Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 1
By Feline





Miss Parker’s high-heeled shoes clicked rhythmically over the blare of the DSA player as she entered Sydney’s office. Even during the day it was dark, but it possessed a comforting atmosphere of familiarity, like Sydney himself.

Miss Parker sighed inwardly, and moved around the desk to see what memory Sydney was reliving today. To her surprise, it was the sexuality simulation, the one where she had first laid eyes on Jarod. She stood in silence, just watching as the familiar scene played out.

Sydney reached over suddenly and shut the DSA off. She didn’t comment, she felt strangely detached from the situation, like she was floating above the scene, unable to speak. Apparently, Sydney didn’t feel the same.

“ I’ve always wondered, Parker, what it was that changed your friendship with Jarod.”
He turned to her and fixed her with his standard-issue shrink’s stare.

“ What enabled you to see him as an object, rather than a person.” More of a statement than a question.

Her silence continued. She tried to form an answer that would shut him up, dissuade him from pursuing this. He’d never asked this of her before. Just as she began to move her lips to form an answer, Broots stumbled through the door. He righted himself then blurted out “ I got a lead, in Oregon, you know, that place Jarod was staying a few years ago, with that girl.” He paused for breath before adding, “ The jet’s ready to go, we leave in twenty minutes.”

Saved by the Broots, Miss Parker reflected. Feeling more like her usual self, she turned to Sydney.

“ Well, Freud, let’s put the rat back in the lab” she drawled, and headed for the door, raising a beckoning eyebrow towards Sydney as she left.

********************************************

The cabin was the same as she remembered it. The girl too. Nia was her name, and it appeared she knew a lot more about who they were than most of Jarod’s acquaintances. Pillow talk, she thought derisively. She knew that Jarod had spent the night with this woman.

Sydney was questioning Nia. Of course, the woman denied seeing Jarod since the first time, four years ago. Miss Parker had taken a backseat, overcome by the same feeling that she had had in Sydney’s office earlier. Suddenly, some snippet of the conversation drifted into her consciousness.

“ He told you that it was his first time?” she questioned. Surprised at her outburst, all eyes turned toward her. Nia looked at her, and Miss Parker knew that the other woman knew what she had felt that day four years ago.

“ Yes, when I touched him, he told me that he had never done anything like this before.” She seemed unconcerned at discussing what had happened between them.
Flaunting it, Miss Parker thought.

Nia turned back to her conversation with Sydney, but Miss Parker could feel the psychiatrist’s eyes burning a hole in her. She studiously avoided his gaze, and he eventually turned back, leaving Parker alone to digest this new item of information.

It was time to go. They would get nothing here. Nothing that would lead them to Jarod anyway.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 2
By Feline





She stood at the altar, radiant in her white wedding gown.
As she looked into Jarod’s sparkling brown eyes, she
recited her intention to love him forever, til death do them part.



Miss Parker woke from her fitful sleep. Why, no matter how hard she tried to bury it, did it always come back to haunt her?

He had forgotten about it, so why couldn’t she? All these years she’d chased him he had never once made mention of their marriage, of why he’d left her the very next morning without even a word, or a note. Abandoned her after the best day of her life.

She shook her head. She couldn’t think like that anymore. Like the rest of her life, it had been an illusion, and reality had eventually triumphed when he had left her, the way everyone who claimed to love her did.

Her anger over his betrayal was the thing that had kept her going. Even after he had saved her life countless times, the knowledge that she meant no more to him than a stray dog had kept her firmly on track to dragging him back to the Centre.

She got up and crossed into her mother’s studio. She removed from her secret hiding place the unframed photo, the scene from her dreams. Her and Jarod at the chapel, twelve years ago to this very day. Some wedding anniversary, she thought, berating herself for this soppy sentimentality.

Maybe I should get an annulment she mused. Her mouth curved bitterly. One could get out of murder on the grounds of insanity, but not marriage.

Divorce, perhaps, but since she’d have to catch his sorry ass before she could give him the papers, it was probably better that she just stuffed him into a cell at the Centre and be done with it.

She thought back to yesterday. It still affected her, a fact she detested. That he had told that Nia girl she was his first had brought the same stabbing pain she had felt when he had told her that he set up her meeting with Thomas. She must have meant so little to him, she reflected.

