AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews guys; I really appreciate them. They're more than I was expecting, really. Hopefully what I intend to do won't disappoint anyone.

Also, I'm a little slow on the writing. I think too much and little of what I come up with goes to paper, I delete more than I keep, AND the hundreds of re readings and rewritingsthat I do lol. I'm also working on another little plot I gave into (adna third one brewing in my mind), so updates will take their sweet time while all of that is into motion.

And last, but not least, English isn't my first language, so while I'm pretty much fluent, slips always happen. Just thought I would let the fact be known.

Anyway, here's the second chapter.

Again, thanks for reading!

CHAPTER 2

He thought about calling Sydney. Or Broots. He considered calling even Lyle and tipping him off, in a moment of desperate thinking. Maybe if The Centre got there and surprised Alex of their arrival, his guard would be down, unexpected and they'd succeed in killing Alex and getting Miss Parker safely out of there. He would have done so if he knew this was one of the scenarios where the outcome would be favorable to both of them, but he knew this was not the case.

He knew there was no way out, there was no way either of them would have a chance if Jarod didn't show up. Alone. Alex had threatened to kill her and he knew he wouldn't hesitate if he had the slightest suspicion that Jarod hadn't carried his part of the forced deal. Besides, with Miss Parker being gone for several hours –bordering days- he wouldn't need to contact The Centre, he knew they would be doing some research of their on, if not the operatives, Sydney and Broots would be doing all they could to find her. The Centre would never give up Miss Parker, sadly, but then, he thought again, maybe that was the only thing keeping her alive. Their unwillingness to let her go and their hidden agenda for her were probably the only things keeping her above the ground rather than under it.

Having an advantage they didn't, Jarod would be several steps ahead, and he hoped to keep it that way. The last thing he needed was being caught by The Centre as he tried to save Miss Parker –again. After Carthis the game had been raised to levels he didn't want to think about; God only knew what would be in store for him, and consequently Miss Parker, if he did get caught. There was just too much to lose now, too much at stake; especially knowing they wouldn't just let her waltz out of her prison once he was in.

It had taken him only a few hours to narrow down his search once he had noticed the small marking on the top double side joint of the iron doors, to Miss Parker's left side as the camera had panned on her. The doors had been far to the back so a good amount of zooming in had been required, distorting quite considerably the marking. Jarod managed to clear it up enough to recognize it as a company logo and once he had put out a search for it, it hadn't been difficult to find out said company.

Spurlock Manufacturing was located on the outskirts of Philadelphia and exported mainly to the east coast. After that it had been easier to narrow down even more. 157 warehouses in the states of Maryland, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and (to Jarod's immense dismay) Delaware, used these same double joint doors. The problem was figuring out which one Alex and Miss Parker were. Going door to door would take time Jarod didn't have, and he had only a little over 24 hours to do so.

The pressure started to affect Jarod in ways he tried to ignore. Having a nervous breakdown on top of everything was something Jarod didn't need. He had gone through worse simulations as a child, bigger mental weariness, and physical abuse; he could deal with this. He had to deal with this.

Watching the video for a number of time he knew not, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. On the large window by the iron doors he caught the glimpse of something as the lightening changed in the space of seconds. Jarod had paused the video; freezing the image on the exact second he wanted and extracted a screen print of the image. Zooming in on the window glasses, he focused on the objects that had been reflected for only a moment. Fixing the highly pixeled zoomed in image, he was capable of making out the object: a gallon of bottled water. Then something else caught his eyes, and he squinted, trying to read the single word he could make out: Spring.

After that, it all happened almost in a blur. It had been almost too easy to find the exact warehouse. The search he had started had a result almost instantly, finding the name amongst the over a hundred warehouses in the general region he was looking for. Spring Mine Corporation had a Bottling Plant in Washington DC, just along the Potomac River, and checking online for any photos available, they had matched almost perfectly with the inside of the room Alex had filmed.

One hour later Jarod was in an airplane from Texas to Washington.

---

The first time Alex threatened Parker's life Jarod had been slightly unaware of the repercussion until he was faced with an immediate threat instead of the it's happening now action. Especially with his feelings towards her developing into something he refused to dwell into. She had been shot before, but the shock of the moment prevented him from feeling anything else other than surprise, but he had risked his freedom for her then.

She had been in life and death situations before, they had been different circumstances, but last time though, last time Jarod had been gripping his arm in pain, dropped to the stairs in exhaustion, Alex smiling on the other side of the metal fence, eyes twinkling and heart fluttering as he threatened her life. The pointed expression, the cruel smile, the venom in his voice and enjoyment as he watched Jarod squirm. There was nothing to stop the feelings this time, the worry, the desperation, the hurt; not the pain in his arm, as blood dripped down, not the soreness coming on his legs as they refused to support him, not the shake of the fence and the footsteps as Alex hurried away. They swirled and engulfed in as the realization sank in.

Through all the years as he ran and searched for his past and the truth of who he was, he hadn't realized that Miss Parker was part of the past he searched for desperately, she was part of what made him the man he was today, not in the level he came to realize later. No matter how much they tried to run away, they always ended up running into each other. Their past and their present were entwined in a delicate and intricate knot that neither of them could make sense of or disengage from.

