Authors Note: I'm back! Well no, not really. But I do have the last few chapters of Sound somewhat written. They need some polish. I do promise they will get finished eventually (hopefully before Season 2 starts).
Mike is sitting out by the fire on the beach with the Graceland gang. Everyone is here, except Paige. The fire is not lacking in DEA representation though, the newest member of the house is DEA and is sitting by the bonfire. Mike feels horrible because with everything else on his mind, he didn't learn the new guy's name and now it's too late to ask due to awkwardness. He'll do a background check on him later.
The newbie is sitting beside Johnny, who apparently has appointed himself as the welcoming committee and is sharing stories and taunting him good naturedly at the same time. Mike laughs at the confused look on the new guy's face, knowing exactly what the poor guy is going through. It feels bittersweet to Mike that he's no longer the newest member of the house. Like a final right of passage.
Mike stares at the group of people he's with laughing loudly. Mike is in a more subdued mood, but he's content to sleepily nurse his beer, watching the jovial crowd. It's nice just to sit on the edges and let his mind wander as the others talk. Eventually the campfire turns to storytelling, and Johnny chooses to tell one of his favorite stories of Mike. Mike groans good naturedly, and puts up a light protest but Johnny's already started with his dramatics.
The newbie's eyes widen slightly, and Mike follows the man's line of sight to see Paige approaching the fire site, a beer in hand and the wind in her hair. He's hit with a sense of deja vu, as he realizes how closely tonight resembles that first night she came to the beach fire a year ago, when Mike was the newbie Johnny was telling his story of Mike versus the bears.
She pauses when she reaches the edge of the circle, flashing Johnny and the new guy a smile, and asking, "What did I miss?"
Mike looks up at her cautiously, her eyes aren't on him, and his mind is lost in memories of the past.
"Yo P! You're ruining my flow!" Johnny whines at her approach.
"Hey! Don't be rude just start from the beginning. You messed up the first part anyway." Charlie mothers him, smacking him on the arm.
"I totally did not! Yo Briggs back me up here." Johnny protests.
"No can do, my friend. The lady's right. Not your best work. Start over." Mike feels that by this point, Johnny should know Briggs would usually take Charlie's side. Mike laughs along with the group quietly as they all start teasing Johnny.
"Look, I'm sorry. I am here now. Please Johnny. Dazzle me with your story telling prowess." Paige laughs, reaching over to hand Johnny a refill, "I can bribe you with beer."
"That's more like it. Finally some respect. That's all I'm asking." Johnny says, accepting the bottle from Paige with a smile at her.
"Maybe we'd respect you more if you'd just shut up and tell the damn story." Jakes goads him.
"Dude that doesn't even make sense!" Johnny complains. This launches another round of bickering between the roommates, and Mike smiles to himself as he stays out of it. Sleepily he rubs his eyes, when he becomes aware of a tan pair of legs standing next to him.
"Hey, scoot over." Paige orders Mike lightly, as the rest of the group continues to bicker. Mike looks up at her, surprised, but scoots over to make room for Paige on the log he's sitting on. She sits down beside him, finally joining the group and sips her beer laughing at the playful squabbling in front of her.
The whole group exchanges questioning glances at Paige's choice of seat, but no one says anything. It's been months since Mike and Paige have been able to be in the same room together, and now they are sitting calmly about a foot apart like everything is normal.
It's suddenly not Johnny's story everyone wants to hear. The whole house only knows bits and pieces of the drama that has been occurring between the two blonde agents the past few months, but everyone has felt the effects. Every single agent wants to know what's going on, but no one wants to ruin the potential truce that seems to have been called between the two.
"So what happened when the FBI got there?" Newbie asks, oblivious to the change in atmosphere Paige's presence has brought.
"So anyways… The FBI pull up not sure what they'll find. The renegade agent has gone into the warehouse alone. There's got to be at least five men in there, each one more heavily armed than the last. With no plan and no backup, there's no way anyone would take on those odds… unless you're a madman." Johnny pauses dramatically, "But this man is on a mission. Failure is not an option. So it shouldn't surprise anyone when out of the rubble, after the echo of gun shots, comes the only man left standing, Merciless Mike, with his prize in arms..."
Mike casts a quick glance over nervously in Paige's direction. He knows what story Johnny is telling. He's talking about how Mike first found Paige after she'd been captured. The story itself feels like that, a story. A legend of something that happened so long ago it doesn't even feel real, even though it's only been a couple months. Mike wants to reach out to take her hand in comfort, but instead he just wraps his fingers tightly around his beer bottle and takes a sip. Paige seems to be enraptured by Johnny's story telling skills, with a relaxed smile on her lips.
"...'Son, you're going to have to come with us to the station.' The officer tells him. But Mercilus Mike was going no where. Drenched in the blood of his enemies, this cop had fear in his eyes as he looked upon him. 'If you want me, come and get me.'"
"Did you really say that?" Paige giggles, whispering to Mike.
"Johnny embellishes." Mike blushes, sipping his beer.
"Zap! They taze him but Mike won't go again. Zap! Again. Zap! It took twelve-"
"Three!" Mike shouts out the correct number.
"TWELVE times until finally the agent was restrained. They cuffed him, checking the locks again and again, and took him down to the station. Even in this position no agent wanted to be the one to put Mike in the car. This was not the golden boy they knew. No one knew who this murderous renegade was. He looked like Mike Warren, but this man was something different… This man was..."
