Disclaimer: none of these characters of their world belong to me. I only borrowed them to play with for a bit, and no infringement was intended. They were well fed and were given a bath and a back rub before I returned them. Jarod and Mulder were a little worn out, Scully and Miss Parker were a little jealous, but otherwise they're fine and happy to be home.

Jarod smiled happily at the figure lying in the bed below him. She looked very innocent and peaceful when asleep, and he almost regretted the fact that what he was about to do would make her very pissed off at him. Almost. He almost regretted it. Smiling to himself, he threw some of her clothes into a bag along with her cigarettes, gun and Pepto-Bismol. Then, after murmuring a quiet apology to her sleeping form, he slipped a hypodermic needle into her arm. After all, he didn't want her to wake up and spoil the game. With that, Jarod grabbed the bag, and the still sleeping Miss Parker wrapped in a blanket, and headed for his car.

Scully lay on Mulder's bed, happily munching on a slice of Pizza. Their latest case had proved to be a wild goose chase, with a man that had wanted attention and fame, not genuine answers. Answers which Mulder would have been only all to happy to search for.

"You want some pizza?" asked Scully around a mouthful of peperoni.

"No thanks," replied Mulder, "I'm going to finish this report. Skinner's gonna hate it when he finds out it was all a ruse."

"Well, it was you who dragged us down here in the first place, so don't lay any of the blame on me." Said Scully, finishing off the last of her pizza before she continued, "I'm going to go to the store next door and get us a drink, be right back."

Jarod finished paying for the motel room, checked on Miss Parker then went to the shop to pick up some supplies. Cruising the shelves, he picked up some aspirins (Parker would have a killer of a headache when she woke up), some bottled water and some Pez, as well as an assortment of general food items. Walking to the counter, he watched as an attractive woman in a business suit paid for her bottle of coke then turned, staring curiously at the prone form of Miss Parker, asleep in his convertible. Jarod followed her gaze, then smiled at her.

"Is she O.K.?" asked Scully, concern written all over her face.

"She's fine," replied Jarod, still smiling, "she just, uh, didn't get much sleep last night ...we're on our honey moon." Jarod kept smiling, then, after winking suggestively at the now smiling woman, paid and left.

"Cute," muttered Scully, then left.

"Miss Parker.... oh Miss Parker... time to wake up now....Jarod's escaped the centre..." Jarod couldn't help but grin as Miss Parker, still half asleep, swore violently and reached for her gun, only to find her hands were restricted by handcuffs.

"Jarod, why do I get the feeling that your behind this?" asked Miss Parker, without opening her eyes.

"Maybe because I'm the only one that would bother to tie you up then wake you gently?" whispered Jarod right near her ear.

"Yeah... somehow I couldn't imagine someone from The Centre doing that.." she mumbled as she stretched slowly, pulling at the handcuffs before staring up at Jarod.

"So what is it this time, Wonderboy? I know you have to have some reason in that twisted little head of yours for kidnapping me."

"I just thought we'd have a little chat," smiled Jarod as he reached up and undid the cuffs that trapped both hands, only to snap one side back onto the headboard.

"Couldn't we have done that back at The Centre, with you safely under lock and key?" growled Miss Parker, rubbing her free wrist.

"Nice try Parker, I just thought it would be safer from my point of view if you were the one under lock and key when we talked."

"Yeah, well, not for long ratboy," hissed Miss Parker, trying to sit up, then groaned as her head protested, "got any thing for my headache? Or didn't the genius think ahead as far as some aspirin?"

Jarod chuckled, then reached into the bag on the floor beside him and pulled out the aspirin and bottled water he'd bought earlier.

"I guess I really am a genius then, aren't I?" he murmured, then winced in sympathy as she closed her eyes in pain for a moment before swallowing the pain killer. Miss Parker opened her eyes again, and looked around the sparsely furnished room for the first time.

"Quite the happy little campers then, aren't we?" she muttered, still looking around. Off to the left was a door she could only assume led to the bathroom, next to the bed was a table with a phone on it, disconnected to provide access for Jarod's modem, which lay next to his computer on a small table in the corner of the room. More importantly, though, the case which contained the DSA's lay next to it. Miss Parker's eyes darted from the case to Jarod, then back again, licking her lips as she thought out her options.

"Always got your mind on the job, don't you Parker?" Jarod asked a little sadly.

Miss Parker ignored him, and went back to studying the room, when she noticed a open bag sitting in the corner, filled with what looked like her clothes. CLOTHES! Miss Parker looked down, angered to find herself still in her favourite black nightgown.

"Jarod! The least you could do was allow me the decency of some proper clothes!" hollered Parker, even more infuriated by the sheepish grin on his face.

