What Child is This?
A Pretender fanfiction
by
CanonAntithesis
formerly GimmeABeat
Summary: My take on the age-old question - Just who are Baby Parker's parents? And it's a Christmas story!
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. This fanfiction is based upon the NBC television series Pretender. All characters and situations other than my own are the sole property of 20th Century Fox.
Chapter 1
"Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad", Broots happily sang along with Jose Feliciano on the radio. He even ad libbed a little choreography by shaking invisible maracas above his head. The timid computer geek knew he was off-key, but Christmas was his favorite holiday; plus, there was no one else here to hear him, "...Prospero Año y Felicidad."
Yes, this was shaping into a perfect holiday. He no longer had to worry about his ex-wife having anything to do with his daughter, Debbie, and they had airline reservations for Orlando on Christmas Eve, which was only two days away. On top of all that, he was sitting nice and cozy in Miss Parker's Mercedes Coupe while Miss Parker and Sydney checked out the latest lead on Jarod. He didn't even mind being squished up in the tiny backseat. After all, if it wasn't for this car, he would be trudging around in that dark, dank warehouse.
They were investigating a creepy-looking deserted warehouse, located in a decidedly bad part of town. Parker didn't want to leave her car unattended, so Broots was elected to stay with the vehicle and protect it from thieves. "I wanna wish yo-"
Miss Parker wrenched open the Mercedes' door and a swirl of snow blew into the car along with her. However, Broots was pretty sure the drop in temperature was caused more by Miss Parker's frosty personality than by the inclement weather. Sydney quickly entered via the passenger door and released an audible shiver while shaking off the accumulated snow from his shoulders.
"Turn off that damn music, Syd! I'm in no mood", barked Parker as she pulled away from the warehouse, car fish-tailing and tires squealing until they were clear of the parking lot. Sydney dutifully pushed off the radio as ordered.
"S-soooo, I-I guess things didn't go so well, huh?", Broots ventured while leaning forward into the front seat until his head was almost even with theirs.
"Gee, Broots, what gave you that idea?", Miss Parker asked sarcastically.
Sydney elaborated, "He was long gone, Mr. Broots, nothing left but rats and couple of homeless vagrants."
"Right", scoffed Parker, "one of whom thought I was his own personal Christmas angel sent down from heaven to make his wishes come true. It seems like the archangel Jarod told them I would be coming."
"Y-you didn't h-hurt him … too badly, did you Miss Parker?", Broots nervously asked. He had been on the receiving end of her temper more than once and wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on a stranger.
"She was quite lenient actually" Sydney again explained. "Must be the season."
"Right, Syd, good will toward men." Then, turning to look directly at Broots, she asked seriously, "By the way, Mr. Broots, where exactly did this lead come from?" Parker turned back just in time to miss crashing into a tractor trailer truck. She swerved back into her own lane and continued as if nothing had happened. "Well, Broots?", she prompted, without turning her head this time.
He waited until the blare of the truck horn faded behind them. "It was from Mr. Lyle's office, ma'am", Broots' voice was decidedly strained since he was speaking through gritted teeth. He then immediately buckled his seatbelt and sank down into the backseat, hugging his arms around his knees.
"If it was such a hot lead, why did he give it to us?"
"You think this was a diversion, Parker?", Sydney intoned in his characteristically calm voice.
"I think it was something. Mostly, I think it was a waste of two hours of my time." She reached over to push in her cigarette lighter before remembering that she had stopped smoking. To cover her slip, she pushed the radio on instead.
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, rock..."
"Ugh, is that all they play? Peppy Christmas music?"
She changed the station to an all news channel where she hoped to hear about the discovery of a body matching the description of her twin brother, Lyle. It would go something like this, "A tall, dark-haired, slimy man with one missing thumb and one missing conscience". Now, that would be a Christmas miracle.
"This just in... Away in a manger, baby Jesus did lay — that is, until someone swiped him from the Nativity scene in front of St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Blue Cove just thirty minutes ago."
"Can you believe the nerve of some people?", Broots commented from the backseat.
"Quiet, Broots. I want to hear this", Parker admonished.
