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Don't own them.
Authors note: As always, sorry for the long delay and that this is co-written. Hope everyone enjoys.
Authors note: As always, sorry for the long delay and that this is co-written. Hope everyone enjoys.
Jarod looked at Sydney for a moment, as if to check for his permission and then shook his head as well. He could see the pretend Sydney was doing and for the moment it looked like their safest course of action. He hated everything about this situation, but for now, the smartest move was to do as they were told, play along until he could come up with some way out.
"Then I guess it is time for Jarod to work. Show us what he has got if Sydney doesn’t want anymore.” She stood up. "Wil, Jon. Can you please help me with them? I do not know what I should be really expecting from the outcome of Jarod's little bit of work and I know you know more then me Wil with what they do."
Wil nodded at her. "From what I understand, he probably won’t need much help, just to be left alone.” He had sat through some SIM’s he had found in the massive digital archives the Centre kept. He was impressed with their technology. They had digital imaging years before it hit the general market and he wondered if Jarod might have had anything to do with it, the results sold off so somebody else could take the credit and the billions that came with it. But as far as he could tell, Sydney was just there as a sounding board more than anything else, somebody for Jarod to throw ideas around with, and to make sure that Jarod kept his focus.
Jarod stood up a little shakily wondering if he would be able to manage a SIM right now and thought that perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he didn’t perform so well. She might lose interest in him and let him go.
"Come on Jarod, the sooner this is done, the sooner you can rest,” Sydney told him, moving to help steady him on his feet. The painkillers and fatigue would slow him down a little, but Sydney guessed he would still have no trouble performing a basic SIM.
"Excuse us, Jon watch them.” She walker over to Wil, "Can I speak with you a moment please?" Grace asked formally.
"Sure Miss Gracie,” He said, moving away from them, but keeping an eye on Jarod.
"What exactly is it a pretender does Wil? I have no idea. Haven’t had the chance yet to look at what you found yet."
Wil frowned at her and whispered. "As far as I can tell, he can do just about anything. It seems he is a problem solver. He can be a doctor, a scientist, a lawyer, anything he wants to be. Anything at all. His IQ is off the scale. He studies a problem and then just knows about it." Wil wasn’t quite sure himself. "The only thing I can tell you is that he is their Golden Boy, and they want him back big time. Spent millions trying to catch him over the last few years."
"Oh really?” She asked, wondering if she could sell him back and her boss might be happier. "So what do we do? Do we have what Sydney will need for him to perform for us?" She asked, knowing how grossly unprepared they were for Jarod to be working.
Wil shrugged. "I guess you can ask him to do anything, but we need to be much more careful of this one. He has a reputation as a bit of an escape artist too, and he has killed before." Wil was worried that he could be a threat to her. He may put on that nice boy act, but he had seen what he was capable of and didn’t trust him for one second.
Grace nodded, "We will get them in a cell to start work. I want you to set up security once they are locked in. Electrify every exit door, vent, roof, anywhere he could get out of. And not just a little tingle shock, make it hard enough for him not to do it again. Change the codes, on any door that doesn’t require our hand prints." Grace ordered. This was something she was used to. She knew how to run her little warehouse, and knew exactly what would have to change to accommodate each new guest, and what had to be altered to keep a difficult one in.
"Yes Miss Gracie, I will get right on it once he is secure again." He knew she loved this part of it, running her little kingdom, and if they could keep a guy like Jarod, it probably meant that they could keep anybody.
Jon had gotten up as Wil and Gracie moved across the room and stood over Jarod, he ran the gun down his jaw line before gripping his hair tightly, "You will behave for her.” He warned. He would not have this arsehole making trouble for his Grace. He would beat him black and blue if he had to.
Jarod hissed in a breath as he looked up at him, trying to keep the resentment out of his eyes. "Yes,” He ground out. He could see the violence in this one’s eyes, simmering just below the surface. It was the same kind of hunger that he had seen time and time again, and it was always the same, no matter where he went. The desire to hurt, to control, and no matter how many times he saw it, studied it, he never understood it.
"That is not necessary,” Sydney protested hotly.
"No, its not. But I so do enjoy it." Jon smiled down on Jarod coldly, "I am waiting for you to slip up. Even the smallest thing out of line and I will be on your arse so hard you won’t know what hit it." And to emphasise his point, Jon yanked on his hair a few times, not letting go.
Jarod's head snapped backwards, but he kept his calm. He was too outnumbered, and he was injured and he did not want to risk Sydney. He would wait until Sydney was gone, which hopefully would be soon. If he could do a party trick for her, then perhaps she would send Sydney back, happy she has gotten what she wanted.
"This is unacceptable,” Sydney said loud enough for the two across the room to hear.
Jon completely ignored the old fart and shoved the gun up underneath Jarod's jaw, grinding it in deeply, knowing chances were he would be left with a mighty bruise. "Do I make myself clear boy?"
Grace turned around at Sydney's voice and saw Jon and sighed. "I wish he wouldn’t do things like this," But she made no move to stop it yet. He would finish on his own time, and with any luck Jarod would not be harmed.
Jarod's head was tilted uncomfortably far back, and he looked into the man's eyes, his gaze not wavering. He could see that this man enjoyed his work, and would not hesitate to hurt him. He wondered if this was the man who had shot him.
"I will not tolerate this,” Sydney said as calmly as he could, moving over to her. "If he is to work, he needs to be calm, not frightened half out of his wits. It will be hard enough to get him to focus between his injury, the meds and his fatigue."
"Well I would suggest to you to tell your project to answer when he spoken to and Jon might back down." Gracie said casually, watching them. Jon hated disrespect as much as she did, but unlike her, he would not hesitate to kill one if they were being rude.
"Yes," Jarod ground out.
