I would like to welcome Tsukikage1213's character, after using mine numerous times it was only fair. And thanks for those reviews last chapter. Realfanficts, Sklyer-A-Teloiv, Cartoonfire, Royalfire14, BonitaChickia, Tsukikage1213, Kosha, Bella-Rose, Stargazer528. Thanks guys. Enjoy!


Chapter Four

A stranger to Earth

The lingering sound of a gunshot within Richard's dreaming mind woke him with a start. He lay there quite still trying to assess what had happened the night before. He then remembered that he had once again been in indulging in one of his new vices and as a result of that inebriation fell flat on his face in bed and dreamt that he'd rescued a girl from outer space; or so he wished. Richard never allowed himself to get that drunk. He forced himself out of bed absently forgetting about brushing of teeth or even splashing cold water in his face Richard limped out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He paused at what he saw next; leaning against his cane in case he lost his balance. The counter was cluttered with plates and the remains of pieces of fruit and open bags of bread. He then noticed that the backdoor was wide open.

"Tsk….eat me out of house and bread, don't do the dishes,…..and you leave the backdoor open. Nice…" He closed the door and locked it. Upon turning around he came face to face with the girl. "WHOA!" His startle made both of them jump out of their skin. He chuckled somewhat. "Wow…you scared the bejesus out of me." He stole a glance at the aftermath of her eating. "Little snack huh?" she shrugged sheepishly and he shook his head. "Well, morning."

"Good—morning." He stopped on the spot and looked at her oddly. She became somewhat fearful of his look. "That is the proper greeting yes?" He suddenly found his voice.

"What? Oh..uh no, it's actually 'good afternoon'." She placed a finger to her chin and nodded seriously. He looked away with a tiny smirk. 'Yeah, I am that mean'. He would remind himself to correct her later. "So, you talk all of a sudden?"

"Well, I could understand your words….I just did not know how to respond, as strange as that may seem." He shrugged. She then pointed over at his TV. "Last night after you retired I watched the television and now I can communicate quite well." Richard closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Wait a second; you're saying that after watching the tube all night you can speak fluent English?" She glowed humbly.

"I am as I heard them say…'a quick study'." Richard nodded and silence reigned over all with an iron fist. The crippled FBI agent began making his way over to the kitchen table. She quickly followed after him. "I have yet to properly thank you for your help."

"Oh…don't worry about it," he replied in the midst of a tired groan as he sat down. "I've been looking for an excuse to shoot Woods since the day I moved in." She tried to look amused but failed. He couldn't help but find her so amusingly curious. She looked so rigid and apprehensive; as though she were afraid the slightest misstep would cause him anger. "Go ahead, sit down." He gestured to a chair across from him. She slid into the chair and kept her hands folded in her lap. "So, what'dya say we give this a try again; I'm Richard. What's your name?" She paused with an odd blank expression. He wondered if she even knew.

She answered nonetheless. "I am Kory." Richard raised his eyebrows.

"Kory? Sounds a bit Earthly, but its nice." She giggled and looked down at the floor.

"Your name, Richard, is also nice." She replied with a hint of redness. He regarded her strangely.

"Rigghhhttt. So you really are from another planet?" She nodded. "So I'm not as crazy as Victor, Rachael, Logan, and…..well everybody says I am?"

"I assure you, I am telling the truth and I am reasonably certain you are not the crazy." He chuckled involuntarily; even her way of speech was capturing his attention in a way that not many people could manage. He found her eyes moving up and his bum leg and the cane directly to its side.

"You okay?" She tilted her head to one side.

"I-it is just….your leg; are you hurt?" Richard couldn't believe the question she'd just asked. If any other person on this earth, his friends included, had asked them that…they would have regretted it soon after. But her, she was genuinely curious. Richard sat open mouthed and at a loss for words. Thus he simply nodded. Her eyes softened out of concern for him. "Are you in pain now? Can I hel-"

"Think we could change the subject?"

