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This is a fanfic written purely for entertainment and promotion of my favorite show, The Pretender. I am merely borrowing the characters from the TV show owned by Pretender Productions, MTM, TNT, FOX, and maybe NBC, I think. All the other fictional characters not appearing on the Pretender are mine. Please don’t sue me, as I have no money.
This story takes place in the first 5-7 weeks after Donoterase. Please start with part 1.
Things are heating up, as the Atlanta Violent Task force sets things in motion to face off with The Centre, while ATF agents within the Centre are quickly alerted to prepare Jarod and company for removal. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual, as the Centre becomes more deadly, as Mr. Parker and the others sink deeper into debauchery. 7/13/00
In Pursuit Of Happiness
Part 19
by jojarod50
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Private room 1E (Just off to the right of the infirmary)
Thursday 10:30 AM
Sydney opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the clock across the room, vaguely seeing the numbers, as his vision started to clear. “Damn Grackle,” he cursed under his breath, knowing he was purposely being heavily sedated. It was times like these, in-between injections, when he briefly surfaced from oblivion long enough to entertain thoughts of sneaking out the door. How far is Nelson willing to go to keep me out of the way, he wondered, aware that he needed to be up for short periods of time by now, if he were to recover properly from his surgery.
Besides his callous and rude bedside manner, Sydney had always been disgusted with Nelson for compromising his oath so many times, just to keep in Mr. Parker’s good graces, and clearly understood this was one of those times.
As the door swished open, his heart fell, seeing the day nurse enter and realizing he had little time before he was sedated again. He was worried sick about Jarod and wanted desperately to know if he and the others were all right.
After checking his vitals, the sturdy young man leaned very close to him testing his pupils with a small light as he grasped Sydney’s left hand and spoke.
”My name is Davies, ATF, he whispered. We’re pulling all of you out tomorrow night. I’m replacing your sedative with normal saline and a little something to make you more comfortable. Just pretend to loose consciousness when I give you your shot. Squeeze my hand if you understand.”
Sydney felt his face flush, as his words soaked in, and gave his hand a quick squeeze, breathing a silent prayer of thanks.
“You’re doing just fine, doctor,” he said patting his hand in acknowledgement and jotted down his vitals on the chart. He purposely kept his back to the surveillance camera as he deftly switched the bottles, sliding the first one into his pocket and delivering the bogus shot as usual.
Sydney gratefully received it, feeling the pain in his side gradually began to subside, as he continued to become more lucid. Allowing his eyes to slowly close and his body to relax, he pretended to slip into unconsciousness thrilled with this sudden turn of events, and hoping the FBI had managed to amass enough manpower to pull things off successfully. Whatever sentence he was given for participating in the Jarod project would be well worth it, if they managed to get the others out and took the Centre down. Resting on the soft pillows, he let his mind wander, remembering what it was like being with Jarod the last 5 weeks, as he had valiantly struggled against insanity, and the intimacy they had developed in the mists of that tragedy. His brother had been right, he thought bitterly, as guilt coursed though his conscience, knowing all too well that his lusty exuberance in pursuing his groundbreaking research had blinded him to the injustice being done to the boy, and that Jarod had suffered unspeakably for that blindness. Biting back tears, he lay there silently, struggling with his own demons, and trying to come to terms with all that he had done.
* * *
Centre Infirmary
10:45 AM
Examination room 3
“He’ll probably have to remain here for the rest of the morning, maybe longer, depending on how well he does on the medicine and until he is sufficiently rehydrated. For the life of me, I’ve never seen a man come so completely unglued in such a short period of time. I’ve heard he is a brilliant computer tech, but he certainly is quiet a little wimp. Don’t restrain him. It just might do him in. Besides, I don’t think you’ll be getting any trouble out of that one,” Dr. Grackle said to his new medical assistant trainee with a look of amusement, as he glanced back at Broots, who was lying near by moaning softly, and hearing every word that he said.
“I need to make a couple of phone calls. Don’t disturb me for any reason,” he said as he passed one of the nurses and headed for his private office, to give Mr. Parker his morning status report, including his observations on Dr. Meisser.
The medical trainee watched with revulsion, as the arrogant doctor left, and quickly slipped over to the poor computer tech’s side to quietly inform him of the “pull out” tomorrow night.
* * *
The Centre
Jarod’s old room
10:48 AM
Jarod was finding it impossible to keep his mind on what his doctor was saying. He had to come up with a firm escape plan, and he needed it right now. Unfortunately, the after effects of the drugs from this morning, was making it difficult to think.
Looking down at his bare hands, injured during his recapture, he was grateful the gauze had been removed. That would have enabled him to use the keyboard again, if they hadn’t just removed the computer from his room.
The pressure was on, to get back into the Centre Main Frame, unmonitored, to finish the compromising of the surveillance and security lock systems, and other key components of his escape plan. Now, without access to a computer, things were on hold until he found a way to get to one.
