Chapter Six (I think)

Author's Note: Yes, its true! The most evil corporation in the known world uses Microsoft Word. Apparently the Centre does too. Also, has anyone seen the old James Bond movie recently, 'A view to a kill'? A much younger Patrick Bachau (Sydney) plays a bad guys lackey.

A/N #2: The fight scene described herewith is all mental OK. Any words like 'blow' or 'punch' are referring to what they are doing in their *heads* It may sound like a pub brawl but it's really the only way I could write it.

Before any of the other three had even had a chance to react Jarod opened the file and began to work on the decoding.

As a program that he had made a long time ago began to search for the key to the code he pushed back from the desk and cracked his knuckles. 'What do you think it is?' asked Parker, her curiosity pointing to the fact that the headache had probably abated.

'Something important judging by the difficulty the decoder is having.' Jarod replied calmly, prepared to wait a few more moments to reveal truths that had evaded him for years.

'You have a program that automatically decodes documents?' asked Broots, half jealous, half curious. Jarod glanced sideways at the tech and gave a crooked smile. Just then the program beeped, indicating that it had finished. The words scrolled out across the screen.

'What is it?' asked Parker, squinting to read the small words from behind Jarod's shoulder. 'A thesis' stated Jarod darkly, scrolling downwards so fast that anyone who didn't know he was a genius would have thought he wasn't reading it all.

'What does it say?' asked Sydney, wanting to know and yet aware of how bad some of the Centre's darker secrets could be.

'Raines wrote it. A year or so after I escaped. "Supernatural abilities in the Red Files." A thesis stating that all the red files can do more than they say they can. Either he guessed or somehow he knew.'

Parker suppressed a shudder at his ominous words. She didn't know why she felt and icy fist in her stomach at the thought that the wheezing ghoul had yet more hidden secrets but it unnerved her.

Sydney looked from one to the other of the two people he had known since they were children. They looked equally grim. The thesis didn't seem that bad. Obviously there was something that he and Broots weren't privy to between the two red files.

Jarod sat frowning at a dark corner of the room as Parker read the document. This meant that Raines had suspected something about the red files that some of the red files hadn't even known about themselves. The question was; How?

Jarod mentally thought out all the options. The most likely was that Raines had the pretender gene himself and possessed some ability. Which could mean that the mind wipe he had performed- as with Angelo, one of the red files- hadn't worked.

An electric shock of panic ran through him and he shot to his feet at exactly the same moment that Raines and three burly but confused looking sweepers burst into the room.

'What do you want Raines?' asked Parker, not realising what Jarod had.

'Him' wheezed Raines, pointing at Jarod. Jarod swallowed hard and tried to keep his face neutral as Parker realised what had happened. Broots and Sydney looked from Raines to Jarod, trying to figure out whether to deny everything or run.

'What for?' Asked Parker innocently, regaining her composure.

'You know why.'

The tableau remained unbroken for a few seconds then Lyle burst into the room. 'So sis, it turns out the Labrat was right about us having special powers. Raines has been most helpful in training me. Getting a bit cocky though are we Jarod.' This last part was aimed at the frozen pretender.

Raines pulled his gun out to match the three sweepers who were doing their job even if they didn't know why. 'You will come without protest or I will shoot you' ordered the emphysema-ridden corpse (as Jarod had once put it).

Jarod finally unfroze. He had thought of the beginnings of a plan. 'What makes you think I would come without a fight?' he asked innocently and the three sweepers all dropped to the ground and began writhing in agony.

Raines frowned and the look of concentration crossed his face that Broots had come to recognise. He felt a faint tug at his mind, like someone was trying to break through but now Jarod also had the 'look.'

'Leave them out of this' said Jarod simply. Raines scowled and aimed a psychic blow at Jarod. He deflected it easily but didn't retaliate. 'Even if you caught me, you could never hold me here' said Jarod.

'We have ways' ground out Raines.

'Oh get to the point already,' said Lyle pulling his gun. Aiming low, he shot at Jarod.

Every one jumped at the shot except Jarod, who didn't even blink. Broots realised that there was a bullet rotating gently in midair at the level of Jarod's kneecap. It hadn't slowed down gradually; it had just stopped dead, centimetres away from blasting through muscle and bone.

Slowly, the bullet began to rise until it was at head level, then it turned to point directly at Lyle. 'Do you think you can do what I just did?' asked Jarod casually as Lyle went pale. 'Would you want to bet your life on it?' he asked. Lyle swallowed hard.

Suddenly the bullet became a blur, stopping no more than a centimetre from the centre of Lyle's forehead. Lyle's eyes focused on it and he stood there shaking, not daring to move a centimetre. Raines didn't attempt to help him.

Jarod decided to end it. He gathered his will and wrapped it around Raines' mind. He could feel the ghoul struggling weakly but his powers seemed miniscule compared to Jarod's.

Jarod began exerting his influence of Raines' memories, specifically targeting them and preparing to remove them. Suddenly Raines' struggles ceased to be weak. He broke through Jarod's hold easily and then began to crush his mind in a vice-like grip. The old wheeze-bag had been playing possum.

