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Chapter Text

Continued from the ending scene of The Island of the Haunted

As she closed the phone and held it to her face she wondered if this was really it, if this was all it would ever be. Feelings of exhaustion and loneliness washed over her, her line would be tapped, of that she was sure and she wasn’t about to give Raines, Lyle, or Cox any ideas to use her to lure Jarod back in. She couldn’t do this for much longer, it was too much to bear. The never-ending revelations about her past, all these years of chasing Jarod around the country. Having barely anything else in her life other than the Centre, and the moment she even thought about leaving everything was taken from her. She thought of her mother’s last words to her, spoken in Jarod’s voice, to finish her plan. Whatever that may be, there were no more children to save, only traumatized adults searching for answers in this house of horrors. She was trapped in hell as long as Jarod was out there, or was she? Her daddy was gone, Raines apparently had all the answers and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her. Her father had said the new Parker legacy started with her, and she certainly didn’t want to leave a trail of death and destruction like the generations before her had done. She felt no loyalty towards the man who killed her mother in cold blood on a birthing table or the sociopathic cannibal that she called her brother. For the first time in her life, she felt she might actually have a say in her own future, no matter how bleak that future may be.

Next day The Centre – Sydney’s office SL-9

Sydney entered his office to find an anxious Broots pacing up and down his office. 

“Oh Syd, am I glad to see you.” 

“Are you alright Broots?” 

The strangled short laugh that followed was more than telling. “I swiped everything here extra for bugs, but I don’t even know where to start.” 

Sydney clapped the man on his shoulder. “Just start at the beginning. Broots. Tell me what it is you’re so anxious about.” 

Boots sat down, rubbing his temples. “You see Miss Parker let me in her father’s house in hopes of finding something about her mother, anything really. I found several hidden places actually, some had files, others DSA’s. But then Jarod called me, and he of course knew where I was and mailed me the blueprints of the house, gave me a clue as to where there might be other secret stash places. Said he hadn’t been able to break in long enough to get to those. And then I found it!” He stood up abruptly, “There were files and DSA’s, all from times you weren’t at the Centre!” 

Sydney nodded “Jarod’s missing weeks.” 

Broots shook his head, “Not just Jarod’s, that’s the point.” 

Sydney frowned “What are you getting at Broots?” He spoke in hushed tones. 

Broots swiftly went to the door and barricaded it with a chair, “I can only show you part of it, I don’t think she will ever forgive me if we would watch the rest of it.”

 “She?” 

Broots was unable to look him in the eye, “Yeah, just…watch…” He flipped the DSA player open and retrieved a disk from under his shirt, inserted it, and pushed a button. 

“Octobre 11th, isn’t that…” 

“Yeah, the day after Jarod’s heart had been stopped”

 “Broots what else did they do to him?!” He grabbed the man by his shoulder, but Broots only focus was on the screen. 

“There!” He pointed and Sydney watched as two sweepers entered Jarod’s apartment, dragging a small figure in a skirt behind them. Jarod, who’d been lying on his cot throwing a ball against the wall, sat upright. The sweepers left without a word and Jarod rushed to the figure lying on the floor, they could see him checking vitals and then he slowly turned the person on their back. The camera revealed an unconscious Miss Parker.

 “Miss Parker?” Jarod’s unbelieve was written all over his face. He checked her pupils and angled her face into the harsh light of the simlab, checking for a reaction. When he seemed satisfied she was furthermore undamaged he picked her up and carried her to his cot.

This was also when she began to stir, because of the angle they couldn’t see her face but a groan could be heard .

He slowly put her down, shot the camera a look of annoyance, and turned back to her. 

“Miss Parker, can you hear me?” He’d put one hand on her cheek and held hers with the other. Another groan, Parker blinked and stared at Jarod for a second. 

“There you are.” He smiled.

 “Jarod?” she asked groggily and a little perplexed. “Where am I?”

Jarod sighed, “Two sweepers just brought you in without so much as a word, you’ve been unconscious and by the mark on your neck I think you were injected with something to render you such.”

Sydney paused the DSA. “They brought in Miss Parker?! Why did she never tell us? For how long was she there? Was this part of a simulation?” 

Broots sighed “Don’t know if part of it was a simulation, but it was part of a project. The files are encoded, it’ll take me a few days to decrypt them, but the project was called Proles. And as for how long she was there, almost all of the three weeks you were gone.” He exerted the DSA and put another in. “But this, this where it gets really weird,” he pushed play again and an image appeared of Jarod and Miss Parker lying on his cot, he had an arm wrapped around her middle, his head in the crook of her neck, the both of them snuggled up to each other. 

“This was after just a week, and the rest…oh boy, she’s gonna kill me if she knows I saw.”

Sydney leaned back, contemplating, his fingers touching his mouth. “They bonded…Jarod hadn’t had any long-term type of relationship other than with her, certainly not so intimate.”

Broots swallowed audibly. “Oh, they were intimate alright.” 

Sydney cocked his head towards Broots. “You’re not saying…” 

Broots nodded “That is definitely what I’m saying…” retrieving another DSA and switching it out. He put in a time frame and the disc skipped to a frame where Miss Parker was kissing Jarod, she’d pushed him up against a wall, her hands roaming over his torso when she suddenly stopped. Her eyes went to the camera and with a look of determination and fury, she ripped the cables of the camera and the image switched to another camera. No Miss Parker or Jarod in sight, but the sounds spoke for themselves. 

Sydney closed the DSA player swiftly. “That was quite enough, Broots!” 

The man himself nearly choked on his own words “That was not nearly the last of it, there were two other times she was brought in, she looked…a lot younger.” 

“You’re telling me that they locked Parker up with Jarod more than once?” 

He nodded his head. “That is exactly what I’m saying”. When Jarod was eighteen or so, and when he was around twenty-one, and then the year before he escaped. 

“Miss Parker was out of the country, the years in between. She barely stayed here longer than a week. But the year before Jarod escaped she was head of security, I can’t even fathom her being locked up with Jarod and not making a big scene after, I would have heard of it. Either she was in on it, or someone has been tampering with her memories.”

“They probably just brought her to the renewal wing for one of their special treatments.” Sydney contemplated this for a second. “Then they must have done the same to Jarod, he barely remembers anything of those weeks.”

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Meanwhile on SL-20

Parker stalked the corridor to the nursery, her high heel clicking on the tile floors, pausing a second before opening the doors. This was the only place she felt she could even remotely let her guard down, she relaxed her tense jaw, conjured up a smile, walked in and greeted the nurse who silently indicated Baby Parker was asleep.

“Anything new in his development?” She whispered as she walked up to his crib.

The older woman smiled and whispered back, “Well he’s so quick to learn anything, you know he could walk at 9 months and the talking barely stopped since he was 11 months. He’s a very intelligent young man.” Miss Parker stroked a finger across his cheek, warmth spreading through her body as she watched the sleeping little boy.

“Oh, there was one thing, there was a bit of an accident last week. We were told not to inform you because you’d worry and everything turned out just fine, but now that you’re here. We were trying new foods with him last week and as it turns out he is severely allergic to something, so we won’t be trying anything of sorts in that category.”

She frowned “He’s allergic, for what? And what happened?” The nurse shook her head, “He said his lips felt funny and his breathing went shallow, so we gave him epinephrine as a precaution and after histamine, usually these kinds of allergies develop around the two-year mark, but apparently he’s just early with everything. Just make sure you never give him pistachios or any tree nuts for that matter, unless you have an EpiPen ready.”

Miss Parker felt ice spreading all over her body. “He what?” she whispered hoarsely, praying she heard incorrectly.  The nurse carefully stroked baby Parker's hair. “We gave him some pistachios as a snack to see if he would like it, but we had no indication he could be allergic. You’re not allergic yourself? These kinds of allergies usually run in the family.”

She had a very hard time keeping breathing, let alone answering and she just shook her head as a reply. She stared at her little brother still fast asleep in his crib, studying his earlobes, and knew for a fact he could not be her brother, all the signs had been there, but she had not been paying attention.

“He’ll probably be awake in an hour or so, he was just so tired of playing, why don’t you come back then.”

It took every ounce of restraint to not just grab him and run out of here. She simply nodded, forcing a smile on her face. “I will, thank you.”

The nurse touched her arm, “You know you are just so much like your mother. She was also such a kind soul. I see the way you look at him and I just know how much you love that boy. He’s such an angel.”

She felt like vomiting, “He sure is.” She took one last look at the sleeping infant and turned on her heels.

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Sydney’s office- SL-9

“Sydney we need to talk” Miss Parker tried to open the door to his office, but the door seemed blocked. She threw her weight into it and the door flew open. Sydney and Broots stood next to his desk with very guilty looks on their faces.

 “Why do I feel like I just caught two kids with their hands in the cookie jar?!” She pushed the chair that had been blocking the door roughly aside. “And what is up with the blockade?” She let her head fall in her neck. “Ugh, never mind I have something way more important to ask you, Syd. Is this room secure, Broots?” The slight nod the technician gave her was enough to let her continue, but not before Sydney interrupted her.

“Miss Parker, we need to talk.”

Parker rolled her eyes. “We sure as hell do, Syd. Remember when you gave us that boring speech about genetics around the time we found out about the clone?” Sydney went behind her and quickly locked the door.

“Miss Parker, this is important.” Miss Parker threw her hands up in annoyance. “Yes, it really is, because all I remembered from that speech was how earlobes are easily recognizable genetic traits. How I have detached earlobes, and my dad doesn’t, but my mom did, and how that was all about how having detached earlobes is a dominant trait and not having them recessive or something. Meaning that if two individuals with attached earlobes had a child, it would never have detached earlobes.”

Sydney had walked back to Parker stopping in front of her. “What are you saying, Parker?”

She tried her hardest not to let any tears fall from her eyes, she bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Baby Parker has detached earlobes, and Brigitte and my father had attached ones.”

Sydney took her gently by her arms. “You knew your Mr. Parker was sterile and couldn’t have fathered that child, it was probably Raines who was responsible for fathering him as well.”

She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “Sydney, Baby Parker is allergic to pistachios…”

He let go of her instantly. “My God, they did it again.” She could only watch the ground as Sydney smashed a fist on his desk, the sound of it startling Broots.

 “But isn’t Jarod allergic to pistachios?” Broots asked.

She stared at him through her teary eyes as she saw the puzzle pieces fall into place in his head. “No…They created another child with his DNA?” She nodded another tear rolling down her face. This time Sydney grabbed her roughly by her arms “What are you going to do, Parker!?! Are you going to let that little boy be locked up for the rest of his life just like Jarod?”

“I need to tell him, Syd. He deserves to know.”

“And you’re certain this isn’t another trick of Raines to get Jarod to do something rash?!”

With the little headspace she had left after all the emotional turmoil she ordered Broots “Broots, please get my…baby Parker’s samples from the bodily fluid storage facility and have them compared to samples of Jarod. I don’t think he’s another clone, his facial features are…different, but see if he could be his son? ” Her unusual demeanor made him even more nervous than usual.

“Miss Parker…”

“Please Broots, if he’s Jarod’s son, he needs to know.” She turned her head to Sydney. “Can you contact him, ask him to meet. We’ll have to be careful, Lyle has been keeping close tabs on me, they can’t suspect anything or it’ll be all of our heads that are in danger of beheading.”

“Miss Parker, are you sure about this?” Sydney inquired hesitantly. “I have to tell him, I can’t in good conscience let that little boy be abused just like they did with him.”

“You know Jarod will want to rescue him and then probably disappear forever.” She nodded, wiping a tear streak from her face. “I hope so.”

She left with steps that sounded more confident than she felt, but as she paused after she closed the doors she heard Broots “You didn’t tell her about…”

“No Broots, I don’t know what Parker is going to do, this was more revelation than she needed at the moment. Perhaps it's best when she and Jarod find out together if they don’t already know. It would explain her hesitation these past years, there always has been sort of a connection I contributed to them knowing each other as children, but maybe there was more.”

Part of her will want to do anything to help that little boy, but is it enough? With the threat of Raines hovering over her like a sword of Damocles, do you think she’ll be able to make the right choice?

“What am I going to tell Jarod when he calls? He knows I must have found something.”

“Leave Jarod to me, it's best we do this as quickly as possible, but we must be very careful. One wrong step and all of our lives are at stake.”

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After eavesdropping just outside Sydney’s office she’d quickly left the corridor. Stepping back into the elevator her mother had staged her suicide, she pushed the button to go up to her office, but as the doors closed she found herself sinking to the floor. She hit the emergency button, stopping the elevator. She crossed her arms over her knees and leaned her head on them. She now had most of her answers but more questions were raised by the day, the man she’d called father all her life was dead, there was no one to please anymore, only doing a job to stay alive. A little boy to save and a human chameleon to keep from being tortured and shipped off to Africa.

Chapter Text

“This is Sydney.”

“I got your messages, you said it was urgent.” Jarod replied wearily.

“Jarod! We need to meet up with you, we found out some important news that cannot be shared over the phone.”

Jarod sighed “We?”

“Parker was the one who found the information and suggested a meet-up.”

Jarod shook his head. “Forget it Sydney, she didn’t have a change of heart all of the sudden, if the time on the island meant nothing to her she’s not gonna start now. Just another ploy to get me back into the Centre.”

Sydney frowned. “What happened between you two on that island?” Jarod rubbed his face and sighed again. “There was a turning point,… she didn’t take it.”

“And did you get a chance to talk to her afterwards?”

“She told me it would just be as it always has been, ‘you run, I chase’.”

Sydney contemplated his words for a second. “You’re in love with her and wished for her to take your side.” Jarod audibly swallowed.

“Before Alex jumped, he told me I had no idea how important she was to my life. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately…”

“Jarod, Miss Parker is on the edge of wanting to betray everything she was trained to stand for, to let go of the thing that has held her prison for just as long as it has been holding you. But she is scared, it’s a big leap for someone like her. It’s all she’s ever known for the past thirty years! And with all these revelations about her family these last few months…” he let out a long sigh “She brought you to her house, not the Centre when she needed to know about her mother. She let you go to find Ethan and a large part of her does not want to see you back at the Centre.”

“She will not risk her life for my freedom.”

“Jarod, while I’m the first to acknowledge Miss Parker’s loyalty has always been to the Centre, it was only because she wanted her father’s love and affection. Now that Mr. Parker not only left her behind but also turned out not to be her actual father she lost her ties to this place. To give you an idea of how far on that ledge she is: she cried in front of Broots and me today, and she seems desperate and determined to help you. Her intentions seem genuine to me.”

The littlest spark of hope flared in Jarod’s heart.

“But we need you to leave a trail for Lyle so we can meet without being followed. I’m pretty sure they have been keeping pretty close tabs on her.”

Two days later – Miss Parker’s residence

He hesitated before knocking on the door, he didn’t feel like another confrontation this soon, the wounds of his heart still fresh. The door opened before his knuckles landed on the wood. Miss Parker stood there, not dressed in her usual skin-tight office clothes, but in a light blue sweater and some jeans. “Come in,” she said, not daring to look him in the eyes. Seems she felt just as rattled as him. He followed her into her living room.

Sydney greeted him.

“Jarod please sit down”, he gestured to the couch.

He stared intensely at his old mentor, “What exactly did Broots find?”

 “We’ll get to that later, first there is something else Miss Parker would like to tell you.” His gaze shifted to Miss Parker who’d been pacing behind the couch while wringing her hands. She wasn’t just rattled to see him, whatever it was she’d been wanting to tell him it couldn’t be any good. He sat down on the couch and Miss Parker found her resolve and sat down on her coffee table across from him folding her hands, clearly trying to calm herself.

She let out a shuddering breath, “Two days ago, I went down to see my baby brother and I received some news that made me question whether he could even be my brother. I had Broots steal his DNA from the bodily fluid storage on SL-15, and run some tests. I was right, he is not my brother.” She paused, contemplating grabbing his hands to hold him for the news to come.

“You made me come all the way down here to tell me your family tree is even more messed up than you already knew? I don’t feel like playing games Parker, what is this about?!” The coldness in his voice pierced her heart, and she finally met his eyes. Knowing there was no delaying this any further she spoke quietly and braced herself for his reaction, “He’s not a Parker, he’s yours. He’s your son, Jarod.” Several seconds ticked away on her clock as he stared at her, she could only observe as the news finally landed in his brain.

His eyes went wide, “No…” his breathing quickened, he began raking his hands through his hair and he stood up abruptly. “No…!” he shook his head and went to his former caretaker.

“Sydney…” he begged, hoping he would deny it, that this was not the truth. “I’m sorry Jarod, Broots just called to confirm Miss Parker’s suspicions. I’m afraid it’s true, baby Parker is undeniably your son.”

Miss Parker made the mistake of coming over and touching his arm, trying to calm him, “Jarod, I’ll help you get him out, I promise.”

He took a furious look at her hand on his arm, “Well, aren’t I grateful you decided to become Mother Teresa all of a sudden. Or should I say mother Catherine. Now that “daddy” is gone you finally regained your conscience?!”

