Uncle Jamie

Hal grinned and shook his head at Sam. “Totally up to you, depending on how confident you are that you can handle Aaron. I’m not throwing caution to the wind – he’s already proven to be a dangerous man and none of us should forget that. But I don’t want to assume you can’t handle it either. So I leave the judgment up to you. If you feel you don’t want to deal with him alone yet, that’s just fine. And if you wanna have a go alone, then I’ve still got the security cameras on.”

He thumbed towards the hall. “Feel free to sit in the control room and observe any time you want, too. Other than that… I suppose if you get bored between rounds with Aaron, you should see Kirk for any other orders.” He chuckled. “Unless you’re just dying to organize old surveillance footage.”


Aaron lay on his back and threw a tennis ball at the wall, catching it as it bounced back. Over and over. Boredom wasn’t even the half of it. He’d never felt so cooped up in his life. Even that time he’d had the chicken pox as a kid hadn’t been this bad. First Garret betrayed him, then he got let off the hook to go off and do who knows what, while Aaron got stuck here. The bitterness just wouldn’t leave.

His mind wandered to Sam. Tall. Athletic. Confident. Observant. Smart. Too smart. Getting around her was going to be hard. Not impossible, but not easy. At least she was nicer on the eyes than Hal was. 


Scott kept fiddling with the tab on the can, flicking it with his finger to make it click. He twitched his head a little as he tried to keep his brain on track as his subconscious continued to dwell on his past experience with the Agency. He’d survived…and that’s why they wanted him back. “What’s the point in surviving if it means living like this?” Maybe he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he had, and he sighed. 

“Well, I… I guess if you’re gonna be my bodyguard…” He opened his desk drawer to find the front portion empty. “We’re gonna have to get some more jerky.” 

He turned to his computer, doing his best to just shove the whole thing aside for now. He was still thinking in the back of his mind…but he was pretty sure Dalton wouldn’t like what it was, so he’d leave it be and just try to calm his racing heart. “And you can have my bed tonight,” he added. “You’re too tall for my couch.”


Following along, Jamison didn’t mind helping out, and actually it was a nice distraction from his job woes. Besides, he had nothing better to do, and it was a nice day. 

“Mm, no. Not currently. I did spend a year here on campus a while back though. One of my…many educational adventures.” Truth be known, he’d loved being a student, even if his multiple changes in focus did drive his parents crazy. He loved to study and learn, and even now, if he had time and resources, he’d go back for more.

“But today – just enjoying the weather.” He shifted the books in his arm and glanced down at the cover. She had some interesting reads, hinting at interesting classes, which he added up in his mind. “And I’m Jamison,” he concluded, giving her a friendly smile. As they reached the car, he waited until she was ready to take the books to hand them back to her. “Good luck in your bioengineering. Fascinating field of study.” 


Garret mulled over Nate’s answer for a few moments before he stood up again. It wasn’t to run this time, though. He wasn’t sure why his walls had been lowered so much today, but… for once… it didn’t feel so bad. “Come here. I’ll show you.”

He led Nate down the hall to the office and to the computer. It only took a couple seconds to pull up the Facebook page, showing John’s profile. Clicking slowly, he let Nate see where he was headed. First to more information, then to family where it showed he was married to Tiffany Schrader. Going from there to her page next, and to her information, it showed her maiden name. Meighleau. Still not saying anything, Garret clicked on her photos and brought one up that showed her, John, and their two little girls, one of which was riding on Jamison’s shoulders, laughing. The caption read, “Bella loves her uncle Jamie.”

Straightening, Garret just let it all sink in before looking at Nate. “That’s…why I asked. I knew I’d seen him somewhere, and it was here.” He shook his head and gave a little scoff. “How do you think an FBI agent would like knowing his sister’s brother-in-law was the right hand man to the head of the Agency?” How in the world had that even happened? The odds that he would cross Jamison’s path were…astronomical. He didn’t believe in fate, but this sure made him wonder.

“Don’t say anything to anyone about this,” he requested quietly. “I’d…rather just let the matter drop. Both my siblings and my parents are in New Jersey. John’s got a wife and kids. Marie has a husband and one kid. They all look happy and… I’ve found all I was looking for, so…” He shrugged, although he wasn’t able to hide the hurt that still lingered in his eyes. The hurt and longing for something he could never have. “I’d appreciate it if nothing was said to Jamison.”