Table of Contents [Report This]
PART I: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL, SMITHTOWN/NESSAQUOG, NY
"So this is what it comes to? I stand here waiting to decide whether to let go or hang on for dear life," Jarod thought as he watched Dr. Gallaway check the tubes that forced oxygen into Miss Parker's lungs.
It was a miracle she conceived. It was a double miracle they were twins. And it was a triple miracle she was able to carry them to term. She had called him at work. There was a hint of fear in her voice. Would it be like the others; the ones she miscarried last year? Jarod felt her fear, but he had reassured her that childbirth was natural, and that her fear was expected. He would be at St. John's waiting for her.
He had watched the paramedics bring her in. Something was wrong. She had grabbed at him as they rushed by him. He saw her terror. He saw her slipping through his finger tips as he held her hand in the delivery room. In the end, he was asked to leave so they could do an emergency C-section. Miss Parker never woke from the anesthesia. And, now Jarod had to choose. Do I let her go? Do I believe there is no chance for her recovery? Do I take a mother away from her children? Or do I let her linger straddling the fence between life and death? For the first time in his life, Jarod was paralyzed. He couldn't act. He could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved began to disappear into the darkness.
Dr. Gallaway looked up from adjusting the incubation tube in Miss Parker's throat. He put the medical chart down and came forward. He was frowning. Jarod could feel his sadness. As a doctor, Gallaway was used to dealing with death and dying, but when the patient was young and otherwise healthy, it was hard for him to deal with.
"We've done all that we can for her. Everything seemed to be going along fine. She was doing well until we put her under. I've never seen anyone go down hill so fast..."
Jarod took a deep breath, "She never even got to hold them. She doesn't even know what she had. How am I going to tell my other children that their mother is never coming home? How am I going to tell them that, Dr. Gallaway?"
"In time, this will get easier, Jarod. You have to believe that she'll never wake up. You have to come to terms with that. There are so many people your wife can help. Please reconsider your decision. Think about the people who can use her organs. Your wife would be giving them life. Wouldn't she have wanted it that way?"
Jarod gasped. His voice grew heavy, "Do you know what you're asking me to do?"
"I am asking you to end your wife's suffering. I'm asking you to think of her," Dr. Gallaway said as he looked into Jarod's eyes, "You have to let her go, son."
"No! I won't! I won't! Don't ask me to do this. Don't ask me to kill her," Jarod said running towards the double exit doors separating him from being a husband to a widower. He couldn't hear Dr. Gallaway calling him. He had to get out of there. He wasn't ashamed to cry. He didn't care if the whole world knew he was crying. She was his wife. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be recovering from the C-section. She was supposed to be cooing over her babies, and now she lay helpless while machines breathed for her.
He drove aimlessly for hours thinking. He couldn't focus on the road. He could only see the terror in his Miss Parker's eyes when they first brought her in. He hadn't seen her that frightened since the rape. When they had first got to the hospital, the authorities had converged on her like vultures as they looked for evidence. They scraped underneath her fingernails, took urine and stool samples, and the worst was when they had to get semen samples from those animals. Jarod cringed remembering it. She held his hand as they worked. All the while, she howled and wailed so loudly that Sydney had to give her something. She had quieted, but she still cried herself to sleep that night. She had gone to a very dark place. She never spoke of it, but Jarod knew instinctively that it was not a place anyone would want to visit.
He had stayed with her talking to her. He had told her he would make it all right. He hadn't known that her father had used the same words before he placed the barrel of a .9 millimeter Browning semiautomatic into his mouth pulling the trigger. He had tried to absorb her pain, but she pushed him away. He didn't understand at first, but Sydney explained that "some pain you just can't pretend away." He would have done anything to stop the hurt, even if it meant hurting himself.
It was almost 2 am when Jarred pulled into the driveway of his house on River Road. It overlooked the Long Island Sound. Miss Parker had picked it out herself. She loved the house's cozy, rustic atmosphere. It was the perfect place to raise a family; a family he would have to now raise on his own. It wasn't fair! God damn it! It wasn't fair! They were supposed to grow old together. They were supposed to be grandparents together. They were supposed to die together, and now all of their dreams were slipping away.
The light on the porch was on. Jarod punched in his access codes disarming the alarm. He took off his jacket hanging it up in the closet. Moira hated things being left around. "If you use something, put it away when you're done." It was a motto Sydney kept forgetting. He often had to drop a nickel or dime into the ransom box to retrieve his belongings.
As he walked to the kitchen, Jarod saw the light on in the study. He trudged in wearily and sat down in front of his computer. Sydney frowned gently. Dante` was sleeping soundly at his feet.
"Any signs of improvement?"
Jarod turned the computer on and waited for it to boot up, "No, She's still the same."
Sydney sighed, "It's been three weeks, Jarod. Don't you think it's time to put an end to Moira's suffering?"
There was silence except the sound of the soft whir of the computer booting up.
Sydney sighed again, "Jarod, please! Don't you think it's time to let her go?"
Jarod felt the blood drain from his face as he thought of what that meant. Would it ever be time to let her go? Could he?
"I spoke to that doctor from Chicago Hope. He seems to be a likable fellow," Sydney began.
"He's a fucking vulture!" Jarod said angrily.
"He's trying to save his patient, Jarod. Why won't you let Moira do this? Isn't that what she would have wanted to do?"
"I can't deal with this, Sydney. I can't listen to this anymore. Can you please, please, leave it alone."
"When are you going to face the truth, Jarod? When are you going to stop torturing yourself this way? There is nothing you can do to bring her back. She's gone, Jarod. The coma is irreversible. When are you going to admit that?"
Jarod began to sob. His voice faltered as he tried to speak, "I want to try the Halstrom Technique. It's the only way."
Sydney shook his vehemently, "No! You can't do that. You can't do that to her. Please, let her die with dignity, and not as a side show circus freak."
"I'm sorry, Sydney. I can't do that. I'm going to give her the treatment tomorrow with or without your approval."
Sydney got up. He bit back the outrage, "I can't stop you, then? You're going to do it. You've already made up your mind!"
"Yes, Syd. If you want to be there, be at the hospital at 8:00. I'll be giving her the first dose then. You'll see. She'll wake up. I know she will."
Sydney looked at Jarod's face. He looked like he had aged 10 years in the three weeks Moira had been in the coma, "I'll be there. I just hope you're making the right choice. I hope for your sake she does improve." Jarod smiled weakly, "She will, Syd. I know she will. I know she's still alive in there. She just needs help finding her way back to us."
"I hope you're right, Jarod."
Part II: STRANGER AMONG US
Quantico, VA Two Days Later
Miss Parker gazed groggily at her surroundings. She didn't remember the hospital room in St. John's being this nice. She tried to remember the events up until she woke. She remembered feeling the first stab of pains as her labor started. She had called Jarod, and then an ambulance showed up. I don't remember calling an ambulance. Maybe Sydney called it, but for the life of her, Miss Parker didn't know why he would. He would have driven her to the hospital himself.
After the ride to the hospital, the paramedics wheeled her in. Something was wrong. Why were they rushing? Jarod looked so scared. She remembered believing that something had gone wrong during labor, and then she woke up here. Where was here? Where was Jarod? Was there something wrong with the twins? Was it like the last time when both twins had been malformed dying after the 16th week. Dr. Gallaway had been sorry. Jarod held her hand as they induced labor. He talked to her- hypnotizing her with the sound of his voice knowing how she felt giving birth to babies that were never to be. A mother's joy turned to sorrow. Was it like the last time? Were they dead too? Why isn't Jarod here with me?
Miss Parker tried to sit upright, but the stabbing pain kept her still. She bit back a sob as she imagined all of the possible scenarios that could have brought her to this point. Each scenario was more troubling than the other. All of them involved the Centre. Had they kidnapped her? Had they found Jarod, and now they were going to force him to cooperate or else. Or else... The thought was unimaginable. They had killed before. What would stop them from exacting revenge? Afterall, she worked for them first.
She couldn't get the picture of her father out of her mind when she had told him her true feelings for Jarod. It was after their first night on the roof. He had found them. He never suspected the boy was none other than Jarod, the freak. She had told him out of anger. She wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt mother.
She had hurt him, and she spent the better part of her life trying to win back his love, but she never could. His last act of desperation had spared her the pain and humiliation of finding out that he had been partly to blame for her mother's death. He also couldn't forgive himself for allowing Raines free access to terrorize her when she was a child as well as orchestrating her subsequent attack at the hands of the Sweeper team.
She still dreamed of that day. It was hard not to. She remembered the pain as she was repeatedly torn apart by those animals. It took her over a month before she could let Jarod touch her without cringing. Jarod had been patient. He just held her allowing her to cry telling her he'd wait forever if she wanted him to. He wasn't interested in just the sex, although it was the most fulfilling sexual relationship she ever had. It was the spiritual connection that they shared. They had both lost so much of themselves that it was hard to believe that they could lead any semblance of a normal life. Her father could never understand her love for Jarod. He was too concerned with the revenue he was losing. He had even suggested to her once that she should ensnare Jarod; thereby making him come back to the Centre to her. When she refused, he again turned his back on her until that night when she seemed to drift in and out of the darkness. He had been there crying. He was asking her to forgive him, but the cry for forgiveness came too late. The damage had already been done.
Perhaps what hurt her the most was that Daddy hadn't even tried to track them down. He knew their hideouts. He could have easily ordered their deaths, but instead he took his own life as if that was supposed to make up for all the times when he should have been there for her. Instead, it was Sydney who was always there. He comforted and protected her from the darkness that threatened to take her. He was there when Jarod disappeared for two weeks lost in a world of grief and pain that she had wanted to share with him, but couldn't. He loved her so much that he wouldn't dream of allowing her to experience that darkness that followed him everywhere. It was the sadness of knowing that his parents would never see his children. They would never know the joy of holding their newborn grandchildren. Her heart ached for him when they finally found him. He was living on the streets pretending to be homeless. He had given up. It made Moira sick remembering how his eyes had looked. They were hollow and full of despair. He was nothing but a shell waiting to die. Sydney had patiently coaxed him back to the land of the living.
From the hallway, Miss Parker heard voices. They were muffled and far away even though they were right outside the door. She tried to listen carefully hoping to catch snippets here and there of their conversation. Finally in exhaustion, she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.
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"How long has she been like this?" Skinner asked.
"Scully frowned, "Since we brought her in, Sir."
Skinner watched as Miss Parker slept, "See, that she's thoroughly briefed. I don't want any screw-ups."
“Mulder's working on Maya Parker's profile right now. He should be finished putting it together this afternoon."
"Just make sure she's thoroughly prepared. These people will kill her if they even suspect she's not who she says she is."
"Do you think she can pull it off, Sir?"
"We have no choice. Those files we got from Dr. Green are useless without the names of all of the parents," Skinner said watching Miss Parker, "I just hope she's as good as she says she is."
"She's a Pretender, isn't she?" Mulder asked as he handed Scully the completed profile.
"When she's well enough to begin, let me know. I've never seen a Pretender in action."
Mulder smiled, "You saw Jarod."
"He was pretending? Skinner asked.
"You thought he was a real cable guy? Mulder said chuckling.
“I assumed he was real. He showed up late and asked me if I wanted to get Adult channels for an extra $50," Skinner said looking foolish.
"Did you give him the money?" Scully asked raising her eyebrows.
Skinner shook his head, "That's classified information, Agent Scully."
"Of course, Sir," Scully responded trying to hide her laughter.
When Skinner was well out of earshot, they both exploded with a hearty guffaw. "Good old Jarod," Mulder smiled.
Scully shook her head, "I still can't believe you told him that all cable guys bribe their customers."
"I can't believe he tried it on Skinner," Fox said as he snickered loudly.
"What's with you two?"
Fox laughed again, "Something about a smartass always sets me off."
Scully smiled wickedly, "Spoken like a true smartass, Mulder."
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Part III SLEEP TIGHT SWEET PRINCESS: OURS IS BUT A BRIEF PARTING ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL SMITHTOWN, NY
"Jarod, I can't let you go through with this," Sydney said entering the room.
Jarod stood by Miss Parker's bedside watching the monitors for any change. There were none.
"It's too late. She's already had the first dose."
Sydney took hold of Jarod's shoulders and shook him, "It's not too late. You can stop. You don't have to give her anymore."
"Get your hands off me, Sydney," Jarod said coldly, "Nurse, give her another dose. Double it this time."
Sydney sighed angrily, "I can't believe you, Jarod. Can't you see what you're doing? Can't you see what you're doing to the children?"
"I'm giving them back their mother. I'm giving them the chance I never had."
"It's not your fault this happened, Jarod. Bad things happen for no reason."
"I should have been there, Sydney. I should have been there," Jarod said his voice breaking, "I could have saved her."
"You can't save everyone, Jarod. You couldn't save Jacob, or that boy in Atlanta," Sydney said gently.
The EKG started to go fanatic as Miss Parker's heart rate started to increase.
"It's working," Jarod said in excitement.
"Don't get your hopes up, Jarod. Jacob had the same reaction."
"He woke up, didn't he?"
Sydney nodded as he continued to watch the EKG.
Jarod sat down next to Miss Parker. He took her hand and gently squeezed it, "Moira? Moira, can you hear me? It's me, Jarod."
Sydney watched sadly as her heart rate started to bottom out, "Jarod, it's over."
Jarod looked up as he heard the erratic beeping turn into a shrill steady whine as Miss Parker's heart stopped, "Oh, no! No! God damn it! Don't leave me, Moira! Sydney do something! Call a code."
"I can't, Jarod. I'm sorry. She's been listed as DNR. It says so on her chart."
Jarod started doing chest compressions, "I can save her, Sydney. I can save her. Oh God! Don't do this, Moira. Our kids are depending on you. You can't leave..."
Sydney pulled Jarod off the dead woman, "Jarod, please! It's too late. She's gone. There's nothing you can do for her now."
Jarod gripped Sydney hard as he sobbed. His chest heaved as he felt the full weight of Moira's death upon him. He had to face it now. There was no way around it. Before he could pretend she was just sleeping, but watching Dr. Gallaway unplug the breathing tube and the EKG forced him to focus on what had once been the most beautiful woman he had ever known. He couldn't imagine what he was going to do without her. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't even pretend to know.
Part IV LOOK DOWN AND SEE WHAT DEATH HAS DONE
QUANTICO, VA
"Let me get this straight. You want me to impersonate my sister; a sister I never knew existed until now," Miss Parker said looking at the profile Scully had given her.
"You're a Pretender, aren't you?" Scully asked.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago. I don't do that anymore," Miss Parker said touching the 8 x 10 photograph of her twin sister, Maya Parker. If she didn't know any better the woman in the picture could have been her, but there was one difference only Miss Parker could point out.
Maya Parker's eyes reflected a complete absence of a soul. Miss Parker saw herself in those eyes. Hadn't she had that same look? She had the same look as the darkness threatened to engulf her during the dark days after the rape. It was only the sound of Jarod's desperate sobbing that saved her. He had begged her to come back. He spoke of the future, "Please, don't let the darkness swallow you, Moira. I can't raise our sons alone."
It was Jarod's love that had guided her back to the light. Seeing Maya, Miss Parker felt a stab of pain knowing that no one was there to show her sister the same love. She was alone in the darkness, and now Miss Parker had to abandon all she had gained in the two years she had been away from the hellish nightmare the Centre had created for her. Could she ever bring herself to go back?
"Miss Parker?" Scully began.
"Yes."
"Can you do it?" Scully asked.
Miss Parker looked at the photo again before she met Scully's gaze, "Do you know what you're asking me to do?"
"We're asking for your help, Moira," Scully said frowning.
"Oh, sweet Jesus! If it were that easy. You're asking me to go back. I can't...I can't," Miss Parker said gasping, "After the things they did to me, to my husband, to my children. Oh, God! Please don't ask me to do this. I'll do anything else, but I can't go back. They'll kill me this time."
"I can't begin to understand your fear, Moira. We wouldn't ask you to do this if we hadn't exhausted all other avenues. This is our last chance. Don't you want to see those people brought to justice?"
"I want that. I would give anything to see those bastards pay for what they did to Jarod's parents, but the thought of going back to the Centre knowing what I know now terrifies me. These people will kill me, Agent Scully. You're asking me to sacrifice myself, and for what? A list of names that may or may not exist," Miss Parker said gasping.
Scully frowned, "How many children were made orphans by your father, Miss Parker? How many people had to die, so your father and his group of cronies could use these children for their own nefarious gains? How many, Miss Parker? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?"
Miss Parker gripped the edge of the table as she struggled to contain her tears, "Please don't ask me to go back."
"How many more people have to die before you'll help us nail those bastards, Miss Parker?" Scully said angrily.
Miss Parker took a deep breath and tried to exhale, but couldn't. She began to cough and gasp as if she were drowning.
"Are you all right, Miss Parker? Do you need some water?"
Miss Parker struggled to catch her breath. She shook her head, "I need my inhaler."
Scully stared at her dumbfounded, "You have asthma?"
Miss Parker struggled to control her breathing. Her chest felt heavy with each breath she took. Finally she was able to speak, "Yes."
Scully sneered sarcastically, "Stress brings on your attacks?"
Miss Parker nodded. Her chest became tighter. It was becoming harder and harder to breath, "Please, Agent Scully. I'm no good to you dead. I need my inhaler. It's in my purse."
Scully pulled out her cell phone, "Mulder, it's me. We have a problem. Miss Parker's an asthmatic. She needs an inhaler immediately."
Miss Parker gasped. She was still able to breath partially, but for how long? She started to feel dizzy.
Mulder rushed in minutes later with the inhaler. He handed it to Miss Parker and watched as she shook it getting the right mixture. He waited for her to recover from the attack before he spoke, "My sister was an asthmatic before she..."
Miss Parker looked into Fox Mulder's eyes. She saw the deep seated pain that he carried around with him, "You lost your sister when you were very young."
Mulder sat down across from Miss Parker. He continued to watch her sadly, "How did you know that?"
Miss Parker looked down at her hands, "I've seen her."
Mulder stared at Miss Parker in awe, "Where?"
"Mulder, she's lying. Your sister is dead," Scully said angrily, "You can't bluff your way out of this Moira."
"She was wearing a cotton nightgown. There was a pattern. They were lilies, weren't they?"
"Enough of this, Moira. Stop it!" Scully said glaring at Miss Parker.
Mulder held up his hand, "Let her continue, Scully. I want to hear this."
Scully got up, "You can't be serious, Mulder. She's trying to pretend to be psychic to gain your sympathy."
Miss Parker looked at Scully, "It's not malignant."
"What's not malignant," Mulder asked.
"Your partner's brain tumor," Miss Parker said softly.
"Mulder, come on. Let's go! I'm not going to let her manipulate me with her parlor tricks."
Mulder shook his head, "You're a psychic imager. I always knew they existed, but I've never met one before."
Miss Parker nodded, "The Centre interests are not only in Pretenders, Agent Mulder. I have some pretender abilities, but they aren't as developed as my psychic imagining skills. Daddy didn't want a freak for a daughter. My mother never allowed the Centre to learn of my skills, so I was left alone."
"You know about my sister? You said you saw her. Is she at the Centre? Did those bastards kidnap my sister."
Miss Parker gazed at Mulder sadly. She thought carefully before she spoke, "You do have an open mind, Agent Mulder?"
"Yes," Mulder answered.
"Have you ever heard of a person who can create their own reality?" Miss Parker asked carefully.
Mulder sighed in frustration, "I don't see how this has anything to do with my sister."
"When I was a little girl, I used to create my own reality. I played with other children, Agent Mulder. I played with dead children. I was too young at the time to understand. I didn't understand that my own reality was in fact the gateway between the living and the spirit world. It was only after my mother was murdered that I began to understand. My mother made me promise never to go into the darkness. She said it was dangerous. If you got lost, you might never come back."
"My sister was one of the children you played with, wasn't she, Miss Parker?"
"Yes."