To make matters worse, they were outdoing themselves at having him monitored, and he wouldn’t be a bit surprised, if they were monitoring his doctor as well.
If he had refused to take his shot at the farmhouse, the set up would have been completed, ruling out the need for a computer now. Of course, that would have decimated his chances of ever getting his mind back again, the way the timing on Raines’ drug had been designed.
But even if things were set up, another obstacle, was how to get himself and the others out of the Centre with no outside help. One would be fairly easy, but six was proving definitely problematic. Nailing that down was taking way too much time.
His stomach turned as he thought of Joe and how he tried to help them before the sweepers mowed him down. The Centre had become a far more dangerous place than he had ever remembered. If he didn’t move fast, he was afraid his dad and the others might not survive much longer. Yet anything he tried to do at this point might….
“Jarod, where are you? I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said since we began our talk,” the psychiatrist said after watching his patient slump down and bury his face in his ands.
I’m sorry. Could you repeat your question?” Jarod asked distractedly, rubbing his eyes and straightening up in his chair. He wished more than anything that the doctor would just leave him alone so he could get things figured out.
“No, never mind,” his psychiatrist said fearing he was headed for another anxiety attack, if he didn’t get him calmed back down. “You seem to be obsessing about something. Why don’t we talk about that,” Dr. Meisser said trying to connect with the obviously overwhelmed young man, noticing that his shirt was becoming soaked with sweat.
“Oh, it was really nothing. I was just wondering what will happen to my dad and the others,” he said running his shaking hand through his dark brown hair.
“Jarod, we’ve been over that before. They’re all reasonably ok and I don’t want you worrying about them right now,” the psychiatrist reminded him, realizing with great concern, that the stress of his situation and that of the others was quickly pulling him under. “In fact, your father is scheduled for some intelligence testing with me in a little over an hour. I’m not sure, but maybe I can arrange for you to see him.”
Jarod looked up suddenly with the eyes of a child, vulnerable, hopeful.
“Listen to me carefully young man. I’m going to give it to you straight. What you are doing is very unhealthy. Let’s look at this realistically. You’re in no position to help your father or the others. Their safety is simply not in your hands right now. Don’t you see that, Jarod? If you continue to worry and put this much pressure on yourself, you’re going to crack up. The best thing you can do for everyone right now, is to rest, take your shots, and help us put a little weight back on you.”
Jarod slumped down in the chair, putting a hand over his eyes, not wanting to hear anymore.
“Look, why don’t we take a walk and get some fresh air. It will do you good to have a change of pace. That is, if you feel up to it after the beating you took this morning.”
Jarod turned away wishing he hadn’t brought that up, still kicking himself for not being more in control when he saw the hypo, and regretting the end results.
“I’m fine,” he said convincingly, wincing in pain when he stood up, but managing to appear fairly normal when he started to walk.
“Good. Let’s just go down the hall to the lobby and back again,” he said ushering him out of the door, knowing that the surveillance cameras weren’t so finely tuned for audio further down the hallway.
* * *
Several minutes later -
“Jarod, listen carefully,” Dr. Meisser whispered looking straight ahead, as they went down the lightly populated hallway.
“I’m a Federal Agent and we’re pulling you and the others out of here tomorrow night, so try to keep yourself together and don’t give up hope,” he said quietly, glancing over at Jarod and giving him a little wink.
Jarod stared at the man skeptically, afraid it was another Centre lie, but something deep inside told him to trust him.
“Want a candy bar and a pop” he asked, stepping up to the vending machine and fishing in his pocket for some quarters. “It says on your chart that you are very fond of sweets,” he said, breaking into an easy smile enjoying the look of incredible relief on Jarod’s face, as he closed his eyes for a moment, leaning heavily against the wall for support.
“Well, we better be heading back, it’s only an hour before your second shot, and you look like you could use some rest first,” the doctor said handing him a Butterfinger and coke, noticing the approach of two “darksuits”.
“Dr. Meisser. You know you are under strict orders, not to take the pretender out of his room without an armed escort,” Willie said stepping up so close to him that he violated the other man’s space.
“I think that formality is pointless, considering what you did to my patient this morning. Look at him, he can barely walk,” he said with more than a hint of anger, obviously unintimidated.
“I wouldn’t think so much, if I were you, Dr. Meisser.”
“Well, we need to be getting back. You might as well escort us. I wouldn’t want you getting in trouble with Mr. Parker for not doing your job,” the doctor said backing down, keenly aware of his need to keep up appearances until they made their move.
Jarod glared at Willie warning him off, as he pushed off the wall and started back down the hallway, enjoying visions of that particular sweeper behind bars.
* * *
Renewal Wing
Isolation cell #19
11:15AM
Major Charles sat on the metal bed, sinking into despair, as he kept an eye on a rodent climbing around in a bowel of something a sweeper had given, before scampering back under the door.
His mind shifted to thoughts about his life; the joy of his marriage to Margaret, his sense of belonging in the service, how deeply he loved his little children, and all the cruel twists of fate that had brought him to this point.
