The steady hum of the vehicle was nearly lulling Jarod into a trance. They had been driving for hours and aside from the occasional conversation with Cade, it had been a silent one.

Earlier that day, Miss Parker had burst out of the bathroom a completely different person from the one who had gone into it. She had begun picking things up around the room and giving authoratative directions to equally stunned Jarod and Cade. Within twenty minutes they were on the road and headed south.

Now she was driving with one hand on the wheel, the other elbow propping her head up in a lazy fashion. Her sunglasses hid all her emotions and every time Jarod tried to speak she shook her head and replied with a one word answer of some sort. He could tell she was working through something, but he couldn't understand what. Finally he had sighed, crossed his arms, and slunk into his seat for a cat nap. Soon enough both of Miss Parker's passengers were dozing comfortably.

*****

Her heartache was devastating. Molly could feel it. Feeling and knowing everyone else's troubles had always been her "gift," but when it came to herself, she wasn't sure what that meant. She related to Jarod's feelings of searching, questioning who she really was. In the end, it seemed Jarod was just coming back to where he started. The people who cared the most were pieces of The Centre. But this wasn't the same for her. She hadn't had crutches like Sydney and Miss Parker. What did that mean for her though?

Emily sat down next to Molly on the back steps of the deck, facing the sea.

"What was it like?" she exhaled, "In that horrible place. Jarod refuses to tell me, but I need to know."

Molly tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, as the wind tossed the bulk of it, "I'm sure Jarod's experience was very different from mine."

"But far more similar than mine," she coaxed.

Molly's eyes scanned the horizon, "I know you want to understand your brother, that you think your connection will be stronger if you understand his pain. But you could never understand his pain. He wouldn't want you to. It's a difficult thing to imagine, waking up to the same dull four walls every day of your life to eat the same bland food, walk down the same cold hallways, to the same gray room. I mean, I looked forward to my annual physicals because it was a new room, a new direction to go in. That kind of life isn't something that can just be described, Emily."

The women sat in silence for a while until Molly stood and retreated through the glass sliding door, leaving Emily alone, with her head in her hands.

*****

"Oh Broots, hi" Molly said, entering the living room.

"Hey Molly, um you okay?" he cocked his balding head.

"I'm fine. Not really, I mean I'm okay I guess."

Broots stood fidgeting with his hands, knowing she was not fine at all, but also that he would probably be of no help to her, "Um could I do something? To help?"

"No, Broots, thank you for offering," she collapsed into an armchair, closing her eyes tightly with a sigh.

He didn't know how to react, so he just sat on the sofa nearby, eying her cautiously. Finally he broke the silence, "I think you're very brave."

There was no answer, so he continued, "I mean, leaving The Centre seems like the natural thing that one would want to do to everyone. But if it's all you've ever known, leaving must be scary."

"Yeah," she paused, "not as scary as staying though."

"No," he agreed, "I've always kind of respected Jarod, even when it was my job to capture him, because I mean he took a great risk to do the right thing. Not many people would do that. I don't know if I would."

"I think you would, Broots. You're here aren't you?" she opened her soft blue eyes and nodded at him. He found the gesture startlingly sweet.

"Oh I don't, I, no I don't know-"

She interjected, "You've done a big thing, bringing your daughter away from those people. You deserve the same respect that Jarod does."

"And you," he assured, "But I mean if I were better, I would have stopped hunting Jarod and taken Debbie away from Blue Cove a, a hell of a lot earlier than now."

"Suppose you had stopped working on Jarod's case. Then, someone more ruthless and cold would have replaced you and then what? Miss Parker needed your touch of humanity. Jarod needed heartstrings to pull, and you provided a lot of that."

"How do you know all this stuff, Molly?"

"All I know is that just because someone like Jarod of myself may have been given a horrible life and turned that around, it doesn't make the good you do any less. You have to make your own life worth it."

Broots nodded and Molly stood, shifting her seat from the chair to the sofa beside him.

"Can you keep a secret, Broots?"

Her soft voice surprised him and he nodded swiftly, coaxing her to speak.

"I'm scared. Scared out of my mind. I feel completely alone in this world and I have no one to help me figure out... well, figure out who I am and where I'm going.The prospect is, well it's terrifying."

Broots' brow scrunched as he turned to her urgently, "You can't really believe you're alone, Molly, we're all here for you."

"I know I know. But you all saved me from The Centre because it was the right thing to do. It just so happened that I'm Miss Parker's sister. I'm a loose end here and I don't want to be. I can't fit in until I know what I can be, what I want. It might be difficult for you to understand."