"I don't see how this has anything to do with our present situation, Miss Parker. Are you going to help us get those names?" Scully said from the doorway.
Miss Parker took a deep breath. She met Scully's gaze, "You have no idea who you're dealing with, Agent Scully, do you? These people make Hitler's reign of terror look like a walk in the park. I told you before that if they found out who I was, they would stop at nothing to silence me. You really think I want to put myself in that of kind of danger? You really think I want my children to grow up without their mother? You want my twins never to know I ever existed? As I said before, I can't go back."
"You'll be protected. You'll wear a wire, so we can monitor your progress. It's a quick job-nothing fancy. You'll get in there, get the names, and leave before they even realize who you are," Mulder said quietly.
Miss Parker tried to steady herself. Her fingers trembled. She could kill for a cigarette right now.
"A wire! You're going to protect me with a wire. Have you forgotten who my previous employers were, Agent Mulder? Do you know what we used to do to snitches? Do you?"
Mulder frowned, "No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."
Miss Parker couldn't stop shaking when she thought of Howard Ashton. She had heard the rumors when she still worked in Corporate. He was selling information to some research group based out of Spokane, WA.
"There was this man, Howard Ashton. He was a corporate spy. Raines had him silenced. They found the remains of his body in a dumpster behind a barbecue steak and rib place... To this day I can't eat barbecue."
Scully cringed, "Nice."
"I don't want to disappear, Agent Mulder. I don't want to end up as the evening special with a side of slaw and fries," Miss Parker said angrily.
"I won't let that happen, Miss Parker. I'll be there every step of the way. You have my word," Mulder said firmly.
Miss Parker looked at the folder. She was changing. The process had already begun. Her heart had become stone. She would become wood again. She would become polished, hard and unyielding wood, but would that be enough? Would she be able to slip into Maya Parker's life? And once she was in, would she be able to slip out? There was always the danger to lose oneself in the game. Jarod never stressed that fact enough with Jamie.
"I'll need time to prepare. I'll make you a list of things I'll need. You just make sure Maya Parker doesn't show up to ruin the party," Miss Parker said barely containing the iciness in her voice. The familiar coldness was back hardening her heart. She didn't realize how easy it had been.
Scully looked at Mulder. Mulder nodded, "That won't be a problem. She's going to be buried three days from now..."
"She's dead? How? When?"
Scully frowned, "We tried to get her to help us. She was our first choice, but she refused. She died trying to escape."
Miss Parker stared into Scully's eyes, "My family thinks they're burying me, aren't they, Agent Scully?"
"Yes. Skinner felt it would be better if you're family didn't know. The less people involved the better," Scully said.
"Jarod thinks I'm dead?"
Mulder nodded, "Yes."
"Oh, Christ! Do you know what that's going to do to him? He still grieves for his mother, and now he's grieving unnecessarily for me. You can't do this to him, to Sydney. They can't raise those kids by themselves. Oh, God! My poor house. Oh Shit! It's going to take me forever to clean up after those two," Miss Parker said hoping she would get the chance, but knowing that once she was back in Blue Cove, anything could happen including her worst nightmare; using her to get to Jarod. She swore she would die before she would let them do that to her.
"I'll do it! Now get out!!! GET OUT!"
Mulder and Scully looked at Miss Parker for a moment. She was not a woman to be messed with, so both left leaving Miss Parker alone with her sister's folder.
PART V OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES NESSEQUAG, NY
Jamie lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. He had the dream again. His mother was out there somewhere lost in the darkness. She was screaming and sobbing, but nobody could hear her. Sydney explained that it was his way of dealing with her death. Her cries were really his cries; cries he had been taught to repress when he was at the Centre. They didn't like it when you cried.
Mom was supposed to paint a model of the solar system on the ceiling for his birthday. Now, she would never get the chance. Jamie wiped the tears from his face. When he met his mother for the first time, he saw the hurt in her eyes. He thought he had caused that hurt, so he backed away from her when she beckoned to him from her hospital bed. Luckily, Dad was there to urge him on. He didn't know what to make of this woman. At the Centre, he heard everyone refer to her as the "Ice Queen," or "Daddy's little Princess." The metal frame that she was encased in scared him, but Dad explained that Mom had been hurt very badly. The metal frame kept her immobilized, so she could heal. Finally, Jamie went to her. She gripped his hand with her good hand, and smiled weakly. The look in her eyes reflected a love that he had never experienced before. Her voice choked with emotion spoke words of kindness. He knew then that he had been lied to. She loved him. She really did love him afterall.
At the Centre, he was told that his parents didn't want him. They gave him away willingly. He often wondered why parents would knowingly give their children away to place as evil as the Centre. They used to do horrible things to him. They made him see things that even now he couldn't forget. He was a psychic imager as well as a pretender. Mr. Raines used to come into his room at night. He tried to pretend he was asleep, but it never worked.
"Where is Jarod? Have you tracked him yet?" Mr. Raines would hiss.
Jamie would shake his head silently before turning away from him. Jamie felt himself drift off to sleep. He closed his eyes and waited for the familiar darkness, but as suddenly as he shut his eyes, he saw her. She was running. Someone was chasing her. She was panting and gasping. She turned to look over her shoulder at her pursuer, and then Jamie heard a blood curdling scream as she plummeted down into a large gorge. Then he heard the laughter. Then he saw her. She turned slowly, and Jamie jerked himself away from the darkness screaming in anguish, "Mom! Mom! Please, someone help my Mom!"
Jarod heard the screams from the study. He ran at full speed taking the stairs two at a time. His heart hammered in his chest as he ran down the hallway to his son's room. He kept on thinking of Broots and his daughter. They were brutally attacked as they were coming home from grocery shopping. Had they been found? Was someone trying to steal Jamie and John?
Jarod breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the boys were alone. He pulled the chair from in front of the desk and took Jamie in his arms. He kissed his son's feverish forehead and spoke soothing words to him, "You're all right. No one's going to hurt you anymore."
Jamie continued to sob, "Mom! Mom! Someone, help my Mom. She's hurt real bad."
Jarod couldn't hold it in any longer. He sobbed uncontrollably as he rocked Jamie in his arms. What were they going to do now? How could they go on? Moira had always kept them together. She gave them cohesion, but now Jarod felt himself breaking apart.
Jarod waited until Jamie was asleep before he put him back to bed. He left the room and walked towards the stairs. In the dimly lit hallway, he could barely make out the framed picture of Moira and the boys. They were at Fire Island. Moira had never been so happy. She was beaming with pride as Jamie held up his catch of the day; a snapper. He took the picture from the wall and carried it with him to the study. He carefully removed the picture from the frame and scanned it into the computer. Now she would forever be immortalized on his desktop. She would always be smiling. It would always be sunny, and she would always be there to remind him of how much he loved her.
"It does no good to torture yourself like that, Jarod," Sydney said softly from the hallway. Jarod turned, "I'm not torturing myself, Sydney. Is there anything wrong with wanting to see my wife? Aren't I entitled to remember how beautiful she was?"
Sydney sat down on the leather couch, "It will become an obsession, Jarod."
"If remembering Moira is an obsession, then so be it. I'm not going to take down her pictures just because I'm supposed to. I'm not going to take her away from the children. They deserve to see how beautiful she was. They need to remember her how she was, and how happy she was when she was with them. You know, Syd, Moira never really had true happiness. Neither have I, so if putting her picture on my desktop makes me happy, then I'm going to do it."
Sydney gasped loudly. He couldn't hold back his sorrow. In two days he would have to bury his best friend. He had watched her grow up, he was there for her when no one else was, and now she was gone. He had tried to put on a brave front for Jarod and the children, but he couldn't anymore. He couldn't bear to look at her pictures on the wall. He couldn't go into her art studio. He could almost feel her in every corner, every doorway. She was everywhere. He almost expected her to walk through the door with an armful of shopping bags full of art supplies. He could almost hear her clearing her throat to him as she walked by him.
"Look what I got, Syd. Isn't this great! Jamie's going to love this for his birthday."
He couldn't bear to be reminded of what he had lost. Seeing the pictures, smelling her perfume, seeing the unfinished paintings tore through him even worse than the death of his brother. He had said good-bye to Jacob. He had come to terms with his death even before Jacob died, but he never had the same chance with Moira. She was standing in the kitchen doing the lunch dishes. They were talking about Jamie's birthday, and then she stiffened. She had gripped the edge of the sink gasping in agony. He went to her helping her to one of the kitchen chairs. He had given her the phone to call Jarod, and then the paramedics were pounding on the door. He didn't call them. Jarod must have. They helped Moira into the ambulance and told him to meet them at St. John's. He never spoke to her again. The next time he saw her, she was hooked up to life support, and now she was dead. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.
Jarod knelt down in front of Sydney, "Moira knew how much you loved her, Sydney. I know it's hard for you to express your feelings, but she always knew. It was not the words, but the kindness you showed her. Not a lot of people would have put up with Moira, but you saw the real person underneath all of the ice. You knew how fragile she was, and for that I am deeply indebted to you. Without your kindness, I think Moira would have been lost to us forever."
Sydney cried, "I miss her, Jarod. Oh God! I never thought it would be like this. I always thought I would be the one to go first. I could have handled that. I can't handle this, Jarod."
"You can, Sydney. You can get through this. We all can. We have to for the sake of the children. They need us the most."
"Promise me something, Jarod."
"Of course. Anything you want, Syd."
"If anyone ever asks you to endanger your life to help them, run-run as fast and as far away as you can. I can't take having to bury another friend. You'll promise that, won't you?"
Jarod nodded wondering what Sydney meant, "Of course. I promise."
"Are you sure? Do you swear on it?"
Jarod looked at Sydney curiously, "I don't know what you're getting at, but if it makes you feel any better, I swear. I promise I'll be careful."
PART VI: THE LIST MEANS LIFE QUANTICO, VA
Scully looked at Miss Parker's list, "Damn her, Mulder! What does she think we're made of? Money?"
Mulder took the list from Scully, "Our Golden girl certainly has champagne tastes."
"Unbelievable! A Nordic track? Can you believe this, Mulder? I don't even have a Nordic track."
"Who cares, Scully. Skinner's paying for it out of his own pocket," Mulder said chuckling.
"Oh, very well, then. Let Miss Parker go hog wild as long as Skinner's footing the bill," Scully said sarcastically.
"Oh, come off it, Scully. I don't know why you're giving Miss Parker such a hard time. She is going to help us. So what if she wants to remake herself as Twiggy," Mulder snickered.
"Attilla the Hun is more like it, Mulder. This morning I brought her some breakfast, and you know what she did?"
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"She told me to take it back. She treated me as if I was her own personal maid. I was waiting for her to tell me to clean up her room," Scully said hotly, "I can't wait till we're done with this assignment."
"Let's split up the list. You get the clothes and the personal stuff, and I'll get the rest. At least that way we can get back to work quicker," Mulder reasoned.
Scully nodded half-heartedly, "Okay, but I don't have to like it."
Moira studied the profile Mulder had given her. She made a list of things she would need. She needed, of course, to lose weight. She hadn't gained that much with the twins, but Maya Parker was a Kate Moss wanna be. She almost looked like a poster child for the disease of the week. She would need a scale, so she could keep track of her progress. She also needed exercise equipment; a Nordic Track would do fine.
Moira went on to add lace lingerie. Maya had a fetish for lace and satin. She also liked to wear power suits. Suddenly, it dawned on Moira that Maya had been using her as a role model. She copied the clothes she wore down to the stiletto heels and the micro mini-skirts. "She wanted to be me," Moira thought sadly. Maya even smoked the same brand of cigarettes; Marlboro Light 100's. The coincidences were too creepy. When Moira got to the profile on sex, the coincidences ended. Maya enjoyed bondage which wasn't something Moira hadn't tried, but Maya took it to the max. She liked to handcuff her sex partners to the bed while she rode them to climax. Maya also enjoyed having sex with multiple partners. Moira cringed when she envisioned herself with men other than Jarod. She hoped that she wouldn't have to do anything that would require sex. "I'll play your game, Skinner, but just don't expect me to get down and dirty with any of Maya's conquests."
The next item on the list was weapons. Maya was fond of knives. She, especially, liked knives that were razor sharp and small. They had to be compact, so she could hide them in her lace garters. Maya also enjoyed hand to hand combat. She had already killed one man by slamming him hard across the face sending shards of bone from the man's nose into his brain.
Moira didn't remember ever being that lethal when she worked for her father. She had a lethal look, and an acidic tongue, but when push came to shove she was never physically violent unless she had to defend herself. If my sister were alive today, she would kill me without a qualm. "Too bad no one ever showed you how to love," Moira thought sadly, "I would have loved you, Maya. I would have showed you that someone cared. You didn't have to resort to violence to win my love. You didn't have to die alone." At least she would be buried among family. Maybe in death, Maya would find the love she never had.
As an afterthought, Moira added the medal of Saint Anthony to the list. It would keep watch over her, and bring her back safely. When all was said and done, Moira had to depend on herself and God for safety. It was nice of Agent Mulder to think he could protect her, but no one could really protect her. Once she was in the Centre, she was once again fair game. She expected not to come back unscathed if she even came back at all. Hadn't her mother paid the ultimate sacrifice? She gave her life, so her daughter could live. There was no turning back from her duty. She had to get the list of names, so that other families wouldn't have to experience the pain that she had experienced.
PART VII: BURYING THE ENEMY
NEW ORLEANS, LA
Jarod watched silently as they wheeled the mahogany coffin down the church aisle. He was thankful to Jack. He had taken care of everything. He had ordered Moira's favorite flowers; yellow roses, he had picked out the coffin; a mahogany casket lined with white satin, and he had also prepared a eulogy.
The boys sat silently next to Sydney. John-John kept looking over at the casket with awe. Jamie cried softly. He was the most hurt by Moira's death. Jarod didn't have the words to comfort him. He couldn't comfort himself. Jamie still kept insisting that his mother wasn't in the casket She was alive, and in danger.
"He's in denial," Sydney had said.
Jarod wanted to believe that was all it was. He was afraid that he was losing his son. Sydney warned him that Jamie may need psychiatric treatment if he continued to ignore the truth that they were burying his mother today, and not some other woman who looked like her.
"It's not her, Dad. I know it's not her. Why won't you believe me?"
Jarod had listened patiently while they were sitting down to breakfast at Jack's, but Sydney grew angry.
"I won't listen to another word, Jamie. Your mother is dead, and no amount of denying it is going to make this reality go away."
Jamie had yelled and stormed out of the room. Jarod found him sitting in the closet. He was sobbing loudly. Jarod sat down next to him and waited for Jamie to calm down, but the boy kept sobbing uncontrollably. Jarod took Jamie in his arms and rocked him. He spoke to him about his mother soothing him, "Mom will always be with you, Jamie. She will always be there watching you. Make her proud to call you her son. Be strong for her, Jamie. Be strong for me."
By the time they left for the service, Jamie had come down. He was quiet and hung back from the rest of the family. They rode in the limo in silence.
Watching the rest of the mourners file in, Jarod didn't know how he was going to make it through the service and the burial without falling apart. He had never been to a funeral, and now he was burying his wife. He was losing a part of himself today; a part that could never be replaced. He tried to focus on what his friends were saying. He managed to listen to Broots and Sydney, but hearing how wonderful Moira was only served as a reminder of what he had lost.
Moira Parker was the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She was always there to offer help and emotional support even to those she never met. When my wife's brother-in-law was diagnosed with bone cancer, and the insurance company wouldn't pay for the bone-marrow transplant, Moira organized a fund- raiser. My brother-in-law is still alive today because Moira made people care.
Broots--
I knew Moira from the time she was a little girl. I've watched her become someone I could be proud of. She strove to keep her mother's memory alive by volunteering at several aids hospices throughout Long Island. She once told me that it made her feel good knowing she could bring a smile to someone who was suffering. When my brother, Jacob, died, she was always there offering me a smile of reassurance. I know she wouldn't want me to feel bad. She believed that in everything there was a purpose. God always had a plan for us. I'm sorry, Moira. I hope you'll forgive me for being angry. I don't understand the purpose behind your death.
Sydney Green
They rode back to Jack's house in silence. There was nothing more to say or do. Before the funeral, Jarod had direction. He knew what to do and when, but now there was nothing. Jamie stared out the window. John-John scribbled in his sketchbook. He had his mother's talent for art, but lately his drawings were helter skelter images of torment and betrayal. The drawing he was working on now was particularly disturbing. Jarod looked over John-John's shoulder as the image formed. It was of Moira, but at the same time it wasn't Moira. John-John had deftly drawn most of his mother's face, but one part of it was pealed back revealing another face.
"That's an interesting drawing, John-John," Jarod began.
John-John nodded silently as he continued to work.
"Why is mommy's face like that," Jarod probed.
John-John shrugged as he continued to work. The image grew clearer.
Jarod gazed at the picture in horror when he realized what he was looking at, "Let me show that to Uncle Sydney."
John-John obediently handed Jarod the sketchbook.
Sydney looked at the half pealed face revealing another woman's face behind it, "Oh my God! Do you know what this means, Jarod?"
Jarod frowned, "I was hoping you would tell me."
"I think Jamie's right. The woman we buried today is not Moira, but a woman surgically altered to look like Moira. My question is why? Why would someone play such a cruel trick with someone's emotions."
"Since when has the Centre given a damn about who they hurt, Syd? I thought we were safe, but we'll never be safe, will we, Syd? We'll never be out of their reach."
Sydney continued to gaze in fascination at the drawing, "No, I guess not. It was pretty to think so."
PART VIII: I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP., MR DENIRO..
QUANTICO, VA
Mulder got up from the floor. He touched his jaw where Moira hit him, "You've been practicing."
Moira held her ground. She stared at Mulder in defiance, "Come at me again, Mulder. Come on! Let's tango."
"Haven't you had enough of this martial arts stuff, Moira? You've already convinced me you can hold your own in a barroom brawl," Mulder said as he backed up.
Moira continued to follow him, "It's not enough. My life depends on this, Mulder! Let's go again."
Mulder sighed as he made a rush at the woman. He thought he had her, but he then felt the wind knocked out of him as he hit the floor, "No fair! You sucker punched me."
Moira laughed, "Come off it, Mulder. Really, I don't know how you made it through hand-to-hand combat at Club Fed."
"All right, Moira. You've made your point. I'm out of practice. You give me three weeks, and I'll whup your skinny ass," Mulder said getting to his feet.
From the hallway, Moira heard Sydney's voice, "You told them? I thought Skinner was against involving Jarod and Sydney?"
"Yeah, well, your husband has the persistence of a bloodhound on a scent. He must have called Skinner fifty times before Skinner finally came clean. I'm glad he did. Your friend, Dr. Green, knew Maya Parker. We wanted him to watch you in action."
Moira frowned, "He knew my sister?"
Mulder nodded, "Apparently so. He says he can help you, but he's not to thrilled about it."
Moira nodded as she left the exercise room. She stood in the doorway as Sydney and Skinner were about to walk by, "Well, well, well, if it's not Dr. Frankenstein, himself."
Sydney stopped in mid-sentence. He gazed at Moira in horror. She had become what he had feared most. Standing in front of him was Maya Parker, the woman who could spend the rest of her life locked up, and it still wouldn't be long enough. Sydney searched Moira's face for any sign of softness, but was met with a stare of absolute malice that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, "Are you sure that Maya Parker is dead, Skinner?"
Skinner smiled, "She's remarkable, isn't she, Dr. Green?"
Sydney stammered, "She's terrifying! What have they done to you, Princess?"
Moira bit back her tears, "Nothing...I'm still Moira. I'm still your Princess, Sydney."
Sydney breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I should have known Skinner would pull something this dangerous. I should have known."
Moira cried silently. She hugged Sydney tightly, "You won't ever lose me. I won't let that happen. I won't let them take me. They'll have to kill me first!"
Sydney frowned, "That's what scares me the most, Moira. I can't bury you again. I can't go through that again. Promise me you'll take precautions. Promise me you'll get out of there at the first sign of trouble."