"But Parker, you were out cold...I would have had to undress you to dress you," said Jarod, putting on his best "don't blame me, I'm innocent" voice, "come on, here's some clothes, let me uncuff you and you can change in the bathroom. And Miss Parker, don't even try and thinking of escaping, there's no window's in there you can crawl out of." said Jarod, undoing the cuffs, throwing her some clothes and leading her to the bathroom door so he could stand guard outside. Miss Parker glared at him and slammed the door shut behind her.

****

After, a while, Jarod was just about to go in and get her, decent or not, when he heard a loud thump and a groan from the room. Concerned only for her welfare, and fearing that she might still have been feeling the effects of the drug he had injected, he didn't stop to think as he burst into the room, prepared for the worst. Upon finding an empty room, he realized his mistake just as he felt a swift blow to the head. Falling back, he pulled out Parker's gun which he had shoved into the waist band of his pants, only to have that kicked out of his hands by a very angry Miss Parker. She lunged for the gun as he grabbed her around the waist, slowing her down but not stopping her from grabbing the gun in one hand. He rolled her over, pinning her with is greater body weight, and reaching up with both hands, trying to wrestle the gun from her hands as she tried to aim it at him.

Mulder and Scully were just discussing who would be driving on the way back to the closest airport the next day, even though Skinner didn't expect them back for another week, when a shot rang out. Instantly they were both on their feet, grabbing their guns and badges before racing next door, where the sound came from. Kicking open the door they both entered in automatic FBI mode, guns drawn and yelling for the occupants of the room to freeze. Scully recognized the man from the store, now crouched over the woman who had been in the car, who was bleeding from the head. Scully also noticed that it was not him who was holding the gun, but the unconscious woman on the floor.

"Good start to a honeymoon," muttered Scully, earning a questioning glance from Mulder,"all right freeze! FBI! Get up and away from your wife and up against the wall!" yelled Scully. For a moment the voice didn't register in Jarod's brain, as he knelt in shock over Miss Parker, begging for her to wake up, to be all right, to say something demeaning to him with an angry look on her face. When she moaned he couldn't help but pull her into his arms, rocking her against his body as he whispered endearment’s to her. It wasn't until Scully repeated herself for the third time that he actually noticed that someone else was in the room.

Laying his precious burden gently on the floor, he slowly stood up, only then realising what had sounded so wrong about the words being yelled at him.

"Wife?" he asked in confusion, and only when he had cleared the tears out of his eyes with his hands did he understand that one of the FBI agents standing there was the one in the store.

"Didn't think so...Mulder, can you take care of him? I'm going to look at her head," said Scully, already kneeling down over Parker. Mulder found himself suddenly gunless and slammed against the wall as the extremely enraged larger man fought his way to the still unconscious woman, pushing Scully out of the way and scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the bed, where he carefully lay her down.

"Don't touch her!" growled Jarod. His voice roused Parker, who moaned again.

"Frankenboy?," Miss Parker giggled slightly," my hero..." she trailed off before passing out again. Jarod stroked her hair away from her face, all the while whispering to her that everything was fine, nothing could hurt her.

"Sir, I'm a doctor, please would you let me look at her?" Scully's voice seemed to break Jarod out of his reverie and he looked at her blankly for a moment before comprehension dawned.

"What? A doctor...yes..I was one once..I'll help, just let me get my first aid kit out of the car.." mumbled Jarod making to rise. Mulder, who by now had caught his breath and recovered his gun, raised it now.

"Not so fast, you're staying right here until we figure out what's going here" said Mulder. Jarod gave him a long stare before talking quietly.

"As long as you have her, I'm not going anywhere."

Mulder considered this for a long moment before looking at Scully. She nodded, and Mulder indicated with his gun for Jarod to go. A few minutes later he came jogging back in, kit in hand, and knelt on the bed next to Scully.

"She'll be fine," murmured Scully, taking some swabs and iodine from the kit and cleaning the wound," the bullet only grazed her, but she'll wake up with a big headache."

"She already had one," replied Jarod, and at Scully's confused face continued," she'd been drugged..."

"That might explain that then," said Mulder, gesturing to a small bruise on Parker's arm, "and I think you'd better explain. You obviously didn't shoot her, and I seriously doubt she's suicidal, so what exactly happened?

"It's a long story" sighed Jarod, when a new voice intruded.

"Tell anyone anything, Lab rat, and I'll shoot you myself.

"Miss Parker, good to see you as your normal, cheerful self." Jarod murmured, smiling down at her. She smiled back, then struggled to sit up as Mulder and Scully directed bewildered looks at each other at the contradictions passing before them.

"Jarod...I don't suppose you happened to bring my Pepto-Bismol?"

"Way ahead of you there Parker," Jarod leaned down and rummaged in the bag next to the bed, then pulled out some items, handing her the medicine, which she took a gulp of, "and I thought ahead a bit as well. It's no Get well card, but somehow I think you'll like this better." and with that Jarod handed her the pack of cigarettes he'd grabbed from her room and a lighter from his pocket. Miss Parker's eyes lit up.

