phi4858- I think you have me and another writer confused. I've never left any tips on when the Pretender movies will be shown on tv. But you were right about the last chapter being shorter than normal. It was about 500 words shorter than normal. I wanted to make it longer but it the part I had in mind didn't work so well with the rest of the chapter.
As for Exodus I have twelve chapter left so 12 x 3 36 and 36/7 5. So five weeks maybe lees. I'm really ready to get it up but I don't want to post it until I've finished posting Genesis, or at least until I've finished writing it.
Pretender Fanatic- Glad you liked the chapter. And yeah I thought that was the best way to have Jarod show up. To have him say what he need to and then to just melt away.
Crazyrussiangal- I have a surprise for you and maybe others. Your review made me realize that some people who are reading this might not realize that this story is a prequel to The Black Files. In it Parker and Jarod learn about the kids. So if you can't wait to see if Jarod captures Parker's heart after they find out about the kids, just click on my profile and click on The Black Files. I'll warn you now the first few chapters aren't that grand but it gets better in the end. I promise
Joy- Believe me I completely understand computer problems it was the whole reason I was unable to update for two weeks. Worse two weeks of my life. I'm glad to know that you love this story. As for my take on Donoterase here it is.
CHAPTER 44
CAN IT GET ANY WORSE
May 21, 1999
7:23am
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Will woke up in a cold sweat. Unfortunately it was not an odd occurrence. Every since Thomas's murder -which Will partly blamed on himself even after Angelo had told Will that he was not to blame- Will had been suffering from horrible dreams. He kept dreaming of both of his parents being shot. Hundreds of fetuses. Jarod being recaptured.
Will ran a shaky hand through his tousled hair and sighed. It was starting. Pieces were falling into place, starting with Gemini. Will and Alley had always known that Gemini would play a large roll in their life even before they had learned that Gemini was a clone of Jarod.
Once a month Will was taken to Donoterase to work with Gemini. And each time it grew harder and harder for Will not to reveal the truth of Gemini's origins to the clone. Since Alley had died Will had wanted so bad to reveal the connection he shared with the clone but was afraid. Afraid that either Gemini would not believe him, or that Gemini would but Raines would discover that Gemini and Will had learned the truth and would separate the two boys. Call him selfish but Will was not ready to lose another family, nor did he want to be alone. Gemini, Sam, and Jen were the only companions Will had left, and he wanted to hold on to them for as long as he could.
Will was interrupted from his musing by Sam entering the boy's cell with Will's breakfast. Will put aside his uneasy feelings. He did not want for Sam to think that anything was wrong.
"Morning Sam," Will yawned hopping down from his cot and walked over to his desk where Sam was placing the boy's tray.
"Good morning Will. How are you feeling today?" Sam asked. He was still quite worried for Will every since the boy had gone through what Sam referred to as a "psychic fit" a few weeks back Will had suffered from the occasional headache and nose bleed.
"Fine. My head hurts a bit but, other than that I'm five by five," Will said.
"I see that you're quite capable of sneaking into the sweeper's lounge and watching Buffy."
"Season's almost up. Got to get my fill in now. Tomorrow's the finale can't miss it. Angel's supposedly leaving, but I hear he's getting his own spin off. Can't wait." Will said excitedly. And Sam was reminded why he cared for the boy so much. Despite everything that happen to him Will was still the same kind hearted - and now Buffy obsessed- boy he had always been.
"Who's your favorite character?" Sam asked the boy.
"Oz, hands down. He's got the whole werewolf thing, and he plays lead guitar in a band. That's what I'm gonna do when I get out of here," Will told Sam.
"What be a werewolf?" Sam joked.
"No play guitar. I'm also gonna be a chef," Will said looking at his breakfast. "How I manage to live off this crap is beyond me." Sam laughed out right at the boy.
"How's your sister?" Will asked a few moments later.
"She's better. Or at least appears that way. Why do you care anyway?" Sam asked Will jokingly.