“I’m not my mother, Jarod!” She hissed out defiantly.

He shook off her hand and closed what little distance there was between them, “No, because unlike your mother you were just fine with the cloning, you were fine with them torturing me, fine with them taking more children for their insane experiments. How many lives need to be ruined for you to finally decide it needs to stop?!” He yelled, now inches from her face.

Sydney came between them pushing them gently apart.

“Stop it! Both of you!” He warned. “If we want that child out of the Centre you’ll need to work together and none of this is helping. Jarod, to her credit Miss Parker did try to break out Gemini and wasn’t even aware of what Lyle had been doing to you until she found the jumper cables you left her. Besides, there is something else and it’s very important that both of you see it.” He took a few steps back, flipped open a DSA case, put a disc in, and pushed the button. “This was the day after they’d stopped your heart, a year before you escaped.”

Jarod slowly moved away from Miss Parker, his eyes fixated on the screen. “From the weeks I’ve been missing,“ he stated, confused at the distraction Sydney had provided.

Sydney nodded, “Yes, and I believe there was a reason for that.”

He watched as Miss Parker’s figure was dragged into his room. “Sydney, I don’t remember this.”

Her heels clicked on the hardwood floors as she stalked her way to the DSA player. “Sydney, what is this?” she asked. They both watched as Jarod examined her and put her on his bed.

Sydney sighed, “Another major revelation about your past. Miss Parker, you were there for almost three weeks, you don’t have any recollection of this whatsoever?” He questioned studying her reaction. Her expression showed only shock and confusion.

“None, I was supposed to be on a cruise with my father, one of the very few vacations we took together. I got a concussion on the last day. Couldn’t recall a thing.”

“How convenient,” Jarod remarked, giving her a deadpan. She was just about to start an argument again when Sydney took away her opportunity to do so.

“Jarod, if you want any chance of saving your son, not just out of the Centre, but the both of you living in freedom for the rest of your lives you will need to control your emotions. You need her, and she needs you! You two can keep pretending to be at each other’s throats or decide to trust the other, and I can already tell you the latter will happen eventually anyway. You’re connected in more ways than the both of you are aware and something tells me only together you will have any chance of succeeding.”

Parker felt eleven years old again, scolded by her father, caught roaming around The Centre with Jarod and held her tongue.

“I know you two want to rescue the boy, but for tonight I need you to watch these DSA’s together. Especially the last one. But you must know that this was in fact the third time they locked you two up together. They did it in 1977 and 1980 both with the same results and I suspect the same objective. ”

“What objective?” Jarod questioned.

Sydney grabbed his coat and scarf from the rack next to the door. “I’m not entirely certain, but I do have my suspicions. I suspect you’ll have the same once you finish watching the footage. They were part of a project called ‘Proles’. In the meantime, I will try to find some evidence to confirm these, but it is impertinent that you watch these, they may be the key to ending this once and for all.” With that he left, leaving Miss Parker and Jarod staring at a closed door.

“Proles…” She studied him as the words fell from his mouth.

“What does it mean?” She asked.

“Offspring…” he answered quietly.

Chapter Text

“Parker, I’m…sorry.” He began, “for going off on you like that. It’s just that…finding out I have a son…” he swallowed, “Another thing the Centre stole from me.”

She shrugged, “God knows I deserved at least some of your wrath. I’m actually surprised it took you this long for you to explode on me.” She sighed and glanced at him.

“For the longest time, I just tried to believe my father and followed him blindly, but I did really try to break your clone out, you know. If I hadn’t found out Sydney was already helping you, I would have, I couldn’t just stand there and let them do the same to him as they did to you. Just like I can’t let them do that to your son.”

He turned to face her, “Yet, you still kept chasing me.”

She gave him a pained smile, “It’s not like I could just leave, Jarod. After I got out of the hospital my father was missing, I still needed to know what happened to Thomas, and then I had my baby brother to protect. There were still so many questions left unanswered. There still are.”

“Which is also why you wouldn’t come with me…”

“That’s part of it,” she hesitated, “I wish I could tell you that there was nothing that I wanted to do more than go with you, but there is a part of me that just…can’t. Like a blockade in my brain that puts a stop to it the moment I want to trust you.”

“Like you were trained to…”

“Yeah…” She walked off to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of scotch and two glasses, “So which one of our horrible history stories do you want to watch first?” she asked while handing him a glass.

He took it with apprehension, “Let’s start at the beginning.”

They settled on the couch with their glasses and shared a look as she put in the disc with the oldest date on it. They watched as a sixteen-year-old Miss Parker was carried into Jarod’s chamber.

He climbed out of his simulation sphere. “Miss Parker? What did you do to her?” he asked as the men put her on his bed and walked out without a word. He went over quickly examining her, he found the small point in her neck where they had stuck a needle in and another one on her arm. She was out cold and from what he could tell it would take some time for her to wake up, he got himself a book and settled down next to her, his fingers around her wrist to keep up with her pulse. He took a moment to study her, she’d grown up a lot since he’d last seen her. She was now taller and her figure had changed from a girl into that of a woman, her hair was darker and longer. She was very beautiful he decided, but she also had dark circles under her eyes that indicated she had trouble sleeping and the expression in her unconscious was one of pain and sadness. It took almost an hour for her to regain consciousness.

When she finally did wake up she tried to sit up, but felt her stomach lurch and the lightness in her head made her rethink her action. “Hey, take it easy, whatever they’ve given you knocked you out for quite some time.” Jarod insisted.

She blinked a few times with her eyes and furrowed her brows when her vision cleared and she found Jarod sitting next to her, holding her hand.

“Jarod?” she groaned looking around his room, “Why am I here?”

He looked unsure, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen you in years.” She let out a growl, “Daddy shipped me off to boarding school, didn’t even get to come home for the holidays, not even for Christmas.” She shook off his hand, eyeing him with suspicion.

“You don’t trust me,” Jarod observed. “Why would I? They just locked me in here with you, for all I know I’m here just as entertainment for one of your stupid simulations!” She retorted.

“I’m not doing any simulations at the moment,” he answered a little perplexed.

“Yeah, well maybe I am your next simulation, have you thought of that? Wouldn’t be the first time…”

He studied her as she got up from the bed, and moved away from him “You’re also angry with me.”

Her mouth set in a hard line, eyes blazing with rage.

“Why are you so angry with me?” He insisted.

“Because you didn’t answer any of my letters!” She yelled at him.

He seemed perplexed for a second, got up from the bed and carefully approached her, “I didn’t get any letters, I thought you never answered mine!”

She started circling him, “You wrote to me?” She asked sharply.

He nodded, “Every day for four months, at first Sydney wouldn’t take them, but after I refused to do a sim for a week he caved and said he would send them to you. But I never received any back, I then wrote to you once a week, and six months after that Sydney told me it would be better if I stopped and… I .”

“Then either Sydney or my dad made sure we never received each other’s messages…” she concluded sadly. “It would have made a difference…I wouldn’t have felt so alone…”

“Does it make a difference now?”

“Maybe.”

Jarod and Miss Parker watched her younger self wander off to the other side of the room while his younger self kept his eyes fixated on her.

Jarod had a hard time understanding this new version of Miss Parker, she had always been emotional, but this teenage variant of her was a whole lot different from the one he’d known before. He was also not used to having other people in his space like this.

“Was it fun at boarding school?” He asked, trying to get her to engage. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. Jarod frowned, she was different from before, harder to reach and less easy to talk to.

She gave him a dirty look, “Leave me alone, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

He seemed confused, “Why? Is it not fun out there?”

“Why can’t you just leave it alone?!” She screamed in frustration.

Startled at her sudden outburst he felt very unsure of himself “Well,…I just…”

She jumped up and shoved his chest, “Just stop with all these questions, didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude?!” It was out before her brain caught up with her tongue and she gasped.

His expression darkened “That was low and uncalled for. Your emotions are out of control and you’re clearly struggling with something that has happened to you, you’ve changed. And I can see in your eyes you would like to tell me all about it, so why don’t you just tell me instead of pretending you don’t want to. Let me help you.”

A strangled laugh escaped her. “Out of control? Welcome to the world of teenage girls, Jarod! All of us are only one inch away from insanity. You want to know so bad how great it is out there? It isn’t, it’s hell. Locked up in a boarding school for five years. They all hated me! Called me a freak, because no one ever came for me. Daddy barely ever even wrote to me, and while other girls got picked up by their moms to go shopping in Paris or Milan, I got left behind with some of the teachers every vacation. And when I finally graduated early, of course daddy wasn’t even there, but at least he remembered to send someone to come pick me up afterward only to dump me here in this dungeon with you! I’ll never forgive him for this!”

“Do you think your father is behind this?”

“Of course, he is, like anything that happens in this hell hole. Nothing happens around here without him knowing!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” He offered unsurely.

“Sorry for what, my father locking me up or the outside world being just as bad as in here?” She retorted furiously.

“I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you belonged anywhere.” He said quietly.

It cooled her down instantly, her anger disappeared and only sadness was left, “Out of all the people in the world it’s kind of ironic that you’re the one feeling sorry for me.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my family that’s keeping you in here, locked up like their little lab rat. I feel sorry for you Jarod…” she confessed.

“But I can help people this way, save lives.”

“And what about your life? Will you just sit here, solving puzzles without ever having had ice cream or felt the sun on your face?”

“Ice scream?” He questioned.

“Yeah, it’s the best, it’s like a frozen dessert. Very sweet, chocolate is my absolute favorite, but strawberry is pretty good too. When we were ten I tried to snuck in some for you, but it had melted before I got to see you. If you ever get out, you should definitely try some.”

He shook his head, “Sydney thinks I wouldn’t be able to function in the outside world anyway. That it would be too much for my brain to handle, that I need this environment to be able to use the full potential of my intellect. Like a white leopard, I wouldn’t be able to fit in.”

“Ugh Sydney,” She scoffed, “If anyone knows that if you repeat a lie long enough it becomes the truth, it’s him. Probably should never ask him what his family did during WO-II.”

“Sydney takes care of me.”

“Yeah,…and where is Sydney now?”

“He’s supposed to be on a trip for the next three weeks,” Jarod answered compliantly.

She rolled her eyes, “How convenient. Guess we know for how long they will keep us locked up together.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because wonderboy, Sydney would never allow this. Whatever they’re up to, they had to wait till he was gone.”

“What do you think they’re up to?”

She shrugged, “You’re the genius, you tell me.” She took a stroll around his room, “At least it’s a lot nicer here than it used to be. If I’m gonna be stuck with you for a few weeks I’m glad it’s here and not in your old room.”

“This is my apartment, they gave it to me a few weeks ago. Sydney said it would help me relax outside of doing simulations, that it would keep my brain sharp and make me feel more at home.”

He watched her expression fall, “Why does that bother you, Miss Parker?”

“Because this isn’t what home feels like, it just sounds like they want their priced possession locked up in a nicer cage.”

“What does home feel like then?”

Her eyes went up to the ceiling, “Home is…where you feel safe and loved. I haven’t been home in a long time. I used to think our house was home, but after momma died it was just a house. It never did feel like home anymore, it was just so empty. The last time I remember feeling what home is like was the winter before she died. Both of them were gone so often, my dad was usually at the Centre and my mom would go visit the orphans, but one day there was a really bad snowstorm. My parents couldn’t go anywhere and they were forced to stay home, we played Monopoly for days. It was just the three of us, no other distractions, neither of them having to leave. I felt happy and loved, that’s kind of the last memory I have of home.”

She sat down on the couch, “Do you have any memories like that, Jarod?”

He sat down next to her, “Sometimes I dream of my mother, at least I think she’s my mother. We’re outside and she’s hanging up laundry, I’m playing with a little plane made of wood. It gives me this feeling of safety and happiness.”

“That is exactly what home should feel like…safe.”

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He noticed the sadness in her voice, “There is more you’re upset about, isn’t there?”

She eyed him suspiciously, “What do you mean?”

“You’re hurting and it’s not just about boarding school.” He studied her with an intensity that left her feeling vulnerable, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat on the couch.

“Jarod…” she bit down on her lip and pretended to study her nails, “please just forget about it.”

“But, someone hurt you?”

She couldn’t stop a tear from escaping the corner of her eye.

He put an arm on her shoulder, but she immediately scurried away from him.

“Someone did hurt you, ...physically.”

“Well, I did the physically hurting part,…mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“I broke his thumb…”

“Why?”

The tears were now freely flowing from the corners of her eyes, “I just wanted to feel what it was like to be loved again, to be kissed again, and then he just…he just..” she sobbed, “he said I wanted it because of how I’d dressed, that I was provoking him, but I didn’t, I swear! I just wanted someone to care about me! I didn’t want him touching me like that!”

He carefully placed his hand on hers, she wept and curled up against him, making herself as small as she could. He held her as she cried.

“It wasn’t your fault, you did nothing wrong.” He whispered to her.

Parker’s face had turned a ghostly shade of white, Jarod observed as he paused the DSA.

“You never told anyone else, did you?” He asked gently.

She shook her head, and with shaking hands she put down her scotch glass, then wrapped her arms around her knees, still avoiding his gaze.

“Parker…”

“You know, when you send me back to him he even had the nerve to tell me that I was the one who instigated it, that I was fabricating lies, making an enemy out of him to survive. That I was doing the same to Raines, how all of them would be granted absolution of their sins… He made me doubt my own memories…”

Realization of who she was talking about dawned on him, “If I had known…”

“But you didn’t Jarod, because these memories of ours were erased.”

“If it’s any consolation,” he offered, “He won’t hurt anyone ever again. I later found out he still was trying to touch little girls…Last I heard they have to keep him in isolation for his own safety. Prison isn’t exactly the safest place for a child molester.”

“Good, I hope he rots in hell. That bastard didn’t change one bit, and neither did Raines.”

“People rarely do,” he took her hand and squeezed it, “Will you be okay?”

She nodded and squeezed back. “Let’s face it, Jarod. This will probably not be the worst that’s on those DSA’s.”

Chapter Text

The lights dimmed, a sign Jarod clearly understood as it being time to go to sleep, not that sleep would come to him quickly, but it meant that ‘they’ wanted him to go to sleep.

“I guess it is something like a sleepover.”

“Sleepover?” He asked.

“Yeah, these girls from my school used to tell stories about how they had sleepovers with other girls and all the fun they had.”

“Having fun during sleeping?” Jarod frowned looking puzzled.

“No, the fun part is actually not sleeping, eating lots of candy, and playing games,” Parker said seriously.

“But if they are not sleeping, why is it called a sleepover then?” Jarod contemplated.

“Let’s just have our own sleepover, we can talk, and I can teach you some games?”

Jarod’s smile grew large, and he nodded, excited at the prospect of learning new things from his childhood friend.

Miss Parker taught Jarod how to play charades, which turned out to be rather difficult for both of them, his lack of knowledge of the outside world and the difference in the subjects they’d been taught made it almost impossible and they quickly discarded the idea that it would become fun in any way. A pillow fight was next on Parker’s list of ideas, and while Jarod had been confused at the suggestion, he quickly became engaged when Parker just smacked him straight in the face. He retaliated with a blow of his own but didn’t factor in that Parker was a lot skinnier than he was and she fell off the bed with a small yelp.

Worriedly he went over to the side of the bed, afraid he’d hurt her. Instead, he was met with laughter and another pillow to his face. He tried to be more careful not to hurt her in any way and she overpowered him, not holding back any of her blows. At some point she’d managed to get him on his back and was leaning halfway across, slowly panting. He saw something in her eyes he couldn’t quite place, but he felt happy for the first time in years.

“Will you tell me about all the things that happened to you in the past years, about the places you saw, the people you met?” He asked her, pleading her with his eyes. He could swear he saw a pang of disappointment in her eyes, but the second he blinked it had gone, her smile beaming at him.

She crawled off him and lay down next to him, she started telling him of her time in Switzerland, how she’d been moved to another school in Italy after two years, and how hard it had been to start over again. Of the trouble she had connecting to other girls, but also of the places she went to visit, she tried to describe every detail of the sunsets she used to watch on the beach in Italy. Jarod had spent his time during her stories alternating between staring at her intently and closing his eyes trying to picture everything she described. Like a sponge he soaked up every bit of information she shared with him. He would only interrupt her to ask questions, sometimes about the sensations, smells, and colors of the things she described, but she picked up on this quickly and tried to include as many details as she could remember. At some point, both of them were simply too tired to stay awake and the room became silent.

Their older counterparts could only see Parker wake up in the morning, who’d turned around and asked in a sleepy voice why Jarod was watching her.

“You’re just so beautiful, you look so peaceful when you sleep. You didn’t yesterday when they brought you in, but you looked almost happy in your sleep.” He had said.

“I usually don’t sleep this well, it’s nice to have someone to talk to.” She had cheered with a slight blush on her cheeks.

