Chapter 86: Back to work

There wasn’t any threesome. Rachel, as a joke, invited Jill to watch or participate in having sex with Rick but the woman declined politely. The former STARS argued she had her fill this morning and that she was good for now. Rick shrugged his shoulders when Rachel gave him a stinky look mainly because she wasn’t serious.

After cleaning up the table and loading the dishwasher, Rick broke tradition by presenting a gift to each lady. He had taken two small identical packages from the inside of his coat and put them in front of them. He was breaking a tradition he had with both. No present on Christmas.

It was for good reason as what they received was a key to his home. He had the key to their places and could show up wherever, whenever. Not even once had he used them but that wasn’t the point. It was a symbol that they’d always be welcome in his house no matter what.

Jill and Rachel kept talking about their time at work. Their experiences in general in fighting bio-terrorism. The latter was a bit more limited in the information she could share. Her five years spent in the Unit was classified and couldn’t talk openly about it. At least not in detail. Jill did the same with her time in the BSAA and the time between Raccoon City’s destruction and the creation of the NGO. The recurring subject had always been Rick however.

The man didn’t say much. Instead he listened, watching the two people who were the most important in his life, bonding over some stupid things he did, whether they were heroic or not. From his point of view, it was amusing.

His dinner with Annette wasn’t just with her. Sherry was present for the holiday and more than happy for him to be with them. Her happiness surged even more when Annette officially announced that starting January she would be working for the BSAA. The ways she saw things, her mother was atoning for her sins by doing something good with her knowledge and skills. She was well aware of what kind of person her mother was but learning she was making an effort for her warmed her heart.

Rick warned Annette of the in-coming check-up he’d need to go through. He should have done this at his return to the states per protocol however he used the fact that he was on vacation to avoid it temporarily. O’Brian will give him an earful, Rick had no doubt about it but there was nothing the man could do. The scolding may have already happened as Rick hadn’t checked his phone since his return.

To stack the odds in his favor for a simple slap on the wrist, he had already started writing his textbook on survival while confronted with bio-weapons or a viral agent.

What to prioritise, what to do, how to take down cleanly and efficiently each type of BOW known in existence. It ranged from the type of weapon and ammunition to use, to the creation of explosives with the most innocuous material. How to approach a situation differently depending on their numeral situation. Surviving solo was not identical to surviving with a partner or a group. Thinking and acting like it was could lead to your death or worse your infection.

He talked extensively with Sherry about it. Giving her tips to make sure she would get back home to her mom and even though it wasn’t voiced: to him. The young woman caught it in her tone however and when he left, she jumped on him for a passionate kiss square on the lips.

Her arms and legs circled his body and she put everything she had to convey her feelings. Rick accepted them all, holding her by her ass and answering with as much passion. When Sherry broke it off, she put a finger on his mouth to stop him from talking.

‘I know. You still love Claire. I’m both happy and saddened at the same time. I don’t expect you to answer my feelings but I wanted you to know about them.’

After caressing her face lovingly, Rick was upfront with his own. He didn’t date anymore, not seriously but if she wanted to spend time together he would never say no to her.

She chose to put an end to the seriousness of the conversation by joking and teasing about him and her mother.

“You gave up on that mother-daughter threesome?”

“Never!” He had replied with enthusiasm, slapped her ass not too harshly and teased her back. “But I will also be fine with one at a time.”

Sherry had rolled her eyes and sent him on her way and he spent the last week of his vacation home. For the first time since his mission to Harvardville in mid-November, Rick was able to really rest and relax.

He had no celebrations to be part of, nor any exams he had to prepare himself for and certainly no field investigation to conduct. He was at peace. Or he would have if not for his mind wandering to Claire and shooting down his mood with a metaphorical nuke. To fight the effect his ex’s cruel goodbye had on him Rick focused on studying gunsmithing as a hobby.

His strength had proven to be more than enough to handle a mini-gun with one hand and barely feel the recoil. The Oozes and from what he learned from Rachel and Jill, their variant had been way tougher and resilient than anything they had encountered so far for regular BOW. In his opinion, it meant he needed more fire power than his usual .45 allowed him.

He didn’t want to go down the path of a bigger caliber, like the magnum. Not when the best were revolvers and usually limited to six shots. Reloading was a pain, speedloader or not. That made him think of the use of the shotgun. Much like a revolver he needed to reload one shell at a time. Even worse, there was no speedloader for them.

The solution he thought of was to either find a new reloading method for the shotgun or make one who used magazines. Picking up one or two shells at a time from his bandolier wasn’t efficient either. Sure, with his speed he could reload easily but it wasn’t about himself. It was about giving better odds for regular people.

Regarding revolvers, the magazine avenue was a no go. Rick hadn’t even thought of it for obvious reasons. The only thing he could think of was coming up with a better speedloader or full moon clips. The latter particularly interested him if he had a belt of them. In that case upgrading to a .44 or a bigger caliber might be an idea he’d entertained and not be so utterly against.

When his vacation ended, no decisions were taken beyond having a serious talk with Barry. The man was a gun nerd and would probably offer good counsel.

Entering the BSAA HQ for his first day of the year, he went to the receptionist to get a temporary badge to enter the place. Rick hadn’t been issued a new BSAA badge nor an access one, yet since losing both during the Harvardville airport’s outbreak. It had been nearly two months ago so he was certain new ones were ready for him at his office upstairs. He blinked when the receptionist gave him both with a smile.

“Director O’Brian knew you’d need them,” the woman said pleasantly.

“... Thank you.”