She had given up hope that she would ever forget as completely as he had, ever get to the place where she could mock what they had as he had done when he sent her that stupid little candy heart asking her to be his Valentine.

No matter what, it was one of those things that is unforgettable.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 3
By Feline






Jarod, currently holed up in an old farmhouse in Virginia with his family and not having been anywhere near Oregon, was working as he had been for the last six hours, trying to locate his mother, the final piece in his family puzzle.

Suddenly, he felt Zoe’s arms slide around his neck, and her teasing voice in his ear.

“ All work and no play makes Jarod a dull boy.”

He grinned, and turned to give her a quick kiss.

Zoe was amazing, he mused. She was so light and cheerful, so carefree she was like freedom personified. And he couldn’t get enough. A thought occurred to him, and he pulled away to open his desk drawer. And with a smile, he drew out a tiny velvet-covered box.

**********************************

Sydney’s contemplation of Miss Parker’s actions yesterday was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

“ Sydney ” he answered.

“ Working hard?” came Jarod’s voice in a teasing tone.

Sydney smiled at the voice of the man he thought of as a son, and voiced his thoughts out loud.

“ You sound happy today, Jarod.”

“ Well, it’s not everyday that a man proposes to the woman of his dreams.” said Jarod and let out a whoop as Zoe popped the cork off a champagne bottle noisily.

Sydney was stunned.

“ You’re getting married?” he exclaimed.

“ Damn straight he is.” Said a lively female voice from the other end of the phone.

Jarod laughed, and continued.

“ That’s Zoe, my wife-to-be. If you miss us for a few weeks, we’ll be on our honeymoon.”

A thousand thoughts ran through Sydney’s mind, but the predominant one was that Jarod sounded happier than he’d ever heard him.

“ Congratulations Jarod, and you too, Zoe. I hope you’ll be very happy together,” he said sincerely.

“ We will.” said Jarod. He felt uncharacteristically charitable towards his hunters today, usually his feelings of “them against me” would have lead him to conceal this from them, but today, pleased at his mentor’s approval, he hung up.

Keep your enemies close, he reminded himself with a touch of bitterness.

**************************************

Miss Parker strode into Sydney’s office just as he was hanging up the phone.

“ Call from Wonderboy?” she questioned.

“ Yes, apparently, Jarod is getting married.” said Sydney, observing the woman closely for her reaction.

He wasn’t disappointed. Her whole face went white, and she grabbed the back of a chair for support. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She knew she should hide her reaction from the observant psychiatrist, but she felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. She ignored Sydney’s concerned inquiry as she made for her office and slammed the door.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 4
By Feline





Miss Parker tried uselessly to get comfortable in the decidedly uncomfortable last-minute plane seat.

Sydney had been alarmed by her sudden departure, but she hadn’t given him any details. She didn’t need to hear a thousand and one reasons why Jarod wasn’t at fault.

That Jarod had called on that day, the twelfth anniversary of their marriage, to announce his intention to marry someone else, could only be his way of requesting a divorce, without actually having to acknowledge their marriage.

Bastard, she thought.

She sighed. There was no reason to hold on to this anymore. Hadn’t she been contemplating ending it that very morning? She’d give him his divorce, damnable bastard that he was, but first, she had a few ghosts to lay to rest.

The tiny island off the coast of Scotland was beautiful and charming, and featured the quaint little chapel where she had been married, the same chapel where her mother had been married, and probably her grandmother for all she knew.

She twisted the ring on her finger. Square, silver, nothing too delicate and fussy. Jarod knew her so well. She still wore it, her wedding ring. It reminded her of what he’d done, gave her the incentive she needed to go through with her job. But she knew that it could not return with her this time. She was going there to deal with that whole chunk of her past, and leave it marooned on the island, unable to find its way back to her and torment her. This time, she was going to bury that youthful mistake once and for all.

************************************

Jarod’s computer beeped frantically, and he quickly punched a few keys to allow himself to digest the information it held.

“ What is it son?” asked his father.

Jarod stared at the screen, dumbstruck.

“ We’ve got a plane to Scotland to catch.” he said.

“ I’ve found Mom.”

*************************************

Sydney’s concern and, he had to admit, no little amount of curiosity, had grown exponentially since Miss Parker left. Refusing to leave him alone, it had driven him to seek out Broots, in an effort to locate her.

