Summary: Jarod comes to Miss Parker's house in blue cove, risking his capture and her survival.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Pretender or the characters.
Rating: T
Pairing: Jarod/Miss Parker
Jarod knew better than to be here, be at her house. But ever since Carthis he had to see her, to make sure that she was ok. Sidney had said that Parker was in danger, and it was more crucial that she find Jarod and return him to the center, or it could mean her life. Hate welled up in him for Raines and for her brother Lyle. Jarod needed to protect Parker, it ingrained in him. He had been doing it for years, in a round about way that is. In truth it was her mother that had told him to protect her, and Jarod did. At first it was only him paying a debt, but now it was out of love and a need to be near her.
Creeping up to the porch he instinctively knew that there would be no security system, but that didn't stop him from being dressed in all black, making sure that nothing reflected as he broke into her out. He was sure that Centre agents were watching her, but he had come in and slipped right under their radar for years it was second nature to him. Crouch down Jarod used his lock pick to jostle free the tumblers and enter Miss Parker's house. Carefully he slipped in through the narrow space and closed the door before the agents had time to realize the door had opened. He slowly made his way up the steps and to her bedroom where she was on the bed sound asleep.
The moon light filtered in between her white lace curtains and surrounded her in a halo of light. It was as if he had encountered a sleeping angel, before she turned into a wolf upon waking. Measuring each step Jarod moved closer. He crouched next to the bed and pillowed his head on his folded arms so he could watch her comfortably, at least for a few hours before he as forced from her side. Jarod guessed that he had four hours with her before she woke up or the sweepers busted in and found him. Slowly, seeming that time stood still, the Pretender reached out his hand and skimmed his index finger down her face. When he had been a child in the Centre, never would he thought that she would have turned into his relentless hunter, not the girl who had given him his first kiss. Before she had been sent away she had been his only friend, besides Angelo.
He wasn't surprised when a gun barrel appeared inches from his face, but he was surprised that she lowered it almost immediately. Her eyes linked with his and he saw contentment, not anger. She had dared him to come to her, to try and see her not just pick up his cell phone and taunt her. For the longest time he had convinced himself that her number was on his speed dial so it would be easier to repeatedly call her and taunt her with clues during his Pretends, but now it was a way of keeping close to her.
Parker knew the instant he had come into her room and sat next to her on the floor. Jarod always sat on the floor; it was compulsion from his time at the center, his own weird act of defiance. For show she pointed her gun at him, more out of habit than intent. Over the years Jarod had taunted and teased her, but now she had been the one to tease and it would nearly cost him his freedom. She could be the good Centre tracker and capture Jarod; save her own skin and be free, or she could risk them finding out that he had been in her house, a willing guest, and she could take her chances with Raines and that beheading he had mentioned. Parker liked the second option. She loved the fine line of danger even though it did no good for her ulcers. Besides, she did it to spite Raines and Lyle. Parker would file her reports and show them that she actively pursued Jarod, only she would use the time so she could get closer to him and help him to take down the Centre. That is what she wanted now, to take down the Centre so Jarod could live as a free man and they could try for some semblance of normal. Parker wanted a normal life with her Pretender.
She took in his current appearance. Jarod's hair was a little longer, nearly touching his shoulders. Parker had to admit that he was kind of sexy with the long hair. He had recently shaved so close that his skin glowed in the moon light. Compulsion had her reaching out her left hand and twining a lock his hair around her finger. She smiled when he did a very feline gesture and rubbed his temple over his finger that toyed with his hair. Jarod was the one man who could aggravate and make her happy all at the same time. Right now, Parker needed that. It had been two months since her father's Geronimo and nothing had turned up as to his whereabouts. If it wasn't for Jarod's phone calls she might now have survived and attempted to kill Raines herself. She hated having the knowledge that he was her father. The thought sickened her constantly and yet Lyle felt the compulsion to remind her at every turn. She was half tempted to shoot him too.
"I'm surprised you came." Parker whispered in a sleepy voice. She half expected this to be a dream that he would dissolve once she reached out to touch him. But it wasn't a dream, he was really here and tempting his recapture.
"You should know better," Jarod leaned up and nuzzled his nose over his cheek, another feline gesture. He had just come off of a pretend that involved being around huge jungle cats. The ones he liked the most were the tigers he worked with. With out meaning to he adopted some of the gestures and signs of affection.
"How long can you stay?" Parker asked. When she had teased him about not having the guts to come to her house she had decided to stop fighting him and let what started on Carthis to keep happening. When she had been a little girl she couldn't stop from sneaking off into the lower levels and meeting him at their place. If she went down to SL19 Parker would find her initials and his carved in stone. She had only been a child but that child had fallen in love with the boy Jarod had been. On impulse Parker leaned in close to him and took his lips, lips she had wanted to taste since being on Carthis, since they sat so close to the fire and he put a blanket around her. His lips were soft and pliant under hers and for one instance they were the only two people and it felt so good just to feel again. Jarod tasted of the rain and of the sunshine and his lips molded to hers just fine, like he was her perfect match. But Parker already knew that he was her match. How else would he be able to get under her skin and annoy her so easily? That was her Jarod, determined to be free and yet tempt his recapture.
"Just a few more hours," Jarod replied pulling back from the kiss. He pulled off his sweater so only his black beater was against his skin and kicked off his shoes to move in next to her on the bed. He settled himself comfortably on top of the sheets and then held open his arm for her to curl into his side as she rested her head over his heart. Jarod allowed himself to doze just on the edge of sleep. Before the sun rose he would have to be forced from the warmth of Parkers bed and back out on the run from the Centre. But for now he could hold Parker and feel like a normal person and not some prized possession. For now he and Parker were alone in the world and sharing a bed.
THE NEXT MORNING:
Her alarm sounded like it always did but something was different. The space beside her was empty but heat from Jarod's body still lingered. He hadn't been gone long. Parker looked to her clock and saw that it was 7:30am on the dot. She had an hour and a half before having to be at the Centre for another boring search for Jarod. Turning Parker found a note on her mirror written in one of her shades of lipstick that she rarely wore. It simply said:
I'll see you when you find me in the place I am now. You'll know how to contact me when it's time for us.
She laughed and smiled. How typical of Jarod to leave a note that made no sense, ever the eternal practical joker. But there was also something else that he had left her. It was a snapshot of their space and an enlarged view of their engraved initials. All day she would wear a small smile as she carried around the two photos while she planned how best to get him alone and with out Sidney and Broots finding out that she would rather have sex with Jarod than shoot him. But she as certain there would be times she would like to shoot him too, down the road, if they got to have a life together. Parker had the feeling that next time she encountered Jarod they would end up in bed and with no clothes on for however long they could manage a quiet interlude together.
Miss Parker strode into the Centre, walked to her office and immediately started her work. She knew any minute Broots or Sidney would be coming through her door and tell her they have a clue to Jarod. Parker was looking at the clock and counting the seconds. As if on cue there was Sidney carrying on of Jarod's tell tale red note books with a note that said, "For Miss Parker." Hiding behind the book Miss Parker smiled at the note that described what he would do to her when he got her alone. It was descriptive enough to make her blush. Being eager to get this mission underway Parker ordered the Centre copter to take them to where Jarod was last seen and she was even more eager to feel all the pleasure he had promised in the note.