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Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: The Characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots and The Centre are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and are used without permission. Blah, blah, blah, yea, yea just get on with it. No money has been involved here and no infringement is intended. 12/10/02
A Not so Perfect World Part 3
Blue Cove, Delaware
By Phenyx
Parker woke to the delightful aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She yawned, stretched and looked around the room. Jarod was sitting in the chair where Parker had left him last night. He was sipping from a large green Styrofoam cup and reading a newspaper.
He had recently taken a shower. Parker could see that his hair was still wet and curling slightly around his ears. It was obvious that Jarod had been true to his word and had not gotten any additional rest during the night. His eyes were rimmed in red and he frowned in concentration as he tried to read the newspaper.
"You look like death warmed over." Parker said.
Jarod nodded. "I feel worse than I look."
Parker swung her legs to the floor as she looked Jarod over carefully. "You look bad, Jarod." She stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. With her fingertips, Parker gently traced the circles under Jarod's eyes. His lids fluttered shut and her soft touch became a full caress as he leaned his stubbly cheek into her palm.
"One hour of sleep a night isn't enough, Jarod." Parker said with concern.
"I'm a pretender. I've been trained to go for days without sleep." Jarod said softly.
"Days, maybe." Parker agreed. "But I think that you may have gone for weeks now without really sleeping. Perhaps months."
Jarod sighed, then he pulled away from her touch, indicating that this subject was not open for discussion. "I stole twenty dollars from your wallet." He said as he handed her a green cup. "I bought breakfast and a bottle of aspirin."
Parker sipped at her cup and savored the still-hot coffee as it slid down her throat.
Jarod wordlessly handed her a wheat bagel from a bag on the table.
Holding the bagel in her mouth, Parker gripped her coffee in one hand and hoisted her overnight case in the other as she headed for the bathroom.
"Do you want any cream cheese?" Jarod asked her back.
Parker mumbled something unintelligible through a mouthful of bagel and closed the bathroom door behind her.
"Guess not." Jarod assumed. He went back to reading the paper while the water turned on in the shower.
Once Parker had washed and dressed, they checked out of the motel and resumed their journey. They spent most of the day in the same way they had spent the previous afternoon. Parker drove across several states while Jarod slouched wearily in the seat beside her.
They stopped occasionally for gasoline or food. But for the most part they just talked or listened to the radio. The two managed to find a comfortable camaraderie, an equality that had never been a part of their relationship before. The one or two arguments they did have were little more than playful debates about trivial nonsense.
When they finally reached Delaware, they drove to the airport where Parker had left her car yesterday morning. She turned the rental car in at the appropriate desk and paid the additional fees. Parker hadn't intended to have the car for more than one day and she had exceeded the mileage limitations quite a bit.
After transferring to Parker's car, they headed for Blue Cove. They stopped in the city to eat dinner and do a little shopping. Jarod needed everything. Parker bought him razors, a toothbrush and other assorted toiletries. She took him to several clothing stores and spent an entertaining couple of hours dressing him properly.
If left to his own devices, Jarod would have walked into the nearest shop and grabbed four of whatever first caught his eye. But Parker would not allow that. She didn't know how long Jarod would be staying so she made sure that he could appropriately dress for anything.
Parker even bought him a warm suede coat and a blue suit. She cringed at having to buy the suit off the rack. Jarod would have looked much better in a tailored ensemble but circumstances forced them to go with the more convenient availability.
"I don't want you going to so much trouble, Parker." Jarod had whined at one point.
"Be quiet, Rat." Parker ordered. "I like to shop. I have plenty of money. You need clothes. End of discussion." She snapped. Parker's father had left her a wealthy woman after all.
Jarod was juggling several bags and three boxes of shoes when Parker tossed a set of silk pajamas at him. He blinked at them in confusion.
Parker rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you've never seen pajamas before." She grumped at him.
"Oh no." Jarod replied quickly. "I've seen them. I just never bothered to own a pair." He blinked again. "I can just wear the sweat pants." He said as he handed the silk back to her.
"Nope." Parker demanded. "If you are living in my house you will wear pajamas to bed."
"But." Jarod started. He swallowed hard when he suddenly recognized that he and Parker would indeed be living together for the next several days, at least.
"Jarod." Parker said firmly. "You will wear pajamas to bed, or you will wear nothing to bed. Understood?"
Jarod stared at her for a moment then asked. "Do I get to choose?"
"No." Parker taunted him curtly. "I decide." She took the outfit and headed toward the checkout. "You'll wear these at night until I tell you to take them off." She wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.
Jarod rewarded her with a huge smile. Parker felt triumphant. She loved teasing him. Jarod would get the most incredible smile on his face whenever he realized that Parker was making fun of him. She found herself kidding with him more often as their time together increased.
A small part of Parker's brain wondered if the pretender was even aware that their lighthearted jests were a form of flirtation. As she waited in line for the cashier, Parker turned and looked at Jarod. He stood several feet away, waiting patiently. His face was still ravaged by exhaustion but he was still good looking. Jarod was attractive enough to draw interested glances from two young women who walked past the shop.
