Disclaimer: The Pretender belongs to its creators, NBC and all those people listed on the credits. As Jarod would say "You know the dance, Miss Parker." I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them and having them play out scenes from my overactive imagination.

Author's Note: This is definitely going to be a long story, if not a long series. Hope you enjoy and please send comments.




Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)



* * * * * * * * * * Part I* * * * * * * * * *








Raines walked out of the room in the renewal wing, leaving a blind Sydney behind. Sydney took a bite out of the apple he was holding. Just then he heard footsteps entering back in.

"What do you want?" He asked, then realized that it wasn't Raines. "Who is it?"

"A friend." Mr. Lyle replied as he stood in the doorway looking at Sydney. Sydney just continued to eat the apple.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Miss Parker walked towards her bed as if it were a sanctuary. 'Actually it is!' She thought to herself. It was the only place she could leave the real world behind, at least most of the time. She shrugged off her robe, revealing her slender body in a black satin nightgown. A wicked smile came over her face as she thought about Broots seeing her in this or Jarod. The thought of Jarod sent shivers down her spine for reasons she was very unsure and unhappy about.

'Damn it, stop thinking about him. He's not worth it!' She argued with herself as she pulled her bed covers down so that she could climb in.

However she was stopped by the pressure of two arms surrounding her and a cloth being closed around her mouth. She slumped into the arms as a moan escaped her lips, her mind blacking out.

"Sorry Parker."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Miss Parker woke slowly to the soft hum of an engine. She felt the slight bumps and steadiness of movement and realized she was in a car. She opened her eyes and looked around her, finding herself in the passenger seat of the car. Without making a sound she turned to see who her assailant was and was greeted with the sight of Jarod sitting at the driver's wheel.

"You son of a bitch!" She screamed at him, startling him. He swerved slightly but was quickly back in control.

"I see you are awake!"

"What is the meaning of all of this?" She asked as she sat up from the passenger seat and felt a wave of dizziness hit her from her fast movement.

"I suggest that you take it slowly."

"So I see you're adding kidnapping to your list." Miss Parker snapped. She moved the seat up and took a look out the window to see where they were.

"Well I had to make sure that the Centre didn't follow us." Jarod replied. "I'm sorry I had to drug you but I didn't think you would come willingly."

"No, you just wanted to act like a macho asshole!"

"You shouldn't use such foul language Parker." Jarod scolded.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Miss Parker demanded.

"I needed help."

"With what?"

"Some information."

"Then why kidnap me? You could have just sent me some clue or something like you always do for me to follow up on. Or you could have just called me and asked."

"Oh, I thought you hated me doing that." Jarod replied with a grin.

"So you decide to give me a break and kidnap me."

"Precisely."

"You jerk."


"Anyway I thought you might like a break from the Centre. Also this might be a chance for you to see what exactly it is I do."

"You just run around playing a child's game of pretend trying to act like an overgrown superhero!" Miss Parker replied. "I know what you do! You just do everything to torment me!"

"Don't flatter yourself Miss Parker."

"Jarod, I'm tired of this! Would you just please tell me what it is you want?"

"I want you to pretend to be my wife."

Miss Parker looked at him in shock. Before she could say anything he continued.

"Look I don't like this either, but you are the only one who I know has pretender skills too. I'm to start a new job at this firm that has had some mysterious dealings and deaths. I need you to act as my wife. You can get close to some of the people that I wouldn't be able to."

"What makes you think I will help you?"

"Because I know who you really are inside, deep, deep, * deep * down beneath that icy exterior." Jarod replied.

"That's not a reason!"

"I think that they may also be using children for things worse than the Centre."

"Are you saying that this firm is like the Centre?" Miss Parker asked.

"I think so, although they are a lot more public than the Centre."

"What firm is this?"

"Citadel Eugenics."

"I didn't think they did anything other than new birth techniques and disease related research."

"You know about it?"

"The Centre keeps track of new businesses. Do you have anything that proves that they are doing this?"

"Nothing concrete. Only some documents that keep referring to some project, everything is in code. I tried hacking into their computers but I couldn't come up with anything. I think that the best way for me to get what I need is to work for them."

"I still don't see why you really need me."

"Because if I have another person helping me gather information, the faster it will go."

"But why your wife?"

"Because they won't suspect given my relationship with you. They can't question why we talk if we are married." He explained, somewhat like an adult telling a child something that everyone should already now. Miss Parker studied him, trying to figure out what was going through his head.

"What is the real reason you want me to do this Jarod? Don't give me some bullshit about 'me seeing what you really do'! I know its not just about them being like the Centre. I can see it in your eyes! I want an answer Jarod, now!"

Jarod glanced at her, some fury clouding his eyes. At first she thought it was directed at her but realized it wasn't when he spoke.

"Parker, I think they have my family!" Jarod replied through clenched teeth.

"What?" Parker asked, bewildered.

"I think they have my family, my sister Emily." Jarod said as he calmed himself down.

"Jarod..." Parker replied softly.

"Parker please! Help me."

She looked at him, wondering if she should. The look on his face, the sadness in his eyes made the decision for her.

"I'm going to regret this later." Parker muttered as she sat back into her seat.

"Thanks Parker."

"Thank me when it is over. How long do you think this will take?"

"Probably a couple of months."

"Months?!" Parker asked, incredulously.

"You can't expect us to get everything in a couple of days."

"I really am going to regret this! Give my your phone!" She demanded.

"What?" Jarod asked, looking over at her.

"I need to call my father."

"You don't need to!"

"I'm not going to tell them where you are. They can't triangulate your phone signal anyway."

"You still don't need to call him."

"I need to tell him that I'll be alright."

"You won't tell him about this?"

"If I did I would be shot on the spot. You think my father would like to know that I'm working with a lab rat?" Parker asked, exasperated.

"Here." He replied as he handed her the phone. "This will be the longest Pretend in my life, if not the worst." He muttered.

"I heard that!"

Jarod sighed and prayed that he was doing the right thing by bringing her.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Centre

Sydney sat in his office bemused, which with the help of Mr. Lyle he was now able to sit in. He had just gone through a meeting with Mr. Parker and the rest of the gang. Mr. Parker was on a short fuse from the phone call he had received from his daughter. She hadn't said much except that she would be gone for a while and that she made some deal that would get Jarod back.

"What has my sister gotten herself into?" Mr. Lyle asked as he walked into Sydney's office.

"I have no clue. I wonder what kind of deal she made." Sydney replied.

"Well whatever it is, I don't want to have to go looking for her, too!" Lyle said frustrated. "It's bad enough that I have to look for Jarod as well, but to add her to the list."

"I'm sure she'll turn up."

Lyle gave him a look that said "I doubt it!". "Well where is Broots? We need to find her ASAP or my father is going to have a heart attack."

"Already at his computer doing searches." Sydney replied. As soon as the meeting was over Broots had hurried to his office saying that he didn't want to be yelled at. He figured the sooner he got to work the sooner he could be out of everyone's path, especially Mr. Parker and Mr. Lyle's.

"Just keep me informed of your progress. If you get a call from either of them, I want to know about it first thing. No secrets understand?"

"Perfectly Mr. Lyle." Sydney replied in his ever-always innocent looking face.

Lyle was about to leave when he stopped and turned around. Quietly he asked, "Have you found anything on her?"

By the way he emphasized her, anyone could tell he was not talking about his sister.

"I haven't. As soon as I hear anything I will let you know." Sydney replied. "I wouldn't keep you in the dark about this."

Lyle nodded and left. As Sydney listened to the man walk out, he felt sorry for him. Sydney wished that what plagued Lyle and made him into the evil he was would soon be found.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Three Hours later at a Road Side Restaurant


Miss Parker watched in amazement at how much Jarod could eat. He had already eaten two burgers, a basket of fries, gone through four glasses of soft drinks and was now on his fifth glass and third burger. She was still eating her chicken sandwich and had barely touched her potato chips.

"How do you do that?" She asked, bewildered.

"Do what?" Jarod asked, not sure what she was talking about.

"Eat that much food!"

"I'm hungry." Jarod replied sheepishly. "Sorry, I just haven't eaten in a while."

"Do you always stop eating when you do a Pretend?" Miss Parker asked, concern tingeing her voice.

"Sometimes, I guess I just forget to eat."

"Like you forget to sleep."

"How do you know about that?"

"Your calls at four a.m. and I've read your files Jarod. You never could get a good nights rest."

"Oh." Jarod replied. He took another bite out of his burger; some ketchup was left on his lip. Miss Parker couldn't help but smile, as thoughts of how cute he looked ran through her head.

"What?" Jarod asked, noticing her smile. She took a napkin and leaned over, gently wiping the ketchup from his lip. He raised his eyebrow at her gesture.

"What?" It was Miss Parker's turn to be bewildered.

"It's just that you never acted that nice to me before."

"What?! I'm not allowed to be nice? I am suppose to be your wife, remember?" Miss Parker asked, some of her icy tone creeping back into her voice.

"Hey, don't be offended. I like you being nice, it just took me by surprise." Jarod apologized. "I just thought that we would be fighting most of the time."

"Well I figure that it would just make it more hellish for me, however don't think I will do everything you say. I want to have equal partnership in this." Miss Parker demanded.

"Deal. No fights?"

"I didn't say there wouldn't be any fights Jarod, I just said not most of the time." Miss Parker replied with a sly grin on her face.

"I think I could live with that. Besides you wouldn't be Miss Parker if you didn't start a fight every once in a while." Jarod said, a twinkle in his eye. Miss Parker looked at him and found herself lost in his eyes, just as Jarod found himself lost in her piercing blue ones.

'God she's beautiful!' He thought.

Miss Parker broke eye contact. "So tell me about this Pretend."

"As I said before I have a new job at this firm. I have a pretty high position for a newbie. Anyway, my name will be Michael Jarod Hall. You'll be my wife Andrea Marisa Hall."

"You had to use my first name, didn't you?" Miss Parker asked at his use of Marisa.

"Well I used it as your middle name. I thought there would be less of a chance of the Centre catching us if I used our names as our middle names."

"Why don't you just not use it at all?"

Jarod gave her one of those taunting looks.

"Oh, it's a clue that is right under their nose that you can laugh about later." Miss Parker figured out.

"It worked every time." Jarod replied. Miss Parker looked at him completely vexed.

"You just love to gloat don't you?"

"Why Miss Parker! You know I'm a modest guy."

"Like hell you are!" Miss Parker muttered. Speaking more clearly, "Where is this place?"

"Just outside of New York City. I got us an apartment in the city and it is only an hour commute away. I start in a week so that will give us some time to settle in. We are close to Chicago, so when we get there we will take a plane out to New York. When I start you will have to attend party functions with me and such. I also got you a job at the firm."

"What kind of job?"

"Security. After all you were head of security and Corporate at the Centre."

"Gee that sounds like so much fun!" Miss Parker replied, sarcastically.

"Would you prefer staying home all day as a house wife?"

"That doesn't sound so bad, it would be a nice rest from chasing a lunatic all around the country." Jarod shot her a hurt look.

"That lunatic is sitting right in front of you."

"I know." Miss Parker replied with a smile. "Okay back to the Pretend, what do I tell them when they ask about us, personally."

"Mostly we will stick to the truth, we were childhood sweethearts, we got married two and a half years ago. Your father works at a company out of Delaware, he's remarried, you have a twin, yada, yada."

"Where did we get married?"

"Where do you want us to get married?"

"Lake Catherine." Miss Parker replied, thoughtfully.

