A/N Thanks for reading! Much thanks to DKougar & Arifa_7 for helping me.

Michael sits in his bed, going through papers Arianna had left with him. He looks up when he heard the door open, ready to attack if needed. When he realizes its Fiona, he relaxes and breathes a bit easier. "Hey" he says softly.

"You look better." Fiona says. Handing him a plastic razor and shaving supplies, she adds "You should shave before we go home. The beard makes you look dirty and older."

He takes the shaving supplies from her and sets them down on the bed. "We need to talk."

"What do you want to talk about? How you left me again? How you promised me that you would leave all this CIA crap behind? Maybe you want to talk about how you let yourself be tricked by Strong into signing your life over to him? I can't do this Michael. I'm glad you're ok, but I can't hold your hand while you get better." Fiona says. She turns to walk out of the room but Michael grabs her arm and spins her around.

The relief that he can actually feel her arm in his hands is cut short. He starts to speak, saying "Fi.." Instead, Fiona quiets him with a slap on her face.

Tearfully, she begs "Don't say another word. Just shave and let's get back to Miami."

He raises his hand to his cheek and rubs the spot that she slapped. Frowning, he grabs the shaving supplies and heads into the bathroom.

Fiona storms out of the room, nearly running Sam over. He places his hands on her shoulder and says "Slow down sister! Did you talk to him?"

Shaking her head she says "He tried to talk to me, but as soon as he opened his mouth, I started yelling at him." She stops talking.

"Maybe you could be a bit nicer to him. I know you've been through alot but so has he." Sam walks past her and enters Michael's room.

"We're leaving in the morning, is there anything you need from where you were staying?" Sam asks, watching Michael shave.

Michael turns around and wipes his face. "There's a tube. Its long, black, and hollow. Its part of the gun case I keep under the bed. Inside the tube, I have three pictures. I just want the pictures. Grab me some clean clothes so I can change before we leave."

Sam nods. Seeing him stare at the razor in his hand, Sam feels even more worried about Michael than before. He asks "You ok? Don't let Fiona get to you. She'll come around and eventually she'll hear you out."

Michael smiles and responds "She's never coming around Sam. She hates me. I have to live with that. Go get my stuff. I promise I'll be okay."

Sam walks over to Michael and silently takes the razor from Michael. "Jesse will keep you company." He adds as he points Michael back towards the bed.

"Sam, I'm not nuts." Michael says.

Sam nods "I know. I worry about you though. Is that so terrible?"

Michael leans back in the bed and ignores Sam. He closes his eyes and hopes the next few hours pass quickly. Sam exits and nods to Jesse. He heads away from the room, only to be stopped by Dr. Suarez.

"Mr. Axe! I'm glad I caught you. I need to discuss Mr. Westen's condition with you." The doctor explains.

Sam rubs his face. "I know. He's going to show detox symptoms, keep him hydrated and his stress level low."

"Yes, but you need to find him someone to talk to about what happened. He has a lot of issues that he needs help with."

"Like a shrink? No way in hell would he see a shrink." Sam counters. "Plus the psychologists he would see need to have security clearance."

The doctor gets closer to Sam. "He needs to talk to someone. The dreams that the drugs and alcohol caused him are his worries coming to the surface. They opened up a door and more of his demons will find their way out, hurting more than he's already hurt. You can't tell me that he doesn't keep everything bottled up inside. He needs someone who will put him at ease and make him feel its ok to talk."

Sam is quiet for a moment. He knows the doctor is right and that he'll need someone to help Michael. Sam thanks the doctor, pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. "Hey, you are probably working, but call me when you have a chance. I have an emergency and I need your help." He ends the call and makes his way to where Michael was staying.

Inside the small and dark apartment, Sam gags from the smell of trash and old vomit. He looks around and feels his heartbreak even more. Finding the tube that Michael told him about, Sam unscrews the cap. He sticks his fingers inside and pulls out a group of photos. One is of Sam, Jesse, Maddie and Fi taken during one of Michael's birthday celebrations. There is another picture of Michael, Nate and Maddie. Sam sighs heavily as he looks at the last picture. It's of Michael and Fiona. His arms are wrapped around her. His head is resting on hers and both are smiling as they look at the camera. Michael looks at peace. Looking around the apartment, Sam finds Michael's clothes. They all have a smell of sweat and dirt to them. He says outloud "I'll buy you new clothes before we leave Mike. You need a fresh start." Sam, feeling sad himself, grabs the pictures and leaves the apartment. He is amazed that Michael stayed so long in such a hell hole. Five minutes there and he is ready to kill himself.

Eventually, everyone leaves the hospital, with no problems. Michael is quiet and stares at Fiona the during the flight. Finally, she can't take anymore of his starring and snaps "Why do you keep staring at me?"