They watched their younger selves get more comfortable around the other with each conversation. Parker had told him all about her time in Rome, about the ice cream she’d consumed, the churches she’d visited, the artwork she studied, the books she’d read. Their former friendship blossomed up again like the last five years hadn’t happened. The biggest difference was that they were not interrupted unless it was for meals, clean linen or clothes to be brought in, all under the supervision of two serious-looking sweepers.

It took four days for it to happen.

Jarod was sitting on his couch reading a book. Parker lay next to him, her legs draped over his lap, clearly bored out of her mind. She was staring at him, his older self would have recognized her expression, she was plotting something.  Happily emerged in his book he took no notice of her when suddenly she threw a pillow his way, knocking the book out of his hands.

“Is there something I can help you with?” He inquired dryly, turning his gaze towards her.

“Yes….I need your attention.” She sat up and before he knew what was happening, she straddled him. He gulped, his expression a mix of confusion, surprise, and excitement. She shot him a mischievous smile, “For this!” she started tickling him mercilessly. He yelped and tried to buck her off. Laughter escaped him as he struggled to return the favor, but her legs were blocking his arms. Finally finding his calm and strength for a second he wrestled her on her back on the couch.

“That’s ‘it, you will regret this,” he warned as he crawled his way to her, halting as he leaned over her body.

“Will I now?” She bit her lip, a glint in her eye and a devilish grin on her face.

He gave her a puzzled look, trying to read her intentions, when she grabbed him and brought his lips down on hers. A moan escaped him as he let himself melt into their kiss. While their kiss as children had been sweet and innocent, this one felt very different and became more frantic by the second he noticed. Her tongue began to explore and demanded a dance with his, he happily obliged, taking in every detail of what was happening. Her hands started roaming, first stroking his back through his shirt, but at some point, one of them snuck underneath his shirt and her nails started raking over his skin. Her other hand stroking through his hair. While he knew it was physically impossible for humans to explode from some form of internal combustion, he felt like that was exactly what could happen at any moment. He started mimicking her actions, stroking her hair and the soft skin of her cheeks with his fingertips. At some point, the sensations began to overwhelm him and he broke free, in need of some air.

“That was…that was incredible,” he panted, “I’ve never felt anything like it.” He lifted himself up a bit, looking at her completely mesmerized, his fingers began to trace her lips.

She was just as much out of breath as he was, “You’re amazing.” She blurted out and with a teasing smile her tongue darted out and started licking his fingers. He groaned, “I have no idea what you’re doing to me, but there is this need inside of me, like it’s screaming at me to be as close to you as I can, like it’s building up to something.”

Parker paused the DSA, grabbed her drink, and downed it in one go. Mortified, she glanced over to Jarod only to find him with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, he did nothing to hide his amusement at her embarrassment.

He broke their silence first, “I’m beginning to understand why Sydney insisted on us watching this together. I don’t think I would have quite believed him, had I heard about this over the phone.”

She cleared her throat, “I’m beginning to wonder how much of these Sydney actually watched, and whether I will be able to ever look him in the eye again.”

“Please pass me the bottle,” her words came out a pitch higher than she expected and she swallowed hard.

He took the bottle from the table next to him and passed it to her. “Oh come, Parker! What did you think was going to happen when they locked two teens together in a room without much else to do?”

“Proles…” she whispered, “That was their goal, wasn’t it.”

“Most likely, yes.” But as they tried it two more times, I’m not sure they succeeded.

She grimaced and restarted the DSA, “I guess there is only one way to find out.”

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The makeout session on the couch had been the first of many as they came to find out. Nearly every surface of his apartment became a place of kisses and touches. They had slept wrapped around each other and the two of them seemed to be glued together, neither wanting to let the other go after foregoing physical contact for most of their lives.

Parker was lying in his arms on the couch. Jarod was slowly drawing circles on her arm, his fingers carefully tracing her skin. “Every time I look at you, I feel so warm inside, my heart rate goes up, and there is this weird feeling in my stomach, I just need to be with you and I just want to touch you all the time.” She sat up and gave him her biggest smile, “You’re in love with me,” she stated happily.

“Is that what love feels like?” He asked her with bright eyes.

She contemplated his question for a second, “Falling in love and loving someone aren’t the same. Truly loving a person is deeper than just falling in love. When you’re in love you can’t see the flaws of the other, you’re blind to them. But when you truly love someone, you know their faults, be honest with them about it, and still love them for every bit that they are.”

He studied her, “You read that somewhere.”

She shook her head, “No, that’s what momma once told me, she thought that I would one day find a love like that.” She looked at him expectantly.

His hand cupped her cheek and gave her a soft smile, “That’s settled then, I will just have to love you with whatever faults you might have.”

She beamed at him, but then her face fell.

“Hey, what’s making you upset?” He questioned, not understanding what thoughts had ruined his declaration.

She pulled away from him, “They’re just gonna take me away again, you can’t love me! In a few days I will probably be shipped off to God knows where for who knows how long! Eventually, you will just forget about me!” She started crying and fled to the side of the bed outside of the camera’s range.

Jarod stood up slowly walking over to the bed, clearly hurt at the thought of her leaving him again and the idea that he would ever be able to forget her.

“You’re right, they probably will pull us apart again, but they can’t take this from us. And I will never forget you, I will always love you even if it will take another five or ten years for me to see you again. I will cherish every memory we made and think about you every day.” He promised her and kissed the top of her head.

Her hands reached out to him pulling him to her, “I don’t want to leave Jarod, because life is miserable without you in it. I love you too.” She confessed, her voice barely above a whisper.

He started kissing away her tears slowly, one by one he peppered her face in kisses until his lips finally found hers. She started removing his shirt, “I need you Jarod, I need you close to me, please?” He’d moved them out of the camera frame, but their clothes became a pile just within sight. Only soft whimpers were heard until the end of the DSA.

The silence between them was deafening, “So you were truly my…first…” he shot her a quick nervous glance, “and you were mine…” she whispered softly, tears streaming down her face at the intimacy of their teenage selves.

She wiped away some of her tears, “Hell of a life they’ve made for us, Jarod. It just never stops, doesn’t it? The worst part of this is, that for years I thought I lost my mind, that I was being plagued by my own sick fantasies of screwing the guy in the dungeon. Turns out, I was remembering.” She raked a hand through her hair closing her eyes. “When I first walked into your apartment after your escape I had this strange feeling of déjà vu, of passion and sex. That feeling stayed with me until I nearly lost my mind in a fit of jealousy when I discovered you fell in love with someone. I couldn’t name it at the time, but I was furious, I felt like you belonged to me and no one else was allowed to have you.”

 “Parker…” he started. “Jarod, they took our lives and made us into puppets, forcing us together only for us to be ripped apart. No wonder either of us were incapable of making long-term connections to other people.”

“We’re not puppets anymore.” He said softly, broken and hopeful at the realization that this woman had not only loved him before, but also let slip that some of those feelings had survived whatever they had done to make them forget it ever happened.

She huffed, “It sure still feels like it, this isn’t a game anymore, is it? This is what it’s all about, this connection of ours.”

He sighed, “We don’t have to play by their rules, the ending is still up to us.”

“Is it?” She said bitterly.

He stroked away another tear from her cheek and lifted her chin up to face him, “We have to believe that it is.”

Chapter Text

Their bond had grown in ways Parker never could have imagined; she had opened up to him about everything that had even been remotely important to her. Eventually, they talked about her mother’s death. The hole she still had in her heart and the emptiness she still felt after all these years. How she never really wanted to believe her mother could have left her just like that and after hearing Jarod’s memory of that day he promised he would help her find out what had truly happened to her mother. 

Besides the pain they also dreamed of a future, she had always dreamed of seeing the world on her own terms, but also of the hope she had of settling down, having a home to come back to and children to raise who she swore would never lack the affection and attention she’d craved most of her life. She had explained to Jarod that even though her mother had loved her, there had been many times Mrs. Parker had opted to go visit orphanages instead of spending time with her daughter. 

Before these teenagers knew what was happening, they were imagining a future life together, talking through every little detail of creating a home and family. Every heart’s desire Parker thought she’d never uttered out loud to a soul she’d spilled all to Jarod between tender kisses and loving embraces. It was clear that in their youthful innocence, they had held a hope that someday they would have a chance of fulfilling these dreams. 

“I dreamt of some of these things, where you would tell me about these dreams of yours, of the future you wanted.” He confessed, “I wanted to give you all of it.”

His revelation caused a sudden realization, “You tried to do exactly that when you set me up with Tommy, didn’t you?”

He glanced at her, pain clear in his eyes, “Yes.”

While her tears barely had stopped falling since their last break, she now couldn’t stop herself anymore from sobbing. “Thank you.” She managed to croak out in between sobs, causing Jarod to crawl over and take her in his arms. Holding her as he had done so many years ago, his heart heavy and angry for all that had been taken from them. 

The screen showed them sitting on the couch together, Jarod was resting his head on her lap, and she was playing with his hair, seemingly deep in thought when she 

“There is this song, it came out a few years ago and every time I heard it, I thought of you” She confessed. 

“You thought of me?” He twisted his neck to look up at her. 

“Almost every day,” she admitted, “But this is different, it made me think about how it would be if you were out there, just living your life, probably being good at anything you would try. How you would be the opposite of the man described in the song. So, every Sunday when we went to mass, I said a prayer for you. Hoped you would be safe, that you wouldn’t lose what makes you, you.

He frowned, “what makes me, me?”

“It’s your heart, Jarod. The way you care, the way you love.”

He gave her a content smile and caressed a finger down her cheek, “What was the song called?

“The Pretender.”

Both jumped up when four sweepers and a balding man holding a smoke burst into the room. 

“Dr. Raines…” Miss Parker uttered frozen on the spot.

“Take him to the renewal wing and her to the infirmary. I’ll be there shortly.”

“No wait!” Jarod tried to fight off the sweepers between him and Miss Parker, “Leave her alone!”

Jarod managed to knock one of them out but hadn’t noticed Raines closing up on him who stuck a needle in his neck. “Jarod!” Miss Parker cried out as she saw him slump to the floor. “What did you to do him?!” She struggled to free herself but could only watch as they dragged his body out of the room. 

“You bastard!” She screamed at Raines, but he gave her no notice, and with a flick of his fingers she was also carried out of the room. 

Raines took a drag of his cigarette and faced the camera, “Her erratic behavior due to the hormones we injected her with was to be expected. Nonetheless, I think this endeavor was a success, basically everything went as we predicted. She will be tested for pregnancy and closely observed for any further signs. Everything is ready for her on SL-27 if she is.”

Parker jumped out of Jarod’s arms and bolted for the kitchen, barely making it in time to the sink to throw up. Jarod sprinted after her, holding her hair out of her face and stroking her back as she heaved, tears streaming down her face. He got her a glass of water to rinse out her mouth all while soothingly caressing her back. She was shaking and let herself sink to the floor, he knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand, “Hey, it’s okay, they didn’t succeed.”

His words evoked another round of sobbing and she put a hand over her mouth, almost choking on her tears. When she finally calmed down a bit she managed to croak out a sentence that instantly made his blood run cold, “But they did…I was pregnant…”

“What…?” He looked at her in shock. 

She wiped her eyes and sniffled, “I woke up in a private hospital in Panama City, my father claimed I had an accident, but I didn’t remember anything. For weeks I didn’t get my period, until one day…” She cried softly, her face contorted in pain, “There was so much blood, Jarod…” She wrapped her arms around herself and willed herself to look at him, staring into his tear-stained eyes. “I lost the baby, I don’t know why, but I lost it. I was so confused and in so much pain, my father was so angry talking about some boy that I had met at a party, but I couldn’t imagine I would have just…just…” she let out a sob in anguish “I’m sorry Jarod, I’m sorry.” 

Tears spilled from his eyes as he stroked her hair and held her closer to him, “You were carrying our child…” 

“I’m so sorry…” she sobbed again.

“It’s not your fault, you have nothing to be sorry about.”

Crying over their lost child they sat there on the kitchen floor holding onto each other. It was a long time before they managed to get themselves back to the couch for more emotional torture. 

Chapter Text

Their meeting in 1980 had been a different story altogether. For starters, she had walked in on her own with a suitcase and immediately acted like she owned the place.

He’d walked up to her, excited to see her, but she’d simply cocked an eyebrow and basically dismissed him.

“Miss Parker?” He asked, surprised to see her strolling down so casually after all these years. “You’re back.”

“Yes, I am, genius.” She stated and without looking at him began to survey his room.

Jarod stared at her with puzzlement for a second and then asked, “Why are you here?”

She turned halfway but didn’t look at him, “Because daddy said I could have my mom’s summer home if I came here and spend some time with you.”

“As part of simulation?”

“Don’t know, couldn’t care less. If staying here for a week with you will give me momma’s house, it’s a small price to pay.”

Jarod started observing the lioness that just had walked into his den, unsure of what to think about this surprise visit.

She was radiating a sort of sexual prowess and clearly looked down on him. Everything that came out of her mouth sounded somewhere between a brag and a taunt. Jarod at first had been ecstatic his old friend came to stay with him, but the newness of the situation quickly wore off. He’d tried to engage in conversation with her, but she didn’t seem to listen to a word he said and very little she said was of interest to him.

So, he went and blocked out her presence, going about his daily business like she wasn’t there. This clearly was something Parker wasn’t used to, normally her presence commanded the attention of every man in the room. She lived for the compliments and approval of men, yet she immediately thought less of these men for worshipping her.

She had shifted her tactics then and became openly hostile, upping her sexual remarks hoping to gain a reaction, but he wouldn’t have any of it. When she made yet another comment taunting him, he’d gotten up with a dark expression that present Miss Parker recognized as the one Jarod usually reserved for punishing people and tricking them into a confession.

“If it’s male validation you’re looking for from me I have to disappoint you, I do not feel like playing along with this little game of yours. Besides, did no one ever tell you? Male validation means very near to nothing, they would just as well stick their members into a pie if they thought it would satisfy them.”

20-year-old Miss Parker had nearly choked at his statement, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

He cocked his head slightly to the side, “Sydney muttered something along those lines when he thought I wasn’t listening.” He stalked his prey in a deliberate but slow pace. She took a step back, their eyes locked.  

“It seems that you’re very well acquainted with having every male gaze focused on you when you’re in a room. You have them at your beck and call, luring them in with your overt sensuality. You give them just enough to keep them interested, insult them just enough for them to yearn for your approval. That just screams daddy issues to me, and we both know how much time daddy makes for you. These men must be seriously lacking in intelligence because very little that comes out of your mouth is of any interest to me. It makes you sound vain and conceded, an echo of the social circles you’re used to engaging with. While you may look down on me, you’ve been wasting that privileged life of yours, at least I’m here trying to make a difference.”

“I haven’t been wasting my time, I am fluent in six languages and graduated with two degrees!”

“And I speak fifteen and can communicate in at least twenty, and I’m pretty sure I could easily double those degrees in a few months, your point?”

“What are you trying to prove lab rat? That you’re better than those guys? Simply because you won’t fall for me as quickly as they do?” She questioned him with a self-assured air.

He slowly backed her into a corner, “I don’t have to prove anything. But seems that you feel like you do, or you wouldn’t act like that. Because that’s all it is…an act. None of this is really you.”

She squirmed, her breath hitching. He placed his hands on both sides of her on the wall, looking deeply into her eyes. Something in her expression changed, showing the vulnerability she felt.

“There she is, there is the little girl I knew.” He smiled but kept his intense gaze on her, “Now you can choose to keep pretending to be the person you’re out there,” he gestured to the door with his head, “but I would prefer it if you would just be yourself as long as you’re here with me.” He reached out and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

She swallowed, “I’m not pretending.” She stuttered, but it came out so unsure that even she did not believe her own words.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Would you like to repeat that, or shall we try again?”

“How did you know? No one ever…”

“Found out you’re more than just a pair of great legs?” He tutted, “You’re forgetting I’ve known you for over a decade. I’m a genius remember,” he taunted giving her a cocky smirk.

“I could have changed.” She retorted, “You haven’t seen me in years! How could you have known?!” She pressed.

He studied her, “It’s a mask you learned to wear, to blend in, to survive, to do exactly what you’re told, but they can’t take away what’s underneath. And underneath all of that…” he looked her up and down, “Is still the little girl that gave me my first kiss.”

She stared off into the distance, a weak smile on her face, “That seems like a lifetime ago…”

“For you it may be, but I can remember it like it was yesterday.”

Her smile finally reached her eyes, “First kiss, huh, was there ever a second?”

“Not yet, but a man can dream.” He wiggled his eyebrows and stepped back. “And for what it’s worth I like this smile a lot better than the one you put on to try and seduce some poor soul.”

“Maybe they’re not worth my actual smile,” she gave him a toothy grin.

 He slowly walked back and let himself fall on his couch, “I am honored, but tell me Miss Parker why are you really here? What was the simulation you were sent here for?

