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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
By the way, I'm going to throw in my disclaimer here since I forgot before: I don't own Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney, T. Tanaka, Lyle, Broots, Mr. Parker, Raines, The Centre, or Blue Cove, Delaware (Hmmm... :-)). Just borrowing them for a bit of harmless fun...
Part Three: Further Revelations
Jarod's mind was in overdrive, his hands were barely steady, his heart barely contained within the confinement of his chest. With Miss Parker's words, he'd felt a great release, and the last answer seemed to fall into place. The loss Jarod had felt for years, though not physical, had pulled at his soul and confused him worse than anything the Centre had done before. He was not missing his mother, father, brothers, even his sister. He was not missing freedom or stability. For the years he'd been free, and even before then, he was missing his memories, his children, and the woman he'd once been allowed to touch without the confines of glass between them.
He slid the DSA into the slot on the silver case, and glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping MIss Parker, before settling his gaze on the screen. Sydney moved to stand behind him, his brow creased with concern and confusion, yet he knew all the while that something was linking his children together.
The date was August 17th, 1988. Miss Parker had returned from her schooling and was wandering the walls kind of haplessly, hoping beyond hope that Jarod would jump out and rescue her from the hell she was in. And he did.
"Miss Parker!"
"Jarod!"
They giggled and laughed in a way similar to how they'd done as children, though they were now in their twenties. Finally releasing each other from their hugs, she whispered to her companion, "Hide me, Jar. I don't want to go home tonight, it's so lonely."
Jarod nodded and grinned again, "Come on! I know the best place for hiding! Angelo showed it to me!"
They moved towards the area out of range of the camera that was capturing the DSA. "Angelo's still here? Really? I brought some Cracker Jacks for him, just in case! Where is he? I miss him, too!"
They chattered on like teenagers, their voices slowly filtering out of the microphone's range as well.
"Wonderful," a voice hissed, sort of breathlessly, into the darkness. "Mirage... will continue. Who better... than the daughter... with gifts even more... pronounced... than Cath...erine's?" The other figure, who was walking stoically beside Raines into the darkness of the outer hallway, nodded.
"True, Dr. Raines. Very true..."
Jarod removed the DSA, and placed another one in, oblivious still to Sydney's grimacing figure standing behind him.
The scene opened on September 30th, 1988. Two figures, shrouded again by the darkness familiar to their prison, snuggled together underneath the white sheets of a sterile-looking bed. Their peace was shattered when several men stormed into the room. Jarod was pulled in one direction, screaming and beating at his captors, while being told, "It's time for your brainwashing, Jarod. You won't be seeing Miss Parker again for a while..."
Miss Parker's father slapped her angrily, then ordered a sweeper to pull her from the bed and to his office, the opposite direction Jarod was going. She cried with rage and fear, yelling, "No! Jarod! Jarod! Help! Jarod!" and struggling against the sweeper.
Several minutes and silence later, Raines' and Mr. Parker's voices again filtered into the silence as they stepped into the small cell. "The conception has occurred."
"How can you be so sure?" Parker responded, glaring at the older man.
"Never doubt *a* Pretender. NEVER doubt *two* Pretenders, and forces beyond our control."
"What if these forces beyond our control allow them to find each other, and their children, again?" Parker asked.
"We make the children available to Miss Parker, for a short while at least. If one of them turns out to not be a very good Pretender, the boy, for instance, then we offer her the option to... buy... him back. We keep the girl. Once the boy is gone, we wipe her memory and then set the two up as adversaries. She's never going to know why he doesn't remember this... incident, so she'll be angry. Then, when and if he does remember, he'll never understand why, after she's forgotten, that she doesn't recall it. Very good plan, don't you think? If they never work together, we'll never fall apart." He paused, "You recall Project Clairsentience? It was never continued because of an unacceptable mother-daughter pair."
"You wanted to continue it with Catherine and my daughter," Mr. Parker acknowledged.
