Burn Notice fic: Aftermath of the Storm
Jul. 21st, 2014 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merryghoulTitle: Aftermath of the Storm | AO3
Fandom: Burn Notice
Wordcount:
Rating: Explicit
Character(s): Michael Westen, Fiona Glenanne, Sam Axe, Jesse Porter, Madeline Westen
Pairing(s): Michael Westen/Fiona Glenanne, Michael Westen/Fiona Glenanne/Sam Axe
Contains: sexual content, very minor past character deaths mentioned
Prompt(s):
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hc_bingo: loss of home / shelter
fic_promptly: Any, Any, The end of the world does not mean the end of humanity.
Notes: This story is a fork-in-the-road apocafic, set during and after the episode "Center of the Storm," where there was a canonical hurricane threatening Miami. There's a mention of a past violent incident from the episode "Psychological Warfare." But no canon knowledge is needed to read this fic at all.
Summary: Michael and his friends rebuild their lives after a hurricane and a massive flood hits Miami.
2010.
Fiona felt bad she was breaking into someone's abandoned SUV in the middle of a hurricane, let alone a hurricane the National Weather Service called Hurricane Fiona. But as fast as the Charger and the Genesis Coupe were on drier Miami streets, neither car could survive driving in six inches of water. At the moment Fiona was breaking into the SUV, the water level was at three inches. For Fiona to have a fighting chance to drive wherever Sam found their safe house at, the team needed the SUV. Besides, she had already made peace with the Genesis Coupe's demise before she left her residence.
*
"My realtor friend found us some place to live while the storm dies down," Sam said after the team—Fiona, Sam, Michael, Jesse and Madeline—were in the SUV. All of them were fleeing Coconut Grove after picking up Madeline from her house.
Jesse blinked. "So we're all going to live together in this one suite."
"It's a big suite, Jesse. You'll have your own bedroom. Maddie will have her own bedroom, I'll have my room, and of course the two lovebirds have their own room."
"I guess privacy goes out the window as soon as we get there."
"Where am I going, Sam?" Fiona said.
"Brickell Key."
"Brickell Key? Are you crazy?"
"Look, I know it's not the best place to be in right now, but it's all my realtor friend has at the moment. As long as we stay away from the windows during the hurricane, we'll be fine."
"So, where is your realtor friend at the moment, anyway?"
"Uh…Chicago, I guess?"
Fiona snorted. "Figures."
*
As Sam predicted, the building held up while Hurricane Fiona battered South Florida.
But no one in South Florida expected it to rain for days after Hurricane Fiona. Days turned into weeks. Weeks became months.
By the time the rains ended, Miami was engulfed in 25 feet of water. Climate control experts were impressed and amused. They were right about the 25 feet of water. They were wrong on the date—they predicted climate change would make Miami a watery wasteland in 2100. If they switched the numbers in the date around, they'd have bragging rights for days.
*
When it became evident that the rains weren't going to stop after a few days, Michael's team had to resort to vandalism to keep them alive.
It started with mattresses from other condos. The team made boats out of the mattresses and anything they could get to turn the mattresses into boats. From there, the team was able to get an actual, not flooded boat at a nearby marina.
The team ended up travelling a lot to Miami Beach as opposed to Miami itself; a lot of the stores were on raised ground on Miami Beach because of the beach, and it was easier to break in and steal things. From solar powered indoor generators to toiletries, fuel and batteries to food, as long as the team could use it and it wasn't ruined by the flood waters, they took it.
The real trick was keeping a tarp over everything they stole to protect it from the rain. It usually meant the team was drenched by the time their stuff made it back to the apartment complex, but the team was able to keep most of their stuff dry.
*
The boats the government sent to find survivors in Miami couldn't see the suite Michael and his friends were in. The suite was near the top of the apartment complex, well above the 25 feet of water that now engulfed Miami.
The helicopters didn't see Michael and his friends because they weren't on the balcony. Their setup for solar power was on the balcony, but it wasn't a definite sign of life to the Marines on the helicopters.
