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Chapter fourteen...

Lyle had woken Jarod up at 5 am to re-read all the files, he had had his breakfast already and Lyle opened the door as there was a knock. It was 7 am, nearly time for him to go. Grabbing the suit, Lyle shut the door, “Shower, now."

Wasting no time, Jarod moved into the shower and washed and shaved himself. It had been many months since he had put on a suit, and it felt strange as he did up his tie. He had been allowed casual clothing in here, which was a welcome relief. If today went well, then they would be wrapping up soon and he would need to talk with Byrnes before it was too late. He was not ordinarily fond of suits, but it would be nice to feel that he actually fit in for once.

Lyle left him for a moment and went into his room, grabbing his cologne. He needed Jarod to be just like a top Agent, and that meant expensive cologne. As much as he loathed letting Jarod use it, Lyle needed this to go well. He was sick to hell of this place. Moving back into Jarod's room, he splashed some into his hands before none to gently slapping it onto Jarod's face.

Jarod closed his eyes and offered no protest, too intent on today’s job to let Lyle bother him. He knew Lyle was having a very hard time being stuck here, especially with the restrictions he had to live with and that was just fine by Jarod. In fact, he wouldn’t mind if he had to stay here for a lot longer, it was far more pleasant and the people were nice, and most of all he felt like he was doing something positive, making a real difference.

When Jarod seemed ready, Lyle eyed him up and down. “You better not screw this up Jarod." Lyle warned him.

Jarod looked at him and just shook his head. "Do you really think I don't understand what is at stake here?"

“Get back and read those files again." Lyle ordered, shoving Jarod down onto the bed.

Sitting back down at the desk, Jarod leafed idly through the profiles he had built up and wondered if he would be just directing the interrogations and watching or would actually be conducting them. All there was to do for now was wait and do his best to pretend Lyle wasn't hovering. He knew almost everything there was to know about these people, probably things they didn’t know about themselves and now all he had to do was find a way to break through their fanaticism and break them, and do it quickly.

When 0730 came, on the dot the room opened and five guards walked in over to Jarod. “Time to go pretender."

Jarod looked at the men and wondered if they really thought he was that dangerous or could possibly escape. Saying nothing though, he collected his files, stood up and brushed down his suit and moved towards them. Seemed they were taking no risks with him and he was just glad that there was barely anyone here to see his humiliation.

Grabbing Jarod's arm, Lyle pulled him forward out of the room to the waiting Byrnes. "Let’s get this done already. This game is getting old.” He grumbled, sick and tired of having to obey someone else’s order.

“This is no game Mr Lyle." Byrnes assured him, leading the group to the only exit point, which was very heavily secured at all times. He had decided to let Lyle supervise this, hoping it would soften the blow when he refused to let him near Jarod during the interrogations.

Natasha had gotten there early, having found something on Jarod, finding it very disturbing. She had wanted to go to his room to talk to him, only to see it guarded and the red light above the door to indicate it was securely locked. But when the men walked in, she had hid around the corner and gone back to the door, thinking she best just go up to her office for a while, not to arouse suspicion. But now they were at the door, she stood back and just waited, watching.

When they got to the door, Lyle looked at Byrnes, “Restrain him."

“Why don't you take care of that Mr Lyle?" Byrnes offered him.

Jarod looked from Byrnes to Lyle and sighed. It seemed they were taking no chances at all. He had done a survey of their security, as best he could, and he had to admit it was very impressive. He suspected it had weaknesses, everything always did, but he was yet to find any.

Lyle smiled and took the cuffs and shackles off of the guard and smiled evilly at Jarod. Bending down, Lyle snapped on the shackles, doing them up as tight as possible, swearing that if they walked too far, they would cut and bruise his ankles. Covering his pants over them as best as he could, Lyle stood up. Grabbing his wrists roughly, he cuffed them, though hardly as tight this time. Just tight enough for him not to be able to get out, not enough to hurt. The last thing they needed for this interrogation was for the suspects to see marks on Jarod's wrists. It might ruin the whole thing and he wouldn’t get home soon enough.