"Yes of course," she replied quickly. Kory became deathly afraid that in her attempt to help that she'd offended her rescuer.

Here I was now smack dab in the middle of the Twilight Zone. Two days ago I was by myself in my house just praying God would grant me the merciful fortune of being hit by a bus the next day. And now I'm sitting at my table across from a girl who says she's from another planet. Now might be a good time to ask Raven for some codeine.

Uncomfortable could hardly describe the atmosphere. What was Richard supposed to say? That he believed her? There are a couple of things, according to Richard, that should someone say, then they must be insane;

That they're an alien

That George Lopez is funny

That they've found the Holy Grail

Or that they're Jesus

Either way it was going to take more than her word to convince him that she landed here on their planet. After all, where was she from or where was her ship?

"So….what's the name of your planet?" Kory was only too happy to have a change of topic.

"My home world is called Tamaran," she said a smile.

"How'd you get here?" he asked.

"I was held prisoner aboard a Gordanian slave skiff. They are heavily guarded but relatively unarmed and lightly armored. I was able to escape but in the midst of my escape I was injured and when I awoke I was within the forest behind your home."

"Uh huh, so these Gordons-"

"Gordanians."

"Right, that's what I said. These guys….I'm guessing they're not all that friendly." Her eyes grew serious and she shook her head.

"Most certainly not. They have a widely known reputation for their brutality, deceit, and cruelty."

"Sounds like a few lawyers I know," replied Richard with a weak smile. His eyes then took in for the first time, the sight of her less than decent clothing. "I suppose that's standard issue for all prisoners huh?" She pulled the shredding and fraying garments closer to her in an effort to preserve her modesty. "I'll get you some clothes to wear." He then reached for his cell phone as it began crawling about on the table from the vibrations. A quick read of the text message got him to his feet. "Alright, I need to go-" Kory shot out of her seat.

"Go?" He downed a glass of orange juice.

"Yeah, I have a job that I need to do. Killer out on the loose and nine out of ten experts agree that that's a bad thing." Kory darted her eyes about fretfully.

"W-Will you return shortly?"

"I don't know Kory, some days I'm gone for five minutes or five hours or the entire day. It depends on how much work needs to be done or if we catch a break in the case." Kory stepped closer to him, perhaps a little too close for his comfort.

"Please….I do not wish to be alone."

"Kory I promise nothing is going to happen to you, you're safe here." His words did little to convince her. He reached over to the counter and pulled his phone off the cradle. "I have to go Kory…" She shook her head. "But I'll call the house every hour to check on you. Here look at this.." he directed her vision to the phone and to the many buttons. "When it rings just press here and we'll be able to talk with one another." She held the phone tightly in her grasp. "Is that okay?" Still unsure if she should allow him to leave his own home Kory silently nodded. "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can." As he began walking out he noticed an empty mustard bottle lying sideways on the counter. He shot a curious look back at her then shoved it into the trash.


THE AIRPORT…………..

Richard and Victor returned to further inspect Benson's office/home when the coroner reported a rather high BAC level in Benson's blood. They both combed over his work and sleeping area again and again but so far found nothing, or nothing of importance. Richard now sat on the floor against the wall, tossing his cane back and forth between his hands. Victor walked inside from the office and shrugged.

"Found an amateur chemistry set looking thing, but I wouldn't say that accounts for anything that went on here." Richard remained in silent thought. "What'd ya think?"

"That the Cowboys are blowing it yet again this year." Victory glared down at him. "Oh you mean about the case," said Richard trying to sound surprised. He switched back to seriousness again. "There must be something here, something we missed." Victor shook his head and surveyed the room with a quick scan of his eyes. Richard's vision then fell on a round impression in the carpet a short distance away from where his partner was standing. He tilted his head and then pointed to it with his cane. "Something like that." After glancing downward, Victor lowered himself to his knees and examined it. He was mere seconds away from dismissing the find when he spotted another one.