By fall, the Marines looking for signs of life headed back to their new base of operations, San Antonio, leaving a flooded Miami behind.
The government declared Miami closed off to the rest of the United States, and anyone not found by the Marines dead.
The declaration didn't bother the team. Between them all, they didn't have a lot of family members they were still close with anyway, aside from each other.
*
After Miami was closed off, Sam moved into his own suite. Jesse and Madeline also got their own suites while Michael and Fiona ended up in the suite the team originally broke into.
Michael hadn't lived with Fiona ever since he was Michael McBride, pretending to need a place to crash while he was using Fiona as his asset. When they had that one suite to themselves, it was awkward at first. Sleeping beside Fiona every night, and not every once in a while when the two of them were both horny, was uncomfortable at first. Michael tried it at first, but ended up sleeping in another bedroom or the suite's couch by the end of the night.
One day Fiona and Michael sat at their dining room table, looking at each other.
Fiona tapped her fingers on the table. "This was so much easier when I knew you as Michael McBride."
"Aye," Michael said in an Irish accent. "It was a bit livelier too, with your snow globes over your mantle."
Fiona sighed. "I miss them so. I did save the one you gave me when I first got here."
Michael looked at the snow globe Fiona mentioned in the suite's living room. "I see." He had switched back to his American accent. He looked at Fiona. "Maybe I could try to be Michael McBride again. I haven't attempted to make you an egg white omelet in a while."
"It's going to be a disaster, Michael, but you can try."
Using a container of pre-packaged egg whites, a nonstick pan and a canister of nonstick spray, Michael attempted to make a plain egg white omelet with salt and pepper. When he was done, the omelet was cooked through, but it barely resembled the shape of an omelet.
Fiona shook her head. "Well, you tried."
The two of them looked at each other. They kissed.
It was the start of them living together again, as if Tom Card hadn't separated the two of them by force because Michael's cover was blown. They started making their breakfasts together. Whenever they weren't working with the rest of the team to maintain their lifestyles, they spent time together, walking up and down the dry parts of the apartment complex talking. Michael moved back into their bedroom; the two spent their nights together in one bed. It was just like how the two of them lived in Ireland, except the two were older, wiser and more honest with each other.
*
While scouring the apartment for more supplies they needed, Michael heard the following news report over the radio:
Good news for the CIA. After their headquarters were lost in the massive flood that claimed portions of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, the CIA has established their new home base just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The agency expects to reopen in a month's time.
Michael walked towards the boat the team had saved while Miami was flooding. He stared at it. If he stole away in the night, he could sail to somewhere in Georgia, hitchhike to Charlotte and attempt to get his job back. The stuff about his burn notice, he assumed, was lost because of the floods.
Then he remembered a job he did with Larry. They were looking for a military commander that betrayed them in Vedeno, Russia. Even though he knew the people he talked to were hiding the military commander in it, and said people were unarmed, he blew them up. It was one of the reasons why Michael was so feared in Russia.
For years he'd repressed what he'd done in his head. All of a sudden, looking out at the boat and thinking about going to the new CIA headquarters, he remembered blowing those innocent people up in Vedeno for one corrupt military commander. It reminded him of why he helped out others until Miami flooded.
And then it hit him. He needed to stay and help his friends and his mother. They needed him. Fiona needed him. And he needed Fiona. The CIA would have to move on without Michael.
He heard a voice behind him: "Michael, why are you looking at our boat?" It was Fiona.
Michael turned and faced Fiona. He grabbed her waist. "There's something I need to tell you about, Fi. Something I did a lot time ago that I regret."
"Is it bad?"
Michael nodded.
"As long as you're not doing it now, it's okay."
2014.
Atlanta
The team had exhausted their resources in Miami and on Miami Beach. The only thing to do was venture to dry ground and get fresh supplies there.
Sam flipped through several shopping lists in front of a car he and Jesse stole from Macon, Georgia. Nearby was the ship the team rescued from the Miami flood of 2010. After the flood, it was christened the Charlie Westen.
"Did we get anything, Sam? The last thing I want to hear when we get back to Miami is Fiona cursing us out for forgetting something."
