Disclaimer : I don't own perfect dark and probably never will (I put a probably because we never know what could happen in the future ^_^)
Chapter 4: The truth…….?
"Mom are you kidding?! This is completely stupid!", exclaimed Velvet.
"Don't try to make me change my mind, it won't work. Your father and I don't want you to sleep in the same room as your boyfriend. You don't have to complaint, your sister doesn't have this right either", replied Becky.
Joanna stayed silent. Even if she didn't saw her parents for a while, she didn't forgot how they were. This is why she left them like this, without giving them any news of her for so much time…
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"I didn't thought that their parents were going to be like this", said Nathaniel with a sinister gaze.
"It is not impressing me from Joanna's father at all", commented Jonathan as he looked at the room they were supposed to share.
"But Jon, don't you think that it's completely insane, we aren't teenagers anymore!", exclaimed Nathaniel.
"Stop complaining, you're not the one that is hated by the father like I was some kind of parasite or something", replied Jonathan.
"…Well, at least we're not forced to share the same bed", commented Nathaniel.
Jonathan looked at his surroundings and wasn't surprised by what he saw.
"Yeah…but there's thousands of camera that are filming the room all day and night long", Jonathan responded.
"What!? There're cameras in the room!?", asked Nathaniel.
"Yeah, there are some. And there's one in the bathroom too", responded Jonathan.
"…Tell me what are we doing in that damned place! Now my studies in medicine are completely botched and I don't know if I'll someday be able to return university again and…we're stuck in a house of paranoids", Nathaniel said.
"Don't speak too loudly, I'm sure James Dark can hear us…he can see everything and hear everything", whispered Jonathan with a faked scared tone.
"Stop with those stupid jokes! There aren't funny at all!", Nathaniel said with a annoyed tone.
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A few hours later, in the dinning room, a family dinner was beginning ^_^
"So, you probably studied before working to the Carrington Institute. What were your job before you became agents?", asked innocently Becky.
Jonathan choked as he heard Becky's question. Nathaniel glanced at Jonathan with a slight smile.
"Before we came here, I was studying in medicine. However, I had to abandon because we left our country for an unknown period of time", answered Nathaniel.
"Really! I'm a doctor too! Maybe that I could help you to be admitted in a school in England. Now you, Jonathan, what were your original job?", asked Becky with an interested tone.
"I was a lawyer…", replied Jonathan.
Joanna shot him a look that made him remember what he completely forgot. Joanna's father was supposed to be a lawyer too!
"What a coincidence! James too was a lawyer before he became an agent. You will be able to talk about law together", replied Becky with a smile.
James looked at him with an uninterested tone. Jonathan gave him an unsure smile.
"Even if I'm officially a lawyer, this domain never truly interested me so let's talk about something else. Did you know that Robert O'Donnell became officially the president of the US? You escaped the country just on time it seems", said James.
"I hate that man. He always says horrible lies about the Carrington Institute. James told me the Maians aren't like this man described them, I suppose that it's true", Becky remarked.
" Your husband was right, the Maians are a pacific race and deserve to be the friends of humans. The Skedars are the extreme opposite of what O'Donell was saying; they're cruel and hate every other race in the universe. Their only purpose in life are bloodbaths", said Jonathan with a dark gaze.
"That's terrible! It's a chance the government of England already know about this falsehood", responded Becky.
"What do you mean?", Jonathan asked.
"James has some 'contact' with the government. He was able to convince some of his friends that Robert O'Donnell is a liar. Let's just hope they will listen to James' advice and that they'll refuse to collaborate with the US", answered Becky.
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"Are you sure that the killer you saw was really this man?", asked the police officer to the young woman.
"Yes, I'm sure. Get him arrested, he killed at least 15 people. He should pay this crime by staying in prison for life", replied the woman.
"We've heard that he's hiding in England, in London. After a few researches, we've found the location of the house where he's hiding", said the young man that was accompanying the woman.
"We should thank you for everything you've done to help us find the man who killed almost all the living humans on the Skedar planet. You'll be greatly recompensed", responded the police officer.
"You're welcome. We'll always help our world to get those kind of bastards arrested", replied the young man with a smirk.
