Past (2003)
They'd been on a mission that involved he and his partner attending a ball, though he had no clue why everyone assumed he dragged her to these things when it was quite the other way around. He preferred playing arm-candy, the tall, mysterious, man who had the most fortune of being ever by the lady's side. They both observed, but he worked better from the sidelines, taking in the room with a cool, calculating glare while she swept in, surprising everyone she encountered with her beauty and cleverness.
"Remind me again why I agreed to this." The young man murmured to both his spectators and his companions via linked earpieces. The devices, subdermal implants located just below the flap of the ear, would never be found by the common eye even if one went looking for them. This was only half the reason the crowd avoided him like the plague, the other reason being that they were far too enamoured by their partners (and his) to spare him a glance.
"Perhaps you are hoping to get lucky, my friend." A smooth voice rumbled lowly. The back of his neck tingled as a man who looked to be a few years older than him stepped in front of him. Well-dressed in a white tuxedo and a black shirt with a red bowtie, the newcomer looked far more elegant than he could dare to dream. However, his focus remained on the man's face. Pale from years indoors, eyes an electric blue and black hair slicked back into a ponytail for tonight's events.
"Then again, your partner seems to love the attention being lavished upon her, so maybe not."
She did seem to be having more fun than usual playing this part… when this was all over, the man resolved, brown eyes flashing, he'd take her dancing. For now, he was content to address the brother of the host.
"She's more than privy to the same from me, but I am only one man." He snorted. "To what do I owe the honor of this conversation?"
"You looked lost, my friend, and I wished to enquire as to why that was. I now know that it is nothing against our house, but I might have a few ideas to take your mind off of things." The blue-eyed man purred.
"I'd rather have your name, my good man. We may converse again in the near future, but as you can see, I am hopelessly devoted to my wife."
"Ah a man so struck by love that he would follow his chosen to the depths of purgatory." The host's brother dipped his head. "That is indeed to be admired. Pelitreo Calvin at your service, my friend, but you are free to call me Leo."
"Collin Parker. A pleasure, I'm sure." That seemed to brighten the man's mood, because his eyes lit up in a way Collin hadn't thought previously possible.
"You are Malcolm's associate!" Leo purred. "An honor to meet you, Dr. Parker. Malcolm has spoken most highly of your breakthroughs in the various results that can stem from genetic mutation!"
Although it was something that he dabbled in due to his own quest to figure out just what the fuck was wrong with him, he actually did have a degree in a rare section of psychology that dealt with the human mind and how other people reacted to emotions. This was the basis for what Dr. Collin Parker specialized in, and he was surprised to actually meet someone so interested in his work!
Could this man be like me…?
All hopes of a response were killed when his partner's voice murmured swiftly in his ear.
"Malcolm is heading your way." She informed him. He twitched an ear and Calvin, Leo, he insisted, zoomed back into focus, a concerned look on his face.
"Malcolm did not mention that you were prone to zoning out." The host's brother murmured nervously. "Would you like a place to rest?"
"No, thank you. It is a bad habit of mine, but I have held up well enough so far. Speaking of Malcolm, he's right behind you."
The man in question was their current foot-in-the-door. Malcolm Coral has been worming his way into the Calvin family for the past five years, but when he began to show signs of dropping out, the organization that employed them, known to various governments as The Crusade, sent people to check on him and complete his mission should the need arise. This was why Collin and his wife, Layla, were here tonight.
"Collin, old boy, Ecstatic to see you and the lovely Missus could make it!" Malcolm crowed.
"Wonderful to see you as well, Malcolm, you look as brilliant as ever." Collin dipped his head.
Malcolm embraced his friend fondly before turning to the blue-eyes man beside him.
"Leo, old buddy old pal, glad to see you were able to cheer my friend up so easily. He's normally not so swayed. At any rate, you simply must try the horduerves here! They're absolutely mouth-watering!" Malcolm offered excitedly.
"You're always trying to fatten me up, Mal, and you continue to fail." Collin chuckled as warmly as possible. Something Collin would say for a fact was true about Malcolm: the man loved his food. Would have been just as happy becoming a chef in some fancy restaurant as he was gathering intel. Malcolm and Leo were receptive in their own ways, so Collin guessed that he'd succeeded in being more at ease.
His personal psychologist said he needed to get out more. Apparently focusing on how people reacted to him was not all there was to being human. He had to adjust accordingly, and make it genuine. Add some inflection, speak louder, smile every once in awhile.
Put on a show worth watching and make that show your life, was how Dr. Loka phrased it. He was a pleasant man, quite a few years older than Collin himself, though they shared near the same qualifications. The man was not one to be jealous, and Collin actually enjoyed his time with the psych, spent as much time as he could learning from the older man, who he viewed as something of a mentor.
"Do either of you have a particular favorite?"
