Part 2: A New Day
 by N.R. Levy

Jarod stared at the medical reports in front of him, reading them with greater attention than any materials he had ever studied before. Thankfully, the news was good. Three weeks past the shooting, Miss Parker was nearing as full a recovery as could be expected, considering she was still facing major surgery following her pregnancy.

The news he had really been hoping for came in the later pages of the report. Just to be certain, he re-read them again, and then quickly stood to push the buzzer that Mr. Parker had instructed the Centre to install in Jarod's cell.  After a moment, Sam entered. He immediately registered the look on Jarod's face.

"Good news?"  Jarod smiled and nodded, then exited the room closely followed by Sam. These past weeks in the Centre had provided Jarod with some incredible insights into the woman he thought he knew so well. For instance, for someone who was legendary for inspiring terror in others, Miss Parker was extremely beloved by her immediate subordinates. Jarod had always known this to be true of Sydney and Broots, but he was stunned to see the level of concern that Sam had displayed from the moment they'd rushed her off the helicopter and into the medical unit. It had taken four other sweeper to stop him from killing Willie that very afternoon. And for days following the shooting, secretaries and technicians from Security and Special
Sections had found excuse after excuse to drop by the Medical Unit to "check on things."

She was also, apparently, extremely valuable to the Triumvirate. Far more important, Jarod mused, than they would have liked to admit. But their actions had spoken volumes. Immediately after their return to the Centre, Mr. Parker had, in full view of Mutumbo, issued a directive that Jarod and only Jarod was to supervise his daughter's care. The Pretender had half expected Mutumbo to laugh in the older man's face. After all, Raines was definitely Mutumbo's pet and he had been behind the shooting in the first place. But much to everyone's surprise, Mutumbo had agreed. He had also ordered his personal security team to stand guard outside Miss Parker's room.

Jarod knew that Mutumbo's actions could partly be justified byneed to pacify the clearly furious Mr. Parker. Still, he couldn't help but feel that there was a hidden motive behind Mutumbo's sudden concern for Miss Parker's well-being, and he intended to spend a great deal of time trying to find out what that motivation might be.

As he and Sam rounded the corner to the medical unit, Jarod chuckled at the sound of Miss Parker's raised voice – a sure sign that she was indeed feeling better.

"I don't care who said so, I said that I am going for a walk and that's that."

Jarod entered the room just in time to save the flustered nurse from any further onslaught from her patient. He didn't even attempt to respond to the glare that Miss Parker threw his way, he had grown immune to them. Besides, he knew now that she only behaved this badly when she was scared, and she knew that he would be coming some time today with the test results.

"What the hell do you want?" Parker was standing next to her bed, still clearly weak, but determined to have her own way. She wrapped her robe tightly around her then fixed her glare on her visitor.

"Why, to see you, sunshine."  As he finished speaking, Jarod pasted the biggest, goofiest smile on his face that he could muster.  It was just the thing she needed to help ease her anxiety. She rolled her eyes at him and fought to suppress the laugh that was growing inside of her. In order to stop it, she turned away from him and walked to the mirror in order to fix her hair.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going for a walk, Dr. Frankenboy. You planning to try and stop me?"

"I suppose not, if you promise to let Sydney go with you."

"He's already on his way."

She was terrified to hear what he had to say. Even his light mood hadn't been able to squelch the gnawing fear in her stomach. `Please,' she thought, `please let my son be okay.'

Jarod noticed that she kept brushing her hair even though she had groomed it to perfection in just a few seconds. He opened the report and moved it toward her.

"You can see for yourself if you want."

She stopped moving the brush and instead took it in both hands, squeezing it tightly.

"Why don't you just tell me."

Jarod closed the file and walked closer to her. He turned her so that she was facing him, and carefully removed the brush from her hands. Then he took both her hands in his.

"The amniocentesis shows no irregularities."

· * * * * * * *
·
Sydney saw Sam standing outside Parker's room and knew that meant that Jarod was inside. He was glad, and wondered if Parker's request to go for a walk hadn't been for his benefit. She knew that he was worried sick about Jarod. Three weeks had passed since his return, and so far, the Pretender had been safe. But Sydney wasn't naive enough to think that would continue much longer. His usefulness was coming to an end, at least as far as Mr. Parker was concerned. Jarod had saved his daughter. No one expected him to have any loyalty to the man he considered property because of it.

Sydney smiled at Sam and pushed open the door just in time to see Jarod tenderly brush his hand against Parker's cheek. He realized that he was wiping tears from her face, and concern immediately filled him.

"Is everything all right?"

Parker nearly jumped away from Jarod at the sound of Sydney's voice. Then, embarrassed, she found herself giggling like a schoolgirl caught under the bleachers with her boyfriend. Thankfully, Jarod spoke up, saving them both from further scrutiny.

"Everything and everyone is fine."

Sydney looked at them both for a moment, his mind processing the information.

"You mean, the baby is going to be all right?"

"As long as his mother behaves herself, yes, he should be just fine."

Though nothing could have made her angry at that moment, Parker feigned her best icy stare for Jarod's benefit. Her son was fine. Baby Thomas -- she'd already begun thinking of him that way, and he was going to be fine. She knew that she had Jarod to thank for. But how, she wondered, do you thank someone for
sacrificing their life for you?

She had only recently learned the details of what had happened that day at the airfield, thanks to her father's orders. He had instructed everyone to keep business matters away from her until she was recovered. As if Jarod's life was a business matter.

That thought made her smile, and she broke from her thoughts long enough to see that Jarod and Sydney had fallen into comfortable conversation. She turned back to the mirror and began applying what little make-up she had the energy to put on, anxious to give them some time together.