"Where your mother would go in the spring."

"Yeah. It seems like the perfect place to get married, don't you think?"

"It does." Jarod nodded in agreement. He smiled at the soft, almost dreamy expression on her face. When she saw him staring at her, she quickly made a face, causing Jarod to laugh.

"We probably should get going." Miss Parker said.

"We probably should. Waitress." Jarod said as he waved the waitress over for the check.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Chicago Airport

Jarod sat in the airport chair exhausted. He had been up for almost 48 hours. As he was about to fall into the comfort of sleep, he was startled by Parker sitting down beside him.

"Here." She said as she held him a cup of steaming liquid.

"What?" He asked as he took it from her.

"Hot chocolate."

"Oh, thanks." He replied as he took a sip. Parker did the same, although he could tell from the smell that she was drinking coffee. They sat in silence for a while, finally breaking it as Miss Parker asked, "What about my clothes?"

"Clothes?"

"I'll need clothes, toiletries, jewelry and some other items." Parker replied.

"Jewelry?"

"To go with the clothes." Parker said as if it was something even an idiot would know.

"We can go shopping when we get to New York."

"I want the best, Jarod."

"I know." He replied as he took another sip of his hot chocolate.

"So how will we pay for these things?" Parker asked.

"Hmm? Oh, with these." Jarod replied as he handed her a small zippered black bag. Inside she found credit cards, ID's such as driver's license and social security card, a birth certificate, among other things.

"You thought of everything didn't you?" Parker asked amazed at the amount of things she found in that tiny bag.

"We need to be prepared." Jarod shrugged off. "By the way we have about two billion dollars in the account and in case we run out I can get more."

"How much of it is the Centre's money?" Miss Parker asked suspiciously. Jarod just answered her with a shrug.

"Oh before I forget, you might want these." Jarod said as he handed another bag, this one was smaller and was made of burgundy velvet. Parker opened it up and found a small jewelry box inside. She lifted the lid and gasped at what lay inside. There were two rings, one a simple wedding ring made of a thin gold band. Beside it was a delicate looking engagement ring, with the diamond carved into a blooming rose. She took the two out and placed them on her finger, marveling at how the diamond caught the light and made the diamond rose come to life with color.

"They're beautiful." Parker murmured to Jarod. He looked at her and nodded, a smile playing across his lips at her obvious liking of the rings. "Where did you get this? It most have cost a fortune!"

"No, not really. I found the diamond when I was working in a mine and I made the ring myself." Jarod replied nonchalantly. Miss Parker looked at him in amazement.

"How did you get the diamond to look like this?" She asked admiring the rose diamond.

"A lot of patience." Jarod replied, smiling a little at her.

"Where's yours?" Miss Parker asked, noticing that his finger was not bound by a ring.

"Right here." He replied as he took out a small velvet bag from his coat pocket. He pulled out a gold band and placed it on his finger.

For some reason Miss Parker liked the idea that he was now off limits to other women, which really disturbed her. The two sat in silence till their flight was called.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lyle came home that evening exhausted. What he really wanted was a vacation from this place. His father was storming through the Centre hell bent with rage and he was getting most of it.

"Probably because I'm his son." He muttered. For a minute he was reminded of his youth in Nebraska, where his adopted father, the true Mr. Lyle, had treated him like shit. He had really thought that he would get away from it.

'Guess I was wrong.' He thought. The only good thing was that Brigitte was receiving some of the hostility from Mr. Parker. 'Serves her right!'

Lately Brigitte had become more of a nuisance rather than an ally. He walked into his room, discarding his jacket on a chair nearby. He sat down on his bed, closing his eyes as he relaxed for the first time that day. Without really thinking about it he reached behind him and pulled out a secret compartment from his nightstand. Inside were pictures and letters.

He picked them up and looked at them, a nostalgic smile appearing on his face as his eyes filled with sadness and rage. He picked up the picture at the bottom of the box and one could see it was worn from love. Lyle looked at it and a tear fell from his eye, which he quickly brushed away with a whisper of "I'm so sorry Sylvia. So sorry I let them take you both."

He brought the picture to his chest and closed his eyes as he thought of that brief moment in time when he had true happiness.

Disclaimer: The Pretender belongs to its creators, NBC and all those people listed on the credits. As Jarod would say "You know the dance, Miss Parker." I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them and having them play out scenes from my overactive imagination.

Author's Note: This is definitely going to be a long story, if not a long series. Hope you enjoy and please send comments.




Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)


* * * * * * * * * Part 2 * * * * * * * * * *



Miss Parker walked into the apartment that would be her home for the next couple of months. She had to admit it was breathtaking even if it was somewhat empty. Jarod came in behind her and watched her as she walked around. The foyer opened up to a living room and beside it a kitchen. There were high windows that went up to the second floor. She looked up at the indoor balcony and questioned Jarod with her eyes.

"That's the master bedroom, you can close it off with the screens." He replied, pointing to the oriental screens hidden at the two corners.

"Through that hall is the study, a bathroom, an extra bedroom, and the stairs leading upstairs. Up there is the master bedroom, an open room and another bedroom. Also another set of stairs leading to the roof."

"Wow!" Miss Parker replied quietly. "I'm going to take a look around. By the way, are we going to be getting any more furniture? It's a bit bare."

"I thought you could decorate it the way you want. After all you're a lot more picky about things like that."

"Gee thanks."

"You have the rest of the week to decorate and shop." Jarod replied as he followed behind her. Parker just nodded and wondered through the apartment. She noticed the study was filled with computers, Jarod's DSA case among other electronic equipment.

"Looks like you're prepared."

"One needs to be when working against these corporations."

Miss Parker just nodded in reply. She walked up the stairs and looked around. When she got to the master bedroom she stopped.

"Jarod where will you be sleeping?" She asked as she sat down on the bed.

"I thought in here."

"Sorry, but this is my room."

"Our room."

"Excuse me?"

"We're married remember?" Jarod asked a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Pretending to be." Parker replied. "You'll sleep in one of the other rooms, not here!"

"Take all the fun out of being married." Jarod whined.

"Men!" Parker muttered under her breath.

"I'll sleep in the other room up here." Jarod replied. "That way if you need me, I'll be close by."

"I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, Jarod."

"Uh-huh."

Miss Parker got up and looked around the apartment some more. When she was finished she turned to look at Jarod.

"How tired are you?" She asked, her head tilted to the side studying him.

"Not much, I slept a lot on the plane."

"Good, cause we are going out."

"Where?"

"Shopping."

"What?"

"We need to buy furniture, food and I mean real food not the junk food you have stored in the kitchen and I need clothes among other things. So be a man and get your butt out that door." Miss Parker ordered.

"I thought you were going to do that yourself."

"We're married now- everything is to be done together." Parker replied waving her ring bound finger at him.

"Does that now mean we can sleep in the same room?" Jarod asked as he opened the door for her.

"No!"

"Well it was worth a shot."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lyle stalked through the halls of the Centre angrily. If he heard another remark from Brigitte he would take that lollipop of hers and shove it down her throat. As he neared his office, he saw his father walking towards him. 'Oh great what now?' He thought. He was so sick and tired of his family right now that he wouldn't mind reverting back to his previous psychotic self so that he could kill everyone.

"Son." The older man greeted seriously.

"Dad." He replied with as much respect as a son could give.

"We need to talk." Mr. Parker said as he gestured Lyle into the office.

"What about?"

"Hmph. Your sister." He replied as the office door closed.

"I'm working on finding her. However the last trace we have of her is at her house. I went through it myself. Nothing is out of place. My guess is that she was taken from the house." Lyle replied.

"I don't want guesses, son. I want answers. And I want them now."

"I-"

"I know you're working hard and that losing your sister is hard on you. It is on me too." Mr. Parker replied in a fatherly comforting voice. "But the sooner we find her the better. I don't know what she has gotten herself into and I don't like it one bit."

"She said she was okay and that she knew what she was doing. And everything she is doing is to bring Jarod back." Lyle replied. He really didn't care if he found his sister right now. Hell, he didn't care if his whole family disappeared right now, with the bad day he was having. Although deep down inside he knew he would be devastated at losing his family again.

"I still want her found. I don't like not knowing!" Mr. Parker said as he walked out of the office.

"Yes sir." Lyle replied to his father's retreating back. He walked around his desk and sat down in his chair. Ready to kill the next person who walked into the door as he heard a knock.

"What?"

"You sound just like your sister." Sydney replied as he walked into the room.

"What do you want?" Lyle replied his facial expression clearly annoyed. Then noticing that Sydney was wearing glasses. "I see you got your vision back."

"Partly. As for your first question, I came to give you this." Was the Belgium man's reply as he handed Lyle a folder. "Just some interesting reading material on the Gem project I was working on."

Lyle's eyes opened wide as he heard the word Gem. It was his and Sydney's secret code word for his search. "I'll take a look at it later Syd." He replied as he placed it into his briefcase, locking it after he closed it.

Sydney nodded and walked out as Lyle wondered what the old man had found.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

As soon as he got home, Mr. Lyle pulled out the folder and read through the contents. What caught his attention was a photograph. He ran a finger along the girls face, a tear falling from his eye.

"She certainly has grown to be a beautiful young lady."

Lyle looked up at Sydney. "Where?"

"By chance. I found it slipped under one of my folders at the Centre. I don't know who it is from."

"Do you know where this was taken or when?" Mr. Lyle asked.

"No, only it was within the last two years by the looks of it. She looks a lot like her mother."

"Must run in the family." Lyle replied, a small smile on his face. "Daughters looking like their mothers."

"I know you don't want anyone else involved Mr. Lyle, but I asked Broots to find out where the picture was taken." Sydney said quietly. "I didn't tell him anything."

"He's a good man. She is beautiful isn't she?"

"Yes, Jade is."

"I need to find her Sydney. I need my daughter back!" Lyle replied, his anguish clear in his voice as tears streamed down his face.

"I know. I know son." Sydney said quietly as he put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. Squeezing in hope of giving Lyle some comfort, but finding that he could only stand behind the man and listen to him cry.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Miss Parker woke up and was disoriented in her new surroundings. As she realized where she was, she gave a small moan and pulled the covers over her head, wondering what the hell it was that she had gotten herself into. The past few days had been spent on shopping and getting, the apartment in order, as well as planning and practicing for their pretend. She heard a knock at the door and ignored it in hopes that Jarod would leave her alone. Unfortunately he didn't get the hint.

"Rise and shine, honey." Jarod said cheerfully as he came into the room.

"Oh shut up Jarod!" Miss Parker shouted from underneath her covers. "Let me go back to sleep and don't call me * honey *!"

"Well you better get use to it since you're suppose to be my wife." Jarod replied as he pulled the covers from her, only to find Miss Parker in a skimpy silk tank top and underwear.

"Have you no shame!" Miss Parker yelled at him as she pulled the covers back up.

Recovering from his shock, Jarod grinned at Miss Parker. "As your husband, I think I have every right to see you in your, um, night clothes. Plus its not like I haven't seen you in less."

"Seeing me in my bikini doesn't count!" Miss Parker retorted as she remembered the time when Jarod decided to surprise her on her vacation in the Bahamas.

"Who said I only saw you in that?" Jarod asked with raised eyebrows.

"JAROD!"

"I was just kidding." Jarod replied. "Breakfast is ready. Better come down before it cools."

He walked out of the room, closing the doors behind him. She waited in bed listening to the sounds of him walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. Parker heard him placing plates out on to the table. After a few minutes of listening she got up and pulled the long silk robe around herself. She opened up the screens and looked down onto the lower floor.

