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I do not own the characters of The Pretender or The Profiler. TNT, AOL, NBC, FOX, and I’m really not sure who else, owns The Pretender. As the Profiler has been cancelled, I am not sure who owns it. This fanfic is written to promote my favorite show, while I wait for more Pretender Movies to be shown and filmed. Please don’t sue me, as I have no money. 5 /17/01
In Pursuit Of Happiness
Part 33
by jojarod50
SL 27
Raine’s Primary Experimental Lab
5:24 PM Thursday
Deeply relieved, Jarod watched Parker leave the room, fighting an overwhelming urge to empty his gun into the bleeding man on the floor.
After struggling so hard against his illness and experiencing a few brief glimpses of happiness again, he had been hopeful that he could put the past behind him. But now, because he’d been tricked into heavily dosing himself with yet another hallucinogen, his mind was close to unraveling again. Glancing at the far wall, he barely could make out the black hands on the clock. It would be another 4 to 5-1/2 hours max. before it wore off. Maybe less, if he were lucky.
Jarod made a quick visual sweep of the lab, then stepped over to the chair Parker had been tied in. To the right of it, was a metal cart holding a tray filled with surgical instruments and a loaded hypo beside a small vial of liquid.
“And what were you planning to do with these, Lyle,” he growled, nearly going ballistic,
as the memory of a similar tray and what had been done to him flashed before his eyes.
Lyle remained silent, not daring to answer his question, his frightened eyes riveted on the shaking gun aimed directly at him.
Fingering the sharp scalpels, the drugged man glanced down at his former tormenter, impulsively visualizing slitting his throat. Trembling with anger, he picked up the small vial of liquid and squinted his eyes trying to read the label, but it was a lost cause.
“My god, is there no limit to your perversion?” Jarod breathed, sending the medical cart crashing to the floor.
“Did you use any of this on, Parker? Did you?” he yelled, on his knees now, holding the bottle in Lyle’s face. Not getting an answer, he started slamming him angrily against he tiled floor trying to get him to talk.
“For the last time, did you use this on her?” he yelled, panic stricken that she might have been drugged, too.
“No, I swear! It wasn’t for her,” he said with a slight nervous laugh, as he looked into the pretender’s uncharacteristically wild eyes.
“Then who?” Jarod growled.
“I don’t know,” he choked, as Jarod grabbed his throat and started to squeeze.
“Ok, ok. They were going to use it on you, so that your performance on the sim would be optimal,” he lied, knowing he had personally planned on having a little fun with him, after the sim.
“Uhggggggg. Jarod stop,” he begged, as he was slammed against the floor again, knocking the wind out of him.
“You bastards! You god damned bastards,” he yelled in a fit of rage, shaking the other man like a rag doll. It wasn’t until Lyle’s frantic pleas for him to stop finally registered, that he came to his senses, quickly releasing him.
Horrified, Jarod rubbed his shaking hands over his eyes, realizing he was barely aware of what he’d been doing. He knew ATF units should be arriving any moment, and he vowed not to let Lyle get the best of him. His eyes widened as he stared at the gun he had dropped on the floor, thankfully, well out of Lyle’s reach.
Breathing heavily, he retrieved his gun and slowly stood up, distancing himself from the stunned man. Unfortunately, the hallucinogen was reeking havoc with his sense of reality, making the simple task of dealing with Lyle, an overwhelming one.
“How dare you use Miss Parker to lure me down to your favorite “Chamber of Horrors”, he said, popping the clip out of his gun obsessively and replacing it with a fresh one. “I swear, if I find out you’ve done anything to Parker besides what she’s already said, you’re a dead man.”
Lyle felt a rush of depraved pleasure as he watched the drugged pretender struggling against his baser instincts, barely clinging to his sense of morality.
“Jarod, you’re completely paranoid. What do you need, a sworn affidavit from your fiancée? And I thought relationships were built on trust. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled when she finds out you think she’s a liar,” he chided, enjoying getting another rise out of him.
Scooting to a sitting position, he winced in exaggerated pain, pleased that Jarod was starting to have trouble with his breathing and probably wouldn’t attack him again right away.
He’d been cautioned that having Jarod in the place where he’d been tortured, would have devastating effects on him and it obviously was. But, being wounded and held at gun point during Jarod’s psychological meltdown, had never been part of the plan.
Aggravated by the lousy turn of events, Lyle studied the drugged pretender, as he continued to train his gun on him, looking for an opportunity to escape.
Stooping down, Jarod picked up the rope Parker had been tied up with, and broke into a sinister smile.
“Get up, Lyle, It’s your turn to be tied in the chair,” he said surprisingly evenly.
“I need some help, Jarod, I can’t stand up on my own,” Lyle spit, eyeing the pretender’s gun, hoping to lure him close enough to grab it. “Or maybe you’d rather get revenge by watching me lay here until I bleed to death.”
“The thought had occurred to me, but I would have to be as twisted as you are to really go through with it,” Jarod admitted, becoming increasingly disturbed by the sight of his bloody nemesis writhing in exaggerated pain on the lab floor. Breaking into a cold sweat, Jarod momentarily fell into a graphic flashback triggered by the sight.
“Jarod, I hate to interrupt your little daydream, but if you don’t help me I’m going to bleed to death, remember?” Lyle inserted, quickly rewarded with a momentary look of confusion from the drugged man. Unfortunately, Jarod would have to be closer, before Lyle could make his move, because of the gun.
