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Note: This story is based on the show The Pretender; I am just borrowing the characters for my story. And the reference to the political figure isn't meant to be amusing. I just didn't want to use any real names; you fill in the blank.




In Breaking News

part 1
by Nikita_Eve




Blue Cove, Delaware:
The Centre



'Another pretender?' Nikita thought. "Another pretender?" She repeated, this time aloud. After 23 years at the Centre- for as long as she could remember- she had never faced such a daunting, yet exciting possibility. She could already imagine the fun they could have together; she had never had a real friend before. But where was he? She had never seen anyone else like her here.

"I'm afraid so." interrupted Mr. Raines.

Her fantasy shattered. She snapped her head up and returned to reality. Yep, just wheezy.

"He escaped almost 5 years ago and he's been on a killing spree since last week. All our efforts to stop him have been thwarted; he's just too smart. What makes it especially sick is he helps these people before he kills them. He likes to play the hero." He took a dramatic pause as if he felt for the victims. He'd been acting weird since he found God. " Anyway. " He said returning from his reverie." The important thing is that you catch him. I'll give you my best people to work with and every resource at your disposal. Understood?"

"Yes sir." She said not revealing her disappointment.

"Good. Ms. Parker, Sydney, and Broots will be waiting for you outside my office. They will brief you on anything you need to know about Jarod. You may leave now. " Jarod, huh? She thought. Funny that Wheezy hardly mentioned his name. She suppressed a chill as she passed by him on the way out. He always gave her the creeps.

Outside waited an odd pair: A tall brown haired woman w/ nice clothes, Miss Parker, she assumed, and an older distinguished looking man in his sixties. No, make that an odd group, a balding man was slightly cowering to the side. She walked up to the woman and stuck out her hand. " Hi, I'm Nikita. Nice to meet you, Miss Parker."

"You must be the other pretender. " She took Nikita's hand and muttered. "Any relation to Frankenboy?"

"No." She said "Is that German?"

Ms Parker laughed. The older man nodded in her direction. "Sydney."

Nikita turned to the cowering man- that had come in a little closer- and said, " You must be Broots."

He looked up at her as if startled. " Uh yeah, that's me. If you ever need to know anything about Jarod, oh or computers, I'm your man. " He chuckled nervously.

"Don't worry. We don't let him out at night. " Ms. Parker said to Nikita.

Broots looked at Nikita, a little embarrassed. "She's just kidding." He laughed again.

Ms Parker snorted and changed the subject. Taking her arm and leading her to her office. " So, where shall we start?"

******

Five hours later she had assimilated everything Jarod had done on the outside. Focusing especially on his actions over the past week. It just didn't make any sense. How does someone go from being altruistic to serial killer? Drugs; or maybe a mental breakdown that had been coming for years?

"Hey Sydney, you have known Jarod almost all his life, right? Why would he suddenly snap? "

"I don't know Nikita. He was never meant for the outside world. Who knows if he can even distinguish between right and wrong anymore? That's why we need to get him back. " Sydney felt a little twinge of guilt for lying, but if he thought she could get Jarod back . . . . .

"Okay; I think I know where to find him. " She said with some reservation. She had a feeling they weren't telling her everything. " I narrowed it down to two newspaper clippings, and Intel from one of the places indicated he wasn't there. I got a positive confirmation from this one here." She printed out the clipping, handing a copy to Sydney, Broots, and Ms. Parker.

Ms Parker quickly scanned over the article. She looked up and flashed what was sure to be a rare grin. "Today's my lucky day. The jet can be ready in 15 minutes"

"Wait. " Nikita said to Ms Parker- who was already halfway out the door- " I think we should try a different approach. Every time you have gone in waving your guns he gets away."

"And why is that? " She pulled a cigarette out, lit it, and inhaled a deep long drag before she leaned forward, blowing it in Nikita's face. "Are you saying I don't know how to do my job?"

Before Nikita could answer, Sydney jumped in. " I think Nikita has a point, maybe a more discreet approach could work."

"Great, now Jarod has another mommy. " She waved her hands emphatically at the last word. "What are you suggesting?" She asked in a more restrained voice.

"I could go undercover. When I get close to him, I grab him."

"Yeah and we could be your backup, " Broots nodded enthusiastically.

"Shut up Broots." Ms. Parker turned back toward the younger woman. "Nikita, they let you outside?"

"Yes, unlike Jarod I was allowed to work on the outside for certain Sims, but I was always safe. There were sweepers nearby to ensure my safety."

"Safety, or presence? " Asked Broots, laughing at his own joke.

