Secret Smile: Prodigal Son (Chapter One)
Secret Smile | Javier Peña x female reader
Summary: Before returning to Colombia to get things right this time, Javi’s childhood best friend asks him to to keep an eye out for his sister while they’re both stationed in the embassy. Only you don’t need Javier to keep an eye you her. Your role as a new legal advisor is all about keeping an eye on him after all. Sparks fly, lines will be drawn and broken and there’s everything to lose.
Word Count: 2.4k
Chapter Warnings: 18+ blog, language, Narcos season 3 spoilers, reminder - this is going to be a slow burn, unbeta’d
Series Masterlist | Chapter 2
Laredo, Tx
The gum’s not working. How people think this is a viable alternative to a cigarette, Javier doesn’t know. He pops another piece out of the blister pack. Maybe two will help?
It’s been a long evening; it feels like almost everyone at this wedding wants to speak to him. Some of them want to say how proud they are of him, others want to ghoulishly ask about Escobar and see if he will spill any grisly details and satisfy their curiosities.
It’s a marked contrast from the last time he was home; back when he was just the man who broke Lorraine’s heart, who shamed both his and her family by not even turning up to the church to explain himself. Back then, Javier was the black sheep who ran to the DEA and Mexico and Colombia to hide from his sins. Now he is a prodigal son returned, a slayer of demons and one who’s hiding from a whole new set of sins.
It’s exhausting. Javi’s exhausted.
He thought vacations were meant to make you feel less like this, but maybe that’s because most people leave their home rather than return to it as a vacation.
Seeing Lorraine with Randy and her children sits strangely. He left the hall, transfixed by the spectre of a life he could have had if he’d made different decisions. But is that Javi? Could that ever have been him? Could it ever be him? Lorraine didn’t seem to think. Clearly past him hadn’t thought so either because he ran away from it all for a reason, right?
This time away from work isn’t helping. He’s too in his head, too deep in his thoughts. Being back at home dredges up all the ghosts, all the questions and there’s too much time to think about what went down in Colombia, in who he became to get Escobar.
Javi gave years of his life, he gave everything to that single goal and he fumbled it. He wasn’t even there when they took him down; just consoling himself with cheap whiskey in a bar.
Not that the people of Laredo know this; no, to them he’s some sort of hero, all sins forgiven and forgotten.
He’s not a hero. Javi knows who the real heroes are.
He leans against the wall, listening to the sound of insects around him and the din of the wedding inside the hall, fingers itching for a cigarette rather than the unsatisfying gum in his mouth.
He hasn’t told his dad everything yet, just that he has to go back, that he’s been offered a promotion to help bring down the next threat. He can’t tell him about it all; about how he thought he was walking into some sort of oversight or disciplinary committee to fight for his job, that he thought he would be held to account for everything that went down in Colombia, only it was a reprieve, an interview to ask him to go back.
It’s weighed on his mind ever since.
Saying yes was so easy in the moment. He fell at the last hurdle with Escobar, wasn’t even there the day it all ended. All of those years, all that work, faded to nothing against the mistakes and regrets and the scars the job left him.
Catching Escobar had been everything to Javier for so long. He was a symbol of everything that Javi was fighting against and he needed to be stopped. Since he got back from Bogota, he keeps coming back to an old Nietzsche quote he studied once in a Philosophy college class: “battle not with a monster, lest ye become a monster”
He doesn’t think he quite became a monster, but maybe he crossed some lines. Now he needs to fix it.
This time will be better though. It has to be.
He needs to do this whole thing the right way this time, help stop this war once and for all, or at least fix the messes he left behind.
Javi’s pulled out of his reverie by the crunching sound of footsteps on gravel next to him and turns around, instantly on alert.
“Javi?” a familiar voice asks.
“Rafa. Hey, it’s been a while,” Javi replies, relaxing as he faces Rafael. Rafael has been a steady presence in his life since they were kids, arguably he was one of Javi’s first friends. They’d been paired together in elementary school; an unlikely pair at first who’d quickly realised that they had more in common than they expected. They’ve stuck together through it all; Javi’s mother, the way their lives veered in different directions after college and all the way to the failed wedding to Lorraine. Hell, Rafael was going to be his best man and it was him along with Chucho helped pick up the pieces Javier left behind as he ran away under the false promise of being a hero.
Rafael’s holding a glass of whiskey in his hands, his tie is loosened and he looks stressed before he even says a word.
“I need to ask you a favour,” he says, taking another swig of his drink.
