Chapter Text
Adijan Bregovic, Associate Director to the United States Marshal’s wrapped up the meeting with his department before he called out, “Jeremy, wait a moment please.”
Jeremy looked around at the other Deputy Marshals packing up their stuff and back at his senior, “Yes, Sir.”
Catalina Alvarez leaned into Jeremy as she slid from her seat beside him, “Your dad would like a word Jeremy,” she joked.
“He’s not my dad.” Jeremy tried, knowing it was futile. Jeremy owed his life to Adi and James after they rescued him from his disastrous attempt at law school. Adi’s letter of recommendation to the Marshal’s got Jeremy back on his feet and into a respectable job. It was more than his own father ever did for him and Jeremy would never do anything to jeopardize that.
“He’s probably going to give you an award or something,” she teased, she took her hand and swiped across the empty air in front of herself, “Most Okayest Deputy Marshal.”
“Catalina cut it out.” Jeremy urged looking up at their Associate Director. Adi appeared to be in no rush, as he looked over his notes from the morning report as he waited for the other Deputies to leave the room.
“Jeremy, it’ll be fine, he probably wants to remind you to stop by for dinner. Oh! If you do, can you get me some vegetables from Coach? I want to try canning this weekend.” Cat looked at Adi before she faced Jeremy again. “I’ll be in our office, see you in a bit.” She made her way out of the room.
With a deep breath Jeremy approached the podium to his boss. “You wanted to see me sir?”
“Jeremy, I need you to go to the secure lockers and drop your phone off, then meet me at my office, I will get there as soon as I can.” Adi said without looking up from the file he was examining. He made quick eye contact before looking back down at his notes. “Try not to draw attention to yourself, but make sure my door is still locked.”
Jeremy nodded and left, trying to read between the lines of Adi’s request. During the past six months, Adi hadn’t asked Jeremy for a meeting like this. After he dropped his phone in a secure locker, Jeremy turned and made his way back to Adi’s office as he attempted to settle his nerves.
Jeremy got to the office, and considered the office space around him. He thought back to Adi. He wasn’t acting odd for how things were done at work, but he was acting more stiff than he would around Jeremy. Whatever was happening didn’t seem like something he would lose his job for. That meant whatever was coming was normal, it was fine. Jeremy double checked that no one was looking at him, he quickly tested that the door was locked before sitting in the chair next to the door.
Jeremy watched as most of his peers packed up and started to head out for the day. Jeremy’s anxiety about the meeting morphed into thinking that Adi had forgotten about him. Jeremy wished he had his phone. Jeremy squirmed in his seat until he found a more comfortable position with his legs draped over the side and pledged to keep waiting until morning if that was what it took.
Adi rounded the corner before Jeremy was able to get up from his chair. “Glad to see you made yourself comfortable. My apologies for taking longer than expected.” Adi paused, “Did anyone stop by while you were waiting for me?”
“No, sir.” Jeremy said, as he stood to follow the man into his office.
Adi gave Jeremy a quick smile and shook his head while he unlocked the door to his office. “Let's get to why I called you in here. Now you've been here for six months.” Adi began as he and Jeremy shuffled into the clean space. Adi waited for Jeremy to sit down before locking the door behind him with a finger held up to his mouth.
Jeremy felt nervous, eyes glued to the director as he stood by the door listening for anyone on the other side. Adi was acting paranoid, something Jeremy was not used to.
Adi did a quick scan around the room and walked to his computer. He unplugged it and pulled out a bug scanner. He scanned around the room nodding as he went before sitting at his desk with steepled hands in front of his face.
Jeremy’s confusion, fought to make an appearance on his face, was beaten down with the training he’s been using his entire life to hide his true emotions. Giving Adi his best attempt at being normal, Jeremy asked, “Sir?” low enough that he wasn’t sure if it was heard.
Adi tilted his head to the side and began. “Jeremy, I want to assign you to a Tier 1 protection assignment.”