"My hero Genius," she said then sighed contentedly as she lit up and inhaled, "heaven!"

"I hate to interrupt...but would somebody like to tell us what happened here? And why these were involved?" asked an exasperated Mulder, holding up Parker's gun and Jarod's handcuffs. Miss Parker and Jarod looked at each other, then looked back at the two FBI agents, then both shook their heads.

"No way lawboy, classified information!" hissed Miss Parker, giving him her iciest "holier-than-thou" look. Taken aback, Mulder looked imploringly at Scully, who rolled her eyes at him.

"All right then," replied Scully, taking out her mobile phone, "I guess we'll just have to call for some back up."

"NO!" yelled Jarod, thinking of The Centre's eyes everywhere.

"Awww too bad Jarod! Who's afraid of the big bad Centre?" Cooed Miss Parker, a smirk on her face.

"The Centre?" asked Mulder, perking up a bit, "you guys are involved with the Centre?" Jarod chuckled.

"You could say that. Looks like we found ourselves a believer Princess!" he said, nudging Parker with a look of pure delight on his face, much to her annoyance.

"I've heard so much about it, but I've never met anyone actively involved with it....that is, that wasn't dead at the time," said Mulder, looking more exited by the minute, "wait a minute...Parker...You're one of thee Parker's?!? Scully we've run into something BIG!!"

"Mulder calm down and try to keep your hands out of your pants...what exactly is The Centre?" questioned Scully.

"The Centre is a company that isn't meant to exist, doing things that don't exist. They have they're finger in every pie you've ever heard of. And it's number one client? The very government which I've been trying to expose all these years!" Says Mulder excitedly, while Parker sits and fumes. Just her luck for Jarod to drag her right into the hands of some obsessed vigilante for the imaginary innocents. The only innocent she knew was Jarod, and even he wasn't that innocent any more, thanks to that slut in Oregon, Nina or whatever her name was.

"Very good Mr. Mulder...perhaps you and I have a little more in common than I had first thought..." murmurs Jarod, keeping his eyes on Miss Parker's disgruntled expression.

"And what exactly do you have against the Centre?"

"You might say I have...a little bit...of a grudge against them." Jarod reached up to check if Parker's bandage was secure enough, only to have his hand slapped away.

"OK boys enough chit chat, give me the handcuffs and give me back my gun, I'll take Monkeyboy here and that case," she said, nodding towards the DSA's, "and we'll be on our merry way, and you two can go back to playing house in your nice ordinary lives!"

Miss Parker was quite proud of her icy approach, even though she felt like shit, until the two FBI agents started laughing. After deciding it must all be Jarod's fault, she lit another cigarette and sat back to glare at the world in general.

"I'm sorry Miss Parker," said Scully in a tone that was nowhere near sorry, "but you're in no condition to go anywhere. And I am certainly not going anywhere until I find out why you were shot, why there are handcuffs here that were obviously used on you from the looks of your wrists, and what this all has to do with the Centre!"

****

Scully sighed and pushed the hair of her eyes, deciding that all she wanted was a nice hot shower and the comfortable bed that was in her motel room, on the other side of Mulder's. Six hours and all they'd been able to drag out of the Parker woman was glares and wafts of cigarette smoke in their direction. Not that Jarod was any better at handing out information, and although he was much nicer all they'd been able to get was a lengthy talk on the virtues of Pez and Ice-cream.

Scully was sure that something very wrong was going on here, but was reluctant to take them in because of the expression on the man, Jarod's, face every time any authority was mentioned. Scully was also confused by the relationship between Miss Parker and Jarod, who seemed to love the cruel banter they tossed at each other, yet she could see the caring both tried not to show. It was small things, like the way Jarod would very tenderly check Parker's wounds too often, or brush her hair behind her ear for her. And the way she instinctively snuggled up against Jarod to get more comfortable, or the way she passed him his Pez when all he did was look at it. The man really had an obsession for Pez.

"Mulder what do you think it's time we called it a night?" she asked softly, after watching Mulder fire a few more questions at the strange couple, without receiving any more answers than they had before.

"Yeah, I think you're right Scully. You take her into your room and I'll take him into mine, and we'll leave the connecting door unlocked," Mulder replied, standing up and stretching, "come on you two, grab your gear and let's go."

Parker got up and walked confidently towards the DSA's lying on the table, intending to claim them in front of the agents, but was intercepted by Jarod, who tsked her.

"Miss Parker, you're not playing fair, you take your stuff," he said playfully, shoving her bag of clothes into her arms, "and I'll take mine." And grabbed the case and his laptop, modem, Pez and the small bag of clothes he had brought with him.

"Oh but Jarod," she said in her sweetest tone, "shouldn't you share? Now hand over the case!!"

"OK kids, enough," sighed Scully, holding out her hand, "I'm going to have to start confiscating things. The case Jarod."