Sydney shook his head, letting her see his displeasure.
"Yes what boy?” He asked, yanking his head back further, his hand still gripping his hair tightly and the gun still pushed deep underneath his jaw.
"Yes sir," Jarod tried, hoping that was what he wanted. In his experience, Jarod found that these people all wanted the same thing, the feeling of power and the ability to demand respect. He was nothing more than just a bully.
Jon let him go and slapped him hard over the back of his head. "Make sure you use those manners of yours, now get to your feet. You will perform for Miss Gracie, whatever she wants. And you will do it damn well." Jon ordered him. He hated seeing Gracie disappointed when things didn’t work out how she had hoped.
Sydney moved to his side quickly, wishing for just a few moments of privacy to talk with Jarod, but they had not yet left them alone. "Come on Jarod, I will help,” He said letting Jarod lean on him. If they played this right, Jarod could get some much needed rest. Sydney could see it in his eyes how worn out he was, how tired and sore, and heard it in his voice.
Gracie moved over to them, "Please come with me,” She ordered and took them to Jarod's cell. Jon and Wil training their guns on them at all times.
Jarod followed her with Sydney down the halls.
Opening the door after she had unlocked it, covering the code as she typed it in and scanned her hand, she led them in. "Now work for me."
"On what?” Sydney asked before Jarod could.
"Does it really look like I care?” She asked crossing her arms, showing her annoyance. She just wanted to see him working, see what he was capable of. She had never in her life met a pretender before.
Jarod sat down on the bed and looked around at the empty room, no idea what she possibly wanted from him. SIM’s and pretends took preparation, time, research, and he didn’t really think he should demonstrate the current SIM he had been running since he had regained consciousness tied to the chair. He thought it would be best to keep his escape scenarios to himself.
Sydney looked at the room in disgust and then turned to face her. "I mean no disrespect Miss Gracie, but what exactly is it that you think Jarod is going to be able to do for you in here?" There was no equipment, not even so much as a pencil and piece of paper.
"You said he can do anything and everything. And I want you to prove that to me."
"We need to assign him a specific task, and we need to do some research, preparations. We need a problem or a scenario.” Sydney tried to explain to her, not sure what she expected him to do.
Jarod was growing more resentful by the second at they way they were talking about him, but he kept it to himself, keeping his head lowered, like the well-behaved project she expected him to be.
"Well if you defined what a pretender is a bit more clearly, I might be able to help you out. But as it stands, you are reluctant to inform me on his work." All she had really been told was he could do anything and everything, Wil telling her if he wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or anything he could. But it really did help her to much.
Sydney looked at her in exasperation. "A pretender is literally what I told you, it is hard to define. If you want to test him, you need to ask him something specific. For example, if you wanted him to perform knee surgery, you would have to let him read books about it, learn about it, then he could perform the surgery after the research. It is not just a matter of performing a magic trick. He assimilates knowledge at an extremely accelerated rate, and then becomes proficient at it, as if he has been doing it for years."
"So he assumes identities then? Becomes the person he reads about?" She asked, thinking she might understand it a little now.
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Can he become someone with little knowledge on them and work out their motives?"
"It is much harder for him if there is little to go on, but to a certain degree, yes. He can do it with much less information than you or I could."
She looked at her boys. "Then I want him to become one of the men. Tell me about them."
Sydney nodded. "Which one?” He asked her.
"They both have a disliking to your project Sydney. But since Wil is just about to go and do a job for me, let’s make it Jon." She didn’t know much about either boy before their life with her, and would be interesting to see what Jarod could tell her about them.
Sydney sighed and nodded. He knew how badly unprepared Jarod was, and he was exhausted too. He only hoped he could give her what she needed. He moved to sit next to Jarod. "She wants you to pretend to be Jon,” Sydney told him softly.
Jarod had heard, it was impossible not too, but he appreciated Sydney talking to him as if he was a person again. He had been observing all of them, making judgements and conclusions, but he still didn’t know enough to do this properly.
Jon wasn’t sure he liked this idea at all. The thought of this idiot becoming him was just way too creepy for his liking and wished he had had Wil's job so he wasn’t the one being pretended.
As Wil left and locked the door after him, she turned to Jarod, "Get to it.” She snapped.
Jarod closed his eyes for a moment and assembled together what he knew about this man. He forced his breathing to even out as he concentrated.
Sydney watched him closely, seeing all the telltale signs that he was concentrating and he put his finger up to his lips.
Gracie stood closer to him, arms crossed. She wanted to know what he was feeling when he did this pretend and made herself concentrate as well. She wondered if she would feel Jon’s feelings since Jarod was trying to become him in a manner of speaking, or if she would still get feelings from Jarod. She stayed quiet as Sydney had asked.
When Jarod had reached that calmness, he let himself slip into the man he was trying to pretend to be. He had so little to go on, but he would do the best he could. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked at Grace.
Grace looked at him expertly, "Is that all?” She hoped not. She was expecting a lot more, and her voice let them know how disappointed she was.
"He has worked with you for a very long time," Jarod started, ignoring her. "He enjoys his work, worries about receiving another assignment and being removed."
Grace nodded, confirming it. But so far wasn’t impressed, and she let it show. It was obvious to anyone that met Jon that he enjoyed his work. He had such passion for it.
"Yes, since you were very young, thinks of you as family, cares for you deeply, might even consider betraying those he works for to protect you." Jarod said slowly, trying to piece together a profile. "This is his entire life, and he enjoys the power rush from it, wishes he was allowed to hurt people more often.” He closed his eyes, concentrating hard.
She knew that was true. He whined often about not being able to do more damage and she knew Jon was hoping this one would slip up just enough to warrant a punishment. And so far he had been let down. Jarod had been punished twice so far, and Jon only played a very small part in it.
