Author's Note: Happy new year, everyone! As always, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get here. I haven't been feeling ficcy lately, but I decided if I have one resolution for 2021, it's to finish this fic! So I'm making a start on getting there. But no, this isn't the last chapter.
"Are you sure you want to do this today?" Kurt asked, hesitating with one hand on the door.
Jane responded with a tolerant sigh, smiling a little. "That's like the fourth time you've asked. Yes—thank you for worrying, but I'm fine."
Kurt's own sense of foreboding continued to build. It must be nothing compared to what Jane felt when she thought of Shepherd, which was why he was concerned.
"Really," Jane added, trying to reassure him.
"If you need to leave during the interrogation, just walk out. There's nothing keeping you in there, Jane." He didn't want her to do this. He didn't want to do this, either. There were very few people he'd met who could unnerve him the way Shepherd had yesterday, but there was something about her that made his skin prickle uncomfortably.
"I could say the same thing to you. Are you okay?" Jane frowned up at him, her acute sense of empathy picking up on his unease.
And now she was worrying about him, on top of everything else she had on her mind. He wished he'd stayed silent.
"Yeah. Let's get this over with." He squeezed her hand lightly, then pulled away and opened the door.
She was still wearing yesterday's clothing, rumpled from being slept in, but Shepherd managed to sit as though she wore her formal military uniform—her back straight, and her chin held high. So far, Nas, Reade and Zapata had been unable to get her to speak.
When Jane walked in, with Kurt following close behind, her eyes narrowed.
That's right, Shepherd. It's family time now.
Kurt had agreed to let Jane lead—she knew what made Shepherd tick better than he did—so he sat down in silence, while Jane lingered on her feet.
"Roman survived."
Something in Shepherd's expression flickered, but whether it was relief or disappointment, Kurt wasn't sure.
Jane sat down, keeping a professional distance from Kurt. Though he wanted to reach for her hand, or to press his leg against hers under the table, he knew Shepherd would see it as a sign of weakness in her adopted daughter. He remained where he was.
"The FBI have been combing through everything at the compound since yesterday afternoon. Between that, the nuclear material we seized, Zac Riley's testimony, Nigel Thornton's, mine, Roman's…we've already got enough to send you down for all of it, without you saying a single word." Jane's voice was steady, despite how angry and conflicted she must have been. "But this is your chance to be heard, Shepherd. To put your own words on the record."
"Do you really think I'm that easy to manipulate?"
Well, at least she's talking.
"No. I never underestimated you." Jane sighed. "I'm not trying to trick you; I'm trying to help you, Shepherd. You know what the CIA did to me. The FBI only have custody of you for a week. If you don't talk, the CIA will try to make you. We both know that they'll fail. And after the way I escaped, they'll make sure you don't even have a hope of trying."
If the prospect of months or years of torture worried Shepherd—surely it had to?—she gave no outward sign of it. "Did you have a point?"
"As much as I hate what you did, I don't want you to be tortured. Help me to help you. I'm going to fight to keep you out of a black site, but if you give us the names of the people who aided you, who got you the information to plan this whole thing—if you can give us that, they might listen to me."
Shepherd snorted. "You chose to side with the torturers. I won't talk to alleviate your guilt, Remi. Whatever happens to me now? That's on you."
While Jane stared at her, lost for words, Shepherd turned her attention to Kurt. "Are you just here for moral support?"
Kurt's temper flared, and he fought down his instinctive response to defend Jane's courage. "No. I'm here for answers. Why'd you choose me? Why did you pay my tuition, meddle in my life? You didn't know when you first met me that I'd become law enforcement. Why did you take such an interest in a teenage boy on the verge of dropping out of school?"
The questions weren't to do with Sandstorm's terror plot, which might have been why Shepherd chose to answer, a fond smile on her face. "Because I recognised you, Kurt Weller. I told you that yesterday. I could see so much of my own children in you—damaged, angry, hurting—and I wanted to nurture you the way I nurtured them. Call it a mother's instinct."
Jane snorted, while Kurt silently fumed, struggling to keep his professional composure. Shepherd turned her attention back to her 'nurtured' child with an aggrieved frown. "Everything I did, I did to forge a better world for you and your brother. You can believe what you want to believe, Jane, but that's the truth."
She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. "You know, I've changed my mind. I'd like to call my attorney."
