"Ok so was that not the hardest test you have ever taking, even for someone with our abilities but I know I aced it though, what about you? Sis what's wrong?" he asks seeing the distant look in her eyes.

"I'll tell you at lunch. ... I've got a feeling that something bad is going to happened soon so just be careful alright Nate?" I say absent-mindedly responding to his question a scared look on my face.

"Alright Jess see you soon"

For some reason he made it a point to hug her hoping that it would easy her nerves before going their separate ways to class.

The bell had just rang for lunch and the halls was a buzz with people as Chris caught up with Jess at her locker and was discussing about how his last class went and about their plans for tonight but stopped when he noticed the far away look on her face.

<> I could hear his voice scream inside me my head and felt wherever he was he was running for his life.

I dropped my stuff and ran towards the nearest exit closely followed by Chris who was concern by what I was doing and why I was running.

"Jessica what's wrong why did you run outside like this was it something I did, tell me please maybe I can help?" he asks concern and confused by her actions.

"I.. it's Nate he's.. we're.." I'm about to say more when I notice back inside the school a Sweeper trying to make his way down the busy School hall, it's only a matter of minutes before he'd be near enough to spot me so I take off again jumping the small fence and run down the alley way.

Chris notices where her eyes went and looked too and saw that a man in a suite was near Jessica's locker. He looked back at her to say something but saw that she was already running down the alley way so he again chased after her hoping to get an explain soon.

<>

"Noooo!" I cried out and stop running.

"Jessica what's wrong? What's happening?" Chris ask when he finally catches up with her.

"Nate.. They've got... they've got Nate" I say out of breath and close to tears.

"Who's got Nate I don't understand?" Chris says clearly confused by all this.

**Hide now my child some one is coming** the voice that she and her brother shared warned her.

"Quick in here hurry their coming" I say to Chris as I quickly scan the alley and notice that one of the buildings that line it, has a big bared and painted over window has it's door slightly ajar, quickly moving towards the door and into the room behind it.

Chris gives a sigh but follows; once inside Jessica closes the door making sure that it is securely locked.

Jess than looks around and see that there's a group of metal container barrels stacked up against the window, and even though the window is painted over in white you could make out the shadows of anyone moving around in either the room or the alley. Just than they could hear the sounds of footsteps outside and could tell they we're moving closer.

"Behind these, don't make a sound" I say referring to the barrels.

Chris is about to say something but he sees the seriousness and scared look in her eye that makes him compile with her.

They each held their breaths as the footsteps got closer and had now stopped right in front of them.

Then the person moved towards the door and tried to open it, they both flinched at the sound of the door trying to be opened both silently praying that the lock will hold. Chris put his hand out onto Jess's to try and soothe her, thankfully the person outside stopped satisfied that it was indeed locked and walked back in front of the window just then the person's phone rang and was answered in an instant.

"This is Lyle... No, no sign of the girl yet... What you have him that's wonderful news. Call the airport and have the jet ready to go, we leave for Blue Cove in an hour" and with that the call was ended Lyle put his phone back in he's suite jacket and began to walk back the way he came with a slight satisfied smirk on his face.  

They stayed hidden until the sound of Lyles footsteps faded away and was sure he wasn't coming back.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Chris asks looking her in the face searching for answers.

"Look no time to explain it all now, we've got to get back to my place. I.. I promise I'll explain it all then"

Nathan was pulled out of the car by the two Sweepers and dragged fighting towards and then into the plane. As soon as he was seated securely Nate hung his head down to look at his feet, and said a silent pray that Jessica was safe and that he would some how manage to get away.

A few minutes go by before another person entered, Nathan looked up to the door and was greeted by the sight of Lyle, someone he had never told his sister about the person who was the cause of his silent nightmares.

Although Lyle only supervised him on just a few of his Sim's it had been enough to make an impression of total fear of him, if he made just one simple mistake or he wasn't fast enough with an solution then he would be punished.

Nathan could only guess as to how server his punishment would be this time for running away. But he knows Lyle wouldn't do it here no there'd be plenty of time for that later. 

"Gee no wonder you guys never invited me over to your place before" Chris says trying to lighting up the mood as he enters the scarcely furnished loft.