"Wait a second," he muttered. Victor pulled out a small tape measure from his pocket and measured the distance between the two impressions. Looking about he found another set. After measuring them and the distance between both sets he dropped his tape back into the pocket with a chuckle.

"Find something?" asked Richard with a grin.

"Four impressions; fifty-two inches by forty-five inches….a table used to stand here."

"A table that held something heavy enough to leave the impressions almost clearly visible for days afterward," added Richard. He leaned forward to get a better view of the chemistry set Victor mentioned before. "We'll take that back with us; see if our trusty lab rats can't bring anything out."

A moment later they were looking through the endless hours of security footage with none other than the sergeant they meant the first night they were there.

"I still don't see what you expect to find here." Richard walked past him.

"That's okay, you're just an idiot." Willis folded his arms with a glare. Victor sped through the last hour leading up to the first guard's death. They saw him standing at his post as though nothing was out of the ordinary. Just then they all watched as he picked up the phone, probably to answer it, and form behind him a masked figure held a silenced small hand gun to his head and fired.

"Juicy," remarked a slightly disgusted Victor.

"It's been speculated the Silent prefers a small caliber silenced weapon."

Victor began to get annoyed, "I thought you kept saying it wasn't him."

"Again that's exactly what I'm saying, our copy-cat just really has done his homework." Richard then turned and hobbled out of the security office. Victor switched off the monitors and quickly followed after giving the sergeant a wave.

"Uhh, thanks for your time."

"Whatever."

Down the hall Victor easily caught up with Richard. "I know you can be a jerk, but being a jerk just to be one…you don't that. What's going on?" Richard took a deep breath as covertly as possible.

"The only thing I've got on my mind right now is our copy-cat and the one of the worst serials we've ever known. That's all."

"Yeah and why don't I believe that?" Richard only scoffed at his reply.

All meeters, greeters, and passengers should not leave baggage our packages unattended at any time. Richard came to a slow halt as the looping PA announcement rang throughout the airport. He came to a slow stop and turned a curious frown upwards. Victor looked up also but couldn't anything of interest.

"What is it?" Richard narrowed his eyes and lightly shook his head.

"I…I don't know, probably nothing."


Garfield Logan swiveled around in a chair as Richard and Victor entered the floor lounge. He tossed an apple at the pair which Victor easily caught and handed off to Richard.

"Look who it is, Agent Gimpy."

"I never could find proof that you were the one who started that," said Richard taking a seat. "But I always knew." A few others close by attempted to give the impression that they weren't listening but their snickers gave them away. "Course it's always better to have started the rumor myself."

"Ah don't lie in front of the rookies Rich it sets a bad example."

"No worse than being a total goof all the time," said Victor. "Alright Rooks, out." Reluctantly the new guys sauntered out of the lounge. He procured from the fridge a few sodas for each of them. "So, how was the seminar?"

"Wellll it was just fine; little dark, little gloomy, and always full of people who don't want to be there."

"Then why'd you go?"

"Whitman ordered me to," said Logan with a shrug.

"Right," muttered Richard. There was not a very large circle of like toward their assistant director. "Whitman can't be too picky about who he sends into bomb threats. Especially since you beat out everyone else." Logan shrugged with a grin.

"Well what can I say, I am better than everyone." Richard stood up, not concerned with the apple from Logan.

"Yeah, there you go throw in some humility there while you're at it." As Richard passed by Logan something caught his attention in the form of a smell. He screwed up his face in confusion.

"What is that?"

"What's what?" asked Logan. Richard walked closer to him and drew in another breath. Logan recoiled slightly. "Didn't know you swung that way but thanks for the warning." Richard ignored him and continued trying to decipher what he had detected.

"Head and Shoulders?" Logan snickered and shot a bemused look at Victor.

"Yeah, wouldn't you know I like to wash my hair every now and then." Richard however didn't look convinced.