Wincing as the metal bit into his ankles, Jarod forced himself to stay still and offer no protest. As his wrists were cuffed he closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath. This wouldn’t last too long, he tried to tell himself, they were just being overly cautious. It was humiliating though and he as glad Byrnes at least had afforded him some privacy for this.

When the hands were securely behind his back, Lyle tightened them just a little more, still not enough to bruise or cut him. "Hood?" Lyle asked Byrnes.

Jarod felt the flutter of fear run through him as that was mentioned but relaxed a little as Byrnes shook his head.

“No Mr Lyle, we cannot afford a panic attack right now. It is a short trip and there is nothing sensitive he will see, so it is completely unnecessary.” They needed Jarod at the top of his game, not panicked half out of his mind.

"Let’s go.” He shoved Jarod forward a little as they opened the door. Lyle loved to put the hood on him, seeing and hearing his complete unreasoning fear of it. It always made his day.

Jarod stumbled before finding his step and he wondered if Byrnes really thought he could possibly escape or if this was Lyle's doing, which seemed much more likely. He had wondered just what Byrnes had offered or threatened Lyle with to keep him civil, if only barely. None of it really mattered in the end and now he had to focus on the task at hand which was not going to be easy. These people were fanatics, dedicated to their cause and Jarod had to find some way to get the information that they needed.

Getting onto the lift, Lyle stood beside Jarod as they went down. "I see one mistake Jarod, and it will be your last.” He whispered in his ear.

"I am not going to make a mistake." Jarod said shortly. Not that Lyle would be capable of knowing if he did. He didn’t need this idiot’s negativity right now.

"Agent Byrnes," Lyle turned to him as the door opened. "If Jarod needs to work on this all night, he will, rest assured."

"I am sure Jarod knows what needs to be done and is the best to judge that." Byrnes said, not looking at him. Every moment he spent with this man was just bringing him closer to killing him.

Lyle just smiled smoothly as they walked down, Lyle following the guards. Getting into a room, Lyle looked around to see it was the other side of the interrogation room.

Jarod noted the security here and was fairly impressed, even though it meant that his hope of escape was dwindling away to nothing. They probably had the best set up he had ever seen and made the Centre like very amateurish in comparison. Looking around the room he nodded to himself, taking it all in. He wasn't sure if he was going to get to see these men or remain here. They had given him a suit so he supposed that meant something, at least he hoped it did. He would need to get hands on if he was going to do this, not just observe from here.

Lyle looked around and was amazed at all the technology around, thinking Broots would just love this place. "You can un-cuff him now." Lyle ordered, "He isn’t going anywhere, are you Jarod?" Lyle asked him smoothly.

“No Mr Lyle." Jarod said softly, barely paying him any attention now. He rubbed his wrists as the cuffs came off and waited for the shackles, his ankles hurting from even that short walk. "I need to be briefed," Jarod said, looking at Byrnes.

Jarod was bone tired as they finally finished up the preliminary rounds. He had been right about everything and now they had enough information to prevent the attack. Teams were already on their way to secure the biological weapon and by tonight it should be all but over. That kind of fanaticism scared him, such complete and total dedication to a cause, at any cost. It reminded him of the single–minded ruthlessness of Mr Parker and Mr Raines. Silent as they made their way back up to the command level, Jarod wanted nothing more than a nice hot shower and to get a couple of hours of sleep. He had tried so hard not to let these people touch him, but it sickened him to know what they had been planning. There was still much work to be done, tying up all the loose ends to make sure everything was accounted for and he figured that would probably take another few days. The crisis though seemed to be over. Despite his exhaustion and disgust, he felt good knowing he had made a real difference. It had all been worth it and he thought about all the lives that wouldn’t be ripped apart by this terrible thing and it was like a weight off his shoulders.

