Jarod slowly opened his eyes, only to see a blurry white
room. He blinked a couple times and found the blurry
white room was just a white room. He shivered violently
at the familiar surroundings and almost went into a
panic. Unwanted memories flooded back to him and he
jolted upright on his cot, gasping out loud at the pain in
his stomach and head. He clutched his abdomen and
moaned.

Lying back down slowly, an unwelcome sob rose from
his throat. I’m so sorry Barb, he thought, tightly
closing his eyes as he lay there on his side. Opening
them again he stared off toward the wall across the
room, but he was somewhere else entirely.

~ “I’ll be here as long as you need me, Baby Brown. As
long as you need me,” ~ her kind voice echoed in his
head. A single tear made its way down his cheek. The
huge lump formed in his stomach again, feeling the
loneliness and the sorrow resume his body. The
psychical pain was nothing to the pain he felt inside.

~ “Honey, you need someone to love.”

Jarod snapped his eyes to her face. “Why? I’ve got
along fine without it my whole life…” he said sadly.

“If you don’t have love and trust in your life, then
what’s left?” ~

The memory of the night when Jarod and her had talked
flooded his mind. He clenched his teeth and shut his
eyes, trying not to let the sadness of the memories
return. Making a fist around the blanket under him he
began to sob as the horrible memory consumed his
conscience.

~ “Freeze Jarod! Or the old lady gets it!” one sweeper
shouted, holding a gun to Barb’s head with his arm
around her neck. Jarod froze and stared at Barb in
terror.

“Run Jarod!” she screamed.

“What will it be Jarod?” Miss Parker asked.

Jarod swallowed hard, looking back at Barbara and just
stared. Barb pleaded with him with her eyes. She
mouthed the word, ‘leave’, but Jarod shook his head.

“Jarod, make up your mind! Either you have Barb’s
blood on the floor or you come back with us.” ~

My fault, he sobbed, letting the sobs shake his
entire body. “Oh god, Barb,” he whispered, his voice
cracking from his tears. His knuckles turned white as he
clenched hard on the sheets, trying not to let the worst of
the memory return.

~ BANG!

“BARBARA!” Jarod screamed, running towards her
fallen figure. Two sweepers got in Jarod’s path and
grabbed him. “NO! BARB!” he screamed, tears running
down his face. ~

Jarod’s whole body was shaking violently from his
emotions. Every time he would try to stop crying and not
think of Barb and Bliss, the tears became worse. “No…”
he whispered hoarsely, the sobs too much to bare.
The pain in his stomach became worse by the second
from his weeping, but his mind wasn’t tuned on the
physical pain. The emotional made his heart grow
heavier and heavier. He wanted to scream!

“No! Please god…” he whispered.

Sydney, his hand over his mouth, watched sadly as his
pet project wept and wept for over an hour. He wanted
so bad to go down there and tell him that it was going to
be okay, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to do so.

He turned from the monitor on his desk and looked at
Miss Parker as she entered with a folder in her hand.
She stopped in the doorway and cocked her head to the
side in confusion at Sydney’s pained face.

“What is it Syd?” she asked softly.

Sydney looked into her like a cat looking at its mouse.
He slowly brought his hand from his mouth and wearily
pointed to the screen before him. Miss Parker slowly
entered Sydney’s office and came around his desk
to look over his shoulder at the small screen before him.

It was from the camera in Jarod’s room, where the
pretender was lying on his bed, eyes shut tightly and
tears consuming his face once more. Miss Parker
watched sadly as he wept. Watching as the sobs
quaked his body.

She inhaled sharply as she whispered into Sydney’s ear,

“You are just torturing yourself, Syd.”

She heard the sharp breath Sydney took in as well
before she stepped back a little, trying to block out the
sound of Jarod’s weeping. Sydney looked over his
shoulder at her and stared.

“They won’t let me see him, Parker,” Sydney whispered
sadly.

“Why not?” Miss Parker snapped.

Ignoring her he went on, pointing to the screen of Jarod’s
room behind him, “This is the only way I get to see him.”

“Why wouldn’t they let you see him, Sydney?” she asked
slowly, placing her hands on his hips. Sydney shook his
head. Just then, they heard a new noise from the
speaker on the screen other than Jarod’s cries. They
both turned back to the monitor and watched as two of
Raines’ goons walked in and grabbed Jarod by the arm.

“Get up,” one of the men roared at Jarod. Jarod had
controlled his sobbing down to taking short deep
breathes, still staring off towards the wall, ignoring the
hand on his arm. “Get up now, freak!” the man roared
again, tugging roughly on the pretender’s arm, pulling
him half way off the bed, then letting him drop to the
mattress again.

“What the hell is this?” Miss Parker asked over Sydney
shoulder as they watched open-mouthed.

“Raines wants to see you! Get up!” the man in black
shouted, taking both hands and grabbing Jarod roughly
by the arm, pulling him off the bed entirely. Jarod let out a
sob between pain and sorrow as he was forced to his
feet.

“Raines?” Sydney repeated, watching in horror as both
men roughly pushed Jarod, face down, on the bed and
pulled his hands behind his back. Jarod let out a
whimper of pain as they snapped the handcuffs on his
wrists, drawing blood from a cut that was caused by the
rough edge of metal.

Sydney leaped to his feet and took off for the elevator,
Miss Parker taking off after him.

Jarod tightly shut his eyes, trying to block out the panic
and pain, trying to rid the man’s voice from his mind.

“Open your damn eyes!” he heard the man shout at him.
As he opened his eyes, he was just in time to see the
hand come at him quickly for another slap, this time
harder. Jarod’s head snapped to the left, the echo of
flesh echoing through the room again.

“Hey!” the heard an old accented voice shout from the
door. Both sweepers and Jarod looked over at the
doorway to see Sydney standing there, Miss Parker
standing behind him, either one of them looking
happy. “What do you two think you are doing?”

The man that stood in front of Jarod stared at Sydney for
a moment before smiling evilly. “Retrieving Raines’
project.”

“Raines’?” Sydney asked angrily.

“Yeah. He belongs to Raines now.”

“Over my dead body!” Sydney shouted, taking a step
towards the three that stood in the middle of the cell.

The main sweeper pulled out his gun and aimed it at the
old man.

“Gladly!” he shouted. Jarod inhaled sharply as he
watched both men stare at each other, before the older
man stepped back in defeat. The sweeper smiled. “If you
have a problem with this arrangement, go talk to Mr.
Parker,” he answered, glancing briefly at Miss Parker’s
wide-eyed expression. “He’ll tell you what’s going on.”

“Daddy, you can’t be serious!” Miss Parker said in
astonishment, as Sydney leaped to his feet.

“Mr. Parker!” Sydney shouted at him.

“Sydney, sit down,” Mr. Parker roared in his deep,
threatening voice.

Sydney obeyed reluctantly. “Raines has talked to me
about the issue and I agreed with him. Jarod will
probably be… suborn about finishing his sims since he's
had a real taste of the ‘outside’ world. Raines suggested
he take Jarod, perform experiments with him-“

“You mean on him!” Miss Parker snapped. Her
father ignored her.

“And shall I say… break him in? After a week… couple
weeks, you will have him again Sydney.”

“What do you mean, ‘break him in’? You mean beat him
don’t you?” Sydney asked.

“I have no idea how Raines tends to-“

“Raines will beat him to death, daddy!” Miss Parker
shouted at her father. Her father’s eyes snapped to her
face and was about to say something when Sydney cut
in.

“Fine, but only if I can check on him and supervise the
experiments,” Sydney bargained, but Mr. Parker was
already shaking his head.

“Won’t allow it. Another reason Raines made clear is
your obvious affection for the pretender. Before you took
the prodigy under your wing, you agreed no feelings
were going to be involved. You broke that promise
Sydney. It is very dangerous for you to care for-“

“No, it’s not dangerous to care for him. You are just
afraid I might let him escape,” Sydney said, his aged
eyes baring into the other old man.

“Again?”

Sydney stared at Mr. Parker in confusion. “I never helped
him. He escaped on his own.”

Mr. Parker looked away from the man in front of him to
shuffle some papers on his desk before linking his
fingers together and placing them on the pile
comfortably. “Your request to see the pretender is
denied. You will not so much as watch him on the
surveillance tape. If we do find you sneaking
communication to him, what so ever, I will order Jarod to
the isolation room in SL-27 with no food or contact with
anyone for a week. And if I see you so much as sneak a
peek at him through a doorway or hallway, I will have the
pretender killed, you got that?”

Sydney swallowed at the thought. “What if it's an
accident?”

Mr. Parker shook his head slowly. “There will be none.”

Sydney briefly shut his eyes before looking down to the
floor in consideration. “It be only a week,” Sydney
stated.

“Two at the most.”

“Only one week.”

“Sydney you are in no position to decide how long
Raines will have Jarod. Two at the most!”

Miss Parker looked at Sydney and gave him a warning
look. Sydney eyed Miss Parker quickly before returning
his gaze back to the head chairman.

“Fine,” Sydney snapped, getting up from his chair.

As Miss Parker and Sydney turned to leave, Mr. Parker
spoke again.

“Sydney?”

Sydney turned to look over his shoulder. “If you act up
like that again… I will have you fired. Take that as your
warning.”

The first couple days working for Raines was hell. Jarod
tried to do what he was told, but Raines and his goons
would find something he did wrong and had another
reason to beat him.

Jarod glanced up at Raines briefly, making sure he
wasn’t mad, before he slowly walked around, clenching
his teeth so he would ignore the pain in his stomach and
studied the objects on the table. It was evidence from a
murder investigation and he had to figure out who the
murder was before the day was over.

Jarod let out a sigh as he lifted the black glove from the
table. Studying it carefully for a second, he found it
useless at the moment and tossed it back to the table.
He briefly glanced at Raines again to see if he didn’t
disappoint him in anyway before continuing on with the
other items. Picking up the ski mask, he studied it as
careful as the glove before tossing it back to the table
again.

“Jarod, are you in anyway trying to make me mad?”
Raines hissed. Jarod looked up at the bald man and
desperately tried to control the shiver that rolled down his
spine.

“No,” Jarod replied.