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"I'll go take a walk with Jonathan in the region. Don't wait for us", said Joanna as she left her home with Jonathan.
They walked on the sidewalk of the narrow road of London. Jonathan was admiring at the view the city gave him. It was so different from America…it was prettier of course.
"So…"
"So what?", asked Jonathan as he looked at his surroundings.
"What do you think about my family?", asked Joanna.
"Oh…err…they're nice", responded Jonathan that avoided Joanna's gaze.
"Be honest Jon", replied Joanna.
"Okay but you'll probably regret it. Your father seems to think that I am some kind of traitor and I'm sure the only reason that made your mother like me is because I told her I was a lawyer. And what did she meant when she talked about your criteria?", asked curiously Jonathan.
"Oh never mind, this isn't important at all…", replied Joanna that forced herself to look at the ground.
"It's wonderful isn't it? I like this place…", said Jonathan.
"You know…America has his advantage too…even if it seems completely ugly compared to London and that the people are not all as polite as here. It's less expensive, the air is less polluted, there is more free place and you don't necessarily needs to pay very expensive to have a tasty meal", remarked Joanna.
"Maybe that I'm wrong but you really seem to hate this place…why?", questioned Jonathan.
"……………."
"Are you hiding me something Joanna? If you truly hate this place, why did you wanted to come here?", asked Jonathan.
"I knew that with my father nearby, it was going to be more secure. It's incredible how he could be persuasive…he is already convincing the government that the Maians are pacific after all", answered Joanna with a faked smile.
"But you didn't answered me. You should be happy to return to the home where you've grown up. Why are you so…unhappy?", he asked.
"…………..Maybe we should return home", suggested Joanna.
"Already!? Is it because of what I've said? We can change the topic if you want", replied Jonathan.
"I…I have a bad feeling Jon…like something terrible is going to happen", answered Joanna with a suddenly worried tone.
"…Fine…let's go then", said Jonathan.
They didn't knew that the tragedy was only going to happen quicker by returning home.
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Joanna and Jonathan quickly returned to the home of Joanna's parents. A woman was waiting for them in the driveway. Jonathan instantly recognized her.
"Hey! Aren't you the woman from the Skedar planet?", asked Jonathan.
"Yes, it's me", replied the woman coldly.
"Where is the man that was with you in the ship?", asked curiously Jonathan.
"Jeffrey isn't there…I'm alone", said the woman.
"Well nice to meet you again. I didn't knew you were living here, well, I noticed your British accent but I didn't knew you were living in London", replied Jonathan.
"Enough talking…murderer…", retorted Jessica.
"Wha! What are you talking about!?", asked Jonathan.
"Get him", she said.
A few police officers came out from their hiding spot and captured Jonathan. Jon didn't defended himself because he knew that attacking an officer would be more serious than killing a dumb guard from Datadyne. Joanna looked at what was happening with a stupefied look.
"Jonathan Fraser, you under arrest for the murder of 15 human survivors on the Skedar planet", said a police officer as another handcuffed Jonathan.
"WHAT! What do you mean?!!! I've never done such things! You've probably made a mistake, I'm not the one you're searching for", replied Jonathan with a panicked tone.
"She isn't doing any mistakes. Some other survivors from your bloodbath affirmed that you were the one who killed the half of the people detained in the Skedar labs", said Jeffrey as he suddenly appeared from nowhere.
"…But…IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT'S A CONSPIRACY! YOU'RE ALL FUCKING LIARS! I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING OF WHAT YOU ACCUSED ME! JOANNA! DON'T BELIEVE THOSE BASTARDS!", shouted Jonathan with a mix of anger and panic in his voice.
"We have other proves than those revelations. One of the survivors was a scientist, he brought with him when he left the planet a kind of…Skedar camera. And it's showing us everything of what happened the day you killed the 15 unlucky people. The fact that you don't remember anything isn't a proof. We interrogated some people that know you very well and they told us you rarely…but sometimes burst in a very violent anger. They also told us that during those terrible crises of yours, you don't truly know what you're doing. That would explain why you don't remember a bloody thing of what happened", replied Jeffrey with an I-know-everything tone.