"There is no family, no friends, outside this circle. He resented this assignment at first, missed his old one, thought of it as nothing more than babysitting, but slowly changed his mind over the years. He wants to kill Sydney, and he is hoping that you decide that I am not the 'one' and let him have some time with me." Jarod told her impassively, as if it were no big deal at all.
She looked at Jon who seemed to be staring unblinkingly at Jarod. "Go on. I want more of his past, tell me what you can." She was being hit with such mixed emotions she found it hard to keep them hidden. She got Jon’s disappointment that so far he wasn’t allowed to hurt them, and was nearly bowled over by Jarod’s fear they would kill Sydney.
Jarod shook his head, he didn’t have enough to go on. "Recruited young…” He struggled to see it. "They saved you from something or someone, trained you, earnt your loyalty, taught you that your desire to hurt could be productive, that you could flourish and never be judged here.” He opened his eyes and looked past her to Jon. "That you would fit in with them, that you would belong."
Jon was unnerved by this all, he didn’t like how Jarod was looking at him. "You shut up. Don’t tell her anything more.” He ordered, but his voice was weak. He didn’t want this freak to tell Gracie of what happened in his past. Had managed to keep it a secret for so long. It scared him so far he was right on everything. He hated this job at the start, having to watch over a two year old baby, but she grew on him. He had taught her how to hurt with out being affected by it, but knew she still would rather not hurt anyone.
Jarod closed his mouth and then looked at Grace, hoping Jon's reaction would be enough. He had had to guess a few things, but he would say that he had hit pretty close to the mark.
Gracie nodded slightly, wanting a little more, curious now that she might get some answers into his background. He never spoke of what came before work, of his childhood. She had tried to read him, always touching him when he least expected it to try and pick something up. But Jon knew what she was, since he first saw her on his first day on his assignment. And she had to guess he had built a barrier around himself so she couldn’t read him.
When Jarod could see she wanted more he sighed. "He likes his companion, trusts him, as far as he trusts anybody, but would not hesitate to kill him if he thought he had to."
Grace had to keep the shock from her face, "I want his past Jarod, now give it to me.” She hissed. She hadn’t liked that piece of news. Not one bit. She would have to talk to Jon about that. He should know Wil was to be trusted, they both had been together for years now.
"I am not a mind reader,” He protested.
"Does it look like I care? You said you could do it, now do it.” She snapped.
"It doesn’t work like that. Jarod can’t give you specific details about events he has no knowledge about. He is not a psychic.” Sydney said, seeing how much trouble Jarod was having.
"Then he has failed.” She said coldly, standing tall watching the two. "And I do not like failures."
Sydney looked at her, fear blossoming in his heart. "I am sorry,” He said softly.
"Jon escort Sydney back to his room, then come back for Jarod. You may have some play time with him." She did not want a failure, her boss wouldn’t want one. And if this little bit of play would help him realise she would not accept any sort of failure, so be it.
"You can’t do that,” Sydney said in alarm.
Jon's face lit up at that, "Yes ma'am.” He aimed the gun at Sydney, "Move it."
"Let him go, and I will do what you want," Jarod said, looking at Sydney sadly.
"You just failed doing what I wanted Jarod." Grace said, arms crossed, her voice showing her displeasure.
"There is no need to keep him then. If I am not the one you seek, just let him go, please," Jarod pleaded with her.
"Take him Jon.” She ordered, her eyes not leaving Jarod’s.
Jon gripped his arm and unlocked the door, hauling him out, locking the door after him.
Jarod stood up, although he was too late, they were already gone and he heard the door lock. He looked at Grace, trying to hide his contempt. "Don’t hurt him please, just let him go. You have what you want."
"I am far from having what I want Jarod. He will not be harmed, but I am not releasing him as of yet.” She said in a flat voice, no emotions. "But you will be punished for not preforming correctly."
"You don’t understand,” He protested. "I am not a mind reader or empathic. I deal mostly in mathematics, physics, logistics."
"For some one as smart as you are meant to be, becoming Jon should have been an easy task." She argued back.
"I have interacted with him for about ten minutes. Even I can’t pull the details and specifics you want out of thin air. He has a secret, something he doesn’t like to talk about, but I cannot possibly know what that is. Not without learning more about him."
“That is not my problem. My problem is I had someone worthy of my boss and now I don’t. Now I have a frightened and worried man that wants to hurt you for saying what you said, and I have a shrink that seems to think I believe he thinks you are his project still."
Jarod wanted to tell her just how little he cared for her problems right now. "Since your boss doesn’t know about any of this yet, perhaps it would be easier to write this whole thing off as a mistake."
"Oh no Jarod, you may yet to prove useful to my boss. Even if it is for making some money off of you. I am sure there would be a nice auction at the black market for someone like you." She had heard about these auctions, seen the products her boss gets from them. And she knew they were not pleasant. They treated them as if they were slaves in the 1800’s.
Jarod closed his eyes at the sheer horror of that notion. He could never allow that to happen, shuddering at the thought of who might want to get a hold of him. "You do that, and the Centre will find out, and there will be no place on earth where you or your boss will be safe."
"They might be thankful you know. Having the chance to get you back. You are a very useful piece of flesh Jarod. And someone out there will want you."
"Please don’t do this,” He whispered to her.
"It is my assignment Jarod, I have no choice."
He was so sick of hearing that. "There is always a choice."
"No there isn’t Jarod, I know my place, and you should learn yours.” She said sadly, "It would be easier for you."
"You mean easier for everybody else?” He asked tiredly.
"It would help us too but if you accept it and stop fighting, you will have a safe life. You were safe before you got disobedient and left your home."
