Disclaimer: Sigh…Sadly, I do not own the characters of The Pretender. I in no way wish to defame any of its affiliates nor NBC or TNT. I know very little about France and have never been there. My knowledge of the French language is limited. If there is a Claudette Hotel, I apologize for using its name. I do not mean to offend anyone who is French or the French police departments. I do not know anything about Harfleur, Le Havre or the Normandy coastline, so if you go there, don't expect it to be the way I described it. I apologize to any museums in Le Havre, France, if there are any. I don't own The Thomas Crown Affair, old or new, MGM does. My apologies to Rene Russo for using her name. That's it. Read it now!

Summary: Clues to the past bring Ms. Parker and Jarod back together again. Very involved in IOTH, but you can understand it without having seen it. Ties up most story lines. Mostly from Ms. Parker's point of view. Chapters are short.

The Truth Is Waiting

By Bec-Bec

Chapter 24

The Chase Is Over So Get Over It

Jarod and Ms. Parker's Hotel Room, The Claudette Hotel, Harfleur, France

It was Ms. Parker's sixth day with Jarod. She knew he was wondering if she would extend her stay with him. However, she wasn't prepared to make that decision until she saw the scrolls. So, she tried to keep him focused on their trip to the museum. She fed him posible scenarios which he SIMmed. They didn't know exactly how the museum was going to be set up; all they had was a blueprint of the building. Still, they did their best with what they had. They planned to infiltrate the museum that night at 9:30, an hour and a half after it closed. When Jarod felt that they had SIMmed most possibilities, they settled in to wait for 9:30 to come around. Ms. Parker turned on the television to take her mind off of what they had to do that night. The Thomas Crown Affair was on.

"Parker what is this?" Jarod asked.

"The Thomas Crown Affair. It's about a millionaire who steals an expensive painting from a museum just for the fun of it."

"Who's that?" Jarod asked, as Renee Russo's character, Catherine Banning, walked across the screen.

"That's the woman who works for the company which insures the painting. She knows that the millionaire stole it, she just doesn't know how to prove it. She gets close to him to find out how but ends up falling in love."

"So, the millionaire loves her too," Jarod stated factually.
"How would you know? You've never seen it before? Are you foretelling the future now too, Wonder Boy?"

"Well, it just seems to me, if he's so smart, he could have been long gone after he stole the painting, but he stuck around. He must be in love with her."

"Maybe he just stuck around because he didn't think she'd catch him."

"No, he knew she would if he stuck around because she was smart too. He stayed because he wanted to see if he mattered to her as much as she mattered to him."

Ms. Parker was silent, she felt the double meaning of his words…he wasn't just talking about characters in a movie, he was talking about them. She didn't know what to say. She let her usual abusive, vindictive nature take over, "Well, Lab Rat, you assume that she's after more than the chase. Some women just want the game and could care less about the prize at the end."

"Yes, and those women never get the prize because they're too cold and hardhearted to realize what they could lose if the prize walked out the door and never came back," Jarod replied coldly before walking out the door himself. He wasn't going to let Ms. Parker play the game with him anymore. It was obvious all she cared about was the chase. So fine, she won, he'd leave and she could pick up her stupid chase. She would never find him if he didn't leave any clues for her. He'd just dissappear. He didn't need her.

Jarod made it all the way down to the lobby before Ms. Parker caught up with him. She hadn't even thought before she ran out of the room after him. She let her heart take over for once. She ran down the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. He was almost out the door when she came up behind him. She grabbed his arm and spun him around. "You are not setting one foot outside of this hotel until you get something straight," she growled, "I did not play this game all of these years because I was afraid I'd lose you if I didn't. I played the game because I'd lose myself if I didn't." She looped her arms around the back of his head and kissed him passionately. He hesitated for a moment before melting into the kiss. A minute passed before she pulled back, bit her lip, and said firmly, "Now, if you want, you can go."

Jarod narrowed his eyes as if seriously considering walking out of the hotel. Then he walked into the spinning door.

Ms. Parker stood there in shock.

But, he went all the way around and came right back. "Parker, I'm not going anywhere. But, if I stay, the chase is over. You have to stay with me, okay?"

She answered him by again wrapping her arms around the back of his head and kissing him. Then she pulled back again, "I made my decision the minute I ran out of that door after you."

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the elevator and, when they arrived at their floor, into their hotel room.

After he opened the door, she whispered in his ear, "I've always been yours, you know. I just wasn't ready to give myself to you before." She knew that if she wasn't careful she might admit to loving him soon, but he postponed her thought by dropping her gently on the bed and walking into the bathroom. A confused look crossed her face as she stared at the closed bathroom door. "Why is it he's in there and I'm out here?" she thought to herself. She heard the shower turn on and contemplated joining him…but was that what he wanted? "Did he change his mind? Did he think the kiss was bad? It couldn't have been…it was great. Besides, he carried me up here." She decided to find out what was going on.

****

Jarod had decided to take a shower strictly because he knew if he didn't he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from exploring Ms. Parker. He didn't think that was what she wanted him to do, so, he stopped himself before she did. He let the water spill over his body and tried not to imagine Parker and her long legs waiting on the bed…or had she left? He worried that she had gone but then remembered she'd already agreed to give up the chase. "Did she mean that?" he wondered. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the bathroom door open.

"Jarod, why did you leave me out there alone?"

"Well…" Jarod didn't know how to answer that…and why had she come in the bathroom anyway? He was terribly glad that the glass door on the shower had steamed itself up.

"Jarod, there's no reason to feel embarassed, I was thinking the same thing."

"She was thinking the same thing?" he wondered to himself. Hmmm. He let the door to the shower click open about an inch…as a sort of invitation, if she wanted it.

She didn't waste any time, and, in as little time as it took for her to shed all of her clothes, she was enveloped in the steam with him. She kissed him, long and hard and as he slowly gave into the kiss, his hands traced her back, starting at her waste and moving up into her hair.

"Mmm…I think this is the most perfect moment I've ever had," Jarod smiled down at her.

"Not yet, Wonder Boy," Ms. Parker hinted.

"Parker, are you sure about this?" He asked, hoping that she was.

A very solemn look came to her face, "Jarod, I don't know when it happened, how it happened, or why it happened and frankly, I don't care, but I love you." There, she'd said it…she'd meant it.

Jarod searched her eyes to make sure there wasn't anything malicious in them, all he saw were the same beautiful blue eyes she'd had when he'd met her for the first time. He could feel himself drowning in her eyes. She closed her eyes at his piercing stare.

"Parker, I love you too."

Her eyes sprung open and a tear trickled down her cheek. "Now I really am yours."

They became lost in the steam together.

Author's Note: It wasn't too terribly sappy was it? I tried to make it not sappy but it's really hard to do without writing something very…R rated…which is not the direction I was taking this story. I hope you liked this chapter. More to come as Jarod and Ms. P finally go to see the scrolls and uncover the truth. Review! Review! Review!