Chapter Text
Present Day
It didn’t make sense. How could they have lied to her? Her father was bad enough but his death was a valid excuse, but Sam?
Which was more cutting, him or Coulson?
Coulson.
He’d been at her side for over a decade, not every day but damn near close enough- how could he have kept this from her? Why? What could be so dire everyone she considered family would keep from her?
“Their eyes.” His heart sank at the quiet devastation on her face, so much it took him a moment to really hear her but once he had Jay followed hers back to the photo.
If they hadn’t been analyzing it so intently they might not have noticed how her father’s green eyes were the same shade as Joel’s but the more he looked the more similarities he saw. The long nose she hadn’t gotten, the stubborn chin she had, the broad grin that told them who Joel was, not in title but in spirit.
Blood.
The noise Tess made then, not a cry, not a whimper but a suppressing of the betrayal that must be sweeping through her… it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.
But he would make it be.
He pressed a hard kiss to the side of her head and held her stare until he was certain she would be okay without him then made for the elevator, waiting until the doors closed before he spoke. “Cas?”
“I’m looking-”
“That’s not what I need right now. Is Joel still at the precinct?”
“No, Sargeant Voight just arrived at the Haven with him while Deputy Miller-”
While she dealt with the fallout of a man being shot on police property. Before disappearing.
“I’m going there now. Can you have something ready for me?”
“Anything.”
Time to see how true that was. “Something that will knock him out. And keep him that way for… about eight hours?”
“I can do that.” Came the reply, a beat late but with a wry amusement that squeezed his heart. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. One thing.”
He hadn’t asked her to speed his way but he knew it wasn’t convenience that had him hitting every green light, though he still had to watch his dash- his urgency didn’t supersede civilian safety. Besides, bad as this was, it wasn’t urgent. Pressing but nothing they wouldn’t overcome. There wasn’t anything they couldn’t overcome. The reminder felt a little hollow when he knew how her world had just imploded, and that there was no way of telling how many aftershocks were coming or how big they’d be. How far reaching. And he wasn’t going to stop thinking about any of that but he also had to prioritize and right now his attention needed to be on Voight, and the small holding cell in Tess’s lab where Joel was sitting quietly. Someone had slapped a bandage on him and given his upright and alert position he wasn’t in any medical danger.
His girl knew how to aim.
“What is that?” Voight asked with a pointed glance at the small vial and needle on the table beside him, his stare heavy but not hard. Ready for action.
Aware that Joel was watching he had them turn; that room was soundproof and if they wanted they could cloud the glass but while that felt like overkill he wasn’t going to take the risk that a seasoned operative could read lips. “Something to knock him out. And keep him that way until we’re ready to talk to him.”
“When will that be?”
“We found a photo.” Jay started slowly, taking a second to clear his throat as he put the words together. “That’s all we have right now but… he’s standing next to her father holding her and the way the two of them look-”
“Brothers?” He didn’t get to see his sergeant shocked often but that look of realizing there was worse…
That he knew.
Way too well.
“There were two other men. Sam, who helped raise her. And Coulson.” His curse was soft but heartfelt but after a second there was something that had his brows rising.
“When we met… He said he’d been looking out for her for a long time. I didn’t make anything of it but…” Hank explained with a shrug but in a way he understood, when your instincts noted something that wouldn’t make sense until later. Coincidence?
Or fate?
“You’re going up there.”
“We are.” Jay answered evenly, refocusing on shoving back his fear and steadying his hands as he grabbed the needle, though he needed a minute before he felt confident.
He fucking hated needles. Had ever since he’d been a kid. Who wanted a giant metal stick shoved into their body? Who wanted to do that to somebody? Yeah he respected his brothers profession but he still thought there was something a little messed up about it. The same way there was something a little messed up about enjoying being shot at and shooting others. Give him a gun or a knife or a bomb and he was fine but a needle… He had nothing but bad experiences with them, memories he didn’t like revisiting.
But for Tess he could do this.
Actually felt a little proud of himself but again that was quickly redirected into cool detachment when he walked into the cell.
“Is she okay?”
“What do you think?” He asked sternly, struggling to hold back his anger when the other man’s chin stayed tilted up even as his eyes lowered, regretful but not remorseful.
