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Miss Parker looked grudgingly over at her clock and read that it was 8 a.m. Groaning, she turned away, pulling the covers over her head. Just as she closed her eyes, a ringing filled the air. Her eyes snapped open and she recognized the sound of her phone. She let it ring, building up her anger. She wanted to rip it from the wall, but in one swift move, she yanked the phone out of its cradle and put it to her ear.

"WHAT?!?"

"Uh, Mi..Miss Parker?" A nervous voice asked, pleasing Miss Parker. She loved to make men nervous.

"What is it, Broots?" She hissed into the phone.

"We…" she heard him swallow hard. "We were, uh…"

"OUT with it," she demanded through clenched teeth.

Broots rushed out his next words before he made Miss Parker even more mad.

"When will you becoming in today? We might have a clue on Jarod."

This made Miss Parker furious for no reason. Perhaps because she felt like she was taken for granted or just because Broots had the nerve to call her when she was sick. Somehow it was his fault.

"I’m taking the day off," she stated shortly. "Don’t bother me with your ramblings unless you have something solid. Got that?" She slammed the phone down before Broots could answer. That made her feel better and she smiled devilishly to herself. Men were so easy to control. And she liked to be in control.

She hoped Jarod enjoyed the day because she didn’t plan on staying sick for longer than that. She had no option.



~A week earlier~

Washington Bureau

Scully sat at her desk staring at the photo of the man before her. He was very sweet looking, but she had to remind herself that looks don’t mean anything. The man’s name was listed as Jarod Hoover, which somewhat surprised her. She read on and was impressed with what she saw. This was the best check she had had all day.

"So, what made you go from doctor to FBI? Pay certainly isn’t better."

"I’d like to help people in more ways than one. Here, I can still be a doctor, but I can also solve mysteries for people. I always like a good puzzle." The handsome man smiled warmly at Scully and she started thinking of how boring this was. Then her cell phone rang, bringing her back to reality.

"Scully."

"Hey, you almost done? I’ve got something exciting to tell you."

"Mulder, anything you have to tell me will be more exciting than this."

"Meet me at the Coffee House off of Brinker in half an hour."

Scully heard the click and closed her phone. Looking up at the man in front of her, she smiled the same smile she had given
everyone else that day and said her worn out line while standing up and sticking her hand out.

"OK, thank you."

Jarod looked at her, then her hand, stood up and shook it.

"You’ll hear from someone in a week or so. Take care of yourself," she ended without feeling.

"Thank you," Jarod took it as his sign to leave.

Scully stuffed the man’s file in the drawer marked "H," wondering what it was Mulder had to tell her.

Half an hour later, Scully walked into the little coffee house and joined Mulder at a table by the east wall. Mulder looked like he was about to jump out of his seat with excitement.

"What is it, Mulder?" She asked, eyeing him as she sat down. She noticed he had ordered her coffee, but she wasn’t too curious to taste it. He always had weird taste.

"Nice to see you too, Sunshine. Another fun day at work, I see?"

"Yeah, too bad you weren’t there, again."

"No need to get your panties in a bunch, Scully. I’ve got some great news. You don’t have to leave the FBI. We have been
reassigned," he said with a wonderful smile on his face.

"To the X-Files?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah right. Keep dreaming," Mulder replied, enjoying this switch of roles. That would have been something she would say to him.

"Well? What then?"

Taking a sip of his coffee, he swallowed and continued.

"We’ve been reassigned to missing persons," he said, more sober now.

"And you think this will change my mind about leaving?" She eyed him.

"I had hoped it would," he replied. He had no idea what he would do without her if she ever left. She was the only one who cared if he lived or died. No, he couldn’t lose her.

"Will you at least give it a chance," he pleaded.

"I guess," she said, less enthusiastic. She had nothing else to do and perhaps she would go crazy without working. But then, she
reconsidered with a tiny smile, she could go crazy working with him. Before she could say anything, he continued.

"It wouldn’t be just me and you, though," he said with disappointment in his voice. "We have to take on a new recruit."

"When do we start?"

"In a week or so. We have to wait for the order to come through."

