Disclaimer: The Pretender, as much as I would like it to be true, doesn’t belong to me. They belong to NBC. The X-Files characters also do not belong to be, but Chris Carter. Every once in a while I just kidnap them, stick ‘em in my basement, hook ‘em up to some wires and derive some stories, nothing serious, and no harm done. J I mean it isn’t like anyone WANTS to sue me, right? (Nervous laugh)
Note: Um, not much here. The theme song that Mer sang in the last edition was the theme to The Dukes of Hazzard, namely Good ol’ Boys, by Waylon Jennings. The only person who got it was Sk1ttle. Three cheers for you! I also need to thank Schuyler for pointing out what I needed to address and, along with Nicolette and Emily Siazon, for the ideas. Thanks bunches guys!!!
Well, you guys are gunna kill me for the ending, so let me tell you right now that there is going to be a sequel. So, if you do have any homicidal thoughts, just keep in mind that should you indeed kill me you will never know the ending. With that said, enjoy.
Title - Feelings of Indignation Part Two
Author - Ashlee
E-mail address - zyp959@hotmail.com
Rating - M (for language)
Category - Adventure/ Alternate Universe / Pretender/X-Files Crossover
Series/Sequel - Part One of Feelings of Indignation
Spoilers - N/A
Summary - When a girl is kidnapped by The Centre, Jarod and Miss Parker discover
that they have a bond deeper than either ever imagined.
"Feelings of
Indignation"
Part Two
By Ashlee
Miss Parker’s House
8:47 p.m.
"Parker, we have to talk. We have to talk about our baby." Jarod said softly. Miss Parker stood and quickly walked to the bathroom.
"Parker, are you there?" Jarod’s voice asked worriedly, afraid that something might have happened, that she might have done something desperate. After turning the shower on full blast Miss Parker whispered into the phone.
"Yes I’m here. Look we can’t talk on this phone. Call me in 20 minutes at 438-269-2486." Miss Parker hung up the phone abruptly, turned off the shower and went to get Merideth. She didn’t have to go far, for there, standing behind her was Merideth looking confused.
"What’s this I hear?" Merideth said looking at her.
"Get a coat we have to get going." Miss Parker said as she walked past her to get something out of her room. Merideth obeyed and with in three minutes they were out the door and on their way.
***
Jarod’s Hideout
8:50 p.m.
Jarod looked at the phone confused. The way it sounded Parker knew about the baby. Was she the one that sent him the information? Could it be she was the one betraying the Centre by sending info to the F.B.I? ‘No,’ he thought sadly, ‘no matter what Miss Parker will always stand by her father.’ Jarod knew that they were going to have to discuss plans for getting their baby out.
"Our baby." He smiled happily. "That has a nice ring to it." The happiness of being a father hit him suddenly. The thought of holding a small baby in his hands and teaching him, or her, all he knew gave him a warm sensation. He smiled broadly as he laid out how to retrieve his, no their, child from the corrupt clutches of the Centre.
***
Miss Parker’s car
2 miles from the coast
9:05 p.m.
Miss Parker parked her car in a pull out for the scenic view spot. She got out of the car and stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Merideth approached her from behind.
"So what’s going on?" She asked softly. Miss Parker smiled a sad smile and looked down at the ground.
"I, Jarod and I, have a baby." She looked at Merideth, the sad half smile still on her face. She was having a hard time getting used to the fact that Jarod, of all people, was the father of her baby. Not that she had had a choice, ‘and,’ she reminded herself silently, ‘whose to say that if things had been different and my life hadn’t been controlled that I wouldn’t have chosen Jarod?’ She shook away the unthinkable thought.
"I have a baby and I didn’t even know it."
"What do you mean?" Merideth asked still not quite getting it. How could she have a baby and not know it? She shivered a little realizing that silk pajamas and a coat just didn’t cut it in mid August, at least not in the middle of the night anyway.
Miss Parker pulled the files out of her coat pocket, they were no longer in the envelope, and handed them over to her. Merideth read them and let out a small gasp.
"They’ve been planning this since 1970?" Merideth took another look. "But it says here that the baby is only three weeks old." She looked at Miss Parker questioningly.