Turning away from the cameras, he wept bitterly. Memories of his son, Kyle, lying dead in the morgue, the pictures of Jarod viscously being tortured and fearful shadows of what might have happened to Gemini, Emily, and his wife assaulted his grief-stricken mind.
Hearing the door lock being accessed, he quickly lunged at the figure that came though the door, fighting desperately to get out.
“Hey take it easy, Mister,” the bigger man said, grabbing the Major’s arms, wrenching them behind his back and slammed him against the wall. “I don’t think you want me to put you in full restraints, especially not with all the rats down here. Now, let’s get you into these cuffs. You’re to undergo more questioning this afternoon, but first Dr. Meisser has been ordered to give you a series of tests.
The Major just stood there staring at the man, his eyes burning with hatred, making no move to comply.
“Your hands, Major. I’m sure you are aware of how much of Jarod’s safety depends on your full cooperation,” the sweeper said dangling the cuffs in front of his face.
Cursing under his breath, he held out his hands, feeling a wave of dizziness hit him at just the mention of his son’s name.
Angelo watched carefully, peeking through the air duct grate, as the “man friend loved” was hurriedly taken out of the cell. Slowly, he made his way down the duct to Miss Parker’s cell, peeking in to make sure daughter was ok.
* * *
Renewal Wing
Isolation Cell # 16
11:30 AM
Miss Parker nervously paced back and forth in the small room, weighing her options. She was tired and hurt all over, but this was no time to rest.
Her interrogation had gone terribly wrong and she knew she was in real trouble. They had gotten to Broots the night before and had managed to coerce bits and pieces of information out of him including what might be damning information about her relationship with Jarod. Either that, or they managed to get it from somewhere else. So much for being reinstated on the Centre payroll, but what would they do with her now?
As if they could read her mind, she heard someone working the coded lock and turned around just in time to see Sam come through the door.
“Miss Parker, your father wants to see you and I’ve been ordered to give you this,” he said pulling out a syringe.
“My God, Sam. You can’t be serious. I’m not letting anyone give me an injection after what happened to Jarod, so just go ahead and put that away.
“I can’t do that,” he said glancing up at the surveillance camera,” but I promise you, this drug isn’t going to hurt you.”
“Forget it Sam. You better not come near me with that or you’ll be seeing a plastic surgeon for the deep gouges on your face.”
“I knew you would say something like that,” Willie said as he entered the room and took the syringe from Sam. “Hold her down.”
Angelo’s blue eyes shut tightly, as the sweepers pinned her down and gave her the shot. Then he watched as they dragged her out of the door and headed for the elevator.
“Must help daughter. Must do something,” Angelo said as he scurried back down the air duct, heading for his new hiding place.
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
11:46AM
“I want to hear it from your own lips. What kind of relationship have you been having with Jarod?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What makes you think I would have any kind of relationship with that arrogant lab rat? You’re slipping Daddy,” she said shaking her finger at him with a silly grin on her face, feeling the effects of the truth drug relaxing her and making her feel giddy.
“Don’t you lie to me, young lady. What did you do, sleep with him?”
“Shame on you,” she said with dancing eyes. “He’s not the sort of guy you just jump into bed with. He’s got morals unlike someone else I know.”
Mr. Parker ran his fingers though his hair in frustration, and went to the wet bar to pour himself another stiff drink, instead of backhanding her against the wall like he wanted to do.
“I want a straight answer. Have you been having a relationship with my pretender? Yes or No.”
“Your pretender?”
“Now what’s the matter. He’s Centre property, for heaven’s sake. You know it as well as I do. Oh I see. He’s convinced you that he’s a victim of all of this and should be out free in the world.”
“Well, shouldn’t he?” she said heatedly before she had time to realize what she was saying.
Mr. Parker stared at her in surprise not wanting to believe what she had just said. Slamming down his drink he marched over to her nearly lifting her off her feet and squeezed her arms tightly, as he looked her straight in the eye.
“No he shouldn’t be free. I made him what he is. He’s a pretender and he belongs to me. He’s a tool and nothing more.
“A tool? He’s a human being, Daddy, and I can tell you he’s a lot more human than you are. Very human,” she said flicking her tongue over her lips and grinning slyly. She was feeling loose and very inebriated as her mind visualized his lean muscular body, his hot kisses and the smell of him when they were close.
“My God, it is true,” he said suddenly releasing her as if she were something unclean. Walking back to his desk he sat down and finished the rest of his drink.
“Well, this whole mess is partially my fault. I should have never put a venerable woman like you on Jarod’s pursuit in the first place. You’ve always had a problem keeping out of men’s bedrooms, and he took advantage of that.”
“Men’s bedrooms? Nice one, daddy. Look, I never slept with your pretender.”
“It’s clear that I’m going to have to farm Jarod out to another facility, while I try and get you straightened out. Luckily, we’ll be getting Gemini back later today.”
“I don’t know. Maybe Raines can do something with you. We’ll see after your testing with Dr. Meisser this afternoon.”
