S7: Chapter 01: The Company Man

Author's note: Pretty informational chapter but I hope it's not too much to understand :)

“Yvette, it’s great to finally meet you. Your father has told us so much about you I feel as though I know you already.” Yvette glanced at Ethan who smiled proudly as Kimberly Redding took her hand as well for a firm greeting. “Well I’m sure you both are very curious as to what goes on here and why you were brought to our facilities under the cover of night. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have but first, how about a tour?”

“Sycom is a multinational corporation that deals with establishing goodwill and global equality through partnerships with ambassadors from around the world. Now on paper that sounds great but what it all really means is…”

“You’re spies,” Brett filled in the blank as they started down the hallway passing a multitude of doors guarded by armed men and even a room where new agents were being trained for combat.

“Not so much spies as liaisons for hire.”

“So you’re mercenaries,” Brett continued as they entered the room Kimberly described as central control.

“You don’t see the gray so much do you Agent Knight?” she asked turning to face him with a bit of a frustrated look about her that Yvette couldn’t help but grin at. Ethan squeezed her shoulder and she turned to look at him with a smile.

“Sycom is much like the Dark Ops team you worked with before Yvie only we don’t answer to any one government body. We work as free agents for a multitude of networks going places where a badge can’t always go. And Brett, I was just as skeptical about things as you are now so I get it. It’s hard trusting something that normal agencies would frown upon. But we’re as deep cover as you can get without being buried; many of the operatives and agents for the FBI and CIA don’t even know we exist. Without the proper clearance level, which is fairly difficult to achieve, no one could even imagine the information we see on a daily basis.”

“So what exactly do you do here?” Yvette asked as she took in the number of men and women training in a few of the lower level facilities.

“We deal mainly in counterintelligence, domestic protection, homeland security threats and clandestine services. The major difference between us and say the CIA or FBI is we don’t worry about the political aspect of things. All the schmoozing and hand holding and ‘diplomatic talks’ we leave for the other guys. Sycom was created as a no holds barred arm of the Defense Intelligence Agency,” Ethan began as Yvette and Brett looked around the main office.

“We execute espionage activities around the world to resolve national-level defense objectives for the President and the Secretary of Defense. Staffed by civilian and military personnel, Sycom boasts the most unsurpassed assembly of highly trained agents this nation has ever seen. As a consolidation of the former Defense Human Intelligence Service, Sycom works in conjunction with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service and the U.S military’s Joint Special Operations Command to ensure the security of the country against all domestic and foreign attacks.”

“And what do you want with us?” Brett asked cutting through all the bull and getting straight to the point.

“Your brains,” Kimberly responded quickly and handed him a folder to sift through. “We’re hoping that you can see something we’ve missed. Having been a part of the operation that ended at the warehouse the Automatic Missile Weapons System was located led us to believe you are tapped into some of the most sensitive information within the Bureau. With that knowledge and the fact that you are a commanding officer within the agency, we’re confident that you can lead our agents into the field on equally as successful missions.”

“So in other words you’re hoping I’ll become a Handler for your in-field agents?”

“Not just a Handler, Agent Knight. We understand your huge contribution being a field agent as well as the benefit of having you as a CO off the field. We’d never completely remove you from either aspect of agent work. We would like you to maintain the position you currently hold only working for Sycom,” Kimberly continued to explain.

“And who’s he?” Brett motioned towards another man standing statuesque against the back panel. Since entering the room he neither flinched nor spoke but he maintained sight of both Yvette and Brett at all times.

“That is Staff Sergeant Warren Vanguard. He’s in charge of training our agents for combat as well as preparing their departure for ops,” Ethan responded as Ssgt. Vanguard moved towards them.

“I can understand Agent Knight’s reason for being here. His family has a strict military background, he’s primed to become the next Director for the Bureau and has several commendations under his belt from his career in the Police Force as well as his time with the FBI. But other than the fact that this one is your daughter, do you really think she has what it takes to become a part of Sycom, Sir?”

Ethan smirked noticing the look of agitation that worked its way into Yvette’s expression and pulled her closer. “My daughter has an IQ of 178. She’s shattered dozens of records held by some of the military’s most elite marksmen and is proficient in every form of hand-to-hand combat known to man. At the age of 21 she was already successfully overseeing her own tactical and strategic team on countless missions. I’d advise you to be careful how you speak about her whether in my presence or not, lest you’d like her to make you eat your words.”