Jarod hearing the screens open, looked up and gave her a questioning look. "You coming down or not?"

"I'll be there in a minute." Miss Parker replied in an almost gruff voice. When she made her way downstairs she saw that Jarod made a light breakfast of fruit, yogurt and a cup of coffee for her. She frowned a bit at how Jarod knew the small details about her.

"Something wrong?" Jarod asked as he put in a mouth full of blueberry pancakes.

"No, nothing." Parker said as she sat down to eat her breakfast. "So what's on today's list?"

"More practicing of the Pretend. I was able to get some blueprints of the building, but most of it we'll just have to get once we get started there."

"How much more practicing can there be? I mean we just act like a happily married couple."

"Practice makes perfect!" Jarod replied drinking his orange juice.

"Uh-huh! I think you just want to kiss me!"

"Is that so wrong?" Jarod asked with raised eyebrows.

"I can think of classier ways of trying to kiss me." Miss Parker replied getting into the teasing conversation, although part of her was taken aback by it.

"Such as?"

"Such as…" Miss Parker paused, at a lost for words. "A romantic dinner or after a date. Definitely not a Pretend!"

"So if I gave you a romantic dinner you would kiss me?"

"Not on your life."

"I thought you just said-"

"I said I could think of classier ways of 'trying' to kiss me, not actually succeeding!" Parker retorted, swallowing the last bite of her fruit cup.

"We'll see about that!" Jarod replied as he swiped the bowl from her and put the stuff in the sink. We'll see about that!"

Parker could only look at him in bewilderment. 'What the hell did I just get myself into?'

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Broots sat at his desk typing away on the computer, searching for the building in the photograph. He's mind wondered as to why he was doing this. It bothered him that he was helping Mr. Lyle at Sydney's request. He was beginning to question Sydney's loyalties. He studied the photograph and couldn't help but smile at the girl in the picture. She was Asian with long black hair. She looked to be in her teens and there was a smile on her face, however he got the sense from her eyes which were a surprising blue that she was not all that happy. As he was about to turn off the computer, a beeping sound let him know that a match had been found. Looking up at the screen he read, "Citadel Eugenics."

He took the mouse and hit the print button, listening as the whir of the machine began to spit out the paper. Broots then went in search of more information of the place and began to make a folder of information for Mr. Lyle and Sydney. As more information came out he wondered one more time why they were so interested in the girl. 'Lyle sure has a fetish with Asian girls.' He began to worry that he may be the one who might be helping Lyle to find his new mail-order-bride. Then he shook his head realizing that Sydney would never do anything that would help Lyle do something bad. He was pretty sure. 'Yeah, I'm sure, I think…'

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lyle sat at his desk shifting through the folder Broots had just handed to him. Citadel Eugenics was a company he was vaguely familiar with. He only knew that they were a research company for new birth techniques and disease related research. Lyle found nothing in the folder that said anything different. What he couldn't figure out was why his daughter was there.

It had been five years since he had seen his daughter. One of the reasons he worked at the Centre was to find his daughter. She disappeared when she was eleven. He could still remember that day. The day he lost her and his wife…

Lyle sat at his desk working on some financial papers, one of the few things he hated about being a criminal. You always needed to make sure you had enough money to buy the things you wanted. As his fingers pushed out numbers on the calculator he could hear the door open slowly. He didn't look up, but just continued to work.

"Bobby."

"Yes?"

"Are you almost done yet?" He looked up at his wife, Sylvia. She stood by the door leaning against it with a smile on her face.

"Almost. Trying to figure out why these numbers aren't working."

"Maybe you pushed the wrong button?"

"Always the helpful one aren't you?" Lyle teased. Sylvia laughed.

"Why don't you take a few minutes off and go tuck your daughter in. She's waiting for you to read her a story."

Lyle smile widened at the mention of his daughter. He got up and made his way towards his wife, stopping to take her into his arms.

"I love you." He whispered as he kissed her on the lips, then burying his head into her neck. Sylvia sighed with happiness and kissed her husband back.

"I love you too!"

"Good, cause I was thinking that we should take care of that little thing you wanted tonight."

"Little thing?" Sylvia asked.

"Having another baby."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I love Jade, I love being a father, and I want another one." Lyle seriously replied.

"But with your line of work?" Sylvia asked, her tone showing her disapproval of his job.

"Honey. I know you hate it, but it was what I was trained to do. And you know I would do anything for this family."

"I know, I know. I just hate what you do." Sylvia replied. Then putting on a seductive smile. "And no I wouldn't mind if we took care of it tonight. Although you know tonight might have to be a practice night."

"You don't think we had enough of that? With Jade and last night?"

"Well practice makes perfect."

Lyle laughed and pulled her into another passionate kiss. Their kiss was interrupted by the cough of their little girl.

"Daddy, you're suppose to be tucking me in!" Jade said her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I was just giving your mother a good night kiss." Lyle explained as he squatted down to his daughter's eye level.

"And you were talking about having another baby."

"Would you like that?"

"Yes. But I think I could of gone without knowing when the two of you were going to do it."

Her parents looked at her in shock. Jade looked at them slightly bewildered.

"What? You think I don't know what the two of you do? I am eleven."

Lyle and Sylvia began to laugh. "Why don't you go to bed sweetheart? I'll see you in the morning."

"Come on, Princess, I'll go tuck you in now."

"Alright. Night mom, I love you." Jade said giving her mother a kiss.

"Night sweetie."

"Come on." Lyle said as he picked up his daughter, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Daddy!" She squealed.

Lyle bounded up the stairs and playfully threw her down onto her bed. She laughed and crawled underneath her sheets. He helped tuck her in and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too daddy."

"Have good dreams tonight and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

Jade sat up in her bed and looked at her father. "I really do love you."

"I know. Is everything alright?"

"Yes it is."

"Are you sure?" He asked worried by the look he saw in her eyes. She looked half frightened and half like she was about to lose something. "Because if something is wrong, I want to know."

"I don't think anything is wrong. I just, I feel like I'm never going to see you again."

"Honey, I'll be fine. You will see me in the morning and you know that mom and I will be in our room, right down the hall."

"I know. I guess I'm just worrying about nothing." Jade relented as she sunk down into her sheets. Lyle smiled at his daughter.

"I love you." He kissed her again and turned out the light. He got up and made his way towards the door, looking back at his daughter as he closed the door.

He walked back downstairs to find his wife in the kitchen. She was pulling out a champagne bottle and two wine glasses. When she saw him she could see his worry.

"What is it?" She asked as she came up to him.

"Jade. She said she had the feeling that she wouldn't see us anymore."

Sylvia looked at him getting uneasy. Both of them knew that their daughter had a special sixth sense.

"It could just be one of her fears getting the best of her." Lyle reasoned.

"That or something bad is going to happen." Sylvia replied. "Maybe tonight we should just keep an eye on her."

"Maybe." Lyle said as he hugged his wife.

"I think I'll go up and check on her." Sylvia stepped back from the embrace, looking up towards where her daughter was.

"I just left a few minutes ago."

"I know but I would feel better if I could see that she's okay."

"Alright. I'll meet you upstairs after I bring out the trash." Lyle relented. Sylvia nodded as she made her way upstairs.

Lyle went over and picked up the trash to take it outside. As he put the trash in the bin outside of the house he saw someone climbing into his daughter's window.

"JADE!" He screamed as he rushed into the house. When he stepped in, he could hear the screams of his daughter and wife. Then he heard a gunshot. He quickly grabbed the gun hidden by the stairs and rushed upstairs. He stopped as he saw his wife lying on the floor, blood seeping through her shirt. He knelt down beside her.

"They have her. In her room… Get her. Don't let-let them take her." Sylvia said through labored breathing.

"I won't. Hold on. I'll get you help." Lyle hushed her, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. He got up quickly and rushed towards his daughter's room. When he walked in he saw some man pulling Jade out of the window.

"Daddy!" She screamed as she struggled with the man.

"Jade! Let her go!" He yelled as he aimed his gun at the man.

"Too late, Mr. Lyle." The man said just as Lyle was hit over the head by another man from behind him. Lyle started to black out and the last thing he saw was his daughter being pulled out of the window and her screams of "Daddy."

Disclaimer: The Pretender belongs to its creators, NBC and all those people listed on the credits. As Jarod would say "You know the dance, Miss Parker." I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them and having them play out scenes from my overactive imagination.




Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)



* * * * * * * * * * Part 3* * * * * * * * * *





Broots sat at his computer console and typed in endless searches for Jarod and Miss Parker. And as before, nothing came up. He was getting so tired of this, he was about ready to take the computer and throw it out the window. 'Wait… there is no window.' Broots thought as he looked around the room. 'Maybe I can just throw it against the wall a couple of times…' As he was contemplating the various things he could do to destroy the computer, he was interrupted by the clicks of heels. He immediately thought it was Miss Parker, but then heard the distinct sound of vinyl. 'Oh, God! Its Brigitte!'

"Morning Luv." She smirked as she pulled out her lollipop.

"Uh- hi, Brigitte." Broots replied while trying to put as much distance between himself and her.

"Have you found anything on my 'step-daughter' or Jarod?"

"No… nothing. It seems they have just disappeared."

"People don't disappear, Mr. Broots. I want information now. Actually I wanted it yesterday!" She hissed at him as she brought herself up closer to him.

Broots wished that Parker was back right then and now so that she could deal with Brigitte.

"If you keep threatening him, he's not going to get much done." Sydney replied as he walked into the room.

"Well if isn't the good Doctor." Brigitte sneered. "I wouldn't be yelling at him if could actually do his job."

"Maybe you should be doing yours." Lyle said as he joined the group.

"You shouldn't be talking to your 'mommy' like that!" Brigitte retorted.

"You are * Not * my mother. Broots?"

"Nothing sir." The techie replied as he hid himself behind the computer, quite glad that he hadn't destroyed it.

"Well keep working… Is there something else you wanted?" Lyle asked the fake brunette, 'or maybe it was fake blond…' He still wasn't quite sure.

"No. However my husband want's to see you for lunch today."

"Tell him I will try to make it."

Brigitte nodded and made her way out the door, although a very annoyed look was plastered on her face. Once she was out of the room, Lyle turned to Sydney and Broots.

"I want you to infiltrate Citadel Eugenics computers, Broots."

"Uh-what?"

"I want you to go in and find all the information you can on tests and experiments involving human test subjects." Lyle ordered, his voice at a low whisper.

"Uh-sure. Wha-what is it for?"

"None of your business. Just get it to me by the end of the day. And should you breathe a word of this to anyone I will kill you on the spot. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Sydney, follow me." Lyle ordered to the older man. Sydney nodded and followed, giving Broots a supportive pat on the back. Broots watched the retreating figures and wished that he knew what was going on. Something told him it wasn't good and he wished that Miss Parker was there. He wondered where she was and what she was doing.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Parker groaned as Jarod pulled her shirt off. She fell back against the couch, eliciting yet another painful cry. Jarod leaned over her running his hand along her arm.

"You should have been more careful!" Jarod chided as he went to look at her wound.

"Not my fault I tripped and fell against broken glass." Parker retorted, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the fact that she only had her bra on.

"You shouldn't have been running, especially in those
damn heels."

"I've run in them for the past two-and-a-half years chasing after you!"

