The sky was overshadowed with gray clouds, eclipsing the promising weather.
But then again, he had a cloud hanging over his head, it was befitting.
Parker kept his hands in the pockets of his black slacks, walking along the sidewalk.
The Italian was on his way to work, relishing the sounds his shoes made on the brick-
lined streets-somehow finding it soothing, considering that his nerves were all but shot.
He didn't bother to drive to the London branch of the BSAA anymore, finding that his
mind was far too occupied to focus on the roads.
He hadn't had a good nights sleep in nearly a year, but it hadn't affected his work so he
felt there was no need to worry too terribly. But his new boss had been keeping a
watchful eye on him, telling him to take it easy every now and again.
'Heh, easier said than done.' Parker chuckled.
Looking at his watch he realized that he would be arriving to work an hour early, making
him frown and mentally kick himself for rolling out of bed and missing breakfast.
"Well, I might as well grab something to eat before heading in…" he mused aloud.
He walked inside a small café and ordered a breakfast plate and a cup of coffee.
Parker smiled and thanked the waitress before cutting up his eggs, making a disgusted
face and deciding to eat the sausage instead when the yolk burst and oozed.
The eggs reminded him of those creatures…
Once he finished eating the sausage links he realized that the toast was soggy from the
burst eggs, making his stomach churn ever so slightly. "Ah..Miss?" Parker raised a finger
politely to ask for the waitress. "Everything alright, sir?" she smiled politely, looking at
his half-finished plate. "Oh yes, the food is delicious, I was wondering if I could have a
sandwich?" "Oh, of course, I'll be right back." She nodded and walked down the aisle.
Parker sighed as he pushed the tainted plate away, relieved it was out of his line of vision.
'What's wrong with me? It's just some soggy bread and runny eggs…' he rubbed his
face. "Here you are, sorry to keep you waiting." The waitress smiled as she carefully set
the plate down in front of Parker. "No trouble at all, thank you." The Italian smiled,
making the young girl blush. "Will you be needing anything else?" the blonde slipped her
hands into her black apron, unsure if she should get her notepad out. "No, I'm good now,
thank you." Parker nodded. "Alright then, call me if you need anything." She winked and
walked away, her ponytail swaying from the motion.
'What a sweet girl…' Parker smiled before taking a bite out of his sandwich, purring as
he tasted the succulent flavor of the ham, the smoothness of the cream cheese and the
refreshing tomatoes. 'I really must come here more often.' He smiled inwardly.
'I wonder if Raymond would've enjoyed this too…' Parker paused in his eating and felt a
small pain in his chest, finishing the bite before sipping his coffee.
Hardly a day passed that he didn't think about the young redhead, now cursing himself
for ruining his pleasant meal.
It's been two years since he saw the former cadet…
After the events on The Queen Zenobia the FBC had disbanded since they no longer had
a leader. Parker had to force himself to not let himself get worked up when he
remembered Commissioner Lansdale, choosing to instead focus on Raymond.
The Italian wondered what Raymond had been up to for the last few years, running his
hand through his hair to relieve the tension. It certainly hadn't been an easy break from
the other man, waking up in bed alone and realizing that Raymond had left him.
There was a note, he did commend him for the notice, but it gave way to so many
questions-questions that may never be answered.
The bitter side of Parker wondered if the redhead had left because they were finally
'even' now that Raymond had saved him during the chaos on that ship, no longer feeling
the need to occupy Parker's presence. That theory was the one that hurt the most.
What had he meant by that note though?
I might do things that I'm not proud of, but it's for the greater good…
He wondered just what those 'things' could possibly be, wondering if Raymond had an
agenda all along. Raymond? Raymond Vester and an agenda that wasn't entirely pure?
The other man was still so young, seemingly too naïve to seek a higher purpose.
But then again, he was the one who helped O'Brian orchestrate the 'revival' of Veltro…
Parker chugged his coffee, mistaking it for a beer. He really wanted a drink…
But he had vowed that he would take it easy on the alcohol after achieving
sobriety after the Terragrigia Panic and moving on to the BSAA.