"I've smelled that before though."

"So what?" It then clicked within the investigator and his face lit up in a large grin. "What?"

"No way…"

"Dick what are you talking about?" asked a now majorly confused Victor.

"Its not Head and Shoulders. I have smelled that before, but whenever I pass by Rachael." Logan shrugged again.

"So we use the same shampoo, big deal." Richard shook his head.

"I don't think so. Rachael's very much into all that herbal tea stuff, homemade perfume…..and homemade shampoo." Logan swallowed hard. "You can call it a coincidence but I'm going to go ahead and assume you're both using the same shampoo." Victor now looked between the two. "And if I would have to guess the reason for that…..would I be right?" Logan ground his teeth somewhat, obviously trying to formulate an escape plan. Finally he blew out a puff of defeat and nodded.

"You always were a better detective than a sniper." Richard laughed out loud.

"I don't believe this!" He pointed the tip of his cane at Logan. "You're hitting my therapist!"

Victor turned two bugged wide eyes at Logan, "WHAT?!"

"Could you scream that a little louder please, I think there were a couple of people in California who didn't hear you." He turned back to Richard. "You figured it out, yeah for you. But she and I are trying to keep this on the down-low for now. So if you could please just keep this to yourselves."

"I make no promises," replied Richard with an evil grin. At that moment none other than Rachael herself poked her head into the lounge. "Speak of the devil."

"Need to see you." He nodded and set his soda aside.

"No problem, we have lots to talk about." He sent a hungry look at Logan as he walked away. After Victor and Logan were alone they stared at one another in silence until Logan finally broke it with a made growl.

"Damn it! I told her he'd find out."

----------

"You okay? You seem tired, but in a good way." Richard regarded her strangely.

"That supposed to make sense? I thought I was the nut." She dismissed the comment.

"Assistant Director Whitman wants to see you." He nodded.

"Thanks for the intel. Tell you what, you distract him with that funny joke you know and I'll make my way out the back door." She smirked.

"Sounds like a plan but I'm not sure you want-"

"Ouch!" Rachael suddenly turned to see that Richard and an Asian woman had collided. "You stepped on my foot!" She shouted.

He was quick to retort, "You put it under mine!" She stabbed at him with a dangerous look and quickly went on her way. Richard rolled his eyes not noticing Rachael moving back to his side.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you dating a colleague?"

"W-What did you say?"

"Nothing, maybe you're the one who's tired." She followed him with a suspicious stare. Once they were on their way again Richard drew closer. "Listen, I need to talk to you privately for a second." Rachael felt taken aback by this request. Richard usually avoided her sessions like the black death, he hardly if ever requested a moment with her. She didn't answer, fearing that anything she said might rouse him from whatever daze he might be in. They entered her office where he paused. Rachael folded her arms.

"Well? What is it?" Richard was no longer sure if he wanted to tell her. Rachael quickly grew impatient. "Richard what is it?"

"I found her." Still Rachael was perplexed.

"You found her, who's her?"

"Rachael, her." Her eyes then widened in comprehension, and though the door was locked she made doubly sure they were not being listened to.

"You mean you actually met with-"

"Yeah, Woods shot her and she's resting up at my house."

"W-Well who is she?"

"She says her name is Kory, but that's all I've been able to get out of her." He didn't much care if Rachael picked up on the lie. Now was probably not a good time to mention the rest. "Listen, she's not too particularly well endowed as far as clothing goes. I need some of your clothes." Rachael darted her eyes about, she was a person of compassion but neither of them knew much about this Kory.

"Well, don't you still have some of Barbara's, I mean you could-" She stopped in mid speech at Richard's quickly growing somber. "Sorry, that was….careless of me." He remained silent. "Just a second." She retreated behind her desk and pulled out a dark blue duffle bag. Unzipping it she looked through the garments inside and approved them for lending.

"You keep a bag full of clothes in here with you?"

