Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first time was not long after Carthis. Miss Parker had noticed that sometimes she would be able to tell where Jarod was holding up, they had gotten a lot closer than she’d been since the last time he’d escaped the building. Still not close enough, mainly because she didn’t actually care to get him back in a cell somewhere in the bowels of the Centre.

The voices had told her he would be here in West-Virginia and that’s how she found herself in front of a door of an apartment while Broots was picking the lock. “What is taking so long, Broots?” she demanded, while impatiently tapping her heel on the ground.

“Almost there,…got it!” He opened up the door and Parker shoved him aside to be the first to enter. Just like most of his lairs, it was rather empty. Only a few pieces of furniture adorned the room, stacks of papers were strayed across the floor, and several wrappings of candy were scattered next to them. With a raised gun she searched the bathroom and kitchen and concluded that the Pretender was nowhere to be found. “All clear…” She sighed, returned her gun to her holster, and returned to the main room.

“Well, he was here all right,” Broots commented while picking up a Pez dispenser.

Parker’s eyes fell on a DSA player and a brown travel bag in the corner of the room. “Yes, not only was he here, but he will be back…” She kneeled down, flipped the DSA player open, and found all the DSA’s Jarod had taken with him when leaving the Centre. “He’s not done with his pretend, he’ll come back here to get his stuff.” Her eyes started glimmering with the prospect of catching Jarod unaware.

“So should we wait for him here?” Broots asked excitedly.

“No,” she said sending him a devilish grin, “I should wait for him here. You two are going back to the hotel, inform Lyle that Jarod is close by, but we need to check out several leads to see if we can find him.”

“Parker, what are you going to do when he does walk in here?”

She stalked over to Broots and pushed him towards the door. “Whatever it takes Syd, now before you two leave, you’re going to give me your cell phone. Wouldn’t want you to warn off Jarod in time now don’t we.” She grabbed the man’s phone from his inner pocket. “Now go! Have some fun without me, tomorrow Jarod will be on the plane with us.”

“Parker…?” Sydney tried, but she closed the door behind them. She searched every bit of the room, Jarod was clearly working construction and trying to prove a certain contractor was using it as a money laundering scheme. A young woman had gotten killed in the process. She carefully placed the newspapers back in the exact place they had been lying, knowing Jarod would instantly know something was amiss when he entered.

Hours passed, she was tired to the bone and decided to remove her jacket and heels. Her nights had been shorter than they usually already were, the nightmares after Carthis had only intensified and the loneliness seemed to have been magnified by her shared moments with Jarod on that island.

She settled down on his bed, she wasn’t going to fall asleep, but she could at least be a little more comfortable while waiting for the little pest that had her chasing after him for years. The mattress was a little too hard for her comfort, but the pillows were pretty nice and smelled of him. She was transported back to the island when he’d been so close and she’d felt comforted by his presence. Before she knew what was happening, she was fast asleep.

Jarod was exhausted, not only had his construction job been taking a toll on him physically, but the pretend didn’t completely go as planned and he’d struggled to get the killer to confess, literally… And now his entire body felt heavy and in dire need of sleep, usually he would have packed up and left the same evening, but today he told himself he could stay one more night. Just to catch up on some very much-needed sleep. After Carthis sleep alluded him, while it had always been difficult for him to fall and stay asleep, a certain brunette now haunted his dreams as well as his waking moments, wondering what would have happened if Ocee hadn’t interrupted their little moment of intimacy.

It was dark when he stumbled into his apartment and out of his shoes, he didn’t bother with anything other than removing his shirt and pants and letting himself fall into bed. He could almost smell the object of his desire, and he was almost certain he would wake up somewhere in the night having nightmares about Raines hurting her to get to him. It was his last coherent thought before he fell asleep.

A phone buzzed on the nightstand. Parker felt around a few times before she found the object that was annoying her. “What?” she grumbled. “Miss Parker! Are you alright? Did Jarod show up?” Sydney questioned loudly in her ear. She groaned and held the phone a little bit further from her ear. “Yeah, we’re fine, he’s with me.”

“We’re on our way!” Sydney managed to say before she flipped the phone close and threw it back on the nightstand.

He let out a low grumble in her neck and tightened his grip around her waist.

“Jarod!” She whined. “Sydney’s coming, we need to get up and get dressed.”

“Just five more minutes? I love this dream,” he began to suckle on her neck and that’s when it happened. She stiffened and sat up straight, gone was the state half between sleep and wakening. With a panicked look on her face, she found herself staring into his equally alarmed expression.