"I promise," Moira said through her tears, "Where's Jarod? Jamie? John-John? Where are my twins?"
"Jack has them all in New Orleans. Jarod's waiting for you in your room. He's very shaken up. He's afraid for you, Moira. We're all afraid for you, " Sydney said as he watched Moira scramble off towards her room.
"She's lost so much weight. Was that really necessary, Walter?"
"I'm afraid so. Maya Parker was a fanatic about her weight. In the three weeks she was with us, she ate very little if at all."
"I hope you know what you're doing. If she gets caught, it will be the end for all of us. You do know that, Agent Skinner? They'll use Moira to get to Jarod. Once they have Jarod, they'll take the children."
"I give you my word, Sydney. Moira will be protected. We have people on the inside who will look out for her. If anything goes wrong, I'll have her out of there before they even know what happened."
Jarod stood in the middle of Moira's room. He stared at the photographs that lined the wall. They were of Maya Parker. It gave him the chills just seeing them. The woman staring out from the photos could have passed for Moira, but the madness in her eyes gave her away. He wondered what could have created such madness in one so young. Jarod, then, remembered the horrible experiments the scientists at the Centre performed on the children. In a way Jarod was one of the lucky ones. He was still useful to the Centre. They wouldn't kill him, but they would kill Moira. Mr. Parker wasn't around to protect her, and neither was Sydney. Moira had to go in there alone. This thought terrified Jarod the most.
"Hello, Jarod," Moira said as she walked through the doorway.
Jarod turned. He gasped as he saw her. He had never seen her this thin, "Are you sick?
Are they feeding you, Moira?"
Moira laughed, "Don't worry. It's only temporary. Besides, I could have stood to lose a few pounds."
"I liked you better with some weight on your bones, hon. I'm afraid you'll break if I touch you."
"Trust me, Jarod. I won't break. Now get over here and fuck me!" Moira said as she struggled out of her clothes.
Jarod met her. He kissed her mouth hard savoring her as he caressed her tight ass.
Moira moaned as Jarod probed her urgently with his fingers. She tore at his jeans reaching for him hungrily. She knelt down and took him completely in her mouth.
Jarod arched his back as he fucked her . She cupped his balls while she continued to tease him with her tongue.
"Wow, you're incredible. I never thought you knew how to...Oh...yes...oh God!...Yes! I'm gonna come," Jarod panted as he exploded.
Moira stepped back and admired her handy-work, "That's not all I can do."
Jarod allowed himself to be hand-cuffed to the bed. He felt himself grow hard just thinking about what Moira would do next.
Moira climbed on top of him and kissed him. Jarod tasted himself on her lips.
"Now we're really going to have some fun. Are you ready?" Moira said huskily as she impaled herself on Jarod's waiting erection.
Jarod's pleasure turned to terror as Moira lost herself in the game. She was no longer Moira as she straddled him. She was a wild animal tearing at him. He would have pushed her away if it hadn't been for the damn hand-cuffs.
"Moira! Stop!," he screamed, "Please, you're hurting me. Stop!"
Moira laughed, "What's the matter, Jarod. This too hot for you?"
She wasn't Moira anymore. Her voice had changed. It was lower, huskier, and full of hatred.
"Please, Moira, I love you. Don't do this to me," Jarod pleaded. He wasn't even hard anymore.
It was like a light suddenly went off in her head. Suddenly she was back. She gasped in horror at Jarod's tear streaked face, "Oh, my God! What have I done? Oh God, Jarod! I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Afterwards, Moira sat sobbing on the edge of the bed. Jarod lay on his side weeping. He had never felt so humiliated. Now he knew how it felt to be raped. Moira reached over and grasped his shoulder.
Jarod pulled away from her, "How do I know that you're not her again?"
Moira sobbed louder, "I've ruined things between us, haven't I? I never wanted to hurt you. I don't know what happened. I just know it will never happen again."
Jarod sat up. He took her in his arms and hugged Moira tightly, "I was just shocked. I never expected that. I know you wouldn't deliberately hurt me, Moira. I trust you with my life. I just don't trust Maya. Promise me you'll never bring Maya into our bed again."
"I promise," Moira said, but secretly she was terrified. What if she couldn't stop being Maya? What if she had hurt Jarod? She knew she would have never forgiven herself for that.
Moira woke up gasping. She reached for Jarod trying to wake him. He wasn't there. Moira felt herself start to panic, then she heard the water running in the sink. In her attempt to get her inhaler, Moira knocked it off the nightstand. She trembled as she went looking for it. She started to wheeze as she searched.
Jarod emerged from the bathroom. He panicked when he heard Moira wheezing.
"Are you okay?"
Moira caught sight of the inhaler and reached for it. After she had recovered from the attack, she met Jarod's gaze, "I had one of my attacks again."
"That's it! I can't let you go through with this," Jarod began.
Moira shook her head, "I have to. I have no choice. Skinner's counting on me to get the names."
"I don't care about Skinner. He's not the one who's risking his life. There has to be another way to do this," Jarod said as he continued to look into Moira's eyes. He had never seen her so frightened.
Moira read his thoughts. She looked away, "I'll be wearing a wire. They'll pull me out at the first sign of trouble."
"What if they don't get that chance? What if you're dead by the time the men in white hats come riding to the rescue? What will I do then? What will our children do?"
"I don't want to think about that, Jarod. I have to do this. I can't think about dying. I have to think about getting in and out without anyone suspecting my true identity. That's what I have to focus on."
Jarod saw the calm resolve in Moira's face. She was resigned to die if she had to for her part in the search for him. She was still punishing herself for the sins of her father.
"You can't punish yourself for something you had no control over. Didn't you teach me that? Besides, haven't we both paid enough for the past? Isn't it time to forgive ourselves?"
"You can forgive yourself, Jarod, but there are things that I've done that can never be forgiven."
Jarod sat down on the edge of the bed. He watched as Moira began to prepare herself. He heard the shower. The sound of the steady water did nothing to soothe his nerves. If she failed, they would kill her. If she was successful, would she ever be Moira again? He remembered the maniacal laughter as she tore at him in a frenzy and shuddered. She could have killed him. He saw it in her eyes.
Moira came out of the bathroom. She was frowning, "I would never hurt you. You have to know that. I would rather die than do that to you."
Jarod reached for her, and Moira allowed him to kiss her throat tenderly. He caressed her breasts with his gentle hands.
Moira moaned, "I love you."
"Yes," Jarod said heavily as he embraced her moving against her taking her completely with one thrust.
Moira gasped as she felt him inside her. She would miss the closeness they shared. She started to memorize Jarod's face feeling the warmth of his love. She would never let herself forget that he loved her, and that she loved him. They were connected as one now as they rode into the darkness.
Afterwards, Jarod placed his hand on Moira's temple. They were beyond words, "I will always love you no matter what happens. You are my soul, my life. You will never lose me. I will always be with you."
Moira smiled as she read Jarod's thoughts, "You always know what to say to a girl, Franken-boy."
Jarod laughed, "Only to you, Ice Queen."
PART IV: BLUE FIRE BLUE COVE, DE
Maya Parker sneered wickedly at herself in the mirror. She was absolutely perfect. Now it was time to give herself to the world.
"Where do you think you're going, Maya?" Charles Adelson said from the doorway.
"I'm going out," Maya said coldly, "That's where I'm going."
"You're unbelievable. You're going to blow everything, and for what? Some cheap thrills?"
Maya continued to tease her hair, "What do you know about it?"
Chuck sighed angrily, "We had a deal. You were supposed to cool it on the partying until we had the target in custody."
Maya grabbed her purse and started to push past him, but Chuck grabbed her arm.
"We had an agreement, Maya. An Agreement!"
Maya snarled, "Let go of me!"
"You're not going anywhere," Chuck said as he pushed her back into the room.
"What are you going to do, Chuckles? Are you going to rape me? Ohhh, I'd like that, but you couldn't, could you? When was the last time you got it up, Chuckles? Last year? Five years ago? Or is it that woman don't do it for you..."
Chuck felt himself lose control, "You slut! You fucking slut! You'll never be half the woman your sister is."
Maya laughed, "We'll see about that, Chuckles. We'll see."
Chuck shook his head as he allowed Maya by, "If you screw this up, I'll see to it it's the last thing you screw up."
"Promises, promises," Maya laughed as she left the apartment.
He could still hear her laughter as she was getting into the car. He once loved her. He would have done anything for her, but then he found out who she really was. She was a killer; a killer who fed on the fear of her victims. Claude Raines didn't care if she had her fun, but when she started going after Centre employees, Mr. Parker stepped in. She was locked in maximum security until now. Now she was free to kill again. Chuck hoped Emil Raines knew what he was doing by releasing Maya onto an unsuspecting public.
"We made an agreement, Chuck. She'll keep up her end of the arrangement, or we'll kill her," Emil had told him.
Somehow, Chuck sensed that there would be a lot of bloodshed before Emil would make good on his threat. He hoped that the bloodshed wouldn't include Moira and Jarod Beaudette.
DOVER, DE ZIPPY'S ALEHOUSE
The crowd chanted, "Drink! Drink! Drink!, as Maya gulped down another shot of Tequila. She slammed the empty shot glass on the bar, and began licking the lemon and salt from her hand.
When she was done, she motioned to the bartender, "Let's go! Get me another, Frank!"
Frank shrugged as he set another shot glass full of Tequila in front of her.
Maya grabbed it drinking it one gulp. She was well into her 7th shot when she noticed him watching her from one of the private booths in the corner. She smiled back at him inviting him to join her.
He came over smiling, "Hi, Sweetness. Can I buy you another drink."
Maya nodded, "Yeah, and make it a double."
"I'm Lowden Blake, and you are?"
"Maya Parker."
"So, Maya, what's the celebration?"
"Today's my lucky day," Maya said pretending to be drunk, "I got my freedom."
Lowden smiled, "Well, isn't that something, Sweetness."
Maya struggled to her feet, but collapsed against the tall man, "My, Lowden, you are a strong one."
"One must keep in shape these days," Lowden said helping her up, "Why don't we get out of here. I have a place we can go."
Maya smiled wickedly, "That wouldn't be the backseat of your car, would it?"
Lowden laughed, "Of course not. I have a room."
"I like a man who comes prepared," Maya said allowing him to guide her to the door.
Lowden opened the passenger door, and helped her in. They drove through Dover before they came to the outskirts of town. On the way to the motel, Maya traced the outline of Lowden's bulging crotch.
He smiled as he reached between Maya's legs exploring her with his fingers. He felt her grow wet as he stroked her through her satin panties, "You like that, Sweetness, don't you?"
Maya pushed his hand further inside her as she arched her back moaning, "Yes."
Lowden kissed her hard as he struggled to open the motel room door. Once inside, he grabbed her throwing her on the bed.
"Hey! Watch it, pal," Maya said in surprise.
Lowden grabbed her by the hair and forced Maya's face into his crotch, "Suck it, Bitch."
Maya almost choked on the enormity of his cock. She felt his knob on the back of her throat as she worked.
Lowden held her there as he thrusted into her, "That's good, Sweetness. You like my cock? You want me to fuck you?" Maya nodded as she continued to work. She gasped when he finally let her up. She struggled to catch her breath before he pushed her further onto the bed.
He pinned her down biting her breasts roughly. Maya cried out when he began to bite harder.
"Watch it!" She said angrily.
Lowden cupped her chin in his hands, "You don't like to be on the bottom, do you? You like to be in control, Sweetness. Well, tonight I'm calling the shots. You cooperate, and you'll have a great time. You don't, and you'll wish you were dead."
Maya tried to pull away angrily, but he held her, "Okay, just make it quick!"
"That's a good girl, Sweetness. Now, you and I are going to have some fun," Lowden said as he forced Maya's legs apart.
Maya gasped as she felt him explore her with his fingers. She stared at the cheap motel art as he began to tease her with the head of his cock sliding it around her opening until he viciously drove himself completely inside her.
"That's nice, Sweetness. You're so nice and tight," He said ramming her harder and harder until he came panting, "Oh! Shit! That was great!"
Maya let herself relax. At least the oaf was done. Gasping, she watched in horror as he pulled out of her. He was rock hard and ready to go again.
Lowden saw her horror and reveled in it, "You thought I was done, didn't you, Sweetness? Well, surprise! I can fuck all night, and it still wouldn't be enough. Lucky for you, Sweetness, you don't have all night. I promised to have you back in time for curfew.
Maya glared angrily at him, "You son of a bitch! I should have known..."
Before she could finish, Lowder turned her over and began to jab at her viciously.
Maya tried to think of something else, but she was beginning to like the feel of his cock as it slammed into her. She gripped the headboard as he fucked her like a crazed animal. Her breath came in gasps as she felt herself come. She bit her lip trying to keep from crying out.
"You like my cock inside you, don't you, Sweetness," Lowden panted as he exploded again. Maya breathed a sigh of relief. Finally it was over. She could go home and forget, but she stiffened when she felt Lowden insert his fingers into her ass, "No, don't!"
Lowden laughed, "Now we're really going to have some fun, aren't we, Sweetness."
Maya gasped trying to fight him off, but he pinned her again. She felt him rubbing against her trying to work himself inside, "No! Please, you're going to tear me apart."
"Relax, Sweetness. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it my way," Lowden said reaching into his bag that was conveniently hidden underneath the bed.
Maya continued to fight, "Let me up! Let me up, or I'll fucking scream!"
"Sweetness, you'll do no such thing," he said stabbing her with a syringe full of Nembutal.
Maya felt herself drift away while Lowden tore into her viciously.
He dug into her limp form enjoying her helplessness. He liked the feel of her tightness around him as he thrusted into her savagely. It was a pity she wasn't awake to enjoy it.
When he was done, he marveled how she could sleep with her eyes wide open like that. Then, he grew alarmed. He had gone too far this time. He had given her too much. He listened closely for any signs of breathing. He put his hand on her neck feeling for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found one. He knelt down and kissed her passionately on the lips. Her eyes flickered as she moaned softly.
"Come on, Sweetness. It's time to get you dressed," Lowden said as he put her clothes back on. She was waking up, but it would be awhile before she would wake fully.
On the way back to the Centre, Maya propped herself up against the door with the window open. The cool air felt good on her face. Lowden reached over and tried to put his hand between her legs, but Maya clenched them tightly moaning in pain wishing this horrible night would finally be over.
As they pulled into the driveway of the Centre's apartment complex, Lowden grabbed Maya's arm, "You remember, Sweetness. Tonight was only a precursor to what I'm going to do if Jarod Beaudette is not returned to the Centre alive. Remember, I can fuck all day and all night if need be, and this time, Sweetness, you'll be wide awake."
Maya numbly stared at him hating him for having control over her. As she began to climb out of the car, a wave of nausea hit her. She turned towards him and vomited- completely saturating the seat and gearshift of his car. She could still hear him cursing as he drove away.
Chuck was waiting for her as she entered the apartment, "Did you have a good night out?"
Maya still felt sick as she pushed past him to get to the bathroom, "Excuse me..."
Chuck heard her retching, and went to see if she was all right. He found her poised over the toilet vomiting. He took hold of her hair as she retched.
"I gather it didn't go well."
Maya waited for awhile before getting up. When she did, the room began to spin. She grabbed blindly for something to hold onto. Chuck held her until she regained her balance, "Are you okay?"
Maya wiped her face with a wet washcloth, "I'm fine. I had too much to drink, that's all."
"Look, Maya, I know we no longer have feelings for each other, but one thing I know about you is that you can drink any man under the table. What really happened tonight?"
Maya turned on the shower and waited for the water to get hot, "Nothing happened, Chuck. I'm going to be fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower. We have a long day ahead of us."
Chuck frowned. For a moment he saw the woman he had fallen in love with. He went back to the livingroom to prepare for tomorrow. When Maya had first entered the apartment, her eyes were tired. They lacked the malice that was always present in them. For a moment she resembled the old Maya; the Maya who loved to laugh, the Maya who loved him. He knew she didn't love him anymore. He could deal with that. Relationships end. People move on to other lovers, but what hurt him the most was that he had lost her to the madness that plagued her throughout her life. She had fought it at first. She took thorazine for the longest time, but something happened to her one night while she was working late at the Centre. They found her the next morning in one of the maximum security cells in the Tower. She had been viciously raped by one of the psychos Raines often used to do his dirty work. She was never the same after that.
Chuck never dreamed that she would become a psychopath herself. She had given in to the madness, and then the killings began. He didn't believe Sydney when he told him that Maya was responsible for the brutal killings. All of the victims were in their early thirties, all of them were white males, all of them were found stabbed to death with a small sharp knife, and all of them had a heart carved into their chests. The local authorities had dubbed them the Valentine Murders. He didn't believe the woman he once took as his lover was capable of such carnage. He hadn't believed it until the day he walked in on her as she was putting the finishing touches on her heart, her trademark. He cringed. He could still see the look of complete and total joy as she watched him watching her reveling in the blood of her victim.
The authorities never found that body. The sweeper team cleaned up the mess. They buried the body in a shallow grave in an empty lot that would be paved the next day. After Maya had been caught, she was locked away with the rest of the psychos in maximum security, but now she was out, and was probably up to her old tricks. He didn't doubt that she had faked getting drunk, seduced some unsuspecting man, and then killed him. He hoped Mr. Raines was right. He hoped that the threat of being killed would be enough to keep her in line. Of course, she would never get what she asked for. She wanted her freedom in exchange for getting the target back to the Centre. As soon as Jarod Beaudette was back, Mr. Raines would have her killed anyway. She had served her purpose, and then she would die. Chuck didn't want her to die, but he didn't want her to live in a cage either.
Maya leaned against the shower wall. The tile felt good on her aching body. They were going to pay for this. She was going to make sure of it. The hot water felt good as it cascaded over her. Maya took a deep breath as she began to wash herself. She wanted to get Lowden Blake off her. She could still smell the sex even though she had scrubbed herself until she was raw.
As she stood there letting the hot water scald her, Maya allowed herself to sob. She was so close to getting what she wanted she could almost taste it. They were going to give her back her freedom. All she needed to do was to behave for a little while longer, and then she would have everything. She would be free to love the only way she knew how to love. The first person she would love would be Lowden Blake. She smiled when she thought of what she was going to do to him.
"We'll have some fun, then, Lowden. I promise, I'll give you the time of your life," Maya laughed as she reveled in the images of her on top of him riding him to glory while stabbing away at him with her sharp little knife. The carved heart would be the icing on the cake. The image of the smug son of a bitch lying there with a look of sheer and absolute terror in his eyes was too much for Maya to imagine without laughing, "We're going to have a screaming good time, Lowden Blake. You just wait and see, Mister. Maya's going to give you your own little heart served up on a platter, and there will be nothing you can do to stop me."
Chuck heard the bathroom door open. He turned off the TV, and turned to see Maya pour herself a tumbler filled to the rim with Chivas. He cringed as she drank it as if it were water, "Damn it, Maya. Do you know what time it is? It's 3 o'clock in the fucking morning."
"Thank you for that astute observation, Chuck. I'm well aware of the time."
"You better be up by 7 am, or I'll be dragging your ass out of bed," Chuck said angrily.
Maya coughed before she spoke, "I'd like to see you try."
"You'll get your chance if you're not up by 7. You remember that!" Chuck said as he pulled the sofa bed open.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Dear?" Maya sneered.
Chuck sighed angrily as he got up from the couch. He grabbed the electronic shock collar and grabbed Maya by the hair. He fastened the device around her neck and locked it, "You even think of running, and I'll push the button..."
"I know...I know..You'll give me an electric shock strong enough to stop my heart killing me instantly. Raines told me all about his torture device. Don't worry, Chuck. You're golden girl's not going to run out on you," Maya said as she entered her bedroom slamming the door behind her.
