THE CENTRE – INFIRMARY – SL-14

"Jarod, are you okay?" Sydney cried, as he rushed into the examination room.

"Sydney." The pretender greeted flatly, unable to contain a wince. He was sitting on the edge of the examination table, a doctor carefully placing a cast on the pretender's right wrist. Four sweepers stood at his side, and Sam was glaring menacingly at him from across the room.

Talk about overkill.

"Doctor, you are not allowed to be in here." Sam stated from across the room.

Jarod watched intently as two sweepers moved from his side, closing in around Sydney.

"I have clearance from the Triumvirate." Sydney replied, stepping away from the sweepers and grabbing Jarod's nearby chart from the wall.

"Low grade fever, dehydrated." The shrink muttered shaking his head. He turned to face the pretender. "Jarod, I want you placed on IV fluids. We'll keep you up here overnight for observation."

The doctor applying Jarod's cast looked at the pretender sympathetically before turning to face Sydney. "I’ve been instructed to stabilize his wrist, nothing more."

"Sorry doc, nothing personal. Just following orders." Sam informed the angered psychiatrist.

"Fellows – please show the doctor out." He ordered calmly, his eyes never leaving the pretender.

Jarod sighed audibly. He was beginning to feel like a piece of prized livestock. This conversation was focused solely on him, but not one person in the room cared about his opinion.

"I will not allow it. Jarod needs medical attention." Sydney protested as the sweepers gently took his arms. There had been a time where his opinion was greatly valued in respect to the pretender program, but that day had far sailed away. He was beginning to feel like he was being put out to pasture, forced to sit aside as they slowly ruined Jarod.

"Unfortunately Jarod has other places to be." The smooth voice of Lyle announced, as the twin made his entrance into the room. Sydney was shocked to see a large contusion on the man's forehead. He hadn't heard exactly what had transpired down in Jarod's cell as Broots had only informed him that his protégé had arrived at the infirmary with a broken wrist. If there was a Centre rumour, Broots was on top of it. Sydney had the tech working on hacking into the surveillance system to get a copy of exactly what had transpired down on SL-26.

"Miss me Jarod?" Lyle questioned, an edge to his voice.

The doctor attending to Jarod spun around. "With all due respect Mr. Lyle, you should be in bed resting! You were unconscious for nearly ten minutes and have a serious concussion."

"Consider me checking out AMA. Jarod and I need to sort some things out." The twin responded, glaring at the pretender. "You almost done with him?"

The infirmary doctor sighed. "Yes, but the cast will need at least an hour to finish setting. As I told your men here, I strongly recommend he stays here for at least the next 12 hours attached to an IV. He has a low grade fever and is dangerously dehydrated."

"Jarod's a big boy. He can handle it." Lyle mocked before turning over to Sydney. "Sorry Syd, but we're going to have to cancel your Freudian session with boy wonder."

Sydney was about to open his mouth to protest, when he heard the unmistakable squeaking of Mr. Raines oxygen tank, followed by the easily recognizable gaited walk of stilettos.

"Jarod stays here." Parker announced as she made an appearance into the examination room, flanked by the new Centre chairman.

Lyle frowned before approaching his twin. "Look what our little psychopath did to me." He responded, pointing to the laceration on his forehead with emphasis. "He needs to be shown his place."

"Sorry Lyle, you'll have to send him for his spanking later. Until he's given medical ok, boy wonder is not setting a foot out of this wing." Parker replied.

Lyle turned up to Raines. "Don't tell me you are supporting this? The last thing boy-wonder needs is another mommy."

Raines glared at Parker's twin. "The Triumvirate ordered that Jarod be placed in isolation. You want to explain to me how a man who was to spend his entire week with us locked up alone, managed to go for a jog?"

"Unfinished business." Lyle responded smoothly.

Parker snorted. "Yeah, and if you had informed me of Uncle Cracker Jacks untimely demise in the same manner, you'd have a lot more showing taen just that contusion on your forehead."

"Enough!" Raines commanded. "Jarod will spend his next 18 hours chained to an infirmary bed – ALONE. If anyone in this room dares to violate the isolation orders issued by the Triumvirate, I'll personally be reserving you a seat on the plane to Africa beside him. Am I being clear?"

Parker and Lyle nodded in assent.

Sydney shook his head in objection. "Raines, I was given permission to conduct a one hour psychological assessment of Jarod."

"Sixty minutes Sydney." Raines warned looking at his watch. "Starting now…." The chairman turned to Sam. "Secure him, and then make sure he is left alone."

"Yes sir." The sweeper responded.