"Hi there." One of the women purred as she went by.
"Hello." Jarod nodded back obliviously.
Parker shook her head and sighed. Jarod was absolutely clueless.
She paid the cashier and led Jarod out to the car where he piled his new clothes into the trunk. It was dark and getting quite late when Parker made one more stop at the grocery store near her home.
Parker usually hated buying groceries. It was totally different from clothes shopping. She only did it when absolutely necessary and then it was a rushed affair. Parker normally dashed in and out of the store with only a few items in her bag, most of them from the frozen food isle.
Parker's aversion to the grocer's was the main reason so many of her meals were ordered and delivered to her door.
With Jarod along, the chore became an entirely different experience. Parker watched with amused fascination as he wandered through the store. Anything that happened to catch Jarod's eye seemed to find its way into the cart. Certain items of the snack variety magically multiplied in the basket whenever Parker wasn't looking.
They were in the produce section and Jarod was demonstrating his ability to juggle when Parker realized that the single box of Twinkies that had been in the cart a moment ago had been joined by three more boxes.
"No way, Jarod." She scolded him. "Put these back." Parker said sternly as she handed two of the boxes to him. Jarod shrugged, took the Twinkies and obediently headed back to the snack aisle.
Parker was choosing a dozen eggs when Jarod returned and she realized her mistake. Jarod no longer had the Twinkies she had sent him away with. But he hadn't come back empty handed. Parker sighed and shook her head as Jarod gracefully flipped three boxes of pop-tarts into the cart.
"How can you eat so much junk and still stay so trim?" She asked him laughingly.
Jarod shrugged. "There's this woman I know who makes sure I do a lot of running." He smirked.
"Uh huh." Parker said. "A personal trainer, eh?"
He smiled. "Something like that."
"I'm not chasing you anymore, Jarod." Parker quipped.
Jarod leaned against the shopping cart and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure about that." He said narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "I somehow get the feeling that there is still a little cat and mouse game going on here."
Perhaps Jarod wasn't as clueless as Parker had thought.
"Do you?" Parker asked nonchalantly.
"Yep." Jarod nodded. He began pushing the cart as he followed Parker down the next aisle.
"What are you going to do about it?" Parker asked.
"I haven't figured that out yet." Jarod answered. "But I will, eventually."
"Well," Parker teased. "Keep me informed if you happen to come up with anything interesting."
"You'll be the first one to know, Miss Parker." Jarod purred. "I promise you that."
Parker stared in wonder at the fully stocked shelves in her kitchen an hour later. She couldn't remember ever using the pantry shelves. Now there seemed to be enough supplies lining them to feed a small army.
She shook her head in amusement. "We bought a lot of food, Jarod."
Jarod shrugged. "I guess it will take us a while to eat it." He shrugged.
Parker didn't miss the significance of his statement. Parker hated sugary chemical concoctions. So, as long as there were Twinkies and pop-tarts in the cupboard, Jarod would have to stay to eat them.
"You can stay as long as you like, you know." She told him suddenly.
Jarod nodded. "This is the first place my parents will look for me."
"So what." Parker said harshly. "Do you honestly think I'd let them take you back to that hospital?"
"You shouldn't need to protect me from my own parents." He mumbled.
"I'm not protecting you from anyone." Parker said sternly. "I've brought you back to visit with Sydney. And if a few discussions with your own personal shrink just happen to help you as well, then that's just a bonus."
Jarod gave her a small smile of appreciation.
"Now its late. We'll call Sydney in the morning." Parker stretched. Jarod followed Parker through the house as she pulled fresh linen from a closet. He helped her make the bed in the guest room where she had put all of the things they had bought for Jarod earlier.
"Try to get some sleep." She urged as Parker started to leave the room.
"Miss Parker?" Jarod's voice stopped her just as she reached the door. She glanced at him expectantly. "Thank you." He paused a moment. "Thank you for rescuing me from the institute."
Parker smiled. "I'm not sure I would call it a rescue, Jarod."
"I would." He replied. "That's the second time you've come to my rescue." He whispered.
Parker, one hand on the doorknob, stared sadly at the floor. "That first time was so very long ago." She said softly. Guilt churned in her gut.
"I thought you had forgotten." Jarod said breathlessly.
Parker shook her head then quickly crossed the room to where Jarod sat on the bed. "I haven't forgotten." She whispered, taking his face between her hands. "No matter how hard I tried to, I could never forget."
Jarod looked up into her face. His hands came up to rest possessively on her hips.
Gently caressing his cheeks with her thumbs, Parker leaned forward so that her hair fell in a veil around Jarod's head. "No one is going to hurt you anymore today, Jarod." She whispered fervently.
His lips trembled as he shakily responded, "Not today."