"Well I've always told you that you shouldn’t!" Jarod replied as he went to get the first-aid kit. The two of them had been walking home from the park and somehow in the midst of their silence one of them ensued a silent challenge of who could walk home the fastest. By the time they were turning a corner, the speed walking turned into a running race. Parker had lost part of her balance on the turn and fell against the wall where glass bottles had been broken. Jarod helped her get up and saw that she was bleeding. Being stubborn, Parker refused to go to the hospital, so they were back at the penthouse. Jarod shook his head at her and came back with the first-aid kit. He looked over at her shirt as he walked towards her, "I think it's ruined."

"Damn-it!"

"I'll buy you a new one."

"I don't care about that. Oww! That stings!" Parker yelled as Jarod began to clean the wound on her arm.

"Well I need to clean and disinfect it." Jarod said as he put himself into doctor mode. "Hmmm, looks like you still have a piece stuck in there."

A cry of pain came from Miss Parker as Jarod took the piece of glass out. Jarod then cleaned it and wrapped it up. "Okay that takes care of the arm. Now your stomach."

"It just scratched." Parker replied as she watched

Jarod run his finger along her stomach, causing a moan to erupt in her throat.

"Hurts that bad?"

"Yes!" Parker replied quickly, trying to cover up the fact that she liked his hand on her body. However the next moan was of pain when he rubbed some alcohol over the cut. "Jesus Jarod! Can't you find a less painful way to clean it?"

"No."

"You are really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Causing you pain? No I'm not. Giving pleasure… Yes." Jarod smirked up at Parker. She looked at him in surprise then turned an icy glare on him.

"What do you mean?"

"I know when you are moaning and groaning for pleasure and when it's of pain. I'm pretty sure when I did this it was pleasure." Jarod said as he ran his fingers lightly across her skin. Parker let out a small moan.

"Yep, that was definitely one of pleasure."

"Don't flatter yourself Jarod!" Parker retorted. Jarod only smirked as Miss Parker pushed him away to go upstairs. Jarod laughed quietly as he heard her angry footsteps going up to the bedroom.

"This might turn out not to be a bad pretend after all."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The next morning Parker went downstairs dressed in her business attire. Today was her and Jarod's first day at Citadel Eugenics. She couldn't help but feel slightly nervous at what she was about to do, but at the same time was quite happy for the challenge. She walked in to the kitchen to find that a pot of coffee was ready for her. She poured herself a cup and took a satisfying sip. Parker smoothed her short black skirt and made sure that her blouse had no creases or wrinkles in it.

Jarod walked in with a newspaper and his briefcase looking very much like a professional business man. He was dressed in a similar black colored suit. His jacket was slung over the kitchen chair and his white shirt was colored by a dark blue tie. Parker couldn't help but notice how cute and GQ-ish he looked. 'Snap out of it Parker! This is Jarod!' She thought.

"Morning!" Jarod said as he put a pop tart in the toaster.

"Morning." Parker replied, by the sound of her voice he could tell she was still mad about the other day.

"Aww… Is my sweetie-pie not having a good morning?" He asked leaning his head over her shoulder.

"It would be much better if you get out of my personal space and that I didn't have to wake up seeing your face."

"What a wonderful way to greet your husband." Jarod replied fetching the pop tart out.

"You are only my * Pretend * husband!" Parker retorted.

"So are you ready for today?"

"As ready as I will be."

"Good." Jarod replied as he finished quickly finished the pop tart. "Hmmm… Parker did you know that a Pop tart has 11 essential-"

"Vitamins and minerals. Yes I do." Parker replied, Jarod looked at her in shock. "Broots informed me."

Jarod nodded. "So you ready to go?"

"Yep." Parker put her mug in the sink and grabbed her suit jacket. She put it on and walked towards the door. Jarod did the same and followed her. He held the door open for her, "After you Mrs. Hall."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jarod and Parker, otherwise known as Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hall, sat in Citadel Eugenics President Knight's office.

"Your records are very impressive." Alex Knight replied. "The two of you will be a wonderful asset to this company."

"Thank you. I'm very happy to become a part of this." Jarod replied. "We both are."

Parker smiled as brightly as she could when Jarod put his hand into hers. "Yes, I'm looking forward to working at Security."

"Good. Good. Well let me tell you both a little more about what you would be doing." Knight said. He looked similar to Mr. Parker, although a bit heavier, darker gray hair and no mustache. "Mr. Hall, you would be working with Research Team B. Your supervisor will be Dr. Janette Cumbers and she'll inform you more on the type of research you'll be doing and which projects you'll be a part of."

Jarod nodded and was quite pleased. He knew that Research Team B was the one working on the mysterious projects, especially Dr. Cumbers.

"Mrs. Hall, you'll be at security with Maurice Binks. He's head of security here and will train you in what you need to know. But from the looks of things you will probably just fit right in."

"Oh, I'm sure." Parker replied.

"Good then, I'll introduce you to them and the two of you can get started!" Mr. Knight smiled brightly at them and gestured for them to follow him out the door.

Jarod and Parker returned the smile and followed him out. Jarod placed his arm around Parker's waist, praying that this Pretend will work.

The three walked to a smaller room by the secretaries desk, inside was a man and a woman. Parker guessed that it was Maurice Binks and Janette Cumbers. She guessed right when Mr. Knight introduced them. Her new supervisor was very stony and seemed to posses no personality. He was tall, his face was leathery, and he was dressed in a dark gray suit. Janette Cumbers on the other hand was quite bubbly and a lot younger looking than her co-worker. She was a tall woman, with dirty blond hair pulled up into a French twist, and skirt that almost rivaled her own. Almost. Parker noticed that Dr. Cumbers was looking Jarod over and that she liked what she saw. Jarod didn't seem to notice the apparent interest of Dr. Cumbers. Parker put her arm through his and smiled brightly and warningly at the doctor. Jarod noticed how close Parker was putting herself by him and realized that she was jealous. He smiled down at her and patted her hand.

"I think that we should get started, shouldn't we dear?" He asked as they finished introductions and a bit of small talk about what specifically they would be doing.

"Yes, I personally would like to start working." Parker replied. "I think that this just might be the company for us."

"That's good!" Knight said happily. "Well Maurice, Janette, I'll let you two take over. Should you have any problems, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, just come to me."

"I doubt we will!" Parker replied, once again giving a warning glance at the blond doctor.

"Good, good."

"I'm going to enjoy working with you, Mr. Hall." Dr. Cumbers said.

"And I'm sure I will enjoy working with you."

"Mrs. Hall, I will give you a tour of the building today and let you get better acquainted with the security systems and protocols." Mr. Binks informed her. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Hall." Jarod shook his hand, "Nice meeting you too. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"Hmph. I'm sure we will. Mrs. Hall?" Parker nodded and began to follow him out.

"I'll see you later, dear." Jarod replied.

"Alright, have fun." Parker said out loud, then leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Just not too much!"

"Jealous are we?" he whispered back.

"In your dreams, Wonder Boy." She stepped away from him with a small smirk. Before she walked completely away, Jarod gave her a kiss on the lips.

"Till later, sweetheart." He smiled and waved as she tried to keep her glare hidden away.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jarod studied the documents placed in front of him by Dr. Cumbers. He was in his new office, which had a particularly nice view of the woods surrounding the complex.

"This will be your first project." Dr. Cumbers said as she pointed at a particular folder. "You will be researching how this drug, chem. 5723, helps reverse mental retardation. So far we have six subjects, mostly in there 20's. We administered the drug to them a little more than a month ago."

"Human subjects?" Jarod asked.

"We were granted permission by their families and the people themselves."

"So I am just to observe how the drug is affecting them?"

"Basically. We are also going to test the drug on people with an average IQ to see if it will help increase intelligence."

"I thought the company only did disease related research, Dr. Cumbers?" Jarod questioned.

"Call me Janette. And no, we also do some side research on drugs that we think may have other uses. We usually only do disease research, but like I said before if we think there could be another use we test it."

Jarod nodded in understanding, wondering exactly what other kinds of research they did that he wasn't being told about. The fact that they were working on drugs that could increase intelligence made him very suspicious that they may know about the pretender gene.

"Dr. Cum- Janette, I can't wait to start. Perhaps you could give me a tour of where I will be working?" Jarod asked.

"Sure, no problem. Follow me." Janette replied as she walked out the door. The went down the hall which was occupied by other offices and stopped at the elevator. She pushed the down button and they waited.

"So how long have you and your wife been married?"

"Two and a half years."

"The two of you seem very happy with each other."

"We are." Jarod said as the elevator door opened. The two stepped inside. "Are you married?"

"No. Haven't found the right man yet." Janette replied as she eyed Jarod. He shifted noticing her gaze.

"I'm sure you'll find him."

"Oh, I'm sure I will and when I do nothing will stop me from getting him, Michael!"

Jarod looked at her and then turned his attention back to the elevator doors. They opened up on level 1B, which were floors below the lobby. 'I guess they believe in sublevels too.' Jarod thought.

"This is the main floor that leads to the laboratories and other examination rooms." Janette explained as she showed him the security desk and the doors that led to the other rooms. "Patients usually go to rooms above the main lobby, those who are under our care for more than a week are down here. Sometimes the patients will come down here for procedures and operations."

"Seems a bit lifeless without windows." Jarod replied.

"It may seem that way but we make sure that are patients are able to get out once or twice everyday and if they are confined to a bed, we take them to the observatory floor reserved for patients."

Jarod nodded making no comment as he followed her.

"You will have to check in here at the security desk when you enter or leave. This helps protect the patients and the research. We don't want anyone who's not given clearance to get in. Your badge will has a bar code on it that has stored which areas you can enter and Eric here also has a print out listing of where you can go."

Eric nodded at Jarod and Janette. "Well its nice to see a new face, Mister?."

"Hall, Michael Hall. Its nice to meet you too Eric." Jarod smiled at the young security officer.

"I see you've met Mr. Simon."

Jarod turned around to see Miss Parker walking towards him along with Maurice Binks. The two were coming out of one of the secured laboratory areas.

"I'm being given the grand tour." Jarod replied. Parker nodded.

"Mrs. Hall, I hope you enjoyed your tour." Eric Simon asked. Jarod could tell that the man was clearly enamored with his * wife *.

"Quite, thank you." Parker said as she came up beside Jarod. He put an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"So Andrea what did you see so far?" He asked.

"Some of the labs, the security offices and stations and a couple of the examination rooms. I must say I'm quite impressed with the security here."

Her comment made Binks smile. Anyone who complimented his security made him a happy man. "Thank you. I must say that we have one of the finest security in all of the US and if I may say so myself better than the government."

"Maurice loves to brag about his security." Janette said teasingly.

"Hey if you got the best, why not show it off?"

Jarod was slightly surprised, since earlier he found Maurice Binks to be lacking in personality. It was nice to see that the man could be animate about something.

"Where are you off to now?" Parker asked.

"I was just about to show Michael the labs and examination rooms." Janette replied. Parker was surprised that the doctor was already calling Jarod by his first name.

"Well I won't keep you waiting. They have a nice layout here." Parker said as she moved herself out of Jarod's arm.

"I'll see you later for lunch."

"Alright."

Parker and Binks watched the two walk to one of the lab areas. Once they disappeared, Binks motioned for Parker to follow him.

"Here is the main security room for the lower levels. We have three security rooms. The main one for the upper levels and one for all levels."

"Where will I be working?"

"The lower levels. Most people start in the upper, but you seem pretty competent."

"I take it, the one for all levels are for those on the high end of command?"

"You are correct in your assumption, Mrs. Hall." Binks replied. "If I see that you are skilled enough you may be able to get there earlier. You seem to have a knack for picking things up quickly."