Jarod was about to argue that it was not his home, that safety at the Centre was very relative. He had had the same argument with Sydney and Miss Parker time and time again and he was too weary to go over it yet again.
She looked at Jarod for a long time. "I am sorry you don’t believe this is your fate Jarod. And for what it is worth, I do wish you weren’t taken from your bed when you were young." With everything coming from him, she knew how much he believed he was meant to have been with his family, and not a project like fate had intended for him.
Jarod shook his head wearily, not even trying to figure out yet another contradiction in her. He had wished so many times that very thing, but wishing got you nowhere. He lay himself down on the 'bed', though that was a generous description. There was no mattress, or pillow, just the cold metal surface. But at least he was stretched out and after spending time in that box, he was grateful for that at least.
Gracie startled when her phone rang as Jon walked in. She grabbed it from her pocket and grimaced at the number, "Jon stand guard outside please." And waited till he obeyed her before answering the call, "Hello sir."
"Progress?” He demanded abruptly.
"We have someone of value, but I am not sure if you want him for yourself sir.” She said in a meek tone, looking at the ground as he spoke to her. She was so scared of displeasing him, and hoped he was happy about this one.
Jarod noticed the change in her posture and guessed this was the 'boss'.
"Who is he, and why would I be interested?"
"He is Jarod sir, a pretender.” She whispered, knowing he probably would want him for some reason or another, sell him, keep him, breed him.
He hissed in a breath. "A pretender? You have confirmed this?"
"Yes sir,” She nodded. "We have his handler here at the moment, he just ran a pretend for us.” She relaxed slightly at his excitement. Maybe she had done good after all.
"His name is Jarod?” He asked, hardly believing his luck.
"Yes sir.” She nodded, she had just told him that.
"Secure him, don’t touch him. I want him back here in one piece, do you understand?” He was almost too excited to think straight. Not only a pretender, but THE pretender. He knew it had been a good move to set up so close to Blue Cove. Years of trawling and they had finally netted the ultimate prize.
"Yes of course sir. Would you like me to bring him home straight away?” She asked. He must be more well known then she had realised. This must be whom she had been sent to find.
He softened his tone. "You have done extremely well Gracie, it is time for you to come home."
Grace's face broke into a grin, "Yes sir, thank you sir. I will bring him home and not disappoint you sir. I promise." She was giddy with the idea she was going home. She couldn’t believe it!
"See that you do. I will send a team to make sure he does not escape."
"Yes sir, but sir?” She asked hesitantly, not wanting to spoil her boss' good mood.
“But what?” He asked, indulging her. If she brought him in a genuine pretender, she would have proved her value once and for all.
“His handler sir?” She didn’t know if he wanted Sydney to come home with them or not. Though she prayed he would tell her she could let him go. She didn’t want to have to kill Sydney.
Jarod listened to her half of the conversation and knew that grin did not bode well for him.
"The old man?” He mused thinking about it for a moment. "Cut him loose, we don’t want any ties with his old life now."
Gracie sighed in relief, "Thank you sir.” She would wait for the team, another 24 hours then let Sydney go. She needed him just in case Jarod tried anything to ruin her chance of being allowed home.
"Gracie, you bring him back to me in one piece, make me proud of you."
"Yes of course sir. I won’t let you down.” She said, smiling broadly again as he disconnected the call.
"Good news?" Jarod asked sarcastically as she put the phone away.
"I can go home. Finally I am allowed home again.” She squealed and jumped on top of him excitedly. "I haven’t been home for years now." She was grinning like a kid at Christmas, and couldn’t seem to wipe it from her face.
Jarod didn’t know how to react to her excitement, so he remained very still. He thought for a moment about using her as a hostage, but they had Sydney and he couldn’t get out of this room. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to hurt her, not even now, she was just a kid after all, and in many respects, just as much a victim as he was.
"Once you are on a plane home with us Jarod, Sydney will be free to go home too. I don’t have to kill him. I’m so happy. He is a nice guy, I didn’t want my boss wanting him dead.” She rambled, grinning like stupid kid.
"Where is home?" Jarod asked, trying to get some information out of her. He was very relieved to hear the news about Sydney, although he was not certain he really believed her. The one thing he was certain about however, was if he pissed any of them off anymore, it was Sydney who would likely pay.
"It doesn’t matter. Aren’t you happy?” She asked, her smile falling and she stoped bouncing and sat next to him on the cot.
"If you let Sydney go, I will be happy,” He told her softly. But the idea of being put up for auction or returned to whomever this boss of hers was held little appeal for him and he could not allow it to happen.
"He will be let go Jarod, I promise you. But only after we are in the air." It was the best security they had to ensure Jarod’s co-operation.
Jarod nodded at her, not really believing her.
She looked at him seriously. "He will be left in his cell, I can put in a camera so you can watch while we are on the plane. We will set up a timing device to unlock the doors at a certain time. You can watch him walk out.” Gracie offered him, hoping to reassure him Sydney would be safe and free to leave.
Jarod closed his eyes as he realised how prepared they really were. "Thank you,” He said, remembering to be careful this time.
"Your welcome Jarod, and I should thank you. You are the only reason I am allowed home again."
"My pleasure," Jarod said sourly.
"Don’t be like that Jarod.” She scolded him gently. "You will like where we are going."
"I am sure my new cell will be just as homey as this one." He would never adapt to being caged again. Even though in the real world he was not really free, not like normal people, but he could not survive spending his time underground and in a cell.
"Maybe at the start they might put you in a high security cell. But the rest of the rooms are just like mine here. Soft and comfortable. They have a bed with a mattress and blankets and even have your own light switch." She exclaimed excitedly.
Jarod knew what a big deal it was to be able to control when the lights went on and off, but he couldn’t get excited about the thought of being locked in a cell again, any type of cage, comfortable or otherwise. He wouldn’t cooperate with them and he knew things would not go well for him.
