Disclaimer: I write this because I want to, not because I get paid, but
even if you sued me until I had no pencil to write with, you couldn't stop
me because even though they're your characters, they're my ideas and I
would scratch them in the dirt with a stick before I gave in...
Author's note: With this story, the plot is there (I hope), but the language I had to use to get my point across might not make sense. I blame my muse. She tossed me one image and left me all alone to sort out setting, and what situation could bring that single point in time into being. What I'm trying to say is look at the story, not the grammar... Oh, and review and tell me if bits really don't make sense. And don't let this short ramble put you off, you may not even notice.
Jarod stirred from deep unconsciousness. His head hurt. He was sitting back to back with someone. Ropes bound his arms and wound around his torso. Whoever it was he was tied tightly to her. Her? Oh yes. He knew exactly who it was. He could smell her. 'Parker?' he groaned in confusion.
'Finally awake' she growled. She sounded more than just a tad ticked off.
'What's going on?' he asked, raising his aching head to study his surroundings and flexing slightly to test his bonds. He felt her warm back muscles shift and had to concentrate hard on the carpet they were sitting on.
'You tell me rat. I woke up like this. Last I remember I was driving from the airport to your latest lair. Then I woke up here. That was about half an hour ago.'
Jarod contemplated this. She may have just got in the way of someone kidnapping him. Then again, maybe not. Without more information it was hard to tell. Jarod shifted again. 'Suck in for a moment' he told her. She was about to argue then remembered how he had gotten out of a straight jacket at the mental asylum and complied.
Taking a deep breath Jarod rolled his shoulders then twisted in the ropes, trying to slip a loop to give him enough slack to free his hands. There wasn't enough room. He popped one shoulder out, grunting at the pain before wrenching at the ropes but he could not get free. He subsided, panting. Parker who had not only heard, but also felt the pop of the dislocation, suppressed a shudder.
Jarod realised that he didn't have the leverage to get his shoulder back in and grimaced. 'They're too tight' he informed her, 'whoever did this knew what they were doing.'
'Don't have a handy flick knife in your pocket by any chance?' Parker asked. Jarod snorted the negative and tried to pop his shoulder joint back in.
'That must hurt' she said, not really betraying any sympathy.
'I've had worse' muttered Jarod then had to bite his lip to keep from screaming when the shoulder joint slipped back in. He sat still for a second, panting hard and waiting for the pain to abate.
'Have you made any new enemies lately who would have done this?' he asked after a moment.
'None that could get you here as well.'
'Hmm' he agreed. He sunk into thought, sieving through all the possible parties that had both the desire, and the ability to get both him and Parker in one place together. Only a few came to the fore and none of them seemed particularly likely.
Parker wriggled behind him. 'What are you doing?' he asked.
'Trying to see if they left my gun on me'
Jarod swallowed hard. Even if they got free, if she had her gun he would not remain free for long. There was more wriggling. 'Well?' he asked, realising that it was pretty unlikely for kidnappers to leave their prey armed. Parker shook her head to indicate the negative and, catching the motion through where they were pressed together, he let out a sigh of relief. 'I felt that' snapped Parker. Jarod suppressed a grin, despite the fact that she could not see it.
Silence reigned for a while as they both wondered why they were there and waited for the kidnapper to show. It was a good while later when she did.
They were in a medium sized, otherwise empty room and the Parker was facing the door so when Jarod heard it open he strained his head around to look over Parker's shoulder. When their capturer emerged his eyes widened. 'Naomi?' he said incredulously. The beautiful blond smiled dangerously.
'For a man on the run you do make it very easy for people to break into your flat and knock you unconscious.'
Jarod swung his head back round to glare fiercely at the wall. He had recently worked with Naomi as a customs officer to bring down a smuggling organisation. The last thing he remembered was packing up his lair and preparing to move on. She must have surprised him there and abducted him. The question was why? And why Parker as well?
'What the hell's going on?' demanded Parker.
'Ah, Miss Parker. How's your head?' Naomi sounded like she had enjoyed inflicting the head wound. When Jarod had worked with her she had seemed a timid and pleasant woman. It had clearly been an act.
'It will feel better when I shoot you between those pretty blue eyes of yours.'
'And how exactly will you manage that?' she asked sweetly, holding Parker's beloved 9mm between thumb and forefinger. Jarod felt the ropes tighten with a jerk as Parker strained suddenly.
'Naomi what's going on?' he asked with false calm, still facing the wall.
'You think the Centre keeps all of its operatives in Delaware?'
Parker sensed Jarod's back muscles tense and felt a sudden stab of nervousness. He seemed like he was about to snap the ropes in rage.
