Title - High Price of Freedom
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG to PG-13 (for some violence)
Category - JMPR, Pretender/Profiler Crossover
Summary - The ramifications of a past mistake come back to haunt Jarod and could be the key to the freedom Miss Parker's searching for. But is the high price worth it in the end?
Disclaimer - Most of these characters don't belong to me. Just using them for a bit. No harm intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 8
* * * * * * * * * *
"Oh, you know good and well what I want, Miss Parker. Now where
is he?"
"You think I'm just going to tell you that?" Miss Parker asks
with a joyless laugh. "I don't think so."
"I figured you'd make this difficult," Rachel says, rolling her
eyes. "I was giving you one last chance. But since you don't
want to cooperate, I guess I no longer have any use for you."
She takes the safety off the gun and points it at Miss Parker's
heart.
"Agent, stand down," Agent Charles says finally. He realizes
that Rachel was about to seriously cross a line. He raises his
own gun and points it at Rachel.
"Stay out of this, Charles. This is between me and her. She's
the only thing standing in the way of the my life. My
happiness."
"Listen to yourself, Rachel," Miss Parker spits out. "You're
pathetic. You're thinking about your life. Your happiness.
What about what Jarod wants? You think he wants you? It's me he
wants. And you know it. You have to accept that."
"Shut up!" Rachel screams. "Both of you."
"Calm down, Burke. Put the gun down. I don't want to have to
shoot you," Agent Charles warns. "She hasn't done anything."
"Oh, she's done plenty. She's guilty of hurting my Jarod. And
I'm not going to let her do it again." Rachel rationalizes in her
own mind. Her voice is colder and her movements are more
resolute. It's as if she's made her decision and she knows
exactly what she has to do. Her eyes lose any light they once
had, and turn glaring at Miss Parker with a chilling darkness.
Miss Parker closes her eyes, knowing that her death is imminent.
She squeezes them tight, waiting for the gunshot. She jumps when
she hears it, but it takes a moment for her to realizes she
wasn't hit. Opening her eyes, she sees Rachel, writhing on the
floor in pain, holding onto her right shoulder. Agent Charles is
bending over her, trying to stop the blood flow.
"What's going on in here?" Lyle asks, rushing into the room after
hearing the gunshot, his own gun in hand. He surprised to see
the two agents, one shot, and one holding a smoking gun.
"Stay where you are," Agent Charles warns, standing up to get
control of the situation. "I don't know who you people are or
what's going on here. All I know is that I just had to shoot a
fellow agent."
"What's going on here, you ask? Well, let me explain a little
something to you," Lyle sneers. "Here at the Centre, we don't
like questions. I mean, we could answer them, but then we'd just
have to kill you. So how about I just skip the answering part."
Before anyone could blink, Lyle shoots Agent Charles in the head.
The man's surprised corpse falling instantly dead to the floor.
He turns the gun to Rachel next, finishing the job the other
agent started. Miss Parker stares into the dying woman's
eyes until all the life leaves them. She bends down and out of
some strange notion of respect, closes Rachel's still open eyes.
She barely registers the last shot, killing her assistant.
"Lyle, you just executed 3 people," she cries, terrified he was
about to do the same to her. Or worse. Scared that he's go
after Jarod, too.
"Don't worry, Sis. No harm can come to you," he assures. But
some how his words just frighten her even more. "You're too
important to the project."
"Project? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the grand scheme of things, Parker," he
laughs. "What? You didn't think we thought you'd actually catch
Jarod and let you free, did you? No. We have big plans for the
two of you. Just as soon as we get those DSA's back. We can
finish the work that Jarod ironically enough started."
"What work?" she asks, stalling him for time while her mind tried
to come up with a way out of this.
"Just before he escaped, Jarod unwittingly developed the key that
unlocked the mysteries of the universe. He was basically a fluke
of nature. A natural born pretender. A gift from God. But he
came up with a way for us to be God and make our own pretenders.
Once he figured out what we would be doing with that information
and who we'd be using, he took off."