She shrugged her shoulders walked over and sat down gracefully next to him, “All I was told is that you’ve been giving Sydney a hard time. That you’ve gotten a little bit too confident, although the word arrogant also fell.” He let out a chuckle. “Multiple times…And daddy promised to give me my mom’s summer house as a graduation present, but when I came back from Japan, I somehow needed to do something else for him to earn it.” She rubbed her face and sighed.

“You’re used to him changing the rules on you, aren’t you?”

“I keep hoping, ...guess I should know better by now.”

“I’ve read that children love their parents so much that even when they’re abused or neglected, they would still choose them over anyone else, even if it meant they were treated horribly.”

“I wasn’t abused, Jarod.”

“But you were neglected, weren’t you? Otherwise, you would never have been able to spend all that time with me and Angelo when we were kids.” She let out air through her nose “Angelo, now that’s someone I haven’t thought about in a long time. Do you still see him?”

“Not as much as we used to, he sort of lives in the vents, but from my apartment it’s impossible to communicate with him. But Parker, I need you to tell me, what was it exactly that your father said you had to do?”

She sighed and looked away in thought, “He said…I needed to do him a ‘little’ favor. That it was very important and that if I managed to show my loyalty to him and to the Centre, he would be very proud of me. Like it was some sort of test.”

“And what did you need to do to prove this loyalty of yours?”

“He wanted me to tone you down a bit, to take you down a peg.”

“Did he ask you to seduce me?”

She flinched, “Not in so many words, but I got a feeling he was not just implying it, but more like expecting it. I just needed to work my ‘charm’.” Her face contorted in disgust. “I have been back for barely a week and he is already pimping me out, I should’ve just stayed on the other side of the world. I hate it here.”

“You could’ve said ‘no’.”

She chuckled and shook her head, “You don’t know my father. He does not like to hear the word ‘no’. Especially not from me.”

“Any other conditions?”

“I couldn’t smoke this week and there would be no alcohol allowed in this place anyway.”

“One week?

“Yeah, at least that’s what he told me…I’ve been disappointed so many times already, it wouldn’t surprise me if it became longer than that.”

“Sydney is gone for the next three weeks…” Jarod conveyed.

She sighed deeply, “Guess I’m staying longer little longer than expected. Ugh, sometimes I really hate the guy.”

“Well, at least he’s alive.”

She frowned, “Alive?”

“A few years ago, my parents were supposed to visit, but their plane crashed, there were no survivors.”

She stilled for a moment at a loss for words, “I’m…so sorry, Jarod. I didn’t know.” She reached out and hesitantly laid her hand on top of his.

He looked at her hand and then shook his head lightly, “It’s strange, I can’t even remember their faces anymore, and they never came to visit me before. Still…I miss them.”

Silence fell between them until Jarod lifted his eyes to her, “Do you still miss your mom?”

“Every day.” She answered honestly.

“You’re starting to look a lot like her.”

“Yeah,” she tucked her hair behind her ears, “I keep hearing that a lot. It’s a lot to live up to, she was so kind and compassionate. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to match that.”

“But you want to, so why do you feel like you need to put on that mask”

“Because all I’m surrounded by are kids from wealthy families with too much time on their hands. Being untouchable around rich kids who are constantly getting drunk and popping pills without knowing what’s in them, seemed like the right defense mechanism. They’re just a bunch of morons.”

“You just hate it because you don’t like to lose control,” Jarod remarked.

“I don’t like waking up and not knowing what happened to me, you can hardly blame me for that.” Parker retorted.

“You think it makes you look weak as a person. That it’s just a way for them to run away from their obligations and problems.”

She snorted, “It’s not fair you know.”

“What isn’t?” He asked.

“That you seem to know me better than I do myself sometimes.” She sighed, “Still, I think they’re idiots for becoming addicted to something. It’s pathetic.”

“But…” he tried.

“I can’t understand why anyone would want that, getting addicted is like setting your own house on fire because you don’t like the neighborhood it’s in. They should just face their problems and handle them; nobody forces you to get addicted so they should just quit and deal with live like grownups.”

“Yet you smoke,” Jarod said darkly.

“Yeah, casually, just like half of Tokyo, and I just quit to be here with you. Why is this such a thing for you Jarod?”

He let out a sigh, “Because they made me into an addict…” He confessed quietly.

“They did what?!” Her eyes narrowed and she stared at him expectantly.

“A few years ago, there was this drug, it was supposed to enhance my abilities, but it was highly addictive, I couldn’t function at all and then when they stopped the injections the withdrawal symptoms were very…unpleasant.”

“Where was Sydney during all of this? He should have protected you from all of this.”

He grimaced, “I don’t know, I’ve always wondered why he didn’t stop it, why he wasn’t there when the withdrawal started. We never talked about it. There was this other doctor that oversaw the procedure, balding and almost constantly smoking.”

Parker scrunched her nose in disgust, “Raines…”

It had been the start of a long conversation about Mr. Raines, the things he went through these last years, and her experiences at college. Different from their previous meeting had been the easiness between them, like they hadn’t been separated for almost eight years. Their meeting had been filled with far less hostility than the previous one. After several hours of easily flowing conversations the lights in the room dimmed.

 “It’s bedtime according to them. You can get ready for bed first if you like,” he gestured to the bathroom. She took him up on that and came back in a light green silky nightdress that showed off her long legs. Something Jarod definitely noticed before disappearing into the bathroom himself.

When he returned, he’d gotten into the bed next to her.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

He raised his eyebrows “Going to bed?”

“Aren’t you supposed to do the chivalrous thing and sleep on the couch?”

“Now, why would I do that?” He asked, sounding slightly confused.

“Because it’s the right thing to do?”

“You really are used to getting what you want, aren’t you?” He chuckled and laid down on his back.

She shot him an annoyed look, huffed, turned away from him, and drew the blanket over her shoulder.

“Goodnight, Miss Parker.” He sent her way with an amused smile.

“Goodnight.” She grumbled.

While they had gone to sleep on the furthest ends of the bed, they woke up tangled around each other. He’d woken up first and had taken the opportunity to study her face for a good five minutes before she’d woken up.

“Jarod…” she murmured. “Guess that wasn’t a weird dream after all.” She stretched herself out with a moan, teasingly rubbing her body against his. His breath hitched as she stayed there, inches from his face, daring him to make a move.

He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips, lingering for just a second. As he leaned back a bit, he stared at her intensely trying to read her, he was met with just as much desire as he felt and he leaned back in but was met halfway by her eager lips. Their kisses grew impatient and without much scruple, Parker had thrown off her nightie and removed his T-shirt. They had moved quickly and in tandem like both seemed to remember what the other liked best.

When they were done Parker laid down next to him on her belly, still panting. “That was by far the best I’ve ever had, but it also felt so…familiar, like…”

He sat up and stared at her weirdly, “Like we’ve done this before.” He added.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Yeah…like with every touch and kiss something nags at me that this isn’t the first time this happened.”

“Maybe…because it isn’t.”

He averted his gaze, his lips thinned into a line, “I’ve been having these dreams…about us. They’re very…vivid. But maybe…” He let out a breath, “they weren’t just dreams.”

She looked up at him blankly, “You’re thinking this isn’t the first time I’ve been here with you. Don’t you think we would have known if we had done the horizontal before?”

He shook his head, “Did you have these sorts of dreams as well?” He questioned ignoring her last comment.

She sighed in annoyance, “Yes.”

“When did they start?”

“Jarod, why does it matter? I haven’t seen you in…”

“When did they start?” He repeated sternly.

She rolled her eyes, “A little over three years ago.”

“What was happening in your life at that time?”

“I guess it was somewhere after the summer I came back from Europe, maybe after my vacation, maybe when I went to Asia, I don’t know, what do you want to hear from me, Jarod? Also, it’s not like Sydney is gone all the time, he would have a field day knowing you had sex.”

Jarod swallowed, “Sydney…” He huffed, “That’s it, about three years ago Sydney was gone for a few weeks. But whenever he asked about it, I was unable to come up with a specific thing that had happened, like I had this feeling of relaxation and strange sort of happiness, but my mind was blank.” He looked down at her still lying on her stomach staring at him, while the camera showed only her naked back, his eyes were focused on her chest. She grinned at him, and he shook himself out of his thoughts. “Please put something on, I am not going to be able to focus when you look like this.”

She chuckled, “Maybe your brain will work even better after another round,” she teased.

He groaned and handed her the night dress she’d been wearing and pulled a T-shirt over his head.

After both of them had taken the time to put on their clothes he had led them to the couch and started questioning her again.

“Is there any moment from that time that you can’t remember, maybe a concussion? Or an operation?”

“Well, I did have an accident on vacation, but my father told me all about…” She paled and her eyes went wide. “There was no guy…” she mouthed.

“Guy?” He asked, not understanding what was happening in her mind.

She looked at him in devastation, “I was…I was…” She started crying.

This confused Jarod even more and he wrapped an arm around her pulling her close. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me.”

Miss Parker and Jarod watched as their younger selves went through the same emotions they’d been through just hours before. The same pain and devastation had hit younger Jarod like a freight train, and they had cried in each other’s arms for a good long time until Jarod suddenly had a thought that made him sit up straight.

“You could be pregnant again!”

She was startled by his sudden declaration but shook her head and started rubbing her arm. “The Centre base in Japan is running an experimental implant with hormones, I volunteered, it won’t be on the market for a few more years, but it seems to be working well.” He let out a breath of relief and went back to take her into his arms. “Good, we can’t let them do this again.”

But their comfort in each other’s arms was short-lived as within a minute a team of sweepers burst into the room, immediately grabbing both of them and had dragged them out of the room. Raines then entered the room and looked at the camera, with a furious look on his face.

“This was a disaster, her memories clearly hadn’t been wiped out as well as we thought they were, and Jarod seems capable of breaking down her walls with minimum effort.” He spewed. “You were adamant that she was ready for this, you clearly underestimated how much she’s like her mother! We will need to enhance the procedure to suppress her memories and she needs way more training before she is anywhere near ready to comply.

I suggest we harvest at least some of her eggs in an attempt to accelerate project Gemini. While previous attempts have been unsuccessful, perhaps with another egg donor we will finally be able to succeed.”

Having said that he turned around and made his way out of Jarod’s apartment, and the DSA ended.

“We remembered,” Jarod said quietly.

“Not entirely, but Raines wasn’t able to make us forget completely.”

“No, he wasn’t, because I remember what happened after…” he said as he stared off into the distance.

She shifted her gaze from the screen to him waiting for him to continue.

“I had been on a high of solving all of those simulations and then suddenly I felt like I lost it, this feeling of loss and devastation wouldn’t leave me. I kept panicking thinking I would fail to save the people in those simulations. It took Sydney months to stabilize my moods and thoughts, it took a long time before I was able to function as before, but I never truly regained the confidence in my abilities like I had at the beginning of this disc.”

“Your subconscious still knew of our loss.”

“I just didn’t know what it was.”

“I woke up in the infirmary, they told me I had collapsed, and my appendix had been removed.”

“But you did get the house.”

She huffed, “That I did.” She shook her head, “Jarod, it took them fifteen years before they tried again, were they afraid we would remember again? I left for Europe with daddy not long after and spent the next few years travelling and training. They abandoned this project for years.”

“Your father was probably trying to make sure your loyalties would always be with him and the Centre.”

“So, they only tried again when they felt certain I would be on their side no matter what. When they made me head of security I had to go in for a day of testing and probing yearly.”

“That and considering they had been successful with project Gemini they may not have felt the need to make it their priority because they had another pretender in development.”

“Let’s find out,” Parker said and put the first disc with 1995 on it in the DSA player.

Chapter Text

Just like before they watched two sweepers enter Jarod’s apartment, dragging Miss Parker behind them.

Jarod, who’d been lying on his cot throwing a ball against the wall, sat upright. The sweepers left without a word and Jarod rushed to the figure lying on the floor, he checked her vitals and then he slowly turned her on her back.

 “Miss Parker?” Jarod’s unbelieve was written all over his face. He checked her pupils and angled her face into the harsh light of the simlab, checking for a reaction. When he seemed satisfied she was furthermore undamaged he picked her up and carried her to his bed. She began to stir and groaned. He slowly put her down, shot the camera a look of annoyance, and turned back to her. 

“Miss Parker, can you hear me?” He’d put one hand on her cheek and held her lefthand with the other. Another groan, Parker blinked and stared at Jarod for a second. 

“There you are.” He smiled.

 “Jarod?” she asked groggily and a little perplexed. “Where am I?”

Jarod sighed, “Two sweepers just brought you in without so much as a word, you’ve been unconscious and by the mark on your neck I think you were injected with something to render you such.”

“They what?!” She sat up, but immediately she clammed a hand over her mouth and ran off to the bathroom. Jarod went after her, but between hurls she managed to yell at him to not touch her. He retreated carefully puzzled by her sudden appearance and angry attitude.

After she’d cleaned herself up, Jarod watched her sprint up the stairs, she started pounding on the door and yelling for her to be freed from this prison. When no one came she kicked the door, a curse followed as she’d broken her heel. “Oh great! Just peachy,” she spewed and threw her broken heel at the door, then ripped off her other shoe and lanced it through the lab.

“How long has it been?” Jarod enquired dryly while dodging her heel.

“How long has it been since what?!” she sneered.

“Since you last had a cigarette, or a drink for that matter?”

The death stare she gave him was one of pure fury. “Don’t you dare try your little tricks on me!” she hissed.

“It’s not a trick, I saw some stains on your fingernails, well that and the fact that you smell like an ashtray is a dead giveaway. When did you start smoking? It’s not good for you.”

“I started smoking at none of your business, Jarod. Now why don’t you use some of that genius mind of yours to tell me why I’m here, huh?” She spoke as she approached him slowly stopping inches from him.

He was amused at her feistiness which was a little less impressive now she lost her heels, standing barefoot in front of him. “I don’t know,” he said, smirking down at the woman in front of him.

“And why the hell should I believe you?” she hissed at him.

He bowed down a little closer to her.

“Because it’s the truth and I wouldn’t lie to you. You know that.”

She held his eyes, unwilling to back away. “Do I?” She asked sharply.

“Yes, because I promised you I wouldn’t.”

“That was a long time ago, we’re not kids anymore.” She spit back but her stomach was still lurching, and her head was pounding, her lightheadedness made her sway. Jarod noticed and made a gesture to steady her, but she slapped his hand away.

“Don’t!” She warned and sat down on his couch.

He sat down on the opposite side, “When you get home you could draw yourself an Epsom salt bath, the salt draws out the tar and nicotine.”

She huffed at that, “When I get home, I will probably smoke entire pack just to compensate for the utter insanity of locking me up with you in this prison. If I find out who’s behind this little stunt, I will make them pay. If my father finds out about this…”

Jarod frowned, “Won’t your father notice when you go missing for a certain period?”

She froze, “Daddy and I we were going for a cruise on his yacht with some friends of his.” Her eyes widened and her lips curled up in a little smile, “He’ll get me out of here.” She said confidently.

Jarod’s expression showed that he clearly doubted this but held his tongue. He noticed that her hands had started to shake, “I could also try and help you by hypnotizing you, it will make you feel better. It’ll relieve you of the withdrawal symptoms.”

She laughed in disbelieve, “Hysterical Jarod, like I would let you anywhere near my brain.” She got up and walked away from him.

No matter how many times he tried to talk to her she refused him, either ignoring him or making a denigrating quip. He decided after a few hours that talking to the walls was easier than getting her to have a normal conversation. She kept pacing around and looking at the door like it was magically going to open.

Hours went by and her withdrawal symptoms only worsened. She’d been agitated, shivering and her head was killing her, and she didn’t know how to remedy any of them without strangling Jarod in the hopes getting out of here and finding a cigarette for her craving.

Jarod had of course noticed her demeanor, “I can still help you overcome the symptoms by hypnosis if you like. Here let me show you,” he’d gone up to her and taken her hand and both of them felt something akin to a shock. She quickly withdrew her hand like she’d been burned.

He looked at her with surprise, “you felt that too, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah wonderboy, you’re static and shocked me,” she said defensively.

“No, no it was different from that. I felt it before when we were kids…”

“Jarod…,” she warned him.

“That moment when we first…”

“Jarod! Stop it!” She said more sharply. Of course, she had to be stuck in a cell with the most naïve man on earth.

“Why?” She watched him furrow his brows together. “Because I believe I read somewhere that it could be…”

“Sexual attraction?” She interrupted, “Cool it, lab rat. Just cause I’m the only woman to ever be allowed here in your dungeon does not mean you get to jump me.” She snapped at him.

Jarod frowned, “Why would I jump on you, wouldn’t that hurt you?”

She let out a growl in frustration, “It’s just an expression!”

“For what?” He inquired innocently, cocking his head a little sidewards, his expression puzzled.

This man was too much to handle without cigarettes or alcohol to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes, massaged her temples in a futile attempt to relieve some of her headache and exhaled deeply. “Jarod, can you please do the hypnosis thing to me, preferably before I kill you?” She managed to say through gritted teeth.