“Understood Sir,” Ssgt. Vanguard nodded in deference towards Yvette before resuming his position against the back wall.

“Well I’m sure we’ve given you plenty to think about. And if you have no other questions, I’d say we’re pretty much done here for now.” Ethan watched as Yvette and Brett exchanged looks before escorting them towards the door. 

“How long have you worked for Sycom?” Brett asked once they reached the main hall again.

“Over the course of the last years here, I’d say about five years give or take. But it wasn’t until recently I took command and began overseeing operations. That’s been the past three years now.” He paused and turned to take in Brett’s face. “If you’re still with your concerns, which I’m sure you are, there are ways you can authenticate everything we’ve told you. I’d just advise you to use caution while exploring the Bureau’s database. We wouldn’t want the wrong people learning about your curiosity.”

He leaned forward and pulled Yvette into his arms. With a quick peck to her cheek, he wrapped himself around her snugly. “I’m so glad you came,” he whispered against her ear as he pulled away. “It’s always nice seeing you. Brett,” he nodded at his son-in-law with a smile. 

“If you’re not busy for lunch tomorrow, I was kind of hoping maybe you and I could meet?” Yvette asked as he motioned towards the door and the two awaiting agents who had drove them here.

“Absolutely! But how about dinner instead? You can come by my place, I’ll cook for you.” He jotted his address on a slip of paper from his pocket and gave her another hug. “You’re welcomed by as well Brett, any time.”

“That’s ok, someone has to watch the twins. I’d hate to think what they’d get up to without supervision.”

“Of course.” Brett and Yvette started towards the exit. “If you have any other questions or concerns, just use the number that I gave you and I’ll be happy to assist however I can.” He shouted to their backs and waited for them to exit to the motor pool before starting towards his office.

“How are you feeling?” Brett asked once they’d retrieved Austin and Autumn from Scott’s place and were on the way home. His hand gently rubbed Yvette’s until she opened her palm to take it and glanced over towards him with a smile.

“What do you mean? About Sycom?”

“Well that but I was mainly interested about where your head is as far as Scott is concerned.”

“Scott. I don’t know. He’s my Dad. He’s always been the man I looked to for answers so it really bothers me that now when I need him, I can’t talk to him. And you want to know something funny? We’re spies so we’re used to people not being truthful with us. Hell we tell lies for a living that you’d think it would just be something you’d grow used to. And yet when someone close to you, someone you love and have trusted with your life lies to you, it’s the most painful feeling in the world.” They pulled up to their home and Brett took Austin into his arms to carry to bed with Yvette following with their daughter.

“Are you ok with me going to see Ethan tomorrow?” she asked once the two had crawled beneath the covers of their own bed, finally ready to get some sleep.

“We talked about this Yvette. I promised I wouldn’t stand in the way any longer as long as the twins remain safe. I don’t want you to feel as though you have to choose between me and your father. Just, be careful going out there tomorrow.” He leisurely kissed her forehead as she rested herself against his chest. “Who knows? The man might have an arsenal in his basement as well as a torture room for unsuspecting Girl Scouts.”

“Brett!”

“I’m kidding; well about the Girl Scouts. Sweet dreams Baby, I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

The next night Yvette got to Ethan’s place a little after six. She knocked once and waited for her father to answer the door all the while examining the neighborhood where he resided. It seemed like a quiet area. Typical suburb with neighbors who would have no idea they were living right next to a government agent who gets shot at on a daily basis. It was the perfect cover home and Yvette began to wonder how long Ethan had been living here. “Sweetheart,” he smiled, pulling her into his arms for a quick hug before ushering her into his living room. “Dinner will be ready shortly I kinda got a late start; work ran a little longer than normal.”

“I imagine so; the Boss’ daughter coming to see where her old man works. It must have been the talk of the building.” Yvette showed herself around his home, looking at old photographs of her and Katrina when she was younger; some that she didn’t even remember. On the table nearest the stairs was a shot of Yvette as a newborn. She was being held by Ethan who had a look of enchantment about seeing his baby girl for the first time. Katrina lay behind him in the hospital bed watching as the two became acquainted.

“Kat was pretty jealous that day,” his voice startled her from behind as he came to hand her a glass of wine. She replaced the frame to the table and slid the glass from his hands. “She said you were all about loving on me while she only got the mean stares and whines. When I got to hold you, you were so quiet except a few giggles. When I handed you back to Kat the waterworks started. I had no idea a child your size could make so much noise. You wouldn’t stop until I took you back into my arms and rocked you. Man. You were so full of life though just taking everything in. Your Mom couldn’t get you to sleep so I took a few days off work to stay by your side, sing to you.”

