Legal disclaimer: The recognizable characters of the TV-show 'The Pretender' don't belong to me but to MTM, NBC Television and 20th Century Fox. I just borrowed them. Every other character does belong to me. This story was only written and published for my pleasure and that of other fans. I don't pursue any financial interests whatsoever. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: 'Precious Moments' is mainly told from Miss Parker's point of view. It's a rather dark story. Though it is a Miss Parker/Jarod romance they won't have many scenes together - until close to the end, that is. You've been warned...



Precious Moments
Part I
By Miss Bit



The long corridors of the Centre seemed deserted as Miss Parker was walking aimlessly through the vast building. Actually she should have returned home a long while ago but there was nothing there that was attracting her.

Without haste she walked from one long floor to the other, lost in thought. Down here, where there were no windows, time began to lose its importance. The light was always the same - artificial, cold - so that there was neither day nor night.

Miss Parker decided to take the stairs instead of the lift when she returned to the first floor. The stairwell was as good as unused, looked as sterile as the rest of the Centre. There was rarely someone going to the trouble of climbing up or down the long flights of stairs.

She left the stairwell and entered the large entrance hall. When she saw that the moon had already risen she cast a look at her watch. Almost midnight. Time to go home.

But before she could leave the Centre there was something left for her to do. Quickening her pace by taking long, powerful strides she went to her office, picking up the folder that was lying on her desk. Her father had asked her for this report and she wanted to get it to his office so that he could read it first thing in the morning.

It didn't take her long to reach his office. When she got there she realized with some surprise that a narrow streak of light was coming from under the door, lighting the darker corridor. Miss Parker's eyes narrowed. Who on earth could be in her father's office at so late a time? And why would someone be in there? A quick gesture reassured her that her gun was at its usual place. She took the folder in her left hand and pushed the heavy door open.

"Daddy!"

Astonished, she looked at her father, who was sitting behind his desk in the dim light of a small lamp. He looked up and flashed her a smile.

"You appear to be surprised. Who else did you expect?"

She shook her head very slightly.

"I thought you had long gone home", she replied steadily. Then she let the door fall closed behind her and walked over to him.

"Hm, I had some more work to do", he explained, casting a look at several folders lying on his desk. Miss Parker inspected him worriedly. He didn't look good.

"Here, I wanted you to have the report you've asked me for", she said. Her father accepted the manila folder with a curt nod.

"I didn't expect you to finish it this soon", he said in a rather strange voice. Miss Parker tilted her head to the sight, smiling faintly.

"It's not that I had anything else to do", she remarked softly. She hadn't meant it as a reproach, still her father looked up, his eyes clouded with guilt. He reached out his hand to her. Miss Parker stepped up to him and took it.

"How is your shoulder?" her father wanted to know. She almost allowed herself to believe that there was genuine worry in his voice. Her gaze briefly swept to the sling she still had to wear, then she looked back to her father.

"Much better. Actually I hardly notice it anymore."

He nodded, but it seemed somewhat absently to her. His gaze was still resting on her, and he blinked a few times before he continued to speak.

"You're looking tired, love. Are you feeling well?"

Miss Parker looked at her father with a combination of astonishment and warmth. It had been a long time since they had shared an intimate moment like that without being interrupted by someone. Her father seemed to be in a strange mood this night, and in spite of all she had gone through because of him she was worried about him now. Whatever had happened and whatever he had done - he still was her father.

"I'm fine, Daddy. I'm just lacking a bit sleep, that's all." She peered at him more closely. He looked tired as well; right now he was looking much older than his age. Miss Parker noticed new lines in his face. There was an expression in his eyes she hadn't seen there in a long time. Not since her mother had died. "What about you?"

Her voice had a much warmer tone to it now. He squeezed her hand, and Miss Parker felt that she was experiencing one of the rare moments when she felt a bond with her father.

"I'm feeling well", he said softly, shutting his eyes for a moment. A muscle was briefly twitching in his face. When he looked at her again he smiled reassuringly. She knew it was a fake smile but she didn't take it amiss for he was only trying to calm her.

"Why don't you go home? You look as though you could use some rest. And I'm sure Brigitte would be glad to see more of you, especially now."

The sincerity of her words surprised Miss Parker herself. At every other time they would have sounded like a bad joke, letting her pain about the latest developments in her family flare up again, but at the moment they were an expression of her worry.

Once again the muscle in her father's cheek was twitching as he returned her gaze.

"Oh, I don't know. I think Brigitte is quite happy to have me out of the house. You know, pregnant women can be a bit... difficult at times."

His voice trailed off and he shrugged helplessly. Miss Parker stifled a sigh.

"Was it difficult with Mom as well?" she had asked before she could stop herself. With some surprise she noticed an unusual gleam that lit up his eyes for a few moments while he was remembering happier times.

"Oh no", he answered ardently, shaking his head. "Catherine was so happy and she shared her joy with me." He fell silent; his gaze became void for some time. "She never regarded her pregnancy as a burden."

Not for the first time Miss Parker had the feeling that Brigitte was but a poor substitute for her mother. She pushed the thought away and decided to change the subject. There was something she had wanted to mention to her father for some days now. This moment might be more favorable than the next morning.

"Daddy?" Gently, she freed her hand from his, putting it on his shoulder. "Can I talk to you?"

He returned from the world of his memories, giving her slight smile.

"Of course, Angel. What is it about?"

Miss Parker hesitated. He wouldn't like this.

"How is Jarod? Did he calm down a bit?"

"Mhm. Raines sedated him. But that's none of your worries anymore." Her father looked at her searchingly. "Jarod is now safely back in the arms of the Centre. Your task is accomplished." Sudden understanding gleamed in his eyes, and Miss Parker hurried to anticipate his next question.

"No, this isn't about our deal. I will continue to work for the Centre - for the moment." She paused briefly before going on. "I want to see him."

Her father reacted with refusal, just like she had expected him to. He frowned.

"Why that? You don't have to worry about him anymore. He's Raines' responsibility now."

This time she did allow herself a sigh.

"The last three years I spent exclusively chasing Jarod. He became a part of my life. In order to come to terms with my past I need to see him one more time, don't you understand?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't understand", her father replied thoughtfully. She was about to protest but with a gentle gesture of his hand he indicated to her that she should listen to him. "Just to think of all the lies he told you! But if it's so important to you..."

He turned away from her, switching on a small monitor that was standing on the far right of his desk. It took a moment for the picture to become clear but then Miss Parker recognized that it was the view from the surveillance camera in Jarod's room. She looked at her father, trying to hide her astonishment at his prompt reaction; he merely smiled at her.

Miss Parker returned her attention to the monitor. The room Jarod had been brought to was only dimly lit. He was lying on a bed, apparently unconscious. The pretender was probably sleeping, knocked out by some of Raines' experimental drugs. Sam had told her how Jarod had behaved like a ferocious animal when they had caught him. It had taken three of Raines' most powerful sweepers to hold Jarod still enough for one of the doctors to inject the sedative.

Miss Parker shook her head.

"What are you going to do with him? I can hardly imagine that he will ever work together with the Centre again", she voiced the one thought that had spun around in circles in her mind for the past few days.

Her father shrugged his shoulders.

"Jarod needs some time to readjust. And Raines will find some sort of motivation for him."

She didn't like the direction this conversation was turning to. It reminded her of the fact that Jarod was a prisoner here, someone who could be exploited mercilessly. And she had helped to get him back into his prison.

"I want to see him. In person", she said very gently.

Now her father was the one to sigh.

"He is dangerous. He attacked everyone he could reach. I don't want him to hurt you."

"Believe me, Daddy, I don't want him to, either. But I'm sure he won't attack me." She wasn't sure at all, but that was her problem, not her father's.

It was only after a long while that he answered her.

"All right, since you seem to have set your mind to it." His gaze briefly rested on her injured shoulder, and once again she had the feeling that he was mainly acting out of a feeling of guilt towards her - after all she had been hit by the bullet that had been meant for him. "But I want you to take someone with you for protection. Sam maybe and..."

"That won't be necessary", she declined his offer. "Just watch him. Right now - like that - he couldn't even pose a threat to Raines."

She smiled humorlessly. Then she remembered one more thing.

"There's something else I wanted to ask of you, Daddy."

"Hm?"

"Sydney. Let him see Jarod again. I know that Raines kept him away from Jarod. But Sydney means a lot to Jarod. If there's someone who can persuade Jarod to work for the Centre again it's Sydney. And even if he doesn't succeed in persuading Jarod he'll still be able to calm him down. You can't keep him sedated forever."

Miss Parker watched as her father gave some thought to her suggestion.

"Raines won't like that. But that's not our problem, is it? Tell Sydney he can see Jarod tomorrow morning. If the meeting goes well I'll may be able to arrange further ones."

"Thank you, Daddy."

Genuinely relieved, she kissed him on the forehead. During the last months she had rarely felt a spontaneous surge of affection for him - and it had been even less frequent that she had shown it.

"Don't mention it, love", he replied gently. He rose and pulled her into a brief embrace. "And now we both should get on our way home."

"No, I want to see Jarod first."

"What, now?"

"Mhm. The faster I get it over with the sooner I can concentrate on what is lying before me."

Her father nodded his approval. "Fine then. I'll arrange everything for you, then."

"Good night, Dad."

"Sleep well, dear."

He flashed her another smile when she left, but as she was going down the corridor she couldn't help but think that she would never share another moment as precious as that with her father.

She slowly walked over to the elevators. Before she went to meet Jarod she wanted to leave a short message in Sydney's office.

For the second time this evening she was taken by surprise as she reached Sydney's office. Miss Parker saw light in there as well. The door was ajar; she knocked softly.

"Syd?"

"Ah, Miss Parker. Do come in."

She followed his invitation, feeling slightly worried. Like her father he was sitting behind his desk, staring blankly into the dimly lit room. A full bottle of whisky and a glass were standing in front of him.

"Is that your first bottle?" Miss Parker wanted to know. Sydney looked at her with a slight gleaming in his eyes.

"Yes."

"I see."

He looked at her as though he wanted to dispute her understanding but then he merely nodded. Sydney knew what she had gone through during the past weeks and months.

"What are you still doing here, Miss Parker?"

She shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly, carefully avoiding to strain her barely healed wound.

"I had to take care of a thing or two", she explained nonchalantly. "Among other things I wanted to leave a note on your desk."

Sydney raised his eyebrows. "That's a trouble you don't have to go to anymore."

Miss Parker leaned against the door frame.

"You should leave the Centre and go home now. Have a nice long rest. I'm sure you'll be glad about having had one tomorrow morning."

His eyebrows climbed a bit higher.

"Why that? So that I can use all my energy on spending another futile day at the Centre?"

"Aw, Syd, whenever did you become so cynical? Besides, you shouldn't be so egotistical. There is someone here at the Centre who needs you, did you forget that?"

He snorted derisively. Miss Parker decided to finally tell him why she had come in the first place.

"You'll be allowed to meet Jarod tomorrow morning. If that's what you want."

Stunned, he stared at her, narrowing his eyes.

"I'd never make a joke about something as important to you as that, Sydney. I hope you know that", she anticipated his unspoken reproach. "My father is of the opinion that you might be able to bring Jarod to his senses."

"Your father?"

Miss Parker smiled.

"Certainly, yes. He might be stubborn but he's not stupid. Come on, Syd. Believe it."

"I do, Miss Parker." His lips formed a tentative smile. "Tomorrow morning?"

"Mhm. Good night, Sydney."

She turned to leave his office. The joy in his eyes when she had told him the good news hadn't escaped her attention. Hopefully his joy was intense enough to help him overcome the fear he was apparently feeling as well.

"Miss Parker?"

Once again she turned to him, looking at him inquisitively.

"Thank you."

"But what for, Sydney?"

She smiled her goodbye and then left his office. Now there was only Jarod left. Only.

On her way down to the sublevel where Jarod was held captive she took another glance at her watch. Twenty minutes past midnight. A new day had begun. With a little luck it might start as well as the last one had ended.

It took Miss Parker almost ten minutes to reach Jarod's room. Raines had played it safe, not only sedating Jarod but also incarcerating him as far below the surface as possible. This time the pretender shouldn't be able escape to escape as effortlessly.

In Miss Parker's eyes all these measures were futile. If Jarod really put his mind to it he would be able to escape again.

Reluctantly, she walked the last few yards. Raines' sweeper let her pass without any comment so that she could fully concentrate on her musings.

It wasn't as if she were looking forward to this meeting. Actually, she should be glad that Jarod was back at the Centre. Not only was she spared from his little presents now - she had also fulfilled her part of the deal with her father so that she could leave whenever she chose to. Theoretically. But she wasn't planning to leave before she had found Tommy's murderer.

"Miss Parker."

She looked up. Sam stood before her, looking at her expectantly.

"Did my father send you?"

Her sweeper merely nodded.

"I thought as much. Okay, I want you to wait out here. You're not to come in - unless I'm calling you. And as long as I'm in there, everybody else is to stay out, got me?"