Joanna looked at Jonathan with a look of disbelief. She already saw Jonathan gets angry a few times. She knew that it was happening very rarely but…when it's happening…you'd better get out of his way. The thing is that all the times it happened, he got angry with some bad guys so there never were big consequences. What if…he actually could get angry with someone that didn't put his life or the life of someone he cared for in danger? What if…Jonathan had truly killed 15 people? Was he lying? When Joanna left her thought and looked at her surroundings again, the police were trying to bring Jonathan in the police car. He was desperately trying to get out of the grip of the police officers but they were too much. He looked at Joanna with a desperate look.
"Joanna…tell me you don't believe them. Tell them I cannot have done such things", begged Jonathan.
"The problem is…that I don't think I should trust you anymore Jonathan…All their proves are plausible…I'm sorry Jonathan but I cannot help a liquidator like you probably are", answered Joanna as her face grew paler.
Then Jonathan stopped to fight off the guard. Every hopes that were left within him were gone…Joanna doesn't believe him. That means he was truly all alone, again. Jonathan entered the police car without any tentative to flee. He stared at Joanna as he left the damned driveway. Joanna suddenly felt extremely guilty as she stared at Jonathan. Through his eyes, she didn't see any lies. She only saw the pain she gave him when she refused to help him. She knew he was a good liar but she was sure he would never use his talent against her…he just couldn't…or could he?
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Joanna entered the home of her parents and slammed the door behind her. Her mother looked at her with a sorry look and her father didn't seem to care that Jonathan had been arrested at all. The only thing that seemed to matter to him was reading his newspaper. Nathaniel was packing his things. Velvet was in tears and was begging him to stay.
"So…the big mouth is going to leave", said Joanna with a sarcastic tone.
"…What? Do you DARE to accuse me to be the bastard who told everything to the police? You're completely wrong! The fucking bastard that told everything to the police officers is non other than your sister: Velvet Dark. Applause her, she's a genius! And now, they accused me too! They accuse me of complicity to the first degree because I didn't say anything! ", exclaimed Nathaniel with an angry tone.
"…Vel…Velvet? You…you…"
"I'm sorry Joanna…I thought that it was the good decision", said Velvet as more tears ran down her face.
"You don't have to feel guilty Velvet, you've truly made the good decision", said Becky as she entered the room.
"What do you mean?! Do you really think someone like Jonathan could have done such things?!", questioned Joanna as her anger grew bigger.
"Joanna…that's not the first time you discover that your lover isn't the person he is pretending to be. And…I don't think he was really your type", replied calmly Becky.
"…I understand now…you don't care at all that he is under arrest or not. You're just happy to get rid of him because you're just like Velvet. Because he's not the richest, the prettiest and the most instructed man you've never seen, he isn't my type. You're ridiculous!", exclaimed Joanna.
"I sure you could find better than him. All your others boyfriend were better than him", said Becky.
"I've never seen someone as superficial as you. There's something you don't understand about my ex-boyfriend…there were all the same! They all didn't give a damn about me! I was only a good-looking trophy to show to their friends and a girl they could fuck every time they wanted!", exclaimed Joanna.
"…What…what did you say?", asked Becky almost like she was doing a heart attack.
"You seem surprised to see your 'perfect daughter' saying these kind of words but this is the entire truth. I was nothing else than an object to them. This the main reason why I truly love Jonathan… He considers me as a human, oppositely to the others", replied Joanna.
"You…you were just unlucky, that's all! I'm sure you could find someone that is considering you as a human and that is corresponding to all your criteria. You're perfect after all, you deserve someone as perfect as you", responded Becky.
"WILL YOU STOP TO DESCRIBE ME AS PERFECT! I AM NOT PERFECT AND I NEVER WILL!!! AND THE 'CRITERIA' YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AREN'T MINE! THEY'RE ONLY YOUR CRITERIA!!!", shouted Joanna.
"Stop shouting like this in MY home!", replied angrily Becky.
"You know what is your fucking problem?! Even if I'm 24 and that I stayed away from you during 3 long years, you're again trying to control everything of my life like you've done before I left this damned home. I AM AN ADULT AND YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO SUCH THINGS", replied Joanna.
