Acts of Passion

[merryghoul]

Title: Acts of Passion | AO3
Author: merryghoul
Fandom: Burn Notice
Pairing/Characters: Michael/Jesse(/Fiona), Garrett Hartley
Rating/Category: PG-13/threesome
Prompt: more fun now that the truth is out
Spoilers: In general, there are spoilers for seasons 3-6, but specifically this story references "Friendly Fire," "Guilty as Charged," "Mind Games," "Under the Gun," "Split Decision," "Shock Wave" and "Reunion." This story is set in the month that occurred between "Reunion" and "Unchained."
Summary: A revenge mission against one of Fiona's gunrunning contacts leads to some unexpected and pleasant revelations between Michael, Jesse and Fiona.
Notes/Warnings: no standard warnings apply; contains blood, canon-typical violence and sexual content

Written for smallfandomfest 2012-13.


Their romance began when Michael decided Fiona, of all people, needed a bodyguard after Nate's death and her release from prison.

"Jesse," Michael said while he was putting on his suit in the loft, "I need you to keep an eye on Fiona while I'm going to the CIA."

"Michael," Fiona said, "I'm not a child. I don't need Jesse to look after me."

"I can't take any chances. We don't know who shot Nate. They could be looking for you. It's better to have somebody with you at all times than to have you alone at the loft."

Fiona's mouth was ajar. "You, I and a Remington 700 have shared a room together. It was the most fun the three of us ever had."

Michael smiled. "I remember that night. But we knew who our enemy was then. We don't know who our enemy is now. They might not shoot at you with a sniper rifle. They could use something else. I'm sorry, Fi, but you're staying with Jesse."

Fiona sighed as Michael left the loft.


"Sam told me about Garrett Hartley." Fiona was cleaning her Walther.

Jesse blinked. "Garrett Hartley?"

"Sam didn't tell you about Garrett Hartley?"

"No. He told me about what happened with Barry."

"The man that was after them? That was Garrett Hartley. He's a very nasty gunrunner."

"Unlike you."

"I can be nasty when I want to. He was looking for me. Instead, he took it out on Sam and Barry. I owe him a favor."

Fiona put her Walther in the back of her jeans after it was cleaned. She also put a switchblade knife in her right back jean pocket before heading for the loft's door.

"Wait, where are you going? Mike said we have to stay here."

Fiona stopped and turned to Jesse. "Jesse, I know Michael. Sometimes he means well, but sometimes he gets scared. And when he gets scared, he doesn't think before he acts. One night after I moved in with him, he woke up in the middle of the night with a gun in hand. There wasn't anybody at the door. It was just a thunderstorm."

"What if Mike's right? What if there's someone out there that's willing to pick us off?"

"He's not right. We would've known by now if someone's out there. Right now, I'm out to avenge my friends. Either you're coming with me or you're going to stay here and sweat in the loft with a gorgeous view of the Miami skyline. Your choice."

Jesse looked at Fiona.

"If you're coming, you have five minutes to get in my car. Four of those minutes will be spent getting to the car."

Fiona left the loft.

Jesse grabbed his SIG-Sauer. "You have got to be kidding me," he said, shaking his head as he ran after Fiona.


Fiona and Jesse arrived at the top level of a parking deck connected to Bal Harbour Shops, an upscale mall in Bal Harbour.

"I thought we were going to Hartley's place."

"We are. I thought we needed to go shopping first. I'm buying some shoes from Jimmy Choo. He named a shoe after me."

"I doubt that."

"Shh. Let's pretend he named a shoe after me. Then we'll go to Hartley's place." Fiona pulled out a pair of binoculars from her glove compartment and pointed towards a road near the mall. "You see that security booth over there?" She handed the binoculars to Jesse.

"Uh huh."

"That's how we're going to visit Hartley. We're following some actual residents inside the community. I had to make sure it's being trafficked first."

Jesse nodded. "Clever girl."