"Can’t wait."



~ The Cerntre ~

A week later

Broots knocked on Sydney’s door and entered.

"I found his last position," he informed the elderly man.

"Really? Where?"

"He was a high school theater director in Chicago. They last saw him about a week ago. He told them he was going back to school to enhance his knowledge. Haven’t heard from him since."

"We better keep looking before we bother Miss Parker again."

Broots sighed with relief.

"Thanks Syd."

"Just as Broots closed the door behind him when he left, Sydney’s phone rang.

"This is Sydney."

"Hello, Sydney."

"Jarod. What a pleasant surprise!"

"Did you receive my package?"

"The first aid kit? Yes, we did. Thank you."

"Make sure you three take care of each other. You never know who you can trust."

Sydney replaced the phone to its cradle. It was going to be a slow, perhaps relaxing day with Miss Parker absent. Broots had
mentioned that she sounded sick over the phone. So all this stress was finally catching up with her, Sydney thought with a smile.
The mighty Miss Parker was not so sound after all.



~ Hotel in Washington ~

Jarod opened the Halliburton suitcase and placed a DSA in the slot. Almost instantly the screen filled with light. A boy Jarod was on a catwalk with a younger Sydney looking down at a girl he had never seen before. She was with Raines.

"Who’s that with Mr. Raines, Sydney?"

"Her name is Samantha."

"Is she a Pretender too?"

"No, she’s here for a different reason. She won’t be staying long, though, so you probably won’t ever see her again. Let’s go now, Jarod."

The screen was blank again. Jarod needed to find out what The Centre wanted with Samantha Mulder. He needed Angelo’s help. Jarod found a piece of paper and wrote:

SAMANTHA: 1-22-73

Then he placed it in an envelope and addressed it to Sydney. Hopefully Angelo would be able to find something for him. Jarod turned on the TV to watch "The Three Stooges" and popped a pez in his mouth. He smiled about what he had planned for Miss Parker.



~ Blue Cove ~

Miss Parker stayed in her bed the whole day. She was amazed that the phone hadn’t rung all day. Maybe those monkeys actually did have brains. She didn’t like it, but it looked like she was going to have to take the next day off. Well, it’s not like they ever get anything done anyway. They always seemed right there on top of Jarod, perhaps ahead of him, but that was never the case. That man was truly a human chameleon. It amazed her sometimes, though she would never admit it, how his mind worked. Or how she thought, anyway. She knew one can never be too sure of anything when it comes to Jarod. He could have you doubting the color of your underwear if you talked to him long enough. That Bastard! She’d get him yet. He always made her look like an idiot in front of Daddy.

"Just wait, Jarod. Just you wait," she promised into the dark. "You won’t know what hit you when I get my hands on you!"

Two things woke Miss Parker the next day. The phone, which was no surprise to her, and the doorbell. She cursed because that meant she would have to get out of bed. Grabbing the phone while walking to the door, she answered both with a drained "What?"

Holding a finger to put the man standing in front of her with a bunch of beautifully colored flowers on hold, she listened to the voice on the phone.

"Good afternoon, Miss Parker. Did you get your flowers?"

"Jarod."

The man in front of her pushed a clipboard towards her with a pen and she signed her name, then receiving the flowers, she replied,

"You shouldn’t have."

"Feeling any better?"

"How is it that you always know what’s going on around me?" She demanded to know.

"Read the card," was his warm rely and then he hung up.

Miss Parker closed the door and smelled the flowers. Then her hand found the card stuck within and read what Jarod had written:

"IT IS NOT EASY TO FIND HAPPINESS IN OURSELVES,

AND IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND IT ELSEWHERE." - AGNES REPPLIER

Miss Parker did not know if she should be mad because he was telling her how to live her life or content because he was giving her friendly advise. She decided she was too drained to be angry, so she was content and this helped her get back to sleep. She just wanted to dream of a time when she was still with her mother. As she laid down in bed and closed her eyes, Miss Parker wished the world away.



~ The Centre ~

7:30 a.m.