"While baby Jesus thefts aren't anything new, this one has an added twist. You see, it wasn't so much a theft as an exchange. That's right, folks, a real-live baby was left in Jesus' place."
"That's just sick", tsked Broots.
Parker reached over and turned down the radio's volume. "Ya know, Syd... If I was Jarod and I was actually in Blue Cove, this would be just the sort of thing that would keep me in town." Miss Parker was listening intently as a sly smile traced her lips. "Where is this church?"
However, before Sydney could reply, Miss Parker's cell phone rang.
"What?", she answered with her standard greeting. "Oh, Daddy, how- What? No, we didn't find anything. In fact, I think- Now? … Of course, but we actually might have a genuine- Of course, Daddy, I understand." She ended the call and silently contemplated the conversation, if one could call it that.
Parker sighed and slammed down both feet onto the brakes, causing the car to turn 180 degrees until it was facing in the opposite direction. Then, she punched the accelerator and headed the car in the direction of the Centre.
"Daddy says he needs me immediately back at the Centre."
Sydney braced his hands against the glove compartment even though he knew, intellectually, that it would offer little help in the event of a crash. "Any idea what's going on?"
"No, but he sounded worried."
"Worry isn't an emotion that your father often exhibits."
"No, it isn't."
Broots said nothing. He was too petrified to speak, but he did note, if only to himself, that she seemed to increase her speed as the road became more narrow and winding.
/***\
Two hours earlier...
Susan Korbel casually slid her access card through the reader at the main security desk in the lobby of the Centre. She wasn't scheduled to work today, but after learning what she had yesterday, she knew she couldn't wait another day before she acted. She smiled at Jim, the security guard who manned the monitors, and murmured a quiet hello while pretending to rummage through her purse for something. She was a nervous wreck and knew if she looked him in the eye, he would immediately suspect something.
She was half-way to the bank of elevators before he spoke. "Ah, Susan, hang on a sec. The computer doesn't think you're supposed to be here today."
After the infamous escape of their most advanced pretender, the Centre installed many sophisticated security measures throughout the complex. The main computer now tracked the schedules of every employee and flagged anyone who wasn't where they were supposed to be.
Susan reached up and nervously released the top button on her traditional white nurses uniform before she turned back to face Jim. She may be nearing fifty, but she still had a striking figure and she had noticed Jim eying her more than once in the fifteen years she had worked here.
She walked straight back to the desk and leaned over to view the monitor and simultaneously give Jim a nice view of her cleavage. "What seems to be the problem, sweety?"
A security monitor showed the same horribly unflattering picture of her as her ID card and listed her Name: Susan Korbel, Job Title: Special Research Nurse, Supervisor: Dr. Raines, Authorized Access Areas: these included the normal areas for all employees, such as the cafeteria, workout room, etc, plus Sublevel 23 which is where her job assignment was. It also listed her work schedule and clearly showed that she shouldn't be here today.
He swallowed audibly before he answered her. "Well, it says here that you're scheduled to work tomorrow, not today. You know how particular Mr. Cox is about the security here."
"Oh that, didn't Helen tell you? She and I switched days", Susan blatantly lied. "She'll work for me tomorrow."
With his eyes firmly locked on her chest, Jim replied, "Oh, well, I guess if you cleared it with Dr. Raines. I know you work in a very sensitive section and..."
"Oh, of course I cleared it with Raines, sweety. We aren't allowed to pee without clearing it with Raines." She added a chuckle to lighten the mood.
It worked because Jim chuckled too. If there was one thing everyone agreed, it was that no one liked Dr. Raines.
"Okay, Sue. Just tell Helen to remind me tomorrow when she checks in and I'll override the computer so the building lets her in."
She reached over and gave him a warm pat on the back of his hand. "Sure thing, Jim. I'll do that." Then, she turned and walked as quickly as she could without attracting too much attention directly to the elevators.
The ride down to Sublevel 23 was blessedly quiet. She walked out onto the quiet hallway, like she had done a hundred times before. However, this time was different in one distinct way, because for better or worse, this was the last time she would ever be here. She went directly to the 'nursery'; she uttered a bitter little chuckle at the word. This room was as clinical as any laboratory she had ever seen. All of the lighting was artificial, of course, since this level was twenty-three floors below ground. Stark fluorescent tubes covered the ceiling, casting bleak shadows onto the hard linoleum flooring. The walls were a bright white and devoid of any decorations. She silently approached the crib and frowned down at the label attached to the white metal bars: Project Lineage, Baby Parker.