“ Well, it appears she went to a little island, just off the coast of Scotland.” said Broots.

“ What is she doing there?” inquired Sydney.

“ Well, they only have one web site up, but I ran the name Parker through it and I found two matches.” he replied.

“ One of them seems to be a marriage certificate for her mother.” He turned to look at Sydney.

“ That must be the place where Catherine was married,” mused Sydney.

“ Yeah, the local chapel’s famous. Some legend about any couple married there finding everlasting love.” said Broots, with raised eyebrows.

“ What’s the other one?” asked Sydney, noting the irony of this himself.

Broots typed frantically.

“ Looks like another marriage certificate.” He punched a few more keys.

“ This one has a photo attached.” he continued.

The two men waited with bated breath for the picture on screen to reveal itself.

And their jaws dropped open at the sight of the same photo Miss Parker had contemplated earlier that morning.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 5
By Feline






.Major Charles looked at his son in disbelief.

“ I’ve traced her to a little island just off the coast.” Jarod told him.

Just then Zoe entered.

“ What’s going on? Is it that Centre place?”

Jarod turned and grabbed both her hands excitedly.

“No, nothing like that. I’ve found my Mom!” he told her.

“ Congratulations!” she bubbled, and hugged him.

Jarod turned to look at his father, then back at Zoe.

“ We’ve got to go to a little island near Scotland to find her.” he said.

“ What about the wedding? asked Zoe, a little wounded.

“ That’s the best part”, said Jarod with a smile. “ The island has a gorgeous little chapel with a reputation for everlasting love, and I’ll have my Mom there with me.”

Zoe’s squeals of joy were like music to his ears, but something in them rang cold, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.

He ignored it. He was probably just concerned about the Centre finding her.

**************************************

Back in the tech room, Sydney and Broots were just pulling their jaws back up.
“ Jarod and Miss Parker are married?” exclaimed Broots.

Sydney looked pensive.

“ I knew there was something. Something that changed her, fuelled her search for him. And now with Jarod’s announcement of his marriage to Zoe…..” he trailed off.

“…… I think we better get to Scotland, fast.” finished Broots.

******************************************

Between all the time zone changes it was still early morning when Miss Parker arrived on the island.

It was still just as beautiful as she remembered it, and the fact annoyed her.

Like everything else about that day, it should have been colored by her foolish emotions. The sight of it made her stop and sit on one of the benches scattered about.

She often wondered what drugs she had been on that day, why she could have mistaken Jarod’s feelings so badly. She put it down to his pretending abilities, but it still made her feel incredibly stupid.

Although she had come here with a clear idea of the emotional state she wanted when she left, she had no idea of how to achieve it. So she decided to go back to the island’s only form of accommodation, a tiny inn, and unpack.

Maybe she’d get lucky, and the answer would just arrive.

***************************************

It was nearly ten in the morning when Sydney and Broots arrived on the island. They decided to head straight for the inn and get settled before trying to find Miss Parker.

But they bumped into her as soon as the got through the door.

The murderous look she gave them made them glad the inn-keeper was there as a witness.

She stood tensely waiting while they got a room, then hauled them down the hallway and prepared to strike.

“Miss Parker…” began Sydney.

“ What the hell are you two stooges doing here?” she cut him off, and Sydney detected the raw note of pain in her voice.

“ We know, Parker.” Sydney told her quietly.

She turned and led them into her room without a word.

When they were all seated, she began.

“ When I was sent away to school, I…I missed Jarod terribly.”

She stopped, and looked away.

“ He was the only person I could talk to, about Mom, and I…I latched onto him I guess,” she said, in a flat, dead tone that wrenched Sydney’s heart.

Steeling herself, she looked back.

“ He came to me one day when I was in college. He said he’d run away so we could be together. I agreed to elope with him. I brought him here, to where my mother was married, so it could be almost as if she were here, watching us.”

“ What happened?” asked Sydney softly.

“ It was the best twelve hours of my life.” said Miss Parker dryly.

She continued. “ He left. Just like that he was gone. And all these years, he’s never mentioned the marriage, never told me why.”

She stood and walked over to the window.

“ And now he calls on our twelfth anniversary to announce that he’s getting married. He could have just asked for a divorce, but that would mean he’d have to acknowledge it happened.”

Sydney digested this.