Raines cocked his head to the side. “No? That’s it?”

Jarod stared at him in confusion. Jarod took the second
to think of what this man wanted from him, but before he
could do so, he had his hands pinned behind his back
painfully. Jarod gasped in pain and watched as the bald
man walked over to him, pulling his breath of life behind
him with an eerie squeak.

“No, what?” Raines wheezed.

Jarod stared at him for a second, his lower lip quivering.
What did he want from him? Jarod’s mind was so fuzzy
he couldn’t think straight.

Raines rose his hand quickly and slapped Jarod’s jaw to
the side. “No what?” Raines screamed. Jarod, his face
still off to the side, closed his eyes tightly, preparing for
another hit. “No sir!” Raines shouted.

Jarod winced in surprise. Raines stared at him, his
breath wheezing steadily, evil in his glare.

“Beat him,” Raines simply said.

Jarod’s eyes snapped open and watched as the man
walked away with his eerie squeal of his tank before the
sweepers surrounded him like the night swarmed the
day.

Three days have gone by, almost in slow motion it
seemed. Every night, the tears and pain would become
stronger and his hatred towards Raines grew. He laid on
his bed, curled in a tight ball, hugging his knees and
staring off across the room. After an hour of so of just
plain weeping, he grew tired and found himself lying
there and taking short rugged breaths, desperately trying
to control his breathing.

The pain, oh the pain. It ate at him alive. Even though the
way he laid was very painful, he found himself curling into
a tighter ball. He let out a loud, slow whimper and shut
his eyes tightly. Never in his life has he felt so alone and
frightened. He wanted to die; anything would be better
than this hell. Maybe he could die. Just let death take
him, forget trying to be brave and fight. Just let the angel
of death wrap its wings around him and pull him away.

Oh… that would be so easy and peaceful. He almost
smiled at the thought of death, but at that found himself
truly sad. Never in his life had he ever wanted to die.
That scared him to think that he now wanted death. It
was so easy to reach out and grasp.

“Hey freak!” the sweeper shouted from the door. Jarod
made no sign of recognition. “Raines wants you now.”

Jarod closed his eyes, trying to make him go away. As
he listened to the footsteps come closer to him in the
room, he wanted death more than ever. Now, his
mind screamed, Angel of death take me, please!

The sweepers had practically carried him down to the
sim lab since he was too weak to walk on his own. They
pulled him into the room and roughly threw him on a
table. Confused, Jarod looked around weakly, as the
sweepers strapped him down to the table.

Finally, Raines came in view, an bitter smile on his old
lips.

“Finally I get to do this to you,” he wheezed. Confused,
Jarod tried to speak, but only made a raspy sound.

Jarod shivered violently as he heard the wheezy chuckle
of his enemy. “Don’t try to fight it Jarod. Just… relax and
let the drug do its work.”

Jarod wanted to ask what was going on, but was so
weak. He only let out a small whimper as he felt the prick
of the needle in his arm. Oh god, take me now…
please, he thought, as the drug caused his whole
body begin to tingle and become numb. He watched as
one of the men in the room walked up to him and smiled
coldly down at him. He reached out and pinched Jarod in
the arm. Jarod watched as the fingertips of the man
squeezed his flesh. Jarod had seen it, but didn’t feel it.
His whole body… it was numb!

Jarod felt the panic arose through him as he tried to
wiggle his fingers but couldn’t.

“Relax prodigy,” the man said in the deepest voice Jarod
has ever heard in his life. “We are only testing a virus.”
The man smiled as he watched Jarod’s eyes widen. He
let out a soft chuckle, causing Jarod’s lip to quiver.
“Don’t worry. It shouldn’t kill you. First, your whole
body
will become completely numb, and then you’ll start to
hallucinate, loosing control of your mind. You will start to
shiver violently and will go through series of cold and hot
flashes. And last, but certainly not least… we will have
complete control over your mind.” Jarod’s eyes
widened. “Where will mold it into what we want and when
the drug where’s off… you’ll be doing things you don’t
want to, uncontrollably.”

Jarod already began to see things, or at least, he was
telling himself he was seeing things. He watched as
Sydney stood in the corner of the room, that permanent
smile on his face. The old man’s eyes danced across
Jarod’s body in disgust. As Jarod watched him, Sydney
shook his head in disappointment, his eyes narrowing
and his eyebrows lowering. Jarod’s heart skipped a bit
as the older man turned and walked away. No
Sydney, please help me! Sydney I beg you to help
me! But he was gone.

Jarod closed his eyes, a moan of grief coming from the
base of his throat. Opening them again, he saw
someone… who was it? Barb! No… it was Bliss. She
stared at him; the same look she had given him after she
announced her mother was dead. Jarod inhaled sharply,
the pain in his heart grew worse.

His body slowly began to shiver on its own as she
approached him. She stood over him, watching as he
shook violently, his breath getting caught in his throat.
She shook her head slowly in disgust, watching his
body quake repeatedly on the table, his ankles and
wrists strapped down. He tried to read her lips as she
moved them, trying to concentrate on her other than the
constant movement his body took on. Her lips moved ‘I
hate you,’ and Jarod felt his whole world crash down, the
burning heat flushing over his body. Not able to take it
any longer, the blackness consumed his consciousness.

He let a whimper escape his bruised lips as he
remembered the testing he took last night; of how he
snapped to attention automatically, saying ‘sir’ after
every sentence and never making eye contact. He
swallowed, his dry throat burned, still tasting blood in his
mouth. What did they do to me? He was now
watching his actions closely, but still couldn’t solve the
sims accurately. Too much was in his head, he couldn’t
think straight.

Two, three, maybe four of his ribs were broken, again he
was unsure. He tried to count them, but was too weak to
do so. He let out a moan again, squeezing his eyes shut.
I want Barb, he thought sadly.

That familiar lump formed in his stomach again. “Oh
no…” he wined, his voice cracking. The burning in his
throat became worse as the memories flooded to him
again at the thought of Barb’s name. He let out a sob
that quaked his body and he moaned in pain at the
movement. Unable to control it anymore… the sobs
returned, shooting pain down his body. He let out a soft
scream of pain as the tears ran down his face.

“God, Parker, I can’t take this anymore!” Sydney
shouted, slumping down in his chair.

Miss Parker shook her head and sat down in the chair
across from his desk. “Sydney, I’m sure he is fine,” she
said, not believing it herself.

Sydney shook his head and covered his face with his
hand. “Only one week, Parker, and already I am a
mess!”

Miss Parker briefly closed her eyes. Licking her lips she
leaned forward and whispered, “You want me to see if I
can see him?”

“No… I can’t risk it.”

“I can do it Sydney.”

“What’s your excuse to go down there in the first place?
You can’t just walk down there, walk casually through the
halls and sneak a peek through his door and then walk
back.”

“Broots, he could go down there. Maybe a computer
needs fixing and-“

“Oh Parker,” Sydney wined, covering his face. “I can’t
handle this.”

“You really do care for him, don’t you Syd?”

Sydney looked up at her in surprise. Staring at her for a
long moment he nodded. “I love him like a son, Parker.”

Miss Parker’s mouth curled up a little, before she wiped
it away quickly. Getting to her feet, she walked to the
doorway and looked over her shoulder. “Jarod is
strong… he’ll survive.”

Sydney nodded, a weak smile yanking at his mouth. “I
know he is… I know he will.”

Miss Parker smiled and gave a simple nod, before
leaving from Sydney’s view.

After doing the sim, completely in pain and weakness,
two sweepers literally dragged Jarod back to his room.
Throwing him on his bed roughly, Jarod automatically
curled up into a fetal position, hugging his knees and
shivering as Raines stepped into the doorway his cell.

Speaking to the two sweepers, Raines wheezed, “Ease
off on the punishment, because in a week or so, Sydney
will get him back and… well, we want him in good
shape. But, if necessary, take him to cell 31 and…well,
you know what to do. We have seen too much
misbehavior coming from our little pretender, and until
that day that he performs a complete accurate, no-
problem-what-so-ever, sim… he will see black and blue.”

The two sweepers nodded, following the bald man out of
the room and closing and locking the door behind them.
Jarod was, once again, left alone in his dark room.

Sydney? In a week? Oh, Sydney, please help me…
please! I need you so bad, he let out a sob,
Please…

The sharp pain in his stomach made tears form in his
eyes. He was certain that there were at least two ribs
that needed care. And his head… he was so dizzy that
his head hurt. He almost found himself passing out.

Suddenly, soft fingertips lightly ran over his temple, the
pain disappearing for a split second. Jarod froze like
deer in headlights, waiting for further movement. For a
long minute, there was none, until he felt the same
fingers on his head again, this time lightly running
over his head, through his hair. He closed his eyes, not
caring whom the intruder was, and concentrated on the
soft comfort the person gave to him. The soft skin of the
fingertips ran down his jaw line, over his lips and up the
bridge of his nose. He forgot about the pain and
concentrated on the caressing, the careful movement of
those fingers.

Suddenly, the bed gave way as the intruder sat down
behind him. Jarod felt the breath of the person on his
neck as they leaned over his side, still caressing his
face. Their fingers ran over his forehead, down his
temple, over his nose and then over his lower lip. Jarod
swallowed, his throat dry and tasted the blood. Sensing
the person knew his discomfort, they ran their fingers
over his mouth and Jarod didn’t taste the blood
anymore.

Jarod wanted to mutter a thank you, but couldn’t find the
words as the fingers trailed down to his chin, down his
neck and down to his collar bone. The soft fingers made
small circles on his flesh there, feather light.

Jarod sighed heavily and, for the first time since his
capture, he was finally at peace. The fingers stilled, and
Jarod could feel the intruder lean forward a little, their
breath in his ear and heard then whisper in a kind voice,
“What's the matter, Baby Brown?”

Jarod smiled warmly, not needing to see her face as he
stared off towards the wall.

“Barb,” he whispered, finding his voice completely strong
again.

“I’m here, Baby Brown. I’ll always be here, whenever you
need me, wherever you need me. I’ll be here.”