"You were going to use him. And me," she realizes, suddenly
understanding why Jarod was so upset before. She wobbles a bit
from the shock, grabbing onto the back of a chair for support.
Lyle shrugs his shoulder at her as if the notion weren't that big
a deal. He bends down to take the weapon from Agent Charles and
Miss Parker sees her chance. She quickly picks up the chair
she's holding on to, not even bothering to try to stay quiet.
She needs as much force as she can gather. Lyle hears her and
turns around, but all he sees is the chair swinging towards his
head.
He hits the ground with a thump, a stream of blood dripping from
his head. She checks to see if he's dead or not and then takes
the cuffs from Agent Charles to cuff Lyle to her closet door.
She gets all of the guns that have been scattered across the
floor and moves to her desk to dial a number on the phone.
"This is Sydney," the deep voice answers on the other end.
"Sydney, thank God," she cries.
"Parker! It's Parker," he says to someone on the background.
"Are you okay? Broots went by your house and saw the place
crawling with FBI."
"I'm fine," she tries to assure him. Although she's not so sure
of that fact herself. "I just need to get me and Jarod out of
here. And quickly. Where are you? Are the kids with you?"
"On the way back to the Centre. We figured that's where you and
Jarod would be. And yes, the kids are here. They're fine."
"They're fine. I'm fine. Jarod's going to be fine. It's all
over," she sighs in relief before she feels her legs give away
under her. Tears begin to stream down her face from the extreme
emotion she feels flowing throughout her body. She feels lucky
she cheated death. She feels sad that three people had to die in
her office today. She feels confused at the strong maternal
instict she seems to have naturally developed over the past week.
But mostly she feels the pains of impending change. Like she
told Sydney, it was all over. And she knew things would never be
the same again.
* * * * * * * * * *
Jarod looks out into the silent woods surrounding the cabin.
They'd been there for 3 days. And there's been no sign that
anyone had followed them. They were probably safe. He takes his
first deep breath in a long time, releasing a lot of the pent up
tension of fear of being captured he once held. Freedom never
felt better. Because this time he wasn't alone.
"Deep cleansing breaths?" Miss Parker asks, coming up from behind
him and scaring him a bit.
"Just taking in the sweet smell of freedom," he smiles, pulling
her into his arms. "The kids asleep?"
"Maddie is. But the boys were playing together so quietly. I
didn't want to disturb them," she says, snuggling into his hug.
"They get along well. Maybe in time, this will all be just an
unhappy memory. Maybe they'll . . . "
"They'll forget. They're not going to remember this. None of
it. They're too young," he whispers assuringly before giving her
a quick kiss on the forehead. They reluctantly pull apart and go
to sit on the porch swing, swinging in a soothing motion for a
few minutes.
"I got an e-mail today from Broots," she says suddenly, breaking
the comfortable silence. "A memorial service is being held by
the FBI for Rachel and that other agent that was with her." She
buries her face in his chest and begins sobbing, confusing Jarod
with her obvious overwhelming grief.
"It's okay, Lanie," he tries to calm her. "This may sound cruel
and heartless, but Rachel got what she deserved. I don't wish
what happened to her on anyone. But Syd warned her about the
type of people at the Centre. She was so bent on revenge and
getting at me, that she got careless. And that got her killed."
"I know that in my head," she sniffs. "But like her or not, she
was everything to those twins. Now, they have to grow up without
a mother. I know what that's like. I wouldn't wish *that* on
anyone." She's puzzled when he gets a dreamy smile on his face
before leaning down to capture her lips with his own.
"They'll have a mother," he says gently, stroking her cheek with
his thumb.
"I know you're a pretender, Jarod. But I'm sure even this is
beyond your capabilities. You'd make a hideous woman," she says
with a laugh.
"Oh darn," he jokes. "I guess I'll have to find an actual woman
to fill the position, then. Any ideas?"
"I may know of someone who's interested," she says, climbing into
his lap and throwing her arms around his neck. She pulls his
earlobe into her mouth before giving it a light bite. "For a
price, of course." She moves lower and starts kissing his neck.
