Jarod's head was spinning and he knew if anyone asked him, he wouldn't be able to tell them what 2+2 was right now. She was intoxicating him with the smell of vanilla and the taste of sweet raspberries. He was startled when she broke away from their kiss suddenly and he was left breathing rapidly and standing in the middle of her bedroom, glancing around him as if wondering how he'd gotten there. It was dark, but the starlight, moonlight, some light was shining through the thin drapes hung over the window and the glass of the door they'd just come through. So he could see the flutter of the white dress as it brushed across the back of her knees when she turned.

He heard the door click shut and suddenly felt her lips return to his own once again. They were kissing in a heated mess and inside his head, Jarod couldn't help but wonder if she had ever broken away to begin with.

A moment passed and Parker inched her face away from him slowly, turning tactfully away from him as his lips implored her just a little more. She put both her hands on his face and forced him to look at her and whispered quickly in one breath, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

He cocked his head in confusion, wiping a stray strand of hair out of her face, "Of course. Parker, I-"

"That's good enough for me," she kissed him with the strength she'd been using as a shield all these years, sliding her hand up beneath his shirt along the ridges of his abdomen and scraping her nails down. He shivered and she smiled, turning him and pushing down on his shoulders until he was sitting on the bed, arching his neck up to reach her mouth.

The long kissing became short rapid pecks as he reached his hand through her long tendrils of hair and she pulled the shirt off of him in one swift movement. She heard the mumble of her name in the back of his throat, but ignored it, pushing him so that he was lying on his back and then stretching her body across his, relishing the warmth of his bare chest. Jarod's lips moved again as if he was trying to speak, so she pulled herself back, "Jesus Christ, Jarod, even now you're up for a chat?"

"I just," he paused, staring up at her with his deep brown eyes, trepidation smeared into every line on his face, "I haven't done this a lot."

Parker grinned, "Oh I see. You pull the 'I've lived in a secret organization's basement for thirty years and they never taught me how to properly screw a woman' card with all the ladies?"

He glared back at her grin and she laughed, leaning into his ear and whispering, "Relax, wonderboy. We'll find out exactly what kind of wonders you've been bestowed with, whether I have to hold your hand the whole way or not."

Jarod, still embarrassed, tried to resist smiling back at her, but he couldn't. He calmly placed his hands on her biceps and quickly rolled her over, reversing their positions, but keeping an arm on the mattress to prop some of his weight off of her, running the other hand up her leg to the softest skin of her inner thigh.

"I was a gigolo once" he said in a low voice that stirred the butterflies in her stomach.

She raised her eyebrows, "And I spent my last two years of college in the frat houses."

Between kisses to her neck he muttered something incoherant, probably in confusion over the word 'frat.' It didn't matter. He was just the right mix of gentle and rough that she was so allured by. She grabbed him by the chin and brought him to her lips, kissing him like hot fire. Jarod was keeping up well with her intensity and helped her shed the dress she'd been wearing, letting it pool on the floor beside them while he ran a hand delicately across her bare stomach. Then came his khakis, and with the unclasping of her silky black bra the sarcastic quips and giggles stopped as he removed it slowly, maintaining his connection with those beautiful blue eyes which seemed only more vibrant in the dark.

Removing the rest of their clothing seemed to occur in slow motion and the roughness was gone as their hands familiarized themselves with the other. Every time Jarod looked into her eyes they were soft, and usually looking back at him. She was so entranced by his incredible fascination with every bit of her. He had showered most every inch of her anatomy with kisses and her mind was so high in bliss that she couldn't stop watching him so blatantly cherishing her. The softness of his lips had her hypnotized so that it was actually surprising when she felt him enter her. She inhaled sharply just barely whispering his name on the exhale and his eyes met hers again for appoval. Parker grabbed his face and brought it toward hers again with a sweet, gentle kiss, urging him forward.

*****

Retrieving the DSA case the next morning hadn't been difficult at all. Broots had taken the key Jarod has entrusted with him and opened the lockbox without a hitch, just as Jarod had said. Broots had returned to the car, holding it up proudly for Molly and Debbie to see.