“You wouldn’t,” he stated.

“Watch me,” she retorted.

“You don’t have it in you…or in your eyes,” he said softly. She found herself staring silently at him, a little smile played on his lips, and she could swear she saw a twinkle in his eyes. She didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore and just closed her eyes in defeat willing him to not stare at her that way. It felt like he was trying to open up a closet of emotions she’d sealed up some long-forgotten time ago.

“I’ll help you, now please sit down,” he motioned for her to sit down on the couch. He sat down next to her and as he began his hypnosis he touched her wrist, the jolt was not quite the same as before, but it was there nonetheless. She felt a calming sensation spreading across her body and quickly fell into his trance.

When she came to, her craving for cigarettes was gone, as was the constant shivering she’d been doing. Instead, she felt eerily calm, the sort of calm she could only vaguely remember having long before her mother had died. As he released her wrist, she felt some of the anxiety return.

“You should feel much better now.” Jarod promised her, smiling at her intently.

“Wow, if I’d known you were better at calming my nerves than scotch and cigarettes, I would have been down here a lot sooner.”

“Those aren’t good for your health.”

“Neither is all the stress Corporate is putting me through and that needs to be compensated by something.” She smirked at him defiantly.

The happy smile he’d been flashing her disappeared and was replaced by something more serious, she did not like where this was going.

“Why didn’t you leave?” He asked softly.

She felt her jawline stiffen and she turned her head not to face him anymore. “My father runs The Centre; he wants me here. He hopes I can succeed him someday,” she tried saying casually.

“And what would your mother have wanted?” he added.

That provoked her anger, “My mother was weak, she couldn’t handle the pressure of Corporate, I don’t have that problem.” She snarled and stood up from his couch. “She killed herself, Jarod. She was unstable.”

“You know that isn’t the truth.”

 “Well, you should ask your favorite puppet master about her sanity, she had a session with him an hour before she died.”

“I replayed that day a thousand times in my head, your mother screamed, I heard three gunshots, not just one. It couldn’t have been a suicide.”

She froze, “You’re lying,”

“I told you; I wouldn’t do that to you, certainly not about this.”

“We’re not talking about this!” She yelled at him and removed herself as far away from him as the room allowed, grabbing a book about mathematics he was very certain she wouldn’t like reading and buried herself in the book. He sighed, he better figure soon why she was here before she found a way to strangle him in his sleep...Which reminded him of the other reasons he had not to fall asleep. The burns on his chest from the defibrillator still hurt a great deal, and he knew that as soon as he would fall asleep nightmares would come to him. While he didn’t feel like having them at all, with Miss Parker in his room he’d rather not sleep at all than wake her with his nightmares. He stared at the figure huddled on the other side of the room, his childhood best friend sent back to him. But for what reason?

Chapter Text

She was sent here against her will, that much was clear to him. She’d always been a terrible liar, and no matter how long he hadn’t seen her, that was one thing that clearly hadn’t changed. Her agitation, withdrawal and surprise when she’d woken up had told him enough to know that she was just as much in the dark about the situation as him. Someone wanted her here, with him, for a prolonged time, during Sydney’s absence. Indicating that Sydney wouldn’t approve of whatever was supposed to go down here. 

He approached her carefully, not even sure of this was a good idea, but he felt like The Centre, had arranged for this and if they were to survive this game it seemed better just to play along.

“I might have an idea to keep us busy.”

“Does it involve getting you to shut up?” She asked, sounding bored, unwilling to look up from the book she clearly wasn’t reading.

“Do you know how to fence?” He asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

His question instantly piqued her interest, and she looked up at him expectantly, “Yes…?”

He sighed, “Two days ago someone happened to have left two fencing outfits in here, one of them seems to be in your size.”

“How thoughtful.”

“So, how often do you play?”

She gave him a devilish grin, “Three times a week, I really do hope you can keep up.”

She inspected the tip of the sword, “we’ve been electric for fifteen years, this seems ancient. Still a better way to spend my time than that godawful math book you had lying around.”

“Astrophysics actually.” He corrected.

“Whatever.”

Their match was intense, he only had the pleasure of practicing a few times before for a simulation, but his reaction time was quicker than hers. She was clever and quick, intense in every move she made and calculated in her progress. But she lacked patience, and it took 3 matches for him to be able to predict her weak spots and to cash in on that impatience of hers.

He noticed she would leave certain parts of her torso vulnerable when she lashed out and preferred the fourth as he went into septime. She tried to parry him, but he disengaged and lunged and scored a quick point much to her dismay. It frustrated her greatly he’d gotten such a hit and it proved to be her downfall. Jarod only got better each point he made, her frustration was a distraction from the focus she had before, and she lost many points she should have had.  

He ripped off his mask panting, “That was quite good, seven out of fourteen. I believe that makes us even.” He should have known stopping before there was clear winner was out of the question for her, but he was certain he would win the next point and win the match. Which would have certainly angered her.

She threw her mask haphazardly aside, her skin was glistening with perspiration, small curls sprung wildly from the quick ponytail she’d made before donning the mask, natural waves starting to form in her hair.

‘She’s beautiful.’ He thought as her disheveled appearance got him distracted.

She had a murderous look on her face, her eyes a steely cold blue, “The match won’t end until fifteen, lab rat.” Determination in her voice, her lips reduced to a thin line, eyebrows knitted together.

He shook his head, “We’re done fighting.”

“Not until I’ve won.” She snapped at him and lunged.

He was barely able to escape the tip of her sabre. At that point Jarod decided he had enough and showed her just how much he’d been holding back on her. He easily blocked her next move, with his other hand grabbing her blade from hers and throwing it in the corner. He dropped his own, she immediately went to grab him, but he simply grabbed her wrists and backed her into the wall. She jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist, which fucked up his balance and in his disorientation, she managed to knock the both of them over, he was barely able to land in such a matter that neither of them landed head first on the floor. He realized he’d held her more strongly than he’d wanted to, to prevent her from landing on the burns on his torso and let her rigid form go quickly. He thought he saw a brief flash of fear in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as he blinked.  

She was now straddling his lap and her body language completely changed as did her expression, “Well, this is more like it.” She purred and leaned over him, one hand resting next to his head holding her up, the other began stroking the light stubble on his cheek.

“You would be fantastic in bed, all that stamina…wasted. But I could remedy all of that.”

First Jarod seemed to be holding his breath, his heart pounding, enthralled by the sensations her touch and words brought on, until he studied her face and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Why do you do that?” he questioned.

“Do what?” she said huskily.  

He used his elbows to lift himself up a bit closing the distance between them, “Use your sexuality to distract from your emotional state, to make sure no one sees you being vulnerable.” He said softly.

The atmosphere changed instantly; her expression turned ice cold, something between panic and a simmering rage appeared in her eyes. She sat upright, no longer touching his face.

“You thought I would hurt you, so you used your sexuality to take back control of the situation. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it’s just that…” He paused, unsure if it was wise to tell her of his burn marks.

She quickly lifted herself off of him and stomped off to his little bathroom without another word, he heard her turn on the shower and sighed, stripping himself from the suit, he stared at the bathroom door for a second, wondering where the little girl he once knew went.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She showered, still fuming over his comments, but determined not to show him how much he’d gotten to her, she put the same clothes as she arrived in earlier. After all, daddy would realize where she was, and this would all be over. She could forget all about the little lab rat down in the basement and she would be sipping on cocktails on a yacht in no time. But she was not a woman to wait on a man to come save her, she would take care of this herself. She strutted out of the bathroom which she realised was not so much strutting as it was tiptoeing without her heels.

“So, when is feeding time in this zoo?” She demanded, not bothering to look at him.

“In my estimation in three minutes or so. Why?”

“Because I am getting out of here. I did not become head of security to be locked up with you monkey boy. Especially not during the only planned vacation time I had this year.” She flattened herself against the wall next to the door.

He let out a deep sigh, sat down on his couch, shook his head lightly and waited for events to unfold.

He didn’t have to wait long for the familiar beeping of the keypad next to the door followed by the subsequent woosh that announced it would slide open.  A dark-skinned sweeper he didn’t recognize entered holding up a gun. Miss Parker kicked it out of his hand and knocked him out with a single righthand blow, she bolted out of the door only for her to reappear seconds later slowly walking backward followed by two other sweepers holding up their guns to her. Another man followed, carrying a tray of food and drinks. He sat it down at the small dinner table.

“He said you were going to be trouble,” the sweeper commented dryly looking at the knocked-out person on the floor. “Next time you’re gonna stay nice and easy or we’ll tranq you again before we bring a meal. Now if you’re going to be a good girl and finish your meal, we’ll bring a suitcase with some of your own clothes.” The unknown speaking sweeper dragged his colleague out of the room, while the others retreated with him, their guns still raised at Miss Parker.

As the door locked behind them, Miss Parker let out a breath she’d been holding as she watched the door.

“I take it these weren’t friends of yours?” Jarod commented dryly.

Her breathing was still a bit labored from her little stunt, “Those were Mr. Raines’ personal sweepers. He must be behind all of this.”

“And who’s this illustrious Mr. Raines?”

“He’s the boogeyman, the sort of thing demons must have nightmares about. He used to be dr. Raines, think more Mengele than Spock.”

“Spock?”

She sighed, “never mind.”

“You’re afraid of him.” Jarod observed.

“I’m not afraid of anyone,” she said straightening her posture and lifting her chin, “I just know whose buttons not to push. And if he’s behind this, I’m not getting out, no matter what daddy wants.”

He stood up and gave her a friendly clap on the shoulder that startled her. “Well then, welcome to my dungeon for the next few weeks or so. At least you being here has caused some changes.”

He walked up the few steps of the stairs. “I’ve never had something other than wheatgrass and tomato juice to eat before. All optimized nutrition.” He inhaled deeply, “Do you know what this is? It smells delicious.”

She approached the table and scrunched her nose. It’s some sort of Caesar salade, it used to be my favorite actually.”

“What does an emperor have to do with a…salade?”

“Nothing,” she said flatly.

He sat down at the table, stuck a fork in a piece of chicken and studied it intently. He tentatively took a bite, chewed for a bit and his eyes lit up.

“This is great! You get to eat this all the time?”

She sat down across from him in silent defeat.

“What is it? You’re not hungry?”

She stabbed a bit of lettuce with a knife and held it up to her face.

“Miss Parker? Are you alright?”

“Et tu?” She whispered.

Her eyes drifted from the lettuce to him, “Only my father knows this was my favorite.”

“What does that mean?” He asked in confusion.

“It means everyone in the Centre can be stabbed in the back by anyone at any time.”

“Like Caesar?”

She huffed and raised an eyebrow, “Exactly.”

She took a cup that had her name on it and carefully took a sip.

“Figures,” she sighed as she watched Jarod happily eat his salad, slowly devouring each little bite.

“Another something only dad would know, it’s the soda I loved as a child. Haven’t tasted this in two decades. It’s called ‘Dr. Pepper’.”

Jarod grabbed his own cup, took the lid off, and smelled the contents. “It smells very sweet.”

“It is genius. This probably has more sugar in it than I had all year.”

She observed as Jarod’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at his first taste of the sugary sweetness.

“You’re gonna get all hyped up from this, aren’t you?”

“This tastes amazing!”

She shook her head, realizing the evening was going to be spend dealing with a pretender on a sugar high. But the realisation no one would be coming to free her was disheartening to her and finally landed as Jarod kept commenting on the texture of each item and the strange high he felt 5 minutes after drinking the soda. He babbled on about the food, Miss Parker however was zoned out and staring blankly at the wall

“When is Sydney coming back?” she asked. He broke off his speech about the crunchiness of croutons and stared at her for a second.

She turned her head and looked at him directly, “You said welcome to my dungeon for the next few weeks or so. Sydney would never allow this, well that or he would have a field day analysing your every reaction to me being here.” She inhaled deeply and let out her breath slowly, bracing herself for Jarod’s words.

“Just a few days short of three weeks”. He answered her.

 “Great,” she shook her head in disbelief, “just great.” Her voice rang out in a high strangled pitch.

“It won’t be that bad, I am here all the time, you’d be here for only a little while.”

It struck her how much he was trying to do his best to console her, even though he was the one always locked up in here. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him anymore, she remained silent and pecked at her salad. Jarod had newfound energy from the dinner and the drink, she felt drained and settled down on the couch after dinner, tugging her legs up and ignoring Jarod altogether. He went back to commenting on his experience with real food and she didn’t have it in her to be annoyed with him. If anything it made her feel guilty, even if she felt like she would never admit this to him.

The evening passed in relative peace as Parker was lost in thoughts and Jarod was all over the place unable to rest. When Parker’s eyes almost closed on their own, she retreated to the bathroom and came back out in one of his shirts, barely long enough to cover her thighs, he couldn’t help but stare.

“You better be taking the couch cowboy, cause I ain’t sharing.” She declared, but her tone had no real bite to it.

“I have a project to catch up on,” he lied, feeling a pang of guilt. He retreated with a folder of his latest sim, the one he’d finished three days ago. He watched as she shut off the lights above his bed without looking at the button. The motion gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, but after these eventful hours he was too tired to give it a second thought. He sat behind his desk staring at the folder without reading any of its contents, instead he tried to come up with any and all scenario’s that would have make them place her with him.

His eyes kept flicking back over to her sleeping figure. He wasn’t the only one plagued by nightmares. Despite her hostility he felt a deep connection and attraction to the woman who once was his best friend. Something inside him yearned for her, no matter the decades that had passed. He wondered what it would be like to sleep in the same bed and wake up next to her, to see her hair sprawled out over the pillow. An image of her body wrapped around him, a flash of her naked body against him, strange sensations overtook him, making his stomach flutter and his blood pool in the lower part of his body. He averted his eyes again, willing his mind to focus on anything other than her.

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She was awake early, falling asleep normally was hard enough but unless she used alcohol to subdue herself, she would awaken after an hour of four if she was lucky without a nightmare it surprised her how easy it had been to fall asleep in Jarod’s bed. A strange place to sleep usually meant it took even longer to fall asleep, especially with another person in the room. She stretched out her arms to relieve some of the tension in our body. Still weirded out by the lack of cigarette craving she pushed herself up by her elbows and located Jared immediately on the couch across from her. He looked up from the book he was reading, “Good morning” he said, once again studying her. She already felt like a damn science experiment, and being dissected by wonderboy himself didn't help one bit. She growled in response, unwilling to match his energy she flicked the light on and padded off to the bathroom all too aware of his eyes following her. After she released herself, she washed her hands and looked up in the mirror, there were still some, splotches of makeup left on her face even after her shower from the evening before she rinsed her face and dressed herself in clean clothes that had arrived in her own suitcase, brought in after she finished her meal. Whomever had packed for her had taken the liberty to include her fanciest lingerie, a few sundresses and some casual clothes. So much for putting on armour to deal with monkey boy. She let out a deep sigh and donned on a purple dress that she had no business wearing in this dungeon.

She was never a breakfast person, usually skipping the meal altogether and opting for a black coffee and a cigarette. Neither were an option this morning she realized as she observed the pot of tea, a bowl of yoghurt and several bowls of fruit before her. She stared at the meal, as Jarod settled down in a chair, rubbing his hands together in delight at seeing the meal in front of him. He looked up at her expectantly, “Don’t you want to eat?”

“ I usually don't eat breakfast,” she admitted, but a large growl came from her stomach. His eyes went down her body, “cigarettes diminish your appetite, without them your body is much more accurate in listening to its needs,” his eyes shot up at hers again. She sighed and sat down in the chair next to him, “I'll probably get a massive headache from the lack of caffeine” she said as she mixed several berries through her yoghurt.

 Jarod shook his head, “you already had that yesterday along with the other withdrawal symptoms.” He followed her example and mixed some fruit through the yoghurt.

“How would you know?” She asked turning up a frown.

“Your symptoms were all at its peak, most likely you hadn't had any alcohol cigarettes or coffee for two days so today's day three. Your brain should be fine without the coffee.

“Three days? I am missing an entire day?” The spoon of yoghurt she'd been holding frozen air, “Fantastic.” She grumbled, unsure of what could have possibly happened to her in the day she was missing.

Jarod interrupted her anxieties, “You know, I thought of several scenarios as to why they would bring you here, but I'm still not entirely sure,” he said, “ Why would they lock the two of us in here together, what would they gain by doing so?” He wondered out loud.

She lifted her eyebrows and huffed, pushing her bowl away from her, her hunger completely diminished.

“What?” He asked munching on the fruit bites in his last bit of yoghurt.

She got up from the table. “There is only one reason why they would put two unrelated grown adults of the opposite sex in a tiny room with very little to do, monkey boy.”

He blinked and gave her a puzzled look, unable to guess where she was going.

She released a sigh of annoyance, “They want us to have sex,” she stated and then turned towards a camera, “Isn’t that right? Dr. Raines? You perverted son of a bitch! When I get out of here, I will blow you and your squeaky tank to pieces.” She yelled, an expression of utter disgust on her face.