Miss Parker, dressed in yet another of her stunning suits that was made to fit her body, walked into the tech room. Her suit was
black and she was wearing a crimson red shirt under her jacket that showed off her dark brown hair. Broots and Sydney looked up to see who had entered, as if the click of her heals didn’t already pronounce her entrance.

"Miss Parker!" Sydney welcomed her warmly. "It’s good to see you up and about again."

Broots just stared.

"Get an eye full, Broots?" She asked shortly, raising her eyebrows, widening her eyes, and slightly nodding her head.

Turning red, Broots turned away.

Miss Parker was pleased with his reaction.

Sydney chuckled and answered for him.

"I see you’re back to your old self again," his cheerfulness slightly aggravating Miss Parker.

"So? How goes the hunt?"

"Last we know for sure, Jarod was a dancer in Las Vegas."

"Hmm… exotic? That’s different. Never would have expected…"

"No, just a party entertainer," Broots cut in nervously, receiving a cold glance from Miss Parker, causing him to shrink back.

"So, that’s all you sheep could come up with in two days?" She demanded to know.

"Well, uh," Broots cleared his throat, swallowed, and continued. "There is this," he grabbed the envelope they had received from Jarod the day before.

Miss Parker snatched it out of his hands and looked at the paper inside.

"What does it mean?"

"We weren’t sure," Sydney answered, "so we let Angelo have a look at it and he took off, mumbling something about not trusting anyone."

"So, what did Mushhead find out?" Miss Parker asked impatiently.

"He, uh, found these files in Raines’s office." Broots handed her the papers, explaining what was in the file while she looked through it.

"Samantha came to The Centre that day. We don’t know why she was here, she wasn’t a Pretender or a Prodigy child. Her
conditions weren’t right for either."

"So Raines had a little side project going? How much more can we find out?"

"I’m afraid it dead ends there. Raines did not keep any documents on her. Anything written, anyway."

"There has to be something. Look harder!"



~ Washington Bureau ~

Scully walked into Mulder’s "new" office and found the two men deep in conversation. They hushed as she came nearer. The man next to Mulder stepped forward and offered his hand to her.

"So good to see you again, Agent Scully," Jarod said with his usual warm smile.

Scully wasn’t surprised to find out that he was their new partner, considering his file she had gone over. She shook his hand and
returned the smile. She then looked over at Mulder telling him without words, that three was definitely a crowd.

Mulder received the message and answered in the same manner with a ‘What can we do about it?’ He was pleased, though, that she didn’t seem to be distracted by this man’s good looks. Something bad always happened when Scully got involved with someone.

Jarod stood aside noticing the silent communication between the two and envied this bond. He wished he could trust someone that much.

"So, Mulder, what have you got?"

"Well, it’s nothing special. I think they wanted to ease us in. It’s a teenager girl named Celia. She’s, uh, 18. Been missing for a
month now. I’m sure she probably just ran away. Very common. Her parents had just separated. Probably thinks her disappearing act will bring them back together. Her mother thinks she probably headed for the west coast, if she ran away. Celia had always talked about going to California."

Scully looked over the file.

"So, where do we start?" Jarod asked innocently.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other with the same facial expression saying ‘This is going to be a long assignment.’

"Well," Scully answered patiently, "we usually check around the M.P.’s town first. See if anyone saw her that day. We’re lucky it’s a town and not a city. Most runaways turn up not too far from home."

"MP," Jarod repeated quietly. "But we don’t know if she ran away," he was a bit confused now.

"Just the more likely possibility," Scully was again left to explain. She could tell Mulder was enjoying this.

"Oh." Jarod answered plainly. "So, what town are we going to?"

Scully looked to Mulder as if he’d be able to say something in the effect that Jarod would have to stay in Washington, but he just answered,

"Dayton, Ohio."

"Maybe you’ll luck out, Mulder, and we’ll find her in the midst of crop circles," Scully was able to say with a straight face.

This confused Jarod, but he did not say anything.



~ The Centre ~

Miss Parker, Sydney, and Broots found Angelo in room 3 on SL 21. He was sitting on the empty bed, staring off into space.

"What is it, Angelo?" Miss Parker asked, hoping to get him talking.