"I would like to say that I am the best at what I do. And if I'm not, I make myself the best."

"I like that in a person. Always pushing themselves." Binks said looking admirably at Parker.

Parker smiled and hoped that she would get that promotion quickly. If she did then this Pretend would end a lot sooner. She noticed a man sitting at one of the chairs and Binks introduced them.

"Harry Parth, this Andrea Hall. She will be a new member of our security team."

"Nice to meet you Miss. Hall."

"Mrs. Hall." Parker replied shaking the man's hand. "Its nice to meet you too."

Binks cleared his throat to get Parker's attention back. "Here as you can see are the video screens for all the cameras. We've placed cameras in all the halls and one in each room. Some have two depending on their size."

"What about patient privacy?"

"We follow the same guidelines as the doctors do. We do not discuss what is going on and we basically pretend that we don't know anything. Here are the control consoles and every time you come in here you are always to log in and out. As I told you before, you use your badge. Now should something happen down here, you call the security guards on here. There will be at least five guards on duty on each floor and one other one working at the security desk in each section."

"And there are ten floors?"

Binks nodded. "I will give you the maps and a couple of instruction manuals for you to study. Your access codes and other security clearances will also be given to you. I will train you for the next two days and then I'll let Harry take over. After that we'll see how it goes."

"Well I guess I'll be seeing you Mrs. Hall." Harry replied as she followed the chief of security out the door.

"Tomorrow. Count on it."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Sydney sat at him home reading his book when he felt the presence of someone behind him. The person cleared his throat and Sydney relaxed.

"Mr. Lyle, how may I help you?" Sydney asked.

"I want you to keep my father busy while I check out Citadel Eugenics." Lyle said as he came into Sydney's view. Sydney brow creased as he looked at the man.

"Are you sure, Mr. Lyle? You don't have anything that says she's there."

"I have the picture."

"You can't be sure that's she's there though."

"Its better than not looking, Sydney." Lyle said in frustration.

"At least wait until Broots has more information." Sydney tried to reason.

"I have what I need and he's going to fax me some more tomorrow morning. I'm going and I need you to make sure that no one finds out."

"Shouldn't you be asking Broots to help you with that?" Sydney asked. Lyle looked at him.

"You can for me. Look, just keep the Centre away from me for a little while. Tell them I have a lead on my sister or something."

Sydney almost smiled. The request sounded a lot like Miss Parker's when she wanted to get away or look for something about her mother. He sighed. "Alright, but I wouldn't get your hopes up Lyle. There's always that possibility that she's-"

"Don't say it Sydney! She's not! I know that!"

"Alright I won't, but don't forget that's a possibility."

"I'm going to find my daughter."

"Be careful, Mr. Lyle."

"I will." With that Lyle left leaving Sydney to worry about him, Parker and Jarod. He prayed that all three would be alright.

Disclaimer: See part 1

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, life seems to have gotten in the way of my writing lately. Hopefully you will see more in the near future. Part 5 is on the way for those of you interested.



Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)



* * * * * * * * * * Part 4* * * * * * * * * *




Alex Knight stood behind the glass wall and watched as the young dark-haired woman shot her gun with perfect aim at the target. Three shots through the heart and three right between the eyes. She was one of Citadel Eugenics best target shooters, even better when the target was moving.

"It’s surprising that she’s still improving every day."

Alex nodded in agreement. "She’s becoming the best and most successful of all of them."

"Her accuracy results on the Sims have also improved, especially with the new drug, chem. 5723."

"Good, good. Continue with the administration of the drug and keep monitoring her progress. The moment you see something wrong, stop with the administration. The last thing we need is to lose one of our best Pretender."

"I understand, although I think we have other things to worry about than the drug. Her memory seems to be returning and there are signs of resistance in her performing the Sims."

"Is it because of 5723?"

"No, I don’t think so."

"Have you tried to suppress them with other drugs?"

"I have thought about it, but I don’t know how they will react to 5723."

"Hmm…" Alex stopped to think. She was the best pretender that they had and the last thing he needed was for her memories to return. It was hard enough trying to get her to cooperate in the first place, it would be harder the second time around. She had a very stubborn mind.

"We’ll stop with 5723 until we have suppressed the other memories, when you have ensured that they are gone continue with the experiment."

"Fine. By the way, I hear that you have a new assignment for her."

Alex smiled down at the doctor. "There’s someone that I want her to get rid of, I think it will be the best way to determine exactly what her capability is."

"And?"

"Have her kill Tanaka."

"Father or son?"

"Father."

"She’ll have to get in and out of the prison, he’s heavily guarded." The doctor pointed out.

"That’s the challenge. If she can pull it off without being caught, then we know what she’s capable of."

"I’ll have her prepped tomorrow morning."

"Good." Alex smiled at his pretender. She turned around and looked at him. It only made his smile grow larger as he saw that her eyes were empty of any soul, only pure hatred and evil stared back at him.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Parker and Jarod sat at the kitchen table going over piles of papers they had received over the past couple of days as well as the ones they had ‘borrowed.’ They found a few references to different projects, but mainly they were the ones the place had made public. Jarod sighed and stretched out his arms.

"Coffee?" He asked as he got up.

"Please!" Parker replied as she worked on the computer. Jarod went over to the counter and began to make another pot of coffee. He sat by it listening to the drips and whirs of the machine as he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he could find anything about his sister or if this was a dead end. His thoughts were interrupted by a gasp from Parker.

"Jarod. Come look at this."

"What?"

"This project number, 26435-3937, keeps being listed under other projects, including yours for Chem. 5723." Jarod nodded, surprised that Parker would catch something that he didn't. "When I saw this I looked up that project and with the security clearance I stole from Binks I was able to access it."

"Well?" Jarod asked at her pause. Parker took a deep breath.

"It’s a Pretender project, at least one of them."

"One of them?"

"By the looks of it they have five Pretender projects running, see here. However this one seems to be the most successful."

"Its like the Red Files."

"I guess. I think you know more about that then I would." Parker replied. She ran a hand through her hair to get it out of her face.

"Anything else?"

"There are two females and one male in this project. According to this a 17-year-old half-Asian, half-Caucasian girl, the other a 23-year-old Caucasian woman and a 19-year-old Caucasian man. Here are their pictures."

"Emily." He replied as he saw the picture of the oldest of the group.

"We'll get her out Jarod." Parker replied softly.

"I hope."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Tanaka slept in cell, his breathing soft and low. However it was interrupted by the sound of the bars opening. He looked up to see a figure covered from head to foot in black.

"What do you want?" He asked in his accented English.

"I'm here to set you free." The figure replied in Japanese.

"Tomei sent you didn’t he?" The old man asked, a proud smile coming over his face.

"No. I was sent by someone else."

"Who?"

"Death."

Tanaka looked up the figure only to see blood red lips turned up in a smile.

"Who are you?" His voice slightly raising, ready to call for the guards.

"Your Angel of Death."

Before he could do/say anything, his assailant had wrapped his neck with a rope of bed sheets and tied it
to the metal bars. Then she pushed him and he fell forward only to be stopped by the sheet.

"It’s a shame they won't see it’s my own handy work." She said quietly to the dying figure. "But I'm sure they'll be quite happy that you committed 'suicide'."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


"She's completed the assignment without a hitch." The doctor replied smiling at Alex.

"Congratulations."

The pretender looked up at him and smiled. The other two pretenders came over and congratulated her.

"Good job Baby." The one male congratulated. He slung an arm around her and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Now you are definitely part of the team." Emily added a proud smile on her face. "Always knew you
could do it."

"Thanks." She replied.

"Good, now that Jade is officially part of the team, I have a new assignment for the three of you. Emily you'll head the operation and no complaints about it Trent."

"Did you hear anything coming out of my mouth?" The young man replied.

"Just making sure before you could get it out." Alex replied with a smile.

"So what's the assignment?" Jade asked, adrenaline rushing at the excitement of doing more operations.

"The government is testing a new drug at one of their secret facilities in the Midwest. I want the three of you to penetrate it and retrieve all the information you can. I have already received blue prints of the complex and the access codes for the files. You can only retrieve the information from one of two of the labs. I leave the rest up to the three of you on how to get it."

"The drug?" Emily asked her mind already coming up with possibilities as she studied the blue print he had just handed her.

"Something called Barb. It’s supposed to paralyze a person for weeks and make them more susceptible to memory alterations. We have yet to come up with a successful formula, so why waste more money when we can just get the list of ingredients. Right?"

The four other occupants of the room smiled.

"I'll let you three get to work. Janette could you show them out?"

"My pleasure. I need to get to my office anyway." She said to Alex, then turning to the three pretenders, "If you do need anything, just let me know."

"Will do." Trent replied. They all exited the office leaving a very happy Alex Knight behind.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Lyle sat at a café in New York City trying to formulate some plan on how to find his daughter. Everything at the moment came up as a bad idea, with the possibilities turning out bad more often then good. What he really needed was someone on the inside to help him, but who was the question. He looked at the newspaper by his coffee cup and noticed that Tanaka was on the front. He picked it up in interest.

"Japanese Crime Boss Commits Suicide." He read out loud from the headline. It surprised him since he never thought Tanaka was that type of person, but he just shrugged it off. As he continued to read two voices caught his attention. When he peered up from his paper he felt his jaw drop down to the floor. It was Parker and Jarod, holding hands and if that wasn’t enough he saw her giving Jarod a kiss.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Parker walked into the restaurant with Jarod to have dinner with a co-worker of theirs, Eric Simon one of the security people. Then she saw Janette. Of all the people that had to come it had to be her. Janette waved her hand in hello, though Parker could see right through that saccharine smile of hers. Parker leaned up to give Jarod a kiss, hoping that Janette would finally get the point. ‘Blondes always seem to have a harder time grasping things.’ She reasoned silently with herself.

Jarod had to suppress a chuckle when he saw Janette and Parker’s reaction to it.

"Jealous are we?" Jarod whispered into her ear.

"Let’s just say I’m claiming what’s mine." Parker replied a wicked smile on her face as she approached their table.

"You really should learn to share."

"I don’t share!"

"Just spoil my fun why don’t you?" Jarod teased, his breath hot on her neck. Parker turned her face up towards him, seeing his cocky grin.

"You only wish."

Before Jarod could respond, Parker stopped in her tracks and could not believe who she saw sitting in front of her. Jarod looked at Lyle and prayed that he wouldn’t give away the pretend.

"Sis, how nice to see you? So this is what you have been up to." Lyle replied, still unsure how to react to his sister being here with Jarod.

"What are you doing here?" Parker asked.

"Could ask you the same. When did the two of you get hitched?" Lyle asked noticing the wedding rings on the two.

"Michael, Andrea!!!" Janette greeted loudly as she came over to three, stopping right besides Jarod.

"Glad you made it, I hope you don’t mind my joining. Eric was so nice to invite me when he told me of his plans tonight."

‘You just wanted to hit on Jarod.’ Parker thought silently as she watched the woman press up against
Jarod.

"Um, yes well…" Jarod started to reply, but was interrupted by Janette.

"Who’s this?" She asked pointing to Lyle. "An old colleague or something?"

"This is-" Parker began.

"I’m her brother." Lyle finished for her. "I’m in town for business and just ran into these two here. Small world isn’t it?" He asked with a sly grin on his face.

"Umm, yes small world." Jarod replied. He was wondering why Lyle was playing along.

"So where do you two work now?" Lyle continued, trying to gather as much information as he could.

