Fanfic

Break Away

by Thunderchild

Parker was sleeping upstairs when someone knocked on the door of the Manor. Tommy walked over to answer it. It was Jarod. "Where's Parker?" Jarod asked as he stood on the doorstep.

"Upstairs sleeping. She wasn't feeling well." He opened the door wider for Jarod to come in. "Why?"

"We have to leave. The Centre's planning something, I don't know what yet but I can tell you it isn't good." Jarod told him. "You'll have to pack some things together, clothes, anything that you'd need for a couple of days."

"I'll go and wake her, but she won't be staying awake for long." Tommy walked upstairs and into her bedroom. She was sleeping peacefully. He sat down next to her and touched her shoulder. "Baby, wake up for me. I need you to do something." Parker stirred and opened her eyes but they started to slip closed again. "I know, sorry to wake you but we have to leave. I need you to pack some clothes and things that you'd need for a few days."

"Why?" Parker mumbled.

"The Centre's planning something. Jarod's come to take us away till it calms down." Tommy stroked her face. "I know you're tired, but as soon as you pack some clothes you can go back to sleep."

"All right." Parker sat up weakly, but just fell back down onto the bed. "Help me out." Tommy wrapped his arms around her and sat her up and pushed her legs over the edge to help keep her balanced when she sat there without him helping.

"OK?" Tommy knelt in front of her.

"I'm OK." Parker said, her eyes started to brighten up.

"Yell if you need anything, or just drop to the floor. I'll here the thump." Tommy joked.

"OK, you go keep Jarod company. I'll be ready in a couple of minutes." Parker smiled at him. Tommy left and walked downstairs. She got up and walked over to the cupboard, packing some clothes and most importantly her gun.

"Is she doing it?" Jarod asked when he saw Tommy coming back downstairs.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you going to pack?"

"I've already packed. I was meant to go away today, but when Parker wasn't feeling well, I put it off to make sure she's all right." He pointed to the bag by the door. Jarod nodded.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Jarod asked as they sat down on the couch.

"Her ulcer. She hasn't been feeling well for the last couple of days. But today she could hardly get out of bed." Tommy said sadly. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Not everything. The Centre is planning something against you and Parker, until I can find out what I'm just getting you away for a while so no one gets hurt."

"You care about her, don't you?"

"Ever since we were kids. But now you're here I'm just taking a backseat. Keeping an eye on The Centre while she's enjoying her new life." Jarod smiled.

"I'm glad you're still looking out for her."

THUMP!

"She's either finished or she's dropped." Tommy ran upstairs, taking two at a time. He found her lying on the bed on her back, with the bag at the foot of the bed. "Both." Tommy smiled and picked up her bag putting it over one shoulder. "Come on, time to go." He carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her downstairs. "It turned out to be both." He said to Jarod.

"Here, I'll take that." Jarod came over and carefully disentangled Tommy from the bag. "You seem to have you're arms full." Jarod smiled.

"You have no idea." Tommy joked and held her tighter.

"We better get going. I want the trail to be cold by the time they come." Jarod walked over to the door and opened it, picking up Tommy's bag as he went. Tommy walked out with Parker. "Take her down to the car." Jarod said as he locked the house up and turned on the alarm system.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

ON THE ROAD OUTSIDE OF DOVER:

5:45P.M.

Jarod drove for a while then Tommy took over at about 4 hours outside of Dover. "So what are you planning to do?" He asked as he drove.

"I'm gonna have to wait till Parker's up to it, I need to know what was going on at The Centre." Jarod said looking out the window at the fields and woods that flew past.

"What's she doing?" Jarod turned round and looked at her. She was lying on her back in the backseat, with her head hanging off the side of the seat. Her left arm was on her stomach while the right one was hanging off the side of the seat.

"Giving herself a headache." Jarod smiled and put her arm back on the seat.

Tommy looked in the rearview mirror and smiled. "No, she always hangs her head off the bed when she's starting to wake up."

"When we get in Dover, we'll find a hotel and stay for a few days. We can't do much till Parker's up to it. I'll need her help." He instructed.

"What about money?"

"I'm going to take it from The Centre. That's what I've been doing the past four years." Jarod smiled.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

6:25P.M.

They pulled up at The Majestic Hotel, right in the middle of Dover. The Majestic was 16-story high building with a white washed finish on the outside. Grey marbled pillars decorated the front of the building, with a sky blue awning covering the entrance.

Jarod went in and organised a room. They came to The Majestic because of the rooms. They're like small apartments. Tommy stayed in the car with Parker since she still wasn't awake yet. Jarod came back downstairs with a key-card.

"We're on the third floor."

"Good, would you be able to take the bags?" Tommy asked as he got out of the car and opened the back door to get Parker out.

"Yeah, there's only three and the DSA case." Jarod walked round his side and popped the boot. Tommy was about to ask what a DSA case was, but thought against it. He bent down and picked up his precious bundle. Parker groaned at been moved.

