“You do realize what this means, don’t you gentlemen?”

Mr. Parker squinted into the shadows trying to make out the face of the woman addressing them. Bodyguards, men in black suits, surrounded her as she sat at the head of a long polished obsidian table. Her long, elegant fingers with impeccably manicured nails pressed together forming a triangle in front of her. Her face always remained obscured by shadows.

“Yes,” hissed Raines with an excited smirk, “It means the removal of both Lyle and Miss Parker.”

Mr. Parker shot his associate a dark look.

“Not quite, Dr. Raines,” the woman responded with a hint of a smile in her voice. “While I’m quite disappointed in Miss Parker- I had such high hopes for her- but she is to be left alone for the time being. I have a feeling she may prove to be invaluable later on where the Pretender is concerned.”

Raines grumbled his displeasure in low, inaudible tones. Mr. Parker couldn’t resist giving the man a triumphant sneer.

Mr. Parker turned his attention back to the woman. “I am not sure what my daughter is up to, Madame Director, but I can assure you that she is loyal to the Centre. Whatever lead she is pursuing it is for the Centre’s benefit.”

“Oh, yes, yes, whatever, Parker,” a hand waved the air dismissively. “Our people are watching her and we have it all prepared… we just need you to bring her back to the Centre.” The voice paused. “Was there something else you wanted to say, Parker?”

Mr. Parker looked disheartened, but continued any way. “Only that I realize that Lyle has yet again ruined a Project. For that there is no redemption and I can offer no excuse for him. While I regret it has come to this, I understand that Removal is necessary.”

The Director laughed a condescending laugh. “So quick to dispose of an undesirable offspring, are we, Parker?” The merriment faded into icy silence. “No.” she said after awhile. “I will not approve Mr. Lyle’s Removal… I was going to, but now I see that it would bring too much satisfaction to you and too much enjoyment to Dr. Raines. No, he may still be of some use.”

Raines exchanged annoyed looks with Mr. Parker. The Director leaned forward and addressed the men for the final time.

“As it stands, if I were either of you, I would concentrate on completing my own assignments rather than worrying about others completing theirs. You both know what is expected of you. Project Dominatus is to be ready for initiation by midnight on the thirteen of the month. You have barely four days left.”

Before either Mr. Parker or Mr. Raines could say anything further they were escorted out of the building by two large men in black and taken back to Blue Cove and the Centre.

Miss Parker shot him a patronizing glance.

“What?” she answered rudely, fully expecting it to be Jarod on the line.

“Hello, Angel, how’s Japan?”

“Daddy?” Parker looked stunned. She turned to Sydney with her mouth slightly open. He looked as surprised as she. Parker faltered momentarily before regaining her composure. “Fine,” she clipped, “except that I’m not overly fond of the cuisine…reminds me too much of Lyle.”

Mr. Parker laughed an all too jovial laugh. “Yes, well, I’m here to save you from that, Angel. We need you back now.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, well, your brother isn’t getting his job done. I need you to take over the Seventh Member Retrieval. How soon can you be here?”

It took her a moment to recover. “Uh, I’m on my way.”

“Good girl. See you soon.”

“Parker?” Sydney glanced worriedly at Broots as he walked over to his young associate. “What is it?”

She looked up at him with a vacant expression. “We’re to return to the Centre… Daddy’s putting me on the Seventh Member

Retrieval.”

Sydney frowned. There was something suspicious about the order and he wasn’t comfortable returning to the Centre until they understood more about the current situation.

“Parker…”

Parker turned on him, fully recovered, and shot him a sharp look. “We’re to go back immediately so let’s get packing." She strode out of the room, leaving the two men behind.

Closing herself in the sanctuary of her bedroom, Parker tried to figure out what to do about Jarod. Absently, she stared at the cell phone laying on the nightstand. There wasn't much of choice to be made, she decided. It would be much better to end the partnership now- that way the Centre would be none the wiser, and it would be business as usual between herself and the Pretender. And that was as it should be, right? To keep as much distance between them as possible. No use in getting too close…

Parker sighed and kicked her shoes off. Her gaze kept returning to the phone as she sunk down onto the bed; she almost wished it would ring. Right before she drifted off to sleep, she wondered if she was doing the right thing in leaving her partnership with Jarod behind.

Had she stayed awake just five minutes more, she would not have missed the Pretender’s call.

So you extend to fix the mess of another… You weren’t there from the start but it’s left its mark on you…

“Are you sure about this?” She sat on the edge of the bed watching him go through his belonging with the ferocity of a wild cat.

“There’s no other choice.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I just went back on my own?”

“No!” He turned on her with a reproachful glare. She stared at him as though he had slapped her. “No,” he said more gently. “Not until I find out what’s going on.”

“But if we get caught,” she went on cautiously, “won’t you get in trouble? What if they hurt you because of me?”

He gazed her with a scowl. “And? I can take care of myself. What do you care anyway?”

Her response was inaudible. He went back to his rummaging with increased fervor.