"Oh, we work at Citadel Eugenics." Janette replied. Lyle could barely keep his surprise hidden, however Parker picked up on it but decided not to say anything yet. "Would you care to join us Mr.- I’m sorry I missed your name."

"Robert Denton. Call me Bobby."
"Nice to meet you. Would you care to join?"

"Sur-"

"If you don’t mind Janette, I really hate to be rude, but I haven’t seen my brother in a long time and would like to have dinner just with him tonight. It’s such a surprise to see him that I would like to catch up with him." Parker replied throwing looks over at Lyle. Lyle only smiled and nodded.

"That sounds nice, Sis. It has been such a long time that even didn’t know you and Michael here got married."

"Well I understand. Michael would you like to join us then and leave the two siblings alone for catch-up time?" Janette asked throwing him a flirtatious smile.

"Umm… I think I have some catching up to do with my brother-in-law, but thanks. Tell Eric that I’m sorry for this change in plans."

"Oh, alright. I’m sure he’ll understand." Janette waved goodbye and walked back to her table.

"So Sis why wasn’t I invited to the wedding?"

"What are you really doing here Lyle?" Jarod demanded.

"What are you doing at Citadel Eugenics?"

"Is that really any of your business?" Parker responded. "What interest do you have in the place anyway? I noticed that the name caught your interest."

"You tell me first."

"We are not playing this game with you." Jarod said.

"My, my I’m sure the Centre would love to know where the two of you are. You have caused a great ruckus back there Sis."

"You tell us first what you are doing here then we’ll tell you on the condition that you don’t tell the Centre." Parker replied.

"Why should I not?"

"Cause you’re not suppose to be here either." Jarod said. "The Centre is looking for you too."

"How are you so sure?"

"My source." Jarod replied cryptically. The three sat silently at the table as each contemplated the next move to make.

"Fine. I’m looking for this person." Lyle replied quietly, pulling out the picture of his daughter. Jarod and Parker gasped, it was the same girl from the Pretender project. "You’ve seen her?" Lyle asked some hope creeping up in his voice.

"Why are you looking for her?" Jarod asked, suspicious as to why Lyle would want the girl.

"I don’t really think it’s any of your business Jarod."

"It is our business if you don’t want to be squealed on." Parker replied.

"You squeal on me, I squeal on you and I’m sure that the Triumvirate would not be happy to find out that you’re married to King Lab Rat here."

"Until you tell me why you are looking for her we’re not going to tell you what we’re here for." Jarod replied. All the while Parker kept feeling like they were going around in circles likes pre-schoolers.

"First you tell me something first then I’ll tell you."

"Nu-uh. You have to tell me why-"

"If you’re so interested then why don’t you-"

"Oh would the two of you just shut-up!" Parker bite out. "You are giving me a headache."

"Someone got out of the wrong side of bed." Lyle replied.

"Doesn’t she always?" Jarod said.

Parker gave both of them an icy glare. "Look brother dearest, I’m here because it looks like we have some competition here against the Centre. I’m here to gather information to bring back to the Centre."

"Is she part of one of the projects?" Lyle asked pointing to the picture.

"Yes."

"You going to get her out?"

Jarod and Parker looked at each other, slightly bewildered by Lyle’s tone. It was a mix of hope and sadness.

"You know her don’t you?" Jarod asked quietly.

"You could say that."

"What’s her relationship to you?"

Lyle didn’t say anything at first. He wasn’t sure if he could trust them, more precisely Jarod. His sister he was sure that he could trust, after all this dealt with their family, but Jarod was different. After all the things he had done to the man he wasn’t sure if Jarod would help him. But so far they were the only two he could count on.

"She’s- Look I know you are not going to believe me when I say this but its true." Lyle started out, he was looking at the picture. He took a deep breath and looked up at the two, "She’s my daughter."

"You’re WHAT?" Jarod and Parker replied at the same time.

"My daughter. You know I’m her father, half her DNA is mine, she’s my child, a product of having sex." Lyle replied slightly annoyed.

"I know that!" Parker said. "But I never thought that you were a father. You never said anything."

"Because if I did the Centre would be looking for her." Lyle replied.

"How do I know you’re not lying?" Jarod asked.

"Because I’m not. If you want proof, I have pictures, a birth certificate, etc. I’m not lying Jarod."

"Why is she with them? What happened?" Parker asked curious and surprised that she had a niece.

"She was taken away from me and Sylvia six years ago."

"Sylvia?"

"My wife… late wife. The bastards who took my daughter killed her." Lyle eyes turned dark with anger as he remembered the night that his life was turned upside down. "At first I thought it was the Centre, which is why I went to work for them, but it turned out I was wrong. I couldn’t find a trace of her until recently when someone gave me this picture. It was suppose to have been taken two years ago. I don’t even know if she is alive or dead."

"We haven’t seen her, only her records and files." Parker replied.

"But as far as we know she is alive." Jarod continued. "So that’s why you’re here."

"And why if the Centre found out they would take her the moment I got her out."

"That smart huh?" Parker asked.

"She was really bright. I would like to say it came from me, but I think most of it came from her mother." Lyle replied like a proud father. "Is this why you two are here? To get them out?"

"It is." Jarod said as he contemplated the information he just received. He still didn’t know how to react to Lyle. He could tell that the man was sincere in wanting his daughter back, but he still couldn’t get over the fact that Lyle had killed his brother or any of the other hideous things Lyle had done.

"Will you help me get her out?" Lyle asked, hope creeping into his voice although he tried to keep it neutral.

Parker and Jarod exchanged a look and nodded. "On one condition." Jarod said.

"What?"

"All the people we free are to stay free! The Centre is not to find out about any of them and if they do you do everything you can to stop them from taking them."

"It’s a deal then." Lyle replied.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Parker and Jarod returned to their penthouse later that evening after their unexpected dinner with Lyle. They didn’t say anything to each other at first. Finally the silence began to become oppressive.

"I have a niece." Was all that Parker could come up with.

"Looks like both of us has a family member to get out." Jarod replied. "I still can’t believe that Lyle has a daughter."

"You can’t believe it? I’m his twin sister, I can’t believe it."

"It’s going to take some getting use to, this idea of him having a heart."

"This might explain his behavior in the past." Parker reasoned. "He lost his daughter and his wife in the same night. Not only that when he went to the organization that he thought that took his daughter, it turns out that they don’t even know of her existence."

"It’s not a justification for what he’s done."

"No, it’s not, but it’s an explanation." Parker replied, feeling for the first time in her life true sympathy for her brother.

"I hope he stays away like he promised." Jarod said.

"He should, I don’t think he would jeopardize losing his daughter. He understands that someone over there will probably recognize him."

"Unless they already know he’s here. If they are anything like the Centre, they will be keeping some type of tabs on him."

"Not unless they still think he is dead."

"But he’s been back at the Centre for how long?" Jarod pointed out.

"True." Parker replied. "We just need to find out if they know about him or not. Plus if Janette is part of the project then that might mean she knows who he is."

"No I don’t think she does. If she did she would know who we are."

"Not necessarily Jarod." Parker said. "We are not what Citadel wants. From what I can tell they want pretenders who have not been ‘worked’ with before. They want someone who they can start off with a clean slate."

"I don’t agree Parker. They took my sister and your niece. They both are tied to the Centre."

"Yes but the Centre has never actually worked with them. Neither of them had been inside the facility or had direct contact with one of them."

"Jade?" Jarod replied.

"Lyle didn’t work for the Centre at the time Jarod. He was doing everything he could to keep her away from them."

"I see your point. This is going to be hard to get used to." Jarod said shaking his head in dismay.

"Lyle being an ally is not something that I feel comfortable with."

"We’ll just have to deal with it and hope for the best."

Disclaimer: In first part...
Author's Note: Apology for long wait. In the middle of revision decided to rewrite the entire part. Therefore it took a lot longer. Hopefully next part will come much faster!!! :-P I hope...



Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)




* * * * * * * * * * Part 5* * * * * * * * * *



Sydney let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. He shifted the phone in his hand as he listened to Lyle speak on the other line.

"They are going to help me get her out, but we don’t know how long it will take."

"Perhaps you should get back here, Mr. Lyle. It will at least get the Centre off your back for a little while." Sydney replied, glad to know finally where Parker and Jarod were. He was still surprised that Parker had agreed to play Jarod’s wife. He laughed at the thought.

"Syd?" Lyle asked at the old man’s chuckle.

"Sorry just wondering how long Jarod is going to last as Parker’s husband." Lyle laughed back.

"Look Syd I will be back soon, just keep them off my tail for a bit longer."

"Alright, but be careful. The last thing Jade needs is for you to do is something foolish right now."

"I know Syd. Thanks."

Sydney listened as Lyle hung up the phone. He listened to the dial tone for a minute before hanging up the pay phone. He walked outside the booth and towards home.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Lyle paced around his hotel room impatiently. He wanted to see her, he wanted to hold his little girl again. He hated waiting. As Sylvia always said patience was never one of his virtues. A sad nostalgic smile came to his face as he thought about her.

‘I miss her so much.’ He thought silently. Just then he heard a knock at his door. When he looked in the peephole he saw that it was his sister. Opening it up he gestured for her to come in.

"What do I owe the pleasure of this visit for?" He asked. "And where’s Jarod?"

"He’s back at the house working. I just came by to have a private chat with you and to let you know how things are going." Parker replied as she took a seat on the bed. She took a quick inventory of the room and noticed that it was neat and clean. Unlike Jarod, her brother had good taste in hotel rooms.

"Trust me no roaches." He remarked as he noticed her inspection.

"That’s a good thing." They remained silent for a few moments. Then Parker continued, "We have found more information about Jade and the others. Apparently they are the best Pretenders they have. Also they seem to be able to leave the facility."

"Do you think we could use that opportunity to get them?" Lyle asked.

"That’s what Jarod and I were thinking. The key is to know when they are allowed to leave and exactly how we get to them."

"Anything I can do?"

"Nothing right now, but to sit back and wait."

"I hate doing that."

"I know."

Lyle laughed. "A Parker family trait?"

"The family curse." Parker replied with a smile. The two just sat together laughing. In most cases people would find the two of them getting along to be extremely strange and unworldly. However she and her brother had long time ago established that although they would always be at each other’s throats, that there were some moments they were on the same side of the coin. Those moments seemed to freak Broots out more than anything. That established another rumble of laughter from her.

"What?" Lyle asked perplexed.

"Just Broots would probably have a heart attack if he saw us not at each other’s throats."

Lyle smiled. "Probably would, but you would think he would have gotten use to people acting out of character at the Centre."

"I think he’s beginning to learn that."

"Why else are you here Sis?" Lyle asked studying his sister, wondering the real reason she was here.

"I want to know about you." She stated plainly. It took Lyle off guard.

"Why?"

"Because I’m beginning to realize that there is more to you than meets the eye."

"Like you."

It was Parker’s turn to look surprised.

"I always thought that there was more of our mother in you than there appeared." Lyle paused. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know about you, about Sylvia: who she is, where you met. And I want to know about Jade. I want to know the brother before he got corrupted by the Centre."

Lyle laughed cynically. "I was corrupted the day I was born. We both were."

Parker shot a surprised look at him, but said nothing.

"About me… That’s hard. I can tell you about Sylvia. She was the most beautiful woman I ever met. Also the first one to ever reject me."

Parker sat back and listened to her brother recount his love affair with the woman of his dreams.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Lyle paced around in his office restless. He wanted to be back in New York helping out his sister and Jarod, instead he had to stay at the Centre. He was about to hurl something from his desk when Sydney and Broots walked through the door.