A dream or not, Barb had given him strength. The next
morning, as Raines’ goons came to retrieve Jarod from
his room, Jarod had walked to the sim lab on his own.
And in the lab, Jarod accurately solved the sim
quickly.

Raines smiled at him evilly as Jarod shut the folder and
looked up at Raines. After a moment of silence, Jarod
softly spoke. “May I return to my cell?”

Raines cocked his head to the side. “Why would you
want to do that, Jarod?”

Jarod swallowed hard, looking briefly to the folder in front
of him.

“Well, I did well and I thought I deserved time to take a
shower and-“

“You do not decide what you deserve Jarod!” Raines
said angrily. Jarod blinked once.

“But I-“

“Are you talking back?” one of Raines’ assistance
asked.

Jarod briefly glanced at the man. “No… I didn’t-“ Jarod
began. Jarod watched in fear as the man leaned
towards Raines and whispered something in his ear,
getting an agreeable nod from Raines.

“Take him to cell 31,” Raines simply said.

“No! I didn’t mean anything by-“ Jarod began.

“Now!” Raines ordered his sweepers. They quickly
rushed in and pulled Jarod to his feet.

“No please, Raines! I didn’t mean anything by it. I-“

Raines shook his head as Jarod was pulled from the lab
screaming.

Numbness… pain… Slash… pain… numbness…
Whip… so much pain… Slap so much…
pain… unbearable… crack… screaming…
Help me!…

“How does that feel?” the man roared in Jarod’s ear.
Jarod whimpered weakly. He couldn’t feel his hands
anymore, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists. He
knew, without even looking up, that his wrists were
bleeding, badly. His whole body burned from the short
whip the man used on him, slashing it at him randomly.
Jarod let out an abrupt scream at every crack of the
whip.

He let out a sob as the man paused between hits and
placed his cold hand on Jarod’s burning back, pressing
cruelly into one of his bleeding welts. Jarod screamed, a
tear running down his cheek, and clenched his teeth
together.

They had stripped him from his shirt, hung him from the
ceiling of the small cell by his wrists and began to place
welts all over Jarod’s weak and bruised body. He had
pleaded with them and told them he would never
upset anyone again, that he would do what they wanted
him to do, but they didn’t give in. They just stepped out of
the light, and let this cruel man take over his body.

An hour… one full painful hour of this torture and
Jarod was now weeping uncontrollably, his sobs quaking
his body once more. He felt the whip lash across his
back hard and he arched forward letting out a scream of
pain.

“No tears!” the man shouted at him from behind, causing
a shiver to go down his spine. “No more tears…”

Jarod swallowed back the sob and took short, ragged
breaths, trying to control his breathing… but was having
a hard time doing so. The man circled around Jarod like
a lion circling the antelope. Jarod’s lower lip quivered in
fear as the man lifted the whip in the air and…
Crack!

Miss Parker walked into Sydney’s office, sitting down
across from Sydney and placing a folder on his desk. He
glanced at her and smiled. She cocked her head to the
side in confusion.

“I get to see Jarod today. I finally get to work with him
again,” Sydney explained. Miss Parker let the smirk
form on her lips.

“Good for you Syd,” she said. He nodded with the small
smile on his face, reaching over and lifting the folder
from his desk. As he flipped through it, Miss Parker
spoke again. “Are you going to want company as
you-“

“Parker? Are you wanting to go down there with me?”

Miss Parker straightened in her chair. “Not if you have to
work. I know how distracting it would be if I was to stand
there and-“

“We won’t be working today,” Sydney replied with a
smile. “You can come. I am taking this day to… get to
know each other again.”

Miss Parker nodded. “But won’t Mr. Raines mind if I am
there?”

“Since when have you cared about what Raines thought?
No, he has no say in it anymore. Jarod’s my pretender
now.”

Miss Parker was having a hard time keeping up with
Sydney’s pace. The man was going at the rate of
100mph and Miss Parker found herself trotting to keep
up with him.

As Sydney reached Jarod’s cell, he quickly glanced at
the guard and then at the door.

“Open the door, please Frank,” Sydney said, his tone
showing just a hint of Syd’s excitement.

“They already took Jarod down to the lab,” the guard
replied in his deep voice. Sydney glanced at the door
briefly before nodding to the guard once and taking off
down the hall, Miss Parker trotting behind him.

Sydney quickly unlocked the lab and stepped inside,
Miss Parker peeking in after him. All the way across the
room, his back towards them, Jarod sat, alone, with his
head bent down in his folded arms. As Sydney and
Miss Parker approached, they stared at him cautiously.
As Sydney circled around the table to stand in front of
him, Syd stared at the hidden face that was tucked in the
crook of his arm. Studying his resting pretender, he
surveyed every detail of him. His long sleeve shirt hid his
arms, his hands were tucked in under his armpits, and
the only flesh he saw was an inch of his face, and that
was only his temple.

Sydney briefly glanced at Miss Parker before sitting
down in front of the pretender, slowly reaching out and
gently placing a hand on his arm. With still no
movement, Sydney gently squeezed.

With that, Jarod jumped in his seat and sat upright. His
eyes widened at the sight of Sydney and Miss Parker
standing before him.

Miss Parker let out the gasp of surprise at his features,
watching as Sydney slowly stood in shock. Jarod had a
huge bruise on his left side of his face, and a long
scratch going down his jaw line on the right side.

Jarod, being trained (beaten) to do so, he looked away
from their stare. “I’m sorry, I fell asleep,” he mumbled. “I
won’t do it again.”

Sydney exchanged looks with Miss Parker before sitting
down. “It’s all right Jarod,” Sydney said slowly, softly.
Sydney reached over to take Jarod’s bloody wrist, but
Jarod flinched and yanked it back.

“I’m sorry,” Jarod apologized quickly.

Sydney stared at him, confusion in his aged eyes,
watching as his project made no eye contact. “What did
they do to you?”

Just then, the door to the sim lab opened, and Raines
appeared in the doorway. At that, Jarod painfully leapt to
his feet, standing as straight as possible as the
weakness and exhaustion tried to pull him back down.
Sydney stood as well, watching as Raines approached
the three.

“What are you doing here?” Raines asked, staring at
Miss Parker.

Miss Parker lifted her chin a little and stared down at the
bald man evilly. “Does it really matter to you?”

Raines stared at her for a few seconds before turning to
Jarod. “If I ever catch you sleeping or as much as rest
your eyes-“

“Are you threatening him?” Sydney asked, stepping
forward.

“It’s called punishment Sydney,” Raines wheezed. “If you
would have used it more on him when he was younger,
he wouldn’t be so stubborn and… difficult,” Raines said,
looking back at Jarod. Jarod swallowed hard and
Sydney caught the movement in his throat.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Sydney asked.

Raines smiled. “Like I said before, Punishment.”

“It’s called abuse!” Miss Parker snapped.

Raines smiled evilly again. “Well, whatever works.”

“You bastard,” Miss Parker said slowly, dangerously.

“Well, as you heard, Sydney, he is yours again,” Raines
said, turning to leave. “Oh, and if he acts up, don’t
hesitate to ask for help.”

Sydney shook his head in disgust, watching as the man
left the room, pulling his tank behind him. Sydney sat
down again with a huff of frustration, as Miss Parker sat
beside him. Sydney looked up and watched as Jarod
stared at him, still standing.

“You can sit Jarod,” he said softly. Jarod slowly lowered
in his seat, quickly looking again from their eyes. Sydney
briefly closed his eyes.

“Jarod, you are okay now. It’s only me,” Sydney said
gently, reaching over the table to give contact to Jarod’s
arm. Jarod flinched in fear and closed his eyes, his
whole body tensing for the hit. Sydney watched in
sadness, gently laying his hand on his arm. Sydney felt
the younger man’s arm tremble at the contact and
frowned in sorrow. “Jarod, I am not going to hurt you.”

Jarod slowly opened his eyes and looked at Sydney
briefly, before lowering his gaze again. No eye
contact, Jarod told himself. His mind was so fuzzy,
he couldn’t think clearly. Hell, he didn’t even know if he
was dreaming or not. Was Sydney really here? He knew
Sydney would never hurt him, but it became a habit to
flinch at anothers touch and he couldn’t help it anymore.
And he knew if he acted up, he would be beaten again
by sweepers later by Raines’ orders. He had been hurt
and beaten so much; it was now instinct to run away
from the others.

Miss Parker watched with great sadness as he flinched
away from Sydney. She had never seen Jarod afraid of
Sydney. Parker shook her head softly in disgust. Never
in her life had she wanted to kill Raines more. She
inhaled deeply as Sydney squeezed a little on Jarod’s
arm, causing Jarod to whimper and yank his arm free.
Sydney let out a low, frustrated sigh, almost a growl as
he pulled his hand back on his side of the table, still
watching Jarod’s fearful expression. Sydney’s eyes
came to meet with Miss Parker’s, softly telling her to get
the first aid kit.

Miss Parker quickly obeyed, getting up from her seat
and walking over to the far end of the corner of the lab,
opening a cabinet and pulling out a white box. She
brought it back to the table and set it down in front of
Sydney, who quickly opened it up and pulled out its
contents. Getting up suddenly to move around the table
to Jarod’s side, Sydney watched as Jarod flinched again
at the sudden movement. Briefly closing his eyes in
sadness, Sydney slowly moved around the table, quietly
sitting down next to Jarod. Sydney watched Jarod’s eyes
as they bounced across every item Sydney held, his
gaze filled with confusion and fear.

“This might sting a little, Jarod,” Sydney said softly,
getting a wide-eyed look from the pretender. Sydney
carefully poured the medicine on the gauze, then lifting it
very slowly, so Jarod wouldn’t get scared, to the cut that
ran down Jarod’s jaw line.

When the gauze and raw flesh was in contact, Jarod let
out a gasp of pain and leaned back suddenly. Sydney, in
instinct, grabbed Jarod’s arm and pulled him back
towards him, getting a scream of pain from Jarod.

“Owe!” Jarod shouted, scrambling out of his seat and
gripping his arm.

“I’m sorry Jarod,” Sydney said as he stood, seeing the
blood begin to show through the white material of
Jarod’s long sleeved shirt. Sydney stepped towards
Jarod slowly and gently grabbed Jarod’s arm. Briefly
glancing up at Jarod’s pained look for warning, Sydney
slowly pulled Jarod’s sleeve up to his elbow.

