Categories > Movies > Once Upon a Time in Mexico > Darkness
The move back to Mexico went as smoothly as anything in Sands' life ever did. There were no catastrophes and he was back in Mexico by the end of the week. The way that Meyers saw it, Sheldon had had enough drama to last the rest of his life. So he had taken the liberty of packing all of the necessities that Sands would need and sent him to Mexico with Fernando.
The fact was that Meyers was worried. He was going to tell his supervisors that he had finished the last assignment that he had been given and with that done and over with, he had concluded his business with the CIA. He wanted out. He knew that they wouldn't be happy with that news. He wanted to make sure that they didn't connect him with Sheldon. If they did that, he was positive that there would be a scandal. And although that would have been something that Sands would laugh at, Meyers would be mortified.
So, with Sands in Mexico with Fernando, Meyers decided that it was time to face the music. He knew that no matter what happened; in the end, he was going to be leaving the Central Intelligence Agency.
As he entered the main building, he said hello to Kathy, the office receptionist, as he did every time he stopped in. He wanted to make sure that he kept to his routine. He hoped that by doing this things would go well.
Kathy smiled politely and picked up the phone. "Agent Jack Meyers is here to see you." She hung up the phone and looked at Meyers. "Mr. Slade will see you now."
"Thank you Kathy."
He walked to the right of the desk and down a long hallway, lined with offices. He had only been down this hallway once before. This was simply because you only went down there if you had to speak with Marcus Slade. As he entered the room, the tall man was sitting behind a massive Oak desk, shifting through paperwork. He had thick short brown hair, blue eyes and as far as head bosses went he was remarkably thin. He looked up as Meyers shut the door when he was inside the room.
"Agent Meyers." As he spoke he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a few sheets of paper that had been stapled together.
"Sir?"
"Please have a seat."
Meyers sat where he was instructed. Mr. Slade looked at the pile of papers in front of him. At first Meyers had mistook the pile for standard paperwork, it was now that he realized, it was everything that he had ever handed in. The sheets stapled together were his resignation.
"You're a good agent, one of the best that the CIA has had. You're stable, reliable and responsible. We know that when we send you on an assignment, you'll play by the rules. You have been given every chance, every opportunity to advance your career."
Meyers nodded to say that he agreed and he understood. He knew the game that Marcus was attempting to play. Marcus figured that if he appealed to Jack's ego that he would stay, that was exactly why Meyers cut him short.
"I mean no disrespect sir, but save your shit. I know the speech that you'll spew and you can spew it on someone else. When I first got into the CIA, I thought that I was doing the right thing. But as the years progressed I realized that this company was going corrupt. It was only recently that I realized just how far it would go to get rid of one of its agents. If that's the way it's going to be run then I want no part of it."
Meyers lecture had caught Slade off guard. "Now hold on Agent Meyers, you're jumping to conclusions. I didn't know about the conspiracy against former Agent Sands. And The Company is doing everything they can to make him as comfortable as possible."
Meyers sat there, staring at his supervisor. He knew that Slade would attempt to protect his company, that was his job. At the same time Meyers felt a rage build up inside him. "Sheldon Sands was the best agent this company had. He lived and breathed his assignments. He lost his eyes because of a fuck up from The Company, and all you can say is that The Company is making sure that he is comfortable. That's terrific. Look, I don't care if he had shady dealings, or if his methods were a bit unorthodox, the fact is that I quit. I don't think that I can work for a company that can't take responsibility for its mistakes. Good-bye Mr. Slade." He took off his holster and put it on the table, along with his badge. He walked out of the office without another word. He had briefly wondered if he was doing the right thing. Now was not the time for deep contemplations; after all he had a plane to catch.
While Meyers was at the airport, Sands sat on the balcony, feeling the last rays of the sun on his face. He thought it was ironic, when he had been in Mexico the first time he would have given anything to get out. Once he was out all he could think of was getting back in.