"Shh, we'll be OK now." Tommy whispered and kissed her forehead. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer to him.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Jarod opened the door of the apartment and walked in. It was massive. In the middle of the room was the sitting area with lounges and coffee table. The kitchenette was over in the far corner and there was a small hallway, leading down to the bedrooms. Jarod was able to organise an apartment with three rooms, but somehow he doesn't think one will be used. But better safe than sorry.

"The bedrooms are down the hall." He pointed to the hallway. Tommy nodded and walked across the room, to deposit Parker on a bed. He could hold her all day but he thought that he should put her down till she was feeling better and they had important things to get done. He put her on a bed and kissed her forehead. She smiled and rolled onto her stomach.

"She'll be awake soon." Tommy said when he came back.

"Good." Jarod sat down in a chair and waited.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

BLUE COVE:

THE CENTRE:

SYDNEY'S OFFICE:

4 HOURS EARLIER.

Sydney was ringing Parker at home but there wasn't any answer, he got her machine again. He had already left 4 messages. Broots walked into his office with some papers, depositing them on Sydney's desk. "No answer still?" He asked.

Sydney shook his head. "No. I'm concerned. Even if Parker was unable to answer the phone, Thomas is there to answer it." Sydney put the phone down slowly.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Should we go and make sure everything's all right?" Broots asked him.

"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt and it would put my mind at ease." Sydney got his coat and walked out of the office with Broots following.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

When they got to Parker Manor, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Her car was where it always is and Tommy's pickup was behind it, in the shade of a tall tree. Sydney walked up to the front door and started to knock. No answer. He knocked harder and started calling out. "Parker! Thomas! Anyone home?" Stupid question because both the cars were there. Broots was walking along the driveway with his head down.

"Ah, Sydney, I think I just solved the mystery." Sydney walked down to him. "Look, there's been another car here." Broots pointed to the two tyre marks in the dirt. You couldn't make out a tyre tread thou, the marks were just shallow trenches made by the car and by the look of the trenches it was a heavy vehicle.

"Someone has taken them." Sydney stated carefully, like he was hearing his own voice for the first time.

"Looks like it. I think we better tell someone at The Centre. I mean, it could've been anyone." Broots exclaimed.

"Not yet." Sydney said calmly, walking back to the house.

"What do you mean, 'not yet'?"

"Let's just look around for a minute." Broots followed him around the house. But they didn't find anything.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

MR PARKER'S OFFICE:

2:50P.M.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Mr Parker demanded.

"Just that, they are gone. Nowhere to be found. They've just disappeared." Sydney said calmly.

"My daughter DOESN'T just disappear!" Mr Parker was turning red with rage.

"No, not unless someone has taken her...And Thomas." He said still coolly.

"And who would do a stupid thing like that?" He demanded.

"I don't know, I thought you might have an idea."

"Me? Why me?" Mr Parker growled angrily.

"I know that The Centre was planning something against Thomas. It looks like someone got to them before you." Sydney stated.

"How dare you!" He growled, standing up and facing off Sydney. Sydney didn't flinch or move a muscle. "Do you think I would purposely cause my daughter pain?"

"I don't know, but you normally do and why should this time be any different?" Sydney asked plainly.

"If you really believe that you're dumber than I give you credit for. You know, it's not good to go sticking your nose into business that doesn't concern you, you might get in more trouble than you thought." Mr Parker said calmly, sitting back in his chair.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, just think of it as advice in the well-being of your safety. People have accidents." He sat back in his chair further. "And also think of it in your best interest, that my daughter comes back...You can go." He turned his back on Sydney.

Sydney walked out of the office and was met by Broots. "How'd it go?"

"He threatened me unless I find her. But I rattled his cage when I said that he was planning something against Thomas." They walked down to the elevator.

"So what are we planning to do?"

"Find Jarod, we find Parker and Thomas and we warn them." Sydney and Broots got in the elevator.

Mr Parker turned around and picked up the phone and dialed. "Hold everything, they've gone...I don't know where. Sydney knows what's going on, so it must wait...I know timing is crucial but it must wait or everything will be jeopardised...We don't do anything. Sydney will lead us to them. All three..." Mr Parker smiled evilly.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

MAJESTIC HOTEL:

THE APARTMENT:

6:45P.M.

Tommy and Jarod are talking quietly when Parker came into the living room with her gun. She was looking a bit spooked. "Where are we?" Parker asked, relaxing when she only saw Jarod and Tommy.

"Dover." Tommy answered. She walked over to him and sat on his lap. "How's your ulcer?" He asked as he placed a gentle hand on her stomach.

"Better." Parker rested her head on his shoulder. "What's going on?" She looked at Jarod.

"The Centre is plotting something against you and Thomas." He leant closer to her. She tensed up and sat taller.

"Easy, he's helping us." Tommy kissed her temple. She relaxed slightly and rested her head on his shoulder again.

"I need you to tell me what's been happening at The Centre so I can figure out what they're up to." Jarod sat back in the chair so she didn't feel as threatened.

"Nothing unusual. Daddy's been busier than what seems necessary." Parker sat up quickly. "You think Daddy's taken a contract out on Tommy!"

"Maybe. Just answer me this, how long have you been trying to leave?" Jarod asked her gently.

