The children's home was an old mansion that looked charming even against the grey sky whose clouds seemed to rest on the roof of the building. The huge property was secured by a high iron fence with a gate that swung open effortlessly when Jarod keyed in the access code.

1. "This doesn't look like your average movie nuthouse," Miss Parker commented as they drove down a wound path that was lined by old trees. In the distance she could see a playground with a couple of swings that idly moved in the wind.

"This is not a nuthouse, Miss Parker. It is a home for children who have lost their parents and are thus under supervision from therapists to receive the support they need."

She hid her smile at his words that were delivered with a very soft edge to his voice. No matter how much he taunted her he was gentle enough with the ones who needed his help.

The car came to a halt in front of the building and Jarod told her to wait, then rounded the car and held an umbrella out for her.

"Oh my, thank you," she said. "Have these good manners appeared out of nowhere?"

Jarod smiled and whispered into her ear: "In case someone sees us. They would be curious if I didn't treat Doctor Sommer with all due respect. Now follow me, Doctor Freud."

He held the door open for her and she winced at his use of the nickname she usually tried to annoy Sydney with. Unfortunately when it came to her, the elderly psychiatrist seemed to be unannoyable which was deeply unsatisfying for Miss Parker who took great pride in being able to set anybody off. God, Sydney would have a field day with this.

He would probably launch a whole psychoanalysis at her if he knew that she was about to try to pass off as someone who specialized in the human mind when most of the time she had no idea what was going on with her own.

The hall was as gloomy as the day outside but as they followed the corridor down into a large room, all traces of gloominess were chased away immediatley.

A number of children sat at two long tables eating their lunch. Some were concentrating avidly on their sandwiches while others were pulling the salad out or trying to smear peanut butter into their neighbour's hair.

The whole situation was easily summarized: Miss Parker's worst nightmare.

She hated everything that had to do with noise, sticky things and -most of all- children. She stiffened immediately but tried to loosen up since she was supposed to be a child-loving psychologist who actually understood what these little heads were all about.

One of the little boys looked up and she could see the mischief glittering in his eyes. She narrowed hers and gave him a stare that would have melted Broots to the floor in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately this kid didn't seem to care how dangerous she was, but raised one arm in order to throw a half eaten, half melted chocolate bar at her.

Miss Parker had never actually been grateful for anyone to grab her arm before, but now she was incredibly relieved when she felt Jarod's hand pull her into the opposite direction towards a young woman who was busy wiping a particulary messy looking child's face with a napkin.

"Jenny!" Jarod called out and the woman got up to her full height to look at them. She had blond frizzy hair and freckles in a face devoid of any make-up that obviously never did anything else than smile.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of Jarod and Miss Parker sighed inwardly. Why did every woman under 50 have the hots for him? This was getting more than just annoying. He wasn't all that hot anyway.

"Good to see you again, Jarod!" the young woman beamed and Miss Parker had a hard time preventing herself from rolling her eyes.

"And you must be Dr Sommer!" Jenny said in a voice that, to Miss Parker, sounded horribly shrieky, like that of a nervous teenager. She seemed to think for a moment, then slowly said: "Herzlich willkommen auf Amerika."

The only word that Miss Parker could make sense of was America. The rest was completely lost on her.

"Thank you," she said, guessing that the girl must have just welcomed her to the US.

"Jenny is taking care of the kids around here," Jarod explained to her. And she's following you around like a lapdog, Miss Parker added silently. Did he ever notice when a girl wanted him? Miss Parker couldn't help but feel a little amused although there was something else that she hurried to repress immediatley.

"How is Amanda doing?" Jarod asked before Miss Parker could deliver a mean comment in the horrible German accent Jarod had made her practice during the whole duration of the drive.

"As usual," Jenny answered. "I bet she missed you." She looked embarassed for a moment, then turned to Miss Parker.

Bet you missed staring at him more, little Miss Sunshine…

"Can you understand us well?" she asked slowly. Although it pissed Miss Parker off to be treated like a child, she needed to supress a chuckle at the horrified expression on Jarod's face. He was quite obviously afraid she would blow her cover before she had even laid eyes on Amanda, but as usual he underestimated her.

"Thank you," Miss Parker said as graciously as she could. "I am in basic control of the English language."

Jenny nodded in a hectic way. "Yeah! You don't have an accent at all!"

Miss Parker raised an eyebrow. "Really? I have been told that people could barely understand me," she said with the worst accent she could muster. Jenny winced, obviously unsure what to say. Miss Parker gave her a wide smile.

Jarod decided that his companion had taunted Jenny enough for the moment and cut in before she could abash her any further.

"Please, Doctor Sommer. I'll show you to Amanda's bedroom."