Jarod felt Raines' eyes on him before the man turned and exited the room, pausing at the doorway. "Lyle – go back to bed."

The twin snorted. "So now he's practicing the Hippocratic oath." He muttered before facing the pretender. "We still have eighteen hours Jarod until you are shipped out of here. You'd be mistaken to assume you'll get away with this. I promise you, you will pay." He threatened before backing out of the room, his eyes never leaving Jarod's form.

Jarod just smiled at the twin in defiance as the sweepers once again surrounded him, forcing him off the examination table. He shifted his eyes trained on Miss Parker as he was pushed out the room. She did nothing to indicate his presence, nothing to indicate she still cared. Six years of sharing secrets, painstakingly forming a fragile bond, only to have it shattered as soon as the Centre got their hands back on him.

"Good luck Sydney – I can't imagine having to decipher what goes on in that head of his." Parker remarked after the pretender had been escorted out of the examination room.

The shrink nodded sadly. "Jarod's emotions are raw, uncontrolled. He's already fragile due to his recent loss of freedom, and I know he is feeling tremendous guilt and grief over what happened to Angelo. How did he find out Miss Parker?" The shrink added, knowing she had alluded to it earlier.

Parker shook her head sadly. "Lyle showed him a Polaroid of Angelo… of what was Angelo, a close up of the bullet hole to the brain. Jarod just lay there, and the moment they relaxed, he just launched himself at Lyle."

The shrink shook his head. "And then he ran."

Parker nodded. "Sam pummelled him just a few feet from the ventilation shaft that headed straight down to SL-27. He almost made it Syd. What a disaster that would have been."

"Thank you for protecting Jarod, Miss Parker." Sydney replied knowingly.

The woman chuckled in amusement. "Don't kid yourself Freud. I'm just doing my job. Tomorrow I'm in charge of making sure Jarod is handed over the Africans in pristine condition. That includes being able to walk. Fortunately for Jarod – Raines agreed with me."

Sydney stared at Parker. Her defences were clearly back up. Last night she had opened herself up to him, and he knew the turmoil she was feeling within.

She could pretend all she wanted that she didn't care. Sydney knew that deep down, she really did.

"The clock is ticking on your therapy session Sydeny. " Parker warned before leaving the psychiatrist alone.

THE CENTRE – INFIRMARY – SECURED WING

Jarod lay back on the infirmary bed, trying to ignore the feeling of hopelessness that was swallowing him as the sweepers placed the hospital restraints around his legs and good wrist.

"Sleep tight Jarod." Sam offered unsympathetically before the team left him alone in the room. Jarod turned his head away from the camera, waiting for Sydney's imminent arrival.

He was not sure exactly what had just transpired in the examination room. Raines had never had Jarod's well fare in his best interest, and Jarod could only hope this new turn events had only to do with the former doctor's fear of the Triumvirate. He had roughly twenty-four hours left until he would be transferred, along with Lysander. He would be very surprised if Lyle didn't make an appearance before then.

Jarod had never felt such turmoil from within, his soul was deeply tormented from the events of the last few weeks. His last viable escape attempt had been thwarted, and with Miss Parker now running the show for his transport, Jarod knew a lucky break that would lead to his freedom was highly unlikely. In the last few years, when Jarod and Miss Parker had been forced to cross paths in an one on one atmosphere, she had greatly softened, allowing her beautiful soul she inherited from her mother to surface, if only in small segments. However when Miss Parker was around Centre personal, save Sydney and Broots, it was all ice-queen, all the time. Miss Parker had done what had needed to be done in the cruel world of the Centre – and her hard shell wouldn't break, not on their turf. It was a matter of survival. Empathy, sympathy, kindness, all had no place in the Centre.

Jarod felt his thoughts drift towards Angelo, but he quickly forced them back down. His grief from his friend was raw, and he simply couldn't deal with it right now – he needed focus. Jarod sighed in relief as he heard the electronic lock to the room disengage, turning his head to meet the comforting glance of his mentor.

"How is Lysander?" the pretender questioned instantly as Sydney reached his bedside.

Sydney offered a comforting smile, placing his hand over Jarod's. "You did a very brave thing Jarod. Physically, she'll be fine. I am however obviously worried about her emotional well-being, as I suspect you are as well." The psychiatrist replied, pulling up the lone chair in the room to the pretender's bedside. It disheartened him terribly to see his prodigy so carefully restrained.

