Disclaimer: Although I would LOVE to own the Pretender cast (especially Michael T. Weiss J ), I don’t. I guess you know that seeing that IF I did own them I would be writing episodes instead of fanfic, but back to the point of this disclaimer. The fact remains that I DON’T own any Pretender related characters, They belong to NBC Productions and MTM. I’m well aware that I’m guilty of infringement, however, I don’t care. You can sue me all you want, but I can guarantee I have nothing you want. Besides can you even sue a 16 year-old? Anyway, I do own Unit 13, Commander Braddock, and any other Unit 13 character besides Thomas. I also own Habib and myself.

Note: You’re probably wondering why I made Tommy such a baddy. Well, it’s because I HATE him. There are two reasons. 1) He made Miss Parker a bucket of slush. She’s lost her edge because of him. I’m sure it was to open her up, but I always figured that was Jarod’s job. 2) He played Peter Blake on Days of Our Lives. He was a real meany on there too; not to mention that’s where Michael T. Weiss worked. After putting two and two together I came to the conclusion that he was hired only because of his connection to our beloved Mr. Weiss. So that’s why I hate him.

Lastly I want to thank Nicolette for the ideas, and, along with Mcelly3, Sk1ttle500, and Schuyler Parker-Dahak, express my gratefulness for showing interest and giving me the initiative to finish this series. Thanks guys.

ENOUGH WITH THE CRAP! LET’S GET TO THE STORY

Title - Deep Deception Part 3
Author - Ashlee
E-mail address - zyp959@hotmail.com
Rating - PG
Category - AV (Adventure)/ AU (Alternate Universe)
Series/Sequel - 3rd of a three part story.
Spoilers - N/A
Summary - Miss Parker finally catches Jarod only find out that the one person she thought she could trust is one of her most dangerous enemies

"Deep Deception"
Part 3: Thank God It's Over!
By Ashlee

Jarod's Cabin
Big Spencer Mt.
15 miles Northwest of Kokadjo, Maine
March 15, 1999
9:07 a.m.

Jarod unpacked the truck as Miss Parker scavenged in the kitchen for anything edible. After spending most of yesterday and all of last night on a plane, in coach none the less, she needed some real food. Seeing as she had refused to eat her portion of disgusting plane food, she gladly handed it over to Jarod, who seem to think it was quite a delicacy. As Jarod came in carrying their bags he turned to her and asked,

"How do you like it here?"

"Huh? Oh I haven’t looked around yet." She slammed shut another cabinet, still empty handed in the food department. All that they had were Twinkies.

"Don’t you have anything edible here?"

"Well, there are Twinkies and some licorice." He said pointing to the cabinet that she had just abandoned.

"I said edible not junk." She said irritable, suddenly her stomach let out a loud growl that got a good laugh from Jarod.

"Maybe we should head to the grocery store just down the hill. You can buy the food, and then I can show you around, you’ll love it here."

"I’ll decide that after I eat." She said hiding a smile as she headed for the door. "Hurry up!!" She yelled back at him.
He smiled widely as he replied,

"Yes ma’am." He followed her out the door and they headed for the Hillside Grocery Store, the only one within 30 miles.

***

Commander Braddock’s Office
Unit 13 Headquarters
Stone Harbor, Connecticut
10:51 a.m.

Commander Braddock was sitting at his desk looking over a field report from Thomas. To say the least he was disappointed. He had been promised results and nothing had happened. Thomas had never been on a mission that he hadn’t accomplished. Had it not been for those past achievements he would have already been terminated. As he pondered over whether or not to pull Thomas off the assignment someone knocked on the door.

"Enter," he replied annoyed. The door opened and a young man wearing wrinkled Unit 13 Computer Analysis suit.
"What is it Howard?" Braddock asked, recognizing the man as the head Lab Tech.

"Sir, we broke into The Centre’s Data Annex as you asked." Howard said confidently. Being the head of the Computer Analysis Lab gave him a significant amount of power. Nerd or not these people needed him and he knew it, as did they.

"Yes, and what was the result?"

"We have recovered all that you requested plus some additional information that I’m sure you will find to be quite helpful."

"Well, stop procrastinating and tell me what the hell you have."

"After some ‘digging’ we came across their DNA profiles of all the people present and past, even remotely connected to The Centre. Knowing that Miss Parker was the target we examined her karyotype first and discovered that she too carries the Pretender gene." Braddock let nothing show.

"Thank you Howard, you are dismissed." As he began to leave the Commander stopped him.

"One more thing. Considered yourself promoted."

"Thank you sir." With that Howard left to analyze the rest of the data.

***

SL – 5
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
11:02 a.m.

The squeaking of rubber against the floor could be heard as Lyle entered the room. At least he can’t sneak up on me now, Broots thought to himself as he turned to look at Mr. Lyle. Sydney, who sat in the chair looking over some information on Jarod, didn’t seem to notice Lyle. Without removing his eyes from the paperwork Sydney spoke.

"It’s good to see you up and around Mr. Lyle. Was the wound serious?" He asked sounding genuinely concerned, although Broots detected a slight, almost unnoticeable, hint of sarcasm. He had to stop himself before he laughed out loud.

"No it wasn’t bad. The bullet passed right through the leg," He said, not noticing the sarcasm. "They cleaned it, did some stitching and gave me these," He said gesturing at the crutches. "What about Jarod?" He turned looking directly at Broots.

"Nothing yet." He said and turned back around to face the computer. He surprised himself with the confident tone that had emerged in his voice, and smiled.

"Well, get your lazy ass on…" He began to yell when his cell phone rang. "Yes." He answered. "What? How the… How could they ‘just break in?'… Well, why didn’t you stop them?…Well, what all did they get?…… EVERYTHING !!! Damn it!!!" He yelled as he angrily snapped shut the phone.

"Troubles Mr. Lyle?" Sydney asked the slight tone of sarcasm still hid in his compassionate sounding voice.

"No, It’s just that the pizza I ordered was delivered to the wrong address." He said with a thick overtone of sarcasm.
"Yes there’s a problem!!! The Data Annex has been compromised by Unit 13!! They know everything right down to the DNA profiles of everyone that has ever even frickin’ seen The Centre!!"

"Well, Lyle, what is the course of action? We both know that nothing can be done now that they have the information."

"I know that!! Just keep looking for Jarod! I want something in a half hour!" He turned to leave, but took a moment to address Broots, "and keep monitoring Unit 13’s actions!"

"Ye.. Ye..Yes sir." Broots stuttered at the man’s disappearing figure. Sydney and Broots locked eyes, both knowing that this situation was not in their best interest and went back to work.

***

Jarod’s Cabin
Big Spencer Mt., Maine
11:07 a.m.

Miss Parker and Jarod had just finished eating their meal of hamburgers and American Fries.

"So, Miss Parker. Are you ready for our outing?" Jarod asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"The fact that I’m not tearing you limb from limb has yet to mean that I have suddenly transformed in to Nature Girl extraordinaire." Parker replied, not enjoying the thought of hiking into the woods where tiny parasites would attach themselves to her and suck out her bodily fluids.