"Anyone ever heard of knocking?" He growled at the two, deciding that that he would take out his agitation on them.

Broots stuttered for a reply, while Sydney just gave a nod of apology.

"What are the two of you here for?"

"Um, to tell you we have a lead on Jarod."

Lyle raised his eyebrows in interest. "Well w-h-e-r-e Broots? We don’t have all day!"

"In the- uh, well we think he’s in, uh…"

"Just spit it out Broots!" Lyle yelled at the man.

"Washington D.C.!"

"Syd call the jet and tell them we are to go now."

"Already done sir." Sydney replied.

"Oh, you two, better pack a little extra this time, I have a feeling we’ll be tailing him for a while." Lyle suggested cryptically. Sydney nodded in slight understanding and poor Broots stood there confused as always.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


The three and Sam walked out of their hotel in search of Jarod. His last lair was supposedly in an apartment near Georgetown University. Sam after a few wrong turns was finally able to find the place.

"Sam and Sydney in the back, Broots you’re with me." Lyle ordered.

Broots looked as if he signed his death sentence, but didn’t say anything. They all went their way. Lyle and Broots entered through the front only to find that the house was empty. They bumped into Sydney and Sam who had come up the stairs.

"Well looks like we missed him." Sydney replied.

"Again." Lyle said, annoyed. All of a sudden upstairs they heard a song playing. After listening for a few moments, they were able to distinguish what it was.

"Yesterday." Broots voiced. "That’s one of my favorite Beatles songs."

Lyle smiled and headed up the stairs. The other three followed along. As soon as they stepped into the room where the song was emitting from the door shut behind them.

"What?" Broots said in surprise only to be more in shock when he saw Jarod and Miss Parker standing in the room. "Mi-Mi-Miss Parker and-and Ja-Jarod!"

"I take it Parker chose the song?" Lyle asked as he looked at the two.

"You did tell me it was her favorite song." Parker replied. "I thought you would get the message."

"I got it when Broots told me the location."

"Well just in case you forgot." Jarod smirked. Lyle threw him an annoyed glance but said nothing in return.

"Jarod, Parker its good to see you both well." Sydney greeted a huge smile on his face.

"I take it Lyle told you?" Jarod replied. Sydney nodded in response.

"You can put the gun down Sam." Parker told her sweeper. "This time Jarod is helping us out with a little something."

Sam did as he was told, but the questions shown in his eyes. Broots just said it out loud.

"What’s going on? You and Jarod are working together? And with Mr. Lyle? What does Yesterday have to do with anything? Whose favorite song? I’m really confused!" Broots asked it all in one long breath that it jumbled together.

"First time I haven’t heard him stutter today." Lyle remarked leading the others to laugh.

"We’ll explain everything on the way. Just to let you know, we are kidnapping you all today." Jarod said as he opened the door and lead the way out. Lyle, Sydney and Broots followed him, while Parkerb waited to talk to Sam for a few moments in private.

"Sam I asked Lyle to bring you here because I trust you not to tell the Centre." Parker said.

"You have my loyalties Miss Parker. They are always with you first."

"Good. Because I will need your help in this and if the Centre finds out even one word about this-"

"You will have me killed in a very painful and atrocious way." Sam finished for her with what could be called a sly smile. "Personally Miss Parker I rather be killed by the Centre than you."

Parker returned the smile. "I knew I could count on you the day I first kicked your butt."

The two walked down to the waiting car which would take them to a private airstrip.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


"So let me get this straight." Broots said, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The others nodded for him to continue. "Lyle has a daughter, Emily is alive, they are at Citadel Eugenics, a doctor there is flirting with Jarod, they are performing experiments like the Centre, we are going to get them out and Miss Parker and Jarod are pretending to be married?"

"Yeah that’s about it." Jarod replied. Lyle and Parker gave a nod of agreement as Sydney gave his small smile and Sam had the same stony face he always had on.

"How- huh- wha- How did you get her to agree?" In Broots’ mind everything else was believable, after all he has been working at the Centre for a long time. However the thought of Parker and Jarod pretending to be married was too much of a stretch to believe.

"I have my ways." Jarod answered cryptically, giving Parker a sly wink.

"Called kidnapping." Parker hissed back at him.

"You certainly know a way to a woman’s heart." Lyle said to Jarod. Jarod ignored him and continued.

"So now that you have that all straightened out, ist time to go get them."

"Now?"

"No, tomorrow morning." Jarod replied.

"They’ll be out tomorrow?" Lyle asked.

"According to the security files they are taking a trip out of town." Parker answered. "It didn’t say where or how. Only that they would be leaving unescorted."

"So how do we catch them?" Broots asked. "I mean if they are pretenders how do we get them? It’s hard enough to catch one…"

Jarod gave a triumphant smile only to be slapped by Parker. "Don’t, Broots. His ego is big enough."

"We create a diversion." Jarod explained while rubbing his shoulder and throwing an evil look over at Miss Parker. "Something simple."

"Jarod thought that we should hit their car as they are leaving." Miss Parker said.

"What if something happens and one of them gets hurt?" Lyle asked critical of Jarod’s suggestion.

"Look if you let me drive the car, I’ll know how to hit it so no one will get hurt. I already mapped out a sight that’s far enough from the Citadel and private enough so that no one can interfere."

"If she gets hurt I’ll hurt you." Lyle threatened.

"You forget that my sister is in there too." Jarod replied.

"Have either of you taken into consideration that they might not want to come with us?" Sydney asked, speaking for the first time.

"That’s where Sam comes in and this." Parker said holding up a case of vials and syringes. "It’s a mild suppressant that won’t harm them, but put them out long enough to bring them to where we need to take them."

"Hopefully we won’t have to use them." Lyle replied. "So does everyone understand the plan?"

"One thing, where are we going?" Sam asked.

"It’s better that we don’t tell you." Jarod replied. "So why don’t we get some sleep, because tomorrow will be a long day.

Disclaimer: In first part...
Author's Note: Apology for long wait. In the middle of revision decided to rewrite the entire part. Therefore it took a lot longer. Hopefully next part will come much faster!!! :-P I hope...



Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)




* * * * * * * * * * Part 6* * * * * * * * * *




The road was deserted and nothing seemed to move. Jarod, Parker and Lyle sat pensively in the car waiting for the other Pretenders to arrive. Neither of them said anything, they just sat and waited. Parker’s fingers drummed on the armrest, Jarod ran simulations through his head over and over, and Lyle reminisced about his young daughter. Broots, Sydney and Sam were waiting in a van hidden further down the road. They spent most of their time playing cards to keep their mind off the long wait.

Jarod was going through his twenty-seventh simulation when he heard the sound of a car engine coming down. When he sat up straighter he noticed that the other two had heard it as well. Parker and Lyle pulled out their binoculars and peered through the trees to make sure it was the right car.

Lyle took in a sharp breath. „It’s her."

Jarod didn’t waste anytime and drove the car out of their hiding place. Parker signaled to the others through the walkie-talkie. They kept the car a good distance away at first, but then Jarod speeded up. He had calculated the speed at that the other was going and matched their car’s speed to it. Lyle sat in the back with his seatbelt on, holding on in anticipation.

„Jarod, the turn’s almost coming up." Parker said.

„I know… We’re almost…" He stepped on the gas harder. They slowed for a spilt second then went increasingly faster. The other noticed the increase of speed and began to maneuver so that the other car could go by. Jarod predicted the reaction and decided not to raise their suspicions since in all probability it could lead to serious injuries. So he began to pull ahead of them only to, at the last possible second, move the car sideways so that it ran into the other car. Both cars have skidded to the side and came to an abrupt stop.

Parker who was on the side of impact, got out of the car from Jarod’s side. She cursed softly under her breath for the bruise but otherwise ignored it. Lyle moved towards the other car where the three passengers were getting out of.

„What the hell do you think you were doing?" A tall dark-brunette asked angrily.

„Trying to get your attention." Jarod responded to Emily.

„Well you certainly got it asshole." The one male Pretender hissed back as he pulled the Asian Pretender to him. „You okay?" He asked quietly to her. Lyle made a mental note to like the guy somewhat for being worried about his daughter. Jade was looking at the three but her eyes stayed on Lyle for a while. A strange sensation passed between them.

„What do you want?" Emily asked.

„For the three of you to come with us."

„Who the hell are you?"

„Look I know you probably won’t believe us, but you are going to have to trust us."

„Why should we?" Trent shouted out.

„Because we are going to help you to your freedom." Parker responded.

„Freedom?"

„Jade." Lyle said quietly. She looked up at him but didn’t say anything. Trent and Emily seemed to move closer to her in a protective manner. „Do you know who I am?" There was a silent pause.

„I… No. No I don’t." Yet her voice betrayed that she had an inclination of who he was and also disbelief.

„Who are you three and what do you really want?" Trent asked. „I don’t want some evasive answer either.

Jarod, Parker and Lyle looked at each other for a moment.

„I’m Jarod, this is Miss Parker and Mr. Lyle." Jarod said. „Emily, I’m your brother."

„No. You are NOT my brother. They’re dead, they have been for a long time." Emily hissed back.

„I can prove it."

„I need no proof, I saw them die."

„How could you have if I was taken away before you were born?" Jarod retorted.

„He’s telling the truth." Lyle backed Jarod up. „Look, none of this is going to be believable to any of you. We have proof, you can do the tests yourself."

„What do you two have to do with this?" Trent questioned Parker and Lyle.

„I’m Jade’s father. Jade you have to remember me or even your mother Sylvia."

„She’s dead. She died when I was born and I have no father." Jade replied. „I was a test tube baby."

Lyle looked at her in shock. ‘What did these people tell his baby girl?’ He thought angrily.

„You are my daughter! I-"

„Let’s get out of here." Trent said as the three began to run. Lyle, Parker and Jarod quickly followed. Jarod followed behind Trent and jumped onto the younger Pretender. As he did so he pulled out the syringe and injected the sedative. Parker pulled a similar stunt on Jade, hating having to hurt her own niece. Emily was running from Lyle who was momentarily distracted by the site of his daughter. Parker motioned to him that she was alright and he went after Emily. She ran into the woods and was looking for a weapon to fight with, when Jarod popped out and tried to restrain her. The two wrestled for a while until Lyle caught up to the two of them. With his help Jarod was able to subdue her. Once the drug began to work the two looked at each other with melancholic eyes.

„I hate that we had to resort to this." Jarod said.

„You think I do?" Lyle asked offended by Jarod’s tone.

„You never seem to have a problem with violence." Jarod replied harshly.

„You never have a problem playing God." Lyle retorted. The two stared at each other but before anything else could be said they heard Sam coming towards them.

„The van’s here." The sweeper reported. Jarod picked up Emily and brought her to the van. Once the three unconscious pretenders were settled into the seats they were all off.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Lyle paced around in the house they were hiding out in. Jarod had found the place two years ago on a pretend and had been using it every now and then as a refuge. It was a pretty big house for one person, but for the nine of them it was just enough. It was hidden in the mountains near a waterfall that spilled out into a lake. The house had five bedrooms and three baths, a large kitchen, dining room, living room, family room and a study. Jarod and Sydney were in one room, Sam was with Trent in another, the two girls were in a joint room with Miss Parker and Lyle and Broots were in the other room.

Lyle walked up to his daughter’s room and watched her sleep. All that kept going through his head was her saying „She’s dead. She died when I was born and I have no father. I was a test tube baby." He couldn’t believe that’s what they told her, that she believed it. They were always so close.