"Yes, but you interfered. Will you interfere this time? Miss Parker has her mother's gift, probably more than her mother's gift. She has the ability... not just to hear things... but to feel things. She will want to feel... the girl's pain. She may be our biggest asset yet. This project may save us all," Raines paused again, "Or kill us all. We will try, and we will succeed. With our Pretenders, and Miss Parker, as a Pretender and a... Feeler, ... our team will be unstoppable. We can perfect... the projects. Mirage..."
Mr. Parker nodded, thoughtfully. "Edna, Margaret, and Catherine... they hated Mirage."
"Do you doubt me?" Raines asked, testing the other man. He was growing quite annoyed.
With slight hesitation, he said, "It's not you I doubt. It's our fate. Our wives were the Centre. Our children... will be."
Jarod slid the disk out and shut the DSA case, finally turning to see Sydney standing behind him. "Why... didn't you... intervene?"
"I'm sorry Jarod, I didn't know. You have to believe... I would've saved you and Miss Parker if I had known."
His answer was soft, simple, and for Sydney, heartfelt.
Jarod nodded, his voice breaking as he spoke. He did not feel like battling with Sydney. "They turned us against each other, Sydney, when it's us. The Centre is us. And our children. We have to find..."
The front door flew open and Nikolas walked in quickly, holding the hand of a girl looking quite like him. Broots nervously looked out the door as he walked in behind them, then shut it quickly. The girl, his sister, had red-rimmed eyes and sort of tangled hair, and there were fading red marks on her bare arms, and a light scratch running from her forehead to her chin, right at the hairline. Both children looked more like they were eight or nine, due to the Centre's machinations, Sydney assumed. Not to worry, he decided, he, Jarod, and Miss Parker would have them overgrown before long. She'd probably even master the art of cooking just to help them.
Upon seeing the woman lying on the couch, barely sleeping, her clothes in disarray and her hand resting over her abdomen, the children both rushed to her, startling and waking her at once. Miss Parker sat up, at first looking bewildered, but upon seeing Jarod's knowing smile she calmed.
She gathered the two twelve-year-olds into her arms, and pulled them up onto the couch. Tears began to drip from her eyes sporadically as she alternated between kissing and hugging each child, pulling them tight into her sides. She murmured, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, so sorry," into the girl's hair, then turned to Jarod, who was watching, afraid to do anything. Miss Parker supposed he felt a bit like a third wheel. She reached her hand toward him, and he glanced nervously at it, before taking it, and she pulled him towards them, and nodded toward the adjacent couch cushion.
He was anxious, thoughts thundering through his mind, wondering if his children would like him or not, wondering if they'd want him for a father, or if they'd rather he were dead. All of these notions lept from his mind with the small smile she gave him, and then she chuckled to herself, the pain gone, but the difficulty in breathing was not. "You're crushing me, angels."
Both children looked startled, and the girl instantly looked scared. "Not that I mind in the least, come back here," she told the girl, who'd fallen back, towards the couch arm. "I'm never going to let you go again. That is, after your father's had a turn. Nikolas, Katya, meet your father, Jarod. Jarod, these are your... our children. I'm sorry it took so long for us to find one another," she whispered, so that Sydney and Broots could not hear, "But we'll never be apart again. I'll see to that."
The children looked at him worriedly, both wondering whether or not he'd like them, just as he was wondering only moments before. They sat up, almost simultaneously, and felt the hands at their backs, their mother's hands. She was urging them on, to their father. Jarod's eyes were wide, unassuming, adoring, loving, gentle. "Our children," his voice cracked, and his eyes were filled with tears. He slid closer to Miss Parker and pulled the girl and boy into his arms, rocking them back and forth.
"Our children," he murmured again, letting go of Katy for an instant, just long enough to pull Miss Parker into his embrace as well. She stiffened at first, but relaxed within seconds, remembering the lover's embrace from nearly thirteen years before.
She smiled back at him over their heads, "Yes, Jarod. Our children. Our family."