"Samantha forget. Samantha poisoned. Samantha start new." Angelo rambled on his usual nonsense sentences, each one taking
seemingly great effort to say.

"What does it mean?" Poisoned with what? By whom?" Miss Parker needed to make sense of it all. To catch Jarod, she needed to know the importance of Samantha.

"Raines poison her. Make her forget." Angelo made sense of it all for the first time in his own mind and rushed off to inform Jarod with what he needed to know.

"She was one of Raines’s projects," Sydney put it together, "so maybe he tried to make her forget where she came from, making her start her life over."

"But why, Syd? If he could do that, why wouldn’t he have tried it on Jarod? To make him forget about his parents?" Miss Parker asked.

Sydney looked at her with a confused face.

"I don’t know," was all he could offer.

Miss Parker turned to Broots with such a force, he stepped back, afraid of what she had in mind, and with good reason.

"Broots, I want you to search every corner of The Centre’s system to see if you can find anything about Samantha, or this date.
Preferably both. There has to be something!" She turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two men behind her. She had other things to take care of.

~ Jarod’s hotel room ~

Jarod checked his email when he got back to the hotel after a long day of searching. The girl had, indeed, run away, but with her boyfriend. They were headed east, as her mother had guessed, but she turned back around to go home when her boyfriend took up a new interest. Mulder seemed disappointed to find that this was what happened, which baffled Jarod. Scully seemed to understand, however. She always understood him. Jarod wondered how long the two had been working together and if they had ever shared a relationship. They certainly shared a special bond.

Finding one from Angelo among others, he read that one first. It had Samantha’s name and the name of a man, John Waverly, and a woman, Michele Waverly. Perhaps her caretakers. Jarod wrote down the named and wished that there was a town or address included to make his job easier, but he was out of luck this time. He hoped to find something in the FBI files, especially since Samantha was the daughter of a once valued partner on high.

Jarod got into the system and typed the names in, finding 1,243 Waverlys in the US, but only 20 John Waverlys. Out of those, only 11 were married, and 7 of these did not have children, so Jarod was now down to 4. Two had a criminal record, so Jarod paid special attention to the other two. One lived in Madison, Wisconsin and the other in Phoenix, Arizona. He’d have to check them both out when he got a chance. He hoped he had enough time, that Miss Parker didn’t know what Angelo did. Not yet, anyway. Right now Jarod had some work to do.



~ The Centre ~

Miss Parker walked into the room and the atmosphere changed instantly. Broots was alone at the computer and felt like an animal trapped in a cage as Miss Parker advanced towards him.

"Broots, I want you to publish this on the web for me," she ordered him, dropping a picture of Jarod clipped to a piece of paper on the desk next to him. When he didn’t move, she reinstated with her eyes wide open,

"NOW."

Then she turned and walked out of the room.

Broots looked over the file and started typing the missing person’s report. He couldn’t believe she had listed Jarod as her missing brother. Probably to protect The Centre. Keep them in the shadows where they preferred to be.

Miss Parker was back in her office when Sydney entered. She looked up and then back down to the papers she had on her desk.

"Whet are you going to do if you catch him?" He asked.

"When I catch him," she corrected. "Leave The Centre, of course."

"Will you? I find it hard to imagine you leaving your job and father."

Miss Parker was in the midst of beginning to respond when a third voice came from the door.

"That is correct, Miss Parker." It was Brigitte. "Sometimes I find it hard not to believe that Jarod doesn’t escape from your hands, but that you let him go, just so you can continue to work here, chasing him."

This infuriated Miss Parker, but she knew that was what Brigitte was looking for, so she answered slyly,

"Yes, and I can assume the same for you, since you too, had ample opportunity to bring him in." Realizing her fun with the Parker bitch was over, she answered with,

"Assumptions can be deadly, Miss Parker," as she left the room, sticking a sucker in her mouth.

"You may leave now, Syd," she basically ordered him and her knew to leave her alone.



~ Washington Bureau ~

"Jarod had brought in our new case file," Mulder explained to Scully. She did not seem too enthusiastic about this whole set up and Mulder was afraid she’d decide to quit after all.

