muses_w_remotes | 13.16. House, M.D. quote
13.16. “I told you, just his nature. Poor guy's hardwired to kiss ass.”
| House, M.D.
Co-written with undercoverdoc
[Follows THIS]
Aiden sat stiffly in one of the comfortable, large seats of the private jet, eyes planted unmovingly on Alex across the small aisle from him. "I don't have to like you, do I? I kind of want to kick you up the arse just by association," he commented.
"It would make things easier if you didn't want to put a hit out on me. I wouldn't advise it, and I'm kind of getting tired having my person randomly threatened when I've done nothing but help your posse try and get back on the same page together," Alex returned, sipping from his can of Coke. "In saying that, it's just you and me here right now. You can ask me anything and you'll get an honest answer. It might not be a detailed answer, but it will be honest."
Aiden frowned. "How do I know you haven't got this... this... Death Star bugged?"
Alex shrugged. "You're just going to have to take my word on it, dude. That, and I doubt you're really going to have anything incriminating to say for any of our cases," he added in amusement. "Look, I'm just here to get you to your BFF so she doesn't have to deal with this shit alone. I waited until the christening was said and done so your husband and his family's day wouldn't ruined. I didn't think Harriet would mind waiting a little longer because I know how important that whole day was for the parents of the infant. I doubt Harriet or James would want to be the cause of that being disrupted. So, I waited. And here we are."
Aiden really wanted to ask how this bloke 'knew' everything, but he would come off looking like a dork. The guy was Secret Service. He probably knew what colour toilet paper the President preferred. "If it's so irritating, why are you bothering your ass to help?" he asked suspiciously.
"He's my partner," was all Alex offered and as far as he was concered, it explained everything.
"He's not married to you, too, is he?" Aiden asked bitterly, looking around the interior of the plane.
Alex raised his eyebrows but then gave a slight laugh. "Ouch. Sharp blow, dude. But I actually think he deserved that one.
Aiden snorted, shaking his head as he folded his arms across him, body language more than evident. "What's sharp about it? You're apparently resurrecting him from the dead. Or rather, he's supposed to have been alive the whole time, just 'missing' without recollection of where the fuck he was missing at. He's not dead and never was, according to the new turn of events in the FBI soap opera. Meaning, he's still married to Isabel. Where does that leave Harri, huh?" he asked, a growl edging his tone. "You all might think I'm an overprotective and irrational fuck, but you can bite my ass and call it candy."
"In limbo," Alex conceded, watching Aiden as he played with the ring-pull of the can. "Until the divorce or anulment papers are processed. Dude, it's 2009. Marriages can be dissolved with the click of a mouse. Hell, people can be deceased with the click of a mouse," he added pointedly. "Any of these changes is not taking away the fact James was believed to be deceased. It's not your standard 'oh fuck, we're still married' scenario. You've got to chill, dude. We know what we're doing. You've got to trust us. If you don't, you're just going to give yourself a hernia."
Aiden suddenly pointed at Alex. "Oh fuck!" he said with a gasp. "You're RJ's paediatrician!" he suddenly realised, sitting forward in his seat as he glared at Alex. "And you're the dude that was with Marc and Isabel in Liverpool! Which I really don't give a flying fuck about, even if I am pissed off you invaded my brother-in-law's privacy! Why the fuck are you parading around Princeton Plainsboro and 'treating' my husband's godson?! You better tell me, you arsehole, or I'll tear your fucking throat out!" It didn't actually register in Aiden's mind that clearly Alex wouldn't be allowed in a hospital to treat patients unless he was a qualified doctor, and that the guy did treat Wee Campbell very effectively. Actually, he probably saved the infant's life. It just didn't make sense.
"I'm a fully qualified medical practitioner," Alex assured him. "With a specialties in Paediatrics and Forensic Medicine. I was recruited to the Service because I'm a doctor. My medical expertise is used on investigations. I'm at Princeton Plainsboro undercover as a doctor. Why that hospital? Because it's a large hospital linked to one of the top universities in the country. I know you'll understand when I say I can't elaborate but I am in Princeton for a purpose. My job there is just like any other medical professional under the roof, only I work part time there and part time on my current investigation. It's coincidental I was the doctor on duty the night Riley Campbell was brought in. I did not know he was in any way linked to James at that point. The six degrees of separation has just come to light recently."
"And you're Marc's partner, technically, even it if seems like you aren't even working the same thing," Aiden said, still frowning. "You're a bunch of weirdos."
