Hello all: this is my first Magic Mike fic. I just had an inkling of an idea that brought the worlds of Magic Mike and Burlesque together and this is my grand attempt at making it work. It takes place six months after the guys went to Myrtle Beach for the convention. Mike has relocated himself and his business to try to make it work. He ends up living across the hall from Ali and Jack, employees of the Burlesque Lounge.

I've taken some creative license with some of the characters, but all of your favorites from the films will be included.

Please read on and leave a comment/review. I would love to know what you thought when you're finished…should I keep going?

Thanks!

Chapter One

Mike carried the last box of his belongings into his new apartment building. He was sweating and his muscles were ready to give out. It was effing hot and he was starting to really reconsider this move.

He was Mike Lane, but he would put money that most people knew him as Magic Mike. He'd done a variety of jobs throughout his life, but the one that lasted the longest was male entertainer (aka stripper). But it had been almost four years since he'd done it all professionally.

Six months ago, certain life events had unfolded and had given Mike reason to reconsider everything. When he'd quit stripping, he'd been working on his custom furniture business and his relationship with Brooke. But the relationship was pushed to its limits when he proposed and his furniture business was at a very critical point. He'd gotten a chance to go to the annual stripper convention with the other guys from Club Xquisite. And despite a few setbacks on the way, they'd killed it in Myrtle Beach.

But now all the guys had moved on.

Both Ken and Andre were 'discovered' at the convention. A record exec's wife and her friends were there and had made sure that they'd gotten meetings with the company. They had both gotten deals and now Ken was working (and living) in New York and Andre was on tour opening for Nicki Minaj.

Tito and Tobias (who was now fully-mended) were actually making a go of the artisanal frozen yogurt truck. They'd not only gotten a brand new truck, they were developing a mall kiosk.

Tarzan was pursuing his art. The ladies they'd met in Savannah had made sure he'd gotten a few commissions and he had steady work. Mike had heard he was also getting some training as a marriage counselor.

That left Richie. When they'd dropped the borrowed car back to Nancy, they'd all left and Richie moved in. He was now enjoying being a kept man. He was also Nancy's arm candy; she liked to take him to all kinds of parties and events. And it didn't seem like he minded.

Mike initially had planned on staying in Florida but the furniture business wasn't picking up. He did a bit of research and found that the market for his work was going to drastically increase if he moved to either New York or California; he also found that those two states made up 75% of his out of state shipping. Mike had zero interest in living either place, but the lesser of two evils (and one that was much warmer) was California.

He'd settled on LA when he'd read the map. He rented an apartment having only seen online pictures; it ended up being a decent space. Once he got settled, which he hoped didn't take long, he'd find a store front. He had pocketed the cash from the sale of the house in Tampa and planned to use it as a down payment.

He stood outside his now-closed apartment door and tried to open it without setting the box down. He struggled, but his ego and pride wouldn't let him cave and put the box down.

That was when he heard the door across the hall swing open.

"I'm going to check the mail. I'll meet you out front…" a female voice called back into the apartment.

He'd been moving his shit in for what felt like hours and he'd met a few of the folks on his floor. However, this was the first sign of the life he'd had from his direct neighbor.

The door closed and the woman turned. "Hold on; let me help you with the door," the woman said.

He caught her scent and it immediately drove him crazy. Then his eyes met her blue ones. She was petite and blonde and she had moved in close to him to turn the doorknob for him. The door swung open for her and she moved to allow him into his space.

"Thank you," he said as he set the box on the floor just inside the doorway. "I could have set it down, but…" he said as he wiped his dirty and sweaty hands on his shorts.

She smiled. "But that's more work because then you have to pick it up again," she laughed.

Mike focused on the woman before him. Her blonde hair was in a high messy bun on the top of her head and if she was wearing make-up, she was an expert at making it look natural. She had pale skin that set off her blue eyes. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of small silver stars in her ears and a patterned ring on her middle finger on her…right hand.

"Hi, I'm Ali," she said while she offered her hand to him. He couldn't help but notice that she didn't have any rings on her left hand at all. "Welcome to the building. You are new to the building and not someone coming to murder me, right?" she laughed.