“Sam, take my daughter back to her cell and bring Jarod here on your way back.”
* * *
Jarod’s room
12:10 noon
“Jarod, sorry to have to wake you up, but it’s time for your shot. If it weren’t for that, I would have let you sleep. I think this is the first solid rest you’ve gotten since you got here, if we don’t include when you were sedated or passed out.
Jarod just lay on the pillows groggily, looking away as he was given his shot, craving more sleep, as he felt the strong euphoria pulling him out to sea. Slowly he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
After observing him for several minutes, Dr. Meisser left him, satisfied that he had gone to sleep. He quickly went down the hallway and hopped on the elevator, heading back to his office. He was testing Major Charles, who he was discovering had an extremely high IQ like his son. The agent was looking forward to getting the two of them back together, after the pretender had a little more rest, painfully aware of the cruelty inflicted on the captives and wanting to do something to relieve their stress, if possible.
* * *
Hallway just outside Dr. Meisser’s office.
“Excuse me Doctor. I’ve been ordered to deliver Jarod to Mr. Parker’s office. Is he here or in his room right now?”
“He’s sleeping and can not be disturbed right now. Why don’t you tell Mr. Parker to wait for an hour or so, until he’s recovered from the initial effects of his shot? He’s really out of it right now.”
“I can’t do that, Dr. Meisser. Now where is he?” Sam asked, pulling his jacket back slightly revealing his gun.
The Federal agent rubbed a hand over his face in frustration, hardly believing what was happening.”
“He’s in his room. I’ll go with you.”
“No, he said this was a private meeting and no one else was to come. Sorry Doc, I’ve got my orders.”
“If I were you, I’d get a new boss.”
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
12:35 PM
“You slept with my daughter, didn’t you.”
Jarod looked up at Mr. Parker in amazement, trying to keep from falling out of his chair. He was completely exhausted, heavily medicated, and was having a hard time following the chairman’s ranting and raving.
“Did she tell you that?” he asked in confusion, his words slightly slurred.
“Not in so many words, no. I imagine she was trying to protect you.”
“You’re wrong, it never went that far,” Jarod said fighting to keep his eyes opened and accidentally sliding part way down in the overstuffed chair.
“Well, how far did it go? Never mind! I can’t expect a straight answer out of someone like you. You’ve been feeding my daughter lies from the moment I put her on your tail, trying to turn her against me. And you’ve done a pretty good job of it.”
“No. All I’ve ever told her is the truth, and you know it,” he said his eyes at half-mast struggling to compose his thoughts. “Your mind is so twisted that you’re the one having trouble separating the truth from the fabrications you’ve built your whole relationship with her on. How could you do that to your own daughter?” he managed trying to scoot back up in the chair. “She deserves better than that.”
“How dare you, you smart-assed son of a bitch,” Parker said advancing toward the pretender, but deflected by a phone call.
“What is it? I’m busy right now. Ok, put him on.”
“What do you mean, you were too late? Damn you Lyle. Don’t give me any excuses,” he said angrily glancing over at Jarod, whose face momentarily registered surprise. “Well, do you have any leads?” the chairman asked quietly stepping into the other room realizing he had inadvertently tipped his hand. “Ok, then get back here as quickly as you can. No, I said get back here now.”
“Well, that settles it,” Mr. Parker said stepping back into the room. “Jarod, I’m going to need some sims completed by you as early as next week. If you comply, nothing will happen to your father or Miss Parker. On the other hand, if you fail to live up to your full potential, well, I think you can fill in the blanks. Sam, take him back to his room.”
Jarod stared at him still struggling to stay awake, his mind reeling at the revelation that Lyle was no where near death like he had been told and wondering what was so important about those sims that Mr. Parker seemed desperate to have them completed.
“Come on now, it’s time to go,” Sam said nudging him, noticing the pretender had slid way down in his chair again, and looked like he was falling asleep. “Jarod get on your feet,” the sweeper said louder, hauling him out of the chair and getting him out of the room, before Mr. Parker decided to say anything else.
* * *.
Atlanta Violent Crimes Task Force Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
12:35 PM
“Good job, people. George, why don’t you take Gemini down to the cafeteria and get him something to eat, if that’s ok with you, young man. I need to talk to Sam and Joe
for a little bit,” Bailey said relieved they had been successful.
“Will there be ice cream?”
“You bet, kid. George?”
“Yeah, I’m right on it. Ice cream coming right up.”
* * *
“So, how did it go? Any problems?”
“Not really. We got in and out before anyone from the Centre showed up. The boy seemed a little frightened at first. Who wouldn’t after all he’s been through. He has an amazing amount of resiliency, though. You know, his lack of knowledge about life and the things we all take for granted reminded me a lot of Jarod,” she said her voice cracking as she turned away for a moment, regaining her composure.
“Sam?”
“I’m ok. It’s just a little overwhelming, knowing what happened to Jarod and the boy. Jarod’s clone. God, this is so unreal. Any word on when they want us to pull them out?”
