Disclaimer: Well, I was going to make a really cool disclaimer, but apparently my creativity is lacking so I'll just do it the old fashioned way. I don't own anything in the story but me, Merideth, Chet, the guy at Keweenaw Auto Body Shop and baby Catherine. Everyone else is a real person or a real place i.e. Dr. Sarizon, Lorrene, Keweenaw Auto Body Shop, Ellsie Road, Copper Country Mall etc. They are all real and I would REALLY appreciate it if nobody would sue me. Well, I guess you COULD sue me, you just wouldn't get anything. Same with all Pretender related characters, I don't own them either. I just use em and abuse them once in a while, no harm done, no need to sue. Think of it as…free promotion. Yeah, that's it. I'm doing YOU a favor!!!!!!!
Authors Note: Well, first off I have to thank Gables, she was a big part of me finishing this cause I was having problems making Parker mean, and well, since she's the Queen of How To Make Parker Mean she helped me. Then there's Schuyler, who has been supporting me since the beginning. Thanks!!! Uh, what else? Well, this part is sorta boring because I had to wrap up some loose ends before we can get to the action. Next part will be full of high tech thingies, daring rescues, and some more action type stuff…Anyway onto the story.
Title - Feelings of Indignation Part Five
Author - Ashlee
E-mail address - zyp959@hotmail.com
Rating - M
Category - Adventure/ Alternate Universe / Pretender/X-Files Crossover
Series/Sequel - Part Five 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 Five
By Ashlee
Copper Country Mall
Houghton, Michigan
September 1, 1999
7:25 p.m.
Merideth pulled Chet up from where he sat talking to his mother and began to pull him in the direction that they had came from. A frantic voice came over the phone, which Chet still held to his ear.
"Chet dear what's going on?"
"Uh, nothing mom. Gotta go." With that Chet disconnected the call and stuffed the phone into his pocket. "What the hell's going on Mer?" Chet asked the woman who was holding his hand and pulling him towards K-Mart.
"Lyle's here! Oh God Chet, we have to get outta here!"
"You mean that guy who was yelling at us was Mr. Lyle?"
"Yes! Now keep running!" She yelled causing the older locals to stare up at them.
Lyle sighed as they started to run. He hated foot chases. He motioned for his sweepers to follow them and they set out, making quite the sight. A bunch of men in black tailored suits chasing a couple of teenagers. No one, however, seemed to really care. Lyle was ahead of the sweepers as Merideth and her mysterious companion neared the K-Mart entrance. Just as they were running past it the team who had entered through that entrance came out of the store.
"Shit!" He heard the boy next to his prey yell. They froze in mid-step.
Lyle smiled, satisfied, and started to approach them.
"You have no where to run Merideth, so what do you say, you just come with me without any trouble? I'd hate to have one of these sweepers accidentally fire their weapon and hit your friend."
Merideth and Chet looked at each other and nodded. There was only one course of action left.
***
Scully's Room
Location: Unknown
7:27 p.m.
Diana turned back to Scully.
"He doesn't remember you."
"I know." Scully said sadly, a stray tear streaming down her face. There was only one way to save them both now. "Fowley, I'll take the deal."
Diana broke into a smile.
"I'm glad to see that you've finally come to your senses. Now, I suppose we should go over the details. Don't worry, there aren't many. You must never go back to Washington or speak of this occasion and what happened to Agent Mulder. As for the FBI, they'll assume that you and Agent Mulder are missing in action, as will your family. Very simple really. Are you willing to accept these conditions?"
Scully stared at her wide-eyed and nodded.
"Very good. I'll get you a change of clothes, some money and a car and you'll be on your way in less than a half hour."
Diana left to gather the things and Scully was left alone to think. There was definitely something going on, but what? It had to be something dealing with the Centre. That's the only thing they had been dealing with as of late. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. She couldn't believe that she had been so dense! Of course this dealt with the Centre! The Centre's biggest supplier was the government, and the Syndicate was the backbone behind the government, so if they exposed the Centre, that meant that they too would be discovered! Help from the Lone Gunmen could wait, she had to get out of here and find Miss Parker, the woman who had been in contact with Mulder.
***
Portage Health Systems
Hancock, Michigan
7:26 p.m.
Miss Parker and Jarod had taken their places in the waiting room while waiting for Dr. Sarizon to arrive. Miss Parker repositioned the sleeping baby and looked at her watch. Nine minutes. Now she remembered why she hated doctors.