“Oh yeah?” Javi asks, dreading what’s next. It’s been an evening of unearned congratulations and fake smiles. He just wants to go home now, but he promised his tia, doesn’t want to let Danny down either.
“My sister’s been posted to Colombia.” That’s news to Javi.
He remembers flashes of you, a few years younger than the two of them, smart, annoyingly competitive and you had always seemed more focused than even Javi. That was something considering Javi worked towards the single goal of working his way out of Laredo and exploring the world more from the age of eight. Sometimes he had resented Rafael’s family who always seemed to have it so easy, their money and presence looming over so much of their hometown.
He hasn’t seen you in years. You left Laredo for college and then Javier had joined the DEA and gone wherever they wanted to send him: Mexico, Colombia. He’d just wanted out of his hometown.
“Colombia?” Javi repeats. He must have heard wrong surely.
“Yes. She’s at the embassy, some sort of fancy position - legal stuff, or something like that. I don’t know the details, I didn’t ask.. she’s not really shouted about it. She didn’t even tell me why she even wanted to leave DC in the first place. I mean, I thought she was happy there and if she wasn’t, I’d have thought she’d have gone back to Austin because I know she loved it there. Look, I’m rambling but she’s my sister, man. I know you don’t talk about what you did down in Colombia, whatever went down. You don’t need to, I can fucking see it on your face, Javi. I’ve known you since we were kids. That’s why I’ve got to ask, Javi, I’ve got to ask if you can you keep an eye on her? I heard Chucho say you’re going back down there to my mom earlier and -”
Javi exhales slowly, rubs between his shoulder and collar bone as he thinks about his friend’s words.
Javi doesn’t want anyone from his hometown in Colombia. He doesn’t want them see who he is at work, or to see the reality of his world down there. At the moment, he feels as though there are two Javier Peña’s; the one that Laredo remembers and is now currently projecting their thanks and heroism to, and then the Javier in Colombia. That Javier is the one who’s reputation in the embassy may not be what Laredo expects. These two sides should never mix, he has to keep them separate.
“The embassy is a big place, Rafa,”, Javi says after a moment, “I’m in one small part of it and the chances are -”
“I know,” Rafael says after a moment, “I know that the chances are you won’t see her much, perhaps even at all. It’s just I’ll feel better if I know someone out there has her back. Please?”
Rafael never asks for anything unless he needs it. He’s the sort of person who would rather try and change a busted tyre alone in the dark than ask someone for help. It’s one of things that drew Javi to him; they’re both stubborn and determined people.
So of course Javier says yes, because Rafael is his longest standing friend and there is no other answer.
The embassy is a big place, Rafael might not know what you do but Javi’s sure you don’t work for the DEA so you won’t be one of his agents. You’ll probably be cooped up with all the stuffy lawyers he actively tries to avoid.
If it helps his friend to know he’ll be there for you if you need him, well, that’s fine with Javier. He would be there too, he means it when he says yes.
He probably won’t even cross paths with you in the corridors.
Famous last words.
Javi’s conversation with his Pops creeps under his skin after Danny’s wedding. It was the way he stopped the car in the same place they’d argued about Colombia, about him running away, for the first time. There’s more than a decade between then and now but for a moment, Javi felt like he was in his twenties again, ready for the fight.
Only this time it was different. Javi was still adamant but his Pops was resigned.
Last night set a fire under him. What is the point of staying any longer in Laredo, what will it bring him that getting back to work won’t? He has a job to do and he’s ready for it.
He can make things right this time; he can properly atone.
“When’s your flight?” Chucho asks from the kitchen doorway.
Javi closes the manilla file of paperwork and looks up. A flash of guilt rises in his stomach as he takes in his Pop’s tired appearance; that weariness that a day of hard physical labour always leaves. He should have helped him today, while he’s still here.
“Tomorrow, my flight’s tomorrow, Pops” he says, his throat constricting with each word. He doesn’t say he asked the DEA to arrange an earlier flight, to change his start date. He doesn’t need to.
“Okay, Javi.” His father’s voice is heavy, unreadable somehow. There’s no disappointment in his voice but he can’t detect any approval either. “Do you need a ride to the airport?”
Javi swallows. “Yeah, that would uh- that would be good if you don’t mind, Pop.”
“Of course I don’t mind, son. When is it?”
Javi tells him when he needs to be at the airport, pushes the folder away for the night and tries to ignore the way his father’s gaze sticks on the innocuous looking file.
“I saw you and Rafael talking last night.”
