Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Second Emerald Master ❯ Chapter 2 - Deceased In The Second Degree ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2 - Deceased In The Second Degree   Wednesday, June 13, 2010, 12:35 PM; Downtown Pittsburgh, Wood Street Subway Station   The bus begins to make it’s approach to the subway station, signaling Andrew and Lindsay to walk to the front of the bus. Once the bus pulls up to the corner, they get off and walk into the subway station, looking for Xavier.   “What do you think could’ve happened to mom?” Lindsay asked. “Who knows,” he said, “The way that X sounded on the phone, it’s bound to be something bad.”   They continue to walk through the station and look around for Xavier, who is standing looking out over the rails.   “Look, there he is over there,” she said.   They walk over to Xavier and manage to grab his attention.   “It’s about time,” Xavier says, “I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up.” “Never mind that,” Andrew says, “What’s the deal with our mom? You said something bad had happened.” “Oh yeah, hang on a sec...”   Xavier pulls out his iPhone and shows them the article about their mother.   “Oh, my God,” Andrew says, reading the article. “FBI Agent Felicia Jackson was sadly gunned down last night around 10:30 PM in a back alleyway outside of the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles,” Lindsay says, reading the article.   “It was on the news last night; I’m surprised you didn’t hear anything about it.” “We were studying like crazy last night. We didn’t hear anything about this,” Lindsay said.   Xavier then turns back around as the train pulls up to the station and stops.   “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” “Don’t be,” Andrew said, “I’m glad you told us.”   Xavier steps on the train as Andrew and Lindsay turn around and leave the station.   “How? Just how did this happen?” Lindsay asked. “I don’t know,” he said, “I just don’t know...”   Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Dwayne, Cross, and 2 other FBI investigators, Mia Townsend and Rog Grayson, continue to analyze the area in which Felicia was killed.   “Looks like we got some clear evidence,” Mia said. “What evidence?” Rog said, “There’s nothing left to investigate.” “You can't count out something like this all of the time,” Dwayne said, “You just got to look around for something that might not already be there.”   They all stop and look at each other in confusion, then look back at Dwayne.   “What?” They all said. “Never mind that, I gotta run.” “Where are you going now?” Cross said. “I’m headed to Pittsburgh to go get Andrew and Lindsay. I’m not sure if they heard anything about it yet, so I should, uh... go and tell them.”   But what he didn’t know is that we already knew about it while the case was still being investigated. Back where we were, we weren't exactly sure how to take the imminent information that we got from Xavier. The fact knowing that our own mother, the last of our family, is dead. In some way, I wish Dad was here right now, he would’ve know how to deal with the situation, but he got drafted to Iraq and died there in a roadside bombing. Now it’s just me and my sister now; the last of the Jackson family. They continue to walk up the subway station and back onto Liberty Avenue.   “What do you suppose we do, Andrew?” Lindsay asked. “The only thing we can do,” he said, “We have to go back to LA for the funeral, go through some things, and mourn like there’s no tomorrow...” “Andrew, who do you think could’ve, well, killed her?” “Who knows? It could be a variety of people. Maybe it’s that one they’ve been talking about on the news last year, the one who kept managing to get away from the cops.” “Are you talking about that serial killer, Floyd Newman?” “Exactly; he’s killed close to a hundred people he’s murdered several cops and agents, and even took out two government agents.” “Well, that explains why he’s on the top of the nation’s most wanted list.”   Andrew’s phone begins ringing as it is Dwayne to call him about the bad news.   “Hello?” Andrew asks. “Hello? Is this Andrew Jackson?” Dwayne asks. “Who wants to know?” “I’m Dwayne Johnson; I’m one of the FBI agents that worked close with your mother, Felicia.” “We already know what happened; one of my friends had saw it on the news and told my sister and I about it.” “So you know already know.” “Yeah...” “Well, listen I’m on a plane on my way to Pittsburgh right now to come get you guys and bring you back to Los Angeles for your mother’s funeral.” “Yeah, I figured as much.” “What is it?” Lindsay asked. “One of the FBI agents is coming to get us and bring us back to LA for mom’s funeral.” “Oh, well should I go pack our stuff?” “Well, hold that thought for a second,” Andrew replied. “I’ll be at the airport in about two hours.” “Okay, well we’ll be there in an hour to meet you.” “All right,” Dwayne says, “I’ll see you soon.”   Andrew hangs up as he turns to Lindsay.   “Who was that?” she asked. “That was one of the FBI agents that worked closely with mom. He said that he was coming to take us back to LA for mom’s funeral at the airport.” “Okay. Should I go back and pack our stuff?”   Before Andrew can say anything, his phone rings again.   “Hello?” he said. “I almost forgot to mention this,” Dwayne said, “Don’t worry about going to pack any of your stuff; we’ve got someone getting it for you. Just come straight to the airport; there’s a jet waiting for you there.” “All right. We’ll see you there.”   He hangs up and turns to Lindsay again.   “Should I go pack our stuff?” she asked. “No,” he replied, “Dwayne said he sent someone else to get it. We just need to go straight to the airport.” “Well, then we better come on. The bus is pulling up.”   They run across the street and get on the bus to go to the airport. About halfway there, Andrew stares up into the sky as his trip to the airport continued.   My mom always said that when things looked grim to look at the brightest side of things. But what was the brightest side to this? Both of our parents are dead. Any other relatives we might have were either killed too or lost touch with them. I’m not sure what it is with our family. It always seems like someone has had it out for all of us. What have we done to the world to deserve something like this? Some say it was escaped or released criminals with a grudge on our mom; terrorists with a vengeance motive on our dad, or it could be some gang out to get us to get revenge on the police for whatever crime they committed. The list is endless. Now all I’ve got left in my life is my sister, Lindsay, and she’s all I’ve got. Brother and sister, last of our family, we’ve got to look out for each other and stick together no matter what happens.   The bus pulls up to the upper terminal and stops signaling them to get off. They begin walking into the terminal and make their way to the security checkpoints. Before they get in line, Dwayne calls out to them from the side.   “Andrew! Lindsay! Over here!” he said, as he waved out to them. They begin walking over to them, but get stopped by one of the security guards.   “I’m sorry,” he said, “I can't let you through here.”   Before Andrew says anything, Dwayne approaches the security guard and shows him his badge.   “Don’t worry about them; they’re with me.” “Oh, that’s right; you’re the children of the late FBI agent.” “You know who we are?” Andrew questioned. “Yeah; it was on the news. It’s a shame what happened to her. Come on, I’ll walk you to the gate.”   They all follow the security guard to the gate. Once there, the gate attendant opens the door and they walk through the tunnel and into the plane.   “Nice plane. So I suspect this is what the government does with taxpayer money.” Andrew says. “You have no idea as to what the US government does with taxpayer money,” he replied, “Anyway, your clothes for the funeral are in the bathrooms over there, so get changed as we fly over to LA.”   They head into the back as the plane departs from the terminal and makes its way towards the runway. Once there, the plane speeds up and takes off into the air.   Back in the air, once again; this time we’re going home. Only it’s not for a homecoming celebration; it’s for a funeral. I never thought for one second that I’d be going home this early in my mom’s life as well as ours, to lay her to rest. You figure the best time is when they’ve grown old and look like a dried and shriveled up raisin in the sun. But unfortunately, these things are unplanned, unexpected, and sometimes... premeditated.   Andrew finishes changing into his black tuxedo and Lindsay into a gray dress. They come out, look at each other, and then turn to Dwayne.   “Well,” Andrew said, “How do we look?” “You look nice,” he replied, “Like a true man and woman.” “Only it’s not a wedding,” Lindsay said, “It’s our mother’s funeral.”   The pilot then comes on the PA system.   “Attention, passengers; we are approaching Los Angeles Airport. Would you all please buckle in as we make our descent?”   They all buckle into their seats as the plane begins to land at the airport. Meanwhile, at Felicia’s house, Cross is in the basement looking for something.   “I know it’s around here somewhere,” he said, eager to find it. He looks over on a shelf and manages to find what he’s looking for; a large black safe covered with a white sheet. He picks it up and pulls it out to set it on the table.   “I wonder why Felicia wanted me to find this,” he wondered. He enters the code he was given and opens the safe. Inside are seven cases each containing an emerald inside along with a note. He pulls out the note and begins reading it. After getting towards the middle of the letter, he stops.   “So then, the legend is true,” Cross says, “The emerald legend is true; Dwayne’s gonna want to see this when he gets here. Wait, I’ll just take the note to them down at the Staples Center and give it to them.”   He runs out of the basement and forgets to turn the light off.   “Oops, forgot the light,” he says as he goes back to turn off the light.