"No. It's stays where the Ice Queen can't get her talons on it. Mr. Mulder here takes it, so I can keep an eye on it."

"Whatever," Mulder groans, taking the case, "let's go."

Once they reached their separate rooms and had said good night, or something close to it, Jarod sat down heavily and wiped the blood off the tiny scratch mark Miss Parker had given by way of goodnight.

"Quite a hellcat, isn't she?" asked Mulder. Jarod smiled.

"Yeah. But she's my hellcat."

"How long have you known each other for?"

"Most of our lives...she wasn't always like this, but life has been cruel to her, so she's cruel back." Jarod sighs and lays back on the bed as he took himself back to what she had been, to the pain she felt at the need for her fathers approval, and the happiness she had found with friends like Jarod and Angelo. Slipping into Pretender mode, eyes glazing over, body relaxing, slowly Jarod began to speak, in a child like voice as Mulder watched in growing fascination.

"Sydney can I go see Jarod today? Daddy said I could if I were good and I've been so good alllll week so can I please go visit Jarod?" Jarod's voice continued on, begging Sydney to visit Jarod.

"Jarod you asshole I don't suppose you happened to bring me a toothbrush-" Miss Parker burst into the room in her black nightgown, ready to give Jarod another verbal beating when she saw what he was doing, and heard what he was saying, and froze. But only for a moment. Then she flew at him, landing on the bed and beating him with her fists as tears streamed down her face, how could he do this to her? Didn't he ever stop? And she started to scream over and over again, for him to get out of her head, leave her alone, all the while sobbing and hitting him.

Jarod snapped out of the Pretend just as quickly as he had slipped into it, fending off her blows and trying to soothe her. He held her close as she beat at him with less and less force, eventually just sobbing as he smoothed his hands up and down her back, and whispering apologies to her.

Mulder, seeing how personal the moment was, carefully locked the door that led outside, took the key, and discreetly slipped out of the room, taking Scully, who had been watching from the doorway, with him.

"Why Jarod? Why can't you just get out of my head and leave me alone Jarod?" her voice whispered.

"I'm sorry, princess," he whispered back, still stroking her back lightly, "I was thinking about you, about the past and it just sort of took me over, I couldn't control it."

He kissed the top of her head lightly, then turned her face up to look at him with his hands and kissed the tip of her nose.

"I'm so sorry Parker," he murmured, kissing a tear away, "I would never have done it on purpose. I'm so sorry...." he trailed off as she gently pulled his head down to hers, for a real kiss, the first kiss since the one she had given him when they were still young, and not nearly as innocent.

In the next room, Mulder and Scully listened as it all went quiet. They looked at each other, Scully in bewilderment and Mulder in delight.

"It's amazing Scully," he whispered excitedly, "it's like he just became someone else. One minute he was him, the next minute he was the childhood version of that wicked witch of the west in there!"

"Mulder I don't know what you saw,"Scully whispered back, "but people do not just...become... other people!"

About to continue the debate they both stopped when they heard a soft, feminine moan coming from the next room.

"Sounds like they managed to overcome their differences," said Mulder, chuckling, "come on, ten more minutes and we make a discreet knock. Someone has to keep an eye on them, and I think it would be voyeurism if they were in the same room at the time!"

Jarod kissed Miss Parker back, curving an arm around her waist as he deepened the kiss, allowing his tongue to tangle with hers, until she moaned softly, running her hands across his back as he buried his fingers in her hair, massaging the scalp lightly. She pulled him even closer, stroking his cheek with her hand and entangling her legs with his. They ended the kiss, gasping as they still held onto each other tightly, Jarod’s hand still in Miss Parker’s hair as he placed soft kisses around her face.

"Where did that come from?" asked Jarod gently.

"I don’t know," said Miss Parker, a little shakily, "I guess I’ve just wanted to do that for a while." She smiled at him.

At that moment, a very discreet knock sounded, but the couple on the bed didn’t notice, so involved were they in each other, that when the door opened they rolled apart guiltily, sitting up in embarrassment as the two agents entered the room.

"Is this what getting caught by your parents feels like?" asked Jarod, a smile playing across his lips.

"Worse," replied Parker, smiling back, "We’re adults, not teenagers any more ¼ ..and I guess I wouldn’t know either, Daddy never cared." She finished off bitterly.

"Sorry to break up the make-out party," Scully interrupted, wondering about Miss Parker’s father, "but I think it’s time we all got some sleep. Parker, in here, I’ll see you in the morning boys." And with that she dragged an unwilling Parker off the bed, and into the adjoining room, before slamming shut the door. Jarod stared up in confusion at Mulder.

"What’s a make-out party?" Jarod questions, then looks even more confused by Mulder’s aghast expression.

"Oh man¼ What are you, pre-pubescent? No self-respecting male would not have made it through the teenage years without knowing what they are, why they are, and how to get an invitation to one!" At Mulder’s outburst, Jarod smiles sadly.