He must admit that he does still have feelings for the brash man, finding his once
troublesome qualities endearing. Raymond was stubborn, quick-tempered, impatient,
proud, and would often question and undermine authority. Many times in the past Parker
had wanted to go and smack him upside the head, but due to the no-contact rule in the
FBC, he had to settle for verbally reprimanding the cadet.
However, he did have good qualities too…
He was loyal, determined, focused, hard working, and he had a strong desire to help those
in need-which was a quality that every agent needed to thrive in such an organization.
The Italian actually missed Raymond's sass, preferring it over his lonesome existence.
'Where did you go Raymond…?'
His cell phone rang, interrupting his thoughts, thankfully.
"Luciani here." He stated professionally.
"Enjoying yourself, Parker? How's the food?" A man's voice chuckled on the other end.
"Ah, Moore, how did you know-?" Parker smiled at the sound of his friend's voice.
"I heard the clinking of forks on plates in the background, of course."
"Your sense of hearing still amazes me, sir. What can I do for you?" Parker grabbed a
napkin to wipe off his hand.
"There has been a change in plans. We need you to come to Rourke."
"The beach? Why?" Parker paused a moment as he listened more closely.
"There was a fire at the abandoned fishery here, it was a police matter until witnesses
found a couple of suspicious corpses of the BOW variety." Moore continued.
Parker clenched his hand around the napkin, his knuckles turning white.
"..And why would you need me to investigate this, sir?" Parker asked cautiously.
"Because you've dealt with fish-oriented carcasses in the past, I felt that you were best
suited for the job-am I wrong?" Moore's voice was filled with concern.
"N-no, sir, it's not a problem…" Parker held back an exasperated sigh.
"Alright, if you're sure-hey!" Moore was suddenly cut off, replaced with a woman's
voice. "Hey! Parker you greedy bastard, are you at the café again?" Parker laughed at his
fellow agent's antics. "Sylvia, why did you take Brandon's phone?"
"I was checking on something when I heard him say that you were eating, while we're
here investigating-and we're not going to be making fish and chips with these damn
things." Parker could imagine that infamous look on her face, pouty lips and a
lowered eyebrow. "How can I make it up to you, Sylvia?" Parker smiled.
"Bring cinnamon rolls." Sylvia answered, causing Parker to laugh.
"I can't believe that you would eat cinnamon rolls at an investigation site, with all those
bodies and all. You have a stronger stomach than I do…" Parker sighed before signaling
the waitress to give him the bill, and order a side of cinnamon rolls.
"Can I have my phone back now, Caldwell?" Parker could hear Director Moore's voice
in the background, hearing faint voices talking away from the speaker.
"Just get your ass over here, and don't forget the rolls!" Sylvia chuckled.
"Alright, I'll bring them. I always keep my word, don't I?" Parker laughed.
"Yeah, yeah you do, I'll give you that."
"Sylvia…" Brandon warned, undoubtedly annoyed with her.
"I'll be there soon, bye." Parker hung up, putting the phone back in his pocket.
"Something else you want, sir?" the waitress smiled as she clasped her hands.
"No, I'll just have the check. Oh! And I'll have some cinnamon rolls to go." Parker
smiled bashfully as he had almost forgotten his friend's request.
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"About time you got here." Parker scoffed at Sylvia's remark, handing her the box of
cinnamon rolls. "Am I forgiven now?" Parker grinned. Sylvia opened the cardboard box
and instantly smiled when she saw the six beautiful cinnamon rolls, shaped like
croissants. "I'll let you off this time…" Sylvia winked before biting into one.
"So, who else is here?" Parker placed his hands on his hips as he looked over the knee
high stone wall of the parking lot, scanning the coastline for fellow BSAA agents.
"Us, Brandon and Thomas." Sylvia swallowed before answering, wiping her mouth.