"Yes, Miss Parker."

Miss Parker took a deep breath, then she went through the door that Sam held open for her. When she had entered the room Sam closed the door behind her.

It was dark; darker than she had thought it to be after she had seen the pictures from the surveillance camera. She remained standing right in front of the door until her eyes had adjusted to the twilight.

Jarod was still lying on the bed, just like she had seen him a few minutes ago. Taking slow steps she walked over to him, stopping a few steps away from the bed.

'He behaved like a wild animal that's trapped in a corner. If there hadn't been three of us we couldn't have hold him. It wasn't until Mr. Raines had given him an injection that he calmed down a bit. However, he broke Willie three rips.'

Miss Parker made a face as she remembered the scene Sam had described to her. Sam had seemed very reluctant about telling her anything about it and had only started to do so when she had ordered him to.

Her sight improved with every moment that passed. She looked more closely at Jarod. He seemed to be exhausted, shattered. A few days at the Centre had been enough to ruin his physical health. A few days more and only God knew what might happen to Jarod's mind...

Slowly, she stepped closer to him. 'He attacked everyone within his reach.' As she thought about her father's words again she believed to have heard something like reluctant respect in his voice. Respect she had never got.

Absently, she watched the man who had haunted her for three years. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. He would definitely see it quite differently. But while she had hunted him he had got deeper and deeper into her mind, mercilessly dragging every hidden memory and secret into the open. Jarod had probably done it merely for self-protection - but was that really the only reason? Now it was too late for her to find out. Her father had been right: Jarod was no longer her problem.

Miss Parker debated if she should wake him up. Talking to her was surely the last thing he wanted to do right now. And what if he attacked her? No, she couldn't imagine that he would...

She never got the chance to finish her thought. Jarod's attack came with incredible speed and totally unexpected. He moved upwards, crashing into her and pushing her against the next wall.

The impact knocked the wind out of her, leaving her breathless. That was the only reason why she didn't yell with pain when her injured shoulder collided with the wall. To top it off, Jarod was holding both of her arms in a vice-like grip.

As sudden as he had attacked her he now loosened his grip on her shoulder, feeling the sling there. His grip was still strong enough to keep her under control, but at least the pain faded a bit.

"Miss Parker, what a... surprise", he said, his voice rough with exhaustion and strain. "What brought you here?"

She moaned with pain as he pressed her harder against the wall for a moment.

"I... don't know. Maybe... I like to... torture... myself", she got out. It wasn't only Jarod's tight grip that made her feel like something was tightening around her throat. She was afraid. He was standing too close to her so that she couldn't look into his eyes. His voice was her only indication for reading his mood. This wasn't the man who had escaped from the Centre three years ago. Miss Parker was facing the darker Jarod - the man she didn't know at all. He wasn't playing any mind games; he wasn't teasing. This was all about control and power.

Relieved, she noticed how he released his grip on her a bit. He made a small step back, but she was still trapped between him and the wall.

"You shouldn't have come here, Miss Parker", he replied after what had seemed an eternity to her, his voice containing a thoughtful undertone. "Didn't your father warn you about me?"

It was almost doing her good to hear the caustic derision in his voice.

"He did warn me. But I don't let anybody tell me what to do - not even him."

She sensed more than she saw how he tensed. Once again he got closer to her, pushing her harder against the wall again.

"Why are you here, Miss Parker?"

There it was again, this pressing tone she had heard from him so often during the last years. Unbidden thoughts left wide gaps in her iron-like self-control, suppressed emotions were unstoppably forcing their way out.

"You've hurt me, Jarod", she wheezed, and the slight trembling of her voice betrayed her inner turmoil. Almost immediately he let go of her, using his physical superiority to keep her under control instead.

Grateful, she took a deep breath, ignoring the vague pain that was still pulsating in her shoulder.

"I didn't mean this", she then said. Jarod tilted his head slightly to the side, watching her with his dark eyes, eventually shrugging his shoulders. This time he moved closer to her very slowly, close enough for her to be able to feel his heartbeat. His gaze bore into hers, shattering the last remains of her self-control.

"Miss Parker, Miss Parker."

She could feel his breath tickling her cheek as he was whispering into her ear. Something about his tone was strange to her, as if it didn't match this bizarre situation.

"You're confusing me", he continued softly. "I don't know if I should strangle you or..."

Though the situation she was in was quite dangerous she couldn't resist the temptation.

"Or what?" she whispered hoarsely.

His hands were closing around her throat, exerting not even the slightest pressure, turning the threatening gesture into a caress. After some endless seeming seconds his hands moved on, until he cupped her face in them.

Once again Jarod moved almost imperceptibly fast. He kissed her, roughly and hard, pressing her even harder against the wall.

An incomprehensibly intense feeling struck her like lightning so that she thought her heart had stopped beating for a second or two. She felt his muscular, tense body pressing so tightly against her own that it was taking her breath away as much as his lips did.

Once more she had the impression that something here was utterly wrong. Anger flared up in her, permeated by the cool voice of her instinct. Angered, using all of her strength, she pushed him away from her.

The gap that formed between them was but a few inches wide. Jarod laughed darkly, looking at her with an expression that bordered on amusement.

"Shy, Miss Parker?"

She wanted to hit him but he anticipated her intention, effortlessly keeping her from putting it into practice.

"Bastard!" she hissed angrily. There was something flashing up in his eyes and suddenly she realized that he was doing all this intentionally - to make her angry. She remembered something her hated brother had once said to her. 'You are beautiful when you're angry.'

"Let... go!"

His lips formed a humorless smile. He leaned in to her, his voice a barely audible whisper.

"Now that I've got you", he whispered, "I won't let you go just like this. How does it feel to be trapped?"

Miss Parker never got a chance to answer him. He pressed his lips hard on hers, so self-assured and demanding. Instead of the emotional chaos she had half expected to feel there was but a sudden emptiness in her head. Only a single thought was forming painstakingly slowly. 'Something is wrong here.'

She gave in to the pressure of his tongue against her lips, opening her mouth. What on earth was happening here?

It was wrong but it felt good. For a moment, just for a single moment, she gave in to her emotions, enjoying this grotesque pleasure. It was only much later that she realized that it had been this moment that had changed everything. Only by that she had finally been able to see the truth.

Her anger returned, multiplied by far. Now she knew what was wrong. Jarod was trying to gain control over her but he couldn't do it being himself. She was facing Jarod, the pretender. And that was a person she knew almost as well as the naïve little boy he had been so many years ago - a boy that was still an important part of him.

Miss Parker decided to end it. Her tongue brushed against his lower lip, slowly, enticingly. He let down his guard for a moment, and she bit him - hard enough to make him back away.

This time she managed to push him further away from her. Before he got the chance to recover from her surprisingly strong push she lifted her right hand and hit him hard in the face. Once again she pushed him away from her so that he stumbled and fell backwards onto the bed.

"You darn bastard!" she hissed. Jarod rose but made no move towards her. He seemed to sense that she was seriously angered.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she continued. Effortlessly, she slipped back into her cold Centre role. "Did you plan to fall on me right in front of the cameras? And I let it happen, overwhelmed by your immense charm? Or doesn't it matter at all what I think about it? If that's what's become of you while you were out there - then it's really for the better that Raines put you away down here!"

She couldn't tell whether or not her words had any impact on him. The pretender simply stood there, staring at her, wiping some blood off his lip. Eventually he let his hand sink back to his side.

"Very moving, really." He darted out his tongue, licking his injured lip, making a lascivious gesture of it. "That's why you came here. That's what you've always wanted from me."

"Be careful, Jarod", she warned him, but he ignored her, captured in his own game.

"Now that Tommy's dead you need someone to replace him."

His words hit her harder than any blow could ever have. Her anger faded, making way for sickening hurt. The expression on his face changed and his wish to take back these last words was almost palpable to her. But it was irrevocably too late for that. He had abused his special talent to hurt her, hurt her more than anybody else ever could. A mere split second later the mask he had put on tonight was back on and there was no trace of regret left, not even in his eyes.

Miss Parker shut her mouth, her lips pressed firmly together. She didn't even find the strength to hurl all the things at him that were running through her mind and that could never hurt him the way his thoughtless words had hurt her.

Without a single word she turned and went to the door. After a loud knock Sam opened it for her almost immediately. Miss Parker went past him, not even wanting to cast a last look at Jarod. As far as she was concerned he could rot away down here.

Legal disclaimer: The recognizable characters of the TV-show 'The Pretender' don't belong to me but to MTM, NBC Television, TNT and 20th Century Fox. I just borrowed them. Every other character does belong to me. This story was only written and published for my pleasure and that of other fans. I don't pursue any financial interests whatsoever. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: Okay, I know I said I wouldn't continue the translation before the German version was finished - any complaints go to my feedback address, *g* Several people asked for it so... here goes part 2, which is only 5 pages long, but better than nothing, I suppose. More parts are to follow, I'm thinking one part a week here...

Author's warning: I've been asked to do a more optimistic story - this is not it. This is still a dark story, and it's going to become darker still. A lengthy story with your occasional moment of angst, those are the aspects that you should base your decision on whether to go on or not. Oh, and did I mention that there's heaps of angst in here? ;)
A huge thank you goes out to my beta reader Cate! :)

I'd like to thank everyone who wrote and encouraged me to continue this story - this is for you! Enjoy yourselves.



Precious Moments
Part II
By Miss Bit


The next morning Miss Parker found it harder than usual to return to the Centre. She had lain awake for the better part of the night, fighting her tears, trying in vain to banish Jarod's words from her memory.

And then there was this nagging little doubt. Miss Parker did not even allow herself to acknowledge its presence, let alone think about. But no matter how hard she tried - she could not get rid of it. 'What if he was right?'

"Good morning, Miss Parker."

It was Broots who interrupted her musings. For a long moment she just stared at him.

"I thought you were on a two-week vacation," she said by way of a greeting. Broots nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back.

"They've only granted me one week," he explained but it was plain to see that there was something else weighing on his mind. Miss Parker was sure she did not want to hear what he had to say but there was something in his eyes forcing her to ask. He was relying on her. The relief in his eyes at seeing her told her that he trusted her to solve the problem - whatever that might be.

"What's the matter, Broots?"

She nudged him gently in the back, and they left the entrance hall together, heading for her office.

"It's Sydney," the technician whispered, looking around nervously.

"This isn't a bad spy movie, Broots," Miss Parker reminded him, impatient. "Pull yourself together." There was no trace of sharpness to her tone, though, and Broots merely nodded absent-mindedly.

When he had not said anything else after a whole minute had passed, Miss Parker sighed silently.

"What about Syd?" she insisted.

"I don't know," Broots uttered, visibly worried now. "When I arrived here this morning I talked to him, and everything seemed just fine. Then, half an hour ago, he went past me without so much as a word, and..."

He hesitated, then forced himself to continue. "He's locked himself in his office," he finished his sentence.

Miss Parker stopped dead in her tracks, looking at Broots for some time, then continued on her way, faster than before. "I'll talk to him."

With that, she left Broots behind. It did not take her long to reach Sydney's office. Her gaze rested on the closed door for more than a minute before she finally knocked.

"Sydney? It's me. If you don't open this door for me, you'll force me to shoot the lock off - or maybe I'll only get someone with a master key. In any case there's going to be a lot of excitement. That can't be what you want, right?"

For a long while, there was only silence. Miss Parker's patience was slowly wearing thin but eventually she was rewarded with the sound of steps coming closer to the door. A low, clicking noise told her that Sydney had unlocked the door. A few more seconds passed, then he opened the door to look at her, his face displaying an admirable amount of calm.

"Miss Parker, that was poor psychology," he said softly. "But you may come in all the same."

"It worked," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders, entering his office. She went over to his desk, then turned to face him.

"What's this all about, Syd? This is so unlike you."

He sighed.

"All I wanted was to be alone for awhile."

"Here at the Centre? Not a good idea, Sydney. That's a sure way to draw even more attention to yourself."

Jarod's former mentor looked at her, his full attention on her.

"I'm afraid your method isn't all that much better," he countered.

She knew immediately what he meant. Sydney was talking about her... encounter with Jarod. By now, probably everyone here at the Centre had watched a copy of the surveillance tape. To hell with Jarod.

"Quid pro quo, Sydney. You first. What happened?"

He walked over to the window and looked outside.

"I... I visited Jarod this morning. He didn't want to see me. It's as simple as that."

That wasn't all there was to it. Both his stance and tone of voice made that plain. Even knowing that, Miss Parker merely nodded.

"Strange - why doesn't that come as a surprise to me? I suppose you already know what happened when I went to see him last night?"

Sydney's only answer was a nod, but he turned to face her again.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with him. The Jarod down there is not the one you used to know. He's pulling off some weird kind of stunt. I don't know why, and I couldn't care less. As far as I'm concerned, Raines can do with Jarod whatever pleases him."

"Miss Parker!" Genuine alarm made Sydney's voice quiver. "You can't be serious."