Kurt and Jane stood in unison, neither speaking as they prepared to leave. Kurt allowed Jane to exit the room ahead of him, putting his body between his lover and Shepherd's judgmental gaze.
By unspoken agreement, they moved a few steps away from the interrogation room before taking a moment to regroup. The hallway was empty, and he stepped in close to Jane, keeping his voice quiet. "You okay?"
"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Jane gazed up at him, concern clear in her expression. "After being undercover for so long, I'm used to her by now, but you…"
He shrugged, attempting to shake off the unease the encounter had left him with. "I'll survive. I just wish I could get some real answers from her. About my past, I mean."
Jane sighed, glancing back the way they'd come. "As insane as it sounds, I think it really was just the way she said it was. Shepherd collects broken people, manipulates their emotions, gives them a purpose. Most of the people I met at the compound had a story to tell about how she'd found them, brought them into the fold. I think she wanted you for Sandstorm, but then when she realised you weren't corruptible, her plans for you changed."
He shifted uncomfortably, wishing he could get Shepherd's doting expression out of his head. "I don't even know her. I hate that she has so much power over me."
"I know."
He could tell she really did know, and that just gave him one more reason to love her. "You sure you're okay?"
Jane attempted to smile, but it fell flat. "I'm just tired. Too tired to let Shepherd rattle me, at least. Don't worry about me."
I'll worry about you for the rest of our lives, he thought, but kept quiet.
"Come on. We should see what Nas thinks," he said instead.
They joined Nas in the observation room on the other side of the one-way glass. She was staring at Shepherd, and barely looked over when they came in. "Well, at least she didn't give you the silent treatment. Still, she didn't say anything to incriminate herself, and once the lawyer gets here, we might as well give up on getting anything from her, unless you can think of another strategy."
"How will the CIA deal with Shepherd's lawyer?" Jane asked uneasily. "I mean, black sites aren't even supposed to exist. I doubt they'd want lawyers asking too many questions about their disappearing clients."
"The CIA have been known to coordinate with the NSA for…leverage," Nas said carefully.
"She means they blackmail the lawyers into 'forgetting' their client is counting on their help." Kurt tried not to grind his teeth.
"Only very occasionally. And only in cases where national security is involved," Nas protested.
Jane gazed at her mother through the glass, her expression conflicted. "We have to stop the CIA from taking her."
"I'm looking into it. Give me a couple of days to sort things out." Nas cast a glance at Kurt, as though asking him to intervene on her behalf, to persuade Jane to abandon this course.
He remained silent. Nothing would divert Jane from facing down the people who had the power to stop extraditions to black sites. He sensed that it was as much because of her own torture as it was to prevent the same thing from happening to Shepherd. Jane wanted to make these people confront the reality of what they'd allowed to be done to her—and how they all owed her their lives now, despite that.
The last thing Kurt wanted was for them to notice Jane, but he admired her principles, and he wouldn't stand in her way.
Nas changed tack, sensing Kurt wouldn't be swayed any more than Jane. "We need to move Shepherd into the cell Nigel Thornton's vacated, just to be on the safe side. The less contact she has with anyone outside the team, the better I'll feel."
"Yeah, me too." Jane's new cell phone buzzed, and she tensed as she looked down at the caller ID. "It's the hospital; I need to take this." She stepped into the corner of the room, removing herself from the conversation and answering the call.
A few brief exchanges later, she hung up, her smile bright enough to reach her eyes. "They just woke Roman with no problems. He's doing fine."
"Glad to hear it," Nas said.
Jane's longing to see her brother was obvious, but they didn't have the luxury of taking off just yet. "I know you want to get to the hospital, but we have stuff we need to handle first. Let's get Shepherd down to Zero Division. Then we have a meeting with Hirst in thirty minutes."
Jane nodded ruefully. "Okay. Let's do it."
Despite her impatience to see Roman, Jane's afternoon passed by quicker than she expected. Between paperwork and meetings, she didn't have much time to think, and she suspected Kurt was keeping her busy on purpose.