"You'll get used to it, Jesse. Sometimes I used to buy things for Amanda. She used to talk my ear off about the things I forgot for her."
"I chose to stay with all of you. I am not treating this as a marriage. If I wanted to get married, I'd go back to Atlanta and make myself a bachelor pad."
"So why aren't you going back to Atlanta to make yourself a bachelor pad?"
Jesse looked at Sam. "Okay, let's get back to Miami."
"We don't appear to be forgetting anything. Let's go."
A police siren was blaring in the distance.
"Correction: let's go before we get busted," Sam said.
Sam and Jesse hopped in the Charlie Westen and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.
*
The team could've chosen to sail in the Charlie Westen, docking it near Macon. From there, they could've chosen to live in the new East Coast metropolises of this post-apocalyptic America. Atlanta. Charlotte. San Antonio. Charleston, West Virginia. Chicago. But in the end, the team decided to stay in Miami. It was easier for them to modify their living situation in Miami than to live in a new city none of them had ever been in before, teaming with people that had lost their homes because of the East Coast floods.
Miami
For three years Michael was used to feeling Fiona's body by his side. He was used to feeling her hands on his chest, her legs wrapped around his right leg. Her warmth, her smell was comforting to him. Even the feel of the buttons from the men's shirts she wore to bed relaxed him.
Sometimes Fiona would wake him with a kiss. This morning was one of those mornings.
He woke up to see Fiona straddled over his torso, naked. Her hair cascaded over her breasts, stopping around her navel. Aside from trimming her hair here and there, Fiona had left her hair grow longer and longer since Miami flooded. She had always wanted it long ever since she had to cut it shorter for a job she took after Michael left her. And she hated that one time she lightened her hair just before Hurricane Fiona hit Miami. Until her hair started to grey like Michael's beard, it would be long and dark brown.
"Michael…" The bedroom was quiet enough to make Fiona's whisper seem like it was echoing.
Michael smiled. "Good morning, Fi."
"You know, we have some time before Jesse and Sam come back with those shipments. Maybe I could show you something?" Fiona drew a line in the middle of Michael's chest with her finger.
The two of them grinned at the same time and kissed.
"Let me do all the work," Fiona said, her voice trailing off, fading into the quietness of the room.
It took a few indoor solar powered generators, some impromptu plumbing, and, eventually, some guides about living "off the grid," but Michael and his friends were able to make their floor in the apartment complex have working electricity. The setup was situated in the suites below their floor and waterproofed in case another flood or a wave touched their setup. It was enough to get the air conditioners running, power electronic devices throughout the floor, and in Michael and Fiona's case, power and heat clean water for a shower. The two were taking them together now. It wasn't to conserve water.
The team opted to use the apartment complex's stairwell instead of powering up the elevator. It took too much power to power up the elevator, and if the power failed them, it could easily turn into a death trap.
After they showered and had breakfast, Michael and Fiona dressed in galoshes and large, floppy hats, Michael and Fiona walked up the roof of their building. The team had grown a garden that took up most of the space on the roof. Several crops were growing in the garden. Some crops were ready to harvest while some others were waiting until fall to be harvested. For a group of people not known for growing a garden when Miami wasn't flooded, they did well. The crops were healthy and strong. Row after row of well maintained vegetables and herbs were arranged in neat lines. Vibrant colors of reds, yellows, oranges and greens brightened up the roof.
Madeline was also in the team's garden. She was also wearing a large, floppy hat and galoshes. She was smoking a cigarette, as usual.
"You're late. Again."
Michael chuckled. He made his discomfort known on his face. "We were doing something important, Ma."
Madeline sighed. "I'm sure it was important, Michael. I'm sure it's always important. Do you two have any idea what we're making tonight for our dinner?"
"I think we have some taco shells," Fiona said. "And we might have some fish in the refrigerator. How about we make fish tacos and a salad?"
"That sounds lovely, Fiona. It's certainly better than dried seaweed." She glared at Michael.
Michael shook his head. "We don't eat it all the time."
"Let's get what we're out here to get or I'll turn into a puddle of sweat."