Maybe it was the sense of incredible freedom of being away from the Cente for a while or just the fact that Jenny's obvious infatuation with Jarod annoyed Miss Parker to no end, but she placed her hand on Jarod's shoulder and motioned for him to wait. The anxious look in his eyes delighted her more than she cared to admit.

Jenny leaned forward slightly, her frizzy hair standing in all directions while her childlike face looked at her attentively.

"It was good to meet you. It is good to have such a loose woman around."

There was a moment of shocked silence after which Jenny directed her horrified gaze at Jarod who looked as if he wanted to strangle Miss Parker on the spot.

"That is what you say for a warm open person, isn't it, dear?" Miss Parker said sweetly. She was grabbed by the arm for the second time that day and gave a cheery wave to a flabbergasted Jenny while Jarod practically dragged her out of the room.

The hallway on the second floor was painted a warm yellow and framed children's drawings lined it. One of the curtains was smeared with chocolate- probably courtesy to the young boy who had attempted to ruin Miss Parker's favourite pullover earlier.

"What did you think you were doing?" Jarod hissed, careful for the children in the adjoining rooms not to overhear their impending argument. There was no need to keep his voice low, however, because the children were yelling and playing loudly enough.

"I was playing my role perfectly," Miss Parker replied innocently. "I was simply aiming for some credibility. She would wonder why my vocabulary is perfect while my accent is… well… grotesque."

Jarod gave her a look that told her that he didn't believe a single word she said.

"Yes, but there was no need to basically accuse ofof being a woman of questionable virtue!"

Miss Parker couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What did you just call her? How very victorian, Jarod!"

Jarod didn't know whether he was supposed to be angry or awed. He had been the object of her mean jokes too often to be surprised by what she had done to poor Jenny, but what fascinated him was the fact that she was actually laughing. He hadn't seen her laugh in years except for the sarcastic chuckles she sometimes gave or the triumphant yet humourless laughter she'd presented him with on a few occasions when she'd thought she'd finally caught him.

This was different. She looked actually amused and was chuckling slightly which turned her usually stony face to life.

Although she possessed all the characteristics of a classic beauty, he had never before really considered her beautiful because the animation was usually missing from her features. Now it was there with the cheerful look on her face. It didn't matter that it was only there because she had once again done what she did best: Intimidate people. It was there and that was all that mattered to him.

"I'm sorry…" she finally said although she did not look sorry at all. For that she was far too busy trying to hide a triumphant grin. "You know… I'd rather lose a friend than waste a good joke."

When he failed to say anything even at something as rare as an apology coming from her, she fell silent, too and cocked her head.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Jarod opened his mouth but was afraid that unwanted words would tumble out which he would not be able to take back.

"Miss Parker, I…" he began and only noticed that he had adressed her by the wrong name when he had already said it. She shook her head and he was glad that she was about to interrupt his ramblings, when suddenly the smile slid off her face just like her blouse had in the bathroom the day before. She was staring at something behind Jarod's back and he turned around to find Amanda standing in the doorway.

She looked tiny and pale as usual, her dark hair framing her anxious-looking face from which large somewhat empty eyes were staring up at them. She had cradled a teddybear to her chest and simply stood motionless, waiting to be noticed.

He turned around and touched her shoulder lightly. There was no sign that she recognized him, but she willingly followed them back into the room none of the other kids wanted to share with her because they had branded her "creepy".
Amanda sat down on the bed and fixed her unsettling gaze on Miss Parker who looked uneasy immediatley. She wasn't good with children at all and they tended to notice that.

Miss Parker swallowed and looked at Jarod as if searching for approval and so he nodded.

"Hi Amanda. I'm Par…I'm Susanne."

She had almost thrown her spoon at him when he had made her practise the German pronounciation of the name for what seemed like the hundredth time but now she was doing remarkably well.

The little girl didn't answer but neither of them had expected her to.

Miss Parker hesitated, then simply looked at Jarod for help. He had told her before that she would have to gain Amanda's trust before she could try talking to her for real.

What he hadn't told her was that he had no idea whether this whole experiment stood any chance of working at all. It was most likely that Amanda would remain as unresponsive as she was right now and never take to Miss Parker or anyone else.

He sat down next to Amanda and did what he always did. He told her what he had been up to during the last days and explained how he had flown to Delaware and how he had spilled his lemonade all over himself. Any other child would have laughed at the thought but Amanda simply looked at Jarod with her large eyes. At least she seemed to be listening at all.

After a while he glanced at Miss Parker who had sat down on the unoccupied other bed and looked lost. He didn't notice that Amanda's gaze had followed his and fixed on Miss Parker's face who was biting her lower lip again, probably trying to replace her emotional pain with physical one.