'Why is Parker here?' he asked, and he voice was dead calm. Parker realised he must have slipped into a pretend in order to deal with the situation.
'She got in the way, but there's good news. I just contacted her father and it turns out that since the pretender will be coming in, she's expendable.'
'Told you so,' muttered Jarod as Parker choked. Naomi watched with amusement. 'You have until the Delaware agents get here tomorrow morning. Make the most of it' she told them sarcastically, and exited the room. There was the distinct sound of a lock clicking. Jarod sat spellbound for a moment then began to furiously work the ropes on his hands. Parker just sat there, trying to digest the fact that her father had given her up, just like that. He had only wanted her for her connection to the pretender.
'What are you doing?' she asked in a dead voice, feeling his actions through his back.
'Hoping I don't have to remove one of my fingers to get out of these ropes.' He replied, settling into a rhythmic rubbing motion, trying to loosen the ropes. It was already taking skin off his wrists.
That sat in silence for a long time, Jarod trying to blank his mind to the pain the ropes were causing. Eventually he said; 'Do you want to talk about it?'
'Not with you'
'I'll be sure to tell Sydney that you loyally wanted to confess to him when I'm back at the Centre then.' He said caustically.
'Don't get used to using the past-tense Wonderboy'
Jarod smiled faintly. Parker would never be beaten. Sighing deeply he glanced down at his hands and winced. His wrists were a raw, bleeding mess but the ropes were considerably looser and the blood would work as a lubricant. He increased the strength of his twisting and wrenching and managed to get one loop over his thumb. A few more minutes and the ropes fell away all together.
'My hands are free' he informed Parker. She didn't respond. Their torso's were bound together with a different coil of rope. Twisting and flexing Jarod located the knots. They were good ones and he would have been hard pressed to do them front on without the blood making them slippery but it was Parker's life and his freedom if he didn't.
Jarod had torn and broken most of his nails before the knots were undone. Parker felt the coils of rope around her chest loosen and fall away and took a deep breath. 'That's better' she sighed. Jarod stood and walked around in front of her to undo her hands. Crouching down in front of her he glanced briefly at her face as he worked the ropes. She frowned when she saw his wrists. He followed her gaze and shrugged. 'It had to be done' he said without emotion.
When Parker's ropes were also all on the floor he stood straight again and did a quick lap of the room, inspecting the door but being careful not to touch it in case it rattled and gave them away. The hinges were on the other side and there wasn't so much as a door handle. The room was windowless and ventless; basically escape proof.
Jarod turned back to Parker who stood in the middle of the room watching him. He tried to keep his face neutral but she saw the despair in his eyes and looked away. Jarod sighed and, leaning his back against the wall facing the door, he slid to the floor, put his arms on his bent knees and rested his head on them.
Warm blood seeped through his jeans, making them stick to his leg. Blood, so much blood in his life, so much pain. All he ever knew was pain. Suddenly like a flower opening, the framework of an idea formed. He did react immediately. First he ran along all its paths, through all the problems and complications, the chances of success, the finer details. The plan would require Parker to trust him beyond a shadow of a doubt. It didn't look good but it didn't look like there was anything else coming along to save them either.
'There might be a way out,' he informed Parker, raising his head. She in turn opened her eyes to look at him from where she had been leaning against the wall, dozing on her feet. 'Mmm?' she replied cautiously.
'I can get her in here but she will be on her guard and armed so we won't be able to overpower her without a distraction. That will be you. I will pretend that I've killed you.'
'Oh that will work. Your think maybe she'll see me breathing?' her tone was thick with sarcasm.
'I can teach you a form of meditation that will put you in a deathlike state. About one heart beat a minute. Only a certain word will bring you out of it. It will look realistic.'
Parker nodded sceptically. 'Even if you can teach me this pretend death thing in time and I'm lying in the middle of the floor when she comes in. She'll still keep a gun trained on you.'
'She'll want to remove the body. If she thinks I'm crazy enough to kill you, she'll think I'm crazy enough to maim the body and my guess is that your father wants your death to look accidental. He'll want to hold a funeral. And people ask questions if there are teeth marks on the body.'
'Teeth marks?' asked Parker incredulously.
'She will believe me capable of it' he replied with a deadpan face. Parker gave him a grudging smile. There was a pause.
'It's the best thing I can think of,' Jarod said when she gave no more response, 'if you've got anything better, feel free to speak up. Either that or wait another six hours until the Centre gets here.' Parker stared at him for a moment longer then nodded. Jarod returned the nod with a weary smile and stood.