"If you want to stay in my home, you'll have to listen to me and stop shouting like this!", retorted Becky.
"Fine! If this is what you want. I'm leaving too so I'll be able to breath again. I cannot believe that only 3 years made me forget what you were forcing me to do", said Joanna as she went to her chamber to pack her things.
"If you leave like this…where will you go?", asked James that introduced himself in the conversation.
"Far from her…I'm sorry dad but I don't have any other choices left", answered Joanna.
"At least, stay for the night or you'll find it difficult to find a room at this hour. You could leave tomorrow", suggested James.
"…Okay…but I'll leave tomorrow morning", replied Joanna.
"I'm not sure she deserves such chances", said Becky to herself.
"Calm down Becky, it's your daughter after all", James said.
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In the morning
Joanna woke up very early in the morning. She ate her breakfast and quickly get prepare to leave. She opened the door and took her baggage.
"You're going to leave like this? Without saying me goodbye?", asked James that suddenly appeared behind her.
"Dad? I thought that you were sleeping…", answered Joanna.
"I wanted to talk personally to you before you leave. Take this piece of paper. I have a CI communicator too. It's the number to contact me so if you need help, you just have to compose this number", said James as he gave her a piece a paper.
"Thanks dad…I suppose that if I need to talk to you about confidential information, I'll just have to use this number", guessed Joanna.
"It's obvious. The phone had never been a secure source of communication", replied James.
"Thank you for everything dad…Take care", said Joanna as she gave him a hug.
"Goodbye Joanna. There's one last thing I want to tell you", he said.
"And what is this thing?", questioned Joanna.
"Whatever you decide to do, you will always have my support…even if you kill hundreds of people", answered James.
"What do you mean?", asked Joanna.
" I can see a lot of things Joanna. I don't think Jonathan is guilty and you don't think he is either. Sometimes, the justice is very unfair…if you decide to make justice by yourself, I will only agree with you, even if this mean you'll be a criminal", explained James.
"I will never be thankful enough dad", said Joanna as she left the house where she spent her childhood.
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Jonathan lay on the small bed of the cell where they detain him. He didn't had the right to contact a lawyer, anyway the only one he knew was James Dark and he doubted he would want to help him. He only had the right to phone someone. He called Suzan to tell her what happened. He was sure that at least the half of the employee of the institute knew about his arrest. He thought about the woman that denounced him…Jessica was her name. At first, he thought that she could be a nice woman but he was completely wrong. He was also wrong when he thought that she looked like Joanna. For no reason in particular, he suddenly thought that she looked more like Heleny. A few prisoners from other cells looked at him curiously.
"I wonder what this guy has done to be detained in that cell", a prisoner said.
"Yeah…I've heard that all the people that were thrown in that cell were sentenced to stay in prison for life", another said.
"That little guy doesn't look like a serial killer at all…he doesn't even look like he is dangerous", replied the first prisoner.
"Duo of stupid. It's those kind of people that are the most dangerous…I wouldn't be surprised he raped and killed hundreds of little girls", retorted a third one.
"If it is truly the case, I'm gonna beat him everyday until he dies", said the second prisoner.
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"The president of the US will give10 millions dollars if someone tells the government information about the people that followed the leader of these terrorists and also the leader the Carrington Institute named Jonathan Fraser. When the police entered the Carrington Institute, they noticed no one was here. They tried to interrogate the linked and the relatives of the employees but no one told anything. Tomorrow, the police will try to interrogate the children. Every single people that refused to reveal information, that means until today everyone, are accused of complicity", said the newsreader on TV.
Suzan was watching nervously the TV. Siegfried, that was forced to be her roommate, watched too the TV.
"Oh no! That means my darling is accused of complicity…and my children will be interrogated tomorrow!", exclaimed Suzan with a panicked tone.
"I think it's gonna be alright. Jonathan had expected this and no one was supposed tell their children were they were supposed to go. Everyone that knew our location stayed silent", replied Siegfried.