"It also says that there had been several attempts, and if I understand this correctly, this was their first success. It also says that they had taken some of my eggs when I had to go in for appendicitis when I was fourteen. They also took Jarod’s semen and when they learned enough about genetics they started to play God, and along came my, our, baby." Parker’s look was on of complete hatred for the people who had done this to her and, Merideth guessed, to Jarod.
"So what are you planning to do? I can help you know."
"I’m going to get my baby and make those bastards pay, and I’m counting on your help."
"Well, you’ve got it and I’m sure Chet’ll be glad to help to."
"Who’s Che…?" Miss Parker was about to ask when her phone rang. "Jarod?" she sounded anxious.
"Yeah, Parker is this phone secure?"
"Yeah, I bought this one under a false name, for emergencies, and I think this falls under that category, don’t you?"
"Parker there’s something I have to ask you, did you send me those files about our baby?"
"No, I thought you sent them." She said surprised that he hadn’t.
"No," he said thinking, "I didn’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need to rescue our baby. Here’s my plan."
***
Stanton Inn
Mulder’s Motel Room
9:55 p.m.
"Did you send Skinner the fax?" Scully asked as Mulder walked back in the room. She was sitting on his bed going over the files that they had been sent and the notes of that day trying to draw some kind of logical conclusion from it all, and the only one she could come up with was perfectly illogical.
"Yup, he’ll see it tomorrow when he gets in." He plopped himself on the bed next to her and laid back with his hands behind his head.
"How much you want to bet that he’s going to get some order from ‘higher up’ telling him that we should drop the case as a ‘matter of national security’?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I’d say that the odds are pretty good. If these files are correct than I would assume that the government wouldn’t want the public to know." She pointed to a sheet of paper. " It says here that the project goes to the highest bidder, and that nine times out of ten it’s the…" Mulder didn’t have to look at the file to know the answer.
"The good old U.S of A. Don’t you love how our government is so against using humans as test subjects? It just makes me feel all warm n’ fuzzy inside!" He gave her a Mulderesque smile and leaned over her to grab some of the papers.
"I guess we had better get back to work." They both started re-reading the files hoping for another clue.
***
Cancer Man’s Apartment
Location: Unknown
11:00 p.m.
Diana Fowley entered through the apartment door, which was slightly ajar. She walked into the living room where she knew he would be seated. She sat across from him, and he was smoking his seemingly always-present cigarette.
"You called me." She greeted.
"There is something that I need you to take care of, some information that needs to be kept secret."
"From the inseparable duo?" She said with a small amount of distaste. She did, after all, think of Mulder as hers, ‘and he was until that red headed bimbo came along,’ she thought angrily.
"Yes." Cancer Man breathed as he blew out a puff of smoke.
"What information?" She asked, making herself more comfortable in the chair, she clasped her hands on her abdomen and crossed her legs.
"Information about our involvement with the Centre." This caught Diana’s attention. She sat up.
"How did they find out about that!?"
"Apparently there is a leak within the facility, they are working on patching it. However, Mulder has received enough information to pique his interest, and once he gets started…" He let the sentence hang. They both knew that their necks were on the line.
"I’ll handle it." Fowley said as she stood up and exited the apartment. Cancer Man looked as calm as ever as he sat back and lit another cigarette.
***
The Centre
SL – 4
7:04 a.m.
September 1, 1999
Miss Parker was sitting with Merideth talking about how they were going to play this out. The timing had to be just right or everything would back fire and they could both, very possibly, wined up dead. Just then they heard a voice.
"What are you girls chatting about this early in the morning?"
"Lyle," Miss Parker said as if the name left a nasty taste in her mouth. "What the hell do you want?"
"Just wanted to see my beautiful sister and check in on our favorite new addition here at the Centre." He smiled mischievously and suggesting smile at Merideth.
"You know Mr. Lyle," Merideth said in a shy, yet almost seductive way, "I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately, and when I do an old cliché comes to mind."
"Really," Lyle said just as flirtatiously, "And what cliché would that be?"
Merideth turned and looked at a shocked Parker and gave her an evil wink. She turned back to Lyle and ran her fingertips seductively over his chest. Then, suddenly grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him down to her level.
"I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth." She shoved him back and turned to Miss Parker. "Now, if you don’t mind Miss Parker and I have a Pretender to catch. Toodles." She said happily as she gave a little wave and exited the room
‘She’s out to win my heart,’ Miss Parker thought as she followed her out and turned to a stunned Lyle. "Toodles thumbs!" She said cheerfully as she to waved and left him to pout.