She growled and got off Tommy, pacing dangerously and mumbling to herself. "I've been waiting to leave and you come along and tell me they're going to kill him. They gave it to me on a plate, Christ!" She mumbled and snarled as she paced.

Tommy looked at Jarod and mouthed 'Thank you' angrily at him and stood up. "Come here Baby." Tommy said to her gently. She stopped pacing and looked at him. She turned her head away from him shortly after and started to pace again. "Parker?"

"I'm going for a walk." Parker walked into the bedroom where Tommy put her down. She came back a little while later.

"Where are you going?" Tommy asked her.

"I don't know, around." Parker shrugged and headed for the door.

"You carrying?" Jarod asked her. She turned to face and lifted her shirt. In the waistband of her jeans was her gun.

"I'm not stupid!" Parker snarled and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Jarod asked him.

"You try stopping her when she's in a mood like that." Tommy sat back down. "Was that the truth? About them going to kill me?"

"Yeah." He said sadly. "I knew it was something like that but I wasn't sure. I had to wait till I could ask Parker, but it didn't work as you saw." Jarod ran his fingers through his hair.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

BLUE COVE:

THE CENTRE:

SYDNEY'S OFFICE:

6:55P.M.

Broots just walked into Sydney's office and shut the door. He looked spooked rabbit that was been hunted by a predator. "Someone has been following me since you spoke with Mr Parker." He said quietly.

"Someone has been following me too. They think we'll lead them to Parker and Thomas. Stop searching." Sydney said to him calmly.

"But Syd..."

"Stop searching! Parker will come back when it's safe." Broots nodded and walked to the door just as Lyle walked in.

"Where is my sister?" He growled.

"She's disappeared. So has Thomas." Sydney answered him.

"Fucking Hell! He's in it now!" Lyle snarled and walked away, leaving Sydney and Broots looking strangely after him.

"No, no way. I know he didn't like him, but he wouldn't go that far!" Broots exclaimed.

"I wouldn't be so sure. After all this is Lyle we're talking about, he's unpredictable." Sydney said and sat down, looking through papers that he has on his desk about other subjects in The Centre that are under his care.

"But not even Lyle would go that far!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

MAJESTIC HOTEL:

THE APARTMENT:

10:30P.M.

Parker still hadn't returned from her walk and Tommy and Jarod were starting to get worried. "She'll be OK, she's got her gun with her and she's deadly with it." Jarod said to try and set Tommy's mind at ease as well as his own.

"Yeah, if you don't mind I'll head off." Tommy stood up and stretched.

"No you go, I'll wait up for her." Jarod said. He nodded and walked down to his room.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

11:45P.M.

Jarod has had a shower and was stretched out on the couch asleep and he didn't hear Parker come in. She walked past the couch not noticing that there was someone on it and walked into her room.

She came back out a while later. After having a shower she walked over to the window and looked out at Dover, with all of its lights on. She was wearing a black silk dressing gown, which was tied around her tightly and was reflecting the lights from outside. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She spun round with her gun drawn at his chest. Jarod let out of breath and looked away, holding his hands up. "Can we please get out of the habit of pulling guns at each other?"

"You've never pulled a gun on me, if you did, you wouldn't be breathing now." Parker snarled.

"OK, can we just call it a truce until I find out what's going on?" Jarod asked her.

"And why would I do that?" Parker growled, shifting her grip on the gun, so instead of holding it with two hands she was holding it in her right.

"I'm only trying to help you and Thomas and I can't if you pull a gun on me every five minutes." He said to her calmly.

"Go on." Parker growled. Tommy stepped out of his room, standing in the darkness looking at them. No one knew he was there.

"If we could call a truce and you just trust me a little, I'll be able to get this done a Hell of a lot quicker without you hovering over me with a gun." Jarod told her.

"Don't you dare try and blame me!" Parker snarled at him. "If it wasn't for you we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"If it wasn't for me, Thomas would be dead!" Jarod bit back.

"ARSEHOLE!" Parker stepped up and punched him in the mouth. Jarod spun her around, wrapping his arms around her to hold her arms at her sides. "Let go of me!" Parker hissed, getting angrier.

"Listen!"

"Fuck you!"

"Listen!" Jarod squeezed her wrist with the gun for her to let go. Her hand lets go of the gun and it falls to the floor. "Now just listen!" Parker started to thrash around, but Jarod stilled her movements by holding her tighter.

"LET GO OF ME YOU FUCKING ARSEHOLE!" Parker screamed at him.

"Will you just listen to me!" Jarod growled at her angrily.

"WHAT?" Parker was still.

"I'm just trying to help you. I am helping you whether you like it or not, so just calm down and stop been so bloody pig-headed. You need my help and I need you're help, so let's call a truce. After this is it will go back to normal." Jarod told her calmly.

"Let go of me!" Parker snarled and kicked him in the shin. Jarod let go of her. She walked away from him, picking up her gun as she went. "Why should I trust you?" She snarled.

"Because if you don't Thomas will be killed!" Jarod bit back.

"How do you know he would be killed?" She snarled, even in the dark Jarod could tell her eyes were glowing and flaming. Probably because he knows her all too well and he recognises the tone that goes with the look.