"That's it?" Parker raised an eyebrow as he turned back to look at her.
"Well, there are some more of our boys that are trying to hold back the press." She rolled
her head in the direction of the mob of cameras and reporters, questioning BSAA agents.
"Ah, I see Thomas is taking care of it himself-I wonder if he'll come away with a
migraine after this?" Parker chuckled as he watched the other man stand in the way of the
press from going down the slope that led to the investigation site.
"If he does, it won't be a problem, considering that he practically has a pharmacy in his
desk drawer." Sylvia grinned, taking another bite of the roll.
"Say, aren't you a little over dressed for an investigation?" Sylvia suddenly asked as she
looked at Parker's clothes. Parker glanced at his outfit himself, not surprised to see that
he still wears a white button up shirt along with the black slacks, topped with ankle boots.
"Heh, I guess I wasn't paying attention when I got out of bed this morning." Parker
rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before taking in Sylvia's appearance.
Sylvia had long brown hair tied in a braid, she forbade anyone from touching it. She also
wore a black top with a brown leather jacket, completing the outfit with blue jeans and
hiking boots. "You seem to fit the bill, as always." Parker smiled.
"Pfft, just get down there." Sylvia leaned back on Parker's black Land Rover.
"What, you're not coming?" Parker raised an eyebrow.
"I've been staring at what remains of a fish market and have had Brandon talking my ear
off about borrowing his phone."
"You stole it." Parker said flatly with a smirk. "Details…look, let me just finish eating
and I'll join you." Parker sighed as he realized that she wouldn't budge, she never did
when her mind was set on something. "Alright, I'll see you down there."
Parker walked towards the mixture of reporters and the BSAA agents that held them
back. "Thomas, how are you holding up?" the Italian smiled.
"Oh, Parker, you're here." Thomas smiled as his friend approached.
"Yeah, Moore asked me to come personally…" he rubbed his chin.
"You have experience for this kind of situation, right?" the brunette took out a cigarette
and lit it, being granted a break from keeping the press at bay.
"Yeah, you could say that…Hey, are you alright?" Parker took notice of the cigarette,
knowing that Thomas would only ever smoke if he was stressed.
"Yeah, just need a breather, those damn cameras are persistent as hell. Besides, Sylvia
isn't here to complain about the smoke so I'm going for it." He smiled in victory.
"Hpmh, a little pig and a chain smoker, what a lovely pair you two would make."
"I heard that!" Sylvia piped up as she came jogging over to join them.
"I was only joking!" Parker held up his hands defensively as Sylvia clapped him on the
shoulder for the comment. "Sure you were…" she scoffed, a smile forming on her lips.
"Dammit, I can never stay angry with you for long." She sighed as she shook her head.
"Ohh is it because of my charm?" Parker winked, earning a playful shove.
"Can it, Parker, we've got work to do." Sylvia started down the slope, passively shoving
a BSAA rookie for trying to stop her-mistaking her for a civilian.
"She wouldn't have a problem getting into the sites if she wore the uniform." Thomas
blew out a puff of smoke as he watched her. "She doesn't have a problem to begin with,
she's not afraid to push the rookies around." Parker chuckled.
'I wish she could've put some sense into Raymond, I would've loved to have seen that.'
"You sure you want to be working alone? You can always sign up for a partner…"
Thomas inhaled the nicotine before turning his head and releasing the breath he held.
"I can't, Tom, you know that." Parker glanced at the ground briefly.
"…because of back then?" Thomas looked at his friend sadly.
"Yeah, exactly." Parker nodded before forcing a smile.
The Italian was unable to fully give his trust to anyone, not since what happened on
The Queen Zenobia two years ago. Ever since Jessica betrayed him and left him and
Raymond for dead. 'That bitch…' Parker frowned at the thought.
"You alright, Parker?" Thomas placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah I'm fine…just didn't sleep all that great last night."
Well, it wasn't entirely a lie…
"Hey, Ox, get down here!" Sylvia called up from the bottom of the slope.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Parker chuckled as he jogged down to meet her.