"And they didn't worry about you, umm. . , escaping? " Ms Parker sounded surprised.

"Why would I want to leave the Centre? It is the best place to fully maximize my potential." She responded. Her cobalt blue eyes stared at Ms. Parker innocently.

"Well, then I guess someone finally realizes where they belong. Oh, and we are going with you. " She grinned at Broots, " So if you are wrong, we can serve you up on a silver platter to the Triumvirate." She pulled out her phone, " Fire up the jet. " She ordered and clicked it shut. " Saddle up boys. We're going to Texas. "

******

Austin, Texas:

Jarod looked up from his paper, grinning, it read: Al Bore arrested for attempted assassination on president elect Jeorge W. Gush; FBI agents hard work to thank.

"Job well done everyone. We always knew this one would snap, " said one of the special agents, "We just need to tie up a couple of loose ends and finish some paper work. So, we can all go home."

"Good, those secret service agents were starting to annoy me. They can't even baby-sit the President by themselves. " said another. Everyone laughed.

Home, Jarod mused. Where should he go next? They would never think to look for him here- too public. They'll come eventually though. I probably have a week. He excused himself from the room and called Sydney.

"Sydney here."

"Hi Sydney."

"Jarod, how have you been? It's been a while."

"I tried your office; where are you? Sydney, are you in an airplane?"

"Very clever Jarod."

Jarod tensed up slightly, " Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm overdue for a vacation. Why so interested?"

Jarod laughed. " I thought you had already found me."

"No, I didn't find you; although, as Ms. Parker would say, the world is changing. Just be careful, okay? Ghosts from your past can come back to haunt you."

"And I thought it was my job to play games with you. "

Sydney let out a forced laugh. " Just watch out for ghosts, okay Jarod? I have to go."

Hmm, Jarod thought, that was strange. As if anything to do with the Centre wasn't. What did he mean about ghosts, though? Someone from his past that he brought to justice? But they weren't dead. Dead? Oh no. He remembered about 24 years ago the Centre told him that he had accidentally killed someone's parents. A young girl; she was four or five when she was brought to the Centre. They said he had given the Centre faulty information on a sim. Mr. Raines told him he couldn't mention her to anyone, or meet her, because she would hate him for killing her parents.

One of the first things he did when he got out was to check that out. It turned out that Mr. Raines had kidnapped the girl just like he kidnapped him. He knew nothing else about her, if she was still in the Centre, or anything. But still, if he had been responsible in any way . . . Sydney would tell him. He looked up and realized he was back at his apartment. He barely noticed that he had been driving. He pulled into the driveway and went inside.

He sat at his computer and fidgeted nervously at the screen. Finally he grabbed his phone and called Sydney.

"Hey Sydney. " He said anxiously.

"Jarod. " Sydney responded enthusiastically.

"Tell me about something. " Jarod continued.

"About what? "

" 24 years ago there was a little girl, 4 or 5. The Centre said I killed her parents with faulty sim information. She was a pretender too. They said I couldn't mention her to anyone. What was her name? I don't know; I did some digging, no pun intended, on Raines' story and it didn't check out. Records show her parents died in a car crash. I came across a codename for her project: Scorpio. Maybe her sign?" he hurried.

"Slow down Jarod "

"And I don't even know if her parents are dead- they said the car exploded and burned for a while- no remains were found. Sydney, I have to know if I'm responsible for her parents' death- for bringing her to the Centre. " His voice was filled with a mixture of guilt and disgust.

"I'm sorry, but what do you want from me? "

"I need the Centre mainframe access code for tomorrow. "

There was an awkward silence. " I don't think I can help you with this one."

"Why not Sydney? "

" Because, you might not need to find her." Sydney hung the phone.

'Hmm.' He thought putting the phone down. Maybe she will find me.

******

Austin, Texas
The Centre Jet


"Finally, we're here. " Ms. Parker fumed. " We could have walked here faster ".

"Actually, it would take about 8 days to walk here; but who's counting? "

"You're a genius all right; but an hour to get clearance to land? And they went through all our stuff."

"It's probably because of what happened with Gush and Bore; tighter security. " Nikita replied.

"You think? " Ms Parker snipped. " I didn't even vote for that moron, but he found a way to ruin my day. No, it was probably Special Agent Jarod Sykes' fault; he knew we'd come eventually. But this time were not one step behind." she flashed a wicked smile at everyone. " I wonder what I'll do with him first? " she pulled a cigarette out and twirled it around in her fingers. Sydney and Broots exchanged an amused look. " What? " Ms. Parker defended herself with a galre. " He's put me through so much, all of us. Except maybe you Nikita " Sydney looked away and shifted uncomfortably. " what is it Syd? Don't tell me Jarod did something to Nikita too? " She asked sarcastically.