"She's your sister and she means a lot to you. And, well Alley was my sister and you cared about her..." Will trailed off.
"I was just joking Will. I'm glad you asked about her. I normally don't get to talk to people about my sister," Sam admitted.
"I know what you mean," Will said softly.
"So tell me more about this crazy show you watch," Sam said changing topics in efforts to lift the boy's sprits.
"Well there's Angel, and he's pretty cool. Not as cool as Oz though. He's a vampire with a soul, Angel not Oz..."
May 21, 1999
7:40am
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Sam left Will's room with a smile on his face. Will was truly beginning to heal. Alley's death had hit the boy hard, but with Will knowing that he had three other siblings who needed him, Will had placed his grief aside. With a shock Sam realized that within less than a month it would be a year to the day that Alley had died. Sam could barely believe it. Just yesterday the twins had given Sam the DSA that proved Jarod's innocence when it came to the murder of Sam's parents. Sam made a mental note to do something special for Will then June 18th rolled around.
Sam then went to go and check on his other charges. Parker was in Alaska and wouldn't be back until noon, leaving Sam with a Jarod free morning. 'Which isn't exactly true,' Sam reflected. The sweeper might not be dealing with Jarod directly but, Sam still worked with Jarod's four children. Sam still wondered why Will had ever told Sam, the Jarod was his father. Sam also wondered why he himself had not told Jarod about Will, Alley, Alex, Andros, and Aaron, when Sam had seen the Pretender outside of Parker's house. Yes Sam had promised Will that he would keep the boy's secret. But Sam knew that Will, his brothers and sister could only survive the Centre for so long. Sam came to the conclusion that if things started to get bad he would tell Jarod about the children.
Things were about to get bad. Very bad.
March 22, 1999
12:21pm
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
"Sam have you ever hear of anything called project Gemini?" Parker asked the sweeper when he entered her room.
"No. Why?" Sam said sitting down in the chair across from her.
"I found this," Parker said handing over a memo. "It's from Momma to the Triumvirate. She was against this project Gemini. Sammy it's dated a few days before she was killed. I heard Raines and Daddy talking about Gemini earlier today."
"Listen be careful. What ever your digging around in could be dangerous," Sam warned her. Broots then entered the office.
"M-miss P-parker, I didn't find anything on Gemini or Pakor," Broots stuttered.
"Then come back when you have something Broots," Parker snapped, Sam frowned at Parker's tone towards the techie. After learning that Broots had risked his life to keep his daughter safe from the Centre, Sam's respect for the techie had grown.
"I did find something else M-miss Parker. Your Father and Mr. Raines are pretty interested in Captain Russell Osborne from the research facility from Alaska. They think that Osborne may know Major Charles. I found his daughter's address." Broots told her.
"Let's go," Parker said, practically leaping out of her seat. "Pull Sydney out of his meeting with the Tower. Sam fire up the jet,"
"You might want to wait Miss Parker," Broots said handing Parker a file. "Your father has already sent Bridgette."
Parker shoved the file back at Broots and stormed off to her father's office. "Sam fire up the jet were going to North Carolina," Parker repeated over he shoulder.
"Yes Ma'am," Sam said and went to the hanger to get the jet prepared.
"Where's Sydney," Sam asked when Parker and Broots got on the plane.
"Frued has paper work," Parker replied as she sat down next to Sam.
"You don't believe him," Sam said softly not wanting Broots to over hear.
"Sydney's been acting quite odd as of late. I think he may be hiding something. And you know what happens when Syd hides things..." Parker sighed
"Sub levels and Raines have a tenancy to be blown up," Sam supplied.
"Exactly." Parker said.
"Well he'd be happy to know that your worried about him," Sam told her.
"I'm not worried about him. Sydney is a big boy he can take care of himself," Parker grumbled. Sam snorted not believing for a second that Parker wasn't worried about Sydney.