Chuck shut his eyes and allowed himself to drift. He dreamed of Maya, and the child they would have had. Maya would have made a great mother. She was full of love then, but the night she was attacked dashed all hopes of ever finding happiness. The baby she was carrying died the next day as Maya lay in her hospital bed. Her body had spontaneously aborted the child. Maya had to be heavily sedated after that, but the quack doctors at the Centre conveniently forgot that she was taking medication for her depression. He had almost lost her. She slipped into a deep coma that she shouldn't have woke up from. She should have died, but Raines insisted they try an experimental drug called RU-75. It was supposed to wake Maya from her coma. She was never the same afterwards. She had lost something when they gave her the drug. Chuck didn't know what it was at first, but the day he found her on top of that man, he knew. Somehow on the way back from the darkness, Maya lost her soul. What was left was a hollow shell filled with hatred seeking revenge for her unborn child.
PART X: "INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH RODE THE SIX HUNDRED"
QUANTICO, VA
Jarod woke to find Moira gone. He had to remind himself that last night was not a dream. Moira was alive and well, but for how long? Jarod had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that he would never see his wife again. He got up, showered, and began to shave. She had left him a note inside his shaving kit. Jarod's heart felt heavy as he read it.
To my love, my life:
I will do my best to come home to you, but in the event that I can't, please remember that I will always remember that you loved me even when I didn't even love myself. You always made me see there was more to life than being Daddy's Little Girl. It's a lesson I will always carry with me.
I know you're terrified of losing me to the darkness. It's what I'm afraid of too. Your love will light my way back from this darkness..
Love, M--
Jarod did his best to keep from losing control. He gripped the edge of the sink trying to hold back the nausea that hit him. He saw Moira standing in the darkness. She was lost and confused. She kept on trying to find her way out, but everywhere she turned, she kept getting deeper into the darkness. She had told him once that the darkness was a very dark and scary place. "If you go deeper into it, there's no guarantee you can return unscathed if you return at all."
CONFERENCE ROOM ONE
Skinner cleared his throat trying to gain everyone's attention, "Listen up, everyone. In front of you you'll find a folder with an outline of operation Gemini. As you know, Agents Mulder and Scully are already en-route to Blue Cove, DE. At 8:00 am this morning Moira Parker Beaudette will be entering the Centre. She will be posing as her twin sister, Maya Parker. We have Agents Jennings and Weardon running surveillance from the van parked across the river. From the outside, it will look like Reyser Pharmaceuticals is having some plumbing problems; hence, the appearance of our van. Agents Mulder and Scully will be parked on the East side of the Centre just outside the perimeter. Agent Davis and myself will be running things from here, and will be ready at a moment's notice to deploy two SWAT teams with enough fire power to wage their own full scale war. We mean business this time, Gentlemen. This time we're going to nail those bastards to the wall."
At the far end of the table, a tall man smoking a Morley sat quietly listening. He was the only one not taking notes. Every once in a while, the tall man glanced at Jarod and Sydney trying to gage their response to Skinner's plan. Would they be a threat? Would he have to step in and have them silenced? Cancerman, as he was referred to by Mulder and Skinner, didn't know yet, but he was prepared to do anything to protect his alliances.
Jarod looked down at the folder. He took copious notes of the vibes he was feeling in the room. The man smoking the Morley cigarette gave him the creeps. He just sat there chain smoking. Jarod wondered what his role was in Skinner's plan. He began to put himself in the smoking man's shoes. Smoking man was hiding something; something Jarod couldn't determine, but he had the feeling it was not part of Skinner's plan. This man had alliances with people who wanted the Centre to stay in business. Jarod penned a note quickly to Sydney: Notice the man smoking at the end of the table?
Sydney glanced briefly at Jarod's note. He nodded before responding with his own note: He keeps staring at us. He's up to something, Jarod. I think Moira's in danger.
Jarod nodded slightly. They couldn't risk showing smoking man that his "gig" was up. Jarod vowed silently that if Moira came to any harm as a result of smoking man, he would personally shove the whole package of Morley's down the man's throat while at the same time ripping out both of his lungs.
Sydney felt Jarod stiffen in anger. He gripped Jarod's arm as the meeting broke up, "Keep your cool, Jarod. You can't run off half-cocked here. I'm sure Skinner has the situation well in hand."
Jarod shook his head, "Smoking man's got a hidden agenda, Sydney. He'll stop at nothing to protect his interests. Did you see the way he was staring at me? He wants me for something. I know it. I wouldn't be surprised if he has money tied up in Centre interests."
"I want to talk to Skinner about this," Sydney began.
"How do we know he's not part of this, Syd? We can't trust anyone, but ourselves."
"What about your friends at the Millennium group? Can we get them to help us?"
"I want to do some digging myself first. Frank Black is too busy to come on a hunch. I want to have something to show him."
"I still can't shake the feeling that Maya Parker is alive. Why else would John-John draw that image of his mother with half of her face pealed away?"
Jarod thought for a moment, "If Maya Parker and Moira were identical twins, then why was the woman in John-John's drawing surgically altered...?"
"...because she wasn't Maya Parker, Jarod. She was supposed to look like Maya. She was supposed to be Maya's cover," Sydney gasped, "We have to exhume the body, Jarod. That's the only way we'll know the truth."
"I agree, but we can't just dig up the body, Syd. We need to convince a judge that there is good reason to exhume her. Since Moira supposedly died of natural causes, we can't use the we're investigating a murder angle."
Sydney scratched his head, "I have an idea."
BLUE COVE, DE
East Outside Perrimeter
Moira trembled as Mulder pulled the rental car up closer to the Centre. It was if she had never left. Nothing had changed. The Tower had been repaired, and now there was an apartment complex attached to it, "It's as if we've done nothing. The death of my father hasn't even slowed them down. I thought we were safe, Agent Mulder. I really thought my father's death would bring an end to the Centre, but there's always someone ready to come in and take up where the others had left off."
Mulder saw the tears in Moira's eyes, "With your help, Moira, we're going to shut them down permanently. They won't be able to hide behind their walls and their network of government spies. You're going to help us expose them for who they really are, Moira. After this, you'll be able to sit back and know that you and your family are safe."
Moira nodded, "I wish I could believe that, Agent Mulder, but right now all I can think of is what they'll do to me if they find out that I'm not my sister."
Scully squeezed Moira's shoulder, "The surveillance van will be parked across the river. If anything goes wrong, all you need to do is push the button on your watch. That will sound a silent alarm."
Moira looked down at the watch Mulder had given her. The watch looked like an expensive women's Timex. It had three buttons; one of them was the silent alarm, the second button acted as a lifeline to the surveillance van, and the third was a high powered laser that could cut through metal, "I feel like James Bond with this thing."
Mulder smiled, "Where do you think we got the idea?"
"Well, I guess I better get going. I'm going to sneak in through one of the underground tunnels. I think the less I'm seen the safer I'll be," Moira said as she pulled her .9 millimeter Browning semiautomatic out of her purse checking the clip. Satisfied, Moira got out of the car willing herself to become wood.
"I am wood. I am wood. I am wood," Moira kept telling herself.
Mulder watched as Moira disappeared, "Do you think she'll be okay, Scully?"
Scully frowned, "I hate to admit it, but I would never want to meet Moira in a dark alley. I was reading her file. Did you know her father sent her to a combat survival camp every summer since the age of 12? She's a third degree black belt in karate as well as an expert marksman. I think Moira can take care of herself."
Mulder looked at Scully with interest, "Gee, I guess the Parkers weren't exactly the Cleavers."
Scully nodded, "I guess not."
PART XI: "WHERE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD..."
Maya wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced at the clock. It was 6:10 am. The apartment was quiet except for the sound the clock's infernal ticking. The dull ache in her back had returned with a vengeance. Damn those bastards at the Centre. She still felt sore from Lowden's attack. Maya turned over on her side, and tried to go back to sleep, but the images of Lowden's face as he rammed her kept coming back to her. Finally, she just lay in bed staring at the cheap apartment fixtures. She couldn't wait until this blasted freak show was over. She kept thinking of her freedom. Finally, she would be able to go anywhere she wanted without having to wear a shock collar.
The first thing she would do when she got out would be to buy some new clothes. She was tired of wearing her sister's clothes. Although, she had to give Moira credit, the woman had good taste. She would make it a point to thank her for that before she killed her, and she would kill her even if it hurt Emil's chances at getting Jarod back.
"Daddy may have loved you, Moira, but I was the one who took after him. It should have been me out there. I should have been chasing Jarod," Maya thought angrily.
From the kitchen, Maya heard the water running in the sink, and the clinking of plates and glasses. She smelled the coffee and smiled. Coffee was still her favorite indulgence aside from Snickers bars. Before she was imprisoned, she ate them by the hand-full, but at the Centre she was relegated to one per week, and God help anyone who forgot to give it to her. She snickered as she remembered what she did to one of the security guards who wanted his own little arrangement in return for the candy. Maya had agreed, and the guard was now sporting a prosthetic penis. No one ever fucked with her and her Snickers bars again.
Chuck opened the door to the bedroom, "Wake-up sleeping Beauty."
Maya did her best impression of her sister, and smiled sweetly, "Why don't you come in here and kiss me awake, my prince charming."
Chuck glared at her, "Get up! Get dressed! Eat! Raines wants to see us ASAP."
Maya threw her pillow at him before Chuck slammed the bedroom door. She laughed as she heard him slamming around the kitchen. Setting him off had become a new game with her; a game she would never grow tired of.
Maya finished dressing. She had chosen Moira's favorite outfit, a navy blue pantsuit that zippered on the side. She arranged her hair the way Moira had always wore it; flipped to the right side with the ends curled underneath. The next was the make-up; liquid eye-liner and foundation that made her face look almost death white. The lipstick was a dark Burgundy almost to the point of being brown. When she was done, Maya looked at herself in the mirror. She was now Moira. Had it not been for the shock collar, she could have walked through the door of the Centre, and no one would have been the wiser. She had once tried it. She had almost gotten away with her clever ruse had it not been for Sydney. The minute she opened her mouth, he was onto her.
"You're not Miss Parker. I don't know what game you're playing, young lady, but I assure you, Miss Parker has more class than to use such profane language," Sydney had told her before summoning security.
She had found herself in the sensory deprivation tank for that one. When she was a child, Raines had terrified her by telling her that if she were to scream while in the tank, the monsters living under the water would find her. When she was older, the threat of the monsters had lost its effect, but now there other monsters to fear. The sensory deprivation tank was just another means of escape from the inner torment that plagued Maya throughout her life. Daddy used to accuse her of being "bad" on purpose. It wasn't her fault that she heard voices in her head. It wasn't her fault that they told her to do things to hurt Moira. Moira had been the baby by six minutes, and even in that short amount of time, Moira had managed to win Daddy's love away from her.
Maya remembered the night she had almost killed her twin. They were going down the stairs for dinner. Moira was walking too slowly, so Maya gave her a shove to get her to move a little faster. Moira lost her footing and fell head first down the steps. Daddy had never forgiven her for that. It took sixteen stitches to close the cut on Moira's hairline. Daddy had to hold her while the emergency room doctor put them in. After Daddy came home from the hospital, he had come into the bedroom cursing. Maya could still hear the hatred in his voice.
"You are dead to me! I don't see you! I don't hear you! Tomorrow, you will leave this house. You are no longer a Parker," Daddy had told her as he hit her repeatedly.
Momma had to pull him off her, but the damage had been done. Even Momma wouldn't talk to her. In the end, Maya was shipped off to live with the other children who lived at the Centre.
"Are you done in there? We're going to be late, Maya!" Chuck yelled from the kitchen.
Maya shrugged herself from her memories. She came into the kitchen grabbing her purse from the counter. She withdrew a pill bottle and quickly swallowed a few Darvons before Chuck had a chance to stop her.
"Self-medicating again?" Chuck asked incredulously.
"That's none of your business," Maya said pouring herself a mug of coffee. She sat at the table and drank it morosely.
Chuck shook his head, "You're going to ruin everything. Mr. Raines is going to kill you if his plan fails. You do know that, don't you?"
Maya continued to savior the hot coffee. It helped her to forget about the dull ache in her back and head, "You know something, Chuckles? I'm getting really tired of being threatened. I'm keeping my end of the bargain, so get off my back!"
Chuck stormed over to the table. His face was red, "I'll get off your back when you're back in your cage, Maya. Right now, I have to make sure that you follow orders. I don't like it anymore than you do. I didn't choose to be your keeper, or your nursemaid. You just better start behaving, or I'll..."
"You'll what? You'll kill me? And, here I thought you still loved me."
Chuck took a deep breath, "I did love you once. Remember?"
"You don't anymore, do you?" Maya asked gazing into Chuck's blue eyes.
Chuck walked back to the counter and brought over two slices of lightly buttered wheat bread, "You better get something in your stomach to absorb those Darvons."
Maya grudgingly ate the toast. At least Chuck remembered she liked wheat. White bread was so full of nothing, it wasn't worth the trouble to eat it, "Thanks, Chuck. What would I ever do without you?"
Chuck shrugged, "Starve, I guess."
Maya slowly ate the toast savoring the impatient look on Chuck's face. He was so cute when his eyes would scrunch up, and his lips would turn up in a snarl.
Chuck looked at his watch, "Maya, come on! We're going to be late!"
Maya continued to eat reveling in Chuck's anxious pacing.
"Okay, let's go. You're wasting time," Chuck said yanking Maya to her feet.
"Hey, I'm not finished," Maya said dejectedly.
Chuck pulled her to the apartment door, "You are now."
"Aren't we forgetting something, Chuckles?" Maya said as she pointed to the shock collar, "Moira wouldn't wear one of these, would she, Chuck?"
Chuck laughed as he reached into his coat pocket withdrawing a set of hand-cuffs. He yanked Maya's hands in front of her. When she was hand-cuffed, Chuck touched her cheek, "You were so beautiful once. You were carrying my child. We could have been so happy, and now we have this..."
Maya looked away from him, "Damn you! Damn you to Hell, Chuck!"
Chuck grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. He forced his lips on hers kissing her passionately, "Nope, sorry. I still don't feel anything for you, Maya. You're dead to me."
Maya winced as if she'd been stung, "Let's get this horse and pony show over with. I don't want to spend another minute with you if I can help it."
Chuck nodded, "I assure you, Sweetie, the feeling is mutual."
Mr. Raines was waiting for them when they came in. He frowned at Maya as she stumbled into his office.
"You can shut the door behind you on the way out, Mr. Adelson."
Chuck smiled pleasantly, "She's all yours, Mr. Raines."
"Coward!" Maya yelled as the door to the office slammed shut. "Good morning, Maya," Raines said pleasantly.
"It's Miss Parker to you," Maya said coldly.
Raines laughed snidely, "You're not a Parker. At least not yet, anyway."
"You bastard! How dare you patronize me. How dare you treat me like I'm public enemy #1," Maya growled.
Raines couldn't contain himself, "You're too much, Maya. Aren't you forgetting why you were locked up in Maximum security? It's a pity those poor men won't be able to remember. They can't remember, Maya, because you killed them. Isn't that right, Sweetie?"
Maya glared at Raines, "So, I killed a few men; a few adulterous men who left their wives and children to sleep with a woman they picked up in a bar. I don't think I should be locked up for that. I should have been given a medal."
Raines shook his head, "I was kidding myself to think I could use you. You're out of control."
"We had a deal. You said you would let me go if I cooperated. You promised me!"
"Yes, we had a deal, Maya. But had is the operative word here. Where did you go last night?"
"I went out. Is that so horrible, Emil?"
"You were looking for a victim. Did you find one? Did you get your blood last night? Was it all that it was cracked up to be?" Raines sneered.
"You know full well what happened." Maya said icily.
"Do I? I only told him to show you a good time."
"Well, here's a news flash, Emil: I did not have a good time! I was raped last night, and you let it happen. No, let me rephrase that. You hired him to do it. I won't be able to sit normally for a week because of that ape," Maya said cringing at the memory of Lowden forcing himself deep inside her tearing her apart.
"Your sitting arrangements are of no consequence to me, Maya. We had an agreement; an agreement you signed. I'm afraid I'm going to have to rethink my decision to let you go."
"You promised me. You said you would let me go. You said I could go free," Maya screamed in rage.
"You lied to me. You gave me your word that you wouldn't go out, and you went out anyway."
Had it not been for the hand-cuffs, Maya would have killed him, "You fucking Bastard! I'm going to make you pay for this."
"Watch yourself, Maya. Your use of profanity may work wonders in the bedroom, but in my office I will not have it."
Maya stepped toward Raines menacingly. She met his ice water blue eyes with hers, "Fuck you, Emil. You're scum sucking, poor excuse for a man. You'll never be half the man you're father was."
Raines stared at her coolly. He resisted the urge to grab her by the neck and squeeze the hateful life out of her. He picked up the phone on his desk, "Hello...Yes!..Kindly send Dr. Angelist up here. I have a candidate for him."
Maya stared at Raines in horror. This time she had gone too far, "I'll behave. I promise. Please, give me one more chance."
Raines smiled, "My father wouldn't have given you another chance, so why should I?"
The office door opened revealing a tall man dressed in a white doctor's coat. He was accompanied by a large security guard.
Maya backed away, "No! Stay away! No! Don't come near me."
The security guard grabbed Maya by the hair as the tall man prepared a syringe filled with clear liquid.
Maya screamed in terror as the doctor jabbed her viciously with the syringe. As the drug coursed through her veins, Maya felt her whole body jerk. She went into convulsions before going completely limp.
The security guard caught her. She moaned as she tried to make her body obey her brain, but all she could do was cry in agony.
The doctor stroked her face gently, "Relax, Sweetie, in a little while this will all go away."
"You promised..." Maya moaned weakly as the guard started to carry her away.
Raines nodded to the doctor, "When you're done with the experiment, kill her. She's useless to us."
Dr. Angelist frowned, "Are you sure?"
Raines thought for a moment, "Yes."
Dr. Angelist nodded, "Okay. It's your call, Sir."
PART XII: INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH RODE THE SIX HUNDRED (CONT-)* OUTSIDE OF THE CENTRE
Moira trembled as she watched Mulder and Scully pull away from the curb. Now, she was on her own. She checked and rechecked her gun making sure it was functioning properly. She couldn't take the chance of it jamming. Moira made her way to the entrance of the underground tunnel. She prayed that Jarod's escape route was still intact; otherwise, she would have to enter the Centre by way of the front entrance.
The entrance was there, but it was buried under fallen trees and underbrush. Moira said another prayer as she pushed the button on her watch activating the laser. Doggedly, she cut the tree into smaller sections that became easier for her to push aside. "Thank God for 007, and his tools," Moira laughed nervously. The laughter did nothing to quell the fear she could still taste in her mouth as she opened the door to the tunnel. She took the small halogen penlight from her belt and entered the dark, rank corridor leading to the lower part of the Centre.
Moira trembled from the bone chilling dampness. She smelled death around her. Many people had died here. She could almost see them watching her begging her to turn back. Jarod nicknamed the underground corridor the "hallway of silence." On the walls Moira could see the blood of the innocent. "They killed children here," Moria gasped. Her voice echoed in the empty corridor.
"They'll kill you too, if you don't move along," a child's voice said from behind her.
Moira froze, "Who's there?"
She was met with silence.
Moira turned around. A little boy stood watching her. "Who are you?" she gasped.
"The other who wears your face, and dresses in your clothes is alive," he responded softly.
His voice was like the sound of wind rustling through trees. Moira gazed in mute horror at the boy, "My sister is alive?"
The boy nodded, "Don't let her take you..."
"I don't understand..." Moira began.
"You will. Remember...!" the boy said as he faded into the darkness.
"Wait! Come back! I don't understand! Remember what?" Moira asked trembling. Her head began to throb. An image came to her, but Moira fought to push it away, "Not now!" This was not the time for a walk down memory lane.
A little girl watched Moira as she made her way towards the old fire door, "She won't remember, Nanna. What will we do?"
Catherine Parker embraced the crying child, "She will, honey. She'll remember in her own time."
"What if she never remembers?" the child cried harder.
