working together. Dani understood though, with Michael's deal with the CIA, he had to sacrifice a lot. She just didn't think it would be so bad.
* * * Burn Notice * * *
After an evening of awkward small talk and mediocre food, Michael and Madeline had both gone to bed wondering what the hell they were supposed to do together. In the morning, Madeline made coffee and light breakfast and tried to think of something for them to do. They never really did anything together besides those two therapy sessions and the times Madeline helped with Michael's missions. Neither of those things would do for this weekend. They were supposed to have fun, but Madeline couldn't remember the last time they did that. Not alone anyway.
Things always seemed easier when there were other people around. Sam and Fi or Jesse or Nate or even a client. But they didn't have that now. It was just the two of them, and they might soon discover how little they had in common.
As Michael came out into the dining room, already showered and dressed, Madeline decided to try to get things moving.
"What would you like to do today?" she asked brightly as she brought two cups of coffee to the table.
"Whatever you want, Mom," Michael replied in a similar tone. That was not helpful.
Madeline sucked in a quiet breath as she sat down across from Michael. "What sounds fun? We could go to the beach or the mall."
Michael almost imperceptibly cringed at that suggestion. "Sure," he said and bit into a piece of toast.
"Michael, what do you enjoy doing? I mean, besides going to the shooting range or blowing things up or saving helpless people from certain death."
"I can do that at home."
Madeline noticed the way he called Langley home now. "You still didn't answer the question."
"I don't know, Mom. Maybe someplace without so many people."
"Oh, I know! A museum."
Michael smiled, probably more at her enthusiasm than the idea. "Okay. And I'll take you out to lunch after for your birthday, since I missed it."
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"That's not why I offered."
"Well, thank you Michael. That would be lovely."
Madeline knew the smiles were all lies, but she also knew there was a part of both of them that just wanted to lie for a while. They could pretend they were happy for the little time they had together because they never knew when they would have this chance again, if ever. Madeline didn't like to think that way, but coming back would only get harder for Michael as the memories turned stale and the sense of what he had lost really sunk in. Madeline could tell he hadn't completely processed it yet. She hadn't either.
They ate their breakfast in contented silence much like they had spent their few idle evenings together during those six years. It hadn't been enough, but this was all they could do to get it back, and they would never get it back.
The silence was broken when the side door opened, and Jesse came into the kitchen. He seemed preoccupied and about to say something when he saw Michael. There was a moment where no one said anything, and then Jesse broke out his fake smile that was almost as good as Michael's.
"Mike, what are you doing here?" he kept his tone light, but there was an unspoken tension behind his words.
Michael smiled back, keeping up the charade. "Just visiting for the weekend," he said. "We were going to a museum this morning."
Jesse looked confused. "Okay. Hey, I've been using your car. I hope you don't mind."
Michael shook his head. "I don't need it. It's yours if you want it."
"Wow, uh, thanks. On a side note, what's the deal with transferring Dani back to Miami?"
Michael looked like he wasn't going to say anything for a moment. "She told me before she left not to let it all be for nothing. It was one of the things I could fix."
Jesse nodded slowly. "It was a good thing you did."
"For once."
"No. No, you do that a lot. It just doesn't always seem like it." Jesse nodded as if to himself. "Have fun at the museum." He left without saying why he was there, but Michael and Madeline could both hear voices coming from the garage, and realized that they were working on a job out there. Things were going back to normal, but nothing would ever be the same.
* * * Burn Notice * * *
Fiona dusted off her hands as she finished boarding up the windows in the garage. She looked around at the changes they had made. It was a good morning's work. Everything was going as planned. When Jesse came back from the house, Sam looked over from where he was installing a surveillance camera.
"You let Maddie know we'll be working out here?" he asked.
"Uh, no, I think they're going out," Jesse replied.
"They?" Fiona asked as she came to stand in the center of the garage.
"Mike's here."
Silence seemed to crash into them all. Fiona felt her heart beating faster. Her palms began to sweat, and she feared she might be on the verge of hyperventilating. The last time she saw him, she had said goodbye. It was supposed to be the end. He wasn't supposed to come back.
Fiona swallowed hard and rubbed her palms on her jeans. "What do you mean?" she said.
Jesse looked her in the eye. "Michael is here. Inside."
"Why?" Fiona could hear the emotion in her own voice that she couldn't hide.
Jesse shrugged. "Visiting, I guess."
"What right does he have to—"
"Fi," Sam interrupted. He gave her a look as if to communicate something between just the two of them.
Fiona glared back. "You can't say this makes sense to you, Sam."
"He's visiting his mom, Fi. She's all he has. Leave the poor guy alone."
"I plan to." Fiona busied herself putting equipment away and missed the worried glance Sam and Jesse shared. She wouldn't have cared much if she had seen it. She was too distracted as the memories of everything that had gone wrong came flooding back. It wasn't right for Michael to force her to relive all that. Hadn't he done enough damage?
* * * Burn Notice * * *
There was a side of Michael that said "to hell with consequences," and another side that had become so intimately acquainted with consequences over his lifetime that he could not realistically listen to the first side. He wanted to go out there. To see them all. After Jesse's words, Michael began to think that maybe the others would come to understand what he did. At the same time, he knew that Jesse was different than Sam and Fiona. He had once seriously considered killing Michael, and he hadn't said a word about Michael killing Tom Card. Sam had made it clear how opposed he was to the whole thing, while Fiona had said it was the right thing to do, but they both thought Michael going back to the CIA was a bad decision.
Time may have softened their attitudes, but Michael didn't count on it. After the shock of Fiona's reaction, Michael was not going to assume anything. But he had to see them. He couldn't be two doors away, and not take advantage of the opportunity. Maybe it would do more harm than good, but he had to take that chance. He owed it to them to explain as long as they would listen.
So, while Madeline got ready to leave for the Miami Art Museum, Michael headed out the side door toward the garage. As he came in, it looked like they had just finished preparing it to hold a prisoner or something. Fiona was putting away a power drill, and Sam was cleaning up. Jesse stood a little away from the door looking conflicted. For a long moment, no one said anything. No one could think of anything to say. Then Sam smiled, and Michael realized that in all the years he had known him, Sam had never looked so artificial, so fake.
"It's been a long time, Mikey," he said. His voice seemed flat.
Michael smiled back; he was better at it. "I've been out of the country," he said, thinking it best to stick to simple facts. "But I had some time off, so I thought I'd come down for the weekend."
"Everything like it was in the good old days, huh?"
Michael let his smile slip. There were no good old days, but what could he say? "It's fine," he said. He couldn't complain about the life he had chosen, especially not to those he had left behind.
Fiona still hadn't looked up from the drill case that lay open on the floor. She was crouched in front of it with her hands on the sides, as if frozen there.
"Well, we're kinda in the middle of something," Sam said, drawing Michael's attention away from Fiona. "We have to get going. Come on Fi."
Michael realized what Sam was doing. He was rescuing Fiona from a situation she didn't want to be in. The two of them left without another word, and Michael knew he shouldn't have come. Maybe his mom and Jesse could forgive him for leaving, but it didn't look like Sam or Fiona ever would. It was only fair for Michael to let them forget about him. He had been selfish to drop into their lives just to leave again, to cause them needless pain. It would have been better if he had stayed away, and he should have known that before he came.