Jeremy paused to recalibrate when he looked at Adi, a tier 1 protection assignment? He wasn’t expecting that. Tier 3 were typical assignments for agents at his experience level, maybe a tier 2 in a smaller region. Tier 1 protection jobs were rare and Jeremy wasn’t sure why he was being picked for this assignment.
“We have a witness that needs full-time protection, he” Adi paused searching for the right words, “will need someone he is comfortable with, someone who can help him and treat him like a friend. He’s been through a lot”
“And you thought of me?” Jeremy needed to ask.
Adi looked over Jeremy and articulated, “Jeremy, I think you are the best agent for this job. I need someone I can trust, doesn’t have outside commitments, and will treat the witness with the respect they deserve. I need someone like you to help get the witness through this with as little damage as possible.. This case is a career maker, it has the potential to disrupt multiple government agencies here and internationally.”
Shock felt like too small of an emotion for everything going through Jeremy’s brain. “Jesus, are you serious?”
“Yes, like I said this case is full-time protection. That means you will need to go no contact with your family, is that going to be a problem?”
Jeremy answered honestly, “They might reach out afterwards if my name gets leaked but,” he shrugged, Adi would fill in the blanks. He wasn’t speaking to his family; they knew he was working for the government but their tolerance of him finally cracked. The last two years were rough after Mathilda’s article ruined his professional Exy dreams. When he dropped out of law school a few weeks into his first year, they all but disowned him. Jeremy wouldn’t have survived if his old coach James Rhemann and Adi didn’t offer him a place to land.
Adi eyed Jeremy, “In that case, go home and pack. Catalina was briefed and is waiting at your apartment to pick you up and drive over to the safe house, she can do a final security check with you before we bring the witness over. Make sure she leaves before the witness shows up. The FBI contacts and I will bring the witness over later in the day. She can assist on the case remotely with security checks but as of now we are keeping the witness’ identity from her for security purposes” Adi explained.
“Yes, Sir.” Jeremy replied, as he started to get up from his chair.
“Now, would you feel more comfortable leaving me access to your personal phone or Catalina?” Adi cut in.
“Uh, why?” Jeremy asked half way out of his seat.
Adi gave Jeremy that look that said he was being foolish, “We need to have access in case your family decides to reach out, someone needs to run interference.”
Jeremy winced before replying, “You, Catalina would not respond kindly if she was in charge, it would not go over well with them.”
Adi removed a slim folder that was hiding in his coat, lightly knocking the folder against his desk, Adi added, “This assignment is a Tier 1, you know what that means: you will have a limited number of people you can contact through a secure line we provide, Catalina will act as tech support, I will be your main point of contact from our office, and you will meet two FBI agents when they drop off the witness. Beyond that small group you will have no outside contact until you leave. Do you understand?”
“Yes Sir,” Jeremy his voice wavered. He barely passed his firearms course. Tier 1 witnesses were usually mob informants in hiding. Jeremy wanted to prove himself, but his courage was failing him.
Adi dragged the folder along his desk before he said, “Jeremy I need you to do this and trust me. You will understand more when you meet him.”
“Of course I am committed,” Jeremy said. He internally grimaced when he remembered his phone in the secure locker. “I’ll need to go through my phone before handing it over, just to block a few numbers, change some settings, nothing major.”
“That's not a problem, I’d appreciate you turning off all those annoying ringtones before handing it over” Adi waved off Jeremy’s concerns, stood and reached out to shake Jeremy's hand. “This case will be good for you. You'll see.”
Jeremy stood and took Adi's hand in his. “Yes, Sir, I'm excited for the opportunity.” Jeremy followed Adi out of the room silently. Not knowing what he is walking into, but knew this would be a decision he would never regret.
2 months ago
Jean slammed out of Wymack's office the second the man said “I'm sorry, I can’t find a professional team to take you on for next season.” Jean would not take the pity in everyone's eyes anymore, he failed the one task Ichirou required of him. His life was out of his hands and death was coming to knock on his door.