***
Chet’s House
7:10 a.m.
Chet was eating a bowl of Cap’n Crunch when the doorbell rang.
"Chet dear, could you get that for me?" His mother’s soprano voice called from her room.
"Sure thing mom!" Chet yelled as he went to answer the door. "Hey Mr. J, what’s up?" He said to the figure in the doorway.
"Can we talk outside?" He asked looking around cautiously.
"Yeah, sure." Chet closed the door and followed him out. "So what is it, did you come up with a way to get her back?"
"It’s not that simple Chet, things have gotten really complicated." Jarod said softly.
"Wait, what do you mean ‘complicated’?" Chet asked, as all the horrible out comes began to run through his mind. ‘God, please no.’ he silently thought.
"Look, I’ll explain it later, but we are scheduled to meet Parker and Merideth in," he looked at his watch, "ten hours."
"Parker? You mean the chick you said kidnapped Mer? Why are we meeting her?" He asked, silently relieved that Mer wasn’t dead.
"I said I’ll explain it to you on the way. Merideth said that you need to use plan B, she said that you’d know what that means."
"Yeah, okay, all right. Just give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you at Merideth's." Chet walked back into the house.
"Who was at the door, dear?" Chet’s mom asked. She was tall and very pretty in that rich, sophisticated way. Today she was wearing her dark blue business suit.
"It was just Mer coming to tell me that if I’m not there in ten minutes she’s leaving on the trip with out me." Chet said as he gulped down the last of his orange juice. "I better finish packing." He started to head off to his room when his mom stopped him.
"What trip, Chet?"
"Don’t tell me you forgot mom. Come on!" Chet said sounding a little disgusted.
"When did you tell me this?"
"Last month when you got back from London and you told me that you had to go to Paris for a month. Then I asked you if it would be all right if me and Mer took a trip, because Mer was so down and all about her dad dying, and you said sure, as long as I kept up on my studies. When I said Mer had hired a tutor, you said it would be all right as long as my grades didn’t drop."
"Oh, well if I said that then it must have been planned. All right dear, go ahead." She looked at her watch. "Oh my, I’m late. I have to go meet your father, our plane leaves in an hour." She kissed Chet on the forehead. "Be good and remember your checkbook, credit card and cell phone. I’ll call you when we get to Paris. I love you." She waved as she walked out the door. Chet shook his head at his pure genius and acting ability.
"Sometimes I shock myself, not that it doesn’t help that my parents are filthy rich and to busy to remember everything." He looked in his mirror and smiled. Then he started to talk to himself in the mirror. "God your good, did you know that? You are damn good." He laughed as he started to pack.
***
The Centre
Miss Parker’s Office
SL - 4
7:15 a.m.
Miss Parker and Merideth were in her office. Merideth sat at the computer typing franticly as Miss Parker stood over her watching intently.
"I got it! Right here, I found him!" Merideth yelled in joy as she pointed to the screen. Miss Parker appeared to be looking closer at the screen, almost studying it. Merideth gave Parker a little shove.
"Go! Go tell who ever the hell you have to tell! We don’t want to loose him!" Miss Parker gave her a smile and walked out the door. Merideth soon followed her.
***
Stanton Inn
Mulder’s Hotel Room
7:17 a.m.
Mulder was sleeping soundly, without nightmares for the first time in a long time, until the bedside phone rang. He went to roll over and grab it, but realized that his right side was temporarily unable to move. He groaned and reached for the phone with his other hand. "
Mulder," he said sleepily.
"Agent Mulder, its A.D Skinner."
"Hello, sir." He said closing his eyes again, still to tired to figure out why it seemed impossible to move his right side and what that light, almost feather soft, weight was on his chest.
"Where is Agent Scully? I called her room and she wasn’t there." The A.D said.
Mulder’s eyes flew open, thinking for a moment that something had happened to her, that’s when he finally glanced down and noticed her asleep, her head on his shoulder, hand on his chest and one leg over his. She was sleeping peacefully. Mulder looked down at her thinking about what an angelic look she had on her face, then caught him self and spoke.
"I would assume that she went to get breakfast sir." Mulder said keeping any hint out of his voice.
