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Disclaimer- Miss Parker, Jarod, Sydney, Broots, Sam the Sweeper, Willie, (Whew! Am I done yet?!?) Raines, Lyle, Mr. Parker, Brigitte, and Mrs. Catherine Parker do not belong to me...that was depressing. They belong to NBC and now, maybe, TNT. No infringement intended so please don't sue me. On the other hand any other characters you run across and don't sound familiar are probably mine so you can sue all you want about them, but you won't see a penny.
Note: This idea kept coming back to me and I had to write it down. So I went to my computer and ended up writing 50 pages in two hours! J I would love feedback. Thanx! ~Jackie





Survivor
Part 2
By Jaclyn Parker

“The past lies
like a nightmare
upon the present.”
~Karl Marx
********************************************************************


Miss Parker kept the radio off the entire ride home and was happy to be in silence. She reached her house around eight-forty and placed her briefcase down by the door and her jacket on the hook. She looked over into the living room and thought about the snow covered ground outside. Although it wasn’t the usual frigid temperature outside, it was still February and cold enough that they had gotten a couple inches of snow. Without giving it a second thought, Miss Parker went over and placed four logs in the fireplace. She grabbed the old dry newspaper that she kept nearby and with a long match, lit a fire. After watching it grow for a minute, she became extremely warm in her dark red suit. Miss Parker ambled into the bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of soft gray pajama pants. With a fast glance at the picture of her and Tommy on her nightstand, she grabbed one of his flannel shirts to throw on over top of a white tank top. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she passed her bedroom vanity and chuckled at her appearance in the mirror. She could almost pass for a normal woman coming home from a normal day at work. The irony was that nothing in her life was what people would call normal.

Miss Parker padded into the kitchen in socked feet and opened up the fridge to get the bottle of wine that Sydney had recently given her to try. It was a very old bottle of French wine that had been part of his mother’s favorite collection and she had felt extremely honored to be the one to receive it. She poured herself a glass and then went into the living room. She settled herself onto her sofa and stared at the flickering fire, feeling a calm sweep over her.

Hearing a soft noise in the kitchen, she closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “Pour yourself a glass of wine, Jarod. It’s excellent.”

Jarod smiled to himself at her words, not at all surprised that she knew he was there. He did as she said and walking into the living room, he sat down in the armchair adjacent to the sofa. Jarod watched her while sipping the wine and smiled again when, without opening her eyes, she brought her own glass to her lips and drank.

“Did you do a sweep of the house?” she asked quietly, finally opening her eyes to pierce him with her crystal blue gaze.

His deep brown eyes met hers and he nodded. “Not a sweeper in sight nor were there any bugs or cameras.”

“That’s a first,” she said chuckling, a sound without any humor in it.

“Hmmm,” was his reply as he drank again.

“So, Jarod.” Miss Parker said, getting down to business. “What was it that you had to tell me? It must be very important for you to risk coming here and taking the chance I would bring you back.”

“You wouldn’t.” Jarod stated simply, shaking his head to emphasize his words.

“Oh?” she asked amused. “Why not?”

“Because of Ethan. He might contact me and you wouldn’t risk him getting brought back to the Centre again.” Jarod said and looked at her.

Miss Parker took a sip of wine. “Well, what do you want?” she asked sharply, irritated by the fact that he was right.

Jarod took a deep breath and with shaky hands, placed the glass onto the coffee table in front of him. He looked at her and she was surprised at the mixture of fear and happiness in his gaze. “I found my mother.”

Miss Parker felt her heart jump, happiness for him overwhelming but confusing as well. She let her face show none of her emotions as she said, “So?”

“My father, my sister Emily, Jay, and I are going to see her.”

“Jay?” Miss Parker asked.

“It’s the name Gemini chose to be called. It’s short for Jacob in honor of Sydney’s twin.” Jarod explained.

“That was nice of him.” She said sincerely, remembering the scared young boy she had grown so fond of in the very brief period she had know him.