"There, there. She'll remember. They always do," Catherine Parker said as she watched her daughter disappear into the darkness.
Moira struggled against the bitter sadness that kept threatening to overtake her. Howls of anguish called out to her begging her to set them free. She took a deep breath as she came to the fire door. Moira holstered her gun, and took another deep breath before touching the rusted lock on the door. Nothing could have prepared her for the torrent of images that came to her. Her mother was there with Sydney...no, it wasn't Sydney. It was Jacob. They were running in terror. Children were screaming...sounds of gunfire...sobbing...her mother's voice, "They shot them. Oh God! They shot them..."
Moira pulled her hand away from the lock sobbing. She sank to the floor, "Oh, Momma, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. How can you ever forgive me?"
"You can start by forgiving yourself," a man's voice said from the depths of her mind.
Moira felt herself grow stronger. Jarod was with her. He was guiding her away from the gruesome images of the dying children.
"I'm right here, my love. You'll never be alone. I'll always be with you."
Moira stood up. She touched the ring and the medal of St. Anthony feeling the fear begin to fade. She took a deep breath clearing her mind mentally preparing herself for the task ahead of her.
"Okay, Boys! The Ice Queen cometh."
-----------------------
Mulder, do you hear me?" Skinner yelled into the phone.
Mulder struggled to hear over the static, "Mulder, here...What's that? I can barely hear you, Sir."
"I said...static...Gemini is no...static...Get out of...static," Skinner yelled again.
"What? What about Gemini?" Mulder asked looking at Scully in confusion.
"Abort Gemini! Get out of there immediately. I have reason to believe your lives are in danger. Maya Parker is...static..."
Mulder looked at Scully, "That's odd. Skinner wants us to abort the mission. He was saying something in regards to Maya Parker before the line went dead."
"Damn it, Mulder. Maya Parker's alive," Scully said as she tried to reach Moira on the two-way, "Oh, God, Mulder."
"What?"
"There's no signal. Moira has no way of contacting us," Scully said as she started for the tunnel.
"Scully, wait! Get back to Washington. I'm going to check the surveillance van," Mulder said running towards the foot bridge leading to Reyser Pharmaceuticals.
"Mulder! Wait! I'm coming with you!"
Mulder shook his head, "No! Get a hold of Skinner. We can't risk both of us being caught."
"What about Moira? We can't just leave her here," Scully said in confusion.
"I can't explain, Scully. I don't think they'll kill Moira. I think she's their bargaining chip."
"Damn it, Mulder! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Scully, I don't have time to explain. It's only a hunch," Mulder said as he disappeared behind the van.
Scully shook her head, "I hope your hunch is right, Mulder. I hope for Moira Beaudette's sake it's right."
LEVEL ONE- SIMULATION LAB
Moira waited until the lab-techs left before she snuck into one of the empty offices. Quietly, she closed the door wedging a piece of wood between the door and doorframe.
One of the lab-techs had left his computer terminal on. Moira smiled at her good fortune. She entered in Maya's access codes.
ACCESS DENIED
Moira sighed, "Anymore surprises I should be aware of, Skinner?"
Moira sat back and thought a minute. She began keying in number sequences until she got one that worked. She had to hurry. She knew her searching had tripped a silent alarm, so she used an old trick Jarod taught her to locate archive files fast. She scanned through the old files that had thankfully never been erased when the Centre updated it's antiquated software. Finally, she found something. She opened the file and memorized its contents before e-mailing it to Jarod. She didn't trust the Feds anymore than her father did. He had told her that they had their own secret agendas that sometimes didn't include protecting their witnesses.
Moira was just finishing up when the door to the office opened revealing a very startled lab-tech.
"Hey! What are you doing to my computer?"
Moira looked at him coolly, "I was just sending an e-mail to my boyfriend. I saw the office open. The computer was on, and I guess, well, I missed him."
"You have to have clearance to send anything over the server. Who are you? and What do you want?" the lab-tech asked nervously.
Moira smiled benignly, "I work in Corporate. I must have gotten lost on the way back from my coffee break. It's part of the hazards of smoking. I really should quit, but you know how it is, don't you, Ted."
"How did you know my name?" Ted said backing away from Moira as she approached him.
"It's on your coat, Ted," Moira said still smiling.
Ted looked down at his coat, "Oh, yeah, so it is."
"Be a dear, Ted, forget you ever saw me. Can you do that, Ted?" Moira said as she brushed up against him seductively.
Ted swallowed hard, "You're invading my space."
Moira smiled as she continued to push against him.
Ted pushed her away, "I'm calling security. You don't work for Corporate."
"That's too bad, Ted. We could have had something lovely..." Moira said as she punched him solidly in the face knocking him to the floor."
In the hallway, Moira heard them coming, "Damn!"
Moira took a deep breath and prepared herself for the inevitable, "You can come get me, but I'm not going down without a fight."
The first security guard charged into the office. He never knew what hit him as Moira slugged him in the back sending him crashing through the glass shelves.
"Oops! That looks like that would hurt, pal," Moira said grabbing his handcuffs from his belt while she waited for the other security guard to join the party.
She didn't have to wait too long. He charged her before he realized what he was walking into. Moira smiled in satisfaction as she heard the bones in the guard's nose shatter as she threw a death punch hitting him squarely in the face, "Ow! That definitely had to hurt."
Moira craned her neck before she exited the office. Mentally she made a note to visit Daddy's grave to thank him for forcing her to go to survival camp. She had been twelve when she first started going. Her mother had died the year before, and to keep her away from the Centre, Daddy had her shipped off to Seattle.
She hated it at first. The instructors were mean, and the food was horrible, but after her second Summer, she began to enjoy the mindlessness of it. She could forget how much she missed her mother. She could forget how much her father's neglect had hurt her. At camp, the other cadets where as lonely and unloved as she was. They shared a common bond. They were all from wealthy families, and all of them were as miserable as she was.
She would have become a senior counselor had it not been for Raines' insistence that she return. He wanted her to befriend one of his "lab rats." She didn't want to, but her father made her feel guilty, so she caved finding herself in a gigantic fishbowl. She still remembered that day as clearly as it were yesterday.
She was ushered into a dimly lit room. The room was divided by a plexi-glass wall. A boy, about her age, stood looking at her. He was hooked up to all kinds of monitors. Her father pushed her further into the room. The boy continued to stare at her in fascination.
"You're Miss Parker, aren't you."
"Yes," she said.
The boy put his hand up against the plexi-glass wall. Moira looked at her father in confusion. He nodded, so she copied the boy's motion. She placed her hand up against his. An image of utter loneliness came to her. He was talking to her without words. She could hear his thoughts in her mind as clearly as if he were speaking them aloud. He spoke of missing his parents. She understood him. She shared the same sadness. Her mother was dead. Her father never paid attention to her. Hearing his thoughts, Moira felt connected to someone now. She didn't feel so alone anymore. He broke the silence when he had asked her what her name was, but before she could speak it, Daddy glared at her silencing her, but she thought it sending it to him before she was led away by one of Daddy's men.
A few days later, Moira followed him to his room. She marveled at all of his books.
"Have you read all of these books, Jarod?"
Jarod smiled, "Yes. I can loan you some if you'd like."
"Yes, I'd like that," Moira had told him.
It was while she was returning one of Jarod's books that Moira had kissed him.
"Girls mature faster than boys," she had told him before running off.
Moira smiled as she remembered the astonished look on his face after she kissed him. He was startled at first, but the connection was there. Even now, Moira felt Jarod with her. Moira looked into the hallway one last time before venturing out. The hallway was deserted. She walked quickly towards the elevator, and smiled as she placed one of the security guard's keys into the access panel.
The door opened revealing three men dressed in black suits. They were on her before Moira could react. She tried to fight them off, but one of the men grabbed her by her hair. She realized in horror that the man who held her was Sam. She fought back the revulsion as he wrapped his strong arms around her.
"Hi, Miss Parker," Sam said warmly. "Let go of me, Sam. If you have any sense of loyalty left to my father, call these goons off," Moira yelled frantically kicking at them.
"I'm sorry, Miss Parker. I'm really very sorry," Sam said gently as he held the struggling woman while one of the men jabbed her with a syringe full of Nembutal.
Moira felt herself grow weak as the drug began to take effect, "You'll be sorry. You'll be..."
The elevator opened on the 7th floor. Raines got on. He smiled warmly at Moira's limp form, "I almost forgot how beautiful she was."
"Jarod?" Moira moaned weakly.
Raines frowned, "No, Pidgin, it's me, Emil."
Moira tried to focus on the face above her. The boy she used to know from camp was gone. In his place stood a man shaped by evil; the evil that had taken root in his father had now found its home in the son. Moira closed her eyes and called out to Jarod begging him to help her.
Mulder inched along the length of the van trying to see inside the tinted windows. He reached for the door handle. Mulder stood ready with his gun drawn as he pulled at the van's sliding door. At first, the door wouldn't give, but Mulder yanked on it until it opened.
In horror, he stared at the carnage that lay before him. Jennings was seated indian style on the floor holding his decapitated head in his hands. Weardon was seated at the computer console. His headless body sat staring at its own head stuffed inside the broken computer monitor. Mulder stepped back, and for the first time in a long while vomited into the bushes.
When he had sufficiently recovered, Mulder dialed Skinner's number on his cell phone. His fingers trembled as he dialed. Mulder waited for the call to go through. He leaned up against the van as he waited.
"It's me, Mulder. They killed Jennings and Weardon. Moira's still inside...Did you hear me, Sir? Moira is still inside with no way of contacting us for assistance."
"Get back here immediately, Mulder," Skinner said angrily.
Mulder shook his head, "I'm not leaving her, Sir. You can have my badge when I get back to Washington, but I'm not leaving her."
"Mulder, this is a direct order. You are to return to head-quarters. I'm not going to lose another agent to these people. Do you read me?"
Mulder sighed, "I read you loud and clear. But, with all due respect, Sir, I can't leave Moira. I made a promise, and I have to see it through."
"Mulder, get out of there..."
Mulder shook the phone, "Sir? Sir? Are you still there?"
From the corner of his eye, Mulder saw a flash of silver, and then he felt a white hot pain as the knife found its way into his shoulder.
Mulder spun dodging the next blow. He brought the gun up quickly and fired. His attacker collapsed to the pavement gasping.
"You got one minute to start talking, Pal," Mulder said angrily, "Or I'll finish the job!"
"Go ahead, shoot me. I'm dead anyway," the wounded man gasped.
"Who are you?" Mulder demanded angrily. His shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch, and he was in no mood to play games, "Answer me! Who are you? Who do you work for?"
"My name's Blake, Agent Mulder. Let's just say, I do freelance work for the Centre occasionally."
"How do you know my name?"
"You really think we don't know what Skinner's up to, Agent Mulder? We have people everywhere who for a price will reveal certain secrets. Let's just say Moira Parker's going to get hers for her part in Jarod's escape, and there's not a damn thing you, or your precious partner can do about it, so why don't you go back to working on your X-Files before you get yourself killed."
"Who's the leak? Is it Cancerman?" Mulder asked leaning into the wounded man.
"That's of no importance to you, Mulder. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way. I have an engagement with a rather hot looking red-head. I think you know her," the man said trying to stand.
Mulder snarled, "You leave my partner out of this!"
"My, my, a bit touchy aren't we?"
"I'm warning you, Pal. Touch Agent Scully, and I'll kill you," Mulder said menacingly.
The wounded man grabbed his side in pain. He swore as he collapsed against the van, "By the looks of things, I won't be touching anyone."
"Yeah, and the world is really going to miss you, Pal," Mulder said sarcastically.
"Not the world. Just the women..." the man said as his eyes drained of all color, and his face began to collapse in on itself as his body slid down to the pavement leaving a trail of green slime behind him as he sunk into the ground disappearing into a puddle of green goo.
Mulder held the sleeve of his coat against his nose, "Why am I always the lucky one?"
PART XIII: SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
The straps dug into her wrists as Moira struggled against them. Her head was still fuzzy from the Nembutal. She opened and closed her eyes trying to force herself to focus. The room was dark, except for the light coming in from the gap underneath the door. Moira continued to pull against the restraints. They were watching her. She could sense them there. They enjoyed seeing her struggle.
"Cowards! I know you're out there watching me. Why don't you come out where I can see you?" Moira hissed.
"It's good to see you're finally with us, Miss Parker," Raines said from the observation room.
"I should have known. What do you want, Emil?"
"You know what I want, Moira."
"And, what is that, Emil?" Moira asked caustically.
"I want what rightfully belongs to me. I want Jarod and the DSA's returned to me," Raines said blandly.
Moira started to laugh, "And you think I'm going to willingly hand them over to you simply because you asked me to?"
"I want Jarod returned to the Centre. I want those DSA's returned to me," Raines repeated.
Moira shook her head, "Jarod will never return to the Centre, Emil..."
"You see, that's where you're wrong, Moira. I have something that belongs to him. Something that he holds very dear to him. Surely, he would come back for you, wouldn't he?"
"You, bastard! We used to be friends. What happened to you, Emil? Why are you like this?"
"If I remember correctly, we were more than friends, or have you forgotten? Didn't you give me something the night before you left to "befriend" rat-boy?" Raines asked icily.
"I was fourteen, Emil. Fourteen! And, If I remember correctly, I didn't exactly give in willingly. You had to practically twist my arm," Moira said in exasperation.
"You laughed at me. I poured out my heart to you. I said I loved you, and you laughed at me," Raines said sadly.
"I have regretted that, Emil. I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me. I was just a mixed up kid. We both were."
"I gave you my heart, Moira. You knew how my father was, and you turned your back on me. I'll never forgive you for that," Emil said as he motioned for the guards to turn on the lights, "We're going to play a game, Moira. I'm going to ask you some questions. If you answer them correctly, you'll have nothing to worry about. Answer incorrectly, and you might find yourself shocked at the consequences."
The door to the simulation room opened. Moira gasped in horror. She was strapped into an electric chair, "Emil, please! Don't do this!"
Raines watched as the guards finished fastening the electrodes to Moira's legs and arms. He set the voltage to low, and smiled, "Are you ready, Miss Parker?"
Moira renewed her efforts to get free, but the restraints held her fast, "Emil, please! Don't do this!"
Raines laughed, "That folks is a wrong answer. What do you say? Should we fry her?"
Moira gasped in horror as she heard people clapping and cheering.
"Sorry, Miss Parker. You heard the crowd, " Raines said maliciously as flipped the voltage switch.
Moira screamed in agony as her body jerked forward. Her legs trembled from the residual effects of the shock.
"Our next question is an easy one. Are you ready, Miss Parker?"
Moira nodded numbly, "Yes."
"Did you have anything to do with Jarod's escape?"
Moira trembled, "No."
Raines shook his head sneering, "And, that's another wrong answer. Boy, Miss Parker, if you keep this up, you won't last much longer. What do you say, folks? Should we roast her?"
Moira cried weakly as the crowd cheered again.
Well, you heard them, Miss Parker. Roast, it is," Raines laughed as he turned the voltage switch to medium. He was becoming bored with this game. He watched as Moira waited for him to flip the switch. He enjoyed seeing her squirm as she tried to brace herself for it. He waited for her to relax, and then he gave her the juice.
The force of the electricity threw Moira's head back. Her whole body went into a massive convulsion. She couldn't open her mouth to scream. Her thoughts became a tangled up jumble of images. She saw herself burning with a white hot rage. She tore at the restraints blindly ripping them to tatters.
Rains watched in horror as Moira lifted the electric chair high into the air as if it were made of plastic, and threw it through the observation window shattering the unbreakable glass into tiny pieces. She flew at him snarling and foaming at the mouth before collapsing to the floor in exhaustion.
"Oh, mother of God! You've really done it this time, Mr. Raines," Chuck Adelson said as he lifted Moira into his arms, "You've opened the door to Hell, Mr. Raines. I just hope you know what you're doing."
Raines brushed the tiny shards of glass from his suit. He was still trembling. For that brief moment when he saw Moira tear herself free, he saw them. They loomed over Moira protecting her- helping her. Their eyes locked on his, and he heard them growl in unison, "Cold-Fire of God protects his own."
Moira opened her eyes at once as she felt something cool brush across her face. She grabbed at the figure looming above her gripping its wrist holding it away from her.
"It's me, Chuck."
Moira continued to struggle writhing in agony from her efforts, "Get away from me!"
"Miss Parker, please. I only want to help," Chuck said gently as he placed the damp towel on her forehead.
Moira allowed herself to relax. The cold compress felt good, "Who are you," she asked weakly.
"I used to work with Sydney. We were introduced only in passing. I'm a great admirer of your husband's work," Chuck said examining the burns caused from the electrodes, "These aren't that bad, but you'll need to keep applying vitamin E ointment on them. I'll bring you a couple of samples from the pharmacy. You'll be able to hide them easily."
"Why are you helping me, Mr...?"
"Please, call me Chuck. Chuck Adelson."
"You work for the underground. Skinner said he had someone on the inside. Are you him?"
"I used to work for the underground, but that was a long time ago..." Chuck said looking away from Moira's gaze.
"You're a Pretender. I knew there were others, but I never met them," Moira gasped trying to sit up.
Chuck gently helped her, "You really shouldn't move around too much."
"Emil was going to kill me in there, wasn't he?"
Chuck nodded, "He's obsessed with getting Jarod back. I didn't think he was capable of such violence. He was such a polite young man..."
"Yeah, he's real polite, Chuck. Remind me to invite him to dinner the next time he's in town."
"You knew him when he was younger. He always spoke highly of you."
Moira inhaled sharply, "He used to follow me around like a lost puppy-dog. I had to leave survival camp because of him. Daddy went ballistic when he found out he was stalking me."
"He went to live with his mother after that. He still blames Jarod for taking you away from him," Chuck reasoned.
Moira laughed dryly, "At least Jarod never forced me to do something I wasn't ready for. Emil took advantage of me. I'll never forgive him for that. We were on a nature hike, and we got separated from the group. We walked for hours until we came to a cave. He said we would have to spend the night. I believed him because it was getting dark, and I was afraid of twisting my ankle or worse, yet, falling into a crevice. I still have a fear of falling."
Chuck nodded sadly, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"It's okay. I haven't told anyone about what he did to me. I was impressed by his survival skills. He built a fire for us. I must have fallen asleep from all the hiking. The next thing I knew he was on top of me kissing me. I was stupid. I thought he would stop if I said no, but he kept at me pleading and begging. He said all girls were scared their first time. He said he'd be gentle. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I let him. He was very sweet at first. He allowed me to touch him. This was all so knew to me. I had never held anything like that before. When he began to push himself inside me, I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't. He seemed to enjoy hurting me. The louder I cried, the harder he pushed."
"Some men equate sex with power.."
"It was more than that. He got off on the pain he was causing me. I still get chills when I think about him," Moira said closing her eyes. She couldn't remember ever feeling this exhausted.
Chuck continued to bathe her face with the cool towel. She was becoming feverish again. He took her temperature, and swore as it registered at 103 C, "Damn!"
"When is she going to be well enough to travel?" Raines asked from the doorway.
Chuck glared at him, "She's burning up, no thanks to you."
"Watch yourself, Chuck. You don't want her to end up like Maya, do you?"
"So, you're going to kill Moira too. It's not enough that you had Angelist inject Maya with his solution to the AIDS epidemic," Chuck spat angrily as he continued to wipe Moira down with the cool water.
"I rather like Dr. Angelist's solution. What a stroke of brilliance accelerating the incubation period to 4 weeks instead of waiting the usual 5-10 years for the first signs to appear. Now we can contain the outbreak to a few select areas. Maya should feel honored to be a participant in Angelist's experiment," Raines said menacingly.
"You sick son of a bitch, Emil. You used to be such a bright young man. What the hell made you change into such a demented creature."
"I thought you'd be happy for me. I'm finally following in my father's footsteps. He was such a great man, don't you think?"
"He was a monster," Chuck growled.
"Yeah, well, we all can't be as perfect as our friend, Jarod, can we?" Raines said leaving.