Javi looks up, surprised at the change in subject. “Yeah, it’s good to see him again. We haven’t had as much of a chance to catch up since I’ve been back.”
“You two were almost inseparable when you were kids; he was always interested in seeing the ranch, you rememebr that? He’s a good man, does a lot to help in this town.”
Rafael wasn’t like Javi - in the end he had chosen to make his life in Laredo. After medical school and his residency, he became a doctor at the local family practice. From what Chucho and others have told Javi, he’s well respected around town too.
“Did he tell you about his sister being down in Colombia too?”
“Yeah, he did. I don’t reckon we’ll cross paths though, Pops, we’ll be in different departments and they don’t mix much.”
“Probably not. It’s funny though, don’t you think? She’s always been like you though, hasn’t she? She’s always wanted to be out there in the world. ‘S a small world though, huh?”
What are the chances of two people from Laredo being assigned to the same embassy?”
Minuscule - the odds are almost obscenely minuscule. The fact this is even happening feels like it must be some sort of aberration or perhaps Javi is just cursed.
Javi can’t say that though, he’s not sure what to say so he just nods.
“He wanted me to keep an eye out for her, make sure she’s alright,” Javi says.
“That makes sense. Are you going to?”
“If I see her. Like I said, we’re in different departments, it’s a big old city. I doubt I’ll even pass her much in the corridors. But if I do, I promised Rafa I’d keep an eye out for her and I will.”
“That’s probably all he wanted to hear. Actually, it might be good for you, having someone you know there with you. You didn’t say if Steve is coming back this time?”
“No, he’s back in Miami with his family. He’s still with the DEA but he wants to stay where he is for now, not do as much active duty. Olivia’s young, I guess he feels he’s missed enough already.”
Steve gave a lot in the fight to stop Escobar. He almost lost his wife, lost time with his daughter, Javi doesn’t blame him for being done with active duty. As much as Steve and him had clashed against each other, by the end, Steve was Javi’s friend. He’d expected Steve to be like the others, last a month or two and be utterly blind to what the reality of the job was, of what being ‘all in’ meant. Steve had surprised him though. You couldn’t spend all that time together in that fire of that battle, because it was a battle, without forming a lifelong bond, however reluctant that might be for either of them.
It would be strange this time, going back there without him. It is going to be different with the promotion anyway - Javi can barely remember Messina getting much of a chance to get out from beyond her desk and that worries him. He’s designed for outside the office, not confined within it. Javi’s not sure where she’s ended up either; Stechner indicated her career was marked. Thanks to him. There’s another debt he can’t pay.
After a moment, his Pops opens the fridge, gets two bottles of beer and they sit together in silence.
Javi knows he should say something before it’s too later, but all of the words are stuck in his throat. He just drinks his beer, runs his hands over the Nicorette gum in his jeans pocket.
Maybe Javi will come home right this time.
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Tom Maubant : a Fabio Quartararo support person
If you watch MotoGP, you've probably seen him in the Yamaha garage or next to Fabio on the grid. Never leaving Fabio's side, I'm here to talk about Tom Maubant, Fabio's PA since 2017.
Since most sources of information are in french (this article, Michel Turco's biography of Fabio, the Fabio, la naissance d'un champion documentary on Canal+), I thought I would make a quick post to share the facts.
Tom & Fabio met during the summer of 2015, back when Tom was in charge of a nautical base in Nice. At the time, Fabio was 16 and Tom was 22 (he was born on the 25th of November 1993, bless you Fabio for the birthday post).
"When he wasn’t in Spain, he came to see me regularly so he could do some jet ski. He became like a little brother to me, I wanted to protect him. At that time, I didn’t really have an interest in moto, my thing was more football. I started following Grand Prix with Fabio.” Quickly, the two niçois [people from Nice] become inseparable. “We were always hanging out together, says Thomas. And since Fabio didn’t have his driving license, I would take him almost everywhere. It’s during the summer that he started having issues with his team. I made him laugh, tried to support him morally." [source : Fabio Quartararo : l'ascension d'un prodige]
In March of 2016, for the Qatar Grand Prix, Tom travels for the first time with Fabio. That season was complicated for Fabio, especially with everything happening with his first manager. During the year, he starts working with Eric Mahé and Tom is here for the last 3 Grand Prix of the season : Japan, Malaysia, Valencia.
"The season was complicated. I had understood that he needed moral support more than just a simple physical presence. He got angry a lot and I spent a lot of time calming him down." [source]
In 2017, Tom still worked at the beach in Nice but he traveled with Fabio for more races. While Eric [Mahé] took care of the contract side of things, Tom dealt with the day-to-day stuff (exchanges with press officers, equipment managers, etc...). In 2018, Tom quits his job in Nice and fully becomes Fabio's full time PA.