Sydney and Broots sat in the recliners across from the couch, watching the reunion with a mixture of confusion, understanding, love, and fear. When the Centre found one of their experiments missing...
"Our answers," Jarod finished.
Part Three: Further Revelations
Jarod's mind was in overdrive, his hands were barely steady, his heart barely contained within the confinement of his chest. With Miss Parker's words, he'd felt a great release, and the last answer seemed to fall into place. The loss Jarod had felt for years, though not physical, had pulled at his soul and confused him worse than anything the Centre had done before. He was not missing his mother, father, brothers, even his sister. He was not missing freedom or stability. For the years he'd been free, and even before then, he was missing his memories, his children, and the woman he'd once been allowed to touch without the confines of glass between them.
He slid the DSA into the slot on the silver case, and glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping MIss Parker, before settling his gaze on the screen. Sydney moved to stand behind him, his brow creased with concern and confusion, yet he knew all the while that something was linking his children together.
The date was August 17th, 1988. Miss Parker had returned from her schooling and was wandering the walls kind of haplessly, hoping beyond hope that Jarod would jump out and rescue her from the hell she was in. And he did.
"Miss Parker!"
"Jarod!"
They giggled and laughed in a way similar to how they'd done as children, though they were now in their twenties. Finally releasing each other from their hugs, she whispered to her companion, "Hide me, Jar. I don't want to go home tonight, it's so lonely."
Jarod nodded and grinned again, "Come on! I know the best place for hiding! Angelo showed it to me!"
They moved towards the area out of range of the camera that was capturing the DSA. "Angelo's still here? Really? I brought some Cracker Jacks for him, just in case! Where is he? I miss him, too!"
They chattered on like teenagers, their voices slowly filtering out of the microphone's range as well.
"Wonderful," a voice hissed, sort of breathlessly, into the darkness. "Mirage... will continue. Who better... than the daughter... with gifts even more... pronounced... than Cath...erine's?" The other figure, who was walking stoically beside Raines into the darkness of the outer hallway, nodded.
"True, Dr. Raines. Very true..."
Jarod removed the DSA, and placed another one in, oblivious still to Sydney's grimacing figure standing behind him.
The scene opened on September 30th, 1988. Two figures, shrouded again by the darkness familiar to their prison, snuggled together underneath the white sheets of a sterile-looking bed. Their peace was shattered when several men stormed into the room. Jarod was pulled in one direction, screaming and beating at his captors, while being told, "It's time for your brainwashing, Jarod. You won't be seeing Miss Parker again for a while..."
Miss Parker's father slapped her angrily, then ordered a sweeper to pull her from the bed and to his office, the opposite direction Jarod was going. She cried with rage and fear, yelling, "No! Jarod! Jarod! Help! Jarod!" and struggling against the sweeper.
Several minutes and silence later, Raines' and Mr. Parker's voices again filtered into the silence as they stepped into the small cell. "The conception has occurred."
"How can you be so sure?" Parker responded, glaring at the older man.
"Never doubt *a* Pretender. NEVER doubt *two* Pretenders, and forces beyond our control."
"What if these forces beyond our control allow them to find each other, and their children, again?" Parker asked.
"We make the children available to Miss Parker, for a short while at least. If one of them turns out to not be a very good Pretender, the boy, for instance, then we offer her the option to... buy... him back. We keep the girl. Once the boy is gone, we wipe her memory and then set the two up as adversaries. She's never going to know why he doesn't remember this... incident, so she'll be angry. Then, when and if he does remember, he'll never understand why, after she's forgotten, that she doesn't recall it. Very good plan, don't you think? If they never work together, we'll never fall apart." He paused, "You recall Project Clairsentience? It was never continued because of an unacceptable mother-daughter pair."
"You wanted to continue it with Catherine and my daughter," Mr. Parker acknowledged.
