DISCLAIMER: "The Pretender" and its characters are protected trademark of NBC, TNT or Fox... or whoever it might be these days. This story is independent fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended. This was made for fun and if I really owned The Pretender, the show would have had a good ending...

HYPER

By: Kris Russel

Notes: Post IOTH - minor spoilers - heavy MPJ

"Miss Parker?" The door of her office slowly opened and showed a perky young redhead.

Parker let out a sigh. Jessica Waters, or Jessie as she liked to be called, was her new assistant. And the 22-year old girl wasn't afraid of her. On the contrary, the more Parker glared at her or snapped at her, the happier she became.

"Yes, Jessie?" Parker asked as she looked up from the papers of the latest update on the Jarod chase.

"It's my birthday Saturday..."

~What the hell does she want? A present?~ Parker glared at her as Jessie continued.

"And I was wondering if you wanted to come to my party?" Jessie looked at her eagerly.

Parker's mouth fell slightly open. None of the people that worked for her had ever asked her to a party, and she never expected them to. "No, I don't think so." She finally managed to say, closing her mouth and getting back into her ice-queen role.

"Oh, please Miss Parker. It will be great. You work too much you know. It'll help you to relax."

Parker glared at her again.

Jessie came closer to the desk and continued her pleas. "My friends are all great people and you'll like them a lot. You really should join us. We're going to ‘Hyper', it's a great club. You can really relax there, and who knows, maybe pick up a nice young man..."

This comment deserved another yet deeper glare from Parker.

"Please Miss Parker, you really should come." Jessie's eyes were pleading like a young puppy.

"Why me?" Parker finally asked.

Jessie looked taken back for a second. "Because I like you. You're a great boss and it would be my honour if you would come to my party."

Parker's mouth opened to give Jessie a snappy remark, but when she looked into the honest eyes of her newest assistant, she let out a sigh instead. "Fine. I'll be there."

Jessie's face lightened up. "Oh thank you. Thank you. You're gonna have a blast, you'll see."

~I hope so kid, otherwise your resignation will be on your desk Monday morning.~

Saturday night - 11 PM

Parker looked at the small group gathered outside of the club. She still couldn't believe she had agreed to this. Jessie's friends all looked like they just got out of diapers and here she was, almost 40, going to a club for 20-something people. She shook her head and walked up to Jessie and her friends.

"Miss Parker, you came." Jessie smiled and hugged her boss.

Parker was taken aback by the hug, but returned it anyway. "You can just call me Parker now, Jessie." She said with a smile as the girl released her.

"Right, let me introduce you to everyone." Jessie said and turned to the other people. "Everyone, this is Parker. Parker, this is John, my boyfriend."

Parker nodded to the handsome young black man.

"Next to John are Greta and Daisy. They've been my friends since kindergarten. The mirror-images are Carl and Freddy. I've known them since high school."

Parker looked with interest at the twins. Jessie was right, besides the different clothes, they looked like mirror-images.

"And next to them is Richard, my older brother."

"Nice to meet you." Richard gave her a dazzling smile that almost made her knees buckle. "Jessie has told me so much about you."

"I wish I could say the same." Parker purred. ~Knock it off Parker. He's at least ten years younger. And he's the brother of your assistant. Don't go there Parker.~ But her smile only grew as Richard took her by the arm and guided her inside.

The heavy sounds of the techno and dance music almost blew her out of her shoes as she followed the small group through the dancing, sweating and panting crowd.

The room they went into was a bit secluded from the rest of the club and very well isolated, as the music levels were bearable here and you could even talk without having to yell.

A waiter stuck his head through the door.

"Cuba Libre's for everyone and keep 'em coming." Jessie said to the man. He nodded and left again.

"Jessie, how did you manage to get us in here?" Parker asked after the drinks were delivered. "I hear this is a very exclusive club."

Jessie let out a chuckle. "I can come here whenever I want. My dad's the owner."

Parker softly laughed. "So, I presume the drinks are on your dad too?"

