Title - Tears of Yesterday III
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Category - JMPR, MP/L, MSR
Spoilers: Pretender Season 4, X-Files Season 8 Finale
Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker make some unexpected friends and discover some unexpected ties.
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 12
* * * * * * * * * *
Mulder walks down the long hallway of the mysterious building
known as the Centre. He follows Lyle as he stalks the corridors
with an arrogant confidence that makes everyone they pass cower
in fear. The only sound he hears the entire trip is the
ominous clicking of Lyle's shoes against the floor. After a
seemingly endless trip, they find their way to a dark room - lab
is more like it, since it's too wide and spread out to be an
office - with several computers lining the wall.
"Broots," Lyle calls out to the man hunched over a computer.
"Lyle," Broots says, seeming surprised. "You're back. Your
father said you were out searching for Jarod. Which is kind of
odd seeing as how we hadn't had any leads." Broots gazes
uneasily at Mulder, wondering who the man is.
"Is this room secure?" Lyle asks.
"Yeah. I've rerouted all the cameras and I scan for bugs on a
daily basis," Broots says almost proudly. He gives Mulder a
funny look when the man appears to be holding back a laugh.
"Anything funny, Mr . . "
"Sorry," Lyle apologizes, realizing that Mulder's presence was
still unexplained. "Broots, this is Fox Mulder. Mulder, this is
Broots."
"Nice to meet you, Broots," Mulder says, shaking the man's hand.
"And I didn't mean to laugh before. It's just you remind me of
some friends of mine. They're also a bit on the . . .
overcautious side. Some might even say 'paranoid'."
"Well, paranoia is the key to survival around here, Mr. Mulder."
Broots turns back to Lyle. "Any luck finding what you were
looking for?"
"No need for the secrecy, Broots. Mulder's on our side," Lyle
laughs.
"Why doesn't that comfort me very much?" Broots mumbles. "And
why do I get the feeling that you're not down here for just a
nice chat?"
"That's because you're a brilliant guy, Broots," Lyle mutters
sarcastically.
"Oh gee. Thanks for the compliment. Okay, what is it? What do
I have to do, Lyle? Who's files do I have to hack into?" Broots
cringes, afraid of what Lyle's about to ask. Miss Parker always
had him hacking into someplace he would never dream of going. He
has no reason to believe that Lyle's not the same way.
"I need some information, Broots. But it could be dangerous,"
Lyle warns.
"Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if I can do it," Broots
manages to say with a surprisingly steady voice.
"I need you to download the names and any information on all the
children the Centre has acquired throughout the years.
Information including the parents, so that they can be returned,
and the person responsible for . . . acquiring them, so that they
can be held accountable."
"But Lyle, it's possible that you . . . "
"I realize that, Broots. But I don't plan on sticking around to
get caught. Mulder's going to take the information to the FBI,
and that'll be enough to start an investigation of this place.
After you do that, take this and run this executable." He gives
Broots a disk and watches the man eye it warily.
"What's this?"
"A little application Jarod came up with," Mulder explains.
"It's a virus, of sorts. It'll work it's way through the Centre
mainframe and release chunks of information to the world wide
web."
"All the Centre's dirty laundry will be aired," Lyle continues.
"Minus any mention of certain people, of course."
Broots is visibly relieved. Although he doesn't think he's taken
part in anything illegal, he's not sure what records the Centre
could have on him.
"The program parses out files with any mention of Jarod, Miss
Parker, you, me, and Sydney and downloads them to a separate
location. Basically the Centre is going down, Broots. And there
won't be a thing they can do to stop it."
"I can't believe it," Broots says, shaking his head. "This is
really going to happen."
"It's really going to happen," Lyle assures him, looking at his
watch. "But I have to meet with my father first. Hopefully
he'll have the information on Carson that I need to get him out
of our hair as well. While I'm gone, you need to tell Sydney to
get Angelo and your daughter and take them to a safe location
that Mulder will tell you about. Then, start the first download.
When that's done, I should be done with my father. Activate the
virus and we'll need to get out of here as soon as possible to
avoid getting arrested."
"Is that all? Are you sure you don't want me to stand on my head
and paint a Monet while I'm at it?" Broots asks, rolling his
eyes.
"As interesting as that would be, Broots, no. But I'll take a
rain check," Lyle laughs. "You've got 45 minutes. I should be
back by then. Fellas, good luck." He turns on his heel and
walks out the door, pausing briefly outside to gather his wits.
Just a little while longer and it'll all be over, he tells
himself. This will be one last meeting with is father before the
man is out of his life for good. Lyle should be ecstatic. But
for some reason, he just feels as if his life is about to be
irrevocably changed.