While Fiona and Madeline harvested the best of their crops for that night's dinner, Michael trimmed the rest of the crops to make sure they would stay healthy.
The Charlie Westen was named for Michael's nephew. Charlie, along with his parents Nate and Ruth were in Las Vegas, far away from the flooding that devastated the eastern coast of the United States. Nate, Ruth and Charlie couldn't visit Michael and his friends; it was too hazardous to go to Miami using illegal methods, especially with a child in tow. Often Nate, Ruth and Charlie would Skype Michael and his friends. Skype couldn't replace physically being with Nate, Ruth and Charlie, but it was the best Michael and his friends could do.
After about a day at sea, the Charlie Westen was back from Miami. Sam and Jesse docked it near a dry apartment that became a dock of sorts. The furniture and other things that were in the apartment had been thrown out to make room for space to load and unload things for the Charlie Westen. Sam and Jesse unloaded box after box of things they had acquired from Atlanta into the suite.
When everything was unloaded, Sam called a phone that was in the suite. It was connected to the team's rooftop garden.
Fiona picked up the phone from the roof. "Hello."
"We're back, Tinkerbell."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sam. I’m going to drop my vegetables off in my suite and then I'll be down there."
Fiona, Sam and Jesse went through the shopping lists and boxes again to make sure their supplies were in the apartment complex. They were on the last box of non-edible supplies.
"I made sure to get your lady supplies this time," Sam said. "And I have that stuff you and Mikey wanted for your bedroom."
"Don't you want to see what's inside?" Fiona asked. "I know you have some experience with--"
"Oh, no. I have my own. Trust me, the ones Mikey likes aren't the ones I like." He clicked his mouth.
"I did not need to hear any of that," Jesse added.
Fiona nodded. "That's everything. Let's get it on the lift."
After they decided to live in the apartment complex, the team pilfered a few items from the remains of the Arsht Center and built an automated pulley. The team cut one of the building's elevators and let it fall down its shaft. In place of the elevator was a metal floor, made from pieces of the Arsht Center. The floor was soldered off from the flooded floors below it. Another metal platform attached to a mechanical, heavy duty automated pulley, both also made with pieces from the Arsht Center, served as the pulley that lifted the team's things from their makeshift dock to their living quarters.
When everything was loaded onto the metal platform, Fiona called a phone that was attached to the hallway the team was living on. "We're ready, Michael."
Michael nodded. Madeline pressed a button, and the stuff on the docks began to go up the modified elevator shaft.
After the boxes were lifted and rationed off to the team's suites, the team rested for a few hours. With enough solar energy powering their floor, the team was still connected to the outside world. They read books and newspapers using their computers. They were able to hack into satellite boxes on their floor and watch free satellite TV. Most importantly, the team was able to relax.
Dinner was held in Michael and Fiona's suite. The team prepped the vegetables, herbs and proteins for this night's meal, fish tacos. Madeline would smoke while the team was prepping. They had tried to get her to stop, but it was hard for her to drop her habit, even when cigarettes were scarce. (And besides, it wasn't tasty to have a cigarette wafting over uncooked food.)
Over a couple of bottles of inexpensive white wine, the team had dinner and talked about various things, mostly things happening outside their apartment complex. Most of the time, there wasn't much to talk about, but the most important thing was they were having a dinner together, like a family would. And that was what Michael and his friends and mother were: a family.
Well after Sam, Jesse and Madeline went to their rooms the doorbell rang in Michael and Fiona's suite. It was Sam.
"Hey guys, I can't find my pinky ring anywhere." He flashed his bare pinky to the two. "I was wondering if you'd help me find it.
"I guess we can, Sam," Fiona said.
Sam walked back to his suite. Michael and Fiona followed him, closing and locking their suite door behind them.
"You think this might take all night?" Fiona whispered to Michael.
"I don't know, Fi. It depends on where the ring is. But it might take a few hours."
Fiona nodded. "Yeah, you're right. At least Sam has a few pillows if we end up staying the night."