"Oh yeah." Jessie smiled. "So don't hold back." She demonstrated that last statement as she took a big gulp of her drink. Parker followed her lead, as did the others.

"Parker, our newest resident DJ is starting at one. If he's on, we're gonna dance. I hope you'll join us." Richard asked her.

"Gladly." Parker said with a seductive smile that made Richard swallow hard. "But is that DJ any good?"

"He's the best. It's like he can feel what the crowd wants." Jessie said. "And he's very cute too."

"Hey." John said with a stern glare and gave Jessie a playful slap on her shoulder.

"Don't worry baby, you're the only one for me." She said and gave John a deep sensual kiss. "And he's too old for me anyway. For Parker on the other hand..." She gave Parker a playful wink.

"Thank you for telling me that I'm old." Parker laughed and completely missed the glare that Richard gave his sister.

*Boys and girls, give it up for our newest DJ. Here's DJ J-Rod.*

Parker almost choked in her drink as she heard the announcer. ~No, Parker, it's not Jarod.~

The crowd went wild as the first bass tones hit the dance floor.

"Ooh god, it's him." Greta and Daisy yelped as they jumped up and dragged Carl and Freddy with them out of the room to the dance floor.

"Baby, you're up for some dancing?" John asked Jessie. She eagerly nodded and they left the room too.

Parker could feel Richard's gaze on her and she turned towards him. His longing eyes made her mouth dry and she unconsciously licked her lips. A slight grin appeared on his lips.

"So Parker, are you up for some dancing?" He asked in a seductive tone.

"Always." She purred.

His grin grew as he took her hand and guided her out of the room.

The crowd on the dance floor had grown and Richard pulled her to the middle of the dance floor, not wasting a second to grind his hips against her butt. Parker closed her eyes and let the music guide her movements. She had never expected that the closeness of so many people and the closeness of one man could excite her so much, but it did. As did the music... Jessie had been right. The DJ really knew how to work the crowd. What had the announcer called him? J-Rod? Talk about a coincidence. She chuckled and slowly opened her eyes. By now Richard had moved even closer and his lips were brushing the back of her neck while his arms were loosely wrapped around her and his hands were caressing her stomach and the side of her legs. Parker scanned the crowd and found the DJ-booth. What she saw there stopped her heart for a few beats.

Jarod stood in the booth, big earphones on his head, softly swaying in perfect synchrony to the uplifting beat. His eyes scanned the crowd and locked with hers almost the same instant she saw him. She saw the shock on his face, but instead of running, he relaxed, smiled and waved at her. She was so flabbergasted by that, that she couldn't help but simply wave back.

Richard didn't like it that she gave her attention to another man, let alone the DJ, so he turned her around and captured her lips with his. Quickly deepening the kiss and grinding his body even more into hers. Although that action turned her on, the image in her mind of the man kissing her wasn't Richard but Jarod. She gasped and pried herself loose from Richard's grasp. He let out a frustrated growl and pulled her back. She pushed him away, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him rather roughly.

When Jarod saw them kiss, he felt sick. And there was only one thing he could think off.

"Dave?"

"Yeah, J?"

"Take over." Jarod growled and pushed his headphones in the surprised man's hands.

"But..." Was all Dave could say because Jarod had already left the DJ-booth.

Jarod quickly made his way through the crowd, totally ignoring the many women who tried to rub their bodies into his to try and convince him to dance with them. He saw the scene unfolding in front of him; Richard roughly pulling Parker against him and Parker struggling to get away from him. They were both clearly drunk, but Richard's actions made Jarod angry. He quickly moved towards them and pulled Richard roughly away from Parker.

"She's not interested. Go away." Jarod yelled to the younger man.

Richard glared up at him, but quickly saw that Jarod would easily beat him to pulp if he wanted to.

"Fuck her, she's all yours." He growled and moved away, looking for another woman to relieve his needs.

Jarod turned back to Parker, but the spot where she had been standing mere seconds ago was empty. He cursed inwardly as he saw her leave through the back, but he quickly followed behind her.