"I was never allowed to be a teenager." He whispers, remembering growing up in the Centre, and how they never allowed anything that could be classified as "normal".

"Jarod," says Mulder, suddenly becoming serious, "who are you? Why is it that you were never allowed to do these things? And what the hell was that you did before?"

"You’ve heard of the Centre and some of the things they do there?" asked Jarod, waiting until Mulder nodded before continuing, "I was involved in their most precious project. When I was a child, I had been noticed for my unusual mental abilities. When I was six years old, they came in the night, and took me. They told me my parents were dead, and kept me in a controlled environment, running tests on me and making me perform simulations for them. It was discovered that with enough information about someone, I could get inside that person’s head, understand them completely, think like them, act like them, Pretend to be them. At the time they told me it was to help people, and it wasn’t until I was older that I realised that they sold my simulations to the highest bidder. Often this was the government, which you have been trying to expose all these years. I was in my thirties the first time I tasted things like ice- cream and Pez. I escaped three years ago, and have been searching for my family ever since. Miss Parker has been hunting me, and the DSA’s, trying to bring me back, because when she finds me, they will let her go."

Mulder sat, his mouth gaping, as he tried to process this information. He couldn’t help but feel understanding with Jarod, he knew what it was like to spend years searching for answers, not to mention family. His own sister had been abducted, and there wasn’t a day that went by that Mulder didn’t think about her.

Miss Parker sat on the bed, with a cigarette in one hand, watching Scully return from the bathroom in comfortable, striped cotton, pyjamas. She contemplated what had happened with Jarod in the next room only a few minutes ago as she absent-mindedly blew rings with the smoke. Scully coughed pointedly, drawing Parker back to the present.

"Sorry," she muttered, butting out the offending smoke in the ashtray, "Just like a sleepover, sharing the same bed."

"Well," said Scully, climbing onto the bed, "I’m not sleeping on the floor, somehow I doubt you will, and there’s no way I’m leaving you alone in another room. I don’t trust you enough, although I get the feeling you wouldn’t leave without Jarod in tow. Now let’s get some sleep, we’ll figure things out in the morning."

Mulder awoke to the sound of soft, but urgent, mumbling coming from the man handcuffed to the bed. Sitting up, he watched as Jarod thrashed back and forth in the midst of a nightmare, moaning something about releasing him. Mulder tried to wake him, but it only made the still sleeping man worse, who started throwing his free arm around wildly, striking Mulder once as he scooted to the far side of the bed, not knowing what to do. Mulder was just about to get Scully, when the connecting door between the two rooms opened, and a very dishevelled looking Miss Parker hurried in, followed by a sleepy looking Scully. Miss Parker moved to the bed, sitting beside Jarod and murmuring soothing words, until she spied the handcuffs attaching him to the bed.

"What the hell do you think your doing!" hissed Miss Parker, stretching out her hand. "Give me the keys! You never lock him up like this!" she yelled at Mulder, then caught the keys he threw at her and gently unlocked the still agitated Jarod.

"Parker?" he whispered hoarsely.

"It’s me Jarod, you’re safe, you’re not in the Centre." She whispered back, smoothing the damp locks of hair of his brow.

"I had a dream, it was your mother, they held me down and made me watch as they ¼ as they¼ ." He trailed off, his eyes still filled with terror as she curled up next to him, still stroking his hair.

"I know Jarod, I know." She murmured, as a solitary tear trickled down her face. Meanwhile Mulder and Scully stood helplessly near the door, watching the touching scene unfold before them. Silently Scully ushered Mulder into her own room, grabbing the case which contained the DSA’s, knowing that neither of the figures on the bed would leave without it. Quietly closing the doors behind them, Mulder sighed, then dropped onto the bed.

"They make quite a couple don’t they?" asked Mulder lazily as he stretched to make himself more comfortable.

"Yes. What was Jarod talking about in his sleep, he wanted somebody to let him go?" Asked Scully, then her eyes widened as Mulder relayed the information that Jarod had told him, about being a captive of the Centre.

"My god, that’s inhuman!" cried Scully after Mulder had finished.

"Yeah, I could hardly believe it¼ . I’d like to help him Scully, I don’t know what we’d do about her, but I’d like to help him. I know what it’s like to have someone you love taken away from you, and I want to talk to Jarod, see if there’s anything we could do to help him find his family. Perhaps we could help each other."

Jarod was having the best dream about Miss Parker, better than his normal one’s. She felt more real, and he took advantage of that as he pulled his dream Parker close, very close, enjoying the soft feel of her skin against his cheek.

"Parker I wish you were real, not just a dream like all the other times¼ ." Mumbled Jarod against the imaginary Miss Parkers neck. Darting his tongue out to touch her skin, he pulled her even closer, murmuring to her that she tasted real good for one of his dreams.