"I'm as serious as his little remark about Tommy," she answered, not quite convincing herself.

Sydney gave her an insistent look.

"You said that Jarod was pulling off a stunt?"

"Come on, Syd, you know that as well as I do. I..."

A knocking on the door interrupted her.

"Yes?" came Sydney's automatic reply. Willie, Raines' personal sweeper, entered his office. His bandages instantly reminded Miss Parker of what Sam had told her about Jarod's capture.

"Miss Parker, Mr. Raines wants you to come down to Jarod. Immediately," he informed her.

She stared at him, speechless for the moment.

"No," she then said.

"Mr. Raines would hate to involve your father in this."

Miss Parker took a deep breath, about to tell Willie what else Raines would hate, but then thought better of it. It would be pointless to waste her rage on him when Raines was the one she was angry with.

"I'm coming," she said flatly. What was Raines up to this time? And why had he expressly asked her to go and see Jarod?

Willie turned to leave, and Miss Parker gave Sydney a dry smile.

"Maybe your method is better than mine after all," she murmured, in a tone that was almost gentle. There was a mixture of worry and compassion in Sydney's eyes. He nodded almost imperceptibly, the hint of a smile playing about his lips.

"Maybe," she heard his quiet answer, when she was halfway out the door.

The way down to Jarod's quarters seemed even longer this time. Her thoughts were revolving incessantly about Raines' motives. There was only one thing occupying her attention even more, and that was the question of what Jarod might have to do with it all.

It wasn't long until she found herself standing in front of the door to Jarod's room again. Sam was not there this time; one of Raines' sweepers opened the door for her.

She could hardly bring herself to walk into the confined space that was Jarod's room. The memory of his hurtful words was so much more vivid down here, the nagging doubt louder, more insistent. 'What if he was right?'

Upset, she shook her head. She really could not let herself get distracted by that now.

"Hello, Miss Parker."

It was Jarod who greeted her, not Raines. Miss Parker stared at him, allowing her gaze to bore into him. He was sitting at a table, a self-satisfied expression in his eyes. Now, in the harsh light of the lamps above their heads, he looked even worse than last night.

"Where's Raines?" she wanted to know.

"Hm, not here, it seems."

"I can see that," Miss Parker said between clenched teeth, barely controlling herself. "What am I doing here?"

Jarod got up.

"Ah, now that's a good question if I ever heard one. It's lonely down here, you know." He paused, looking at her in a way that reminded her far too much of their last encounter. An eternity seemed to go by before Jarod finally continued. "Raines has been generous. He has granted me some... privileges in exchange for my services as a pretender."

"And I am one of those privileges," Miss Parker concluded, laughing out loud. "You must have lost your mind if you believe that I'll agree to that."

The pretender returned her gaze with a calmness that made her even angrier than his last remark. Jarod tilted his head to the side.

"It might interest you to know that your father is a part of my deal with Raines."

His words infuriated her to the point of blind anger, making her forget about caution. She moved towards him, sped up by her fury.

Jarod was hit by surprise. The force of her impact made him stagger backwards until he stumbled against the wall. They bounced against the wall facing the door, as they had last night, but this time it was Miss Parker who held Jarod captive against the hard stone. She pressed her right arm against his throat, putting all her fury in her eyes.

"I won't let anyone use me like that, not even for my father's sake," she hissed.

"Your shoulder," Jarod reminded her, his voice surprisingly soft. Confused, she backed away a bit, so that she could look into his eyes. The strange feeling she'd had the night before returned - and she had had enough of it.

"What the hell is going on here?" she asked him, the icy tone of her voice making it plain to him that she was not going to accept any more excuses. She looked into Jarod's eyes, trying to read in them as she had done so many times when they had both been children.

Last night it had been too dark for her to see anything in his eyes; that's why he had gotten away with his charade. And that's what it had been - a charade. Miss Parker realized that as she saw the compassion and the silent apology in his eyes.

"Jarod?"

Her voice was soft, clearly reflecting her confusion. A small part of her became aware of the fact that they stood just outside the range of the two surveillance cameras - unlike last night.

Jarod was still looking at her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice so low she almost missed his words. Then he leaned into her, getting closer to her again. There was nothing threatening to his posture; it was really rather soothing. His right hand wiped a strand of hair from her brow, his fingertips then wandered gently over her forehead, down to her cheek. Jarod's other hand rested lightly on her injured shoulder.

There was nothing Miss Parker could do, besides stand there and stare at the pretender with wide eyes. The feeling that something was wrong had gone. This time everything felt... right. She studied him intently, saw the dark rings beneath his eyes, his tousled hair and the expression in his eyes. His steady gaze had something desperate to it, as if he were searching for something he could see but not reach. Before she had the time to follow this thought, she felt the touch of his lips on hers.

This kiss wasn't about power or control. Jarod was kissing her gently, tenderly, with a reverence and warmth that made her quiver. His emotions were genuine, that much Miss Parker knew for sure. Still, Jarod's behavior made no sense at all to her.

Her thoughts evaporated into nothingness when Jarod deepened the kiss. She returned his caresses, and for a precious moment she got lost in the wonderful warmth that was pulsing through her body. Then, as if waking up from a dream, she detached herself from him; afraid of what might happen if she didn't.

Miss Parker took a step away from the pretender and watched him, her brow creased. Several questions were vying for her attention, but she uttered none of them. She shook her head in amazement, not quite believing what had just happened, turned around and went to the door.

"Miss Parker."

She did not turn, but hesitated for the briefest of moments before she raised her hand to knock on the door. Then seconds later she had left the room, physically at least. Only on her way back to the ground floor, with the sound of the heavy door closing behind her, did she allow what just happened to play over and over in her head.

Legal disclaimer: The recognizable characters of the TV-show 'The Pretender' don't belong to me but to MTM, NBC Television, TNT and 20th Century Fox. I just borrowed them. Every other character does belong to me. This story was only written and published for my pleasure and that of other fans. I don't pursue any financial interests whatsoever. No copyright infringement is intended.

Kudos to Dianne - for bidding in the Pretender Story Auction and for volunteering to edit this translation!



Precious Moments
Part III
By Miss Bit



"Would you mind my company for a while, Miss Parker?"

It was almost noon when Sydney's quiet voice made her look up. She was sitting on the rim of one of the fountains that were scattered all over the Centre's foyer. The soft splashing sound of the water had come as a welcome diversion, at least for a while and every now and then, she would throw one of the small pebbles she held in her hand into the water.

"You left your office," she stated the obvious.

"You can hardly lock yourself up forever. Not in your office nor in the place that you have retreated to."

It was only now that she met his gaze. "How philosophical," she replied with a tiny smile. "Or should I say 'psychological'?"

She pointed at the low marble wall that surrounded the fountain. Sydney accepted her tacit invitation and sat down next to her.

"What happened to your sling?" he wanted to know.

Miss Parker smiled humorlessly. "I tried to choke Jarod with it," she said, almost wishing that it were true.

With her mind a thousand miles away, she dropped another pebble into the crystal blue water and pensively watched the tiny waves that quickly spread all over the pool. Another pebble followed the first one, creating its own waves. Complex patterns appeared on the smooth surface of the pool as the waves reinforced and extinguished each other.

'That's the way it's always been with Jarod,' Miss Parker mused. The consequences of his actions had always been present in her life, had even had an influence on it; some times more so than others, but always recognizable.

"What do you think is wrong with Jarod?" she asked Sydney after a few moments of silence had passed. "You know him quite well, after all."

"Just as you do. Maybe not even quite as well," he answered pensively.

Miss Parker exhaled with a sigh.

"I have no idea what's up with him. My best guess is that Raines has given him something other than a sedative. The way he's acting, I'd say Jarod has had his first experience with LSD."

Sydney's neutral expression turned into a considerably unhappier one. "Maybe you're right. God, if Raines is using Jarod for one of his experiments..."

"Calm down, Syd," Miss Parker said. "I sincerely doubt that Raines will harm him; not as long as he has some use for his best pretender anyway."

She fell silent after that and stared off into space. Why was Jarod acting so strangely? First, he'd done everything he could think of to hurt her and then at their next meeting, he'd acted quite contrarily. Miss Parker felt Sydney's gaze on her.

"Tell me what he wants from me," she asked him, "I just can't figure him out."

"Jarod is searching for human affection. It's as simple as that. I believe he misses your warmth."

Miss Parker laughed, unbelieving. "Yeah, right."

Sydney looked at her, nothing but sincerity in his eyes. "Just give it a moment's thought, Miss Parker," he pleaded with her. "The Centre separated him from his family, of which he has little to no recollection. He grew up here alone - without a family and only a handful of friends. The only person he ever knew to treat him with warmth and affection was... is you."

"If that's really what he wants," she replied pensively, "well, it's a little too late for that. We were children back then. What did I know about him and the Centre?"

'Enough,' her inner voice whispered as she thought about Sydney's words. She remembered the strange expression in Jarod's eyes shortly before he had kissed her. As if he were searching for something, something that was close by, yet at the same time unreachably far away. Could Sydney be right? The thought seemed highly unlikely and if it was true, then Jarod was wishing for something that could not be fulfilled. He missed the girl she had been so many years ago. The affection that girl had had for him was no longer present in the grown woman. Or was it?

"You've never talked to me about it, Miss Parker, and I can only begin to guess how you see your relationship with Jarod, but as far as Jarod is concerned... During the past three years, he's kept in touch with you and he's helped you to learn more about yourself and your past. Don't you think it's possible that there is a connection between the two of you, some sort of link?"

Miss Parker tilted her head to the side and looked at her reflection in the water. A few seconds later, she dipped her hand into the water, disturbing the still picture. She tensely watched the waves, all the while thinking about an answer to Sydney's question. Not too long ago, she used to think about the strange relationship between Jarod and her every once in a while, but ever since Tommy had been murdered, her mind had been preoccupied with other things. She smiled humorlessly. It had always been easier not to think about Jarod.

"Miss Parker?"

The tone of Sydney's voice made her turn back to him. He scrutinized her then gave her a warm smile. "Come on, I'll take you out to lunch. It'll do us both good to spend some time away from the Centre."

"Yes, why not?" she agreed, returning his smile just long enough for him to notice.

***

"... And that's why I don't believe that Raines will ever manage to make Jarod work for the Centre again. He's sure to..."

Miss Parker had really tried to follow Sydney's line of thought, but there were too many other things weighing on her mind, too many problems screaming for her attention. Why was everyone acting so differently all of a sudden? First, her father then Jarod and even Sydney didn't seem to be quite his usual self. Or was she herself the problem? Was she the one acting strangely? Maybe she was just perceiving things in a different way...

She heaved a sigh and poked listlessly at her meal. Sydney had taken her to one of Blue Cove's best restaurants, one she usually felt really comfortable in. Today she took no notice of either the tasteful interior or the elegant pieces of art that were exhibited all over the dining area. Her gaze kept drifting off into space while she tried to analyze her emotions or at least put names to some of them.

"Miss Parker?"

Startled, she looked up. It was only now that she realized that Sydney had already called her name twice.

"You haven't heard a word I said during the last five minutes, have you?" he asked, his voice containing no reproach, he sounded concerned instead.

"I'm sorry," Miss Parker answered, creasing her brow. She didn't like the fact that she simply couldn't concentrate on Sydney, not for the life of her. Usually she made the conscious decision not to listen to someone.

"I guess I just need a good night's sleep," she said with a slight shrug. Now it was Sydney's turn to frown.

"You probably won't want to hear it, but I'll give you some medical advice anyway. I can see how exhausted you are, Miss Parker. In fact, I noticed that some time ago - when Thomas Gates died."

"When he was murdered," she corrected him sharply. Sydney just cocked his head.

"However. I didn't say anything, to give you the opportunity to get over it on your own. After all, I know what you think about people meddling in your affairs, but now the time has come for me to offer you my help - or at least my advice - and for you to accept it."

Miss Parker looked hard at him. She knew he was worried about her. Besides, he was right. It had been hard for her to cope with everything all on her own.

"So, what's your advice?" she inquired gently.

Sydney returned her gaze, looking surprised and relieved all at once. "Vacation. You need a vacation. Leave the Centre behind you, at least for a while. That'll do you more good than you can probably imagine right now. Once you put some distance between yourself and your problems you'll see things a lot clearer."

Later on, she would wonder if it had been his words, his convinced tone or a combination of both that had won her over. The idea was rather appealing and she already knew exactly where she wanted to spend her vacation.

"You know, that doesn't sound bad at all. It's been a while since my last vacation and if my father will let me, I'll take a few days off."

"Make that a week or even better, two weeks," Sydney suggested enthusiastically.

Miss Parker lifted a brow, feeling amused. "Trying to get rid of me, Syd?" She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "No, let me guess: You're planning to help Jarod escape and you need me out of your way."

Sydney smiled faintly. "I don't think he would accept my help right now," he replied much too seriously. Miss Parker felt a pang of disapproval. That was another thing that made her angry with Jarod. Of all the people in Jarod's life, Sydney was the one who deserved Jarod's current behavior the least. Sydney had always tried to help Jarod.