Rick took the badges and put them in his wallet. The situation seemed weird to him. The receptionist had almost been giddy. That never happened. Not for members of the NGO. Guests? Maybe but not for agents. When he scanned his access card to go through security, he noticed that some people were looking at him. Some conversation stopped between people and they also glanced.

Some gave him nods, some grinned and offered a thumbs up. His paranoid mind was alert. Something was different. Maybe not wrong but different and Rick didn’t like different. Different meant possibly unpredictable.

Silently he took an elevator to his office’s floor. Walking through it to reach his desk, people’s reactions were much the same. When he saw Jill behind her computer talking with Chris who was leaning against the table, he made a beeline for them.

“Guys.”

Chris greeted him with a man nod, while Jill turned around with a smirk on her lips. It was clear that she was amused by the expression on Rick’s face. To most people, Rick always had a stoic and cold face. He was widely known for that in the building on top of being the expert in BOW, bio-terrorism and being the one that more than doubled the size of the database with his knowledge about it. To Jill however, she recognized when he was a bit panicked, confused and tense.

“What the fuck is going on?” Rick inquired. “Why are people smiling like idiots when they see me? Do I have something on my face?” He checked to be sure but there was nothing.

The ex-couple couldn’t help but chuckle. Chris was the one to explain. “It’s because of Lansdale's arrest. We’re a bit of a celebrity in the office since the FBC has officially been terminated and the President decided to redirect all the resources allocated to it to the BSAA.”

Jill chimed in. “Beside more personnel, gear and equipment, it’s also a whooping raise in base salary for everyone.”

“30%” Chris revealed.

Rick couldn’t believe people looked at him like he was some kind of hero because they all got 20% more at the end of the month. “You’re shitting me, right?” His face was truly deadpan this time and both his friends laughed again. “God, you’re serious.”

They answered in unison. “Yes.”

Sighing in surrender, Rick took a step towards his own desk when the door to O’Brian’s office opened and the man’s voice came through.

“WALD! MY OFFICE!”

“God damnit.” Rick cursed. “What did I do this time?”

Jill was more than happy to tell him. “You didn’t write your report about the Queen Zenobia.”

“NOW!”

“Fuck it,” Rick began walking. “If he’s unreasonable, I quit.”

“As if.” Chris chuckled.

It was true. There was no way Rick was quitting. He enjoyed his life and work too much. Less the outbreaks and more the investigations part which were more than 70% of his time on the field.

When he entered the room, he was surprised to see three more people with his boss. He knew all of them to a varying degree. First was Barry who was standing to the side of O’Brian’s desk, arms crossed over his chest. Second was Rachel, giving him her usual teasing and sensual smile and finally next to her, in front of the head of the BSAA, was Angela Miller. This was one person he hadn’t expected to see ever again. Especially not here.

“About time!” O’Brian barked. It was clear that his patience for Rick had already reached its limit for the day. Another thing that Rick was famous for in the building. O’Brian was known to be a calm and composed man. Except with Rick. Which, to be fair, was understandable. After all, Rick did things like punching and knocking out a US senator practically on a weekly basis. He did such a good job however that firing him wasn’t really possible.

“It’s 9:00am. I’m early, sir.” Rick answered with a neutral voice, indicating he wouldn’t take the verbal abuse or bullshit, nor cared.

“Don’t care.” O’Brian ended the conversation like this and started the one about why he had called Rick to his office. “You already know Rachel Foley and Angela Miller so I’ll cut to the chase. They’re two of our new members and I’m assigning them a partner. Foley is with Burton, she already has the field experience, all she needs to learn is the way the BSAA does things. Miller is yours. As you know she’s knew to dealing with bio-terrorism so—”

“I’m training her on everything.” He gave a wink at Angela then focused back on his boss. “Would have appreciated a headsup beforehand though.”

“I DID! I sent you e-mails, texts and left you voice mails!”

Rick frowned. “Now that isn’t right.” He pulled out his phone to check. “ I don’t see any— Oh!” He quickly noticed the issue and he received notifications for everything. “Sorry, I blocked you, you were annoying, sir and I wanted to enjoy my vacation time in peace.”

The nonchalance and carelessness he confessed that made Rachel snort and O’Brian nearly passed out from his blood pressure rising too much.

Rick didn’t care and looked at Angela. “Got a tour of the building already?”

“I did, yes.”

“Then we’re starting with a report on Harvardville Airport’s outbreak, to fill the database.” As he started to leave the office, O’Brian held him back.

“I’m not done! You need to go do that check up, I’ve been lenient about it but no more. Also start with your textbook.”

Pulling an usb drive from his jeans pocket, Rick tossed it at the man. “I want credits and royalties.” He made a hand sign to Angela to follow him outside and left without looking back.

O’Brian was grumbling as he was checking the drive’s content. “Foley, once you know everything there is to know about the BSAA, you’ll be partnered with someone else lacking experience. You too, Burton.”

“I’m not with Rick then? That’s too bad.” Rachel’s saddened tone was utterly fake on purpose.

“No and it’s never happening unless the world is ending. I read the reports, those classified and not. I already have Wald causing trouble with the way he does things, I don’t need his accomplice to add fuel to the fire.”

Barry stayed silent but one of his eyebrows arched in curiosity. There was a backstory there. He was sure of that. However he changed the subject to something more productive.

“Sir, why not make courses instead of just partnering people up? There aren’t enough agents to train all the new recruits coming from the FBC. Even if most of them have field experience and only require BSAA’s knowledge, it would take more time.”

O’Brian considered the suggestion for a moment. It had merit. “You’re right. I’ll see what I can do.”

An evil smile graced his lips and somehow, Rachel knew Rick wouldn’t like his work life very soon. The idea made her inwardly chuckle.