He starts down the hallway towards the elevator that will take
him to his father's office. He usually preferred the stairs, but
today the elevator seems to be calling to him. He steps inside
and his eyes fall on the small hole in the wall. His hands seem
to go to the hole of their own accord, circling the small
diameter several times. In this elevator was the last time
anyone who loved her ever saw his mother. It never really made
much of an impact on him before. But today, he can practically
hear the gunshot and the screams. He shuts his eyes and can
almost see the scene in his mind. Only, he's seeing it from Miss
Parker's point of view from when she was a child. A chill
settles through him and he has to shake himself back to the
present. Opening his eyes, he sees that the elevator has arrived
at his floor.
He steps out and continues towards his father's office, stopping
briefly at the empty secretary's desk. He waits a few moments to
see if maybe she went to get coffee, but no one ever returns. He
finally lets himself into his father's office and sits in the
big, leather chair behind the desk.
Lyle glances at his watch and realizes that he doesn't have the
time to wait for his father. Broots and Mulder would be done
with the downloads soon and it would be time to activate the
virus. He needs to find the information on Carson that he
suspects his father has.
Outside the office, Lyle can hear that the secretary has
returned. That added an extra challenge - searching his father's
office without making any noise to draw attention to himself. He
carefully moves around the files and stacks of paper littering
the desk top. Most of the paperwork is just memos and
reminders, but a torn piece of yellow legal paper catches his
eye. He scans the paper and realizes this is what he's looking
for. It has Carson's name and an address. And in the corner
underlined three times is a code or password of some kind.
Lyle's curiosity gets the best of him and he takes a few more
moments to try to decipher what the word meant. He looks around
the office and a filing cabinet catches his eye. Moving quietly
across the room, he reaches for the first drawer before he gets a
strong feeling not to. It was almost like a light wind breathing
into his ear that his answers would not be found there. Instead,
he reaches for the second to the last drawer.
All the files in this drawer were labelled in a similar fashion
to the code word, so he figures he's in the right place. After a
few short minutes of looking, he finds a corresponding file. Not
wanting to spend an extra minute in there, he tucks the file into
the back waist band of his pants and walks towards the door. He
takes a deep breath to calm himself back down and prepares to
encounter the secretary.
"Caroline," he calls out to her. She jumps, startled by the
surprise.
"Mr. Lyle, sir. I didn't realize you were in there. Your father
was called to a meeting."
"I was supposed to be meeting with him today, myself," Lyle says,
easing his way down the hall. "But I have some other things to
take care of. Let him know I dropped by, won't you? Thanks.
You're a doll." He flashes her his usually cocky grin and
saunters back to the elevator, trying not to look too suspicious.
The trip back to the lab seemed to take even longer. He doesn't
want to open the file in the hall, but he's dying to know what's
in it. He's getting that strange feeling again - the
feeling that something big is about to happen.
"Of course something big is about to happen," Broots whispers,
pulling the man inside the room. He looks around outside the
hall to make sure nobody is lurking around before slamming and
locking the door.
Lyle looks at him strangely before realizing he must have
expressed his thoughts out loud.
"How's it going down here?" he asks.
"Right on plan," Mulder smiles. "How about you?"
"Perfectly. My father wasn't even in there, so I didn't have to
face him. I got the information on Carson . . . and then some."
Lyle pulls out the file and starts flipping through it.
"Well, Sydney is on his way to Maine with Debbie and Angelo as we
speak. Mulder said that Jarod and Miss Parker would be expecting
them. The downloads are just about done. As soon as this last
CD is burned, we can activate the . . . Lyle, are you even
listening?" In the midst of his rambling, Broots happens to
glance over at Lyle and notices a panic stricken look on his
face. Maybe not panic. It was a look more of horror and
revulsion.
"Lyle?" Mulder calls to him, also noticing the man's strange
behavior. "What is it?"
"I can't believe this," Lyle mumbles. The file shakes in his
trembling hands. "It's too much. How could he . . ."
"Lyle, what are you talking about? Talk to me," Mulder insists.
Lyle's behavior is starting to frighten him.
"I have to go get something," Lyle says, still in a daze. "Start
the virus and get out of here. We don't have anymore time to
waste. If I don't meet you out front, go on without me." He
closes the file and hands it to Mulder before storming out the
door.
"Where are you going?" Broots calls to him. "Lyle . . . "
"We need to get out of here," Mulder tells him. He looks at the
file in his hands and sees the slip of paper with the location of
Carson paperclipped to the front. "We got what we came for.