Now it was Sydney who seemed a thousand miles away, but it was only a few seconds until he looked up at her again. He nodded towards her plate, which still held most of her lunch. "I noticed how little you eat these days," he said quietly. He gently covered her hand with his own. "You need to take better care of yourself, especially now with that injury or you will never feel any better."

"Exactly my thoughts," she replied, her voice only sounding half as glum as she felt.

***

Her office felt strangely empty when she returned there that afternoon. She had talked to her father and he had told her that he, too, had been worried about her and that he'd be glad to see her relax a little. His approval of her vacation had surprised her a little, but she ascribed his behavior to his guilty feelings.

She pushed her thoughts about her father away, a pensive smile playing about her lips, and directed her attention to her impending vacation instead. Miss Parker reached for her cell phone and dialed a number she was familiar with, even though she hardly ever used it. It was almost a minute until someone picked up.

"Hello?" gasped an elderly voice.

"Hello, Ben," she greeted him with considerable warmth in her voice.

"Miss Parker! It's good to hear your voice again. How are you?"

For a short moment, she felt tempted to tell him all about Tommy, Major Charles and her injury, but then decided against burdening him with her sorrows. Perhaps she could tell him everything in person.

"Just fine," she replied evasively. "How about you?"

"Oh, everything's all right over here," Ben replied in that quiet voice of his. When he paused for a moment, she tried to imagine his face and especially his warm eyes, which repaid her for the coldness in her own father's eyes. "Is there a particular reason why you're calling? Can I help you with something?"

Miss Parker smiled. It was easy for her to ask a favor of Ben.

"You can indeed. I'd... like to come to visit you for a few days, spend my vacation with you. That is if you don't mind."

Feeling a little anxious, she waited for his answer.

"If I don't mind? My dear Miss Parker, of course, I don't mind! You can stay as long as you want to," he said immediately and she knew that the quiet joy in his voice was genuine. A few seconds later though, the joy turned into disappointment. "Aw, I forgot - I'll be away on business for the next three or four days and it's impossible for me to postpone it. Maybe you could come here a little later? In a few days?"

She tried to fight her disappointment and failed.

"That's... okay," she lied, struggling to keep her voice even.

"No, it's not. As I said, I'd love to see you again. Listen, why don't you get here whenever you feel like it? I'll leave the spare key for you. Truth be told, I'll be glad to have someone watch over the house while I'm away."

Miss Parker could almost see his mischievous smile. "That's great. I was planning to leave within the next two days. You sure you want to entrust me with your house?"

Ben laughed softly. "Of course, Miss Parker. It's as much your house as it is mine," he said gently.

"Thank you, Ben," she replied fondly. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you again."

"So am I, Miss Parker, so am I. Be sure to make yourself at home, I'll see you in a few days."

"See you then, Ben."

***

It was already getting dark when Miss Parker steered her car up the driveway to Ben Miller's house. For the first time in months, she felt remotely relaxed and for once, her thoughts were not revolving around the Centre.

Even in the twilight of dusk, the house looked inviting to her, homey even. She parked the car, turned off the engine and got out. Then she took her bag from the back seat, locked the car and followed the small path that led up to the house.

Ben had promised to leave a spare key for her - only he hadn't told her where he would hide it. Miss Parker smiled. It probably wasn't hidden all that well; Ben lived in a safe area after all. The area was actually safe enough to leave the house unguarded, but Miss Parker appreciated Ben's gesture. Her mother had truly enjoyed herself here and maybe she would too.

After a short search in the area around the front door, she produced the spare key from a flowerpot next to the door. Shaking her head in disbelief, she unlocked the door.

***

It was much later when Miss Parker checked her watch for the first time that day. Surprised, she narrowed her eyes, almost half past three in the morning. Whatever had happened to the time?

In spite of her weariness, she had decided against going to bed and instead had made herself comfortable in Ben's living room. There she was, sitting on the couch, a blanket around her shoulders and a book in front of her. If she was honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she could hardly remember anything she had read during the last hours. Too often, her thoughts had strayed from the thin plot.

She closed the book with a sigh and put it on the coffee table. The fire in the fireplace seemed to have died down quite a while ago and she hadn't even noticed. She frowned, feeling something remotely like anger at herself. She would really have to do something about her lack of attention. At a place like the Centre, her inattentiveness would get her into serious trouble sooner or later; terminable trouble even.

Miss Parker didn't fight when her eyes seemed to shut of their own volition. She would not fall asleep anyway, her thoughts were in too much disarray. Dealing with some of these thoughts was much harder than keeping awake. There was one question in particular haunting her ever since her lunch with Sydney.

The situation between her and Jarod at their first meeting after his recapture had been more than tense and the memory of the fear she had felt then was still very vivid. Her fear had petrified her and it hadn't really been Jarod who had caused it. It had been her own behavior that had frightened her. Looking back now, she realized just how stupid her actions had been. Not only had she been careless, she had also allowed Jarod to take control.

Why hadn't she called for Sam's help?

The question kept running through her mind and she had yet to find a plausible answer to it. 'Because you knew that Jarod wouldn't have hurt you,' whispered the tiny voice inside of her that she could never fully suppress.

That was exactly what it was all about. Until yesterday, Miss Parker had been absolutely sure that Jarod would never hurt her, at least not intentionally. Yet, he had done so, not physically, but emotionally. Part of the pain he had inflicted on her was based on her disappointed trust in him. He had crossed a line and thus shaken something deep inside of her.

She wasn't sure whether she still trusted him or not. What he had said and done when they'd met for the second time had only served to strengthen her doubts and deepen her pain. If only...

"I know you're not asleep."

Miss Parker jerked her eyes open the second she heard the deep, rich voice. He could not be here; there was no way. It was impossible, Raines had imprisoned him deep down below the Centre. The world - and she too - was safe from him. The relief she felt when she saw nobody else in the room with her bordered on hysteria. Of course, he was not here. She allowed herself to relax again, only to tense up and spin around at a noise behind her.

There he was, right behind the couch. Jarod looked even grubbier than when she had last seen him. Only his eyes were as alert and watchful as ever, tensely scrutinizing her, seemingly waiting for something.

"You escaped," she whispered when she had finally recovered from the surprise. She felt a strange mixture of admiration, anger and resignation that made it hard for her to think straight.

He shrugged. "Nothing... no one, could ever make me stay at the Centre. I'd risk everything to get away from there."

His voice had a brittle note to it, giving away his utter exhaustion and the emotional pressure he was under. Miss Parker felt pity well up inside her and did everything to suppress the unbidden emotion. Jarod didn't deserve her pity, not after hurting Sydney and her that way. Carefully, with regard to her recent injury, she straightened and returned his gaze as levelly as possible.

"Then you had better leave now. Get out and run. I've never seen you here. I'll give you a head start until the Centre officially informs me of your escape," she said determinedly.

His gaze was still resting on her as he tilted his head to the side, pondering her offer. "That's not what I came here for," he replied eventually.

"I don't care," she burst out. "I've had it! Three years of hunting you is enough wasted time. It's over now! I want you to leave. I want you to leave me alone. If I never see you again it will still be too soon."

The hard unforgiving sound of her voice almost surprised her. She used her words to hurt him like he had hurt her with the one remark still standing between them.

"You don't mean that," Jarod said very gently. The vulnerable expression in his eyes lent his words an unexpected depth.

Miss Parker laughed softly, sounding not in the least amused. "Strange how all of a sudden everybody else seems to know what I feel and think better than I do myself." The notion of giving in and talking to Jarod seemed tempting for a moment, but she was afraid of the pain Jarod could so easily arouse in her.

"Leave. Now," was all she said.

"I can't," was his reply. "Not yet."

Her patience was wearing thin and then there was the pain, lurking somewhere deep inside of her and strong enough to destroy her. There was only one surefire defense she could think of; the same one she had been using ever since Jarod had first escaped three years ago.

"Move it," she hissed angrily, using her anger as a shield.

With some surprise, she watched Jarod's face take on an angry expression for a moment as well.

"Damn it! I came here to apologize! Can't you just listen to me for a minute?" he burst out. A few seconds later, he seemed to regret his outburst.

Miss Parker watched him for a long time, trying to decide what to do. The thought of getting an explanation for his weird behavior was rather appealing, but this was Jarod and there was no way of knowing what he was really up to. Eventually she threw caution to the wind and decided to listen to him. A tiny, astonished part of her registered that she still trusted him.

"All right, I'll listen to whatever you have say," she said with a sigh. "All I want in return is your promise to leave me alone for good afterwards."

He returned her gaze with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"If you insist," he conceded with a shrug then walked over to one of the two armchairs on either side of the fireplace and took a seat on one of the armrests. His gaze drifted away from her for a split second and came to rest on his hands instead. Then he looked back into her eyes.

Miss Parker involuntary held her breath. More than ever before, he suddenly looked like a little boy, lost and helpless.

"I'm truly sorry," he began softly, genuine hurt making his voice quiver. "What happened these last days… I should never have done that, but I saw no other way."

"Would you mind telling me what you mean?" Miss Parker asked, surprising herself with the soft, almost gentle sound of her voice when adamant was what she had aimed for.

Jarod briefly shut his eyes before he went on.

"I... never should have said that about Tommy. Mostly because I didn't mean it, but also because I knew how much it would hurt you."

"You can't hurt me. Nobody can because I don't let them." She stated and they both knew that it was a lie, no matter how much Miss Parker wanted it to be the truth. For the length of a heartbeat, Jarod smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I know I can't unsay it, but maybe I can make it up to you if you'll let me."

Again, his gaze drifted away from her, longer this time. He swallowed hard, seeming to struggle with himself then finally looked back at her.

"I'm also sorry for what I've done," he said gently.

All Miss Parker did was look at him questioningly though she guessed what he was playing at.

"Thomas has only just died. I shouldn't... I shouldn't have... approached you in that way," Jarod stuttered. It almost sounded as if he were glad to finally have said the words. The whole thing must have weighed on his mind then too. Miss Parker found that knowledge more relieving than she expected.

"You're talking about your attacking me?"

"No! Yes..." His confusion was more than evident on his face and mingled with a fair share of embarrassment. "You know what I mean. The kiss..."

"Yes," Miss Parker replied softly, pensive. A thought popped up in her mind and she voiced it without so much as a moment's hesitation. "Which kiss are you sorry for?" she asked, giving in to her curiosity.

He hesitated a rather long time before he answered the question. "Both," he then said, "But each in a different way."

It was only now that Miss Parker realized that she was leaning towards him, her body tense with anxiety. Her injured shoulder pulsated with pain, causing her to lean back and try to relax.

"Care to explain this difference to me?"

Jarod nodded slowly, the embarrassment gone from his face and replaced by relief because she was trying to understand him. He took a deep breath then slowly exhaled, obviously trying to relax as well.

"When you came to see me that night... I knew it was you from the moment you entered the room."

"So the attack was intentional," she concluded. "So far I'm still with you. What about the rest? Why the kiss?"

"I'm... not sure," he replied evasively.

"Jarod."

She could sense his tension when he slowly exhaled.

"Control," he said, "I wanted control, at least over this one situation because I had already lost control over pretty much everything else. But... I wasn't myself that night."

"I know."

For the moment, Miss Parker was content with his explanation, though she was almost sure that there was more to it. The fact that his explanation equaled her thoughts made her think that he was only telling her what he thought she wanted to hear. For some reason he had chosen not to reveal his real motives to her.

As to their second meeting... Jarod had been himself then all right and had refrained from using his unique talents. She was absolutely sure about this point. Before she had a chance to voice a corresponding question, he continued of his own accord.

"I had been thinking about what I had said and done all night long. A part of me was still sure that I would be able to exert an influence on you that way. So, I struck a deal with Raines. I wanted him to send you to my room, but when I saw you..." He trailed off and gave a helpless shrug. "I realized I had made a mistake."

Miss Parker remained silent, thinking about his words. In spite of the genuine apology in his words, she felt a sudden surge of anger. What he had said about Tommy - about her, really - had hurt her tremendously. In addition to that, he had deeply shaken her trust in him and somehow that was even more painful than her marred memory of Tommy.

"Damn it, Jarod!" she burst out. "Don't you think there's enough pain in my life already? Do you think I need you to add to it?"

She hadn't meant to say any of that, but the pressure of her feelings was too much. It was nothing to her that she had just contradicted herself, that she had admitted how much he had hurt her. Even if they had stood on different sides these last years - the one thing she had been able to count on had been her trust in him. A few nights ago he had taken this certainty, this constant in her life, away from her, leaving her feeling as helpless and betrayed as she had felt when her mother had died.

Jarod looked at her, stricken. "Please forgive me, Parker," he whispered and got up to come over to her. Miss Parker commanded him to hold his distance both with a glance and a deflecting gesture. She shook her head, desperate to get a grip on her emotions. She didn't manage nearly as well as she hoped, but the semblance of control would have to make do.