"What’s wrong, Parker, are you scared of the little bugs?" He asked with a sarcastic pout. "You know, I heard somewhere that they are just as scared of you as you are of them." He smiled a teasing smile. "And, from what I’ve witnessed, they have good reason." Miss Parker stood and threw the dirty napkin at him, seeing as it was the only thing that wasn’t breakable.

"I’ll make you a deal, you show me the bedroom, let me take a nap and provide bug spray and I’ll go on this little outing with you. Deal?"

"Deal, but you could have found the bedroom by yourself. It’s the only other room in the cabin." He said still smiling that annoying, yet extremely cute, teasing smile.

"God, Shoot me now. This is going to be one hell of a long vacation, if you can call be isolated in a cabin with you a vacation. More like a never ending hell." She said with a contemptuous snort.

"Well, if I were you I’d take what I could get." He said as she looked back with a smirk and slammed shut the bedroom door.

Jarod took out his laptop and callular phone. After everything was in order he sent an E-mail to Sydney. It was in a code that he and Sydney had developed a long time ago. He could only hope that he would remember it and that it would arrive in time to save him and Broots.

***

Commander Braddock’s Office
Unit 13 Headquarters
Stone Harbor, Connecticut
11:37 a.m.

Thomas entered the room without knocking. He figured if the old bastard had called him there that he would be expecting him.

"Yes sir, you called for me?"

"Yes Thomas. The profile for this case has been altered. Miss Parker and Jarod are to be taken alive, no matter what. Do you understand?" Before Thomas could answer, Commander Bradock’s phone rang.

"What is it… All right. Thank you." He hung up the phone and turned to Thomas. "There is a lead on Jarod and his companion. I want you to head to Florida and follow it up. Do you understand the changes in the profile?"

"Yes sir. They are to be taken alive."

"Good. Now go. I want results."

"Yes sir." Thomas said as he left. He walked down to the Computer Analysis Lab to gather the latest on the case profile and the sighting in Florida.

***

SL – 5
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
11: 35 a.m.

Another alarm sounded on Broots’ computer. Broots, who had been asleep, fell off the chair he had been in onto the floor.

"Holy Moses!" He cried as he scrambled back into his chair and began to type.

"Are you alright Broots?" Asked Sydney who was restraining a smile.

"Ye..Ye…Yes. It’s just that I’ve intercepted a file from Unit 13’s Computer Analysis Lab. They have a lead on Jarod in Florida." Suddenly the phone rang almost sending Broots back on the floor. After taking a couple deep breaths he regained composure and answered.

"Ye. Ye..Yes?"

"Have you found anything yet?"

"Yes, Mr. Lyle. Uh, Unit 13 has a lead on Jarod. He’s, um, been spotted in Florida. Miami Airport actually."

"Good. When does the Unit 13 plane leave?" He asked demandingly.

"Na..Not for another hour."

"Get me a team of sweepers on a plane for Miami in ten minutes. Oh, by the way, you and the shrink are staying behind. It seems that whenever you two are around he manages to elude us." The conversation was ended by the abrupt sound of a phone being slammed back into the cradle.

***

Jarod’s Cabin
Big Spencer Mt., Maine
11:57 a.m.

Miss Parker was sleeping soundly on the king size bed dreaming. Her dream was a rare one, a happy one. She was holding her mother’s hand as the walked through the most marvelous carnival. It was colorful with friendly clowns making wonderful balloon animals that actually became real pets. The children were laughing with glee, as one by one they each became proud owners of a new pet that loved them, no matter what. Miss Parker looked into the eyes of her mother, a pleading look in her eye.

"Of course you may have one, sweetheart." She said to her daughter smiling. Young Miss Parker walked up to the clown as he handed her a fluffy white rabbit. She turned and smiled at her mother…

"Rise and shine Miss P!!!!" She heard a familiar, gleeful voice call. She opened her eyes only to be jolted into the air.

"What the hell are you doing Jarod?" She yelled at him, giving him the best drop-dead look she could manage while flying through the air. Jarod, who was presently jumping on the bed with all the liveliness of young child, stopped short giving her a confused look.

"I’m jumping on the bed?" He said it like a question, confused as to why she didn’t know what he was doing.

"Yes, I’m well aware you are jumping on the bed. Now why in the hell are you doing it?"

"Well, because it’s fun. Come on, jump with me!!" He pulled her up against her will, and began to jump while holding her hands. After a few minutes and some pushy comments from Jarod, she reluctantly joined in.

"If I do this will you cook supper?"

"Of course." He said with a smile. Soon they were both laughing. Miss Parker momentarily forgetting her problems.
"You know, I would have had to cook supper anyway." He said smiling.

"Yeah, why’s that?" Miss Parker asked, still bouncing away.

"Because your cooking could kill a dog!!" Jarod said. He was laughing hysterically at the comment until a pillow knocked him upside the head. He stood shocked for a minute but Miss Parker had a look of triumph.

"That’s it, your going down Parker!" He said laughing. He flew by her and grabbed a pillow. Soon they were in the midst of a full-fledged pillow fight, both laughing uncontrollably.

***

Sydney’s Office
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
12:13 p.m.

Sydney was sitting at his desk reviewing some files when an icon popped up. It read: You have mail. Sydney quickly looked around making sure that no one was in the room, after assuring himself that no one was lurking about he clicked the icon. A sound message that could only be from Jarod emerged.

Sometimes I feel I've got to run away
I've got to get away
From the pain you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn
I can't sleep at night

Once I ran to you
Now I run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not living

Oh, tainted love
Oh, oh tainted love

Now I know I've got to run away
I've got to get away

Sydney smiled sadly as the words to the song Tainted Love by Soft Cell played. This was the song Jarod had told him to look for. It may have been a while, but he remembered its significance. He smiled, deleted the file and left to see Broots.

***

SL – 5
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
12: 21 p.m.

Broots was reclined in his chair doing yet another pointless search for Jarod and Miss Parker. Any information recovered now was sure to be yesterday’s news, but he, being the good little lab tech he was, didn’t point this out to Mr. Lyle. Instead he did as he was told, figuring that if he was here the less chance there was he would run into anybody from out there.

"Broots!" Sydney called as he entered the run. Broots jumped up and turned to see who was there.

"Shit! Oh, it’s you Syd! You shouldn’t do that to people!" he said removing his clutched hand that rested above his heart.

"I’m sorry Broots. Look you need to get someone to cover for you."

"You mean now?"

"Yes now." Sydney said without sarcasm.

"Um, okay. Why?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll explain on the way. Meet me at the front gates in twenty minutes. Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Of course. What is it?" Sydney leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"I need you to make all my e-mail and hard drive files disappear. No one can ever find them."

"Yes. Okay. I’m on it. I’ll meet you in twenty minutes."

"Thank you Broots." Sydney said as he left Broots to his work.

***

Jarod’s Cabin
Big Spencer Mt., Maine
12:36 p.m.