"Please sit down. What I have to tell you is serious, so please don't say anything until I'm finished" I say gesturing to the make-ship table of a metal barrel, just like the one they had hidden behind in the old building and wooden boxes with a cushion on top for chairs. 

Chris just nodded slightly and took a sit at the table waiting for an explanation. 

Taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts before Jessica began with her story.

"About five months ago Nathan and myself escaped from a place called the Centre and we've been running ever since. They want us back because we are Pretenders geniuses who can become anyone we want to be, if you give me a book on open heart surgery in the morning then I can perform it flawlessly in the afternoon. The only thing we don't know is if we were taken or given to the Centre, we don't even know if our parents are alive or dead despite searching their database for answers"

"Wow I... um.. I want to believe you really I do but it seem so out there to be true" bewildered by what she had said.

"I thought you might say that, so I want you to watch something then you'll see I'm telling the truth"

Jessica then got up and walks out of the room. When she returns Chris notices that she is carrying what look to him to be a metal briefcase, but when Jessica places it on the table and opens it up he see that inside there is some sort of computer housed in it.

Jess then takes one of the discs and places it into a slot, then presses a few buttons and the machine springs to life, as a picture starts to show on the screen. He could see the words for Centre Use Only at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Chris turns to look briefly at Jessica.

"Just watch"

The picture on the screen was in black and white. He could see a room with a metal table, there's a clear jug of water and two clear cups on it and two matching chairs the only pieces of furniture in the room. He sees that a ten year old Jessica is already seated at the table waiting, just then the door to the room opens and Jessica stands up as a woman holding a file walks in.

FOR CENTRE USE ONLY

"Good morning Sandra" the young Jessica says to the woman as she gets up from the seat.

"Good morning, Please sit down" Sandra reply's as she also seats herself opposite her. 

"Jessica I need you to do a Sim for me. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have asked for our help in locating their kidnapped daughter Abigail. She was taken at night from her bedroom which she shares with her younger sister Dana."

Sandra pours herself a drink and takes a sip before continuing.

"They had hoped that she could tell the police what had happened that night. But she has repressed what had happened and the police believe that she may have even seen this persons face. We need you to tell us what her sister might have seen and shed some light on what happened. Here are some photos of the girl's room and of the missing girl"

Sandra opens up the file she has, takes out and places the photos on the table in front of Jessica as well as a sketchpad and a pencil.

Chris watched as Jessica stared down at the photos intently and enters what could best be described as a trance like state.

"Alright Jessica where are you and what are you doing?" Sandra asked aware that she was ready to begin the Pretend.

"I'm asleep in my bed in the room that I share with my older sister Abigail, when all of a sudden I'm woken up by someone coming in through the window. I know that it's the window because there's a lose floor board, where my sister and I hide stuff that we want to keep a secret from our brothers creeks when he steps on it."

Jessica takes a deep breath she had a distant and trance like look on her face with just a hint of sadness.

"He walks over to my sisters bed and is about to cover her mouth with a cloth, when he looks over as if sensing that I am awake, he then puts his index finger to his lips in a shush sign, I squeezed my eyes shut and pull the covers over my head. I hear the floor creek again but this time it sounded as though something heaver had gone over it. After a few seconds I pull the covers off me and open my eyes, I see that the man has gone and so is Abby. I start to scream, I scream so loud that I don't even notice when my parents enter the room to see what's the matter"

Jessica then picks up the pad and pencil and she begins to draw quickly, her eyes never once looked away to what she was drawing until she is done.

"This is what he looks like he is a Caucasian 8'5 tall, his eyes are grayish blue, his hair and beard are a reddish brown color he has a tattoo of a swordfish on his right forearm. But he is thinking about shaving off his beard and dieing his hair blond and wear brown colored contacts"

The screen fades to black as Jessica is coming out of her trance.

"So this place.. The Centre what exactly is it?" Chris asks still skeptical over what he just saw.

"It's some sort of think tank they raised us separately, we never found out about each other until that one day back at the Centre. I had just finished a SIM and was being led back to my room, Nate was being taken to run a SIM we both looked right at each other and we both sensed that there was something about each other we just didn't know what it was at the time. I tried to keep looking back at him as I walked but the Sweeper told me to turn around and keep walking but what I could see was that Nathan was doing the same" smiling fondly at the memory.

