Table of Contents [Report This]
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own the copyright to the show The Pretender, or any of the characters associated with it. But seriously, if you're gonna sue, you should already know that.
Big thanks to RaChell for being my beta on this one. Without her my characters would be running around naked, except for the prostitutes on their feet. (Actually not a joke, just a bad case of undiscovered-typos-syndrome)
Author's Chapter Notes:
Miss Parker slowly opened her eyes and instantly regretted her decision. The room was too bright and
Broots was standing too close.
"Miss Parker I'm so glad you're OK!" He said excited, and loudly. He continued to babble, as she ignored him and looked around the room. It was white and sterile, but the camera in the upper left corner told her she was at the Centre's infirmary, not the local hospital. Her head was pounding and she felt like road kill, but at least she could breathe through her nose again. She assumed that meant she was getting better, not worse. She sat up, then wished she hadn't when the dizziness caught up with her.
"..So it's a miracle you're even alive." Broots finished and took a deep breath.
"What happened?" She asked in a rusty voice.
"We can't know for sure." Sydney walked from the head of the bed to where she could see him."But according to the sweepers that brought you here, you turned up at the Centre looking sick. They asked you what was wrong, you panicked and started rambling something about syringes, before you passed out and were brought here."
She found that scenario somewhat unlikely.
"How are you feeling?" Sydney said carefully.
"Fine Syd." She lied. "Let's go."
"Go? What do you mean go, you just woke up! Don't you think you should rest?" Apparently Broots had managed to catch his breath .
She ignored him and continued the painful process of getting out of the bed.
***
Mr. Parker looked up from his desk as soon as he heard the door closed. "Dr. Grey." He greeted the man."Are things going according to schedule?"
"It appears so." The man answered without looking particularly interested. He despised men like Mr. Parker. People who thought just because they said "Jump" you'd ask how high. Dr. Grey was simply not intimidated by the man's last name or supposed connections, which made Mr Parker even more determined to turn him into another one of his spineless minion. Someone who would do whatever he was told, no questions asked. That was something Dr. Grey had no intentions of doing, not now, not ever. Besides, he, thought wasn't that what Miss Parker's job?
"Would you care to elaborate?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, but Mr. Parker managed to control himself.
"Well, Amanda infected him a little sooner than we anticipated, we thought we'd have more time to monitor the situation." He took the time to marvel at his own genius. The PTB's had been skeptical about letting a red file exit the Centre, but he finally managed to convince them. After all, like most of the participants in the red file project, Amanda had not proven particularly valuable to the Centre. The only noticeable exception being Jarod, the one who escaped.
Luckily his plan worked, to every one's surprise but his own. And after months of meticulous planning they had not only one, but two red files safe and sound inside the walls of the mighty corporation.
Though he still found it a little hard to believe that their so called genius had mistaken Amanda's unconscious state for death. If that doesn't teach you to always double check then nothing will. He thought to himself as the grumbling sound of Mr. Parker's voice snapped him out of his musings.
"I hope for your sake the change in schedule won't be a problem." He looked the man in the eyes for an unusually long time, in an attempt to scare him. When it didn't appear to work, he changed the subject. "How's my daughter doing?"
"Well, as you know she was exhibiting early symptoms. But she was given the antidote along with a small dose of anesthesia, she won't remember a thing." He adjusted his left cuff then looked up with something resembling a smile. "You're welcome."
Mr. Parker had slowly reached his boiling point and snapped "If wasn't for you she wouldn't have gotten sick in the first place!"
"Mr. Parker:" He said sharply."You and your tower buddies all agreed that if Jarod is to ever return to his cooperative self he needs to forget that he was ever outside the Centre, and most of all he needs to forget whatever sparked his desire to leave. As you already know, this cannot be achieved by conventional methods. His mind is too powerful. You needed an alternative to make him forget, all I did was provide you with that alternative." His speech didn't appear to have had much affect on Mr. Parker so he continued. "What happened to Miss Parker was an unfortunate mistake. It has now been corrected."
Mr. Parker stared angrily at the man and was in the process of standing up to give the man a verbal lashing in true Parker spirit, when he remembered the camera in the corner. Tower members were usually above such trivial methods, but lately things had been unusually tense, and the PTB's weren't taking any chances, not even amongst their inner circle. This was the wrong time to start an argument, especially with their saving angel of the day. He took a deep breath and sat back down.
"When her sweepers start dropping like flies and Jarod doesn't get any better, she's going to get suspicious." Mr. Parker said as calmly as he could.