Realizing that he was coming disastrously close to losing control of the situation, Jarod forced himself to slow his rapid breathing, though he was failing miserably at blocking out the incessant hallucinations
“Here, tie this around your thigh before you lose any more blood and quit insulting my intelligence with your suffering victim act. That’s only a flesh wound,” Jarod said, swiftly tossing the rope over to where he lay.
“Your kindness is overwhelming, Jarod,” Lyle breathed sarcastically, wincing in pain as he quickly tied the rope around his injured thigh. He was furious at how together the Pretender continued to be, despite the strong hallucinogen which was obviously taking it’s toll on him.
Just when the psychopath was preparing to try something desperate, he saw the chance he’d been waiting for.
The pretender’s face went blank as he apparently fell into another flashback, wobbling slightly and dropping his gun. With incredible speed, Lyle viciously jackknifed his legs, sending him crashing to the floor.
Jarred back to reality, Jarod made short work of subduing the injured man, the slick blood reminding him of the last time the two had fought and he had lost. Sickened by the memory of his slit wrists and being left for dead, it was all he could do to keep from becoming ill, as his empty stomach heaved and he swallowed bile.
Flipping the injured man over on his stomach, he pressed his knee hard against the small of his back and was rewarded with a groan of pain.
“Get up,” he shot, wrenching Lyle’s arms back and yanking him onto his feet.
As the weakened man struggled to break free, the pretender dragged him across the room, hoisted him into the oversized lab chair, and quickly strapped him down.
“Owwwww, take it easy, Jarod. Is that anyway to treat someone with a bullet hole in his leg?” Lyle growled, mentally kicking himself for failing to get away from the resident acid head, his eyes scanning the area for Jarod’s gun.
“I bet that really hurt,” Jarod said in mock sympathy. “I’m sorry, Lyle, how could I be so callous,” he said, purposely tightening the strap on his legs roughly. “You only sadistically tortured me until I was nearly dead, then injected me with three times the maximum amount of a devastatingly harmful hallucinogen, and tried to deliver me to a secret lab in Germany for God only knows what other things you people planned on doing to me. And now, here I am with you again, locked into a disturbing acid trip against my will. It’s a pity I didn’t bring along a box of toothpicks, for old times sake,” he said, the color draining from his face, as he glanced at his finger tips, not expecting them to be covered with Lyle’s blood.
“Look, Jarod, I was desperate. Raines swore that if I didn’t find out where the DSA’s, Major Charles, and Gemini were, he was going to enhance my empathetic capabilities, like he did with Angelo.”
“That doesn’t explain what’s happening to me now,” the pretender said in a low malevolent voice. “Why LSD? Your people had to know it’s so dangerously unpredictable, that there’d be a high probability it could cause me to lose my mind. Not to mention my suffering permanent reproductive damage,” he said with intense anger, suddenly sweeping the room with his gun and then resting the cold barrel against Lyle’s temple. “I ought to blow your brains out right now.”
“Jarod, you have nothing to worry about. This wasn’t your typical street drug. It’s a hybrid version of LSD, the CIA has been perfecting for years. I swear you won’t suffer any detrimental side effects from it. Not even the post depression.”
“Let’s see. You made sure I was doped up with a “relatively safe” hybrid drug to facilitate my supposed relapse. Then after the drug wore off, I’d still be useful for your little cloning project. What am I supposed to do, Lyle, thank you for caring?”
Lyle’s eyes flashed with fear, realizing Jarod was acting really strange for Jarod, as the man gave his already painfully tight restraints another hard tug, while chanting a nursery rhyme to himself. Then eyeing his gun for a moment, he popped out the clip in a ritualistic manor, replacing it with the first one again.
“Listen to me, Jarod. I was, ugh, just following orders. Lucas is the one you want,” he said, having more trouble managing his pain now, the blood loss making him slightly dizzy.
“There are things you don’t know, about the Gemini III Project; important things. I’ll give you all the information you need to bring down everyone involved, if you just let me go.”
“No can do,” he said, pacing in front of him while spinning his gun on his finger like a sharp shooter. Suddenly stopping, he aimed it point blank at his head and pretended to fire.
“Stop it, Jarod! If you’re not careful that thing’s going to go off,” Lyle warned, fearing the worse, as the drugged man pulled back the hammer on his weapon, and started debating with himself about what to do next.
“It’s really sad though, seeing you put away for life,” he continued, easing the hammer back into place, to Lyle’s relief, seemingly tired of intimidating him with the gun.
“I heard you were a normal child until Raines turned you into a sociopath or should I rephrase that, psychopath, considering all the insane things you’ve done to me,” he said, his mood darkening again, shuddering as hideous images invaded his mind.
“Jarod, you’re right. I never asked for any of this. It was all Raines’ fault. All you have to do is release me and I’ll seek treatment. I want to get well,” Lyle lied, sickened by his sanctimonious dribble, hoping this was his ticket to freedom.
“Come on, Lyle. You don’t really believe I’m stupid enough to fall for that, do you? You’re far too dangerous to ever be allowed your freedom again. Your predilection for sadistic violence, torture and murder coupled with a total lack of remorse or conscience are classic signs of the severe antisocial personality disorder you suffer from. They’ll offer you group therapy while you’re incarcerated, but I seriously doubt it will do you any good. The prognosis for recovery is very poor for someone suffering from a disorder such as yours. I’m sorry, Bobby, I wish it didn’t have to be this way. Like me, you’re a casualty of the Centre.”
* * *
ATF temporary control base / The Centre
5:32 PM Thursday
“Harris, outer perimeter units are in place; everything is go here. Got a terrible case of deja-vu. Hell, it hasn’t quite been a week yet, since we went in.”