“Parker please,” he begged her. She wasn’t even aware of what he was pleading her for, but automatically she reached for her weapon, lying next to her phone. She was quick, but his reflexes were even better and before she had the chance to take it, his hand had shoved it halfway across the room. Lying half on top of her, trapping one of her wrists with his hands, the other was beneath his leg.

“Jarod…!” She warned him, throwing him a furious look.

“Parker, please! I don’t want to hurt you.” He pleaded.

“That won’t be...a…problem,” she huffed as she swiftly turned them around, now straddling his lap.

She bared her teeth in a victorious smile, “I have dreamed about this moment many times, I finally caught you.” He shifted uncomfortably, causing her to feel his morning arousal beneath her, and chuckled, “And apparently I’m not the only one that’s been having dreams…”

He grinned, “Did yours also include this?” He questioned, pulled his arms loose with ease, grabbed the collar of her shirt, and brought her face down to him into a kiss.

The thrill of her triumph was quickly replaced by the exhilarating feeling of his lips against hers, all coherent thoughts left her distracted brain as he began to explore her mouth, both of them struggling for dominance with their tongues. He flipped them back around, slowed her down, and then slightly raked his teeth over her underlip, only to plunge his tongue back into her mouth, eliciting a moan from her. Her hands found their way to his back, and as her nails were raking over his skin he wasn’t able to hold back a moan himself.

He was panting hard as he broke free from her. “I,… I have to go…” He said as he eased himself off the bed and started to dress, picking up his pants from the floor. He held his focus on her as he brought a shirt over his head and slipped on some shoes. Unsure if she would let him go he slowly picked up his bag and DSA player and halted in the doorway. She was sitting up staring into nothing, her breathing still increased. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, lowered his head dejectedly, and ran straight out of the door.

She was still staring blankly into nothingness when Sydney and Broots entered the apartment not five minutes later.

“Parker? Are you alright? Where’s Jarod?” Sydney questioned, studying the disheveled-looking brunette whose lipstick had smeared and whose blouse was halfway open. She shook her head, jumped off the bed quickly put on her heels, and grabbed her jacket. “I,...” she started, “must have fallen asleep.” She finished, her voice sounding not quite like her normal pitch.

Broots who’d been avoiding looking at her, feeling very uncomfortable with her state of undress noticed the absence of the DSA player and the bag. “But his stuff, it’s gone!”

She audibly swallowed, “He must have come in when I was asleep.” And with that, she stalked out of the room without another word.

“How could she sleep through Jarod entering his apartment?” Broots wondered out loud. “She’s the world’s most notorious light sleeper, she yells at me for breathing too loud in the room next to her!”

Sydney observed that two sides of the bed had been slept in, “That is curious indeed.” He slapped the man on his shoulder leading him out of the room. “Come on, Broots. Jarod is not coming back here, we’ll have a sweeper team pack up all of this.”

He glanced back at the bed and then took a look outside and watched as Miss Parker slipped into the car. “What have you done this time, Jarod?”

Chapter Text

Jarod had no plans of being caught, but after three weeks of no sleep this was the best idea he could come up with. He’d set out a trail for his capturers to find, hopefully long enough for him to catch up on some sleep. He’d been careful with coming here, leaving no traces or hints of his coming to Delaware, especially to her house in Blue Cove. After their last encounter, sleep just wouldn’t come to him and now that he knew how good a night of restful sleep could be, it just seemed impossible to go without.

He felt like a junkie looking for a score, he couldn’t get their kiss out of his head, replayed the feeling of holding her over and over again. And as the real object of his dreams and desires was on the hunt for him, he decided that sleeping in her bed would probably be the closest thing he could get. She would know of course, but he’d worry about her reaction another time, preferably when he didn’t feel like collapsing from exhaustion.

He removed his clothes and sighed as he let himself sink back into the soft mattress and pillows, her scent surrounded him and finally he was able to let darkness claim him.

She kicked off her heels as she entered the house. They’d been two days into their hunt for Jarod when she basically collapsed from exhaustion. Sydney had been stern with her about returning home, she’d been put back on the plane and a taxi had taken her back to her home, too tired to drive. The voices had encouraged her to go home as well, so she’d obeyed.

She shimmied out of her skirt and stockings, threw her blouse into the general direction of a chair, letting her bra follow and let herself fall into bed. She should just find Jarod to have him tied to her bed, she felt it was the only way she could ever have a good night’s rest ever again. With that thought sleep finally claimed her.