"Unfortunately, that means also pretending to be customers at Bal Harbour Shops. I may as well get some shoes while Michael has me on house arrest. I think I'm getting the Fiona and Patriot sandals. Should be about $1000."

Fiona and Jesse looked at each other. Fiona looked down, blushing.

"That's the type of look you reserve for Mike, right?"

Fiona looked up again. She nodded.

"You're still not over me."

Fiona sighed. "I thought about Michael a lot in prison. And I thought a lot about you. And Madeline. And Sam, I guess, but mostly Michael and you."

There was a pause between Fiona and Jesse.

"We need to tell Michael about this," Fiona said.

"But what if Mike has Sam to babysit you after we tell him?"

Fiona grabbed Jesse's hand. "I can live with it. You should be more worried about Sam." Fiona nudged Jesse. "You ready to go shopping?"

"Do I pretend I'm your disinterested boyfriend?"

"If it helps you get through this, then yes."


By the time Fiona and Jesse had left Jimmy Choo and Bal Harbour Shops, the security booth had a queue of people lined up to get into the gated community. Once Jesse was inside the car, it took two minutes for Fiona to get into the queue and another two to get in the community. Because of the length of the queue, the security guard working the gate missed Fiona and Jesse.

"Should I drive through Hartley's house or park near it?" Fiona asked after they were in the community.

"I think you should park near it."

"It's not like I've driven through some houses before."

"I'm not in the mood for property damage today, thanks."

Fiona did what Jesse asked of her and stopped in front of Hartley's house.

"I'm guessing Hartley's a big time dude in the gunrunning trade," Jesse said.

"I don't care. He'll have two busted kneecaps after I'm through with him." Fiona got out of her car.

Jesse followed Fiona to Hartley's front door.

After Fiona knocked on Hartley's door, Hartley opened it.

"Fiona."

"A little birdie told me you threatened my friends because you couldn't find me."

"I have no business with you. And who's he?"

"Sidekick." Fiona pulled out her Walther, aiming it at Hartley's head. "You have business with me. Let me in."

Hartley backed up and let Fiona and Jesse enter his home.

"Why'd you go after them?"

"Everyone said you left Miami for Ireland. You shacked up with some British guy."

"My boyfriend made that up to bust one of my contacts."

Jesse took in a sharp inhale.

"I hate losing Greyson. It hurts." The last words were said in a sarcastic whisper. "But it was a business decision. I don't hate my boyfriend for it. Now, what do you want from me?"

Several of Hartley's men came out of a back room. They surrounded Fiona and Jesse with assault rifles.

"Fi, did you know this guy had guys with guns?"

Fiona put down her Walther. "No. But why didn't you pull out your gun?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Jesse, you know me by now."


Jesse and Fiona's legs were tied against two chairs with rope. Their hands were tied behind their backs and they had been gagged with duct tape. Hartley and his men had returned downstairs, anticipating an attack from one of Fiona's allies.

It was exactly what Fiona was counting on.

Fiona tipped her chair backwards, causing the knife to fall out of her pocket. She pushed herself towards the knife and grabbed it with her fingers.

Hartley and his men heard Fiona fall to the floor. One of Hartley's henchmen went upstairs to check on Fiona and Jesse. Fiona was able to right herself up and hide the knife in her fingers before the henchman came in the room. After the henchman noticed nothing unusual about Fiona and Jesse, he left.

Fiona retracted the knife and cut herself free from her bonds. She accidentally cut her wrists and bled a small amount on the floor. After she cut her wrists free, she cut her legs free and removed the duct tape. Then she freed Jesse from his bonds.

"Oh, so you're going to bleed to death on me, huh?" Jesse said when the duct tape was removed from his mouth.

"Are you wearing your undershirt?"

"Yeah."

Fiona unbuttoned Jesse's shirt. She cut two inches off his undershirt with the knife.

"Seriously?"

