Parker stood back with a grimace of frustration as she heard the rhythmic banging of what she could assume was Jarod's head against the bathroom door. Another ten minutes of this and she would be checking herself into the pysch ward right behind the pretender. She pulled at her cell, pressing redial for umpteenth time, tossing it aside as Sydney's line went straight to voicemail.

"Any luck with Broots, Sam?" She asked, receiving a helpless shrug from the sweeper. Something was going terribly wrong, and the longer Jarod was without his faculties the less chance they all had of getting out of this alive.

With a deep collective breath, Parker turned to the door with new determination, her unrelenting desire for survival being kicked into overdrive. They would get through this, they always did. She kicked the door lightly, enjoying the sharp bang that even caused Sam to startle slightly.

"Enough is enough Jarod. Every second you spend moping in your soggy pile of towels is another moment that Alex has his sociopathic grip on your sister. For a man who has been battling an international cooperation, your mental unraveling from a few nights of designer smack is rather disappointing."

“Parker? Is that you? Where are we and where’s Sydney? I really want to talk to Sydney. Please? Can you get Sydney for me?”

Jarod’s voice was wavering as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He had never been taught to deal how to handle his emotions; in fact, the Centre had spent a considerable amount of time and energy teaching him to suppress all his emotions. Now, thanks to the injections provided by Lyle and Alex, his emotions were spinning out of control and Jarod was on the verge of turning catatonic.

"Would we all..." Parker muttered her breath. "We are in what I can only describe as the Bates Hotel, with if you can believe it, worst furniture, and everyone's favorite shrink has fled the Centre and is on his way to White Cloud, which is where your sorry ass is suppose to be if you feel up to mastering the art of turning the doorknob."

“You’re not going to take me back to the Centre? Promise? I really don’t want to go back to the Centre.”

Jarod sniffed and started pounding his head on the door again. This time, though, he stopped on his own after just a couple of knocks.

“Can I talk to Sydney, Parker? Does he have his phone on him? I don’t want to come out until I talk to Sydney”

The Sydney-voice started talking to Jarod again, telling him that Miss Parker was telling him the truth, that he, Sydney, was waiting for Jarod to get to White Cloud. All he had to do was open the door.

"Just open the damn door Jarod and I'll take you to see Sydney. Although may I recommend some therapy, this umbilical attachment is getting a little old."

“Tell Sam to stay away from me. He’s gonna hurt me, I know he is! Please don’t let him hurt me. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Jarod got up from his now not-so-comfortable nest and started moving the towels away from the door.

"The only person you have to deal with is me, Jarod." Parker said with an eye-roll. It was like dealing with a toddler. Debbie would probably have better luck reasoning with the pretender in this state. "All you have to do is come out of the room and sit on the bed. Sam will be standing by the door, but I promise as long as you behave he won't lay a hand on you." Parker said at an agonizingly slow pace, watching as Sam moved away from the bathroom door, instead standing guard at the room entrance.

“Uhhmm, OK. But we’re gonna go see Sydney, right? And then, save my sister? Right?”

Jarod finished moving the towels out of the way. The shower door still kept him safe from his pursuers but the little room was starting to remind him of some of the spaces he had been kept in at the Centre. With a deep breath, he moved the shower door out of the way.

"For the next few hours Jarod you and I are on the same-side. When Alex is out of the picture and I'm sure that Lyle isn't interfering with Syd and Broots, then we'll have to renegotiate."

For a second, Jarod’s mind was clear. Parker’s word was always trustworthy, so his hand slowly turned the doorknob. He peeked out into the main room to see Sam on the opposite side of the room. He gave a quick, somewhat shy, somewhat embarrassed grin and looked at Parker.

“Am I gonna get a ten-minute warning before the negotiations start?”

Parker couldn't help but smirk as she heard the almost cocky tone in Jarod's voice. Could it be that boy-wonder had finally crawled out from his stoned-out hazed?

"I'll close my eyes and count to ten." she said sarcastically standing back so Jarod would not feel threatened should he choose to come out from his little man-made barricade

Jarod looked around the room again, but didn't see anything threatening. Sam was still over by the front door and Parker was over by the window. No one else was in the room. He shook his head as the drugs once again tried to overtake his mind, but he was able to control it a little more this time. He finally, hesitantly, took two steps out from his refuge and tried smirk over at Parker.

"I don't suppose we could forget about the handcuff for a while, could we?"

--

Emily sighed deeply and looked around the area she was currently occupying. She had slowly began to wake up from yet another druginduced sleep, only to find that once again had her surroundings changed drastically while she was knocked out cold.

She was no longer in a basement, but somewhere above ground. On the other side of the room there was even a window...which she would walk over to...as soon as the room stopped spinning. For now she was happy just to be sitting upright in the bed. One step at a time.

She looked around the room, doing her best to catch any clue that might give away her location. The place was very...frilly. With floral patterns covering everything from the walls to the curtains, this wasn't exactly the kind of place she'd imagine Alex decorating. Although decorating probably wasn't the top ten past times of heartless psychopaths, regardless of patterchoice.

That lead her to one of two possible conclutions, either Alex had broken an entry, or one of Alex' frilly-loving friends had invited him and an unconscious girl to spend the night. For the first time in her life, she really hoped she had been an accessory to a crime.