I made a promise.
“A promise is a promise.” Jay said lowly, waiting until Joel met his stare until he continued, unnerved by the similarities he saw between them. “But the living come before the dead.”
The man he was fairly certain was Tess’s uncle sucked in a breath as his green eyes went tight, his jaw clenching before he gave a slow nod and flicked them to the needle. “Do it.”
When this part was over, he was going to like this guy.
Fuck he was not looking forward to this.
Fuck. That was her fucking smirk.
The tiny one she couldn’t quite hold back when she found something amusing, currently his squeamishness. He couldn’t hold Joel’s stare when the other man noticed his sudden emotion and quickly jabbed the needle into his arm, grimacing at the feel of the plunger before he tossed it to hold him steady. Twelve seconds and he was out. And heavy.
“There are bins for transportation if you’d like. Sergeant Voight’s two o’clock.”
He watched Hank follow Cas’s direction, unable to stop his brows from raising when he saw the metal bins that would easily fit a body. A person. His boss’s raised brows told him he was thinking Jay had just lost all right to lecture him on his own extracurricular activities and with an amused huff he nodded in agreement. But he shook his head when he went to grab one, instead bracing Joel against his shoulder before lifting him- he might be heavy but he was still a person and if he wasn’t dead or dangerous he didn’t feel comfortable putting him in a box. Technically he didn’t know if he was dangerous, thirty-seven years had passed since that photo had been taken but he didn’t feel that way.
He felt like family.
Grateful for the one he’d been brought into he took a moment after putting Joel in his hatch to make sure his Sergeant knew how much he appreciated his support but when he tried the words that came to mind weren’t his own.
One day this unit is going to be yours.
Do it the right way.
Jay was finally starting to want that but now he didn’t know if he could have it- how could he lead a team that couldn’t follow him everywhere he needed to go? Whose lines wouldn’t always match his? Who hadn’t signed on to the same fight he had? How could that work? What would it look like?
“One day.” Hank said quietly, clasping his shoulder with an understanding and unconcerned smile. “Right now focus on getting answers. And remember that the past doesn’t define the future. Blood is just blood.”
Blood is thicker than water.
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb Tess’s smart voice sounded in his mind and with an assured nod he squeezed back. As one they hopped in their cars, Voight to go back to the precinct and him to the Loft. But not for long. That photo… It was essentially a bomb, had sat there for decades just waiting to go off but he wasn’t going to wait until the dust cleared to see the devastation. He was going to pull her out of the rubble, dust her off and hold her hand as they made sense of the chaos. And to do that they had to go to the heart of it. The start.
“I’m a world class spy and I didn’t notice.” She said quietly when he entered, still right where he’d left her, shaking her head at the three new pictures laid out next to the first.
Two boys, maybe eight, grinning with their arms slung over each others shoulders.
The same boys a decade later, plus Sam, the same pose but instead of shorts and t-shirts they wore the same uniform he had, just with a different flag embroidered on the shoulder.
Then all four of them again. Six. Clara stood next to Sam, tucked into his side and Tess’s mother… she stood with her arms around her husband neck, her bright grin and white dress making it clear he’d just become so. But he’d seen other pictures of this day so he knew someone was missing. Where was Lydia?
How deep did this betrayal go?
How much pain was it responsible for?
“I didn’t notice.” She whispered again and it wasn’t the sadness in her voice that hurt the most, though it made his heart ache, or the fear, though it made his gut burn. It was the resignation.
Because that terrified him. But it also steadied his resolve so with a quick hand on her head he strode into their bedroom and pulled out their go-bags- he could comfort her on the plane. It hadn’t occurred to him she wouldn’t follow, and it didn’t to her either because as soon as she saw the bags she stood.
“You’re not going looking for answers. We’re going to get them from the source.”
Tess’s eyes flared, worried but trusting, and smiling when he refused to let her carry anything, resting her head on his shoulder as they drove. Silent even when she realized he wasn’t heading for the airport, all the way until she realized he was heading for the highway. “Okay, now I’m asking.”
“We’re going private this time.”
Her brows shot up as she slowly grinned and finally there was real happiness in her eyes. The others came back a minute later, maybe even stronger but that was okay. There wasn’t anything they couldn’t overcome.