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"Ah, Parker, you look good..now all you need is a black horse to complete the Fabio
look." Moore chuckled at Parker's choice of clothing. "Moore, you're as chipper as
ever." Parker chuckled at his boss's playful jab at him. "So, you said corpses have been
spotted?" Parker suddenly felt a strong wave of déjà vu strike him, blurring the past with
the present. "Yeah, most of them are human-which have yet to be examined by the
coroner, but there are a couple that seem off." Moore turned on his heel and led the way
to a row of corpses that were covered by white sheets. "These were the human bodies we
found, they're completely charred from the fire." Moore looked on at them sadly.
Parker took note that there were five bodies lying on the sand, the sheets were stained
with red and black-obviously blood and burned flesh. "Take a look over here." Moore
walked over to what remained of the factory.
The building was about the size of two houses, metal sheeting stained from the black
soot. Parker could see that parts of the building had white paint, just barely.
"Put these on, we don't know if the infection is still in effect. Can't have you breathing in
the ashes, either." Moore handed Sylvia and Parker two white masks that covered their
noses and mouths, also giving them fabric gloves to protect their hands.
"Watch your step, this building hasn't been checked by the fire department yet."
Moore ducked under a warped doorway, waiting for Parker and Sylvia to catch up.
The frame on the door creaked when Parker's back brushed up against it when he stood
on his feet, charred wood crunching under his shoes. The smell of burned wood still hung
in the air, it wasn't an unpleasant smell but his eyes burned from the irritation.
The shell that was left of the fishery felt eerie and ominous, Parker repressed a shiver.
There were remains of plastic bins, probably to hold all the fish that was caught.
There were some oil drums, partially corroded after the fire had started.
Wooden crates were stacked high up on either side of the room, most of them burned.
"You sure you couldn't have at least let the fire department evaluate the safety of this
place? It looks like it could cave any minute." Sylvia patted the soot off from her hands.
"We couldn't risk any of the public seeing this, not until all the evidence has been
collected and carted off to HQ." Moore slipped his hands into the pockets of his black
trench coat. "Where should we start?" Parker's voice was muffled by the mask.
"Examine the corpses first, then we'll search for evidence." Moore motioned towards a
hallway before continuing on, Parker and Sylvia following close behind.
"This is what we found." Moore paused in front of the doorway.
On the floor were four human bodies, parts of them had mutated beyond recognition.
Parker moved in a little closer to examine one corpse, seeing that it was a man.
The body was burned to a dark brown, most if not all distinguishing features had blurred
together in a mess of charred flesh. But what looked to be an arm seemed to have turned
into a bubbled mass, most of it having popped. "This arm has mutated…" Parker trailed
off as he moved on to another corpse. This corpse was only what remained of a pair of
legs, the top half of the body was gone. "These are legs but…where's the rest of it?"
Parker cocked his head to the side. "Did it…explode? Or does it look bitten off?" Sylvia
wearily stepped closer to Parker to examine it. "There's still a spine, so it must have
imploded." Sylvia cringed at the thought. "I've seen creatures like this before, they swell
up like a balloon before exploding-really messy." Parker stood up from his haunches.
The other two corpses couldn't be identified, not even the mutations.
"Have you checked this door yet?" Sylvia pointed at a metal door off to the side.
"No…we didn't open any doors yet." Moore stepped forward.
Sylvia carefully tested the doorknob before grabbing it, feeling the heat under her glove
as she turned it. She yelped when a corpse toppled out and landed on the floor.
She took out her handgun and aimed carefully, hoping that it wouldn't rise.
"This one looks fresh…" Parker bent down and looked closely at the body.
It had gray skin and parts of its clothing were torn to shreds, a slick membrane
completely covered its face-sharp teeth had protruded from what looked to be a mouth.