"So Jarod's entire life is recorded on these little disks then?" Molly asked from the passenger seat, where she held the player in her lap, hesitantly examining the contents.

Broots pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road, "Yeah pretty much."

She snapped the lid shut and ran a hand over the metal case, Debbie looking on curiously.

"Can we watch one?" the teenager asked.

Broots stuttered a bit, "Ah I don't know um, I don't see why we need to."

"We don't need to, Dad, it would just be interesting to see if that's okay with you," Debbie answered sarcastically, obviously having spent too much time with Miss Parker.

"Deb, it's not our player it-"

"Your father's right," Molly interrupted, "These moments are personal to Jarod and watching them would be an invasion of privacy."

Debbie quipped back, "I'm pretty sure people have been watching them all his life."

"Which is exactly why it's time for that to stop," Molly answered calmly.

Broots and Molly heard a sigh from the back, "Fine, but I'm sure he'd be fine with it."

"You may ask him when we return," Broots stated authoritatively, snapping the radio on as they pulled onto the highway again, "I really love these Pussycat Dolls."

Molly smiled unknowingly as Debbie rolled her eyes in the back seat, murmuring a soft "you would."

*****

Parker opened her eyes and tried to blink the bright sunrays away, glancing to the clock. 9:32am. That made for what, five hours of good sleep. It explained why Jarod's dreams had only woken her once during the night, but surprisingly she hadn't even had to wake him up to calm him down. A soft shush in his ears and reassuring rubs to his back had soothed him well enough. It was still early though and she pulled the white sheet enclosing the two of them up to her chin and yawned. When had the sheet gone from beneath her to on top of her? Jarod must have done it. It would be typical of mister do-good. There was certainly a lot of good done last night. Even just the memory was enough to bring a fresh smile to her lips.

She rolled over onto her other side to face her pretender, who was breathing deeply with one arm loosely lying on top of her waist. She took the moment to admire how the light flattered the slightly tanned skin of his chest. Somehow he always knew everything and now was no exception as his eyes fluttered open and he smiled.

"You were watching me," he said in a raspy voice.

Parker smiled, "Give the genius a prize."

"Already got one," he informed her, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"Flattering," she remarked sarcastically, letting him nibble at her neck more. He pulled her close against him, a mere cotton sheet between them. It was a remarkable feeling, being wrapped up in each other after so many years of turmoil.

"I like you in this light," Jarod said simply.

Arching her brows, she replied, "As opposed to?"

"What?" he laughed, "Don't do that."

Parker was grinning and Jarod was loving it. If they could stay here in this bed for the rest of their lives, he would do it without hesitation. He captured her lips in his, beaming like an idiot through the kiss.

This was the merry scene Sydney entered upon when he opened the door asking Miss Parker if she had seen Jarod lately.

The couple froze, pulling away from each other slightly and shifting their eyes to the Belgian man in Miss Parker's doorway. There was silence for a very long instant.

Miss Parker cleared her throat and said in a high pitched voice, "Why here he is, Sydney."

Jarod was biting his lip and trying not to smile as he gazed from his mentor to his new lover.

Sydney nodded slowly and backed out of the doorway calmly, "So I see. I'll just... be leaving you now."

He shut the door behind him and Jarod immediately started laughing. She glared at him, "Well that was just great. I don't know what you think is so funny."

"I don't see what wasn't funny about that," he eyed her.

"Let me lay it down for you. First of all, I've never been keen on Dr Freud seeing me in nothing but a bed sheet. Secondly, do you understand the psychoanalysis he's working through his head right now? His favorite science project in bed with his, ugh dare I say it, niece. The moment we set foot out there, it will be all about how we feel and what our plans for the future are," she pointed a finger at his unimpressed expression, "you've been running around the country for the last six years I don't want to hear it. You haven't had to deal with him picking for emotional diarrhea."

"I had no idea it was so serious," he pretended to be concerned and she rolled her eyes.

