i) Was watching the second movie again and this came to mind; just kinda bashed it out so sorry for any typos or bad grammar.

ii) 'Half of what we're saying is halfway near the truth'

Messages

Killing the engine she sat in her car for a moment, just enjoying the breathing space it gave her. After another onslaught at the Centre she was glad to be done for the day even though she knew that her relief would be fleeting; she had to return the next day and relive the nightmare that passed for her life at the moment all over again. Lyle stalking her every move, desperate to know if she had a lead on the pretender so he could cut her off at the pass. Raines breathing down both their necks, one moment frustrated at their 'incompetence' and not holding back in his fury, the next coolly reminding them that the winner got to live. Parker knew which side she found most disturbing and she was sure it was a sentiment Lyle didn't share. Her twin had just that very morning had the nerve to suggest a coalition to capture Jarod and overthrow Raines! As if she'd ever trust him. As if she'd ever catch Jarod.

Even if she wanted to - and that was a card she held tightly to her chest - capturing Jarod would prove difficult, more so than usual as the pretender had been keeping a low profile lately. Very low. There'd been no clues sent, no taunting calls, no ventures into the Centre's mainframe. Jarod hadn't played any tricks on Lyle, he hadn't called Sydney for advice, they'd not even come close to finding any kind of tangible lead on him. All this shouldn't have worried her; Sydney did not see the need for concern, certain that the pretender would make contact in his own time. But it did niggle her.

She'd be the first person to deny that there was anything more than 'You run, I chase' to their relationship but she knew it simply wasn't true. Their time on Carthis had proven that much to herself - if not to others as well. She and Jarod might not be friends in the conventional sense but they knew more about each other, and their respective pasts, than many 'real' friends did. They might, to all intents and purposes, be enemies but they could also be allies - at least when it suited them both and that seemed to be happening more frequently of late. And there was something else between them, something Jarod had termed as a 'connection'. She thought that was a fair assessment; it spoke of a vagueness that she could deny plausibly but also left plenty of room for interpretation. But with his absence she wondered whether that connection was now severed.

She'd blown him off, as she always did, the last time they'd spoken. She'd told him that there was nothing between them, only their game of running and chasing. The same message she always gave but this time she'd also acknowledged some truths, albeit not directly. But the message was there, underneath the coolness, underneath the rejection. It was there, in a way that he would know but also in a way that begged not to be questioned further. She couldn't say it outright, 'they' were listening after all - she was certain of that. When the Centre had caught up with her and Jarod on that island they weren't exactly playing the assigned roles of hunter and prey - Raines wasn't blind, just a wheezing bag of bones with a vicious streak, an intense distrust of her and an equally felt hatred for Jarod.

The thought that he hadn't picked up what she'd said dismayed her. The thought that he had but did not care just plain hurt. The thought that he had heard and would, as Sydney maintained, eventually make contact scared the hell out of her. Her recognition of the changing dynamics of their 'relationship' had the potential to change so much more and she wasn't quite ready for that. Not yet, anyway. She'd wanted him to understand that. She knew she was choosing a lonely, solitary course to traverse and one that didn't seem to have an end in sight. She just hoped there would be one day and that hope was something for her to hold on to.

Shaking off those thoughts for the moment she swapped the smaller space of her car for her much larger, and emptier, home. Closing the door behind her she felt her relief grow further. Away from the Centre, away from Raines, away from Lyle and safe in the house that reminded her of her mother - everything just felt better. There was no other place that felt so welcoming and nowhere else she'd rather be even if it meant being alone. A cursory glance at her phone showed there was no glowing red light and therefore no messages - not that there ever was lately. Out of the corner of her eye something else did register. Something that, though red in colour, was definitely out of place. Turning slightly and approaching the object her stomach flipped.

A box, deep red and with a bow perched on top, sat on her table. It hadn't been there when she'd left that morning and could only mean one thing - or more likely, one person. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips, nor the realisation that, as a weight lifted from her shoulders, she hadn't dispensed with her worries as efficiently as she'd first thought.

Sitting down in front of the box, her eyes focussed upon it, she suddenly felt a little nervous and her smile faded. He had done something similar before, on the first Valentine's Day after he'd escaped. She remembered that time clearly, remembered exactly what he had been asking way back then. Not opening the box to find out she found herself waiting for her phone to start ringing instead and steeling herself for a conversation she didn't want to have. Though Jarod's absence had worried her, had made her think she'd pushed him away one too many times, she was now worried that he had actually made contact and in such a manner. She didn't want to have to reject him again, as she had that Valentine's Day, as she had in the limo at the airfield, as she had on their return from Carthis, as she had done since she was little girl. But the call never came and disappointment quickly overtook her apprehension because she would have liked to have heard his voice, to have bantered with him as they had done so many times before. And it was easier to reject him if she could argue with him.

With a sigh she leant forward towards her gift and gently removed the lid, setting it down to one side. She peeled back the delicate tissue paper to reveal a candy heart just like before though this time the message was different and instantly brought back her smile and releasing all of her tension.

'OUR FUTURE'

He had understood. He still cared. He hadn't given up on her. He still had to run, she still had to chase but they would do so together. And maybe, just maybe, one day, when things were different, they wouldn't have to play those roles any more. And that message - that he knew that she knew - meant everything.