A/N: I am so sorry for taking forever to update, still working on an update for "When she loved me" because I'm kinda stuck on the chapter I'm writing, still only 1200 words done, so I procrastinate on other chapters further in the story. That, and life has been really busy these last few weeks. Hopefully I'll soon find the inspiration to finish it. This one however, is finished!

Jarod woke up on a couch that didn't feel familiar and with a throat that felt like he swallowed a desert. He rethought clearing his throat with the sight of the woman sitting on the floor next to him holding his wrist. Confused and frightened he looked at her, "Hey, you're awake," she greeted him and handed him a glass of water which he apprehensively took from her.

"Do you remember how you got here?" She asked, tilting her head a little to be on the same angle as his.

He slightly shook his head and took a little sip of the glass, coughed and cleared his throat, "Not entirely," he added vaguely.

"You were trying to catch some mobsters in Millsboro, but your setup failed, because two local cops were in on their scheme. You were captured before you could fully carry out your plans, but you did manage to steal quite a lot of money from them which they desperately wanted back. So, to make you tell them where the money was, they told you they were going to inject you with poison and only give you the antidote when they had it. But you broke free after being injected and the guy holding the antidote dropped it on the floor to stop you. You thought you had about fifteen minutes to live and then came here." She paused, hoping something would come back to him, she was searching for any signs that he remembered confessing his love for her.

Something did come back to him as she found a spark of recognition in his eyes, "They killed a young couple because they didn't want to turnover their profits to them. She was pregnant and they burned them in their own home. I was working as an undercover FBI agent…" He trailed off and she watched as Jarod seemed to go through his memories to finally come to the moment she was waiting for.

Shock, fear and embarrassment all played their parts in his expression, "I have to go…" he let out in panic and tried to get up, but she quickly but gently pushed him back into mountain of pillows she had set up behind him and sat down on the edge of the couch.

She gave him an amused smile, "Oh you're not going anywhere lover boy, half the Centre is searching through every nook and cranny of Blue Cove looking for your pretty little ass. So, unless you'd rather go back to the Centre we're going to have to talk." She folded her hands into her lap.

He nervously averted his eyes, "About?" He asked, failing miserably to keep the panic from his voice.

"Don't chicken out on me now, genius" She warned him, "You thought you were going to die; you didn't know they gave you sodium pentothal. You thought you had fifteen minutes to live, and you drove at an insane speed to…" she swallowed, "to see me…" her voice wavered, and tears started to pool in her eyes, "and to tell me how you felt about me."

He closed his eyes in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry, I should never have burdened you with that." He apologized while nervously rubbing his face.

She stopped his hands, pulling them away from his face, "I am glad you did, because it made things a lot clearer." She squeezed his hands, causing him to finally look at her and see the emotions swirling in her eyes.

"When we were in the car together after Carthis, part of me was scared that you were only using me to get out of the situation. That it was just another trick up your sleave to get away from the Centre."

"I would never…" he started.

"I think I know that now." She sighed, "Jarod, this game of ours…it was never really a game, was it? It was never to torment me; you were only trying to make me question my loyalty to the Centre in the hopes that one day I would choose you."

The painful smile he gave her, accompanied by the sorrowful expression in his eyes, reminded her of a sad puppy and went right to her gut. "When we were little, you liked treasure hunts, you loved to explore and see where it would lead us, even if it got us in trouble."

She gave him a soft smile, "So you made everything between us a treasure hunt, breadcrumbs and vague hints." She concluded, "You do realize that I only loved exploring that much because I was with you? On Carthis, when you knew what the key, we found in Father Theo's bible, opened I just couldn't help but smile. The thrill of chasing something with you is different from chasing you.

"We seem to work really well together." He said demurred.

"Would your plans still work with someone helping you from inside the Centre?" He looked at her, surprised at her question. He nodded vigorously, "Yes, it would speed up the timetable by a lot."

She smirked, "Great, cause I'm about to make a U-turn from where there's no looking back anymore. This better work."

"So, you're saying…" he looked her nervously, while fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as hope blossomed in his chest.

"I love you too, Jarod."

"You do?!" He sat up too quickly and grabbed his stomach in pain.

"Easy there cowboy, you might not be poisoned, but that stuff takes time before it's out of your system and yes, I do." She gently helped him lay back down, smiling softly at him. "When I thought you died, it was one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. Nothing could have prepared me for what I felt losing the one person who's been there for me all of my life. I can't even begin to describe the relieve I felt when I found out you were still breathing, and your heart was still beating. I hadn't prayed since I was a little girl, but until Sydney came with the news of what was in your system, I prayed almost without stopping. I couldn't lose you as well."

She held his hand to her cheek and started placing feathery kisses on his knuckles, "and with every hour that passed this morning, I realized that the feeling I've been pushing back so often when it came to you, was love."

She felt him shaking beneath her touch, his pulse was racing. The little crinkles around his eyes disappeared as he widened them in disbelieve. She leaned in and kissed him gently on his lips, leaned back a little to study his reaction, but was rewarded with a broad smile. He reached out and caressed her cheek with his thumb, "You really do love me?"

She grinned, "Yeah, you idiot, I thought I made that…" He broke off her words as he captured her lips with his own, he started exploring her mouth, but she could feel his grin against her lips. Neither of them could stop smiling throughout their kiss.

The loud ringing of her phone startled them both, and they broke apart quickly.

"What?!" She answered the phone sounding as irritated as she could manage while having a huge smile on her face. "Thank you, Sydney." She responded after listening to the man on the other side of the line. She put the phone down on the coffee table, "Broots is tracking Lyle, it seems he intends to pay us a visit. He's only a few minutes out." She peered out the window.