Jean got into his car and peeled away from the Foxhole Court. There was no getting out of this, Jean needed to get as far away as possible, force the Moriyama’s to come and find him. If he was going to die, it was going to be far from the idiots that would try to interfere.
Jean had made it to the highway when his phone started to ring. Jean looked down at his phone and cursed Wymack’s name . He knew it was Neil, trying to find him because of some misplaced guilt for getting Jean involved when Ichirou proposed his deal years earlier. It wasn’t Neil’s fault, they were born into this life, he wouldn’t let the other man take anymore blame for terrible people who took advantage of anyone they could sink their claws into.
Jean got 25 kilometers away from campus when looked in his rearview mirror and did a double take. Two cars behind him, the sleek black car with dark tinted windows, similar make and model to his own car provided by the branch Moriyama’s, was following him. Jean picked up his speed. The car behind him picked up speed, passing both cars to get behind Jean. Jaw clenched, Jean kept driving.
His phone started to ring again, Jean answered without looking, “Neil, I’m being followed.”
Neil responded, “Are you sure? I tried to reach out to Ichirou, but I haven't heard back. Where are you?”
“Mile marker 112.”
“Okay, just keep driving, Andrew and I are going to start that way.”
“Neil, they are going to kill me.” Jean yelled. “Do not come here, they will kill you too.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to prevent that, just drive safe, go somewhere super public and send us the location, your car is pretty recognizable so they shouldn’t try anything stupid. We are coming, hold tight.”
“Don’t put yourself at risk for me.”
“No, Jean, we are not letting them take you. I made you a promise.” Neil pleads.
Jean was about to tell him how worthless his promise was when there was a loud pop and Jean’s car flipped into the median.
Faint beeping and a deep antiseptic smell were the first things that registered in Jean’s mind.
When he began to blink his eyes open everything was a blur. The sound of multiple familiar voices in the room started to make his head ache, but he wasn't sure where he was. A soft tap on the top of his hand anchored him to the moment, and Jean rolled his head to the side.
Andrew Minyard stared at him with a blank look. Jean opened his mouth to ask what was going on when Andrew gave him the slightest shake of his head, then looked over at the foot of Jean's bed.
Following his lead, Jean looked toward the end of the bed over the various tubing coming out of his body. He saw three people there. Neil Josten and Kevin Day were not a surprise, the four of them had been intertwined since Jean joined the team two years ago.
They were arguing with a doctor Jean thought looked familiar, something about protocols and bodyguards.
“He's awake.” Andrew spoke up from Jean's side. Jean sent him a sharp glare for telling on him. Andrew wouldn’t meet his eyes as he leaned back in the chair and placed his boots against the side of the bed. All three men looked over at Jean but only Kevin and Neil walked over to Jean’s bedside.
Kevin looked over at Jean, analyzing him quickly, “Hey Jean, how are you feeling?”
Jean frowned at Kevin. He could obviously see something was wrong. “Why am I here and not dead in a ditch somewhere?” Jean asked, throat dry from dehydration, causing Kevin to flinch back a step before he regained his balance.
Neil spoke up next, not bothering to censure himself. “Someone pulled over and called 911 when your car flipped,” Neil shrugged. “The Moriyama car that was following you left quickly when multiple other cars stopped behind them. You had already had a police tail coming after you for reckless driving, Andrew and I got to the scene and followed the ambulance to the hospital.”
Jean stared at Neil wide eyed, he could not be serious, why was he talking about the Moriyamas in front of the doctor. Is he trying to doom them all? “What the fuck Neil? Are you insane?” He asked.
Kevin took an unsteady breath and said, “Jean, I made a decision, I thought the deal Neil made for us was what I wanted but, it's not good, his expectations are beyond just the money he told Neil about three years ago. He wants me to throw games to win him bets, use me for political gain, and have me seduce people for blackmail. I can’t do that. I won’t let you or Neil do that either.”