“ It’s your anniversary today?” he questioned softly.

“ Twelve years to the very day I made the biggest mistake of my life,” she confirmed.

Sydney stood up and went over to her. He knew that this had been an edited version, and that she wasn’t ready to talk about her feelings, or the implications of what she’d said, so he placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some measure of comfort.

“ It’s okay to cry, Parker,” he said softly.

She just stood there and let herself feel his comforting presence, because if she moved, she knew she’d break down, and she couldn’t allow anyone, even Sydney, to know how much this affected her.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Soulwashing
Part 6
By Feline






Sydney and Broots had left Miss Parker to unpack, and had decided to go out and explore while she had some time alone.

But, in the spirit of truly cheesy coincidences, just as they left they bumped into some more incoming travellers – Jarod and his entire clan to date.

Seeing the alarm on Jarod’s face, Sydney quickly moved to reassure him.

“ It’s alright Jarod, you and your family are not in any danger from us today.”

Jarod was skeptical, causing Sydney to add, “ Well, you may be if you don’t stay out of Miss Parker’s way.”

This caused the briefest of smiles to flit across Jarod’s face.

“ Where is my huntress today?” he asked.

Sydney returned the smile, and told him “ She’s in her room, unpacking.”

Jarod gave the go ahead for the Major to reserve rooms, and they moved into the inn’s spacious shared living area, which was mercifully empty.

After Jarod had made the introductions, they got down to the subject of why each party was there. Sydney was wary of telling Jarod too much, as he didn’t want to upset Parker.

Instead he told his former charge that Miss Parker’s mother had been married in the chapel, and she was here looking for some answers to her past. Not the whole truth, but not a lie either.

Jarod was similarly wary, and couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been here before, the same feeling he’d had at Raines’ cabin. He eventually divulged that he had a lead on his mother, and tried to quell the queasy feeling in his stomach.

The two parties sat tensely looking at each other, until Jarod noticed Ethan was missing. Knowing the likely place was Miss Parker’s room, he went there first, but after a frantic search of the entire inn to no avail, he rushed back to his family.

He burst through the doors and looked at his father and Sydney gravely.

“ Ethan and Miss Parker are missing.”

****************************************

Miss Parker and Ethan hadn’t gone far, only to the chapel.

Ethan was fascinated by this piece of his family’s history, it made him feel very close to his mother, but he also sensed his sister’s sadness.

By virtue of the Inner Sense, he knew about his sister’s marriage, something that he had tried to convey to his brother after the subway explosion, but he got the feeling his brother had misinterpreted his meaning.

He knew he wanted to help both his siblings, but his mind was still trying to process exactly how to do that, with all the subtle twists and implications and consequences of the situation.

He was relieved when his mother’s voice began to speak to him, and he listened intently.

********************************

Just then, the chapel’s peace was shattered as Jarod, Sydney and the Major arrived.

Miss Parker felt a sharp stab upon laying eyes on Jarod, but he was too busy berating Ethan to notice.

While the storm was dying down, Sydney discreetly shepherded the Major and Ethan out of the room, to give the unhappily married couple a chance to sort things out. Something of a gamble, as he was unsure whether Parker was currently in possession of her gun.

The two just stood there in tense silence, not looking at each other. The feeling Jarod had had on arrival on the island was intensified. He had been here before, and something about this chapel made him feel something was wrong. He tried to shake it off. He’d get to the bottom of it later, when he had settled this issue with his huntress, and gotten the hell out of her firing range.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke.

“ Sydney tells me your mother was married here.” She didn’t look at him.

“ Sydney tells me you’re getting married,” she countered.

He nodded and broached the subject he had been skirting around, hoping she wouldn’t blow his head off.

“ We were planning to get married here.” She didn’t speak, so he continued, “ That’s if you don’t mind…”

Her harsh bark of laughter cut him off. She turned to him slowly, her eyes filled with pain. This time he had done it, she thought strickenly. This time he got me straight through the heart. The killing blow, she reflected crazily, the pain and the anger barely allowing her to speak.

“ Why should I mind, Jarod? After everything else, it would just be the icing on the goddamned cake.” Her voice broke with agony.

She made for the door, unsure of how long she could stay upright, and Jarod, stunned at the depth of the pain he had seen, ran after her.

