grifter!au: james was a rising star in the military special forces but left after some ugly [classified] incidents in [classified location] which left him with a slowburning hatred of institutions and hierarchies. he became a self-employed investigator and acquisitions expert along semi-shady lines and was introduced to the alfred hamilton case by his old friend/colleague peter ashe, who had also retired from [classified military position, something that administered to james’s branch of the special forces].
unbeknownst to james, one of alfred’s companies [classified government military contracts *vague handwaving*] is responsible for the [classified fuckup] and ashe was involved in covering it up in return for various favours. fearing that the supposedly dead thomas and miranda hamilton may have stumbled on this information in the course of their own investigations, they’re hoping james will provide ‘confirmation’ of their ‘guilt’ followed by surety of their deaths; and, if not the latter, a location where they will very shortly send... possibly james, assuming he can be bribed into wetwork.
of course ashe doesn’t have as deep a knowledge of james as he thinks he does and they both severely underestimate him, to their detriment. they’ve written him off as a lower-class, uneducated (but just smart enough for their purposes), usefully patriotic tool who can be convinced to carry out illegal or unethical actions ‘for the good of the nation,’ ‘it’s a national security issue, of course you understand,’ etc etc. also they assume that, being from a poor working class background, he’ll be grateful for the money and not ask too many questions about facts or ethics or what actually happened here. in addition they have in reserve a [classifed incident] which they believe they can use to blackmail him should he get unruly, maybe frame him for treason.
however! 1) any patriotism james had didn’t survive his military career; 2) he sees and resents their (better hidden in ashes’ case, but still evident) classism; 3) he outright loathes alfred hamilton and is determined to fuck with him out of spite; 4) so far as [classified blackmail incident] goes he seriously has no fucks to give anymore. let the world know, he’s past caring and he’ll take his chances with the law/secret services/whoever comes after him (in fact, he’s in a bit of depression and has little to no interest in self-preservation. at least the adrenaline rush will be something); and 5) the more he digs the dodgier the whole case appears to be, and the more intriguing he finds thomas and miranda. (in fact getting to know this couple via their paper trail, online history, interviews with people they knew, their taste in books and art and music, is the only highlight of this shitty job.)
furthermore *someone* keeps leaving helpful self-terminating messages on his phone to point him in particular directions that seem to undermine any case alfred and ashe make. some of these messages are... quite flirtatious. (picture jack’s irritation at being used as a conduit for long-distance seduction. he believes in the purity of his work, people. where’s the respect.) thomas and miranda have much the same access to information about james that peter ashe does, but have drawn very different conclusions from it. also they both agree that james looks really tasty in dress uniform.
eventually alfred has to take care of his wayward investigator and much to his surprise james finds himself extracted from his operation by the objects of said operation and some lanky hipster and his unfriendly girlfriend who may or may not have a face and a personality somewhere under the hat brim, james hasn’t seen either yet.