Mexico had stolen everything from him. In some strange way he was thankful for all that had happened. He had known that when the CIA had sent him to Mexico that he had been on a self-destructive path. Even his fiancée had known that. She had seen that he was going to die, if not by his enemy, then by his own hand.
He remembered one night while they had been lying in bed she had made her ultimatum. "Sheldon, I'm worried."
He had rolled over on to his side so that he was facing her. He studied her face in the moonlight. The way her hair fell across the pillow, the way the sheets fell around her body and seemed to hold her shape. He placed his hand on her stomach, in what he hoped was more comforting then possessive. He smiled at her statement. "About what, babe?"
"You mainly. You say that you can't tell me much about your job. All I know is that you work for the government."
"That's for your own protection."
She shook her head. "I don't think that it's the stuffy office job that you claim it to be."
He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He knew that with the way that his job went, it was only a matter of time before she started figuring out that something was going on. That didn't mean that he had to like it, or admit to it.
"What happened last month?"
Sheldon sighed they had already discussed this. He didn't understand why she couldn't leave it alone. "I told you, it was the result of an accident at work." He could tell that she wasn't buying it. He couldn't say that if the positions were reversed he would be either. In the light of the moon he could see her eyebrows wrinkle in disapproval, obviously she wasn't falling for his excuse.
She sighed in frustration. "There were three fingernails missing from your right hand. I was at the hospital with you; the doctor said that he hadn't seen anything like it, since studying in Med School when they had shown pictures of what the victims of the Concentration Camps went through. He said that it looked like you had been tortured. That it looked as though your nails had been deliberately ripped out."
When he opened up his mouth to respond, she put her hand up to silence him. "It's clear to me that you don't trust me." As she spoke she played with her engagement ring. "If I'm going to marry you, we need to communicate better. I need to know that as your wife I'll know all your secrets."
He understood where she was coming from. He knew that relationships were hard to keep, when it came to his job. That's why he had tried not to have any at all. "Rachel, it's not as simple as you seem to think. There is no easy answer. I love you but I have to protect you."
"Is that how it is?" She was staring into his eyes.
"Yes." He swallowed hard.
She nodded her head in understanding. "Than I'm presuming you know why I won't be here in the morning?"
Sheldon was snapped out of his memories when he heard the front door open. He immediately extended his cane to its full length. He was more than prepared to use it as a weapon. He stood still and waited for his brain to tell him who it was.
Meyers knew from the way that Sands stiffened, that he was on edge.
"Just me."
Sands turned so they were standing practically nose-to-nose. Sands wanted to hug him; he wanted to feel safe and protected, the way that he had felt that day when Meyers had held him while they had been sitting on his bed. He was unsure of what Meyers would do if he hugged him.
Meyers on the other hand wasn't unsure at all. He could see the struggle that Sands was having with his emotions. He knew that Sheldon felt as though he could never be loved. Despite the fact that Meyers loved him and was in love with him. Meyers moved towards Sands and pulled him close. At first Sands was stiff and awkward in his arms. Meyers rubbed small circles on his back until he felt him exhale and relax.
"How can you do it?"
Meyers lifted Sands' chin so his voice wasn't muffled by the way he had his head against Meyers' chest. "How can I do what?"
Sands pulled his chin away and put his head back where it had been. "How could you move here with me, when I'm like this?"
Meyers took off Sands' sunglasses and tilted his head so they were facing each other. Sands was shaking, his breathing had quickened and he was making that odd sound in the back of his throat. Meyers was looking into the empty sockets. He was sure that if he had stared deep enough and long enough that Sands would understand. Although he might have been sure about that, he knew that if he wanted Sands to understand him he would have to speak.