Gracie climbed off the cot and sat on the ground near his head. She watched him, reading all his emotions. "You are sacred. You don’t want to go home with us. You want to be free even though you know you can’t."
"Then I guess it is time for Jarod to work. Show us what he has got if Sydney doesn’t want anymore.” She stood up. "Wil, Jon. Can you please help me with them? I do not know what I should be really expecting from the outcome of Jarod's little bit of work and I know you know more then me Wil with what they do."
Wil nodded at her. "From what I understand, he probably won’t need much help, just to be left alone.” He had sat through some SIM’s he had found in the massive digital archives the Centre kept. He was impressed with their technology. They had digital imaging years before it hit the general market and he wondered if Jarod might have had anything to do with it, the results sold off so somebody else could take the credit and the billions that came with it. But as far as he could tell, Sydney was just there as a sounding board more than anything else, somebody for Jarod to throw ideas around with, and to make sure that Jarod kept his focus.
Jarod stood up a little shakily wondering if he would be able to manage a SIM right now and thought that perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he didn’t perform so well. She might lose interest in him and let him go.
"Come on Jarod, the sooner this is done, the sooner you can rest,” Sydney told him, moving to help steady him on his feet. The painkillers and fatigue would slow him down a little, but Sydney guessed he would still have no trouble performing a basic SIM.
"Excuse us, Jon watch them.” She walker over to Wil, "Can I speak with you a moment please?" Grace asked formally.
"Sure Miss Gracie,” He said, moving away from them, but keeping an eye on Jarod.
"What exactly is it a pretender does Wil? I have no idea. Haven’t had the chance yet to look at what you found yet."
Wil frowned at her and whispered. "As far as I can tell, he can do just about anything. It seems he is a problem solver. He can be a doctor, a scientist, a lawyer, anything he wants to be. Anything at all. His IQ is off the scale. He studies a problem and then just knows about it." Wil wasn’t quite sure himself. "The only thing I can tell you is that he is their Golden Boy, and they want him back big time. Spent millions trying to catch him over the last few years."
"Oh really?” She asked, wondering if she could sell him back and her boss might be happier. "So what do we do? Do we have what Sydney will need for him to perform for us?" She asked, knowing how grossly unprepared they were for Jarod to be working.
Wil shrugged. "I guess you can ask him to do anything, but we need to be much more careful of this one. He has a reputation as a bit of an escape artist too, and he has killed before." Wil was worried that he could be a threat to her. He may put on that nice boy act, but he had seen what he was capable of and didn’t trust him for one second.
Grace nodded, "We will get them in a cell to start work. I want you to set up security once they are locked in. Electrify every exit door, vent, roof, anywhere he could get out of. And not just a little tingle shock, make it hard enough for him not to do it again. Change the codes, on any door that doesn’t require our hand prints." Grace ordered. This was something she was used to. She knew how to run her little warehouse, and knew exactly what would have to change to accommodate each new guest, and what had to be altered to keep a difficult one in.
"Yes Miss Gracie, I will get right on it once he is secure again." He knew she loved this part of it, running her little kingdom, and if they could keep a guy like Jarod, it probably meant that they could keep anybody.
Jon had gotten up as Wil and Gracie moved across the room and stood over Jarod, he ran the gun down his jaw line before gripping his hair tightly, "You will behave for her.” He warned. He would not have this arsehole making trouble for his Grace. He would beat him black and blue if he had to.
Jarod hissed in a breath as he looked up at him, trying to keep the resentment out of his eyes. "Yes,” He ground out. He could see the violence in this one’s eyes, simmering just below the surface. It was the same kind of hunger that he had seen time and time again, and it was always the same, no matter where he went. The desire to hurt, to control, and no matter how many times he saw it, studied it, he never understood it.
"That is not necessary,” Sydney protested hotly.
"No, its not. But I so do enjoy it." Jon smiled down on Jarod coldly, "I am waiting for you to slip up. Even the smallest thing out of line and I will be on your arse so hard you won’t know what hit it." And to emphasise his point, Jon yanked on his hair a few times, not letting go.
Jarod's head snapped backwards, but he kept his calm. He was too outnumbered, and he was injured and he did not want to risk Sydney. He would wait until Sydney was gone, which hopefully would be soon. If he could do a party trick for her, then perhaps she would send Sydney back, happy she has gotten what she wanted.
"This is unacceptable,” Sydney said loud enough for the two across the room to hear.
Jon completely ignored the old fart and shoved the gun up underneath Jarod's jaw, grinding it in deeply, knowing chances were he would be left with a mighty bruise. "Do I make myself clear boy?"
Grace turned around at Sydney's voice and saw Jon and sighed. "I wish he wouldn’t do things like this," But she made no move to stop it yet. He would finish on his own time, and with any luck Jarod would not be harmed.
Jarod's head was tilted uncomfortably far back, and he looked into the man's eyes, his gaze not wavering. He could see that this man enjoyed his work, and would not hesitate to hurt him. He wondered if this was the man who had shot him.
"I will not tolerate this,” Sydney said as calmly as he could, moving over to her. "If he is to work, he needs to be calm, not frightened half out of his wits. It will be hard enough to get him to focus between his injury, the meds and his fatigue."
"Well I would suggest to you to tell your project to answer when he spoken to and Jon might back down." Gracie said casually, watching them. Jon hated disrespect as much as she did, but unlike her, he would not hesitate to kill one if they were being rude.
"Yes," Jarod ground out.
Sydney shook his head, letting her see his displeasure.
"Yes what boy?” He asked, yanking his head back further, his hand still gripping his hair tightly and the gun still pushed deep underneath his jaw.