Parker was pacing the alley behind the club. Her mind was clouded with alcohol and her ears were ringing from the loud music, but her cell phone was clutched against her ear.

"Parker, what are you doing?" She heard a familiar voice say behind her.

"My job." She growled.

"Please, don't." Jarod pleaded and softly put his hand on her shoulder.

"You can still run away, I don't have my gun or my handcuffs with me." She growled as she shook off his hands.

"I don't want to run away anymore, Parker. Not from you."

*Sam here.* The voice on the other side of her phone sounded. But she barely heard it as Jarod's voice kept ringing in her head. ~Not from you. I don't want to run from you anymore.~ Barely registering what she was doing she turned around and faced the man she'd been hunting for almost five years. His eyes were soft and pleading.

"I don't want to run away from you anymore." He whispered barely audible.

*Miss Parker, are you there?* Sam asked sounding slightly worried.

She couldn't stop herself as she said: "Sorry Sam, it's nothing." And closed the phone again.

Jarod let out a relieved breath. "Please, come back inside. I still have to spin for about an hour, but then we can talk."

"About what?" She asked, suddenly tired of their cat and mouse game.

"Us." He simply said as he opened the door and let her inside.

She simply nodded. "I'll be waiting with my friends."

Jarod gave her a slight nod and returned to the DJ booth.

"Miss Parker?" Jessie said surprised as she entered the room again. "I'm so sorry about Richard. I shouldn't have invited him. I know he can't keep his hands to himself when he's drunk. I'm so sorry." Jessie almost cried.

"Jessie. It's ok." Parker gave her a soft smile and pulled the girl in a hug. "He didn't do anything. And if he tries anything again, I'll make sure he won't be able to touch a woman for a very loooong time ‘cause I will break every one of his fingers one by one."

Jessie softly chuckled. "I saw the DJ come to your rescue. I didn't know you knew him."

"I'm sure you heard the name Jarod pop up now and then at The Centre." Parker said as she and Jessie sat down again.

"Yeah, he's the guy you're supposed to bring back, right?"

"Yes... The DJ's Jarod."

Jessie's eyes widened. "Did you call a sweeper team?"

"No." Parker sighed.

"Why not? Isn't that your job?"

"It's... complicated." Parker sighed again. "But please Jessie, don't call in a sweeper team."

"Hey, that ain't my job." The younger woman smiled.

Parker chuckled, but turned serious again. "When he's finished DJ-ing, we need to talk. Do you know a quiet place for that?"

"You can have this room if you want. By the time Jarod's finished, the twins and the girls will have left for their homes for some... private fun. Richard isn't getting in here anymore tonight and John and I can keep ourselves busy on the dance floor."

Parker gave her a thankful smile and impatiently waited until Jarod finished his set.

Jarod stood outside the door of the room and felt nervous. He didn't really know why. It's not like he didn't know the woman inside. When they were kids they had been best friends and they had been able to talk for hours at an end. But after her mother died and her father sent  her away things had changed. The woman behind that door wasn't that little girl anymore and he wasn't that boy anymore. They were both adults and after Carthis he knew that there could be more between them then simple friendship. He had known for a long time that he loved the woman who was waiting for him behind that door, but he never was sure if she loved him too until that night in front of Ocee's fireplace. She had leaned into him to kiss him, not the other way around. He had seen her love for him in her eyes. Her rejection afterwards in the limousine had hurt him more then anything ever had. But when they talked on the phone later, he had heard that trace of love in her voice. And although she had told him that there was no ‘us', the slight tremble in her voice had told him she was only trying to convince herself. Carthis had changed things between them. And all he could do was hope that she was ready to face those changes.

"Are you going in? Or will you keep dreaming out here?" Jessie yelled in his ear over the loud music.

Jarod gave her a weak smile, took a deep breath, opened the door and walked inside.

Since her run-in with Jarod, Parker had switched to drinking water to try and sober up.