"Miss Parker?" he addressed her softly enough, but she was so startled that she bit her lip for real this time. She had suffered worse injuries by far in her life, but she still gave a little yelp with pain as blood began to run down her chin.

"Oh Parker!" Jarod approached her quickly and gently put his handkerchief to her bleeding lip. He didn't mind that she didn't like to be touched right now, but was eager to lessen Parker's pain and at the same time anxious to hide the blood from Amanda.

Miss Parker looked up into Jarod's eyes and felt like a stupid little girl that had to be comforted by a grown-up. It was only for seconds that she allowed herself to indulge in the feeling of someone taking care of her, then she took the handkerchief away from him and stood up quickly.

That was when she saw Amanda who had curled up on her bed, buried her head in the teddybear's fur and rocked herself back and forward slightly.

"Oh no!" Jarod muttered, then walked over to Amanda and carefully put her covers over her and then stepped back again.

Miss Parker's lip was throbbing but her concern was for once directed at someone else.

"Aren't you going to comfort her at all?" she whispered, eyes glued to the tiny girl.

"No," Jarod whispered back, now so close to her that their cheeks almost touched. "We've tried many times when was in that condition, but she will only start thrashing."

Miss Parker's speech was slightly muffled by the handkerchief that was dotted with dark red spots already: "It was the sight of the blood that caused this, wasn't it?"

He nodded, trying not to inhale her scent.

"So it's my fault…"

"No. I shouldn't have startled you."

"No, I shouldn't have…" She interrupted herself midsentence and smiled which made her wince in pain a second later. "I was just thinking about how nicely we are treating each other. Quite the change…," she whispered conspirationally.

"Let's go outside so when can get some ice for your lip," he offered but she shook her head.

"Has she ever become like this because of blood before?" she asked and Jarod frowned.

"Not as far as I know. Her anxiety attacks are usually triggered by loud noises that resemble gunshots. Like slammed doors. Happens here quite often," he added with a sad smile.

Miss Parker looked lost in her own thoughts for a moment, then carefully removed the handkerchief from her mouth. Amanda was still staring at nothing in particular and if she had seen the movement, she didn't show it.

"I would like to try something if you allow me to," Miss Parker said. Her lip was already slightly swollen and dried blood stuck to her chin.

"Don't you want to clean up first?" Jaord asked, but she just shook her head.

"That's the whole point. Stay where you are."

Even while spoken quietly, her command did not allow for objections, so Jarod did as he was told, standing in the middle of the room with an uneasy feeling. Was he doing the right thing in allowing her to do as she thought was right? She wasn't exactly known to be very considerate. What if…?

Miss Parker approached the bed and sat on its edge like someone who settled down for telling a goodnight story. She carefully reached out for Amanda and let her hand linger over her hair before she brushed her fingertips against it.

Jarod could barely make out the words she said to Amanda: "Look up, little one. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Amanda remained holding on to her teddybear as if for dear life. Miss Parker didn't let this worry her and carefully wiped a strand of hair from Amanda's forehead, brushing her nose with her index-finger. Then she touched her hand to the blood that was still welling up from her lip and brought her thumb and index-finger together, smearing it.

The muscles in Jarod's back tightened. He hadn't expected her to torture the child. Had he been wrong? Was Miss Parker once again acting on her mean streak and trying to scare this already terrified child as she frequently did with Broots?

But he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Look, it's just a little blood. It doesn't hurt too much and it is not dangerous, see?"

Miss Parker patted her bottom lip with the handkerchief again, but did not wince this time.

Amanda's gaze focused for the first time and alarm crossed her face as she focused on Miss Parker fingers.

"Don't be afraid," Miss Parker soothed in a tone of voice that Jarod had never heard from her before. That was how she would talk to her own children, he realized with sudden clarity.

"I know that the last time you've seen something like this, something horrible happened, but I'm fine, you see? I will not die. Just look a little strange for a day or two."

For a moment nothing happened, then Amanda sat up and reached for Miss Parker's hand. She winced very slightly when Amanda's little fingers closed around hers and brought her hand closer for inspection.

After a long while Amanda looked up at Miss Parker and her eyes didn't look as void anymore. Jarod breathed a sigh of relief at the scene. Amanda usually remained in that state for at least a few hours without anything they'd been able to do.

Miss Parker smiled and carefully reached out to touch Amanda's hair again. The girl leaned into the touch and then tentatively snuggled into Miss Parker's shoulder. The woman brought her arm around the girl and slowly began to stroke her back.

Jarod had no idea how she had done it, but he knew that it would be okay to leave the two of them alone for a while. When he was at the door he turned back one last time and saw that there was a lonely tear sliding down Miss Parker's cheek.