"You stupid! I don't care about being caught! It's my children I care for! Those bastards are gonna torture them!", replied Suzan.
"Don't worry…they'll never dare to hurt children", reassured Siegfried.
Suzan looked at him with an unconvinced look. They heard a knock on the door.
"I'm gonna see who it is", said Suzan as she opened the door.
"Joanna?! What are you doing here?", asked Suzan.
"Jonathan had been arrested and is accused of murder of 15 people", answered Joanna with a stricken tone.
"We already know, Jonathan called us yesterday night. Come in", replied Suzan.
"How did you knew where we are?", asked Siegfried.
"It was written in a notebook Jonathan had. Velvet gave the police even more proves of Jonathan's guilt and my mother was only approving. I was so angry that I left my home", explained Joanna.
"So you're searching a place where to live?", asked Suzan.
"Yeah…", Joanna answered
"Sarah is in the room next to ours. You can stay with her. There's only two single bed in there so it's not a very good idea to stay in there", said Suzan.
"Sarah's room has two beds too?", asked Joanna.
"There's only one queen size bed in Sarah's room but I'm sure she doesn't really mind if you sleep in the same bad as her. It was supposed to be the room of Siggy and I but he didn't wanted to sleep in the same bed as me so we exchanged rooms", explained Suzan.
"Huh! Like I wanted to sleep with a mother of three children", replied Siegfried.
"She calls you…Siggy?", asked Joanna.
"Everyone of the institute are calling me Siggy because they aren't able to pronounce my name", explained Siegfried.
"Want some cookie?", asked Suzan with a big grin to Joanna.
"Suzan, Are you sure you're alright? Normally, you would have lost your temper after a comment like Siegfried said and now…you're asking me if I want cookies", questioned Joanna worriedly.
"I asked myself what kind of opinion the people have about me so I asked a few people. The most honest people told me everyone think I'm a bitch. I wasn't really happy to hear that so I'm trying to be nice…I wanna change my reputation", answered Suzan.
"I see…thanks Suzan, I'll take one of your cookies", replied Joanna with a slight smile.
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"Do you know what you should do Joanna?", asked Sarah as Joanna unpacked her things.
"You have a clue", questioned Joanna.
"Everyone, especially you, need to know what happened on the Skedar planet. You should visit Jonathan and ask him with every details of what happened", answered Sarah.
"Jonathan is a good liar…"
"Do you really think Jon could lie to you? Of course not! He'll tell you the entire truth if you ask him, that's for sure", replied Sarah.
"Yeah…you're probably right. When I'll finish to unpack my things, I'll visit him", Joanna said.
And the visit will happen next chapter ^_^
A/N: I'm sorry for stopping my story like this, but if I write everything I planned for chapter 4, the chapter would have 7000 words in it so I split it in two parts. I hope this chapter was as entertaining for you to read than it was for me to write. I say that because chapter 2 and 3 were extremely boring to write, it was like a chore to me but this chapter was very fun to write…okay…maybe it's because I've been mean enough to put Jon under arrest ^_^ A lot of unanswered question will be answered next chapter like: Where did Nathaniel go after he left Joanna and Velvet's home?, Why James always put cameras everywhere in his house?, What happened to Joanna with her parents that made her flee her home and work to the Carrington Institute? Is Jonathan guilty of what Jeffrey and Jessica accused him? Who is the stupid guy that brought a Skedar camera with him? And why did he brought it…a souvenir from the Skedar planet or something else? Next chapter will probably be the one with the biggest amount of action, blood and gore! Of course, some romance too but I think the action will dominate…
Peachrocks: Yeah that's true, the name aren't really important…If you didn't noticed, Becky and James were the names Jo and Jon gave to theirselves when they were in the infiltration mission to Datadyne corp. As for the camera :D, the great mystery of the bathroom (is there more than a camera?) will be answered later…and I'll try to put some jokes with this :D
TetraLink17: I portrayed the father of Joanna as the classic representation of the father that dislikes the boyfriend ^_^ I hope your father didn't put cameras everywhere in the house like James does :D Suzan is sometimes a bitch, but I try to not make her hateable.
Thanks for reviewing my story!!! It's always very appreciated :)