"There may be some past there " Sydney responded. " you never know in the Centre ".

"Nikita, here's your ID"; he printed out the rest of the information for her. Special agent Nikita Wilkes. She absorbed the rest of the information; filing it back for later reference: current status: undercover- investigating special agent Jarod Sykes. Undercover ID: the room service lady; objective: break into agent Sykes' computer, get any information on fowl play. Nikita's actual objective: get caught and exposed as an undercover agent. Got it, she thought. So when he knows
I'm lying, he'll think its just about being a room service lady. " Got it ", she said to Broots, and stuck the paper in the shredder. " we don't want anyone else to see this ".

"Lets go " said Ms. Parker. Funny, Ms Parker thought, Sydney has been awfully quiet; she could've sworn she heard him talking to Jarod earlier.

Nikita stepped out of the plane, not waiting for the others; she smiled and inhaled. Ah, fresh air, she thought. Sydney, Broots, and Ms Parker lagged behind a little.

"Man, what kind of lies have they been feeding her, Syd? " Ms Parker asked.

"The same we fed Jarod " Sydney sighed and looked away. " She's very bright, it's only a matter of time before she finds out the truth."

"Well, just in case her loyalty doesn't last, " Ms Parker opened her jacket revealing her gun; letting the sentence finish itself.

"Hurry up! " Nikita yelled back at them.

"Curious Georgette goes to the airport. " Ms Parker muttered to them.

"Coming! " She said loudly enough to be heard.

"I guess this is frankengirl's first field trip."

"What's this?" They heard a giggle from ahead.

"Come on, we better catch up. " Ms Parker replied.

They arrived to find Nikita staring at a piece of pizza. " So let me get this strait, you make a container out of bread, and you pile all of these . . . pieces of sliced processed meat and vegetables-"

"They're called toppings. " He interjected.

"On top." She finished. "I see. May I have one piece please."

"Okay, that's gonna run you 3 big ones." Nikita looked a little perplexed and reach into her wallet. "I have three regular sized ones." She handed him $3.

"Funny." He said. "Hey, where is she from guys? Who hasn't heard of pizza?"

As Nikita was wandering away and eating her pizza, Ms Parker leaned in and told the man, "She's a little, " She pursed her lips and glanced down for a second and gave him an innocent look, "you know, slow; everything is kind of new to her. "

Broots giggled loudly.

"No comments from the peanut gallery. " She glared at him. Her innocent expression left faster than it had appeared.

"We'll have 3 more slices, thanks. I think we'd better be going now." Said Sydney.

Ms Parker grinned at them, "Wait till she finds out about shopping."

"Careful Parker, you might be starting to develop a normal relationship."

She tried to shrug off that ridiculous notion, but couldn't help but realize the similarities between Nikita and Jarod. If circumstances had been different with Jarod . . .what am I thinking, she chided herself.

"Lets go guys."

They finished their pizza and hurried to their hotel; stopping only for occasional explanations and miraculous discoveries by Nikita.

When they arrived, they checked into their rooms with Nikita and Ms Parker sharing one, and Broots and Sydney sharing next door. After they unpacked and settled in, Broots set up Nikita's computer/ workstation.

"Here you go, Nikita, " said Broots. He took the mouse and explained the system, where everything was. "You have unlimited access to the Internet. And...." He said grinning, and looked around as if someone might be listening to them; he lowered his voice. "...if you need to get into any top secret files, I made this excellent decryption program- guaranteed to get you in any military and civilian system (excluding the Centre) in two hours. Welcome to the Quantico FBI academy." Broots said, pulling up her first training exercise.

"Thank you Broots. " She flashed him a smile as she slid into her chair.

"Come on yawl." Ms Parker drawled . "Lets go check out the mini bar."

"If you don't mind Nikita, I'd like to stay with you " Sydney said with restrained anticipation.

"Sure." said Nikita.

"Good, you won't even know I'm here." said Sydney, setting up his video camera.

"Look they're making a video " Broots commented innocently.

Ms Parker let out a snicker, but quickly contained it.

"What? " Broots asked.

"The way you said that? " she gave in to her snicker, no longer able to help herself. She led Broots out the door and patted him on his back. "Let's just say it's the kind of movie that you need your mommy with you to see. "

"A . . .puh puh ... " Broots trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"It's called a porno..." She laughed, articulating the last word. "...one day I'll tell you all about it."









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