Alex smirked. "I can't deny that one. We're trained to be weirdos. And I know it might not seem like it, but we are actually investigating the same case. It's just an extremely large and intricate case, with a lot of people involved from all over the world. James is... was... involved with the operation based in New York. I'm investigating a potential lead from a link in Princeton. That's why James is technically my boss as well as my partner and why he was deeper undercover than I am. It's a layer system. He was overseeing a bunch of different threads in different locations while I just focus on one thing. Can't blame the guy for struggling under the pressure."
Aiden was absorbing each and every word, a deep frown set across his forehead. "So, he doesn't want to do the overseeing shit anymore. He doesn't want to be undercover. He wants his old life back but still involved with his new one. Fuck, I'm getting a migraine," he mumbled. "I don't get how it's supposed to work. How are you going to explain it to Harri?"
"I'm not. James will when he can. As he should. Ironically, all this will take him a step up in the layers, but not in a management sense. He'll work with the FBI to analyse any new links in the chain. Because he will return to being an FBI field agent, he will be privy to information as it comes in and he'll liaise between the FBI and the Secret Service to delegate what should be followed and what shouldn't be. The information he passes on will then be used to decide where Agents like me go and why. Because our taskforce is rooted in government fraud, with more leads coming from FBI cases, we need someone at base level. He'll go back to his old life as an FBI field agent at the New York HQ, Marcus Fraser will disappear and James will also become SS Agent James Campbell, who will operate in the strategic team at our department in the City with little need to go undercover, unless it's for his work with the FBI. The only vital piece of the puzzle is that his FBI colleagues will not know he's Secret Service because like any opposing sides of a coin, there is SS and FBI irks about who should be doing what. Just like FBI verus the cops. Shit happens. His colleagues will just think he has been missing and amnesiac, with no recollection of where he has been for these past months." Alex wet his lips as he finished speaking, his own forehead creasing a little. It was going to be interesting to watch it all unfold.
"And what about his family? His parents? Everyone he left behind? Can he have them back?" Aiden asked quietly, not exactly sure anymore what he felt about Harri's boyfriend. He hated Marcus Fraser and despised all the untruths. But what now that all the cards were laid on the table?
Alex let out a slow breath. "It's up to James to call the shots about his personal life. He's going to have a lot of decisions to make. I don't envy him," he admitted.
Aiden shook his head and turned to look out the plane window, an unreadable expression on his face. "Me either."
All muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe
Word Count | 1,458
| House, M.D.
Co-written with undercoverdoc
[Follows THIS]
Aiden sat stiffly in one of the comfortable, large seats of the private jet, eyes planted unmovingly on Alex across the small aisle from him. "I don't have to like you, do I? I kind of want to kick you up the arse just by association," he commented.
"It would make things easier if you didn't want to put a hit out on me. I wouldn't advise it, and I'm kind of getting tired having my person randomly threatened when I've done nothing but help your posse try and get back on the same page together," Alex returned, sipping from his can of Coke. "In saying that, it's just you and me here right now. You can ask me anything and you'll get an honest answer. It might not be a detailed answer, but it will be honest."
Aiden frowned. "How do I know you haven't got this... this... Death Star bugged?"
Alex shrugged. "You're just going to have to take my word on it, dude. That, and I doubt you're really going to have anything incriminating to say for any of our cases," he added in amusement. "Look, I'm just here to get you to your BFF so she doesn't have to deal with this shit alone. I waited until the christening was said and done so your husband and his family's day wouldn't ruined. I didn't think Harriet would mind waiting a little longer because I know how important that whole day was for the parents of the infant. I doubt Harriet or James would want to be the cause of that being disrupted. So, I waited. And here we are."
Aiden really wanted to ask how this bloke 'knew' everything, but he would come off looking like a dork. The guy was Secret Service. He probably knew what colour toilet paper the President preferred. "If it's so irritating, why are you bothering your ass to help?" he asked suspiciously.
"He's my partner," was all Alex offered and as far as he was concered, it explained everything.
"He's not married to you, too, is he?" Aiden asked bitterly, looking around the interior of the plane.
Alex raised his eyebrows but then gave a slight laugh. "Ouch. Sharp blow, dude. But I actually think he deserved that one.
Aiden snorted, shaking his head as he folded his arms across him, body language more than evident. "What's sharp about it? You're apparently resurrecting him from the dead. Or rather, he's supposed to have been alive the whole time, just 'missing' without recollection of where the fuck he was missing at. He's not dead and never was, according to the new turn of events in the FBI soap opera. Meaning, he's still married to Isabel. Where does that leave Harri, huh?" he asked, a growl edging his tone. "You all might think I'm an overprotective and irrational fuck, but you can bite my ass and call it candy."