She was nervous as hell. What was she doing? She should just call Sam and let him bring a sweeper team to come and get Jarod. Her hand was lingering over her phone. But she couldn't. Images of Jarod's last visit to The Centre played through her head. Lyle had really loved using those jumper cables. She couldn't let Jarod get hurt and if she brought him in, he'd be hurt because of her. She couldn't bear the thought of Jarod getting hurt because of her. Why was that? She had been trained to hate him, to look at him as a thing, a labrat, someone created for the sole purpose of being used by The Centre. When had that changed? Why had that changed? She didn't dare to think about the why or the when...

The sudden opening of the door made her slightly jump in the couch. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"I thought you left. Your set's been over for 15 minutes."

He gave her an apologizing smile as he took the seat on the other side of the table and set  his beer down in front of him.

"I didn't know you drank alcohol." She noted and finally looked up at him.

"It's alcohol-free beer." He simply answered.

"Oh." Was her only answer.

It stayed quiet for a while. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but more awkward. As children they had been able to talk about everything, but now it seemed they had grown apart too far to be able to have a normal conversation. Both of them realized this at the same time and both decided this couldn't be.

"Parker, I..." "Jarod, I..." They said at the same moment. A nervous chuckle came between them. And another moment of silence, as they just stared in each other's eyes and silently tried to decide who would talk first. Parker gave Jarod a slight nod. And he knew it meant he could talk first. It surprised both of them that they still could talk by just gazing into each other's eyes. And that realization made the tension between them a whole lot less.

"Parker, I know this isn't easy for either of us. So much has happened between us in the past five years. So many bad things, but there were good things too." He didn't need to bring up their many late night phone conversations when it was just him and her, or what had almost happened at Ocee's. He knew that she knew. "It still amazes me how well we understand each other. Even after all these years of being enemies and that scares the crap out of me."

She looked at him surprised. "Why?" She wondered out loud.

"Because if you used your understanding of me. If you used that link between us to the fullest of your ability, you could have brought me in a long time ago."

She looked away from him and considered this.

"I know." She finally confessed more to herself then to him.

Jarod gave her a soft smile.

"I never wanted to realise it. If I did I had admit to that... link between us." She let out a sigh. "What are we doing Jarod? Us being here... together... we're risking both our lives."

He moved from his seat to sit on the couch next to her and gently took her hand in his.

"I would risk my life everyday to be with you. I love you more than life itself."

His confession took her breath away. "Jarod... I..."

He put his finger on her lips. "Parker, I know you feel the same. I can see it in your eyes. But I know it isn't easy for you to say it." He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

She returned his hug and let out a deep sigh. "I'm just afraid to looe you, just like I lost everyone else I loved."

He couldn't help but smile at her confession. "You won't lose me, Parker."

"Tommy told me the same." She said with a sob.

"Thomas didn't know The Centre as I do. They won't get to me, especially with you on my side of the chase."

Parker loosened out of his arms. "Who says I'm on your side, labrat?" She snapped.

Jarod looked at her with pain in his eyes. "But I thought..." He whispered, feeling his world collapse around him.

The hurt on his face tugged on her heart and she cupped his cheek in her hand. "I'm... I'm sorry Jarod. I just..."

He relaxed at her apology and wrapped his arms around her again. "I know it's not easy. We've got years of hate and distrust behind us. But that's in the past. We used to be best friends. We can be best friends again. Maybe... maybe even more."

She looked up at him and softly smiled. "I would love that." She whispered.

He looked her deep in her eyes and slowly leaned closer. She expected him to kiss her, she wanted him to kiss her, but instead he whispered. "Let's dance."

She let out a surprised giggle and a grin appeared on his face.

"I like that sound." Jarod said as he gently traced her cheek with his finger. It gave her goose bumps over her entire back.

"What sound?" She asked with a slight break in her voice.

Jarod's finger followed its track down her neck and slowly to the valley of her breasts. Her breathing stalled for barely a second.

"Your laugh... it's beautiful." He whispered as his finger started its way up again and ended on her lips. "You are beautiful." His voice sounded hoarse and sensual.

Parker swallowed hard. She didn't know how he did it, but she was never more turned on than now. And her voice completely decided to abandon its functions. All she could do was stare at him and get caught up in his beautiful soft brown eyes. They were filled with love. Love for her. And it scared her to death.

