Unpredictable Turn of Events

by Sabs, RubyTrinity, pretendergurl, and Twin2of3

Disclaimer: sighs w/ boredom Yeah, yeah, yeah... the Pretender characters are not ours, don’t sue us poor college students..... yadda yadda yadda.

CHAPTER 2: Meeting Danger

"M-miss Parker." He spluttered. Had he ever woken up from his nightmare, or was this just another version of the twisted and fractured dreams he had been having lately? Surely Miss Parker was not really standing in front of him, in the middle the street, in the middle of the night. She continued to stare at him and he found it hard not to be transfixed by her gaze. she opened her mouth to speak.

"J-Jarod?" Miss Parker was dumbfounded. Why is Jarod, of all people, out in the middle of the street in the middle of the night? How did he know she'd be out here this late, much less "here" at all? Was he here to torment her, to play his usual mind-numbing games? "W-Where did you come from?"

"Miss Parker, I-" Jarod was rendered speechless. He didn't know whether to run or stay. His gaze wandered around the area. "Am I to expect sweepers to come out of the shadows anytime now, or is this a non-Centre'd meeting?"

"No sweepers now doesn't mean no sweepers period, Jarod." Miss Parker got over the shock of the surprise meeting. She got out her cell phone. "That's what this is for, Wonder Boy."

Jarod breathed slowly in and out, calming himself down. No sweepers now meant his appearance was not expected, meaning that he still had a chance. "Wanna go and have some Tang?" he inquired with an innocent grin on his face covering his uncertainty. "I know this great place that would give us free water and spoons..." He pointed back to the shop behind him.

Miss Parker shook her head, addled. "Tang. You... bought Tang?" What in the world was this, Prodigy Boy doing with Tang?

Jarod watched the confusion playing across Miss Parker's face and saw this as his moment of opportunity. Dropping the grocery bag, he grabbed her small wrist and with a spin and one quick move, he had removed the cell phone from Miss Parker's grasp. Miss Parker's throat became dry as she realized her 9 mm was no longer in its holster, but pointing straight at her.

"Sorry, but I'm never going back to the Centre," Jarod said as he threw the cell phone to the ground and stomped on it. Miss Parker felt anger swelling up within her. That was a brand new model! With a defiant stare at Syd's damned experiment, she turned as if to walk away. But Jarod was not the only one proficient in martial arts. With a sweeping crescent kick, Miss Parker knocked the gun out of Jarod's hand and away from them both.

"That's too bad, Jarod, because for me to get out, you gotta go in," she retorted.

"That's not true, and you know it." Jarod said it so quietly Miss Parker almost missed it.

"Wh-What?" Miss Parker shook her head and scrunched up her face, incredulous.

"I said, that's not true, and you know it. You know very well that won't happen, however hard you try to deny it to yourself. What happened when I was captured last time? You were shot and you almost died. Do you really think they will let your soul go after they have mine?" Jarod lifted an eyebrow. "Let's be real here. They have you for life... that is, until you stop letting them keep that control. You are in control of your own life, if only you let me help you gain that control back." He extended his hand. "Miss Parker, listen to me." Jarod paused, examining her face expression. "Remember?" he continued softly. "We played together as kids. You can trust me. Let me help you get your life back, your past, present, and future."

Miss Parker remained still. "We need to go." She said unemotionally. "I need to think. Making a suicidal decision is not something to take lightly."

Jarod let out a silent sigh of relief. "Then let's go somewhere and have some Tang."