Miss Parker changed the topic to gain herself some more time.

"What about this thing with Sydney?" she wanted to know. She stared off into space, yet her attention was focused solely on Jarod.

The pretender sighed softly. "I didn't want to talk to him," he said simply.

"Sydney told me as much. The question is: why not?"

"Because..." He hesitated briefly and his tone made her look back at him. "Because I was afraid of hurting him too. Things have changed between us ever since..."

"You met your father," she finished the sentence for him. It wasn't too difficult for her to understand Jarod in that matter. For all Jarod's life, Sydney had been a kind of father to him, a father who hardly ever showed him any emotion, though. Now that Jarod had met his 'real' father, his relationship with Sydney had inevitably changed. He now needed Sydney in a different way than he had before. Even though this change hadn't come overnight, the situation wasn't easy for either one of them.

Jarod nodded, a hesitant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It's astonishing," he said and Miss Parker thought she heard a trace of amusement in his voice. "You understand me better than anybody else, if you set your mind to it. Yet you didn't manage to return me to the Centre."

In spite of herself Miss Parker smiled faintly - she knew that there was some truth in Jarod's teasing words. "Who said I was trying to understand you?" she replied and got up from the couch to walk over to one of the windows. From there, she had a spectacular view of the lake. When she looked out, she realized with some astonishment that the sun was already rising on the far side of the lake. For a moment she forgot about Jarod and the conflicting feelings he caused in her, captured by the beauty of the moment.

She left the living room and stepped out on the porch, where she leant lightly against the rail. The first rays of the sun basked the country in their warm golden light, gently caressing her face and warming her skin. A feeling of pure delight washed through her and drowned everything else for a precious moment. The memory of her mother accompanied this strong emotion and with it, her doubts returned.

"Your mother must have been very happy here," Jarod suddenly said next to her, as if reading her thoughts.

"I hope so," she replied inaudibly soft. His tacit understanding felt good to her, even if it was hard for her to accept. A heartbeat later, she felt his hand resting lightly on her uninjured shoulder.

"Apologizing to you wasn't my only reason for coming here."

"It wasn't?"

Miss Parker suppressed a smile.

"No. I wanted to make sure you were all right. Angelo didn't tell me much."

"Angelo?"

Surprised, she half turned to face him, feeling regret as he withdrew his hand from her. He had always touched her in a special way, with respect, gently and.... No, she wasn't quite ready yet to name the emotion she associated with his touch.

"Angelo visited me not long after Raines brought me back in. He was my only source of information. Whenever I asked him about you, he said 'Miss Parker hurts'. I wasn't sure what to make of that."

"You asked him for news about me?"

Jarod laughed softly. "Come on, Parker. Aren't you tired yet of this game? Why not be honest with each other for a change?"

Miss Parker shot him a brief glance, trying to read in his dark eyes. "You first," she said, anxious to learn what he had to say. She turned fully towards him, scrutinizing him with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

"I have no idea what the future will bring," Jarod began, "but I want you to know that you'll always have a friend in me. In the past, I tried to help you as best I could and I will continue to do so. I'll be there for you if you need me."

"Jarod, I..."

He shook his head.

"No strings attached for you. I don't expect anything in return. You're still working for the Centre and I'm fully aware of that, but..."

Jarod held out his hand to her.

"Friends?" he asked in a tone that made it impossible for her to refuse him. Why not? She took his hand and squeezed it gently, rejoicing in the pleasantly gentle touch of his warm fingers.

"Okay, although I'm not at all sure that this is going to work. We might be too different after all."

"Let's wait and see, Miss Parker," he replied with a confidence she would have loved to share. Not really wanting to, she let go of his hand and turned to face the sunrise again. With Jarod by her side, she watched the sun rise slowly over Lake Catherine, filled with a warmth that had nothing to do with the sun on her skin.

End of part 3

Legal disclaimer: The recognizable characters of the TV-show 'The Pretender' don't belong to me but to MTM, NBC Television, TNT and 20th Century Fox. I just borrowed them. Every other character does belong to me. This story was only written and published for my pleasure and that of other fans. I don't pursue any financial interests whatsoever. No copyright infringement is intended.

Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 3. season
Summary: Miss Parker is forced to reconsider her priorities...
Author's note: All given times are UTC - Coordinated Universal Time.

Kudos to my wonderful editors, Mel and Dianne!

~~~



Precious Moments
Part IV
By Miss Bit



"What are you going to do now?" Miss Parker asked pensively, after watching the sun rising in silence for a while. When after a minute Jarod still hadn't said anything she turned to the right, only to realize that he was gone.

The fact that she hadn't noticed his disappearance irritated her but part of her was glad he had left. She'd have some time on her own now, time to think about everything.

"Pain in the neck," she murmured with a slight smile on her lips, casting a last look at the golden waters of the lake. Then she returned to the house, intending to catch a few hours of undisturbed sleep.

~~~

At about lunchtime Miss Parker was roused from her sleep by a faint noise. Disgruntled, she opened her eyes and listened. The noises she heard seemed to come from quite a distance - the ground level, probably. At first she heard a brief rumbling sound, then a bang followed by an angered voice. Although she couldn't understand the actual words, she was pretty sure she was listening to someone voicing their anger.

After a short moment of hesitation she decided to go downstairs and find out who the intruder was. Part of her refused to believe that any burglar would be so clumsy, but another part reminded her that she had promised to keep an eye on Ben's house.

She put on her dressing gown, picked up her weapon from the bottom of her bag and got on her way downstairs. Aware of the potential danger she moved stealthily, stopping dead in her tracks when she heard the voice again. Miss Parker smiled - she knew the voice. It only took her a minute to return to her room and put away her gun; then she went downstairs and into the kitchen. Silent, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, she stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

The kitchen looked like a very untidy battlefield. One of the chairs had been knocked over; next to it there was a small suitcase, the contents of which were covering quite a lot of the floor. Some of the pans that were usually fastened to the wall next to the back door had fallen down and lay scattered all over the kitchen. Right in the middle of this chaos stood Ben, his back to Miss Parker. She suppressed an amused smile.

"Welcome home, Ben," she said warmly. He spun around - surprisingly fast for a man his age - and the expression on his face changed from annoyed to pleasantly surprised at seeing her. "Need some help with this mess?"

"Miss Parker!"

He walked over to her, gave her a somewhat indecisive look and then hugged her, holding her close for the briefest of moments before he let go again and took a step back. It was only now that he seemed to notice the way she was dressed.

"I woke you, didn't I? I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said immediately. "I would have gotten up soon anyway. What happened in here?"

Ben gave her a mischievous grin. "Been a bit... clumsy."

He fell silent for a moment, his eyes searching her face, and she thought she saw concern flash in his gaze.

"Are you hungry? I could prepare something for us," he then offered, nothing but warmth and compassion in his eyes. Miss Parker tilted her head as she pondered his offer.

"That'd be great," she accepted. "Let me just take a shower and change first."

"All right. You just take your time. I'll have to clear my workspace first anyway," he said with a good-natured wink. She smiled warmly at him before she left the kitchen for the bathroom, briefly stopping by her room first.

Half an hour later, they were sitting in Ben's comfortable little kitchen. Miss Parker had quite enjoyed their quiet meal, mostly because of Ben's unobtrusive company. When he was around, she felt at ease and managed to forget the Centre long enough to be able to relax. Her injured shoulder was a good indication of how good this was for her: this was the first time in days that it didn't hurt although she'd stopped taking her medication.

"Are you all right?"

Ben was leaning towards her, giving her a questioning look. She frowned with surprise, then she reminded herself how well he'd known her mother. He could probably guess that there was something weighing on her mind. Miss Parker sighed softly. There were quite a few things she'd like to talk to Ben about, but did she have the right to burden him with her worries?

"Yes. Yes... I..." Her answer sounded phony even to herself. She shook her head, a drawn-out sigh escaping her.

"I don't want to trouble you with my problems," she said, looking firmly at Ben. He returned her gaze and reached for her hand, his eyes full of compassion, a warm smile on his face.

"Miss Parker, I'm glad you're here. But I can see that your mind is miles away. You can tell me whatever you want to talk about if it makes you feel better. I'd be glad to help you."

"Thank you, Ben."

She squeezed his hand, his understanding reaction filling her with relief.