Miss Parker was hiding behind the chair when Jarod walked by. Forget a pillow fight, they were having an all out pillow war.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Jarod called tauntingly. He hadn’t had this much fun since…. Well, since their last pillow fight in his cell at The Centre.
Miss Parker slowly crept up from behind him. She walked quietly until she was right behind him.

"I’m right heeeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeee." She called softly.

Jarod turned around in surprise as she swung her pillow and hit him square in the chest. He went sprawling backwards, but not without Parker. He grabbed on and they both fell to the floor, Miss Parker on top of Jarod. Neither of them could stop laughing. Miss Parker had her face buried in his chest trying to compose herself, while Jarod just held on to his side, which was beginning to hurt. After collecting themselves Miss Parker started to get up, putting a hand on either side of Jarod, her legs straddling his hips. Their eyes locked. As she looked into those big brown eyes she was lost as to what to do. Should she go with her heart, and kiss him or should she go with her instinct that told her to go back to being good ol’ bitchy Miss Parker. Jarod, on he other hand, had no options. Everything in him told him to kiss her; his only concern was her reaction. Her eyes had softened from cold to almost loving, but what about the rest of her? Just as he was about to give up and go for it when Miss Parker got up and offered him a hand. He accepted.

"So who won?"

"I think that would be you." He said as he chuckled softly.

"So what do I get? A trip to Paris? Greece is nice this time of year." Miss Parker said cheerfully.

"Well, a walk in the forest with yours truly will have to do."

"You got the bug spray?"

"Yep. Right here."

"Well, it looks like we’re set. Let’s go!" She said as she headed out the door.

Jarod didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected her to be so gung-ho, but he smiled. He was liking the new improved Miss Parker much more, and he wasn’t about to complain. She was becoming more and more like the person he remembered.

***

Outside Gate
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
12:41 p.m.

Broots was waiting by the gate nervously glancing at his watch. He couldn’t help but wonder what had Sydney acting so oddly. Sydney was a stickler for following protocol, but ever since Miss Parker had left he had been acting strangely. It was almost as if… As he was about to complete the thought when he spotted Sydney walking down the stairs towards him with a companion. At first he didn’t recognize thee face, but as they approached it became clearer. He gasped in shock, but regained control. It was Angelo.

"Hey Sydney. So what’s going on?"

"We have to run an errand. Do you have your car here?"

"Uh, yeah. It’s in the parking lot. Why, what kind of errand do we have to run?"

"I’ll explain later. Come along Angelo, we have to be going."

"Parker…Jarod…..happy…..confused."

Sydney smiled at Angelo’s statement, he certainly hoped that they were happy. They climbed into Broots’ car, Sydney taking driver’s seat. Nobody dared to say a word; they all knew the chances that bugging equipment could very possibly be present. Angelo stared out the window in wonderment at this uncontrolled environment as Broots pondered what they were doing. After ten minutes they reached Honest John’s Ford, Lincoln, Mercury. They all climbed out of the car as a salesman approached them. He spoke in a fake southern accent,

"Welcome ta Honest John’s. How ya all doin' ta day?"

"Good, thank you." Sydney said attempting to hide his accent. "We would like to purchase a car."

"Well, we are a car dealership. Why dontcha all take a look around and come inside when you’ve made your decision."

"Thank you sir."

After doing a quick search for the cheapest car Sydney entered the office alone and purchased the jalopy. Broots paced around the car anxiously wondering what was going on. Sydney still refused to explain what was happening and all he could get out of Angelo was "Parker…Jarod….. happy….. confused." Everything was so confusing and jumbled. First, Miss Parker goes after Jarod, then the contract to kill her, and now Sydney’s strange behavior. It was all to weird. He was jarred from his thoughts by Sydney’s voice.

"Let’s get going. We have a lot to do."

"Of course Syd." They climbed into the ‘new’ car. Once again Sydney took the drivers’ seat. They had been driving for five minutes when Broots realized that the car couldn’t possibly be bugged so he could talk freely.

"What’s this all about Syd?"
Sydney contemplated whether or not to tell him, but in the end decided that it would probably be for the best if Broots knew the plan.

"A few years ago I sneaked a radio into The Centre and allowd Jarod to listen to it. The song ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell came on. Jarod told me that one day he would send me this song, and that when he did I should follow an explicit set of instructions, which he put on an encoded disk for me. When I received the message I printed out the instructions." Sydney pulled out a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his suit coat and handed it to Broots.

"Oh, wow." Broots said as he read the detailed instructions. They told them how much time should go between flights, the best fake identities to use, right down to how they should go about picking up Broots daughter.

"I take it picking up Debbie is next on the agenda."

"Yes, it is. Just follow the instructions on the paper and you’ll be fine."

***

Terminal 87
Miami Airport
Miami, Florida
2:17 p.m.

Mr. Lyle had arrived at the airport dressed in a more casual average-Joe suit, as were the two sweepers with him. He didn’t want to stand out from the rest of the crowd. After spending a half an hour trying to find the manager he gave up and went to one of the terminal desks, grabbed the phone, had the clerk put it on loud speaker, and called for the person who had reported spotting Jarod to come to Gate 87 immediately. After waiting yet another thirty minutes a young, good-looking stewardess arrived. Mr. Lyle quickly whipped out a picture of Jarod.

"Are you the person who reported seeing this man?"

"Yes I am. I saw his picture on an Internet site. It said that he had mysteriously disappeared. Being in the travel business you come across a lot of people, so I figured that I’d keep it in mind. When I saw him I contacted the e-mail address given." She said smiling. When no reaction came from the man her smile faded. "What relation to him are you?"

"Oh, I’m his…his brother. I’m sorry, it’s just so shocking that after all this time I might finally be reunited with my brother." Lyle said pretending to be upset. He was doing a very convincing job.

"I’m so sorry." The woman said coming over to give Lyle a hug.

"No, no, I’m fine. Do you happen to know where he went after that?" He asked, after dwelling in the hug. Pretending to regain composure.

"Yes, I followed him and his lady friend to a flight that was leaving for Augusta, Maine."

"Thank you. You have been a great help. God bless you."

"It was no problem. I hope you can find your brother." She turned and left, but not before turning around to give him one last sorrowful glance. As soon as she was gone Lyle turned to the sweepers.

"Come on. We’re going to Maine."

***

Unit 13’s Private Jet
Somewhere over Georgia
2:37 p.m.

Thomas was sitting calmly in the cabin reading a magazine when a Unit 13 sweeper enter and stood at attention.

"What is it?" He asked not looking up from the magazine.

"Sir, it has been determined that The Centre has arrived in Miami ahead of us. According to our undercover agent there, Lyle has discovered that Jarod and Miss Parker have taken a plane to Augusta, Maine."

"This is perfect." Thomas said smiling.

"It is? I mean, how so sir?" The sweeper asked in confusion.

"Mr. Lyle will do all the dirty work, and in the end, we will get the fruits of his labor." Thomas explained to the man as if he were a complete imbecile for not putting the pieces together for himself.

"Of course sir. Is there anything else that you need me to do?"

"Yes, there is. I want you to put code Alpha 86A into action."

"But sir, that code is….."

"I know what that code is for you idiot! I designed it! Now get the hell out of here and get to your lousy ass to work!"