"I'll give her anything if she does this to me, too," he smiles,
starting to get a little short of breath from the teasing her
mouth was doing. He decides to play, too, slipping his hand
beneath her shirt and running his fingers up and down her back.
She lets out a small moan when his lips find her neck and he
starts torturing her the same way she did him.
"I, um . . . boy that feels good," she gasps, closing her eyes in
ecstasy. She completely forgets what she was about to say and
just enjoys the feel of him. He suddenly breaks contact, sending
her eyes back open with a look of impatient annoyance in them. A
little straggled groan escapes her pouted lips.
"Lanie? The price? What would this woman want?" He grins
smugly when he sees her cheeks flush in embarrassment. He
actually made her lose her train of thought.
"Well, she'll want to get married," she starts, tilting her head
to expose more neck to Jarod. He eagerly takes the hint and
starts back to his ministrations.
"No problem," he mutters between kisses. "We'll be glad to have
her."
"But she doesn't come alone. She's a package deal. Her and her
little boy." She looks at him nervously when his lips suddenly
go still on her neck. "Would that be asking too much?"
"Lanie, are you serious? I'd take you if you had 15 kids. And
I'd love them all like my own," he says with a deep, promising
kiss. "And who knows. Maybe some day they *will* all be mine."
"Let's get these out of diapers first," she smiles before
returning his kiss. "Then we'll talk about evening things out.
You guys outnumber me and Maddie. We need another girl around
here." She laughs when his stubble tickles her neck.
"You know, baby making can be kind of tricky. Maybe we should
make a couple of practice runs," he says, waggling his eyebrows
suggestively. He goes to kiss her again when a hand on his chest
stops him.
"Not so fast, Genius. You're making an honest woman out of me
FIRST." She turns her hand and curls it around his shirt,
pulling him until their lips meet in a fiery crash. She kisses
him til he's within an inch of his life before rising from his
lap, leaving him panting and breathless on the swing. "And then
I promise you that we'll do so much . . . practicing . . . that
we'll be experts by the time the kids are ready for that baby
sister." She gives him one more quick kiss and heads back into
the cabin, leaving him stunned and fighting for coherence.
The blood starts to flow towards his brain again and he's finally
able to shake himself from the trance she left him in. He never
pegged her for the 'waiting until we're married' type. The
thought rushes through his brain, causing him to chuckle a bit.
It would be tough to wait. He wanted her so bad his teeth ached.
But she was worth it. They've waited this long, what was
another . . . hour, he thinks with a smile as he looks down at
his watch. Just the length of time it would take to pack the
kids up and head to the nearest justice of the peace.
"Hey, Parker," he calls into the house, unable to hide the glee
from his voice. She steps back to the door and he suddenly sees
her in a different light. He sees a wife. He sees a mother. It
momentarily takes away his breath. "Why don't you call up that
friend of yours. I think she'll be perfect for us. Tell her to
meet us in town at the courthouse. I thought it would be fun to
get married on our first date. That way, I stand a good chance
of getting past first base with her," he winks.
"Jarod," she gasps. She runs out the house and jumps in his
arms. "You mean it?" She pulls back and he sees tears sparkling
in her eyes. He decides he has to be serious and honest with
her.
"I mean it," he swears. "I love you, Lanie. I want you to be my
wife and the mother of my children. I want to be the father of
yours."
The tears keep on falling down her face, but she manages a joy-
filled smile that threatened to crack her cheeks.
"I love you too, Jarod," she says through her happy tears. She
meets his mouth halfway and they seal the deal with a kiss.
Jarod was beyond happy too. The woman of his dreams was in his
arms, kissing him with all she had because she wanted to.
Because she wanted him. She wanted to marry him. And to raise
his children. She wanted the happily ever after. It was more
than he could have ever hoped for. It was the stuff, literally,
of his wildest dreams.
She breaks the kiss and goes back in to get the kids ready while
he lags behind a moment. He looks out one more time at the
silent forest and takes one more deep breath. Suddenly, freedom
smelled so much sweeter. The price had been high, but in the
end, it was worth it.