Jarod's tear filled eyes squeezed shut and he pulled Parker closer. He leaned his forehead against her stomach and sighed. The sound was a mixture of content and longing.
"Not today." She agreed. Parker held him that way for a long time.
Once Jarod had settled into bed, Parker wished him goodnight and headed to her room. Her bedroom had it's own bath so Parker took a long relaxing shower before crawling between the sheets of her bed.
Despite her fatigue, Parker laid there for a long time, staring at the ceiling. She gazed sadly at the plaster overhead and allowed the memories to wash over her.
In had been December twenty eighth. Parker remembered the exact date because it had happened one week before her sixteenth birthday. That had been the day she first learned what horrors hid in The Centre hallways. It had been the first time she had ever been ashamed to be a Parker. December twenty eighth had been the day her life changed irrevocably. It was the day her childhood ended.
-------
December 28, 1975
Miss Parker was on winter break from school so her father had put her to work at The Centre. "You have to learn the business from the bottom up, Angel." Her father had told her. So Miss Parker had started as a file clerk. Nothing confidential. She just delivered low security level correspondence and filed mountains of paperwork.
It was dull work but Miss Parker enjoyed it. She and her father drove into work together each morning, making Miss Parker feel very grown up and important. But Miss Parker's father had left The Centre late this morning on a business trip to New York. He wouldn't return until nearly midnight. Mr. Parker had made arrangements for a driver to take his daughter home once she finished the workday.
Miss Parker had just gotten her first paycheck. She felt ridiculously proud of herself. She was desperate to show her hard earned treasure to her father. But he, as usual, wasn't around. So Miss Parker went looking for the one person who would be sure to share her enthusiasm.
With Sydney on his annual holiday sabbatical, Miss Parker had expected to find Jarod confined to his room. But he had not been there. Mid- afternoons usually had Jarod scheduled in the sim lab when Sydney was around, so Miss Parker had looked there next. She frowned in confusion when she was again unsuccessful in locating him.
Miss Parker couldn't say what had drawn her to SL-23. Some unseen force had pulled her to a secluded wing in that level. As she walked cautiously down the corridor, a strange crackle of static could be heard echoing in the halls. A young, frightened Miss Parker jumped when the sound was quickly followed by a low moan.
Miss Parker rounded a corner and found Dr. Raines standing in the middle of a room full of equipment. Sucking hard on his ever-present cigarette, puffs of smoke hissed out of his nostrils like a dragon as Raines stood over a low table. Lying on the table was Jarod.
He had been strapped down at the wrists and ankles. Wearing nothing but his underwear, Jarod's skin was shiny with perspiration and he breathed in shallow gasps. Parker was enthralled by the slim lines of Jarod's figure. No longer in the body of a boy, Jarod's broad shoulders and hairless chest were beginning to show the sculpted muscles of a man.
"Well?" Raines growled in his raspy voice. "Describe it to me."
Miss Parker could see Jarod shivering as he stuttered. "I, I don't know."
Raines glanced at a wrinkled, gray-haired technician standing nearby and gave a curt nod. It was only then that Miss Parker noticed the wires leading from a large box beside the old man to electrodes taped to Jarod's smooth flesh. The young man had wires attached to his chest at the nipples and to each leg along the inner thigh.
With a flick of the technician's wrist, the crackling sound returned and Jarod's body started to shake violently. After a few seconds, the sound stopped and Jarod collapsed against the table.
"Now will you talk?" Raines hissed in the boy's ear.
Jarod sobbed softly. "I don't know. I don't know." He whimpered. "If I knew I would tell you, I swear."
Dr. Raines looked at the technician and said, "Increase the voltage another level, Mr. Heinrich."
The old tech fiddled with some knobs and then flicked his wrist again.
Jarod's back arched against the table and he shrieked a high-pitched scream of misery. Miss Parker's own scream rose to join it as she dashed into the room. With little regard for the consequences, Miss Parker grabbed the wires as they dangled in the air and yanked them away from the horrible box. Sparks flew from the machine as the wires snapped out of the connectors.
Jarod's body immediately slumped back onto the table.
"What do you think you are doing, Miss Parker." Raines snarled.
Miss Parker turned on him and in a fit of rage and she confronted Raines for the first time in her life. "How dare you!" She yelled. "My father will hear about this, I assure you. You are going to be very sorry."
"You're the one who's going to be sorry, Miss Parker." Raines snarled. "Your father will not appreciate your interference in this simulation."
Miss Parker was frightened suddenly, but she squashed the feeling, hiding it before Raines could see any vulnerability. "Jarod is Sydney's project. You have no right to abuse him like this just because Sydney isn't here."
"Get out of my way." Raines growled as he moved to retrieve the wires from the floor.
Miss Parker threw herself into Raines' path. Her only thought was to protect Jarod.
Raines pulled a hand back as if to slap her. Miss Parker grinned at him in triumph. "Just you try it, you stinking freak!" She yelled. "See how my father reacts when he finds out you like to hit girls. Especially when it's HIS little girl!"
