Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to NBC, MTM and Pretender Productions.

St. Marie’s Hospital

900 Hours

Ms. Parker woke up and looked around, where am I she thought, soon the memories came flooding back to her. She glanced over at Jarod, who remained still in his eternal sleep, and still unbelievably beautiful, stroking his hair, she got up and poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. Drinking it slowly, she gazed at Jarod and thought the events that happened the last three years. She smiled, thinking back to when she found out he had escaped and that she was to capture him. How she hated him then, but there was always something there between them, from the cat and mouse chase to the talks they shared on the telephone, she looked at her glass, even while chasing him she could never pull the trigger on him, never at him and he knew. He knew, she thought with a grin, he knew and he took advantage of it, always skipping away like a child that just bought a toy at an amusement park, and blended into the scenery like a chameleon before she could catch him. He was like a child too, she thought with laughter, the PEZ, Mr. Potato head, and no one could ever forget about the Silly Putty and the barrel of monkeys. And now…her heart caught in her throat, looking over the sleeping figure, he would forever sleep, no more laughter, no more joy, but, she thought with heavy sarcasm, at least she caught him, and for what price? The price that he would never look into her eyes, comfort her over the telephone, be there when she needed him most, if only…if only. A lot of if onlys but none of them helped, never did. If it did, her mother would be alive, her father would have complete control of the Centre and…and she thought as tears dropped into the glass she was holding, Jarod would be alive, and this time they wouldn’t be chasing each other, they wouldn’t need to because they would be free…she set the glass down back down on the table…if only.

A soft knock came from the door as it opened, Margaret stepped quietly into the room, “Good morning, Ms. Parker,” She said, Ms. Parker quickly brushed away her tears and smiled.

“Mrs.—“ Ms. Parker began but Margaret held up hand and stopped her, she smiled softly

“Please, call me Margaret,” Ms. Parker sat down on the chair

“Margaret, what was Jarod like when he was a child?”

Margaret beamed, “He was smart as a whip! Always running back and forth so full of life and energy it’s hard keeping track of him. Even at that time he had a kind and passionate soul, though he knew that he was smarter then the rest of the children his age at that time, he never let it go to his head, always kind and understanding…” A tear slid down her cheek. “I’m sorry, it’s just that--” She whispered,

Ms. Parker reached over to the tissue box and it to her, “It’s all right,”

“When he was five years old we went to the old hunting shack and stayed there a while, it was raining one night, Jarod wanted to entertain us but fell, that gave him a scar, I wonder if he still has it…it was only a week before the Centre—“

“The Centre took him,” Ms. Parker looked over at Jarod, sorrow shining in her eyes

“When he was gone, I tried everything I could to get him back, phone calls, the police, anything, even after 30 years I kept trying, of course with the Centre chasing us every step of the way, but I never gave up. I never thought my search would end like this though,” More tears fell, she wiped it away with the tissue,

“Margaret, if you knew this was going to happen, would you still have tried to find him?”

“That’s the same question I asked myself over and over, would I have tried if I knew it would end up like this? And the answer was still the same, yes I would. To give up on my search for my son is like to give up on life itself, on Kyle and Emily, and no matter how hard it may seem at times, I wouldn’t give up. I couldn’t.” Ms. Parker nodded, deep down she knew what Margaret was going to say, but she still asked. Still gazing at Jarod, she didn’t notice when Margaret looked her and Jarod, “You loved him don’t you sweetheart?” she asked softly

Ms. Parker turned her head, “What did you say? I’m sorry, I was—“

“No, no, it’s all right, just keep on watching over Jarod.” Margaret smiled, she got her answer.

St, Marie’s Hospital

1000 Hours

The Major woke up and looked around, Margaret he thought frantically and ran outside towards Jarod’s room, he stopped abruptly at the door when he heard his wife’s voice.

“Ms. Parker, what was your relationship with my son?” Margaret asked softly

Ms. Parker shifted uncomfortably at her seat, she got up and walked to the window, “It’s complicated,” she replied, “Jarod and I…”

“Do you love him?”

Ms. Parker felt trapped, she looked over at Jarod’s mother, she seemed so caring, so much like her own mother…”Yes, I do love him.”

The Major stepped away from the door and walked away only to hear the pounding of footsteps behind him, he looked behind him and a dark-haired woman ran into room 302.

Jarod’s Room

1000 Hours

Ms. Parker jumped as Nia burst through the door, “Nia,” She said, surprised.

“Jarod…” Nia cried when she saw him lying on the bed, she bend over and kissed him on the cheek, Ms. Parker looked away, hurt and jealousy flashed in her eyes, Margaret quickly caught it and looked Nia, confused. “Hi, my name’s Nia. I need to find out where Jason is.”

“Margaret, this is Nia, she’s Jarod’s…girlfriend.” Ms. Parker said, she walked toward the door.

“Ms. Parker wait! I need to know where Jason went, he may be in trouble.” Nia pleaded

Ms. Parker looked back and rose an eyebrow, “Start talking,” She snapped

“Jason said that since he couldn’t do anything about Jarod, he would prevent the Centre of doing it to someone else—“

“Meaning…”

“He may do something rash, we got to stop him!”

“The Centre is gone,” Jason said, standing in the doorway, the Major behind him

“What?” Ms. Parker asked

“I blew it up.”

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