“‘You are my sunshine’.”

“Yep, yep; it was your favorite. Anyway your Mom thought she’d done something wrong; pinched you when she was holding you or scared you in some way because those first three days you were my baby and mine alone. After a while though you started looking for her and the two of you became inseparable. It’s almost as if you knew.” His voice trailed off and he turned back for the kitchen as Yvette continued exploring his home.

After a while she heard him moving dishes to the dining room and joined him soon after. He looked up at her with a smile as he set the food in the center of the table. “I hope you still like spaghetti and meatballs, extra oregano. As I recall when you were younger it was your favorite meal.”

“Still is. Scott had to get used to me requesting it nearly every night for dinner. I don’t think he minded so much though; noodles are cheap and he grew his own tomatoes.” Ethan pulled her chair out for her and took a seat beside her at the head of the table.

“Well I’m not so much a green thumb but I do hope I’ve done it justice.” After saying grace, he waited for her to take the first bite, watching her face to ensure she enjoyed it before diving in himself. “So how’s work going for you?”

“Not bad. We just solved an eleven year old serial killer case. Then the team and I got word Landry was hiding out here in town and went to check it out; turned out to be that AMWS instead.” 

“So moving on to another case already? No downtime at all huh?”

“There’s no rest for the wicked,” she grinned and took another bite of her dinner. “Besides I decided to save my vacation time for next month anyway. A friend of mine is getting married in Vegas.”

“That should be fun!” They ate the rest of their meal making small talk. Ethan offered her dessert which she decided to take with her instead. And after her offer to clean up was rejected by her father, she pulled away from the table and took a seat in the living room as he began straightening up.

The images sitting around the living room brought another wave of nostalgia but this time Yvette couldn’t contain her emotions. She started crying as Ethan began clearing the table and he placed the dishes into the sink, ignoring the chores for now to go to her. “Yvie?”

“I’m sorry,” she started and wiped her face on the back of her hand. He took a box of tissues from beside his bar and sat them in front of her.

“There’s no need to apologize Sweetheart, do you want to talk about it?”

“Uh, is it ok if I use your bathroom?”

“Yeah of course, um, down the hall second door on the right.” He watched her head up the hall and headed back to his kitchen to nuke some hot water. A few moments later he heard the door open up and his daughter re-enter the living room. “Are you ok now?” Ethan asked handing Yvette a cup of cocoa as he took a seat beside her. She nodded her head yes and quietly sipped from the warm liquid before sitting it on the table in front of her. “Is it anything I can help with?”

“It’s Scott. Last week he finally revealed to me that he wasn’t being completely honest about what he knew. About Mom’s death, about you and who you really were; he said he purposely led me to believe you were a bad man just so he could keep me safe. I mean how does that keep me safe? Not knowing that my father wasn’t a monster?”

“Aww Yvie,” Ethan started as he placed his arm around her shoulders, gently caressing her arm. “Parents often paint the most horrible of pictures about things they want their kids to stay away from. Swallowing gum will make your insides stick together, your face staying ugly if you stick out your tongue, rolling your eyes making you cross eyed or my personal favorite swallowing seeds will make your belly sprout fruit. It’s only meant to keep you from harm. I know things look bad right now but believe me when I say you’ll forgive him. He’s your father and you love him. I mean just look at us.”

“He lied to me; all this time. He kept us apart and for the longest time never corrected me when I accused you of such horrible things knowing full well none of it was true. Had Scott not done what he did…”

“You wouldn’t have had a father,” Ethan responded before she could finish her sentence.

“Yes I would! I would have had you.”

“No Baby, that’s just not right. Yvette, before your mother and I divorced I wasn’t winning any Father-of-the-year awards.”

“That’s not true. I remember very clearly how much fun we had together.”

“Do you also remember how I started pulling away from you, from your mother? I had to leave. And more and more I knew I had to cut ties. I tried to keep you at arm’s length when we were together so that when I did leave things wouldn’t hurt as much. Stupid idea I know but I said and did some things that I really regret to this day Yvie. Scott raised you. He did the job that I failed to do and I couldn’t be more proud of the woman you are because of him. Don’t speak ill of him. He did what he needed to in order to protect you and I appreciate that. He did what a real, loving father would and that’s to work hard and sacrifice to provide a comfortable life for his child.”