There were some things Michael and his friends didn't do as a family. But, for the most part, Michael had his family with him, and he didn't want it any other way.
Fandom: Burn Notice
Wordcount:
Rating: Explicit
Character(s): Michael Westen, Fiona Glenanne, Sam Axe, Jesse Porter, Madeline Westen
Pairing(s): Michael Westen/Fiona Glenanne, Michael Westen/Fiona Glenanne/Sam Axe
Contains: sexual content, very minor past character deaths mentioned
Prompt(s):
hc_bingo: loss of home / shelterfic_promptly: Any, Any, The end of the world does not mean the end of humanity.
Notes: This story is a fork-in-the-road apocafic, set during and after the episode "Center of the Storm," where there was a canonical hurricane threatening Miami. There's a mention of a past violent incident from the episode "Psychological Warfare." But no canon knowledge is needed to read this fic at all.
Summary: Michael and his friends rebuild their lives after a hurricane and a massive flood hits Miami.
2010.
Fiona felt bad she was breaking into someone's abandoned SUV in the middle of a hurricane, let alone a hurricane the National Weather Service called Hurricane Fiona. But as fast as the Charger and the Genesis Coupe were on drier Miami streets, neither car could survive driving in six inches of water. At the moment Fiona was breaking into the SUV, the water level was at three inches. For Fiona to have a fighting chance to drive wherever Sam found their safe house at, the team needed the SUV. Besides, she had already made peace with the Genesis Coupe's demise before she left her residence.
"My realtor friend found us some place to live while the storm dies down," Sam said after the team—Fiona, Sam, Michael, Jesse and Madeline—were in the SUV. All of them were fleeing Coconut Grove after picking up Madeline from her house.
Jesse blinked. "So we're all going to live together in this one suite."
"It's a big suite, Jesse. You'll have your own bedroom. Maddie will have her own bedroom, I'll have my room, and of course the two lovebirds have their own room."
"I guess privacy goes out the window as soon as we get there."
"Where am I going, Sam?" Fiona said.
"Brickell Key."
"Brickell Key? Are you crazy?"
"Look, I know it's not the best place to be in right now, but it's all my realtor friend has at the moment. As long as we stay away from the windows during the hurricane, we'll be fine."
"So, where is your realtor friend at the moment, anyway?"
"Uh…Chicago, I guess?"
Fiona snorted. "Figures."
As Sam predicted, the building held up while Hurricane Fiona battered South Florida.
But no one in South Florida expected it to rain for days after Hurricane Fiona. Days turned into weeks. Weeks became months.
By the time the rains ended, Miami was engulfed in 25 feet of water. Climate control experts were impressed and amused. They were right about the 25 feet of water. They were wrong on the date—they predicted climate change would make Miami a watery wasteland in 2100. If they switched the numbers in the date around, they'd have bragging rights for days.
When it became evident that the rains weren't going to stop after a few days, Michael's team had to resort to vandalism to keep them alive.
It started with mattresses from other condos. The team made boats out of the mattresses and anything they could get to turn the mattresses into boats. From there, the team was able to get an actual, not flooded boat at a nearby marina.
The team ended up travelling a lot to Miami Beach as opposed to Miami itself; a lot of the stores were on raised ground on Miami Beach because of the beach, and it was easier to break in and steal things. From solar powered indoor generators to toiletries, fuel and batteries to food, as long as the team could use it and it wasn't ruined by the flood waters, they took it.
The real trick was keeping a tarp over everything they stole to protect it from the rain. It usually meant the team was drenched by the time their stuff made it back to the apartment complex, but the team was able to keep most of their stuff dry.
The boats the government sent to find survivors in Miami couldn't see the suite Michael and his friends were in. The suite was near the top of the apartment complex, well above the 25 feet of water that now engulfed Miami.
The helicopters didn't see Michael and his friends because they weren't on the balcony. Their setup for solar power was on the balcony, but it wasn't a definite sign of life to the Marines on the helicopters.
By fall, the Marines looking for signs of life headed back to their new base of operations, San Antonio, leaving a flooded Miami behind.
