Sam and Jesse

"Well Boys, I want to thank you guys for coming over and if you ever want to do some fishing again just give me a call, you know you're welcome anytime."
Jesse looked around at his surroundings and mentally groaned. The had traveled about as far out into the Everglades as you can safely go if traveling by car and he was pretty sure this was farthest he had ever been into the swampy wetlands before. There was also little doubt in his mind that if the alligators, rogue anacondas or pythons didn't get you then the mosquitos were sure to drain you of at least a pint of blood. That last thought crossed his mind as he swatted the large mosquito currently latched onto his forearm and filling quickly with his blood and as he began answer his good hearted host He tried to keep his thoughts from coming through "yeah Virg, that was great! Thanks for the um, Gator steaks and beer. They were..." With a quick glance at Sam standing on the drivers side of the Caddie he continued "the best I ever had." Virgil appeared to puff up at this compliment and was quite pleased by the man's opinion.

Smiling broadly Virgil turned to Sam with a wink and continued "well Sam you drive safely and watch out for those gators keeping warm on the asphalt. I already got plenty of meat stored up and so I don't need anymore."

Jesse couldn't hold the groan back this time and opened the door to the passenger side of the Caddie and curled himself into the seat. Sam smiled and stuck his hand out and said "thanks Virg, for taking us out fishing just next time make sure there are some fish."
"All right, we'll do and don't forget to thank Elsa for that delicious potato salad"

"Yep. I will Virg"

Sam released Virgil's hand and watched as his friend turned to walk back into the surrounding foliage then with a final wave he disappeared into the shadows.

With an unseen laugh directed at Jesse, Sam climbed into the drivers side of the Caddie and once buckled in he looked over at Jesse who was looking straight ahead. He could tell Jesse was turning Virgil's comment about the road kill around in his mind. "You're not looking so good Jesse. Relax. if it was road kill I'm sure it was only a day or two old." Jesse looked at Sam and said "Just drive"
Sam smiled and put the car into gear and after throwing a u-turn he headed the car down the dirt road that would eventually take them back to the more civilized destination of Miami. They drove along in silence for awhile when Sam finally broke the silence with a more serious question about an offer that he had been bugging Jesse about for the last month.
"So Jesse, have you rethought Elsa's offer of becoming head of her company's security?"
Jesse let out a sigh and continued to look forward watching the road as the shadows from the tall trees grew longer across the road. He knew Virgil was kidding about the gator road kill but even still a large gator could do some damage to car if hit hard enough and he had no desire to spend anymore time out here than he needed to. Although, he did have to admit to himself today had been a lot of fun.
"Yeah, you know Sam I am not sure it's something I want to do. Worrying about tourists and their missing luggage. Interrogating the staff when some drunk'n debutant loses her jewelry and wants to blame some poor maid for her stupidity, not exactly what I want to spend the next 10 years of my life doing."
"Buddy, you got it all wrong. I tried to explain to you how it all works. Elsa has major hotels and resorts all over the world. She needs someone to be in charge of all the her security for all of her properties and don't forget she has a few companies that need security too. As the CEO of Security you would be in charge of the guys who do the interrogating of staff and dealing with drunk'n debutants" Sam glanced at Jesse and continued "Look Elsa's hotel in Germany, two months from now the G8 are going to be holding their little soirée. Half those diplomats will be staying in her hotel and with you as the CEOS you would be working with all the alphabets of national security from all of those nations."
Jesse stayed silent as he thought over Sam's offer. "Look, There is one other thing to consider and why I personally think it would be a good idea." Sam went on.
Jesse looked at Sam and asked "what's that?"
"Well, it would be another way for us to stay close to Fi and Mike. You know with you working for Elsa, your traveling all over the world it would be easier to visit them and Charley" Sam threw the last part with Charley in as a cheap bribe. He knew that Charley and Jesse had become close and to Charley he was Uncle Jesse and with Jesse having no other a family it was a title he took quite seriously.
Jesse nodded his head and had to agree "Yeah, you're right about that. It would be nice to see the little guy. Sam do you think anyone is even looking for them anymore? I mean it's been just over a year now"
Sam shrugged before answering "it's hard to say. I don't think anyone is looking for them actively but on the other hand I am not entirely sure how confident the CIA are that Mike and Fi are gone." Sam could not bring himself to say dead. "I believe that as far as our guys are concerned the less they stir that mess the better. But I also don't think it is the CIA or anyone from our side that they have to worry about. I think it is some of the other spooks from the not so friendlies that they got to keep an eye out for. They're really cut off now and as we have seen from their little run in with those MI6 agents and Armand. Well, you saw what went on there."
Jesse nodded his agreement and added his own thought to Sam's. "Yes, and as far as we know the two agents are behaving themselves and Mike and Fi haven't heard from Armand since."
They fell into silence as Sam continued to drive, they were now up on a main road headed towards Miami, Jesse could see the bright lights of the city off in the distance.
Jesse considered all of the ramifications of his taking the job and actually began for the first time, seeing himself accepting Elsa's job offer. He knew that it would give him resources almost equal to what he had working with CIFA and government only without the government crap. He also knew that it might allow him some freedom to see Mike and Fi and little Charley. The last that they had heard from Barry, they were now over in Ireland having left Majorca. Fi's brother Sean had made arrangements for them to be smuggled into the country and they were now living a quiet country life surrounded by Fiona's retired IRA friends and her family for protection. Barry had set up a series of bank accounts for the couple and though communication was almost never direct to Sam and Jesse except every couple of months a random post card to be received by one of them it was Barry who had a way of keeping in touch and communicating with them when needed.
Jesse looked out his side window into the darkness that now surrounded their car and in the far off distance the lights of Miami glimmered. They were now beginning to grow on the horizon as they drew closer, this caused Jesse to reflect on his life here in Miami since meeting Michael, Fiona and the man he considered his best friend, Sam. Sam was now rarely there, he was spending most of his time with Elsa traveling around the globe because of her many obligations. He also could not help but think about Madeline, Michael's mom. Jesse still thinks about the sacrifice she made so that they could all make it out alive from the threat of James and his henchman. Jesse smiled softly as remembered his partner in crime and the woman he sometimes saw as his own Mom. Thinking about Maddie suddenly made him realize that there wasn't really anything keeping him here anymore. Turning to Sam he said "All right!" With a nod of his head "Go ahead and tell Elsa I will do it. I will be the CEOS for her company"
"Good man." Sam's grinned to his friend "you won't regret it."
After the words left his mouth, Jesse suddenly felt a great sense of relief at his decision and even quite a bit of excitement for the future.