She cast a quick glance over at her companion who was reading a year old Reader's Digest. She shot a quick glare at him and then she broke into an evil smile. She looked down at Catherine who was sleeping peacefully in her arms and whispered the thoughts that invaded her mind to the blissful child.
"Wonder-boy over there thought that I would never betray the Centre, but little does that he know, I've been plotting the fall of the Centre for months. I'm going to do what he's failed to do in the four years he's been out, I'm going to take down the Centre." The baby stirred and gave out a happy sigh at the last words and Parker smiled.
"Anything I should know about?" Miss Parker's head shot up and was startled to find Jarod crouched in front of her. He was presently rubbing Catherine's small hand with his strong fingers.
Miss Parker just glared at him and smiled tauntingly.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Jarod looked up at her confused and was about to ask what she meant by that when a voice spoke up from the doorway.
"Dr. Kertzwiel?"
Jarod stood and slowly turned, and was greeted by a short, stout balding man. "Yes, that’s me."
The man smiled and walked up to them.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Sarizon, the attending ER physician for the night. The nurse said that you needed to run some tests?"
"Yes, our baby Catherine, is a bit sick. She has a rare illness and I was hoping to run a few tests to make sure that it wasn't anything serious."
The doctor looked Jarod up and down, and then turned his gaze upon the beautiful woman next to him who was holding a small child. He sighed reluctantly. He had a lot of work to do and it just might be easier to let this man take care of his family without his supervision.
"Fine, I'll have a nurse help you out, but should you break or misuse any piece of equipment I'll have your license revoked and you'll be paying for its replacement."
Jarod smiled.
"Of course." They followed the retreating Dr. Sarizon into the ER.
***
Diana Fowley's Hideout
7:31 p.m.
Diana exited Scully's room with a huge smile on her face. Her plan was finally going to work. Agent Scully was going to leave here and go and try to save Mulder by contacting the missing Centre employee Miss Parker along with Jarod and their little bundle of joy. She smiled widely as she walked down the hall and snapped open her cell phone. With the push of a single button the number was dialed. After one ring the other line was answered.
"Yes?"
"It's Diana. Agent Scully has accepted our deal. Soon we will have the Centre property ready for the exchange."
"Very good. How is my son fairing."
"Very well Mr. Spender. Exoneration seems to have worked in the first administration."
"Good. Keep me informed."
"Always."
In a room in Dover, Delaware sat a man smoking a Morely and showing a rare sign of emotion: he was smiling.
***
Copper Country Mall
7:32 p.m.
Chet looked at Lyle and then at Merideth. He gave a reluctant sigh and started to walk towards Lyle, but after two steps reached back and grabbed Merideth’s hand and began to run towards the back enterance, one that Lyle and the sweepers had failed to cover.
"Damn it!!" Lyle yelled in frustration. "Get the cars and head them off in back. I'm going on foot!"
Ashlee shut the door to her 1991 blue Ford Escort and slowly walked towards the mall. She was about 5' 5" with long, thick auburn hair and was dressed in a loose sweatshirt and jeans. She was going in to get a book from B. Dolton's for English. It figured that her first week back at school she would already have an English assignment due.
She was rounding the corner to the back entrance that led past the theatre to K-Mart when two people about her age came rushing around. The first was a tall boy about 6 feet with brown hair that had frosted tips and was spiked. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt and a pair of almost baggy jeans. The other was a girl about the same height as Ashlee with black hair and a thin build.
They stopped as they almost hit her. They were about to continue running when the young man spoke up:
"Hey, could you give us a ride?"
Ashlee stood there stunned.
"Um, sure I guess. Where do you need to go?"
The thin girl with the long dark hair spoke.
"As far from here as possible."
"Well, first I think I should know who you guys are…" Just then a tall man dressed in a suit with a red glove on his hand ran into the parking lot looking around anxiously.
"Shit!! Mr. Lyle!" The girl whispered. "Look, we'll explain it to you on the way, right now we just have to really get out of here."
Ashlee looked at the man and could literally FEEL the evil roll off the man.
"Sure thing, lets blow this Popsicle stand." Ashlee, Merideth, and Chet all ran for her car. Ashlee jumped in the drivers' side and shoved the key into the ignition while Chet and Merideth climbed into the single passenger seat.