From where she was sitting she could see parts of the view, and apparently they were surrounded by trees. Forrest. So continuing down the line of never ending luck, there was little to no chance anyone could hear her scream. Though considering she was cuffed and had once again woken up gagged, that wouldn't really pose much of a problem anyway.

Probably sooner rather than later Alex would realize it was about time for her drugs to wear off, so if she was going to have any chance of knowing where she was, she had to act quickly. She rose wobbily from her seated position on the bed and steadied herself on the surrounding furniture, to the degree one can with their hands cuffed to their back, and slowly approached the window.

She leaned against the glass while doing her best not to make any sounds that might awaken Alex' suspicion. She wasn't on the first floor, that's for sure. So unfortunately breaking the glass with the weight of her body and jumping out would not only result in cuts, but her eminent death as well.

But perhaps there was still a way she could get out of this. On the ground were two men who in no way looked like friends of Alex. One had grey hair and the other was balding. Her face formed a smile for the first time in days, if she could just get their attention she would be saved.

They seemed to be talking amongst themselves and she leaned closer to hear.

"Sydney, what should we do?"

The smile was wiped away as Alex' words from the previous day played in her mind,

He not only phones Sydney, who's exploited him and manipulated him all these years, but he fails to disappear off their radar.

Sydney, who exploited him

Sydney

She wasn't saved. She leaned against the glass. She was just one step deeper in the neverending downwards spiral.

--

Sam watched as the Pretender entered the main room. His hands itched to grab the little pain in the butt, but he knew that Miss Parker would not authorize anything against the lab-rat. At least not just yet. Maybe the idiot would do something stupid and he wouldn’t have to wait.

Sam watched Jarod closely, grinning when he saw Jarod glance his way. The boy-wonder kept edging closer and closer to Miss Parker every time he looked Sam’s way. He gave a grin that had Jarod swallowing. At least the drugged out genius knew he was in trouble for his earlier stunts.

‘Just wait until we’re back in the Centre, Sweet Prince, then we will see who is hitting the floor and who is laughing,’ Sam thought to himself.

--

Sydney stared at the car in the driveway to his cabin. It didn't look like Miss Parker's car, but perhaps she was renting. He looked over at Broots who shook his head timidly. Leave it to Broots to fear the worst. Now was the time to take chances though. Jarod needed him and he and Miss Parker were probably waiting for him inside.

"Come on, Broots," he said, shifting the car into park and pulling the key from the ignition. "Miss Parker's always had a bit of a lead foot, she must have beat us here."

If there was one thing Broots really didn't like it was surprises. There was no such thing as a good surprise, if someone had good news they would pick up the phone and share it, people like sharing happy news. Unless of course it was a surprise party or some other rare occation where half the fun was keeping your mouth shut. He continued to stare at the car, this was certainly not one of those times.

"Do you know how many laws she would have to break to get here this fast?" Broots said, his voice an octave higher than usual, while wishing desperately he hadn't eaten that last bag of snacks.

"Since when has Miss Parker given a damn about traffic laws?" Sydney hesitated. "Or laws of any sort for that matter." His eyes were focused on the vehicle, and then he shifted his gaze to the cabin. The living room light was on. Maybe Broots was right. It is better to be safe than sorry.

"Could you open the glove compartment for me and hand me the black case inside?"

"Oh no, nononono" Broots shook his head repeatedly. If there was one thing Sydney wasn't, it was a sharpshooter. Which meant the gun wouldn't hurt whoever he was aiming at, but the person five feet to the right. And with the kind of luck he'd been having lately, that person would be him.

"Would you rather we march in there unprotected?" Sydney asked him calmly.

Broots thought about it for a moment. If there was someone there who wasn't Miss Parker, the person would have a gun and probably be very willing to fire if it was deemed productive. But if they were armed... He sighed deeply and muttered something along the lines of "Ok" before opening the glove compartment. He pulled down his sleeve so it covered his fingers and grabbed the handle of the glove compartment by his index finger.

He held his breath as he carefully slid it out and held it out to Sydney.

Sydney pat Broots on the shoulder, "Don't worry. I'm sure we won't need it. It's just precautionary."

Sydney opened the case and put the pieces together confidently, loading it like a pro. The clicks sounded together impressively and he slid the small pistol into his pocket. "Alright. Ready?" He felt like they were soldiers preparing for battle. It could be Miss Parker inside, angry that they weren't there already, but for some reason it just didn't feel like it was.

"N-no!" He regained his composure and continued, "But that hasn't stopped me this far, has it?" He unbuckled his seatbelt and waited for Sydney to make the first move.

Sydney reached for the door and flung it open, springing out of the car with a hop that did not match his age. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. They were entering an unknown situation and normally Miss Parker would be taking the reins. This time though, it was dependent on him. Broots was nervous as always, and understandably so. Unlike Miss Parker and Sydney, he did have a lot to lose. Sydney understood that. That's why he was always willing to coax Broots along gently when Miss Parker wanted to barrel into danger guns blazed.

He looked back to make sure his counterpart was coming up the driveway with him.

Broots carefully followed his armed counterpart, silently thanking him for insisting on the gun. Every step on the gravel send chills up his spine as he tried to move as stealth like as possible. But he wasn't build for stealth and he knew it. Loud, gravel-crunching entrances, yes. But stealth...not so much.

The internal rambling suddenly stopped as he looked up and froze. Through a window of the cabbin he could see the figure of a man walking towards the stairs. He remained immobile on the overly loud driveway as he spoke, "Sydney, what should we do?"