Scully stirred at the deep echo his voice made in his chest. She moved a little then opened her eyes. ‘Shit’ Mulder thought. She looked at him with a sleepy, questioning look. He put a finger to his lips, and she sat up all the way. She got the hint and didn’t say anything.
"Is there anything else sir?"
"Yes Agent Mulder. I have received orders from higher up that you are to stop this investigation immediately. It’s a matter of national security." Mulder, who was sharing the receiver with Scully, looked at her and gave her a what-did-I-tell-you look. Skinner continued.
"You and Agent Scully do have some paid vacation coming though, so I took the liberty of putting you down for a week."
"Thank you sir, Agent Scully and I could use a break from the stresses of F.B.I investigations, see you in a week sir."
"Good Bye Agent Mulder, you too Agent Scully." Skinner’s side went dead.
"Oops." Said Scully as she laughed and got out of bed. "I better go change." She didn’t feel that their previous nights sleeping arrangement needed to be discussed. They were just friends who had worked until three in the morning and had fallen asleep in the same bed and woke up in each other’s arms. There was no underlying sexual innuendo there, none at all.
***
SL – 24
7:18 a.m.
Merideth had slid down the railings of twenty flights in record time, Chet would be proud, but right now that was the least of her worries. She had exactly twelve minutes to break into room twenty-six, grab Parker’s baby and get out before getting caught. He adrenaline was pumping and she was shaking, but she knew that she had to do this, for Parker and Jarod. Merideth was standing just outside the door.
"Okay, take a breath. Now go get the baby before it’s to late."
Merideth opened the door silently and entered the room. There, in the center of the room, was a crib with a small baby in nothing but a diaper. Merideth gently wrapped the baby in its blanket and picked it up.
"It’s all right now sweetie, me and Parker are going to save you from this hellhole." She quickly exited and made a running dash for the stairwell. She looked at her watch. Eight minutes to get to the outside gate before the security cameras kicked in again. She began to run even faster, the baby tightly clutched to her chest.
***
Merideth’s House
7:20 a.m.
Jarod stood outside the house with one of Merideth’s suitcases in hand. He had a far off look in his eye. He was thinking about his and Parker’s relationship. It hadn’t gone sour until the day he left, the day that she became trapped at the Centre. For that he knew she would never forgive him. What she didn’t know, however, was…he was shook out of his thoughts as Chet quickly walked up to him.
"Is everything set?" Jarod asked re-entering the real world.
"Yup, piece of cake. So where we going?"
"We have a private jet to catch in twenty minutes. Destination: Marquette County Airport. From there we have to drive about three hours to this really cool house I bought. Parker’s going to LOVE it." Jarod said the last sentence excitedly. He then turned and walked towards his car with a huge gin on his face.
‘Hmm.’ Chet thought, ‘I think there’s a little more to his relationship to this Parker chick than he cares to admit.’ Chet followed him as he thought about the interesting developments that were sure to occur.
***
Mr. Parker’s Office
The Centre
7:21 a.m.
Miss Parker barged in the office to find her father nowhere in sight. ‘Even better,’ she thought silently. 'I’ll just leave him a note.' She quickly scribbled ‘lead on Jarod, tell you when I have something. Love you,’ signed, ‘your daughter.’ She quickly walked out of the room and towards the front gate. Halfway there she ran into her young cohort, carrying the baby. Her eyes lit up when she saw the teenager holding the newborn. Miss Parker was about to congratulate her when an alarm sounded.
"SHIT!" They both yelled in unison as they ran for the front gate and bolted for the rental car that awaited them. After entering the parking lot Miss Parker turned to see if they were being followed. She turned and saw no one. She was about to give a sigh of relief when she spotted Lyle and two sweepers come flying through the parking lot entrance.
"Fuck!" She yelled and started running again.
Merideth was already unlocking the car, and handed Miss Parker her baby.
"Take the baby and put it in its seat, I’ll drive." Miss Parker had no time to argue the men were less than thirty feet away. Just as Miss Parker shut the door the car began to move. Parker quickly fastened the baby in the car seat, thanks to Merideth who had shown her how to work it last night, and then fastened her own. She now sat hoping to God that Merideth knew what she was doing.
***
Centre Parking Lot
7:25 a.m.
