December 2009
It was Parker's second day as the B.S.A.A.'s new director, and already he was regretting taking the job.
It was lunch hour for the agents, and they were definitely making the most out of it, by playing Pictionary.
Teekay picked up a card.
"Ooh! Ok! I can draw this one. You better get this one Raymond. We're already falling way behind. Quint, start the timer."
Raymond stared at the paper.
"Um, it's a person... in a pool? No? Ok, in a lake? Is that even a person? Uh... a person on a rug? In a bath? Standing on a circle... a circle with little dots on it?"
"Oh god, I don't wanna be any more graphic but..." She added a few lines to the paper.
"Ten seconds." Quint reminded them.
"Puke. No? Vomit?"
"Yes!"
Parker sighed. He would've gladly been down there with Raymond, Teekay, Quint, Keith, Jill and Chris, if he didn't have all this paper work.
"Well, I see you run a tight ship." Said a voice from the doorway.
Parker looked up and recognised the visitor to be Rebecca's date from the wedding.
"It's their lunch break." Parker replied, "Can I help you with something?"
The man chuckled.
"Yeah. I'm lookin' for someone. Her name's Rebecca. She said she got a job here. As the medic?"
Parker nodded.
"I'll send for her immediately."
He pressed the button for the intercom on his desk.
"Teekay, could you bring Rebecca up to my office? Someone by the name of-" Parker paused and quirked an eyebrow at the man.
"You got a name?"
The man nodded.
"Yeah. Tell her that a guy named Billy's here to see her."
"Alright. Some guy by the name of Billy's here to see her."
"Got it. Since I'm headed your way, you want a coffee or anything?"
"Yeah, ok."
Teekay turned to Raymond.
"Raymond, four coffees."
"Why me?"
"Because you make them the best. Send them into Director Luciani ok?"
Raymond sighed.
"Fine."
Teekay peeked into the Medical room.
"Rebecca, some guy by the name of Billy's looking for you. He's in the Director's office."
Rebecca looked up.
"He said he was just passing through..."
Billy and Rebecca sat in the two chairs in front of Parker's desk, and Teekay stood just behind Parker's chair.
Rebecca attempted to explain, with Billy's help, the incident on the Ecliptic express. Eventually, they also had to explain who Billy was.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Uh, I'll see how Raymond's going with that coffee." Teekay said with a smile, as though nothing was wrong, "Although, I think I need something stronger after that revelation." She added in a mutter.
Raymond was almost finished. He was definitely one of the slowest coffee makers around, but also one of the best.
"Are you finished yet?" She asked. He nodded.
"Yeah. I think so."
"You can have mine."
"What? Why?"
"Because, after I drop these off, I'm going to the pub." She picked up the tray that held the four mugs, and did her best to hold it one handed (Parker was still insisting that she wear the sling)
"Um, you want me to take that?" Raymond asked.
She shook her head.
"I'm perfectly capable."
Raymond took it from her anyway.
"Go sit down." He told her.
"So, you want me to pardon an ex-marine, found guilty of murdering twenty three people?" Parker asked patiently.
"Well, he didn't actually kill them. He was framed." Rebecca replied, "And, don't you think that if he really did kill all those people, he would've killed me on sight?"
"I suppose..."
Raymond walked in and placed the tray on the table, and Parker nodded in thanks.
"Director, please. He can be my partner. I won't let him out of my sight!"
Parker sighed.
"Fine, fine. I'm not pardoning him, yet. He's on parole. And, he's your complete responsibility. I won't be held accountable for any incident involving him."
Rebecca nodded.
"Thank you sir."
"You're dismissed."
January 2010
Teekay watched with little interest as Jessica rummaged through one of the lockers in the room, looking for something.
Her hands were bound behind her back with duct tape, and her ankles were bound as well. Her mouth was also covered with a strip of the stuff. All she could think about was how much it was going to hurt when it was ripped off.
It was a strange room. It looked a little like a warehouse, but it was far too small for a title like that. It had a few lockers, a desk and a chair... and that was it.
She was propped up in a corner of the room, leaning against two walls. It wasn't comfortable, but it could definitely be worse.
