#bn week

"What kind of man preys on children?

You now know pain, just as I promised you would...

And your victims have been avenged."

Random inspiration I had, and I needed to act upon it. But I'm cleverly working this into BN week.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87683041

My fav recurring theme is the use of water imagery around intense Westanne moments and then fire in the end

In s2e11 Hot Spot we have Michael coming home in a storm thinking Fi has died. He's all wet from spending hours searching for her and he's given up on her being alive

In s3e9 Long Way Back Michael rescues a shot and drowning Fi from the ocean

In s4e7 Past & Future Tense Michael and Fi and Jesse spend time together at the beach before Jesse reveals it's for a job. In this season, Michael has been trying to focus on his family and less on work

When Fi is finally released from prison Michael immediately takes her to the beach (they didn't change clothes from her prison release attire is my reasoning). They discuss Nate's death and their emotions

In s6 while on the run from the CIA and the rest of the world they take time to connect at the beach. Then Gray comes along with important news, pushing them closer to change

After they break up, Michael rescues Fi from fire in s7e9 Bitter Pill which starts to make them realize they still love each other and would do anything for the other

In s7e13 Reckoning, they escape James' fire by jumping into the sea with each other to start a new life after faking their death. Their last scene ever is kissing in front of a fire in their new home with Charlie on the couch with them. There is also snow ie water outside

Bonus promo pic!

so i'm technically a few minutes late with this, and it's thrown together haphazardly so i do apologize lmao i'm just now thinking about this after the ask i got and i think i can tie it into one of the day 1 prompts: "a reputation can be a powerful tool". mostly in that i want to talk about michael's reputation in a more round about way (so maybe its more fitting that i'm writing and posting this just after midnight lmao it probably barely counts for this prompt admittedly)

so we learn in the last season that it's really not until michael is under larry's mentorship that michael really blossomed into his career. he wasn't bad, mind you, he wouldn't be that far if he was. but he was average. the michael westen we know and love was very much carved out and refined during that time.

it's also probably where the start of his legendary reputation really started. yes he is more known for his solo work, but it had to start somewhere. and yes, thankfully, michael didn't follow larry into hell like he could have, he didn't become a simon.

i sometimes can't help but wonder why they chose simon of all people -- to take the crimes of and slap them onto michael. was it purely convenience? if so on what end? michael's or simon's?

we do know part of the reason it's so easy to do this, is because it's his job not to be anywhere... michael says as much. when you don't have an alibi or you're strictly off the record, you have nothing you can use to back up claims of things you did or didn't do.

but it still needs to be believable. even by people who might know more of his reputation due to dealing with him.... i wonder, did having larry as a mentor and their work together, influence that?

the boogieman michael is, post-burn notice is very different from the one he was when he was with larry, in his early days. there is a reason he is deeply feared by the russian's, for example. to the point where they speculate if michael westen is just an alias because surely no one person can be so good...

it's just interesting to think about. what is there to work with isn't much, when it comes to plastering something onto paper to fake events. but again, it still needs to be believable. surely, there has to be something there, reputation wise, history wise, that can act as a beginning thread that you then weave into this false narrative that you can track. like 'ah yes of course he did these crimes because look at what he did back then!'

i just wonder how much of it is because of his time with larry, if thats true...

a slightly belated contribution for @burnnoticeweek :) this is for day 1, with the prompt “otp.” i mean. aren’t they everyone’s otp??