"Yes sir," Jarod tried, hoping that was what he wanted. In his experience, Jarod found that these people all wanted the same thing, the feeling of power and the ability to demand respect. He was nothing more than just a bully.
Jon let him go and slapped him hard over the back of his head. "Make sure you use those manners of yours, now get to your feet. You will perform for Miss Gracie, whatever she wants. And you will do it damn well." Jon ordered him. He hated seeing Gracie disappointed when things didn’t work out how she had hoped.
Sydney moved to his side quickly, wishing for just a few moments of privacy to talk with Jarod, but they had not yet left them alone. "Come on Jarod, I will help,” He said letting Jarod lean on him. If they played this right, Jarod could get some much needed rest. Sydney could see it in his eyes how worn out he was, how tired and sore, and heard it in his voice.
Gracie moved over to them, "Please come with me,” She ordered and took them to Jarod's cell. Jon and Wil training their guns on them at all times.
Jarod followed her with Sydney down the halls.
Opening the door after she had unlocked it, covering the code as she typed it in and scanned her hand, she led them in. "Now work for me."
"On what?” Sydney asked before Jarod could.
"Does it really look like I care?” She asked crossing her arms, showing her annoyance. She just wanted to see him working, see what he was capable of. She had never in her life met a pretender before.
Jarod sat down on the bed and looked around at the empty room, no idea what she possibly wanted from him. SIM’s and pretends took preparation, time, research, and he didn’t really think he should demonstrate the current SIM he had been running since he had regained consciousness tied to the chair. He thought it would be best to keep his escape scenarios to himself.
Sydney looked at the room in disgust and then turned to face her. "I mean no disrespect Miss Gracie, but what exactly is it that you think Jarod is going to be able to do for you in here?" There was no equipment, not even so much as a pencil and piece of paper.
"You said he can do anything and everything. And I want you to prove that to me."
"We need to assign him a specific task, and we need to do some research, preparations. We need a problem or a scenario.” Sydney tried to explain to her, not sure what she expected him to do.
Jarod was growing more resentful by the second at they way they were talking about him, but he kept it to himself, keeping his head lowered, like the well-behaved project she expected him to be.
"Well if you defined what a pretender is a bit more clearly, I might be able to help you out. But as it stands, you are reluctant to inform me on his work." All she had really been told was he could do anything and everything, Wil telling her if he wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or anything he could. But it really did help her to much.
Sydney looked at her in exasperation. "A pretender is literally what I told you, it is hard to define. If you want to test him, you need to ask him something specific. For example, if you wanted him to perform knee surgery, you would have to let him read books about it, learn about it, then he could perform the surgery after the research. It is not just a matter of performing a magic trick. He assimilates knowledge at an extremely accelerated rate, and then becomes proficient at it, as if he has been doing it for years."
"So he assumes identities then? Becomes the person he reads about?" She asked, thinking she might understand it a little now.
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Can he become someone with little knowledge on them and work out their motives?"
"It is much harder for him if there is little to go on, but to a certain degree, yes. He can do it with much less information than you or I could."
She looked at her boys. "Then I want him to become one of the men. Tell me about them."
Sydney nodded. "Which one?” He asked her.
"They both have a disliking to your project Sydney. But since Wil is just about to go and do a job for me, let’s make it Jon." She didn’t know much about either boy before their life with her, and would be interesting to see what Jarod could tell her about them.
Sydney sighed and nodded. He knew how badly unprepared Jarod was, and he was exhausted too. He only hoped he could give her what she needed. He moved to sit next to Jarod. "She wants you to pretend to be Jon,” Sydney told him softly.
Jarod had heard, it was impossible not too, but he appreciated Sydney talking to him as if he was a person again. He had been observing all of them, making judgements and conclusions, but he still didn’t know enough to do this properly.
Jon wasn’t sure he liked this idea at all. The thought of this idiot becoming him was just way too creepy for his liking and wished he had had Wil's job so he wasn’t the one being pretended.
As Wil left and locked the door after him, she turned to Jarod, "Get to it.” She snapped.
Jarod closed his eyes for a moment and assembled together what he knew about this man. He forced his breathing to even out as he concentrated.
Sydney watched him closely, seeing all the telltale signs that he was concentrating and he put his finger up to his lips.
Gracie stood closer to him, arms crossed. She wanted to know what he was feeling when he did this pretend and made herself concentrate as well. She wondered if she would feel Jon’s feelings since Jarod was trying to become him in a manner of speaking, or if she would still get feelings from Jarod. She stayed quiet as Sydney had asked.
When Jarod had reached that calmness, he let himself slip into the man he was trying to pretend to be. He had so little to go on, but he would do the best he could. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked at Grace.
Grace looked at him expertly, "Is that all?” She hoped not. She was expecting a lot more, and her voice let them know how disappointed she was.
"He has worked with you for a very long time," Jarod started, ignoring her. "He enjoys his work, worries about receiving another assignment and being removed."
Grace nodded, confirming it. But so far wasn’t impressed, and she let it show. It was obvious to anyone that met Jon that he enjoyed his work. He had such passion for it.
"Yes, since you were very young, thinks of you as family, cares for you deeply, might even consider betraying those he works for to protect you." Jarod said slowly, trying to piece together a profile. "This is his entire life, and he enjoys the power rush from it, wishes he was allowed to hurt people more often.” He closed his eyes, concentrating hard.
She knew that was true. He whined often about not being able to do more damage and she knew Jon was hoping this one would slip up just enough to warrant a punishment. And so far he had been let down. Jarod had been punished twice so far, and Jon only played a very small part in it.
"There is no family, no friends, outside this circle. He resented this assignment at first, missed his old one, thought of it as nothing more than babysitting, but slowly changed his mind over the years. He wants to kill Sydney, and he is hoping that you decide that I am not the 'one' and let him have some time with me." Jarod told her impassively, as if it were no big deal at all.
