AN: Here's another Pretender fic I wrote sometime ago and always I don't own, don't expect to be sued for this!
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Mr. Raines was less than happy with their lack of results in finding the leak. But finally after another day, he put Miss Parker and Sydney back on the job of tracking down the Centre's fugitive Pretender while keeping Angelo busy looking for clues as to where Jarod would go next.
Within hours, Angelo had determined where Jarod was but when they arrived, he had already moved on. They went first to where Jarod had been living, and Sydney fought to hide his amusement as the obvious caution Miss Parker was showing. She still remembered all too well when Jarod had set a trap for her and the sweepers, gluing them all to the floor of his apartment for hours before help from the Centre finally arrived to free them.
Sydney split off from the rest of the group, finding the area that Jarod had set up a work area. He had left behind traces of the object that was the center of his last fixation as well as a note for him and Miss Parker.
"Miss Parker," Sydney called out as he picked up the note and object.
"What's it say?" she asked.
"'From the man with a thousand faces-- can you guess what my next face will be? Jarod.'" Sydney smiled, looking down at the Mr. Potato Head in his hands. It had a note on it that read simply as "Sydney". Jarod has also left behind what was clearly a Miss Potato Head and a note that read "Miss Parker" was attached to it.
Parker picked up hers, flipping it over and over in her hands for a moment. "Let's go," she said, carelessly throwing the toy back onto the table. Sydney watched her storm out before he picked up her Potato Head to pocket it along with his own.
* ~ * ~ *
Next they went to the Police Department where Jarod had worked as a member of the bomb squad. After interviewing several of the officers, including the department's captain and the sketch artists. They questioned them both thoroughly about what the remembered about Jarod but came up little information, certainly nothing that would lead them to Jarod.
"One last thing," the artist was saying, as they were about to leave his office.
"What?" Miss Parker asked.
"There was something odd about Nobel. He seemed fascinated with my Mr. Potato Head, like he'd never seen one before. He also said something that made me think that he doesn't know that it was originally designed for children to play with."
"That explains the ones he left behind for us," Sydney muttered to Miss Parker.
"What? He left you guys one too?" the artist asked.
"Yes, he did."
"Can I see them?" he asked.
"We don't- Sydney, you brought them?!!"
Sydney smiled as his surprised colleague, even as he handed the two over to the artist. After a moment of looking them over, he handed Sydney his back. "May I keep this one? That is if you don't want it? I collect Potato Heads."
"Be my guest," Miss Parker said and left.
"What's eating her?" the artist asked.
"She's just having a bad day. If you'll excuse me," Sydney replied, leaving as quickly as Parker did. He looked around the police station and after seeing she had already left, he followed her outside. She was already slipping on her sunglasses as he joined her.
"That was another colossal waste of time," she growled.
Sydney shrugged. "Whoever said catching Jarod was going to be easy. He is after all, a Pretender."
"I realize that, Sydney. It's because he's a Pretender the Centre won't let us stop going on Jarod's wild little goose chases," she replied as they got into their car. "I am TIRED of playing Jarod's games!"
Sydney decided not to reply further and for a few moments, there was complete silence on their drive back to the airport.
"Explain something to me," Miss Parker said, sounding much calmer than she was just a few moments ago.
"Yes?" Sydney replied.
"Explain to me why, that when we track down some place Jarod has been, he most often has a child's toy or toys where he's been living?" she asked.
"The answer is simple, Miss Parker. Jarod was never allowed to have a childhood, a real childhood. My guess is all these toys we've found so far, are a part of Jarod's effort to make up for what he's never had before," Sydney replied.
"Is that all? He needs to let the past stay just that, both with trying to find his family and with trying to recapture his childhood. It'll be better for him in the long run," Miss Parker replied. "Besides, having a childhood is not all it's cracked up to be."
"But at least you had a childhood, Miss Parker," Sydney replied.
"Yeah right, Sydney."
"True, not everything that happened to you was pleasant, but at least you had more of a childhood than Jarod was ever allowed to have by the Centre," he said, "Or by me."
Miss Parker glanced at him, but she didn't speak. Sydney had more than feeling guilty lately about his part in keeping Jarod locked away while the Centre had exploited him. His guilt was holding him back from helping them find Jarod. Maybe she should requested that Sydney be dropped from the search for Jarod because maybe then she'd get the results Mr. Raines wanted.
Maybe she would submit that request when the reached the Centre . . .
Maybe . . .
The End