“He chose Thomas as his middle name.” Jarod said softly, not knowing why he wanted her to know that.

Miss Parker’s eyes grew shiny and she pulled the shirt around her more tightly. She nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat to ask him, “Why are you telling me all this, Jarod? Why would you risk coming here to tell me this?”

“I am telling you this because...” Jarod trailed off and drew up his courage, “...I want you to come with us. I want you to be there when I meet my mother.”

**********************************************************************

After Miss Parker had stopped choking on her sip of wine, she shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to stop the ringing that was going on in her head. She couldn't believe she was hearing him right. “What did you just say?”

“I want you to come with us.” Jarod repeated and she shook her head.

“That’s what I thought you said.” Miss Parker told him in disbelief. “You’ve lost your fucking mind, haven’t you?”

“No, Miss Parker.” Jarod said simply and sighed.

“Jarod, I am not going to lie to you...” Miss Parker said and ignored the “for once” that Jarod muttered. “I am very happy for you. Really, I am. But why in the hell would you want me to go with you?” Miss Parker asked and rose to pace in front of the fireplace.

“Miss Parker, she has the answers to both of our pasts and in light of what has happened recently I can’t deny you yours, without betraying everything I have believed in for almost 5 years.” Jarod said and stood as well.

“Jarod, your family won’t understand my going with you,” she said shaking her head.

“They already know and they do understand. Especially my father. And Jay is really excited to see you again. My sister, Emily, thinks he is more excited to see you than me.” Jarod said smiling at the thought of the boy he considered his little brother and not his clone.

Miss Parker was about to respond, when the voices began again, incessantly whispering in her head. She walked back over to the couch and sat down, trying to focus. Jarod saw this and quickly sat beside her.

“Miss Parker? What’s wrong?” Jarod asked her, his voice laced with concern.

“The voices...” she said and trailed off, beginning to make sense of what they were saying.

“Your inner sense? What is telling you?” he asked her, unconsciously taking one of her hands that were folded in her lap.

The voices stopped and she looked up at him with shocked eyes. “They say to go with you. That my answers lie in the ‘white aster’.”

“What’s the ‘white aster’?” Jarod asked confused.

“I don’t know, but I think I need to go with you.” she said and he nodded. It was then that they noticed he was still holding her hand.

He let go, like it was burning him and jumped up. “Flight leaves at 7:00 tomorrow night. Here’s what I suggest we do.”

Desperately trying to ignore the heat that had consumed her body when she had realized that Jarod had been holding her hand, Miss Parker took a long sip of wine and listened to Jarod explain what he had come up with. She nodded along with him, until he had finished.

“Okay, let me see if I have it all.” she said and he sat down again, but this time in the armchair. “I go to the Centre, like normal. Work all day, like normal. Only I leave early, around five, with an incredible headache. On my way home, instead of taking exit 6, I take exit 4A? That will take me to a car rental service where you will be waiting and then from there we head to the airport?”

Jarod nodded and finished off his glass of wine. “That’s about it. Simple.”

“Uh-huh, that part. But what about when we are gone and I don’t show up at work the next day or don’t answer my phone?” Miss Parker asked also finishing her glass. She took his glass and hers and took them into the kitchen to put them in the dishwasher.

“I have set up a trail that should take them about three weeks to pinpoint a location and even then it will be the wrong one.” He told her loud enough that she could hear him in the kitchen.

She came back out and gave him look. “I guess you have thought of everything.”

“I guess so.” Jarod said, suddenly uncomfortable.

Miss Parker studied him for a moment, and then sighed loudly. “Well, I guess we should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.” she said and Jarod nodded.

“Good idea. You know what to do and what to tell Sydney, so he doesn’t worry.” Jarod said as he rose to leave.

“Yes. Jarod...” she began, intent on thanking him for the opportunity and then stopped. He looked at her quizzically and she shook her head. “Never mind.”

He nodded and started to leave once more. He was almost out the door, when she remembered something.