"It's the closest thing we have to gauze in here."

"I'm pretty sure gauze doesn't have my sweat all over it."

Fiona gave Jesse a shocked look. "Do you really think I'm going to die because I'm covering my wounds in your sweat? I've done the same thing with Michael's shirts before. I didn't die from his sweat."

Jesse's cell phone rang. He answered it.

"Mike."

"I thought I told you to stay here in the loft with Fi. Where are you?"

"Bal Harbour. Bayside Way between 99th and 100th Streets, but in a gated community. Just past Bal Harbour Shops, but the street's just before you get to the mall. We're upstairs."

"I'll be there."


Michael snuck to the back of Hartley's house where his henchmen were located. With his P30, Michael broke a window. The henchmen ran to the window, only to retreat when Michael threw in a flash grenade in the hole.

The light and the sound from the grenade was enough to keep the henchmen stunned enough for Michael to break into the house from a back door.

Before Michael could get up the stairs, Hartley walked in front of him and pointed a pistol in his face. Hartley cocked it.

"You must be who I'm looking for."

Two guns cocked behind Hartley's head. It was Fiona and Jesse.

"Garrett," Fiona said, "I told you. I'm the one you're looking for. They're the sidekicks."

Michael and Jesse gave each other puzzled looks.


Michael, Fiona and Jesse taped Hartley's legs to the chair Fiona was tied and taped down in. They tied his wrists behind his back and gagged him with even more duct tape. Michael and Jesse placed him near his henchmen, still dazed from the grenade. From there, Michael, Fiona and Jesse left Hartley's home and Bal Harbour for the loft.

"Fi," Michael said when the three were back in the loft, "I told you and Jesse to stay here until I can figure out who murdered Nate. It's not safe out there for you." He was finishing up sanitizing and bandaging Fiona's wounds.

"Nobody killed me."

"Hartley and his men could've killed you. And you could've killed yourself while you were escaping him."

"But that was Hartley and his men. I took that risk. There's no one out to get me, Michael. I've done jobs before I met you and I've done jobs while we were apart. I was able to handle myself. Why don't you let me do what I want to do?"

"I don't want to lose you, Fi."

"Well..." Fiona sighed. "I don't want to lose you too."

Jesse stood up from where he was sitting. He bowed and walked towards the loft's door. "I think that's my cue to leave."

Fiona ran to Jesse and grabbed his hand. "No. Stay. I don't want to lose you either."

"Huh?"

"We were going to tell Michael, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah."

Fiona and Jesse walked to and sat on the loft's bed.

"Tell me what?" Michael said.

"We had an epiphany while we were at Bal Harbour Shops."

"She wanted to get shoes. It was painful."

"Ever since I met you, I've always had feelings for you."

Michael nodded.

"And you remember when I told you I thought Jesse had feelings for me."

"When he almost tried to kill us for betraying him. I remember."

Fiona hugged Jesse. "I still have feelings for him."

"I care about her too, Mike."

"In that way?" Michael said.

"In that way," Jesse said.

"I don't want to choose between you and Jesse, Michael. Don't make me do it."

"You don't have to."

Fiona and Jesse looked at Michael at the same time.

"I like him too. And in that way."

Michael sat beside Jesse. Fiona grinned.

"So," Jesse said, "is this the part where you ask me out on a date?"

Fiona leaned into Jesse's ear. "We'll call you when we're ready. Right now, you know, we've had a rough day. Don't you think we should blow off a little bit of steam?"

"You mean--"

"Yes."

"And Mike's cool with this?"

"Jesse, this isn't the first time I've done this."

"How are we--"

"Shh," Fiona said. "We'll get to that later."

Fiona and Michael kissed Jesse and pushed him against their bed. The three of them spent the afternoon together celebrating their new partnership.


All places exist in the real world except the loft, Hartley's house and the street that it's on.

And yes, there is actually a Jimmy Choo shoe named "Fiona."