Jess gets up and moves towards the kitchen area and gets two can drinks out of the fridge and sits down before continuing her story.

"It wasn't until later that night back in our own rooms, we were both thinking about the moment in the hall. When all of a sudden I here his voice in my head wondering if we were connected somehow. And wished he could somehow see me again, without anyone knowing so that he could ask me if I felt it too. When I answered back that shocked him even more, we decided right then that this ability that we have must mean that we are brother and sister. I also found out that night that I was two levels above him. Every night from then on we would talk about how are day went and what Sim's we were working on and how we wished we could see each other again we'd end up talking ourselves to sleep"

They both open the drinks and took an uneasy drink while they collected their thoughts.

"Wow so what happened that made you want to escape?" Chris asked accepting this new information about his girlfriends past.

"See Nate had somehow found out that he was to be moved to another Centre facility, some time in the next two weeks. It was then that we decided that we had to escape or we would truly never see each other again. Three days later we escaped and from then on we've been on the run searching for our family, and we usually never stay in one place for too long, as we try and stay at lest one step ahead of the Centre" I say looking at him.

"But not this time, why?"

"No this time I... we thought that this time would be different, so now do you believe me?" I ask him with a slightly scared tone in my voice and then look away slightly.

"You know it's just like something you'd see on a tv show or something but I do believe you" Chris answers her as he takes her hand with his lift hand and with his right hand he gently lefts her chin up so that she can look him in the eyes.

"Except that it's my life" I say in a cynical laugh.

"So that's why you scream out in the alley, they have him again don't they?"

<>

~~I will I promise just hold on ok~~ I answered him not realizing just how strong our ability was, that we could still communicate to each other while being several miles away from each other.   

"What's wrong, is Nathan ok?" He asked seeing the distressed look on her face.

"Their.. their moving him to Africa I have to get him out of there, I just have too I can't lose him now that we've just found each other" fighting the tears welling up in my eyes becoming almost hysterical.

"Don't worry we'll get him out I promise just let me call for reinforcements" he says reassuring her.

Jess just nodded slightly flashing him questioning look.

"Hey guys cool place you have here Jess, could do with a bit more furniture though. Anyway you guys missed one hell of a day at school, at lunch there were these guys in suites I say they were FBI or undercover cops running around looking for someone. Guess they found what they we're looking for too cause they left about five minute later. So I got your message what's up and where's my main man Nate. Did I say something wrong?" Mike asked when he saw the hurt look on Jess's face at the mention of her brother.

"Look Mike, Jess and I need your help with some thing, no questions asked that sort of thing ok. Nathan has been kidnapped and we're going to go bust him out, but we need you to be our get away driver. I'm not going to lie to you it most definitely would be dangerous and if we got caught I'm not quite sure as to what well happen to us"

"I'll understand if you want to say no" I say before he has a chance to speak.

"I'll do it" Mike answers no hesitation in his voice.

"Are you sure I mean..." I begin.

"Jess you guys are my best friends and I don't know about you. But when one of my friends are in trouble and need of help I'm there for them no questions asked" stepping towards her.

"Thank you"

"Don't thank me yet we've still got to get your brother out of where ever the hell he is, now are you going to tell me where were going and what's the action plan?"  Mike says smiling draping his arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the barrel seats.

"Alright we're here, Nathan's room is 492 and that's on SL-6 I want you to get in and out as quick as you can. I know that I'm good at hacking into other peoples systems, but these guys have got to be the best at what they do. So I don't know how long it well be before they discover some thing's up and pulls the plug on my hook up with the cameras and Jess be careful" Chris says concern for safety, pointing out the locations on the screen.

"I will, I promise" I say smiling at him touched by his concern.

"Give us a few minutes and I'll have a live feed of the complex and we need a com-set" Chris says smiling back at Jess before turning back to the laptop.

"As for the com-set I've got one right here" I say retrieving it from my back pack.

"Gee now why doesn't that surprise me" Mike says jokingly.

"Hey don't you know a girls gotta be ready for anything. Anyway as soon as we're at the safe house Nathan and I will disappear so you two won't have to worry about being in danger for too much longer" I say then turn to walk away.