Usually, she woke up cold and still bone tired, however today she felt like she finally managed to sleep off all the tiredness she’d been assembling for the past couple of weeks. Another thing that was different was the hot and very heavy blanket that was covering her. In fact, not only was this blanket making her feel like she was melting like a popsicle in a Florida heatwave, it was also breathing hot air in her neck. She knew instantly why her sleep had been so peaceful. She was holding a certain pretender in her arms. Her left hand was resting on the lower end of his back while her right rested at the nape of his neck, she let her fingers play with his curls for a bit, realizing how long his hair had gotten. She contemplated the ridiculousness of the situation for a second. This man would be the death of her someday, of that she was absolutely certain, whether it would be by sheer annoyance or sleep deprivation was anyone’s guess. Yet here he was, lying on top her as if he wasn’t supposed to be running from her.

With her left hand she threw the covers off of them, shivers ran over her skin as the cold air caressed it. Jarod moaned in protest against the sudden change of temperature, only tightening his hold on her. She thought of the searing kiss that had blind sighted her three weeks earlier and decided it was her time for a little pay back and for her to be bold. Snaking a hand between them would be near impossible with the way his weight was crushing her, but there were other ways to provoke a reaction from him.

He started to match her pace, writhing on top of her and answered her moan with a groan in her ear.

“Jarod…” she whispered, biting her lip at the sensation of his hips grinding into her. No matter how enticing the feeling of his arousal was, she wanted him fully awake for this to go any further. She started her trail of kisses on the side of his head and slid her way down his neck, a small bite on his shoulder made him stir, another groan, but then he stiffened and slowly raised himself up to face her. He looked somewhere between wanting to me make a run for it and ravishing her. She smiled coyly and stretched out lazily, “Good morning,” she said with a smirk.

“Is it?” He asked hesitantly, looking down at her bare chest, his breath hitching.

She caressed the stubble on his cheek, “Yes, I think it is,” she declared confidently.

He still looked very unsure of his next move, she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“I think it’s time for us to deserve more than the emptiness and lonely nights we’ve been given. I can’t seem to fall asleep without you. I have been an absolute wreck these past weeks, but considering you had the audacity to leave us false clues to be able to claim my bed, I have a feeling you might have suffered a similar fate. I want us…” she placed a small peck next to his lips leaned back and looked at him expectantly.

“So, you’re saying…?” She nodded and his face lit up, instantly bending down to capture her lips. She pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around him. “Now genius, you’re gonna take off of our last pieces of clothing and proof me to me you were worth every bit of sexual frustration you’ve caused me these past years. And after you and I are going to come up with a plan to destroy the Centre, because I’m not spending another night without you.”

He shot her a devious grin, “My oh my, Miss Parker…”

“Shut up and get to work wonderboy, preferably before I change my mind!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he obliged.

Hours later her phone rang.

“Hello,” she answered lazily.

“Parker?” Sydney questioned.

She sighed, “What is it, Sydney?”

“Did you finally manage to get some sleep?” The psychiatrist asked concerned.

She turned around and stared into a pair of chocolate brown eyes. “Yeah, I feel a lot better now. Did you find Jarod?” The corner of her lip curled up and he gave her a teasing smile. He started trailing kisses from her neck down to her stomach. She suppressed a moan at the sensation.

“No, Broots is making enquiries at the moment.”

As Jarod continued his way down lower and lower it became increasingly hard for her to focus and her voice came out strangled, a few pitches higher than normal. “That’s great Sydney…I…”

Sydney knitted his eyebrows together, “Parker are you sure you’re alright?”

“Hmmm…I am positive, just need some…more time in bed. Talk to you later, Syd.” She quickly ended the call and practically threw the phone on the nightstand. “You’re gonna pay for that,” she managed to croak out. He lifted the blankets a bit and wiggled his eyebrows, “Looking forward to it.”

On the other side of the country Sydney held the antenna of his phone to his lips and stood there contemplating things. Broots came fast pacing through the lobby, “Syd!” He almost shouted and then looked around and spoke in a hushed tone, “Jarod was spotted at the fire station here,” he pointed out on a map he held in his hands. “And his alias was also used by someone who recently started working at this lab just outside the city, and tomorrow morning there is a flight booked by the same name on an airstrip about fifty miles from here.”

Sydney looked at the map for a second and then back at computer tech man. “We’re going home Broots, Jarod’s not here.”