“Jarod,” she called and he turned to face her. “Where are we going? You didn’t say where you had found her.”

“Oh, wow. I can’t believe I forgot that part. She’s in London, England. We’re going to Europe.” Jarod told her and then disappeared into the night.

“Well, Mom,” Miss Parker said to the empty house. “I'm finally going. After three decades I am going to the place you thought we’d be safe. Except, only now, I'm going without you.” She chuckled at the irony and decided to take her own advice and try and get some sleep.

**********************************************************************

Miss Parker showed up at work at around nine-thirty, not caring that she was later than usual. Sleep had come to her last night after Jarod had left and for the first time in a long time, it was nightmare less. Her stiletto heels clicked along the cold floor of the Centre as she walked from the garage area to the elevator. Instead of going straight up to her office she headed to the nursery to look in on Gabe.

The baby was now a healthy 10 months old and a very intelligent little boy. He had crawled at 7 months and begun walking steadily by 9 months. When Miss Parker arrived he had apparently just finished breakfast and the nurse was wiping down the highchair while Gabriel toddled around the floor. He looked up as she came in and his chubby angelic face lit up. He wobbled over at his top speed and when he reached where she stood, he pulled on her pants leg.

“Down!” he demanded, making his brow furrow in his displeasure at the height difference.

Miss Parker laughed and obeyed the tiny command, crouching down to his level. He wrapped his arms around her neck and she enclosed him into a huge hug.

“Miss.” he said making a sad face. To anyone else, it would seem that he was calling her by the name he had heard her referred to by, but Miss Parker understood him. At ten months most babies couldn’t even say “dada”. Gabe had a rather extensive vocabulary, even if most of them were only one-syllable words.

“I missed you too, Sweetie,” she said, smiling as he played in her hair.

“Play now?” he asked pointing to the alphabet blocks in the corner. She hesitated, thinking about how late she was already. Gabe sensed it immediately and pressed his chubby little hands on her cheeks. He leaned in, so his face was inches from hers and batted his eyelashes.

“Pwease?” he pleaded and kissed the tip of her nose.

She caved in immediately and allowed him to lead her over to where the blocks were. A half an hour later, the door to the nursery opened and a young girl, who looked no more than 10 years old, entered the room. Gabe looked up, as did Miss Parker, to see whom the newcomer was. Miss Parker was confused, but Gabe’s face lit up just like it had when he had seen Miss Parker.

“Amie!” Gabe cried joyously and the young girl grinned at the child. Ignoring Miss Parker completely, she ran over to where the baby stood with his arms outstretched.

“Hi, Baby!” She cooed as she lifted him into her arms. “How’s my boy?” She twirled around, with Gabe laughing and clapping his hands in delight in her arms. He obviously trusted this girl completely and was enjoying himself.

Miss Parker rose from her position on the ground by the forgotten blocks and studied the girl who held Gabriel closely in her arms, while whispering things that made him giggle in happiness.

Amie had straight brown hair that reached just below her shoulder blades and eyes that seemed to shift from a brown to blue and then back again. She was long and lean with a dancer’s graceful gait. When she smiled at Gabe there was genuine love in her eyes for the baby, unlike the normal nurses who took care of her little brother. There was something familiar about her, but Miss Parker was sure she had never met the girl before.

Amie suddenly looked over at Miss Parker and smiled shyly, reminding Miss Parker of Broots’s daughter Debbie. “I'm sorry. I didn’t realize you were still here. You sure look a lot different from those other old battle-axes that usually watch Gabe.” the young girl said to her.

Miss Parker raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s because I am not one of those ‘old battle-axes’. I am Gabriel’s sister.”

Amie’s mouth dropped open and she took a step back, as though Miss Parker was going to bite her. “You’re Miss Parker?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Miss Parker said back, amused by the girl’s reaction to her.

Amie seemed to sense that she was amused and took the step forward again, then kept going until she was about a foot from Miss Parker. Shifting Gabe to one arm like an expert, she stuck out her other hand and said boldly, “Hi, I'm Amie. I watch Gabe most days from 10:00 to about 5:00. That’s when Mr. Jones comes take me back to my quarters.”