Shocked at the though of losing her Chris turns her around and holds her at arms length.

"It's not everyday the girl of your dreams walks into your life and I'll be crazy if I let you walk right out of my life"

"Chris I.. I love you but.. " my voice quivering slightly,

"I don't care as long as we are together. Now lets save your brother" Chris says as he puts his index finger to her lips to shush her, bridging the space between them and kisses her good luck.

"Ok Nate's room should be just a long that hall there, it's the third one down on your right" Chris says in her ear.

As she enters the room Jessica lets out a small gasp, when she sees the badly beaten up form lying on the bed that is her brother.

"Jess what are you doing here?" He asks looking up at her from his position on the bed confused by her presents.

"I'm here to rescue you remember, now come on we don't have much time" giving him a timid smile.

"We?" Nate asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes Mike's our driver and Chris is helping me by being my eyes now let's move it, can you walk on your own?"

"I don't think I can very well" He says as he struggles to sit up on the bed.

"Alright put your arm over my shoulder" I say trying to hide just how concern I am.

"I know we have to move fast and I can deal with the pain for now, we'll worry about what's broken later" he says reading her mind.

"Ok, Chris is the coast clear?"

"Hold on a sec... alright it's clear right up to the corner at the end of the hall and the next level I'll let you know if it changes"

After going through two more levels with easy they where now at the halfway point of their escape plan. 

"Jess slow down I can hardly keep up with you now"

"Chris you're suppose to be our eyes down here, making sure that our way is clear. And if we slow down then we might get caught and that would make your part of the plan pointless now wouldn't it! So just try and keep one step a head of us ok" I tell him in a slightly angry whisper as we're about to round a corner.

"Alright but... Quick! Hide some one's coming" Chris tried to warn them but it was too late.

"What the hell are you two doing out of your rooms?"

<>

"I'm sorry but my brother and I are leaving again and you're not going to stop us" I say glaring at her.

Miss Parker removed her gun from it's holster and was about to aim it at them, when the girl quickly lets go of her brother who was now leaning against the wall and swiftly kicked the gun right out of Miss Parker's hand which sent it flying down the hall away from the trio.

This shocked Miss Parker but only for an instant she quickly recovered and was now in a fighting stance just like the girl.

They circled each other before the girl made the first move, however Miss Parker dodged the punch and returned it, which made contact with her check causing the girl to stager back and almost fall. 

"Jessica!" Nathan called out concern for his sister.   

~~I'm ok~~

Miss Parker could see that the boy had nodded as if in agreement to an unspoken answer.

*Let them go angel please* Parker couldn't believe what her mother's voice was asking her to do, but she quickly thought it over while they fought and came to a decision and hope that it was the right one to make.

After a few punches and kicks Miss Parker let herself get kicked hard into the wall with her head bouncing off it and slid down it so that it would convince anyone watching that she didn't let them go with out a fight.

"Quick before she gets up or anyone else comes by" Chris says worry in his voice after watching the scene play out before him on his computer screen.   

I return to Nate and put his arm around my neck just like before and make our way out to the car and drive away from the Centre.

"Miss Parker I heard about what happen to you last night"

"Yeah same here I'm ah sorry that they got away" Broots said as he handed Sydney the file he had asked for.

"Don't be sorry just find me the surveillance tape from last night, right now Broots" Snapping her fingers.

Broots nodded as he hastily made his way out of the room to begin the search.

"Sydney can I talk to you?"

"Why of course what about" He asked as she took a place next to him on the leather couch.

"Syd my mother... she asked me to let them go so I did, I don't know why I would take such a risk like that but I did. There was something about them that seems so familiar that I just had to give them a chance to get away and you know that girl can really throw a punch. I just have to find out more about them"

"Can you think of anything that might help us find out more about who they are, other then last nights tape?"

"The boy said her name was Jessica, you know the funny thing is that she said it wasn't the first time they had escaped"

Raines's Office

Does She know who they really are?

"No I don't think so it was sheer coincidence that Parker was there and was attacked by the girl" Lyle says unconcerned about his sister attack.

"Good then make sure that it stays that way, the last thing we need is for your sister to find out who they really are" Raines wheezed before dismissing the man in front of him.