Raines frowned with indecision then and Miss Parker immediately knew that she had won.
"Be careful Miss Parker." Raines warned. "Your father's influence can't always protect you."
"It works for now." She hissed.
"You should stay out of things that you don't understand, Miss Parker." Raines told her. "You are the one that will have to face your father's wrath, not me."
With that, Raines turned on his heel and left.
Miss Parker turned slowly and began to unfasten the straps on Jarod's wrists. Slicing a menacing glare at the technician she snarled orders through clenched teeth. "Get him a blanket and some water." She demanded.
By the time she had freed Jarod and removed the wires from his body, the tech had returned. Miss Parker snatched the blanket from his grip and snapped, "Get out!" The old man didn't wait around for any further orders.
Miss Parker gently wrapped the wool around Jarod's shoulders. She tried to help him stand but Jarod's legs gave out and he slumped to the floor.
"Jarod!"
Trembling and clutching at the blanket for warmth, Jarod rolled onto his back and gave Miss Parker the strangest look she had ever seen. His breath came in little gasps as he whispered harshly, "Miss Parker? Why did you interrupt the simulation?" He shivered violently. "Dr. Raines will be very disappointed. You will get into trouble."
Miss Parker's mouth dropped open. "He was hurting you." She exclaimed. "I couldn't let him do that."
Jarod's eyes were as large as saucers. He looked around in a daze of confusion. "But, simulations sometimes require a test of physical endurance." He whispered.
Miss Parker wrapped one arm around Jarod's shoulders and pulled him close. Her lower lip trembled as she began to realize the abuse that her friend had been suffering during the years she had known him. She sniffed and rubbed a shirtsleeve across her face. That was when she saw two guards standing at the door.
"You leave him alone!" Miss Parker yelled. She pulled Jarod closer in a protective gesture. "My father will hear about this when he returns." She scolded them. "You touch us and my father will have your heads on a platter." She snarled. The two men backed away and into the shadows of the hallway.
"Miss Parker." Jarod whispered. "Your father will be angry with you. Mr. Parker knows all about this simulation."
Miss Parker's tears had come then. She knew that her father would be furious with her. Her father knew everything that went on at The Centre. Surely he knew about this dreadful mistreatment. Miss Parker felt responsible for her father's complicity to Jarod's injuries.
"I'm sorry, Miss Parker." Jarod stared at her with sympathy.
She sniffed and straightened her spine bravely. "I'm not." Miss Parker declared. "I'm not sorry. My father won't be back for hours and they can't do anything until he returns." She began running her fingers through Jarod's hair, caressing the dampness away from his brow.
"They won't hurt you. I won't let them." Miss Parker promised.
Jarod stared at her, dumbfounded. "You will get into trouble." He repeated.
"That doesn't matter." Miss Parker curled into a ball around Jarod's prone figure. Her hair floated around his face like a scented halo.
"No one will hurt you anymore today, Jarod." She whispered.
"Not today." He murmured reverently.
"Not today." She reassured him.
Jarod's chocolate eyes shimmered with unshed tears. In a stunned voice he whispered, "You are risking your own well-being to prevent harm to me."
Miss Parker began to cry harder, tears ran down her cheeks and dropped onto Jarod's blanket.
With a gasp Jarod exclaimed, "You are crying for me. Why?"
"Because seeing you in pain, hurts me too." She said haltingly.
----
Parker stared at ceiling. She ignored the tears that ran down the side of her face at the painful memories.
She remembered that the two of them had sat there for hours, clinging to each other in the dark. It had taken some time for Jarod to internalize what Parker had done. Her actions had confused him badly at first.
What must it have been like for him, Parker wondered? It had been the first time anyone had risked anything for his sake. It had been the first time he could remember anyone trying to protect him.
"Is this what 'safe and secure' feels like, Miss Parker?" Jarod had asked her that day.
"Yes." She had whispered. Then Parker had kissed him. She had kissed his lips with a bittersweet tenderness reserved for young lovers. It had been a kiss of promise. It had been a kiss of goodbye and she had known it even then.
Parker could recall the sudden terrible feeling of dread that had filled her when Mr. Parker had finally returned. He had stormed wordlessly into the room, separated the two children forcefully and dragged Miss Parker away by the arm.
There had been no discussion, no debate. Her tears meant nothing. The next morning Miss Parker had been on a plane for Europe, shipped off to boarding school in Switzerland. Her sixteenth birthday the following week had been a lonely painful experience.
Ten years would pass before she had seen Jarod again. Ten years worth of lies and manipulation from her dear "Daddy" had turned Miss Parker into a model Centre employee. She'd had nothing but contempt left for the pretender until Jarod had escaped and patiently began to rebuild their connection.
Parker sighed heavily. Questions spun through her brain as she tried to get some rest. Could she protect Jarod now? There was no rival to yell at here. There was no foe to battle. Their enemy was Jarod's own mind. How could she fight that?
