Four hours after Michael left Fiona's side, he returned. Maddie and Sam were laughing about a story he was telling them. "Mikey! I thought I might have to swing by the CIA and rescue you if we didn't hear anything in the next hour. How did it go?"
Maddie moved out of the way, allowing Michael to get closer to Fiona. He kissed her head and whispered "Come back to me, we're free."
Sam and Maddie stood by watching Michael whisper a few other things to Fi. When he was done, he sat down and said with a big, triumphant smile "I got him to admit he burned me, planted the bombs and framed Fiona. I made a deal that if I get the information to free Fiona, charges will be dropped and I'll retire from the agency."
Both Sam and Maddie's eyes grew wide. "Mike you finally got back in and now you want to retire? I'm glad my favorite Irish pain-in-the-neck will be free soon, but your job..."
Michael interrupted. His voice and tone changed from soft to loud and excited. "The job is why Fiona went to jail. The job is why she's in ICU and got stabbed while in ICU. Everything that happened to her since I came back to Miami is my fault. She deserves someone who isn't a slave to a job. I'm not going to let her go, so I have to let the job go. The longer I'm with the agency, the more enemies..."
Sam held up his hands, signaling Michael to calm down. "I got it Brother. I'm going to get something to get some coffee. I'll be back later and I'll take Maddie home so she can rest."
Michael and his mom sat in silence for a moment. Maddie had enough of the beeping machines and broached a topic that had been on her mind. "You know, I heard you talking to Fiona in an Irish accent before. It was nice. It's a side of you that I never saw. You keep that side so guarded. It was so tender and romantic. You were really afraid to ask her out to dinner?"
"When I first met her, I saw her in a pub and I asked if she would dance with me. She pulled a gun on me, but I managed to get that dance. Her brothers were all glaring at us, but I didn't care. I had the most beautiful, sweet, funny and sexiest woman in the whole pub dancing with me and I didn't care what they thought. When I looked in her eyes, we were the only two people there. Nothing and no one else mattered. It was just 'us'. We danced all night long. The owner kicked us out because he wanted to go home. I walked her back to her flat and kissed her goodnight. I remember how she smelled, the outfit, how she felt in my arms...she was perfection."
Maddie smiled. She noticed how happy Michael was talking about his past in Ireland with her. "She still is Michael. You got her to dance, why was a dinner date so difficult?"
"Dancing is easy. We didn't have to talk. She is so beautiful that I never thought in a million years she would want to be with someone like me. I can bring down the toughest masterminds, male or female, in the world but when I have to ask a woman out on a date, I'm useless."
Maddie laughed. "Were you guys happy? I know you said you weren't but whenever you talk about Ireland, you look happy, smile and even laugh."
"We fought a lot. Everything seemed to be a fight with her. I don't know if it makes sense, but as much as we fought I loved her more than anyone else I've ever been with. When it was good, it was amazing. She always could make me smile, even during the worst moments of any mission we were on."
Michael paused for a moment, raising Fiona's hand to his lips and kissing it gently. "Leaving her in the middle of the night was the hardest thing I ever had to do. She has no idea how much I loved her. It killed me to leave her. I thought about her everyday since I left her. I was so happy when she said she was staying in Miami with me."
Maddie could tell Michael was starting to struggle. She pulled her chair close to his and rubbed his back. "She knows you love her more than anything or anyone in this world. When she wakes up you tell that girl how much you love her because she has been through hell for you and she needs to hear it from you."
"I will. She's my first priority from now on." Michael said, giving Maddie a tired but happy smile.
Pearce finally had made it back to her office. Happy for a few minutes alone, she sat down at her computer to check her emails.
"Pearce, we need to talk." Sam said as he barged into her office.
"Sam, good to see you. By the way, we are done. You and Jesse took Anson down, Michael interrogated him and Jesse found proof about all his plans-past and future. There is nothing else to discuss."
Sam sat down. "There's plenty to discuss. Mikey said he's retiring. I want to work out a package for him. He has no clue about this stuff. He just wants out as fast as he can."
"He'll get a standard package with healthcare."
"No no no, sister. The agencies have put that boy through hell. I've known him for over twenty years and he has done everything any agency asked him to do. The least the government could do is provide for him a little bit better than the standard retirement package." Sam insisted.
Pearce studied Sam for a moment. Seeing that he was serious, she got up and locked her office door. Drawing the shades she said. "I agree. We owe Michael more than just standard packages. I know you got your own package, let's hear what you have in mind for Michael."