“I copy that, Rice. This one really stinks, too. Just got word that Agent Lucas was arrested in D.C. at FBI Headquarters, along with several other agents for treason, murder, and unlawful experimentation with human cloning, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Judas priest!”
“What really burns me is it gives us all a black eye. People are sure to read the morning headlines and start suspecting that we’re all part of some global cloning conspiracy. Notify your S.W.A.T. teams; everything’s go here; three minutes and counting,” he said, glancing out the window at a couple of ambulances pulling into place.
“Roger that. He was really rubbing our nose in it having Jarod Charles lured back here, of all places,” Rice said angrily, glancing at the ribbon of yellow crime tape cordoning off the building, as he went down his final check list. “How is Meisser? Any change?”
“You’re not supposed to know about that. How the hell…never mind. Just keep your mouth shut until I have a chance to talk to you. Anyone else know?”
“No, Harris. Sorry, I didn’t think it’d matter now that we have the last of them in our cross hairs. I’m dating the anesthesiologist who...”
“Drop it, Rice, focus on your job. Remember no causulties. Let’s get to work.”
* * *
SL 27
Room 31a
“Wa wait a minute. Ya you just left Jarod alone in th there with Lyle? Di didn’t he tell you he’s high on a ha hallucinogen right now? He almost emptied his gun into a couple of blank walls in the renewal wing when he rescued me. Lyle could just…”
“Are you telling me Jarod’s been drugged?” Parker asked between clenched teeth. “Stay here, Broots. Lyle probably isn’t going to do anything to Jarod with a bullet in his leg, but the drugs may,” she said, flying out of the room, before Broots could say anything else.
* * *
Raine’s Lab
5:56 PM
“Jarod, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were…Jarod, it’s me, Parker, don’t shoot,” she said, slowly lifting her hands in the air.
Jarod trained the gun on the intruder and then back at the man strapped into the chair, with a vacant look in his eyes, obviously dangerously confused.
Backing into a corner, the pretender stood his ground, sweating profusely and babbling something about never celebrating Christmas or having a real family. Then slowly he turned his gun on himself, going off about cleansing the world of misfits.
“Jarod don’t. Lyle, what’s going on here? What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. He was really entertaining a minute ago, then he went into his own personal rendition of Faust. That’s when he started playing Russian roulette with his gun. Get over here and untie me, before he takes us both out with him. Genius my ass. He can’t even handle a little acid trip without totally flipping out.”
A loud explosion startled them all as the door burst open again, and a tear gas canister was shot into the room. Jarod fired a few wild shots, before dropping his gun and doubling over like the others, blinded and violently coughing. Judging the coast was clear, 3 swat team members wearing gas masks rushed the room, training their assault rifles on them.
“Drop to the floor,” Rice yelled, recognizing Parker and placing a gas mask over her face.
Another, dealt with Lyle, but Jarod jumped the man nearest him, ignoring his burning lungs, believing he was under attack.
“Jarod, it’s me, Joe Clark, now settle down,” the cop said, wrestling the hysterical man to the floor and fitting him with a gas mask, then pulling him quickly out of the room.
* * *
Centre lawn 10 minutes later:
“Jarod, are you all right?” his father called urgently, as he and Gemini made their way to the ambulance where he was being evaluated, and got their first glimpse of him.
“My God, he’s been injured,” the Major breathed, seeing blood all over Jarod’s clothes.
“Sir, I’m going to insist you stand back and let the emergency personnel do their job,” a well meaning emergency tech said, motioning for them to step aside.
“I’m Jarod’s father and this is his, um, brother,” the Major informed her, looking anxiously over at his highly agitated son.
“Glad to meet you. Ok. We could use your help. He’s pretty shook up. Maybe seeing the two of you will help calm him down.”
“Jarod, sit still. These people are trying to help you.” he said, in an unsteady voice, placing his hand on his shoulder, disturbed by his bloody appearance.
“Don’t worry, Major, that’s Lyle’s blood on his clothes,” Agent Rice said, coming up along side him. “Your son, did us all a big favor by taking Lyle down without killing him. Thanks to him, Lyle will be spending a substantial amount of time behind bars. I can’t help but wonder, though, how he managed to pull that off, considering the shape he’s in.”
Major Charles gave a slight smile and returned his gaze to the paramedic working with Jarod.
“Is he going to be all right?” he asked worriedly, watching as his son was given a shot and slumped down against the pillow.
“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about him now. That was a little something to help him relax. I imagine having the swat team storm the building, was quite overwhelming to your son, considering he’s still under the influence of a hallucinogen. You can talk to him, if you’d like.”
“Jarod, how are you doing, son?” his dad asked with glassy eyes.
“Oh, um, hi Dad, hi Gemini,” he said groggily, having a placid look on his face. “You wouldn’t believe how comfortable this gurney is,” he said, letting out a long sigh, relieved that the whole thing was over. “How did you know I was here?”
“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out, Jarod,” his clone said, rolling his eyes at the stupidity of the question.
“Yeah, well, I guess not. Sorry Dad. I just couldn’t leave Parker and Broots alone with that psycho,” he explained falling into a brief bout of coughing.
“Someone mention my name,” Parker asked, blowing her nose again, as she accepted drops in her burning eyes from an EMT attending to her.
“Parker, are you all right?” he asked, breaking into a gentle smile.
“Yeah, just peachy, and Broots, too. I definitely think the tear gas was overkill. You sure did a good job of holding them off, Cowboy.”
Jarod closed his eyes at the comment, hating the fact that he was doped up during the rescue, then at the end had totally come unglued.