As Parker drifted to sleep, Ethan's words echoed in her mind again. "Trust your inner sense, Miss Parker."
A Not so Perfect World Part 3
Blue Cove, Delaware
By Phenyx
Parker woke to the delightful aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She yawned, stretched and looked around the room. Jarod was sitting in the chair where Parker had left him last night. He was sipping from a large green Styrofoam cup and reading a newspaper.
He had recently taken a shower. Parker could see that his hair was still wet and curling slightly around his ears. It was obvious that Jarod had been true to his word and had not gotten any additional rest during the night. His eyes were rimmed in red and he frowned in concentration as he tried to read the newspaper.
"You look like death warmed over." Parker said.
Jarod nodded. "I feel worse than I look."
Parker swung her legs to the floor as she looked Jarod over carefully. "You look bad, Jarod." She stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. With her fingertips, Parker gently traced the circles under Jarod's eyes. His lids fluttered shut and her soft touch became a full caress as he leaned his stubbly cheek into her palm.
"One hour of sleep a night isn't enough, Jarod." Parker said with concern.
"I'm a pretender. I've been trained to go for days without sleep." Jarod said softly.
"Days, maybe." Parker agreed. "But I think that you may have gone for weeks now without really sleeping. Perhaps months."
Jarod sighed, then he pulled away from her touch, indicating that this subject was not open for discussion. "I stole twenty dollars from your wallet." He said as he handed her a green cup. "I bought breakfast and a bottle of aspirin."
Parker sipped at her cup and savored the still-hot coffee as it slid down her throat.
Jarod wordlessly handed her a wheat bagel from a bag on the table.
Holding the bagel in her mouth, Parker gripped her coffee in one hand and hoisted her overnight case in the other as she headed for the bathroom.
"Do you want any cream cheese?" Jarod asked her back.
Parker mumbled something unintelligible through a mouthful of bagel and closed the bathroom door behind her.
"Guess not." Jarod assumed. He went back to reading the paper while the water turned on in the shower.
Once Parker had washed and dressed, they checked out of the motel and resumed their journey. They spent most of the day in the same way they had spent the previous afternoon. Parker drove across several states while Jarod slouched wearily in the seat beside her.
They stopped occasionally for gasoline or food. But for the most part they just talked or listened to the radio. The two managed to find a comfortable camaraderie, an equality that had never been a part of their relationship before. The one or two arguments they did have were little more than playful debates about trivial nonsense.
When they finally reached Delaware, they drove to the airport where Parker had left her car yesterday morning. She turned the rental car in at the appropriate desk and paid the additional fees. Parker hadn't intended to have the car for more than one day and she had exceeded the mileage limitations quite a bit.
After transferring to Parker's car, they headed for Blue Cove. They stopped in the city to eat dinner and do a little shopping. Jarod needed everything. Parker bought him razors, a toothbrush and other assorted toiletries. She took him to several clothing stores and spent an entertaining couple of hours dressing him properly.
If left to his own devices, Jarod would have walked into the nearest shop and grabbed four of whatever first caught his eye. But Parker would not allow that. She didn't know how long Jarod would be staying so she made sure that he could appropriately dress for anything.
Parker even bought him a warm suede coat and a blue suit. She cringed at having to buy the suit off the rack. Jarod would have looked much better in a tailored ensemble but circumstances forced them to go with the more convenient availability.
"I don't want you going to so much trouble, Parker." Jarod had whined at one point.
"Be quiet, Rat." Parker ordered. "I like to shop. I have plenty of money. You need clothes. End of discussion." She snapped. Parker's father had left her a wealthy woman after all.
Jarod was juggling several bags and three boxes of shoes when Parker tossed a set of silk pajamas at him. He blinked at them in confusion.
Parker rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you've never seen pajamas before." She grumped at him.
"Oh no." Jarod replied quickly. "I've seen them. I just never bothered to own a pair." He blinked again. "I can just wear the sweat pants." He said as he handed the silk back to her.
"Nope." Parker demanded. "If you are living in my house you will wear pajamas to bed."
"But." Jarod started. He swallowed hard when he suddenly recognized that he and Parker would indeed be living together for the next several days, at least.
"Jarod." Parker said firmly. "You will wear pajamas to bed, or you will wear nothing to bed. Understood?"
Jarod stared at her for a moment then asked. "Do I get to choose?"
"No." Parker taunted him curtly. "I decide." She took the outfit and headed toward the checkout. "You'll wear these at night until I tell you to take them off." She wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.
Jarod rewarded her with a huge smile. Parker felt triumphant. She loved teasing him. Jarod would get the most incredible smile on his face whenever he realized that Parker was making fun of him. She found herself kidding with him more often as their time together increased.
A small part of Parker's brain wondered if the pretender was even aware that their lighthearted jests were a form of flirtation. As she waited in line for the cashier, Parker turned and looked at Jarod. He stood several feet away, waiting patiently. His face was still ravaged by exhaustion but he was still good looking. Jarod was attractive enough to draw interested glances from two young women who walked past the shop.