When they'd finished their debrief in SIOC's conference room at the end of the day, Patterson interjected as they all began to stand up and gather their things. "Guys… I know it's been a long day, and long days are still on the horizon, but…" She looked towards Jane and Kurt. "I know you're visiting Roman tonight, but could we—when you get back from the hospital—all have a celebratory drink at your place? I mean, it doesn't have to be your place. It can be a bar, if you want. I just figured it'd be a little more restful if we were at your apartment, and…"
Kurt was frowning, looking as though he was about to suggest a rain check, for Jane's sake. But Jane knew exactly what was behind this idea—Borden wasn't being deported until tomorrow, and he knew where Patterson lived. She wanted to avoid the prospect of her former lover trying to pay her a disastrous visit before his flight out, even though he'd probably have NSA agents watching him.
"That sounds great," Jane said, before Kurt could decide she wasn't up to it. "I've missed you guys."
"Count me in. As long as Kurt's okay with it, I mean." Reade's expression was questioning.
Kurt shrugged. "If it's okay with Jane, it's okay with me. Come by at around eight-thirty?"
Patterson's relief was palpable, though she didn't overtly address it. "Great! Tasha, Nas?"
"I've got a prior engagement, but thanks anyway." Nas gave a small smile. "Next time, maybe."
"Well, I'm in." Zapata slid into her suit jacket as she headed for the door. "Catch you guys in a couple of hours."
"You sure you're up to having everyone over so soon?" Kurt asked, when they got to the car.
Jane nodded, smiling at his protective streak. "Once I see Roman's awake for myself, I'll feel so much better. And I think Patterson really needs us tonight."
"Yeah," Kurt conceded. "That thought had crossed my mind. I just… I don't want you to feel overloaded."
Jane rested her head on his shoulder briefly, as he put the car into drive. "After six weeks with Shepherd, I think I can handle drinks with my friends."
"Okay." He leaned his head against hers for a moment, before they separated to allow him to focus on the road. "Just wanted to check."
Jane spent the quiet drive fidgeting, nervous about seeing her brother again. Would he regret his decision to help her stop Sandstorm, now that everything was over? Seeing Shepherd in custody was hard for Jane, and she didn't even remember much about growing up with her adopted mother. It would be so much worse for Roman.
As they drew closer to the hospital, she wondered if Kurt was nervous about the meeting to come, too. Sure, he'd met Roman once before, but she hadn't been there, and he would have been focused on the case at the time. She glanced over at him, but he appeared relaxed.
Noticing her attention shifting to him, he gave her a reassuring look. "I'm sure Roman's fine."
"I know," she answered, shifting in her seat. "I just hope he doesn't regret picking our side, after everything that's happened."
"Me, too," he told her quietly.
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
"Roman." All of Jane's breath seemed to rush out of her lungs at once, now she could see he was awake for herself. Unable to help it, she surged forward and leaned over the bed, wrapping her arms around her brother as best she could. "Don't ever do that to me again."
Roman hugged her with his IV-free arm, a small, awkward chuckle escaping him. "You're one to talk. Right before I passed out, you were about to get your head blown off by Shepherd."
"Yeah. I guess we both had a close call." Jane made herself release him, conscious of the fact that he must be in pain. "How are you feeling?" He looked wrung out, pale, not to mention a little high from the painkillers.
"Like I just got shot in the gut." He smiled wryly. "But they tell me I'll live, so…"
Jane sat down next to the bed, as Roman's attention wandered to the doorway. "Weller."
"Roman." Kurt took the acknowledgment as permission to come further into the room. "Glad you made it."
"So am I, I think." Roman looked back at Jane. "Shepherd?"
"We got her. She's not talking," she added, though it seemed fairly redundant to say it out loud. Of course Shepherd wouldn't talk—she was Shepherd.
"Yeah. I figured." The room fell silent for a moment, both siblings sharing a moment of guilt. No matter what Shepherd had done, she'd still rescued them from an abusive orphanage and given them a home.
Kurt stepped back again. "I'm gonna go check on Pellington and Reyes," he said. "I'll let you two catch up."
"See you soon." Jane gave him a quick smile, before telling her brother, "I have something for you."
Roman seemed to relax slightly as she pulled out their coin. "I was scared they lost it."
Jane handed it over. "I took it from your pocket before they brought you here. I didn't want to risk it going missing."
He swallowed hard, rubbing his thumb over the surface of the coin. "Yeah. Good call." After a brief hesitation, he handed it back. "You should hang onto it until I'm discharged. Just in case."
Jane nodded, pocketing the coin again. "Okay. Did they say how long they want to keep you in?"