When Natasha got there, she saw Jarod back at work. He hadn’t been working yesterday, but she had heard that he was at the interrogations which confused her even more. She had gotten in late, her car having broken down on the way. Though Nat was only an hour late, starting at 10 am instead of nine, it was even later for her, since she always got in around 8 to work. Moving over to Jarod, she smiled tightly on him. “Come with me, I want to talk to you." Natasha ordered, in full Agent mode. Byrnes wasn’t in the room, so no one would bitch about her taking Jarod. Even his Mr Lyle was out of sight and wondered if there was a meeting.

Jarod looked up and smiled at her, although a little confused at her tone. "Of course, let me just finish this off, give me a second.” He said, scrawling down a few notes. He was still so tired, having only gotten a small amount of sleep, plagued as always by terrible dreams. He knew Lyle was eager to get out of here too and had pushed him to get back to it. It was preferable to be working than listening to him whine.

“Now!" Natasha practically snarled at him, her whole being changed. She wasn’t soft and easy going now, friendly, Natasha was angry and impatient, looking for all she was as an Agent.

"Alright," Jarod said, worried that something was wrong. He put his pen down and stood up. Lyle was over hassling some poor woman and didn't notice him getting up.

Grabbing his arm, Tasha hauled him out, furious she had been so badly deceived by him. She took him to the first empty room they came upon and pushed him in. "Sit!” She barked out, very angry at this man.

“Natasha, what is wrong?" Jarod asked, not understanding this at all. They had finally cracked the case, he didn't understand why she was angry. This is what they had been working towards for months. Not having seen her like this before, he could only guess something terrible must have happened, something he had done judging by her reaction.

Glaring at him, “Who are you?" Natasha asked in a deep, authoritative voice, giving him one chance to confess.

"My name is Jarod Ressler, you know that." Jarod told her. Byrnes had decided he should use the agent name he used most often. The look on her face though told him clearly that she wasn’t going to be buying that.

“Well 'Jarod Ressler'," Natasha glared down on him where he sat, “Care to explain why you were playing with missiles in Venezuela?" Throwing the folder down at him. "So you really aren’t a consultant, or an 'Agent Ressler', you deal with arms. You’re just like them, killing innocent people. No wonder you knew so much about these people.”

Jarod looked up at her, not knowing what to say for a moment. She must have done some pretty deep digging to find that out. "It isn't what it looks like Natasha." It sounded lame even to his own ears. He didn’t know what she knew, but whatever it was it was enough and he only hoped she hadn’t seen him yesterday being dragged out in chains like a dangerous criminal.

“No? So an 'Agent' or a 'consultant' would be trussed up, with our finest guards hovering around to be taken to a different level?" She asked sarcastically.

Well that answered that definitively. "Oh, you saw that?” He whispered, dropping his eyes as shame flooded through him. He had managed to keep his status from everyone here a secret so far.

"Yes, I did," Natasha growled, leaning down over him. "So 'Jarod', that’s why you seem to know so much and can do so much work in this? You work with those bastards, you supply those evil people murdering men, women and children missiles. What did they offer you to get your help hmmm?"

“Natasha, I swear to you it isn't like that at all. I am not, was not an arms dealer. If you followed up you would see those arms were all returned, they were never used to hurt anybody." It would make no difference though, he could see that she had lost any respect for him, hurt by what would appear as a betrayal.

"All I need to know is that you were dealing them." She growled, “Now who the hell are you?" Tash was far too angry and feeling betrayed to think this all through rationally.

“Natasha, please believe me, I wasn't dealing in weapons, I swear I wasn't. It was a setup, I never ever had any intention of letting them be used."

“Then where did you get the money to buy these arms, you apparently weren’t going to send out?" Nat demanded seriously.

Lyle had noticed them slip out and had gone to find them. Smiling at what was going on, he leant more against the door jamb, "He stole it, didn't you Jarod?" Lyle couldn’t help himself. Jarod was digging himself into a pretty good hole as it was, but Lyle wanted to make it deeper.

Jarod's head snapped around to him and then he looked back at Natasha, shaking his head. "It isn't the way it seems Natasha. It is a complex situation." Jarod tried to explain becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"You STOLE enough money to buy 40 missiles? How can that not be the way it seems? I want an explanation and I want it now. Who the hell are you?"