The End.
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG to PG-13 (for some violence)
Category - JMPR, Pretender/Profiler Crossover
Summary - The ramifications of a past mistake come back to haunt Jarod and could be the key to the freedom Miss Parker's searching for. But is the high price worth it in the end?
Disclaimer - Most of these characters don't belong to me. Just using them for a bit. No harm intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 8
* * * * * * * * * *
"Oh, you know good and well what I want, Miss Parker. Now where
is he?"
"You think I'm just going to tell you that?" Miss Parker asks
with a joyless laugh. "I don't think so."
"I figured you'd make this difficult," Rachel says, rolling her
eyes. "I was giving you one last chance. But since you don't
want to cooperate, I guess I no longer have any use for you."
She takes the safety off the gun and points it at Miss Parker's
heart.
"Agent, stand down," Agent Charles says finally. He realizes
that Rachel was about to seriously cross a line. He raises his
own gun and points it at Rachel.
"Stay out of this, Charles. This is between me and her. She's
the only thing standing in the way of the my life. My
happiness."
"Listen to yourself, Rachel," Miss Parker spits out. "You're
pathetic. You're thinking about your life. Your happiness.
What about what Jarod wants? You think he wants you? It's me he
wants. And you know it. You have to accept that."
"Shut up!" Rachel screams. "Both of you."
"Calm down, Burke. Put the gun down. I don't want to have to
shoot you," Agent Charles warns. "She hasn't done anything."
"Oh, she's done plenty. She's guilty of hurting my Jarod. And
I'm not going to let her do it again." Rachel rationalizes in her
own mind. Her voice is colder and her movements are more
resolute. It's as if she's made her decision and she knows
exactly what she has to do. Her eyes lose any light they once
had, and turn glaring at Miss Parker with a chilling darkness.
Miss Parker closes her eyes, knowing that her death is imminent.
She squeezes them tight, waiting for the gunshot. She jumps when
she hears it, but it takes a moment for her to realizes she
wasn't hit. Opening her eyes, she sees Rachel, writhing on the
floor in pain, holding onto her right shoulder. Agent Charles is
bending over her, trying to stop the blood flow.
"What's going on in here?" Lyle asks, rushing into the room after
hearing the gunshot, his own gun in hand. He surprised to see
the two agents, one shot, and one holding a smoking gun.
"Stay where you are," Agent Charles warns, standing up to get
control of the situation. "I don't know who you people are or
what's going on here. All I know is that I just had to shoot a
fellow agent."
"What's going on here, you ask? Well, let me explain a little
something to you," Lyle sneers. "Here at the Centre, we don't
like questions. I mean, we could answer them, but then we'd just
have to kill you. So how about I just skip the answering part."
Before anyone could blink, Lyle shoots Agent Charles in the head.
The man's surprised corpse falling instantly dead to the floor.
He turns the gun to Rachel next, finishing the job the other
agent started. Miss Parker stares into the dying woman's
eyes until all the life leaves them. She bends down and out of
some strange notion of respect, closes Rachel's still open eyes.
She barely registers the last shot, killing her assistant.
"Lyle, you just executed 3 people," she cries, terrified he was
about to do the same to her. Or worse. Scared that he's go
after Jarod, too.
"Don't worry, Sis. No harm can come to you," he assures. But
some how his words just frighten her even more. "You're too
important to the project."
"Project? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the grand scheme of things, Parker," he
laughs. "What? You didn't think we thought you'd actually catch
Jarod and let you free, did you? No. We have big plans for the
two of you. Just as soon as we get those DSA's back. We can
finish the work that Jarod ironically enough started."
"What work?" she asks, stalling him for time while her mind tried
to come up with a way out of this.
"Just before he escaped, Jarod unwittingly developed the key that
unlocked the mysteries of the universe. He was basically a fluke
of nature. A natural born pretender. A gift from God. But he
came up with a way for us to be God and make our own pretenders.
Once he figured out what we would be doing with that information
and who we'd be using, he took off."