There was no question it was difficult for Broots to understand because he looked at Molly and saw a sweet innocence. She had the naivety that Jarod's eyes always revealed about himself, and the spark in her that Miss Parker rarely let anyone see of herself. She radiated an angelic aura that he couldn't even describe. For once, he wasn't nervous around this stranger and he hadn't been able to figure out why the entire time. Knowing he couldn't solve her problem, for some reason it pained him and he would give anything to take her pain away.

*****

"Where is the turn, Jarod? My God, I know you've been living in the batcave all your life but didn't anyone teach you how to read a map?"

The sun was going down and Miss Parker and Jarod were hunting for the beach cottage Jarod had so studiously decided upon as ideal for retreat from The Centre.

"I had a map until you wiped up Cade's spilled fruit punch with it," Jarod quipped back.

"Oh and I suppose I should have just let it stain the rental and paid with it from the imaginary pension check The Centre will be sending me. In case you've forgotten, I'm now unemployed thanks to you," her snarl was menacing.

"Thanks to us actually and you have to realize I have enough Centre funds to feed Africa."

Miss Parker scoffed, "I'm surprised you haven't then."

"Maybe one day, but for now can you please slow down. Recalling 43 step directions I didn't expect to have to remember is difficult enough, but when you're zipping past street signs by the second, it gets a tad trickier."

Jarod flipped the visor down to shield his eyes from the bright sunbeams and yelled every time Miss Parker was about to pass a correct turn. Finally, they were pulling into the driveway of a secluded house on the shore.

"Now doesn't this look fun?" Jarod announced to the other two.

Cade looked around curiously and Miss Parker pulled the keys out, saying "Too bad it isn't hurricane season. Then we could have some real fun."

Jarod lifted one brow in response to her hurricane Cassandra reference, recalling only the long hours spent handcuffed to chairs and poles.

"Not really in the best shape to be saving your life today, Miss Parker," he taunted. She froze for an instant, returning his smile with a plastic grin that was anything but sincere.

Grabbing a few things and helping Cade out of the car, the three made their way up the long stairs to the front door.

"Brace yourself," Miss Parker mumbled, swinging the door open.

Broots and Molly were on the couch and turned to them with surprised faces, standing immediately and rushing toward them immediately, calling for Sydney and Emily to join them.

"The whole welcome wagon isn't neccessary, Broots. Where's my room?" she pulled the sunglasses from her face and widened her eyes at him expectantly, "Today would be nice, thanks."

"I just, we thought you were working for them again," he spit out.

"Do I look like a complete bitch?" she asked. Broots looked to answer and she clenched two fists in the air in front of him, "Rhetorical, Broots. Rhetorical!"

"What's a bitch?" came a little voice from a little person Broots and Molly hadn't even noticed.

"Wonderful," Jarod commented.

Miss Parker rolled her eyes at Jarod, "It's a puppy."

"Why would you look like a puppy?" he probed. Sydney and Emily entered the room, Emily rushing to hug Jarod around the neck while Sydney stood back with his arms crossed and a smile across his distinguished features.

"Ask Jarod about it later. I'm going to take a nap," Miss Parker took a step toward the stairs.

"So late, Miss Parker?" Sydney questioned, hoping she'd stay with them a little longer.

"Yes actually because your labrat kept me up all night with his bad dreams," she replied, emphasizing the 'bad dreams' with a voice normally directed to babies.

Jarod narrowed his eyes at her, and she turned uncaringly, stomping up the stairs in the authoratative manner she always carried. Always, aside from last night anyway.

The others looked at Jarod for some sort of explanation for her behavior and he could only shrug with a bewildered expression, "She's been like this ever since we left the hotel."

"But she is on our side right?" Emily questioned.

Jarod nodded and spent the next half hour in the living room with everyone, joined by Debbie, explaining the events that had occured since Miss Parker helped him escape The Centre. This included an introduction to Cade, who had taken a particular fondness to Sydney.

Debbie soon went to bed, quickly joined by Broots and Molly. Sydney sat in the overstuffed armchair listening to a description of the amazing things Cade had seen in the past two days. Jarod smiled the whole time as Sydney soaked up the genuine childish excitement he was witnessing. Cade soon decided to explore the house and Emily decided to go help him.

Alone, Sydney chuckled a little, "he's so much like you were when you first came to The Centre, except happier."

"I guess he's almost the age I was when I was taken. He has a vivacious spirit," Jarod agreed.

"He's certainly very special. So I suppose things haven't been too pleasant with Miss Parker."

