A/N: I am totally supposed to be writing things for Zutara month right now, but instead, I'm playing true to the fact that I can't write happy things.
Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs, Chuck, or Burn Notice.
With that out of the way, please, read and enjoy!
Once upon a time, there are three spies named Bryce Larkin, Michael Westen, and Jai Wilcox who all train at the Farm together.
It's during the summer, so Bryce doesn't miss any time at Stanford. People think he's too young to be there, barely twenty, but he's bright-eyed and cocky and hell bent on proving them wrong.
Michael's one of the older recruits there, years of service in the Army under his belt. He's got sand and gunfire under his skin and the ghost of his father at his heels saying "I'll see you in Hell, boy" and he's hell bent on proving him wrong.
Jai's somewhere in the middle, the son of the famous Henry Wilcox, raised on tradecraft and shadows. Everyone expects him to be his father when they see him, and he is hell bent on proving everyone wrong.
They don't get along at first, too much ego and cleverness and ruthlessness between them to get off on the right foot. But somewhere amidst the competition and the rivalry there's a brawl and Michael isn't a sore loser when the not-actually-scrawny-twenty-year-old takes him down with a move he's never seen before, instead asking how it's done, and Jai's in the background dissolving into laughter because my God, he just used Klingon martial arts in real life.
It's not quite a Casablanca friendship, but it works for the three of them. Michael's used to being the older brother, and Jai, for all that he's been an only child all his life, finds he doesn't mind being in the middle as much as he might. Bryce... is mostly just a giant puppy under all that bravado and snark.
Eventually, they leave the Farm, but they don't leave each other. Jai gets fast-tracked through Langley, Bryce disappears into black ops, and Michael turns into a bogeyman for terrorists, but they keep in touch.
Jai sits beside Bryce after he stabs his best friend in the back to save him and reminds him that spies are ruthless, that spies need to look at the bigger picture, that they need to keep emotions out of their work, that most people aren't cut out for the life they lead.
Michael and Jai get blindingly drunk on Father's Day whenever they're both in the same country because seriously, fuck fathers and their abuse and their expectations and their criticisms and their claws sinking into their sons, leaving scars that never fade and stains that don't wash off.
Bryce gives Michael a timely escape or three that neither will admit to when they have missions in the same city, trading smirks and sly grins in the blink of an eye. Michael says he'll share a drink with Bryce when he's old enough, and Bryce rolls his eyes and says Michael's just afraid for his liver.
They have plans, the three of them. They're company men to the core, moulded by innate patriotism and years of service and pervasive legacy. Bryce pushes the boundaries of tradecraft, lips curling in distaste at protocol and redundancy, and mind working constantly to find ways to be a better, more efficient spy. Michael fights the good fight, ever working to stem the tide of darkness pushing at America's shores, and Jai? Jai's got his eye on the DCS' chair and a burning desire to be better than his father. The CIA is his lifeblood and his birthright and he plans to claim it with Bryce and Michael at his side.
What's that saying about best laid plans?
Bryce goes rogue. Bryce dies.
Michael goes rogue. Michael gets burned.
Jai nearly fails a mission and throws several expensive glasses of even more expensive scotch at the wall and decides that 2007 is a shit year.
Bryce comes back to life and disappears into deep cover without anyone the wiser. He thinks about the Intersect and making better spies and about Jai's calm voice. Be ruthless. See the bigger picture. Don't let emotions cloud your judgement. He can't wait to see the look on his friend's face when this is all over.
Michael sets about finding the people who burned him and tries not to think about Bryce or Jai and calls that don't get through. If he thought about them, he might think about Bryce's passion and quick grin and Jai's cleverness and determination and the three of them planning out futures when they were too young to know better. He might think about betrayal and everything they've already lost. So it's probably a good thing he doesn't think about them.
Jai's plans don't change, but he hardens his heart and shores up his defenses. Once is a mistake. Twice is foolishness, and Jai Wilcox is no fool. He's going to get the DCS' chair. He's going to be better than his father. He doesn't need Michael or Bryce do to that. Jai doesn't need anyone.
Jai continues not to need anyone when he rises through the ranks, networking and making connections and never letting anyone in. He continues not to need anyone when he meets Auggie Anderson, who is basically Bryce and Michael rolled into one person, but sees Henry Wilcox where they didn't. Jai continues not to need anyone when he meets Ben Mercer - especially when he meets Ben Mercer, who has Bryce's patience for bureaucracy and Michael's penchant for completely batshit plans that have no right succeeding. He continues not needing anyone right up until his father's in prison for treason and he's made enough enemies that he's better at watching his own back than anyone else's.
Bryce dies again and Jai gets his own department in the Office of Special Projects. He steals away Auggie's staff because he knows he'll never get Auggie and he needs the best for his plans to work. He wishes, briefly, that he could get Auggie and Annie, which is far safer than wishing he could get Bryce and Michael, but those bridges are burned and Jai's never been one for pointless wishing.
It's thanks to OSP that he finds out the truth about Bryce. He stares at the wall of stars commemorating fallen heroes before going home that night and punching his fist through his mirror because Bryce officially died a traitor and will never get a star.
He wonders if Michael's story is just as shrouded in lies and secrecy but whenever he thinks about looking towards Miami, he remembers the pictures and files and slaughter and the tightly coiled anger always simmering under Michael's skin. He never does make it to Florida, in the end.
Jai dies before he sees Michael exonerated.
Michael leaves the CIA and never knows he's the last one standing.
Once upon a time, there are three spies named Bryce Larkin, Michael Westen, and Jai Wilcox, and only one gets a happy ending.
Spies don't believe in fairytales, anyway.
A/N: I was originally going to bring in Daniel Shaw and Trent Kort (from NCIS) into this, but I figured I was already playing fast and loose with ages and timelines as it was. So how terrible was it? Please, leave a review!