Theirs was a relationship that no one, not even themselves, could understand. The amount of trust and belief and hope they put in each other went beyond acceptable levels, especially to two people that were supposed to be enemies. While their allegiances were rarely the same, they still managed to be on the same side without choosing.

Something creaked under his black boot, and Jarod looked down startled, out of his reverie. A branch. He looked up, then, and around, quickly assessing his surroundings. Everything was quiet; the large, cemented yard that used to work as a parking lot during the water plan functioning days was empty. The warehouse was located in an isolated area along the Potomac River –to one side the paved road to the entrance, separating the area from the river, to the other side the wide space of unused land, the rest abandoned buildings outside the Water Plant propriety. Strong metal fences secured the private area.

Jarod couldn't help the thought of how isolated it was, how there were one too many places that a person could hide.

He sighed, making his way quietly to the building entrance. He was tired, he was hungry and he was angry, and this all seemed to be just easy. Too easy.

He reached the side of the warehouse, the long window and iron doors he had seen on the video. He tried looking inside, but soon discovered the windows were a one-way glass. He could see nothing from the outside. He knew there was no way in without being caught, he had simulated a hundred different scenarios and the only route he could take was: be caught, get free, and get out, in all simplicity. Alex would be watching, he had cameras installed everywhere, and while Jarod could only see a handful (managing to sneak in out of the focus of said cameras) he knew there would probably a dozen more; all corners and nooks and crannies under Alex's eyes. He had thought this through too much to let anything escape.

Taking a deep breath, Jarod stepped forward and grabbed the door handle, pushing it open noisily; it screaked painfully, as if begging for some fixing after years in retirement. The inside wasn't much different from what he had mapped out in his mind, different angles, but nothing overly different.

There was a large old looking wooden table to the far side, where half a dozen monitors had been set up; no doubt each had been split into several smaller screens, showing the video feed from all the cameras Alex had installed. Jarod had known Alex'd have seen him coming. But now he was absent and it nerved Jarod slightly.

Miss Parker was exactly where she had been, except now, instead of having her back to him as her hook had been moved around, she was hanging on the general direction of where the camera had probably been, her face to him, eyes open.

"Jarod, you idiot." She grunted. She had been hoping he wouldn't come, wouldn't let Alex lure him into this trap, but she could hardly hide the relief and comfort from the fact he did come even though she didn't expect differently. Not from him.

"Miss Parker." He breathed out, relief washing over him as she spoke, her voice strong, no hint of pain; her eyes shone a lucid blue. She looked exactly as she had on the video, no bruises or markings or wounds, only the fatigue obvious on her face.

He took a couple of steps forward, but before he could get any closer, he was stopped short when his name was uttered. "Jarod, Jarod, Jarod." His tongue clicked at the end of the repeated name, and watched with a satisfied grin as the pretender spun around to face his enemy, gun pointed straight to his chest. "You're so easy."

"Alex." The name escaped his lips with scorn, his eyes squinted slightly and teeth gritted. He chanced a step forward but Alex took the safety off his gun and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Don't. Move."

Immediately, Jarod froze on his spot and raised his hands in half surrender. "You have me, Alex, now let her go."

Alex laughed, fully enjoying the open display of emotion from the pretender. Really, and he was supposed to be the genius. "Come on, Jarod, do you really think I'll just 'let her go'?" He saw Jarod visibly tense and decided to just get on with it before the genius had a chance to act. "I see your flaw is still intact."

"I thought you said my flaw in character was trying to help people who weren't important to me."

"Is she important to you?"

Miss Parker, who had been watching the exchange silently, perked up at the question, tensing just like Jarod had a few moments ago. In all honesty, she didn't know what was worse, hearing the answer or just not knowing at all; whatever the answer was, she knew it'd be something she wasn't going to be able to deal with. Should she get her heart broken and deception fill her senses by hearing Jarod say 'no'? Or should she get the same results by Jarod saying 'yes'? Why would he even say yes? It was a tricky situation. The chain around her wrists clinked softly as she shifted her arms involuntarily, bringing to herself unwanted attention -she noticed Jarod's eyes shift to her and back to Alex in a matter of a second.

They were both sparred the reply when Alex continued, watching the awkwardness suddenly fill the room. He grinned again. "I find it funny, don't you?"

Jarod was almost tempted to ask why, but considering the circumstances and the other person in the room he decided to just stay silent. This was not a subject he was particularly comfortable with to talk about. "Alex." He started finally, as the sociopath stared at him from the front, and Miss Parker's eyes were boring holes on his back. "Think about what you're doing. She doesn't have anything to do with this. Let her go."

"Jarod, I'm getting tired of this." His voice changed from the cold, cheerful tone he was using to another one completely different, steel and cruel and impatient. "Now put this on." And he threw a pair of handcuffs in the air; Jarod caught it easily.

