I do not own Parasite Eve 1 or 2, nor do I own any of the characters!

Aya had left her apartment in disarray with Wayne and Nix poking around in what was left of the wreckage for clues for the identity of the saboteur. It was nearly seven in the evening and she had spent most of the afternoon gathering the items in her apartment that hadn't been destroyed, packing them away in boxes on the pretense of taking them to a storage garage or something.

In reality though, Aya was leaving Manhattan as soon as possible, and she hoped that Agent Broderick would be able to help her do that, as she walked in the front door of the Central Café. Looking around, she saw no sign of Broderick, realizing that she was thirty minutes early.

She took a seat at the back of the café, instinctively placing herself in a position where she could observe the rest of the restaurant practically unnoticed. After having drained two cups of coffee in twenty minutes, Aya noticed a man entering the café.

He looked slightly familiar with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, a pair of dark sunglasses perched precariously upon the bridge of his nose. She knew at once that she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Are you finished with that cup Miss?" The waiter had returned.

"Wha- Oh yeah. I'm done." She replied distractedly, still gazing at the bespectacled man across the room.

She watched as he took a seat at a two person table next to the front window. A moment later she remembered where she had seen him before. It had been the previous evening, at that diner in which she had eaten dinner with Wayne. He was that guy who was eying me. She thought wearily. Aya hardly noticed the tall dark man walking purposely across the room towards her until Rupert Broderick was standing next to her table.

"Good evening Miss. Brea." He said in that deep voice, extending his hand.

"Oh. Hi." She replied tearing her gaze away from the blonde man and shaking Broderick's hand.

"I take it you received my note?"

"Yeah." Aya said, wondering if he had any idea someone must have trashed her apartment around the same time he left her that note. "Listen," she said quietly. "If I were take this job, where would I be working at. There isn't an office in Manhattan is there?"

"No." He said, slightly taken aback by how quickly she had seized upon the subject. "We'll be opening a central office in Los Angeles here very soon. Right now we're operating out of D.C. at Bureau head quarters."

He gazed confusedly at the sudden relieved look on her face. "I take this sudden interest in location as a sign you want the position?"

"Yes – well, yeah. I- its just that…" Aya hesitated. She wasn't entirely sure she could trust this man yet, but she had to tell someone. "I got home from work this morning and when I entered my apartment, someone had been through it, searched it I guess. Anyway, everything inside is pretty much…." She trailed off at the look of alarm on Broderick's face.

"Someone was in your apartment?" She nodded.

He twisted in his seat, and Aya wondered vaguely if he thought maybe the culprit was sitting at the table behind him. She didn't notice the blonde man by the window get up and walk out of the café. Broderick turned around to face her again, his face back to its normal stoic expression.

"Have you any idea who would break into your apartment?" He asked and Aya thought his voice sounded a little strained.

"No." She said, watching him suspiciously. "Haven't gotta clue. When I left, two of my co workers were still searching through it, nobody's been able to find anything. Whoever did this was good, they didn't leave behind a trace, not counting the wreckage anyway."

Broderick looked a little disconcerted, only heightening Aya's suspicion.

"You know something don't you?" She asked and was received with another disconcerted look.

"We had suspicions that someone might try." He said slowly. "We didn't think that it would happen so soon."

"What do you mean, 'someone' might try? Who would try. Wait let me rephrase that. Who did try and succeeded in wrecking my apartment?" Aya said heatedly.

Broderick looked around the café before answering her.

"If you're going to raise your voice, then I don't think this is the place to talk." He gave her a furtive look, his brow furrowed.

Aya sighed. Deep down she knew she shouldn't bother getting mixed up with the FBI, and if it wasn't for her strong desire to leave Manhattan she wouldn't even be here. Broderick was still watching her from across the table, his face once again smooth and impassive.

"Alright." She said, and he actually smiled.

They both got up and walked out of the café and out into the cold night air. Aya made to hail a taxi at the streets edge but Broderick kept walking along the sidewalk.

"Aren't we taking a cab?" Aya asked.

"I don't ride in cabs." Broderick said bluntly and Aya almost smiled at his upfront manner, it reminded her of Daniel.

They had walked two blocks down the street from the café when Broderick suddenly turned into an alley. There was a black sedan with tinted windows so dark you couldn't see in even if you pressed your nose to the glass. He made for the driver's side door. Aya hesitated for a moment before getting in on the passenger side. She had just shut her door when…

"Bout time you got outta that café. I've been waiting for forever."

Aya's hand was halfway to her pistol in her shoulder holster when Broderick shook his head and turned around so he could see into the back seat. Aya twisted around to, to get a better look at the man in the back. She felt a moment of surprise when her gaze fell on the blonde, bespectacled man she had seen only twice before.

"I'm Pierce Carradine." He said holding his hand out for her to shake.