"Jarod stop talking¼ " replied Parker’s just as sleepy voice. Jarod pondered the fact that his fantasy was talking back, then started to get an inkling of an idea which he hoped was true with all his heart. Very gently he slid his hand up from the make-believe Parker’s waist, fluttering his hand across the very real feeling ribs to cup the underside of her breast, stroking his thumb across the nipple and feeling it harden under his touch. For a dream Parker she was very responsive thought Jarod to himself, then opened his eyes and smiled as he watched the very real Miss Parker press herself up against him. He chuckled, then placed a series of soft kisses along her jaw, while one hand still played with her erect nipple, extracting a small whimper from her. Deciding that the mouth looked very tempting, he brushed his own lips against hers very gently, as she whispered his name softly. About to continue, Jarod stopped when he heard noises coming from the room next door, and lay his head back down, pretending to be asleep for when the agents came in.

A few minutes later they entered, and watched the supposedly sleeping couple, curled up in each others arms as tightly as they could hold each other, to the point that it was almost indecent. As they hesitated in the doorway, Jarod opened his eyes and smiled at them, and held a finger to his lips, indicating to them to be quiet so as not to wake Miss Parker. As gently as he could, he untangled himself from her arms, rose, and dressed only in boxers, headed back into Scully’s room. Closing the door as carefully as he could after them, he smiled.

"You’ve never seen her in the morning, nobody wakes her before she wants to be awake" he said, making the two agents smile. Jarod rummaged through the bag which he had bought out of the other room, pulling out black jeans and tight black top.

"I’m headed for the shower, don’t disturb dragon lady" Jarod said with a cheerful grin.

"He’s in a good mood¼ . Somebody got lucky last night!" was the only response from Mulder, once the bathroom door was safely shut.

Miss Parker stretched luxuriously, enjoying the sated feeling she had after an amazing dream she had dreamt about Jarod. He had been touching her and kissing her so gently, it almost didn’t seem real. But then again, it wasn’t real, it had only been a dream. Jarod would never be so sweet to her after all the things they had put each other through. Miss Parker sobered at these thoughts, wishing somehow that things didn’t have to be this way between them, but she had to capture him in order to free herself.

Miss Parker remembered when her and Jarod were children, how close they had been, how they longed for each other’s company when they weren’t together. And now, as adults, they were the hunter and the hunted, although the line of who was who was blurry sometimes, always it remained that they fought against each other, when somehow she felt they should have been fighting together. Still reflecting on this, Parker gathered up some things and headed for the shower.

"So what does everyone want for breakfast?" asked Scully cheerfully, to the three other people sitting in the room, "My shout and I’ll go to the store now."

"Vodka." Muttered Parker, lighting up a cigarette.

"Twinkies!" exclaimed Jarod, his face lighting up.

"Sunflower seeds¼ " sighed Mulder in blissful anticipation. Scully looked at the three before her disbelievingly then sighed in resignation.

"Right Jarod, you come with me, we’ll get something decent to eat." She sighed, thinking longingly of pancakes. Jarod rose and ran a hand through his still wet hair, flicking drops of water on Parker with a grin, then racing out the door after Scully before she could retaliate. Parker and Mulder watched each other warily from opposite sides of the room. Mulder inclined his head and raised his eyebrows in a direct challenge.

"Poker?"

Parker sat and stared at the five cards in her hand, keeping her face blank but inwardly crowing in delight. The eight dollars she had one of Mulder so far was about to increase. She loved winning. And as long as Jarod didn’t find out she had lifted his wallet, taking the money before tossing it aside, she was fine.

"King high straight!" Smirked Mulder, laying down his cards.

"Ace high," purred Parker, scooping up the money on the table and sliding it towards her.

"Come to Mamma!" she cried as Jarod and Scully entered the room, carrying a few brown paper bags with food in them, which they placed on the bed. Jarod watched curiously as Mulder dealt another hand, noting the money on the table and the way both players kept their faces completely straight.

"What are you doing?" asked Jarod, much to Mulder’s surprise.

"Playing poker Frankenboy. Watch and learn from the master." Replied Miss Parker. Jarod watched the next few rounds played, noting what cards together were considered winners, the different strategies used by both to bluff and the exchange of money going on.

After a while Jarod sat down, and was dealt into the next hand, both Miss Parker and Mulder having donated some money to him after he found his wallet was conspicuously empty. He regarded the five cards he held in his hand, two jacks, a queen, a seven and an eight. He threw in the seven and the eight, waiting until two new cards were dealt to him. Another queen. Another jack. Full house. Jarod kept his face and body language studiously expressionless and watched Parker as she received her cards, watching the way she sat a little straighter, pushed her shoulders back slightly and tossed her hair confidently. A good hand, mused Jarod. Mulder, on the other hand, had slumped his shoulders slightly, but quickly sat up, ready to bet. He’s bluffing, thought Jarod.