Jarod handed the file to Scully, smiling, and said "Good morning."

Scully just took the file and looked it over as Jarod recited,

"Samantha James Waverly, age 26, missing for one week. Parents live in Madison."

Scully read the rest in silence, then asked,

"When does the plane leave?"



~ Waverly residence in Madison ~

4 hours later

"Samantha?" The balding man at the door was genuinely confused. "No, my daughter’s name is Katharine, and she’s not missing. I just spoke with her on the phone last night."

Scully looked at Mulder in disbelief. What was going on? Mulder couldn’t have imagined that something like this would ever happen. What was he missing?

"I’ll call Washington," Jarod suggested, taking his cell phone out as he walked away. But first he made sure Mr. Waverly got a good look at him. Jarod knew Miss Parker had put a file out on him. He was surprised he was listed as her brother. Jarod pretended to talk to Washington Bureau and wrote the Phoenix address down. Hanging up, he walked back over to Mulder and Scully who were still talking to the old man, trying to straighten out the situation.

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Waverly. We seem to have been given the wrong address. Thank you for your time." Jarod said with
authority and walked over to the car parked on the street. Mulder and Scully stood there, on the stoop, dumbfounded. A mistake? A wrong address? The Bureau did not do such things. They were very thorough. Something was wrong.

Mulder and Scully apologized and thanked the man, then went to their car. They looked at each other knowingly as they joined Jarod in the car, who was sitting in the back seat.

As they drove, the car was silent and Jarod could tell that they knew something.

"Some mistake, huh? Bet that doesn’t happen often," he commented light heartedly.

"No. No it doesn’t," Scully agreed.

"Jarod," Mulder asked, "where did that file come from?"

Jarod was prepared and answered, "It is actually an old case I’ve been working on for awhile. I must have gotten these addressed mixed up sometime ago." He stated innocently.

Mulder and Scully glanced at each other and agrees they were being lied to, but ended it there, for now.



~ The Centre ~

Broots rushed into Miss Parker’s office, full of energy, but still very nervous. Miss Parker looked up and was a bit surprised to see who it was.

"What is it, Broots?" She asked with a fake sweetness/concern. Broots was accustomed to this by now.

"I’ve got something," he announced proudly.

Miss Parker waited for him to continue while he waited to see if she’d compliment him.

"Cat got your tongue?" She asked shortly.

Less excited, he replied,

"I got a, a response to your, uh, file on Jarod from some guy in Wisconsin. He said Jarod had been by his house with some FBI
people."

"What are you waiting for?" She demanded, grabbing her coat and rushing past Broots, she pressed a number on her call phone.

"Get the jet ready."



~ Wisconsin ~

When the trio reached the airport, Jarod took Mulder and Scully’s belongings out of the rental car, but left his inside.

Mulder came around to the back of the car and noticed.

"What’s going on, Jarod?"

Jarod looked to make sure Scully wasn’t within earshot before he replied.

"I’m staying here." His statement surprised Mulder. Jarod looked him in the eye and said, "This case is not for me. It’s yours."

Jarod walked to the driver’s side of the car and turned back to Mulder as he got in.

"Say hi to your sister for me." With that, Jarod closed the door and drove off.

Scully came back from the bathroom to find Mulder staring after a car.

"Where’s Jarod," she asked in alarm.

"He left."

"What?!"

"He had something to take care of," Mulder decided not to tell Scully of his conversation with Jarod.

"He said to go on without him."

Scully could tell Mulder was holding something back, but she decided not to question him. He would tell her in his own good time.

"The plane boards in 15 minutes. Let’s go get some coffee.

Mulder nodded and they walked into the airport together.



~ Waverly residence, Wisconsin ~

The balding man took one look at the picture the beautiful dark haired woman held out in front of him and confirmed it was Jarod.

"They were here just a few minute ago," he informed her.

"They?"

"Yeah, he was with two other agents. A tall, lanky man, and a pretty redhead. She was kind of short. Compared to the lanky one, anyway. Said their names were…," he paused to remember. "Mold…Moldy and, uh, Scully, I believe. I’m pretty sure of the woman’s name. Scully," he repeated.

