Jacob and Jake - Washington Square Park

[x-courier.livejournal.com]

Father and son meet and talk for the first time since the Infonet restructuring.



Washington Square Park was quite possibly the second-most recognizable park in New York after Central Park. Located on the edge of NYU's campus, it was constantly busy with a mix of students, locals and tourists--some of them sitting around the fountain enjoying the spring sunshine, a small cluster of regulars paired off over chessboards, gaggles of tourists taking pictures. And, at 4:45 on a weekday afternoon, a horde of college students just getting out of their 3:30 classes and headed home.

Jake sat alone on one of the benches overlooking the fountain, letting his gaze wander over the mass of people in front of him. He'd said 5:15 in his message, which he and his father both knew meant 4:45, and the mass exodus of students across the park confirmed the time. There was a part of him that was afraid that his father wasn't going to show, and there was a part of him that was afraid that he would. Maybe he should have picked a spot closer to the chess players. Maybe he shouldn't have come. He sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand as he scanned the crowd for his father's familiar figure.

"I remember us training you better than this, Jacob. Waiting in the open in your own face? Part of a courier's safety lies in anonymity." The warm slightly accented voice was as familiar to Jake as his own. His father stepped forward as Jake turned, the older man having used the crowds and trees to screen his approach to his son. The senior Gavin had been in the field in his youth, and some lessons never left him.

"You're looking thin, son."

Jake stood, jamming his hands in his pockets. "I might be more concerned about anonymity if I were working as a courier." It came out more sullen than he'd meant it; it was amazing how easily his family, even his father, could make him feel like a petulant five year old at times. He sighed inwardly. "Don't worry. It's not like I haven't taken precautions." He looked at his father for a moment, then indicated they start walking. Walking was good. Walking kept him from twitching.

He glanced sideways at his dad as they strolled down the path. "So how fun have the last two weeks been for you?"

"Your mother has not lost her ability to surprise me with all new and interesting ways to express her displeasure." Jacob Sr put his hands in his pockets, strolling along like nothing was wrong. "I made a few legal inquiries, but, well, she and your sister did their homework, Jacob. Infonet is legally theirs, no matter what we do. There is a settlement waiting for you in Geneva. It will be a fair assessment of your part of the company, although I'm sure that's not much comfort."

"Not really...Not in the slightest, actually." Jake wasn't sure which was worse--the harsh reality of being forced out of the business he'd been a part of his entire life, or the fact that his father seemed to have been equally as surprised by the move. "So what's next, then? Consulting work? Starting over? Surely you can take your contacts and resources with you." He wasn't so much asking what his father was going to do next as whether or not he was going to bring Jake along, he realized suddenly.

"I'm going to take a long vacation." Jacob Sr said surprisingly. "I have to admit, son, the business has changed over the years. Infonet used to be a trusted go-between, and now, I don't know how much of that exists in the world now. I once hand delivered documents to the Prime Minister of Britain. Now, our business is more about moving squalid business deals and terrorist plans around. Some of that I blame your mother for, but some of it... well, I don't have the anger of getting forced out that I might have ten years ago. I have enough money to live the rest of my life in comfort if I chose to. Other than a few details to tie up, I don't know if I want to step back into that world."

Jacob Sr looked over at his son. "Maybe my mistake, Jacob, was that I trained you to be the kind of man that Infonet used to count on, instead of the tool that your mother and sister would prefer you be. If I can step away, maybe you should consider it."

Jake actually stopped for a second, staring after his father before he blinked and started walking again. He didn't say anything for a moment, processing the older man's words. Even over the last couple of weeks, he'd never seriously considered walking away from couriering. It had been his life and his livelihood for over a decade, and Infonet had been the thread that kept his family together. Now his mother and sister had dissolved that, and his father, the man who'd taught him everything he knew, was walking away.

"So what kind of man am I supposed to be?" he asked finally, tiredly. "Because I really don't know anymore. You get your vacation, Mother and Dev get the company--what am I supposed to do here, exactly? Go learn how to be a banker or some such nonsense? Try to not let anyone else decide they need overlarge samples of my DNA?" Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like I can just retire."

"Jake, you've got more than enough skill to turn your hand at anything that interests you. Now, you'll have the money to do so." Jacob Sr stopped. "It's better to start a new life than continue one that's changed for the worse on you. That's my parental wisdom. Infonet is gone, son. Unless you really want to take orders from Dev, you're going to have to try something else."

Jake stopped walking as well, looking out over the park to avoid meeting his father's gaze. "Trust me when I say I have no interest in ever talking to her again," he muttered, anger evident in his voice. "Just do me one favor? Get me out of Passover this year. The last thing I need are all the members of GreatAuntNet asking what I did to make Mother and Devi so mad and why haven't I found a nice Jewish girl to settle down with yet."

"There are some things you're old enough to do on your own." Jacob Sr said, with a smile. "I have some strings I can pull if you have some idea where you want to go, Jacob. Just because I'm not running Infonet doesn't mean those contacts have all disappeared."

"I may take you up on that," Jake said. Damn. He was going to have to make sure to stay off the grid until after Passover had ended if his dad wasn't going to cover for him. He looked at Jacob then, really looked at him for the first time. "You're really okay with this? You're not secretly plotting their downfall? Because if you are, I'd better be involved."

Jacob Gavin Sr looked around for a moment and took a breath. "To an extent, yes. I don't like it, and I don't like to think about what your mother and sister will turn Infonet into. But I think I've been wanting out for a while now, and I just don't feel the anger that I thought I would if something like this was to happen. Maybe that's a sign."

He gave his son a thin smile. "If I get a chance to make their lives difficult, I can't say that I'd turn it down. But vendettas tend to destroy both parties, and if your mother feels strongly enough to turn on her own family in order to take control, then she's welcome to it."

"Fair enough," Jake replied. He felt oddly deflated; he'd been expecting their conversation to be more inflammatory than it had been, but Jacob appeared to be coping a lot better than Jake was. He glanced out across the park again; the students had mostly disappeared by now. "I still don't have any idea who attacked me. I could use some help with that, if you're looking for something to keep yourself busy."

"I'll make some calls. However, I doubt I'm the only one who will be looking into it." Jacob Sr said, patting him on the shoulder. "If you're back involved with Xavier, I suspect it won't be long before I'm coming to you for information."

He reached into his pocket and handed Jake a business card. On the back were a series of numbers, carefully separated from each other. "This is the account information to your part of the buyout. The other number is my new cell. You can reach me through it any time."

Jake nodded as he took the card, tucking it away safely in an inner pocket, exchanging it for a card of his own. "Disposable phone; I haven't quite figured out where I'll land yet. I'll let you know if it changes. It's probably best that you don't try to contact me through Xavier's if you don't have to." He hesitated for a moment. "Dad..." He took a deep breath, let it out, at a loss to find the words he really needed. "Thank you," he said finally, looking his father in the eye.

"It's what family is supposed to do, son." Jacob Sr shrugged his shoulders. "Too bad your mom and sister missed that memo."



Muchos gracias to Dex for socking it to me. :D