Miss Parker stood up from her chair, trying to see for
herself as she heard Sydney’s gasp of horror. Now, both
got a good look at Jarod’s wrist, seeing a deep, bloody
cut going all the way around, looking as if the bone was
close to being seen through the gash.

Ropes, Miss Parker thought in utter disgust. And
on Jarod’s arm were welts, bruises and cuts, one of
which was freshly bleeding where Sydney had reopened
it.
Seeing how much blood the cut was shedding, Sydney
cringed.

“I am so sorry, Jarod,” Sydney whispered, looking up at
Jarod again. Jarod’s brown eyes sparkled with unshed
tears, utter pain in his eyes.

Sydney hurt me, Jarod’s blurry mind thought.
Why did he do that?

“Here, sit back down and we’ll fix you all up, okay?”
Sydney’s voice trembled.

Jarod’s pain stricken eyes danced over the table where
the gauze and bottle of alcohol still laid. He felt his arm
being pulled at towards the table. Jarod slowly sat down
and watched as Sydney again lifted the gauze, this time,
lowering it to Jarod’s bleeding arm.

"This is going to sting really bad, but you have to
trust me okay Jarod?” Sydney asked, waiting for a
response from the younger man.

Jarod still stared at the gauze as if it was going jump up
at him and bite him.

“Jarod?” Sydney asked, getting the pretender’s
attention. “ Are you going to trust me on this one?”

Sydney was satisfied when the pretender slowly nodded
his head. Sydney swallowed, slowly lowering the gauze
more when he froze. He looked up at Miss Parker.

“Could you come over here and… hold his hand or
something?” Sydney asked, almost in an embarrassed
whisper.

Miss Parker lifted an eyebrow evilly and just stared at the
man. “Please Parker, it will take his mind off the pain.”
Letting out the most frustrated sigh there’s possible, she
got to her feet and moved around the table, pulling a
chair up beside Jarod and Sydney and sat down. She
lifted her hand quickly, but Sydney grabbed it.

“Slow movements. Nothing that will frighten him. He is a
little on the murky side, if you know what I mean,” Sydney
whispered. Sydney watched as Miss Parker rolled her
eyes and slowly reached for Jarod’s hand.

Jarod looked down at her palm in confusion, briefly
flashing his frightened brown eyes up at her. After a few
seconds, Miss Parker reached over and took his hand
gently, giving it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes slowly
moved to hers and they got caught in each other’s stare.

“Okay, on three, Jarod,” Sydney interrupted. Jarod
looked from Miss Parker to Sydney, then to the gauze
that was held over his flesh by an inch. “One… two…
three!” Sydney pressed down, Jarod letting out a
whimper of pain, tried to pull away, but Sydney held on to
his arm firmly.

Miss Parker felt Jarod tense, squeezing harder on her
hand. She felt his hand shake a little after a moment,
Sydney still holding the gauze on the cut. She looked up
to his face; his eyes were closed tightly, his brow
wrinkled in pain.

Oh, Jarod, she thought to her self in sadness.

“Okay,” Sydney said, pulling the bloody piece of cloth
from Jarod’s flesh. Jarod inhaled sharply and let out
short deep breaths. “See? That wasn’t so bad, now was
it?” Sydney asked, Jarod’s eyes still stared down at the
cut. Sydney began to wrap Jarod’s arm with one of the
bandages from the case slowly.

Miss Parker released her hand from Jarod’s grip, as
Sydney let out a slow, heavy sigh. “What did they do to
him, Syd?” Miss Parker whispered.

Sydney looked from Jarod’s expressionless face, his
eyes staring out, and looked at Miss Parker.

“I don’t know, Parker. But, whatever they did…” Sydney
said slowly, softly, glancing back at Jarod with sad eyes.
“They killed his soul.”

After almost an hour of cleaning the wounds on Jarod’s
arms and face, and trying to get Jarod to tell them what
happened, Sydney and Miss Parker gave up.

“All right Jarod, we’ll take you to your room,” Sydney said
softly, getting up from his chair. Jarod’s eyes followed
him as he walked over to his side of the table and held
out his hand. “Come on, Parker and I will take you to your
room now.”

Jarod didn’t take Sydney’s hand, but stood. Sydney
gently pulled at Jarod's sleeve so he would take a step
towards him, but Jarod wouldn’t move.

“Jarod, come on!” he said, his voice getting an edge.

Jarod blinked once and leaned back a little, before
taking a step towards Sydney. Letting out a gasp of
pain, Jarod’s leg gave way under his weight.

Sydney wrapped his arms around Jarod’s thin waist,
holding him up. As Sydney pulled Jarod back up onto
two feet, he felt Jarod’s ribs through his shirt. Sydney
briefly closed his eyes as his hatred towards Raines
grew.

“What is it Sydney?” Miss Parker asked, seeing the
hatred burn in Sydney’s eyes as he let go of Jarod. Miss
Parker walked over to Sydney and Jarod, then gently
reached out to pull Jarod’s shirt up. Jarod yanked
his shirt from her hand and stepped back, again his leg
collapsed in pain and he fell into his seat.

Sydney leaned down to Jarod’s level and looked him in
the eyes gently.

“How long has it been since you ate?”

Jarod stared into the older man’s eyes for a moment.
After a few seconds without an answer Sydney
straightened up.

“Can you walk Jarod?” Sydney asked. Jarod closed his
eyes tightly.

Sydney nodded a little in understanding, then looking at
Miss Parker, told her to get the guard from outside.

With the help of the guard, Sydney and Miss Parker got
Jarod to his room. Miss Parker watched as Sydney
made sure Jarod was comfortable in bed, amazed by
his gentleness. She always knew Sydney loved Jarod.
The small smile yanked at her lips as the old man tucked
the sleeping pretender in carefully.

Sydney gave her a small gentle smile as he passed her,
on his way out of the room.

“I am too attached,” Sydney murmured suddenly.
Miss Parker looked up from her file, looking at Sydney
who sat in the overstuffed chair by her desk.

“What?” Miss Parker asked. Sydney, who was staring off
into space, slowly turned his gaze to the brunette behind
the desk.

“Raines is right, I am too attached to Jarod. If something
was to happen to him…” Sydney trailed off. He didn’t
need to finish his sentence. After a moment he looked at
Miss Parker in consideration.

“Will you… help me get Jarod out of here?”

Miss Parker leaped out of her chair and slammed her
fists onto her desk. “Are you crazy!?” Sydney winced at
her sudden out burst.

“Please Parker… help me save Jarod.”

“Save him? He belongs here! You said so yourself!”

Sydney shook his head, closing his eyes briefly. “I was a
fool. I thought, if Jarod was in here, he wouldn’t be able
to get hurt. Well, he is getting hurt now. Parker, you saw
the scars! You saw what they did to him!”

Miss Parker slowly said down, inhaling deeply. She
stared at Sydney for a long moment before briefly
closing her eyes. “You have no idea what you are asking
of me.”

“Please Parker. You care for Jarod, don’t you?”

Miss Parker snapped her eyes up at the old man in
surprise. She stared at him as if she was going to catch
him on fire with her burning glare. Looking away, she
muttered under her breath, “I need a cigarette.”

“Will you?”

Miss Parker looked back up at Sydney. “If I said yes,
what will we do with the weakling anyway? He is in no
condition to be out on his own. And besides, we are
risking our asses!”

“Well, I was thinking we could drive as far as we possibly
can, get a motel, stay there until we can move him again
and then-“

“Whoa, back up the rescue bus for a minute!” Miss
Parker said, getting up from her desk and walking
around it to stand in front of Sydney. “Who is we? And
how the hell do you think we are going to get Boy
Wonder out of here and then hide him well enough so the
Centre won’t find us, huh?”

Sydney looked down at the floor briefly, before turning
his aged eyes back up at her. “With Broots’ help, I’m
sure we can make it safely.”

“And what happens to us when we return from our little
trip? They will know we had something to do with it since
we will be missing as well.”

“Well, I could get Jarod out and take him somewhere
nearby. When the Centre realizes Jarod is gone, you tell
them you and Broots are going after him.”

“Well, won’t they find it odd that you are missing?”

Sydney bit his lower lip. “Then I’m afraid, Broots will have
to get him out.”

“Broots couldn’t get a cat out of a tree!” Miss Parker
snapped. “I’ll get Jarod out.”

“Won’t they find it odd that you are missing?”

“I’ll drop him off somewhere, return to the Centre, wait for
the dimwits to find out that the bird flew the coop and
then the three of us will take off after the escapee.”

Sydney nodded once slowly. “Will this work?” he asked
softly.

“It has to.”

Miss Parker carefully looked around the dark corner. I
can’t believe I am doing this, she thought, watching
the red light on the camera in the corner of the hallway
turn off. Good work Broots. She quickly dashed
down the hall and ran to Jarod’s room, skidding to stop a
couple feet away, seeing a guard by the door. She
quickly dashed behind a corner and waited for the man
to turn his back again before throwing a punch to the
back of his head. As he landed on the floor unconscious,
Miss Parker grabbed the keys from his belt and
unlocked the door quickly.

Briefly looking up at the camera, she noted the light was
off. She dashed into the dark room and ran to the
sleeping figure on the bed.

How am I going to get you out of here if you can’t
walk, she thought, placing a hand on Jarod’s arm
and shaking him a little. Jarod moaned, stirring a little.
“Come on, Jarod! We have to go!” she whispered,
shaking him more. Jarod jolted upward in fear and
gasped at the dark figure standing over him. “It’s okay,
it’s me Jarod.”

With no reply from him, she grabbed his arm gently,
trying not to harm him and pulled him out of the bed.

“You are going to have to limp Jarod,” she whispered,
throwing his arm behind her neck and letting him put
some support on her.

Jarod was very slow, and Miss Parker knew that every
step had to be painful for him. She was trying to speed
up, but that just made it more difficult for him. So she bit
her lower lip and walked at the pace he was, helping him
as much as she could.