Michael frowns. Closing his eyes, he tilts his head back and sighs. "Sorry Fi. So much was happening at the hospital that I didn't get time to get a good look at you."

Fiona looks away. Nothing else is said between them for the rest of the flight. When the plane lands, Fiona is stopped by Sam. He implores Fi "Go easier on Michael. He's been through alot and he's trying to cope being betrayed by the government which has employed him for most of his adult life. Your snippy remarks aren't helping."

"Oh come on Sam! He knew what he was doing. He could have contacted us on the sly. He promised me a life away from this but he failed. He didn't even try to fight. I think that hurts the most." Fiona says, hoping Sam didn't see the tears in her eyes.

Sam walks away from Fiona, making it to the car first. He makes Michael sit in the front with him, leaving Jesse in the back with Fiona. They all arrive at Maddie's house. Michael walks alone into the house. Sam makes the rest of the group stay outside. "Give him time with his mom. I don't want to crowd him."

Inside, Michael stands in the living room. He watches Maddie busy herself in the kitchen, which makes him think of when he had to tell her that Nate had died. He still remembers her collapsing in his arms, both of them falling to the floor, crying, until her eyes flashed with anger. He remembers the powerful slaps and punches she dealt his body until he was ordered away from her house. He remembers when she called him a monster right before he left for Panama and pulled away from him in horror. He's brought back to reality when he realizes she is hugging him.

He stiffly hugs her back and assures Maddie that he is ok. "I'm ok Mom. I'm better." He ends the hug and asks "Mind if I stay here until I find a place?"

Touching Michael's face gently, she pats it and say "Michael, you never have to ask to stay here. Its a bit smaller and louder with Charlie around, but it will be good to have you here."

When the others enter the house a few minutes later, Michael is sleeping on the couch. Maddie waves them into the kitchen and tells them "We talked a little and then he sat down on the couch. I went to make him some ice tea and he was fast asleep when I got done." Looking at each of them intensely, Maddie says in a stern voice "Are any of you going to tell me what's going on? Why did he..." She pauses, almost unable to say the words. Instead, she moves on to her next question. "Is his mission over?"

"Its never over." Fiona answers.

Jesse shoots a disapproving look at Fiona at the same time Sam does. Sam begins to explain "Elsa sent a lawyer with us to get Mikey. She's been researching all sorts of angles and found out basically that he was duped into signing an agreement that freed us but ended up enslaving him. He's done and he's out of the CIA."

Sam hears his cell rings and hurries to answer it before Michael wakes up. He steps outside and greets his caller. "Gibbs! Thanks for calling me back so fast."

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a member of NCIS and a friend of Sam's says "Well, you said it was an emergency. I'm out in the field, so I don't have long. What's up?"

"The last time I saw talked to you, I vouched for a CIA guy, Michael Westen." Sam explains.

Gibbs remembers and says "This is the kid who dragged you through the Kuwaiti desert. He was one of the few CIA guys I didn't want to shoot while he worked with my team. What's going on?"

Sam gives Gibbs the short version "I know you know what happened with Tom Card and Olivia Riley. There's a guy in power who abused his position for his own mission and tricked Westen into working for him. Story ends up with Westen trying to kill himself."

"Christ! I'm sorry Sam." Sam can hear an agent callout to Gibbs. Gibbs asks bluntly, "What do you want from me?"

"I need to get someone to talk to Westen. A psych doc. They need to have security clearance and they need to be able to cut through any games he's going to play with them to avoid talking."

Thinking back to when his team had evaluations done and when his Senior Field Agent lost his memory, Gibbs offers a name. Rachel Cranston has the clearance to talk to your friend. I'll have my agent text you her contact info. Call me if you need anything else Sam."

Sam ends the call and goes back into the house. Michael is awake and staring out the window. Sitting next to him Sam says "Mike, we need to talk. You've been through hell the past few years. I think you need to talk to someone. The dreams you had, they came from somewhere deep down and I don't see you getting better since you stopped drinking and taking the pills. I see you slipping into your own head too much."

Michael glares at Sam and says "I don't need to talk to anyone. I can handle this myself. I just need a few days to rest and I'll be normal again."

"Promise me that if things feel like they are too much, let me know. Let me know if you have any bad dreams like you were having.

Seeing Michael get agitated, Sam drops the subject. He stays the rest of the day, until Michael falls asleep for the evening on the couch. Sam leaves and heads home to Elsa. She gets up from the couch and wraps her arms around him.

"How is he?" She asks. "Arianna filled me in on the details when she landed."

Sam sighs. "He's alive. I need to get him someone to talk to and someplace to live. He can't stay with his mother too long."