Parker rolled out of the bed, grabbing some articles of clothing out of the dresser and heading to the bathroom, "Shut up and get dressed."

She closed the door and Jarod took a deep breath before willing himself out of the bed and into some clothes.

*****

A little while later, Jarod and Parker entered the kitchen together. Both wore denim jeans, Jarod a black T-shirt and she a powder blue sleeveless shirt. Sydney, Emily, and Cade were sitting at the table working on their breakfasts.

"I made eggs," Emily offered.

"Great, I'm starved," Jarod announced, grabbing two glasses from one of the shelves while Miss Parker opened the fridge, scrounging for some juice.

"Worked up an appetite huh?" Emily replied.

"Okay!" Miss Parker slammed the fridge shut, "We slept together. It's not a big secret. You can save your jokes and just get the hell over it."

Awkward silence filled the room and Emily stammered before speaking, "I um I didn't know anything about that, Miss Parker. But wow."

Sydney smiled, calmly stirring his coffee.

Parker turned toward him slowly, and remarked in a venomously sweet voice, "You didn't say anything did you?"

He looked up at her, "Only that it would be best if Cade didn't disturb you quite yet."

She closed her eyes and put on her trademark plastic smile, "Of course." Upon opening them, Jarod had a plate of eggs in her face, which she took and sat at the table, stabbing at them with her fork. Jarod poured orange juice into both their glasses and placed them on the table, sitting awkwardly at the table between her and Emily. Sydney looked at the two of them, who were both intently focused on their plates, with an amused expression on his face.

"So good night then?" Emily grinned a mouthful of teeth in the direction of her older brother, who glanced at her and then back to his food with a slight smile on his face.

*****

"I know, sir. The damage is indefinable and we're afraid, irreversible," Raines was wheeling his oxygen tank behind him with one hand as he walked through the halls of The Centre, holding a cell phone to his ear with the other hand. It was eerie quiet. Most people had gone home because there was simply nothing for them to do.

Raines had called the tower for some smidge of hope, but was forwarded directly to Ubaya, one of their African correspondents. He hated communicating with those people. Their arrogance was nauseating and Raines wasn't a fan of anyone who considered themselves above him.

"We have a team from our headquarters already on their way to survey the remnants of your disaster, Mr Raines. What more do you expect?" Ubaya chastised in a thick African accent.

Raines growled, "This is not my disaster, I-"

"The tower was quite clear in distinguishing you as chairman upon Mr Parker's death. Unfortunate timing as your entire corporation seems to have fallen apart the instant it was put in your hands."

"Rebuilding will be beneficial in the end. We only need the aid of your resources to begin progression," Raines snarled back.

"We will see about that, Mr Raines."

*****

"This place is nice," Sydney remarked passively, sitting in the same rocking bench he'd occupied the two days before. He glanced over at the younger man who lay in the hammock a few feet away.

"It is. Now that there's no more Centre, maybe you could settle down somewhere on the coast," Jarod said. He had one arm behind his head and the other across his stomach, swinging lazily from side to side in his net. The balcony looked so different in the daylight. Every time he looked the spot on the railing he'd been perched on the night before, his stomach did flips thinking about her approaching him in the moonlight. Logically, he knew it was his enteric nervous system in his stomach that was so powerful, but in his heart, it was that part of her that could always touch him.

The two men had just discussed the information Jarod had learned browsing through the disk the night before.

"So all this new information must be quite taxing," Sydney probed gently, "How are you dealing with it?"

Jarod answered, "It was overwhelming at first, but actually, Miss Parker really helped me with that last night. She um, she put things in perspective."

Sydney nodded and smiled, "Any chance you would like to discuss that? Since you brought it up."

Jarod's face broke into a huge grin as he met Sydney's eyes, "I didn't mean that part." Sydney raised his eyebrows, urging him to continue so he did.

"It was," he paused, searching for the right words, "Nice?"

Jarod stopped speaking at Sydney's chuckle, "Nice?"