"Oh! That's you. You're Mike Warren right?" The new guy interrupts Johnny's overdramatic, building story to turn to Mike. "Hey dude, great to meet you. I'm Sam."
"Hey Sam." Mike said quickly, fully aware of the temper tantrum Johnny was about to through of being interrupted right before the climax of his story.
"I'M TELLING A STORY HERE PEOPLE! No story telling is an art. I'm like the picasso of storytelling. I'm an artist. An artist of words."
"You're a blabbermouth, Johnny. Let the new kid talk some. We don't know anything about him, 'cause you've been talking so much."
"Charlie, I am catching him up on the legends of the house. This is important stuff!" Johnny gestures so wildly, he spills most his fresh beer down his shirt.
"Look at you, you're spilling everywhere. Stop making a mess. Go clean yourself up and while you're at it do a fresh beer run." Charlie laughs,
"But Charlie…" Johnny protests. "Paige just did one!"
"Well at least change shirts! Shoo! Animal." Charlie laughs affectionately after chasing Johnny off. Turning her piercing stare on Mike, she asks,"Speaking of messes, where were you today? I thought you were going to help me reorganize the supplies closet."
"Oh Briggs wanted me to tag along in case anything went down on the Jason Wong Case. You know just an extra set of ears." Mike says casually, not making eye contact with Paige beside him.
"See any action?" Jakes asks.
"Nah. Pretty quiet." Mike shrugs, ignoring the suspicious look Briggs is shooting him from across the fire pit.
"Yeah." Briggs says finally corroborating Mike's story, "Yeah, nothing came out of it. Maybe next time."
"Yo P, where have you been these last few weeks?" Johnny hollers over to Paige, as he opts, instead of going all the way back to the house, for just removing his beer soaked shirt and sitting back down.
"It's called work Johnny. You should try it some time." She rolls her eyes. Turning to the new guy, she warns him, "Don't spend too much time with Johnny, Sam. He's a bad influence. Stick with me, I'll show you the ropes."
"Stop flirting with my new agent! I like this one, I don't want you to break him too, voodoo woman! We're still fixing the last one you broke." Johnny is a little drunker than normal, so he doesn't realize that his joke has struck too close to home until all the eyes, except Sam's, fly to Mike.
"Ok, well if Johnny's not going to do that beer run, I can." Mike says, standing up quickly, feeling the eyes on him even as he stares at his feet.
"No, Mike, make Johnny do it. He needs to maybe take a walk anyways. Sober up." Charlie insists, shooting Johnny a scolding look.
"Nah, it's fine." Mike says, already heading up towards the house. When he comes back the seats have rearranged and Sam is sitting in his former seat. Which Mike figures is probably for the best.
They stay out later than usual until the sun starts peaking over the horizon. It's like everyone has missed these group nights and no one wants the magic to end. The fire finally dies out though, and Paige is asleep with her head resting on Charlie's knee.
"Mike, can you give me a hand here?" Charlie whispers, careful not to wake the sleeping girl.
"Yeah, of course." Mike says, leaning down to gently pick Paige up and carry her back. The rest of the gang gathers up the remains of their things and all of them slowly trudge back up the beach towards the house.
When they get in the doors, people disperse to put things away and Mike carries her up the stairs.
Mike takes off Paige's sandals but otherwise leaves her fully clothed as he tucks her into her bed, bringing the blankets up around her. He looks over at the spot where he used to sleep beside her for months while she was injured and sighs. With all the fighting recently, and her sleeping god knows where, that too feels like a distant memory.
He kisses her temple lightly as she sleeps, and stands up to go to his own bed down the hall. He opens the door to her room, lost in his own thoughts, and stops when he sees his five other roommates standing in the hallway, crowded around Paige's door, staring him down.
"Ummm...Hi." Mike says awkwardly.
"Where are you going?" Charlie asks.
"Um, to sleep. It is 3am." Mike says dumbly.
"To sleep in your own bed?"
"Yeah, that's generally where people sleep." Mike says, avoiding the obvious implication.
"Alright cut the bullshit Levi. Just tell us straight. What is the deal with you and Paige." Jakes cuts straight to what everyone's thinking. "And don't you give me that it's complicated bullshit."
"It's not. We've talked about it. We're just friends." Mike says simply. He is not prepared for the objection he receives.
"What?! No!" Johnny screams.
"Don't you lie to yourself, Levi." Jakes threatens.
"You clearly love her!" Charlie insists.
"Seriously? You two are going to play this game?" Briggs runs a hand over his face.
"What? You two aren't together? Really?" The new kid Sam, was maybe not so quick on the uptake.
"Guys! She's sleeping." Mike tries to quiet them down. "Look, it's just too hard man."
"But you two were so close…" Johnny looks like a disappointed child whose parents are divorcing.
"Look guys, I'm sorry, but it's been a really long day. Can I.." Mike tries to scoot by the crowd to make it to his bed.
"No you get your ass back in that room and make this work!" Jakes yells in an uncharacteristically emotional way, and the rest of the house starts yelling objections as well.
"Shhh!" Mike gestures to the door, "Guys, she's asleep in there. It's just not going to happen ok? Let it go. I'll see you all in the morning."
Mike finally pushes past them to head to his own door.
"So wait, we can date in this house?" Comes Sam's new voice and Mike nearly growls at the unspoken subtext, Paige is available?
Mike is going to have to get his jealousy under control if this is going to work.