"Did you happen to know where they went?" Miss Parker pushed on, annoyed at this man because he was taking too long to answer her questions.

"Oh, sure. They said something about catching a plane to Phoenix. Then they left."

Miss Parker had gotten what she needed, so she walked swiftly to the car without another word. Sydney thanked the man kindly and walked to the car with Broots at such a pace, they caused Miss Parker to honk.

"Maybe we need to get you two wheelchairs," She mocked their pace.

The drive to the airport went by in a flash, Broots was almost afraid to blink.

They got to the airport 3 minutes before the nest flight to Phoenix was scheduled to load. Miss Parker first spotted the tall man, and then the short redhead was next to him. No sign of Jarod. She went up to the two and showed the picture of Jarod to them.

"Have you seen this man?"

Before Scully could say anything, Mulder answered, "Yeah, he was working with us, but said he had to tend to some other business. Took the last flight to California, which left five minutes ago."

The woman in front of him, whom Mulder thought could be a woman from one of his favorite videos at home, had a look of disgust now, that ruined her sexy appeal.

Scully looked at her partner in bewilderment, but the tall woman before him did not notice, thankfully. Scully kept her mouth shut.

Miss Parker knew she had lost Jarod, once again. She’d never be able to find him in California. Now she’d have to sit and wait for his next damn clue.

"Oh," as if reading her mind, "he left you this," Mulder said, remembering the object Jarod had handed him in the event that a "pretty, dark haired, tall woman named Miss Parker should be looking for him. "I assume you’re ‘Miss Parker’?"

She took the object and studied it. It was a doll-sized sombrero and tucked inside was a note written by Jarod that said,

"BUEN VENIDO A MEXICO!"

Miss Parker was furious now as the two agents boarded the plane. Jarod loved to taunt her and leave her little meaningless things. Like the pez dispenser she had once found under her pillow with a note that said,

"FOR YOUR SWEET TOOTH"

she hated it that Jarod got to have all the fun. She would kill at a chance to taunt him.

"Let’s go, Miss Parker," Sydney said gently. He tried to conceal his smile, happy Jarod got away and glad that Miss Parker didn’t seem to understand the clue he had left for her.



~ Phoenix, Arizona ~

When Mulder and Scully reached their destination, it was too late to make a visit to the Waverly residence, so they put up for the night in a nearby motel. Mulder sat on his bed an emptied the envelope Jarod had slipped in his suitcase onto his bed.

He couldn’t believe what caught his eye. A picture of Samantha in a seemingly large room, next to a rat-faced man. His, sister, alive! Then he read what was written on a separate sheet of paper. It seemed to be a note or memo from a Dr. Raines to a Mr. Parker. A relation to the Miss Parker he had met earlier? The note said:

"Mr. Parker-

Samantha Mulder is now in our hands, her father under our control. She has been treated and no longer remembers her past. Please inform me of the next step.

Dr. Raines"

Mulder read it over and over again until he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." He didn’t have to look up to know it was Scully.

Scully felt the mood of the room and walked over to Mulder. She looked down and saw a picture of a little girl next to a man. Then she took the letter and read it. Noticing another, she picked it up and read it.

"Samantha will be turned over to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Waverly. They believe they are adopting her, just as you instructed. The assignment is complete.

Dr. Raines"

Scully didn’t know what to say. She noticed Mulder had started shaking and she pulled his head to her stomach, holding him. He could control his emotions no longer and let them out. He was glad for Scully. He did not want to go through this alone. He had finally found his sister, but she would have no previous knowledge of him. It would be best to leave her where she was, he knew, but it was all too hard to accept. He had found his sister and lost her at the same instant.



~ La Paz, Baja, California ~

Jarod looked up at the house in front of him, or rather, the wall that surrounded the house. The break in the stone wall was blocked by a tall black door. He rang the door bell. A woman in he mid 30s unlocked and opened the door.

"Buenos dias," he greeted her. "I am the police appointed driver for the Coppola family," he explained in perfect Spanish, though he knew, ‘police appointed’ did not mean much to this woman or the family.









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