“Why do you think that’s what he wants?” Jarod asked tentatively and got up from the table himself.  

She didn’t bother turning around to answer him, “the question is more like why now, after all these years. Should have tried that before either of us were old enough to refuse.”

He approached her slowly, “But why does he need us to reproduce?”

She nearly lost her balance with the speed she turned to him; all color having drained from her face. “Excuse me?” She managed to sputter.

Jarod stared at her, not understanding what she was getting at, “Intercourse is meant for reproduction,” he paused trying to read her, “When a man and a…”

“Yes, genius,” she interrupted him, “I am well aware of what the biology books probably told you. I was thinking more along the lines of Raines getting off on watching you experience what it means to finding out what ‘intercourse’, as you so neatly put it, is like on an emotional and physical level, but you know what; knowing Raines it’s probably both.” She shook her head lightly is disbelieve glaring at the camera.

“Who is this Raines? Was he ever involved in the Pretender project?” Jarod asked her.

She raised an eyebrow, still staring at the black piece of equipment recording their conversation, “Raines used to be the Triumvirate’s watchdog which is how he sometimes gets to overrule my father, all I know is that he used to be a doctor and ran experiments just like Sydney, but that sometimes he took it too far.”

“You said you would blow him AND his squeaky tank to pieces, what did you mean by that?”

She rolled her eyes, “Like I said,” she straightened her back and put up her chin, “When I get my gun back, first thing I’ll shoot, will be him.”

Jarod shook his head and took her arm, causing her to face him. She narrowed her eyes at him ready to lash out with her tongue, but Jarod pleaded her, “No, no, what did you mean by the tank?” He noticed her demeanor and let go of her quickly, his eyes still focused on hers.

She froze and searched his eyes wondering where his angst was coming from, “There supposedly was a fire in 1982,” she started, “he lost all of his hair and his lungs were damaged, he’s been carrying an oxygen tank with him at all times ever since. He can’t live without it.”

Jarod felt himself being transported back two days before, to the moment he was shoved into a small chamber to make his heart stop. The bald man in the suit with the oxygen tank, the boogey man that had been experimenting on him before. Panick rose up on the inside of him, his body stiffened, his breathing quickened.

“Jarod?” She asked him, her voice laced with concern, “Are you okay?” Hesitantly she stretched out her fingers towards him until she touched his upper arm. His wide eyes flew towards her hand immediately and she let go just as fast, taking a step back and giving him space.

“I’ve met him before…” he swallowed hard, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Yeah, I figured, believe me, he gives all of us the creeps.” She sighed, “What did he do to you, Jarod?” She waited on him to answer, but Jarod just stood there rubbing his own arms and staring silently at the ground. “Did he experiment on you?” She finally asked.

He nodded and swallowed again, “He did.” he croaked out. He stilled himself trying to regain control of his breathing, pushing down the feelings anxiety that had taken over his body at the thought of his own death. Just as Sydney taught him to help himself calm down, he took control of his breathing. He raised his head, took a deep breath, slowly exhaled and told her, not about the medication that stopped his heart, but about the time that Raines had made him into an addict. Miss Parker, to her credit listened in horror to every word he said without interrupting him once but she had motioned for them to go settle on the couch. He tried to sound as objective as he could, but that didn’t stop Parker from asking him questions, wanting to know every painful detail. At the end of his story, she wasn’t crying but he could make out the glistening of moisture in her eye. She blinked heavily to get rid of it, clearly not wanting to spill any tears. They sat there in silence both wrapped up in their own thoughts until lunch was brought in.

Chapter Text

When sweepers were sent in to retrieve the lunch plates, something else was brought into the room; a record player and several vinyl records. Jarod went up to it immediately to inspect the item, she joined him and went through the records. She picked a favourite of hers, and Jarod watched as she placed the needle on the record. With a crackling sound, the record started spinning, and music started playing. It gave her a strange feeling to see the delight and fascination of something so mundane to her on his face. She saw his sponge-like brain soak up every little detail; not only of the machine but also as he closed his eyes from the music, filing away every note to that insanely working brain of his. In the past, she'd often wondered how it would have been to have his kind of brain during college, thoughts of how quick he would have been done with the essay she'd been struggling to finish.

The song ended and another one started, Jarod’s face lit up even more, “I know this song!”

“You heard this before?” She questioned, wondering if Sydney had allowed him to listen to a song just for fun.

“It was for a simulation,” he explained, “something happened in a ballroom, and I had to find out who the killer was. The images were silent, but I convinced Sydney that I needed the music that these people were hearing and dancing to, to solve it!”

She let out a half amused half impressed chuckle, “Clever.” She commented. He looked so happy she thought.

 “I memorised their dance steps, here, let me show you,” he grabbed her by her middle and took her hands and before she knew what was happening, he was leading her into a waltz. It was quite some time since she made use of the skills she learned during ballroom lessons, but Jarod seemed to lead her with ease. Her natural reaction would have been to curse him out for touching her, most men who tried found out there were severe consequences to touching her without her initiating it, but Jarod touching her felt different somehow. She relaxed in his hold and led him lead her until his laughter interrupted her thoughts, “This is even so much better when you have someone to dance with” he commented cheerfully.

Images of Jarod practising dancing alone in his room flooded her mind and she decided to humour him a little longer. He spun her around carefully in the little space they had to dance. Something about Jarod holding her did things to her body she couldn’t understand, it was like a craving that was finally satisfied. He dipped her low and the way he looked at her with his intense happiness made her stomach flip flop and her skin flush. As the song ended and another started, she surprised both of them by pulling him closer to the soft romantic tunes filling their ears. They slowly swayed to the music, her head on his shoulder, his arms around her waist holding her close to his chest. The familiarity of it all gave her a strange sense of déjà vu, her feelings went in turmoil as she thought of the childlike happiness on his face just a minute ago.

Lifting her head from his shoulder she found his face inches from hers, the tenderness in his eyes was mesmerizing to her. The softness he held for her was not something she’d ever experienced in her adult life before. She was struck by the unfairness of the situation, his lifelong imprisonment by the Centre, and subsequent exploitation. Hell, even making him into an addict to satisfy their own need to experiment on him. Her eyes went to his lips, wondering how different a kiss with him would be now that they weren’t children anymore. This man, who had never been able to explore the world, never truly experienced love, still had more love to give than any person she’d ever met before. He should be out there, free in the world to live his own life.

With that thought it felt like someone stuck hot needles behind her eyes, a sharp pain went through her head, which made her miss her step, and as she stumbled her hands went to her head. Jarod caught her, but she instantly pushed him away, her hands returning to her face, covering her eyes. She let out an agonized whimper, causing him to even be even more worried by her abrupt change in behaviour.

 “Miss Parker, are you alright?” He closed the distance again distressed by the sudden onset of what looked like a migraine to him, but she sensed him reaching out and backed away, “Don’t get your panties in a twist,” she felt exhausted and let go of her head, “I'm fine, genius.”  The headache was now a jackhammer pounding between her eyes. She avoided his worrying gaze, ‘She couldn't allow herself to feel sorry for him’, she thought to herself, ‘she was head of security after all. She needed to look out for the Centre’s best interest and him staying here was in their best interest. Daddy needed her to be strong, she was a Parker after all, she wouldn’t feel sorry for anyone’, so she stalked over to the record player and turned it off.

The disappointment was clear on his face, every time he managed to come even a little bit closer, she went and pushed him away again. He left her alone, knowing from her demeanour it would take time for her to open up again. He took the time for a long shower, partially to give her space, but also for him to catch up on his own thoughts. She's been enjoying their dance he could tell by the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly and amused glimmer in her eyes. The way she’d willingly gotten even closer and held him was a memory he tried to commit to his mind in as much detail as possible. She seemed to affect him not only on a mental level but also did something to him on a physical level he hadn’t experienced before. His heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing seemed to become erratic whenever she was near, and the closer she got, the more he felt out of control just as much as he felt like something clicked…like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together.  

But then something had flashed over her face; an expression of sudden sadness when her headache had struck, and thaw had turned to ice again. He couldn't help but feel hurt at her rejection, and couldn't understand why she would distance herself again. Didn't she understand they were in the same situation, that he had just as little control over this as she did? Then he remembered what Sydney had once told him about children with childhood trauma: that a lot of them would have control issues as an adult, as a response to a traumatic event that left them feeling vulnerable and helpless. His mind went to the little girl who cried in his arms after Faith had died, she’d just lost her mother before that, and not long after she lost him too.

“They will do anything to try and regain control of a situation, Jarod. Fear can make a person act irrationally; control is their way to feel safe again.” He could recall Sydney telling him. While that may be the truth, he couldn’t help but feel hurt and dejected.

He was still sulking when he returned from the bathroom, his hair still slightly wet, his clothes clinging to his body. Despite being extremely warm from the shower he opted for a sweater, not wanting her to see his burn marks.

“Took you long enough,” her voice rang out into the room as he walked in. He froze in his tracks because there laying on his bed was Miss Parker wearing nothing but her lingerie, which left very little to the imagination and his immediately kicked into overdrive. When he didn't move, she got up and sauntered towards him giving him a smile that was half intimidation, half invitation, “I figured why not just give them what they want, and we might all be out of this little situation before you know it.” She stopped inches before him, so mesmerized by her figure Jarod forgot how to breathe. She softly stroked his cheek with her fingertips he felt completely overwhelmed as her hands travelled down and raked her nails just above his waistband. He closed his eyes, a whimper escaped him but as her hands travelled up to pull his sweater off he came back to his senses. He grabbed her hands stop in her, opening his eyes again he stared into hers intensely, trying to hold himself together. Her expression was one of lust, almost predatory, but he saw nothing of the connection that he’d seen during their dance. “This is not the solution, Miss Parker.” He breathed heavily.

“Of course it is.” She said seductively, leaning into him and whispered in his ear, “This is what they want, so we give them what they want, and when the show is over, we can all go back to our normal routine lives and forget this ever happened.”

He swallowed and let out a breath he’d been holding, “but I wouldn't forget, and I don't want to do this with you. Not like this.” He took her face carefully between his hands to make her face him, then started raking one hand through her hair. “I don’t know who you’re pretending to be, maybe your father, maybe the person you think they want you to be, but this isn’t you.” Her eyes started to fill up and he knew he was on the right track. “You keep going back and forth between who you truly are and this façade you created. But this is not what you want, and I won’t let you.” A tear rolled down her cheek and he brushed it away with his thumb, he saw fear and knew she would want to run. She did just that, but as she tried to get away from him he grabbed her and held her now weeping figure close to him. “No more running from your feelings, I know you’re afraid, I know you want to get out of here and the lack of control is probably terrifying you, but I need you to accept that while we don’t have control over the situation, we do have control over how we act towards each other. Please let me be your friend, because I am not your enemy.”

Between sobs, she managed to chuckle, “Why do you have to be the emotional adult in this room.” She croaked out.

 “Probably because I was raised by a shrink.” He winked at her, picked a blanket off his couch, and draped it over her half-naked body.

“I don’t even know how to be a friend to anyone.” She told him in a small voice while staring at his chest tugging the blanket tighter to  

“Why don’t you start by telling me what has happened in your life between now and the last time I saw you.” He encouraged her, leading her to sit with him on the couch.

So, she did, while she still was hesitant to share any of her feelings concerning any of her memories it was the first time he managed to get her to open up for longer than a minute or so. He listened to her stories about boarding school, college, and her intense training with interest, trying to convey more information by studying her expression. Her true story lay in the way her eyes betrayed the loneliness he was all too familiar with, in the sad smile as she spoke about the achievements she earned. Telling him without words how many times there had been no one to be proud of her and all she’d done to gain approval from an absent father. It seemed she had longed for a home and loving just as much as he did.  They had dinner on the couch in between her many stories and as the evening progressed her conduct became less reserved and more at ease.

She went to bed early, clearly drained from their intense afternoon and long talk in the evening, even going so far as wishing him a good night. He now understood her a little better but wasn’t so sure she would still be open to him in the morning. Handling her emotional outbursts took a toll, even on him. Paired with his own inner demons they were probably due for another emotional explosion sometime in the very near future, he absolutely didn’t feel like having. While Sydney taught him well to keep his emotions in check, after days of no sleep, even he was running out of self-control. Normally he could go at least five days without sleep, but the events of the last couple of days had him wrangling with so many emotions at the same time he felt overwhelmed and exhausted. He longed to rest, but the idea of returning to his nightmares was less appealing than having it out in a screaming match with Miss Parker, even if his mind kept playing versions of him cornering her against a wall and then exploring her lips with his own.

He let out a sigh, with little else to keep him occupied besides her, his imagination was running wild. Still wary of the experiment they were caught in, he felt it unethical to let his thoughts wander in that direction, Parker was probably right in assuming they wanted them to have sex, but why? He couldn’t quite grasp the idea of fathering a child in this situation, were they trying to make him have a child with his abilities? Was that what this was all about? Why then not just use his bodily samples and create one? Just the thought of having a son who would have to go through all of the simulations he did as a child made him sick to his stomach. If only Sydney was here. He sat down on the floor against his bookcase, thinking the couch would be too comfortable for him to stay awake this night. Finally able to pull off his warm sweater he did, watching Miss Parker’s sleeping figure under his blankets.

Knowing his mentor wouldn’t be back for another two weeks made him anxious and frightened, especially after having been killed on the first day of his three-week vacation and then they’d gotten his childhood friend thrown in the mix. But the inevitable happened; sleep overtook him, unable to fight his tiredness any longer he fell asleep sitting with his head against the wall.

Chapter Text

“No, no, please no! Please, stop! Help me! Nooooooo….!”

Miss Parker was startled awake by Jarod’s screaming. Her first thought was to yell at him for waking her, but it took one look at the man thrashing around on the floor to stop her dead in her tracks. He looked petrified and was still pushing against something unseen, trying to free himself. He was crying, the look of anguish on his face seemed to pierce even the hardened shell around her heart. His white shirt was drenched in sweat and through it she could make out two red squares on his chest.

She cautiously approached him, “Jarod, wake up. It’s just a dream.” She made the mistake of coming too close and was grabbed by him. “Please don’t let them kill me again,” he begged as he dragged her down on the floor with him.

“Jarod! Wake up!” She yelled as she shook him, her sleepy brain only half registering his words.

His eyes, wide and scared, flew open and he stared at her for half a second before releasing her and scrambled to get away from her. She took a better look at those marks on his chest and the sickening realisation of what they’d done to him dawned on her.

“Jarod, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” she reached out to him, unsure of her own actions. When she touched his skin he recoiled at her touch, still half terrorised by his dreams, his breathing erratic. Her caring instinct, which she would have sworn she didn’t have, took over. She ran her fingers through his hair, he was warm, sweaty, and incredibly tense. “I won’t let them hurt you, you’re safe with me. Focus on me.” His eyes closed again at her ministrations, having been starved of human touch for almost all his life, he succumbed to hers. She carefully pulled him close to her, still stroking his hair. He just about collapsed in her arms, she didn’t know how hard he’d been fighting to stay awake, but she understood all too well, not wanting to return to your own nightmares. With his head against her chest and her hand in his hair they fell asleep again.

She woke up when Jarod started stirring and her warm Jarod blanket started to feel more like being up close to an active volcano. The man was radiating heat like a fireplace, and she felt the need to get away from it before she would start to melt. Her neck was killing her from sleeping upright against the bookcase, the rest of her body ached and felt heavy, but something deep inside of her felt satisfied in a way she’d never known before. She opened her eyes and studied the form of the man resting on her chest. She was reminded of a long-forgotten time when the both of them had been kids, when they’d truly been friends, and their deep connection was a thriving force in both their lives. Everything had been simpler then, even if he was a prisoner of her father’s work and she was just a little lonely girl without a mom.

“If this is you pretending to still be asleep it’s pathetic,” her raspy voice had a touch of annoyance to it, but Jarod knew better by now.

“I was just enjoying my new human pillow.” The rumbling of his voice caused a pleasant sensation through her body, and she moaned in response.

“If you liked my breasts that much you could have taken me up on my offer earlier.” She whispered sultry into his ears.

“If you continue stroking my hair, I just might.” He rumbled; the vibration of his deep voice was stirring up her own desires, but her memories from the night flooded her brain and like a cold shower sobered her up really quickly.

“Jarod,” she started hesitantly, “Last night, you were begging not to be killed again, and I saw the marks on your chest…”

He sat up quickly, facing away from her, a hand automatically went up to his chest, the burns clearly still stinging and partly visible to her through his shirt.

“They had to resuscitate you…What…what did they do to you?” She asked cautiously.

He chewed on his lip for a second before deciding on responding, his eyes refusing to meet hers, “I was injected with something that slowed my heart rate down, then shoved into a small hypobaric chamber which they then made really cold, probably below freezing. I just remember the panic as they locked me in there. Every time I close my eyes, I’m back there... trapped…no way out. I woke up with these,” he looked down at the squares on his chest, “and a few new nightmares to keep me company.” He concluded grimacingly.