"Of course sir." The sweeper said as he left the room to call Headquarters and get the code activated.

***

Sussex County Airport
3 miles east of Georgetown, Delaware
2:51 p.m.

After following Jarod’s instructions they got Debbie out of school with out any interference and, thanks to a treasure map attached to the instructions, spent the next hour searching for the X. The small outing had Debbie excited. She thought of it as a big treasure hunt, and she was right. When they uncovered the buried box they found a hundred thousand dollars in small bills and two fake passports each. Included in the box was another set of instructions. They stated that these were the instructions that were to be followed from now on. Sydney followed the instructions to this airport where, presently, they were boarding a plane to St. Paul, Minnesota. From there they were to go to Edmonton, Canada. Then they were to drive to Sunburst, Montana fly to Seattle and take the flight to Athens and then drive to their final destination a few miles outside Ohrid, Greece.

Sydney picked up his carry on and turned to Angelo.

"Come on Angelo, we have to board the plane now." Angelo nodded excitedly, grabbed Debbie’s hand and walked towards the gate. He and Debbie had become quick friends. She found comfort in his child like persona, and he in hers.

"Hey, wait for me!" called Broots. He ran to catch up. He turned around to give Delaware one last look. He wanted to fell a little remorse, he was, after all, leaving the place that he had grown up, but all he could think was that they were finally going to be free of The Centre.

"Good riddance," he muttered as he boarded the plane heading towards freedom.

***

Augusta State Airport
Augusta, Maine
6:06 p.m.

Mr. Lyle entered the airport wearing a worn pair of tight jeans and a white tee shirt and, might I say, looking very hot. He was trying to fit into the small town atmosphere. He knew that they were here, he could sense his sister’s presence. He knew exactly were to go. He sent the sweepers to go rent a car as he checked with all the rental agencies to see if they had seen either Miss Parker or Jarod. He was on his third rental agency.
He walked up to the clerk, a twenty-year old well built blond guy with bright blue eyes, and flipped out the picture of Jarod.

"Excuse me sir, but have you seen this man?" The man looked at him suspiciously.

"Why?"

"Well, you see this man is my brother. We, well, we had a bit of a fight. We haven’t talked or seen each other in five years. I just want to make amends. You know?" Lyle asked, putting on a very convincing show. Hell, even the Unit 13 agent who had been following him since he had arrived had to remind himself who this man actually was.

"Oh, yeah I understand," the clerk said as he took another look at the picture that was held before him. "Yeah, I seen him about three this morning. I had to work a double today. The guy was real nice and he was with this fine chick." He said with a wistful grin.

"They rented a car and I heard him tell his chickadee that they were heading up to his cabin, that she needed some peace and quite, or something like that."

"Thank you, that’s very helpful. But could you do me another favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did that car have one of those tracking devices in it, you know the kind that you use to track it if it’s stolen?" Lyle was still being uncharacteristically nice. The Unit 13 sweeper was trying not to laugh. He had worked with Lyle when he had been free lance, and his attitude was such a stretch that he couldn’t help but laugh.

"Yeah, all of our cars have it. I can have it traced right now if you want." The unsuspecting clerk offered. The man standing before him appeared sincere, he was nice, and this was, after all, his brother.

"Really? That would be great! Thank you!" Lyle said getting excited, this, however, wasn’t an act. His plan had gone better than expected. This dumb fuck was about to put his pray right into his hands. Unbelievable, he thought. After a few minutes and some keystrokes the man had the coordinates.

"Would you like me to print you up a map?"

"Yes please." Lyle said, the words leaving a foul taste in his mouth. Not in his whole life had he uttered those words. But it was worth it. He knew that if he failed his father would no doubt have the cleaners on him. The man printed the map out and handed it to him. He gave a curt nod so that he wouldn’t have to say thanks.

"You have been great. This is perfect."

"No problem. I hope you find your brother."

"Huh? Oh! Oh yeah. I’m sure I will. Bye." Lyle walked off examining the map. It was about a six-hour drive to their destination. Then he would get the privilege of eliminating the pesky Jarod and his lovely sister.

He walked up to the car where sweepers were waiting. He climbed into the car and gave the map to the driver. While the driver studied the map a man wearing a blue suit walked behind the car. He appeared to have dropped one of his bags. As the man bent down to pick up the duffel bag he placed a small black box behind the bumper. The driver has been staring at the map for five minutes when Lyle spoke up.

"What the hell is taking you so long? Get moving! We have to get there and deal with Parker and Jarod before those Unit 13 bustards get wind of what we have done."

"Yes sir. The rest of the team will be following us."

"Fine, whatever works. Now get moving!"

***

Jarod’s Cabin
Big Spencer Mt., Maine
7:03 p.m.

"So, how’d you like the hike?" Jarod asked as the entered the cabin. They had walked all over the mountain, and, as far as he could tell, had a great time. Parker had relaxed a lot since they had arrived; she had even played hide and seek with him in the woods. She was being so nice it was almost frightening.

"I loved it! This place is so….so surreal. It’s great, there just aren’t enough words to describe it."

"So, it’s not a, how’d you put it? Oh yes ‘like a never ending hell’." He smiled at her over his shoulder.

"No, it’s more like a…" She left off as she took her canteen and snuck up behind him. "More like a watery…."

"A water…" Miss Parker dumped what was left in the canteen over his head and giggled.

"Yup, watery is right!"

"Thanks," he said as he wiped water off his face.

"I was just getting you prepared for the shower you need to take."

"Small problem. No running water, we have to take our baths in a water basin in the shed."

"You’re kidding, right?" she asked, but as she looked at him she realized he was being perfectly honest.

"Oh, great! As if it wasn’t bad enough taking a piss in the woods…well, I guess it could be worse. I mean, there could be no water, right?"

"Now, there you go Parker. I never knew that you were capable of looking at the bright side of things!"

"You’d be surprised what I’m capable of. For instance, while you clean up, I’m going to cook. And my cooking isn’t as bad as you seem to think it is." She stood with her hands on her hips and smiling. Jarod knew not to argue.

"Alright you win. I’ll go get cleaned up and you cook." Jarod walked out the door as Miss Parker began to pull all the necessary equipment from the cupboards.

Miss Parker was determined to show Jarod that she could cook. She wasn’t sure why, but this last day that they had been together she felt the need to impress him. So now she was cooking, something that she had not done since her mother had died. As she cooked her mind kept straying. She imagined Jarod in the tub, water running down his hard, well-chiseled stomach. The first time this image entered her mind she dropped the pot that had been in her hand. She blushed and picked it up. For some reason the thought kept entering her mind, each time becoming more detailed, soon she was with him, he held her in his arms. She felt so loved, so safe. When it was all over and done with she was surprised that she had been able to cook at all.

***

9:31 p.m.