"You really believe that your father is just going to let you go? You're stuck at The Centre, he's only playing along so you don't suspect anything." Jarod told her.

"I don't care what you say, I wanna go back!" She snarled.

"OK, if I take you back Thomas will be murdered or don't you care about that either. I thought you loved him!"

"I do!" She screamed and started to cry. "I do." She flopped down in the chair crying. Tommy came out quietly and stood where Jarod was. Jarod walked over and knelt in front of her. "Leave me alone." Parker whimpered as she hung her head down.

"Truce?" Jarod held out his hand. The only sound in the room was Parker's crying.

She reluctantly put her hand on his. "Truce." Jarod's hand closed around hers tightly.

"Only till this is over. I need you're help...And Thomas needs OUR help." Parker looked up at him and then saw Tommy standing behind them in only tracksuit pants. She nodded. "Good, I leave her with you now." Jarod let go of her hand and stood up, walking past Tommy and into his room. Tommy walked over and sat down beside her.

"We'll be OK. We just need to trust him." Tommy gently touched her face. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face in his neck. "Shh, it can't be that bad."

"I don't know what to do anymore! I have a weakness now." Parker cried.

"Shh, no you don't. You're still as strong as you ever were." Tommy gently kissed her neck.

"You're my weakness and they know it. Whenever they mention you, I try and do everything to please them so they'd leave you alone." Parker whimpered.

"Let you're weakness take you to bed." He whispered to her.

"I'm not tired." She shook her head.

"Wait till you lie down and get comfy, you'll be tired then." Tommy went to stand up but she wouldn't let go of his neck. He bent down a little and picked her up. She tightened her arms around him. "Come on, we'll go to bed." Tommy said and gently kissed her forehead. Parker didn't say anything, just let herself get carried to bed.

Tommy laid her down and lay down next to her, both on their sides, with one of his arms wrapped around her neck, resting his hand on her shoulder while the other one was wrapped around her waist holding her tightly against him. "I'm still not sleepy." Parker said quietly.

"Shh, just relax." Tommy tightened his arms around her and kissed her neck. He moved the arm that was around her waist to gently stroke her head and neck. She snuggled in closer to him and relaxed.

"Do you think I should trust Jarod?" Parker asked after a while.

"Yeah, he only wants to help." Parker rolled over onto her other side so she was facing him. "He won't do anything and he only wants to keep us safe." He moved onto his back. She leant on his chest and started to drift off to sleep.

"I do love you, I just thought that I'd be able to protect you from The Centre." She said quietly.

"I know you do, but it's OK to ask for help when you need it. That's what Jarod's around for." Tommy held her tightly.

"Most of the time we play cat and mouse...It doesn't give us much of a chance to anything other than enemies...I would like to get to know him better but I can't because of what Daddy...Taught me...When I came...Centre." Parker was talking slowing and softly but ended up just going to sleep.

"You tell me tomorrow." Tommy whispered and kissed her head.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

BLUE COVE:

THE CENTRE:

THE NEXT MORNING:

SYDNEY'S OFFICE:

8:35A.M.

Lyle just walked in. A visit this early in the morning couldn't mean anything but bad news. "Are you still searching for my sister?" Lyle asked him in a gentle tone that took Sydney by surprise.

"No, I thought it would be better if I didn't."

"Why?" Lyle growled. The gentleness had just flown out the window.

"Mr Parker has Broots and I under surveillance." Sydney answered him.

"While my sister is missing you report to me. I want you and Broots to try and locate her before she gets hurt. Thomas too." Lyle ordered.

"Why would you care about him?" Sydney asked in an accusing way.

"He makes her happy and if anyone at The Centre gets their dirty little paws on him, she'll only be unhappy. Kapeche?"

"Yes." Sydney replied. "But Mr Parker has someone following us."

"I'll take care of him." Lyle walked to the door. "Start looking for her and tell me when you find out anything." He left. Sydney picked up his phone.

"Broots." The computer tech reported into the phone.

"Broots, start searching again."

"But you said..."

"I know what I said, Lyle is going to take care of Mr Parker's goons." Sydney said to him snappily.

"OK Syd, I'll have something in a little while." Broots hung up. Sydney put the phone down.

"I just hope we find them before they do." Sydney said quietly to himself.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

MAJESTIC HOTEL:

THE APARTMENT:

8:50A.M.

Jarod had been up since sunrise and he had some breakfast, now he was just sitting round the living room waiting for Parker and Tommy to surface. Parker came out first, dressed in black tracksuit pants and black T-shirt. "Morning." Parker said and sat down next to him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Jarod asked as he suspended the computer.

"Fine. I just want to apologise for what I said last night, I know now that you only want to help." Parker said to him truthfully.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have said what I did about Thomas. I know you care about him and wouldn't want to see anything happen to him, but you did make me angry." Jarod smiled at her warmly.

"So we're both sorry." Parker held out her hand. "Truce."

Jarod took her hand and held it tightly. "Truce. Can I have a hug?" He asked innocently.

