S3: Chapter 01: Aftermath

Brett pulled his arm from under Yvette’s head and pushed off the bed silently. He turned and looked at her; her face was calm as it had been the last four weeks. He was struggling to understand where she was emotionally and it was beginning to eat away at him.

He sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair as he made his way to the bathroom. The water was warm; a nice escape from the cold he’d been receiving from the other side of his bed. She wouldn’t talk to him; not about the things that were really bothering her. She tried to stay focused on every new lead they stumbled upon that she felt was the break in their investigation but every time they followed it to a dead end. He steadied himself against the wall as he thought over the fact that his son would never get his first kiss, never learn how to throw a baseball from him and never grow up and get married.

The emotions he was feeling were new. Things he never even thought about before were bubbling to the surface and brought with them a painful reality: he was not meant to be a father; not in his line of work. He hung his head and let the tears flow; tears that he’d been holding back for Yvette’s sake. He pounded his fist into the tiled wall of the shower and bit his lower lip. His baby, his son was gone and though he didn’t know if he would have made a great father he was ready and willing to try.

He finished washing up and for a long time just stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom staring at himself. Would his son have had his eyes or Yve’s?

He blinked hard and stifled the need to cry once more as he ran a razor across his face. The man looking back at him was new but it was a change he needed to make.

Brett got back to the bedroom and found Yvette in front of the computer reading emails and smiled. “Hey Bab…Yvette. I was going to try to grab some breakfast and get back before you woke but now that you’re up, do you want to head over to the Pancake Palace with me?”

“Uh…Gabe just called. He wants me to meet him at one of our old hangouts. He said he’s found more on Black Veil and believes it’s related to one of my old missions. It sounds as though it’s the break we’ve been looking for; he sounded pretty excited about it.”

“Did he? Good, that’s good. I’ll get dressed,” he said drawing out each word as he moved towards the bureau.

“You don’t have to come,” she said without turning around. “I can handle it alone.”

“No; I’d rather come with you than have to sit here and worry if something’s happened or not. We’re in this together Yve. Don’t forget they have my family under 24/7 surveillance as well waiting to see if I’ll pop over there. As long as they are in danger this is never going to end for me and I’m not losing more.”

She stood and finally turned to look at him. “You shaved.”

“Yeah.” He was busying himself with the clothes in the top drawer and she slowly approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He pulled it down and rubbed the smooth skin on her knuckles with his thumb before smiling weakly and dropping to the bed.

It had been the same way for a month now, neither knowing the right words to say or wanting to speak out of turn. Yvette found it hard to look at him at times, afraid that she’d see the look that told her that he did in fact blame her for everything that’s happened. Deep down she knew he did though he’d never admit it and that thought scared her more than she’d ever let show.

The guilt she was carrying around because of what she allowed to happen to his family, including their baby, was beginning to wear her down and the only way she could cope was to dive head first into work or avoid him as much as possible.

“Really Brett it’s ok if you’re not feeling up to it.”

Ignoring her attempts to leave him behind he pulled on his last boot and grabbed the keys from the table. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

“Dustin!” Soo yelled and waved furiously at him from across the crowded restaurant. He ducked his head and moved towards her trying his best to hide his face from the numerous onlookers upset over the brightly clothed Korean woman screaming to high Heaven.

“I didn’t think you were gonna show!” she said punching his arm playfully before lacing her fingers with his and dragging him towards a table in the back.

She stopped just in front of a bright young woman with a flirtatious smile. “This is my friend Mica, Mica, this is Dustin.” She pushed him forward and sat in a seat on the opposite side of her. “Isn’t he as dreamy as I said?”

Mica laughed and extended her hand. Dustin took it and placed a kiss on her knuckles, bowed and slid in beside her. “Sorry I’m late, I had a work thing.” The waitress came and sat their drinks on the table and Mica took a sip of hers and smiled.

“Dustin’s a Federal agent; he works on all kinds of interesting cases! Dustin tell her about the guy that tried to pass off his fake credit cards as a new company stealing millions from unsuspecting consumers. Dustin's a whiz on the computer and he uncovered a chain of this guy's movements and took him down without incident!”

“Well it was just that,” he smiled at Mica. She kept her eyes on him and moved an inch closer towards him. “My work can be both interesting and dangerous though I try and keep the number of times bullets fly at me to a minimum.”

Dustin’s eyes darted from Mica to Soo and back again as he sized her up. She wasn’t Korean, obviously enough, but she had her own mystique. Her less than eccentric nature had him wondering how she and Soo even met considering most of her friends were Korean gamer chicks that dressed equally as…vivid.

But Mica had a sleek, more professional appearance; one that he would call casual conservative. Though she wasn’t showing much skin, she was still flaunting a perfect cleavage that left him drooling. Her body was on display in a form fitting midriff top that was matched with a pair of loose fitting boot cut jeans that hung daintily over a pair of strapped leather pumps.

She didn’t wear much makeup but her lips were shiny and he caught himself staring a time or two when she spoke. Her nails, toes and fingers, were polished and well groomed. Her raven black hair was swept into perfect curls around her face. And her eyes; Dustin stopped thinking about the way those perfectly plump lips would feel pressed to his as he focused on the light brown irises that sparkled at him in the light. And when she smiled they joined her in the same merry appearance that drew him in each time.