Two hours later, Mulder sighed in frustration and gave up. He’d lost most of his money any way, and the power struggle that was going on between the other two was making him feel invisible. Each had one roughly the same amount of hands and money, but a little good-humoured poker game had turned into a battle of wills, and he knew that much more rested on these games than a couple of dollars. Mulder went and sat with Scully, who was sitting at the small table in one corner. As the two agents began to talk, discussing plans for the future, the poker game continued, making its players oblivious to the world around them.

As the shadows lengthened Mulder and Scully disputed over the best course of action, they’re quiet murmuring rolling off the two players. It was beyond money now, they barely noticed the notes exchanging hands, or the cards in their hands. It was about them. Together. Their history. They both recognised it, the passionate looks on their faces showed it, and the way eye contact was almost imperative showed it.

And Jarod began to reach an understanding. An understanding of her. She couldn’t let him win. And that applied to everything. And it scared him, because she wouldn’t give up, she wouldn’t let him take away what she believed to be the key to her freedom, she wouldn’t allow him, couldn’t allow him to walk away with it. And that key was the thing he valued the most in the world, the thing which had kept him sane, kept him caring about the world, but most importantly, kept him from killing the damn lot of them whenever he had the chance, was his freedom. His freedom. Which they had taken away once, and the very woman he loved had been sent to take it away again.

He loved her. Miss Parker. The woman he loved. Not the child who had whispered her first name to him, or given him his first kiss, but the woman she had become. The woman who wore revealing clothing to be noticed, because daddy had never noticed her enough. The woman who had smoked compulsively, drank too much, had the nickname Ice Queen, the woman who infuriated him so much, who he infuriated so much, but on some level had always loved. He loved her. And with this realisation, Jarod felt physically ill.

Scully approached Jarod carefully. He had been lost in thought ever since he had abruptly bought the poker game to a halt, over an hour again. Since then he had sat in the one spot, ignoring or not hearing all attempts at conversation. Finally Miss Parker, put in a bad mood by his apparent bad mood, had gone to the store to get some more cigarettes. Both Mulder and Scully had thought it best that they spoke alone with Jarod about their decisions, and now looked like the perfect time.

"Jarod?" Scully touched his shoulder gently when he didn’t respond, and he jerked his head up to look at her and Mulder, who had come to stand next to his partner.

"Jarod, Mulder and I have been talking," said Scully softly, still unsure of his mood, "we’ve decided that we want to help you Jarod. So if you decide to leave in the middle of the night or something like that, we’ll let it slip."

"We would do more," Mulder resumed where his Scully finished, "but if what you say is true and the government is tied in with the Centre, it would probably be more dangerous to you if we did do more."

Jarod nodded, thinking over what the two agents had said.

"Give me tonight," murmured Jarod, "with Parker. She and I have some unfinished business."

Miss Parker sat on the bed, idly leafing through a magazine she had bought that day, when she heard the door open.

"Scully could you pass me my bag?" asked Miss Parker, not looking up. Parker waited a few moments but there was no answer, just the soft click of the door being pushed shut, then locked. Frowning at this, Miss Parker looked up, about to ask Scully why she was locking the door when Jarod could have another nightmare, but the words froze on her lips. Not Scully. Jarod. Jarod wearing only the bottoms of a pair of black silk pyjamas. Jarod with an expression on his face that reminded Miss Parker of Broots in a rebellious mood, terrified but claiming a right to dignity.

"Jarod," sighed Miss Parker, barely realising it was out of her mouth until it was too late. Suddenly Jarod’s expression hardened, showing a faint flash of desire for her as his eyes raked down her body, clad only in the black nightgown she had arrived at the motel in. Jarod, without saying anything, walked forward and hauled her up off the bed and into his arms, watching the surprised expression on her face change to anger.

"What the hell do you think your doing!" she hissed, her eyes showing a mix of fury and arousal.

"Taking what’s mine." He whispered back, before kissing her hard on the mouth, forcing her mouth open with his teeth and entwining his tongue with hers, holding her tight and plunging one hand into her hair, forcibly holding her head in place. Miss Parker curled one hand around his neck, bringing the other to his face, softly caressing, then digging her nails in and dragging them down his cheek, drawing blood. Jarod jerked his head away from her, then, to her surprise, smiled.

"Bad kitty," he breathed in her ear, "we’ll have to get those claws clipped!"

He threw her bodily onto the bed, then straddling her, grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head. Holding both her small hands with one of his own, he lazily trailed the other hand around the curve of her face, down her neck, between her breasts and down her stomach before allowing it to come to rest on her abdomen. He quirked an eyebrow, regarding her in a very suggestive way.

"No!" was all she could manage while trying not to show how aroused she was.

"Yes…." He drawled, and leaning down, started placing small kisses on her neck, working his way down. After a few minutes he released her hands, and this time when they rose up to touch him, it was to pull him closer, not inflict pain.