"In limbo," Alex conceded, watching Aiden as he played with the ring-pull of the can. "Until the divorce or anulment papers are processed. Dude, it's 2009. Marriages can be dissolved with the click of a mouse. Hell, people can be deceased with the click of a mouse," he added pointedly. "Any of these changes is not taking away the fact James was believed to be deceased. It's not your standard 'oh fuck, we're still married' scenario. You've got to chill, dude. We know what we're doing. You've got to trust us. If you don't, you're just going to give yourself a hernia."
Aiden suddenly pointed at Alex. "Oh fuck!" he said with a gasp. "You're RJ's paediatrician!" he suddenly realised, sitting forward in his seat as he glared at Alex. "And you're the dude that was with Marc and Isabel in Liverpool! Which I really don't give a flying fuck about, even if I am pissed off you invaded my brother-in-law's privacy! Why the fuck are you parading around Princeton Plainsboro and 'treating' my husband's godson?! You better tell me, you arsehole, or I'll tear your fucking throat out!" It didn't actually register in Aiden's mind that clearly Alex wouldn't be allowed in a hospital to treat patients unless he was a qualified doctor, and that the guy did treat Wee Campbell very effectively. Actually, he probably saved the infant's life. It just didn't make sense.
"I'm a fully qualified medical practitioner," Alex assured him. "With a specialties in Paediatrics and Forensic Medicine. I was recruited to the Service because I'm a doctor. My medical expertise is used on investigations. I'm at Princeton Plainsboro undercover as a doctor. Why that hospital? Because it's a large hospital linked to one of the top universities in the country. I know you'll understand when I say I can't elaborate but I am in Princeton for a purpose. My job there is just like any other medical professional under the roof, only I work part time there and part time on my current investigation. It's coincidental I was the doctor on duty the night Riley Campbell was brought in. I did not know he was in any way linked to James at that point. The six degrees of separation has just come to light recently."
"And you're Marc's partner, technically, even it if seems like you aren't even working the same thing," Aiden said, still frowning. "You're a bunch of weirdos."
Alex smirked. "I can't deny that one. We're trained to be weirdos. And I know it might not seem like it, but we are actually investigating the same case. It's just an extremely large and intricate case, with a lot of people involved from all over the world. James is... was... involved with the operation based in New York. I'm investigating a potential lead from a link in Princeton. That's why James is technically my boss as well as my partner and why he was deeper undercover than I am. It's a layer system. He was overseeing a bunch of different threads in different locations while I just focus on one thing. Can't blame the guy for struggling under the pressure."
Aiden was absorbing each and every word, a deep frown set across his forehead. "So, he doesn't want to do the overseeing shit anymore. He doesn't want to be undercover. He wants his old life back but still involved with his new one. Fuck, I'm getting a migraine," he mumbled. "I don't get how it's supposed to work. How are you going to explain it to Harri?"
"I'm not. James will when he can. As he should. Ironically, all this will take him a step up in the layers, but not in a management sense. He'll work with the FBI to analyse any new links in the chain. Because he will return to being an FBI field agent, he will be privy to information as it comes in and he'll liaise between the FBI and the Secret Service to delegate what should be followed and what shouldn't be. The information he passes on will then be used to decide where Agents like me go and why. Because our taskforce is rooted in government fraud, with more leads coming from FBI cases, we need someone at base level. He'll go back to his old life as an FBI field agent at the New York HQ, Marcus Fraser will disappear and James will also become SS Agent James Campbell, who will operate in the strategic team at our department in the City with little need to go undercover, unless it's for his work with the FBI. The only vital piece of the puzzle is that his FBI colleagues will not know he's Secret Service because like any opposing sides of a coin, there is SS and FBI irks about who should be doing what. Just like FBI verus the cops. Shit happens. His colleagues will just think he has been missing and amnesiac, with no recollection of where he has been for these past months." Alex wet his lips as he finished speaking, his own forehead creasing a little. It was going to be interesting to watch it all unfold.
"And what about his family? His parents? Everyone he left behind? Can he have them back?" Aiden asked quietly, not exactly sure anymore what he felt about Harri's boyfriend. He hated Marcus Fraser and despised all the untruths. But what now that all the cards were laid on the table?
Alex let out a slow breath. "It's up to James to call the shots about his personal life. He's going to have a lot of decisions to make. I don't envy him," he admitted.
Aiden shook his head and turned to look out the plane window, an unreadable expression on his face. "Me either."
All muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe
Word Count | 1,458