Finally they reached the boiler room. Miss Parker quickly
pulled off the vent’s wire door and looked inside the
small tunnel. There was no easy way to do this. She
turned to Jarod, who was leaning against the wall
weakly. He looked terrible and tired and she was
beginning to worry if he was going to make it.

“I’ll go first, you crawl in behind me okay?” she asked
gently. His eyes darted briefly up at her face and then
back to the vent’s small escape route. She gently tapped
him on the arm twice before sliding into the dusty tunnel.
Shortly after her, Jarod slid in as well.

Along the way, Miss Parker kept looking back, seeing if
he was still behind her and then kept going. Every
second was torture, wondering if they escaped with out
notice and if Jarod is going to make it.

They finally reached the end of the tunnel and Miss
Parker kicked out the door. Fresh air hit them; the night’s
air was cool and refreshing. Miss Parker carefully pulled
Jarod out of the vent from behind her, brushing him off a
little from the dust. She looked up at his face, watching
as a small smirk curved at his lips as he closed his eyes
and let the air hit his face, ruffling his hair. Miss Parker
stared at him in fascination and sadness.

“Come on, let’s go before they find you missing,” Miss
Parker whispered, pulling him toward a cut in the fence
surrounding the building.

Knock, knock, knock!

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” she shouted, opening her door
to see her old friend standing there and a man who
looked like shit. “Miss Parker… what the hell-?”

“Tasha, I need your help,” Miss Parker said, walking into
her house with Jarod, his arm still around her neck
weakly. After lying Jarod down on her old college friend’s
couch she looked back up at the black haired girl. “This
is Jarod. He is in danger. I need to look after him just
this one night.”

Tasha stared into her friend’s pleading eyes, before
looking over Parker’s shoulder at the man who was lying
on her couch. “What kind of danger?”

“No time to explain. Please do this for me, please!” Miss
Parker said, taking off towards the door.

“Ah… all right,” Tasha said, wincing as her door was
slammed shut. She turned back to the man on her couch
and walked over to him.

He weakly looked up at her and watched as she sat
down on the coffee table in front of him. She studied him
closely seeing the bruises, cuts and scrapes, but behind
that he was a very attractive man. Okay, I can handle
this, Tasha thought.

“Hi,” Tasha said softly. Jarod just stared at her, just a hint
of confusion in his brown eyes, but his eyes soon
drooped shut tiredly.

Tasha let out a sigh, watching as the man fell into a
dreamless sleep.

Sydney watched as Miss Parker entered Sydney’s office
and noticed Mr. Parker and Raines standing there. Both
gave her a look.

“Did I miss something?” Miss Parker asked, as if she
didn’t know.

“Jarod escaped,” Raines wheezed. “Did you have
anything to do with this?”

Miss Parker looked at the bald man evilly. “Why would
I?”

Raines lifted his chin a little, still watching her carefully.
“Gather men, he couldn’t have gotten far.”

Miss Parker smirked. “Sydney, call Broots,” she told
Sydney. “We have a pretender to catch.”

“There you go,” Tasha said, lifting the cup of water to
Jarod’s lips. After Jarod drank about half of the cup in
one gulp, Tasha set the cup onto the table by the couch.

“Thank you,” Jarod whispered.

Tasha dashed her eyes down at the man in surprise.
That was the first thing Jarod had said to her. His voice
was deep and weak, but still as handsome as his face.
“You’re welcome, Jarod.”

He smiled softly, ripping his eyes from her glare to stare
down towards the floor.

Suddenly there was banging at the door and Jarod
winced. Tasha gently placed a hand on Jarod’s arm to
calm him then quickly got up and went to the door.

Miss Parker, followed by two men, barged into her
house. Jarod began to shake at the sight of Miss Parker,
Sydney and Broots barging in and walking towards him.
Jarod’s eyes were filled with fear as Miss Parker
bent over him.

“It’s okay Jarod, it’s time to go,” she whispered.

“No,” Jarod whimpered. “I don’t want to go back.” His
voice was so weak and frightened that Miss Parker
almost sobbed.

“No, Jarod, we aren’t going to take you back. Come on,
we need to get going,” Miss Parker said, helping Jarod
stand. As Sydney and Broots helped Jarod to the van
outside, Miss Parker smiled at her friend.

“Thank you so much Tasha,” Miss Parker said, hugging
her old friend.

“Honey, if they all look that good… anytime,” Tasha
replied with a chuckle.

Sydney, for the hundredth time, looked over Jarod to
check if he was okay. Jarod was out like a light as soon
as they made it to the hotel. He had been sleeping
soundly for the past two hours.

“Don’t worry yourself so much, Syd,” Miss Parker said,
coming out of the bathroom to see the old man looking
down at the sleeping form.

Sydney let out a sigh, before turning away and looking at
Miss Parker.

“Maybe we should check on his wounds and see if any
are infected or anything.”

Miss Parker nodded. “Fine, whatever makes you happy,
Syd. I’ll grab the first aid.”

As Miss Parker returned to the room with the small case
in her hand she looked around. “Where did Geek Boy
go?”

“Broots went to get some food.”

Miss Parker nodded as she sat down on the edge of the
bed. “We're going to have to wake him.”

“I know,” Sydney said sadly. “Forgive me Jarod,” he
whispered, before shaking Jarod from his peaceful
slumber. Jarod whimpered a little before opening his
eyes, seeing two blurry figures standing over him.

“No,” he whimpered. “No more tests, please!”

“Jarod, it’s us,” Sydney said gently, shaking Jarod a little.

“Please! Don’t hurt me!”

“Jarod, it’s okay! It’s okay!”

Sydney carefully pulled Jarod up into a sitting position
and held the whimpering pretender closely.

“Shh,” Sydney hushed him. Soon, the whimpering died
away, only to have Jarod’s body shake from fear. Lying
Jarod back down, Sydney inhaled sharply at Jarod’s
face. His eyes were closed tightly, his lower lip quivering
as his body shook.

Miss Parker reached out slowly and ran her fingers
through Jarod’s hair soothingly. Jarod let out a shaky
sigh, his eyes still closed and soon his body relaxed.

Sydney smiled up at Miss Parker briefly before pulling
out the contents of the first aid kit. After taking care of his
arms and the cut on his face, Sydney pulled up Jarod’s
shirt.

“Oh my god!” Sydney gasped. Miss Parker covered her
mouth in horror.

Jarod’s abdomen and chest were covered with cuts,
bruises, scrapes and scars, and most of all, puffy welts
from a belt or whip. His ribs were clearly visible and
Sydney tried to hold back the tears of hatred as he
studied the damage.

“How could they have done something like that to
someone? To him?"

Miss Parker shook her head. “Oh god, Syd. It must have
been awful.”

Sydney nodded his head, inhaling sharply as he pulled
out the alcohol. Miss Parker looked from the bottle to
Sydney. Sydney gave her a look of sadness, before
pouring some of the liquid onto a piece of cloth.

Pressing it down on one of the cuts, Jarod let out a
scream of pain, arching his back upwards. Miss Parker
grabbed Jarod’s arms and pinned them down carefully.

“No! Please!” Jarod screamed. “Please don’t hurt me
anymore!”

“It’s okay Jarod,” Sydney said, his voice quivering in
sadness as he watched the pretender squirm in pain.

“Please! Sydney help me!” Tears began to run down
Jarod’s cheeks, his body quaking in sobs.

At that, a tear ran down Sydney’s face in sadness. “I’m
here Jarod.”

“Please Sydney,” Jarod whimpered, his voice becoming
weaker. At that, Sydney lifted the cloth from the cut.
Jarod let out a gasp of pain and relief. He was still
sobbing as Sydney put away the first aid kit.

“This will have to wait,” Sydney informed Miss Parker,
gesturing towards the kit. Sydney sat down on the bed
and pulled Jarod up to him again. Hugging Jarod gently,
Sydney hushed the pretender as he sobbed against him.

“I’m here Jarod. They are gone. I’m here for you now.”

“Sydney…?” Jarod whispered against Sydney’s
shoulder.

Sydney let out a sob. “Yes Jarod, it’s me.”

“They hurt me, Sydney,” Jarod whimpered softly.

“I know,” Sydney said, a tear running down his aged
face. “But they won’t be able to hurt you again.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Sydney shouted angrily, throwing a
pillow at the table. Miss Parker flinched in surprise at
Sydney’s sudden outburst.

“Sydney, you are going to wake him,” Miss Parker
whispered, gesturing toward the connecting door of the
two rooms.

“I am going to kill that wheezing bastard! Raines knew
how emotionally involved I was with Jarod and so he
beat the shit out of him just to show me who has the
bigger ass in the Centre!”

“Sydney!” Miss Parker said in shock, placing a hand on
her chest in astonishment. She noted how Syd’s accent
magically disappeared when he was mad, no, furious!
Miss Parker quickly stood up from the bed and walked
over to Sydney, placing a hand on his shoulder gently.
“Jarod will be okay. The drugs will wear off in no time
and Rat Boy will be as good as new!”

Sydney turned to her at that moment and stared. “How
do you know if it is drugs at all? They could have hit him
on the head one too many times and-“

“Sydney, you are smarter than that,” Miss Parker
snapped.

Sydney let out a sigh, slumping down on the bed tiredly.
“I just can’t stand seeing him like-“ Sydney said, his
sentence interrupted by a sob.

Miss Parker sat down beside him and smiled gently.

“You know, if it makes you feel any better, you would
have made a hell of a father for Jarod.”

Sydney swallowed, as a weak smile yanking at his
mouth. “And he would have made a hell of a son. I am
so proud of him Parker,” he said, his eyes
sparkling with unshed tears. “No matter what pulls him
down,
he just gets right back up. He’s one of the
strongest people I know.” Sydney glanced at Parker with
a smile on his face. “And you are the other one. You are
strong inside and out, just like him. I always considered
you two like my own children. Hell, I raised you both from
the beginning.”

Miss Parker inhaled sharply, slowly getting up from the
bed and walking to the window. Sydney rose too, staring
off towards Parker in sadness. “I’m sorry,” Sydney
whispered. “I didn’t mean it like-“

“No Sydney,” Miss Parker whispered. “I know my father
doesn’t-“ she swallowed hard, forcing the tears back. “I
know I’m not an important issue in my father’s life. I know
he doesn’t care…” She let the sob escape her lips,
quickly covering her face with both hands to hide her
tears.