The slamming doors caught the attention of Mr. Lyle who started to run towards the car. Ashlee shoved the stick into over drive and hit the gas. She swerved around the man, who had pulled out a gun and was pointing it at them. She made a u-turn and headed around the building on the K-Mart side only to be greeted by a black town car. Ashlee swerved into the grass and cut through some unsuspecting citizen's lawn before making it over to Green Acres Road. With a squeal of tires she was racing through the residential area.
Behind them Mr. Lyle was climbing into the town car, and the race was on.
***
Mulder's Room
7:35 p.m.
Mulder lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. This was too much. So much was happening, so much that he didn't understand. This complete stranger, who seemed so familiar that it felt like she was a part of him, like he had dreamt her into life, was tied up down the hall waiting for him to interrogate her. And Diana, there was something amiss when it came to her, something that he should recognize but was having a hard time putting his finger on; something in her words and body language.
Mulder lifted up his left arm to look at his watch involuntarily and that's when something caught his eye, something completely shocking. The date on his digital watch read: 9-1-99
"What the hell?" Mulder whispered as he looked around for anyone who might be listening. Then continued his train of thought silently. This couldn't be, according to Diana it's November 22nd 1990. The events of the past hour ran through his mind. His conversation with her concerning the people who contained all of the answers, the mysterious woman they had to retrieve the infor…OH MY GOD!! His mind screamed at him as he realized what had been bothering him about the way Diana had been acting. He used his photographic memory to replay the scene mentally and focused on her facial features as she explained who the woman was…and there was what he was looking for!!! She was crinkling her nose! She was lying to him, she had lied to him…this whole thing was a set up!
Mulder suddenly began to convulse, his body bucking violently on the bed and a sweat broke out leaving a gleam on his body. And then, just as quickly as it had started, Mulder lay still as death on the bed.
***
Scully's Room
7:40 p.m.
Scully's mind was racing. She had to find away to get a hold of this Miss Parker, she was in desperate need of her help. Maybe the Lone Gunmen could help, hack into some files or something, but before she did any of that she knew she had to evade whatever tracking devices Fowley put on her and get a check up at the closest hospital.
Scully jumped off of the bed she was sitting on, the one that was previously used to restrain her, when she heard the door open. Her tired eyes looked up and saw the smiling face of her torturer, namely, Diana Fowley.
"Well, here's everything that you'll need. A change of clothes, ten thousand dollars and there's a car parked outside, just waiting for you. We have a seat reserved for you on a flight from the Houghton County Airport to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From there you can go wherever your little heart desires, as long as you comply with our agreement." The sickeningly sweet tone in Fowley's voice almost made Scully sick.
God, she was regretting this already. She felt so horrible leaving Mulder here to fend for himself against this vile woman, but there was only one way to help now, and if she really wanted to save Mulder she was going to have to do this. Scully straightened herself and plastered on a fake smile.
"Thank you," she said as she grabbed the duffle bag and headed out the door. A burly guard then escorted her through the dank, dreary building into the fading light, where she climbed into the car and drove off. With one last look in the rearview mirror she whispered a small prayer for her best friend.
***
Plane Over Upper Michigan
7:42 p.m.
Broots was slaving over his computer hitting keys in a fury while Sydney tried to talk to a very uncooperative and grinning Angelo.
"Angelo, who is the person that is impersonating you at the Centre."
Angelo's grin widened.
"Michael Angelo."
"Michaelangelo the painter?" Sydney asked confused.
Angelo shook his head.
"Raines know truth."
Sydney was about to ask what Dr. Raines knew when Broots let out a triumphant yell.
"That's it Angelo!"
"What are you talking about Daddy?" Piped up Debbie who had been silent for most of the ride, trying to absorb all that was going on.
In his excitement, Broots failed to realize that it was his daughter who had asked, and continued to talk.
"I just hacked into some old DSA's on the mainframe, and I found one with Raines talking to some mysterious man. Here, watch." He shoved the laptop over to Sydney who looked at the screen and hit the play button.
On the bottom of the screen was the customary 'For Centre Use Only' and one the screen stood a younger looking Dr. Raines along with a man he didn't recognize. Sydney watched as the words scrolled along the bottom of the screen.
Raines: Do you have the other boy?
MDP: Yes, he's right here. With this our deal is complete. I want no more contact with you.
Raines: Of course, we wouldn't want anyone to know of our dealings. Give me the boy.
MDP: Just a moment.