He shook her hand. "I'm Mike. Thank you for the welcome. And no, I'm leasing this apartment," he pointed behind him.

"Well, that is good to hear," she continued to smile. "And not a problem. If we don't look out for each other, who will?"

"That's a good point…"

The door Ali had come out of opened once more and Mike felt a pang of disappointment. It was a dude coming out. Dark, blondish hair, sort of tall. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt with a leather jacket over it. He carried a black vest and bow tie in his hand. Mike's eyes moved to the guy's – they were rimmed in black eyeliner and it took every ounce of self-control not to laugh.

The guy realized what he thought what was happening and put his arm around Ali's waist to mark his territory.

"Mike, this is Jack, my boyfriend. He also lives here. Jack, this is our new neighbor, Mike."

The men surveyed one another warily. Jack knew how gorgeous his girlfriend was and seemed to get jealous pretty damn easily.

"It's nice to meet you, Mike. I wish we had more time right now, but we're in a rush for work," Ali said genuinely.

"Yeah, damn," Jack added sarcastically. "If we don't get a move on, Iowa, Tess'll tan both our hides," Jack smiled playfully at her.

"Not a problem," he echoed Ali's reply from a few moments ago. "I should quit procrastinating and unpack. Nice to meet the both of you."

"Yeah," Jack said curtly.

Ali had turned to lock her apartment door and there two men shared the most intense twenty seconds. Mike smiled slightly; he had no intention of breaking up a happy couple. But he could see that Jack found him competition.

Ali turned and smiled politely once more. She wasn't flirting; she just seemed to be a nice person. "Good luck unpacking. And if you need a pick-me-up later, there's a diner around the corner. Tell 'em Ali sent you and they'll get you all fixed up."

Mike rubbed the back of his neck and flexed his muscles inadvertently. He was going to need coffee; he had no idea if he had even packed his old coffeemaker.

"Thank you, Ali. It's nice to meet you. You too, Jack," he said while wearing a slightly cocky grin. "Have a good night at work."

Jack gave a curt nod and Ali smiled apologetically. She knew Jack was being an ass on purpose. Jack was walking down the hall and Ali quickly followed behind.

A second later he heard a motorcycle start up. Of course this dude had a bike; he was trying way too hard.

Mike stared at their door for a second and smiled. His general practice was to avoid women in relationships. He'd come in to a lot of chances in his former line of work and it always ended up too messy. He really hated drama. He had no intention of moving in on Ali. She'd made it clear that Jack was her boyfriend. And Mike figured that he hadn't made a friend in Jack.

…

The couple had made their way silently into the Burlesque Lounge and were now standing in the middle of the floor.

"Why are you being so childish, Jack? The silent treatment, really?" Ali said into Jack's smug face.

"Childish? You were the only openly flirting with that guy!" Jack said from behind the bar.

Little did the two of them know, they had a small, but curious audience forming. Tess and Sean were on the stage behind the curtain.

"We shouldn't listen…" Sean stated.

"The hell we shouldn't," Tess smirked. "Now, shut up so I can hear."

"Flirting, Jack, really? I smiled and was friendly."

"Tell them Ali sent you," he said in an imitation of her.

"Obviously he's new to LA. I told him where to go to get some coffee, Jack. Relax. I'm thinking of telling you where you can go, now, too."

"If he was obviously doing anything, he was checking you out."

"Geezus, Jack. Not every man on the planet that looks at me is your competition. You're being totally ridiculous. You know how I feel about you. And you know you have nothing to worry about."

"O-kay, Ali," he agreed in a highly sarcastic way.

"I am so done talking to you, Jack. I am allowed to speak to men that aren't you. You do not get to tell me who I can and can't be friends with."

"Men and women can't be friends, Ali. He took one look at you and decided he wanted you."

"You weren't even there! And didn't you do that, too?" Ali argued. "I had no idea you were so insecure. I am not going to cheat on you, Jack. Whatever! I am going to get ready. Don't punch any of the customers for looking at me tonight," she told him with a lot of sass and a flip of her hair.