Miss Parker and Jarod had eaten the meal that she had prepared in silence. At first because Miss Parker had been to embarrassed to say anything to him, and then because the silence had become a comfort. No gunshots, nobody saying that they had failed or weren’t good enough. They were both still alive, and the food hadn’t been all that bad. For that Jarod gave her credit. After they had done the dishes, it was Miss Parker’s turn to clean up in the water basin. Now, Jarod was sitting on the couch, laptop in hand. He was searching flight records for any sign of Sydney, Broots, Debbie and Angelo’s departure. He had to do something to keep his mind off of Parker who was probably presently naked lying in the tub… Just then Parker walked through the door and he found the names on the Northwest Airlines register. Good, he thought, they made it.

"What are you looking for?" Miss Parker asked leaning over his shoulder to peer at the screen. He shut the lid and smiled over his shoulder at her. He couldn’t show her how nervous she made him feel.

"It’s nothing important. You know, just doing another search for someone to pull out of the wreckage."

"Playing hero even when on the run from two dangerous organizations. How noble." She said seriously, no sarcasm.

"Yeah." He was silent for a while wondering how Miss Parker really felt about him, they way that she had just said those words had him confused. The last time she had said that her words had been dripping with hostility and contempt, but now she sounded as though she meant it.
Miss Parker saw the confused look on his face and spoke up.

"Look, I mean it, it’s noble. Really, how many people are there that would risk their lives just to save another? Not many. That’s all I meant, so quite over analyzing everything I say."

"Okay, sorry." He smiled at her, "forgive me?"

"You’re forgiven," she said as she plopped down next to him on the couch. "Now what is there to do?"

"I, my dear Parker, challenge you to a game of Scrabble."

"I accept your challenge, although I’m sure that you’re undoubtedly going to kick my ass."

***

10:47 p.m.

"Are you going to put down some tiles are what?" Miss Parker asked. Jarod had been looking at the tiles for three minutes. They were almost done with the second game, and as with the first, she was loosing terribly.

"Okay I got it." He laid down the tiles to spell ‘guizzing’. "There. That with the double word score and the double letter score under the z makes it 92 points!’ He said excitedly. He looked up at Miss Parker and smiled. Parker shook her head and smiled back.

"I should have known better than to play against a well learned Pretender, I mean what does this," she pointed at the board, "word even mean? I think we need a dictionary."

"Zweibach? Well, it’s a sweetened bread that’s baked as a loaf then sliced and toasted."

"Oh, well gee, why didn’t I get that one?" She smiled.

"Well you didn’t do bad. You came up with zymurgy and quixotic."

"At least I got something. You know I just made those words up. I wouldn’t have known they were real unless you told me. So how many points did I rack up?"

"Two hundred thirty-seven. I got seven hundred eighty-nine. Wanna play again?"

"And get my ass kicked again? No thanks, I think I’ll quit while I still have some dignity left." She replied as she shook her head and let out a small laugh.

"Alright than what should we do?"

"I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. I’m going to bed. You?"

"Yeah, I’ll get some blankets and make up the couch."

He walked into the bedroom as Miss Parker gave the couch a quick once over. That thing was as hard as a rock, not to mention lumpy. He was for a night of sleepless hell if she didn’t say something. Not that she should really care. Over the last few years she had been praying that he would suffer as much as she had, but now things were different. In a matter of days her world had turned upside down. Her personality had flipped from one extreme to the other and she couldn’t understand what was going on. Jarod entered the room with blankets, and before she could stop herself the words came out of her mouth.

"Look, Jarod, the bed is big, we can share it. This couch isn’t fit to sleep on." Jarod looked at her shocked.

"Excuse me?" he asked unable to hide the astonishment in his voice.

"Don’t argue, or I might change my mind." She headed off to the bedroom. "Oh, and if you take all the blankets I’ll lock you in the outhouse." Jarod stood there stunned until Miss Parker’s voice startled him.

"Are you coming or not?" she yelled sounding mad.

"Ye…yeah. Be right there." He shook his head still stunned and headed towards the bedroom. He climbed into his side of the bed. Both made sure to keep their distance, and slowly but surely they both drifted off into their usual dreamless sleep.

***

6 miles southeast of Jarod’s cabin
March 16, 1999
12:03 a.m.

Lyle was on his car phone talking to the team of sweepers in the other car. They were planning strategy. As they approached their final destination they pulled to the side of the road. Everyone exited the cars along with their guns.

"Alright, when we are all in position I’ll give the signal then we open fire. Understood?" Lyle asked. Everyone nodded so he gave the signal to move out.

***

Above Maine
12:06 a.m.

Thomas was in the helicopter along with his team of sweepers. He spoke to the pilot through the walkie-talkies in their headsets.

"Do we have a positive location?"

"Yes sir. The cars have stopped, but inferred indicates they are heading northwest."

"Good, follow the figures. When Lyle finds them we’ll move in."

***

Jarod’s Cabin
12:29 a.m.

Jarod woke up in a sweat, thanks to another Centre created nightmare, only to find himself intertwined with Miss Parker. His arms were wrapped around her waist and her head lay on his chest one of her hands on his stomach. Not wanting her to wake and see them in this compromising position he gently removed her head, then her arm. She moaned softly, almost as if she resented the fact that her skin was being removed from his, but settled back on her side of the bed. Jarod silently exited the bedroom wearing only his boxers and a white tee shirt, went to the refrigerator and took out a bottled water. Just as he was about to open it the world broke into chaos. First he heard Miss Parker let out a scream that could wake the dead; then, as he ran to aid Miss Parker, the room was shattered with gunfire. He crawled into the room to see Miss Parker on the floor poised in an attacking position. He grabbed her hand and led her the corner of the room and lifted the loose corner of the carpet. Underneath was a trap door. He opened it and gestured for her to enter. As she did so he turned to leave. She had to yell to be heard over the continuous gunfire.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"I have to get something. I’m right behind you! Go!" She gave him a reluctant look, but did as she was told. Jarod rushed into the other room and grabbed the laptop, cell phone and DSA’s. As he was leaving he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He held back a scream of pain. Knowing that they would follow the blood trail he ripped off his shirt. 'It should absorb the blood so it doesn’t leave an obvious trail,' he told himself as he resumed crawling. He entered the secret passage just as the gunfire stopped. The carpet fell back into place as the door quietly closed behind him.

***

Outside
12:35 a.m.

No Centre agents noticed the noise of the helicopter over the gunfire. They were to absorbed in the task at hand to care about much else. Thomas and his men exited the helicopter, guns drawn. They began to fire on the Centre operatives. When the noise died down Thomas went to survey the damage. Only on man was left alive.

"So, Lyle, we meet again. Did I or did I not make it clear that I would kill you the next time you interfered in a Unit 13 operation?"

"You made that point quit clear, but I’ve never been good at taking orders from dumb, dickless bitches such as yourself, so here I am."

"So here you are. Where’s the blond bitch with the fake accent?" He asked looking around, hands casually behind his back. The Unit 13 sweepers had stopped and were looking on. Each knew better than to interfere. Thomas was quite capable of handling himself.

"Off torturing some innocent kid, or something useful like that. Why, are you looking to be laid, ‘cause I can tell you from experience that she’s not all that good."

"Or maybe it was you. Enough with the pleasant chitchat. Where are Parker and loverboy?"