"Yes, nice. Okay more than nice, phenomenal actually," Jarod quieted his voice and grew more serious, "And it wasn't at all just, you know, sleeping with her. It was the fact that she really trusts me again, that she's my friend again."

"Of course it was more than just sex, Jarod," Sydney squinted his eyes in his analytical way, leaning forward, "No two people in the world share more history than you and Miss Parker do. Your bond is unique in every way."

Jarod arched his eyebrows, contemplating Sydney's words.

"Do you love her?" Sydney had a way of making incredibly important questions flow with all of his other ones.

The two caught each other's eyes and Jarod broke away from his stare, biting his lip, "Love has never been the question."

"You mean the one you're not answering?" the older man smiled.

"No I ugh. Isn't that part obvious?"

"You would be surprised how illogical people are regarding matters of the heart. You can spend thirty years of your life loving someone more than yourself and they'll never know until you tell them," Sydney paused, considering the irony of his statement, "These things never seem obvious when it's your situation, even for a genius."

That genius frowned, "Logic and the heart are two very different things. Besides, there have been a lot of complicating factors."

"I've told myself the same thing for so many years, Jarod," Sydney's voice grew passionate, "That's how I was able to convince myself that it was for the best that I hide my affections for you and Miss Parker. I was wrong."

Jarod closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and focusing on the feeling of the sun on his skin. Piercing laughter broke him from his reverie and he turned the hammock, sliding out and following the sound of the voice with his eyes. He stood and put his hands on the wooden railing that overlooked the shore. Emily and Cade seemed to be playing some sort of game on the edge of the water. It was a happy scene, and he loved to see it.

"Having fun, boys?" Jarod turned and grinned, not discrete in his joy to see her at all.

"Just discussing important manly issues," Jarod taunted. Sydney watched the two interact in passive scientific silence.

Parker cocked her head, "Well I can leave I suppose."

Jarod shook his head at her and she nodded back, their playful smiles never escaping Sydney's observation.

She finally rolled her eyes, "I actually did have a purpose for breaking up the bonding hour. Jarod's in need of a real therapy session, in reference to his frequent nightmares."

"Oh yeah," Jarod mumbled, crossing his arms and returning his attention to Emily and Cade, who were examining something in the sand.

Parker turned to Sydney, "He's not going to come whining to you on his own. He wakes up every three or four hours hollering about something."

"What are the dreams about, Jarod?"

"I don't know." His voice was low and defeated.

Sydney furrowed his brow, "Perhaps through hypnosis we can put you to sleep and explore it further."

Jarod turned back to face them, "Is that the only way to make them go away?"

"You know the research just as well as I do, Jarod. In order to move on from something traumatizing, you have to face the fear," he paused, "And I assume this has stemmed from a negative experience you had in your recent time at The Centre."

"Every experience at The Centre is a negative one," Parker muttered.

The pretender shook his head, "No, the dreams had been happening before then. They just grew worse after that."

"It's important that we confront this problem before it grows even more worse," Sydney pressed.

"I know," Jarod insisted sharply, "I've always had these dreams. Why do you all suddenly care?"

Parker's head tilted sympathetically, but she answered lightly, "For one thing, I don't appreciate you waking me up in the middle of the night."

Jarod glanced at her, unamused. She continued, "Something is clearly bothering you subconsciously, or maybe even consciously. And it won't go away until we figure out what it is and then we can deal with it."

"We?" he questioned.

"Did you think I was headed for the sidelines after all this?"

Jarod squinted his eyes, "Sidelines of what?"

"Never mind. Let's just do this and move on. Okay?"

Sydney watched affectionately as the two communicated some sort of nonverbal understanding until Jarod nodded at Sydney, who stood and stepped into the house, Parker and Jarod following him closely.

*****

It was evening now and Broots decided they should stop at a motel instead of driving back the whole night through. Molly had been strangely silent and Debbie had been grumpy ever since she had been told not to touch the DSA player or any of its contents. After checking in and finding the two rooms, Broots stood awkwardly in front of the doors, unlocking both. Molly put a hand on his shoulder gently and then entered her room, remaining standing in the threshold.