The government declared Miami closed off to the rest of the United States, and anyone not found by the Marines dead.
The declaration didn't bother the team. Between them all, they didn't have a lot of family members they were still close with anyway, aside from each other.
After Miami was closed off, Sam moved into his own suite. Jesse and Madeline also got their own suites while Michael and Fiona ended up in the suite the team originally broke into.
Michael hadn't lived with Fiona ever since he was Michael McBride, pretending to need a place to crash while he was using Fiona as his asset. When they had that one suite to themselves, it was awkward at first. Sleeping beside Fiona every night, and not every once in a while when the two of them were both horny, was uncomfortable at first. Michael tried it at first, but ended up sleeping in another bedroom or the suite's couch by the end of the night.
One day Fiona and Michael sat at their dining room table, looking at each other.
Fiona tapped her fingers on the table. "This was so much easier when I knew you as Michael McBride."
"Aye," Michael said in an Irish accent. "It was a bit livelier too, with your snow globes over your mantle."
Fiona sighed. "I miss them so. I did save the one you gave me when I first got here."
Michael looked at the snow globe Fiona mentioned in the suite's living room. "I see." He had switched back to his American accent. He looked at Fiona. "Maybe I could try to be Michael McBride again. I haven't attempted to make you an egg white omelet in a while."
"It's going to be a disaster, Michael, but you can try."
Using a container of pre-packaged egg whites, a nonstick pan and a canister of nonstick spray, Michael attempted to make a plain egg white omelet with salt and pepper. When he was done, the omelet was cooked through, but it barely resembled the shape of an omelet.
Fiona shook her head. "Well, you tried."
The two of them looked at each other. They kissed.
It was the start of them living together again, as if Tom Card hadn't separated the two of them by force because Michael's cover was blown. They started making their breakfasts together. Whenever they weren't working with the rest of the team to maintain their lifestyles, they spent time together, walking up and down the dry parts of the apartment complex talking. Michael moved back into their bedroom; the two spent their nights together in one bed. It was just like how the two of them lived in Ireland, except the two were older, wiser and more honest with each other.
While scouring the apartment for more supplies they needed, Michael heard the following news report over the radio:
Good news for the CIA. After their headquarters were lost in the massive flood that claimed portions of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, the CIA has established their new home base just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The agency expects to reopen in a month's time.
Michael walked towards the boat the team had saved while Miami was flooding. He stared at it. If he stole away in the night, he could sail to somewhere in Georgia, hitchhike to Charlotte and attempt to get his job back. The stuff about his burn notice, he assumed, was lost because of the floods.
Then he remembered a job he did with Larry. They were looking for a military commander that betrayed them in Vedeno, Russia. Even though he knew the people he talked to were hiding the military commander in it, and said people were unarmed, he blew them up. It was one of the reasons why Michael was so feared in Russia.
For years he'd repressed what he'd done in his head. All of a sudden, looking out at the boat and thinking about going to the new CIA headquarters, he remembered blowing those innocent people up in Vedeno for one corrupt military commander. It reminded him of why he helped out others until Miami flooded.
And then it hit him. He needed to stay and help his friends and his mother. They needed him. Fiona needed him. And he needed Fiona. The CIA would have to move on without Michael.
He heard a voice behind him: "Michael, why are you looking at our boat?" It was Fiona.
Michael turned and faced Fiona. He grabbed her waist. "There's something I need to tell you about, Fi. Something I did a lot time ago that I regret."
"Is it bad?"
Michael nodded.
"As long as you're not doing it now, it's okay."
2014.
Atlanta
The team had exhausted their resources in Miami and on Miami Beach. The only thing to do was venture to dry ground and get fresh supplies there.
Sam flipped through several shopping lists in front of a car he and Jesse stole from Macon, Georgia. Nearby was the ship the team rescued from the Miami flood of 2010. After the flood, it was christened the Charlie Westen.
"Did we get anything, Sam? The last thing I want to hear when we get back to Miami is Fiona cursing us out for forgetting something."
"You'll get used to it, Jesse. Sometimes I used to buy things for Amanda. She used to talk my ear off about the things I forgot for her."