"You were going to use him. And me," she realizes, suddenly
understanding why Jarod was so upset before. She wobbles a bit
from the shock, grabbing onto the back of a chair for support.
Lyle shrugs his shoulder at her as if the notion weren't that big
a deal. He bends down to take the weapon from Agent Charles and
Miss Parker sees her chance. She quickly picks up the chair
she's holding on to, not even bothering to try to stay quiet.
She needs as much force as she can gather. Lyle hears her and
turns around, but all he sees is the chair swinging towards his
head.
He hits the ground with a thump, a stream of blood dripping from
his head. She checks to see if he's dead or not and then takes
the cuffs from Agent Charles to cuff Lyle to her closet door.
She gets all of the guns that have been scattered across the
floor and moves to her desk to dial a number on the phone.
"This is Sydney," the deep voice answers on the other end.
"Sydney, thank God," she cries.
"Parker! It's Parker," he says to someone on the background.
"Are you okay? Broots went by your house and saw the place
crawling with FBI."
"I'm fine," she tries to assure him. Although she's not so sure
of that fact herself. "I just need to get me and Jarod out of
here. And quickly. Where are you? Are the kids with you?"
"On the way back to the Centre. We figured that's where you and
Jarod would be. And yes, the kids are here. They're fine."
"They're fine. I'm fine. Jarod's going to be fine. It's all
over," she sighs in relief before she feels her legs give away
under her. Tears begin to stream down her face from the extreme
emotion she feels flowing throughout her body. She feels lucky
she cheated death. She feels sad that three people had to die in
her office today. She feels confused at the strong maternal
instict she seems to have naturally developed over the past week.
But mostly she feels the pains of impending change. Like she
told Sydney, it was all over. And she knew things would never be
the same again.
* * * * * * * * * *
Jarod looks out into the silent woods surrounding the cabin.
They'd been there for 3 days. And there's been no sign that
anyone had followed them. They were probably safe. He takes his
first deep breath in a long time, releasing a lot of the pent up
tension of fear of being captured he once held. Freedom never
felt better. Because this time he wasn't alone.
"Deep cleansing breaths?" Miss Parker asks, coming up from behind
him and scaring him a bit.
"Just taking in the sweet smell of freedom," he smiles, pulling
her into his arms. "The kids asleep?"
"Maddie is. But the boys were playing together so quietly. I
didn't want to disturb them," she says, snuggling into his hug.
"They get along well. Maybe in time, this will all be just an
unhappy memory. Maybe they'll . . . "
"They'll forget. They're not going to remember this. None of
it. They're too young," he whispers assuringly before giving her
a quick kiss on the forehead. They reluctantly pull apart and go
to sit on the porch swing, swinging in a soothing motion for a
few minutes.
"I got an e-mail today from Broots," she says suddenly, breaking
the comfortable silence. "A memorial service is being held by
the FBI for Rachel and that other agent that was with her." She
buries her face in his chest and begins sobbing, confusing Jarod
with her obvious overwhelming grief.
"It's okay, Lanie," he tries to calm her. "This may sound cruel
and heartless, but Rachel got what she deserved. I don't wish
what happened to her on anyone. But Syd warned her about the
type of people at the Centre. She was so bent on revenge and
getting at me, that she got careless. And that got her killed."
"I know that in my head," she sniffs. "But like her or not, she
was everything to those twins. Now, they have to grow up without
a mother. I know what that's like. I wouldn't wish *that* on
anyone." She's puzzled when he gets a dreamy smile on his face
before leaning down to capture her lips with his own.
"They'll have a mother," he says gently, stroking her cheek with
his thumb.
"I know you're a pretender, Jarod. But I'm sure even this is
beyond your capabilities. You'd make a hideous woman," she says
with a laugh.
"Oh darn," he jokes. "I guess I'll have to find an actual woman
to fill the position, then. Any ideas?"
"I may know of someone who's interested," she says, climbing into
his lap and throwing her arms around his neck. She pulls his
earlobe into her mouth before giving it a light bite. "For a
price, of course." She moves lower and starts kissing his neck.