Parker watched Jarod whimper as his knees slowly began to bend under an invisible force, until he was kneeling on the floor. The bullet that had been holding Lyle in check fell to the floor with a clink. She couldn't just stand and watch any more. She closed her eyes for concentration and tried to see what was happening invisibly in the room.

It could not be described using visual words but she could 'see' Raines' mind wrapped around Jarod's, crushing his resistance. Soon, he would succeed and Jarod would become the obedient Centre slave.

Lyle's mind danced around the struggle like a dragonfly, active but small and weak. She could see it all so clearly but she couldn't do anything about it.

Jarod let out a small cry of pain and Sydney took a step forward to aid him but with an almost offhand thought, Raines slammed both him and Broots backwards. That decided it for Parker.

She flung her mind into the fray to attack Raines from 'behind.' He had not been expecting anyone to meaningfully interfere and was momentarily caught off guard. Lyle tried to stop Parker but he was truly very weak. Parker drilled into Raines' mind then held on like a pit bull.

She felt a psychic blow brush over the top of her but she was holding too close for Raines to be able to get any purchase on her. She dug in harder, trying to get him to release his hold on Jarod, who had suddenly gone very still.

Then the pretender was no longer in the evil doctor's grip. His mind had just disappeared from view. In shock Parker opened her eyes to check that his body was still there and in doing so ceased her attack on Raines. Once released, he crumpled to the floor unconscious. Lyle didn't attempt to help him, just fled out the door, leaving four unconscious bodies on the ground.

Jarod slowly got to his feet. 'What happened?' asked Broots, anxiously rushing over now that Raines was out for the count. Parker didn't answer for the moment, she could feel the headache hovering and threatening to pounce.

Jarod rubbed his eyes and shook his head and just as abruptly as it had disappeared, Jarod's mind popped back into view. Parker looked at him questioningly.

'I . . . I sort of made my mind insubstantial. When Raines took his concentration of me to try and shake you off I . . .' he paused, 'I can't really explain it. It's just something I learnt.'

He seemed shaken. Parker just staggered over to a chair before the headache landed with full force. Jarod made do with the floor.

Sydney went into action. 'Broots, get on the computer' he commanded as searched around the room for something to contain Raines and his sweepers with. Broots complied. 'What should I do?' he asked.

'Get into the security system. Lock this door and see if you can loop the camera in here so they think it's working normally.' Broots nodded and began to type away as Sydney handcuffed the sweepers together with their own handcuffs.

By the time it was all done both Jarod and Parker had recovered although they both still seemed a little dazed. 'How did he get so strong?' asked Parker weakly. Jarod just shrugged. He looked over to where the three sweepers and Raines were all handcuffed together.

'Angelo?' he said loudly. There was a rattle from the vents. 'Angelo, I need your help.' The cover clanked to the floor and the empath swung down out of the darkness.

'What are you going to do?' asked Parker.

'I'll need you too' replied Jarod. 'unconsciousness frees the mind up, it actually makes some people stronger. I need you and Angelo to hold him.'

Parker nodded, still unsure what this meant and wary of the blinding strength of Raines' mind. Angelo though, seemed confident. He loped forward to touch one finger against Raines' bald forehead.

Parker felt a flowering of a mind that seemed far beyond the stumbling empath. Looking in admiration at Angelo she followed his lead and used her powers to sedate the kicking mind of Raines.

Then Jarod moved in. He flowed freely in and around Raines, searching for something. Raines' struggles grew more pronounced but Angelo held him effortlessly, somehow turning his emotions back on themselves to control him. Parker was hardly needed.

Finally Jarod found what he was looking for. It was rooted in the dormant pretender gene that Raines carried. Taking a firm grip, he disconnected Raines' powers from his conscious mind, rendering them useless.

From far off Parker heard his voice telling her to pull back but it was Angelo's gentle touch that roused her. The empath used his powers in a way that went naturally with the flow of the mind, removing the cause of the headache.

Then the real world came rushing back and she shook her head and opened her eyes in time to see Angelo scramble back into the vents. 'Why does he even stay here?' she asked in awe.

'No one would understand his gift out there. He would end up in an asylum'

Parker nodded in understanding but didn't tear her eyes from where Angelo had disappeared.

'Um, Jarod?' broke in Broots. 'Sorry to interrupt, it's just that Lyle is probably gathering sweepers or something right now.'

Jarod looked at him and Parker saw a thought come to him. 'Mr Broots, what would you say if I offered you the chance to quit.'

'You could do that? I mean that would be great but Debbie . . . I mean the Centre might hurt her if they didn't want me to. We'd have to move and everything'

'No, none of that. I think I can fine tune this memory wiping thing now. You too Sydney. What do you say?'

Sydney didn't say anything, just looked at Jarod with deep emotions running through his eyes. 'What about my projects, the children?'

'Hmm' said Jarod, thinking hard. Some of the people locked away in the Centre could never pass for normal people on the outside. Slowly a plan began to form.