“Tomorrow night, and we still have a lot of work to do,” Bailey said grabbing some files off his desk and heading over to the operations room. Let’s get to work.”
This story takes place in the first 5-7 weeks after Donoterase. Please start with part 1.
Things are heating up, as the Atlanta Violent Task force sets things in motion to face off with The Centre, while ATF agents within the Centre are quickly alerted to prepare Jarod and company for removal. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual, as the Centre becomes more deadly, as Mr. Parker and the others sink deeper into debauchery. 7/13/00
Part 19
by jojarod50
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Private room 1E (Just off to the right of the infirmary)
Thursday 10:30 AM
Sydney opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the clock across the room, vaguely seeing the numbers, as his vision started to clear. “Damn Grackle,” he cursed under his breath, knowing he was purposely being heavily sedated. It was times like these, in-between injections, when he briefly surfaced from oblivion long enough to entertain thoughts of sneaking out the door. How far is Nelson willing to go to keep me out of the way, he wondered, aware that he needed to be up for short periods of time by now, if he were to recover properly from his surgery.
Besides his callous and rude bedside manner, Sydney had always been disgusted with Nelson for compromising his oath so many times, just to keep in Mr. Parker’s good graces, and clearly understood this was one of those times.
As the door swished open, his heart fell, seeing the day nurse enter and realizing he had little time before he was sedated again. He was worried sick about Jarod and wanted desperately to know if he and the others were all right.
After checking his vitals, the sturdy young man leaned very close to him testing his pupils with a small light as he grasped Sydney’s left hand and spoke.
”My name is Davies, ATF, he whispered. We’re pulling all of you out tomorrow night. I’m replacing your sedative with normal saline and a little something to make you more comfortable. Just pretend to loose consciousness when I give you your shot. Squeeze my hand if you understand.”
Sydney felt his face flush, as his words soaked in, and gave his hand a quick squeeze, breathing a silent prayer of thanks.
“You’re doing just fine, doctor,” he said patting his hand in acknowledgement and jotted down his vitals on the chart. He purposely kept his back to the surveillance camera as he deftly switched the bottles, sliding the first one into his pocket and delivering the bogus shot as usual.
Sydney gratefully received it, feeling the pain in his side gradually began to subside, as he continued to become more lucid. Allowing his eyes to slowly close and his body to relax, he pretended to slip into unconsciousness thrilled with this sudden turn of events, and hoping the FBI had managed to amass enough manpower to pull things off successfully. Whatever sentence he was given for participating in the Jarod project would be well worth it, if they managed to get the others out and took the Centre down. Resting on the soft pillows, he let his mind wander, remembering what it was like being with Jarod the last 5 weeks, as he had valiantly struggled against insanity, and the intimacy they had developed in the mists of that tragedy. His brother had been right, he thought bitterly, as guilt coursed though his conscience, knowing all too well that his lusty exuberance in pursuing his groundbreaking research had blinded him to the injustice being done to the boy, and that Jarod had suffered unspeakably for that blindness. Biting back tears, he lay there silently, struggling with his own demons, and trying to come to terms with all that he had done.
* * *
Centre Infirmary
10:45 AM
Examination room 3
“He’ll probably have to remain here for the rest of the morning, maybe longer, depending on how well he does on the medicine and until he is sufficiently rehydrated. For the life of me, I’ve never seen a man come so completely unglued in such a short period of time. I’ve heard he is a brilliant computer tech, but he certainly is quiet a little wimp. Don’t restrain him. It just might do him in. Besides, I don’t think you’ll be getting any trouble out of that one,” Dr. Grackle said to his new medical assistant trainee with a look of amusement, as he glanced back at Broots, who was lying near by moaning softly, and hearing every word that he said.
“I need to make a couple of phone calls. Don’t disturb me for any reason,” he said as he passed one of the nurses and headed for his private office, to give Mr. Parker his morning status report, including his observations on Dr. Meisser.
The medical trainee watched with revulsion, as the arrogant doctor left, and quickly slipped over to the poor computer tech’s side to quietly inform him of the “pull out” tomorrow night.
* * *
The Centre
Jarod’s old room
10:48 AM
Jarod was finding it impossible to keep his mind on what his doctor was saying. He had to come up with a firm escape plan, and he needed it right now. Unfortunately, the after effects of the drugs from this morning, was making it difficult to think.
Looking down at his bare hands, injured during his recapture, he was grateful the gauze had been removed. That would have enabled him to use the keyboard again, if they hadn’t just removed the computer from his room.
The pressure was on, to get back into the Centre Main Frame, unmonitored, to finish the compromising of the surveillance and security lock systems, and other key components of his escape plan. Now, without access to a computer, things were on hold until he found a way to get to one.
To make matters worse, they were outdoing themselves at having him monitored, and he wouldn’t be a bit surprised, if they were monitoring his doctor as well.