The plane landed a few hours later in North Carolina. Sam drove Parker to the airstrip where it was believed Major Charles was staying. They were told by the owner of the airstrip that she had not seen Major Charles for sometime but had seen Jarod recently.
"He said in passing that he was heading to Florida," Carrie told Parker.
"Really," Parker said. Carrie nodded her head. Sam and Parker then returned to the car.
"Where are we headed?" Sam asked Parker when they got to the car.
"North," Parker said.
"She said that Jarod was heading to Florida," Sam told Parker.
"She was lying."
Will was in his room pacing. Things were moving quickly. Last night Jaord had found his father. The pyrokinetic knew it would only be a few more hours before his father and grandfather found Gemini. Will also knew that his mother was also quickly approaching the truth of Gemini. And though she seamed as though she held nothing but contempt for his father, Will knew that Parker would be disgusted when she learned what Raines and her father had done.
March 23, 1999
4:09pm
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
"Momma!" Alley screamed as a sharp pain ripped through her chest. Alyssa felt as though she were dying. Three sub levels up her twin was experiencing the same pain. Neither Will or Alley knew what was happening to them, but on some level they understood that what ever it was it related to their mother. Eventually the twins passed out from the amount of pain coursing through their tiny bodies.
Alley woke up hours later in the infirmary on Sl-26. Cox was looking her over. "What's going on?" Alley asked.
"Either an amazing coincidence, or your empathy runs deeper than expected." Cox answered. "You will be kept here for the next few days, your condition monitored."
"And Will. Is he okay?" Alley asked Cox.
"You worry too much about your brother's own safety when you should be concerned about your own." The doctor commented.
"We're still linked Will and I, aren't we? What ever happened to me happen to him. I though that if I cut my telepathic link with Will we wouldn't feel each other any more."
"As did I. Apparently we were both wrong -a rare occurrence on my behalf- or it was something else."
"That something else being my mother?" Alley questioned.
"You know who your mother is?" Cox asked slightly amused.
"No but I know she isn't dead." Alley lied.
"Actually that remains to be seen." Cox told the girl.
"What do you mean?" Alley asked.
"Your mother was shot. She may die," Cox said and left the room.
"Momma," Alley whispered, she then curled into a ball and sobbed, afraid that her mother would indeed die.
"No cry Little Phoenix," Alley heard a man whisper. She looked up and saw Angelo. Alley flung her arms around the empath's neck.
"Angelo! Cox, said Momma might die." Alley cried her hot tears seeping through Angelo's shirt.
"Hush Little Phoenix. Daughter no die. Friend save her." Angelo said wiping the tears from Alley's face. "But Friend captured. Captured trying save Daughter. Loves Daughter, Friend would die for Daughter."
"Is Daddy okay?" Alley asked. Angelo frowned.
"Bad Man took Friend."
"Take me to him Angelo," Alley commanded.
"No. Not safe. Little Phoenix stay here." Angelo told her.
"But Angelo..."
"Little Phoenix stay." Angelo reiterated. "Angelo go now. Check on Big Phoenix. And Baby Files"
Angelo scurried to the infirmary to check on Will. The boy had awaken but was quite groggy. Jen was tending to him, checking his reflexes, pulse, and so on.
"Big Phoenix okay?" Angelo asked once Jen had left.
"I'm fine Angelo," Will replied. "But what about Momma, is she okay?"
"Daughter be fine. Friend in trouble. Captured,"Angelo told Will.
"What do I need to do?" Will asked. Angelo shook his head.
"Friend will get out on his own."
"Can I see him?"
"Not safe," Angelo said and left. Will sighed. For the next three months he worried about the safety of his parents. His mother would be kept hidden in a hospital until her location was discovered by Broots. And Will's father would be kept deep in the sub-levels of the Centre.
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Up Next: Jake and Rachael discover their mother. Will is pissed with Sam. And Sam has been put in a position he doesn't want to be in.