She looked at Jon who seemed to be staring unblinkingly at Jarod. "Go on. I want more of his past, tell me what you can." She was being hit with such mixed emotions she found it hard to keep them hidden. She got Jon’s disappointment that so far he wasn’t allowed to hurt them, and was nearly bowled over by Jarod’s fear they would kill Sydney.
Jarod shook his head, he didn’t have enough to go on. "Recruited young…” He struggled to see it. "They saved you from something or someone, trained you, earnt your loyalty, taught you that your desire to hurt could be productive, that you could flourish and never be judged here.” He opened his eyes and looked past her to Jon. "That you would fit in with them, that you would belong."
Jon was unnerved by this all, he didn’t like how Jarod was looking at him. "You shut up. Don’t tell her anything more.” He ordered, but his voice was weak. He didn’t want this freak to tell Gracie of what happened in his past. Had managed to keep it a secret for so long. It scared him so far he was right on everything. He hated this job at the start, having to watch over a two year old baby, but she grew on him. He had taught her how to hurt with out being affected by it, but knew she still would rather not hurt anyone.
Jarod closed his mouth and then looked at Grace, hoping Jon's reaction would be enough. He had had to guess a few things, but he would say that he had hit pretty close to the mark.
Gracie nodded slightly, wanting a little more, curious now that she might get some answers into his background. He never spoke of what came before work, of his childhood. She had tried to read him, always touching him when he least expected it to try and pick something up. But Jon knew what she was, since he first saw her on his first day on his assignment. And she had to guess he had built a barrier around himself so she couldn’t read him.
When Jarod could see she wanted more he sighed. "He likes his companion, trusts him, as far as he trusts anybody, but would not hesitate to kill him if he thought he had to."
Grace had to keep the shock from her face, "I want his past Jarod, now give it to me.” She hissed. She hadn’t liked that piece of news. Not one bit. She would have to talk to Jon about that. He should know Wil was to be trusted, they both had been together for years now.
"I am not a mind reader,” He protested.
"Does it look like I care? You said you could do it, now do it.” She snapped.
"It doesn’t work like that. Jarod can’t give you specific details about events he has no knowledge about. He is not a psychic.” Sydney said, seeing how much trouble Jarod was having.
"Then he has failed.” She said coldly, standing tall watching the two. "And I do not like failures."
Sydney looked at her, fear blossoming in his heart. "I am sorry,” He said softly.
"Jon escort Sydney back to his room, then come back for Jarod. You may have some play time with him." She did not want a failure, her boss wouldn’t want one. And if this little bit of play would help him realise she would not accept any sort of failure, so be it.
"You can’t do that,” Sydney said in alarm.
Jon's face lit up at that, "Yes ma'am.” He aimed the gun at Sydney, "Move it."
"Let him go, and I will do what you want," Jarod said, looking at Sydney sadly.
"You just failed doing what I wanted Jarod." Grace said, arms crossed, her voice showing her displeasure.
"There is no need to keep him then. If I am not the one you seek, just let him go, please," Jarod pleaded with her.
"Take him Jon.” She ordered, her eyes not leaving Jarod’s.
Jon gripped his arm and unlocked the door, hauling him out, locking the door after him.
Jarod stood up, although he was too late, they were already gone and he heard the door lock. He looked at Grace, trying to hide his contempt. "Don’t hurt him please, just let him go. You have what you want."
"I am far from having what I want Jarod. He will not be harmed, but I am not releasing him as of yet.” She said in a flat voice, no emotions. "But you will be punished for not preforming correctly."
"You don’t understand,” He protested. "I am not a mind reader or empathic. I deal mostly in mathematics, physics, logistics."
"For some one as smart as you are meant to be, becoming Jon should have been an easy task." She argued back.
"I have interacted with him for about ten minutes. Even I can’t pull the details and specifics you want out of thin air. He has a secret, something he doesn’t like to talk about, but I cannot possibly know what that is. Not without learning more about him."
“That is not my problem. My problem is I had someone worthy of my boss and now I don’t. Now I have a frightened and worried man that wants to hurt you for saying what you said, and I have a shrink that seems to think I believe he thinks you are his project still."
Jarod wanted to tell her just how little he cared for her problems right now. "Since your boss doesn’t know about any of this yet, perhaps it would be easier to write this whole thing off as a mistake."
"Oh no Jarod, you may yet to prove useful to my boss. Even if it is for making some money off of you. I am sure there would be a nice auction at the black market for someone like you." She had heard about these auctions, seen the products her boss gets from them. And she knew they were not pleasant. They treated them as if they were slaves in the 1800’s.
Jarod closed his eyes at the sheer horror of that notion. He could never allow that to happen, shuddering at the thought of who might want to get a hold of him. "You do that, and the Centre will find out, and there will be no place on earth where you or your boss will be safe."
"They might be thankful you know. Having the chance to get you back. You are a very useful piece of flesh Jarod. And someone out there will want you."
"Please don’t do this,” He whispered to her.
"It is my assignment Jarod, I have no choice."
He was so sick of hearing that. "There is always a choice."
"No there isn’t Jarod, I know my place, and you should learn yours.” She said sadly, "It would be easier for you."
"You mean easier for everybody else?” He asked tiredly.
"It would help us too but if you accept it and stop fighting, you will have a safe life. You were safe before you got disobedient and left your home."
Jarod was about to argue that it was not his home, that safety at the Centre was very relative. He had had the same argument with Sydney and Miss Parker time and time again and he was too weary to go over it yet again.
She looked at Jarod for a long time. "I am sorry you don’t believe this is your fate Jarod. And for what it is worth, I do wish you weren’t taken from your bed when you were young." With everything coming from him, she knew how much he believed he was meant to have been with his family, and not a project like fate had intended for him.