'Just one thing...' he said 'It requires hypnosis.'
# # #
Ps. It may be a long time until I post again. School. Badness.
Author's note: With this story, the plot is there (I hope), but the language I had to use to get my point across might not make sense. I blame my muse. She tossed me one image and left me all alone to sort out setting, and what situation could bring that single point in time into being. What I'm trying to say is look at the story, not the grammar... Oh, and review and tell me if bits really don't make sense. And don't let this short ramble put you off, you may not even notice.
Jarod stirred from deep unconsciousness. His head hurt. He was sitting back to back with someone. Ropes bound his arms and wound around his torso. Whoever it was he was tied tightly to her. Her? Oh yes. He knew exactly who it was. He could smell her. 'Parker?' he groaned in confusion.
'Finally awake' she growled. She sounded more than just a tad ticked off.
'What's going on?' he asked, raising his aching head to study his surroundings and flexing slightly to test his bonds. He felt her warm back muscles shift and had to concentrate hard on the carpet they were sitting on.
'You tell me rat. I woke up like this. Last I remember I was driving from the airport to your latest lair. Then I woke up here. That was about half an hour ago.'
Jarod contemplated this. She may have just got in the way of someone kidnapping him. Then again, maybe not. Without more information it was hard to tell. Jarod shifted again. 'Suck in for a moment' he told her. She was about to argue then remembered how he had gotten out of a straight jacket at the mental asylum and complied.
Taking a deep breath Jarod rolled his shoulders then twisted in the ropes, trying to slip a loop to give him enough slack to free his hands. There wasn't enough room. He popped one shoulder out, grunting at the pain before wrenching at the ropes but he could not get free. He subsided, panting. Parker who had not only heard, but also felt the pop of the dislocation, suppressed a shudder.
Jarod realised that he didn't have the leverage to get his shoulder back in and grimaced. 'They're too tight' he informed her, 'whoever did this knew what they were doing.'
'Don't have a handy flick knife in your pocket by any chance?' Parker asked. Jarod snorted the negative and tried to pop his shoulder joint back in.
'That must hurt' she said, not really betraying any sympathy.
'I've had worse' muttered Jarod then had to bite his lip to keep from screaming when the shoulder joint slipped back in. He sat still for a second, panting hard and waiting for the pain to abate.
'Have you made any new enemies lately who would have done this?' he asked after a moment.
'None that could get you here as well.'
'Hmm' he agreed. He sunk into thought, sieving through all the possible parties that had both the desire, and the ability to get both him and Parker in one place together. Only a few came to the fore and none of them seemed particularly likely.
Parker wriggled behind him. 'What are you doing?' he asked.
'Trying to see if they left my gun on me'
Jarod swallowed hard. Even if they got free, if she had her gun he would not remain free for long. There was more wriggling. 'Well?' he asked, realising that it was pretty unlikely for kidnappers to leave their prey armed. Parker shook her head to indicate the negative and, catching the motion through where they were pressed together, he let out a sigh of relief. 'I felt that' snapped Parker. Jarod suppressed a grin, despite the fact that she could not see it.
Silence reigned for a while as they both wondered why they were there and waited for the kidnapper to show. It was a good while later when she did.
They were in a medium sized, otherwise empty room and the Parker was facing the door so when Jarod heard it open he strained his head around to look over Parker's shoulder. When their capturer emerged his eyes widened. 'Naomi?' he said incredulously. The beautiful blond smiled dangerously.
'For a man on the run you do make it very easy for people to break into your flat and knock you unconscious.'
Jarod swung his head back round to glare fiercely at the wall. He had recently worked with Naomi as a customs officer to bring down a smuggling organisation. The last thing he remembered was packing up his lair and preparing to move on. She must have surprised him there and abducted him. The question was why? And why Parker as well?
'What the hell's going on?' demanded Parker.
'Ah, Miss Parker. How's your head?' Naomi sounded like she had enjoyed inflicting the head wound. When Jarod had worked with her she had seemed a timid and pleasant woman. It had clearly been an act.
'It will feel better when I shoot you between those pretty blue eyes of yours.'
'And how exactly will you manage that?' she asked sweetly, holding Parker's beloved 9mm between thumb and forefinger. Jarod felt the ropes tighten with a jerk as Parker strained suddenly.
'Naomi what's going on?' he asked with false calm, still facing the wall.
'You think the Centre keeps all of its operatives in Delaware?'
Parker sensed Jarod's back muscles tense and felt a sudden stab of nervousness. He seemed like he was about to snap the ropes in rage.
'Why is Parker here?' he asked, and he voice was dead calm. Parker realised he must have slipped into a pretend in order to deal with the situation.