Miss Parker felt Sydney at her side, his arm wrapping
around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. She
let the embrace go on for only a couple seconds, before
pulling away and wiping at her eyes.

“Excuse me,” she whispered, taking off towards the
bathroom.

Light fingers stroked through his hair gently. A light smile
lay on his lips as he concentrated on those fingers. Her
sweet voice hummed a beautiful tune as she caressed
his head and face. Her fingers lightly traced a pattern on
his cheek, running across his brow, down his nose,
over his lips and back again.

“How are feeling today, Baby Brown?” her voice sang.

Jarod frowned. “Fine, until Raines gets me,” Jarod
whispered.

“Oh baby, he won’t come and get you. Raines is gone
now.”

“Where did he go?” Jarod asked softly, his frown slowly
turning upside down.

“He didn’t go anywhere. You did. You are safe now.”

“Where am I?”

“With some people that care a great deal about you.”

“You?”

“Of course me. And we all want you to wake up now.”

“But I am awake, Barb.”

“No, baby. You are, but your mind isn’t. Wake up now,
babe.”

“But-“

“Wake up, Baby Brown.”

“Barb?”

“Wake up, Jarod.”

“Barb, wait! Where are you going?”

“Wake up!”

“Barb… Barb no! Don’t leave me! Not yet!”

“Wake up, Jarod.”

“No…”

“Jarod, come on. Wake up,” Sydney said softly, shaking
the pretender as gently as possible. Jarod whimpered
her name again. Sydney briefly closed his eyes before
resuming his shaking. “Come on Jarod, wake up!”

Jarod’s eyes snapped open, resting upon his face.
Whose face? Jarod searched desperately in his mind to
put a name on that face. Sydney! Sydney, oh god,
Sydney! Now, search for the voice, search for my
voice.

“Syd… ney?” Jarod asked weakly, looking up at the
older man’s face. Sydney nodded, gently running his
hand over Jarod hair. Jarod was confused for a moment.
Did Sydney just… did he just… does he love…
Jarod swallowed staring up at the face, watching his
gently smiling lips move, his eyes glittering in hope and
sadness. The words? What were the words? What
was he saying? So blurry… so fuzzy. Can’t think
properly.
Focus… concentrate!

~ ”We need you to wake up now, Baby Brown,” ~ Barb’s
words echoed in his mind. Jarod faintly smiled, still
staring up at Sydney’s face.

“Where am I Syd?” Jarod asked, his voice gathering an
unfamiliar strength.

Sydney’s face lit up in happiness. “You are at a hotel,
about five hours away from Blue Cove.”

Jarod’s eyes danced around the room briefly. “Who is
here?”

“Miss Parker is in the other room, and Broots went to get
dinner for us.”

Suddenly, the connecting door opened and Miss Parker
came barging in.

“Syd, when is Geek Boy getting back? I am starved and I
can’t find my damn cigarettes anywhere!” she hissed.
She stopped suddenly at the sight of Sydney and
Jarod staring at her, only Sydney had a huge smile on
his face. Miss Parker’s eyes snapped down to Jarod’s
and then back to Sydney again.

“He’s awake Parker,” Sydney said with a smile. Miss
Parker inhaled sharply, before walking towards the bed.

“Welcome back Rat Boy,” Miss Parker said softly,
staring down at his weak figure.

“Thanks,” he whispered with no expression in his tone.

Miss Parker glanced over at Jarod who was still in bed,
watching TV that sat across from him. She popped
another crouton in her mouth, her eyes still on him,
watching him stare at the TV.

“I was going to check out some computers tonight, but
didn’t get to it,” Broots said, interrupting their silence as
they ate their dinner of salads, chicken sandwiches and
soda drinks. Jarod, surprisingly, only had one chicken
sandwich and half a can of Pepsi. Well, Sydney had
told him not to eat too much or he might get sick.

“Sydney, would you come with me to check ‘em out in
the morning?”

“Why do you need a computer, Broots?” Miss Parker
snapped at him, turning her attention back to them.

“Ah… well, there are a few things I need to check out.”

“Does this have to do with your ‘cyber girlfriend’?” Miss
Parker asked, stabbing her fork in a piece of lettuce.

“No… no. I wanted to check e-mail and I needed to
check into the Centre’s files.”

“Why?” Miss Parker snapped.

“Because, that is my job, Miss Parker,” Broots said
softly. “Mr. Parker had asked me to check the files for
any… loose ends and wanting me to ‘tinker’ with the
‘guard dog’ device.”

Miss Parker rolled her eyes and looked over her
shoulder at Jarod again.

“He isn’t going anywhere, Parker,” Sydney said with a
smile. Miss Parker turned towards Sydney again, her
wide eyes sparkling in surprise.

“Pardon?” Miss Parker snapped.

“Ever since he woke you are always looking over at him.
He won’t escape. Even if he did snap out of the drugs he
can’t run away in his condition.”

“Hmph, I’ve heard that before,” Miss Parker said, fiddling
with a piece of tomato in her salad, pushing it around
and around her plate. Sydney let out the sigh that
hovered in his throat and took a look for himself
at Jarod.

Sydney, declaring he was finished, got up from his seat
and walked over to Jarod. Jarod peeled his brown eyes
away from the screen of the TV to look at the
approaching man for a split second, only to have his
eyes glued back onto the tube again. Sydney sat down
on the bed by Jarod’s side and looked at the TV.

“What are you watching?” Sydney asked softly, looking
at Jarod, watching his eyes dazzle of fascination
towards the electric window of fantasy.

“One Fine Day,” Jarod replied softly.

Sydney nodded, before looking back at the TV, watching
as George Clooney paraded across the screen.
Returning his attention back to Jarod, he studied the
younger man’s face.

“How are you doing, Jarod?” Sydney asked.

Jarod slowly peeled his eyes away from the TV to look at
the man before him. Jarod stared at Sydney for a
moment before replying. “Shit, Sydney. Like shit.”

Sydney let out a soft chuckle. “At least you are honest!”

Jarod weakly smiled, shaking his head a little. “Yeah,
well I hurt all over and knowing the fact that I killed
someone I-“ Jarod’s voice trailed off, any sign of hope
and emotion gone from his face in an instant.

Sydney’s face turned serious. “Jarod, you didn’t kill her.”

Jarod shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. “Oh,
Sydney, but I did. I killed her like I’ve killed all those other
people. I brought the Centre into her and Bliss’s life
and I-“

“Jarod, listen to me,” Sydney said, putting a gentle hand
under his chin to turn Jarod’s face towards him. “It wasn’t
your fault. It wasn’t!”

Jarod bit his lower lip and nodded, holding back the
tears that made his brown eyes sparkle. Sydney nodded
as well.

“Okay,” Sydney whispered, releasing Jarod’s jaw.
“Tomorrow we are going to move farther out. Get some
rest, okay?” Sydney stood up and turned to leave when--

“Why did you do it?” Jarod asked, staring off towards the
wall, his eyes and face expressionless.

Sydney turned and glanced down at Jarod. “Did what,
Jarod?”

Jarod finally turned his eyes up onto the old man. “Why
did you save me? Why did you take me away from the
Centre?”

Sydney sat back down beside Jarod again. “Because…
because I couldn’t last another minute when I knew you
were in pain and sadness. I couldn’t live with myself
knowing that I could do something about it but never
did it. Because… I care, Jarod. I care about you.”

Jarod stared at the older man for a long moment, his
eyes searching.

“Do you?”

Sydney nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Then why do you let her be killed?” Jarod asked softly,
looking away.

Sydney winced, as if he has been slapped, and stared at
the pretender before him. “I’m sorry Jarod. But there was
nothing I could have done.”

Jarod nodded, closing his eyes. “I know,” Jarod
whispered, a quiver in his tone. “I know.”

“You killed her! You killed my mother!” Bliss screamed at
him.

“No Bliss! I didn’t kill her!” Jarod said weakly. His body
was like dead weight.

“Oh yes you did! You did!” she screamed, stopping her
foot. Tears began to make their way down her cheeks.
“Revenge!” at that she began to hit Jarod over and over
again. He couldn’t stop her, for some reason his whole
body was too weak and numb to fight. Every strike was
like a blow to the heart. He wept as she beat him to
death, his sobs causing his whole body to shudder after
every blow.

“Oh please! Bliss please, you are hurting me!” Jarod
screamed up at her, but she kept hitting him, over and
over again. “Please…” his voice became weaker and
weaker. “Please…”

“Jarod!”

Slap.

“Jarod, wake up.”

“What?” Jarod snapped, jolting up in bed and smacking
into Miss Parker. Their foreheads hit together with a thud
and both let out a yelp of pain. Jarod fell back into the
pillows, his hand on his forehead.

“God, what were you dreaming about?” Miss Parker
hissed, holding her forehead as well.

“Ah…” Jarod began, but wasn’t able to finish.

“You were tossing and turning.”

“Yeah… I was having a nightmare,” he replied softly.

“Obviously.”

Jarod glanced around the room quickly. “Where are
Broots and Sydney?”

“They went to check out computers.”

Jarod nodded. Miss Parker licked her lips quickly before
straightening up more.

“Well, I’m taking a quick shower,” she said. She
looked him up and down. “Get up.”

Jarod glanced down towards himself briefly, before
returning his gaze up at her again. “I can’t.”

“Good. I’ll be out soon.”

“Parker?” Jarod began as she turned towards the
bathroom. She turned. He quickly shut his jaw with a
snap. “Never mind.”

“What is it, Rat Boy?” she asked, placing her hands on
her hips.

“Could… um…” Jarod stuttered. He briefly closed his
eyes and then looked down to the floor. “Never mind.
Just forget it.”

Miss Parker walked back to the bedside and bent down
so that her face was just hovering over Jarod’s. “What?”
she snapped.

Jarod smiled weakly up at her. “I just wanted to take a
shower too… but I would need help and-“

Miss Parker smiled. “I’ll be out in a minute and then I’ll be
out to… ‘assist’ you.”