"A lot has happened since my last visit here..."

~~~

Three days later, Miss Parker was sitting on the porch, her gaze resting on the lake and the reflection of the setting sun in its quiet waters.

"And here I was thinking you were here to see me," Ben's voice suddenly said from behind her. It sounded amused. "How come you're always sitting out here, all on your own?"

Miss Parker half turned in Ben's direction and nodded towards the sun.

"It's so peaceful here. I couldn't imagine a better place for watching the sun set," she said. Ben smiled.

"Your mother used to sit here a lot. She'd watch the lake for hours on end." His face took on a thoughtful expression for a moment, then his attention was on the present again and a smile chased the worry from his eyes.

"You know, Miss Parker", he said pensively, "when your mother didn't return, I knew right away that something was wrong. I knew that I would never see her again. My life became dominated by my feelings of mourning and loss in the following years, and I used to brood a lot. If I learned one thing during this time it's that you should never think too much about anything. Sometimes it's better to just live."

Miss Parker returned his gaze, thinking about his words. She knew what he was trying to tell her. During these last days she had talked a lot about Tommy and the pain his death had caused. Ben had shared this experience - he could relate - and he wanted to share what he had learned from having to deal with her mother's loss. It had done her a world of good to talk to someone who really knew how she felt.

"Wise words, Ben," she eventually said softly. "Only I'm not sure I'm ready to live by them."

Ben put his hand on her shoulder, smiling gently.

"I see," he said simply. "I'll show you some more pictures of your mother, if you like. You know where to find me."

When he turned to go back into the house, Miss Parker reached for his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Thank you, Ben. I'd really like that. I'll be with you in a minute."

"All right, Miss Parker," Ben said warmly and returned to the house.

Miss Parker got up and stretched. She just stood on the porch for a long moment, then decided to walk down to the lake for a few minutes before returning to Ben.

She followed the narrow, winding path that led down to the lake and along its bank. Her mother must have walked it many times. Was it hard for Ben to see her here now instead of Catherine? She had never thought about that before, but after talking to him for hours on end, Miss Parker had realized how much Ben still missed her mother.

Unlike herself, he had managed to live with the pain, to continue his life and see the positive sides to it again. All of a sudden she remembered something Ben had said to her the day before, something that had impressed her a lot.

'The pain of losing your mother almost suffocated me. It took me much too long to realize that she wasn't really gone. Even if I never see her again, I'll always have the memory of the wonderful things we shared. It might sound trite or unbelievable to you, Miss Parker, but it was this realization that helped me get on with my life and give it a more positive direction again.'

Ben's words were still echoing in her mind when she took a seat on a small bench close to the lake. An image of Tommy appeared out of nowhere before her inner eye but unlike earlier she didn't try to chase it away. Instead, she held on to it enjoying the warmth it caused in her. She began to understand, to really see what Ben had been trying to tell her all the time. Tommy would always be a part of her no matter what, because he had given her a unique gift. He had helped her to get back that part of herself that she had lost so many years ago. The part she had kept hidden even from herself and that made her more like her mother than she had ever dared hope.

A smile formed on her lips, reflecting the warmth she felt inside. Miss Parker closed her eyes and focused on the image of Tommy that finally brought her some measure of comfort instead of ever more hurt.

"Thank you, Tommy," she whispered and let go of a great deal of her pain. It still hurt that he was no longer there with her but the pain no longer hindered her from remembering the good times they'd shared.

After a while, Miss Parker opened her eyes and stood up. She gazed out on the lake for a long time and then got on her way back to Ben's house.

She was only halfway there when suddenly her cell phone rang, startling her. Surprised, she pulled it out of her pocket, hit the speak button and lifted it to her ear. Her father had promised her that no one would interrupt her vacation, but then she had never been able to rely on his promises before, she thought bitterly.

"Yes?" she asked sharply, shaking her head, angry at herself. She hadn't even considered just letting the phone ring - not even for a second.

"Miss Parker?"

Broots's voice, and in a tone that filled Miss Parker with a sense of premonition.

"Well, who else did you expect?" she said curtly and frowned when Sydney's entered the conversation.

"We're sorry for intruding on you like this, Miss Parker, but it really is very important."

"What's up?"

"You must return to the Centre as soon as possible!" Broots whispered urgently. Sydney added in a louder but no less pressing voice: "It's about Major Charles. And, which is probably of even more interest to you, about the man who killed Thomas Gates."

The news left her speechless for a few seconds.

"What the hell is going on at the Centre?" she then asked, filled with a mixture of confusion and the instinct to hunt down Tommy's killer.

"We can't tell you more on the phone," Sydney said. "Raines has..."

He stopped in mid-sentence, and Miss Parker heard the sound of steps in the background, followed by Lyle's unmistakable voice.

"Got a new lead on Jarod? Who are you talking to?"

"Uh - no one," Broots lied, hanging up. Miss Parker stared at her cell phone. Even if she didn't have a lot of information to go by - she'd do as Broots and Sydney had asked and return to the Centre. The concern that phone call had caused in her was enough in itself to get on her way back immediately.

She jogged back to the house, thinking about what to tell Ben and how long it would take to pack her few belongings.

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
5:23 p.m.

The snow was crunching softly under Jarod's boots as he walked along the deserted main street of the small town, deep in thought. At this time of day most of the natives were already at home and the few that weren't were hurrying to get there. There was a storm in the air, and Jarod knew that they'd be cut off from the rest of the world for at least a day, probably two.

He walked a bit faster, heading towards the small house the company he was working for had rented for him. His fingers tightened around the notebook in his right hand. In spite of the thick gloves he was wearing he could hardly feel his fingertips.

When he had arrived here he hadn't minded that his house stood a bit away from the rest of the town, but now, fighting his way through clouds of dancing snowflakes, Jarod wished he were living a bit closer to his workplace. Eventually, he reached the house and tried to shake at least part of the snow off his clothes before getting in. He pulled back the fur lined hood of his thermal jacket and grudgingly pulled off one of his gloves to open the door.

After a few seconds of frantic fumbling the door opened and Jarod sprinted inside. The warmth of the hallway came as a relief to him and he enjoyed it for a moment before he pulled off the other glove, his jacket and the boots. Still carrying his notebook, he went into the kitchen to treat himself to a cup of hot chocolate while contemplating his next steps.

A few minutes later, he was sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought. To date, he had neither found a trace of his father nor of the clone, even though he had been searching for them incessantly after escaping from the Centre. The fact that he hadn't been able to find them yet worried Jarod greatly. He was sure that his father must be searching for him as well, yet they hadn't heard anything from each other. Well, Major Charles probably thought that Jarod was still held captive at the Centre, and naturally it was impossible for his father to get anywhere near the Centre at the moment.

With a silent sigh Jarod shifted his attention to the notebook lying on the table. A few days ago, he had discovered something during his research that had caught his eye. In spite of his wish to be reunited with his father as soon as possible, he had decided to have a closer look on the matter.

He opened the book and skimmed through the articles he had pasted into it. A smile flashed over his face. It had been a while since he had last had such a notebook. A heartbeat later he became serious again, as he read through the last article. It was about the oil company he was working for and focused on the deaths of several workers who had lost their lives under mysterious circumstances. Jarod had come to Ostvadt to shed some light on the events that had eventually led to the loss of five workers.

It had been no problem at all to get a job as an environmental technician - there hadn't been any competition at all - and together with a survivor of one of the 'accidents' that seemed to happen at regular intervals Jarod had uncovered the truth. He grimaced as he thought about the company's security chief who had committed five murders in cold blood - and for nothing else but money. At some point, making profit had become more important to the man than maintaining a security level that would actually protect the workers. In spite of everything Jarod had seen since his first escape, and despite his special talents he simply couldn't understand how anyone could ever do something like that. He shook his head. At least there'd be no more deaths now.

With an effort, he pushed these thoughts away, staring down at the notebook. What should he do with it? A year ago, the answer would have been easy. A year ago, he would have left it as a present for Miss Parker, a little reminder that the Centre was no longer controlling his actions and his life.

Miss Parker.

He still felt guilty about what he had done to her. He'd give everything if only he could take back the words that had hurt her so; the words he feared would stand between them for some time to come. And then there was the kiss. He didn't want to undo the kiss, at least not the second one - he wasn't so sure about the first one, though.

A low beeping startled him out of his thoughts. It took Jarod a few seconds to identify the sound, then he got up and walked over to his laptop.

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
6:07 p.m.

Even though she had just made the long trip from Maine, Miss Parker had decided against going home and went straight to the Centre. Her thoughts still remained in Maine, though, filling her with regret over not having spent more time with Ben.

With a firm movement of her head, Miss Parker tried to get rid of these thoughts, focusing instead on the here and now. There was a vague feeling of excitement vibrating in her as she realized that this was the first time she had a trace that might lead her to Tommy's killer. Slightly irritated, she noticed that she also felt concern for Major Charles, when he should actually be the furthest thing from her mind right now.

She hurried down the corridor that led to the tech room, anxious about the news Broots and Sydney had for her. When she entered the small room she was relieved to see both Broots and Sydney there. Both men turned when they heard her enter. The expression on Sydney's face was one of concern, whereas Broots looked like he might fall asleep any second now.

"It's good to see you back, Miss Parker," Sydney said, sounding glum rather than pleased. Miss Parker frowned. The downcast mood in the room was palpable.

"What gives?" she asked curtly, waving aside Sydney's greeting. Broots held up a DSA disc.

"Have a look at this," he said in a strange tone of voice.

Although the air of secrecy that Broots and Sydney were creating did nothing to ease the irritable mood Miss Parker was in, she sat down without so much as a word, her gaze directed expectantly at the monitor to Broots's left. The technician put the disc into the player and shortly afterwards the screen became brighter. Not quite knowing what to expect, Miss Parker leaned towards the screen, all but forgetting about Sydney and Broots.

Raines appeared on the screen. He was sitting at his desk, two thick manila folders lying in front of him. His gaze went off into space, until a few seconds later a knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.

"Come," Raines said softly, his voice less raspy than usual. 'Just sitting there probably isn't so strenuous for him,' Miss Parker thought and grimaced. Hell, for all she cared, Raines might just stop breathing at all. She forced her attention back to the events on the screen.

Someone had entered the office and stopped just outside the area that was covered by the camera. The camera! It was only now that Miss Parker noticed what seemed so odd about this video. Raines's office was one of the few places at the Centre that weren't monitored - and even if it were, there was just no way that the surveillance tapes got into the wrong hands. Apart from that, the camera angle wasn't right. Miss Parker had worked for the Centre's security department long enough to notice that. Once again, she pushed these thoughts away to focus on the conversation between Raines and his visitor.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Raines?" Mr. X said. His voice sounded vaguely familiar to Miss Parker. Probably one of Raines's sweepers.

"I thought I had made myself clear when I instructed you on the details of your mission," Raines said sharply.

"There have been unexpected problems."

"I don't want to hear about any problems," Raines snapped, wheezing audibly. "If I don't hear about a success anytime soon, your problems will be solved for you, once and for all."

"I see," Raines's visitor replied with admirable calm. Raines was known to issue threats like that on a daily basis, but unlike most other people he tended to make them come true whenever possible. If you worked for Raines, that was one of the risks that came with the job.

"So I hope," Raines said grimly. "Now for the other matter I wanted to see you about. Now that the Thomas Gates problem has been solved" - Miss Parker winced and felt a flash of white-hot anger at the cold impassiveness in Raines's voice - "I want you to take these folders to a safe place. There would be unpleasant consequences should they end up in the wrong hands, but it might be unwise to destroy them before we fully explored their possible uses for us."

Raines pushed one of the folders a bit away from him and pointed at the other. "As for Major Charles - everything is set up for his little accident. 72 hours from now, we'll have our latest project back where it belongs."

The pleased tone of Raines's voice repulsed Miss Parker. It took her a few seconds to understand the full scope of his words. Apparently Jarod's father was in grave danger; in spite of herself, she felt a surge of concern for him. Angry with herself, she tried to suppress this emotion. After all, this was the opportunity she had been waiting for - the chance to finally catch Tommy's killer.

"The Triumvirate will surely be most pleased to hear that," Mr. X remarked. With some surprise, Miss Parker noticed Raines flinch almost imperceptibly at the mention of the Triumvirate. Interesting. They must have been rather unhappy when Jarod had escaped from the Centre - from Raines's care, really - a second time. Obviously, Raines wasn't quite as detached as he always pretended to be.

"Indeed," Raines said curtly, then he rose slowly from his chair and walked around his desk. He took both folders and gave them to his visitor. Miss Parker suppressed a sigh. She had hoped to at least get a glimpse of the mystery man's face.

"Get back to work," Raines ordered and his visitor seemed to leave the office. Raines returned behind his desk with painstakingly slow steps, and the screen faded to black.

Miss Parker quickly got up. The tension she had managed to get rid of during her short vacation was back with a vengeance, and that after only a few minutes of watching Raines. Her shoulder started to hurt again, but she ignored the pain. Unfortunately, she couldn't not ignore the emotional hurt Raines's words had caused.

"Miss Parker..," Sydney began she cut him off sharply.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Broots looked at her with visible unease. "We're not sure."

Miss Parker's eyes narrowed but she forced herself not to take her anger out on Broots. He was only trying to help, after all.

"I want to know where this tape came from," she said in a quiet voice, watching as all color drained from Broots's face.

"Someone within in the Centre gave it to us," he said in a small voice, accepting his fate.

"'Someone' is not good enough. I need a name, Broots!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Parker. I did what I could to trace it back, but..."

"Miss Parker, listen," Sydney tried again. His quiet tone of voice caught her attention and she turned to look at him. Their eyes met and she realized that she would have to calm down if she wanted to get any results. She nodded silently, then turned and walked a few steps away from the two men.

With her eyes closed, she took a few deep breaths, trying to summon some of the calm she had found in Maine. Tommy wouldn't have wanted her to give in to her desire for vengeance. If she did, she might end up losing what he had given back to her. Two contrasting desires waged a silent war in her, until Miss Parker finally took her decision.

She opened her eyes and returned to Broots and Sydney.

"Okay, I know you didn't call me back so that I run off after Tommy's killer. You were hoping I would take care of Jarod's father instead. Oh no, don't even try to deny it," she said with a sideways glance at Sydney who had opened his mouth to interrupt her. A look into his eyes told her that she had hit home with her guess. He closed his mouth, the hint of a smile making his eyes twinkle. Miss Parker took a deep breath.

"It'd be the right thing to do," she continued, trying to ignore Broots as he gasped with surprise. "That's not to say that I no longer want to catch the man who killed Thomas. It'll just have to wait a little longer. Jarod's father is still alive, so it'd be sensible to try and keep him that way." She paused for a moment and turned to Broots. "Tell me what you know."

Broots hesitated only for the fraction of a second. "I'm afraid you already know everything there is to know - someone here at the Centre wanted us to have this disc."

"Great," Miss Parker sighed. "For all I know, this disc could be a trap, a diversion created by Raines to keep us away from whatever he's up to now. Or maybe he's just trying to get rid of us for good."

"Let's not get paranoid, Miss Parker," Sydney said, as usual the sweet voice of reason. "I don't believe that Raines works like that. Besides, it's not unprecedented that someone from the Centre forwarded information to other parties - namely Jarod. I think we all agree that this someone was none of us."

Miss Parker raised a brow and gave Sydney a knowing look. They all had worked together with Jarod at one point or another, but of the three of them Sydney had surely been Jarod's most useful source of information. Feeling generous, Miss Parker decided not to remind Sydney of that little fact.

"Let's forget about the 'who' for the moment. When was this conversation taped? Raines said something about 72 hours."

Broots handed her a small, flat plastic case.

"That's the case the disc came in," he said. Miss Parker turned it over in her hand. Someone had written Raines's name in caps on it; under that, there was a line with three numbers - a date.

"Last night," she said pensively. "That would leave us approximately two days."

"I could have the writing analyzed," Broots suggested, but Miss Parker shook her head.

"That'd take too much time. Besides, one word in caps and a few numbers will hardly give us any clues." She kept staring at the plastic case in her hand and almost dropped it, when suddenly she remembered something Jarod had told her a few days ago. After he'd been recaptured, Angelo had provided him with information. Of course! Not only was Angelo Jarod's friend, he also had both the knowledge and the equipment to access the Centre's database and forward information to people outside the Centre. But if this disc had been meant for Jarod, then why had they got a copy of it? Miss Parker was assaulted by doubts. If Jarod knew the contents of this disc, then he would take care of Major Charles - which left her free to hunt for Tommy's murderer.

"I have an idea where this disc might have come from. I'll just be a moment."

"Miss Parker, where are you going?"

She ignored Sydney's question as she hurried out of the tech room.

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
6:17 p.m.

"Damn it!"

Jarod stared at the screen, feeling utterly frustrated. He had been trying to establish a stable connection to the Centre for almost an hour now, with very little success. The storm had intensified and was interfering with the signals. It was only a matter of time until a connection with the outside world would become completely impossible.

"Come on," Jarod whispered imploringly. "Just a few more minutes, that's all I need."

He tried to save at least parts of the file Angelo was trying to transfer to him. If he didn't get it now he'd have to wait for it until after the storm - and right now it looked like the bad weather wasn't going to subside anytime soon.

A quarter of an hour later it was all over. The satellite was unreachable; the file was lost. Great. Whatever it was that Angelo had wanted him to see would have to wait.

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
6:49 p.m.

Angelo's room was dark except for the dim light coming from several computer screens. Miss Parker stopped in the doorway and, after a moment's hesitation, knocked lightly on the frame. She didn't want to intrude on him.

He turned to her and the eerie light contorted his features into a fearsome mask for a moment. Then he turned back to one of the screens and typed a string of commands on a keyboard in front of him. Miss Parker walked over to him, stopping right behind him.

"Hey, Angelo," she said softly.

Angelo kept on typing, then he stopped abruptly and half turned to face her.

"Daughter must help," he said firmly.

"Did you give that disc to Broots and Sydney?" she asked him gently, ignoring his request.

"Friend cannot help," Angelo said sadly. "Daughter must help."

She sighed. "You know I want to find the man who killed Tommy, no matter the cost."

A smile flashed across Angelo's waxen features.

"Cost does matter to Daughter."

Miss Parker stared at him in surprise. Could he read her feelings without actually touching her? Was it enough for her to be close to him? She pushed back an errand strand of her hair.

"Why can't Jarod help?" she asked.

Angelo looked at his computers with concern.

"No connection," he moaned.

"So that leaves saving Jarod's father to me," Miss Parker murmured, more to herself. "Do you know where the files are, Angelo? The ones from the tape? Are there back-ups?" she demanded in a louder voice.

He remained motionless for a while, his head tilted slightly as if he were listening to something that only he could hear. Then he got up so suddenly that he almost bumped into her and went to a corner of the small room. There he rummaged through a huge heap of papers, finally producing a crumpled folder. He returned to Miss Parker and handed her the creased file.

Miss Parker held her breath as she opened the file and read the first words. She exhaled with disappointment and looked back at Angelo.

"What about the other file? The one about Tommy's killer?"

Angelo shook his head with regret.

"Damn!" Miss Parker swore. She wondered for a moment if Angelo really didn't have the file or if he just didn't want her to have it because he feared that it would keep her from helping Jarod's father. After a look at the open expression on Angelo's face, she discarded the thought. He simply wouldn't do that kind of thing.

"Daughter must help," Angelo insisted.

"I will help," she sighed and dropped onto a nearby chair to skim through the file. "I will help."

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
7:25 p.m.

Even though he knew that it was no use, Jarod reached for his cell phone. Whatever was going on at the Centre had to be very important if it had made Angelo want to contact him.

He dialed Sydney's number and waited tensely. It was only two seconds until he heard the inevitable.

"A connection to the requested subscriber is not possible at this moment. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later."

Jarod hung up. What if there was no later for him?

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
7:37 p.m.

"What took you so long?"

Sydney's question didn't manage to upset the strange sense of calm Miss Parker felt when she returned to the tech room. She returned his gaze and shrugged. A few long strides brought her to Broots's side where she dropped the file onto the table he was sitting at.

"I visited our source," she said eventually.

"W-what is this?" Broots asked nervously.

"Read it - it won't bite you," Miss Parker replied impatiently. She took a seat and tried to order her thoughts.

"Miss Parker?"

When she looked up, she found Sydney standing next to her, a worried expression on his face.

"How come that Raines knows where Major Charles is while all we do is stumble around helplessly in search for the next meager clue?" she burst out. "Why does it feel like he's the puppeteer, orchestrating us, his puppets?"

"This isn't about Raines," Sydney said softly. "It's what you found out about Thomas's death that upsets you so."

"You're damn right about that," she said angrily, then she took a deep breath and went on a little calmer. "Why does Raines have to try and kill Major Charles now of all times? I could..."

"Miss Parker, you can follow only one lead at a time," Sydney interrupted her quietly. "I know how important it is to you to find the man who killed Thomas Gates. Broots and I can take care of Major Charles - if you want us to."

For a second, a short, sweet second, she considered accepting his offer, but then she shook her head, refusing it.

"Forget it, Syd. We won't get anywhere if we don't work together in this." She rose before he had the chance to reply anything.

"Locate Major Charles, Broots. Find out what exactly Raines is planning."

Broots looked up briefly from the file to nod at her.

"According to this file, we have less than 48 hours left to warn Jarod's father. I'll let you know first thing when I find out about the details."

Miss Parker simply nodded, then took a few steps away from the men. Not quite knowing what to do next she halted her steps. She sensed rather than heard Sydney stepping up behind her. Hesitating to face him, she took her time as she turned towards him.

"What's wrong with me, Syd?" she asked almost inaudibly. "I should be out there, hunting down the man who's responsible for Tommy's death. Instead, I'm standing here, concerned about a man I hardly know - a man who I used to think of as my mother's murderer."

Sydney put a comforting hand on her shoulder and patted her reassuringly.

"You're doing the right thing, Miss Parker," he reassured her. "I'm sure Thomas would have wanted it this way."

"Probably," she whispered. She needed his comforting touch more than she cared to admit and this realization was all that kept her from recoiling from it. "I don't know what to feel anymore."

She stepped away from Sydney and sank onto a nearby chair. He remained standing, watching her in silence. Miss Parker had the indistinct feeling that he was waiting for something.

"Everyone's acting so strangely all of a sudden," she went on, then she laughed bitterly. "And then there's this thing with Jarod. How could I ever let him kiss me? Twice?"

Broots straightened so abruptly on his chair that he almost fell over. He stared at Miss Parker, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open.

"He kissed... you let...," he stammered, oblivious to the dangerous grounds he'd just stumbled upon. Miss Parker's eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen the surveillance tapes yet."

Sydney cleared his throat. "Ah, I'm pretty sure that I got hold of all existent copies," he said carefully, becoming the center of Miss Parker's attention. She focused her icy-blue glare on him.

"Don't you think that's something I would have liked to know... earlier?" she asked sweetly.

"You know now. And you didn't seem to care about the tape when we had that little talk in my office," Sydney said smoothly. Miss Parker nodded slowly, then turned to Broots who was still gaping at her. She snapped her fingers at him.

"Major Charles, Broots. Remember?"

It took him a few moments to react to her words.

"Did Jarod really...?" he began, snapping his mouth shut halfway through the question as if realizing only now whom he was talking to. He shook his head and started again. "Major Charles, yes. All right. Working on it."

The technician returned his attention to the screen in front of him, but a few seconds later Miss Parker heard him murmur something that sounded suspiciously like 'wow, and he's still alive'.

"Miss Parker?"

Her mind still on Broots, she turned to Sydney again.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you go home now and try to get some rest? We'll inform you as soon as we learn something new."

She held his gaze for a few seconds and then gave in. Sydney was right; she needed to relax a little.

"All right, I'll be back in the morning, unless you find something that needs my attention."

With a last, pensive look at Broots she left the room.

Disclaimer and additional info: see part I
Feedback: Absolutely.
Thanks to Mel for editing this.



Precious Moments
Part V
By Miss Bit



Ostvadt
Greenland
02:31 a.m.

Jarod tossed and turned in his bed. The wind was howling outside his house, reminding him of the unrelenting storm that had effectively trapped him here.

He had been lying awake for hours on end, thinking, brooding. His every instinct was screaming at him that something was wrong, and his imagination came up with ever new reasons to feed his worries.

Sighing, Jarod turned over, and stared at the display of his alarm clock. In the faint light of the illuminated digits he could see his cell phone lying on the side table. It was utterly useless; there was no one he could reach with it now.

After a long minute, during which he stared at the clock with unseeing eyes, he admitted to himself that the person he would have called wasn't Sydney. And no matter how much he wanted to know what was going on at the Centre, it also wasn't Angelo. Jarod turned again, abruptly, trying not to think of the person he wanted to call so badly in the middle of the night.