Them when Fabio won rookie of the year in Motegi, 2019.
World Champion, 2021.
They've both said a certain number of times that they were each other's best friends and if you look at one of them's instagram posts, you have a good chance to find the other there. They often go on holidays together and honestly, they have my entire heart.
Additional facts :
They have several tattoos in common : the smiley on their big toe, the keys and "blessed" diamonds on their arms. Also, Tom got Fabio's "20" tattooed on his arm after the 2021 season (video).
Tom is Family™ (on the left : with Fabio's mom after Fabio's first podium in Barcelona, 2019 - on the right : also Barcelona but in 2021, with Fabio's dad).
He's also a more than honorary member of the Fab 4.
He's been dating Mathilde Poncharal (Hervé Poncharal's daughter, she also works for GasGas as a Press Officer) for a handful of years now and often times, Fabio looks like their adoptive son. They're very domestic. I love them.
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"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"—Leo Tolstoy
Behold, our 64 dysfunctional families!
Round One will start Monday, July 24, with 8 polls released a day. Polls will go on for a week.
Matchups below the cut!
The Batfamily (DCU) VS the Entrati Family (Warframe)
2. The Roys (Succession) VS The Todoroki family (My Hero Academia)
3. The Asanos (Assassination Classroom) VS the Aether family (Pokémon Sun & Moon)
4. The Mikaelsons (The Vampire Diaries / The Originals) VS the Bluths (Arrested Development)
5. Fire Nation Royal Family (Avatar: The Last Airbender) VS the Okiura family (AI: the Somnium Files)
6. The Wang family (Everything Everywhere All at Once) VS The Entire Pantheon of Greek Gods (Greek Mythology)
7. Loustat Family (Interview With The Vampire) VS the Schnees (RWBY)
8. The Samtheon (Friends at the Table - Seasons of Hieron) VS the Shijimas (Kamen Rider Drive)
9. The House of Finwë (The Silmarillion) VS the Preaker/Crellins (Sharp Objects)
10. The Crowders (Justified FX) VS the Falsettos family (Falsettos)
11. The Homunculi (Fullmetal Alchemist) VS the Chrobin family (Fire Emblem Awakening)
12. The Horsemans (Bojack Horseman) VS DGP Staff Family (Kamen Rider Geats)
13. Big Mom Family (One Piece) VS the Buendía Family (One Hundred Years of Solitude)
14. John and his lyctors (The Locked Tomb) VS Familia Madrigal (Encanto)
15. Agreste/Graham de Vanily/Fathom family (Miraculous Ladybug) VS the Wattersons (The Amazing World of Gumball)
16. House Greyjoy (A Song Of Ice And Fire) VS the Ushiromiya family (Umineko When They Cry)
17. The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy) VS the Gemstones (The Righteous Gemstones)
18. The Winchesters (Supernatural) VS House Davar (Stormlight Archive/Cosmere)
19. The Gravity Brothers (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS King Arthur's Family (Arthurian mythology)
20. The Reynolds + Charlie + Mac (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) VS the Fowls (Artemis Fowl)
21. The Sohma Clan (Fruits Basket) VS Essun's family (The Broken Earth trilogy)
22. Clear Sky's family (Warrior Cats) VS the Strider-Lalondes (Homestuck)
23. Tachibana Sakuya + Kamijou Mutsuki (Kamen Rider Blade) VS the Minyards+Nicky (All For the Game/Foxhole Court)
24. The Mishima Clan (Tekken) VS the Donquixote family (One Piece)
25. The Fey family (Ace Attorney) VS the Klim family (Zero Escape)
26. Marika's Bloodline (Elden Ring) VS the Lehnsherr-Maximoff+ Family (Marvel)
27. The House of Atreus (Greek Mythology) VS the Lucis Caelum Family (Final Fantasy XV)
28. The Muniz family (Malcolm in the Middle) VS the Jiang family (Mo Dao Zu Shi)
29. The Gallaghers (Shameless) VS the Kirigaya-Yuki family (Sword Art Online Abridged)
30. The Hoovers (Little Miss Sunshine) VS the Afton family (Five Nights at Freddy's)
31 . The Puppingtons (Moral Orel) VS the Simpsons (The Simpsons)
32. The Whitleys (Prodigal Son) VS the Zoldycks (Hunter X Hunter)
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