"Don't push it!" Parker smiled and shoved him back. He fell back laughing. Tommy came out in blue jeans and a blue flannel shirt.

"Good, I was starting to get worried about you two." Tommy smiled at them. Parker got off the couch and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You look nice in blue." She purred next to his ear.

"You look gorgeous in black." He held her tighter. "Are you planning to rob someone?" He joked and touched her face gently.

"Only if you want me too." She kissed him softly.

"Don't you just love it when she's like this?" Tommy looked at Jarod.

"It's priceless." He smiled at her.

She looked at him and made a growling noise in her throat. "Just because we've called a truce doesn't stop me from kicking your arse." She snarled at him playfully.

"Parker." Tommy scolded her.

"She's only playing, look." Tommy moved her head to look into her eyes. They weren't cold like the tone suggested. They were bright and moving like flames.

"You shouldn't do that around me, I don't know when you're playing or when you're just about to rip his head off." Tommy stroked her face gently. She lifted her head up higher and kissed him passionately.

"That was serious. The other was playing. See the difference?" She purred.

"I think I need another look between the differences." Tommy smiled.

Parker turned to Jarod. "See what I have to deal with?" She snarled. "That was playing, this is serious." Parker kissed him again, this time more passionately than before. Tommy closed his arms around her tightly and pulled her closer. Jarod turned back to his computer while Parker 'taught' Tommy about serious and playing.

"But can't serious be playing as well?" Tommy smiled.

"Shh!" Parker looked at Jarod, but he was working on the computer.

"Don't mind me, I'm not here at the moment." Jarod smiled.

"I'll finish teaching you tonight." Parker whispered in his ear.

"Can't wait." Tommy smiled and let her go.

"What are you doing?" Parker walked over and looked over his shoulder.

"I'm in The Centre Mainframe. Just seeing if I can find why they were going to kill Thomas." Jarod said. Parker jumped over the back of the couch and landed next to him.

"Shove over. I wanna check on Broots and Syd, see if they're planning anything against them." Parker was sitting at Jarod's shoulder.

"Knock yourself out." Jarod moved the laptop so it was in front of her. She started to type away at the computer keyboard. "Where are you going? If there was anything against Syd or Broots it would be in Projects or Planning."

"No, not if Daddy's behind it. I'm just going straight to the source." Parker said and started to read. "Strange. This hasn't been updated since last night at 8:36p.m. And Daddy always finishes his files before he shuts down." Parker scrolled further down the page.

"What do you mean?" Jarod looked over her shoulder.

"Look. All times are squared off, all except yesterdays. He was planning something against Syd and Broots, he had them under surveillance but not anymore." Jarod was looking over her shoulder and his face was close to hers. "Sit back, you don't need to be that close." She snarled. Jarod sat back a little.

"Sorry."

"Can you hand me the phone Sweetie?" Parker asked Tommy. He got the phone and sat down next to her. She took it and kissed him. "Thanks." She dialed.

"This is Sydney."

"Syd it's me, what's going on?"

"Parker! Don't come back yet!"

"I'm not! What is going on?" She snarled at him, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere been nice.

"Mr Parker had Broots and me under surveillance. He thought that we would lead him to you, so we stopped then Lyle said start looking for you again, that he was going to take care of everything." Sydney said to her. "How are you and Thomas?"

"We're fine. Where is loving brother now?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him or you're father all day." Sydney told her. "Are you sure you two are all right?"

"We're fine. I'll ring back later, make sure Lyle's handy at 11a.m." Parker hung up and turned back to the computer. "Let's see what Daddy's been doing." Parker snarled and started to look around.

CLASSIFIED IMFORMATION

Started to blink up on the screen in red. "Classified my arse." Parker snarled and entered her father's clearance codes.

UNAUTHORISED ACCESS PROGRAM TERMINATION IN 6 MINUTES

"Old bastard, he's changed his code." Parker snarled and moved her hair from the back of her neck to sit on her shoulder. She thought for a minute and typed again.

ACCESS DENIED

She typed again.

ACCESS DENIED

She stopped and thought again. She typed in some more numbers.

AUTHORISED ACCESS TERMINATION STOPPED

3. 3. 63

"He's going to have to change them again." Parker let out a breath and leant back against Tommy.

"What?"

"My birthday, Momma's month and the year that you were brought to The Centre. It's not that difficult. He like's dates." Parker smiled and leant forward.

"I thought I was good at cracking codes."

"You don't know the people so it makes it harder. You're better than me, but when it comes to The Centre codes I'd flog you're butt." Parker smiled. "Now let's see what the old bastard's been up to."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

BLUE COVE:

THE CENTRE:

SYDNEY'S OFFICE:

9:10A.M.

Broots came in carrying papers and he was looking really pleased with himself. "I've just been in The Centre Mainframe, and you wouldn't guess who's just hacked in."

"Parker."

"Who told?" Broots cried out.

"No one, I just spoke with her a little while ago." Sydney smiled and continued with his work.

"And?" He asked impatiently. Sydney put the lid back on the pen and looked up at him.

"She'll be ringing back at 11 and she'll be wanting some information. Lyle's to be here too. Have you seen him?"

