Author's note: I do not own Parasite Eve or Parasite Eve 2, not do I own any of the characters from either of the two games!

Aya Brea stared blankly at the steering wheel of her car, not really seeing it. Thoughts whirled around in her head like leaves caught in a particularly strong wind. This was the second time that week in which she had spent hours in her car, keys in the ignition, ready to leave, but unable to make herself start the car.

I hate this place, she though, looking out the windshield at the skyline of Manhattan. The sun was setting behind the buildings, coloring the sky a myriad of oranges and purples. If she hadn't been so distraught, Aya would have found it beautiful.

It had been two months since the "Manhattan Incident" as it had been dubbed by all the authorities, and Aya found that even now she'd be woken from her sleep in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, visions of Eve floating around in her mind. She knew the nightmares shouldn't surprise her, as events in one's life, especially what she went through, don't disappear from the mind over night.

She laughed dryly to herself as she, once again pulled the key out of the ignition and climbed out of the car. She walked down the busy sidewalk for a ways, automatically keeping her head down, she didn't want to chance somebody recognizing her. Her boss, Captain Baker, had done his best to keep her picture out of the papers and evening news shows, and for that Aya was grateful to him. But as it was a reporter's duty to do anything for a story… somehow the papers and news stations had managed to get a picture of her and her face had been plastered all over Manhattan in one night.

Most people were surprised to find that the person who had single-handedly saved their city, was a young rookie cop, not to mention as Aya had heard one newscaster put it, 'a particularly attractive young blonde'. She wasn't worried about that too much, it was the people that were afraid she might attack them that she was afraid of. They'd taken to protesting her rights, of all things, and were constantly pushing for her to be locked away for forever. It was one of those people that she was afraid of running into on the street.

She kept her face hidden until she had entered her apartment building and was safely shut up in her own apartment. As she took off her leather jacket, the phone rang. The crossed the room and picked it up before the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Aya, its Wayne."

"Oh, what?" She said, in a slightly less than enthusiastic voice. Wayne wasn't exactly her best friend.

"Uhh, well, you know. Seein' as today was your day off, I was just callin' to see if, umm, maybe you'd want to get some dinner or something?"

Silence, Aya didn't really know what to say, she knew Wayne liked her, but he had always manifested his crush by calling her 'baby' or 'sweet bottom', to which she would normally respond 'prick' or 'asshole'. She was finding it hard to recall a time when Wayne had actually seriously asked her to do anything with him.

"Aya, you there?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'm here." She said quickly, still not sure how to respond. Might as well go, its not like you've got anything better to do, she thought to herself. When are you off work?" She asked delicately, she didn't want him to get too excited. She almost kicked herself when she heard the sharp intake of breath from the other line.

"I'll be there in ten minutes!" He said happily. "Bye!"

"Bye." Aya responded, knowing she was going to regret this tomorrow morning when she got to the precinct.

Ten minutes never went by so fast, and before she knew it the buzzer on her door was going off like a fire alarm. Slowly she got up from the couch and pressed the talk button on the intercom.

"Wayne?"

"Yup!" Came the quick reply. Aya pushed the unlock button and slightly cracked her door. Within seconds Wayne was tapping on the frame and nudging the door open.

"Hey how ya been?" He asked excitedly as if he hadn't seen her in a week.

"I'm the same I was yesterday when you saw me at the station." Aya said slowly. "What about you?"

"Yeah I'm good. Let's go eat." As he said this, he grabbed Aya's jacket and held it open for her. She didn't move from the couch right away, not entirely sure if the mild mannered man in front of her was the Wayne she knew.

"Sure you're all right?" She asked tentatively. He gave her a sideways look, still holding out the jacket.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said with a smile. "com on let's hurry, we're gonna want to beat the dinner crowd!"

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Aya pulled herself off the couch and allowed Wayne to help her into her jacket before setting off.

Fifteen minutes later found them sitting in a booth at the very back of a street corner diner. Aya stared into her coffee, not really knowing what to say, while Wayne swirled the ice around in his Pepsi.

"So…" Aya said, taking a step into the awkward silence. "What's good here?"

"Oh, um, well. I've not eaten here before." Wayne said, his cheeks going a little red. "I've always wanted to try it though! Everyone says its really good." His cheeks reddened even more.

Aya looked around the diner and couldn't find any reason why she would really want to eat here. But then again it was Wayne. As she was thinking this, Aya noticed the awkward silence had resumed its guard of their table. Taking a sip of her coffee, she studied Wayne while he was twisted in his seat, searching for a waitress.

"So how come you asked me to dinner?" She blurted out before she could stop herself. Wayne quickly turned back to face her, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Huh? Oh yeah, well I don't know, just thought it'd be nice you know?" At this his voice got quiet and he looked around the table before continuing. "I've noticed you've been kind of withdrawn lately, ever since…" He stopped and gave her and uneasy look. "Ever since Christmas. I figured dinner would be better than just spending the rest of the night alone, you know?" He said, looking at her again, this time though without any embarrassment.

"Yeah." Aya said, gazing into her empty coffee cup. She really didn't want to talk to Wayne about that stuff.

"Look Aya, I'm just worried about you that's all. And to tell you the truth, so is Daniel." He looked her in the eye. "I mean its not…" But he cut off abruptly as the waitress showed up to take their order.

As Wayne was ordering his food, Aya gazed around the diner and noticed a mand at the counter eyeing her. She quickly looked away but continued to watch him from the corner of her eye. He was tall and lanky looking with blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing dark sunglasses despite being inside. Aya thought this was weird but then remembered that she was in New York.