“Your quarters?” Miss Parker asked confused.

“Yes, I live here. Don’t you?” Amie asked as if it were a normal question.

“No, I don’t.” Miss Parker said, trying to understand what the girl meant. “Do you mean to say you live in the Centre?”

“Uh-huh.” Amie said and shifted Gabriel again, who had laid his head on her shoulder and was studying the interaction between the two females.

“Where are your parents?” Miss Parker asked softly.

“I don’t have any. They didn’t want me or at least that’s what Mr. Jones told me. He came to the orphanage one day and brought me here to live.” Amie said all this in such a matter-of-fact way that Miss Parker was surprised.

“I see.” she told the young girl, when in fact she was more confused than ever. She had never heard of a Mr. Jones and she never knew that there were children who lived at the Centre. At least not since the pretender project was shut down a year ago. “Are you the only child?”

“Now, yeah. There were three others. I was the oldest. I am going to be eleven in four months.” she said proudly and Miss Parker couldn’t help a small smile. Amie’s face grew very sad and she hugged Gabriel tighter to her body.

“Where are the others?” Miss Parker asked softly.

“Dead.” Amie said stolidly, but a lone tear that slid down her cheek gave away her true emotions. Realizing she had let her happy facade slip, she wiped the tear away brusquely and lifted her chin up as if to say: I am strong and I won’t cry. “I’ve been the only child since then. Well, except for Gabe here.” Amie said and kissed the top of Gabriel’s head. Now that she was closer to Miss Parker, she saw the girl had a sprinkle of light freckles across her nose and the brilliant light most children have in their eyes when they are young. The only difference between her and them was that her eyes also held traces of past horrors and were wiser than her young years.

Miss Parker watched her and wondered what had happened to the other children. She was going to have to look further into this Mr. Jones and his project, although she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like what she found. Those poor children, she thought to herself and felt her heart ache for Amie. She must have felt so alone. Miss Parker glanced at her watch and sighed. They would all be wondering where she was by now and if she didn’t want to throw any suspicion on her about her plans, she would have to leave now.

“I have to get to work.” Miss Parker said and although it disappeared almost as fast as it came, she didn’t miss look of disappointment on Amie’s face.

“Say good-bye to your sister, Gabe.” Amie said, smiling at him and putting forth an act of bravado that Miss Parker knew all too well. Miss Parker reached for the baby, but Gabe clung tighter to Amie and shook his head. “Gabriel!” Amie admonished him, but he still refused to go to Miss Parker.

Miss Parker was a little hurt and confused, until Gabe looked up at her and smiled. “Luv you.” he said chortled happily and blew her a kiss.

“Love you too, Gabriel.” she said and thought about how hard it was going to be to go with Jarod later and leave him for such a long time. In fact, she was almost rethinking her decision.

Suddenly and with a fierce determination, Gabe shook his head and frowned. “Go.” he said simply and looked straight into Miss Parker’s eyes.

She looked at him almost in shock, but Amie’s tugging on her sleeve, brought her back. Miss Parker looked at the girl and Amie smiled. “You’d better go.”

Miss Parker nodded and began to walk out of the room. Suddenly Amie called out her name and Miss Parker turned to face the young girl.

“Good luck.” was all she said and she and Gabe waved at her.

“Thank you, Amie.” Miss Parker said, albeit she was very confused at her words, and shut the nursery door behind her. She passed the glass window on the way to the elevator and glanced in for one last look. Amie was hugging Gabe to her and they both had sad expressions on their faces. She couldn’t help but think that Gabe was in the best hands, by being with Amie while she was away and she suddenly felt a calm sweep over her.

Miss Parker smiled at their image and kept on walking. When she hit the elevator button to go to her floor, she couldn’t help but think of both children’s responses to her having to leave. It was almost as if they knew what she was going to do. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?









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