“So Soo tells me you’re also into gaming and other electronics?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say I’m a huge nerd when it comes to gadgetry. I enjoy tinkering; tearing things apart and getting inside of them. I like to know how things work.”

“I think that’s so cool. Me? I wouldn’t know how to turn a computer on if the blinking red light didn’t say ‘power’,” she laughed. Her laugh was bubbly, infectious and Dustin found himself smiling and laughing back each time she graced him with that enchanting sound.

He looked up and noticed Acid was still sitting with them and motioned with a nod for her to excuse herself. He smiled at Mica and leaned forward, noticing her drink was low. “Let me get you a refresher.”

The two excused themselves from the table and headed towards the bar.

“So what do you think? Isn’t she everything I said she’d be?”

“I don’t know yet but I would like to find out which means you should be leaving now.”

“Say no more,” she smiled and rubbed his arm. “Have fun!”

Ryan was pissed as he climbed the stairs of the school and headed in to the principal’s office. Five times, five times in the last two weeks he’s had to make the trip over here and explain Stefanie’s absence from school as though he’d known and she’d had a valid reason for not being there.

He sighed as the man gave him a disapproving glare and backed into his office before Ryan could offer up another lame excuse. She had no idea the trouble she was causing and her behavior was becoming even more erratic and reaching a point where she was getting to be too much to handle.

He drove around her favorite hangouts scouting for her before finally locating her at the back of an old convenience store.

She was there again with three other miscreants smoking and drinking beer.

Before he could say a word her friends ran off and left her standing there. Ryan took one step in her direction and sighed. “Why Stef?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said lowering her head and walking towards his motorcycle.

He pulled her elbow and stopped her in her tracks. “Then talk to me Stef, help me understand. Because this isn’t you; no matter what’s happened you’ve always been able to talk to me.”

“I know but the more I think about it the worse it gets. Can you just take me home? Please?” She hopped onto the back and waited for him to drive her home.

Eddie had called the police on him and accused him of kidnapping among other things such as destruction of property. With the threat of serious jail time and a court order instructing him to remain 50 yards from her at all times he was forced to give his sister back to his mother and step-father but he was there every day to check on her and make sure she was doing ok.

“The courts are not going to give you to me Stefanie and if you keep acting out like this they may take you and make you a ward of the state and I can’t have that happen Pin Cushion. You have to be on your best behavior and trust me to take care of this.”

“You don’t know what it’s like, Ry. I just want it over, all of it! I hate living with those people and they hate me just as much.”

He came to a stop a block from the house and she jumped off the bike. “I love you Stefanie and I’ll take care of you. I just need some time, please?”

She nodded her head somberly and chewed on her lip before glancing up the street towards the trailer.

“Promise me you’ll be in school tomorrow and the rest of this week. Don’t let your grades take a hit because of this we have a plan remember?”

“Yeah yeah, get good grades, get a scholarship, become a doctor and take care of you for the rest of your life,” she smiled.

“Exactly. And where will I be if my doctor isn’t there for me?” He took her hand and rubbed his thumb absently across the back of it. “Two weeks, two weeks tops and I’ll have you out of there ok? I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Good. I’ve never made you a promise I haven’t kept.” He kissed her forehead and watched her walk up the sidewalk and to her yard.

His heart was heavy with guilt and every time he had to send her back there it got a little worse. He sighed and started up his engine heading back to his place. Two weeks, his promise replayed in his head. He had his work cut out for him and she’ll be his soon; one way or another.

Brett and Yvette pulled up to the meeting place and parked around back. “We need to make this quick, I want to check on Vic before we go back underground.”

Gabe pulled Yvette to the corner of the building and ensured they were completely obstructed by the dumpster before he pulled out a stack of papers, envelopes and a few folders. He handed Yvette the larger of the envelopes and turned it to the 3^rd page within its folds.

“What is this?” Yve asked leafing through the contents of the manila envelope.

“All of the case file information including surveillance photos, sit-reps, agents listed on the case and their roles.”

“What was the take?”

“Originally these agents were going in to retrieve information on stolen weapons and their illegal smuggling into the country but what they found was something much worse. Apparently the case specs itself was just window dressing; a ploy to get the higher ups to ok the mission. What they were really after were plans for a highly sophisticated chemical weapon with the means to destroy whole countries in one blast.”

“Did they find it?”

“It’s not clear. From what I’ve read the mission was doomed to fail from the start and they’d planned to leave one agent behind holding the bag.”

“Let me guess, my Mother.” He shook his head somberly as she continued going throw the files. “Who is this?” she asked turning a profile picture around so he could get a better look.

“My best guess is a floater, someone used just for that mission as a meeting point. He most likely was removed once the mission was compromised. The Company never liked loose ends.”

“Yeah, we’re learning that firsthand,” Brett sighed as he kicked the corner of the building and rested against it.

“Gabe…” she said stopping on a shot of the hotel from one of her last CIA ops. “Do you know what this is?”

“I do; now you see why I was so excited. Your last operation was to infiltrate that Armenian mafia meeting and terminate the captain. Once inside they followed the same SOP as Black Veil only this time instead of your Mother…”

“It was me pulling the trigger.” She drew in a deep breath and released it slowly as she processed exactly what she was reading and what it all meant. “I was a throwaway? They were hoping that I wouldn’t make it out of there alive that night! And had it not been for Brett…I wouldn’t have.”

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