"DAMN IT!" He screamed at the car and stamped his foot. "This is just great! Dad and Mutombo are going to kill me!" He said still watching the car. Then, realizing that all this complaining was getting him anywhere, he turned to his sweepers, make that sweeper, one of them was missing.
"What the HELL are you waiting for? Go get my car!"
"Jim’s getting it." The other sweeper said just as the second sweeper pulled up in his car.
"It’s about fucking time." Lyle said as he jumped in, and the car sped off after them.
***
Mrs. Franklin’s Small
Town Bookstore
Stanton, Maryland
7:28 a.m.
Chet was sitting impatiently in the car. They had twelve minutes to be at the airport, which just happened to be ten minutes away. Just as Chet was about to blow the horn Jarod walked out of the store carrying three huge bags of books, still wearing a big smile, but now he looked worried too. Jarod opened the door and threw the bags in the back.
"What are you so worried about?" asked Chet as he tried to get a look at the books Jarod had bought. ‘What the hell does he need all these baby books for?’ He wondered silently as Jarod spoke.
"I just hope everything is going as planned."
***
Miss Parker’s Car
Highway 32
7:30 a.m.
Merideth was going down the highway in excess of eighty miles an hour, and Lyle and friends were closing the gap fast. Merideth looked in the back seat at Parker who was trying to pretend she knew what to do with the baby. Merideth quickly put her eyes back on the road. She would never forgive herself if there were an accident.
"One question." Miss Parker said from the backseat. "Do you have a license?"
"Yeah."
"Have you ever driven this fast before?’
"Nope, but I have watched Nascar. I thought you said one question?" Mer paused for a moment as she looked in the rearview mirror only to see Lyle’s car about three feet from her bumper. She then asked: "Hey, what are we going to do about your annoying brother and his fellow evolutionary deprived friends?"
Miss Parker thought for a moment, then a wicked smile came over her face.
"I think me and my darling twin brother need to have a heart to heart." She picked up her phone and dialed.
***
Mr. Lyle’s Car
Mr. Lyle was still fuming over his sister’s stunt when his phone rang.
"WHAT!!!" He yelled into the phone, then regretted it thinking that the caller was his father wondering what the hell was going on. Unfortunately for him it wasn’t.
"That’s my line." Came his sister’s overly sweet sounding voice.
"Well, it’s so nice to hear from you. Mind telling me why you decided to steal my project?"
"Your project? Last I heard it was my baby." Lyle let out an almost inaudible gasp, but Miss Parker caught it. Her voice changed from the sweet tone to one of no nonsense. "Seems that there are some very interesting facts that we need to get straight. First being that YOU do not own my baby, second being that you don’t follow me."
"And why would I do that sister dear?"
"Have you ever seen the movie Speed?" She asked in that fake curious voice.
"What the hell does that have to do with this?" Lyle was becoming agitated with these round about games.
"Let’s just say that there’s a similar plot. You go under fifty-five, you go boom, they find pieces in Kalamazoo." Parker hung up on him.
"Fuck!" He yelled as he punched at the back of the seat. Ahead of them Merideth had come to a stop on the side of the road. His driver began to slow down. Lyle hit him.
"No you idiot, don’t slow down! Don’t go below fifty-five or we’ll all be blown to smithereens!" Mr. Lyle slouched back in his seat and watched as Merideth and Miss Parker waved as they passed.
***
Miss Parker’s Car
Heading back the other way
Merideth was still laughing at Miss Parker’s little conversation as she drove in the opposite direction towards the small airport just down the road.
"So is there really a bomb in his car?"
"Nope, but he’ll be half way to Florida before he figures it out." She laughed and the baby began to cry. A look of horror came over Miss Parker’s face. She began to fidget, moving her hands all around the car seat, but not daring to touch anything. "Wha…what do I do?" She asked sounding scared.
"Calm down Miss P. The baby’s diaper probably needs to be changed or it’s hungry. It’s nothing serious." Miss Parker let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.
"There’s a grocery store straight ahead. If I give you the money will you get what…" She paused for a minute. "I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl." She said in sudden realization, looking down at the baby shocked.
"Well," Merideth said as she parked the car in front of Ted’s Convenience Store. "I guess we’ll figure it out when we change the diaper." She extended her hand for the money. Miss Parker gave her forty dollars.