There was a time, she reminded herself, when Jarod's life had been nothing but a business matter to her. God, had that really been as recent as three weeks ago? And yet, she knew that somewhere inside of her, he had always mattered more to her that than. Nothing that was just business could have made her so angry the past three years.

Still, she knew that she had to say something to him about what he'd done, what he was still doing. He'd given up his father and the boy in order to stay with her. And then, thanks to darling Brigitte, he'd lost his freedom. Then, instead of hating her for all that she'd done to him, he'd dedicated himself to saving her life and the life of her son.

Parker was pulled back to the present as the door to her room opened again. She cringed when saw that it was Matthew, Raines' new pet sweeper. She hadn't needed to be told that Willie wouldn't be around anymore. The fact that her father was still alive and Raines had, in effect, been ordered to remain in his office and research labs at all times until further notice told her that her father was once again firmly in control of the Centre, and that Willie had been dealt with immediately.

Matthew stopped just inside the door, his robotic manner reminded Parker of a bad science fiction character in a movie Jarod had sent her to tease her once, something about a mad scientist in a secret laboratory...

"The Triumvirate would like to see you, Jarod."

Jarod nodded and began moving toward the door, despite the tension he had felt begin to emanate from both Parker and Sydney at Matthew's words. He had been expecting them to make some kind of offer or ultimatum now that Parker was no longer in immediate danger. He stopped at the door and turned back to offer his two friends a smile. He understood their concern, and of course, he couldn't tell them that he was planning to leave the Centre in just 24 hours, right after Parker had safely been sent home.

He followed Matthew out of the door and noticed that four other sweepers were waiting in the hallway to escort them to the meeting. He had to admit, it was nice to know that they weren't underestimating him. Still, he would be free again soon, and able to set in motion the plans he had been formulating for Miss Parker's future.

They walked down several corridors before they come to a stop in front of the Triumvirate Council Room. Jarod was ushered inside, and was a bit surprised to find that the Triumvirate was no where to be seen. The room was completely empty, even devoid of furniture. Matthew pushed him roughly so that he fell further into the room, then quickly stepped outside and closed the door.

Jarod stood and tried to evaluate the situation. If they were trying to frighten him, it seemed a lame attempt. He had expected some sort of threats, perhaps even a veiled attempt to hold Miss Parker against him as some kind of leverage. They had momentarily thrown him off balance. As he scanned the room searching for more information with which to work, his eyes were pulled to a large glass partition at the top of the room where a group of lights had suddenly been turned on.

"Thank you for joining me, Jarod."

Jarod felt his eyes narrowing as he looked into Lyle's smiling face. God, he hated this man. He was responsible for so much of the pain that Jarod had lived through – the experiments, Kyle's death. Even worse, Jarod was convinced that Lyle was the one who had murdered Thomas, had left his body there for Parker to find. That anyone could be so cruel to her had caused a new level of hatred to form inside of Jarod's heart. He stared up at his nemesis and wondered if one day he would be able to hate him enough to kill him.

"What's this game, Lyle?"

"No game, genius. You're free pass at the Centre has expired. My dear, sweet sister is going to live and, while I'm eternally grateful to you for that, it's a new day here in Centreland."

"Meaning"

"You know that theory about every action having an equal and opposite reaction? Well, around here, every action has multiple reactions. Now, the Triumvirate, they were extremely upset with Mr. Raines for trying to kill my father. Now, Mutumbo is a smart man. He knew that he was going to have to do something to make my father happy. That would be why you've been running around like you own the place."

"I'd hardly say that." Jarod was beginning to feel extremely concerned about his situation. Lyle was definitely making some kind of play, and the genius had to admit that he was having trouble seeing what that play might be.

"The bottom line is, now that the whole fuss has blown over and Raines has had his hand slapped and Willie...Well, it's back to business as usual. Which means it's deal making time."

"I'm not making any deals with you, Lyle."

"Oh, you're not making any deals, you're the subject of one. See, my sister's little bastard opened up a whole new possibility for us."

Jarod felt his blood run cold in his veins. Hearing this demon refer to Parker and Thomas' child as a bastard made him want to jump through the glass and break Lyle into small pieces. Jarod clenched his fists tightly then forced himself to let his hands drop slack. He had to keep his composure.

"I'm still waiting for the punch line."

Lyle laughed and then stared hard at Jarod.

"The punch line is that my father had to make a deal. The Triumvirate wants its Pretender. So, in exchange for Parker being allowed to carry and keep her child who, at best, will only be an average Pretender, dear old dad agreed to institute Project Renewal."

"Cute name, what's it mean?"

The room stood silent as Jarod stared up at Lyle, waiting for an answer. His mind swirled with the possibilities of Lyle's statement when his ears suddenly filled with the sound of rushing water. He looked down to see that he was already standing ankle deep in water, the room filling so quickly, Jarod realized that there would be no escape.  Within seconds, the water was up to his chest, and he was beginning to
swim, fighting to keep his head above the water.

"Lyle! Lyle, what is this?"

"Project Renewal, genius. You were the best Pretender we had. But now, you're damaged goods. So the only way to salvage you is to start from scratch, and that means, you have to die."

Jarod was near the top of the room, staring at Lyle who stood protected behind the glass partition. He strained to keep his face above the water, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. In moments, the freezing cold water had engulfed his whole being, and he felt himself beginning to drown.  He continued to fight, human nature not allowing him a quick surrender, yet soon his energy faded and he felt his body beginning to sink down into the room.

As his mind began to fade into a searing blackness, Jarod had one clear thought -- he had never really believed they would actually kill him. Then, one image fixed in his mind, and it stayed with him until he could no longer think or feel anything -- Parker's face, beautiful and smiling, and looking at him.
 

go to part three