Jarod shook his head wearily, not even trying to figure out yet another contradiction in her. He had wished so many times that very thing, but wishing got you nowhere. He lay himself down on the 'bed', though that was a generous description. There was no mattress, or pillow, just the cold metal surface. But at least he was stretched out and after spending time in that box, he was grateful for that at least.
Gracie startled when her phone rang as Jon walked in. She grabbed it from her pocket and grimaced at the number, "Jon stand guard outside please." And waited till he obeyed her before answering the call, "Hello sir."
"Progress?” He demanded abruptly.
"We have someone of value, but I am not sure if you want him for yourself sir.” She said in a meek tone, looking at the ground as he spoke to her. She was so scared of displeasing him, and hoped he was happy about this one.
Jarod noticed the change in her posture and guessed this was the 'boss'.
"Who is he, and why would I be interested?"
"He is Jarod sir, a pretender.” She whispered, knowing he probably would want him for some reason or another, sell him, keep him, breed him.
He hissed in a breath. "A pretender? You have confirmed this?"
"Yes sir,” She nodded. "We have his handler here at the moment, he just ran a pretend for us.” She relaxed slightly at his excitement. Maybe she had done good after all.
"His name is Jarod?” He asked, hardly believing his luck.
"Yes sir.” She nodded, she had just told him that.
"Secure him, don’t touch him. I want him back here in one piece, do you understand?” He was almost too excited to think straight. Not only a pretender, but THE pretender. He knew it had been a good move to set up so close to Blue Cove. Years of trawling and they had finally netted the ultimate prize.
"Yes of course sir. Would you like me to bring him home straight away?” She asked. He must be more well known then she had realised. This must be whom she had been sent to find.
He softened his tone. "You have done extremely well Gracie, it is time for you to come home."
Grace's face broke into a grin, "Yes sir, thank you sir. I will bring him home and not disappoint you sir. I promise." She was giddy with the idea she was going home. She couldn’t believe it!
"See that you do. I will send a team to make sure he does not escape."
"Yes sir, but sir?” She asked hesitantly, not wanting to spoil her boss' good mood.
“But what?” He asked, indulging her. If she brought him in a genuine pretender, she would have proved her value once and for all.
“His handler sir?” She didn’t know if he wanted Sydney to come home with them or not. Though she prayed he would tell her she could let him go. She didn’t want to have to kill Sydney.
Jarod listened to her half of the conversation and knew that grin did not bode well for him.
"The old man?” He mused thinking about it for a moment. "Cut him loose, we don’t want any ties with his old life now."
Gracie sighed in relief, "Thank you sir.” She would wait for the team, another 24 hours then let Sydney go. She needed him just in case Jarod tried anything to ruin her chance of being allowed home.
"Gracie, you bring him back to me in one piece, make me proud of you."
"Yes of course sir. I won’t let you down.” She said, smiling broadly again as he disconnected the call.
"Good news?" Jarod asked sarcastically as she put the phone away.
"I can go home. Finally I am allowed home again.” She squealed and jumped on top of him excitedly. "I haven’t been home for years now." She was grinning like a kid at Christmas, and couldn’t seem to wipe it from her face.
Jarod didn’t know how to react to her excitement, so he remained very still. He thought for a moment about using her as a hostage, but they had Sydney and he couldn’t get out of this room. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to hurt her, not even now, she was just a kid after all, and in many respects, just as much a victim as he was.
"Once you are on a plane home with us Jarod, Sydney will be free to go home too. I don’t have to kill him. I’m so happy. He is a nice guy, I didn’t want my boss wanting him dead.” She rambled, grinning like stupid kid.
"Where is home?" Jarod asked, trying to get some information out of her. He was very relieved to hear the news about Sydney, although he was not certain he really believed her. The one thing he was certain about however, was if he pissed any of them off anymore, it was Sydney who would likely pay.
"It doesn’t matter. Aren’t you happy?” She asked, her smile falling and she stoped bouncing and sat next to him on the cot.
"If you let Sydney go, I will be happy,” He told her softly. But the idea of being put up for auction or returned to whomever this boss of hers was held little appeal for him and he could not allow it to happen.
"He will be let go Jarod, I promise you. But only after we are in the air." It was the best security they had to ensure Jarod’s co-operation.
Jarod nodded at her, not really believing her.
She looked at him seriously. "He will be left in his cell, I can put in a camera so you can watch while we are on the plane. We will set up a timing device to unlock the doors at a certain time. You can watch him walk out.” Gracie offered him, hoping to reassure him Sydney would be safe and free to leave.
Jarod closed his eyes as he realised how prepared they really were. "Thank you,” He said, remembering to be careful this time.
"Your welcome Jarod, and I should thank you. You are the only reason I am allowed home again."
"My pleasure," Jarod said sourly.
"Don’t be like that Jarod.” She scolded him gently. "You will like where we are going."
"I am sure my new cell will be just as homey as this one." He would never adapt to being caged again. Even though in the real world he was not really free, not like normal people, but he could not survive spending his time underground and in a cell.
"Maybe at the start they might put you in a high security cell. But the rest of the rooms are just like mine here. Soft and comfortable. They have a bed with a mattress and blankets and even have your own light switch." She exclaimed excitedly.
Jarod knew what a big deal it was to be able to control when the lights went on and off, but he couldn’t get excited about the thought of being locked in a cell again, any type of cage, comfortable or otherwise. He wouldn’t cooperate with them and he knew things would not go well for him.
Gracie climbed off the cot and sat on the ground near his head. She watched him, reading all his emotions. "You are sacred. You don’t want to go home with us. You want to be free even though you know you can’t."