"I chose to stay with all of you. I am not treating this as a marriage. If I wanted to get married, I'd go back to Atlanta and make myself a bachelor pad."
"So why aren't you going back to Atlanta to make yourself a bachelor pad?"
Jesse looked at Sam. "Okay, let's get back to Miami."
"We don't appear to be forgetting anything. Let's go."
A police siren was blaring in the distance.
"Correction: let's go before we get busted," Sam said.
Sam and Jesse hopped in the Charlie Westen and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The team could've chosen to sail in the Charlie Westen, docking it near Macon. From there, they could've chosen to live in the new East Coast metropolises of this post-apocalyptic America. Atlanta. Charlotte. San Antonio. Charleston, West Virginia. Chicago. But in the end, the team decided to stay in Miami. It was easier for them to modify their living situation in Miami than to live in a new city none of them had ever been in before, teaming with people that had lost their homes because of the East Coast floods.
Miami
For three years Michael was used to feeling Fiona's body by his side. He was used to feeling her hands on his chest, her legs wrapped around his right leg. Her warmth, her smell was comforting to him. Even the feel of the buttons from the men's shirts she wore to bed relaxed him.
Sometimes Fiona would wake him with a kiss. This morning was one of those mornings.
He woke up to see Fiona straddled over his torso, naked. Her hair cascaded over her breasts, stopping around her navel. Aside from trimming her hair here and there, Fiona had left her hair grow longer and longer since Miami flooded. She had always wanted it long ever since she had to cut it shorter for a job she took after Michael left her. And she hated that one time she lightened her hair just before Hurricane Fiona hit Miami. Until her hair started to grey like Michael's beard, it would be long and dark brown.
"Michael…" The bedroom was quiet enough to make Fiona's whisper seem like it was echoing.
Michael smiled. "Good morning, Fi."
"You know, we have some time before Jesse and Sam come back with those shipments. Maybe I could show you something?" Fiona drew a line in the middle of Michael's chest with her finger.
The two of them grinned at the same time and kissed.
"Let me do all the work," Fiona said, her voice trailing off, fading into the quietness of the room.
It took a few indoor solar powered generators, some impromptu plumbing, and, eventually, some guides about living "off the grid," but Michael and his friends were able to make their floor in the apartment complex have working electricity. The setup was situated in the suites below their floor and waterproofed in case another flood or a wave touched their setup. It was enough to get the air conditioners running, power electronic devices throughout the floor, and in Michael and Fiona's case, power and heat clean water for a shower. The two were taking them together now. It wasn't to conserve water.
The team opted to use the apartment complex's stairwell instead of powering up the elevator. It took too much power to power up the elevator, and if the power failed them, it could easily turn into a death trap.
After they showered and had breakfast, Michael and Fiona dressed in galoshes and large, floppy hats, Michael and Fiona walked up the roof of their building. The team had grown a garden that took up most of the space on the roof. Several crops were growing in the garden. Some crops were ready to harvest while some others were waiting until fall to be harvested. For a group of people not known for growing a garden when Miami wasn't flooded, they did well. The crops were healthy and strong. Row after row of well maintained vegetables and herbs were arranged in neat lines. Vibrant colors of reds, yellows, oranges and greens brightened up the roof.
Madeline was also in the team's garden. She was also wearing a large, floppy hat and galoshes. She was smoking a cigarette, as usual.
"You're late. Again."
Michael chuckled. He made his discomfort known on his face. "We were doing something important, Ma."
Madeline sighed. "I'm sure it was important, Michael. I'm sure it's always important. Do you two have any idea what we're making tonight for our dinner?"
"I think we have some taco shells," Fiona said. "And we might have some fish in the refrigerator. How about we make fish tacos and a salad?"
"That sounds lovely, Fiona. It's certainly better than dried seaweed." She glared at Michael.
Michael shook his head. "We don't eat it all the time."
"Let's get what we're out here to get or I'll turn into a puddle of sweat."
While Fiona and Madeline harvested the best of their crops for that night's dinner, Michael trimmed the rest of the crops to make sure they would stay healthy.