~~~

Miss Parker's house
431 Mountain Spring Road
Blue Cove, Delaware
05:17 a.m.

A repeated ringing dragged Miss Parker mercilessly from the pleasant depths of sleep. She blinked in confusion and then recognized the source of the intruding noise. Squinting at her alarm clock, she reached for her phone.

"What?" she asked, not quite as sharply as intended.

"Miss Parker, this is Sydney. Broots found a promising lead on Major Charles. You'd better return here as soon as possible."

"On my way," she said, stifling a yawn. She hung up and let her head sink back on the pillow. This was exactly the news she'd been waiting for. So why was she feeling so disappointed?

Miss Parker closed her eyes as she admitted the answer to herself. She'd expected Jarod to be the nightly caller. He'd used to call her in the early morning hours, driving her to distraction, basking in her wrath. Were those times over now that he'd offered her his friendship?

Oh, great. Now she was starting to miss his calls. Sighing, she got up, determined not to think about Jarod for the rest of this wretched day.

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
05:37 a.m.

"So, what gives?"

Miss Parker didn't waste any time on pleasantries when she entered the tech room. Broots merely flashed her a look, but Sydney rose to meet her.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

His face was creased with worry lines as he scrutinized her, and she bit back a sharp retort, giving him a brief nod instead. Then she brushed past him, moving to stand behind Broots.

"What did you find out?"

The technician straightened on his chair and tried to relax his sore muscles by rotating his shoulders. The movement made him wince and he stopped, a somewhat defeated expression on his face. If he had looked exhausted the night before, 'near dead' was the only fitting description for him now.

"Sydney and I worked through the file you gave us. We wondered exactly how Raines planned to lure Major Charles into that trap of his."

Miss Parker raised her brows in a silent question, but said nothing. She noticed that Broots's feet were tapping the ground incessantly. The man had obviously consumed so much coffee that he could no longer keep his feet still - literally.

"Jarod's mother," Broots said triumphantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Raines will make it look like she was captured by the Centre."

"All right, so now we know how Raines plans to get a hold of Major Charles. That leaves the question of *where* all this is going to take place."

"Alaska," Sydney suddenly said right next to her. She managed not to jump at the sound of his voice, unlike Broots who very nearly lost his balance. Miss Parker frowned at the technician's jumpiness; then the meaning of Sydney's information sank in.

"Alaska," she repeated in a deadpan voice.

"Claremont, Alaska," Sydney specified.

"Great. That means 15 below, on a good day. How come Raines seems to be drawn to icy deserts? What's wrong with, say, Hawaii?"

Sydney threw her a reproachful look, which she returned without so much as batting an eye.

"Just give me the details, I'll go alone. There's no need for the two of you to be deep frozen, too. You'll stay here and watch my back. The last thing I'll need up there is for Raines or Lyle to interfere with our 'rescue'." Miss Parker stared gloomily ahead. "And, Broots?"

"Yes?" the technician asked, wincing again.

"As soon as I left - get some rest. You look horrible, more so than usual. You're going to be my backup, my insurance, and you're going to be well-rested and fully alert, that clear?"

"Crystal, Miss Parker."

Broots didn't even try to protest. Out of the corner of her eye, Miss Parker saw Sydney trying to suppress a knowing smile, and failing horribly at it.

"There's no time to waste, so you'd better tell me everything you know," Miss Parker said. Broots opened his mouth to say something, but before he even got the chance to get the first word on the way, Miss Parker added darkly: "And I was just referring to our dear Major's impending accident."

~~~

Ostvadt
Greenland
01:17 p.m.

The howling of the wind had finally subsided. The storm had passed, and all it had left behind was a slight drizzle of snow.

Jarod was sitting on the couch in his living room, staring at the screen of his laptop. He simply didn't believe his eyes. A quarter of an hour ago, he'd finally managed to get Angelo's file off the Internet, and he'd watched the incredible scene four or five times already.

His eyes still fixed on the now dark screen, Jarod leaned back. He was horrified. A mixture of worry about his father and anger at Raines washed through him, paralyzing him.

How dare Raines?

Jarod got up and started pacing the room. He had to warn his father, but how?

A few seconds passed, filled only with furious pacing, then Jarod returned to his computer. Apart from the video file, Angelo had also sent him a text file and a short email.

He skimmed through the text file first. Apparently, it was a synopsis of one of the two files Raines had wished to get rid of; the one about his father. Jarod briefly wondered if Angelo also had a copy of the other file, but a mere few moments later his full attention was back on his father.

He opened Angelo's mail and held his breath as he read the few words.

'Friend's father in danger. Daughter helps.
- CJ'

The pretender shook his head in disbelief. Why on earth should Miss Parker choose helping his father over finding Tommy's killer? This was the chance she'd been waiting for. The answer to his question hit him with the force of a jackhammer. Angelo must have asked for her help when he couldn't reach him, Jarod. She was the only other person he could think of who'd care enough about Major Charles to try and help him.

Jarod was suddenly filled with foreboding. His father no longer was the only one he worried about.

He left the room in a hurry to get packed. Crossing the hallway, he took out his cell phone and hit speed dial. Still no connection. Damn. Jarod stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the phone in his hand. If she was already on her way to warn his father, there was a good chance that he couldn't reach her for that reason. Nodding once to himself, he hit another button, waited for a few seconds and sighed with relief when he heard a familiar voice at the other end of the line.

"Sydney speaking."

"Sydney, where's Miss Parker? I need to talk to her, now."

"Jarod?"

The surprise in the older man's voice was evident, and Jarod briefly closed his eyes when he thought of the pain he must have caused his mentor before he'd escaped. Well, his apology would have to wait.

"Yeah, Syd, it's me. Where is she?"

"On her way to Alaska. Jarod, we learned that Raines plans to lure your father--"

"Damn! You've got to call her back, her life may very well depend on it."

"You know about the trap?" Again, Sydney sounded surprised, even more so than before.

"I watched the vid," Jarod explained impatiently. "You must tell her to return to the Centre immediately."

There was a pause as Sydney hesitated.

"Why? She's trying to warn your father."

"Call it a hunch. My father's been hiding from the Centre for years. He knows Raines's ways. There's every chance he saw through whatever Raines prepared for him, and I don't think he'll show up in Alaska at all."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm not sure. All I'm sure of is that I don't want Miss Parker to risk her life over this. It's an extremely dangerous situation. Raines wants the boy back, and he wants my father dead. So whatever he came up with, it'll be a serious threat to everyone involved. With all she's been through lately, I'm afraid Miss Parker won't be able to handle it all on her own."

A sharp intake of breath was Sydney's audible reaction to Jarod's words.

"We can't reach her, Jarod. She took the jet, and when I last talked to her a few hours ago, the connection was severed all of a sudden. They must have got in bad weather and according to the forecast they might be stuck in it for quite a while."

"I'd better get on my way, then. Perhaps I'll be in time to prevent the worst. I'll be in touch."

Jarod severed the connection and started to pack what little he'd brought with him, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

~~~

Devil's Ridge
Alaska
05:45 p.m.