"Well, I am glad we got that out of the way. Now I have another question for you, Jesse. Have you gotten anything lately?"
Jesse knew Sam's meaning straight a way and merely said "Nope and I take it you haven't either? In the light of the dashboard Jesse could see Sam shake is head in the negative. "It's been almost two months and I usually get some random sign and Barry called me last night...late" Jesse looked at Sam and with a worried tone to his voice said "that isn't good"
"Yeah, Barry said he usually gets something through his super secret way and hasn't but what really has him worried. There hasn't been any action on the accounts for quite some time. Now he said that the one way happens every so often but the accounts. Usually, there is a withdrawal or something going on."

"Did he say how long it's been?"

"Almost five weeks based on transactions which is almost the same length of time since I heard from them"

Jesse trying to remain practical and not rush to panic offered "well, it doesn't necessarily mean something is up. Maybe they took out enough to lay low for a while? Maybe even, I don't know, maybe they forgot or something and they just happened to have enough cash to throw them off of their normal routine"

Sam shrugged in a half agreeing motion and said "well, I am going to meet with Barry tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come along. We are going to compare notes and maybe look into it. Cuz, if Mike and Fi were going to lay low for awhile. I am pretty sure they would have told us to keep us from worrying"

"Yeah, Sam. I think your right." With a small sigh "Sure, I will definitely be there. What time and where?"

"I will pick you up around one or so. We are going to meet Barry for a late lunch at a little bar that makes great Cuban sandwiches and serves a fantastic Mojito over by the beach and they have a nice little Cubano band that comes in to play to the afternoon crowd" in other words should anyone be listening the mixture of guitar and drums should make it very difficult. With their plans for the next day set they drove the rest of they into Miami in silence except for the occasional comment from Jesse who still wasn't over the whole gator steak experience.

Barry watched as a Cuban band began to set up their instruments just a short distance from where he was sitting, his attention was broken when his two friends approached the table with their noisy banter, they seemed to be in a deep discussion that was bordering on an argument. When they drew up along side the table he could hear more clearly their conversation and he realized Jesse seemed upset about something he had eaten.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Barry hoped his lighthearted greeting would break the tension between the two.

Sam and looked down at Barry "Hey Barry, nothing. Jesse here is still complaining about eating gator yesterday."

"I'm not complaining Sam, I'm just saying that as of this morning I was still living that wonderful meal we had yesterday." Sam merely stared at him In reply.

Barry nodded his head in understanding and added to the conversation "Yeah, Sam told me last night about your visit with Virgil when he called about today." Barry pointed to the two empty chairs indicating they should sit and as he did so he couldn't help but add "but Sam, you know what they say about former spies?" Both men looked at Barry each knowing what he was about to say. But Sam asked anyway for Jesse's sake "what's that Barry?"
"They're a bunch of bitchy little girls"

Sam smiled and looked over at Jesse and Jesse for his part, just gave Barry what he hoped was a look of threatened instant death.