Elsa gets up and gets her cell phone. Sam hears her talking to someone, but he is too exhausted to pay attention. She announces "He can stay here at the hotel. I set aside a suite for him, if he wants to stay here." She pauses, then asks softly "Does Fiona want him to live with her?"

Sam yells "She would rather see him homeless I think. Every time she talked to him, it was nasty. I had to keep telling her to ease up on him, but she still kept throwing little insults at him. Like he hasn't been through hell in the past few years and now he has to deal with her little comments. I see his face when he tries to talk to her and she answers him in anger. It kills him!"

Placing a hand on Sam's cheek, she tells him "Calm down. You are home now. You are exhausted from trying to take care of Michael. He's your main concern because he's your brother. You need to tell Fiona that if she can't be supportive and friendly to Michael, then she needs to let him be and not come around. Tell her she isn't helping him get better." Sam nods, knowing she is right. She pulls him to the bedroom and helps him get undressed. They lay down, with his head on her chest. Soon he is fast asleep.

A few hours later, he is back at Maddie's after she calls him telling him Michael won't stop throwing things and yelling. Sam enters the house, finding Michael throwing knick knacks around the house and yelling, just like Maddie said. As Sam tries to talk to Michael, he is ducking various items being hurled at his head. He wants to get close enough to subdue Michael. "Brother, talk to me. What's wrong? When I left everything was fine."

"Nothing is fine. Everything is wrong." Michael stops for a minute and continues. "I have no home. I have nothing that belongs to me. Nate should be here with Charlie and I should be in the loft with Fiona. That's how it should be."

Sam gets closer to Michael and realizes he's crying. He tries to reason with him. "That's not how it is though. Nate is dead, the loft is gone and Fiona isn't here."

Michael punches the wall, leaving an impression of his fist. "I have nothing. I'm alone." When he pauses for a moment, Sam takes a step closer to Michael, but he backs away from Sam. He's holding an arm out to maintain distance.

In a calm voice, as calm as he can manage, Sam tries to reason with Michael. "Yeah, you have nothing. The loft is gone and everything you had but you aren't alone. You have me, your mom, Jesse and Fi. You have all of us. You aren't alone. If you were alone, I'd be in bed with Elsa and Maddie would make you sleep someplace else."

Michael lowers his arms and says softly "I don't have Fi. She hates me and no matter what I say or do, its wrong. I just want her to not hate me." Michael sits down at the dining room table. He leans his head on his palms, hiding his face. After a moment of quietness he adds "I don't know what else to do."

Sam sits down next to Michael. He slowly puts a hand on Michael's shoulder. "I want you to hear me out before you say anything. I have a friend, you know him from when you were in DC. He knows a psychologist that you need to talk to about what's going on upstairs."

Michael leans back and laughs. "No one has clearance to talk to me about what I've done. If they did, it'd be in a VA hospital and I am not going there because I'll come out in worse shape than before. I just need time to work this all out. I can do it on my own."

Knowing he needs to be forceful to get his point across, he tells Michael "Look, you need help. This doctor I want you to meet has the clearance needed to talk to you about your problems." He looks at Michael and can't tell if he's going to start crying or start breaking more of Maddie's house. Sam winces when he hears his voice break "You need help. This isn't the Michael I know."

Michael is silent. He realizes that Sam used his full name. The last time he used his full name was the first night Fiona was in prison and Michael had a breakdown. The crack in Sam's voice may be working in Sam's favor. Michael closes his eyes as he leans back on the chair. Sam realizes Michael is finally hearing Charlie's cries as Maddie tries to soothe him. Sam tries again to get through to Michael using another method. "If you were injured during out in the field. You would go to the hospital and the doctor would treat the wound. You heal, you go to physical therapy and you learn to cope with your injury. This is the same thing. You were on the edge, you fell off and got hurt. We took care of the initial wound and got you better. Now you have to strengthen yourself and learn to deal with what happened to you."

Sam decides to lay down his ultimatum. "If you don't talk to the doctor, I will make sure that you never have contact with any of us again. We'll cut you out until you get better. I can't have you around your mom and Charlie if you don't get help. You do this and we'll support you 100%."

"Even Fi?" Michael asks. Sam says nothing. Deep down Michael knows Sam is right. "I don't want to go to a hospital. I'm not nuts."

"I know you aren't. Actually, Elsa got a really nice suite for set aside for you. You can stay there and talk to the doctor there."

Michael says as he looks around the room. "I should clean up so Charlie doesn't get hurt."

"I'll call Jesse or Fi to come help your mom in the morning." Sam says. He gets up and watches Michael get up as well. Silently Michael walks out of the house, looking tired and defeated. Sam closes the door as he walks outside, hoping that the rest of the night goes smoothly.