Jarod raked a hand through his hair, "Well, they were. She showed up at my hotel last night and-"

He didn't know what he was supposed to say about last night. Miss Parker had been acting like it had never happened and now Jarod had seriously questioned whether it had all been a dream, but he was fairly certain it hadn't been. Rarely had he been blessed with good dreams and for them to come now at the height of his nightmares wouldn't make much sense.

"Yes?" Sydney implored.

"Last night was good," he answered slowly, "She was... different."

"I suppose the stress of losing The Centre and her family is getting to her. They're all she's ever really had in her life."

Jarod shook his head, standing and making his way up the stairs, "Now that, is not true at all."

*****

Danielle sat bored at her desk, playing computer solitaire. The hotel was in the middle of the highway with hardly anything surrounding it and people rarely stopped to stay here. She had been disappointed upon entering the room of the handsome stranger with no shoes just to find that he had left, and in a rush it had seemed. He had promised to come visit her some time, but he never had. It was disappointing when one held such a boring position at a lifeless establishment.

The chime on the door alerted her that there was a customer. Oh this man was nearly as attractive as the last one, shoes and all. Unfortunately he didn't have the tall dark mysterious thing going on. Well, maybe mysterious.

"Hi, I'm looking for someone. Have you seen this man?" He flashed a picture in front of Danielle's face.

"Mr Parker!" she recognized his sweet brown eyes immediately.

"Right, so is he here?" the man seemed impatient, clutching his side protectively.

"Sorry, sir. He left this morning," she twirled a strand of blonde hair, fixated on the stranger.

"Of course he did. Could you show me his room?"

Danielle bit her lip, knowing she shouldn't, not until the housekeepers had been through it. Maybe they would have been through it if she had told them that a man had been staying there, but that would require explaining why she had taken a sketchy credit card from a sketchy man and allowed him to stay there. It had been an extraordinarily dull night and there was nothing else to do. One more favor for a nice-looking man couldn't hurt.

"Sure. Follow me."

*****

Miss Parker had pulled one of Jarod's white T-shirts over her head and slipped her pantsuit off. It lay folded neatly on the dresser top with her heels sitting by the door. Broots and Sydney had been smart to reserve a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom for her. She had trained them well. Three soft knocks at the door had ruined her haven.

"What?" she swung the door open, praying to God she wouldn't have to expose herself to Broots in nothing but Jarod's T-shirt. Worse, it was Jarod, who seemed significantly taller now that she was barefooted.

He noticed the new height difference as well, raising his eyebrows at her new attire, "Very nice."

"Shut up. What do you want?" she folded her arms across her chest. Jarod seemed to take this as an invitation and entered the room with a slight limp still.

"I would like to know what your issue has been today actually," he sat down on her bed, smoothing the quilt at the foot of it.

"I have no issue, Jarod," she replied, overemphasizing each syllable, "except that you are sitting on my bed when I would like to go to sleep."

"It's not that late. You're not that tired. Won't work."

"Do you think I'm lying? You seriously woke me up at least three times last night."

Jarod smiled a half smile, "No I don't think you're lying. But you are used to even less sleep for one thing. And for another, what about last night? I'd almost begun to think it never happened."

"Good. Go with that feeling," she walked to the bathroom and shut the door so that it was only open a few inches.

Jarod wasn't sure how to respond to that, "I'm not sure I can."

"Try," was the echoed response as the sink water began to run. He could hear water splashing.

"What's wrong with you, Parker?" he called over the sounds.

He heard the knob squeak off and the water stop. She wiped her face dry with a towel and re-entered the room. Jarod was staring expectantly at her with those damn eyes.

"What's wrong with me? I'm just trying to get things back to normal here."

"We don't have a normal. I thought-"

She interjected, "Whatever you thought, Jarod, was what you wanted to think. You live in a different world from the rest of reality and I'm sorry I won't take the leap of death into it with you."

"What? You aren't making any sense. You're just scared," he got up from the bed and stood inches in front of her, where she crossed her arms again, looking away to the side. His gaze was too intimidating, even for her. It was too honest.

"You're the one who is scared to see the world for what it really is, Jarod."

Jarod grabbed her face and kissed her roughly on the lips. The passion and the want she felt from him swept her up momentarily, but her head quickly caught up with her heart and she shoved him away with a strong push that knocked him back onto the bed. He stared up at her with hurt eyes. For the first time all day, hers held some emotion, sorrow. Jarod sat up fully and stood again slowly. She looked up at him warily. For a few seconds they held that pose.

Miss Parker tightened her eyelids shut as he walked past her, closing the door behind him as he left.