"I'll give her anything if she does this to me, too," he smiles,
starting to get a little short of breath from the teasing her
mouth was doing. He decides to play, too, slipping his hand
beneath her shirt and running his fingers up and down her back.
She lets out a small moan when his lips find her neck and he
starts torturing her the same way she did him.
"I, um . . . boy that feels good," she gasps, closing her eyes in
ecstasy. She completely forgets what she was about to say and
just enjoys the feel of him. He suddenly breaks contact, sending
her eyes back open with a look of impatient annoyance in them. A
little straggled groan escapes her pouted lips.
"Lanie? The price? What would this woman want?" He grins
smugly when he sees her cheeks flush in embarrassment. He
actually made her lose her train of thought.
"Well, she'll want to get married," she starts, tilting her head
to expose more neck to Jarod. He eagerly takes the hint and
starts back to his ministrations.
"No problem," he mutters between kisses. "We'll be glad to have
her."
"But she doesn't come alone. She's a package deal. Her and her
little boy." She looks at him nervously when his lips suddenly
go still on her neck. "Would that be asking too much?"
"Lanie, are you serious? I'd take you if you had 15 kids. And
I'd love them all like my own," he says with a deep, promising
kiss. "And who knows. Maybe some day they *will* all be mine."
"Let's get these out of diapers first," she smiles before
returning his kiss. "Then we'll talk about evening things out.
You guys outnumber me and Maddie. We need another girl around
here." She laughs when his stubble tickles her neck.
"You know, baby making can be kind of tricky. Maybe we should
make a couple of practice runs," he says, waggling his eyebrows
suggestively. He goes to kiss her again when a hand on his chest
stops him.
"Not so fast, Genius. You're making an honest woman out of me
FIRST." She turns her hand and curls it around his shirt,
pulling him until their lips meet in a fiery crash. She kisses
him til he's within an inch of his life before rising from his
lap, leaving him panting and breathless on the swing. "And then
I promise you that we'll do so much . . . practicing . . . that
we'll be experts by the time the kids are ready for that baby
sister." She gives him one more quick kiss and heads back into
the cabin, leaving him stunned and fighting for coherence.
The blood starts to flow towards his brain again and he's finally
able to shake himself from the trance she left him in. He never
pegged her for the 'waiting until we're married' type. The
thought rushes through his brain, causing him to chuckle a bit.
It would be tough to wait. He wanted her so bad his teeth ached.
But she was worth it. They've waited this long, what was
another . . . hour, he thinks with a smile as he looks down at
his watch. Just the length of time it would take to pack the
kids up and head to the nearest justice of the peace.
"Hey, Parker," he calls into the house, unable to hide the glee
from his voice. She steps back to the door and he suddenly sees
her in a different light. He sees a wife. He sees a mother. It
momentarily takes away his breath. "Why don't you call up that
friend of yours. I think she'll be perfect for us. Tell her to
meet us in town at the courthouse. I thought it would be fun to
get married on our first date. That way, I stand a good chance
of getting past first base with her," he winks.
"Jarod," she gasps. She runs out the house and jumps in his
arms. "You mean it?" She pulls back and he sees tears sparkling
in her eyes. He decides he has to be serious and honest with
her.
"I mean it," he swears. "I love you, Lanie. I want you to be my
wife and the mother of my children. I want to be the father of
yours."
The tears keep on falling down her face, but she manages a joy-
filled smile that threatened to crack her cheeks.
"I love you too, Jarod," she says through her happy tears. She
meets his mouth halfway and they seal the deal with a kiss.
Jarod was beyond happy too. The woman of his dreams was in his
arms, kissing him with all she had because she wanted to.
Because she wanted him. She wanted to marry him. And to raise
his children. She wanted the happily ever after. It was more
than he could have ever hoped for. It was the stuff, literally,
of his wildest dreams.
She breaks the kiss and goes back in to get the kids ready while
he lags behind a moment. He looks out one more time at the
silent forest and takes one more deep breath. Suddenly, freedom
smelled so much sweeter. The price had been high, but in the
end, it was worth it.
The End.