“Ha hi, Jarod. I I know you didn’t mean to hold the gun on me, in the elevator. I mean, I just want you to know well, it wasn’t any big deal. L Lyle’s under arrest and about to be taken to back to prison. Way to go.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your help, Broots,” Jarod said, blinking his eyes, to clear away the irritating tears. “You handled that gun like a real pro.”
“Well, yeah, I mean, um, da do you really think so?”
“Are these people going to be ready to go soon?” Bailey asked, looking over the motley group. “We’ve got a plane to catch in less than 30 minutes.”
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re done with them, aside from all the paper work. Just have them sign these forms, since you’re in a hurry,” Betty, one of the paramedics offered, giving Agent Malone a flirtatious smile as she handed him a stack of papers.
“John, you and George see to it that Miss Parker, Broots and Jarod get their signatures on these. Then, go ahead and bring the cars around. I need to ask Betty some follow up questions, before we leave for the airport,” Agent Malone said, starting to turn away.
“What about the perp? John asked gesturing toward the other ambulance.
“Rice and Joe are taking care of that one. We’ll get our chance with Lyle later on, he said, loudly over the rising voices. *
Over by the 2nd ambulance
“This is ludicrous! You can’t book me for possession of LSD with intent to sell. I’ve never seen those ridiculous things before in my life,” Lyle breathed angrily, as an impressive quantify of LSD tattoos, was pulled from his back pockets and waved in his face.
“Sure pal, those just miraculously found their way into your possession. Do you need for me to read you your Miranda rights again? Better just keep your mouth shut; you’re in enough hot water already.”
“Listen to me, that deranged drug addict over there planted those on me,” he said urgently, as he watched the pretender being helped over to one of the Agent’s cars.
“Jarod, you’re not getting away with this,” he yelled, as he was hauled onto the waiting gurney and strapped down.
Twisting his head sideways, Lyle hoped for another glimpse of drugged pretender, thinking of yelling something else. Instead he was graced with Gemini’s presence, as he stood staring at him from a short distance away. The teen had witnessed the entire ruckus, listening eagerly to Lyle’s heated accusations about Jarod. Fascinated by the possibility that Jarod had framed him, he stood lost in thought, carefully weighing the validity of his claims.
“Who the heck do you think you’re staring at kid,” Lyle growled, silently vowing to recapture the nuisance, the moment his lawyers helped him finagle his way free.
“No one of any significance,” Jarod’s clone said with amusement, sounding very much like his arrogant counterpart.
Turning on his heel, the teen gave him one last satisfying grin, as the angry man was quickly loaded aboard the ambulance and taken away.
“There you are Gemini. Come on, we’re leaving now,” Major Charles, said enthusiastically, knowing that by tomorrow morning, his family would all be reunited again.
*
Back at the other ambulance
“Betty, do you have a minute,” Agent Malone asked, turning aside the paramedic for a brief discussion.
“My pleasure, Agent, what is it you need to know?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.
“Jarod seems substantially calmer, now. Will he remain that way, or should he be put completely out, considering the type of drug he’s on? We can’t afford to have him freaking out during the flight and putting the passengers and crew at risk,” he said, bluntly.
“I understand what you’re saying, Agent. Dr. Green voiced the same concern over the phone 15 minutes ago. He ordered an injection of a minor tranquilizer, rather than a sedative for his patient, since he’s still under the influence of LSD. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to his mind while alone on the drug in an unconscious state. The dose I gave him, was more than enough, to keep him happy and completely relaxed for the duration of the flight.”
“Thank you, Betty. I need to be going now,” Bailey said hiding his amusement over the buxom blonde’s overt gestures, anxious to get everyone transferred to the airport on time.
* * *
State of Delaware Private Federal Airfield
7:15 PM
“Debbie, sweetheart, I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry I was gone so long,” Broots said, hugging his beautiful daughter while fighting back tears. “I promise, daddy won’t be leaving you like that ever again,” he said, pulling the girl into a long emotional hug. “Did anyone tell you where we’re going?” he asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“The woman who brought me here said we were going on a vacation to some cool Island, with a beautiful beach and lots of shells,” she said excitedly. “Are you going to have to work much while we’re there?” she asked, her big blue innocent eyes searching her father’s face.
“No, honey. This is going to be a real vacation,” he grinned, looking up as an agent quietly told him it was time to board the plane.
*
The second car pulled up, and Jarod, Gemini, and Major Charles, got out. Agent Waters handed Jarod a pair of sunglasses for his dilated eyes and gave him a hug, wished him good luck, just as his dad and Gemini came around from the other side.
Looking distractedly toward the other car, Jarod excused himself and headed unsteadily over to where Miss Parker stood.
“You taking this flight, too, Miss?” Jarod teased looking shyly into her pale blue eyes and telling her how much he had missed her. Then wobbling slightly, he pulled her into a gentle embrace and kissed her longingly, as if they were the only ones there.
“Jarod, what about your father?” Miss Parker breathed, feeling his eyes on her.
“It’s alright, Parker. He’ll just have to get used to it. I’m going to marry you, remember?” he said, his hot breath tickling her ear.
“Alright, but let’s not throw too much at him right now. He’s been worried sick about you, Jarod. Hey, settle down, tiger, aren’t you listening to me?” she laughed, suddenly pulling away, as he started nibbling on her ear. “You’re still stoned on that stuff, aren’t you?”
“Hmmm, only until about 10:00 or 11,” he breathed. “God, I love you, Parker.”
“Excuse me,” George said, containing he amusement, as he approached the two. “We need for you to board the plane, now.”
“Way to go, Bucky, now everyone’s waiting for us,” she said, trying to regain her composure, completely smitten by his charm.