If he had refused to take his shot at the farmhouse, the set up would have been completed, ruling out the need for a computer now. Of course, that would have decimated his chances of ever getting his mind back again, the way the timing on Raines’ drug had been designed.
But even if things were set up, another obstacle, was how to get himself and the others out of the Centre with no outside help. One would be fairly easy, but six was proving definitely problematic. Nailing that down was taking way too much time.
His stomach turned as he thought of Joe and how he tried to help them before the sweepers mowed him down. The Centre had become a far more dangerous place than he had ever remembered. If he didn’t move fast, he was afraid his dad and the others might not survive much longer. Yet anything he tried to do at this point might….
“Jarod, where are you? I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said since we began our talk,” the psychiatrist said after watching his patient slump down and bury his face in his ands.
I’m sorry. Could you repeat your question?” Jarod asked distractedly, rubbing his eyes and straightening up in his chair. He wished more than anything that the doctor would just leave him alone so he could get things figured out.
“No, never mind,” his psychiatrist said fearing he was headed for another anxiety attack, if he didn’t get him calmed back down. “You seem to be obsessing about something. Why don’t we talk about that,” Dr. Meisser said trying to connect with the obviously overwhelmed young man, noticing that his shirt was becoming soaked with sweat.
“Oh, it was really nothing. I was just wondering what will happen to my dad and the others,” he said running his shaking hand through his dark brown hair.
“Jarod, we’ve been over that before. They’re all reasonably ok and I don’t want you worrying about them right now,” the psychiatrist reminded him, realizing with great concern, that the stress of his situation and that of the others was quickly pulling him under. “In fact, your father is scheduled for some intelligence testing with me in a little over an hour. I’m not sure, but maybe I can arrange for you to see him.”
Jarod looked up suddenly with the eyes of a child, vulnerable, hopeful.
“Listen to me carefully young man. I’m going to give it to you straight. What you are doing is very unhealthy. Let’s look at this realistically. You’re in no position to help your father or the others. Their safety is simply not in your hands right now. Don’t you see that, Jarod? If you continue to worry and put this much pressure on yourself, you’re going to crack up. The best thing you can do for everyone right now, is to rest, take your shots, and help us put a little weight back on you.”
Jarod slumped down in the chair, putting a hand over his eyes, not wanting to hear anymore.
“Look, why don’t we take a walk and get some fresh air. It will do you good to have a change of pace. That is, if you feel up to it after the beating you took this morning.”
Jarod turned away wishing he hadn’t brought that up, still kicking himself for not being more in control when he saw the hypo, and regretting the end results.
“I’m fine,” he said convincingly, wincing in pain when he stood up, but managing to appear fairly normal when he started to walk.
“Good. Let’s just go down the hall to the lobby and back again,” he said ushering him out of the door, knowing that the surveillance cameras weren’t so finely tuned for audio further down the hallway.
* * *
Several minutes later -
“Jarod, listen carefully,” Dr. Meisser whispered looking straight ahead, as they went down the lightly populated hallway.
“I’m a Federal Agent and we’re pulling you and the others out of here tomorrow night, so try to keep yourself together and don’t give up hope,” he said quietly, glancing over at Jarod and giving him a little wink.
Jarod stared at the man skeptically, afraid it was another Centre lie, but something deep inside told him to trust him.
“Want a candy bar and a pop” he asked, stepping up to the vending machine and fishing in his pocket for some quarters. “It says on your chart that you are very fond of sweets,” he said, breaking into an easy smile enjoying the look of incredible relief on Jarod’s face, as he closed his eyes for a moment, leaning heavily against the wall for support.
“Well, we better be heading back, it’s only an hour before your second shot, and you look like you could use some rest first,” the doctor said handing him a Butterfinger and coke, noticing the approach of two “darksuits”.
“Dr. Meisser. You know you are under strict orders, not to take the pretender out of his room without an armed escort,” Willie said stepping up so close to him that he violated the other man’s space.
“I think that formality is pointless, considering what you did to my patient this morning. Look at him, he can barely walk,” he said with more than a hint of anger, obviously unintimidated.
“I wouldn’t think so much, if I were you, Dr. Meisser.”
“Well, we need to be getting back. You might as well escort us. I wouldn’t want you getting in trouble with Mr. Parker for not doing your job,” the doctor said backing down, keenly aware of his need to keep up appearances until they made their move.
Jarod glared at Willie warning him off, as he pushed off the wall and started back down the hallway, enjoying visions of that particular sweeper behind bars.
* * *
Renewal Wing
Isolation cell #19
11:15AM
Major Charles sat on the metal bed, sinking into despair, as he kept an eye on a rodent climbing around in a bowel of something a sweeper had given, before scampering back under the door.
His mind shifted to thoughts about his life; the joy of his marriage to Margaret, his sense of belonging in the service, how deeply he loved his little children, and all the cruel twists of fate that had brought him to this point.
Turning away from the cameras, he wept bitterly. Memories of his son, Kyle, lying dead in the morgue, the pictures of Jarod viscously being tortured and fearful shadows of what might have happened to Gemini, Emily, and his wife assaulted his grief-stricken mind.