He took Sands' hands from the locked position that they had taken behind his back and held them in both of his own. "I'm here because I want to be here. I'm here because you need me. I made the decision to give up my job and the life that I led in the United States to be with you. I realized something about a week into your investigation; you were the one that I wanted to be with, the one I wanted to grow old with. I had seen what being with the CIA had done to you and quite frankly I was ready to quit, I had been ready to go ages ago. I guess seeing how easily they had been able to excuse what happened to you and cast you aside, cemented the fact that I had to get out. I'm here because I want to be; not because I feel sorry for you or pity you."
Sheldon took one of his hands out of Jack's, traced up his neck and along his jaw line with his fingertips. When his fingertips brushed against his lips he kissed them. Sands smiled. "I'm not perfect." He took his other hand and hovered over his sockets, still not willing himself to touch them. "And I wish that there was something I could do about this, but there isn't and I can't. So I guess this is something we'll both have to live with. I appreciate everything you said, and I'm glad that you're with me but what about a job?"
Meyers smiled. Sheldon could be adorable in his constant worry that at any moment things were going to go horribly wrong. "You know that your pension is The Company's way of buying your silence." Sheldon nodded. "Well you're not the only one that they want to keep quiet. The fact is that once I made it clear to them that I had no intention of staying; they bought my silence as well. They set me up with a job here in Mexico. I'm part of a Special Forces Unit."
He could see Sands' expression visibly change. For one reason or another he was very upset and now Meyers thought he knew why. Generally, if you were part of a Special Forces Unit, the chances were pretty good that the job was risky and complicated. That being that, Sands was over-analyzing the situation as he always did. Meyers shook his head. " Not what you think. Not at all. I get to spend my days in an office typing English Intelligence Reports into Spanish and get paid an insane amount of money per hour to do it."
This answer seemed to satisfy Sands and calm him. He laid his head back on Jack's chest. "Where's Fernando?"
Meyers smiled. For a guy who claimed that children were a pain in the ass, and they had no use, he certainly cared for the boy. "When I came in, he was trying to unpack but he was falling asleep so I told him to go to bed."
"Maybe we should too?"
There was nothing that Meyers enjoyed more than to lay down on a soft bed and hold Sheldon as he breathed rhythmically against his chest. "Okay." He linked arms with Sheldon. "Then when we get up, I'll finish unpacking."
The fact was that Meyers was worried. He was going to tell his supervisors that he had finished the last assignment that he had been given and with that done and over with, he had concluded his business with the CIA. He wanted out. He knew that they wouldn't be happy with that news. He wanted to make sure that they didn't connect him with Sheldon. If they did that, he was positive that there would be a scandal. And although that would have been something that Sands would laugh at, Meyers would be mortified.
So, with Sands in Mexico with Fernando, Meyers decided that it was time to face the music. He knew that no matter what happened; in the end, he was going to be leaving the Central Intelligence Agency.
As he entered the main building, he said hello to Kathy, the office receptionist, as he did every time he stopped in. He wanted to make sure that he kept to his routine. He hoped that by doing this things would go well.
Kathy smiled politely and picked up the phone. "Agent Jack Meyers is here to see you." She hung up the phone and looked at Meyers. "Mr. Slade will see you now."
"Thank you Kathy."
He walked to the right of the desk and down a long hallway, lined with offices. He had only been down this hallway once before. This was simply because you only went down there if you had to speak with Marcus Slade. As he entered the room, the tall man was sitting behind a massive Oak desk, shifting through paperwork. He had thick short brown hair, blue eyes and as far as head bosses went he was remarkably thin. He looked up as Meyers shut the door when he was inside the room.
"Agent Meyers." As he spoke he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a few sheets of paper that had been stapled together.
"Sir?"
"Please have a seat."
Meyers sat where he was instructed. Mr. Slade looked at the pile of papers in front of him. At first Meyers had mistook the pile for standard paperwork, it was now that he realized, it was everything that he had ever handed in. The sheets stapled together were his resignation.
"You're a good agent, one of the best that the CIA has had. You're stable, reliable and responsible. We know that when we send you on an assignment, you'll play by the rules. You have been given every chance, every opportunity to advance your career."