Her fear had melted away into mild annoyance when she realised that Jessica's master plan probably involved nothing more than Teekay starving in a corner until she was put out of her misery via a bullet in the head. The only torturous part of it all was that she was unable to speak.
Jessica smiled in victory when she found what she was looking for; a shock collar.
"I knew I left this in here somewhere."
Teekay raised her eyebrows.
'A shock collar? Is that the best you can do?'
She didn't even bother struggling as the collar was wrapped around her neck. It wouldn't be so bad. She'd certainly dealt with worse pain.
"I think we can get rid of this gag now." Jessica said as she tore the duct-tape away from Teekay's mouth, "Just for a little while anyway."
Teekay rubbed her face against her shoulder in an attempt to sooth the stinging before smiling up at her captor.
"Shock collar eh? Shame. I was expecting something a little more spectacular."
"I'm sure it'll be fine for now." Jessica replied as she turned the collar up to its highest setting.
Raymond had decided that the best use of his time would be to keep calling Jessica, and then update the team on Teekay's condition. He had the number for Jessica's cell phone from the Zenobia incident, and he only hoped that his former superior was the kind of girl who kept her phone on her at all times.
It rang twice before Jessica picked up.
"The B.S.A.A.? How did you get this number?"
"If you didn't want me to call you, you shouldn't have given it to me." Raymond replied.
"Raymond. I should've known. You've kind of caught me at a bad time."
"Why? Is Teekay being a pain?" Raymond snickered at the thought.
"No. She's being quite agreeable at the moment actually. It's amazing how quickly people quieten down when attached to a shock collar."
"You bitch." Raymond hissed.
While Teekay was usually far too happy for Raymond's liking, he had to admit that he'd grown attached to her. She was like an annoying friend you've known since pre-school, and don't have the heart to get rid of.
"Protective of her, are we? I didn't see that coming. Better hurry up and convince Parker to pardon me."
Raymond ignored the comment.
"What are you going to do to her?" He questioned.
"I'm still deciding between giving her a dental examination, or giving her a manicure."
Raymond cringed. The dental examination sounded brutal, and he highly doubted the manicure would be any better.
They had to find her. They just had to.
Parker sat in the driver's seat of the Jeep Quint and Keith had driven back to H.Q., with Jill sitting in the seat next to him.
He was overwhelmed with guilt. He could hardly blame Quint and Keith for what happened. They were unarmed, helpless, all because Parker hadn't had the guts to have Jessica killed. He'd been so frightened that they'd kill her and that he'd have to deal with the guilt, he sent them in with tranquiliser darts and blanks. Like they were dealing with some kind of animal.
Sure, the blanks had worked on him once, but he'd been so sure that Teekay wouldn't fire, that the sudden gunshot had taken him by surprise.
It wouldn't have worked with Jessica, he was sure.
Director O'Brian would never have let this happen. Never. On the other hand, O'Brian's sheer determination for revenge, and exposing an old rival, that he'd nearly got some of his top agents killed. And he would have to live with that. But O'Brian would never have put his wife in danger.
"So, where are we going?" Jill asked, breaking the silence.
"I have no idea." Parker replied.
"How exactly do you expect to find her Parker? Dumb luck?"
Parker nodded.
"Something like that."
She was right. He'd sent half his agents out on a mission, with no Intel, no maps, and no idea. He had to be the worst Director in the history of the B.S.A.A., and possibly the world.
'Come on, Parker man. Let's not go nuts. You're not the worst in the world... Morgan Lansdale, remember?'
Parker smirked at the recognition of the voice in his head.
If he wanted to, he could probably blame Teekay for her own disappearance. He could see it now, she probably got a little too close, and Jessica managed to disarm her. Teekay could be cocky when she wanted to be. She probably took her eyes off the enemy. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him if she'd turned her back on the enemy completely. Probably forgetting that Quint and Keith were firing blanks. Yeah, that sounded about right.
But he couldn't blame her really. No, even if she had gotten a little carried away, he should've taken that into account. He'd known her for five years, for Christ's sake.
'Look, you can spend all day playing the blame game, or you can go out and set it right. Your call.'
He smiled, remembering when Teekay had said that to him. It had apparently stuck.
