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 also used information provided in the episodes "Dragon House," "Bloodlines," and "The Inner Sense" as well as the movies "Pretender 2001" and "Island of the Haunted." These episodes/movies do not belong to me, and no infringement, violation, encroachment, etc. was intended (It's just a part of the show's history that I needed to use.) 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 28
Catherine's Plan and the Scrolls Part 2
Catherine Parker closed her eyes softly for a moment and then opened them again. "Jarod, I'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you. I tried to stop it, but there was only so much we could do. You're special, so very special."
Catherine stopped again. "I know that you make my little girl happy, and I'll be eternally grateful for that fact. I only hope that what the scrolls say about your future is correct…but, I can't get into that right now.
"Jarod, Tyrone was the Centre's first pretender, he knows a lot about the pretender program. Someday I hope that you find him so that you can ask him some of those questions you have. But, the biggest question I'm sure you have is about who you are, and that one I can answer myself.
"Your mother and I became friends while we were both at NuGENESIS hoping to conceive via in-vitro fertilization. We came to be very close in a short amount of time. Of course, the Centre frowned upon any involvement with people outside of its jurisdiction, and I was told that I was not allowed to fraternize with your parents any longer. That all changed after you were born.
"The Centre has always wanted to achieve power any and every way that they can; trading on my friendship with your parents was a way for them to achieve that goal faster."
Catherine frowned and paused for a moment as all of the feelings from her past threatened to swallow her whole. But she had a job to do, and she was damn well going to finish it, before she didn't have the chance to do so any longer.
"Despite the Centre's wishes, I had stayed in contact with your parents over the four years that passed between our meeting and the time that you were found to contain the gene of a pretender.
"I never wanted your parents to have to deal with the world of the Centre, but again, they threatened to kill me and my husband if we didn't do as we were told. I couldn't take that risk while Andrea was so young.
"I planned to meet your parents. They had been under the assumption that I was in town for a few hours after a recent travel and would like to visit with them. We met and talked.
"I made up a story about the lovely school that my daughter was going to because she was such a gifted and bright child. I suggested to your parents that they should try to send you there as well. You see, they had told me of how advanced you were, compared to the other children your age, in the letters they had sent me. Andrea had been the same; far more intelligent than the children her age, but I kept them from administering the same test to her that you had undergone.
"They thought it was an excellent idea because they wanted you to be in an environment in which you were comfortable; other children at the same level as yourself would have been peers worthy of your gifts.
"You had already started kindergarten at a school in Charlevoix Michigan. Your parents had no idea that NuGENESIS was a subsidiary of the Centre or that Avalon Elementary was where the Centre usually had the children from NuGENESIS schooled.
"The Centre had set up their program at NuGENESIS so that after a child was born with their help, that child would have to go through a batch of tests every year to make sure they were healthy. This meant that the families of the children had to stay within the area, that's how they all ended up at Avalon Elementary. However, they didn't want to seem too stringent in their conception program, so, if the family did not stay within the area, they were merely expected to visit NuGENESIS once a year from wherever they lived at that point in time.
"Your parents had followed those plans, after moving to Michigan, and during the routine test, the Centre discovered, through NuGENESIS, that you had the ability to become a pretender with the proper training. That's when your parents became involved in the world of the Centre.
"I couldn't lie to your parents that way, Jarod. I knew that the Centre was watching my conversation with them, but after we parted ways, I caught up with them later. I had managed to lose the sweeper that was traveling with me so that I could tell your parents the truth.
"Unfortunately, your parents didn't move fast enough. The Centre discovered what I had done, and that night, they stole you before your parents had a chance to move you and themselves. It was only then that they realized how grave a situation they were in and how dangerous the Centre really was.
"Over the next several years, I worked with them to try and free you from the Centre. We had almost lost hope when Kyle was stolen from them as well, but we couldn't give up. It wasn't until I began to master my gift of the Inner Sense that we gained any ground in freeing you.
"I had already started to free some of the other children, but I saved those in the pretender program for last. After we freed the pretenders, my husband and I were planning on leaving the Centre with your parents. That way, we could raise Andrea away from their world, and help to keep your parents below radar.
"While we were preparing to free the pretenders, we also worked to end the Centre. My husband had told me the story of the scrolls, so your parents and I began to search for them, starting back where the Centre began, the Alley Sports Bar."
Catherine finally took a short break from her long narrative to move into a more comfortable position on the couch. Ethan was kicking inside her stomach wildly. "I can't seem to get your little brother to calm down." Catherine laughed softly. Then her face became etched with sorrow again. "It's a pity I'll never get to see him grow up. I bet he'd be a rambunctious little boy."
Catherine allowed herself a little while longer to grieve over the life of the little boy that she would never get to know or be a part of. "Promise me that you two will take care of Ethan. He'll need you, and I know that you'll both need him as well. Your families have been fragmented, I only hope that one day you will be able to piece them back together."
Catherine sighed deeply and then returned to her story.
"Margaret and I went to the Alley Sports bar along with Charles while Mr. Parker stayed to make sure the Centre's attentions were diverted from us as much as possible.
"When we arrived, the voices began whispering frantically, but one stood out the most, the voice of Angel. She guided us to Carthis and subsequently to the scrolls and her cousin, Anna.
"I suppose that now, I should tell you what exactly we found in the scrolls, and who exactly Anna is…but most importantly, what the scrolls predicted your destiny would be…this is the hardest part of the story to tell, but it needs saying. I believe I'll start with Anna…"
Author's Note: Okay, I have made up massive amounts of information here and tried to cross check it with information provided in the actual episodes of The Pretender. If there are any holes, please tell me what they are so that I can find them and plug them up. If I can't, you'll just have to suspend disbelief. Here are some of the things I've found so far that I'll need to answer:
How Mr. Parker knew about Mirage (Ethan) but not that Catherine had faked her suicide and how he ended up with Catherine's DSA.
Why Mr. Parker shot Raines to keep him from talking to Ms. Parker in "Inner Sense," and most particularly, why Mr. Parker was still at the Centre at all.
Why Margaret needed the map, doll, etc. when she went back to the Island in IOTH.
How Catherine, and then Mr. Parker, could read the scrolls if they're written in Aramaic.
How Ocee (Anna) fits into this time frame if she was around Angel's age in 1908 (When Angel died) and was still alive in 2001. Umm…she may have been 93 in IOTH, which she didn't appear to be, she seemed to be around 70 or under a bit…I'm still working on this one but I wrote it, so it's my own fault. I think I've contracted some vicious disease revolving around The Pretender that causes writers to lose comprehension of reasonable time frames (Ahem, Craig and Steve…you have this problem as well) …anyone wanna name this little disease?
If you've got any ideas at all, I'm open to whatever you've got. I've got a few plans and ideas up my sleeve, but I'd love to hear yours as well. Also, I'm serious about telling me if you find plot holes, I wanna know. Honesty is the best policy, right? On that note, extra special thanks to Sauron 764 for questioning the idea of the scrolls being written in Aramaic. It's nice to know you guys are paying attention to the little stuff.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, it makes my day any day of the week. I'm working on the next chapter, now. I have hopes that it will be done by Tuesday…but no promises. Love Ya! Buh Bye!