“I saw the stuff in your storage, Ethan. Why didn’t you send it, any of it?”

“I did Yvie. But after the first few year’s cards and gifts were returned I got the hint. I could look but not interact and that was fine, it was what I’d chosen. But I couldn’t let your birthday or holiday pass without celebrating with you in some way so I wrote. Letters, postcards, gift cards, presents; I guess my hope was that Katrina would tell you about them one day and I would be able to officially celebrate with my daughter.”

“If Scott, if he hadn’t threatened you would there have been more?”

“You needed a father Yvie and Scott was that man.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Of course. I wanted to be a part of your life. And after Katrina, I wanted you back. I felt at that point nothing else mattered. I came home to take you but Scott wasn’t having that.” Ethan sighed and glanced at his daughter. For years he’d kept quiet about what went on between him and Scott because Yvette already believed that one father betrayed her, he didn’t want that to happen to another. He knew his daughter needed someone in her life; even more once her mother passed. So he played the bad guy because that was what was needed. Never once had he considered throwing Scott under the bus and telling her the truth. He had made his bed.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me, at the funeral?” Yvette asked placing the cup down onto the coffee table as she looked solemnly at her father, her eyes moist and red from hard crying.

“I told Scott I wouldn’t. The night I got to town I called him to ask if I could see you and he said he didn’t think it was a good idea. To put it frankly he threatened me. Told me I’d better stay away from you if I wanted to keep breathing free air. He said he would take great care of you and I knew he was being truthful, look at what he’d done since you were ten. It took EVERYTHING in me to run away before you came over to that gravestone Yvette. I wanted so badly to see you up close; to hug you and tell you how sorry I was but. I knew if I had I was risking the possibility of ever seeing you again.”

Yvette went into her purse and pulled out a small envelope. Handing it to Ethan he looked at her with a smile as he opened the flap to reveal the pictures of Austin and Autumn inside. “The twins?”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded and wiped away a tear. “They are a handful. I’m working with certified geniuses here.”

“I wonder who they get that from,” Ethan laughed as he went through the envelope. “You can’t imagine the things your Mother and I would catch you doing at such an early age it was why she suggested we have your IQ tested. Everything made sense after that.”

“Wow then I should look forward to more devious twinscapades. The other day I caught them trying to escape the playpen. Austin let his baby sister crawl over his back and she was using the little plastic key ring to undo the latch. I yelled for Brett to bring the camera and that’s the picture he snapped but unfortunately it was just as they fell back onto the mat and were pretending as if nothing happened. I fear what they’ll do when they’re older.”

“Haha that’s so great! I love that. And Austin has your eyes. They are both incredibly adorable. I bet they have their parents wrapped around their little fingers.” 

“And then some.”

“Look at that,” he pointed towards another shot where the two were trying to pull the cookie jar from the shelf. “Now that’s a great shot. Either Austin is letting his sister take lead because she’s smaller or…”

“Autumn is the brains behind the operations and Austin is the muscle. Either way they make a remarkable team.” Ethan continued looking through the pile of shots, his smile growing larger at each one. Yvette felt a sense of calm that quickly dissipated as she thought about the reason she’d come to his home. 

“Where do we go from here?”

“We can go as slow or as fast as you want Yvie. I’m willing to do this however you want. I’m just happy having you back in my life again.” Yvette got back home, entering as quietly as she could.

It was already after nine and she knew the twins would be down for the night. Heading into the living room she stopped suddenly at the door and smiled at the sight she saw. Passed out on the couch was Brett and in his arms lay both Austin and Autumn. Quickly she went and grabbed her camera to snap a few shots as her husband snored louder. Both of their children were using Daddy as a pillow though Autumn seemed the most protected within Brett’s grip. His eyes fluttered open as another camera noise resounded beside him and he smiled up at Yvette. “They tired you out huh?”

“Yeah well when one wants to play hide and seek and the other wants to use me as a jungle gym, things can get pretty interesting really fast.” 

“Why aren’t they in bed?”

“Well I was waiting up for you, see how well that went, and the twins didn’t want to be upstairs alone so here we are,” he groaned looking for a way to sit up without disturbing his babies. “How was dinner?”

“It was…normal. I really enjoyed it Brett. And next time I think you should come with me.”

“Mmm, then it’s a date. Now if you would be so kind…” Yvette placed the camera onto the coffee table and pulled Austin from off of Brett’s chest. He moaned against her neck as he cuddled deeper into her arms and she walked him upstairs to bed.

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