„Sleeping like little angels." Jarod said quietly. Lyle looked up at the other man and said nothing, only nodded and looked back at her. They each got lost in their thoughts when a loud crash sounded from the other room.

„Trent!" Jarod and Lyle said simultaneously. They rushed over to see what was going on.

„What the hell do you- Let go of me you asshole!" Trent yelled at Sam, who was trying to restrain him.

„Sam let him go." Jarod told the sweeper, Parker who had come up behind the men nodded to Sam who promptly let go. Trent yanked his arms away and looked around for an exit, but found that his only escapes were locked or blocked by the three older Pretenders.

„Where are Jade and Emily? What do you want with me?" Trent asked, growling out the words.

„To get you away from that place." Jarod replied. „We want you to have your freedom."

„By making me a prisoner?"

The three Pretenders looked at each other and then looked back at him.

„No." Jarod said. „We first want you to understand a few things and when you hear us out-"

„What you’ll set us free?"

„Yes." Parker replied. „We don’t want to hurt you."

„You’ve done a nice job doing that. Where are the girls?"

„They’re in the other room asleep. They are safe, no harm has come to them." Lyle answered.

„You think you’re her father."

„I am."

„You’re a damn fucking liar you know that. She has no father. If she had one, it’s the Citadel. No one else."

„Watch your mouth boy!" Lyle said his hand in fist ready to punch the guy’s lights out. Parker grabbed her brother’s hand, whispering in his ear to calm down. Lyle hesitated a moment then dropped his hand and left the room.

„I want to see them." Trent demanded unfazed by Lyle.

„No stunts and we’ll take you to them." Jarod warned, Trent nodded. Parker and Jarod lead the way out of the room with Trent and Sam following. They walked into the other room and found Lyle sitting in a corner and the girls each sleeping in their beds. Trent walked to them and checked to see if they were alright. When he was sure that they were just sleeping he turned to the others.

„Why aren’t they awake?" Trent asked.

„The sedative seems to have more lasting effect on them. They’ll wake up soon though." Jarod replied. Trent nodded.

„I want to stay with them."

„I don’t-"

„Look I won’t try anything."

Parker, Jarod and Lyle looked at each other. Lyle did not seem too thrilled at the idea, but could see that Parker and Jarod were going to agree to it.

„Fine, but one of us stays with you." Parker replied.

Trent only nodded and made himself comfortable by Jade’s sleeping figure, keeping watch over the two of them. Jarod motioned for Lyle to join him and Parker outside while Sam stayed and kept watch. Lyle reluctantly followed.

„How could you let him-"

„We need them to trust us." Jarod replied.

„Those are three talented Pretenders in there and you are leaving them alone with Sam?" Lyle argued.

„Look if we don’t start off now giving them some leeway, then we are never going to have them trusting us." Jarod said. Parker looked at the two of them and knew if she didn’t intervene now there would be two bloody and half-dead guys walking around.

„Boys! We are going to have to work together on this and if we don’t all hell is going to break lose. So either start cooperating with each other and act civil to each other or I will personally lock the two of you out of the house for the next two weeks!" With that she turned on her heels and left the two men standing there contemplating her words.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Later that evening after the girls woke the nine of them sat at the dinner table in silence. It had taken some coaxing from Sydney to get the three young Pretenders to eat and even then they did it reluctantly. Lyle during the whole dinner kept looking at his daughter while Jarod did the same to Emily, leaving both the girls feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Trent sat next to Jade and seemed ready to rip out both men’s eyes. Parker and Sydney exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything. Broots just wished he was somewhere else and Sam just ate not really thinking at all.

„What is going on? Why do you want us here?" Trent demanded, the oppressing silence taking its toll.

„As we told you before we are trying to help you to your freedom." Jarod replied. „I know that right now it doesn’t seem that way, but we wanted to talk to you first before we let you go."

„What if we don’t want to talk?" Emily challenged.

„You don’t have to, you just have to listen. We don’t expect you to believe everything we tell you or even to trust us. Just hear us out and then you can do whatever it is you want, leave or stay." Jarod answered.

The three young Pretenders looked at each other and nodded.

„So get started." Trent said. „The sooner you do the sooner we can leave."

The adults looked at each other and sighed.

„First we clear the table and make a big pot of coffee or tea then we talk." Sydney said as he motioned for Broots and Sam to help clear off the table. „This is going to be a very long night."

Disclaimer: In first part...
Author's Note: Apology for long wait. In the middle of revision decided to rewrite the entire part. Therefore it took a lot longer. Hopefully next part will come much faster!!! :-P I hope...




Entanglement and Lies
By Apollo's Girl
(aka AG)



* * * * * * * * * * Part 7* * * * * * * * * *




The three young pretenders sat beside each other trying to digest in all the information that Jarod, Parker and Lyle had told them. The most effected of the three was Jade. When Lyle had told her about how she was taken away, her face had become very stony with only her eyes betraying any emotion. There was an oppressive silence that was only interrupted by Sam and Broots clearing out the dishes.

“I think that we should all go to bed and get a goodnight’s rest.” Sydney said.

“Before we go I want a few questions answered.” Emily replied. The adults nodded for her to continue.

“You said that we are related, but I don’t see how it explains why none of us remember anything you have told us.”

“From what we have gathered from the Citadel, we figure they have been using some mind alteration drugs.” Jarod replied. “Honestly it doesn’t surprise me since the Centre uses the same tactics when they feel it’s necessary.”

“You won’t feel upset if I demand that there are blood tests taken?” Trent asked his tone slightly sarcastic. “And that I do it?”

“No.”

“As long as I draw my own blood.” Lyle added. He didn’t like the idea of the young male pretender sticking him.

“Why afraid I’ll do something bad?”

“You don’t trust me, I don’t trust you.” Lyle replied nonchalantly.

“Tough way to live.”

“It’s the way you survive.”

“Is there anything else that you want to ask us?” Parker asked trying to end Lyle and Trent’s discussion.

“No. Not until after the blood tests have been done.” Emily replied.

“Well off to bed then.” Sydney said in his paternal way. He ushered the three young pretenders out of the room, leaving the three grown ones sitting in silence.

“Well that went well.” Jarod reflected.

“As well as could be expected, I guess.” Parker replied. She looked over at her brother who didn’t seem to agree with Jarod at all. However he didn’t say anything only got up and walked out of the room. A few minutes later they heard the front door open and close.

Parker and Jarod exchanged a look knowing that this was probably a lot harder on Lyle then on anyone else. Jarod hated to admit it but he actually felt some sort of geniality towards the man.

“So what do we do now?” Parker asked.

“Wait and see I guess.”

“That helps.”

“Well I don’t know what to do until I know how the three feel about this.” Jarod replied as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I never thought it would be this hard.”

“I don’t think any of us did especially Lyle.”

“Hmph.” Jarod closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

“You okay Jarod?” Parker asked.

“As I said before, I never thought it would be this hard. I always thought that it would be a happy occasion where we smile and hug each other and tell one another how much we missed them. I guess I was just dreaming.”

“No. You should of have had that reunion, its just that the Centre and the Citadel got in the way.” Parker replied.

“What you are blaming the Centre for something?” Jarod asked as he opened his eyes in surprise.

“I’m not blind Jarod, not anymore. Those places are the reason for most of our lives turning out the way it did. It doesn’t excuse everything, but it’s the reason. Lyle wouldn’t have turned out how he did if it weren’t for Raines taking him away or the Citadel for killing his wife and kidnapping his child. I would have probably turned out different if my mother was still alive or if I had grown up with Lyle. You wouldn’t be this avenging angel either. The Centre shaped our lives Jarod and not in the best way.” Parker explained. Jarod nodded in understanding.

“But why stay?”

“Because I have to.”

“No one has to.” Jarod countered.

“There are too many things that need to be settled before I can leave and that may not happen until the end of my life. I mean why do you keep coming back? Why don’t you just disappear? Its not like you can’t do it.”

Jarod chuckled a little. “I guess like you I have too many things that need to be settled before I can leave.” Parker smiled at him which he returned.

“I think I’ll go to bed.” Parker said as she stood up to leave. Jarod followed.

“I think I’ll join you.”

“Jarod!”

“What? We are husband and wife you know!” Jarod countered as they neared her bedroom door.

“Pretending to be. And that was while we worked at the Citadel. Now we are Parker and Jarod, so that means you’re in with Syd.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Jarod pouted. Then when realizing that wouldn’t work he changed tracks and tried to be seductive. It only made Parker laugh and close the door on his face.

“Women!” Jarod muttured.

“Out in the dog house, Jarod?” Sam asked as he and Broots grinned from down the hall.

“Well I never expected it to be a smooth marriage.” Jarod replied.

“Is anything with Miss Parker smooth?” Broots asked. The men just laughed and waved good night to each other. Broots went into his room that he would share with Lyle and Jarod went off to his room. Sam quietly opened his door so not to distrub Trent, but found that the boy wasn’t in there. But he figured he was with the girls.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


After making sure the young pretenders were all right, Sydney had went back downstairs to talk to Lyle. But found him not to be around anywhere. Sam and Broots before going upstairs told him that Lyle had gone outside. So Sydney went out to find him. The old man found Lyle sitting on some rocks near the waterfall and lake. Trying not to disturb him, Sydney sat down quietly next to Lyle. Neither said anything as they watched the water fall and lap quietly onto the shore.

“Syd, do you think she will remember?” Lyle asked softly.

“I think she is beginning to.” Sydney replied. “She was young when it happened and she has been subjected to a lot of different treatments, it will take some time.”

“All I want to do is to hold her and tell her things will be better. But I can’t do that Syd. Because everyway I look at it someone will always be after her. And then there’s the fact that she doesn’t even trust me. Syd we use to be so close, she would tell me everything that bothered her. She use to confide in me and now… Now she doesn’t even want me to come close to her.” Lyle said in frustration.

“It’s hard Lyle, I know.”

“How could you? How could you understand what it is to have your own child not remember you or not to trust you? To have your child look at you with disgust? You don’t know unless you’ve been through it.”

“But I have Lyle. Not quite the same as you but I have. It’s harder to have your child look at you everyday and not know that you are their father and not being able to tell them.”

Lyle turned towards Sydney as he heard his words. Knowing that Sydney wasn’t talking about Nicholas, Lyle figured it was Jarod. “Jarod is your-“

“No, not Jarod.” Sydney replied. “Listen Lyle,” the man said changing the subject, ”this is something you have to deal with one day at a time. Jade needs time to understand everything that is going on. I know this is hard, but things like this are never easy. Just take the time to let her know you again. Don’t push it just let it happen gradually. The more she gets to know you the more she’ll remember.”

“Except Sydney I’m not the same man I use to be. Not the one she knew. I’ve changed Sydney and now that she’s here alive in front of me… I’m not sure it’s someone I want her to know.”

“We all change Lyle. Some for the better, others for the worst. But don’t worry, she’ll understand. You still love her don’t you?”

“She’s the most important person to me.”

“Then she’ll know its you. Your love is still the same as when she was with you. She will know you by that love.” Sydney replied, patting the younger man on the shoulder. “Keep faith Lyle.”

Lyle nodded thinking over the man’s words.

“Now go and get some sleep. You’ll need it for the next few days.”

“You always have to be like the parent don’t you Syd?” Lyle asked as he got up and started to walk towards the house.

Sydney just stood and smiled at him.

“Thanks Syd.” Lyle disappeared from view.

“That’s what I’m here for… son.”