"Yeah, whatever man. Let's get down to business" Jesse said with a wave of his hand.

The waitress had approached the table and Barry placed an order for a Mojito making a motion towards Sam and Jesse asked for their preference "beers or Mojito?"

"I do my best thinking with beer so I'll take that" Sam looked at Jesse who gave his order as the same with a nod she turned away to take care of their request.

Sam was the one to get straight to the point "So Barry, have you heard from your Mom."

Though they weren't sure if anyone from the government would be monitoring their lunch together and though the band had started to play behind them, out of habit and previous personal experience in dealing with those in the government or anyone else not in the Michael Westen fan club, they knew that part vigilance mixed with paranoia would keep everyone safe. So they began to talk about mundane topics that had a separate meaning known only to them and they started to compare what they knew.

"Nah, I haven't spoken with her lately I think she is still pissed I am not a podiatrist"
And with that statement Barry confirmed he hadn't heard from their friends either.

The waitress appeared next to their table and after placing their drinks on the table and taking their order it was only after she left that Barry continued. "yeah, she doesn't understand the world of finance. I mean I provide a valuable service to people. I take care of their money and make sure they get the maximum return on their investment for their retirement."

Sam interjected with a question of his own. "What about my nest eggs? What are they doing? Making me money I hope."

Barry paused taking a sip of his Mojito before answering trying to figure out the best way to give Sam the information he needed. "They're growing Sam. It helps that you haven't been going in there and taking anything out lately. I think your last transaction was about a month ago. Which for you is unusual, you were usually an every two week kind of guy."

Jesse and Sam gave Barry a grim look. This news seemed to confirm their fears and put all three into an even more serious mood but Sam continuing the charade sat back in his chair and after taking a deep swig of his beer he gave a light halfhearted laugh and replied to Barry's news with a "that's great. I have been trying to be more disciplined about my money."

After their lunch was brought to the table Barry brought up the topic of Jesse's new employer. "Jesse, I understand you may go to work for Elsa? Does that mean you will be going to UK with Sam and Elsa when they travel there?"

His meaning was clear, the last contact he had had with Mike and Fi they were in still Ireland though not mentioned directly the generic term for the area was enough of a tip. This news made them a little more relieved because they knew Mike and Fi had been living in an area arranged for by Fi's brother Sean. They were under the protection of the former IRA friends and family to the Glennanns. Unless, for some unfathomable reason they left the area of safety.

Jesse picked up the answer to Barry's question "yeah, Elsa and Sam want to take me over there and show me some of their operations and to do a meet and greet with the personnel running things there and do the intro's. When did you say we were leaving Sam?" Sam playing along pulled out his phone to check his calendar and replied I think Elsa wanted to head out day after tomorrow. After, things get sorted here with the paperwork on our end we will fly out to Belfast first then on to London."

Barry noticing Sam's phone asked "Hey Sam, is that one of those phones you can do the internet on, you know a smart phone?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. I use the 'net mostly for the weather and to check the scores on some games not much else but it came with my plan so." He finished with a shrug.

"Yeah, I got the same one you have only it is the newest model. Has a great camera and with the internet I love to use it for Twitter, that social media site. You can talk or leave messages to almost anyone on it."

"Yeah, I've heard of twitter and even got on it for awhile but it wasn't really my thing. Too many people talking about their cats or hawking their latest Kickstarter project" Sam replied missing Barry's hidden meaning.

Jesse on the other hand had not. "Yeah, there are like one billion people on there and sometimes it is hard to tell who is real and who is a bot."

"Right, but I use it sometimes just to keep in touch with some of my cat loving friends." Barry responded "You'd be amazed on how many people are on there. It's more popular than Facebook."

Sam mentally kicked himself for missing the point behind Barry's smart phone question but now that he caught up to the others he had to silently give Barry kudos for his clever use of Twitter. He was using it as a way to talk with Mike directly and with the hundreds of millions of Twitter accounts and the ability to switch them at will following any one user would be next to impossible for any entity still looking for Mike and Fi and he sincerely doubted any government would spend that much in money or resources to do so.

Holding up his phone Sam said "well, maybe I will have to check it out again for myself. See what I was missing."

"Yeah, do that I can give you my handle and we can follow each other."

"Fantastic." Though in reality, Sam thought it sounded just a little creepy.

They continued their meal and made plans for keeping in touch and after paying the bill they said their goodbyes to Barry and promised they would stay in touch but the truth was, now that Barry had become a valuable asset due to his more direct and already established method of communicating with Mike, they had even considered bringing Barry with them but decided to wait and do some recon first and if Barry were to get any word from their friends he would communicate carefully through their new Twitter accounts or if it looked as though something was going on and the situation warranted they would bring him across the pond to join them.

Two days later Sam, Jesse and Elsa were on their way to Ireland under the auspices of introducing Jesse to his new employees.