Chuck could still hear him laughing as he headed towards the private elevator leading to his office.
PART XIV: I AM LAZARUS BACK FROM THE DEAD FBI HEADQUARTERS-WASHINGTON, DC
The door to Skinner's office flew open.
"Hey! You can't just barge in here like this," Skinner began.
"Shut up, Walter!" A voice growled from the doorway.
Cancerman stood up to leave, "It's been nice, Skinner. We really must do this again."
The voice from the doorway growled menacingly, "Where do you think you're going, Smoking man, or Cancerman, or whatever the fuck you call yourself?"
"Who the Hell do you think you're dealing with? Cancerman said coolly.
"Right now, I'm dealing with a dead man, a walking dead man," the voice responded.
Cancerman shook his head, "You're threats don't scare me, Parker, or should I call you by your new name, Greggor?"
Skinner stood up, "I can handle this, Mr. Parker."
Mr. Parker walked into the office slamming the door behind him, "Is that right, Walter? You can handle this? Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? Have you any idea what these people are capable of doing?"
"I know full well who I'm dealing with, Mr. Parker. I told you before I can handle this..."Skinner began.
Parker grabbed Skinner by the shirt collar, "I trusted you, Walter. You told me my family would be safe. You promised me they would be safe in exchange for my testimony."
Skinner swallowed hard. He struggled to keep his voice even, "We had no choice. We needed the list of names. Without them, we have no case."
Parker released his hold on Skinner, "You betrayed me, Walter. I would have given you anything you wanted. All you had to do was ask. You didn't have to endanger the lives of my daughter and her family."
Skinner took a deep breath, "Mr. Parker, I promise you, I will get Moira back. I have Swat teams in place ready to go at a moment's notice..."
"You do that, and the only way I'll get my daughter back is in a body bag. You have 24 hours to pull out all FBI involvement. From now on, I'm running the show my way. Got that, Walt?"
Cancerman reached into his breast pocket withdrawing a package of Morleys. He took out a cigarette and lit up, "You're daughter's dead, Mr. Parker, and Jarod Beaudette will be captured along with Dr. Green and the children. You're just a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things."
Parker leaned over Cancerman looking directly into his murky eyes. He smiled warmly as he snatched the lit cigarette from the tall man's hand. He put the cigarette to his lips and took a long drag before extinguishing the cigarette on Cancerman's forehead, "Get in my way again, Pal, and they'll be scraping your remains from the ceiling of the parking garage. Got that, Cancerman? or Should I call you by your new name, Human Ashtray?"
Cancerman cursed grabbing his forehead in pain, "You'll pay for that, Parker!"
Parker turned to Cancerman before leaving. He smiled once again, "I've already paid, Pal. Now, it's your turn. 24 hours, Skinner, or you'll have a blood bath on your hands."
Skinner grimaced, "You have my word, Mr. Parker. No more FBI involvement."
The door slammed leaving both men glaring at each other.
Cancerman continued holding his head, "Bastard's going to pay, Walter, if it's the last thing I do."
Skinner growled, "Stay the fuck out of my way. You don't have the sense God gave you to shut up, and I don't want to be around you when the shit hits the fan. You're going to get us killed if you continue to egg Parker on."
Cancerman stood up mumbling a string of curses before leaving.
Skinner breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down and put his head on the desk praying this nightmare would end.
There was a knock on the door. Skinner massaged his temples, "Come in."
"Sir, are you okay?" Mulder asked.
Skinner stood up abruptly, "Don't you ever ignore a direct order again, Agent Mulder. You should have gotten back two days ago. Where the hell were you?"
"I had to check out a lead," Mulder explained.
"Sit down, Mulder!"
"I prefer to stand, Sir."
"Mr. Parker was just here. He's pissed. He wants no more FBI involvement. It seems he's got it in his head that he can do a better job than the Bureau."
Mulder nodded, "With all due respect, Sir, he can. He knows these people. He knows how they think, and his hands aren't tied by government bureaucracy."
"He's going to get himself killed," Skinner growled.
"The lead I was checking out led me to an organization known as the Millennium Group. It seems Mr. Parker was leaking information to them all along."
"We still have more resources at our disposal. Parker's making a big mistake if he thinks he can get his daughter back on his own, and you're a bigger fool if you believe him."
"I resent that implication, Sir. The Millennium Group has been responsible for several anti-terrorist actions. After Jarod and Moira escaped from the Centre, Mr. Parker helped a group of Pretenders, Psychics, as well as several members from the underground escape. They now work for the Millennium Group, and they're hell bent on shutting down Centre operations forever."
"I still don't buy it, Mulder. These people are going to get themselves killed."
Mulder shook his head, "Do the research. Look up the Millennium Group on the internet. You'll be surprised at what you'll find. You'll see they're not just a group of psychics doing parlor tricks. These people are powerful, and I wouldn't want to piss them off."
"How much do the Beaudette's know about the Millennium Group?"
Mulder shrugged, "Not much. Jarod has a few friends in the group, but he hasn't joined them. I also don't think Jarod or Moira know Mr. Parker is alive. Dr. Green was the only one who made the positive ID on the body."
Skinner shook his head, "This just keeps getting better and better."
Scully examined the exhumed body of the unidentified woman who had been buried in Moira Beaudette's grave. She made her first incision in the chest exposing the rib cage. She split the rib cage with the rib spreaders, and began to remove the organs from the body.
Scully then examined the dead woman's head and neck. There were no signs of trauma except for the presence of small scars found in the hairline. Scully studied the X-rays of the skull. There were tiny fractures all throughout the cheek bones and around the brow. Scully dictated her findings into her micro-cassette recorder.
"It appears that the woman buried in Mrs. Beaudette's grave has been surgically altered. There are several small scars located in and around the subject's hairline. The evidence of the scars and the fractured cheekbones suggest this subject is not Maya Parker, but a woman altered to look like her. Attempts to identify the subject have thus far been unsuccessful."
When Scully was done with the autopsy, she replaced the toe tag labeling the corpse as being Maya Parker with one bearing the name, Jane Doe. Scully felt sorry for the dead woman dying without an identity. No one would ever know she died. No one would claim her body. She was just another unidentifiable corpse destined to be buried in a potter's grove with no head-stone, and no one to mourn her passing.
Scully picked up her cell phone and dialed Mulder's number, "Mulder, it's me. Dr. Green was right. The woman buried in Moira Beaudette's grave is not Maya Parker....No, I wasn't able to determine the woman's identity...Mulder, wait! I don't understand! Moira's in grave danger if Maya Parker is alive. Why would Skinner pull us off the case?"
"Scully, will you listen to me! Mr. Parker is alive. He's going after the Centre himself, and he wants no FBI involvement," Mulder repeated.
"I refuse to accept that, Mulder. If you won't help Moira, I will," Scully said angrily. She couldn't believe Mulder had given in so easily.
"When was the last time I ever followed a direct order, Scully? It's not in my character to give up. The truth is out there, and this time I'm going to find it."
"I'm ready to believe you, Mulder," Scully smiled hanging up. She loved it when Mulder flouted Skinner's authority.
NEW ORLEANS, LA
Jarod watched Jamie and John-John as they chased each other around the old headstones. He glanced down at his parents' grave. Somehow standing at his parents' grave gave him the courage to leave. He knew in his heart that he had to do something. He couldn't wait for Skinner to make his move. He had called Skinner when he first suspected Moira had been captured, but Skinner put him off.
"We're working on it, Mr. Beaudette. I promise, I'll call you as soon as I hear anything from Agents Mulder and Scully. I'm sure Moira's on her way back to DC for debriefing as we speak."
Jarod knew he was lying. He could hear the fear the FBI Agent's voice. He would have told him so, but Sydney warned against it. "Don't alienate Skinner, Jarod. He may be trying to cover up something, but he's still on our side."
Sydney was right, but it didn't make him feel any better.
"Damn it! They're hiding something from me," Jarod thought crossly.
"Penny for your thoughts, Dad?" Jamie asked as he sidled up to Jarod.
"I have to go away for awhile, Jamie," Jarod said heavily.
"It's about Mom, isn't it?"
Jarod gazed into his son's eyes, "Yes."
"They caught her, didn't they, Dad?"
Jarod inhaled sharply. He had almost forgotten that Jamie had shared his connection to Moira, "Yes."
"I want to go with you. I want to help rescue Mom," Jamie said firmly.
"I know you do. But who will watch after your brothers and sister?"
"Uncle Sydney and Uncle Jack. I want to Pretend with you, Dad. I know I can," Jamie said seriously.
Jarod shook his head, "You're a very brave young man, James Parker Beaudette. Your mother would be proud to call you her son."
"Can I go with you?"
Jarod knelt down to Jamie's level, "I know you want to help, but I'm scared you'll get hurt. These people are monsters, Jamie. Besides, I would be lost without my boy."
"I'm thirteen. I'm not a boy anymore," Jamie said petulantly.
"I know, but if anything happens to you, your mother would hunt me down and kill me. You don't want that, do you?"
Jamie smiled, "She's pretty relentless, isn't she?"
"You could say that again," Jarod said ruffling Jamie's hair.
Sydney looked up from the morning paper as Jarod entered the kitchen, "How was your walk?"
"It was fine," Jarod said quietly.
"You visited the cemetery again?" Sydney asked putting down his paper.
"Yes."
Sydney frowned, "When are you leaving?"
Jarod looked at Sydney in surprise, "How did you know?"
"It's written all over your face, Jarod."
"Jamie wants to come with me," Jarod said pouring himself a cup of coffee before joining Sydney at the table.
"You're not seriously thinking of taking him with you?"
"It's out of the question. I won't let them take my son. They took my parents, they took my wife, but so help them, God, I will not let them get Jamie," Jarod swore.
"He's just like you, Jarod. He wants to help. He wants to rescue his mother," Sydney said frowning.
"I don't think he realizes what helping me entails," Jarod sighed.
"He's growing up, Jarod. He may be thirteen chronologically, but intellectually, he's an adult."
Jarod felt the old anger awaken in him, "I lost my childhood, Sydney. I won't let that happen to Jamie."
From the den, Jarod heard one of the twins crying, "Looks like one of our angels is up."
Jarod picked up the crying baby, "It's okay, little girl. Daddy's here," but no matter what he did, he couldn't quiet Jenna's cries. She sobbed into his shoulder until she couldn't cry anymore.
"They miss their mother," Sydney said watching Jarod from the doorway.
"We all do, Syd. We all do."
Sydney took the exhausted baby from Jarod's arms. He looked at her red face. He had seen pictures of Moira as a baby, and Jenna was the spitting image of her mother, "She reminds me of Moira. I just wish Moira had a chance to see them before she left."
Jarod traced the outline of Jenna's cheek. Jenna opened her eyes and smiled. Jarod smiled back, "I have to leave, Sydney. Moira's out there alone. I have to find her."
"I won't stand in your way. Just be careful, Jarod. Your children need a father, and I need my friend."
"I'll leave tonight after the children are asleep."
"How will I contact you?"
"You can leave word with Frank Black. It seems the Millennium Group has been watching the Centre for several years."
Sydney gingerly put Jenna back in her crib, "What about Skinner?"
"What about him?"
"You are going to tell him you're going, aren't you?" Sydney asked.
Jarod shook his head, "No. I'll be safer without interference from the Bureau."
"They have resources..." Sydney began.
"The Millennium Group has the resources I need. I never was one for Swat teams. There's always a tendency to kill innocent people," Jarod said frowning.
"Even now, you still believe in non-violence, Jarod?"
"I promised myself that I wanted to be a good role model for my children. Riding in like Dirty Harry is not my idea of a being a good role model."
"I think given the situation, the children would understand Dirty Harry."
"Well, I wouldn't, Sydney."
"Promise me you'll at least carry a gun. Even if you don't intend to use it, just carry it."
Jarod laughed, "I said I believed in non-violence. I didn't say I was stupid. Of course, I'll be armed. I wouldn't step within 10 feet of the Centre without my .9 millimeter."
Sydney frowned, "That's the gun Moira used to use. It was her favorite."
"It's my favorite too," Jarod said smiling.
Jarod checked his watch. It was 9:30 p.m. He would be leaving shortly. The house was quiet. Sydney was with the twins. Jamie and John-John were asleep in the guestroom. Jarod heard the sound of the TV coming from the den. He peaked in to see Jack watching the news. Jarod could see the words flash across the screen. He wondered what it would be like to be deaf. Jack was lucky in some ways. His deafness spared him from being kidnapped by the Centre. In a way, Jarod envied Jack's silent world. He had once pretended to be deaf, but he could never really simulate complete silence.
Jarod felt a cold nose on the back of his calf. He reached down and petted Dante`'s head, "Hey, Pal. How's it going?"
Dante` jumped into Jarod's arms kissing him on the nose.
Jarod hugged him, "You're a good dog, Dante`-Boy."
Dante` gazed into Jarod's eyes whimpering softly.
Jarod saw the sadness in the little dog's eyes, "You miss Mom, don't you?"
Dante` kissed Jarod's nose again.
"I do too, boy. That's why I have to leave. I have to find her," Jarod said heavily.
Dante` struggled to get loose. Jarod put him down and watched as Dante` started to run towards the stairs, and then back towards him.
Jarod stared at Dante` curiously, "What is it, boy?"
Dante` barked grabbing at Jarod's pant leg.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming," Jarod said following the little dog up the stairs to the guestroom.
Dante` scratched and whined at the door pleading with Jarod to open it.
"Did those two lock you out, little one?" Jarod asked good humoredly.
Dante` whined again.
Jarod opened the door expecting to see two sleeping forms. His heart sank. Jamie's bed was empty. He entered the room in a panic. He scooped up John-John in his arms trying to wake him, "John-John, wake up, please."
John-John woke and gazed at his father's worried face sleepily.
"When was the last time you saw your brother?" Jarod asked anxiously.
John-John rubbed his eyes, "He went to find Mommy."
"When?" Jarod asked trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
John-John started to whimper, "I don't know, Daddy. Please, don't be mad. I'm sorry."
Jarod sat down on the bed holding John-John in his arms, "Oh, John-John, Daddy's not mad at you. You didn't do anything to be sorry about. I'm just very worried about Jamie."
"He left you a note. He told me you would understand. He begged me not to tell until tomorrow. I promised him, Daddy. Now, Jamie's going to hate me," John-John whimpered.
Jarod wiped away John-John's tears, "Jamie could never hate you. He loves his little brother."
"Daddy, do you think Mommy's going to be okay? Jamie's real scared. He cries at night when he thinks I can't hear him."
Jarod hugged John-John to his chest, "She's going to be fine. You'll see. Daddy's going to make sure of it."
"Promise!" John-John whined.
Jarod looked out into the hallway. He couldn't face John-John's luminous blue eyes. They were his mother's eyes.
"I promise."
In the kitchen, Jarod sat at the table sobbing quietly. He read Jamie's note over and over again. How long had he been gone? Where would he go? Christ! He was only a child. Jarod couldn't help thinking of all of the monsters that preyed on the innocent, especially, young boys. Would Jamie be able to tell the difference between someone who wanted to help him and someone who wanted to use him? There were so many children out there missing and exploited. He had searched for one back when he was still being pursued by the Centre.
Jarod would never forget the image of that boy. They had found him, but it had been too late. "Oh, God! I never thought someone could do that to a 6 year old boy," Jarod sobbed. They had found the boy hanging from an elm tree at the park where his mother used to take him to play after school. The man or monster who killed the boy had mutilated him. He had cut the little boy's genitals off shoving them down his throat. Jarod shivered as he remembered the look on the mother's face when they told her that her little boy was dead.
When they finally found the monster, Jarod was even more horrified to learn that the man who killed the little boy was a priest. "A fucking priest for Christ's sake." He had always thought men of the cloth were above such acts of violence. They were supposed to help people. Once again, Sydney had to step in to correct, to lecture, "Not all men of God are bad. Only a few group of priests enter the seminary for the sole purpose of feeding their pedophile tendencies. The majority want to serve God."
If Jamie couldn't trust a priest, who could he trust? Could he even trust a police officer? There were too many crooked cops out there. He used to think the outside world was such a neat place to discover, but now Jarod knew better. There were good things waiting to be learned, but there were also hidden dangers. Sometimes, Jarod preferred dealing with the Centre. At least there, he knew what he was dealing with.
"Are you still going to leave?" Sydney said pouring himself some coffee.
"I don't know. The police told me to keep close to a phone. They wanted me to give them a picture..."
"You didn't, did you?" Sydney asked nervously.
"No. I don't know what to do, Syd. I've been sitting here reading his note, and I don't even know where I should start looking for him," Jarod said in frustration.
"Let me see that note again," Sydney said putting on his reading glasses.
Dad,
Please don't be mad at me. I know you wanted me to stay here with the others, but I feel I can't. I know you wanted to protect me from the monsters at the Centre, but there are some things you can't protect me from. I told you my dream. I told you Mom was somewhere out there lost and hurt. I didn't tell you the whole dream. In my dream, Mom is crying out for help, and there is this woman who is standing over her laughing. The woman turns towards me, and it's Mom, or at first I thought she was. There's something wrong with her, Dad. She's trying to pretend to be Mom, but her eyes are wrong. Mom's eyes are so full of love and kindness. The only way I can describe this woman's eyes is Blue-Fire. Blue because her eyes are blue, and fire because of the hatred that burns within them. Dad, I'm scared for you. The woman in my dreams wants to hurt you. I've tried to read her, and all I get is an image of her bathing in red water.
I will send a postcard charting my progress. I promise, I'll be careful. Love, Jamie
Sydney took a deep breath, "Did you show this to the police?"
Jarod shook his head, "They'll think he's crazy. They already accused me of having an argument with him. They're treating his disappearance as a runaway, Syd. They said he would grow tired of peanut butter sandwiches and come home. Can you believe the stupidity of such a thing."
Sydney nodded, "They can never know the truth, Jarod."
"Sometimes, I wonder. What if we were to go public?"
"That would be signing Moira and Jamie's death warrant. They would wind up as just another statistic. Local mother and son disappear only to be found dead. They'll claim Moira killed Jamie, and then took her own life. I know how they take care of snitches, Jarod. I don't want to ever see that happen to anyone I love. Promise me you won't think of going public again."
Jarod swallowed hard, "I promise."
PART XV: END GAME
BLUE COVE, DE
Raines stared at his computer screen in disbelief, "Son of a bitch!"
There was a leak at the Centre. Someone had led Moira to the list She didn't just stumble onto it. Someone from the inside was helping her just as she and Sydney had helped Jarod.
"Damn it," Raines swore loudly. Moira had managed to send the FBI the list of names. Raines took a deep breath trying to clear his mind. What would Daddy do in a situation like this? Raines thought for a moment. He put himself into his father's frame of mind. They had something he wanted. He had something they wanted. Would Daddy bargain? "No! No bargains, no compromises. Get Jarod back at all costs. Spare no expense," Raines smiled imagining what he would do to Jarod when he was finally back in the Centre's custody.
He would start, of course, with raping Moira while Jarod watched. He imagined the horrified look on the pretender's face as he watched the woman he loved savagely raped and murdered while he sat unable to save her. He would feel her terror and pain. After Raines was done violating Moira, he would kill the children one by one while Jarod watched helpless to stop him. He would explain to Jarod that he had brought this on himself. He was responsible for the deaths of his wife and children. This would be the icing on the cake. Jarod would be broken then, and then he would be easier to control.
"Yes, I am finally becoming you, Daddy. Aren't you proud to have a son like me?" Raines said looking at his father's portrait in admiration.
The door to Raines' office opened. Maya walked in smoking a cigarette, "You wanted to see me, Mr. Raines."
Raines looked up at Maya. She could have easily passed for her sister, "I've had a change of heart, Sweetie. Looks like we could use you afterall."
Maya smiled seductively, "How about a kiss, Emil? How about one last fuck before I go off to die?"
"Out of the question, Maya," Raines said trying to hide his revulsion, "You really should stop smoking."