After dinner Wayne dropped her off at her apartment before heading back to his own place. After a few hours of watching TV, Aya was extremely bored. She stared at the clock above her TV and sighed. It was ten o'clock, she should really be in bed. She had to ba at the precinct by five tomorrow morning. With a great sigh she rolled off the couch and headed towards the bathroom, thoughts of a warm and relaxing shower crossing her mind.

But as she walked past the small kitchen table the buzzer on her door went off. Again she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and wondered who would show up after ten. If its Wayne, she thought, oh, he's never going to hear the end of it.

She pressed the com button on the key pad. "Who is it?"

"FBI." Came the brusque response. Aya's mind went blank. Why would they be here? They finished their investigation two weeks ago! Regardless she buzzed them through, but kept her apartment door locked.

A few seconds later there was a firm knock at the door. She took a deep breath and stared through the peep hole. There was only one man in the hall that she could see. He was tall, African American, with a shaved head and goatee. He was wearing a tan trench coat and gray slacks.

Hold your badge up to the door." Aya said firmly. She wanted to make sure this guy really was with the FBI. He hesitated for a second and Aya found herself wishing she had her pistol at hand. Still watching through the peep hole, she tensed when he moved his hand to an inside pocket of his coat, but relaxed when he only produced his badge and held it up to the door. It looked alright, though she didn't really have a good idea of how she would have been able to tell a real FBI badge from a fake.

Hesitating slightly she turned the bolt lock on the door but kept the chain firmly in its place. Aya then cracked the door slightly, only enough to see the hall more clearly.

"Can I help you Sir?" She asked.

"Aya Brea?" His voice was different, she thought, from the guy who had rang the buzzer a few minutes ago.

"Yes?" She tried not to show any outward signs of panic, but she was really worried on the inside.

"I'm Agent Broderick with the FBI. Would you mind if I came in?"

Aya hesitated. If she refused to let him in it would look suspicious, but she didn't really want to let this man inside. She gave in, closing the door to slide the chain lock off, and re-opening it all the way to let him in.

After closing the door again, Aya turned to see Broderick looking around with interest at her small apartment. He moved over to the little table she had sitting next to a closet door in the corner of the living room. When he started picking pictures up off the table for a closer examination, Aya cleared her throat loudly to get his attention. He turned to regard with a clear calculating look, almost as if he had forgotten she was there and had just suddenly remembered.

"Ah, yes." He said slowly, his voice deep and slow, but intelligent. "As I said before, I'm Agent Rupert Broderick of the FBI. I'm here to offer you a job."

Aya did her best to hide her surprise. She had been expecting another grueling interrogation about everything she could remember about Eve and everything else that had happened this past Christmas. And although she'd given all the essential information to the FBI investigators, she had left out a lot of details. Especially the ones about Maya. Even though she had been careful, Aya knew that the FBI would eventually figure out she hadn't told them everything. But a job?

"What do you mean?" She replied tentatively.

"I mean a job, work for the FBI." She detected a hint of impatience in his voice and realized he must be nervous.

She didn't really know how to respond and found herself wishing that it had been Wayne at the door and not this man. Her mind was buzzing with suspicion and interest. She couldn't really say that she trusted the FBI or any other government affiliate, she was too afraid they might cart her away for research or whatever.

"Can't say I was expecting a job offer." She said with a weak smile that Broderick didn't' return, he continued to stare stoically back at her. She sighed and stared at the ceiling for a solution.

"Look, I don't know what position you're offering or what all this entails. You guys finished your investigation two weeks ago and I honestly don't know why you would be here." She looked at him imploringly and still received no response. He seemed to thinking about something, as if he was sizing her up or something. Starting to get flustered. Aya opened her mouth to continue when he held out his hand.

"Read it, and think about it, that's all." In his hand was a blank envelope. Aya stared at it complacently before taking it. Before she could pull it from his grasp though, "I'll be back tomorrow, then you can give us your answer."

Without another word, Rupert Broderick turned and walked out the door of her apartment. It took Aya a moment to realize that her mouth was hanging open, before she closed.

"Well that was weird." She muttered to herself, turning to look at the envelope she still clutched tightly in her hand. All thoughts of having to be at work before the sun came up vanished as she moved to the kitchen table to examine the contents of the envelope. Tearing through the seal, she pulled out several pieces of carefully folded paper and began to read:

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Washington D.C.

Ms. Brea we at the FBI have been presented with the unexpected circumstances with which you dealt with over these past Christmas holidays. Having been informed of your unique talents and the way in which you handled yourself in the field, my superiors have taken and interest in you and your abilities.

Even as you read this letter, the creation of a new branch of the FBI is underway. This new division, M.I.S.T. (mitochondrion investigation and suppression team) will deal with the new threat of Neo-Mitochondrion creatures. As you know, the death of Eve did not wipe out all of the NMCs. The MIST agents that are already in the field have been tracking the creatures' movements westward across the continental U.S.

Due to your unique abilities, I would like to offer you a 'hunter' position within the MIST agency. This position would put you in the field with other agents in situations not unlike the ones you must have experienced in Manhattan. In joining the MIST agency you would also become a full fledged Special Agent of the FBI.

I would be greatly honored if you decide to join MIST and add your unique talents to this new department. Enclosed are several papers with information on NMC movement and estimated numbers. Please consider this offer.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Director of MIST

Hal Baldwin

Aya re-read the letter several times hardly daring to believe that she was being offered a chance to work for the FBI. She then flipped through the rest of the sheets and saw detailed maps of the US and various sections of it.

"This is insane." She said to herself. She set the papers down and looked at the clock, it was now midnight. Aya groaned, she must have lost track of time. Well, I guess I could just sleep on it, she thought.

She got up from the table and headed towards her bedroom, muttering under her breath for having stayed up so late.

Well, there it is, the first chapter of my first PE fanfic. Hope I was able to keep all my facts straight. Please review if you get the chance. Ch. 2 is on the way!