"Did you check inside? If all went well they’re lying in a bloody pool, their bodies tattered from a numerous amount of bullet holes." Lyle said, still calm and confident.

"Thomas motioned for one of his sweepers to check. After making a quick survey of the house he went out to report.
"No casualties present sir." He said standing at attention.

"Well, Lyle it appears as though things didn’t quite go your way, and it doesn’t seem to be looking up." With that Thomas pulled a gun from a holster and shot Lyle point blank in the head. He got blood spatter on him.

"I really have to find a more efficient and cleaner way of doing that." He threw the gun down next to the body and turned to the sweeper standing closest to him.

"Search the premises. I want a detailed report by Oh two hundred."

"Yes sir." The sweeper turned and motioned to the other men. They moved systematically around the premises, leaving no rock unturned.

***

In the Tunnel
12:37 a.m.

Jarod limped, if that, down the tunnel dragging the stuff he had gathered behind him. Up ahead he spotted Miss Parker nervously waiting for him. She looked and saw him, a huge smile of relief appearing on her face. She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck.

"Thank god, I thought they had killed you! Are you all…" Just then she noticed that he no longer had his shirt on and that it was recklessly tied around his bare calf. She looked back up at is face.

"Shit! You got shot? Oh Shit. Can you make it to wherever the hell this tunnel leads?" Jarod’s voice was strained with pain.
"Yeah, I think so. The end of the tunnel isn’t far, from there we have a little hiking, but I should be alright." Miss Parker came and wrapped an arm around his waist for support.

"I don’t believe you, but we still have to keep moving."

After a seemingly long and tiring walk they reached the end of the tunnel. Supplies were packed into two bags. As Miss Parker looked over at Jarod she knew that she would have to carry both, he was having a hard enough time supporting his own body weight. She lifted the backpack onto her back and carried the other as Jarod rested against the wall.
"Come on, Jarod. You can do it" she softly encouraged as they exited the tunnel into a patch of forest. God, she hoped it wasn’t a long hike to wherever they were going.

***

Jarod’s cabin
1:01 a.m.

A sweeper was standing in the bedroom examining the bed and carpeting for any traces of blood. They had found some near a desk, but nothing else. Against the blue carpet in the bedroom, dark stains were almost impossible to find, the operative word here being almost. The sweeper squatted down to take a better look. He stood up and walked to where Thomas was standing in the kitchen.

"Sir, I believe I have found traces of blood in the bedroom."

"Show me." The sweeper led him to a corner of the room and pointed.

"Here sir." Thomas got down and examined.

"I believe you’re right, but how’d they get out? The window’s closed." Suddenly it hit Thomas, he lifted the corner of the carpet. There, underneath, was a trap door. He pulled on it only to find that it had been locked from the inside.
"Damn it! Get someone in here with the tools to open this!" The sweeper left the room to do as he was ordered.

***

Somewhere in the Woods
In a Cabin
1:23 a.m.

After hiking less than two miles and what seemed like three hundred breaks, they finally reached their destination: a house built into the mountain. If I hadn’t been for Jarod she would have never spotted it; the solid wood door was exactly the same color as the mountain. The chances of Unit 13 or The Centre spotting it were zero. Miss Parker took the keys that Jarod handed her and opened the door, and turned on the lights. After dumping the luggage onto the kitchen table she helped Jarod to the couch. He moaned loudly as she moved his injured leg onto the couch.

"Oh, sorry."

"Forget it." Another moan of pain as he positioned himself. "You’re going to have to fix it up."

"Wha..but..Oh God Jarod. I’m not sure if I can." She looked over at him terrified.

"Miss Parker you don’t have a choice. You either help me fix it up or you sit here and watch me die." He said sternly, wincing in pain with each word.

"Alright, alright. Just lie back and relax. Now what do I have to do first?"

"Take off the shirt tied around the wound." Miss Parker did as she was told, and nearly fainted when she took off the shirt. It was soaked through with blood. Thankfully the bleeding had slowed down to a thin stream, or maybe that wasn’t so good. She wasn’t exactly sure.

"Okay, um, what next?"

"In the backpack there’s a first-aid kit. Get it out. Oh and go in the cupboard and grab the Vodka."

"I’m not so sure I should be drinking now, you know if I have to work on your leg."

"It’s not for you. Will you please hurry up!" He let out a softer moan.

"Oh, right." She ran to the bag and then to the cupboard grabbing everything as instructed.

"All right I’ve got all of it. What’s next?"

"Hand me the bottle." She did so and he unscrewed the top and took a healthy swig from the bottle. He wiped his mouth and turned back to her.

"Now you clean the wound with alcohol and those fuzzy balls. Then you sew it up. After that you…."

"I have to put in stitches! Jarod, I’m not so sure about this."

"Neither am I, but at the moment I am out of commission. Next to me you’re the person I trust most, so I put myself in your capable hands. Now as I was saying. After I am drunk off my rocker and have passed out, you have to sew up the wound and wrap the gauze in there around it. Have you got it?"

"Yeah, after your six sheets to the wind I sew you up and bandage it."

"Right, now let me see that bottle again." Jarod said as he grabbed the bottle, took a swig and flopped down into the pillows, trying to get comfortable.

***

1:42 a.m.

Jarod was out for the count, so Miss Parker got to work. She swabbed the wound, put on the gloves, took the needle from the sterile case, threaded it and began the procedure. She knew now that she would never look at needlepoint the same way. Whenever the needle entered his flesh she could her a soft, painful moan escape Jarod’s lips. She felt horrible doing this to him; she felt a little sick looking at the wound too. Thankfully only a few stitches were needed. When she was done she disposed of all the materials and sat back with what was left of the bottle.

***

The Centre
Mr. Parker’s office
1:46 a.m.

"What is the meaning of this late night conference Parker?" Rains asked, his voice raspy and ragged. Despite his protests Raines was dressed in a suit and looked well rested, well as well rested as he could look.

"I have just been informed that Lyle’s attempt to intercept Jarod and my daughter ended in a disaster. Unit 13 killed them all, this calls for recourse."

"Of course it does! Has Unit 13 obtained the targets?"

"Not yet, but I want cleaners sent in and Sim 15323 put into action." Parker said looking the man dead (or should I say dead man? LOL) in the eye.

"No questions asked." Rains smiled maliciously.

"That sounds like a good course of action. I’ll put into motion right away."

***

SL – 28
The Centre
2:01 a.m.

A man in a blue suit climbed out of the ventilation system carrying a duffel bag. He looked around wearing his night vision goggles. He took one last look at the blue prints in his hands and got to work. After completing the mission he gathered what was left of his materials, climbed back into the vent and left as quietly as he had come.

***

Cabin in the mountain
2:03 a.m.

Miss Parker was still awake. She peered over at Jarod for the gazillienth time hopping that she hadn’t killed him. And for the gazillienth time went and checked his pulse. She looked at her watch and counted. Fifty-five. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but at least he was alive. Jarod stirred a little at her touch, but didn’t wake. He had drank all but a shot from the bottle of Vodka so she figured that since he didn’t drink much he would be out for about a day. This would give her the time that she needed to set every thing up, and to find out he was hiding from her, she knew it was something big. She pulled out Jarod’s laptop, and at that moment thanked Broots for teaching her all she needed to know about hacking. She got to work, laptop in hand and a bottle of Yoo-hoo at her side.