"Hi there." One of the women purred as she went by.
"Hello." Jarod nodded back obliviously.
Parker shook her head and sighed. Jarod was absolutely clueless.
She paid the cashier and led Jarod out to the car where he piled his new clothes into the trunk. It was dark and getting quite late when Parker made one more stop at the grocery store near her home.
Parker usually hated buying groceries. It was totally different from clothes shopping. She only did it when absolutely necessary and then it was a rushed affair. Parker normally dashed in and out of the store with only a few items in her bag, most of them from the frozen food isle.
Parker's aversion to the grocer's was the main reason so many of her meals were ordered and delivered to her door.
With Jarod along, the chore became an entirely different experience. Parker watched with amused fascination as he wandered through the store. Anything that happened to catch Jarod's eye seemed to find its way into the cart. Certain items of the snack variety magically multiplied in the basket whenever Parker wasn't looking.
They were in the produce section and Jarod was demonstrating his ability to juggle when Parker realized that the single box of Twinkies that had been in the cart a moment ago had been joined by three more boxes.
"No way, Jarod." She scolded him. "Put these back." Parker said sternly as she handed two of the boxes to him. Jarod shrugged, took the Twinkies and obediently headed back to the snack aisle.
Parker was choosing a dozen eggs when Jarod returned and she realized her mistake. Jarod no longer had the Twinkies she had sent him away with. But he hadn't come back empty handed. Parker sighed and shook her head as Jarod gracefully flipped three boxes of pop-tarts into the cart.
"How can you eat so much junk and still stay so trim?" She asked him laughingly.
Jarod shrugged. "There's this woman I know who makes sure I do a lot of running." He smirked.
"Uh huh." Parker said. "A personal trainer, eh?"
He smiled. "Something like that."
"I'm not chasing you anymore, Jarod." Parker quipped.
Jarod leaned against the shopping cart and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure about that." He said narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "I somehow get the feeling that there is still a little cat and mouse game going on here."
Perhaps Jarod wasn't as clueless as Parker had thought.
"Do you?" Parker asked nonchalantly.
"Yep." Jarod nodded. He began pushing the cart as he followed Parker down the next aisle.
"What are you going to do about it?" Parker asked.
"I haven't figured that out yet." Jarod answered. "But I will, eventually."
"Well," Parker teased. "Keep me informed if you happen to come up with anything interesting."
"You'll be the first one to know, Miss Parker." Jarod purred. "I promise you that."
Parker stared in wonder at the fully stocked shelves in her kitchen an hour later. She couldn't remember ever using the pantry shelves. Now there seemed to be enough supplies lining them to feed a small army.
She shook her head in amusement. "We bought a lot of food, Jarod."
Jarod shrugged. "I guess it will take us a while to eat it." He shrugged.
Parker didn't miss the significance of his statement. Parker hated sugary chemical concoctions. So, as long as there were Twinkies and pop-tarts in the cupboard, Jarod would have to stay to eat them.
"You can stay as long as you like, you know." She told him suddenly.
Jarod nodded. "This is the first place my parents will look for me."
"So what." Parker said harshly. "Do you honestly think I'd let them take you back to that hospital?"
"You shouldn't need to protect me from my own parents." He mumbled.
"I'm not protecting you from anyone." Parker said sternly. "I've brought you back to visit with Sydney. And if a few discussions with your own personal shrink just happen to help you as well, then that's just a bonus."
Jarod gave her a small smile of appreciation.
"Now its late. We'll call Sydney in the morning." Parker stretched. Jarod followed Parker through the house as she pulled fresh linen from a closet. He helped her make the bed in the guest room where she had put all of the things they had bought for Jarod earlier.
"Try to get some sleep." She urged as Parker started to leave the room.
"Miss Parker?" Jarod's voice stopped her just as she reached the door. She glanced at him expectantly. "Thank you." He paused a moment. "Thank you for rescuing me from the institute."
Parker smiled. "I'm not sure I would call it a rescue, Jarod."
"I would." He replied. "That's the second time you've come to my rescue." He whispered.
Parker, one hand on the doorknob, stared sadly at the floor. "That first time was so very long ago." She said softly. Guilt churned in her gut.
"I thought you had forgotten." Jarod said breathlessly.
Parker shook her head then quickly crossed the room to where Jarod sat on the bed. "I haven't forgotten." She whispered, taking his face between her hands. "No matter how hard I tried to, I could never forget."
Jarod looked up into her face. His hands came up to rest possessively on her hips.
Gently caressing his cheeks with her thumbs, Parker leaned forward so that her hair fell in a veil around Jarod's head. "No one is going to hurt you anymore today, Jarod." She whispered fervently.
His lips trembled as he shakily responded, "Not today."
Jarod's tear filled eyes squeezed shut and he pulled Parker closer. He leaned his forehead against her stomach and sighed. The sound was a mixture of content and longing.