"I think he's up in his office." Broots walked up to the desk and showed Sydney the papers. "This is what I wanted to show you. I didn't think it was Parker at first but she entered Mr Parker's old code." He showed him the first access denied and details connecting to it. "Then a little while later the correct code was entered."

"But it could have been anyone, what makes you so sure it was Parker?" Sydney asked him.

"The files that were accessed. It was everything that was connected to Thomas. Now who do know, that works here, knows Mr Parker's new code and that knows Thomas?"

"Jarod springs to mind."

"He's probably helping her. But everything adds up to one thing: Parker knows what was going to happen to Thomas." Broots left the papers on Sydney's desk so he could look at them for himself.

"We'll find out when she rings back. Go find Lyle and tell him to be here at 11."

"What if I can't find him?"

"Send out a memo, anyone who sees him are to tell him that he has to be in my office at 11." Sydney told him impatiently.

"Yes Sydney." Broots scuttled out the door.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

MAJESTIC HOTEL:

THE APARTMENT:

10:55A.M.

Parker was reading through some papers that she had printed out from her father's files. Tommy was sitting behind her back and looking over her shoulder. Jarod was on the laptop at the table behind the couch and he was reading through some other files that he downloaded onto his computer to try and determine the inconsistencies that were occurring in Mr Parker's files. Like why was there a huge time lapse and unfinished files when Parker said that he always finishes them before he logs off? Times are changing? He didn't think so. There was something in those files that were staring them in the face and that hold all the answers. "It's time to ring Syd again Parker." Jarod said to her, as he suspended the computer.

"What?" Parker looked up from the papers. She saw Jarod tapping his wrist. "Oh right." Parker put the papers on the coffee table. "Hand me you're cell, if they're going to trace, which they most probably will, they won't be able to trace a cell." Jarod gave her the phone.

"This is Sydney."

"Syd, is everyone there?"

"Parker! Yeah, everyone's here."

"Good, put it on speaker." She heard a click and then it was all opened and muffled noise.

"You're on speaker."

"Where's Lyle?"

"I'm here Sis." She heard Lyle, by the sound of the phone he was sitting in a chair in front of Sydney's desk.

"What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" She snarled and she knew that Lyle would have shrunk at her tone.

"I don't know what you mean." He whimpered.

"Let me put it this way: Why did you want Syd and Broots to look for us?"

"I was worried. But it's safe to come back now." Lyle told her.

"How? Why? What the Hell is going on there?" She demanded. "There is something wrong with Daddy, his files aren't completed or updated."

"You haven't heard then." Sydney answered gently.

"Heard what? If you don't start giving me some answers I won't be very pleasant when I get back there!" She got up and started to pace. Tommy and Jarod just listened patiently. "When?" Jarod was trying to hear what the other end was saying, but he couldn't. "How?" Jarod knew what was wrong with Mr Parker's files. He wasn't there to complete them. He got up and walked over to the computer and looked at one little piece of text to prove him right. "All right, I know all that. If that's the case we're coming back tomorrow." Jarod's head shot up. Parker looked at him and he started shaking his head violently. "Hang on Syd." Parker covered the phone. "What?"

"Don't. Not yet, it could be a trap."

Parker moved her hand away from the phone. "Where do I go to find the reports to prove this isn't a set up?" She was silent a minute. "Write this down." Jarod got a new document opened up. "OK, type it. Put caps-lock on. PJK-3184690-MPAR/P3YKN. That it?"

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Lyle walked over and picked up the phone to take it off speaker. "Who's there with you?" Lyle asked her.

"Just me and Tommy, why?" He heard Parker growl.

"And?"

"NO ONE!"

"OK, just tell him, to bring you two back in one piece."

"You wouldn't care if I came back in a pine box!"

"Hey! The inheritance gets split! I want you back here so we can run The Centre. TOGETHER."

"Fine, I'll be back around 7, I'll be just dropping by to make sure that you haven't done anything unorthodox while I've been away."

"OK, are you two all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But tell me what the Hell you did and why?"

"I killed him because he was going to kill Thomas. Nothing more nothing less."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"And why would you go and do something like that? You have NEVER liked him!" Parker snaps at Lyle hatefully, as she walked up behind Tommy and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Just hold it right there! I have NEVER done anything to him OR YOU. So just back off! I'm beginning to think that you aren't grateful that I just saved his hide!" Lyle snarled.

"That's the reaction I was looking for. Thank you."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"What? I think you just tricked me." Lyle laughed. Sydney and Broots looked at each other confused.

"Yep! I had to know and the only way for sure was make you fly off the handle. Just call it a trick of the trade." He knew that Parker would be smiling, very pleased with herself.

"You'll have to teach me."

"Not on you're life. I'll see you tomorrow and I'll check out that pathway." Parker hung up. Lyle walked over to the desk and put the phone back in the cradle.

"She's sneaky!" Lyle shook his head.

"What was the yelling about?" Sydney asked.

"She tricked me into saying something to prove her right."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

DOVER:

SAME TIME.