“What?! What do you mean? Didn’t you just hear what I said?” Broots fumbled with the map.

Sydney nodded, “I heard you Broots, but Jarod would never leave clues this obvious. It’s a false trail, these leads would take us another two days to thoroughly search the places and wait for that plane ride. He wanted us to stay here.”

“Why Syd, why would he do that?”

“Clearly he needed us out of his way for something.”

Broots narrowed his eyebrows in thought, “What could it be?”

Sydney smiled, “Knowing Jarod, whatever it was, it was something very important to him.” He stared at his phone for a second, let out a small chuckle and then said, “Come on Broots, it’s time to go home.”

Chapter Text

“Mommy, mommy!” Jarod vaguely became aware of his son’s voice entering the bedroom, “It’s grandpa Sydney on the phone!” Jarod sat up quickly and held a finger to his lips and ushered for him to come over, “Mommy is still asleep and she’s very tired so we must be very quiet,” he whispered and took over the phone. He carefully slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom holding his son and the phone. After he’d closed the bedroom door he held the phone to his ear. “Good morning, Sydney.”

“Good morning to you too, Jarod. I hope didn’t wake up Parker as well.”

Jarod let out a yawn and put down his son and ruffled through his hair, “Luckily enough you didn’t. The baby woke up four times this night, so we both had a rough night, but I must have fallen asleep at some point while I was watching her feed our little girl. She was exhausted so a little more sleep until the baby wakes would be good for her.”

“Having a newborn is exhausting, I’m just calling to let you know our flight has been delayed. Broots and I will be here at the airport for at least another two hours or so. When we arrive, we’ll just take a cab so no need to drive to the airport.”

“All right, see you guys soon. Have a good flight.” Sydney said his goodbyes and Jarod ended the call, put down the phone and looked down to his son.

“Come on son, we’re going to make some breakfast for mommy.” He gave his hair another ruffle and led him to the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later both of them returned to the bedroom with a tray to feed all of them breakfast. Jarod carefully put down the tray on his side of the bed and leant over to kiss his wife as their son ran to the other side and also started giving his mother kisses.

“Good morning, honey. We made you some breakfast.” He spoke softly into her ear.

She kissed him, stretched herself out with a yawn and turned to her son. “Good morning, sweety.” She said and stroked his cheek.

Their son gave her a toothy grin, “Morning momma, I made the waffles!” He jumped up and down excitedly, “Daddy can I please show momma the plane I made, please, please, please?” He begged.

Jarod and Parker exchanged a look, Jarod nodded to his son, “Go ahead, you go get your plane, but quietly we don’t want to wake the baby yet, alright?” Their son skipped happily out of their room, and she turned her head back to Jarod. “So…what did I do to deserve breakfast in bed, huh?” She murmured giving him a soft smile.

Jarod kissed her forehead, “Well for starters you gave me my freedom,” another kiss on her cheek, “you were crazy enough to marry me,” kissed her softly on her lips, “you then gave me a son and now you’ve given me a daughter. I would say that deserves a lifetime of gratitude.” He muttered against her throat and started sucking on her skin.

“Damn right it does,” she moaned. “You know he’s going to be back any minute.”

“I only need a minute to satisfy you,” he murmured as he continued his way down her chest.

“You know…perfectly well…what the doctor said about that,” she managed to croak out but then froze as did Jarod.

“She’s awake,” they both said simultaneously as the first stirrings of their little girl reached their ears.

She sighed, “We’re never gonna sleep again, are we?”

“Not for another six years or so,” he sighed.

“Well,” she said as she caressed his cheek, “As long as I get to wake up next to you, nights like these aren’t so bad.”

He chuckled, “Let’s see how you feel about that after a few more weeks of interrupted sleep,” he crawled off of her, “I’ll get her, please eat something before I return, okay?” He gave her a quick kiss and left to get the baby.

Parker took a bite out of a waffle, “Hmm…these aren’t so bad either.”

Soon the bedroom was filled with the four of them and as her husband and son were happily eating their waffles, and her daughter was latched on, she took a moment to enjoy the little family they had started together. Jarod looked at het questioningly, she gave him a small smirk in return, “All of this, because you couldn’t fall asleep without me.”

He grinned, “All of this, because we couldn’t live without the other. That and because you fell asleep on the job,” he teased. Her eyes widened and looked at him sternly for a second before a smile started playing on her lips, with her free hand she managed to swat his arm playfully. She got a kiss in return.