“Can you give us a minute please Mr Lyle?" Jarod asked tightly.

"Of course not Jarod, this is just too fun to watch.” He smiled sweetly at Jarod

"Ignore the smug arsehole and tell me Jarod," Tasha ordered, right in his face.

Jarod looked from Lyle back to her. "Yes I took the money from them,” He admitted in a whisper. "But I am not a terrorist Natasha, I swear it to you."

"From who?" Natasha asked, her voice still hard. "So far you're giving me nothing to believe you aren’t one of the people we have worked to stop."

"I have dedicated myself non stop to helping you this last week and a half Natasha, isn't that enough?" Jarod pleaded with her.

“No it’s not. What deal did you cut with them for this? Not to go to jail, have this wiped?" She demanded. “What is in this for you?”

"He is a chameleon, a pretender," Lyle smirked at Jarod, knowing if she was told it wasn’t going to make a difference. The other Agent knew. Turning he walked out happily.

Jarod shot Lyle a dark look and shook his head, standing up and started to pace slowly as he thought about what he might tell her.

"A pretender?" Tasha arched an eyebrow, "I want an explanation now, do not push me."

Watching as Lyle left, after dropping his little bombshell, Jarod thought about what would be safe to tell her. For her own safety, the less she knew the better. "I was undercover on that arms deal Natasha, I was pretending to be a dealer, that is all. It was just an undercover mission."

“With who? What agency? And why can't I find you then hmm? I am not buying any of this.” If he was an undercover agent, he would have said so last time she had asked him. There were hundreds of undercover agents, and they all knew OHS knew most of their identities.

"I am deep undercover.” He said, it was true after all. He was so deep undercover he didn’t even know who he was outside of the life he was forced to live. Jarod the man didn’t exist, only Jarod the pretender.

"So deep you need to be cuffed like a criminal to leave this building?" Nat scoffed at him. "If you will not tell me, then I will go to your little babysitter."

"Don’t do that please Natasha," Jarod pleaded with her, turning to face her. It shouldn’t really matter what she thought of him, the job was almost over now and he was never going to see any of them again. It mattered though, mattered a great deal to him. So much of this assignment had been about his self respect and now it was shattered.

"And why not?" She asked, calmer now, knowing she had struck a cord.

"He is a liar." Jarod muttered. He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. He was many things worse than that too.

"And so are you," Natasha straightened. "So far what he has said you have agreed with, so he is less of a liar then you are. I can see I will get more information from him." She picked the file up and turned to leave. "I will send some guards to escort you back to work since you are obviously such a high security risk."

“Natasha, please." Jarod said, moving forward. "I haven’t lied to you once, not once.” He told her, not wanting her to go to Lyle. He could easily imagine what Lyle might tell her. It shouldn’t really matter to him though, he would never see her again. He liked and respected her, all of these people, what they were doing, why they were doing it. He liked being a part of it. He found himself wanting her to like him too, he didn’t want to disappoint her.

"Yet you are happy to lie to me now about who you are? Why should I believe you at all? You did arms dealing, you stole millions of dollars to do it, and you 'pretend' to do these things, which are already breaking our laws."

Jarod reached out to touch her arm, to stop her from going. "I am not happy to lie to you, I just... it is so complicated. Please sit down, don't talk to him.” He pleaded, wanting her to understand that he wasn’t a criminal, he wasn’t doing this to avoid prosecution, he wasn’t doing it to save his own ass. He was just as dedicated to this as she was.

Tasha pulled her arm back from his touch sharply. "You better explain everything right now or I go straight to him and get an explanation."

Jarod nodded and let out a deep breath. "I guess you could say I work for him." Jarod started.

"Go on, and do not stop talking until you explain every little thing." She ordered him, in no mood to be beating around the bush.

"I don't know where to begin Natasha, if I tell you the truth, it changes everything for you, forever." Jarod looked into her eyes, knowing she wouldn't accept that. He much preferred it when he was the one doing the interrogating.