“I can’t help it, Parker. You’ve got to quit enticing me with your shorter than short shirts,” he said, glancing at her sexy legs and giving her an evil grin.
Please be sure to give feedback, if you have time
Part 33
by jojarod50
SL 27
Raine’s Primary Experimental Lab
5:24 PM Thursday
Deeply relieved, Jarod watched Parker leave the room, fighting an overwhelming urge to empty his gun into the bleeding man on the floor.
After struggling so hard against his illness and experiencing a few brief glimpses of happiness again, he had been hopeful that he could put the past behind him. But now, because he’d been tricked into heavily dosing himself with yet another hallucinogen, his mind was close to unraveling again. Glancing at the far wall, he barely could make out the black hands on the clock. It would be another 4 to 5-1/2 hours max. before it wore off. Maybe less, if he were lucky.
Jarod made a quick visual sweep of the lab, then stepped over to the chair Parker had been tied in. To the right of it, was a metal cart holding a tray filled with surgical instruments and a loaded hypo beside a small vial of liquid.
“And what were you planning to do with these, Lyle,” he growled, nearly going ballistic,
as the memory of a similar tray and what had been done to him flashed before his eyes.
Lyle remained silent, not daring to answer his question, his frightened eyes riveted on the shaking gun aimed directly at him.
Fingering the sharp scalpels, the drugged man glanced down at his former tormenter, impulsively visualizing slitting his throat. Trembling with anger, he picked up the small vial of liquid and squinted his eyes trying to read the label, but it was a lost cause.
“My god, is there no limit to your perversion?” Jarod breathed, sending the medical cart crashing to the floor.
“Did you use any of this on, Parker? Did you?” he yelled, on his knees now, holding the bottle in Lyle’s face. Not getting an answer, he started slamming him angrily against he tiled floor trying to get him to talk.
“For the last time, did you use this on her?” he yelled, panic stricken that she might have been drugged, too.
“No, I swear! It wasn’t for her,” he said with a slight nervous laugh, as he looked into the pretender’s uncharacteristically wild eyes.
“Then who?” Jarod growled.
“I don’t know,” he choked, as Jarod grabbed his throat and started to squeeze.
“Ok, ok. They were going to use it on you, so that your performance on the sim would be optimal,” he lied, knowing he had personally planned on having a little fun with him, after the sim.
“Uhggggggg. Jarod stop,” he begged, as he was slammed against the floor again, knocking the wind out of him.
“You bastards! You god damned bastards,” he yelled in a fit of rage, shaking the other man like a rag doll. It wasn’t until Lyle’s frantic pleas for him to stop finally registered, that he came to his senses, quickly releasing him.
Horrified, Jarod rubbed his shaking hands over his eyes, realizing he was barely aware of what he’d been doing. He knew ATF units should be arriving any moment, and he vowed not to let Lyle get the best of him. His eyes widened as he stared at the gun he had dropped on the floor, thankfully, well out of Lyle’s reach.
Breathing heavily, he retrieved his gun and slowly stood up, distancing himself from the stunned man. Unfortunately, the hallucinogen was reeking havoc with his sense of reality, making the simple task of dealing with Lyle, an overwhelming one.
“How dare you use Miss Parker to lure me down to your favorite “Chamber of Horrors”, he said, popping the clip out of his gun obsessively and replacing it with a fresh one. “I swear, if I find out you’ve done anything to Parker besides what she’s already said, you’re a dead man.”
Lyle felt a rush of depraved pleasure as he watched the drugged pretender struggling against his baser instincts, barely clinging to his sense of morality.
“Jarod, you’re completely paranoid. What do you need, a sworn affidavit from your fiancée? And I thought relationships were built on trust. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled when she finds out you think she’s a liar,” he chided, enjoying getting another rise out of him.
Scooting to a sitting position, he winced in exaggerated pain, pleased that Jarod was starting to have trouble with his breathing and probably wouldn’t attack him again right away.
He’d been cautioned that having Jarod in the place where he’d been tortured, would have devastating effects on him and it obviously was. But, being wounded and held at gun point during Jarod’s psychological meltdown, had never been part of the plan.
Aggravated by the lousy turn of events, Lyle studied the drugged pretender, as he continued to train his gun on him, looking for an opportunity to escape.
Stooping down, Jarod picked up the rope Parker had been tied up with, and broke into a sinister smile.
“Get up, Lyle, It’s your turn to be tied in the chair,” he said surprisingly evenly.
“I need some help, Jarod, I can’t stand up on my own,” Lyle spit, eyeing the pretender’s gun, hoping to lure him close enough to grab it. “Or maybe you’d rather get revenge by watching me lay here until I bleed to death.”
“The thought had occurred to me, but I would have to be as twisted as you are to really go through with it,” Jarod admitted, becoming increasingly disturbed by the sight of his bloody nemesis writhing in exaggerated pain on the lab floor. Breaking into a cold sweat, Jarod momentarily fell into a graphic flashback triggered by the sight.
“Jarod, I hate to interrupt your little daydream, but if you don’t help me I’m going to bleed to death, remember?” Lyle inserted, quickly rewarded with a momentary look of confusion from the drugged man. Unfortunately, Jarod would have to be closer, before Lyle could make his move, because of the gun.
Realizing that he was coming disastrously close to losing control of the situation, Jarod forced himself to slow his rapid breathing, though he was failing miserably at blocking out the incessant hallucinations
“Here, tie this around your thigh before you lose any more blood and quit insulting my intelligence with your suffering victim act. That’s only a flesh wound,” Jarod said, swiftly tossing the rope over to where he lay.