Let's start the virus like Lyle said and then get out of here.
We don't want to be caught in here all the excitement starts."
Mulder carefully packs away the CD's and the file Lyle gave him
into the bag he brought and slings it over his shoulder.
"Alright. Done," Broots says, after typing in the long sequence
of commands Jarod programmed to make it virtually impossible for
anyone to accidentally set this thing off. "Are you sure we
can't wait for Lyle?"
"No. We have to get out of here," Mulder insists. "Let's go."
The men walk out in the hall and hear the first strings of
murmurings started. The virus seems to be having some effect
already. By the time they reach the front doors, the place is
blazing with activity. And if they listen closely, they can
hear sirens in the distance.
Mulder pauses by the doors momentarily, hoping Lyle would have
caught up with them. Looking through the mass of people now
crowding the hallways, he sighs in disappointment not seeing
Lyle.
"I think I see him," Broots says, standing on his toes, straining
to see over the heads of the crowd. Both men are visibly
relieved.
"I thought I told you to go," Lyle says angrily. "You two have
got to get out now. But you've got to do me a favor."
He looks down at his side and the other men let their gaze
follow.
"You have to take him with you." He bends down and reaches for a
little boy, placing him in Broots' arms.
"Baby Parker?" Broots asks, looking at the little boy in his
arms. "I thought we decided on leaving your brother here."
"Change of plans," Lyle sighs. "Take him to Parker and give her
the file. She'll know what it all means."
"Wait. Where are you going?" Mulder asks as Lyle turns away.
"I can't be seen with you. It'll only put us all in danger.
Trust me. I'll find you." He looks sadly at the little boy and
gently strokes his hair once before running back into the crowd.
Mulder and Broots stand there stunned, watching him disappear
back into the Centre.
"We have to go," Mulder says, nudging Broots.
They run to where the car is parked up the road, about half a
mile from the Centre. They pull off just as the authorities
reach the Centre. In the rear view window, they can see the sea
of officers rushing the building dragging out whoever is inside.
For the first time in his life, Broots finds himself praying for
Lyle's safety. Because for whatever the reason, Lyle sacrificed
his freedom for this child. And anyone who would do that, at
least in Broots' opinion, deserved a little mercy.
To be continued . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Category - JMPR, MP/L, MSR
Spoilers: Pretender Season 4, X-Files Season 8 Finale
Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker make some unexpected friends and discover some unexpected ties.
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 12
* * * * * * * * * *
Mulder walks down the long hallway of the mysterious building
known as the Centre. He follows Lyle as he stalks the corridors
with an arrogant confidence that makes everyone they pass cower
in fear. The only sound he hears the entire trip is the
ominous clicking of Lyle's shoes against the floor. After a
seemingly endless trip, they find their way to a dark room - lab
is more like it, since it's too wide and spread out to be an
office - with several computers lining the wall.
"Broots," Lyle calls out to the man hunched over a computer.
"Lyle," Broots says, seeming surprised. "You're back. Your
father said you were out searching for Jarod. Which is kind of
odd seeing as how we hadn't had any leads." Broots gazes
uneasily at Mulder, wondering who the man is.
"Is this room secure?" Lyle asks.
"Yeah. I've rerouted all the cameras and I scan for bugs on a
daily basis," Broots says almost proudly. He gives Mulder a
funny look when the man appears to be holding back a laugh.
"Anything funny, Mr . . "
"Sorry," Lyle apologizes, realizing that Mulder's presence was
still unexplained. "Broots, this is Fox Mulder. Mulder, this is
Broots."
"Nice to meet you, Broots," Mulder says, shaking the man's hand.
"And I didn't mean to laugh before. It's just you remind me of
some friends of mine. They're also a bit on the . . .
overcautious side. Some might even say 'paranoid'."
"Well, paranoia is the key to survival around here, Mr. Mulder."
Broots turns back to Lyle. "Any luck finding what you were
looking for?"
"No need for the secrecy, Broots. Mulder's on our side," Lyle
laughs.
"Why doesn't that comfort me very much?" Broots mumbles. "And
why do I get the feeling that you're not down here for just a
nice chat?"
"That's because you're a brilliant guy, Broots," Lyle mutters
sarcastically.
"Oh gee. Thanks for the compliment. Okay, what is it? What do
I have to do, Lyle? Who's files do I have to hack into?" Broots
cringes, afraid of what Lyle's about to ask. Miss Parker always
had him hacking into someplace he would never dream of going. He
has no reason to believe that Lyle's not the same way.