"Never know what might happen, I work with you after all." He put on a mock surprised look.

"Oh snap."

"So, have you spoken with her much lately?" He was replying in the negative when it suddenly hit him.

"Oh crap."

"What?"

"Nothing, just…just go back to what you were doing." He took out his cell phone and quickly dialed his home number.


Directly on the other end Kory sat at the table staring intently at the phone. She sat with her hands melded together in a frenzy of anticipation and worry. Why hadn't he called yet? Had he forgotten? Has something happened to him? Perhaps I should go in search of hi-

At that moment the phone rang.

Kory swiped it up and pressed the button. "H-Hello?! Richard?"

"Yeah, it's me Kory." She let out a breath of relief. "Sorry I hadn't called yet, work and stuff-how're you doing? Everything alright over there?"

"Oh yes, everything is fine. Nothing has really happened in the past…seven hours."


Richard bobbed his eyes about guiltily, as though he could speed up when he got a day's work done.

"Has anyone else called?"

"There have been several calls, all offering you what they referred to as explosive discounts on your life insurance." Richard gazed ahead with a faraway look as he listened. "They were quite relentless."

"Well I'm just glad you ignored them?" There was a short but stifled pause.

"I was supposed to ignore them?" His eyes fell shut with dread. Great, I'll have to deal with that later though. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No its fine Kory, just from now on look at the caller ID and if it's not me then don't answer it."

"Okay, umm….do you know when you might be returning home?" Yet again came that guilty stab Richard was so accustomed to. The sight of this girl alone was enough to inspire sympathy in a man who'd believed he buried such feelings along with his family.

"I'm actually leaving right now so I should be back in a little while."

"O-Okay, I hope you will return soon then." He heard the other line click and closed his phone with a snap. Rachael strode back up to him and handed him the bag. He took with a long sigh.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem." But she for some reason still hadn't fully let go of the bag.
"Rachael, do you think you could meet her. I think something really bad has happened to her and she's dealing with it in a….peculiar way." She nodded.

"I can see her, yes. But I don't recommend it be soon." She saw his questioning look. "Based on what you told me, and that phone call just now, she's not going to trust anyone but you right now. I know you probably want to send her on her way and get back to being by yourself…" She meant for the last part to be a joke but Richard couldn't help but see a small amount of truth in it. "Just give it some time; new roommates can be difficult to get used to." Richard pulled the bag out of her small grasp.

"She's not my roommate."

----------

Outside Rachael's office Richard began walking toward the exit. "I hope you're not thinking of escaping." He turned momentarily and only resumed his course when he found Kitten quickly making her way up to him. "You have a meeting to go to."

"What do you want?"

"Right now or cosmically speaking?" she asked with a wicked grin. She walked with a pair of books of folded in her arms. Quick as lightening she stepped around him and blocked his path. "You don't have to make this so hard."

"You're still pissed aren't you?"

"It is a matter of principle after all," she said a bit pompously.

"Wasn't my fault, my job is my job. But sometimes its just fun fun." He moved to step around her but she moved with him. He tried again and again she blocked his way. "Okay, what is it you really want?" She narrowed her eyes and removed her thin glasses.

"Do you really need to ask?" Richard grinned and stepped closer. Kitten was surely not going to protest. All the while Rachael watched cautiously from a crack in her door.

"How much of your salary do you put into malpractice insurance?" Her smile grew, if possible, more mischievous.

"More than enough."

"I have Rachael."

"A second rate shrink."

"World renowned."

"Just as I am."

"You really want to just help me?" he asked.

"Of course." He finally began going on his way.

"Good! Why don't you come by my house this Friday around nine? You can help satisfy my insatiable libido." He of course cared not if she looked for felt offended, as was the intended reaction. Kitten stood still for a moment, not entirely sure which to feel at the moment.


Richard knocked a few times on the Assistant Director's door. "Co-" He barely got the word out before Richard entered regardless. Whitman shot him a glare. "Agent Grayson."