“Your kindness is overwhelming, Jarod,” Lyle breathed sarcastically, wincing in pain as he quickly tied the rope around his injured thigh. He was furious at how together the Pretender continued to be, despite the strong hallucinogen which was obviously taking it’s toll on him.
Just when the psychopath was preparing to try something desperate, he saw the chance he’d been waiting for.
The pretender’s face went blank as he apparently fell into another flashback, wobbling slightly and dropping his gun. With incredible speed, Lyle viciously jackknifed his legs, sending him crashing to the floor.
Jarred back to reality, Jarod made short work of subduing the injured man, the slick blood reminding him of the last time the two had fought and he had lost. Sickened by the memory of his slit wrists and being left for dead, it was all he could do to keep from becoming ill, as his empty stomach heaved and he swallowed bile.
Flipping the injured man over on his stomach, he pressed his knee hard against the small of his back and was rewarded with a groan of pain.
“Get up,” he shot, wrenching Lyle’s arms back and yanking him onto his feet.
As the weakened man struggled to break free, the pretender dragged him across the room, hoisted him into the oversized lab chair, and quickly strapped him down.
“Owwwww, take it easy, Jarod. Is that anyway to treat someone with a bullet hole in his leg?” Lyle growled, mentally kicking himself for failing to get away from the resident acid head, his eyes scanning the area for Jarod’s gun.
“I bet that really hurt,” Jarod said in mock sympathy. “I’m sorry, Lyle, how could I be so callous,” he said, purposely tightening the strap on his legs roughly. “You only sadistically tortured me until I was nearly dead, then injected me with three times the maximum amount of a devastatingly harmful hallucinogen, and tried to deliver me to a secret lab in Germany for God only knows what other things you people planned on doing to me. And now, here I am with you again, locked into a disturbing acid trip against my will. It’s a pity I didn’t bring along a box of toothpicks, for old times sake,” he said, the color draining from his face, as he glanced at his finger tips, not expecting them to be covered with Lyle’s blood.
“Look, Jarod, I was desperate. Raines swore that if I didn’t find out where the DSA’s, Major Charles, and Gemini were, he was going to enhance my empathetic capabilities, like he did with Angelo.”
“That doesn’t explain what’s happening to me now,” the pretender said in a low malevolent voice. “Why LSD? Your people had to know it’s so dangerously unpredictable, that there’d be a high probability it could cause me to lose my mind. Not to mention my suffering permanent reproductive damage,” he said with intense anger, suddenly sweeping the room with his gun and then resting the cold barrel against Lyle’s temple. “I ought to blow your brains out right now.”
“Jarod, you have nothing to worry about. This wasn’t your typical street drug. It’s a hybrid version of LSD, the CIA has been perfecting for years. I swear you won’t suffer any detrimental side effects from it. Not even the post depression.”
“Let’s see. You made sure I was doped up with a “relatively safe” hybrid drug to facilitate my supposed relapse. Then after the drug wore off, I’d still be useful for your little cloning project. What am I supposed to do, Lyle, thank you for caring?”
Lyle’s eyes flashed with fear, realizing Jarod was acting really strange for Jarod, as the man gave his already painfully tight restraints another hard tug, while chanting a nursery rhyme to himself. Then eyeing his gun for a moment, he popped out the clip in a ritualistic manor, replacing it with the first one again.
“Listen to me, Jarod. I was, ugh, just following orders. Lucas is the one you want,” he said, having more trouble managing his pain now, the blood loss making him slightly dizzy.
“There are things you don’t know, about the Gemini III Project; important things. I’ll give you all the information you need to bring down everyone involved, if you just let me go.”
“No can do,” he said, pacing in front of him while spinning his gun on his finger like a sharp shooter. Suddenly stopping, he aimed it point blank at his head and pretended to fire.
“Stop it, Jarod! If you’re not careful that thing’s going to go off,” Lyle warned, fearing the worse, as the drugged man pulled back the hammer on his weapon, and started debating with himself about what to do next.
“It’s really sad though, seeing you put away for life,” he continued, easing the hammer back into place, to Lyle’s relief, seemingly tired of intimidating him with the gun.
“I heard you were a normal child until Raines turned you into a sociopath or should I rephrase that, psychopath, considering all the insane things you’ve done to me,” he said, his mood darkening again, shuddering as hideous images invaded his mind.
“Jarod, you’re right. I never asked for any of this. It was all Raines’ fault. All you have to do is release me and I’ll seek treatment. I want to get well,” Lyle lied, sickened by his sanctimonious dribble, hoping this was his ticket to freedom.
“Come on, Lyle. You don’t really believe I’m stupid enough to fall for that, do you? You’re far too dangerous to ever be allowed your freedom again. Your predilection for sadistic violence, torture and murder coupled with a total lack of remorse or conscience are classic signs of the severe antisocial personality disorder you suffer from. They’ll offer you group therapy while you’re incarcerated, but I seriously doubt it will do you any good. The prognosis for recovery is very poor for someone suffering from a disorder such as yours. I’m sorry, Bobby, I wish it didn’t have to be this way. Like me, you’re a casualty of the Centre.”
* * *
ATF temporary control base / The Centre
5:32 PM Thursday
“Harris, outer perimeter units are in place; everything is go here. Got a terrible case of deja-vu. Hell, it hasn’t quite been a week yet, since we went in.”
“I copy that, Rice. This one really stinks, too. Just got word that Agent Lucas was arrested in D.C. at FBI Headquarters, along with several other agents for treason, murder, and unlawful experimentation with human cloning, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Judas priest!”