"This is between you and I, Alex, please-" His sentence was curt shortly by the loud sound of a bullet echoing in the wide space, then silence as it connected with flesh. Jarod winced and the handcuffs fell to the floor with a loud metallic clink. The pain inflicted on his right upper arm told Jarod the sociopath was in no mood for mind games. His left hand fled to the wounded spot, his training yelling at him to put pressure and stop the blood before his senses cleared and he realized that while the pain was terrible, it wasn't alarmingly so; the flow of blood strong, but not enough to worry about.

"Jarod!" This time her silence had reached its limit and before she could stop herself, she had cried out his name, in a worried question if he was all right, her eyes widened in surprise at the loud, familiar sound.

"It's ok." He glanced at her, still gripping his arm, his voice husky with pain. "It just grazed." With a face twisted in pain, Jarod only stared at Alex alarmed. The latter raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not here to play your games, Jarod. I'm running out of patience." Waving his gun around, he grinned as Jarod flinched involuntarily; he gestured to the pole strategically built in middle of the room. "Handcuff your hands on your back and move." Jarod hesitated for only a moment then crouched down to grab the discarded cuffs. "Hurry, Jarod. Next time I won't be so considerate." He looked at Miss Parker. "Or maybe next time I'll miss you altogether."

This time he did as he was told without uttering a sound, every movement sending a jolt of pain through his wounded arm. But he stayed silent. Once he was done, Alex tightened the cuffs even more, never taking his eyes off Jarod, and smirking as he winced in pain once again, now from the teeth of the handcuffs silently grazing his skin.

"Move." He ordered, and still in silence, Jarod did so, carefully watching Alex's every movement. As soon as he was leaning against the pole, Alex used a rope to tie Jarod's neck to the pole, forcing the pretender to stay still, then moved down to his legs, bounding them, then his waist and chest, tied against the pole almost completely; his arms twisted backwards, his injury stinging painfully, he faced Miss Parker. Once he was done, Alex laid his gun on the floor, and checked Jarod for any weapons. There was none. "I'm surprised, I have to admit. I thought you'd come armed to the teeth ready to rescue the damsel in distress."

Although Miss Parker stayed silent, Jarod could hear her voice in his mind vivid and clear, with just the right amount of anger, I can take care of myself. And she could, that was a fact. She could hold her own, stand her ground, and he trusted her enough to do it; growing up at The Centre taught her personally how to do so. But this time she didn't have a way out, this time an outside threat had grabbed her by the neck and cut all her limbs, leaving her powerless to do a damn thing. Her only way out, again, was him.

"What do you want now? You have me."

"I do, yes." He smiled, emotionless, staring at his newest accomplished task. "I feel… You know what, strangely, I don't feel any sense of accomplishment."

"You want revenge? Fine, take it on me. I'm the one who left you behind; I'm the one that left you to deal with the worst part of The Centre. It's all my fault, she has nothing to do with it, Alex, and you know it."

She knew what he was doing, and there was no way in hell he'd go through with it, she wouldn't let him. He may be a pain in the ass, he may have taunted her, and pissed her off, and made her life a literal living hell for the past few years, but there was no way in hell she'd let him role play as the bad guy in all of this to persuade Alex to let her free; she wasn't about to leave him behind. Not to Alex. If there was one person that was going to kill the bastard, it was going to be her; no one else was about to injury the pretender besides herself.

As if a switch had been activated by Jarod's words, Alex's emotionless expression turned into one of pure hatred as he suddenly stormed towards Miss Parker and grabbed a fistful of her hair. This time she was conscious but the violent gesture still startled her, as her head bounced back into his hand. Still, she stood her ground and eyed Alex with defiance, even when he pressed the barrel of his gun under her chin. "Let me put this in words you might understand." Pressing the gun even stronger, he spit the words out, "Neither of you is getting out of here."

Miss Parker eyes flickered to Jarod, and briefly wondered what Wonder Boy's plan really was, because he better have a damn good one if he ever wanted to get either of them alive from this hell. He had been stupid enough to fall for Alex's trap, and for her no less. Handing himself on a silver plate had been the least she expected him to do. Why had he never done that with her? It'd have saved all of those years of trouble and made her life a hell of easier.

Her thoughts were harshly broken when she heard Alex's next set of hatred words.

"I'm going to kill her while you watch and squirm and yell my name and beg me to stop." His voice was cold. Colder than she had heard him at her house, colder than he had spoken to her and her father before shooting him. Steel, and maniacal and fear ran down her spine, finding solitude in her gut. "Then, and only then, I'm going to kill you."

Jarod's eyes shifted from Alex to Miss Parker, then back to Alex, and stared into his empty, demoniac eyes, glowing inhumanly in the lightening of the orange setting sun striking the room. He was afraid. For the first time since Alex contacted him, Jarod was truly, utterly afraid. And the strangest part of it all was that it wasn't even his life he feared for.

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This is pretty much my least favorite chapter and i'm nowhere near happy with what I ended up with, but I just couldn't work this out. Probably the reason I took almost 2 weeks to update lol. I just figured that since I wasn't going anywhere with improving it I may as well just post it already. Chapter 3 is already written and chapter 4 is halfway thru, so they won't take as long to come,I hope.