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Thank you to those who have sent me e-mails or reviewed the first part... I'm aware that this part does not quite clarify things, and definitely doesn't answer your most pressing questions as posed in Part One (which, incidently, if you want disclaimers and such, look there. I'm not big on repetitiveness!). I'm sorry I haven't answered everyone independently, it's been a very busy two weeks. At any rate, the next few parts will reveal some more answers... I hope, anyway. All depends on how things play out and what strikes me when I sit down to write! Again, thank you for the reviews, and I'll gladly accept any comments you'd like to share. Enjoy!






"They created their perfect minion when they killed her mother," Sydney told Jarod. "But they created your closest ally when they took Thomas. And this, I'm afraid, will make her snap."

"Or make her see reason," Jarod cocked his head to the left. "Maybe now she'll be ready for the grand finale."

"Grand finale?" Broots repeated, eyes wide as saucers.

The brown-haired man nodded solemnly. "The end of this Centre-insanity."

"You mean, the end of the Centre." Sydney supplied.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

"Don't push her, Jarod," the older man advised, knitting his brows with concern. "Or this might not turn out the way you have in mind."

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"Christ-" she furrowed her brow. Auburn hair slicked back, Miss Parker pushed her sunglasses out of the way, taking in the sight before her.

It was disturbing, really - this house. If she hadn't driven herself, she'd have been fairly convinced she was standing in her own yard.

"Jarod," she sighed, no question in her mind that this was his doing - by his design. What Miss Parker couldn't figure out - was why.

"He feels at home here - safe," a young voice told her. She whirled on her stilletto heels to face the Jarod forever lost to her past. "I imagine he knew you'd be here someday - just not today."

"Gemini." Of course, she thought. NotJarod.

"Jim, that's what they call me now," he vaguely lifted his shoulders.

"They?"

"Major Charles, Jarod, Emily, Ethan..."

"Ethan?" her voice hopeful, eyes clear.

"He's inside," the boy grinned. "They'll be surprised to see you... though your name has been brought up quite a bit recently. I'm not entirely sure why, no one around here tells me anything," his voice turned slightly grumpy.

"Yeah?" they'd moved closer to the house, halting just before the front steps, she turned to questioin the clone with an uncharacteristically open curiosity. "What has your father -"

"I have no father, Miss Parker. I am a clone, just a being created through science to suit the Centre's purposes. I have no parents and I am no one's child." The door had creaked open behind them just before the boy's outburst, but neither of the two noticed. Gemini's expression was that of an angry child attempting to be an adult.

Parker's eyes narrowed and without a moment of thought, she reached forward and gripped his shoulders.

"Centre or no Centre, you are a fourteen-year-old boy with a family who loves you enough to live mostly on the run so that you can be safe and live a somewhat normal life with at least a moderate amount of freedom. That's love, kid, and you'd do damn well to remember that - because those people in there, regardless of what they, the Centre, or that niggling little voice in the back of your head might say - they are your family." She let her hands drop to her side, as if remembering herself.

He pursed his lips, his right eye twitched, flickering with some unnamed emotion.

"It's a hell of a lot more than anyone's ever done for you, Sister," Ethan murmured.

"Ethan," her voice again controlled, the bite of frustration dissipating, she turned to face him, only to see Major Charles a few feet behind, his expression full of concern, confusion, and amusement. Before she could say anything further, he slipped his arms around her, crushing her in his embrace. After a momentary struggle - more internal than external - she sagged against the sturdiness of his frame.

"You are safe here," Major Charles' voice was low, almost gruff. He had not moved from his position on the stairs, focusing instead on her interactions with his sons, her unexpectedly ashen pallor, the shake of her hands even as she had held firmly to Gemini's shoulders.

"Jarod said this house was the closest he'd ever seen to a home," Ethan breathed into her hair, watching Jim slip into the house, brushing past Major Charles with a heavier footstep than necessary.

"It looks like my house, Mama's..." Miss Parker whispered back.

"It feels like her, too."

Unbidden, she fought the tears that threatened to dampen the shoulder of Ethan's shirt.

"You've lost weight - we should get some lunch." Uncertain, he struggled for words. His mother's voice was muffled by the overwhelming emotion coursing through his veins. Taking a deep breath and focusing, Ethan knew to follow his older sister's lead.

"Is it true, Miss Parker?"

She inhaled deeply, breath almost catching on a sob.

"I'm learning that listening to her," she freed one hand and tapped a finger to her forehead. "is even more reliable than Jarod. Not that I couldn't set a clock by his two a.m. calls." She wiped tiredly at her eyes.

"You're okay, then."

"Depends on what you call 'okay'," her words were bitter. "The Centre is trying to use me as a human incubator for their next "project", and I use the term liberally. They think I'm my mother-" Ethan winced. "I... I'm sorry, Ethan. I didn't..."

"It's okay," he nodded. "We should go inside. You have a story to tell, and then there's lunch..."

She grabbed his wrist, "I'm glad you're my brother, Ethan." Her watery eyes could not meet his.

A cautious smile lit his face as he shook her hand from his wrist then wrapped it in his own. "Let's go inside. We can talk over lunch and then we'll contact Jarod..."

"No!" she shook her head, "No Jarod."

"Okay, okay," Ethan soothed, pushing her towards the door. "No Jarod." He felt her shift pensively beside him, wondering what would await her inside.









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