Hearing the door lock being accessed, he quickly lunged at the figure that came though the door, fighting desperately to get out.
“Hey take it easy, Mister,” the bigger man said, grabbing the Major’s arms, wrenching them behind his back and slammed him against the wall. “I don’t think you want me to put you in full restraints, especially not with all the rats down here. Now, let’s get you into these cuffs. You’re to undergo more questioning this afternoon, but first Dr. Meisser has been ordered to give you a series of tests.
The Major just stood there staring at the man, his eyes burning with hatred, making no move to comply.
“Your hands, Major. I’m sure you are aware of how much of Jarod’s safety depends on your full cooperation,” the sweeper said dangling the cuffs in front of his face.
Cursing under his breath, he held out his hands, feeling a wave of dizziness hit him at just the mention of his son’s name.
Angelo watched carefully, peeking through the air duct grate, as the “man friend loved” was hurriedly taken out of the cell. Slowly, he made his way down the duct to Miss Parker’s cell, peeking in to make sure daughter was ok.
* * *
Renewal Wing
Isolation Cell # 16
11:30 AM
Miss Parker nervously paced back and forth in the small room, weighing her options. She was tired and hurt all over, but this was no time to rest.
Her interrogation had gone terribly wrong and she knew she was in real trouble. They had gotten to Broots the night before and had managed to coerce bits and pieces of information out of him including what might be damning information about her relationship with Jarod. Either that, or they managed to get it from somewhere else. So much for being reinstated on the Centre payroll, but what would they do with her now?
As if they could read her mind, she heard someone working the coded lock and turned around just in time to see Sam come through the door.
“Miss Parker, your father wants to see you and I’ve been ordered to give you this,” he said pulling out a syringe.
“My God, Sam. You can’t be serious. I’m not letting anyone give me an injection after what happened to Jarod, so just go ahead and put that away.
“I can’t do that,” he said glancing up at the surveillance camera,” but I promise you, this drug isn’t going to hurt you.”
“Forget it Sam. You better not come near me with that or you’ll be seeing a plastic surgeon for the deep gouges on your face.”
“I knew you would say something like that,” Willie said as he entered the room and took the syringe from Sam. “Hold her down.”
Angelo’s blue eyes shut tightly, as the sweepers pinned her down and gave her the shot. Then he watched as they dragged her out of the door and headed for the elevator.
“Must help daughter. Must do something,” Angelo said as he scurried back down the air duct, heading for his new hiding place.
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
11:46AM
“I want to hear it from your own lips. What kind of relationship have you been having with Jarod?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What makes you think I would have any kind of relationship with that arrogant lab rat? You’re slipping Daddy,” she said shaking her finger at him with a silly grin on her face, feeling the effects of the truth drug relaxing her and making her feel giddy.
“Don’t you lie to me, young lady. What did you do, sleep with him?”
“Shame on you,” she said with dancing eyes. “He’s not the sort of guy you just jump into bed with. He’s got morals unlike someone else I know.”
Mr. Parker ran his fingers though his hair in frustration, and went to the wet bar to pour himself another stiff drink, instead of backhanding her against the wall like he wanted to do.
“I want a straight answer. Have you been having a relationship with my pretender? Yes or No.”
“Your pretender?”
“Now what’s the matter. He’s Centre property, for heaven’s sake. You know it as well as I do. Oh I see. He’s convinced you that he’s a victim of all of this and should be out free in the world.”
“Well, shouldn’t he?” she said heatedly before she had time to realize what she was saying.
Mr. Parker stared at her in surprise not wanting to believe what she had just said. Slamming down his drink he marched over to her nearly lifting her off her feet and squeezed her arms tightly, as he looked her straight in the eye.
“No he shouldn’t be free. I made him what he is. He’s a pretender and he belongs to me. He’s a tool and nothing more.
“A tool? He’s a human being, Daddy, and I can tell you he’s a lot more human than you are. Very human,” she said flicking her tongue over her lips and grinning slyly. She was feeling loose and very inebriated as her mind visualized his lean muscular body, his hot kisses and the smell of him when they were close.
“My God, it is true,” he said suddenly releasing her as if she were something unclean. Walking back to his desk he sat down and finished the rest of his drink.
“Well, this whole mess is partially my fault. I should have never put a venerable woman like you on Jarod’s pursuit in the first place. You’ve always had a problem keeping out of men’s bedrooms, and he took advantage of that.”
“Men’s bedrooms? Nice one, daddy. Look, I never slept with your pretender.”
“It’s clear that I’m going to have to farm Jarod out to another facility, while I try and get you straightened out. Luckily, we’ll be getting Gemini back later today.”
“I don’t know. Maybe Raines can do something with you. We’ll see after your testing with Dr. Meisser this afternoon.”
“Sam, take my daughter back to her cell and bring Jarod here on your way back.”