As Miss Parker sat alone in the car attempting to comfort the baby her mind was reeling over what she had just done, over what she had been planning to do since the night she had kidnapped Merideth. She had betrayed the Centre, and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t just the baby. When she had first seen Merideth she knew that she was going to help her escape. She felt connected to the teenager somehow, but it was too complicated to explain. There was just something, some sort of bond, that seemed to tie the two together.
Ten minutes later Mer was back carrying a bag full of diapers, baby wipes, formula, a pair of clothes and a bottle for the baby. She handed the diaper to Miss Parker who took her time examining it.
"Miss P. small question, have you ever changed a baby before?"
Miss Parker was still studying the diaper by carefully examining each side. Finally she spoke.
"Um, no." She said a bit embarrassed as she handed the diaper back to Mer.
"Well, now’s as good a time as any to learn. Rule number one, never change the baby while standing in the line of fire, change while standing at the top or side." Mer proceeded to explain the procedure as she conducted the task.
Miss Parker let out a small gasp and whispered, "I have a baby girl."
***
Stanton Inn
Mulder’s Room
9:00 a.m.
Mulder and Scully had returned from breakfast and were gathering their belongings. Scully had packed before breakfast, but Mulder, on the other hand, had once again left his packing till the last minute. So Scully sat on the bed while Mulder gathered his stuff.
"So much for Jarod calling us." She said in a smug voice. Mulder stuck his out of the bathroom and gave her a huge grin.
"Don’t you wish you were right! Have you already forgotten about the card I gave him?" Mulder went back into the bathroom.
‘Damn it,’ thought Scully, ‘I completely forgot about that GPS thing that Mulder had the Lone Gunmen put in all his cards.’ She pretended that she didn’t notice and spoke again as Mulder finished stuffing his belongings in his bag and closed it. "So, were are we off to then?" She asked lying on the bed watching him re-stuff his belongings in his suitcase trying to make it fit, but he still couldn’t seem to close it.
"Come here." He said. She walked over hesitantly, and before she could react he had picked her up and set her on the suitcase. "The GPS tracker is in the car."
Just then there was a knock on the door. Mulder gave her a questioningly look and went to answer. He opened the door.
"Ye…" He broke off the sentence when he saw who stood before him. He cleared his throat and turned to re-enter the room. "Agent Fowley, what are you doing here?" He was still pissed at her for scheming to take over the X-Files with that low life Spender.
A clouded look came over Scully’s face as the vile woman, at least in Scully’s opinion, entered.
"Hello, Agent Fowley." Scully said distastefully, exaggerating the ‘fowl’ in her name.
"Hello, Agent Scully." She said with a curt nod. "Agent Mulder, may I speak to you for a moment," she looked at Scully, "in private."
Mulder had returned to the suitcase were Scully was sitting and had his head down near her lap and concentrated on fastening the locks.
"Whatever you tell me I’m going to repeat word for word to Scully so we might as well get it all over with in on step, don’t you think?" he asked Scully.
"I agree whole heartedly." She said as Mulder picked her up and set her on the ground.
Agent Fowley wasn’t pleased with the way this was going. This was her Mulder not this... this piece of trailer trash, red-haired slut’s. She nearly lost it when Mulder picked her up. That look that they gave each other. How could they not possibly be together? ‘Calm down Diana, right now you just have to keep them off the case. You can worry about getting rid of Agent I’m-so-perfect-it-hurts Scully later.’
"Look, I’m just here to inform you of a new case, one that requires your expertise immediately."
Mulder gave her a hard look. He knew that she was lying, he could always tell, she did this little crinkling of her nose thing.
"Well, I doubt that since we just talked to the A.D about some well deserved vacation time, and he mentioned nothing of the sort. So, if you’ll excuse us…" Mulder grabbed his suitcase and followed Scully to the car. "So where should we go? The Bahamas, or how about Greece?" He asked Scully as he threw the bags in the trunk.
"I was thinking more along the lines of an Alaskan cruise." Scully said, getting into the game and the car. Mulder gave a bow and replied,
"Your wish is my command, my dear Scully. Grab your parka, cause we're going to Alaska." Then he too entered the car and drove off leaving a confused, agitated and very angry Agent Fowley behind. ‘I guess we move to plan B. At least I put that tracking device on their car’ She thought as she to left for her car.