"I should leave." Jarod said while slowly getting up, his face scrunched in anguish.

"There is nowhere for you to go, especially not in this condition," she looked at her window seat, "but there is some place to hide…"

She carefully closed the window seat, after having frantically put away all evidence of Jarod being on her couch as Lyle began pounding on her door, "Parker, open up!"

She unlocked the door, as soon she opened it Lyle and three sweepers came barging in. "Hello sis, shouldn't you be out there looking for Jarod?" He asked while rubbing his absent thumb in a motion she still found disturbing as well as disgusting.

She eyed the sweepers from the corners of her eyes, "I thought I'd wait to catch the rat in action here, wouldn't be the first time he felt the need to break into my house. Also, I'd rather not have my property stolen and blown up like yours was, …twice."

Lyle ignored her jab and looked at her funnily, "You look…different."

She cocked her eyebrow at him, but threw a quick glance in the mirror, to her horror her chin was slightly red from Jarod's stubble and her hair a bit tousled. Luckily, Lyle had other things on his mind.

"Search this place!"

"Like hell you will, she retrieved her gun from her back holster, cocked it and pointed it straight at Lyle, causing his sweepers to freeze in place, "If you wanted a house tour you should have said so, little brother. You can search all you like, but there is no way I'm going to allow a sweeper team to search my house, they can stay right outside the door, like the good little watchdogs they are." Lyle pursed his lips and looked at her through knit eyebrows. After realizing she wasn't going to back down, he made a gesture with his head to the sweepers who vacated the room immediately. "Dad isn't going to like this."

"Neither am I, but do you hear me complaining?" She gave him a sarcastic smile.

He sighed, "You can put the gun down; I don't really think you would be dumb enough to hide Jarod in your home."

"I'm touched you would think so highly of me." She sneered at him. "Still trying to prove to your sweepers you're the big boss?"

He shot her an annoyed look, "Why don't you start with the house tour so all of us can get along with our day."

With a fake smile she pointed her gun towards her bedroom, "Be my guest."

Parker led Lyle through her house, letting him go through everything he wanted despite her great dismay.

"The rummaging through my underwear drawer was a nice touch." She commented as she followed Lyle down the stairs.

Lyle straightened his tie, "Just being thorough."

Parker rolled her eyes, "I'm sure your interests are purely professional, just as I am sure all those Asian women dying around you are purely coincidental."

He halted at the door, "Still have the feeling that Jarod could be hiding out here somewhere. I have this gut feeling he's very close." His eyes came to rest on the window seat.

She shuffled her heels on the floor and shot an intentional nervous look towards the door of her mother's drawing room.

He noticed her change in demeanor immediately, "What's behind that door?" He enquired accusingly.

"Nothing," she answered with a clipped voice.

"Open it!" He commanded.

She closed her eyes for a second, sighed and reluctantly walked up to the door, she watched Lyle retrieve his gun and follow suit as she entered the room.

"What's all of this?" He asked confused as he observed all the paintings and drawings, "You've taken up painting as a hobby now?"

"It was our mother's favorite room; these are all hers." She took up a painting of a landscape, "She loved this place, she used to go up in the hills to paint. She said it helped her find peace." She handed him the painting, "You should have it, I have so many memories and stuff of hers, you have none."

Lyle was clearly taken aback by this, "Parker, I…" he paused, unable to find the words to respond.

"Whatever rivalry, …dad…," she spat out the word in disgust, "is trying to force upon us, maybe it's time we took matters into our own hands."

He cocked an eyebrow, "How do you mean?"

"I mean, why obey, when we can rule."

An evil smile crept on his face, "I like the way you're thinking."

She closed the door behind him and rolled her eyes, "Moron." She watched closely through the peephole as Lyle and his sweepers pulled out of the driveway. She waited another minute before she opened the window seat and extended her hand to a curled-up Jarod.

"I hope you had; conspiring with Lyle to take over the Centre on your 'bringing the Centre down bingo card', cause apparently that's something I just set into motion."

He took her hand and stood up with a groan, his body hurting from the position he'd been in. "Already preparing to be a spy for the Centre's number one enemy, I see."

"Well, he is a genius," she let a finger glide over his chest, "and actually quite handsome. I felt I had no choice in the matter."

He stepped out of the window seat and closed the last bit of distance between them, "No choice, huh? Coercing is not a particularly good base for any relationship, or so I've heard. Perhaps I should reconsider this partnership."

"Oh, you've played the hard-to-get card long enough, mister. You're not getting rid of me anymore." She teased him.

"I'm the one who's hard to get?" He asked in mock surprise.

She brought her face closer to him, "Well, I've been chasing you for five years."

"I think you captured at least part of me decades ago." He murmured.

"I think that goes both ways." She whispered an inch from his lips, letting him close the last of the distance to kiss her slowly, both of them savoring every sensation.

He carefully nipped at her bottom lip, but she grew impatient and deepened the kiss, demanding entrance with her tongue. She felt him twinge as she pulled him closer to her, realizing he was still nursing several wounds she broke free from his lips. "We should get you cleaned up and bandaged first." She breathed heavily.

He pouted in protest, but she was already hauling him towards her bathroom.

"Don't I get a house tour?"

She gave him a smirk. "No, because after cleaning you up, the only place you need to be is my bedroom and I believe you've been there before," she teased him. And with that the Pretender led himself be dragged away by his huntress, grinning ear to ear.