""She was taken from her family when she was sixteen. I was too young –you were able to make me forget. I was haunted only by shadows and fragments trapped in my mind - but she remembers everything. Nearly twenty years Sydney! Captivity is much more difficult, when you know your loved ones are waiting for you on the other side." Jarod finished with a haunted look. Sydney felt his heart squeeze. He desperately wished he could offer some sort of clue, give his protégé an indication that Major Charles would be trying to rescue him tomorrow, but it was simply to dangerous. He couldn't risk the Centre finding out, but he wished he could offer Jarod a small morsel of hope.

"How are you feeling?" Sydney offered instead, directing Jarod's focus away from Lysander.

"My wrist is fine. It was a relatively clean break, it should be back to normal in 4-6 weeks." The pretender answered mechanically. "But I assume you already knew that."

Sydney nodded. "I wasn't necessarily referring to your physical well-being. I am here just to talk with you Jarod."

Jarod chuckled, before laying his gaze at the security camera across the room. "Talk about what Sydney – about how my last friend in this place was just murdered for trying to save a life? How about in twenty four hours I'm to be shipped to Africa like a piece of prized livestock? What about what it's like to be locked up in an 8x10 after nearly six years of freedom?" The pretender shot out.

"You have a lot of anger Jarod. You cannot keep repressing it – you've had two outbursts since you've been back with us, and I'm fearful of the escalating consequences." Sydney warned the pretender. Jarod was creating dangerous enemies in the form of Lyle and Sam, nevermind Raines.

"They are called feelings Sydney. I was locked up for thirty years and brainwashed into thinking I wasn't allowed to have any. No more. The little science experiment has grown up." Jarod retorted bitterly.

"Jarod you need to find a way to deal with your emotions. You must control them, you cannot let them control you." Sydney countered.

Jarod met his eyes. "How Sydney? How do I deal with this helpless rage that is trying to consume me? How do I suppress the emptiness that fills me when I am separated from my family? How do I live with the blank faces of those I have killed over the years, and survive being back in the place that wants me to kill more? How do I look into the eyes of the man who shot my brother, who killed my friend without fantasizing about him being brought to justice? How?" Jarod growled out bitterly.

Sydney sat back, guilt flooding into him as Jarod allowed the psychiatrist a rare glimpse into the many tortured dimensions of pretender's soul. Sydney had once almost been consumed by his anger towards the Centre, the twisted path the corporation had forced him on. In the scheme of things Sydney had been the antagonist, and he couldn't begin to fathom the extra guilt, the additional rage that Jarod had to deal with, given his place in Centre hierarchy, he had been their puppet for three decades.

"Jarod, you have been forced to endure so much in your life. But watching you these past few years, as I have told you before, has made me realize that something so right has come out of something so very wrong." Sydney started gently.

"And for what Sydney? I've fought so long and hard, only to end up back where I started." Jarod replied.

"Far from it." The psychiatrist countered. "You've found your family, despite the fact an entire corporation was working day and night to keep you from doing just that. Think of the many lives you positively influenced Jarod on the outside. You gave hope to people who had no other place to turn to."

"Hope." Jarod repeated quietly.

"Jarod, no matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to promise me, that you won't give up. I won't stop fighting to bring you back ho-.. back to the Centre." Sydney grimaced slightly, hoping Jarod hadn't caught on to his slip, almost referring to the Centre as Jarod's home. "Let your family be your strength, when you feel that you can't fight them alone anymore, and I'll be your hope, I promise you, I will not rest until you are transferred back here."

"I'm scared Sydney." The pretender admitted softly. "I've only ever known two things my whole life – here and out there. I don't know them, I don't know how to fight them."

"You'll figure it out Jarod. You always do." The psychiatrist responded confidently, placing his hand on top of Jarod's once again.

The pretender met the psychiatrist's stare with intense eyes. "But at what price Sydney?"

The two men's attention quickly shifted to the door as the electronic lock disengaged, and an infirmary nurse entered holding an IV bag, followed by Mr. Raines.

"Session's over." The chairman wheezed.

"Raines, I still have thirty minutes left with Jarod." Sydney informed him angrily after checking his watch.

"You've heard enough." The man wheezed. "I'm confident you have enough information to give the Triumvirate what they have requested."

"I would hate to inform the Triumvirate that you are interfering with their wishes." Sydney informed the chairman.

"And I would hate to inform them that their faithful psychiatrist has been playing mommy instead of doctor." Raines countered. "Do I need to get the sweepers in here?"

Sydney sighed in frustration, knowing that Raines had won this round. He turned back to face Jarod, the look on the younger man's face showed the same train of thought.

"I'm sorry Jarod." He offered. "Don't forget what I've told you."

"I never have." The pretender replied, offering a small smile. "Goodbye Sydney." He added softly, before turning his head away from the group.