Jarod looked at her in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“You need help, don’t you?” Miss Parker asked, leaning
up straight again, still staring down at him.

“Well… yeah, but-“

“All right then. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Jarod watched her as she disappeared into the
bathroom and blinked a couple times in astonishment.

What the hell was that?

Miss Parker came out of the bathroom and looked over
at him. With the towel on her head, her hands massaging
her scalp through the material, she walked over to him.
His eyes were closed and appeared to be sleeping.

Seems like I was in there longer than I thought

She leaned over his sleeping form and stared down at
him. The unwanted smile appeared on her lips as she
stared at him. Quickly wiping it away, she poked him into
the side.

He let out a whimper, followed by a mumble of words.
She leaned down, her ear just an inch over his lips, trying
to hear what he had said. She heard him moan again,
turning her head slowly down to him and saw that
his eyes were open now, fully awake and staring up at
her with sparkles in those eyes. After a moment of
getting caught in each other’s gaze, she realized how
close they were. She quickly stood up straight, still
keeping eye contact and just stared.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I must’ve fallen asleep.”

Miss Parker nodded, in lost of words. Finally, gathering
back her control, she said softly, “Well, we ah, better-“

“Yeah.”

Miss Parker nodded. “Do you-“

“Would you?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.”

Jarod sat up painfully and then she carefully helped him
stand. At first he just stood there, on weak legs and
swayed a little back and forth. Miss Parker wrapped her
arm around his thin waist and pulled him a little forward.
Jarod took a step forward and hissed in pain at all
his aching muscles.

“Oh, I can’t do this,” Jarod whimpered, trying to take a
step back.

“Do you want to take a shower or not?” Miss Parker
snapped, keeping a firm hand on his lower back. Jarod
took a deep sigh and then nodded reluctantly.

“All right, fine… I can do this,” he said softly, taking
another step forward. Groaning in pain, he leaned
backwards again. “No I can’t.”

“Jarod!” Miss Parker snapped, pulling him forward a
couple steps.

“Shit! Owe…” Jarod shouted.

“Sorry,” Miss Parker apologized softly. “But move your
ass!”

“All right,” Miss Parker said, closing the door behind
them. She turned towards him, who stood in front of the
mirror, staring at himself in disgust. He brought his hand
to the bruise on his cheek and closed his eyes tightly at
the memory of the beating.

Miss Parker quietly came up beside him, staring at him
carefully and then placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He flinched at the contact and snapped his eyes open at
her. Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked down to the
ground, mumbling a soft apology.

“It’s okay, Jarod,” she replied softly. “All right, let’s get
you… naked.”

Jarod’s wide eyes snapped up at her face.

Miss Parker cocked her head to the side. “Don’t give me
that ‘what the hell are you talking about’ look. You can’t
get in the shower with your clothes on.”

“Yeah, but the classy way would have been to not bring
attention to it.”

Miss Parker smiled, all teeth, before grabbing Jarod’s T-
shirt by the waist and pulled it over his head in one swift
motion. Jarod hissed in pain as Parker tossed the shirt
to the tiled floor. She tried with all her might not to stare
at his six-pack. She had to admit, behind all the scrapes,
bruises and welts, Rat Boy had a nice body. The
kind that any woman would be purring like a tiger for.

Again, she watched as Jarod looked in the mirror,
staring back at himself, at all the bruises and cuts that
covered his torso. He inhaled sharply, holding back the
tears as he stared at the damage that would scar his
mind forever.

“It will all heal,” Miss Parker said softly, breaking into his
thoughts. He looked over at her and gave her a weak
smile.

“Not everything,” Jarod whispered, looking back at the
mirror and putting a hand to his temple.

Miss Parker swallowed hard, staring at him as he
replayed the damaging memories through his empty
eyes. Not able to take anymore of the silence, she
walked passed him and turned on the water, placing a
hand under the running water to check the temperature.
Shaking off the water from the tub, she looked over her
shoulder at Jarod who was now turned from the mirror
and staring at her.

“Now,” Miss Parker began, standing up straight and
turning to him. “The rest of your clothes.”

Jarod swallowed hard, the action caught by Parker, as
she came closer to him to grab his button on his pants.
Quickly unbuttoning it, she briefly glanced up at him. Big
mistake. His eyes had turned from empty to seductive,
causing her insides to stir a little. Damn it, Parker.
It’s Rat Boy, she argued with her self. Yeah, but
Rat Boy became a man… ALL man.

Shaking that thought away, she bent down to take his
socks off first. Ripping them off his feet, she noted his
cute toes. Damn it, Parker! Leaning back up level
with him again, she took a hold of the zipper on his
pants. Unzipping them slowly, too slow from where both
were concerned, she slid her warm fingers into the
material and pushed downwards, the material falling
down into a heap of cloth around his ankles.

She inhaled sharply as she reached out for his blue (silk)
boxers. The material was smooth against her flesh,
sending chills throughout her body. Sliding her fingers
between the elastic and his soft skin, she looked up into
his eyes. Even bigger mistake. He stared down at her,
briefly closing his brown eyes as she pushed down, the
silk material landing on top of the pants. They both
stared at each other, wondering who was going to make
the first move.

Miss Parker didn’t dare to look down, knowing it would
cause real problems for her, so she just stared up at him,
waiting for him to make his move first. Finally, his
gorgeous glare skipped over her shoulder to the bathtub.

“Ah… Parker,” Jarod whispered.

Miss Parker snapped her head over her shoulder and
saw the bathtub was steaming with hot water. “Damn!”
she hissed, turning on her heel and quickly turning the
cold water on to cool the scolding liquid.

“It’s okay. I like hot baths,” Jarod said from behind her.

“Not when you have millions of painful cuts on your body,”
she said, still staring at the water, not daring to look
behind her.

“Well… yeah.”

After a few moments, Miss Parker tested the water. “All
right, I think the water is cool enough now,” she
announced. Pretending to be fixing the towel on the
towel rack, her back facing the tub, Jarod climbed in,
letting out a painful moan as he sank into the water.

“Oh god, my muscles kill,” Jarod said softly. Miss Parker
turned towards the door.

“Well, since we got the hard part done, I’ll be leaving
now,” she said softly. Gathering her courage to look over
her shoulder, she looked at his face, leaning against the
edge of the tub, his eyes drooped down. “Or do you
need my help with-“

She watched as he smiled, his eyes staring off into
space. She wasn’t even sure he was smiling at her.

“Well… I hate to say, but…“ he began, his voice trailing
off.

Miss Parker forced the smile back. “Fine,” she said,
faking a huff. Walking over to the side of the tub, she
swallowed, and got down on her knees so she was level
with his face. Using a paper cup from the sink, she
poured water on top of his head, getting his hair wet, as
well as making sure none got in his eyes. She reached
over him, his eyes now closed, to grab the shampoo
from the shelf. Staring at him closely, she poured a good
amount of the slimy liquid onto her palm. Rubbing her
hands together, she placed both soapy hands on his hair
and began to massage gently.

He smiled, eyes still closed, and moaned. “That feels so
good.”

Miss Parker’s hands stilled for a second, before
continuing her work on his scalp. The feel of him under
her hands sent shivered down her spine. She almost
found her self smiling and moaning as well.

Oh god, this is getting out of hand, Parker, she
thought to herself. Quickly, but carefully, she poured
more water onto his head, washing the shampoo from
his hair.

His eyes snapped open, and looked up at her. “Done?”

“No… conditioner and then… um, your body, and then
we are done.”

Jarod let out a sigh and then closed his eyes again, as
she took the conditioner bottle and poured the slimy
liquid onto her palm. Massaging the soap into his scalp,
he let out a sigh again.

“You are enjoying this too much,” Miss Parker mumbled.
She watched as Jarod smiled, his eyes still closed, and
let out a soft chuckle.

“I’ll admit it. But I’m getting the feeling I’m not the only
one.”

Miss Parker’s hands stilled again, staring down at his
closed eyes and smile. Saying nothing, she began to
pour water onto his head, washing away the conditioner.

“So I’m right?” Jarod asked, more of a statement then a
question.

“No,” Miss Parker snapped, her voice uneven.
Damn.

Jarod let out another soft chuckle and sat up more, finally
opening his eyes. Changing the subject, he reached for
the washcloth. “I guess I’ll be able to clean myself.”

Miss Parker watched as he winced as he reached up to
grab the bar of soap. “No, you probably shouldn’t. You’ll
have to twist and turn and you are in no condition to do
that.” Miss Parker grabbed the soap before he was able
to.

Jarod let out a huff as she ripped the washcloth out of his
hand and began to rub the soap on it.

“Look, Parker, I don’t mean to break up your happy hour
to put me in pain, but I can do it. I mean I’m a big boy, I
know how to wash my own-“

“Shut-up Rat Boy. I’ll be careful, don’t worry.” Miss
Parker reached over and placed the washcloth gently on
Jarod’s shoulder, slowly sliding it down his arm. Oh
god, she thought, watching her own hand work its
way over his arm in straight patterns. I won’t be able
to last.

Wincing when she ran over a terrible looking welt, she
briefly looked up at his face. His eyes were closed and
he seemed to be not enjoying this one bit. His brow
would lower ever time she would flick the washcloth
over a cut or welt and he hissed in a breath of air when
he was in pain. Parker slowly brought the cloth to his
chest and ran it across his collarbones, then down his
right side. The water level was about six inches above
his belly button and the damn water wasn’t clear as she
wanted it to be to see… properly. She swallowed hard
as she ran the cloth quickly over his six pack, moving it
up again to his chest.

“I’m, ah,” Miss Parker began. What was I going to
say? Oh yeah! “I am going to need you to turn
around. You know, to get your back.”

Jarod obeyed, groaning softly in pain as he slowly turned
in the bathtub, with his back facing her now. She inhaled
sharply at the sight of his back. The welts that were on
his chest and abdomen weren’t remotely close to the
huge gashes on his back. There were about twenty or
thirty of them covering his flesh.

“Oh god, Jarod,” Miss Parker whispered. Jarod slightly
turned, so his side was facing her, not wanting her to see
anymore.