Meyers nodded to say that he agreed and he understood. He knew the game that Marcus was attempting to play. Marcus figured that if he appealed to Jack's ego that he would stay, that was exactly why Meyers cut him short.
"I mean no disrespect sir, but save your shit. I know the speech that you'll spew and you can spew it on someone else. When I first got into the CIA, I thought that I was doing the right thing. But as the years progressed I realized that this company was going corrupt. It was only recently that I realized just how far it would go to get rid of one of its agents. If that's the way it's going to be run then I want no part of it."
Meyers lecture had caught Slade off guard. "Now hold on Agent Meyers, you're jumping to conclusions. I didn't know about the conspiracy against former Agent Sands. And The Company is doing everything they can to make him as comfortable as possible."
Meyers sat there, staring at his supervisor. He knew that Slade would attempt to protect his company, that was his job. At the same time Meyers felt a rage build up inside him. "Sheldon Sands was the best agent this company had. He lived and breathed his assignments. He lost his eyes because of a fuck up from The Company, and all you can say is that The Company is making sure that he is comfortable. That's terrific. Look, I don't care if he had shady dealings, or if his methods were a bit unorthodox, the fact is that I quit. I don't think that I can work for a company that can't take responsibility for its mistakes. Good-bye Mr. Slade." He took off his holster and put it on the table, along with his badge. He walked out of the office without another word. He had briefly wondered if he was doing the right thing. Now was not the time for deep contemplations; after all he had a plane to catch.
While Meyers was at the airport, Sands sat on the balcony, feeling the last rays of the sun on his face. He thought it was ironic, when he had been in Mexico the first time he would have given anything to get out. Once he was out all he could think of was getting back in.
Mexico had stolen everything from him. In some strange way he was thankful for all that had happened. He had known that when the CIA had sent him to Mexico that he had been on a self-destructive path. Even his fiancée had known that. She had seen that he was going to die, if not by his enemy, then by his own hand.
He remembered one night while they had been lying in bed she had made her ultimatum. "Sheldon, I'm worried."
He had rolled over on to his side so that he was facing her. He studied her face in the moonlight. The way her hair fell across the pillow, the way the sheets fell around her body and seemed to hold her shape. He placed his hand on her stomach, in what he hoped was more comforting then possessive. He smiled at her statement. "About what, babe?"
"You mainly. You say that you can't tell me much about your job. All I know is that you work for the government."
"That's for your own protection."
She shook her head. "I don't think that it's the stuffy office job that you claim it to be."
He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He knew that with the way that his job went, it was only a matter of time before she started figuring out that something was going on. That didn't mean that he had to like it, or admit to it.
"What happened last month?"
Sheldon sighed they had already discussed this. He didn't understand why she couldn't leave it alone. "I told you, it was the result of an accident at work." He could tell that she wasn't buying it. He couldn't say that if the positions were reversed he would be either. In the light of the moon he could see her eyebrows wrinkle in disapproval, obviously she wasn't falling for his excuse.
She sighed in frustration. "There were three fingernails missing from your right hand. I was at the hospital with you; the doctor said that he hadn't seen anything like it, since studying in Med School when they had shown pictures of what the victims of the Concentration Camps went through. He said that it looked like you had been tortured. That it looked as though your nails had been deliberately ripped out."
When he opened up his mouth to respond, she put her hand up to silence him. "It's clear to me that you don't trust me." As she spoke she played with her engagement ring. "If I'm going to marry you, we need to communicate better. I need to know that as your wife I'll know all your secrets."
He understood where she was coming from. He knew that relationships were hard to keep, when it came to his job. That's why he had tried not to have any at all. "Rachel, it's not as simple as you seem to think. There is no easy answer. I love you but I have to protect you."
"Is that how it is?" She was staring into his eyes.
"Yes." He swallowed hard.