"Yes, but you interfered. Will you interfere this time? Miss Parker has her mother's gift, probably more than her mother's gift. She has the ability... not just to hear things... but to feel things. She will want to feel... the girl's pain. She may be our biggest asset yet. This project may save us all," Raines paused again, "Or kill us all. We will try, and we will succeed. With our Pretenders, and Miss Parker, as a Pretender and a... Feeler, ... our team will be unstoppable. We can perfect... the projects. Mirage..."
Mr. Parker nodded, thoughtfully. "Edna, Margaret, and Catherine... they hated Mirage."
"Do you doubt me?" Raines asked, testing the other man. He was growing quite annoyed.
With slight hesitation, he said, "It's not you I doubt. It's our fate. Our wives were the Centre. Our children... will be."
Jarod slid the disk out and shut the DSA case, finally turning to see Sydney standing behind him. "Why... didn't you... intervene?"
"I'm sorry Jarod, I didn't know. You have to believe... I would've saved you and Miss Parker if I had known."
His answer was soft, simple, and for Sydney, heartfelt.
Jarod nodded, his voice breaking as he spoke. He did not feel like battling with Sydney. "They turned us against each other, Sydney, when it's us. The Centre is us. And our children. We have to find..."
The front door flew open and Nikolas walked in quickly, holding the hand of a girl looking quite like him. Broots nervously looked out the door as he walked in behind them, then shut it quickly. The girl, his sister, had red-rimmed eyes and sort of tangled hair, and there were fading red marks on her bare arms, and a light scratch running from her forehead to her chin, right at the hairline. Both children looked more like they were eight or nine, due to the Centre's machinations, Sydney assumed. Not to worry, he decided, he, Jarod, and Miss Parker would have them overgrown before long. She'd probably even master the art of cooking just to help them.
Upon seeing the woman lying on the couch, barely sleeping, her clothes in disarray and her hand resting over her abdomen, the children both rushed to her, startling and waking her at once. Miss Parker sat up, at first looking bewildered, but upon seeing Jarod's knowing smile she calmed.
She gathered the two twelve-year-olds into her arms, and pulled them up onto the couch. Tears began to drip from her eyes sporadically as she alternated between kissing and hugging each child, pulling them tight into her sides. She murmured, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, so sorry," into the girl's hair, then turned to Jarod, who was watching, afraid to do anything. Miss Parker supposed he felt a bit like a third wheel. She reached her hand toward him, and he glanced nervously at it, before taking it, and she pulled him towards them, and nodded toward the adjacent couch cushion.
He was anxious, thoughts thundering through his mind, wondering if his children would like him or not, wondering if they'd want him for a father, or if they'd rather he were dead. All of these notions lept from his mind with the small smile she gave him, and then she chuckled to herself, the pain gone, but the difficulty in breathing was not. "You're crushing me, angels."
Both children looked startled, and the girl instantly looked scared. "Not that I mind in the least, come back here," she told the girl, who'd fallen back, towards the couch arm. "I'm never going to let you go again. That is, after your father's had a turn. Nikolas, Katya, meet your father, Jarod. Jarod, these are your... our children. I'm sorry it took so long for us to find one another," she whispered, so that Sydney and Broots could not hear, "But we'll never be apart again. I'll see to that."
The children looked at him worriedly, both wondering whether or not he'd like them, just as he was wondering only moments before. They sat up, almost simultaneously, and felt the hands at their backs, their mother's hands. She was urging them on, to their father. Jarod's eyes were wide, unassuming, adoring, loving, gentle. "Our children," his voice cracked, and his eyes were filled with tears. He slid closer to Miss Parker and pulled the girl and boy into his arms, rocking them back and forth.
"Our children," he murmured again, letting go of Katy for an instant, just long enough to pull Miss Parker into his embrace as well. She stiffened at first, but relaxed within seconds, remembering the lover's embrace from nearly thirteen years before.
She smiled back at him over their heads, "Yes, Jarod. Our children. Our family."
Sydney and Broots sat in the recliners across from the couch, watching the reunion with a mixture of confusion, understanding, love, and fear. When the Centre found one of their experiments missing...
"Our answers," Jarod finished.