Maya laughed dryly, "What difference does it make, Emil? I'm dying anyway, so one more cancer stick isn't going to make one bit of difference."
"Just stick to the plan, Maya, and you'll be free."
Maya wanted to say something witty and biting, but she bit her tongue, "Thanks. I'll remember that when I'm dying in some seedy motel room."
Raines glared at her, "You brought this on yourself, Maya. Didn't I tell you your temper was going to be the death of you?"
Maya nodded, "Can I go now?"
"Yes," Raines said as he watched Maya leave. He had to admit she had a nice ass. Raines smiled as he imagined himself squeezing Moira's tight little ass while Jarod watched unable to stop him.
Maya sat indian style on the floor beside Moira's bed. Moira was dreaming again. Maya wiped her tears from her eyes as she sat listening to her twin's sobs. Maya closed her eyes and allowed herself to enter Moira's dream again. She was running from someone. In the distance, Maya saw Jarod. He was calling Moira's name, but everytime Moira came close to catching up to him, he disappeared only to emerge farther and farther away.
"Jarod wait! Don't leave me! Please!" Moira screamed.
Maya tore herself from the darkness ashamed, "Damn it, Moira! Why can't I hate you?"
In three weeks, Maya would be dead if Raines didn't kill her first. They had given her freedom to come and go as she pleased, but what good was it now that she was sick? She felt feverish again. She got up slowly from the floor. The room began to spin. She tried to steady herself, but fell heavily against the bed.
Defensively, Moira grabbed Maya's wrist, "What do you want?"
Maya pulled away, "Take it easy, Twisted Sister. I'm not doing anything."
Moira glared at her, "How could you choose them over family, Maya? How could you?"
Maya looked away, "As if I had a choice. Daddy always did like you best, didn't he?"
"We never even knew you existed. I never knew I had a sister until last month..."
"And the Centre strikes again! Tell me something, Moira...Do you always believe everything you're told?"
"Why would Daddy lie about a thing like that. Why would he separate identical twins, Maya? It doesn't make sense."
"Then you don't remember...?"
Moira started to sob, "Remember what, Maya? All these years I thought I was an only child. Don't you think I would have remembered having a twin?"
Maya wiped her eyes with her hand trying to keep from crying. She could feel Moira watching her as she walked over to Jarod's desk retrieving a manila envelope from it, "Here!"
Moira took the envelope and opened it slowly half afraid of what she would find. In it was an old, dog-eared photograph of two little girls dressed in identical Easter dresses. One of the little girls held an old Snoopy stuffed animal. Its head was limp from being dragged around by its head. Moira inhaled sharply. The little girl holding the doll had been her. Mother had given her the doll for helping her clean the kitchen before Daddy came home. An image of her mother came to her. She had her back to Moira as she washed the dishes. "Hurry, Sweetie! Daddy will be home soon. He'll be very mad if Mommy isn't finished cleaning. You don't want Daddy to be mad at Mommy, do you, Honey?"
The memory of Daddy's angry face came back to her. Moira fought to push it away, "No, it's a lie! Daddy never hit Momma. It was Raines."
Maya laughed derisively, "You're such a fool, Moira. How can you deny what dear old Dad did to our mother? You saw it. Don't you remember? They used to argue all of the time. You used to cry about it every night!"
I don't believe you. You're lying. They didn't fight. I just know they didn't."
Maya shook her head, "I thought you were the lucky one. You're just as fucked up as I am."
Moira felt the rage begin to build, "I'm no where near as fucked up as you are. I have a wonderful man who loves me. I have four beautiful children who I love dearly. I'm a mommy. Can you say that, Maya? Can you claim to be a mommy?"
Maya gasped grabbing the chair for support.
"You can't, can you, Maya? They only thing you can lay claim to is that you're the Valentine Killer. How does it feel, Maya, holding someone else's heart in your hands? How does it feel, Maya, to taste the blood of the innocent as it gushes out in a rush of red?"
Maya stood up. She backed away, "How dare you?! How dare you try to get inside my head? You think you're so great. You think you're life is so perfect and complete. You think your Jarod's coming to save you this time? But who's going to save Jarod, Moira? Who's going to stop me from cutting out his heart? How does it feel knowing that in a few days your Mr. Wonderful is going to be dead, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it?"
Moira cringed, "What have I ever done to you? Why do you hate me so much?"
Maya looked back at Moira before she left, "You were born, Bride of Franken-Boy. I should have been the only child, and not some freak who goes around pretending to be Daddy's Little Princess."
Moira screamed in exasperation, "As if I had a choice. I never asked to be born this way. Why would anyone want to be born like this?"
"Poor Little Princess. Where's Daddy now to protect you from the big, bad ugly Maya?"
Moira could still her Maya laughing as she slammed the door locking it behind her. Moira collapsed on the bed exhausted. She ran her fingers through her hair feeling the small scar that lay hidden under her hair. Momma had told her she had fallen off the monkey bars at school, but the image of the little girls in their white Easter dresses kept coming back to her. Had she really fallen from the monkey bars? or Had Momma lied to her about that too? Why couldn't she remember how she really got hurt? Why couldn't she remember having a twin sister?
Moira allowed herself to close her eyes letting herself drift into a troubled sleep. The images of the twins in their white Easter dresses kept coming back to her. Her holding her limp Snoopy doll, Maya wanting it, "Give me that!"
"No, it's mine. Mommy...Mommy!"
"I want it. Now, give it."
Moira gasping. Her face red from crying, "Mommy! Mommy!"
"Shut up! Shut up!," Maya yelled pushing her sobbing twin.
Moira jerked awake. She could still feel herself falling head first, and the horrible throbbing pain as Daddy carried her screaming into the emergency room. Her white dress, now spotted with red.
"There, there, Little Princess, Daddy's here. Daddy's here," he said trying to hold her as she kicked and screamed at the surgeon stitching the large gash on her head.
Moira sat up wiping her tear streaked face. She went to the mirror pulling back her hair exposing the small scar running along her hair line. For as long as she could remember, Moira had always wore her hair in a flip. Now, she remembered why. Sadly, Moira gazed at the scar wondering why she couldn't remember her sister.
The door to the room opened. Moira backed away from the mirror, and took a deep breath willing herself to remain calm. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Chuck.
"Maya didn't try anything, did she?" Chuck asked as he rushed towards her.
Moira collapsed into Chuck's arms sobbing, "She's going to kill Jarod, Chuck. She's going to cut his heart out..."
"I won't let her. I won't let her," Chuck kept repeating.
"I want to go home. Please, help me get out of here. They're going to kill me. I can feel it. Please, Chuck, don't let them kill me."
"Shush...Don't think about that. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you or Jarod. You'll see. In a little while this will all be a horrible memory," Chuck said stroking Moira's hair, "You'll see."
Raines watched them from the security room, "Let them have their illusions. In a little while, you'll be dead, Moira, but not before I get to fuck you."
Raines grew hard thinking about it. There were so many things he wanted to do to her ever since that night in the cave. She had been so frightened, so scared as he pushed himself inside her. She had begged for him to stop, but he loved the feel of her tight virgin opening as he slammed into her viciously relishing her horrified expression as she cried out in pain. He couldn't wait to see Rat-boy's face as he took her once again.
"I'm not interrupting anything important, Mr. Raines?" Maya asked doing her best to imitate Moira's inflection.
Raines stood up embarrassed, "Who let you out? Did Maya leave the door unlocked? Well, did she?"
Maya resisted the urge to smile wickedly, "You don't have to lock me up, Emil. I'm not like Maya. I want Jarod to cooperate. I want to help you get him back."
Raines came closer to her staring at her carefully, "Why?"
"If you only knew half the things Jarod did to me. He doesn't understand me, but you do, Emil. You love me," Maya said gently staring into his eyes, "I've always thought of you when I was with Jarod. I thought if I made nice with Jarod, he would cooperate, but I was wrong. He'll never cooperate."
Raines smiled pulling Maya closer rubbing up against her. He kissed her passionately embracing her completely. He was about to undress her when he heard her chuckle. He pulled away from her quickly, "You lying little whore!"
Maya laughed, "What's the matter, Emil? Don't you like me anymore?"
Raines lunged at her, "I should kill you right now, you lying bitch!"
"Go ahead, Emil. Why don't you?" Maya sneered.
"In time, bitch. In time," Raines growled menacingly.
Maya smiled as she flung open the office door, "I'm looking forward to it."
Raines wiped his mouth in panic as he watched her leave. He had given Jarod twenty-fours to decide, and now he wished he had given him less time. Daddy always warned him that he let his emotions get in the way of his business sense.
Jarod stared at the image of Moira on his computer. He wanted to remember her the way she was when they were on Fire Island. The Sun had brought out the auburn in her hair making the color richer. Her eyes danced in merriment while she stood with her arms around Jamie admiring his catch. Jarod's heart ached for her. She should never have returned to the Centre. It had all been an elaborate ruse to draw him out. They had counted on him to come running to Moira's aid, and they had counted right. His brain screamed in protest, "Let her go. You have too much to lose." His heart screamed back, "Without her, you have nothing." In the end, his heart had won. He would go back, so she could live. The children needed her. In time, they would forget him. Jarod swallowed hard. He thought he was done crying, but the tears fell from his eyes down his unshaven cheeks to his computer keyboard.
He had fourteen hours of freedom left. Fourteen hours to say good-bye to everyone he had ever loved. Fourteen hours until he would walk out of this life into a life filled with horror. Fourteen hours to prepare himself for death. They would never expect he would be capable of doing the unthinkable. He had never demonstrated hopelessness, so they would never think he could do it, but he could, and he would. They thought they won. They thought they could break him, but you can't break someone who's already broken. Jarod smiled when he imagined the look of horror on Raines' face as he went in to taunt him only to find Jarod dead lying in a pool of blood.
Jarod picked up the .9 millimeter. It was a big gun. He still couldn't imagine Moira carrying something so big, but she had. She carried it tucked into the waistband of her micro-mini-skirt. She had held it on him a few times doing her days at the Centre. She threatened to shoot him in the foot once, but it was all done to show she was "serious" about catching him. Of course, he was already caught the very first time she kissed him, and now it was over. He checked the clip making sure there was one bullet in the chamber. He only needed one. A gun this size would do a lot of damage. Even if he survived, his pretending days would be over, and then they would kill him anyway. Either way, he would win.
The phone rang jarring Jarod back to reality. He grabbed it before it rang again, "You're early."
"Have you decided?" a raspy voice hissed.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I want to talk to Moira. I want to know for myself that she's alive and unhurt, or else you have no deal."
"No tricks! No secret codes, or she gets hurt. Got that, Jarod," the voice hissed.
"I got it. Put her on the phone," Jarod demanded.
"What's the magic word, Jarod?"
Jarod took a deep breath trying to keep from blowing up, "Please, put my wife on the phone."
In the background, Jarod could hear a commotion. A yelp of pain, and then sobbing.
"Jarod, please don't..." Moira began before Jarod heard another voice cursing.
"Give me that, bitch!"
Jarod screamed into the phone, "Don't you hurt her. Don't you fucking hurt her, you son of a bitch."
"You'll receive a set of instructions. Follow them to the letter, Jarod, or your darling wife will die. Got that?" the voice hissed.
"I got it!" Jarod said angrily. In the background he could hear her calling his name begging him not to come.
"Oh, and Jarod? Come alone," the voice hissed before the line went dead.
Jarod replaced the receiver in its cradle. He put his head down on the desk and started to cry silently.
"Who was on the phone?" Sydney asked from the doorway.
Jarod wiped his face, "Wrong number again."
"I heard yelling."
"Leave it alone, Sydney. It was nothing, really."
Sydney shook his head, "I hope you know what you're doing, Jarod."
Jarod turned back to the computer. He stared at Moira's picture. He thought he must have been tired because the image of Moira on his desktop was crying. Her face was no longer smiling out at him. She was crying silently. Her face had taken on a look of absolute sorrow. Jarod touched the screen trying to wipe away her tears, but he could do nothing to stop them. Jarod looked away trying to hide his own tears from her. When he looked back, once again Moira was smiling.
PART XVI: MASTER OF THE GAME
"Get in there, now!" Raines screamed in fury, "You ever pull a stunt like that again, Moira, and I'll kill you. Do you hear me, Bitch?"
Moira fell hard against the desk, "Stop pushing me around, Raines!"
He came at her grabbing her by the arm trying to twist it. Moira grabbed him back bringing her leg up underneath him. He fell to the floor cursing.
"Get up! Get up! You want to fight, Raines? Let's go, get up!" Moira growled.
Raines took a deep breath before he rushed her. Moira stepped aside laughing.
"You wimp. Where did you learn how to fight, Emil? You certainly didn't learn it from camp."
Raines got up. He winced as he started to back away, "It's good to see you're still the Ice Queen."
Moira watched him wearily waiting for him to try something, "Come on, bastard! Let's finish this here and now once and for all."
Raines gasped trying to catch his breath. He staggered against the coat rack reaching into his suit pocket. He smiled when he found the syringe. He uncapped it while he limped towards his desk, "You want me, Queen? Why don't you come get me?"
Moira laughed as she lunged at him. Raines stabbed her in the shoulder with the syringe. Moira stumbled backwards gasping. She pulled the syringe out of her shoulder. It was empty.
"Damn!" she muttered before collapsing to the floor.
The black sedan pulled away from the curb. Moira stared groggily as the motel they had been staying in grew smaller and smaller as they got further and further away from it. Moira tried to focus on the small rusted sign, but she was too tired to make out the words. It said something about Paradise in the desert. She would have laughed at the irony of it, but she doubted Maya would have appreciated the humor. She was far from the paradise the motel sign had promised.
All she could force herself to focus on was that they were somewhere in Nevada going to meet Jarod. The memory of the night before, or was it the night before that had become fuzzy. She couldn't remember it clearly. Time had a way of slipping away from her. She had spoken to him, or at least tried to. His voice sounded hollow to her. She could hear the resignation in his voice as Raines forced her to listen to him. He was willing to return to the Centre in exchange for her freedom. "A life for a life," Raines had said.
He would kill her anyway. He would kill her while Jarod was forced to watch helpless to stop him. She had tried to remain calm, but seeing Raines laughing at her filled her with a blinding rage. She wanted to kill him. She would have succeeded had it not been for his love affair with Nembutal. Emil never played fair. Even in survival camp, he looked for any way he could cut corners. She had once been horribly sick at camp. She couldn't get up, except to visit the latrine to vomit. She found out from one of the other cadets that Emil had slipped poison into her food. All for a fucking gold plated medal in marksmanship. She would have beat him if she hadn't gotten sick.
"Hey, look who decided to join us, Chuckles. Why it's Moira back from the dead," Maya laughed dryly.
Chuck put his arm around Moira protectively, "Don't let her get to you. She's just looking for a fight."
Moira nodded as she continued to stare out the window. Finally, they were getting closer to civilization.
"In a little while, Moira, you'll see me kill your darling Jarod," Maya laughed.
Moira winced as if she had been stung. Her head had started to clear, "You harm him, Maya, and I'll kill you."
Maya sat forward in her seat putting herself directly in front of her sister, "I'd like to see you try, Princess."
Moira held her breath to keep from screaming. Maya had no idea how close she was to losing it. She felt Chuck's arm holding her back.
"Ignore her, Moira. You're the better person. Let her have her fantasies. They'll be the only thing she has when this is finally over."
Moira pulled away from him. She leaned up against the door grabbing the door handle. They would coming to a stoplight soon. She mentally counted as the sedan slowed to a stop as the light turned red. She gripped the door handle upwards throwing the force of her weight against the door sending herself sprawling to the pavement.
Before Maya could react, Moira was on her feet and running.
"Damn her!" Maya yelled as she started after her, "Sam! Ed! cut her off at the next block!"
Moira ran around the corner and doubled back behind her pursuers. To her right was a dirt road leading to a new development. She cut through the backyards in an attempt to confuse Maya and the others. On the other side of the development, Moira saw the highway. If she could get to the highway, she could hitch a ride to New Orleans.
She didn't see the entrance to the gorge that separated the development from the highway. She didn't see where the ground gave way to the rocky slope below. She could only hear the frantic sound of running footsteps getting closer and closer.
"Moira, wait! Wait!" Maya screamed in horror as she watched the ground give way underneath her sister, "Moira! Stop!"
Moira turned as she plummeted down the rocky hillside striking her head on one of the rocks as she landed on one of the ledges.
Maya screamed, "Moira! Moira! I was only kidding. Moira! Moira!"
Ed Chambers came up behind her, "What happened?"
Maya ignored him as she tried to get to her sister, "Don't just stand there, Ed! Look for a way down." Chuck caught up to them, "Damn you, Maya. Now look what you did."
Maya continued screaming, "Get her! Get her, Ed!"
"Maya, stop it! You've done enough damage for one day. We have to go now!" Chuck said grabbing hold of Maya. She continued to struggle as he dragged her to the car.
Ed stared down into the gorge searching for any signs of life, but there were none. He sighed heavily as he walked back to the car, "Now what do we do. Wasn't she supposed to be our bargaining chip?"
Maya snarled at Ed as he sat across from her, "We improvise, dumb fuck! I'll play the Bride of Franken-boy."
Chuck grimaced, "You better not hurt Jarod. Raines wants him alive."
Maya started to chew her nails as they approached the small make-shift airport, "Just get out of my way. I'm calling the shots now. Got that, Chuck?"
Chuck shook his head, "God help us all!"
Jarod stood waiting in the hot Nevada Sun. It was still early yet. He glanced at his watch. They were late, or maybe he was early. Maybe it was a combination of both. In the distance, Jarod heard a plane land. He watched through his binoculars as the three figures made their way towards him. They were here. Watching them grow larger made Jarod sick. He never dreamed his freedom would come to an end, and now they were here to take him back.
He saw her. She was hand-cuffed, and one of the men kept pushing her forward. Jarod felt his rage begin to grow at the injustice of it all. He wanted to run to her rescuing her from the man who kept prodding her along. The instructions had been explicit. He was to wait. They would pass each other-she to freedom, and him to his death.
"You bring the DSA's, Jarod?" the older man asked as he approached him.
Jarod nodded numbly as he continued to stare at Moira, "I want some time to see her before I go."
"You see her now. Isn't that enough," Chuck asked.
"It will never be enough," Jarod said heavily.
Ed pushed Maya forward, "No sudden moves, Miss Parker!"
Maya nodded. She walked towards Jarod, "Why did you come?"
Jarod struggled to control his emotions, "How could I not?"
Maya frowned holding her hands up towards Jarod's face, "Can you take these hand-cuffs off, please. I want to hug my husband."
Chuck came forward yanking her back. He glared at Maya as he unlocked them, "You better not try anything."
Jarod watched the look of pure loathing pass between them. He moved slowly towards her taking her in his arms. He kissed the nape of neck before whispering in her ear, "Hi, Maya."
Maya looked into Jarod's eyes, "How?"
Jarod put his finger to her lips, "Where's Moira?"
Maya collapsed against him crying quietly, "I'm sorry, Jarod. Please, forgive me."
Jarod gasped as he saw her tears, "Please, tell me she's not..."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jarod saw them. They surrounded the sweeper team like a silent army.
"Friends of yours?" Maya said trying to pull away from him.
Jarod nodded watching in fascination as the Millennium soldiers took control rounding up the Centre operatives, "Bummer!
"They told you to come alone," Maya growled.
"And they told me Moira would be here. Well, Maya, she's not, so I guess I'm stuck with you," Jarod sneered as he shoved Maya into the car.
"What if I don't want to be stuck with you, Rat-Boy?"
"Well, I could leave you here with your little cronies, but I don't think you'd like that. The soldiers are not exactly the most forgiving sort since most of them are Centre survivors," Jarod said sarcastically.
"How dare you..." Maya began.
"I see you haven't changed a bit," a voice full of malice said from the back seat."
Maya turned in surprise, "Daddy?"
Mr. Parker leaned forward, "What did you do to my little girl, you monster?"