***********************************

Sydney, Ethan and Major Charles met Miss Parker just as Jarod had caught up with her. Sensing his sister’s distress, Ethan helped her to sit down. Sydney immediately came to her, and tried to get her to control her breathing. The Major joined his son and looked at him quizzically.

Jarod was pacing frustratedly. “ I don’t know what happened, Dad,” he said.
“ I knew she would be sensitive about the wedding because of her mother, but I never expected anything like this.”

Sydney looked up at him suddenly, and said “ Jarod, where were you twelve years ago, around the second week of September?”

Jarod looked at his mentor oddly. “ You should know, Sydney. You were there. We were doing sim X185692.”

Sydney looked troubled. “ Jarod, I was on a conference for that entire month. I never worked on that simulation with you.”

Links began to form in Jarod’s mind, and he looked down at the now unconscious woman in Ethan’s arms.

Sydney handed him the photo with the date scrawled on the back.

Jarod just stared speechlessly.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.




Soulwashing
Part 7
By Feline






Miss Parker had been taken back to her room to rest, and Ethan was taking care of her.

Jarod, meanwhile, had been taken to Sydney’s room, to process what had happened before he rubbed any more salt in Parker’s wound.

The pretender was on edge, pacing and venting his frustration and disbelief.

He didn’t know what to think. His mind was buzzing with a thousand things at once. He had come here to find his Mom and marry Zoe, and instead he had discovered that he already had a wife from a wedding he didn’t know about, and what’s more it was Miss Parker, and a possible reason behind her need to return him to the Centre.

Then there was the date on the picture, twelve years ago to this day. That meant this would be their twelfth wedding anniversary. And he had called to tell her he was marrying someone else.

What must she think? The pain he’d seen had shaken him to the core. All those little baits and digs he’d made over the past five years took on new significance as he viewed them through her eyes.

He ran a weary hand over his face. What he’d done was definitely the reason driving her to drag him back to the Centre. It was nothing short of torture.

And he had no idea how she had felt about him when she married him, or how he had felt.

Or what either of them felt now.

Sydney watched the man pace, and decided to break the silence.

“ Jarod?” he queried tentatively.

Jarod stopped and looked at his mentor. He seemed so defeated and exhausted, but his eyes were too haunted to allow for rest.

“ Do it, Sydney. I need to know what happened.”

The determination that had accompanied those words made Sydney squash his feelings of protest.

He made Jarod sit, and then he began the process of recovering the hidden memories.

*****************************

Sydney sat in the armchair in his room. The day had been a lot for all of them to handle. It troubled him to see these two people he cared for in such torment. And he had no idea how to make both of them happy.

He sighed.

Miss Parker was sure that Jarod remembered their wedding, and had just ignored it, like an overfull trash can. He knew it had hurt her, and he had an inkling that she cared for Jarod, little signs he had observed in his time working with her. But he had no idea how deep they went, or of what she really wanted.

Jarod on the other hand…….he thought back to his hypnosis session with the man. Jarod had definitely cared deeply for Miss Parker on their wedding day. He had sounded even better than he had when he had announced his wedding to Zoe. There had been such…..freedom in his voice, like he had finally found himself, he was whole.

But……Jarod had forgotten that. And Sydney wasn’t sure how genuine that made it. Even though the brainwashing had wiped the memory, could it have wiped the soul so completely? He hadn’t seen the same signs of caring from Jarod that he had from Miss Parker. For all intensive purposes Miss Parker seemed to be merely another of Jarod’s ‘help the downtrodden’ cases.

And he had been happily contemplating marriage to Zoe without a second thought pertaining to his huntress, except preventing her catching him on his wedding day.

After the hypnosis session, Jarod’s family had been in a rather vocal argument. He and Broots had observed as the tentative family had clashed over distrust of the Centre, marriage promises already made, their need to see Jarod happy, and finally, a rather subdued conversation about what to do next, both about Jarod’s mother and the present situation.

Zoe had stormed off and requested a single room, shut out of the family discussion.

Sydney had a feeling no one would sleep easy that night.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.
Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who sent me the wonderful feedback. I hope you enjoy this next part J




Soulwashing
Part 8
By Feline





Jarod sat and stared into the flames that burned brightly in the open fireplace, as if maybe they held all the answers to the questions that had kept him awake, until, at 2am, he had given up trying to sleep and come to this tiny room to brood.