The Charlie Westen was named for Michael's nephew. Charlie, along with his parents Nate and Ruth were in Las Vegas, far away from the flooding that devastated the eastern coast of the United States. Nate, Ruth and Charlie couldn't visit Michael and his friends; it was too hazardous to go to Miami using illegal methods, especially with a child in tow. Often Nate, Ruth and Charlie would Skype Michael and his friends. Skype couldn't replace physically being with Nate, Ruth and Charlie, but it was the best Michael and his friends could do.
After about a day at sea, the Charlie Westen was back from Miami. Sam and Jesse docked it near a dry apartment that became a dock of sorts. The furniture and other things that were in the apartment had been thrown out to make room for space to load and unload things for the Charlie Westen. Sam and Jesse unloaded box after box of things they had acquired from Atlanta into the suite.
When everything was unloaded, Sam called a phone that was in the suite. It was connected to the team's rooftop garden.
Fiona picked up the phone from the roof. "Hello."
"We're back, Tinkerbell."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sam. I’m going to drop my vegetables off in my suite and then I'll be down there."
Fiona, Sam and Jesse went through the shopping lists and boxes again to make sure their supplies were in the apartment complex. They were on the last box of non-edible supplies.
"I made sure to get your lady supplies this time," Sam said. "And I have that stuff you and Mikey wanted for your bedroom."
"Don't you want to see what's inside?" Fiona asked. "I know you have some experience with--"
"Oh, no. I have my own. Trust me, the ones Mikey likes aren't the ones I like." He clicked his mouth.
"I did not need to hear any of that," Jesse added.
Fiona nodded. "That's everything. Let's get it on the lift."
After they decided to live in the apartment complex, the team pilfered a few items from the remains of the Arsht Center and built an automated pulley. The team cut one of the building's elevators and let it fall down its shaft. In place of the elevator was a metal floor, made from pieces of the Arsht Center. The floor was soldered off from the flooded floors below it. Another metal platform attached to a mechanical, heavy duty automated pulley, both also made with pieces from the Arsht Center, served as the pulley that lifted the team's things from their makeshift dock to their living quarters.
When everything was loaded onto the metal platform, Fiona called a phone that was attached to the hallway the team was living on. "We're ready, Michael."
Michael nodded. Madeline pressed a button, and the stuff on the docks began to go up the modified elevator shaft.
After the boxes were lifted and rationed off to the team's suites, the team rested for a few hours. With enough solar energy powering their floor, the team was still connected to the outside world. They read books and newspapers using their computers. They were able to hack into satellite boxes on their floor and watch free satellite TV. Most importantly, the team was able to relax.
Dinner was held in Michael and Fiona's suite. The team prepped the vegetables, herbs and proteins for this night's meal, fish tacos. Madeline would smoke while the team was prepping. They had tried to get her to stop, but it was hard for her to drop her habit, even when cigarettes were scarce. (And besides, it wasn't tasty to have a cigarette wafting over uncooked food.)
Over a couple of bottles of inexpensive white wine, the team had dinner and talked about various things, mostly things happening outside their apartment complex. Most of the time, there wasn't much to talk about, but the most important thing was they were having a dinner together, like a family would. And that was what Michael and his friends and mother were: a family.
Well after Sam, Jesse and Madeline went to their rooms the doorbell rang in Michael and Fiona's suite. It was Sam.
Michael and Fiona walked to the door. Michael opened it.
"Hey guys, I can't find my pinky ring anywhere." He flashed his bare pinky to the two. "I was wondering if you'd help me find it.
"I guess we can, Sam," Fiona said.
Sam walked back to his suite. Michael and Fiona followed him, closing and locking their suite door behind them.
"You think this might take all night?" Fiona whispered to Michael.
"I don't know, Fi. It depends on where the ring is. But it might take a few hours."
Fiona nodded. "Yeah, you're right. At least Sam has a few pillows if we end up staying the night."
There were some things Michael and his friends didn't do as a family. But, for the most part, Michael had his family with him, and he didn't want it any other way.