"You really think so?" Dr. Grey asked as if he as was talking to a kid who just told him that babies comes from the stork.
"She is a Parker after all." The angry tone again rose in Mr. Parker's voice.
"She's also the person who couldn't catch him for five years, I think we'll be fine." He said with a confident smirk before he continued. "But if she starts asking questions, just tell her she probably just had a bad case of the flu. After all you're her 'daddy', she'll believe you."
The man's cell phone rang and to Mr. Parker's dismay he answered it. He replied to the unknown caller in one syllable words only for a little under a minute before he put the phone back in his pocket and returned his attention to Mr.Parker. "That was the infirmary, Miss Parker just woke up."
***
After threatening to fire her, Tower style, the nurse finally caved and let Miss Parker have her suit back. She locked the bathroom door and quickly changed into her own clothes. She straightened her hair, and did what she could to fix her smeared makeup.
After a second confrontation with the infirmary staff she, Broots and Sydney made their way back above sea level.
The first thing she did when she entered her office was pour herself a glass of scotch. Not so much to drink, but to replace the awful smell of antiseptic with something a little more pleasant. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to relieve her throbbing headache. If Jarod ever came out of that coma she was going to kill him, slowly. She took another sip of the double malt.
***
After several minutes of uncomfortable questioning, Dr. Grey had managed to excuse himself to check on his two patients. Having endured several minutes of the guards checking, and double checking that he was actually who he claimed to be, he was escorted in to the sterility chamber to cover his shoes and clothes in protection gear to prevent the man made virus from spreading.
There were two sweepers guarding the door leading in to the infirmary and he was, once again asked to show his ID.
The infirmary buzzed with activity. The room was packed with nurses to fluff, clean, and monitor the two patients. A job he was happy to leave to them.
"Dr. Grey!" One of his assistants yelled as he ran through the door without the required protective covering except for a surgical mask. Dr. Grey thought about it, but decided he couldn't be bothered telling the young man once again that the virus was not airborne so a mask wouldn't do much good. Instead he decided to endure his assistants over eager behavior.
"Yes Jonathan."
"I just completed the daily checkup on our test subjects. Just like you said. I couldn't believe it so I checked again, and then a third time. But no matter what I did they all said the same thing." The man looked like he was about ready to cry.
"Which was...?" The doctor prompted and continued to read Jarod's chart.
"Two months after the antidote is administered, the virus...it, it comes back!"
Broots was standing too close.
"Miss Parker I'm so glad you're OK!" He said excited, and loudly. He continued to babble, as she ignored him and looked around the room. It was white and sterile, but the camera in the upper left corner told her she was at the Centre's infirmary, not the local hospital. Her head was pounding and she felt like road kill, but at least she could breathe through her nose again. She assumed that meant she was getting better, not worse. She sat up, then wished she hadn't when the dizziness caught up with her.
"..So it's a miracle you're even alive." Broots finished and took a deep breath.
"What happened?" She asked in a rusty voice.
"We can't know for sure." Sydney walked from the head of the bed to where she could see him."But according to the sweepers that brought you here, you turned up at the Centre looking sick. They asked you what was wrong, you panicked and started rambling something about syringes, before you passed out and were brought here."
She found that scenario somewhat unlikely.
"How are you feeling?" Sydney said carefully.
"Fine Syd." She lied. "Let's go."
"Go? What do you mean go, you just woke up! Don't you think you should rest?" Apparently Broots had managed to catch his breath .
She ignored him and continued the painful process of getting out of the bed.
***
Mr. Parker looked up from his desk as soon as he heard the door closed. "Dr. Grey." He greeted the man."Are things going according to schedule?"
"It appears so." The man answered without looking particularly interested. He despised men like Mr. Parker. People who thought just because they said "Jump" you'd ask how high. Dr. Grey was simply not intimidated by the man's last name or supposed connections, which made Mr Parker even more determined to turn him into another one of his spineless minion. Someone who would do whatever he was told, no questions asked. That was something Dr. Grey had no intentions of doing, not now, not ever. Besides, he, thought wasn't that what Miss Parker's job?
"Would you care to elaborate?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, but Mr. Parker managed to control himself.
"Well, Amanda infected him a little sooner than we anticipated, we thought we'd have more time to monitor the situation." He took the time to marvel at his own genius. The PTB's had been skeptical about letting a red file exit the Centre, but he finally managed to convince them. After all, like most of the participants in the red file project, Amanda had not proven particularly valuable to the Centre. The only noticeable exception being Jarod, the one who escaped.
