Sam's back was slammed against the wall, Mike's body followed closely, pressing in, pinning him, hands gripping his shirt.

Fire burned in his blue eyes as Mike leaned farther into his space, faces almost touching.

Sam licked his lips, his heart racing. He grabbed Mike's shoulders.

Mike breathed deeply before growling, "Sam, why is Virgil in my mom's kitchen?"

"He came to see us. He needs help, Mike."

"What doesn't explain why he's here with her."

If on cue, Maddie's laughter floated through the house to the little out of sight spot Mike had dragged him into it.

Sam pressed back against Mike, giving himself a tiny bit of breathing space. "Look, I know you're still angry about last time--"

"He nearly got her killed, Sam."

"I know that!" He did. He wasn't any happier about it than Mike. But it didn't change the facts-- and Sam had to trust his old friend had learned a lesson there about listening to them and that he wouldn't be endangering her again.

After everything Virgil had done for him, he couldn't not give him another chance. He knew Mike didn't get it, not really, but he'd only given him the cliff notes version. 'Mistakes' was a vague description no matter how you sliced it, but Mike knew that mistakes in the field carried a lot more weight for a Mer than it did for a human. If Virgil hadn't covered for him, hadn't vouched for him even it could've blown back on them both...

"Just hear him out." Sam was a bit concerned Mike was going to break something with how hard his jaw was clenched. "Okay, then hear me out. His old business partner's daughter runs a medical relief agency in town. They got ripped off, a million dollars worth of medicine, gone." Mike was wavering at the idea, it not being Virgil himself in trouble this time was swaying him, and Sam pulled out the hard hitter, "It was for kids, Mikey."

Mike tossed his head back. "Fine. But if he puts her in any danger..."

"I know. I'll help you dig the grave."

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While Michael and Virgil went to check out a black-market pharmaceuticals supplier in Boca, Sam had his own assignment.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge, aiming for casual. "So I was thinkin' I could stay on the couch tonight and Virgil can take the guest room."

"You don't need to do that."

"It's not a problem, Maddie." He sat on the couch, making a show of lounging on it as she watched. "I slept on Mike's for a year, I can handle a night on this one." Hopefully, it'd only be one night. He dreaded the idea of having to keep his chaperoning promise to Mike for longer than that.

"No, Sam, I mean it won't be necessary because Virgil will be staying in my room."

Sam straightened up on the couch and sighed. "Look, Maddie, much as I hate to hinder anybody's sex life, I got good hearing and I rather not hear you or Virgil going at it."

Mikey might've inherited a lot of his traits from her but his awkwardness about discussing definitely sex wasn't one of them. The idea of her love life getting broadcast in full sound didn't even make her blink. "You can borrow my earplugs."

He'd shared worse things with people, and he was pretty sure Maddie knew that.

"Or you could just admit that Michael put you up to this." She was staring down at him with crossed arms. It really wasn't fair that she could make him feel like what he imagined it would feel like to be a kid caught stealing the cookie jar by his mother, and he found it unfair for two reasons, one: he'd been nineteen the first time he ever even had the opportunity to try a cookie--and immediately realized he'd been highly deprived growing up, but Mers didn't really do cooking beyond blanching the occasional fish over a natural thermal vent, and two: Maddie wasn't old enough to be his mother--there should be an age cut off limit where that motherly judgment just didn't work anymore.

"I don't know what you mean."

"So you'll have no problem using the earplugs."

Sam debated his options here. Mike's attempts to stop Vigil from staying here in the first place had fallen flat, with Maddie putting her foot down on Mike's silent threats of violence towards Virgil if he accepted the invitation. He didn't want to take sides here. 'Cause on one hand, he recognized that Virgil had feelings for Maddie, and Maddie might just return them if she got the chance to. He couldn't fault them for trying to find some happiness in each other. But on the other hand... Mike.

"Alright, so Mike asked me to chaperon you two. He--We just don't want you to get hurt."

"And you think Virgil's going to hurt me?" She sounded genuinely interested so Sam counted it as a win.

"Not on purpose, no." Virgil had his issues, his vices, and, as Mike put it, a way of attracting bullets. He couldn't say Maddie didn't have her own fair share of the first two, but even with Mike back in her life, she wasn't drawing bullets. "But Virg... he doesn't always think things through." He'd been a good soldier, but even back then, he could be rash. Nothing real bad had come of it back then, but it could've, and Sam had a feeling his rashness had only gotten worse since leaving the service.

"Sam, I appreciate you and Michael trying to look for me, but I was married to Frank. I think I can handle whatever Virgil can deal out."

He'd never met Frank--it was probably a good thing, Sam wasn't sure he wouldn't have maimed the man on sight--but from what he'd gathered from Mike and Maddie, he couldn't argue with that. "Can we at least pretend Virgil'll be sleeping in the guest room?"

"Sure, Sam, we'll pretend."

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Sam fussed with the collar of his shirt, eyeing it from every angle he could in the mirror. It was fine. He knew it was fine. He passed well enough when he wasn't trying, he'd do just fine when he was. But there were a lot of lives riding on him selling his cover story and, while Sam might be a Mer, Chuck Finley was one-hundred percent human and he planned to keep it that way.

He never thought the alias would last when he first blurted it out in Colombia, all he'd known was he couldn't use his real name or rank when the station chief demanded to know who was on the line. If they wouldn't hurry up the reinforcements for their own CIA operatives, they sure as hell weren't going to do it for a Navy Junior Officer who was a Mer on top of that. There'd been lives on the line, He'd already disobeyed his order and held two CIA officers at gunpoint, he knew he was going to be in a boatload of trouble when all was said and done, adding impersonating a Deputy Assistant Intelligence Director to the list... Well, at the time, he'd figured he'd already signed his own death warrant, he might as well earn it.

There was a soft knock at the guest room door. "Sam? You decent?"

"Yeah." He turned away from the mirror as Maddie came in.

Looking him over, she smiled. "You clean up nice."

"Thanks, Maddie." His fingers still tugged at the collar. He didn't know why he was nervous about this job in particular. Maybe it was because of how badly things had gone last time they worked with Virgil, or maybe it was because this was the most lives riding on him since his discharge. He didn't take their other jobs any less seriously, but normally, the stakes were lower. Maybe Fi's teasing comments about him being the slowest on the team were getting to him--he was pretty sure she didn't know he could still hear her when she voiced them to Mike--and he couldn't say she was wrong. It wasn't like he'd kept himself in fighting shape.

But if all went well, he shouldn't need to be. He just had to talk to the guy and convince him to sell. Easy peasy.

Maddie batted his hands away, taking over to fold the collar down properly. "Stop messing with it, it looks fine." She brushed her hands over his jacket. "So do I get to know the occasion? Can't be anything too fancy, you haven't shaved."

"Just meeting a target." Despite Mike's wishes to keep Maddie in the dark, Virgil had been very open about why he was back in town. Not to mention, it was difficult to keep his own comings and goes quiet when he didn't go out much unless it was supply run or somehow related to a job or Mike.

But staying with Maddie had several upsides. Not least of which was that there was always something to occupy his time--she invited him with her to any classes or outings she was taking, there was a whole list of things around the house and garage that needed fixing and he didn't mind taking care of them.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Shouldn't be."

She nodded. He didn't know if she didn't press for more because she knew it wouldn't be coming or because she didn't want to know to details of whatever illegal things they were about to do in order to do the right thing. He wondered if he'd get better at reading her over time the way he did with Mike.

"I'd tell you to be safe..."

Sam smiled. "I'll do my best."