He saw the doubt and fear in her eyes and he gently cupped her face in his hands. "I love you, Parker. Always have and always will. No matter what happens or will happen."

She slowly nodded and hugged him tight, burying her head in his neck and smelling his amazing scent.

"I love you too, Jarod." She whispered barely audible.

He let out an inaudible sigh and his head swerved. She had said it. She had said she loved him. He wanted to shout it to the world.  He wanted to jump up and do a silly little happy dance. But instead he hugged her tighter and kissed her hair.

"Good. Now let's dance." He grinned.

She looked up at him and laughed. "Whatever you say, labrat. Whatever you say."

- 5 years later -

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing?"

"Thinking about the night that changed our lives." She smiled as she turned to face her husband.

Jarod grinned and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I still can't believe you came with me that night at Hyper."

"I'm glad I did. It was the best decision I ever made." Parker said honestly.

"Good." Jarod smiled and softly kissed her. "And I'm really glad you decided to drag me into that marriage-chapel in Las Vegas a month later."

"Also a decision I'll never regret." Parker laughed and deepened the kiss.

"Talking about good decisions..." Jarod said. "Where did Adam disappear to now?"

Parker chuckled and pointed outside. "Playing in the garden with Debbie and Jill."

"When are John and Jessie picking up their daughter?" Jarod asked.

"In about an hour." Parker answered and made her way to the living room.

"And Debbie?" He asked as he followed her.

"Gene is picking her up in a couple of minutes."

"Why does he never pick her up at her house?"

"You know how Broots gets when a boy comes over for his daughter."

"That boy is my little brother and they have been best friends for almost five years." Jarod protested.

"Can you blame Broots? He knows you and I don't blame him for not trusting your other you."

Jarod chuckled and gave her a playful slap on her butt. "So, then why do you love me so much, if you don't really trust me?"

"I always had a wrong taste in men." She smiled and stuck out her tongue.

"If I'm a wrong man, then why did you marry me and give birth to our two children?" He grinned and stuck his tongue out too.

Parker laughed and bent down into the crib, taking the small baby in her arms. "Because we make such beautiful children."

Jarod laughed hard. "And here I am, thinking it was because of the amazing sex."

"Hmmm... that too." Parker said and gave him a wink.

Jarod shook his head with a chuckle and followed her to the couch where she started breastfeeding their three-month old daughter.

"Daddy, you're home." The four-year old boy jumped in Jarod's arms.

Jarod hugged his son tight. "Hey Adam. You had fun playing with Debbie and Jill?"

Adam enthusiastically nodded his head. "When we are all grown up, I'm going to marry Jill."

Jarod opened his mouth, but then closed it again and just laughed. "That's good for you son."

"Hey Jarod."

"Oh, hey Debbie." Jarod got up from the couch. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." Debbie smiled and Jarod gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"So, what's Gene planning for your birthday?"

"No idea. But dad isn't really pleased that I'm not home for my birthday. Especially not because he thinks this is such an important one."

"Well, you don't turn 18 every year." Parker smiled.

"You can say that every year." Debbie sighed. "No one turns whatever age twice."

Jarod grinned. "Good point kid."

"Jarod, stop calling me kid. I'm 18 now."

"According to Broots you only turn 18 in about two hours."

Debbie sighed and shook her head. "You're just as hopeless as my dad."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment." Debbie glared.

"I think it is. Broots is a great father."

Debbie deepened her glare and then threw her hands in the air. "Damn it, you're right."

"Young lady. Watch your language." Parker said stern.

"Sorry." Debbie sighed, but then a smile lit up her face when the doorbell rang. "Gene's here. Goodbye guys."

Before they could reply, Debbie was out of the door. The two teenagers had fallen in love the moment they met almost five years ago. Broots still wasn't happy with the fact that they were together, but that never stopped them. They either met at Sydney's house where Gene, Angelo and Ethan lived or at Jarod and Parker's house where Debbie spent a lot of time babysitting the kids.