"Not today." She agreed. Parker held him that way for a long time.
Once Jarod had settled into bed, Parker wished him goodnight and headed to her room. Her bedroom had it's own bath so Parker took a long relaxing shower before crawling between the sheets of her bed.
Despite her fatigue, Parker laid there for a long time, staring at the ceiling. She gazed sadly at the plaster overhead and allowed the memories to wash over her.
In had been December twenty eighth. Parker remembered the exact date because it had happened one week before her sixteenth birthday. That had been the day she first learned what horrors hid in The Centre hallways. It had been the first time she had ever been ashamed to be a Parker. December twenty eighth had been the day her life changed irrevocably. It was the day her childhood ended.
-------
December 28, 1975
Miss Parker was on winter break from school so her father had put her to work at The Centre. "You have to learn the business from the bottom up, Angel." Her father had told her. So Miss Parker had started as a file clerk. Nothing confidential. She just delivered low security level correspondence and filed mountains of paperwork.
It was dull work but Miss Parker enjoyed it. She and her father drove into work together each morning, making Miss Parker feel very grown up and important. But Miss Parker's father had left The Centre late this morning on a business trip to New York. He wouldn't return until nearly midnight. Mr. Parker had made arrangements for a driver to take his daughter home once she finished the workday.
Miss Parker had just gotten her first paycheck. She felt ridiculously proud of herself. She was desperate to show her hard earned treasure to her father. But he, as usual, wasn't around. So Miss Parker went looking for the one person who would be sure to share her enthusiasm.
With Sydney on his annual holiday sabbatical, Miss Parker had expected to find Jarod confined to his room. But he had not been there. Mid- afternoons usually had Jarod scheduled in the sim lab when Sydney was around, so Miss Parker had looked there next. She frowned in confusion when she was again unsuccessful in locating him.
Miss Parker couldn't say what had drawn her to SL-23. Some unseen force had pulled her to a secluded wing in that level. As she walked cautiously down the corridor, a strange crackle of static could be heard echoing in the halls. A young, frightened Miss Parker jumped when the sound was quickly followed by a low moan.
Miss Parker rounded a corner and found Dr. Raines standing in the middle of a room full of equipment. Sucking hard on his ever-present cigarette, puffs of smoke hissed out of his nostrils like a dragon as Raines stood over a low table. Lying on the table was Jarod.
He had been strapped down at the wrists and ankles. Wearing nothing but his underwear, Jarod's skin was shiny with perspiration and he breathed in shallow gasps. Parker was enthralled by the slim lines of Jarod's figure. No longer in the body of a boy, Jarod's broad shoulders and hairless chest were beginning to show the sculpted muscles of a man.
"Well?" Raines growled in his raspy voice. "Describe it to me."
Miss Parker could see Jarod shivering as he stuttered. "I, I don't know."
Raines glanced at a wrinkled, gray-haired technician standing nearby and gave a curt nod. It was only then that Miss Parker noticed the wires leading from a large box beside the old man to electrodes taped to Jarod's smooth flesh. The young man had wires attached to his chest at the nipples and to each leg along the inner thigh.
With a flick of the technician's wrist, the crackling sound returned and Jarod's body started to shake violently. After a few seconds, the sound stopped and Jarod collapsed against the table.
"Now will you talk?" Raines hissed in the boy's ear.
Jarod sobbed softly. "I don't know. I don't know." He whimpered. "If I knew I would tell you, I swear."
Dr. Raines looked at the technician and said, "Increase the voltage another level, Mr. Heinrich."
The old tech fiddled with some knobs and then flicked his wrist again.
Jarod's back arched against the table and he shrieked a high-pitched scream of misery. Miss Parker's own scream rose to join it as she dashed into the room. With little regard for the consequences, Miss Parker grabbed the wires as they dangled in the air and yanked them away from the horrible box. Sparks flew from the machine as the wires snapped out of the connectors.
Jarod's body immediately slumped back onto the table.
"What do you think you are doing, Miss Parker." Raines snarled.
Miss Parker turned on him and in a fit of rage and she confronted Raines for the first time in her life. "How dare you!" She yelled. "My father will hear about this, I assure you. You are going to be very sorry."
"You're the one who's going to be sorry, Miss Parker." Raines snarled. "Your father will not appreciate your interference in this simulation."
Miss Parker was frightened suddenly, but she squashed the feeling, hiding it before Raines could see any vulnerability. "Jarod is Sydney's project. You have no right to abuse him like this just because Sydney isn't here."
"Get out of my way." Raines growled as he moved to retrieve the wires from the floor.
Miss Parker threw herself into Raines' path. Her only thought was to protect Jarod.
Raines pulled a hand back as if to slap her. Miss Parker grinned at him in triumph. "Just you try it, you stinking freak!" She yelled. "See how my father reacts when he finds out you like to hit girls. Especially when it's HIS little girl!"
Raines frowned with indecision then and Miss Parker immediately knew that she had won.