The man scripted as MDP walked out of the camera's view and returned a moment later towing behind him…Angelo.
Raines: Perfect. This is Timmy's twin?
MDP: Yes, I found him living with his parents.
Raines: Wonderful, now I can complete what I failed to finish on his twin. I think that from now on he will be known only as Michael.
The screen went to black and the file ended. Sydney just stared at the screen in shock and then slowly rose carrying the laptop with him.
"This is definitely interesting. Do you have any idea who this MDP is?"
Broots shook his head.
"No, but I can look."
Angelo's spoke, and in his voice you could hear his smile.
"Michael, Angelo's brother." Sydney smiled.
"Yes he is. Now, lets find who this MDP is."
***
Green Acres Road
7:43 p.m.
"Alright guys, I love a good car chase as much as the next person…but who the hell are these people?!" Ashlee nearly yelled the last part of her sentence. Merideth looked at her from where she had taken position in the back seat, a small smile playing on her lips. Chet, however, was looking in the rearview mirror, watching the offending car fast approaching.
"No, wait, scratch that. First tell me who you are." Ashlee took a look at her speedometer, 65 miles per hour through a semi residential area…
Merideth spoke up.
"I'm Merideth Crane and this is Chet Saunders. We're from Stanton, Maryland."
Ashlee, who was concentrating intently on the road, raised an eyebrow.
"So what brings you up here?"
Chet spoke up.
"Merideth was kidnapped by a place called the Centre. They kidnap geniuses and exploit them for their research. Our school counsellor was a former Centre, shall we say, experiment who had escaped, so when Merideth was kidnapped by them he and I teamed up to get her…" Chet was about to continue when he was lurched forward in the passenger seat.
"Damn it, what the hell is this guy's problem?" Ashlee said as she regained control and hit the gas. "Look, why don't we finish the story later? Right now I need you guys to watch the Bad Guys Incorporated parade behind us while I concentrate on the road."
"Right." Chet and Merideth both answered as they turned to look out the back window. "They're coming back!" Merideth yelled the warning, causing Ashlee to accelerate. Just then she spotted the road that she had been searching for. While hitting the break and the gas at the same time she cranked the steering wheel hard to the right sending them onto Ellsie Road. A curving road that led them straight into South Range, and hopefully giving Ashlee, someone who knew these roads well, the chance to blow their pursuers off and get the help that she knew they needed.
"Buckle your seatbelt guys, we’re in for a hell of a ride."
***
Portage Health Systems
7:44 p.m.
Miss Parker paced the waiting room floor on the fifth floor impatiently while Jarod and the nurse, Lorrene, performed tests. She looked at her watch for what seemed like the millionth time. She looked around for any sign of Jarod or the nurse, when she found none she walked up to the nurses' station.
She smiled warmly at the nurse.
"Excuse me, if someone comes out looking for me, could you tell him that I had to get some air?"
The nurse smiled.
"If you mean that handsome husband of yours, no problem."
Parker forced a smile.
"Yeah, thanks."
Parker walked briskly down the hall towards the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. When the elevator reached its destination she quickly climbed off and had to stop herself from running towards the exit. She walked out the door and walked away from the hospital and towards the canal. When she was a good distance from the doorway, where she was sure no one could listen in on her conversation, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a well-memorized number.
"Yes?"
"Broots, it's me. What do you have?"
"Oh hey Miss Parker!! Oh I hit the jackpot!! I hacked into some old DSA's on the mainframe and you'll never guess what I found!"
"So why don't you tell me and get it over with?" Miss Parker tried to keep the anxious tone from her voice.
"R..right. Well, it'd be better if you saw it. Can you get to a computer?"
"Yeah, Jarod's is in the car."
"I'll right. I'll send it to your account. Do you have a hotmail account?"
"Yeah, mnparker."
Broots paused for a moment.
"Okay, it's sent."
"Broots, one more thing. Is Michael trust worthy?"
"Oh, definitely."
"Alright. And thanks Broots, you may have just saved two lives." Miss Parker hung up the phone and quickly dialed another number from memory.
***
Ellsie Road
7:45 p.m.
Ashlee sped though the turns ignoring the signs suggesting 25 miles an hour and instead keeping up with her 65 mile per hour average.
"Have we lost them?" Ashlee asked worriedly as they entered the backside of South Range.
"Yeah, about the time you turned the corner. They're probably in a ditch right now calling for back up." Chet spoke up.