Parker gave Jarod the cell back and looked over his shoulder onto the computer screen. He was getting back in The Centre Mainframe. "What happened?" Tommy asked her as he walked over to them.

"Daddy's dead. Lyle killed him."

"Oh Baby, I'm sorry." Tommy hugged her tightly.

"Don't be, he was going to have you killed. He organised Raines to kill Momma. He had it coming." Parker rested her head against his chest.

"But I don't understand."

"He wasn't my father. Well, not in the way he should be. Sydney raised me. He just put me through a living Hell!"

"OK I'm in, where do I go to enter the pathway?" Jarod looked up at her. She gently undid Tommy's grasp around her neck and leant down over Jarod's shoulder. Her hair was tickling his face.

She opened up Proximity. A black screen appeared with 10 blank spaces under each other in white. "Oh, it's gotten easier!" She smiled and started to fill them out.

Proximity: Council

Pathway: PJK-3184690-MPAR/P3YKN

Clearance: 3.3.63

Authorisation: Triumvirate

Category: Classified Files

Code: 63.3.3

ID Number: MP-23787291-CRTPN

Position: Chairman

Authorisation date: 18 January 2001

Level 10 Clearance: 91748277440-HTPIJ-675

"That was easy!" Jarod exclaimed. "How can you remember all of that?"

"Very simple. I broke into Daddy's office and copied them off of his computer. He doesn't have to remember them, all except the 3.3.63. If he forgot that he couldn't get onto his computer." She smiled at him.

PROCESSING CLEARANCE

ERROR

INCORRECT CODE ACCESS DENIED

"What?" Parker snarled. "OOPS!" She laughed and changed the code from 63.3.3 to 36.3.3 and pressed enter. "I always stuff that up."

PROCESSING CLEARANCE

ACCESSING CLASSIFIED FILES IN COUNCIL PROXIMITY

LOG ON COMPLETE

"You'll be right now." Parker stood up straight and leant against Tommy.

"What would I do without you?"

"They'd trace who was hacking in and change everything. But you can't stay on long since The Council will be monitoring this file." Parker said.

"What am I looking for?" Jarod asked.

"Reports on my father's death."

UNAUTHORISED ACCESS ABORTING CURRENT PROXIMITY

"Shit!" Parker reentered the Level 10 Clearance.

INVALID CODE USER AND PROXIMITY DENIED

"Never mind, let it kick us out." Parker looked at the black screen. It returned to The Centre Mainframe. "Let's see them trying to do that to my clearance." She went back into Proximity again. "Close you're eyes." Jarod closed his eyes. "I don't trust you." Parker put one of her hands on his eyes.

"Hey!"

"Shut up." Parker snarled at him playfully.

Proximity: Council

Pathway: PJK-3184690-MPAR/P3YKN

Clearance: 14.5.69

Authorisation: Triumvirate

Category: Classified Files

Code: 96.5.41

ID Number: AP-42947102-CAFHN

Position: Level 1 Centre Corporative

Authorisation date: 18 January 2001

Level 10 Clearance: 52810944773-FWRAB-435

PROCESSING CLEARANCE

ACCESSING CLASSIFIED FILES IN COUNCIL PROXIMITY

LOG ON COMPLETE

AP-14.5.69-435

"Can I look yet?" Jarod asked her.

"No." Jarod pulled her hand away quickly and before her other hand could cover his eyes he saw the code. "Bastard!" Parker hissed.

"Aren't you temperamental?" Jarod smiled at her.

"No!" Parker growled.

"Temperamental about what?" Tommy asked.

"On the 14 of May in 1969 Parker and I met." Jarod smiled at her. "And all this time I thought you hated me."

"If you ever breathe a word to a living soul on what you just read I'll amputate your head!" She snarled.

"I'll ring Syd." Jarod grabbed his phone. She snatched it out of his hand and backed away.

"Over my dead body." She hissed and waved her hand teasingly in front of him.

"Help me?" Jarod asked Tommy.

"HEY! NO FAIR!" Parker exclaimed.

"Yes." Tommy nodded.

"You're both gonna pay." She snarled and started to back away.

"Who first?" Jarod asked as he stood up.

"OH SHIT!" She whimpered and backed up further.

"How are we planning to do this?" Tommy asked him.

"Ask the Almighty Huntress." Jarod smiled.

"This isn't fair!" Parker cried out.

"OK, if that's your answer, we have no choice." Jarod smiled evilly and started to advance towards her. "It's going to be fun to have the roles reversed."

"OH SHIT! Tommy. Sweetie. Honey. You're not going to help him are you?" Parker looked at him pleadingly.

"Not all the time, only when he needs help." Tommy folded his arms and stood where he was.

"OH CRAP!" Parker stepped back and looked at the layout of the room. She could run straight through the kitchen and into the living room, around the couch and straight into Tommy's clutches. A full circuit. And she would be able to get past Tommy, but only just.

"Last chance, are you going to give me the phone?" Jarod stopped about four strides away from her.

"Umm...No." Parker bolted before Jarod could react. She ran straight into the kitchen and stood behind the bench watching him.

"I see you haven't lost you're speed." Jarod said when he stopped running and stood on the other side of the bench, watching her.

