Escape by Apollos Girl aka AG
Summary: Don't really want to say anything cause it will give the story away...


Categories: Alternate Universe Characters: Lyle, Miss Parker
Genres: General
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes Word count: 1722 Read: 2525 Published: 02/12/05 Updated: 02/12/05
Escape by Apollos Girl aka AG
Author’s Note: This is a short story that came to me one day. I want to give thanks to Ra-Chell for the inspiration, although she did it all by accident. ;-) Also want to thank her for letting me borrow her name. I hope you enjoy the story. Please send back comments. I’m thinking of doing a sequel, but not sure. Depends on how much of a response I get back.

Author’s Apology: This is for those people who have been reading my Gemini Vengeance and Entanglement and Lies stories. I know I’m really behind on finishing them. I promise that at least one part will come out by the end of the summer for each of the stories. Until then, will this do?



Escape
Apollo’s Girl (aka AG)





„I need your help, you’re the only one who can.“

„What?“

Lyle looked at his sister intently wondering what she was up to. She never asked for help and when she did, it was never from him. The two were outside walking around in a park after meeting a dead end on one of Jarod’s lead.

„I said that I need your help and that you are the only one who can help.“

„Well tell me.“ Lyle replied pasting on his cocky grin all the time wondering how he could use this to his advantage.

„I want you to help me to disappear from the Centre. I don’t want to be a part of it any more.“

Lyle stopped and turned around to stand in front of her.

„Wha-What?“

„Lyle-“

„No! Why the hell should I help you?“

„Because I can’t ask Sydney or Broots to do it.“

„Why not ask your knight in shining armor, Jarod, to help you?“

„He’s part of the reason I’m running.“

Lyle looked perplexed by this. He couldn’t understand exactly what was going on with her, nor could he understand what was going on with him. All he kept thinking was that she couldn’t go, that he couldn’t lose her too. Why he felt this way he wasn’t sure.

„Lyle?“ Parker asked looking at him with curiosity. Her brother had spaced out, first looking at her strangely and then seeming to be looking past her at something else.

„Why me, Parker? I of all people want you to stay.“

„Because I always thought you would want me out of the way so that you could take over everything.“ Parker replied. She was going to stop there but something told her that Lyle needed to hear everything. „Because you are the only person who has enough power to keep me hidden away from the Centre. And because-because you’re my brother.“

The last part was so quiet that Lyle had to lean in to hear her better. He was surprised by her tone it was different. Usually when she called him brother there was venom, sarcasm and disgust. However this time there sounded like a longing of some sort, a wish for something more. It struck him and he could feel that same want for her. It made him a bit unbalanced. She was always suppose to be his enemy, the one he would use and could never trust.

„Tell me why do you want to leave so much and then I’ll let you know if I will help.“

Parker looked at him not knowing where to start. So much had happened in her life that she just knew that she had to leave.

„Why don’t we go sit down there and talk about this.“ Lyle nodded and followed where Miss Parker’s hand was pointed. Once they sat down and settled themselves, Parker began talking.

„I wanted leave for a long time, but something always held me back… When I was a child it was because Mama had died and the place held so many nightmares that walking into it was like reliving it everyday. But then there was Jarod. He was my best friend, my only friend. I walked back into that place everyday because of him, because I found a comfort there that I couldn’t find anywhere else. But like everything else that changed too. I wanted to impress Daddy, to have him be proud of me, so I did everything I could to make him proud. That day has still to come. Times changed and I wanted to leave because the place held nothing for me anymore, until Jarod’s escape. That became my life, that and the search for the truth about Mom. Yet when I met Thomas he showed me how my life could be different. That there was a chance that I could be happy too. When he was killed that made me want to stay. I wanted so badly to find the person who killed him and make them pay. But when I found the killer and Mom’s killer, that killed all my wants of staying in the Centre.“

„You said Jarod was part of the reason you were running.“

Parker nodded and wasn’t sure how to tell him. „I’m running from him because he needs to be free of me… He gives up more for me than I have ever given up for him. He cares for me more than I deserve more in a sense then I do for him. I have been nothing but a bitch to him and yet he helps me. I want him to be able to run without my life on his conscience. It’s the least I could do for him. And for Mom.“

Lyle listened to her and for the first time understood her better. Knew what it was that pushed her, granted he always knew to a point what drove her, but hearing it from her changed his perspective somewhat. And not for the first time he wondered about his mother. A woman he never knew, but always wished he had. He always knew that his mother was the part of him that he never understood, the heart of him. He had his father’s coldness and his need for power, he knew him to be a man who never cared whether or not his son lived or died. His mother cared and he never met her.

„What if I decide to tell the Centre what you are planning to do? You know that no one leaves the Centre alive.“

„I would rather die than walk into that place again. Please help me have a chance to live the life we both deserved. Walk away with me if you want.“

„I could never leave that place. Dad and Raines made sure of that.“

The two sat in silence. Parker wondered if she did right to ask her brother for help, everything in her telling her not to trust him, everything except her mother’s voice.

„Parker you will have to die to leave.“

Parker looked up at him with shock and betrayal. Lyle smiled at her, but it was one of kindness.

„I will help you fake your death and I’ll set up a new identity for you as well as a history to go with it. You’ll have everything you need to start a new life.“

„Thank you.“ Parker said quietly, squeezing Lyle’s hand.

„On one condition Parker.“

Parker’s hand stiffened, this was what she was afraid of. His „condition“.

„You tell me about Mom, everything about her, everything that she would want me to know. I want to know everything, from the stories she told you to the things the two of you cried and laughed about.“

Parker smiled. „I’ll tell you everything as long as you open up to her voice that’s inside of you.“

Lyle nodded.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Leigh Soranno sat in her art studio putting the finishing touches on her painting. It would be gift for her brother when he came to visit. It had been a month since she left and began her new life. Her brother had not wanted to know where she was, but when she insisted he was thrilled. He helped her chose a place to live and even helped her move in. She smiled as she put the last dab of paint on the painting.

„He’s going to love this.“ She said to herself. Glancing at the clock she noticed that she had enough time to go and shower and change. She put the brush and palette down and took off to downstairs to her room.

After she got out she did a little quick house cleaning, stuffing the dirty plates out of site and the junk mail underneath the couch cushions. Just as she made sure the last envelope was hidden she heard the doorbell. She ran over to the door while she smoothed her clothes down.

„Hey!“

„Hey Sis!“ Lyle replied as he smiled at her. He handed her a bouquet of flowers. It was the anniversary of her new life and his. Although he still worked for the Centre, his sister’s house had become a refuge for him. When he was there he was known as Scott. They both felt it was safer if they had names in no way related to the Centre. There was less chance of finding anything.

„Happy Anniversary!“

„Happy Anniversary!“ Leigh replied giving him a hug. „I have something for you!“

„Can it wait till I get my shoes off?“

„No!“ Leigh replied unable to contain her excitement. She wanted him to see her gift for him.

„Fine.“ He laughed as she pulled him up to her studio in the attic. When they reached it he couldn’t see anything. When his sister moved him into position, his breath was taken away and tears reached his eyes.

In front of him was a portrait of him and his sister as children with their mother. All three were happy and smiling. Love was pouring out of every stroke of the paintbrush.

„It’s for everything that we should have had and everything we will.“ Parker whispered to him. „I love you.“
„Thank you.“ Lyle said as he felt his sister’s arms wrap around him. „Thank you.“

The End
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