"I need some information, Broots. But it could be dangerous,"
Lyle warns.
"Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if I can do it," Broots
manages to say with a surprisingly steady voice.
"I need you to download the names and any information on all the
children the Centre has acquired throughout the years.
Information including the parents, so that they can be returned,
and the person responsible for . . . acquiring them, so that they
can be held accountable."
"But Lyle, it's possible that you . . . "
"I realize that, Broots. But I don't plan on sticking around to
get caught. Mulder's going to take the information to the FBI,
and that'll be enough to start an investigation of this place.
After you do that, take this and run this executable." He gives
Broots a disk and watches the man eye it warily.
"What's this?"
"A little application Jarod came up with," Mulder explains.
"It's a virus, of sorts. It'll work it's way through the Centre
mainframe and release chunks of information to the world wide
web."
"All the Centre's dirty laundry will be aired," Lyle continues.
"Minus any mention of certain people, of course."
Broots is visibly relieved. Although he doesn't think he's taken
part in anything illegal, he's not sure what records the Centre
could have on him.
"The program parses out files with any mention of Jarod, Miss
Parker, you, me, and Sydney and downloads them to a separate
location. Basically the Centre is going down, Broots. And there
won't be a thing they can do to stop it."
"I can't believe it," Broots says, shaking his head. "This is
really going to happen."
"It's really going to happen," Lyle assures him, looking at his
watch. "But I have to meet with my father first. Hopefully
he'll have the information on Carson that I need to get him out
of our hair as well. While I'm gone, you need to tell Sydney to
get Angelo and your daughter and take them to a safe location
that Mulder will tell you about. Then, start the first download.
When that's done, I should be done with my father. Activate the
virus and we'll need to get out of here as soon as possible to
avoid getting arrested."
"Is that all? Are you sure you don't want me to stand on my head
and paint a Monet while I'm at it?" Broots asks, rolling his
eyes.
"As interesting as that would be, Broots, no. But I'll take a
rain check," Lyle laughs. "You've got 45 minutes. I should be
back by then. Fellas, good luck." He turns on his heel and
walks out the door, pausing briefly outside to gather his wits.
Just a little while longer and it'll all be over, he tells
himself. This will be one last meeting with is father before the
man is out of his life for good. Lyle should be ecstatic. But
for some reason, he just feels as if his life is about to be
irrevocably changed.
He starts down the hallway towards the elevator that will take
him to his father's office. He usually preferred the stairs, but
today the elevator seems to be calling to him. He steps inside
and his eyes fall on the small hole in the wall. His hands seem
to go to the hole of their own accord, circling the small
diameter several times. In this elevator was the last time
anyone who loved her ever saw his mother. It never really made
much of an impact on him before. But today, he can practically
hear the gunshot and the screams. He shuts his eyes and can
almost see the scene in his mind. Only, he's seeing it from Miss
Parker's point of view from when she was a child. A chill
settles through him and he has to shake himself back to the
present. Opening his eyes, he sees that the elevator has arrived
at his floor.
He steps out and continues towards his father's office, stopping
briefly at the empty secretary's desk. He waits a few moments to
see if maybe she went to get coffee, but no one ever returns. He
finally lets himself into his father's office and sits in the
big, leather chair behind the desk.
Lyle glances at his watch and realizes that he doesn't have the
time to wait for his father. Broots and Mulder would be done
with the downloads soon and it would be time to activate the
virus. He needs to find the information on Carson that he
suspects his father has.
Outside the office, Lyle can hear that the secretary has
returned. That added an extra challenge - searching his father's
office without making any noise to draw attention to himself. He
carefully moves around the files and stacks of paper littering
the desk top. Most of the paperwork is just memos and
reminders, but a torn piece of yellow legal paper catches his
eye. He scans the paper and realizes this is what he's looking
for. It has Carson's name and an address. And in the corner
underlined three times is a code or password of some kind.
Lyle's curiosity gets the best of him and he takes a few more
moments to try to decipher what the word meant. He looks around
the office and a filing cabinet catches his eye. Moving quietly
across the room, he reaches for the first drawer before he gets a
strong feeling not to. It was almost like a light wind breathing
into his ear that his answers would not be found there. Instead,
he reaches for the second to the last drawer.
All the files in this drawer were labelled in a similar fashion
to the code word, so he figures he's in the right place. After a
few short minutes of looking, he finds a corresponding file. Not
wanting to spend an extra minute in there, he tucks the file into
the back waist band of his pants and walks towards the door. He
takes a deep breath to calm himself back down and prepares to
encounter the secretary.