That was definitely the right question to ask, because Leo and Malcolm dragged him over to the appetizers and the trio spent the next few hours feasting on endless finger foods. Layla joined them every ten or so minutes five times in a row before she eventually followed the man she was with out of the dance hall.
"Your wife seems free to do as she wishes." Leo mused, watching them from the corner of his eye.
"Layla is her own person, and while I do love her dearly, I have never been interested in pleasures of the flesh."
"And she does not forsake you for it?"
"Despite having every reason to." Collin snorted.
The truth was a bit more grey. While he had no problem with having sex, he wasn't always interested. Layla was a bit further up the ladder than he, but she was nowhere near as ridiculous as he was making her out to be.
"Well," Leo snorted. "Let us hope the lucky man has the time of his life."
"Here, here!" Collin and Malcolm chanted, clinking their drinks.
Eventually, the attendees began to dwindle in number. Somewhere around an hour later, Collin went in search of his wife. He strode out the door he recalled them using. Her ragged breaths and uneasy warnings led him down more than a few long-winded hallways and up to the roof before he found what he was looking for.
Calvin stood at the edge of the building, his arm wrapped around Darcy Parker's neck and a gun to her head. How they had gotten to the roof he had no idea, but there was no time to play with could-haves when his partner was in serious trouble. She'd been meant to lead him away from the party and then kill him, either with a gun or the fast-acting poison that her lipstick was made of. The effects were starting to be seen even now, because Calvin shook as he held the weapon. Darcy saw her chance and yanked herself backward, scrambling over the ledge and back onto stable ground.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but you're obviously insane." She sneered.
"If I can't have you, Madeline, then no one can!"
"That's not my name, you raging jackass!" She spat. Calvin flung his arms and the gun fired; the bullet flung into the wall. Calvin lost his balance and disappeared over the side with an anguished howl.
Collin crept forward and peered over the edge of the roof. There was no mistaking the man on the ground, especially as several guards rushed forward and declared him dead with strangled vehemence. Collin exhaled roughly and turned his back on the scene.
"Are you alright?" Collin asked when he reached Darcy. His wife nodded shakily.
"He seriously tried to kill me just now. He didn't know anything about me, but apparently I reminded him of someone he couldn't live without."
"That's been happening a lot lately. What do you think, should we take a break from all this?"
"I… yeah, a break would be heaven."
"Well done." Jacob Faulkner was a man best known for results, and right now, he had everything he needed. As a handler for an organization known as The Crusade, his job was to mold young people into operatives for missions that most spies with years of training would not be able to complete. Something about innocence, the Head Director once claimed.
The trio before him consisted of two young men and a young woman, barely into their twenties but with years of training under their respective belts. They'd just returned from causing what was bound to be absolute chaos in Slovakia. Already, the Calvins were scurrying to get things under control and would be busy for a few years, by the estimate of analysts at The Crusade. This was thanks, in major part, to the team before them.
The Crusade has, over the years, sent officers to infiltrate (or even get some kind of info on) the Calvin family. Responsible for a good majority of the terror taking place in Eastern Europe, the Clavins were loyal to no one… not even their own. Such organized chaos made them hard to get a handle on, but they'd managed to eliminate a major player tonight and, at the very least, start a power struggle.
"Do you have any idea where you'd like to go next?" Faulkner was by no means young. Hair graying at the temples and often-faded green eyes on a weathered face made him look just like any other person out of the street… but that face held many secrets and those eyes held intelligence beyond measure. He knew good and well that one of his crew wouldn't be staying on much longer, but which one…
"Spencer," He murmured calmly. "Is there anything new you would like to try?"
The young man formerly addressed as Dr. Collin Parker did not fidget. He held his handler's piercing green gaze without fear but inside, his mind was whirling.
How did he know?!
"It's quite alright, Dr. Reid, to pursue a different lifestyle than the one you currently have. There's a reason that some of your peers are no longer with us."
Dead or gone… and he wasn't dead. He'd made it. This was their last mission, their final test! So why did he feel so empty inside…?
"I think I'd like to go into profiling." Reid choked out. "Get a few more degrees on the way."
"Are you sure you know what profiling is? What you'd be getting into is eerily similar to what you've been doing."
"I did my research." Reid growled. "It's what I'm good at." He insisted. "And if I find out more about what I want along the way, I can always change. That is what chameleons do."
"Yes, Dr. Reid, it is…" Faulkner trailed off thoughtfully. "Since you two haven't spoken up, I expect you both back at 1200 hours in three days' time. Spencer, I'll have your papers by the end of the week."
With a final nod, the trio was dismissed and Faulkner was back to being alone with his own thoughts… and paperwork. If there was one thing ever so mind-numbingly boring, it was paperwork. Wonderful stress-reliever sometimes.