Luckily his plan worked, to every one's surprise but his own. And after months of meticulous planning they had not only one, but two red files safe and sound inside the walls of the mighty corporation.
Though he still found it a little hard to believe that their so called genius had mistaken Amanda's unconscious state for death. If that doesn't teach you to always double check then nothing will. He thought to himself as the grumbling sound of Mr. Parker's voice snapped him out of his musings.
"I hope for your sake the change in schedule won't be a problem." He looked the man in the eyes for an unusually long time, in an attempt to scare him. When it didn't appear to work, he changed the subject. "How's my daughter doing?"
"Well, as you know she was exhibiting early symptoms. But she was given the antidote along with a small dose of anesthesia, she won't remember a thing." He adjusted his left cuff then looked up with something resembling a smile. "You're welcome."
Mr. Parker had slowly reached his boiling point and snapped "If wasn't for you she wouldn't have gotten sick in the first place!"
"Mr. Parker:" He said sharply."You and your tower buddies all agreed that if Jarod is to ever return to his cooperative self he needs to forget that he was ever outside the Centre, and most of all he needs to forget whatever sparked his desire to leave. As you already know, this cannot be achieved by conventional methods. His mind is too powerful. You needed an alternative to make him forget, all I did was provide you with that alternative." His speech didn't appear to have had much affect on Mr. Parker so he continued. "What happened to Miss Parker was an unfortunate mistake. It has now been corrected."
Mr. Parker stared angrily at the man and was in the process of standing up to give the man a verbal lashing in true Parker spirit, when he remembered the camera in the corner. Tower members were usually above such trivial methods, but lately things had been unusually tense, and the PTB's weren't taking any chances, not even amongst their inner circle. This was the wrong time to start an argument, especially with their saving angel of the day. He took a deep breath and sat back down.
"When her sweepers start dropping like flies and Jarod doesn't get any better, she's going to get suspicious." Mr. Parker said as calmly as he could.
"You really think so?" Dr. Grey asked as if he as was talking to a kid who just told him that babies comes from the stork.
"She is a Parker after all." The angry tone again rose in Mr. Parker's voice.
"She's also the person who couldn't catch him for five years, I think we'll be fine." He said with a confident smirk before he continued. "But if she starts asking questions, just tell her she probably just had a bad case of the flu. After all you're her 'daddy', she'll believe you."
The man's cell phone rang and to Mr. Parker's dismay he answered it. He replied to the unknown caller in one syllable words only for a little under a minute before he put the phone back in his pocket and returned his attention to Mr.Parker. "That was the infirmary, Miss Parker just woke up."
***
After threatening to fire her, Tower style, the nurse finally caved and let Miss Parker have her suit back. She locked the bathroom door and quickly changed into her own clothes. She straightened her hair, and did what she could to fix her smeared makeup.
After a second confrontation with the infirmary staff she, Broots and Sydney made their way back above sea level.
The first thing she did when she entered her office was pour herself a glass of scotch. Not so much to drink, but to replace the awful smell of antiseptic with something a little more pleasant. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to relieve her throbbing headache. If Jarod ever came out of that coma she was going to kill him, slowly. She took another sip of the double malt.
***
After several minutes of uncomfortable questioning, Dr. Grey had managed to excuse himself to check on his two patients. Having endured several minutes of the guards checking, and double checking that he was actually who he claimed to be, he was escorted in to the sterility chamber to cover his shoes and clothes in protection gear to prevent the man made virus from spreading.
There were two sweepers guarding the door leading in to the infirmary and he was, once again asked to show his ID.
The infirmary buzzed with activity. The room was packed with nurses to fluff, clean, and monitor the two patients. A job he was happy to leave to them.
"Dr. Grey!" One of his assistants yelled as he ran through the door without the required protective covering except for a surgical mask. Dr. Grey thought about it, but decided he couldn't be bothered telling the young man once again that the virus was not airborne so a mask wouldn't do much good. Instead he decided to endure his assistants over eager behavior.
"Yes Jonathan."
"I just completed the daily checkup on our test subjects. Just like you said. I couldn't believe it so I checked again, and then a third time. But no matter what I did they all said the same thing." The man looked like he was about ready to cry.
"Which was...?" The doctor prompted and continued to read Jarod's chart.
"Two months after the antidote is administered, the virus...it, it comes back!"