"Assistant Director," replied Richard.

"Sit down." He did so and found that sitting beside him in the other chair before Whitman's desk was the Asian woman he had run into earlier. Richard trained a surprised look from her to Whitman.

"She tattled on me?" He turned back to her. "I think we already established that it was all your fault."

"Agent Grayson, I would like you to meet Special Agent Shannon Chan of the Secret Service." Richard nodded with an impressed look.

"The Secret Service?"

"The same," she replied flatly.

"You will be reassigned to Agent Chan for the remainder of your work with the Silent."

"What?! What about Victor? What's he supposed to do?"

"That is not your concern Agent Grayson. But a new turn in the course of this case has dictated that we open our doors to Agent Chan's department and that we offer our full cooperation."

"Wha-"

"We…very much includes you. No matter how much you think you're above the rules when I say you do and you be quiet about it. That is the nature of the employer/employee mechanism."

"You have a boss too," replied Richard defiantly.

"I'm operating under orders from the Director; no one here has a choice in the matter." Richard nodded impatiently while slightly bouncing his cane up and down.

"This decision come from the President himself?"

"That's not the point." Whitman produced a file with several pictures. Richard took a look at the photo, obviously of a fellow comrade. It was of him crossing the street in broad daylight. "That's the most recent photo taken of Agent Harry Souza. He and his team were close to determining the Silent's whereabouts. He disappeared soon after that was taken."

"So we're organizing some sort of crazy search and rescue-"

"Agent Grayson, Souza was found dead earlier this morning." This effectively shut Richard up. Shannon tore her eyes away from the picture. "His body was delivered to their building via UPS; he had been disemboweled and his lips literally sewn shut."

"Jesus."

"I don't think it will be all that hard for you to keep doing what you've been at with a different perspective."

"Victor and I have been doing just fine, if anything the Secret Service should see that they screwed up somewhere and let us do what we do. I don't need the help of Gong Li over here."

"Hey!" She shouted.

"Hey what? You need to consult with Agent Stone before you switch around partners like this," Said Richard turning his attention back to Whitman.

"You can believe me that working with you was not my idea," snapped Shannon.

"Don't worry, we're not working together."

"That's ENOUGH!" Whitman shouted over the both of them. "The situation is non-negotiable; the two of you will work in conjunction to catch the Silent. And since Agent Chan logistically outranks you Agent Grayson, she will have operational control."

"Adding insult to injury I see." Richard rose to his feet. "Victor and I are still working another case at the moment."

"We're putting that on the backburner," said Shannon.

"They're connected."

Whitman answered with, "Not according to our senior staff." Richard lightly beat the tip of his cane against the floor.

"They're wrong!" Whitman didn't rise with him but merely closed the photos and slide them aside. Shannon backed up somewhat as she was fearful she might get caught in the volley of daggers being shot back and forth.

"That will be all Agent Grayson." He feared nothing as far as being reprimanded though not being able to work by being fired however, that was something less to be desired. With one last look of loathing toward his superior Richard quickly walked out.

"Agent Grayson." Shannon quickly followed out of Whitman's office after Richard. He didn't stop or even slow down. "Hey!" He swiftly turned in place, rather elegantly actually for someone on a cane.

"What?! What is it?!" She crossed her arms.

"Like I said, I had no bearing on what just happened in there but you can't give up and you have to understand-"

"Why do you care?" She shook her head, bewildered.

"What?"

"You were ready to bite my head off and barbeque it for July fourth and now you're practically begging me to keep going and to take you with me. Which means that there's something personal to all of this." Shannon pursed her lips together.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar." Shannon still refused to reveal her motives. "You know I shot the last guy who lied to me." He looked direly into her eyes, trying to almost command her to tell the truth.

"Harry Souza…..he was my partner."


Sorry there wasn't much of Starfire in this chapter, but her part will get bigger. Hopefully ;) Until next update. Laters!