"Twenty-four hours more, and then I can go—I was gonna say 'home', but I guess if they seized all of Shepherd's assets, I have no home now."
Poor Roman. He must feel kind of like I did after the ZIP. Like there's nowhere in the world where he fits. "We can put you in my safehouse. After the way you helped us, they can't complain about that."
Roman hesitated. "I guess. If you're sure. I, uh… They're gonna want someone to stay with me for a while. Because of the wound."
Pushing aside the pang she felt at the idea of being separated from Kurt again, Jane smiled. "That's okay. I'll stay with you. I can be your nursemaid."
"! don't wanna be a burden—" Roman started.
"Roman, you're my brother. I'm not gonna let you struggle on your own."
Something in her expression must have told him it was futile to argue. "Okay. Thanks." After a pause, he added, "How bad was it in SIOC?"
"One fatality—the one I couldn't figure out how to stop. Two seriously injured besides you —that's who Kurt's checking on now." Jane sighed, suddenly feeling weary again, and lowered her voice. "Shepherd wasn't hurt, but she called for the nuclear strike as she was trying to evade capture. We were three seconds from getting nuked—but that's classified information. The media only know that an attack happened at the NYO."
Roman had recoiled a little at her mention of the nuclear strike, but at her mention of the cover-up, he rolled his eyes. "Gotta keep the American public docile and ignorant, huh?"
She frowned at him. "Preventing the spread of nationwide panic seems like a good idea. And do you want everyone to know our names, and Shepherd's?"
"No. I guess you're right. I just…" He stared at the wall ahead of him, expression conflicted. "I'm still not sure how I feel about the fact that I helped the FBI. After everything…"
"I know it must be weird. But it's not like you helped them do something shady. We saved millions of lives." Was there any way to get him to see the good the FBI did, or would he be suspicious for the rest of his life?
"And now Shepherd is gonna rot in a black site for the rest of her life, without getting her day in court. I know we had to stop her, but now nothing is gonna change."
Jane's stomach turned at the mention of black sites. "I'm working on meeting with the people who can overturn that decision. I'm hoping I can get her sent to supermax instead."
"You really think that'll work?" Roman asked, a faint spark of hope behind the scepticism.
"I don't know. Either that, or they'll throw me into a black site with her—take away my immunity deal. But I'm hoping I have enough leverage to make it work."
Alarm crossed his face. "Don't put yourself at risk for her. She wouldn't do it for you, if the situation were reversed."
"I know. I'll be careful. I'm not doing this for Shepherd—I'm doing it for me." Jane smiled, hoping her fears and doubts didn't show on her face. "The good news is, the DOJ signed off on my deal today. Thornton's, too. They want to give you a polygraph before they'll do yours, but I've seen the copy that's waiting to be signed. We can put all this behind us, do whatever we want now."
Roman sighed. "Still can't figure out what that is. I know you have your cosy FBI life now, but me?" He shook his head.
"You could go back to school. Become a professor, teach English Lit. I'd say you could go into cryptography, but something tells me working for the government isn't on your agenda."
Roman grinned. "Maybe I could join the Army, and really piss Shepherd off."
Jane snorted. "You really think we can disappoint her more than we already have?"
"Huh. Good point."
They took a quiet moment, still processing everything that had happened. Before either of them could speak again, Kurt returned to the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but… Jane, Pellington's asking for you. He's pretty doped up, so I don't think he's gonna be conscious too much longer."
Jane froze. There was something about being the centre of Pellington's attention that scared her, even now. She hadn't interacted with him much, since Mayfair and then Kurt had acted as buffers between them, but the first time she'd really come into contact with him, just after Mayfair's arrest, Pellington had decided to close her case and bar her from the FBI. And he had the power to overrule Kurt. Those things were more than enough to make her uneasy.
Roman laughed. "You look like you've just been sent to the principal's office."
"That's not a bad analogy," Jane grumbled, getting to her feet.
"It's okay," Kurt reassured her. "I think he's finally ready to appreciate all your hard work."
"I'll be right back, Roman, okay?"
Roman shrugged. "Take your time. Not like I'm going anywhere."
I hope that'll still be true when you're all healed up. I don't want to lose you just because I'm a better person now.
She kept the thought to herself, deciding to worry about it later. The most important thing was, he was alive.