“When?” She asked.

“The day before you arrived.” 

“You already had these nightmares before I came?”

“Yes.” Was his simple answer.

“You didn't sleep at all since I came here, did you?” The realisation made her knit her brows in worry.

“No.” He answered softly.

She let all of it sink in for a moment. His humongous patience with her after having gone through all of that. She traced the outlines of the left square and sought his eyes. 

“I can’t believe they did that to you.”

“Can’t, or won’t? Guess The Centre isn’t the fantastic place you thought it to be.” he added cynically, averting his gaze and wrapping his arms around himself.

“That’s not what I meant, I know it happened, I was there when you had the nightmares, I’m staring at the evidence before my eyes. I just don’t understand why they would do something so horrible to you. What could possibly be important enough for them to risk killing you.”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, “Guess I’m not the asset to them that I thought I was…” he shook his head, “Well, at least we know Sydney apparently is the only reason things don’t get out of hand here.”

She smiled wryly, “Freud is many things, and as annoying as he can be, he is quite protective of you. He wouldn’t have allowed any of this. When you tell him, he’s gonna go ballistic, might shoot Raines himself.”

Jarod shook his head, “Sydney is not a fan of fireweapons.”

“Oh, he doesn’t have to be, but when he hears someone messed with his pet project, he will find them very useful.”

“You knew,” present day Jarod paused the tape and looked at her, “You knew what Sydney would be capable of when they would try to hurt me. Did you know he was the one that shot Raines?”

“I wasn’t completely sure until he said the words out loud to Jacob, but it made sense,” she acknowledged. 

“Yet, you didn’t tell anyone, and you didn’t write it in your report.”

She frowned, “You’ve seen my report?”

“I was the one who hired the investigator in the first place.” Jarod confessed to her.

“Of course you did.” She lightly shook her head, “I did the best I could, but a year later when he confessed to the bombing of SL-27, I couldn’t omit it. Luckily, Lyle decided to overrule all of that and help Sydney get out of trouble. It was such a mess.”

“You were trying to protect him,” he stated with a little smile.

She let out a small huff, “well somebody had to cover for him when he went off the rails again and help you out with anything he could.”

Jarod gave her a painful smile, “After he found out what they did with our simulations, he felt just as complicit as I did.”

“Neither of you could have known that they would use your work to kill and not to help people, when The Centre started it had a humanitarian mission.”

“One that involved kidnapping and torturing children.”

“Yeah…and was founded by a demon possessed sociopath who killed his entire family.” She sighed deeply, “I guess you’re right.”

“I believe your mother wanted to believe that The Centre could do good, that it could be a place that would solve world problems, one that worked to create solutions and help people. But I don’t think it truly ever was.”

She looked down to her hands in her lap, “and it never will be.”

Parker had done her best to keep their conversations over breakfast light, Jarod still looked very tired, but was clearly grateful for the lack of hostility on her part. That was until the subject of her mother was brought up by Jarod and her own emotions took reign of her. Jarod recognized her outburst of anger as feelings of guilt and decided to approach the subject as carefully as he could.

“Parker you were a child, there was nothing you could have done. You clearly tried everything you could as an adult to be strong, to be able to defend yourself, to never show any weaknesses. But you are human, you are allowed to have feelings.”

“Said the genius raised by a shrink in a dungeon, I don't have that luxury, Jarod. Out there in the real world, women need to prove themselves. You are either a bimbo and too weak for leadership or a bitch who is still only taken seriously half of the time.” She huffed, “hell, the director is a woman and even she is regularly bypassed by the men in the Tower when it suits them. Life is not the same for women as it is for men, I truly wish it was, but even in the nineties I have to work twice as hard only to end up here with you as a potential incubator. 

“That seems very unfair.” He empathised.

“Oh, believe me it is, but you will not find me crying over it. It is what it is.”

A warm smile came over his face, “I do believe you would be a great mom.”

She put her hands in her sides striking a defiant pose and quirking an eyebrow, “I don't do mommy.”

Jarod rolled his eyes, “And there is the mask again, please stop lying to me, it doesn't work on me, you should know that by now.” He let out in mild irritation.

A little startled by his accusation, she dropped her hands and looked away in shame. “Fine, maybe one day,” she let out miffed.

“No,” He took a step in her direction, giving her an apologetic smile, “you wanted children, but you are never able to let anyone close enough to have a long-term relationship with them. And then you gave up on becoming a mother, because you felt it was easier than opening up to anybody.” He stated.

She gave him a furious look as her face reddened, “Stop trying to read me Jarod, I’m not some book for you to skim through when it pleases you.”

He sighed, “Then stop lying to yourself, and to me. You have more feelings than you care to admit, yet you lash out at anyone that tries to connect with you or help you. You make it seem like every step forward needs to be followed by two steps back.”

“How would you know Jarod; I’ve been here for three days, and you now know everything about my life? You know nothing!” She yelled at him.

“Because…” he calmly stood before her, “I know who you are, even if you’ve forgotten,” He took a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear, he halted for a second, his hand hovering in the air.

She stared at him just as puzzled, her anger forgotten, “Did…did you do that before, when we were kids?”

“No…I didn’t…”

“Yet…that felt…”

“Weirdly familiar…” he finished for her. His eyes fell on her lips, “Your presence here is doing things to me, things I never felt before, still it feels like I have.”

“Like a strange case of too many déjà vu moments.” She supplied, staring deeply into his eyes.

“Yes.” His eyes fell on her lips and for a second, she thought he would kiss her, but he shook himself out of the thought he’d been having. His eyes returned to hers, both of their expressions swimming with emotions neither were able to place, “All I’m asking of you is to give me a chance.”

“A chance for what, Jarod?”

His hand went back to her hair, stroking it carefully, she had to stop herself from leaning into the touch of his hand. “To prove to you that having feelings isn’t a bad thing and caring isn’t either.” He said, smiling softly at her. 

She could feel the sincerity of his words with the warmth of his breath on her skin, and in that moment she knew that she was defenceless against him and his endless supply of empathy. Caring for someone else than yourself was the same as having a deathwish in her line of business, or at least career suicide, but with him living like that made no sense. As if every wish and hope she’d locked up as an adult came tumbling out of a long forgotten closet, he was tearing down every wall she’d carefully constructed to maintain a certain reputation. 

“Please, just stop pretending to be who you are out there, and just be yourself here with me? Please?” He pleaded with her. 

She stared at him in silence for a second, her mind playing a loop of images of them kissing on almost every surface of this room. “Okay,” she managed to croak out. She was met with his broad smile, his face still very close to hers and all she could think about was kissing him.

Chapter Text

Just as she decided to risk it all and kiss him, Lyle entered the room, accompanied by two sweepers and holding a box.

The smug smile on his face made Parker in both current and past time contort her face in disgust.

“Well good morning love birds, I have a little distraction for both of you, seeing as you are finally able to get along.” He greeted them chipperly.

“And who might you be?” Parker cocked an eyebrow and put her arms in her sides, eying the sweepers to see if she might be able to have a shot.

Jarod followed her gaze and lightly shook his head when she looked his way. She pursed her lips in response.

“That’s not really important for now,” Lyle said, straightening his tie and throwing the box on the table. “What is important is how long you guys will take to solve this little puzzle.”

Jarod eyed the box suspiciously, “and what if we refuse?”

He raised his eyebrows and his smile became even more smug, “let’s just say you won’t be pretending to be the thing you’re going to pretend. We’ll make sure of it.” Parkers eyes were throwing daggers at him.

Lyle turned as if to leave but then halted and took two steps in Parkers direction, who instinctively took a step back. “You know, you look so pretty when you’re angry,” I look really forward to watching you some more.

Jarod’s eyes pleaded her to keep it together from behind Lyle, she pursed her lips again and kept her face straight.

“No reaction? Pity, I was hoping to hear more from that sharp tongue of yours.” He taunted.

He never saw her fist coming, but everyone in the room had heard his nose crack as she hit him. She triumphantly stepped back, her hands raised while the sweepers quickly approached with their guns raised.

“Never speak to me like that again, or next time I’ll claw your eyes out, you sick son of a bitch,” she spat at him while gloating.

With tears in his eyes and blood running from his nose Lyle was retreated by his sweepers from the room.

“Typical pig.” She said to no one in particular as she dropped her arms.

Jarod let go of a breath he’d been holding, looking at her in awe, “remind me never to anger you.”

Her lips turned up into a smirk, “now let’s see what that psycho brought in.”

Jarod reached into the box and retrieved several folders, a floppy disk fell out. Parker took it and observed it. “The Robertson case,” she read out loud.

Jarod flipped the folder open and started skimming the papers, “Police reports from rape cases, medical records from several people and spanning multiple years. Even birth certificates.”

Parker however saw something else and reached over Jarod to retrieve a pill bottle from the of the box. “What is it?” He asked.

She examined the bottle, “Rohypnol,” she said, sounding disgusted.

He stared at her for a second, waiting for an explanation.

She read his expression and clarified, “It’s a date rape drug. I think it was originally meant to be used to treat insomnia, but there are men who use it to drug woman and rape them.”

She looked around his room, “considering I really doubt you have a chemistry set hidden somewhere in here, I wonder why he needed to include these.” She wondered out loud. She started rummaging through the box retrieving more files as Jarod became very still. Parker noticed his change in demeanor and raised her eyebrows at him, “what’s with the long face genius?”

Jarod looked at her with a mix of pain and desperation, “Because they want me to become him, they want me to…to..to” he stammered. She gave him an unimpressed look, “Gimme that!” and grabbed the folder from his hand.

He swallowed visibly, “Parker, I…”

“No,” she commented harshly while reading the file, “you were crawling into the minds of serial killers before you turned nine. You’re not suddenly going to turn into a rapist because they say so.” She threw down the pictures on the table, spreading them out systematically. “There are nine cases so far. Two resulted in pregnancies after long term abductions, three deaths so far. Weirdly enough the second case ended in murder, while number three to five didn’t. Six definitely was another gruesome death,” she said, lifting her eyebrows while scanning the contents of the paper.

Jarod seemingly relaxed a bit due to her rational response, and diving straight into the case, but still didn’t seem completely at ease.

“Seven and eight were the ones resulting in pregnancies,” Parker continued, “their captures partly overlap and they were supposedly held till the third month of their pregnancy.” She paused, clearly uncomfortable, and sighed “One of them killed herself shortly after being released.” She read on, her voice strained, “Neither of them had any recollection of their captivity or abductor. Number nine was another murder, they still haven’t found all the pieces of her body. If this is the same guy he has a weird pattern of progressing.” She lightly shook her head and turned to Jarod who was still eyeing her with deep concern.

“Parker, we need to talk about this,” he softly pleaded with her.

She chuckled, “Get this straight” she said while lifting her chin up to him a determined look in her eye, “They want us emotional, they want us to be weak and fearful, just so we can do their bidding.” She turned her head away from him, “And while I can’t decide for you, I will not play along with their little games anymore.” She eyed the camera in the corner and the shot changed to her looking directly into the camera, “they can keep watching us, wanting us to dance to their tunes. Well I hope you enjoy the show for now, because next time I’ll see you, I will break more than just your nose.” She gave the camera a sweet smile, which fell away immediately when she looked back at Jarod. “You and I are going to solve this case, and if I have even the slightest idea you think about becoming the rapist, I will be the one feeding you the Rohypnol, understood?!”

Jarod’s shock was clear to see on his face, he shook himself out of it and blew some air through his nose. “Yes, Ma’am” he affirmed.

She shot him a sultry smile, “Good. Now let’s get to work,” she commanded as she handed him several files.

Parker gave him five out of the nine cases. Jarod was clearly impressed by her, but not used to working together with someone on something. He liked to be surrounded by all of the details when he was working on a simulation and had therefore spread out his cases on the floor around him like the network they were forming in his mind. Parker meanwhile liked  to work organized and had sorted her cases into stacks on the table, leaning over them, her arms resting on the table she hovered above them. She was reading parts she thought Jarod needed to know out loud.

“He chooses the same sort of establishment for his crimes.” Jarod commented after having read through most of the files.

“Disgustingly greasy bars, which are in desperate need of a renovation.” She held out a picture of a bar in front of her, “Ugh, I can smell this picture.” She scrunched her nose up in disgust.

Jarod looked at her questioningly, “What does it smell like?” He asked curiously. 

She gave him an annoyed glance, “What do you think it smells like?” She huffed. 

He furrowed his brows in thought, “Well, considering it’s a place lots of people come together to relax after a workday, consuming alcohol to forget about their sorrows and smoking cigarettes to lower their stress levels. I would assume it smells somewhat like sweat, alcohol and cigarette smoke. ” He looked at her expectantly.

She blinked a few times, realization of his lifelong imprisonment settling in once again. “That’s…not far off actually,” her tone now sounding a lot more mildly. “However, there is also the stickiness of the floor and every other surface to consider. As well as a faint odor of badly cleaned up vomit.” She sighed and gave the photo another look, cocking an eyebrow, “The word desperation comes to mind.”

Jarod drew his eyebrows together in thought, “These women weren’t happy.”

“No one that goes to bars like that ever is, most likely they were in a bad place and came there to drown their sorrows or pick up a one-night stand, maybe even both.”

Most of the crimes had suspects, all of them describe a dark blond man, about 5’8”, normal posture wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans. These suspects look basically the same.” She took two photos and showed them to Jarod, “Look, these guys could have been brothers.”

Jarod frowned, “The probability of two strangers looking this much alike is very low.”

She took back the pictures studying the images, “Well, they aren’t related to each other in any way. What are the chances of that, huh?” She mumbled.

“Well there’s about a one in 135 chance that a pair of complete doppelgangers exist somewhere in the world. But the likelihood of someone walking around looking identical to you specifically in all eight facial features is only about one in one trillion.” Jarod elaborated.

Parker raised her eyebrows, “Meaning something fishy is going on here.”

“What kind of fish are we talking about?” Jarod asked.

“No literal fish, but it means there is basically no chance these guys look this much alike without it being preplanned some way.” She picked up a third photo from Jarod’s pile, “Especially when all three of them look exactly the same.” She showed him all three pictures fanned out.

Jarod stared at the near identical faces in front of him. “Fishy indeed.”

After two hours of going back and forth between reading the files and combining their info, Parker had taken up residence on the couch, stretched out casually, while Jarod sat on the ground with his back against it leaning against her propped up legs.

“We’re missing something.” Jarod declared with a sigh.

Parker was chewing on a pencil, “They have different blood types, no related families, no adopted secret triplets or something, they just happen to look exactly alike and in all of the cases the women were branded with a signature mark on their lower back. It suggests the same perpetrator, but none of them were able to have committed even half of the crimes.”

“Ironclad alibis for some,” he said.

“Weaker ones for others.” She added.

How is it possible that there are three men that look this much alike and frequent the same sort of bars within a fifty mile radius.” Jarod sat up straight and let his arms rest on his knees. “Let alone be connected to these cases. While the police weren’t able to figure out what was going on, they were adamant there most likely was a connection.”

“But without any concrete evidence they all walk freely,” she shook her head, “there has to be a connection.”

“What were the occupations of the first two?” Jarod asked.

Number one is a realtor, number two is a surgeon, what does number three do for a living?

Jarod sighed and handed her a file, “He’s a high school science teacher.”

She took it and studied its content, “Well the teacher would probably be able to produce the Rohypnol, wouldn’t he?”

“Yes, but they searched his house, his classroom, his credit card history. Nothing. Perhaps the surgeon might have been able to get his hands on it.” He sighed.

Parker shook her head, “no such luck, they did the same for the other suspects and nothing suspicious turned up.”

“Wait,” she held up her hand, “what is a surgeon doing at places like these? That’s…odd.” She furrowed her brows.

“Why wouldn’t a surgeon be visiting places like these?” Jarod asked intrigued, looking at her intently.

She tilted her head slightly towards him, “Because they earn more money than they can spend and pretty women flock to men like that, no matter what they look like. If he wanted company he could’ve easily visited a rooftop bar in the nicer part of town.”

“Maybe he was just looking for a friend, or…love?” He turned his head and looked at her expectantly.

She stared at him for two seconds weighing the innocence of his words, blinked, took a breath and told him; “No Jarod, out there in the world money makes all the difference, whether it be in chances in work, education or love. Life isn’t fair, never has been. It doesn’t matter if you’re a balding man with crooked teeth and enough belly fat to keep floating in your own swimming pool, as long as you have enough money to buy your friends and love interests.” She held up his picture, “This guy isn’t exactly George Clooney, but could’ve easily scored a trophy wife to take to the country club with him. ER has made sure of that.”

Jarod leaned back and looked up to the ceiling, “Well, perhaps he didn’t come from money and felt out of place among such people.”

She nodded slowly in agreement, “That might be worth looking into.”