Ashlee slowed down.
"Good."
"So, uh, what do we do know?" Merideth asked turning to face the front.
"Now we get some place safe, you tell me what's going on and we develop a plan to take down that asshole who nearly ruined my first car."
***
Ellsie Road
7:45 p.m.
Lyle stepped out of the car and brushed off his suit. He climbed back onto the road and took in the two town cars that now lay side ways in the ditch.
"What the hell kind of driving course do they give at the Centre? You were just out driven by a fucking teenager!"
"Sorry sir, but she must have known these roads."
Lyle glared at him.
"I want us out of here in half an hour."
***
Office of the Lone Gunmen
7:46 p.m.
Langley, Byers, and Frohike were running around the small confines that they called home. They were packing everything that they would need for a trip out of town, including the four laptops that Marissa had sent them, software and the outline of the plan that they and Marissa had laid out so far.
Langley was stuffing the last of his items in a black duffel bag when the phone rang. They, once again, got into position and Byers answered the phone.
"Lone Gunmen."
"Byers, turn it off." Byers waved his arm and once again the equipment was shut off. Langly ran to scramble the call.
"Alright, it's all off."
"Alright. I found out that the source is reliable. I need you to meet with two men. One's name is Sam and the other is Bart. They're both sweepers at the Centre, but are trustworthy associates of mine. There are pictures of them on the computer. You are to meet at the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall in D.C. Can you be there by midnight?"
"That give us four hours, yeah. Our place isn't far, but we should go and get more supplies. And with the way Langly drives we could be there in four minutes! Not necessarily alive."
They heard Marissa's chuckle as Langly yelled a "Hey!" in response.
"Well as long as you're there on time I don't care. Just make sure that you're not followed. Remember, after you meet I want you to take Sam and Bart up here with you, and be careful, by now the Centre is sure to know that something's up."
"Right Marissa, we've got you covered."
"Talk to you guys when you get here!"
With that the line went dead and the Lone Gunmen grabbed their stuff and headed for their van.
***
Centre Parking Garage –
Level 1
7:50 p.m.
Sam quickly walked towards the car that Bart occupied. He quickly threw open the door and shoved in his bag. As soon as Sam was seated Bart took off at top speed out of the Centre gates. They drove in silence until they reached a Benny’s Pizzeria. Bart stopped the car and Sam pulled out the duffel bag that Michael had given him a half-hour before. They walked into the building and headed towards the hallway that led to the mens’ room. After being sure that no one had entered behind them they continued through the back entrance that led into an alleyway.
The walked down the alley until they came to a dumpster. They knocked twice on the top and waited. A few moments later a man dressed in dirty rags came walking out from the alley next to it. He looked at them, studying their faces and then broke into a huge grin. He silently motioned them to follow, and they obeyed.
After taking a few turns down some connecting alleyways the man led them to an old beat-up Ford truck. The men shook hands and Sam opened the bag and pulled out a wad of cash. He handed it to the man and he and Bart climbed into the cab of the truck. Not five minutes later they were headed out of Blue Cove. Where they were going was still a mystery, but they had made it unscathed.
***
Portage Health Systems
7:51 p.m.
Miss Parker had just retrieved Jarod's Laptop and was hooking it up to her cell phone. She knew she had to contact Sam, but there was a more pressing matter at hand, like who this Michael was. She quickly logged onto her hotmail account and opened the one message that filled it. After a few minutes of downloading the file was ready for viewing. She clicked the play button and a screen appeared along with scrolling dialogue below. She watched the silent screen in shock, having a hard time believing what she read. Michael was Angelo's twin? Raines had kidnapped him only to continue what had failed on Angelo? Well, at least she knew who he was now and that he could be trusted.
Parker looked at her watch. She had been out for nearly ten minutes now, but she had to call Sam before she went back in, he had four hours to make it to D.C. She quickly unplugged her phone and hit the speed dial button.
"Sam."
"Sam it's me. Everything's been cleared. Midnight at the Lincoln Memorial."
"Got it."
"Watch your back Sam, they're onto you by now." Miss Parker hung up the phone and was startled when a voice spoke.
"Who's onto who?"
Parker jumped and clamped a hand over her heart involuntarily. Then she smiled sweetly.
"I'm on to you."
"Care to enlighten me?" Jarod asked raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"Not really. How's Catherine?"