Mulder and Scully were about three miles away when Mulder pulled out the GPS tracker.
"So where is he?" Scully asked.
"He’s flying. We’ll have to wait awhile to get his final destination. In the mean time we can drive to the airport."
***
Jarod’s Private Jet
Somewhere over Lake Huron
11:30 a.m.
Chet had just finished reading the report and was speechless for a few different reasons. One he wasn’t familiar with genetics lingo, so some of it he didn’t quite get. Reason number two, he was just in plain old shock over the fact that these people, the Centre, were so heartless that they had no qualms planning this whole thing out over a span of twenty-nine years. He had a hard time imagining that anyone would create a new life just for their own personal use.
Jarod, seeing Chet’s expression, let out a harsh half chuckle and said,
"My thoughts exactly."
"But why would they do this? Never mind I know why, it’s just that, well, it so," Chet was lost for the right way to express his anger. He finally decided on the word after a moment’s hesitation. "Mean, just mean." He slumped back in his seat.
Jarod nodded sadly in agreement. Then he remembered a moment from his days in the Centre when he and Miss Parker had been friends. He remembered her telling him that one-day she and him were going to get married and have a family better than either of them had been blessed with. He gave a little smile. Then whispered,
"It seems your dreams are all falling into place Parker, mine too. Although not quite by our hands" He smiled at the irony of it all. The Centre not wanting them together, yet it was because of them they were going to be. The fact that the Centre had created a baby with their gametes was what was, in the end, going to draw them together.
"What are you talking about Jarod?" Chet asked, not really hearing him. He was re-reading the report, still not really able to believe it.
"Huh? Oh, nothing, just thinking out loud. Do you think I should call them and see if everything’s going okay?" He looked worriedly at the cell phone he was flipping open, then closed.
Just then Chet’s phone rang. It was a sleek small one where you could check your e-mail and everything on it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Chet it’s me."
"Mer! Hey were are you guys?" Chet asked as he sat up straighter, a smile crossing his face.
"We’re waiting to catch out connecting flight in Detroit. We still have about an hour. How ‘bout you?"
"You won’t believe this! I am on a private jet the Jarod paid for thanks to Brigitte’s credit card!" Mer let out a laugh.
"I have a good story too. We followed Jarod’s plan, he told you about it right?"
"Yeah." Chet was intrigued.
"Well, we were involved in a little car chase."
Jarod, who had been listening along with Chet, let out a little yell. "What??!! Are Parker and the baby all right?" Miss Parker, who was listening in on Mer’s end of the line, got a strange look on her face at Jarod’s reaction. It appeared to be look of, could it be... guilt?
"Yeah, yeah they’re fine." She said blowing off the worry and getting on with her story. "Anyway, Lyle and his croonies were chasing us, and I was driving by the way. So to get him off our back Miss P. called him up and said that there was a Speed theme and that if he went below fifty-five he’d be blown to bits, and he believed her!" Mer, Chet and Miss Parker got a good laugh from it, but Jarod didn’t seem as amused.
"Are you guys sure you’re okay?" Miss Parker spoke into the phone.
"We’re fine Jarod. God, lighten up. What’s a good car chase with out a little fun, especially when it’s at Lyle’s expense?" She let out a little chuckle.
Before Jarod could lecture her that car chases weren’t exactly safe there was a faint announcement.
"Oop, batteries running low, and Miss P. still has a package to send out. Gotta go, toodles boys." Mer said, then the phone went dead.
Chet glanced over at Jarod who looked a little upset.
"Jarod, don’t dwell on it, all that matters is that everyone’s safe."
"Yeah, but for how long?"
***
Mr. Lyle’s Car
Somewhere in North Carolina
12:00 p.m.
"Mr. Lyle?’ said Jim, the sweeper who was driving.
"What." Lyle's voice was sharp. The irony of this was all too much. He was going to get back at that bitch if it was the last thing he did.
"When is back up supposed to arrive?"
"Half an hour. Why?" Mr. Lyle sat up and looked at him.
"The car is starting to sputter." At that moment the car officially ran out of gas and the speedometer needle started to slip towards the deadly number, fifty-five.
"Oh dear God, I’m to young to die!" He yelled as he covered his face with his arm. He stayed like that for a few minutes until the car came to a complete stop. He slowly removed his arm and saw both sweepers staring at him.