In the six months that child had been on this earth, no one had even bothered to give him a proper name. He was sound asleep, but as she gazed down at him, his eyes opened as if he already knew she was there. She had been a pediatric nurse for nearly thirty years and she recognized intelligence when she saw it. Even though he didn't receive the kind of interaction and stimulus he should have, that baby showed massive intelligence. Of course, she and Helen tried to show him compassion when they could, but they weren't often left alone with the child. All too often, Dr. Raines was the one who was left alone with him and she knew that could never be healthy for anyone, let alone an infant.
She smiled down at the boy and was just about to reach down to him when a creaking noise made her nearly jump out of her skin. Thank goodness she hadn't actually picked him up because she would definitely have dropped him when she jumped. With her hand on her rapidly beating heart, she looked down in relief to see Angelo crawl out of an air duct located in the corner of the room.
"Angelo... you nearly scared the life out of me", she whispered. She had met the eclectic empath when she was first transferred onto this project.. He just showed up one day and took an immediate interest in the baby.
"Nurse scared."
"Well, of course, I'm scared. I'm about to do something that will probably get me killed."
"Nurse good. Friend good. Friend waiting."
"Right. So where is this friend of yours and how am I supposed to get out of the Centre with our little man, here?" She did reach down and pick up the baby now. He let out a happy cooing sound and kicked his little legs in the air. She hugged him close to her, inhaling that special baby smell that even the evil of the Centre couldn't squelch.
"Angelo fix card; Nurse go now; Baby be safe." Angelo smiled widely as Baby Parker grabbed his finger.
Susan looked a little perturbed. "Just like that? I just walk out of here with him?"
Suddenly, Angelo looked in fear at the door. "Nurse follow. Now!"
He scooted into the air duct and disappeared, leaving Susan standing there holding the baby. "You've got to be kidding." She slowly lowered herself to her knees and peered into the dark tunnel-like metal duct work. Angelo was nowhere to be seen. Then, she heard it, the noise Angelo must have heard minutes earlier. Someone was walking down the hallway towards this room. She glanced up at the door expecting it to crash open any second. She was frozen, afraid to move.
The foot steps became steadily louder and seemed to match the frantic beating of her heart. This was it; this was the end and she couldn't even manage to save herself, let alone the baby. She exhaled the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding when the foot falls passed by the room and continued on down the hall.
Angelo's head popped back out of the opening and she gave an inadvertent squeak. The foot steps stopped … and started again, becoming louder, indicating the person was returning in this direction.
"Give Angelo Baby." She quickly handed over the baby and Angelo disappeared again into the tunnel. Susan just stood there listening to the approaching foot steps, unable to move. Angelo popped back out for a third time. "Nurse follow!", he insisted in an agitated voice. "Now!"
The urgency in his voice finally propelled her to move and the nurse crawled into the air duct on her hands and knees, cursing why on earth she had chosen to wear a skirt on this of all days. Angelo somehow managed to pulled the grill shut an instant before the door opened and the sweeper walked into the small room.
Luckily, their trip through the air ducts was short and before she realized it, she and Angelo had emerged near a large service elevator at the opposite end of this level. He quickly handed the baby back to her and removed her security card from around her neck. Then he ran the card through the reader attached to the elevator. The service elevator electronic reader was another one of the security upgrades implemented after Jarod's escape. Some of the more isolated elevators and all of the doors now required access through their employee ID cards. A lowly pediatric nurse definitely did not have access to this service elevator.
"That won't work, Angelo", Susan informed him. "I'm not authorized to use this elevator. Only Dr. Raines can call it."
Angelo didn't respond. Instead he handed her the card back just as the elevator doors opened. He turned back to her. "Nurse go now. Friend waiting."
Angelo started to return to the air duct.
"Angelo, wait! You never told me where. Where do I meet your friend?"
"Church", Angelo replied and then he was gone.