Jarod noticed the abrupt change in the conversation, but let it slide.
"She's fine, Lorrene has her laying down. She was really exhausted. I was about to go check the lab results when I realized you had disappeared."
"I needed some air." Parker replied shortly, hitting a couple keys on the laptop deleting what she had just witnessed and shutting it down. She then climbed out of the car, noticing that Jarod was looking at her oddly.
"What the hell are you staring at?"
Jarod shook his head.
"Nothing."
"Good." Parker stood and started to walk away when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned around to face Jarod, a stormy look on her face.
"Parker, I know that you're up to something, and I want to help. You could be in over your head and I have more experience…"
Parker cut him off abruptly.
"Don't give me that Jarod! IF I am up to something it is none of your damned business!! And since you don't know what I'm up to, which is NOTHING, than how the hell do you figure you have more experience than me?"
"I only meant that I'm a pretender…."
"Join the club Sherlock, in case you're forgetting the Red Files that you presented to me out of the goodness of your heart: I'm a pretender too, so get off of it!" Parker started to walk away, but Jarod held her and forced her to look into his eyes.
"I know you don't believe me, but I'm only trying to help. I CAN help you Parker. I want to help you, for you, for Catherine, and for Merideth."
Parker stared him down, her blue, cold eyes shining angrily into his warm, caring ones.
"Look Jarod, you go and help Merideth, and Catherine and whoever the hell else but don't try to help me. I don't need your help, more importantly, I don't want it!!"
Jarod just stared back. Her attitude was really starting to get to him. He pointed towards the car.
"It looks like you needed my computer though."
Parker paused for a moment stunned, but quickly recovered.
"You know what Jarod? Bite me." She said with a look that could kill even the most hard core man, and turned and stalked back into the hospital entrance, heading towards her baby's room.
Jarod stared after her for awhile, contemplating whether or not to run after her when he realized two things. One, there was no talking to her when she was this angry and two, there just might be a trace of what she was up to on his hard drive. Running back to his car he grabbed his laptop and got to work.
***
Keweenaw Auto Body
Calumet, Michigan
7:55 p.m.
Scully drove into the parking lot, looking for a sales man. The lights were still on so she was hoping that perhaps they were open late. She parked the car and hopped out. She looked around for a moment, taking in the inventory and trying to spot the least obvious car. After a few moments she spotted it and headed towards the front door. She tried the handle and found it open.
"Hello?" she called as she cautiously stepped inside.
"Hey there." Said an older man sitting at a desk, on which he had his feet propped up, and an issue of Fish and Game in hand. He threw the magazine down and sat up behind the desk. "What can I do fer ya?"
"I was wondering if I could trade in my car."
The man looked her up and down.
"What happened ta you? You look like ya been through hell and came back ta talk about it"
Scully heaved a heavy sigh.
"I'm an undercover FBI agent. I got into a bit of a scuffle with the bad guys, and now I need a different car. Can you handle that?"
The man was a bit taken aback by her harsh statement, but agreed.
"Yeah sure. What kind a car you got?"
"A 1999 Ford Tourus."
"And what do you want?"
"That 1985 Chevy truck."
"But that things nearly rusted through! It's not nearly what your car is worth."
"That's the point. And I'd like some clothes. Preferably a flannel and a pair of older jeans." She waved off the man's protests. "It doesn't matter if they're to big, I just need them."
The man looked at her oddly, but, sensing that she was sincerely in trouble, he complied. After retrieving some extra clothes he kept on hand for his mechanics, he grabbed the keys for the truck and returned.
"Is there somewhere I can change?"
"Sure, just back there's the bathroom." He pointed down the hallway. He shook his head as he watched the small woman limp back to the restroom. A few minutes latter she emerged swamped in clothes meant for men three times her size.
"Thank you." She said as she handed him her clothes. "I need you to do me a favor…burn these. Out in my car is a hefty reward for your efforts and a phone number I need you to call. Tell the person that Agent Scully will be in contact, but times are stressful. Can you do that?"
"Yes ma'am." The man said nodding.
Scully broke into a wide smile.
"Great, thank you." With that she grabbed the keys and headed toward her new ride. It was off to the hospital for her.
***
Mulder's room
8:00 p.m.