***

Sublevel 31
Unit 13 Headquarters
3:23 a.m.

A man dressed all in black slowly emerged from the pile of dead Centre operatives. He had been smuggled in with the remains in order to complete Sim 15323. He pulled out the bag that he had with him and got to work. He looked at the blueprints in his hand one last time, and set out to complete the simulation. When he was done he left the room and walked up to Sublevel 28 where the first security guard stood. The man crept up behind the guard, covered his mouth with a chloroformed cloth and dragged him into the restroom, which was located behind them. He took the guards clothes, security pass and thumb. With these tools escape, at this hour, would be a cinch.

***

Jarod’s Cabin
3:31 a.m.

"Have you found anything yet?" Thomas asked the head sweeper. After breaking into the tunnel and finding the end, they had conducted a search in a five-mile radius. After searching for the last two and a half-hours they had yet to turn up anything.

"No sir. We have one hundred sweepers and about thirty locals searching, along with inferred and nothing has turned up." Said the man while standing at attention.

"Shit! All right. I want the sweepers to go back to Headquarters. Tell the locals to watch out for them, that they are a potential danger. There’s nothing more that we can do, this forest is to dense and there is to much land to cover."

"Yes sir." The man marched off as he spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Come back to home base, we are heading out." He then walked over to the local sheriff.

"We have found no trace of them, but they are a potential danger. If anyone spots them call us at this number."

"Sure no problem." The sheriff said as he to spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Alright boys, search has been called off. Let’s get on home."

***

The cabin in the mountain
5:30 a.m.

It had taken her a while, but Miss Parker had managed to break into his computer and open some files. They hadn’t told her much in themselves, but she was sure if she put the pieces together it would all make sense. Now she was trying to tap into his inbox. Just a she was about to throw the stupid thing across the room, the file opened. She let out a triumphant yell, but remembered that Jarod was sleeping and began to whisper.

"Alright Parker, so far so good. Now go to sent messages." She clicked on the icon and up popped all the mail that he had ever sent to her, Sydney and even her father. She had to laugh at the thought of her father reading the messages from him. The ones he had sent her were annoying and sometimes mean. She knew that he had meant them to help open her eyes, but they were mean none the less so she couldn’t possibly imagine the ones her father had received.
"Maybe I’ll read them later but now…" She went down and opened the last message that he had sent. It was yesterday at 11:21. She opened it only to find a sound file. She listened to it confused.

"What does the song ‘Tainted Love’ have to do with anything? Well, that was helpful." She sighed in frustration, and looked over at Jarod. "You know, it’s just like you to leave clues that make absolutely no sense. Well, Boy Wonder, I’m going to figure out what the hell you’re up to with or without your help." She turned back to the computer and went back to looking at the rest of the e-mails and files. ‘This is going to take forever’ she thought angrily to her self, ‘Might as well grab another Yoo-hoo.’

***

Unit 13 Headquarters
6:41 a.m.

Everyone had arrived back to Unit 13 just minutes before, and the last of the personnal had just arrived. Presently, everyone was reporting to their workstations. Down on Sublevel 28 Dr. Cavinaugh was looking in on one of his ‘patients’ when the sound of ticking caught his attention. He looked around suspiciously. When he didn’t see anyone he followed the sound, cautiously peering around each corner. Finally he spotted a red light across the room. He headed towards it still cautiously looking about for anyone lurking in the corners. He slowly approached the ticking and glowing box attached to the wall. As he was about to touch the box a loud alarm went off. The last thing that the man would ever see was the world before him transformed into a billowing blaze of flames.

Outside Unit 13 Headquarters the blaze could be seen for miles and pieces of rubble were to be found in a 2-mile radius. There would be no survivors.

***

Mr. Parker’s Office
The Centre
6:51 a.m.

Raines enter Mr. Parker’s office without announcing himself. Before Parker could object to this rude interruption Rains spoke.

"The simulation has been completed."

"Good, now that we have gotten Unit 13 out of commission we will be able to proceed without further interference."

"It seems, Mr. Parker, that you have forgotten that the only reason we ever found Jarod and Miss Parker’s location was because of intercepted Unit 13 communications." Raines said looking down upon Parker as though he were nothing but a bug that could easily be smashed under his shoe, should he manage to exert enough energy to lift his foot that high. Parker stood up and returned Rains’ look.

"And you seem to be forgetting whom you take your orders from. I could, at any time, place a bullet quit nicely in the center of your brain." He said as he placed a finger directly in the center of Rains’ forehead. As Mr. Parker ended his sentence his phone rang.

"What?" (I guess that explains where Miss Parker gets that from)

"All personnal have arrived in the building. All accept Dr. Green and Mr. Broots"

"Thank you Mary. I’ll worry about them. Tell me, has my wife arrived yet?"

"Yes sir. She’s…….." As she was about to finish the sentence a bowel shaking rumble rang through the building. Just as Parker turned give Rains a stunned and questioning look the building exploded. No one stood a chance of surviving.

***

Sunburst Airport
Sunburst, Montana
7:03 a.m.

Sydney and crew, after a total of sixteen hours of flying and driving, had arrived in Sunburst. Now they were waiting for their plane to lift off. They were the only passengers. Debbie and Angelo were both asleep while Broots and Sydney stayed up, both on guard for the worst.

"Hey Syd, do you really think this will work?"

"I’m not sure, but Jarod has never failed me, I don’t expect it to happen now. We are in good hands Mr. Broots."

"God I hope so." He cast a loving glance at his daughter, "for all of us I hope so."

***

Cabin in the Mountain
7:52 a.m.

"I give!" Miss Parker nearly shouted in her frustration. She had spent over five hours on his stupid computer and couldn’t find a single clue as to what he might be hiding from her. However, she did get a more descriptive account of what he had been up to the last two and a half years. She looked at her watch. 8:00. Well, she had time to get some sleep before she had to get everything ready. She went to the bedroom and grabbed a blanket from the closet. She covered Jarod, who was still sleeping soundly, and headed to the bedroom to get herself some rest.

***

5:01 p.m.

Miss Parker slowly awoke from the deepest sleep that she had had in weeks, maybe even months. As she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, she looked at her watch. 5:03 p.m. She had been out for almost eight hours. She jumped out of bed wearing one of Jarod’s shirts and went to check on him. She walked into the living room to find him in the exact same position she had left him in, snoring quietly. She had to get everything set up before he woke, but first she was in serious need of a shower. Thankfully this place had running water, and thanks to propane, it was warm water. She stopped in the bedroom, grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the adjacent bathroom closing, but not locking, the door behind her. She quickly undressed and jumped in the shower, enjoying the warm water that washed all of the dirt and stress from her.