“Exactly,” Neil said, “I made the wrong call back then. I should have talked to the feds then when the Moriyama’s were weakened by Kengo’s death. We are going to fix this and you are going to help.”
The heart rate monitor started beeping faster, Neil was insane. The Moriyama's were too powerful. There was no way these imbeciles decided to turn on the deal, keeping them alive and sacrificing Jean in the process.
The doctor in the room finally spoke up. “Right, so I guess it's my turn, all of you are terrible at communicating.” He gave the four men in front of him a sweeping look before speaking again. Jean guessed he did not get the reaction he was expecting based on the face he made before he continued.
“Jean Moreau, you probably remember me from the Wesinski case, Agent Browning, your parents were involved and you helped put them away. Your little ring leader over here gave me a call earlier with a very interesting tale about a family running a crime empire who are extorting a whole group of athletes. He swears that if I can get you top protection, I can get the answers I need to take this family down.
So, we are going to take you into FBI custody. You’ll share everything you know and take care of you while you heal up. Once we are finished you’ll get moved to a safe house with 24/7 security and after the trial we can reevaluate your status. Easy.”
“What about them?” Jean asked, needing to know that his friends were going to be safe if he wouldn’t be here to protect them.
Agent Browning looked over at the other players in the room. “Kevin and Neil are too high profile to put in witness protection without raising suspicion but something tells me they will have security guards I don’t want to know about.
They will join you once we get closer to arrests being made. Andrew here,” Browning said, pointing at the short goalkeeper. “Is it just around, I guess? Whatever, he will join you all too” Browning gave a dismissive hand wave. “Just give me a nod and we will begin the process.”
Neil interjected, “This is our chance to break free, Jean. Kevin and I will testify too. We can’t go with you, it’d be too suspicious. Plus Kevin will help nail them for a money laundering scheme with his pro salary. The Moriyamas have already messaged me telling me to make sure you do not leave this hospital alive. This is the only way we survive.”
Jean looked over at Andrew, who nodded his head to say he agreed with the plan laid out for him.
Jean closed his eyes and took a deep breath, another impossible task, forced into surviving in order to save Kevin and his dream to play Exy. He has endured so far, what was a few more months. He closed his eyes and nodded his head.
“Excellent, let me make a call, say your goodbyes and we will be on our way.” Browning did not leave the room, he turned his body away from the group and pulled out his phone.
Neil rolled his eyes “Jean, we’re getting out of the deal. End of story, but we aren't going to be able to contact you for a while. I tried my best to give you the best shot at survival. Just tell them the truth, tell them everything you know. The more you spill the better all of our odds are for surviving.”
Agent Browning spoke up, “You all have 30 seconds to say your goodbyes before we need to get out of here.”
Kevin sighed, the guilt that lived on his face for the past two years present, “Jean, use this time to get better alright? If this works we will be on the other side all together.” Kevin flexed his left hand. “When you get back we can still make you court. You need to do this, for all of us.”
Jean didn’t deem Kevin worthy of a response and he looked at Andrew. After giving Jean one last look he said, “If they can't protect you, call. We will come for you.” Andrew looked over at Neil for confirmation.
“Yes, we will find you.” Neil confirmed his blue eyes steady.
Browning turned and hung up his phone. “None of that Minyard, I already promised to protect him, this case will make my career, I'm not letting anything happen to him. All set to go?” Without waiting for confirmation Browning unhooked Jean from the heart monitor and it started to flatline.
“Jean Moreau time of death: 0939 or whatever hope you aren't claustrophobic this might take a a while.” Browning said before covering Jean's head with a blanket and wheeling the bed out of the room. Jean's hand wrapped around his throat, he locked his fingers around tight, Jean listened as the bed was rolled though the hospital. He doesn't believe that wherever he was going would be safe but maybe he could protect the fools one last time.