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Title: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 2,166
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full warnings and details in main post.
PREV: Chapter Twenty-Eight // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 20
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hard Sell
"People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons."
—Zig Zigler
"I need to know what your plans are from here."
Javier turned at the sound of the voice, reluctantly looking away from his post. That Bennet had thought to follow them didn't for one moment surprise him, though it certainly wasn't a detail he was happy about. His first instinct was to try to appear unconcerned—unthreatened—by the former agent's presence, but he knew that under his current circumstances the other man would smell the lie too quickly. Still, he wished to avoid showing his continued distrust of the man too clearly—not after Kate's explanation of the agent's role in protecting Kevin's secrets rendered his distrust and his suspicion deniable. The simplest—and the most honest—thing he could project right now was sheer emotional and physical exhaustion.
"How is that any business of yours, Bennet?" Javier asked—defensively, though not, he felt, unreasonably so.
Bennet, as usual, was nearly impossible for him to read, so there was no way of knowing what the other man might have taken from it.
"Adam has agreed to play ball," Bennet told him, keeping his tone carefully neutral, "but if there is anything we can learn from this case it's that things like this don't stay hidden forever. People know about specials now. They're going to look more closely at things, hold onto details they might otherwise have let go."
He looked Javier in the eye, his expression intent.
"We've done the best we could to manage the situation," Bennet said, "but sooner or later someone is going to see something, find something, remember something about Reichardt or one of his past identities. Your partner could still be in danger, detective, and if you don't help me, then I can't help him."
And Javier took in a slow, deep breath, trying to keep calm in the face of the direction in which he knew this conversation was headed.
"Is that a threat?" Javier asked, though he knew better.
"It's an offer," Bennet said, pausing significantly to carefully gauge his reaction.
Though his unease was most likely painfully apparent, Javier doubted he could have managed an appropriate level of surprise. Bennet's expression turned momentarily thoughtful before he looked Javier intently in the eye.
"You said it yourself at the start of this case," Bennet began solemnly, "the official response to the exposure of specials has been moving in baby steps. But I can tell you that just isn't good enough. As disastrous as this case was for your partner, it was nothing compared to what it could have been. I've dealt with specials whose threat potential was global in scale. Somewhere out there is a special with the potential to become the next Samuel Sullivan, and when that happens we're going to need a hell of a lot more in our arsenal than a publicity stunt."
Bennet paused for a moment to let that sink in. Javier wasn't slow, he got it, and the possibility was more than a little terrifying.
"An asset with Reichardt's power and his experience would be invaluable," Bennet continued carefully, clearly aware of the dangerous ground he was walking on. "But we don't have him. If, on the other hand, your partner could learn to access Reichardt's abilities... Well, that would still be something. After a shock like the one he's had, a fresh start could give Detective Ryan a sense of purpose. If he joins us, I can promise you that I would have the full motivation and means to remove all references to his other identities wherever possible."
Javier was surprised the words didn't anger him more than they did. Ironically, it seemed there was an almost calming satisfaction in hearing Bennet admit, explicitly and up-front, that he saw Kevin as a tool to be used—a valuable tool, but a tool nonetheless. That sort of forthrightness was unexpected, and at first Javier didn't know how to respond.
"And why are you saying all this to me?" Javier finally asked.
Oddly, though it was barely discernible, Javier saw the corner of Bennet's mouth lifted in a way that seemed almost...pleased. It was gone after only a moment, Bennet's expression turning appropriately solemn once again.
"Your partner's entire past has been exposed as false," Bennet said, slowly. "Everything he thought he knew about himself is a lie. All of the things that make him real are in his present: the friends he can manage to keep, his fiance if she'll still have him, his job if he can hold onto it—your partnership, if you don't abandon it. The way you hung on during the business with Reichardt tells me you won't."
"He is not going to leave any of that to follow in Reichardt's footsteps," Bennet finished meaningfully, looking Javier in the eye. "Not alone."
So that was it, Javier finally realized. Bennet considered them a package deal. Honesty, he didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
"Am I being scouted?" he asked, attempting to sound skeptical of the idea.
Though, with an audience like Bennet it was all but impossible to know whether or not it was convincing. Bennet gave him an appraising look.
"You're former military, aren't you?" he asked.
The question—transparently rhetorical—caught Javier briefly off guard. Either Bennet was just that good at reading people, or he had a file on Javier somewhere. Neither thought was particularly comforting. Either way, it was useless for him to deny it, and after a slow beat he confirmed it with a nod.
"Special Forces," he said.
Bennet gave an appreciative nod.
"Agents have been made out of a lot less," Bennet said, a faint, ironic smile touching his lips.
In spite of what Konrad had told him about Bennet's past, Javier found it difficult to enjoy the humor. When the comment failed to dispel the tension between them Bennet let out a faint breath.
"Listen," Bennet said frankly, "I saw the footage of Konrad's escape from interrogation. You knew he was still in there long before he made a break for it. I've had plenty of experience with that particular ability, and I have to admit I was impressed. And the handwriting thing was a good spot. Being able to think that far out of the usual box is a skill you just can't teach. You're capable, determined, and most importantly flexible."
