a/n: You don't have to read Disclosure first to enjoy this, but it's suggested.

*NOTE* - this fic is not going to have super obvious romance elements. The Eren/Jean is minor and is not a super important aspect of the story. If you're looking for that, there are plenty of awesome shipfics on ffnet and AO3. If you're cool with it otherwise, thanks, and enjoy!

s: In Covert Affairs, missions could either turn out to be life-threatening and horrendous, or they could end in miraculous success.

Schemata

i: reunion

Jean gets a call from his superior in the dead of night and contemplates letting it ring through. When he realizes his ass might be on the line, or that it could be an actual emergency, he groggily answers. "Hello?"

"How do you feel about overseas work?"

He hangs up. Moments later, the man calls again and he grouses. "I didn't sign up with the task force for this kind of harassment, sir."

"Kirschtein, I have a completely valid proposal for you. You'll have to pardon the time."

Damn right, Jean thinks, yawning. "Well? I'm waiting."

"There are a couple crazy things going down in the northeast Turkey. An escaped convict from Canada, wanted on trial of four homicides, is rumored to have taken up residence there. Rumor is that the convict has important connections with a drug cartel we're looking for. It's your job to track him down and help us take them down."

He raises an eyebrow. "Not that I'm not honored, sir, but…why me?"

"Your power, Kirschtein. I firmly believe that you can take care of this problem quietly and without casualties." Ugh, what a tall order. "Besides, it's not like you'll be alone. Somebody told me there should be another agent out in that same area. If you're lucky, you'll have help. If not, maybe the mission will take you in! Ga ha ha!"

At the moment, Jean wants nothing more than to strangle Chief Pixis. Before he has time to decline, notification of a plane seat reservation arrives in his inbox.

"Have fun!"

"I hate you."

/ /

Jean really doesn't want to be here. It's not so much the temperature as it is the area around the mission. Kids looking at the car rolling in, Christians building little churches and digging wells, preaching the word of Jesus or something.

He doesn't have a whole lot of time for the appreciation of their work, or anything other than his job, really. The murderer on the loose isn't exactly sneaky, and if he's lucky, he can reel the guy in quickly. He's already got a good grasp on his signature, and his control over his Magnetism has only improved with time.

Come on, he thinks. Follow the pull.

He can worry about the drug cartel later.

With the help of a translator who comes with him, he comes to the site and offers his help. Some of the younger people are out digging; others are pitching tents and starting fires, getting ready for the evening. The mission is still fairly new, and thus nothing truly reminiscent of a mission – a fully dug well, a school, a playground, houses, and so forth – can be found.

Jean rolls up his sleeves begrudgingly, keeping a part of his mind busy with reeling in the criminal. Of course, doing so leaves his subconscious more open than usual, so he can feel several attracting forces at the camp as well. Damn.

The first night passes without incident. The second night sees him bitten in several places by mosquitos, but is otherwise uneventful. The third night, a kid tries to steal Jean's wallet and is sorely reprimanded for the deed by his mother, but only after the man kicks his ass a little.

The fourth night, the murderer walks right into his trap, bumbling into the mission like a moron. Jean pulls him away from the camp quietly, incapacitates him, and murmurs low in the man's ear. "Tell me everything you know about the drug cartel looming around here." The guy slobbers and chokes on his spit. Afraid of him screaming, Jean lowers his heel on the guy's throat, but applies no pressure.

"Kimler var?" A voice calls, and Jean whirls around, ready to slam someone to the ground.

This is why I hate working overseas missions. The guy in the shadows had probably been pulled here by his power, and he'd hate to kill an innocent for interfering in his business, but he could be a spy.

Before he can take out his gun and take care of him, the guy holds up his hands, squints, and edges closer. His hand is softly glowing now that Jean looks more closely, and his eyes grow wide. "Jean?"

"Holy fuck," Jean murmurs, staring at the flame. "Eren?"

/ /

"I can't believe this." The sandy-haired young man sits on the passed out murderer and scowls. "Eren fucking Jaeger. What are the chances?"

"Fair enough, apparently." Eren shakes his head, exhausted from helping Jean pry information out of the escapee. "I didn't know you were working with Covert Affairs."

"Yeah, well, same for you. Where are you even stationed?"

"Mostly the west coast and here these days." The brunette looks up at him and fixes him with a look. "They sent you here and you can't even speak Turkish."

"My boss sucks," Jean mutters angrily. "Believe me, I didn't want to be here either, but we're understaffed."

"True." In the quiet of the night, they sit calmly. Eren's started a fire with his power and spare kindling from the campsite. In the low glow, they study each other, startled by such a strange reunion. "Never would've taken you for the law enforcement type."

"What type did you take me for?"

Eren snorts. "The get-rich-quick and shun the rest of society type."

Jean laughs heartily. "Well, you weren't wrong."

"I know."

Companionable silence falls between them before Jean sighs. "You know how it is. You come out of the Academy; you get all kinds of offers. Honestly, at the time, Affairs had the best benefits. I'm starting to wonder if the pros of the job outweigh the cons."

"You're helping people and cleaning up the world," Eren declares in a low voice, sounding reverent. "Of course they do."

"Says you, Mr. Suicidal."

Oceanic eyes glare at him sharply. "I've never tried to kill myself."

"Never directly, or on purpose, but you've gotten into enough life-threatening situations to last any other person a lifetime." When they hear the criminal rustle, they both immediately grow quiet, hoping to pry more information out of him. The criminal's eyes fly wildly towards Eren and the guy immediately starts crying. "Ahhh, look what you did now, Eren."

"This isn't my fault."

"He's pissing himself."

"Not my problem. You're the one sitting on him."

Jean immediately stands up and shakes out his ensuing jitters.

/ /

The guy, Nate Brigmire, blabs way more than either of them had expected. Both of them learn the cartel leader's name, background, routes, and general disposition. They learn the size of the group, their hideout, and how best to wrap them up with a neat little bow for the higher-ups and get on a plane home.

It begins with a siege on their warehouses, wherein Eren burns their stock and Jean knocks the sentry unconscious by slamming them into the ground at lightning speed. Then, they kidnap the cartel's leader, corner the remainder of the members, and have their backup arrive right on time, having alerted them of the plan last night.

Pixis laughs once they manage to find a secure connection and speak to their superiors. "What do you know? Everything turned out alright after all."

Jean hangs up as soon as he receives his flight confirmation number.

/ /

Unsurprisingly, both of them are the same flight home. Surprisingly, they are seated next to each other. Jean chalks it up to his Commander-in-Chief being an egregious piece of shit.

"It's a fifteen hour flight, not including our layover in Amsterdam." Jean grouses. "If you snore, I'll kill you."

"Same goes for you," Eren grumbles back, settling into his seat and dozing in silence.

/ /

When they land, they both receive messages for meetings with their commanders, and are once again unpleasantly reunited.

"Congratulations, boys," Shadis, Eren's Chief, sternly welcomes them into the room, where Pixis is grinning wildly. "You're going to be a unit together."

After the meeting, the two of them speak briefly.

"This is shit," Jean says.

"Don't mess this up for us."

"You are a hundred times more likely to fuck this up for us."

Eren fixes him with a look. "So don't let me fuck this up for us."

At that, he turns and walks away, leaving Jean generally floored.