“Now, or I go to your babysitter to get my answers." Nat would not let him get out of this.

"I am not an arms dealer, or an Agent, or a terrorist. I am a pretender. Lyle was right about that." Jarod began, watching her reactions closely.

"So you were lying," Tasha shook her head, “The whole story now, and stop trying to drag it on or get out of it."

"About what Natasha?" Jarod asked her. He hadn’t lied to her yet.

"You told me Mr Lyle lies, and then you said he was right, he told the truth. So that just means you’re the liar. Now tell me the explanation for this." She snapped.

“No, I meant he is a liar in general. He did tell the truth about that though." Jarod tried to clarify for her.

"And you are stalling, I am going to talk to him." She wanted to know now, not ten years down the track, so Tasha pivoted on her heels and headed to the door.

"I was stolen from my parents as a child.” He said, hoping that would stop her.

“Not as unusual as you would think, go on." Natasha paused, closing her eyes for a spilt second at that news, her back still towards him.

He nodded in agreement. He could see he was not going to get any sympathy from her. "I was taken to a place called the Centre, a place Mr Lyle's father used to run."

Folding her arms, Natasha just waited, wanting the whole story now, not pieces every five minutes.

"And they kept me there until a few years ago when I escaped. I worked for them." Jarod said softly, his voice very low now, raw. She didn’t realise how painful this was for him, it wasn’t just a story, this was his life. Nobody would ever understand what it had been like for him, nobody could.

"And this Centre? What was it like, what is it, what work?" Natasha asked, looking un-phased by it all, at least looking like she was un-phased.

"Much of it is like this, or what I imagine your lobby looks like. For me though, it is like your security level. Technically it is a think tank, they take a lot of work from the government. They solve problems for them." Jarod spoke in a monotone, all emotion bleached out of his voice.

"And what 'work' did you do? What are you to them? And why did they 'steal' you from your family?" So far he hadn’t really told her all that much at all.

"I have a genetic mutation, a 'gift' that predisposes me to brilliance. To them...” He shook his head, fidgeting again and standing up, pacing once more. “To them I am nothing more than a tool.” He said bitterly. “Property, very valuable property.”

"Meaning?" Nat pushed, watching him, seeing this was hard for him and softened a little.

"Meaning I did whatever they told me to." Jarod whispered.

"And what are some of the things they told you to do?" Tash pushed, wanting to know, knowing this seemed to be upsetting him.

"Just about anything. I helped design the microwave, I manipulated the Nixon landslide. I have cured diseases and I have...” He stopped for a moment, trying to control his emotions.

"You have what?" Natasha snapped a little, wondering about that, about what he was saying.

"People have died because of what I thought up.” He admitted in a small voice.

"So you are a criminal?" He killed people with the work he did. He was no better then the people they fought really.

Jarod looked up at her. "If I was coerced, does that make me one?” He asked her, holding her eyes. In his heart he felt the guilt, coerced or not, the guilt was just the same.

"Depends on how you were coerced." She replied in a steady voice, not seeing someone harming a teenager into working that will kill someone. She thought if he was working since a child, or from a young age, they didn't force him to do anything.

"I see," Jarod nodded and sighed heavily. "Perhaps I am then and I am getting exactly what I deserve." Either she didn’t believe him or she had become so jaded she couldn’t feel any empathy. He would have thought she might express some empathy, not suspicion.

"How old were you when they apparently stole you? When you say they made you work. I am finding this all a bit unbelievable."

"I find it a bit hard to believe myself sometimes. What difference does it make Natasha? I am what I am, I have done what I have done, and there is no undoing it."

"Yes it matters, it matters a lot! Now answer me." She growled deeply.

"I was four, I think." Jarod told her, seeing he wasn't going to get any sympathy from her.

"And when did you start working for them?" She asked, thinking of Jarod right now like someone she would interrogate in a room down one level.

“The day after I was taken." Jarod answered dully in defeat.

That made her step back in shock, “They made you at four years of age to work?"

"Yes,” He said, frowning. He had just told her that already.

“What was the work?”









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