Mulder awoke slowly, his eyes trying to focus on the blurry objects that surrounded him. Slowly the outline of a face came into view. He squinted trying to bring it further into focus. He was about to whisper a name involuntarily when the face came into full view. He rubbed the back of his head, as the moments before he passed out came racing back. He put on a look of pain, which wasn't hard to do, and stared at the woman in front of him.
"Diana, what happened?"
Fowley looked at him concerned.
"I was hoping that you could tell me. I came to see how you were doing and I found you here burning with a fever." She wiped a strand of hair off of his still wet forehead.
Mulder reached up and felt forehead.
"I think it's gone now. Maybe I should go see the doctor, maybe I have some side effects from whatever medicines he gave me." Mulder looked at her pleadingly, hoping that she would feel sorry enough for him that she would take him to the hospital.
Diana shook her head.
"The doctor has already come in. He gave you a shot to bring down the fever."
Mulder kept the disappointed look off his face.
"All right. I think I just need to rest some more."
Fowley took the hint.
"Right. I'll let you sleep, and then we can talk, okay?"
"Sure, sounds good." Mulder closed his eyes and waited for the sound of a closing door. As soon as he heard it he pulled up his left arm to check his watch…only to find it missing.
***
Outside Mulder's Room
Diana walked up to Dr. Klaus, who had been waiting outside.
"How is he?"
"He seems fine, and I don't think he saw the watch. He showed no indication of it."
The doctor nodded.
"Good. Then we should be fine. The fever was just a side effect of the drug, nothing serious. It happened in twenty-five percent of previous test subjects."
Diana was fingering Mulder's watch, thinking.
"He had better be in the clear, or I'll have your ass in a sling." With that Diana walked calmly down the hall, watch still in hand.
***
Portage Health Systems
5th Floor
8:05 p.m.
Miss Parker was pacing frantically waiting for the doctor she had just paged to arrive. After five minutes of waiting for Jarod she had gotten fed up and instead of running down for his help, had decided to page Dr. Sarizon to come look at the lab results.
Miss Parker was about to go steal the PA microphone from the poor C.N.A. when the good doctor stepped off the elevator, his face in a file. He looked up and spotted Miss Parker pacing frantically.
"Mrs. Kertzwiel?" He asked as he approached her. When she raised her head he continued. "You paged me?"
"Yeah. My husband has, apparently, been…detained and I was wondering if you could take a look at the lab results." Parker looked at the man pleadingly, desperate to know the results.
Dr. Sarizon looked at the woman for a moment, taking in her anxiousness and decided to take a look, despite his caseload.
"Alright Mrs. Kertzweil, lead the way."
Parker resisted the urge to hug the man, and instead started to lead the way to Catherine's room, where the lab results lay.
"Thank you so much Doctor, and you can call me Parker."
***
Outside in Jarod's Car
8:06 p.m.
Jarod had been typing away for nearly nine minutes now, but he didn't realize the lapse in time. Instead he continued to type frantically, running search engines for new programs on his hard drive. He was about to give up, assuming that in the past months Miss Parker had been having Broots teach her how to cover her tracks when it came to computers, when a shrill alarm sounded from his computer. He clicked on the now pulsing icon and a small screen popped up telling him of an account downloaded from a hotmail account: mnparker. It was saved as Michael Angelo. Jarod clicked on the play button and sat back.
After viewing the clip a few times Jarod turned off the player stunned. He didn't understand what Parker was up to yet, and this didn't fill him in any, but to discover that Raines had once again destroyed an innocent life was enough to shock even him.
Jarod contemplated confronting Parker on this, but decided to play it cool, and let Parker tell him on her own time, it was safer for both of them. He closed his computer, locked his car door and walked back inside, his mind now back on his original purpose: to see if anything was wrong with Catherine.
***
Portage Health Systems
8:08 p.m.
Ashlee pulled into the parking lot that was adjacent to the emergency entrance and shut off her car.
"Alright, I think we should be safe here."
"What are we doing at the hospital?" Chet asked looking up at the fifty-year-old, eight-story building.
"We are going to go in and find my mom, tell her what going on and see what we should do about saving our collective asses."
Merideth nodded.
"Well, that's more of a plan then we've got, let's go."
Ashlee, Merideth and Chet all walked in through the front doors and then followed Ashlee to the elevator. She pressed the button for fifth floor and stood timidly in the corner holding on to the bars until her knuckles turned white. After hearing the bell chime, signaling the end of their ascent, they exited onto the Med-Surg floor. Ashlee walked over to the C.N.A. and smiled.