The door swooshed open and Lyle entered, spotting some severe bruising and a bandaged nose to accompany it. Parker stood up from the couch, clenching her fists, but Lyle remained behind his sweepers this time, “While you two seem to be making some sweet progress it’s unfortunately not enough,” He directed a sweeper to drop off another box. “Our client is getting impatient, so you have two hours to solve the case, or we’ll make sure to inject Miss Parker with some Rohypnol and Jarod with some other drug to help him sim the perpetrator a bit better.” He snapped his fingers, “prami-something, anyhow let’s see how you two will work under some more pressure.” While he made an effort to sound as carefree and in control as he could, Parker was having none of it.

She sauntered over, not once flinching as the sweepers raised their guns at her, “My, my, aren’t you an impatient little man. Let me guess, one of your monkeys was supposed to solve this little case and he couldn’t do it.” She raised an eyebrow in question as Lyle seemed to be looking anywhere but at her. “Even worse, you made promises to your client that were unrealistic and you’re now praying we will help you out or it’s your ass that’s on the line.” She gave him a coy smile, “Am I getting warm?”

He swallowed visibly, clenching his jaw and avoided direct eye contact with her.  

A smirk played on her lips, “Hmmm, more like burning hot. Perhaps you shouldn’t play with fire, someone might get burned.”

Lyle put his fingers between his neck and his collar slightly loosening his tie, “Two hours, or you’ll be a drugged up mess for my entertainment.” He managed to say with only a slight crack in his voice. He tried to make a swift exit, but Parker’s next words made him halt at the door.

“You better hope Raines or my father won’t be back before your deadline ends. Because not only did you go directly against their orders, you will have failed your first assignment.” Lyle quickly retreated without looking back at her, his sweepers right on his tail.

She glowered at the door as it closed, “That asshole better stay behind his sweepers or I will make sure the rest of his body will look like that nose of his.” She scowled, her eyes burning with anger.

Jarod’s low voice melted away her anger, “How did you know he wasn’t doing Raines’ bidding?”

She turned and shrugged, “he seems to know enough about pretenders to know how to use one. So he’s probably got one inferior to you at his disposal. He’s ambitious and clearly trying to impress someone, but only a rookie would make the mistake of promising things you can’t guarantee.” She sighed, “and while Raines loves to play God, if he wanted to force us to have a child through drugging us, that’s the first thing he would have done.”

“He was with Raines though,” Jarod spoke softly, “when they stopped my heart.”

She put a hand under her chin, “Then I guess Raines got himself a rogue intern.” Parker sought out Jarod’s eyes, “While he may be acting against Raines’ orders, we have no idea of knowing whether Raines will discover his ploy or that he will see through drugging us with whatever drug he fancies.” She pursed her lips, “I’m afraid we’ll have to come up with something, and even then it won’t give us any guarantees that he won’t try to get us drugged out of our minds.”

Jarod nodded, “I think the drug he was talking about was probably pramipexole. I did a sim on it a few years ago, it was meant as a drug for people who suffered from Parkinson. But I predicted that it would enhance libido and impulsiveness. Pathological gambling is also a likely side-effect...”

She raised her eyebrows, “Sounds like a great cocktail for a weekend in Vegas.” She cocked her head to the side, “Not so much for a simulation on rapes and murders.”

Jarod hoisted himself up to sit on the couch, “Let’s just focus on the case for now,” he sighed in defeat.

Parker planted herself next to Jarod, “Fine, so what does the perpetrator want? I mean, he seems to want different things, killing, rape and beatings, the forced pregnancies, it makes no sense. Like he has a personality change every few months.”

Jarod froze, “Or maybe not.” He frantically started rummaging through his files, “the deaths are about punishment, the pregnancies are about some deeper perverted desire to procreate, and the rape and physical abuse are about power.” He gave her a look.

“They were executed by different men.” They both said simultaneously.

Chapter Text

“There must be a connection.”

Parker started going through the new box, “Any place they could’ve met before; a school, college, book-club, any other after-school activity.”

Jarod leaned over her shoulder glancing at the content of the box, “it’s in here somewhere,” he sighed. “It must be.” 

“This box seems to contain almost anything about the suspects' lives from childhood till now.” Parker commented as she took out a videotape from the box. “Interviews with their parents. Guess the police actually tried to do anything they could.”

Jarod took out a folder, “with only two hours to go, we should do the same and get started.” he said, sounding determined. 

An hour and fifteen minutes later they were still comparing files and occasionally reading stuff out loud to each other. 

But now Jarod’s determination had perished and he seemed restless, he was anxiously going through all the papers. With a loud bang he threw them down in frustration. 

Parker was observing him with a dark intensity. “You have to relax, Jarod. Getting riled up is not going to get us anywhere and you know it.” 

“We have to get this right, you know what they’re capable of. You know what’s going to happen and we’re nowhere near finding the connection. There is only fifteen minutes until the deadline, I don’t want to do this to you.” He looked at her with desperation.

Parker looked as though a lightbulb had just gone up above her head, “Not if we beat them to it.” 

“What do you mean?” He asked, not understanding what she was getting at.

She gave him a sultry smile, got off the table and held her hand out to him, “I know something that will ease your sorrows.”

He looked at her hand with uncertainty, then raised up his head to look her in the eye, “Parker,…I…I don’t think that’s a good idea.” His voice sounded apologetic.

Her demeanor changed, “Jarod,” she said more softly, “Please trust me?”

He studied her face for a second, “Okay,” he let out breathily and took her hand. She helped him get up and led him towards the bathroom in which they disappeared.

Jarod sped through the DSA to the moment they exited, “Lyle has always been a real piece of work.”

“If I hadn't seen the blood results I would have never believed that man and I came out of the same mother.” She slightly shook her head. “Figures he was involved,” she raised her eyebrows and sighed, “Couldn’t resist putting his own sick and perverted twist to our already twisted forced game of 7 minutes in Heaven. If I find out that that slimy piece of shit posing as a human being really did drug us, I will gladly help you lock him up for one of the many murders he has probably committed.”

Jarod threw her a frown, “You know, I was a high-school teacher once, I heard some students talk about that game. They never did tell me what the idea of it was though.”

“Shocker,” She went silent for a bit, “It’s a game where teenagers get locked up together in a dark confined space together. Which as a teenager is equally exciting as it is frightening. Especially when you get locked up with your crush, hoping for a chance to make out.” She glanced at him, “I suppose I’m glad you’re the one they locked me up with, if there ever was a man in this world I could trust it was always you.” Her expression softened as did his.

A little smile grew on his lips, “I’m glad to have earned that trust, I know it’s never been easy for you.”

She gave his arm a little squeeze, “I’m glad you didn’t give up trying.”

The image showed Jarod exiting the bathroom, his hair tousled and his shirt was hanging half out of his pants. He took up a few files, knelt down in front of a bookcase next to the door, seemed to grab something from it and continued his way to the other side of the door where the table was.

Parker followed a few minutes later, looking rather the same way as she did before entering the bathroom with Jarod. Her hands behind her back.

What happened in the moments after went so fast, their older selves had to rewind and watch the sequence again to understand what was happening.

Lyle entered, two sweepers in his tow, but Jarod made a pulling motion that made both of the latter men trip. Parker had used the showerhead including its hose to hit one of the men on the head, immediately went for his gun and pointed it straight at Lyle, as Jarod elbowed the other sweeper knock-out.

“Well, well, well, look how the tables turn.” She managed to say, sounding only a little out of breath.

Lyle took a few steps towards the door, ready to make a run for it, but Parker was not impressed and simply shot him in the foot. The man dropped to the ground cursing and shouting. “That was for being an ass to me before, but this…” She nodded to Jarod, “this is for what you wanted to do to us.”

Jarod pulled out a needle and the vial that had Rophynol on it, he filled it up, pushed the last bubble of air out and gave Lyle a sarcastic smile, “this will only hurt a little.”  

Lyle gave him a look of horror, “Please, maybe we can talk about this, I was only doing my job. I can help you guys get out. Please, no!”

Jarod didn’t hesitate when he injected the fluid into Lyle’s arm in one take.

Ten minutes later the sweepers were tied together with tie-wraps, Lyle was a blubbering mess on the floor, trying to utter things through the duct tape they had applied to his mouth. Parker and Jarod were leaning against each other on the couch comparing files. 

“How long do you think until Raines returns?” Jarod asked. 

“Hopefully before dinnertime, I’m starving.” She sighed wishfully.

He let out a sigh as well, “It’s too bad we couldn’t just walk out of here, maybe we could’ve gotten some ice cream.”

Parker tilted her head lightly towards him, “It would have taken security approximately ten seconds to spot you and me on the cameras and a total lockdown would be initiated,” she gave him a frown, “have you ever had ice cream before?”

Jarod blinked in confusion, “No, but it’s supposed to be some sort of cold dessert I was once told.”

Parker sat up intrigued, “By whom?”

Jarod’s eyebrows knitted together in thought, “You were the one that told me that, but like in a dream?” He sounded unsure of himself. 

“When we were kids I tried to bring you some, but it had melted before I could bring it to you. Maybe I told you then?” She suggested.

He shook his head, “No, you were older, but that doesn’t really make sense does it?”

Lyle tried to let out a whaling sound making both their heads turn towards the whimpering man on the floor, “How long before he realizes he was injected with a saline solution?” Parker whispered.

Jarod drew a face, “He seems very susceptible to the placebo effect so probably not until they test him in the infirmary.” He whispered back. 

Parker threw her papers on the coffeetable, “Maybe we should just start watching the home videos, these files don’t contain anything of use. We’ve gone through them twice. I doubt a third time is the charm in this case.” 

Jarod stood up and went over to his desk to play one of the tapes on his large screen. 

He started the tape. “There!” Parker pointed at the screen, “In the corner on the mantle, pause it!” 

Jarod paused the image and closely inspected the part of the screen she indicated, “I’ve seen that wooden pole before, it was somewhere in the files of the first box.” He pointed at the pile on the table, she nodded and went to grab them, kicking a sweeper that tried to move his leg to make her trip. She gave him no further attention and turned back to Jarod, I think I saw it somewhere in suspect number twos files. She flipped through the pages and plucked out a photograph, showing to Jarod, “Here, this must be it.”

His eyes lit up and she gave him a smile, “Now let’s see what your pretender skills can do with this.”

An hour later and Parker and Jarod plopped themselves down on the couch again, “That must be it.” Jarod said with certainty. “It’s the only way,” Parker added. 

Heavy breathing and a squeaky sound made them turn around, “what in the devil has happened here?!” Raines looked furious, six sweepers surrounding him all pointing guns at Jarod and Miss Parker.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” barked Parker towards the bald man, “your intern couldn’t do his job properly so he decided to pressure us and wanted to drug us. Just so that he could watch Jarod rape me for his own perverted pleasure. We disagreed with his working method so we created an opportunity for ourselves to solve the case in peace, and we did!”

Raines’ eyes went wide, “You solved the case?”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes, Dr. Frankenstein. It was the butler, with a knife, in the dining room.”

Jarod cleared his throat,“What Miss Parker is trying to say is that yes we did solve the case, however before we give you the solution to it, we want assurances that your…intern is removed from our…experiment.”

Raines’ eyes went to the ground where Lyle was still writhing on the floor, “I suppose the intern could use some reeducation in Africa.” He flicked his finger and two sweepers went for Lyle. “Giving you your first assignment was clearly a mistake, one you will pay dearly for.”

Parker paused the tape, “No wonder Lyle only came back a year and a half later, Raines was pissed.”

Jarod sighed, “Unfortunately, no matter how many reeducations he’d receive, none could ever fix Lyle.”

“Hmmm, we haven’t tried a closed off psychiatric ward for the clinically insane.” Parker gave him a little smirk.

He pursed his lips, “Though when it comes to the Centre clinically insane is a relative term.”

She tiled her head to the side, “can’t argue with you on that.”

“It’s done, now tell me which one of them was responsible!” Raines demanded. 

Parker crossed her arms, “Not so fast, I have another condition.”

Raines’ forehead pulled together in anger, “Which is?!” he spat out. 

She gave him a triumphant smile, “ice cream.” was all she said. 

Fifteen minutes later and Jarod was staring at a bowl of ice cream, carefully he dug the spoon in testing the substance, rotating it to inspect its properties. 

“Just take a bite, it’s better before it melts,” Parker warned him. 

Jarod glanced at her nervously, “it seems strange, some sort of milky frozen substance.” He took a small bite and his face lit up, “This is good, like really good.” he exclaimed smiling brightly at Parker, who shot him a warm smile back. “Told you it was good.” 

Jarod took another few spoons while Parker enjoyed watching him devour his new favorite dish while intermittently giving her a goofy smile . Raines was the one to interrupt their little moment, “Now that he’s on his sugar rush I need answers!”

Jarod nodded, licking his spoon clean and started explaining, “The boys met at a camp when they were young, they looked alike then but not as much as today. That year a female camp leader went missing, she was never found.” He took another bite of ice cream, unable to let the case completely distract him from his newly discovered treat. 

Raines frowned at this information, Parker solved his confusion, “we took Lyle's phone to be able to search digitalized newspapers. We got a hit.” 

Jarod walked over to his computer, still holding his ice cream bowl and tapped on his keyboard; an image appeared on his screen, “This photo shows the exact same camp logo as was visible in the photo of suspect number two and the photo in the background of the interview with the mom of suspect number one.”

Parker leaned over the desk giving Jarod time to take another bite, “We knew suspect number three must have been there as well and found that the camp was twenty miles from his hometown. We also spotted another camp token in photos of his childhood bedroom.” Parker continued.

Jarod jumped in, “All three men had overbearing mothers that tried to control their every step, that much we got from the interviews. None of them were popular as kids and they looked pretty similar to each other, they got mistaken for each other quite often. This created a bond between the three boys, but then something happened. One of the camp leaders does something to one of the boys, the other ones wanted to defend their friend…”

“But something goes wrong and the camp leader ends up dead. Instead of coming clean about what happened they decide to bury him and make a pact to keep it a secret.” Parker interrupted. “The trauma is slowly eating them up, resulting in abnormal risk taking behavior as adults but different coping strategies for what they went through.”

Jarod laid down the three photos of the suspects and pointed at the first, “The doctor, being a plastic surgeon, makes sure they even look more alike, giving them the perfect alibi for the different crimes they commit.” His finger moved on to the second suspect, “the high school science teacher cooking up the chemicals to help them sedate the women they took.” He moved his finger to the last photo, “the realtor being able to come up with empty places for them to take their victims and the place to create a lab for the science teacher.”

Raines was clearly impressed, “we’ll make sure the authorities are notified. The parents of the second victim will be very grateful.” He gave a nod towards two sweepers who went to collect all case files. He left without a further word. 

The silence that fell on them when the door closed and the squeaking wheels of Raines’ oxygen tank were out of earshot seemed deafening. They stood inches apart, their eyes met and he could see the sparkle in her eyes. “You did it,” she whispered, afraid to break the moment. 

He took her hand and squeezed it while holding her gaze, “we did it. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Her small smile grew into a big grin, and she gave him a little shoulder bump, “we’re a pretty good team aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I think we are.” Jarod said with a soft expression on his face. 

Parker looked away for a second, “Jarod?”

“Yeah?” He asked, a little puzzled.

“Thank you for trusting me and following me into that bathroom,” she stood up on her toes and gave him a peck on his cheek, which turned red almost instantly. She had a warm smile on her face and he couldn’t resist bringing up his hand and brushing her lip with his thumb. Parker leaned into his touch, closing her eyes for a second. When she reopened them, Jarod had started to move in, searching her eyes for permission to come closer. She drew nearer, their lips almost touching. 

The sound of the door opening broke them apart. Startled, they watched as dinner trays were brought in. She shot him a mischievous grin, “Saved by the bell again, huh?” and moved towards the table. 

Jarod knitted his eyebrows together, “Bell?”

—----------------------—--------------

She’d gotten ready to go to sleep and was laying in bed, she sat up when he exited the bathroom and made his way to the couch. “Jarod, I know you’re still exhausted, the bed is big enough for the both of us.”

He shook his head, “I will wake you with my nightmares.”

“Not if I hold you…” she offered softly.

“I might hurt you,” he protested.

“You won’t, you didn’t last night.” she pushed back.

He gave her a sheepish look, “maybe you’re right.” Apprehensively he approached the bed and stepped into it. Parker gently pulled him closer to her, feeling his skin shiver at her touch and him stiffening up. “Relax, Jarod. I know you’re not used to cuddling, but I’m just gonna hold you so you can sleep tonight alright?” She started carefully stroking his hair. Slowly she felt him release the tension in his muscles and he cozied up to her a little bit more. 

“Good night, Jarod.”

“Good night, Miss Parker.”

He figured he would simply leave the bed again once she was asleep, but between her smell and the feeling of laying in his own bed, sleep claimed him within minutes.

Hearing and feeling the steady rhythm of his breathing she managed to fall asleep just as easily.