Jarod chuckled and turned back to his son. "Adam, where's Jill?"

The little boy shrugged. "I dunno daddy. We were playing hide and seek and I got tired of searching."

"Son, you can't leave her alone outside. Let's find her together, ok?"

Adam nodded, got out of the couch and took Jarod's hand.

"Jarod, don't forget to pick up David from school." Parker called after him.

David was her little brother. Although they were quite sure he wasn't her brother, they adopted him anyway after The Centre went down. And for them, he was their son, no matter where he came from.

"I won't forget." Jarod smiled and walked outside with his son.

"Men." Parker sighed and looked at her daughter who was happily sucking her milk. "We'll stick together, right kiddo?"

Cathy loosened her grip on her mother's breast and let out a gurgling sound.

"I'll take that as a yes." Parker laughed.

The next morning their doorbell was insistently ringing.

"What?" Jarod grumbled as he opened the front door in his black shorts. It was Sunday and his only free day of the week. The only day he could sleep in. They weren't supposed to be disturbed on a Sunday morning. Broots and Jarod had become best friends and they had started their own computer company together with Ethan. Parker and Sydney were doing their administration and Debbie and Gene were helping them out after school hours. The business was flowing and they even got offers from Microsoft and Apple to sell to them. The only downside was that they were swamped with work.

"He asked her to marry him." Broots almost cried as he pushed his way passed Jarod, stormed into the living room and sat down heavily in one of the recliners.

"What are you talking about?" Jarod asked, still not fully awake as he sat down in the couch.

"Your clone asked my daughter to marry him." Broots screamed in frustration. "She agreed. I can't let my daughter marry a clone. I mean... What if they decide to have children? Oh my god... How will they look? Will they be normal? My poor baby girl... What..."

"BROOTS!" Jarod yelled and rubbed his forehead. "Would you please calm down?"

"Jarod, how can I calm down? My daughter wants to marry a clone!"

"Debbie and Gene are engaged?" Parker asked as she entered the room, carrying her daughter. "That's wonderful."

"WONDERFUL??" Broots cried. "WONDERFUL? She's engaged to a clone. Someone who was created in a lab."

"So was I Broots." Jarod said. "As were my wife and all of the other red-files. Did you forget that horrible discovery when we brought down The Centre? Is it because we were created by insane scientists that we don't deserve a normal live? Parker and I got married. We have two children. Don't we deserve that because we were created in a lab?"

Everyone had been greatly disturbed by that discovery. It seemed that Gene wasn't their first successful clone. Miss Parker was. She was a perfect copy of her mother and was planted in her mother's womb together with Lyle who was created from Raines' and Catherine's genes. Jarod's parents weren't really his parents. His mother only carried him to term. He was created in the labs of NuGenesis to achieve optimal intelligence. Jarod was created to become a pretender. Angelo was created to become an empath, but that didn't work out as planned, so Raines did what he did to change little Timmy. All of the red-files were created with a specific goal in mind. Only Emily was the real child of Major Charles and Margaret. And Ethan wasn't the brother of Parker and Jarod, but he was merely created to enhance his inner-sense.

Broots stared at the floor. "I'm... I'm sorry, Jarod." He turned to Parker and tears were streaming over his face. "I'm sorry, Parker. It's just... he's a clone. My daughter wants to marry a clone. It's just..."

"It's ok Broots." Parker said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "We understand."

Jarod looked at his friend. "But you have to understand that Gene is a normal boy. He may be my clone and he may be created in a lab, but he is a normal human being. And he is not me. He has his own soul and his own little quirks and habits."

Broots nodded. "I know. But it's so weird."

"I know." Jarod nodded and feeling that the conversation was over, he switched the subject. "Broots, you want some breakfast."

"Sure." The balding man nodded and gave them a weak smile.

About three hours after Broots left, Jarod's phone rang. He looked at the number and flipped open his phone. "Hey Sydney, what's up?... Yeah, we heard. Broots came here to cry out his heart. He's very confused about it... Yes, I know... What?... No, alright, I'll tell her... I know Syd... Goodbye."