Meanwhile in the living room Jarod climbed reluctantly out of bed. He didn’t seem to be too awake as he staggered across the room with a slight limp, attempting to make his way towards the bathroom. After nearly drinking that whole bottle he had to piss like a racehorse. He staggered past the bed and headed towards the bathroom. He heard running water, but it didn’t register that someone else was there.
At that same moment Miss Parker stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She was grabbing an extra toothbrush from the sink when the door opened and smacked her.

"Fuck!" She yelled as she grabbed the sink for balance. Jarod stuck is head in and was shocked to find Miss Parker dressed only in a towel.

"Wha are you doin' here?" He said sleepily, momentarily forgetting all that had happened.

"Well, seeing as The Centre is trying to kill us and Unit 13 is trying to kidnap us, you brought me here."

"Oh, yeah right. Sorry." He had his head down rubbing it. ‘Probably has one hell of a hang over’ she thought. Jarod slowly raised his head to give her an apologizing look when it hit him that she was dressed only in a towel. He could see some cleavage and a whole lot of leg. He blushed deeply, mumbled a sorry, and then asked, "could I use the bathroom for a moment?"

"Yeah sure," she had been looking at him to. He was standing before her dressed only in a pair of loose fitting Scooby-Doo boxers. She wanted to run her hands over his tan chest and tight stomach. Her feelings were dangerously close to the point of no return.

"Just let me get my clothes. I’ll change in the bedroom and find you some aspirin."

"Thanks, but I think I need a shower."

"Alright then." They stayed standing where they were, tension building. Miss Parker had to get out of there, she was having feelings of, what was that word? ‘Oh, yeah, love.’ She thought.

"Um, I’ll let you take your shower then. Excuse me." She said as she walked up to Jarod in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah." He stepped out of the way, then walked in and closed the door, leaning against it. ‘Is it just me or is there something building up here?’ Well, he wasn’t going to worry about it. All he wanted right now was to make use of the facilities and take a nice shower.

When Jarod emerged from the bathroom refreshed he didn’t see Miss Parker in the bedroom, so he entered the living room to find toilet paper draped all around, one string of paper hung above the door and read ‘Happy Birthday Jarod!" in Sharpie. Miss Parker was standing next to the table where she had lined up Twinkies with candles placed in them. She was grinning widely at his reaction to the room. His mouth hung open in shock, then he broke into a wide smile.
"You remembered!" He said sounding astonished that she had remembered the segregate birthday she had assigned him just after her mother had died.

"Of course I remembered! I assigned this day to you!" She said still smiling widely. Jarod walked slowly around the room and looking amazed. When he reached Parker he smiled his boyish smile and gave her a hug. His face in her hair he whispered his thanks. She leaned her head against his shoulder, relishing in his warmth and smell.

"Hey it’s your birthday, it’s the least I could do."

After a few moments he pulled her away and went to kiss her on the cheek, but at that moment she moved to look at him. He missed her cheek and hit her lips, neither resisting. The kiss went on for a few moments, at fist innocent, but becoming more passionate, until they both pulled away out of breath, starring at one another. Finally Jarod spoke, breaking the silence, and grinning.

"So, was that my present?" He said pulling her back against him. She smiled back at him.

"Yeah. You know lately I’ve had to sort out a lot of my feelings, and I’ve discovered something, I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I have these feelings. It’s, well I think it’s, well. God, this is hard! Okay, it’s love. Well, I think so anyway." She rushed on unsure of herself or his reaction. He smiled widely.

"I’ve been thinking to, and have come to the same conclusion. Look, Parker, Marideth, I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you." She smiled back and nodded.

"Ditto. Shall we celebrate with a Twinkie?"

"Sounds, like a plan, but I have to look something up."

"What’s that?"

"Delaware news. I just want to see if anything that we should know about has happened."

***

Somewhere in the Air
Half way to Athens, Greece

Broots was working on his laptop with Sydney reclining next to him. He decided to look up the Delaware Tribune. ‘What the hell,’ he thought, ‘might as well keep on the events.’ When he logged on to the page he was shocked by what he found. "Oh my dear God." He whispered. Then, turning to Sydney he said.

"Syd, get a load of this! It’s unbelievable!"

"What is it Broots?"

"Okay, get this," he began to read the article, "Today a building located in Blue Cove mysteriously exploded. It is not known what this building was used for, but it has been said that it’s a government owned facility. This however, is not all of the explosive news in circulation today. A few minutes before the Blue Cove explosion, another one had occurred in Stone Harbor, Connecticut. The FBI is saying that, while the details about what either facility was employed in, it is suspected that these were terrorist attacks." Broots smiled as the realization of what truly happened hit him. Sydney smiled and let out a chuckle.

"So Unit 13 and The Centre blew each other up."

"Now that’s irony for you." Broots said joining in on the chuckle.

***

The cabin in the Mountain
5:47 p.m.

Jarod had just read Miss Parker the same news that Broots had read Sydney. They both got a good laugh from it, not that they were happy that everyone had gotten blown to smithereens, but the irony of it all was too much.
Jarod looked at his watch then at Parker.

"We have plan to catch."

"Why, where are we going?"

"That my dear, is for me to know and you to find out." He stood and gave her a kiss. "Come on, we have to pack." Miss Parker rolled here eyes, and went to pack.

***

Ashlee’s Room
Michigan
11:42 p.m.

Ashlee stretches and yawns and begins to sing the Monkees song that blares from the computer. "I thought love was only true in fairy tales. Meant for someone else, but not for me. Love was out to get me. (Do do dut da do) That’s they way it seemed (Do do dut da do). Disappointment haunted all my dreams. Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer."

"Keep your day job." Ashlee looked into the air and smiled.

"Hey there Habib!" Habib (pronounced Habeeb) is her imaginary friend, an in-training Shaman from Zimbabwe, Africa.

"Is that parody not getting long?"

"Yeah it is. I’m getting sick of writing. It just keeps dragging on and on and on." She holds her head in her hands. "Will it ever end?!"

"Why do you not just tell them the ending?"

"Habib! You’re a genius!" She jumps up and hugs the air.

"Thank you."

Ashlee turns to the computer and starts talking as she types.

"Okay folks out there in cyberspace, and those of you that have the privilege of receiving this straight from me, here’s the thing. I’m tired of this endless typing so I’m gunna tell ya the ending and you can picture it in your head. Okay, Miss Parker and Jarod fly to Greece and drive to a lake a few miles outside Ohrid, Greece where Jarod had bought this huge house. There they met up with Syd and company. There were hugs and all the other stuff that goes along with mushy reunions. Eventually Jarod finds his parents and discovers his name to be Jarod Russell Fontino. Then Marideth a.k.a. Miss Parker and Jarod get married and have some kids. Everyone lives happily ever after. Well, there you have it folks. THE END."

Ashlee shuts off the computer and leaves.

Liked it, Loved it, Hated it so much that you plan to print it up and burn it in a sacrificial ceremony? Write and tell me at zyp959@hotmail.com

P.S. If you noticed bad grammar or anything blame it on two things. 1) Renee you were supposed to Beta read. Where the hell are you when I need you! 2) I’m stuck with that Yooper accent.

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