* * *
Jarod’s room
12:10 noon
“Jarod, sorry to have to wake you up, but it’s time for your shot. If it weren’t for that, I would have let you sleep. I think this is the first solid rest you’ve gotten since you got here, if we don’t include when you were sedated or passed out.
Jarod just lay on the pillows groggily, looking away as he was given his shot, craving more sleep, as he felt the strong euphoria pulling him out to sea. Slowly he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
After observing him for several minutes, Dr. Meisser left him, satisfied that he had gone to sleep. He quickly went down the hallway and hopped on the elevator, heading back to his office. He was testing Major Charles, who he was discovering had an extremely high IQ like his son. The agent was looking forward to getting the two of them back together, after the pretender had a little more rest, painfully aware of the cruelty inflicted on the captives and wanting to do something to relieve their stress, if possible.
* * *
Hallway just outside Dr. Meisser’s office.
“Excuse me Doctor. I’ve been ordered to deliver Jarod to Mr. Parker’s office. Is he here or in his room right now?”
“He’s sleeping and can not be disturbed right now. Why don’t you tell Mr. Parker to wait for an hour or so, until he’s recovered from the initial effects of his shot? He’s really out of it right now.”
“I can’t do that, Dr. Meisser. Now where is he?” Sam asked, pulling his jacket back slightly revealing his gun.
The Federal agent rubbed a hand over his face in frustration, hardly believing what was happening.”
“He’s in his room. I’ll go with you.”
“No, he said this was a private meeting and no one else was to come. Sorry Doc, I’ve got my orders.”
“If I were you, I’d get a new boss.”
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
12:35 PM
“You slept with my daughter, didn’t you.”
Jarod looked up at Mr. Parker in amazement, trying to keep from falling out of his chair. He was completely exhausted, heavily medicated, and was having a hard time following the chairman’s ranting and raving.
“Did she tell you that?” he asked in confusion, his words slightly slurred.
“Not in so many words, no. I imagine she was trying to protect you.”
“You’re wrong, it never went that far,” Jarod said fighting to keep his eyes opened and accidentally sliding part way down in the overstuffed chair.
“Well, how far did it go? Never mind! I can’t expect a straight answer out of someone like you. You’ve been feeding my daughter lies from the moment I put her on your tail, trying to turn her against me. And you’ve done a pretty good job of it.”
“No. All I’ve ever told her is the truth, and you know it,” he said his eyes at half-mast struggling to compose his thoughts. “Your mind is so twisted that you’re the one having trouble separating the truth from the fabrications you’ve built your whole relationship with her on. How could you do that to your own daughter?” he managed trying to scoot back up in the chair. “She deserves better than that.”
“How dare you, you smart-assed son of a bitch,” Parker said advancing toward the pretender, but deflected by a phone call.
“What is it? I’m busy right now. Ok, put him on.”
“What do you mean, you were too late? Damn you Lyle. Don’t give me any excuses,” he said angrily glancing over at Jarod, whose face momentarily registered surprise. “Well, do you have any leads?” the chairman asked quietly stepping into the other room realizing he had inadvertently tipped his hand. “Ok, then get back here as quickly as you can. No, I said get back here now.”
“Well, that settles it,” Mr. Parker said stepping back into the room. “Jarod, I’m going to need some sims completed by you as early as next week. If you comply, nothing will happen to your father or Miss Parker. On the other hand, if you fail to live up to your full potential, well, I think you can fill in the blanks. Sam, take him back to his room.”
Jarod stared at him still struggling to stay awake, his mind reeling at the revelation that Lyle was no where near death like he had been told and wondering what was so important about those sims that Mr. Parker seemed desperate to have them completed.
“Come on now, it’s time to go,” Sam said nudging him, noticing the pretender had slid way down in his chair again, and looked like he was falling asleep. “Jarod get on your feet,” the sweeper said louder, hauling him out of the chair and getting him out of the room, before Mr. Parker decided to say anything else.
* * *.
Atlanta Violent Crimes Task Force Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
12:35 PM
“Good job, people. George, why don’t you take Gemini down to the cafeteria and get him something to eat, if that’s ok with you, young man. I need to talk to Sam and Joe
for a little bit,” Bailey said relieved they had been successful.
“Will there be ice cream?”
“You bet, kid. George?”
“Yeah, I’m right on it. Ice cream coming right up.”
* * *
“So, how did it go? Any problems?”
“Not really. We got in and out before anyone from the Centre showed up. The boy seemed a little frightened at first. Who wouldn’t after all he’s been through. He has an amazing amount of resiliency, though. You know, his lack of knowledge about life and the things we all take for granted reminded me a lot of Jarod,” she said her voice cracking as she turned away for a moment, regaining her composure.
“Sam?”
“I’m ok. It’s just a little overwhelming, knowing what happened to Jarod and the boy. Jarod’s clone. God, this is so unreal. Any word on when they want us to pull them out?”
“Tomorrow night, and we still have a lot of work to do,” Bailey said grabbing some files off his desk and heading over to the operations room. Let’s get to work.”