"I guess this one was infected, ran to hide in the closet and mutated…" Parker stood up
and walked around it to examine the closet it had fallen from. "Is it dead?" Sylvia
tightened her grip on the gun. "Double tap for good luck." Thomas' voice called out as he
stepped into the room, wearing gloves and a mask. "Thomas.." Moore started.
"You've been in here for quite awhile, I was getting worried." Thomas replied to his
boss. A snarl erupted from the creature as it suddenly lurched up, reaching a gray hand
towards Sylvia's leg. A couple of shots rang out, piercing the mutant's skull.
"Thanks, Parker." Sylvia sighed in relief. "I guess it wasn't entirely dead." Moore
furrowed his eyebrows. "But I thought the fire would've destroyed them all." Thomas
looked up at the Director. "This door is made of metal, it delayed the fire from getting to
the body-so it survived, for a little while." Parker put his handgun back into his holster
before walking into the closet. "Find anything?" Sylvia crossed her arms.
"Some coats, and a couple of boxes.." Parker checked the pockets for anything that
would identify the bodies in the fire. "There are only three coats in here, and only two
have ID." "Who were they?" Thomas placed a comforting hand on Sylvia's shoulder.
"One of them was named Richard Clayton, another was Brad Locke-they don't say where
they work, but they do have addresses." Parker turned the cards over in his hands. "We'll
check up their addresses later, put them in here." Moore took out a plastic bag, signaling
Parker to drop them in for evidence.
Parker then opened up the cardboard boxes, most of them containing batteries or other
random junk. But in one box, there were some vials.
The vials themselves were clear glass and topped with steel caps, the liquid was a deep
red inside. Parker never did see the T-Abyss virus, unlike Jill and Chris, but the vials just
gave him a bad feeling. To be honest, he wasn't sure if it was a deadly virus or some kind
of drug that he wasn't familiar with.
Parker slowly backed away from the box and closed the door. "We're going to need a
hazmat team in here, I think I just found some samples of a virus in there."
"T-there's a virus in there?" Sylvia's eyes widened in shock. "That would explain why
there haven't been any other reports of mutation…at least not yet." Moore lowered his
gaze as he thought aloud. "You didn't touch it, did you?" Thomas looked down at
Parker's hands. "No, I only touched the brim of the box, nothing else." Parker reassured
them. "It should be alright then, but if you start feeling any different I want you to report
to the medical unit ASAP-that goes for all of you." Moore glanced around the room at his
agents. "Got it, boss." Thomas nodded.
"Two ID cards and a box of…vials." Sylvia thought aloud as she went over the evidence
they managed to scavenge. "I'd hate to be a downer, but I don't think we're going to find
very much else in this place, it all but burned to the ground." Thomas sighed sadly.
"I'd say you're probably right, but we still need to try." Moore replied.
"Alright, let's split up and check all the rooms, we'll meet back at the entrance later-if
you find anything, speak up." Moore gave the orders before picking a doorway and
passed through. "Sylvia, I'll stay with you if you want." Thomas patted his partner on the
shoulder. "Thanks, Tom." Sylvia smiled, although hidden behind the facemask.
Sylvia and Thomas walked off in another direction together, leaving Parker to search
alone. Now that he was alone, so many sounds were amplified since his fellow agents
weren't nearby to work as a distraction. The Italian could hear the sound of cracking in
every which direction, it put him on edge.
He would need to take care and not overreact to every little sound…
Parker's paranoia was only further increased whenever he looked at the charred creatures
on the floor, wishing he could just finish up and leave as quickly as possible.
But he knew that he had to be thorough, sighing at the thought.
He started to think back to the events of The Queen Zenobia…
He quickly shook his head of the thoughts, not wanting to remember them, never again.
'Buck up, Luciani, you have a mission.'
Parker walked past the corpses, walking quietly in fear that they would 'wake up'.
He didn't need to look very hard after all, seeing that most of the rooms were all burned
and charred, everything was destroyed.
A few things would look out of place, but he wasn't sure if it was because of a struggle or
if it was caused by an explosion. It was disheartening the more rooms he found in
disarray, knowing that it was more evidence lost.