Maya wanted to say something biting, but the angry look in her father's eyes cowed her, "I wasn't always a monster. Isn't that right, Daddy?"
"I had nothing to do with it," Parker said angrily.
"Come on, Maya. Why don't you tell us where Moira's body is. Doesn't she deserve to be buried?" Jarod asked trying to hold back his tears.
"What makes you think I want to tell you were she is?" Maya said coldly.
"You mean, spiteful bitch. Can't you see what this is doing to us?" Parker growled.
"That's funny, Daddy. You disowned your seven year old daughter, and you still don't see. All I wanted was to be loved. It would have been so easy. A kind word here and there, a pat on the head. It's the little things, Daddy. I never asked for much, but you couldn't even give me that. You were too wrapped up in your Little Princess to even notice me."
"They told us Moira wouldn't live. They told us to love her as much as we could. She was so tiny, so perfect, and so sickly. She had to stay in the hospital for three months before she could come home. We tried to love you, Maya. You broke your mother's heart."
"I was a baby, Daddy. How could I have caused that? How?"
"Back then, they called babies like you slow to warm up. Your mother used to try to hold you, but you wouldn't let her near you without screaming. You used to push her away. I never forgave you for that, Maya."
"You never loved me, Daddy. I wanted to be just like you."
"I wasn't a very good role model," Parker said morosely.
"You were my Daddy. All little girls love their fathers regardless of what they do for a living."
"Shit!" Jarod swore as he sped up, "It looks like Raines sent another Sweeper team after us."
Maya watched as the black sedan sped up attempting to keep up with Jarod's rental car.
Jarod swerved into on-coming traffic ignoring the angry horns as he dodged the other cars, "Damn, I can't shake them."
"Watch out!" Maya screamed as another black sedan pulled out in front of them.
Jarod swore as he stepped on the brakes, "Shit! They boxed us in."
Maya threw open the door, "Later, guys. I'm outta of here."
"Maya!" Parker screamed, but it was too late. She had disappeared into an alley.
"Get out of the car, Jarod!" Sam said thickly.
Parker swore throwing the passenger door open slamming Sam to the pavement.
"Ram them, Jarod," Parker said crouching behind the door with his .9 millimeter poised on the driver of the sedan in front of him.
"You can put that away now, Mr. Parker," Raines said carrying Maya out from the alley.
Jarod shook his head, "Let her go, Raines?"
"Not yet, Boy-Wonder. Now get out of the car like a good Pretender!"
Parker growled, "You'll never get away with this. I'm warning you, Emil. It's over. It's been over for a long time."
Maya kicked at Raines, "Let me go, Emil! Jarod run!"
Raines smacked her hard across the face, "Shut up!"
Jarod put his hands up over his head, "Don't shoot. I'm coming out. Let her go, Emil. I'll come quietly. No tricks."
"Jarod, no! Don't do this," Parker began, "Get out of the way. I can take him."
"No! They'll kill her, Mr. Parker," Jarod said calmly looking into Maya's eyes willing her to pretend, to play the game, to be Moira.
Maya gazed into Jarod's eyes, and understood. He was sacrificing himself for her. No one had ever loved her enough to do that, "Don't hurt him. Please, Emil. You got what you wanted. Please, don't hurt him."
Jarod would have winked at her had it not been for all the guns pointed at his head. Willingly, he climbed into the black sedan. He watched as Mr. Parker rushed at Raines. He turned away as he heard the volley of gun-fire, and Maya screams, "Daddy! Daddy! They killed my Daddy!"
Raines laughed maliciously as he shoved her into the back seat with Jarod, "You two try anything, and I'll kill you both."
Jarod took Maya in his arms embracing her as she sobbed, "They killed my Daddy!"
Raines continued to laugh, "Poor, poor Little Princess. Who's going to protect you now?"
Jarod held Maya tighter stroking her hair, "Leave her alone, Emil. Isn't enough you got me back? Do you have to terrorize her? For Christ's sake, she just saw her father gunned down right in front of her."
"How does it feel, Jarod, knowing you'll never see your children again?"
Maya gasped. She cried harder into Jarod's shoulder, "Leave him alone." Jarod patted her back gently. She was amazing. He almost believed her. He looked into her eyes, and shuddered. She wasn't pretending. She had slipped over the edge, and had become lost in the game. Jarod hugged her tighter realizing there was nothing he could do to bring her back.
"This is where we get off," Raines said smiling.
Jarod half carried Maya out of the car. He smelled the tar and jet fuel as they walked towards the plane.
"No funny business, or I'll have to kill her, Jarod."
"Don't you ever get tired of pushing people around, Emil? Doesn't it bother you that people are afraid of you?"
"You don't stop, do you? You're always trying to shame people. Don't you ever grow tired of it?" Raines said matching Jarod's inflections.
Jarod sighed as he climbed the stairs leading into the plane. Maya continued to sob softly. Jarod held her tighter. Her cries tore him up. He was beginning to get sucked into her sorrow.
"It's going to be okay, Sweetie. It's just a little longer," he whispered to her as he placed her in the seat next to him.
"Get away from her, Freak," Raines roared as he slammed Jarod in the back.
Maya screamed, "Don't hurt him!"
Jarod groaned in pain. He tried to pull himself up into a sitting position, but the pain in his back stopped him, "I'm sorry, Moira."
Maya knelt down next to him, "Don't be. Just lay still. The pain will go away soon."
Jarod saw the syringe and gasped, "What are you..?"
Maya quickly pressed it into him pushing the plunger, "It's okay, Jarod. Just sleep."
Raines smiled ludely as he grabbed Maya by the arm, "Let's go where we can have some privacy, Princess."
Maya gasped sharply, "No, Emil! Don't do this! I can't betray him like this."
Raines laughed shoving her towards the back of the plane, "You will, Princess, and I promise, you won't enjoy it as much as I will."
Maya tried to pull away from him, "Don't touch me!"
Raines slammed her hard across the face, "You'll do as I say, or you'll be leaving here in a pine box."
Maya closed her eyes tasting the blood in her mouth.
"Now, that's the way I like it," Raines said undoing his belt, "You just lie there like a good little Princess.
Maya cringed when she felt him tearing at her, "You think this makes you a man, Emil. You think forcing yourself on me makes you a man?"
"Shut up, bitch!" Raines panted.
"You'll never be half the man Jarod is."
Raines grabbed her throat, "Say my name! Say it!"
"Never! Never in a million years. It will always be Jarod."
"You fucking, slut!" Raines said strangling her with each thrust, "How does it feel knowing you're about to die, Moira?"
Maya laughed wickedly, "I should be asking you, Emil."
Raines stiffened in horror. He tried to pull away from her, but she held him in place by wrapping her long legs around him propelling him deeper inside her.
"You were always so selfish, Emil. You always leave at the best part, but not now. We're going to see this through, Sweetie."
Raines screamed in terror, "No! Let me go! Oh God!"
Maya laughed, "God had nothing to do with this."
Raines screamed in fury grabbing her by the neck strangling her, "I'm going to kill you!"
Maya smiled weakly, "Thank you, Emil. I knew I could always count on you." When she was still, he pulled himself out of her. She had bled on him. He ran in panic to the bathroom trying desperately to wash her off him. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck. He saw Jarod watching him from the reflection in the mirror.
"Where is she?" Jarod growled groggily.
"She's not who you think she is..."
"I'll fucking kill you, Emil. Where is she?"
Raines trembled as he pointed towards the back of the plane.
Jarod saw her crumpled form. All of the rage that had been building from all of the years of imprisonment at the Centre exploded inside of him. He grabbed Raines by the neck lifting him off the floor.
"Put him down, Jarod!" Mulder said calmly.
"He killed her, Fox. He killed Maya. He killed the only link that I had to Moira," Jarod gasped. He continued to hold Raines.
"Jarod, let him go. He's a dead man anyway."
"What do you mean?" Jarod asked releasing his grip on the struggling man.
"Maya was infected with an accelerated strain of the AIDS virus. By raping Maya, Emil Raines has signed his own death warrant. Isn't that right, Emil."
"You planned this," Raines said rushing at Mulder knocking his gun to the floor, "I'm going to kill both of you."
Mulder got up, "Don't do this, Emil. Put the gun down!"
"Is this the way you want your mother to see you, Emil?"
"Leave my mother out of this, Jarod!"
"Come on, Emil. It's over. Put the gun down. It will go easier for you if you cooperate," Mulder reasoned.
"It wasn't your fault, Emil. You did all you could for her," Jarod said gently.
"No! I could have saved her. She didn't have to die," Raines began.
"It was an accident. There was nothing you could have done, Emil."
"Come on, Emil. Put the gun down," Mulder said frowning.
Raines pointed the gun first at Mulder, and then at Jarod before turning it on himself.
Both me screamed in unison, "No!"
The force of the bullet propelled Raines backwards hitting the exit door.
"Shit!" Mulder said grabbing a parachute, "We gotta jump. The plane's starting to depressurise. There must be a crack in the fuselage. Jarod! Where are you going? We have to jump!"
"I'll be right behind you," Jarod yelled as he ran towards Maya.
"Jarod, no! There's nothing you can do for her."
Jarod cried when he saw her. He felt for a pulse knowing there would not be one. Looking into her lifeless eyes, he had to remind himself that it wasn't Moira he was looking at, but Maya.
"Jarod, come on! We have to jump now!"
Jarod took off his jacket and covered her with it, "I'm sorry, Maya. I'm sorry no one loved you. You had so much to give..."
Mulder grabbed him propelling him towards the exit door, "Put this on now. There's no time. Just do it!"
Jarod numbly put the parachute on and opened the exit door, "Have you ever jumped before, Mulder?"
"Yeah, hundreds of times," Mulder said pushing Jarod forward. The force of the air was disorienting. The ground rushed up at him hypnotizing him. It would be so easy to just let himself fall.
Mulder flew by him yelling, "Pull the fucking rip-cord, Jarod!"
"I can't do that, Mulder," Jarod said softly.
Mulder watched in horror as Jarod allowed himself to plummet towards the ground. Never before had he felt so helpless, "Damn you, Jarod."
Jarod felt himself jerked upright as the parachute opened. Out of the corner of his eye her saw something reaching towards him. He stared in awe at the intensity of the light. In it, he saw her. She was smiling and laughing. Jarod blinked as she blew him a kiss, and then she was gone, and he was hitting the ground hard.
"Lay still, Jarod. Everything's going to be fine," Mulder said as the paramedics rushed him into the ambulance.
Jarod grabbed Mulder's wrist, "Moira's alive, Fox! I felt her watching me."
Mulder nodded, "Sure, whatever you say, Jarod."
PART XVII: SLEEP IS BUT A GENTLE FORGETTING
SMALL TOWN 30 MILES OUT OF HENDERSON, NV
It had started to rain. Moira woke when she felt the first few drops falling on her face. She stared up at the night sky remembering the promise she made to Jamie. Tomorrow, she would get the brushes ready, and while he was at school, she would paint the solar system on his ceiling. Then sobbing, she realized where she was. There would be no painting tomorrow, or any other day. She was going to die alone on this ledge. Her only consolation was that she wouldn't have to witness her husband's murder. In a little while this would all be over, and she would join Jarod in death. At least the Centre couldn't take that away from her.
In the darkness, Gaitor sat watching. His gentle eyes watered as he went to the dying woman. "She must be cold," he thought as he stretched himself lengthwise along side of her trying to keep her warm with his fur.
Moira vaguely felt something laying next to her. She reached over and felt the warmth from Gaitor's fur. Now, she was not alone. She could die knowing that someone cared. Gaitor licked her face cleaning away the dirt and tears. Moira smiled weakly feeling the dull throbbing in her head from where it hit the rock. She allowed herself to drift away to sleep.
Gaitor pulled himself closer to her laying his massive head on her chest. Through the night he kept watching her. He could feel her heart beating, and it reminded him of the master he had lost so long ago. He had fallen too. Gaitor was a pup then, and when they found them, his master was dead. He remembered the feel of rough hands as they grabbed him throwing him into a truck filled with other dogs. That first night locked in the dog pound, Gaitor had howled. He understood pain and sadness. He understood what it meant to be alone. He had watched his mother shot to death by hunters. He had remained with her waiting for her to wake up, but she never did. It was only by luck that he was found and taken in, and then his master died leaving him locked in a kennel waiting for the dog warden to return the next morning.
The dog warden hadn't come that morning. Instead a young man and his son came for him. He never forgot the kindness they had given him even after 10 years. He had been emaciated and scared, but they were patient. He grew to love them, and now laying here next to this woman he sensed the circle had become complete.
Just after dawn, Moira heard the birds as they sang their good-morning to the day. How nice it was to have something to look forward to even if it was just the sunrise. The birds were lucky. She had nothing to look forward to. Jarod was dead, and she was dying. She felt herself slipping. It was getting harder and harder to breath. Next to her, Moira heard the thump of Gaitor's tail as greeted her with exuberant kisses.
Moira smiled weakly as she ruffled the dog's head and ears, "You kept me warm last night."
Gaitor's tail thumped in response as he continued to bathe Moira's face.
From the distance, Moira heard a child's voice calling the name "Gaitor" over and over again.
Gaitor whined as he got up. He gave Moira a look as if to say, "I'll be back."
Trevor Haber saw Gaitor approach him. His muzzle was tinted pink with Moira's blood. Trevor coaxed Gaitor closer, but Gaitor turned and ran stopping, and then coming halfway back, and then running again. Trevor followed him half afraid of what he would find.
"Gaitor, watcha got there, old boy?"
Gaitor wagged his tail as he led his boy master to Moira.
"Criminy!" Trevor exclaimed, "Lady, are you okay?"
Moira coughed tasting blood, "Please, get help..."
Gaitor sat down next to her and began to whimper.
Trevor ran scrambling up the trail leading to his backyard yelling, "Call 911! Call 911!!!"
Doug Haber heard his son's screams, and feared the worst, "What's going on, boy?"
"Dad, Gaitor found this lady on one of the rock ledges in the gorge. She's hurt real bad. She's got blood coming out of her mouth," Trevor panted frantically.
Doug ran into the garage and came back with his EMT supply box, "Call 911! I'm going to check her out."
Gaitor whimpered softly watching Moira as she struggled to breath. He licked the foam from her mouth and nose.
Doug approached the ledge. When he saw Moira, his heart sank, "Whatcha got there, Gaitor?"
Gaitor whined backing away allowing Doug room to work. Doug opened his medical box and withdrew a pair of surgical gloves. He felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. Her pulse was weak, but she was alive.
He spoke gently to her as he worked. He tried to keep her awake and alert, but he saw her go far away, "No, stay with me, Princess."
He saw a slight flicker of a response before she gasped. She stopped breathing just as the other paramedics got to him.
Doug grabbed his laryngoscope from his box inserting it into her throat visualizing the cords, and then threading the breathing tube into it. He continue to bag her while Pete Jensen started an IV. John Gibson helped guide the stretcher into position where Doug and Pete placed her on it.
It took them 15 minutes to get her to the top of the gorge where the ambulance driver waited anxiously, "What do we got Doug?"
"BP's falling 90/20, pulse is weak and thready, possible severe head trauma."
"Okay, Doug, we'll take it from here," John said climbing into the ambulance.
Doug watched as the ambulance sped off. He hoped she would make it. He felt a cold nose on the back of his hand.
"You did good, Gaitor. Real good, Gaitor," Doug said as he walked back towards the house. He would cut the lawn tomorrow. He was too tired to do it now.
REEGER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
SPOKANE, WA
"He's real weak right now. He's still coming out of the anesthesia," Dr. Metger said quietly.
"When can I see him?" Sydney asked.
"You can see him now, but you must not excite him."
Sydney nodded as he entered the recovery room. He watched as Jarod slept. They had found Moira at a hospital outside of Henderson, NV. Thanks to Chuck Adelson, they were able to track down the family responsible for saving her life. As soon as Moira was well enough to travel, they would bring her to Spokane where she and Jarod could recuperate together. He only wished Jamie were here to see his mother when she arrived.
Jarod yawned sleepily, "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Not long. I didn't want to wake you."
"Have they found Moira?"
Sydney nodded, "She's at a hospital outside Henderson, NV."
Jarod smiled weakly, "I knew she was alive."
"She was hurt very badly, Jarod. It may be some time before she gets well."
"What's wrong with her, Sydney? Tell me! I have to know," Jarod pleaded.
Sydney sighed heavily, "On the way to the hospital, her heart stopped. She was clinically dead for several minutes before they could revive her."
Jarod gasped. His voice grew thick as he tried to speak, "She thinks she's Maya. Oh God, I knew this would happen, Sydney. It happened to Maya. She lost herself completely, and I couldn't bring her back."
"You're forgetting something, Jarod."
"Forgetting what?"
"Moira is a psychic imager. Maya was the Pretender. She was one of the most gifted Pretenders out there, but we couldn't use her. There's always a danger in someone so gifted to become mad. Maya escaped from the Centre, and become mad in the process."
"That's why you wanted me to return. You thought I would become mad, but I didn't."
"You had Moira protecting you. Maya had no one," Sydney said sadly.
"She saved my life. She sacrificed herself for me, Syd, and now she's dead."
"Excuse me, Dr. Green?" a nurse called from the hallway.
"Yes," Sydney said turning.
"This young man says he's your nephew."
"Can he come in? It would be really good therapy for Mr. Beaudette to see his son," Sydney reasoned.
"Of course, Dr. Green."
Jamie looked up at Sydney, "I'm sorry, Uncle Sydney. I know you're probably mad at me, but I had to go."
"Come here, Possum," Sydney said warmly.
Jamie ran to him embracing him tightly.
Jarod wiped his face, and forced himself to smile, "Hey you. Where did you go?"
Jamie untangled himself from Sydney, and went to his father, "I hitched a ride with some really nice people. They had a daughter who sees things like I do. We had a great time."
From the doorway, Jarod heard the familiar sound of Frank Black's gravely voice. "I'm glad you're okay, Jarod. You got a nice boy here. Jordan's really taken with him."
"How did you know he was out there looking for Moira?" Jarod asked gratefully.
"You can thank Jordan for that one. She kept seeing him in her dreams."
"You still believe your gift is a curse, Frank?" Jarod asked.
"Sometimes, but Jamie's been a big help. He's offered me a new perspective on things. I don't know if I can ever repay him for that."
"You just did, Frank," Sydney said smiling.
She woke alone in the dark room. It was night again. During the day, she had visitors to occupy her time. They allowed her to forget her lonliness for awhile, but the night brought with it a deep sense of sorrow. She lay in the darkness trying desperately to remember who she was. The doctors warned her to be patient. Her memory would return in time, but she wanted to remember now.
She wanted to remember the children in the photographs. She wanted to remember the handsome man in the wheelchair. He had introduced himself as her husband. His voice was soothing and warm. She knew she had heard it before. She wanted so much to tell him she remembered who he was. That first time when he had pushed himself into her room, he had been crying. She felt his lonliness, and it hurt her knowing that she couldn't tell him what he wanted to hear.
What she did remember came to her in bits and pieces. She remembered blueberry pancakes on Sundays, breakfast in bed on cold, chilly mornings, and the feel of his lips on hers when he kissed her. Soon he would be coming to see her. He waited until the nurses changed shifts before wheeling himself into her room. She looked forward to seeing him so clandestinely. Together they would sit quietly reacquainting themselves with each other. His hand in hers, and the familiar smell of his musky scent.
She knew in time she would rememeber him completely, but for now she was growing to love him. He still refused to tell her his name. He was so afraid of pushing too hard that he had been content to let her discover him again.
She heard the familiar squeak of the wheelchair as he wheeled himself into her room. In the moonlight a name came to her lips, "Jarod?"
He smiled, "Yes."
Now, she knew his name. He wasn't "that man," or "the tall guy with the warm brown eyes," or "the man who had the killer smile." He was Jarod, and soon she would know herself, and the children in the photographs would become real to her.
To be continued...
