He hadn't wanted to take the job. He really hadn't. He was sure that he could find a job close to home, one that wouldn't take him away from his family. But the more he looked, the more it seemed he was overqualified for any job available in Bee Cave, Texas. When he applied for work, the people who owned the businesses invariably shot him down.
"Look," they'd say, "I can't hire you, not for this job. You're so smart, you've got all them college degrees, and, well… You pro'lly wouldn't be happy here, that's all. Nothing personal." He would stand, shake their hand, thank them for their time, and then leave.
He reluctantly admitted that they probably had a point. He was one of the first people in Bee Cave to go to college, and the first to return with a PhD. Or rather, eleven PhDs. The people in town talked, speculated about why a boy with 'That much big-city education' would chose to come back to Bee Cave. Someone that smart could have made it anywhere in Texas, maybe anywhere in the entire United States.
There were two theories about why he had decided to return to Bee Cave. The first was that he had come back to marry his long-time girlfriend, Anne. The second was that he'd had some sort of break down, and had been ordered home by a psychiatric professional.
In reality, he had come back because he didn't know what else to do. He had lived in Bee Cave his entire life, and the prospect of a world full of possibility terrified him. He decided to spend a year in Bee Cave with his parents while he figured out what to do with his life.
A year turned into two, and then three. He got married to Anneand they bought a small, shabby house at the edge of town. His oldest son, David was born the next spring, and his only daughter, Jilly was born three years after that.
Jilly turned four during the coldest, dampest winter on record. Whooping cough went around that year, and Jilly was hit especially hard. The girl couldn't sleep for the coughing and wheezing, and he took to sitting up with her until she dozed off in his arms. One night, as he sat and rocked her, he realized that he was stuck. He had dreamed since childhood about someday moving away from Bee Cave. He had his chance, and he had lost it. He could have gone anywhere and done anything, but he had returned to Bee Cave. He was a family man, now, and he would likely never leave the small town again.
The knowledge depressed him immensely, and he had responded by going into town and getting very, very drunk.
He staggered home the next morning at 8AM. He was hungover, and had no firm recollection of where he had spent the previous night. He could hear crying before he even reached his front porch. He almost let his cowardice get the better of him, but he steeled himself and knocked on the door.
Anne was near tears herself. Jilly had woken up on the living room floor in the middle of the night, afraid and calling out for him. Anne went to get Jilly, and ran into David in the hall. He didn't know where Dad was, either. They were too preoccupied with worry to go back to bed, and the three spent the night sitting up by the phone, waiting for him.
He admitted shamefacedly that he had been out drinking. Anne was furious. When she demanded to know why he had decided that beer was more important than his sickly daughter, he hadn't been able to answer. She didn't speak to him for nearly a week.
That was the year he lost his job.
He worked for a major mechanical manufacturer. He built and tested engines. It wasn't a lucrative position, but he was doing what he loved, and it beat the drudgery of deskwork. The Bee Cave Auto Manufacturing Plant closed in the week before Christmas, after being bought out by some large corporation. None of the workers were asked to stay on and work for the new company, and the plant was torn down a few years later.
He was early on December 20th, eager to get to the engine he was working on. Instead, an expressionless manager handed him a pink slip and an empty cardboard box, and wished him a Merry Christmas. Less than fifteen minutes later, he was standing on a street corner, clutching a box of his things and too numb to do anything but catch the bus with his former coworkers, all of whom had been laid off.
Anne had cried. Jilly was excited that her Daddy was going to be home with her all day. David had a slightly more realistic grasp of the situation, and wanted to know if they were going to have to move.
He looked for a job for months, but every open position filled within days of becoming available. Every person who had worked at the manufacturing plant was out of a job. He was turned down at every single business in town, only to learn a week later that the job had been given to a family member of the business owner.
Anne who kept the family together. She hadn't gone to college, but she had a head for numbers. Her children were hungry, and she was in imminent danger of loosing her home. She swallowed her pride, walked into the local law office, and walked out with a job as a typist.
When Anne told him that she would now provide for their family, his shame and sense of worthlessness nearly overwhelmed him. He left the house for the bar, but never made it there. He wandered the streets until he found himself standing at the very edge of a bridge, staring down into the gorge below.
A woman had emerged, seemingly from the shadows. She was rail-thin and reeked of cigarette smoke. She said that she had a job for him, a job perfectly suited for a man of his unique talents. When she told him what she was prepared to offer him, he took a step back, and nearly fell off the bridge. The woman pressed a stack of papers into his hands. "Just think about it," she urged, and then melted into the night.
He hadn't shared the papers with Anne right away. Something had been deeply unsettling about the woman and the job she offered. No matter how many times he combed the papers, he couldn't find any indication of what the job actually entailed. The papers said that he would be working with an international group of experts on a tactics and logistics team. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he got the impression of illegality from it.
Anne didn't understand his hesitation. She was beside herself with joy. She listened to him when he expressed his concern, but she thought he was being silly. "This is an opportunity," she said, "You would be foolish to not take it." She wore his reservation away, and a month later he was waving good-bye to his family from a train bound for an anonymous fort in the middle of the desert.
It's back-story-rific! Please note that I've been a bit selective about what parts of characters' background I've included, so it may be inconsistent to what you expect of the characters. That's author-speak for "I'm too lazy to come up with OCs, but also too lazy to actually go with canon." I'm very honest, aren't I? Thanks for reading, and tell all of your friends, except the ones who would make fun of you for reading fanfiction.