"Caroline," he calls out to her. She jumps, startled by the
surprise.
"Mr. Lyle, sir. I didn't realize you were in there. Your father
was called to a meeting."
"I was supposed to be meeting with him today, myself," Lyle says,
easing his way down the hall. "But I have some other things to
take care of. Let him know I dropped by, won't you? Thanks.
You're a doll." He flashes her his usually cocky grin and
saunters back to the elevator, trying not to look too suspicious.
The trip back to the lab seemed to take even longer. He doesn't
want to open the file in the hall, but he's dying to know what's
in it. He's getting that strange feeling again - the
feeling that something big is about to happen.
"Of course something big is about to happen," Broots whispers,
pulling the man inside the room. He looks around outside the
hall to make sure nobody is lurking around before slamming and
locking the door.
Lyle looks at him strangely before realizing he must have
expressed his thoughts out loud.
"How's it going down here?" he asks.
"Right on plan," Mulder smiles. "How about you?"
"Perfectly. My father wasn't even in there, so I didn't have to
face him. I got the information on Carson . . . and then some."
Lyle pulls out the file and starts flipping through it.
"Well, Sydney is on his way to Maine with Debbie and Angelo as we
speak. Mulder said that Jarod and Miss Parker would be expecting
them. The downloads are just about done. As soon as this last
CD is burned, we can activate the . . . Lyle, are you even
listening?" In the midst of his rambling, Broots happens to
glance over at Lyle and notices a panic stricken look on his
face. Maybe not panic. It was a look more of horror and
revulsion.
"Lyle?" Mulder calls to him, also noticing the man's strange
behavior. "What is it?"
"I can't believe this," Lyle mumbles. The file shakes in his
trembling hands. "It's too much. How could he . . ."
"Lyle, what are you talking about? Talk to me," Mulder insists.
Lyle's behavior is starting to frighten him.
"I have to go get something," Lyle says, still in a daze. "Start
the virus and get out of here. We don't have anymore time to
waste. If I don't meet you out front, go on without me." He
closes the file and hands it to Mulder before storming out the
door.
"Where are you going?" Broots calls to him. "Lyle . . . "
"We need to get out of here," Mulder tells him. He looks at the
file in his hands and sees the slip of paper with the location of
Carson paperclipped to the front. "We got what we came for.
Let's start the virus like Lyle said and then get out of here.
We don't want to be caught in here all the excitement starts."
Mulder carefully packs away the CD's and the file Lyle gave him
into the bag he brought and slings it over his shoulder.
"Alright. Done," Broots says, after typing in the long sequence
of commands Jarod programmed to make it virtually impossible for
anyone to accidentally set this thing off. "Are you sure we
can't wait for Lyle?"
"No. We have to get out of here," Mulder insists. "Let's go."
The men walk out in the hall and hear the first strings of
murmurings started. The virus seems to be having some effect
already. By the time they reach the front doors, the place is
blazing with activity. And if they listen closely, they can
hear sirens in the distance.
Mulder pauses by the doors momentarily, hoping Lyle would have
caught up with them. Looking through the mass of people now
crowding the hallways, he sighs in disappointment not seeing
Lyle.
"I think I see him," Broots says, standing on his toes, straining
to see over the heads of the crowd. Both men are visibly
relieved.
"I thought I told you to go," Lyle says angrily. "You two have
got to get out now. But you've got to do me a favor."
He looks down at his side and the other men let their gaze
follow.
"You have to take him with you." He bends down and reaches for a
little boy, placing him in Broots' arms.
"Baby Parker?" Broots asks, looking at the little boy in his
arms. "I thought we decided on leaving your brother here."
"Change of plans," Lyle sighs. "Take him to Parker and give her
the file. She'll know what it all means."
"Wait. Where are you going?" Mulder asks as Lyle turns away.
"I can't be seen with you. It'll only put us all in danger.
Trust me. I'll find you." He looks sadly at the little boy and
gently strokes his hair once before running back into the crowd.
Mulder and Broots stand there stunned, watching him disappear
back into the Centre.
"We have to go," Mulder says, nudging Broots.
They run to where the car is parked up the road, about half a
mile from the Centre. They pull off just as the authorities
reach the Centre. In the rear view window, they can see the sea
of officers rushing the building dragging out whoever is inside.
For the first time in his life, Broots finds himself praying for
Lyle's safety. Because for whatever the reason, Lyle sacrificed
his freedom for this child. And anyone who would do that, at
least in Broots' opinion, deserved a little mercy.
To be continued . . .