“What really burns me is it gives us all a black eye. People are sure to read the morning headlines and start suspecting that we’re all part of some global cloning conspiracy. Notify your S.W.A.T. teams; everything’s go here; three minutes and counting,” he said, glancing out the window at a couple of ambulances pulling into place.
“Roger that. He was really rubbing our nose in it having Jarod Charles lured back here, of all places,” Rice said angrily, glancing at the ribbon of yellow crime tape cordoning off the building, as he went down his final check list. “How is Meisser? Any change?”
“You’re not supposed to know about that. How the hell…never mind. Just keep your mouth shut until I have a chance to talk to you. Anyone else know?”
“No, Harris. Sorry, I didn’t think it’d matter now that we have the last of them in our cross hairs. I’m dating the anesthesiologist who...”
“Drop it, Rice, focus on your job. Remember no causulties. Let’s get to work.”
* * *
SL 27
Room 31a
“Wa wait a minute. Ya you just left Jarod alone in th there with Lyle? Di didn’t he tell you he’s high on a ha hallucinogen right now? He almost emptied his gun into a couple of blank walls in the renewal wing when he rescued me. Lyle could just…”
“Are you telling me Jarod’s been drugged?” Parker asked between clenched teeth. “Stay here, Broots. Lyle probably isn’t going to do anything to Jarod with a bullet in his leg, but the drugs may,” she said, flying out of the room, before Broots could say anything else.
* * *
Raine’s Lab
5:56 PM
“Jarod, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were…Jarod, it’s me, Parker, don’t shoot,” she said, slowly lifting her hands in the air.
Jarod trained the gun on the intruder and then back at the man strapped into the chair, with a vacant look in his eyes, obviously dangerously confused.
Backing into a corner, the pretender stood his ground, sweating profusely and babbling something about never celebrating Christmas or having a real family. Then slowly he turned his gun on himself, going off about cleansing the world of misfits.
“Jarod don’t. Lyle, what’s going on here? What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. He was really entertaining a minute ago, then he went into his own personal rendition of Faust. That’s when he started playing Russian roulette with his gun. Get over here and untie me, before he takes us both out with him. Genius my ass. He can’t even handle a little acid trip without totally flipping out.”
A loud explosion startled them all as the door burst open again, and a tear gas canister was shot into the room. Jarod fired a few wild shots, before dropping his gun and doubling over like the others, blinded and violently coughing. Judging the coast was clear, 3 swat team members wearing gas masks rushed the room, training their assault rifles on them.
“Drop to the floor,” Rice yelled, recognizing Parker and placing a gas mask over her face.
Another, dealt with Lyle, but Jarod jumped the man nearest him, ignoring his burning lungs, believing he was under attack.
“Jarod, it’s me, Joe Clark, now settle down,” the cop said, wrestling the hysterical man to the floor and fitting him with a gas mask, then pulling him quickly out of the room.
* * *
Centre lawn 10 minutes later:
“Jarod, are you all right?” his father called urgently, as he and Gemini made their way to the ambulance where he was being evaluated, and got their first glimpse of him.
“My God, he’s been injured,” the Major breathed, seeing blood all over Jarod’s clothes.
“Sir, I’m going to insist you stand back and let the emergency personnel do their job,” a well meaning emergency tech said, motioning for them to step aside.
“I’m Jarod’s father and this is his, um, brother,” the Major informed her, looking anxiously over at his highly agitated son.
“Glad to meet you. Ok. We could use your help. He’s pretty shook up. Maybe seeing the two of you will help calm him down.”
“Jarod, sit still. These people are trying to help you.” he said, in an unsteady voice, placing his hand on his shoulder, disturbed by his bloody appearance.
“Don’t worry, Major, that’s Lyle’s blood on his clothes,” Agent Rice said, coming up along side him. “Your son, did us all a big favor by taking Lyle down without killing him. Thanks to him, Lyle will be spending a substantial amount of time behind bars. I can’t help but wonder, though, how he managed to pull that off, considering the shape he’s in.”
Major Charles gave a slight smile and returned his gaze to the paramedic working with Jarod.
“Is he going to be all right?” he asked worriedly, watching as his son was given a shot and slumped down against the pillow.
“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about him now. That was a little something to help him relax. I imagine having the swat team storm the building, was quite overwhelming to your son, considering he’s still under the influence of a hallucinogen. You can talk to him, if you’d like.”
“Jarod, how are you doing, son?” his dad asked with glassy eyes.
“Oh, um, hi Dad, hi Gemini,” he said groggily, having a placid look on his face. “You wouldn’t believe how comfortable this gurney is,” he said, letting out a long sigh, relieved that the whole thing was over. “How did you know I was here?”
“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out, Jarod,” his clone said, rolling his eyes at the stupidity of the question.
“Yeah, well, I guess not. Sorry Dad. I just couldn’t leave Parker and Broots alone with that psycho,” he explained falling into a brief bout of coughing.
“Someone mention my name,” Parker asked, blowing her nose again, as she accepted drops in her burning eyes from an EMT attending to her.
“Parker, are you all right?” he asked, breaking into a gentle smile.
“Yeah, just peachy, and Broots, too. I definitely think the tear gas was overkill. You sure did a good job of holding them off, Cowboy.”
Jarod closed his eyes at the comment, hating the fact that he was doped up during the rescue, then at the end had totally come unglued.
“Ha hi, Jarod. I I know you didn’t mean to hold the gun on me, in the elevator. I mean, I just want you to know well, it wasn’t any big deal. L Lyle’s under arrest and about to be taken to back to prison. Way to go.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your help, Broots,” Jarod said, blinking his eyes, to clear away the irritating tears. “You handled that gun like a real pro.”