"What did Sydney want?" Parker asked.

"He's thrilled about the engagement. But errr..." Jarod cast his eyes away from his wife.

"Jarod, what is it? What did you have to tell me?"

Jarod sighed. "Raines wants to talk to us. Before they..."

"Fry the bastard?" She scowled. "I don't have anything to say to him."

"Apparently he has news about your family. Our family actually."

"What the hell could he have to say to us?"

Jarod shrugged. "If you don't want to go, don't go. But I'm going. There are still many secrets that went down together with The Centre."

"Jarod, it's been almost four years. Why didn't he tell us sooner?"

"Maybe he thinks this will help him to avoid hell..." Jarod sighed. "Who knows what goes on in his mind?"

"No matter what he tries, he's done too many evil things to be even considered for heaven. The devil is the only one waiting for him."

"I know." Jarod said. "But I'm going anyway. You never know what he still knows."

Parker nodded. "I have to think about it."

"Whatever you decide, I'm taking a day off work and I'm going tomorrow."

***

"You came." Raines rasped as he entered his side of the visitor's booth.

"What do you want?" Parker snapped.

Raines simply smiled as he sat down in the chair behind the glass.

"Spill it Raines." Jarod said.

"Miss Parker, I heard about the new baby. Congratulations."

Parker and Jarod glared at the wheezing man.

"That means you have two children, right? I also heard you adopted the child Brigitte gave birth too."

"If you're that well informed, then why did you want to talk to us?" Parker deepened her glare.

"Mr. Parker told you that boy was your brother, right?"

"You know he did." Parker snapped.

"Would it surprise you if I told you that he lied?"

"Not in the least." Jarod growled.

"You didn't find any files on that boy, did you?"

"Why do you still ask if you know?" Parker sighed, getting tired of this stupid and pointless game.

"They were in his personal belongings. Lyle destroyed them all after Mr. Parker committed suicide by jumping out of that airplane. And Lyle took what was in them to his grave when he shot himself the day the FBI invaded The Centre. He always was a coward. I can't believe he was my son."

"Where are you getting at, old man?" Jarod sighed, getting just as tired as Parker off this conversation.

"Mr. Parker and I were still trying to create the perfect pretender. Clones didn't do the job because their intelligence stayed the same as the original. So we tried to combine the genes off two red-files. That boy was our first success."

"We already guessed he was another labrat. Get to the point." Parker snapped.

"The two red-files we used the genes from are yours. He's your son." Raines slightly smiled as he watched their reaction.

Parker and Jarod stayed quiet for a few moments, trying to grasp what the wheezing-bag had just told them.

"He's our son?" Jarod finally managed to ask.

Raines nodded. "He is. He's supposed to be extremely smart, but apparently something went wrong and he has the same intelligence level of normal children."

"Our other children have ‘normal' intelligence levels too." Parker said.

"Yes." Jarod continued. "Nothing went wrong. The only thing your supposedly brilliant scientists didn't research was that combining two red-files cancels out any higher intelligence."

"Was their anything else you wanted?" Parker finished.

Raines shook his head and Parker and Jarod left the room without another word.

"I can't believe he's really our son." Parker sighed as they were driving back home.

"I know." Jarod sighed.

"I mean, how will we tell him? He's asked about his real parents a couple of times. We were always able to avoid giving him a decent answer, but now that we know we're his real parents. He'll hate us for not telling him sooner. He'll..."

"Honey, calm down." Jarod said as he stopped the car and took her hand. "I know this won't be easy. But David isn't stupid. If we explain it to him calmly, I'm sure he'll understand."

"I hope so Jarod, I hope so." Parker sighed and stared outside.

"Hey." Jarod whispered, cupped her cheek in his hand and turned her to face him. "He was our son even before we knew he was our son. Just keep that in mind."

"I know." Parker nodded and gave her husband a weak smile. "I just wonder how much more The Centre will influence our lives. When will we really be free from them?"

"Maybe in our next lives..." Jarod sighed and started the car again.

THE END