'She got in the way, but there's good news. I just contacted her father and it turns out that since the pretender will be coming in, she's expendable.'
'Told you so,' muttered Jarod as Parker choked. Naomi watched with amusement. 'You have until the Delaware agents get here tomorrow morning. Make the most of it' she told them sarcastically, and exited the room. There was the distinct sound of a lock clicking. Jarod sat spellbound for a moment then began to furiously work the ropes on his hands. Parker just sat there, trying to digest the fact that her father had given her up, just like that. He had only wanted her for her connection to the pretender.
'What are you doing?' she asked in a dead voice, feeling his actions through his back.
'Hoping I don't have to remove one of my fingers to get out of these ropes.' He replied, settling into a rhythmic rubbing motion, trying to loosen the ropes. It was already taking skin off his wrists.
That sat in silence for a long time, Jarod trying to blank his mind to the pain the ropes were causing. Eventually he said; 'Do you want to talk about it?'
'Not with you'
'I'll be sure to tell Sydney that you loyally wanted to confess to him when I'm back at the Centre then.' He said caustically.
'Don't get used to using the past-tense Wonderboy'
Jarod smiled faintly. Parker would never be beaten. Sighing deeply he glanced down at his hands and winced. His wrists were a raw, bleeding mess but the ropes were considerably looser and the blood would work as a lubricant. He increased the strength of his twisting and wrenching and managed to get one loop over his thumb. A few more minutes and the ropes fell away all together.
'My hands are free' he informed Parker. She didn't respond. Their torso's were bound together with a different coil of rope. Twisting and flexing Jarod located the knots. They were good ones and he would have been hard pressed to do them front on without the blood making them slippery but it was Parker's life and his freedom if he didn't.
Jarod had torn and broken most of his nails before the knots were undone. Parker felt the coils of rope around her chest loosen and fall away and took a deep breath. 'That's better' she sighed. Jarod stood and walked around in front of her to undo her hands. Crouching down in front of her he glanced briefly at her face as he worked the ropes. She frowned when she saw his wrists. He followed her gaze and shrugged. 'It had to be done' he said without emotion.
When Parker's ropes were also all on the floor he stood straight again and did a quick lap of the room, inspecting the door but being careful not to touch it in case it rattled and gave them away. The hinges were on the other side and there wasn't so much as a door handle. The room was windowless and ventless; basically escape proof.
Jarod turned back to Parker who stood in the middle of the room watching him. He tried to keep his face neutral but she saw the despair in his eyes and looked away. Jarod sighed and, leaning his back against the wall facing the door, he slid to the floor, put his arms on his bent knees and rested his head on them.
Warm blood seeped through his jeans, making them stick to his leg. Blood, so much blood in his life, so much pain. All he ever knew was pain. Suddenly like a flower opening, the framework of an idea formed. He did react immediately. First he ran along all its paths, through all the problems and complications, the chances of success, the finer details. The plan would require Parker to trust him beyond a shadow of a doubt. It didn't look good but it didn't look like there was anything else coming along to save them either.
'There might be a way out,' he informed Parker, raising his head. She in turn opened her eyes to look at him from where she had been leaning against the wall, dozing on her feet. 'Mmm?' she replied cautiously.
'I can get her in here but she will be on her guard and armed so we won't be able to overpower her without a distraction. That will be you. I will pretend that I've killed you.'
'Oh that will work. Your think maybe she'll see me breathing?' her tone was thick with sarcasm.
'I can teach you a form of meditation that will put you in a deathlike state. About one heart beat a minute. Only a certain word will bring you out of it. It will look realistic.'
Parker nodded sceptically. 'Even if you can teach me this pretend death thing in time and I'm lying in the middle of the floor when she comes in. She'll still keep a gun trained on you.'
'She'll want to remove the body. If she thinks I'm crazy enough to kill you, she'll think I'm crazy enough to maim the body and my guess is that your father wants your death to look accidental. He'll want to hold a funeral. And people ask questions if there are teeth marks on the body.'
'Teeth marks?' asked Parker incredulously.
'She will believe me capable of it' he replied with a deadpan face. Parker gave him a grudging smile. There was a pause.
'It's the best thing I can think of,' Jarod said when she gave no more response, 'if you've got anything better, feel free to speak up. Either that or wait another six hours until the Centre gets here.' Parker stared at him for a moment longer then nodded. Jarod returned the nod with a weary smile and stood.
'Just one thing...' he said 'It requires hypnosis.'
# # #
Ps. It may be a long time until I post again. School. Badness.