“Well, yeah, I mean, um, da do you really think so?”
“Are these people going to be ready to go soon?” Bailey asked, looking over the motley group. “We’ve got a plane to catch in less than 30 minutes.”
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re done with them, aside from all the paper work. Just have them sign these forms, since you’re in a hurry,” Betty, one of the paramedics offered, giving Agent Malone a flirtatious smile as she handed him a stack of papers.
“John, you and George see to it that Miss Parker, Broots and Jarod get their signatures on these. Then, go ahead and bring the cars around. I need to ask Betty some follow up questions, before we leave for the airport,” Agent Malone said, starting to turn away.
“What about the perp? John asked gesturing toward the other ambulance.
“Rice and Joe are taking care of that one. We’ll get our chance with Lyle later on, he said, loudly over the rising voices. *
Over by the 2nd ambulance
“This is ludicrous! You can’t book me for possession of LSD with intent to sell. I’ve never seen those ridiculous things before in my life,” Lyle breathed angrily, as an impressive quantify of LSD tattoos, was pulled from his back pockets and waved in his face.
“Sure pal, those just miraculously found their way into your possession. Do you need for me to read you your Miranda rights again? Better just keep your mouth shut; you’re in enough hot water already.”
“Listen to me, that deranged drug addict over there planted those on me,” he said urgently, as he watched the pretender being helped over to one of the Agent’s cars.
“Jarod, you’re not getting away with this,” he yelled, as he was hauled onto the waiting gurney and strapped down.
Twisting his head sideways, Lyle hoped for another glimpse of drugged pretender, thinking of yelling something else. Instead he was graced with Gemini’s presence, as he stood staring at him from a short distance away. The teen had witnessed the entire ruckus, listening eagerly to Lyle’s heated accusations about Jarod. Fascinated by the possibility that Jarod had framed him, he stood lost in thought, carefully weighing the validity of his claims.
“Who the heck do you think you’re staring at kid,” Lyle growled, silently vowing to recapture the nuisance, the moment his lawyers helped him finagle his way free.
“No one of any significance,” Jarod’s clone said with amusement, sounding very much like his arrogant counterpart.
Turning on his heel, the teen gave him one last satisfying grin, as the angry man was quickly loaded aboard the ambulance and taken away.
“There you are Gemini. Come on, we’re leaving now,” Major Charles, said enthusiastically, knowing that by tomorrow morning, his family would all be reunited again.
*
Back at the other ambulance
“Betty, do you have a minute,” Agent Malone asked, turning aside the paramedic for a brief discussion.
“My pleasure, Agent, what is it you need to know?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.
“Jarod seems substantially calmer, now. Will he remain that way, or should he be put completely out, considering the type of drug he’s on? We can’t afford to have him freaking out during the flight and putting the passengers and crew at risk,” he said, bluntly.
“I understand what you’re saying, Agent. Dr. Green voiced the same concern over the phone 15 minutes ago. He ordered an injection of a minor tranquilizer, rather than a sedative for his patient, since he’s still under the influence of LSD. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to his mind while alone on the drug in an unconscious state. The dose I gave him, was more than enough, to keep him happy and completely relaxed for the duration of the flight.”
“Thank you, Betty. I need to be going now,” Bailey said hiding his amusement over the buxom blonde’s overt gestures, anxious to get everyone transferred to the airport on time.
* * *
State of Delaware Private Federal Airfield
7:15 PM
“Debbie, sweetheart, I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry I was gone so long,” Broots said, hugging his beautiful daughter while fighting back tears. “I promise, daddy won’t be leaving you like that ever again,” he said, pulling the girl into a long emotional hug. “Did anyone tell you where we’re going?” he asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“The woman who brought me here said we were going on a vacation to some cool Island, with a beautiful beach and lots of shells,” she said excitedly. “Are you going to have to work much while we’re there?” she asked, her big blue innocent eyes searching her father’s face.
“No, honey. This is going to be a real vacation,” he grinned, looking up as an agent quietly told him it was time to board the plane.
*
The second car pulled up, and Jarod, Gemini, and Major Charles, got out. Agent Waters handed Jarod a pair of sunglasses for his dilated eyes and gave him a hug, wished him good luck, just as his dad and Gemini came around from the other side.
Looking distractedly toward the other car, Jarod excused himself and headed unsteadily over to where Miss Parker stood.
“You taking this flight, too, Miss?” Jarod teased looking shyly into her pale blue eyes and telling her how much he had missed her. Then wobbling slightly, he pulled her into a gentle embrace and kissed her longingly, as if they were the only ones there.
“Jarod, what about your father?” Miss Parker breathed, feeling his eyes on her.
“It’s alright, Parker. He’ll just have to get used to it. I’m going to marry you, remember?” he said, his hot breath tickling her ear.
“Alright, but let’s not throw too much at him right now. He’s been worried sick about you, Jarod. Hey, settle down, tiger, aren’t you listening to me?” she laughed, suddenly pulling away, as he started nibbling on her ear. “You’re still stoned on that stuff, aren’t you?”
“Hmmm, only until about 10:00 or 11,” he breathed. “God, I love you, Parker.”
“Excuse me,” George said, containing he amusement, as he approached the two. “We need for you to board the plane, now.”
“Way to go, Bucky, now everyone’s waiting for us,” she said, trying to regain her composure, completely smitten by his charm.
“I can’t help it, Parker. You’ve got to quit enticing me with your shorter than short shirts,” he said, glancing at her sexy legs and giving her an evil grin.
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