"Be careful Miss Parker." Raines warned. "Your father's influence can't always protect you."
"It works for now." She hissed.
"You should stay out of things that you don't understand, Miss Parker." Raines told her. "You are the one that will have to face your father's wrath, not me."
With that, Raines turned on his heel and left.
Miss Parker turned slowly and began to unfasten the straps on Jarod's wrists. Slicing a menacing glare at the technician she snarled orders through clenched teeth. "Get him a blanket and some water." She demanded.
By the time she had freed Jarod and removed the wires from his body, the tech had returned. Miss Parker snatched the blanket from his grip and snapped, "Get out!" The old man didn't wait around for any further orders.
Miss Parker gently wrapped the wool around Jarod's shoulders. She tried to help him stand but Jarod's legs gave out and he slumped to the floor.
"Jarod!"
Trembling and clutching at the blanket for warmth, Jarod rolled onto his back and gave Miss Parker the strangest look she had ever seen. His breath came in little gasps as he whispered harshly, "Miss Parker? Why did you interrupt the simulation?" He shivered violently. "Dr. Raines will be very disappointed. You will get into trouble."
Miss Parker's mouth dropped open. "He was hurting you." She exclaimed. "I couldn't let him do that."
Jarod's eyes were as large as saucers. He looked around in a daze of confusion. "But, simulations sometimes require a test of physical endurance." He whispered.
Miss Parker wrapped one arm around Jarod's shoulders and pulled him close. Her lower lip trembled as she began to realize the abuse that her friend had been suffering during the years she had known him. She sniffed and rubbed a shirtsleeve across her face. That was when she saw two guards standing at the door.
"You leave him alone!" Miss Parker yelled. She pulled Jarod closer in a protective gesture. "My father will hear about this when he returns." She scolded them. "You touch us and my father will have your heads on a platter." She snarled. The two men backed away and into the shadows of the hallway.
"Miss Parker." Jarod whispered. "Your father will be angry with you. Mr. Parker knows all about this simulation."
Miss Parker's tears had come then. She knew that her father would be furious with her. Her father knew everything that went on at The Centre. Surely he knew about this dreadful mistreatment. Miss Parker felt responsible for her father's complicity to Jarod's injuries.
"I'm sorry, Miss Parker." Jarod stared at her with sympathy.
She sniffed and straightened her spine bravely. "I'm not." Miss Parker declared. "I'm not sorry. My father won't be back for hours and they can't do anything until he returns." She began running her fingers through Jarod's hair, caressing the dampness away from his brow.
"They won't hurt you. I won't let them." Miss Parker promised.
Jarod stared at her, dumbfounded. "You will get into trouble." He repeated.
"That doesn't matter." Miss Parker curled into a ball around Jarod's prone figure. Her hair floated around his face like a scented halo.
"No one will hurt you anymore today, Jarod." She whispered.
"Not today." He murmured reverently.
"Not today." She reassured him.
Jarod's chocolate eyes shimmered with unshed tears. In a stunned voice he whispered, "You are risking your own well-being to prevent harm to me."
Miss Parker began to cry harder, tears ran down her cheeks and dropped onto Jarod's blanket.
With a gasp Jarod exclaimed, "You are crying for me. Why?"
"Because seeing you in pain, hurts me too." She said haltingly.
----
Parker stared at ceiling. She ignored the tears that ran down the side of her face at the painful memories.
She remembered that the two of them had sat there for hours, clinging to each other in the dark. It had taken some time for Jarod to internalize what Parker had done. Her actions had confused him badly at first.
What must it have been like for him, Parker wondered? It had been the first time anyone had risked anything for his sake. It had been the first time he could remember anyone trying to protect him.
"Is this what 'safe and secure' feels like, Miss Parker?" Jarod had asked her that day.
"Yes." She had whispered. Then Parker had kissed him. She had kissed his lips with a bittersweet tenderness reserved for young lovers. It had been a kiss of promise. It had been a kiss of goodbye and she had known it even then.
Parker could recall the sudden terrible feeling of dread that had filled her when Mr. Parker had finally returned. He had stormed wordlessly into the room, separated the two children forcefully and dragged Miss Parker away by the arm.
There had been no discussion, no debate. Her tears meant nothing. The next morning Miss Parker had been on a plane for Europe, shipped off to boarding school in Switzerland. Her sixteenth birthday the following week had been a lonely painful experience.
Ten years would pass before she had seen Jarod again. Ten years worth of lies and manipulation from her dear "Daddy" had turned Miss Parker into a model Centre employee. She'd had nothing but contempt left for the pretender until Jarod had escaped and patiently began to rebuild their connection.
Parker sighed heavily. Questions spun through her brain as she tried to get some rest. Could she protect Jarod now? There was no rival to yell at here. There was no foe to battle. Their enemy was Jarod's own mind. How could she fight that?
As Parker drifted to sleep, Ethan's words echoed in her mind again. "Trust your inner sense, Miss Parker."