"Debbie would you mind staying with your dad tonight? I'm not feeling very well."

"Yeah, it's fine," Debbie headed to the other room.

Broots looked at Molly in concern, "What's wrong? Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

She smiled, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, Broots. I've got to take care of myself."

Broots paused, "O-Okay. Let me know if you do need something."

Molly nodded and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek, "I will. Thank you, Broots."

She closed the door then while Broots stood staring at the 309 on the door dumbly. He turned back to his room in a dreamy trance and entered, a huge grin on his face.

*****

Sydney snapped his fingers and Jarod's head hung down against his chest, a few stray hairs falling across his forehead as he did so. Miss Parker was sitting on the bed next to him, a finger over her lips. Sydney had pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed, and successfully put Jarod in a trance.

"This is Sydney. Do you hear me, Jarod?"

There was no response.

"Jarod? It's Sydney. Let me know if you can hear me."

Jarod's eyelids fluttered and he groaned slightly, "I hear you."

"Very good. As long as you can hear the sound of my voice, you are safe. And Miss Parker is with us, too." She glanced at him in surprise and he nodded.

"Yeah I'm here, too, Jarod," she said hesitantly.

"Parker," Jarod whispered, "Catherine."

"Not Catherine Parker," Sydney's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "You know she's dead. Why do you think Catherine is here?"

"I don't. Not her."

Miss Parker pursed her lips, "Tell us about your dream, Jarod."

Jarod remained silent.

Sydney glanced at her and then coaxed Jarod on, "You're sleeping now just like every night. You've been asleep a while, many hours. A dream should be happening soon. Is it happening yet, Jarod?"

Jarod's facial expressions and a soft moan implied that it was.

"Tell us what's happening, Jarod."

"Lyle," he groaned.

Sydney and Miss Parker looked at him, more alert. Sydney continued, "You're with Lyle. What is he doing?"

"Laughing," Jarod answered, "I think he's crazy."

"News flash," Parker muttered.

Jarod continued, "I can't understand why he's here. Supposed to be dead."

A nervous expression graced Sydney's face, "Is Lyle alive in your dream, Jarod?"

"Yes."

"He told you he was laughing. Clearly he's alive. Why don't you ask him something that's relevant so we can get this over with?" Parker snapped.

Sydney glanced at her before continuing, "Why do you think Lyle is crazy, Jarod?"

"Nothing left. Nothing. Nothing to lose. He's- no. No please. I'll do whatever you want."

Jarod's breathing rate was accelerating and Miss Parker jumped slightly when he grabbed her hand forcefully, clenching it tightly. She put her other hand over them both, studying him curiously.

"What is he trying to do, Jarod? Jarod?" Sydney emphasized his name again and again but received only whimpers and 'no's in return.

"Don't!" he yelled suddenly, "Sydney? Sydney!?"

"I'm here, Jarod. You're not alone. Tell us what's happening, please."

"Get me out, get me out! I can't see it anymore. I can't. Take me out. Please, Sydney. Help me," he begged.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Parker glared at Sydney, "Wake him up."

"We've hardly learned anything, Miss Parker."

"Sydney, please! No, God. Please Sydney. Refuge, refuge, refuge" Jarod was grimacing and lurching uncontrollably.

"You're safe, Jarod," Sydney whispered, snapping his fingers.

Jarod's head shot up and he immediately jumped back against the couch, panting erratically. His hand was still tight between Parker's. He looked back and forth between the two of them with moist eyes, visibly shaken.

"Are you okay?" Parker's voice was gentle and comforting.

There was a short nod as Jarod swallowed and returned his breathing back to normal. Sydney and Miss Parker gazed at him in concern, but he didn't speak.

*****

"Dad, wake up," Debbie shook her father's shoulder until he stirred, "Dad!"

Broots' eyes fluttered open, and he noticed that it was early morning by now, "What is it, Deb? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I went to check on Molly," she paused, "she's gone."