He sighed and rubbed a weary hand over his face. This issue - he was still reluctant to call it marriage – couldn’t be resolved until he had spoken to his huntress.

Which was akin to speaking to a timebomb with a few seconds left on the clock.

The one thing he kept coming back to was I wish things could be like they were.

He knew they would never be again as they had the day he had happily contemplated his now uncertain marriage to Zoe, and the prospect of completing his family.

He heard soft footsteps tread on the darkness of the room, and he turned to face the woman he could not think of as his wife.

Miss Parker sat down, not looking at him, contemplating the flames as he had earlier.

“ If only they contained the answers.” He voiced his thoughts aloud.

She looked at him then.

“ Depends on what your questions are, ” she said, putting the ball back in his court, her careful tone betraying nothing of what she was feeling.

“ I know my side of the story. But not yours.”

She nodded.

“ I heard what you told Sydney.”

He looked surprised.

“ You were eavesdropping?”

She looked directly at him.

“ It was something I needed to hear from you.”

He digested this. Questions forming faster than he could speak them.

She looked at him and sighed, breaking the pregnant silence.

“ What does all this really mean to you, Jarod? The bottom line.”

He looked away, unable to face her as he repeated his thought from earlier.

Silence. It seemed to go on forever, and eventually he forced himself to look at her.

She was carefully masked, no trace of whatever may have crossed her face at what he said, and he cursed himself.

Softly, laboriously, he asked her the same question.

It was her turn to look away.

“ I was angry with you. To me it seemed like you just left without looking back, and I felt so stupid, I had let myself be tricked. Then, when you never mentioned it, never gave me any answers, just taunted me even further…”

She trailed off.

He was struck again by what effect he had unknowingly had on her. All these years he had thought he knew exactly what was going on with her. Idiot.

“ I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Her mouth curved grimly. This really was the end, she realised, all the anger that had driven her had dissipated, and she felt only numbness, like something in her had just died.

“ And so it is.” She told herself, speaking not to Jarod, but out into emptiness somewhere.

There was only one question left, one last thing before all they had shared together came to an end.

“ What happens now?”

*********************************************

Sydney looked up from his coffee as Jarod and Miss Parker entered the room. They’d obviously spoken to each other, but he was unsure of the outcome.

Jarod looked better. Most of the pressure on him from yesterday seemed to have dropped away, and he seemed as much back to his usual self as he could be.

He saw Zoe sitting across the room by herself, and carefully approached her, unsure of what reaction he would get. He needn’t have worried. She seemed glad to see him, and they began talking earnestly.

Miss Parker on the other hand, sat down opposite Sydney himself, and Sydney did not like what he saw. Something had changed. The anger was gone, he noted, but in its place was something he could not identify, even after all his years of being a shrink.

She made her coffee with a slow fragility that unnerved him like nothing he’d ever seen her do before.

“ Miss Parker?” he questioned tentatively.

She didn’t respond, refusing to look at him.

After what seemed like hours she spoke, in a tone that Sydney didn’t recognise.

“ I’ll be leaving for Blue Cove later today.”

Sydney stared at her.

“ But…..what about the Centre? Aren’t you concerned that they know about your marriage? And what about you finding closure, finding peace?”

Miss Parker did look at him then, and his horror at what he saw in her eyes was enough to leave him frozen while she spoke.

“ The Centre kidnapped and brain- no soulwashed Jarod to destroy our marriage. I don’t think they see any need for further action. They shouldn’t anyway. We’re getting a divorce and Jarod is marrying Zoe.”

She stood and left the room, and Sydney just stared in shock.

The only thing he could describe her as right now was a dead woman walking.

The Centre had claimed two souls for the price of one.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, and I’m not making any money out of this. I’m just bored with waiting for the second movie to come out, so I’m doing this to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.
Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who sent me the wonderful feedback. I hope you enjoy this next part J




Soulwashing
Part 9
By Feline




Miss Parker had only just gotten back to her room when she heard Sydney approach. I should have known he wouldn’t just let it go, she thought mildly. She couldn’t feel anything, like she was anaesthetised. Or something. Sydney’s eyes had confirmed her suspicion that she was well and truly dead.

“ Parker, talk to me” Sydney’s tone was urgent.

She turned to look at him.