Reaching into his coat, Bennet pulled out a small card.
"You don't have to decide now," he said, looking Javier in the eye as he handed it over. "Just...take some time to think about it, whether it's for your partner's sake or for your own."
Javier took the card wordlessly. Apparently satisfied—for now—Bennet departed with a nod, heading down the hallway. Javier stared at the card in his hand in silence. It was plain white paper, marked with a phone number in small black type, and carried no other information. Javier took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to dismiss the sudden, still, but very real panic tightening in his gut.
It was like holding a tangible piece of their future in his hands.
And it was a future he had no desire to see, even if he no longer feared it for the same reasons. Because Bennet had been absolutely right about one thing: Kevin had already lost so much. The revelation of his nature had robbed him of the false past he remembered, and with only second-hand accounts and vague speculation to take its place he had no solid foundation on which he might go forward.
All his partner had was his present life, and Kevin's entire life was based in New York City.
Kevin Ryan had been born out of the ashes of the City's greatest tragedy. With very few exceptions, every moment of the nine years that Kevin had actually existed had been spent in New York. With very few exceptions, every friend he had, every connection, every person he had ever worked with or known or come in contact with was right here. Embracing that future would mean following Bennet to Washington, leaving every part of it behind...
Javier didn't know if it was possible for his partner to leave—to lose all of that, along with everything else that was gone—and still be Kevin.
During that first jump, his partner—his husband, whoever that man had been—had seemed convinced that Javier held the power to change the future. That his awareness of what was coming made it possible to steer the course of the events which still lay ahead of him. It was a hope that Javier held onto for dear life, no longer for his sake, but for that of his partner.
He crumpled the card in his hand.
"This won't be the end of it, you know," a voice said behind him. "Once Noah's set his sights on something, he doesn't abandon his target."
Javier was surprised, when he looked up, to see Sgt. Watts standing at his shoulder. He hadn't heard any footsteps. And it said a lot about the way his life was shaping up that, as Javier watched the officer's features shift and his body stretch leaving Gabriel standing in his place, things made more sense, not less.
"I take it you've had some experience with that," Javier said.
Because Kate had told him about that early introduction, and Gabriel's claim to have worked with Bennet at the Company, but based on his first impression—the way they watched one another when they were in the same room—Javier was going to call bullshit on that. There were too many missing details when it came to Gabriel—blank spaces that Javier intended to fill at the first available opportunity. Yet while it occurred to him, very briefly, to probe the man about a possible connection to Samson—and by extension, Konrad—he simply didn't trust the man with the information he held.
He would look into that possible lead on his own, first.
In response to his words, Gabriel made an amused sound of agreement, a faint expression lifting the corner of his lips. It didn't quite match what was in his eyes.
"It's no business of mine what you do with Noah's offer," Gabriel said, in a bland voice that belied the dark distaste apparent in his eyes. "I would warn you that he has a history of using people as tools—or weapons—when it suits him, but I think you've seen more than enough evidence to have reasoned that out by yourself. I'm more concerned about Detective Ryan."
Javier stilled, his mouth dry for a second. He wondered, suddenly, if it was possible that Gabriel actually was aware of a connection between himself and Javier's partner. He still hadn't learned just what the man had said to Kevin when they were given time alone together.
"You feel like sharing how that is your business?" Javier asked.
Gabriel cast a calculating glance over him, seeming to consider for a moment.
"Your partner can tell you that story if he chooses," Gabriel said finally. "Suffice it to say, it is very possible that I'm the only person living who can relate to what he's going through."
Gabriel kept his eyes locked on Javier's as he spoke. Remembering the man's earlier examination of him just before Konrad's interrogation—the way Gabriel's eyes had seemed to see right through to what he was feeling, like Javier were made of glass—it was all he could do to repress a shiver. There was something in the intense focus he saw that left Javier feeling pierced through, held in place like an insect.
"This is the kind of thing that can break a man's mind, detective," Gabriel said pointedly. "I know because it happened to me. But I was fractured already, and I was very lucky, in the end, to get put back together in better shape than I came in. If he does break he's going to need someone there to pick up the pieces."
"All it takes is one," Gabriel said, his voice somewhat softer, though no less intent, "just one person who doesn't think of him as a monster or a freak. Someone to act as an anchor. You have no idea how much that can mean."
"I think that person should be you," Gabriel finished significantly. "I think it has to be you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Javier said, carefully.
And for a very brief moment Gabriel seemed poised to refute his denial, but Javier heard the door open behind him. Instead, Gabriel's eyes followed the noise before he favored Javier with a quiet smirk.
Turning around, Javier saw his partner exiting the restroom. Kevin seemed to have recovered some small measure of his composure, but he still looked rough—bedraggled, broken and diminished. Javier's heart ached just seeing it, the sight evoking with painful clarity his partner's words during that first jump in time—his charge that the real, devastating damage that Konrad's discovery had wrought on his life was something only Javier could fix.
"Yes, you do," Gabriel said beside him, a low whisper, but satisfied just the same.
Javier did.
PREV: Chapter Twenty-Eight // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 20