Miss Parker stamped her feet, shifting her weight from one icy leg to the other. The cold was biting, and despite the fur lined hood that covered large parts of her face there was hardly any feeling left in her nose and ears.

Her patience was wearing thin as she pounded at the door in front of her for the third of fourth time. All around her, the ever present snowflakes were sailing through the air in ever denser clouds. Wonderful. She looked up at the sky, frowning at the massive gray clouds that seemed to speak of only one thing: more snow.

"Open the door already, will you!" Miss Parker shouted at the top of her voice, her fist pummeling the wood so heavily that it was painful even through the thick glove. "Goddamn cold," she muttered. Her teeth started to chatter. She looked down at her feet, just to make sure they were still there. "When I'm back at the Centre, I'll see to it that Raines spends the rest of his life in a nice cold fridge, freezing off his sorry a--"

"'Scuse me, there something I can do for you, lady?"

Taken by surprise, she raised her eyes. Then, she raised them some more to frown at the stranger's face. He'd only opened the door ever so slightly so that all she saw of him was one sleepy looking eye somewhere above the crown of her head and a narrow strip of his flannel-clad body.

"There'd better, or someone's going to be very sorry. I need a rental, preferably yesterday, but right now will do just as fine."

Seconds ticked by. The eye kept staring at her, then the door opened a little wider, revealing the rest of the man's bearded face and an even broader strip of his massive body. There was amused disbelief all over his face as he looked past her and at the thick, white dots whirling through the air. When he looked back at her, she saw the corners of his mouth twitch just before he started to laugh. It was a good-natured laugh, but Miss Parker was in no mood to tolerate it. Her features darkened threateningly.

"And what's so damn funny about that?" she asked, barely restraining herself. The cold was beginning to creep through the various layers of her thermal clothing and she hardly managed to suppress a violent shiver.

It was only then that the man seemed to realize that she was serious.

"You've got to be kidding me, lady," he said, giving his head a little shake. "Look at this weather, will ya? Can't give you a car in this kind of weather. It'd freeze. You'd freeze. Whoever told you to come here, asking for a rental?"

"Guy at the airport," she said between chattering teeth. "Large head, small brain. Now, listen. I'm stuck here. The jet's not an option, or else I'd be out of here in a flash. What I need is a car that'll take me to Claremont, snow or no snow."

"Claremont?" Sleepy eyes whistled through his teeth. "That's 200 miles from here, you know that?"

Miss Parker's restraint was shy of collapsing.

"Yes", she hissed, "I know. But that's my business. Yours, I was told, is renting cars. Why don't you just do your damn job and give me--"

"Sorry, lady. Couldn't possibly rent a car to you in this kind of weather. You'd better head back to the airport before the weather gets any worse." And with that, he closed the door in her face. She stared at the dark wood for a few seconds, then she raised her fist, stopped in mid motion and let her hand sink back to her side. There really was no point.

"Bastard," she muttered, not really angry with him. A surge of hopelessness washed through her. What if she didn't reach Claremont in time? What if Major Charles died while she was stuck in a godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere? How could she ever face Jarod again? Miss Parker threw back her head and stared at the gray sky. Ever so slowly, her determination returned.

"I won't give up yet," she whispered, still staring skywards. "I won't be beaten, not by a few damn snowflakes."

Her words seemed utterly unimportant in comparison to the threat of the cloud laden sky, but it was with fresh resolve that Miss Parker turned and walked back to the nearby airport.

~~~

Somewhere over the Atlantic
10:43 p.m.

It was almost completely dark aboard the small airplane heading for Alaska. Most of the passengers were asleep; only two or three of them were reading in the faint light from their overhead lights.

Jarod was staring out of the window, his gaze drawn to the only bright spot out there. The moon seemed close enough for him to reach out a hand and touch it; its silvery light was reflected in the endless plains of water below. Wisps of cloud were drifting over the sky, telling of a change in the weather.

After a long while of staring Jarod closed his eyes. It'd be hours before they'd reach Alaska and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold his worries at bay. By now he was almost sure that Major Charles must have seen through Raines's plan. He'd probably not even show up in Claremont, because that'd mean to endanger not only his own life but also, more importantly, the clone's freedom.

In addition to his concern for his father's safety, Jarod was rather worried about Miss Parker. When he'd last seen her at Ben's, he'd noticed how exhausted she was, both in the physical and the emotional sense. In her current condition, she was no match for Raines.

Jarod opened his eyes and rose. He went past his sleeping neighbor and headed for the cockpit to ask the pilot about the Alaskan weather forecast and their presumed arrival time. Granted, it wasn't much, but anything was better than doing nothing.

~~~

Claremont, Alaska
03:27 p.m.

The sun was high and bright in the sky, turning the snowy landscape into a sea of gold and crystal. Miss Parker was standing in front of the town's station, scanning the area. The beauty of her surroundings didn't register with her; she had other things on her mind, mainly the question how she'd get to the harbor without wasting any more precious time.

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her cell phone. Grimacing at the cold, she pulled off one of her gloves and hit speed dial. Like all the other times before, there was no connection. With her frustration going up a notch, she put her phone back into the pocket. Time for Plan B.

Miss Parker produced a creased slip of paper and a photograph from the other pocket. The picture was a recent one of Major Charles; the only chance of finding him here before he walked into Raines's trap.

The paper contained a set of emergency instructions from Broots for the eventuality of Miss Parker not being able to reach him and Sydney at the Centre. Silently thanking the technician for his foresight, Miss Parker memorized the address on the note and put it back in her jacket. The she crossed the street, heading for one of the cabs waiting on the other side of the street.

"To the harbor, as fast as you can," she told the driver as she got in in the back. She felt utterly exhausted, mostly due to the fact that she had spent the last night and the better part of this morning on a train - the last one that had left Devil's Ridge for Claremont. The trip had lasted over 20 hours, because the rails had been blocked by snow slides in several spots. They'd paused more times than Miss Parker cared to remember, and the heightened activity in and around the train had made it impossible to get any sleep. But even without the noise, her feeling of anxiety would have kept her up.

"This your first visit to Claremont, miss?" the driver asked politely, eying her in the mirror. Miss Parker blinked. The last thing she wanted right now was a complete stranger trying to make conversation with her.

"The first", she said glumly, "and definitely the last."

And that was that. The driver shrugged and shifted his attention back to the street. Miss Parker tried to get comfortable in her seat, desperate to relax her sore muscles. When they reached the docks a few minutes later, a blur of color caught her eye and she straightened abruptly, ruining what little success her earlier attempts at relaxation had achieved.

"Stop the car!"

"What, here?"

"Stop. The. Car," Miss Parker repeated angrily, and the driver complied with her wish, throwing her an odd glance.

"We haven't reached--"

"Never mind. Here, keep the change."

She handed him a twenty dollar bill and got out of the cab. Then she walked a few yards in the direction they'd come from and froze. So she'd seen right. Parked on the other side of the street, only a few yards away from her, was an oddly familiar looking, dark car. Paranoia did pay, whenever the Centre was concerned.

Had the circumstances been different, Miss Parker might have taken a different view on her reaction. Now she thanked her intuition, grateful that it hardly ever failed her. She got as close to the car as she dared, close enough to get a glimpse of the license plate. A Centre car, all right. But why was it here?

All of a sudden, one of its doors swung open, and Miss Parker hurried behind a parked car. Whoever it was that Raines had trusted with this 'job', she didn't want them to spot her. She watched as someone got out of the car and felt a sharp pang of frustration shoot through her as she recognized the man. Lyle.

Of course. Fitting, that he should be the one to supervise the assassination of Major Charles. She frowned as a wave of disappointment washed over her. Did that mean that her father was involved in this?

Miss Parker shook her head to get rid of this thought. Her top priority was finding the major. Careful, so as not to be spotted by her brother, she left her cover and walked in the opposite direction.

It only took her a few minutes to find the street that, according to Broots's instructions, would lead her to the warehouse where Raines had set up his trap. The road led away from the docks and ended at a low, long-stretched building that stood lonely in a large field.

On her way to the warehouse Miss Parker stopped several people and showed them the picture. Much to her relief, none of them had seen Jarod's father. If he hadn't arrived here yet, then all she'd have to do was to intercept him before he could walk into the ambush.

She bridged the last few yards between her and the decaying building with a growing feeling of reluctance. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The sound of the snow crunching under her feet seemed unnaturally loud to her; the air seemed to get colder with every second that passed. Miss Parker became slower with every step she took until she eventually came to a stop a few steps away from the building. She just knew that something was very wrong here, but what was it?

And all of a sudden she knew, never wondering how or why. It was right before her inner eye - a vision of the major's death, vivid and fiery and highly disturbing. Miss Parker spun around and started to run. She ran faster than ever before in her life, trying to ignore the icy air that seemed to cut into her lungs and steal her much needed breath. She kept running even though she knew she'd never make it in time.

When the building exploded behind her, seconds stretched into little eternities that nevertheless weren't long enough to allow Miss Parker to escape. At first, she saw the reddish glow coming from behind her, overtaking her, spilling over the snowy field like ghostly blood. Then she felt the heat like a solid wall behind her, replacing the icy cold. A heartbeat later she heard the earsplitting sound of the explosion as the structure behind her burst apart. Soon afterwards, molten metal rained down on the snow-covered field, accompanied by hissing sounds and wisps of smoke.

Eventually, the shock wave of the explosion reached her. Miss Parker felt as if she were gripped by a gigantic fist that thrust her into the air, pressed the air out of her lungs and then dropped her back on the ground. Heat engulfed her, and the landscape became blurry. Her face sank deep into the pleasantly cold snow, which provided relief from the heat and the shock of the impact. She just lay like this for a while, only raising her head when she was out of air.

A dark speck was moving towards her, getting closer fast. In a daze, she squinted at it but despite her effort it remained a blurry shadow.

"Miss Parker!"

It was Jarod's voice. But there was no way he could be here! She tried to force herself upright. Searing pain flashed through her body, making her sink back to the ground and moan.

"Parker, you've got to get up!" Jarod shouted above the roaring of the flames. Miss Parker tried, and failed, to wrap her mind around his words. Reflex took over, and despite the pain her body moved into a sitting position. Sensing that this was not enough, she struggled to get up and finally got to her feet. She was breathing hard and her legs were pretty wobbly, but at least her eyesight had returned to normal, allowing her to see that Jarod had almost reached her. There was fear contorting his features. Still feeling confused, she stood and stared at him. The expression on his face changed and was much closer to panic now--

The second shock wave hit her completely by surprise. Pain exploded in her head and shoulder. She heard nothing but the pounding of her blood in her ears. The world around her became a blinding whiteness.

"PARKER!"

Jarod's yell pierced through the pounding in her ears as she slowly sank forwards. A soft impact broke her fall, and then she felt Jarod's arms around her uncooperative body, gently supporting her weight.

"Parker."

His voice was wavering with emotion, but she was so tired she couldn't tell which emotion. Perhaps he was annoyed that she hadn't reacted fast enough. Even as she pondered that, she felt him lowering her to the ground, his arms still tightly around her.

"Talk to me, Parker." There, the waver was gone. Now his voice sounded... taut. "Please, talk to me."

Miss Parker opened her mouth, but no sound came past her lips. She didn't even find the strength to open her eyes and look at him, even though she really wanted to see his face and the expression on it.

The pain she'd felt earlier slowly faded, leaving her so numb that all she felt were Jarod's arms enfolding her. He drew her close and held her, whispering words of encouragement. 'Fool', Miss Parker wanted to say. She wasn't going to leave! She wasn't dying. Was she? She tried to hold on to his voice, even as the brightness inside her head slowly turned into darkness. The last thing she felt before she slipped into unconsciousness was Jarod's lips on her brow.