Miss Parker slowly became aware of the warm body beside her. But this time it was no dream. A smile played across her lips as she thought of all that had happened in the last few hours. Jarod had been…. amazing. He had been both gentle and passionate, but with an edge of suppressed anger, an edge, sensitive to her needs, while applying himself to his own. She never thought that after all they had been through, all that had happened, she would have been able to find joy in such closeness with another human being. Sure, there had been other men, but none had the bond that she and Jarod shared.

Miss Parker wondered what would happen now. It had occurred to her to just leave the Centre, maybe now with Jarod. But somehow that train of thought just felt…wrong. She wanted, no, needed to find out what had happened to her mother. And her whole life was with the Centre. But without Jarod, she had no life.

Miss Parker pulled herself up short right there. Where the hell had that one come from? Just how deep were her feelings for Jarod? Had Daddy been right? Had she been too emotionally involved to catch him all those years? Miss Parker was given no more time to question herself as she heard Jarod sigh deeply, and realised that he had been awake the whole time.

"Jarod?" asked Parker, feeling almost…shy.

"I’m sorry." Came his voice from the darkness.

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for this…sorry for everything. This never should have happened."

"What the hell are you talking about?" cried Parker, raising herself up on her elbow so she could look at him as her eyes adjusted to the dark. "If you ask me this was way overdue!" Jarod raised a hand and stroked it slowly down her face.

"Is that what you really feel Parker? Is that what you really, really feel? Or was it just because it had been awhile and I was there?!" accused Jarod, the harsh words causing a tear to trickle down Miss Parker’s cheek.

"No! No it wasn’t and you know it Jarod! It was because of us!"

"And which us is that, Parker? The one where you hunt me with a gun and a set of goons? Or the one where you leave me all alone to die in the Centre?"

"No it’s how we…it’s how I…because I…. "

"How you what Parker? Because you what Parker?" Jarod pressed, needing to hear it even though he knew he was hurting her with his callous words.

"It’s because I love you! Because I have loved you since we were children and you were the only person my age not afraid of me! Because you tease me and make me look at what’s wrong in my life! Because I love you so much I hurt inside at the thought of what they could do to you! Because I love you but I can’t be with you because of who we are! Because I love you even though there’s always going to be some sort of star-crossed lovers complex hanging over our heads! Because I love you….and I know you can’t love me back…"and with that she broke down, tears streaming freely as she slumped back to the bed.

"I love you Parker." said Jarod simply. Miss Parker raised her head.

"What?"

"I love you." he repeated, and watched her anger grow.

"You put me through that, just to tell me you love me back? You asshole!"

"Parker, I had to hear you say it because you wanted to say it, not because you had to because I said it first." Whispered Jarod gently, pulling her close.

"Jarod we can’t…I can’t leave the Centre. There’s too many things…. I have to be there…." Trailed of Miss Parker, trying to explain but not finding the words.

"I know Parker," said Jarod, reaching down and finding something under the bed, "I know that you can’t come with me….but I also know you can’t let me go." Jarod snapped the lamp that was next to the bed, keeping one hand behind his back.

"Jarod… I’d have to take you in…how would I explain it if I just let you go? We could have tonight, maybe tomorrow but after that…" Miss Parker trailed off, seeing the resolved expression on his face.

"No Parker, not tomorrow, not even tonight. I have to go now." And carefully Jarod brought into view the syringe he’d hidden in the room earlier, gently flicking it to remove air bubbles.

"Jarod no!" cried Miss Parker, trying to move away as he caught her by the wrists and dragged her close. Methodically he started to inject the drug into her arm as the tears streamed down her face. Then he pulled her to him, kissing her gently until he felt her go limp in his arms. He then rose and dressed, grabbed his things, including the DSA’s, and after leaving a thank-you note with a promise to e-mail them, Jarod left.

When the agent met up in Mulder’s room the next morning, Scully having spent the night in the room that Jarod had originally been in, they both smiled at the note Jarod had left them, which read:

Thank you for all your help. Miss Parker and I have sorted things out, sort of, but I had to leave. I hope she doesn’t shoot you when she wakes up. Mulder I promise to keep in contact, as per our agreement to help each other find our families. It was a nice vacation, best and only one I’ve ever had.

And when Miss Parker did awaken, her scream of rage could be heard miles away. And Jarod, on the road, noted what time she should be waking up, and had to pull over, for he couldn’t see for the tears in his eyes and running down his face. When Sydney and Broots came to "rescue" Miss Parker from her horrible ordeal of being kidnapped by Jarod, they brought a sweeper team with them. And after receiving no details from the two agents, they quickly removed all evidence of the whole thing ever happening. Because the people who weren’t meant to be there didn’t exist, and shadows were not supposed to move.

The End.

Mandy.

Jarods_gurl@yahoo.com

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