“ You of all people should know that there’s nothing left to say.”

He stared at her, not knowing what to do.

She continued.

“ If you want to talk about my feelings, Syd, then they’re currently out of order. If you want to know whether I loved him, then yeah, I did. Maybe I still do. But you saw him. He’s relieved to have been let off the hook, and won’t even pause for breath before getting on with his life.”

Sydney shook his head.

“ I heard him Parker. When he was recovering his memories, I could feel that he loved you. He sounded like he’d found himself, that he was finally free. You were the cause of all that.”

Miss Parker’s lips curved in a bloodless smile.

“ I heard him too, Sydney. I needed to know what he really felt that day. He did love me.”

The last part was almost a whisper, and she continued.

“ Maybe we could have done it. Made each other whole, and made a life together. It’s just one more thing the Centre stole from me, Sydney. And I will have my revenge.”

Sydney shuddered at the coldness in her voice. He knew that she was right.

“ What will you do now?” he asked.

“ Business as usual” she replied. “ I don’t hate Jarod anymore, and I won’t take any pleasure in hunting him. But the job’s convenient, I can bide my time, gathering information, making plans…..the bastards won’t know what hit them.”

She raised a brow at him, and seeming more like her usual self.

“ You and the Hawaiian Print Wonder going to hang out sightseeing?”

A bemused expression crossed Sydney’s face, and he turned to go tell Broots it was time to go.

******************************************

Jarod sat in the foyer of the inn, still trying to get his head around the events of the past day and night.

This morning, he’d broken up with Zoe.

He couldn’t really say why. Something just didn’t feel right anymore, and he knew she felt it too.

They’d had fun together, he acknowledged. But the part she had played in his life was over, and now he was left feeling emptier than ever.

He looked up as he heard heels clicking rhythmically along the floor.

“ Leaving so soon?” a half-hearted attempt at playing the game.

“ You in a hurry to get rid of me?” his huntress smirked. “ Imagine that.”

Jarod grinned briefly, and then sadness crossed his face again.

“ Zoe and I broke up this morning.” Seeing her eyebrow raise, he added, “ It was a mutual thing. We just didn’t click anymore.”

She nodded. Unsure of where things stood.

“ Are you still hunting me?” he asked quietly.

“ Yeah. But not with a vengeance.”

He nodded, and produced a small piece of paper from his jacket pocket.

“ Send the divorce papers to this address.”

God, it hurt. Was this what the rest of her life was going to be like? The pain was unbearable. She had nothing, nothing but a man ingrained so deeply upon her soul that he was almost part of her.

And he’d never let her go.

Maybe I could ask the Centre to do to me whatever they did to Wonderboy.

She dismissed the thought. She still had revenge. When that was done she’d reassess things.

Like what kind of life she could possibly have. It sounded so weak and pathetic, but to go through life with him always there, in her mind, in her heart, in her very soul, and yet know he didn’t think more of her than one of his downtrodden victims, that he had been so eager to get rid of her, and their marriage, well, she didn’t know how she would cope.

She saw him staring at her, and before he could open his mouth, she pocketed it.

I can contemplate living death later, she thought. Right now, I’m depressing myself and delaying my flight. Gallows humor, Parker.

She wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say.
So she turned on her heel, and walked off, leaving Sydney and Broots in her wake.

Jarod stood then, and greeted his mentor.

“ What do you plan to do now, Jarod?” asked Sydney.

“ Try to put my life back together. Find my mother, get back into the rhythm of the chase.”

He looked at Sydney, and the expression in their eyes mirrored each other.

“ It’ll never be quite the same again, will it?” he asked softly.

Sydney shook his head sadly, and Jarod nodded.

With one last look back, he trudged off, leaving the two Centre employees alone.

Broot frowned as he tugged at his blotchy pink shirt.

Sydney smiled. Lucky for Broots that Miss Parker had other things on her mind.

Seeing the shrink’s face, Broots fumbled an explanation.

“ Debbie did the washing again.”

As they turned to walk along the foyer Sydney replied,

“ Just be glad the Centre didn’t do it.”


The End.



P.S – I didn’t give this story an “ending” because I simply can’t imagine tP ever having a neat and tidy ending. All I can think of is the words of Mr Parker himself,
“ Life goes on.”

But I’m open to a sequel J