"Hell, which church Angelo? Which church?", Susan urgently whispered into the now closed grill.
Just then, the alarm sounded and even if he had answered, which she doubted, she wouldn't have been able to hear him. She quickly ducked into the elevator just as the doors started to close and caught a fleeting glance of a swarm of sweepers as they came around the corner and toward the closing elevator doors. She took a second to catch her breath and look over the baby to make sure he was alright. He was so quiet; it had her worried. Baby Parker simply studied her with his bright blue eyes as if he understood everything that was happening. That's when she realized that he hadn't uttered a sound since they first heard the foot steps in the hallway. Amazing.
The rest of their escape from the Centre was a blur. Angelo must have programmed the elevator to take them directly to the parking garage where she had left her car just fifteen minutes earlier.
She hit the remote start on her Lexus as they ran toward it; if nothing else, the Centre did pay well. Quickly unlocking it, she strapped the baby in her neighbor's borrowed car seat and zoomed through the gates just as they were swinging shut due to the security lock-down her escape had spurred.
Her car squealed up the road towards Blue Cove as an ominous black Centre helicopter rose off the ground to follow them. "Hang on, Baby. We'll get you to the church on time."
Nurse Susan Korbel whipped the car around the narrow curves as the menacing black helicopter swooped closer and closer to her. It had just started snowing and normally Susan hated driving in snow, but she quickly realized that the snow would hinder the chopper much more than her. Also, she knew if she could only get into the town, the myriad of exposed power lines would make it impossible for the aircraft to follow her.
She skidded on the rapidly freezing roadway and reached into the backseat to touch the car seat. "You doing okay back there, Baby?"
She received an answering coo in response. That baby was just amazing. He was the most even tempered child she had ever met. He was also quite beautiful. With his raven black hair and bright blue eyes, it was easy to see the Parker bloodline in him; he was the spitting image of Mr. Lyle and Miss Parker.
But wait a sec... that didn't make any sense. She'd read Baby Parker's medical history. She knew how his mother, Brigitte, had died in childbirth and she, of course, had been Mr. Parker's second wife. In fact, the age difference between the two had been quite the gossip amongst the lower level employees.
And this little bundle of joy looked nothing like Mr. Parker or the late Mrs. Brigette Parker. By the same token, he wasn't even related to Miss Parker or Mr. Lyle.
She shook her head ruefully. She really didn't have time to ponder this right now.
Right now, she had to find this church where Angelo's mysterious friend was waiting for her.
When she hit the town limits of Blue Cove, Susan thought she could rest easy. The helicopter pulled away when she reached the high power lines just east of the town. The bad weather had forced most people to stay indoors and the streets were nearly deserted. It was a small town and there weren't that many churches and most of those were located in Old Town. She would start there.
Susan turned onto First Street and immediately hit her brakes. She could see a slow moving vehicle in the distance and something seemed off about it. She quickly turned off her headlights and pulled the car over into a small alley.
"Keep being good, little guy", she whispered to her back seat passenger as she ducked down in the seat.
The long, black Chevy Suburban drifted slowly by and Susan held her breath until the SUV had passed. Cautiously, she sat up in her seat. She had to do something and she had to do it now. Three of the largest churches in town were situated together around the old town green. It was a gathering place in the summer months where local bands would gather for evening concerts and families with children would picnic on the green - an echo of a bygone era. The place was completely deserted now; there was no sign of the man she was supposed to meet. Susan knew her time was quickly running out. Before she skirted her car across an intersection, she glanced right and saw another black SUV. They were definitely looking for her … and closing in fast.
Of the three churches on the green, all but one of them was dark. St. Mary's Catholic Church had lights blazing in the windows and she could hear voices lifted in song carrying out into the night. This was the place. She was going to lead them away from the baby, but first she had to put him some place safe where he would be found quickly and in such a manner that if the Centre saw her, they wouldn't be able to bully their way in and take him. She had done many things she wasn't proud of since she started working for the Centre. Now was the time to try and make up for it.
Then, she spotted it - the quintessential symbol of Christmas.
TBC
Author's Notes:
Hi, this is my first Pretender fic. I've loved the show for years and always read any Jarod/Parker fics I can find.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and please take the time to review my meager offering.