“Anyway,” he said, talking to fill the silence, “We won’t get caught. I know the Centre inside and out. Besides,” he shrugged and pulled out some garments that had been hidden in the back of a drawer. “It’s not like we’re going to break in or anything. We’re going to walk through the front doors.”

“What about me?”

“You’re going to walk in on my arm,” he smiled a reflective smile at the feminine clothing in his hands. He turned and tossed the clothing at her. “Here… try this on.”

He was waiting for her when she stepped out of the bathroom. He walked over to her and smoothed out the wrinkles in the satiny garment. A slight smile kissed his lips.

“Good fit,” he murmured, motion for her to turn. As she did, he nodded in satisfaction. “Nice.”

She studied the form-fitting, sleeveless Cheongsam with delicate red blossoms vining across the deep black silk. The dress had a rounded hemline the fell gently above her knees.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, looking back at him. “Whose is it?”

His eyes became clouded and his face expressionless. “No one’s.”

“Oh.” She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and was pleasantly surprise by her appearance. She traced the pattern of the blossoms on the waist, admiring the delicate stitching.

“Come on,” he snapped. “We’ve a lot to do before returning.”

She looked up to see he was already walking away. “Lyle?”

He stopped in the doorway as she slipped up behind him. She wiggled her way in front of him, her gray eyes searching his blue ones. There was a strange, lost look nestled in his expression- much like the look he criticized her for.

“Lyle?” There was puzzlement in her voice and worry in her eyes.

He stared hard at her for a long while. When he finally, spoke his words came out choked as though they were being forced through constricted vocal chords. “Don’t call me that.”

Confusion disfigured her features briefly, and then her face softened. She smiled morosely. “Okay,” she said quietly.

She reached out and gently cradled his cheek until he walked away.

This fractured man mends the broken girl… She clings to her fix ‘cause it’s the only thing she knows…

“I just don’t like the sound of this, Parker. Something is not right.”

Parker slowly turned to face the doctor. There were several suitcases lined up by the door in preparation for their departure.

“Look, Syd,” she said almost defensively, “apparently, my father is unaware that I’ve been anywhere but Asia. So let’s not make an issue out of this. We’re going to go back and pretend like nothing unusual has happened. Got it?”

“Oh, boy, I hope no questions me,” Broots muttered, unaware that he had spoken aloud until he saw Parker and Sydney staring at him. He gave them a sheepish look and busied himself with fooling with the tags on the suitcases.

Sydney approached Parker. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyway. Your father could very well be setting you up. You don’t know that he doesn’t know about this… little diversion.”

Parker looked away from his intense gaze, contemplating his words. She knew he was looking out for her, but…

“If you can’t trust family who can you trust?” she spat back the words that she had been told many times over. “And my father is all the family I’ve got.”

“Well, there is Lyle,” Broots offered helpfully. He instantly regretted opening his mouth.

“Broots!” she barked in warning. Turning back to Sydney she said, “Look I appreciate your concern, but I’m going back.”

“At least let Jarod know.”

“What?” Parker’s jaw dropped. “How did you-“

The psychologist merely shrugged.

“He doesn’t need to know.” With that, she stormed from the room out into the hallway spewing curses.

Broots stood up and nervously wiped his sweaty palms on his pants legs. “What do we do now? You really think Mr. Parker would set his own daughter up?”

Sydney sighed; the stress of worrying about both Jarod and Parker was beginning to wear on him. “Yes, Broots, I do. As for what we do, we go with her. And stay close.”

“What about Jarod?”

“I wouldn’t worry about him right now.”

Broots watched the older man walk away in the direction Parker had headed. He almost wished he had a way of contacting Jarod and letting him know what was going on- maybe he could figure something out.

“Oh, who am I kidding?” he said to himself. “Why would Jarod help any of us?”

He was about to leave the room, when a phone rang. Broots whirled around looking for the source of the ringing. Then he found Miss Parker’s cell phone, abandoned on the table in the living area of the suite. In her fury, she had left without it.

Broots picked it up ready to return it to its owner, but the ringing was insistent. He wasn’t sure what to do, answer it or let it go. Miss Parker would surely have his head on a silver platter if she caught him answering her phone. On the other hand, what it if the call was really important?

Against his better judgment and after nervously making sure no one was around to see him, he silenced the annoying ring.

“Hello?”

We could be perfect one last night and die like star-crossed lovers when we fight and we can settle this affair and then we'll solve the mystery of laceration gravity…

At half-past noon, the doors of the impenetrable Centre opened, allowing its most sinister power-hound in. He was met with gasps for no one had expected him to return so soon. Rumor had it that he was on a Retrieval and was not due back for a few more days. Those unfortunate enough to cross his path quickly scurried out of the way.

She wanted to ask him why they ran from him for she could not understand, but she kept silent, as he had instructed.

They were heading down a long dark hallway when a frightening-looking man who was hooked up to a portable oxygen tank intercepted them.

This riddle of revenge- please understand it has to be this way…

He paced the floor anxiously, his conscience pestering him with the weight of the decision he was about to make.