"Hey, have you found anything?" Sylvia approached Parker, Thomas close behind.
"No, I've looked everywhere, everything is gone." Parker sighed in frustration.
"At least we have the two ID cards, we can search where they were staying. And we still
have those vials you found, we can have our specialist examine them." Sylvia placed a
hand on Parker's shoulder, concern filled her blue eyes. Parker patted her hand in
reassurance, knowing that she was really worried about him-he was involved with these
types of monsters in the past, after all.
"Maybe there's something in the bodies we've found? The coroner still needs to examine
them." Thomas spoke up, Parker hummed in agreement as he gave a nod.
"Anything?" Moore's feet crunched along the ground as he walked over.
"No, all we have is what we've found." Parker answered.
"…Any idea how this fire got started in the first place?" Sylvia looked to Moore.
"Eyewitnesses say that they saw the building engulfed in flames, but there was no
explosion. Also, we've found a trail of accelerant that leads away from here, which makes me think
that someone set fire to this place." Moore reported.
"Since we found those vials, I think this may have been a base of operations for a group
of terrorists." Parker frowned. "Do you think a member set fire to their own base?" Sylvia
glanced at Parker. "Maybe, if the place was overrun with monsters they may have wanted
to destroy the evidence of their involvement." Thomas glanced at the creatures in the
other room. "That makes sense, but now we need to find out who it is." Parker nodded.
"We'll need to check the suspect's homes, and we'll need to interview their families."
Moore chimed in. "Any other eyewitnesses we need to talk to?" Sylvia jumped slightly
when her foot broke a chunk of charred wood. "..No, everyone who did see what
happened only saw the building already up in flames, no one claims to have seen how it
happened." Moore frowned thoughtfully. A loud crack startled the group.
"Best that we clear out of here, I don't know how long this will stay standing." Moore
made his way to the exit, pulling off his gloves and mask once outside.
The other three agents quickly made their way outside, breathing sighs of relief when
they could breathe in fresh air again. "Thank god we don't have to stay in there any
longer…" Sylvia wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
Parker saw the mutated bodies being carted out of the building, making his stomach
churn. "Alright you three, it's been a long day, we should call it quits for now and
continue with the investigation tomorrow-get some rest." Moore emphasized when he
looked Parker in the eye, causing the Italian to grin lopsidedly.
"Have a good one, B." Sylvia smiled tiredly at her boss. Moore smiled and walked away
with a wave of his hand, wiping his brow. "I guess it's hard on him too.." Thomas
murmured. "It's not easy for anyone." Sylvia looked up at her partner.
"You alright, Syl?" Parker glanced worriedly at his friend. "Yeah, I'm fine, you?" Sylvia
gave a sweet smile in reassurance. "Yeah, fine. It'll be nice to go home and rest for
awhile.." Parker stretched his arms above his head as he yawned, scratching his neck
before walking off towards the parking lot. "Good night, you two." Parker called.
Not that there was really anything 'nice' to go home to…
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The first chapter is finally posted, and it's fifteen pages long-oof!
Well, I hope that it's a good start to the series, at least it adds more to the mystery…
I know that I didn't describe how Moore or Thomas look, I'll definitely start working on
them probably in the next chapter-when Parker works more closely with them.
I'm hoping that Moore isn't too much like O'Brian, I want them to be different.
It was fun to write this chapter because I actually looked up the different types of food
that people in Britain sometimes eat, but now I'm feeling kinda hungry.
I'm not sure when I'll post the second chapter up, I spent hours just writing this one and
the prologue-so I'll take some time off and rest up!
Ah, just so you all know, this story is also a sequel to my past story "Façade" which was
a summary of the events of Revelations-from Parker's POV.
So, quite a bit of the stuff that's mentioned in this story about Parker and Raymond are
going to be influenced by that story.
I hope you're all enjoying the series so far, let me know what you think of it!
Lin