Ali turned on her heel and moved to get to the stairs so she could get ready for that night's show.

She was the headliner at the newly improved Burlesque Lounge on the Sunset Strip. Jack, her boyfriend, was the head bartender. The two of them, along with two dozen other people or so, worked for Tess, the club's owner/matriarch. It had been a challenging year with some definite highs and lows, but Ali had helped Tess save the club from being bought out and torn down and they had revitalized it's patronage.

Ali had a significant set of vocal chords; she'd been an untapped talent until she'd accidentally revealed it when she was trying to save a performance a long time ago. Ali could not only belt it out, she had a knack for doing some dead-on impersonations of other singers. Tess re-worked the entire show around Ali's singing abilities.

She had become a local celebrity and even though she had been offered a very large record deal (somewhere in the vicinity of six figures) she couldn't imagine leaving the club now or Tess, Sean or Jack. But she had no idea that Jack was so insecure and possessive. She wondered how he was reacting to the audience of men and women that filled the club four to five nights a week – was he jealous of everyone all the time?

…

Mike had spent the last few hours unpacking. He went until he couldn't ignore the angry rumbling. He was going to hit up the diner that Ali had suggested.

Mike walked down the street to the small diner. They likely served nothing healthy and honestly after the long day he'd had, he felt like something greasy.

He sat in a corner booth and a pleasant looking waitress came over.

"Hi honey. Can I get you something to drink?" she smiled. She had bright red hair that was more than likely from a bottle and a soft and familiar southern accent. It made Mike feel closer to home in that instant as she spoke.

Mike relaxed into the plastic seat. "Well, your coffee comes highly recommended and I could honestly use some caffeine."

"Well, the only person who raves about our coffee is Ali, so I'll get ya all fixed. Do you need a minute to look through the menu, sugar, or do you know what you want?"

He thought for a minute. "Do you have a recommendation? Or maybe whatever Ali orders, since she told me to come here…she's probably an expert."

"Well, she always orders pancakes if she comes in after the late show. I'll bet she'll be in tonight around one thirty with the other ladies," the red-haired waitress said.

Mike's confusion must have read on his face.

"You know, when they all get done at the club…the Burlesque Lounge. Its a few blocks from here on Sunset. Didn't you say you knew Ali?" she said with confusion. She didn't want to be giving a stalker such information.

"I just moved into her building. I live across from Ali and Jack," Mike explained.

The waitress' smile became a frown quickly.

"I take it you don't like Jack?"

Her face changed back into a smile. "No, no. Jack is just…just fine."

Mike always had the knack for being able to read people. He could always tell when someone was hiding something. And this lady, she was definitely hiding something.

"He seemed like a nice guy," Mike lied.

"I've known him a long time. He's been out in California a lot longer than Ali. He works down at the club, too. He's the head bartender," the waitress said. She smiled but it was now an uneasy one. "I think he's…"

Mike waited for her to finish her thought.

"It's nothing," she waived her hand and forced a laugh. "It's just paranoia and conspiracy theories."

Mike laughed. "About what?"

"I've just always thought he was using Ali. Listen to me…I…" she rambled. "I just think I saw him with another woman. I don't think he's faithful and he doesn't treat her very nicely when he thinks no one is watching," she wore a concerned expression.

That wasn't what Mike was expecting to hear. "Oh."

"Well, hun, I'm gonna get ya fixed up. I'm gonna put your order in and bring ya some of our world famous coffee. Don't tell either of them I said that, please."

Mike made a locking motion over his lips. "It's our secret."

…

That night Mike laid on his mattress in the middle of the living room. He was too tired to put the whole bed together. He was curious about Ali and found her boyfriend, Jack, to be trying too hard to cover something and after his conversation with Myrtle, other people thought the same thing. But he couldn't worry about all of that; tomorrow he had to get his apartment in order because after that, he needed to get his business up and running out here in California.

…

Author's note: okay, so I hope you didn't hate it. Let me know what you think, good, bad or indifferent.