Sydney glared at Raines before unwillingly exiting the room.

"Time for your medicine Jarod." Raines informed the pretender. "Will we have your cooperation, or do I need to get Sam in here?" He asked.

Jarod tugged at his restraints. "It appears that you have my cooperation whether or not I wish to give it to you."

"That's the idea." Raines replied evily.

The nurse quickly scurried over to Jarod, setting up the IV and quickly inserting the small needle into his hand. Jarod winced slightly, but kept his eyes trained on Raines, knowing the chairman hadn't shown up in here simply to watch Jarod be placed on IV fluids.

Raines met the pretender's eyes with a satisfied look as he pulled out four small syringes, handing it to the nurse. "He is to get one of these every four hours."

"Sedatives?" Jarod questioned weakly, eyeing the syringes suspiciously.

"Something like that." The ghoul replied.

Jarod looked helplessly at the nurse as she injected the first syringe into his IV, his eyes following the fluids as it made its way down the line.

"Why?" Jarod questioned brokenly. He didn't know what was entering his body, but if he knew Raines as well as he thought he did, Jarod knew it couldn't be good. The man wouldn't be satisfied by letting Jarod sleep his way to Africa. It was something more, something painful.

"Assurance Jarod. This way I won't have to worry about visitors, or you trying to pull a stunt like you did this morning. But mostly – because I can."

THE PELICAN, BAR & GRILL– DOVER, DELAWARE

Major Charles quickly scanned the occupants of the restaurant, sighing in relief as he caught sight of Sydney and Broots, tucked away in a small booth in the corner.

He hadn't been a fan of having such a last minute meeting, but in reality it was far more secure to meet in plain site then to risk such a sensitive phone call when the Centre was on high alert. To outside lookers, it would like Broots was just comforting a co-worker about to lose his prized project.

"Gentleman." Charles greeted curtly, before sliding in the booth. "How's my son?"

Broots just looked nervously at Sydney, who in turn seemed very interested in the contents of the glass before him.

"There was an incident this morning." The psychiatrist began hesitantly. "Jarod was admitted to the infirmary with a broken wrist. I hope this won't make things more difficult for you Major."

Charles swore under his breath, pushing the questions forming in his head down. He would torture himself later with thoughts of the Centre, for now Jarod needed him. "You said there was a possibility that Jarod might be…restrained.. during transport?"

Broots snorted. "Now there is an understatement."

"Broots!" Sydney whispered sharply as the tech looked awkwardly at Major Charles.

"Gentleman– please. I've tortured myself for decades about the reality of Jarod's treatment during his imprisonment. He tries to hide it from me, just as Jay does, but the truth escapes in their nightmares. Please, I need to know what to expect tomorrow." The Major pleaded.

"I think it would be best to assume that Jarod will be carefully restrained, likely hands and feet. Transport up until this point has been done in cargo vans, as I mentioned earlier." Sydney offered the major.

Charles ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I know my son can be quite the Houdini artist when he chooses to be. I was planning on slipping him a lock pick and letting him do the rest. But with his broken wrist…. I guess it will be up to me."

"Will you be able to do it Major?" Sydney questioned. "I can come with you tomorrow if you need assistance, I know you are unwilling to allow Gemini to accompany you. Please let me help."

"No Sydney. I can't risk them seeing you. I need you in case something goes wrong tomorrow. I'll be fine. I have to be to save my son. I won't leave him behind again. Mr. Broots – do you have the information I requested?"

"It's right here Major. The transport schedule, proposed personal, vehicle list. I even found a copy of Miss Parker draft security brief." The tech offered.

"Miss Parker's brief?" Sydney questioned in astonishment. "You stole from Miss Parker?"

"Well she's asked me to steal stuff from enough people over the past six years, it was about time for a little payback as far as I was concerned." Broots replied, forcing strength into his voice.

"Thank you Mr. Broots. I know how much you have risked for me, and for my son. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am." Charles told the tech sincerely. Without the man's help there is no way he and Gemini could have prepared their rescue plan for Jarod.

"Major, Jarod has saved my life more time then once. As far as I am concerned, I owe him. He doesn't deserve this – no one does for that matter." Broots informed him as the Major stood up from the booth.

"Thank you gentleman. I will never forget your kindness." Charles offered before turning away.

"Major?" Broots called out hesitantly. "What exactly are you planning tomorrow?" He questioned curiously.

The Major smirked, a look Sydney recognized easily as he had seen it thousands of time on Jarod's face.

"I can't reveal all of my secrets now can I? But I will promise you this, there will be a lot of fireworks."