"Hey Karen, can you tell me where my mom is?"
"I think she's in with a patient right now, she's helping run some tests on a baby." The small woman said, smiling at her.
"Well, this is really important. Could you give me the room number if I swear not to bug her if she's busy?"
Karen smiled.
"Yeah sure, room 523."
"Thanks Kar." She waved for Chet and Merideth to follow as she walked down the dark corridor, knowing all the rooms by heart. She stopped at a door on the right marked with the foretold number and knocked. When no one answered she slowly opened the door.
"Mom, it's me."
Suddenly a voice called them in, so they obliged.
"Oh hey Dr. S. Have you seen my…"
The people behind her cut off the rest of her sentence as they both spoke in unison.
"Miss Parker, what are you doing here?"
Parker smiled as she saw the two standing together, and a picture of her and Jarod as children flashed though her mind, but she shook it aside.
"I'm here checking on Catherine, there's a chance she could be sick. Dr. Sarizon is looking over some x-rays right now."
Merideth wondered for a moment who Catherine could be, and as she realized that it was the baby, her mouth dropped open.
"You don't mean…they didn't, did they?"
Miss Parker's smile faded.
"It looks that way."
Before all the negative conclusions could run their course through Merideth and Chet's minds a reassuring voice spoke from behind.
"I think we're in the clear. The blood and urine tests are all normal." They all turned to see a smiling Jarod standing behind them holding a clipboard.
Dr. Sarizon also piped in with good news.
"The x-rays all seem to be clear too. No sign of any bone damage."
Parker was now unable to hold back a smile of relief.
"Oh thank God she's okay!" She turned as Lorrene entered with the baby in her arms. Miss Parker nearly ran over and picked up the infant. "Hey baby. The doctor says that you're okay." She smiled as the small child gurgled and grabbed at her fingers as she ran them down her face.
"Look I hate to break up this Kodak moment, but we have a problem." Ashlee spoke up from behind Chet.
"Ashlee!" Lorrene exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey mommy. Well, it's a long story. But let's say it involved a one thumbed man, two black town cars and excessive speed."
Jarod's eyes widened.
"Lyle's here?"
"Yup, him and enough cronies to fill up two town cars." Chet said.
Parker looked at Merideth worriedly.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Well, thanks to Ashlee here we are. Thank God we ran into her when we did, and that she knew some of the back roads so we were able to lose Lyle." Merideth said standing next to her and resting an arm on her companion's shoulder.
"Damn it!" Parker nearly yelled. "How the hell did he find us?"
"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we need to get back to the house, where we have everything set up, and it's somewhat safe. We'll be almost forty miles away from here." Jarod paused for a moment. "And I think Ashlee needs to come with us. Lyle will be looking for her now too."
"What!?" Lorrene nearly screamed. "You are NOT taking my daughter!"
"Mom, what he's saying makes sense. This Lyle guy, or whatever, knows who I am…and lets just say he isn't Guy Smiley, if you get my drift."
"I don't care if he's the devil himself!!"
Jarod spoke again, trying to comfort this distraught mother.
"Look, Lorrene, I know these people and I've eluded them for over three years, I know what I'm doing." He looked into her eyes, passing along unspoken promises.
Lorrene finally nodded.
"Fine." She gave her daughter a pleading look; begging her to be safe and Ashlee gave a nod, silently giving her reassurance.
"All right, good. Now I need you to keep an ear out for any information. If you hear anything call me at this number." He handed her a card.
"All right." She kissed her daughter. "Call me, alright? And be safe."
"Okay mom, I'll call later and I'll be safe."
With that the group of six walked out the doors and towards the elevator.
***
Parking Lot
8:20 p.m.
Scully pulled the truck up next to a blue Ford Escort and slowly lowered herself to the ground. She was hurting so badly now that she wasn't sure she'd be able to make it to the hospital entrance. She consciously commanded her legs to move. Left, right, left, right. Forward, push, forward, push.
When she looked up again she realized, with relief, that she was nearly to the front doors. Unfortunately, at that moment her legs gave out and the ground came crashing towards her face. Just before hitting the pavement her world went black.
Ahhhhh…the end of part five!!!!!!!!! One more part to go...At least I think there's only one more part <g> I HOPE there's only one more part!!!! Well, wadya think? Pure crap that should be flushed and never seen again or is it good enough to keep around? Either way let me know!!!!!