She nodded her head in understanding. "Than I'm presuming you know why I won't be here in the morning?"
Sheldon was snapped out of his memories when he heard the front door open. He immediately extended his cane to its full length. He was more than prepared to use it as a weapon. He stood still and waited for his brain to tell him who it was.
Meyers knew from the way that Sands stiffened, that he was on edge.
"Just me."
Sands turned so they were standing practically nose-to-nose. Sands wanted to hug him; he wanted to feel safe and protected, the way that he had felt that day when Meyers had held him while they had been sitting on his bed. He was unsure of what Meyers would do if he hugged him.
Meyers on the other hand wasn't unsure at all. He could see the struggle that Sands was having with his emotions. He knew that Sheldon felt as though he could never be loved. Despite the fact that Meyers loved him and was in love with him. Meyers moved towards Sands and pulled him close. At first Sands was stiff and awkward in his arms. Meyers rubbed small circles on his back until he felt him exhale and relax.
"How can you do it?"
Meyers lifted Sands' chin so his voice wasn't muffled by the way he had his head against Meyers' chest. "How can I do what?"
Sands pulled his chin away and put his head back where it had been. "How could you move here with me, when I'm like this?"
Meyers took off Sands' sunglasses and tilted his head so they were facing each other. Sands was shaking, his breathing had quickened and he was making that odd sound in the back of his throat. Meyers was looking into the empty sockets. He was sure that if he had stared deep enough and long enough that Sands would understand. Although he might have been sure about that, he knew that if he wanted Sands to understand him he would have to speak.
He took Sands' hands from the locked position that they had taken behind his back and held them in both of his own. "I'm here because I want to be here. I'm here because you need me. I made the decision to give up my job and the life that I led in the United States to be with you. I realized something about a week into your investigation; you were the one that I wanted to be with, the one I wanted to grow old with. I had seen what being with the CIA had done to you and quite frankly I was ready to quit, I had been ready to go ages ago. I guess seeing how easily they had been able to excuse what happened to you and cast you aside, cemented the fact that I had to get out. I'm here because I want to be; not because I feel sorry for you or pity you."
Sheldon took one of his hands out of Jack's, traced up his neck and along his jaw line with his fingertips. When his fingertips brushed against his lips he kissed them. Sands smiled. "I'm not perfect." He took his other hand and hovered over his sockets, still not willing himself to touch them. "And I wish that there was something I could do about this, but there isn't and I can't. So I guess this is something we'll both have to live with. I appreciate everything you said, and I'm glad that you're with me but what about a job?"
Meyers smiled. Sheldon could be adorable in his constant worry that at any moment things were going to go horribly wrong. "You know that your pension is The Company's way of buying your silence." Sheldon nodded. "Well you're not the only one that they want to keep quiet. The fact is that once I made it clear to them that I had no intention of staying; they bought my silence as well. They set me up with a job here in Mexico. I'm part of a Special Forces Unit."
He could see Sands' expression visibly change. For one reason or another he was very upset and now Meyers thought he knew why. Generally, if you were part of a Special Forces Unit, the chances were pretty good that the job was risky and complicated. That being that, Sands was over-analyzing the situation as he always did. Meyers shook his head. " Not what you think. Not at all. I get to spend my days in an office typing English Intelligence Reports into Spanish and get paid an insane amount of money per hour to do it."
This answer seemed to satisfy Sands and calm him. He laid his head back on Jack's chest. "Where's Fernando?"
Meyers smiled. For a guy who claimed that children were a pain in the ass, and they had no use, he certainly cared for the boy. "When I came in, he was trying to unpack but he was falling asleep so I told him to go to bed."
"Maybe we should too?"
There was nothing that Meyers enjoyed more than to lay down on a soft bed and hold Sheldon as he breathed rhythmically against his chest. "Okay." He linked arms with Sheldon. "Then when we get up, I'll finish unpacking."
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