He had worked so hard to gain her trust and she was not one to give that trust easily. He had never allowed himself to even hope for the chance to work side-by-side with her and yet it had happened. Such a small act as it was, it gave him hope that bigger things were possible. And that was what made his decision so difficult.

She had made it clear that she did not want him going back to the Centre nor did he really want to. However, he had studied the problem from every angle but had been led to only one conclusion: return to the Centre.

As far as he could see it, it was the only option. They would never get to the bottom of Project Heptagon and Amelia without going back. His predicament was in what to tell Parker.

She told him not to go back, so he wouldn’t tell her… but could he lie to her? Jarod didn’t think he could.

Picking up the phone, he let out a long breath and dialed her number. He hoped she would answer this time.

The phone rang and rang before someone finally answered.

We've only got one chance to put this at an end and cross the patron saint of switchblade fights...

He watched them approach and did not bother to hide his disgust of the younger man. It appeared to him that Lyle had been doing anything but what he was supposed to, judging by the Oriental girl he was escorting to his office.

Lyle raised his eyes and locked gazes with Raines staring him down until they were face to face and could go no further- Raines blocked the entrance to his office.

He could see them well now and while he addressed the younger man, he stared at the girl.

“I see you’ve been hard at work, Lyle,” he wheezed sarcastically. His eyes narrowed as he studied the girl- there was something

not quite right… She was practically hiding behind Lyle, but he could see that she wore a short Chinese dress and her black hair was pulled back into a neat bun with blunt-cut bangs skimming her dark eyebrows.

“Yes, quite,” Lyle clipped back with his usual arrogance. He didn’t like the way Raines was eying Mia. He moved slightly to shield her from the man’s penetrating gaze.

Raines continued to gawk at the girl. His gaze fell on her slanted eyes. A sly smile began to form on his lips.

“She’s quite lovely, Lyle,” he said smoothly. “And such exquisite eyes, too. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen eyes that color before.”

He arched an eyebrow and when he turned to look at her his cocky sneer froze on his face. He cursed himself for failing to hide her curiously colored eyes behind a more commonplace color.

“Yes, well, that’s what got my attention in the first place,” he covered efficiently. “Now,” he stepped beyond Raines taking Mia along with him. “I have some things to do.”

Raines snarled as he passed and Lyle couldn’t resist the opportunity to give the man nasty jab.

“Do me a favor,” he winked devilishly. “Put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on my door for me.”

You said we're not celebrities, we spark and fade, then die by threes… I'll make you understand and you can trade me for an apparition…

“Oh… oh… my,” Broots stammered. “J-Jarod? Oh… oh…hang on…”

He was gone before the Pretender could say anything.

“Jarod?” The familiar voice of Miss Parker filled his ears. He swallowed hard.

“Hello, Miss Parker, misplace your phone?” The usual playfulness in his voice was gone.

“Ha, ha,” she cast an aggravated look in Broots’ direction. “What do you want?”

It took him a moment to gather his courage and he pray that she would forgive him. “I’m not going back,” he said, his voice devoid of it full strength.

“And?” she sensed his hesitancy but didn’t question it.

“And we’ll do it your way.”

“Good,” she said, not feeling as triumphant as she thought she would. The warning Sydney had given her and the reluctance she heard in Jarod put her on edge and filled her mind with worry. “Give me the number where I can reach you.”

“Nice try,” he attempted to smile. “I’ll call you regularly.”

“How regularly?”

“How regularly do you want me to call?”

“Twice an hour.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to hear from me more often?”

“Yes.”

And she hung up on him.

Trust, you said… Who put the words in your head? Oh how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying…

“Can I take the wig and tape off,” she asked, wincing in pain from her slanted eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” he replied distractedly.

While she removed the black wig and removed the tape that kept her eyes upturned, he sat at his desk and pulled up several files on his computer.

“What’s that?” she asked, leaning over his shoulder. There was an interior of a room displayed on the screen.

“Raines’ office,” he said. “That guy who stopped us in the hall.”

“Woo, he seems like a strange one.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

She seated herself next to him on the desk. “So what do we do now?”

“We wait,” he replied. He stood up and took his coat off before returning to his chair. “If those files on us are anywhere, they’ll be in Raines’ office. We’ll have to watch his every move to determine the best time to get in there.”

She nodded resolutely, prepared to do anything necessary to help him and completely unaware of the enormous danger they were in.

Still in the City and several hours later, Jarod, too, sat at a computer immersed in his study of Raines’ sweeper team. He had mapped out the details of his plan and had spread out on the kitchen table was all the necessary materials for the pretend.

On the computer screen was a photograph of the newest sweeper- a total neophyte; a yuppie pulled from the corporate world to work in the Underworld of the Centre. It was more than Jarod could have hoped for.

The sweeper had rounder features than Jarod, a stockier build, and bleached white hair. Armed with his tools, Jarod began his transformation into Raines’ new sweeper.

The assimilation into the Centre was a dangerous undertaking that took hours of planning, but even then Jarod knew that this pretend could very well be his last…