"What the HELL are you looking at?"
"Nothing, Mr. Lyle." Jim said as he let out a little snicker. Suddenly Mr. Lyle’s arm was around his neck and choking him.
"If word of this EVER gets out I will personally kill you, understood?"
"Of course, sir." The man sputtered out. He rubbed his neck and waited for back up to arrive.
***
SL – 4
1:30 p.m
Broots walked, no, more like ran up to Sydney and spoke quietly.
"Syd have you heard what happened this morning?"
"No Broots I can’t say that I have." Sydney said as he quickly shut off his computer, not wanting Broots to see what he had just sent, or to whom it was sent. He just hoped that the recipient got the mail in the company of his former student.
"This, I don’t know if it’s good or bad. Miss Parker and Merideth kidnapped a baby, one of Lyle’s projects. After a car chase Lyle lost them, and now Mr. Parker is on the verge of terminating him. Lyle’s on his way back as we speak." Broots was looking around anxiously, and rubbing his hands together.
"Really?" Sydney asked in a not so surprised voice as he leaned back in his chair.
"That’s not all, there’s this strange man that came in today and has been hanging out in Mr. Parker’s office. I think he’s a chain smoker. I hear that he came because of a leak in the Centre." Broots spoke his last sentence in a voice just above a whisper.
"Hmm, that’s quite interesting Broots." He said as though none of this surprised him, but before Broots could ask about it Sydney continued. "You know Broots, perhaps it’s time we took advantage of that vacation time we’ve been saving up the last few years." He gave Broots a knowing look.
"Yeah, okay, I guess." Broots said, not really understanding what was going on.
***
Miss Parker’s House
2:29 p.m.
A cleaning team was just finishing going over Miss Parker’s house to see if they could find any clue as to wear they might have gone. They were getting ready to leave when Pete, the latest addition to the team, came across a note pad. He noticed indentations on the front page. He grabbed a pencil and scribbled over it, hoping that today was his lucky day and this piece of paper might tell him were Parker had gone, and in turn earning him respect. ‘Well that’s asking a lot,’ he thought. ‘I’ll settle for a day of no abuse’. It seemed that today was indeed his lucky one. He walked over to the team leader, Greg.
"Excuse me sir, but I think I know were they’re going."
Greg turned and glanced at the new recruit with a doubtful look.
"Where?" Pete showed him the pad and Greg motioned for the team to move out. They had what they needed.
***
Mr. Parker’s Office
The Centre
2:30 p.m.
Lyle was standing in front of his father’s desk enduring his wrath.
"What the hell is this?’ He said as he threw the note his daughter had left on his desk. "And how the hell did she find out about the baby?"
"The only explanation that I can come up with is that there’s a leak in the Centre." Lyle said trying not to act nervous. He didn’t want to give his father anything to use against him. Lyle also wasn’t blind to the fact that the whole event was under the watchful eye of a man hidden by the shadows, the only evidence that he was truly there was the cigarette smoke that was filtering out of the darkness and into the light.
"Well a whole hell of a lot of good that does us!" His father shouted at him. He was about to continue when a lab tech burst into his office out of breath. Mr. Parker turned to look at him and he froze like a deer in headlights.
"What?"
"Um, sir, Merideth Crane’s blood work up came back, and well, you might want to see it." He handed over the file. The lab tech slowly backed out of the room knowing damn well what his bosses reaction was going to be.
As Mr. Parker read his face went from normal, to white, and then to red. ‘Maybe it’s my lucky day and he’ll have a coronary,’ Lyle thought amused. That was until his father spoke.
"Lyle you imbecile! Do you know who this girl was! Do you have any idea what the ramifications of your stupidity are?" Mr. Parker was standing now looking as though he just might kill Lyle with his bear hands right then and there.
"What is it?" Lyle asked this time sounding nervous, as he should. Mr. Parker threw the file at him. After he finished reading his face too was unnaturally white.
"Oh, my God." He whispered. He looked at his father. "She’s JP2!"
Huh, what da ya know another cliffhanger. So many questions, and so few answers! Ha! Hey, wait a sec, that them sounds familiar…Oh yeah, this IS a Pretender/x-Files fanfic. Don’t worry, eventually all your Q’s will be answered. Until then write and tell me what you think at zyp959@hotmail.com