“I’m fine,” Jarod snapped quickly, not looking at her. “I
didn’t want you see that. I-I guess I forgot.”

“Does it hurt?” Miss Parker asked, leaning a little so she
could see his face. He made no eye contact as he softly
nodded.

“A little,” he replied.

Miss Parker briefly closed her eyes, before gently
pushing his back to face her again. She studied the
damage for a second before saying softly, “I’ll be
very gentle, okay?”

She watched as the back of Jarod’s head slowly bobbed
up and down twice before she placed the washcloth on
his shoulder blade. After running the washcloth over his
back carefully, she stood up to get the moveable
showerhead to wash off the soap suds. After he was all
fresh and squeaky clean, Miss Parker held out a towel
for him. Jarod, using the rails on the side, stood up in the
tub and reached for the towel, wrapping it around his
waist before stepping out. Miss Parker almost found
herself smiling as he stood up, but quickly wiped it away.

No Parker. This isn’t just a man, it’s Jarod!

“Thank you Parker. I mean for the help and all,” Jarod
said softly.

“Anytime,” Miss Parker replied with a smile.

“You guys ready?” Sydney asked, Broots coming in
behind him.

Miss Parker glanced up from her cup of coffee to look at
Jarod, who was sleeping on the bed.

“I’m ready. Boy Wonder fell asleep about fifteen minutes
ago,” Miss Parker replied, getting up and walking over
to Jarod’s sleeping form. Looking up at Sydney she
asked quietly, “Should I wake him?”

Letting out a sad sigh, Sydney nodded. “You are going
to have to.”

As the two men lifted two suitcases and carried them
outside to the van, Miss Parker began to shake Jarod
gently.

“Come on Jarod. Wake up. We have to go,” she
whispered, still shaking him.

“Hmm…?” Jarod murmured, half asleep, half awake.
Miss Parker smiled a little.

“We have to go now Jarod.”

Jarod’s eyes slowly fluttered open, looking up at Miss
Parker.

“Hello there, Rat Boy,” Miss Parker said with a sneer.

“Nice to see you too,” Jarod replied, his voice raspy from
sleep.

“Come on, get up. We are loading the van now,” Miss
Parker said, grabbing his arm carefully and pulling him
up in a sitting position.

Jarod let out a groan as she pulled him up. “Where are
we going?” Jarod asked, softly, rubbing the back of his
neck.

“Farther west,” Miss Parker replied, helping him stand.
Jarod threw an arm around her neck and together they
made their way to the door. Sydney and Broots were
waiting outside the van for them, helping them inside.
Miss Parker took the passenger seat, Broots took one
of the seats in the second row and Jarod got the whole
back seat to have leg room and to lie down.

“All right,” Sydney said with a sigh, climbing in the
driver’s seat. He looked in the rear view mirror at Jarod,
who had his head leaning back on the seat, eyes
dropped half way down and staring out of the large tinted
window. “Are you all right, Jarod?”

Jarod’s eyes snapped up at the mirror, a weak smile
soon appearing on his lips. “Yeah, Syd. I’ve just been
through a lot.”

Sydney smiled sadly, nodding twice quietly. “I know. But
it will all change for the best.”

It had been about seven hours of just plain driving and
Jarod had slept most of the way, only getting up to eat
and limp to the rest stop.

Surprising enough, Sydney noticed he wasn’t limping so
badly now, able to walk on the foot more. After the fourth
rest stop, everyone climbed into the van. Sydney let
out an exhausted sigh, pulling out a map and studying it
carefully.

“Do you want me to drive, Syd?” Miss Parker asked,
looking over at him.

Sydney glanced at her briefly, shaking his head no.

“No Parker, I can handle it,” he said, his voice quivering
tiredly.

“Sydney, you need sleep. You can take the back seat,”
Jarod offered from the back. “I slept my share of sleep.
It’s your turn.”

Sydney let out a chuckle. “Fine, but only for two hours.”

Jarod glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the sight
of Sydney sleeping almost curled in a ball like a cat on
the back seat of the van. Broots was also in dreamland,
his seat leveled back, revealing a small bed.

Jarod let out a sigh as he turned back in his seat, quickly
glancing over at Miss Parker, then back to the window.
Miss Parker briefly ripped her eyes from the road to look
at Jarod.

“You okay? You are not going to pass out on me or you?”
she asked, just a hint of the ice in her tone. Jarod shook
his head softly, a weak smile playing at his lips.

“Long day, that’s all,” Jarod murmured. Miss Parker
nodded in agreement.

Silence stretched across the two, only the sound of the
whirling road zipping under the rubber tires of the black
van.

After a few seconds, Miss Parker bit her lower lip. “I
know this could be the worst time to ask… but what did
they do to you?”

Jarod snapped his attention to her, staring at her for a
moment before looking towards the windshield. “Why do
you want to know?” Jarod asked softly, a slight quiver
showing the tension in his words.

“I don’t know, I just thought it might make you feel better,”
she replied, glancing between the road and him as she
spoke.

Jarod closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the
cushion of the seat. “Nothing will make it better.”

“Then will it make it less worse?”

Jarod smiled, letting a sad chuckle escape his lips. But
soon his laughter and smile disappeared, his face
showing no happiness at all.

Letting out a sigh he spoke softly, “Oh, Parker. I
really don’t want to talk about it… ever. The
memory is more painful then the experience.”

Miss Parker knew the truth in his words. The memory
is more painful then the experience, she
thought. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she
briefly glanced at him, flashing him a weak smile.

“All right, Rat Boy. I won't play shrink with you,” she said
softly.

“Thank you,” he replied back, not looking at her, still
staring off in a daze towards the windshield.

That night, they grabbed a hotel by the name Western
League. It had to be the worst place Miss Parker ever
stayed. The towels weren’t clean, the water was always
freezing cold, no soap, the toilets didn’t work properly
and the service sucked!

Miss Parker let out a huge frustrated huff, throwing the
yellowish towel to the floor. Jarod watched the cloth hit
the floor, before snapping his eyes up at Miss Parker’s
furious face.

“No way in hell am I taking a shower with that thing!” she
shouted, kicking it a couple feet across the floor.

“Calm down Parker,” Sydney said in his usual calm
voice. “I’ll go to the counter and ask for clean ones.”

Miss Parker sat down on the bed next to Jarod as
Sydney left the room. She let out a sigh and turned to
Jarod, who was leaning against the headboard, eyes
shut. Gently, she poked him in the side.

“You all there?” she asked, as his eyes snapped open.
He stared at her for a second before smirking.

“No… not really,” he replied softly.

Miss Parker nodded with a knowingly smile on her lips. “I
figured.” She stared at him for a moment, before
reaching up and brushing her fingertips down his jaw
line. He blinked in surprise at her actions, as she
suddenly realized what she did. Placing her hand on her
lap, she looked away. What the hell was that,
Parker? she scolded herself.

Looking back up at him, she said softly, “The bruise is
almost completely gone and the scratch is healing over
already.” There, that was the best she could come up
with at the moment.

Jarod nodded, placing his own hand on his face, feeling
over the healing flesh. Sighing, he let his hand fall down
to the bed again.

Silence broke through, both sitting there waiting for the
other to speak. Finally Miss Parker spoke up.

“Sydney said you aren’t limping as bad anymore,” Miss
Parker said quietly.

Jarod shrugged a little. “Yeah, it doesn’t hurt as much.
Still there is a pain that shoots up my leg, but it isn’t as
numbing as before.”

Miss Parker smiled all teeth. “Well, it’s a start right?”

Jarod snorted a laugh. “Sure, why not.”

Miss Parker chuckled softly, looking down to the floor.
Again, that damn silence returned, hanging their last
words in the air.

“What happens when I get better?” Jarod asked softly,
fiddling with a loose string on the bed sheet. Miss Parker
looked up at him.

“Well…” she began, studying him, watching him fiddle
with the string casually. “You disappear.”

Jarod’s attention snapped up to her face. He stared at
her, confusion in his dark brown eyes. “What?” he asked
softly.

“I said, you disappear,” Miss Parker said softly. “Vanish,
make dust, say good-bye, take off, loose contact… and
don’t look back.” Miss Parker watched as he blinked
twice in astonishment. She smirked. “Get a life,”
she said softly.

“Are you serious?” Jarod asked, the corner of his mouth
curling up a little, as his dark eyes sparkle.

Miss Parker shrugged. “Why not?”

Just then, Sydney entered the room carrying four towels
in his arms. He dropped the white towels onto the bed by
Jarod’s feet and sighed, looking up at Parker. Gesturing
towards the towels he said, “There you go.”

Miss Parker smiled. “Thank you, Syd.” Grabbing two of
the towels, she walked passed him and entered the
bathroom, closing the door behind her.

“I mean, we say we lost him and then return back to our
normal, track-Jarod-everyday, life, pretending not to
know a thing. After a month, two months of no contact, no
calls, no tricks, no sightings, we declare Jarod has
vanished and then tell the board,” Miss Parker
explained, pacing in front of Sydney and Broots, while
Jarod was fast asleep on one of the beds.

Sydney smiled. “Sounds like a good plan, Parker. But…”
Sydney began, getting up from the bed Broots and him
sat at. “Why the change of mind?”

Miss Parker stopped pacing, looking over at the other
bed where Jarod lay. “More of a change of heart,” she
replied softly. She smiled, looking back at Sydney. “And
I’m sick of chasing him around the bloody world. Let Rat
Boy have his own life, get a permanent job and move
on.”

Sydney smiled and nodded. “Couldn’t have said it better
myself.”

“Yeah, but the Centre has its ways of finding people. I
mean, how is Jarod going to completely disappear?”
Broots asked.

“Well, I can changed my name legally and move into a
secure area,” Jarod said, sitting up.

All three looked over at him in surprise. “You were
awake all this time?” Miss Parker asked, placing her
hands on her hips
.
Jarod shrugged. “You guys are too loud for
anyone to get some rest.”

“Well, how does it sound, Jarod?” Sydney asked.

Jarod smiled knowingly.

To be continued…
Well how is it so far?
Write me!
babyangelwings@hotmail.com