"No, I'm as fast as ever. Maybe faster." She purred and smiled. Tommy hadn't moved from where he was standing. She didn't like it one bit. Jarod started to walk round the bench. They were now at each end. When she realised she had her back to Tommy she bolted. She ran straight to the couch, jumped up onto the cushions and cleared the back. Tommy grabbed her as soon as she landed and tickled her as they fell onto the floor.

THUMP!

"Stop!" Parker screamed and giggling as he knelt over her tickling her ribs. "Oh God! Mercy! Mercy!" She screamed.

"OK, let her up. She's learnt her lesson." Jarod laughed. He let her up. When she sat up she pined him down by his shoulders.

"When I say 'mercy' I mean for you to stop!" Parker smiled down at him.

"Sorry." Tommy wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"But you must admit Parker, you haven't had this much fun since we were kids." Jarod said from behind her. She let Tommy get up and glared at him playfully.

"And don't think you're going to get away with that!" Parker stood up slowly.

"OH SHIT!" Jarod backed away. "You wouldn't do anything to me, would ya?" Jarod smiled at her. "Not ya old pal J?"

"Don't be so sure." She purred and stalked towards him dangerously.

"Thomas, aren't you going to stop her?" Jarod asked him.

"Payback, sorry buddy." Tommy smiled at her, stalking towards him, like a cat to a bird in a cage. "I think it would be good for me to see her hunt."

"Easy for you to say, you aren't the prey!" Jarod backed away from her. She lunged at him, at which he bolted.

"I must be getting rusty." Parker smiled, her eyes burning brightly.

"Must be." Jarod smirked.

"You're going to pay twice Lab Rat!" Parker snarled and started to prowl towards him.

"Oh shit!" Jarod ran into the kitchen. They were on opposite sides to last time. She jerked to one side to spook him out. It worked. Jarod came running out of the right hand side. Parker pounced on him and he fell in a heap on the floor with her leaning against his back. "Ouch!" Jarod yelped and lifted his head.

"I've never gotten this far before, now what?" She looked at Tommy, who was smiling. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Ask the prey."

"What do you think prey?" Parker purred and gently blew on the back on his neck.

"Hey, don't do that!" Jarod cried out.

"Oh, I don't think he wants to play anymore." She put on her puppy face. "All right." Parker let him up.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Jarod told her and lunged. She yelped, jumped back and ran behind Tommy. "Pity we don't have a pool near by." He grinned evilly.

"You wouldn't dare!" She glared at him over Tommy's shoulder.

"Wouldn't I?" Jarod started to walk towards her.

"OK, you're both even. Call it quits before one of you gets hurt." Tommy stood his ground between Jarod and Parker.

"Yeah, listen to the umpire." She smirked at him.

"You little..." Jarod lunged at her but Parker ran away and stood near the door. "You'll keep." Jarod grinned at her evilly. "And when you least expect it. BANG."

"You'll have to catch me first." Parker said teasingly and walked back to Tommy.

"Won't be too hard." Jarod smiled. "Not if I have help."

"You leave him outta this!"

"But what if HIM wants to get involved?" Tommy looked at her.

"You wouldn't dare!" But then she saw that he wasn't joking. "Oh shit!" She whimpered. "This isn't fair."

"No it isn't, but my torture is different to Jarod's." Tommy wrapped his arms around her again and started to tickle her. She began to giggle and wriggle around in his arms, but he wouldn't let her go.

She ended up just collapsing on the floor, leaning against his shins and breathing heavily. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh, do you want to go in for round two?" Tommy asked her.

"NO!" She held his hand and pulled herself up. "No more, my sides hurt."

"Oh, my poor baby." Tommy held her tightly.

"If we could get serious for a minute we should start thinking about heading back." Jarod said to them.

"No, we'll stay here today and head back in the morning." She rested her hands and Tommy's that were around her waist.

"OK. What did Lyle say about killing your father?"

"Just that he did it to protect Tommy and me from Daddy. He was planning to kill Tommy since he didn't want me to leave. But it's safe now. Lyle doesn't want anything to happen to either of us and he just wants me to be happy." Parker answered.

"Don't you find that a little hard to believe?" Jarod asked her gently.

"If I can't trust family who can I trust?" She snarled at him.

"OK, you don't need to get like that." Jarod gently touched her face. "Just be careful, I didn't save you two from your father so that Lyle could kill you."

"I know, I'll be careful. But Lyle's different from Daddy."

"Just be careful." She nodded and relaxed against Tommy.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

BLUE COVE:

THE CENTRE:

LYLE'S OFFICE:

THE NEXT DAY:

9:30A.M.

Sam walked into the office and stood at the door with his hands linked behind his back. "Sir, The Triumvirate sent me to get you. They are in Mr Parker's office."

"Thank you Sam." Lyle stood up and walked out of his office.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

When Lyle entered the late Mr Parker's office, Matumbo was sitting up at the desk with papers and files in front of him. "Ah, Mr Lyle, thank you for coming. Please have a seat." He leant forward and pointed to the chairs in front of the desk. Lyle walked in and sat down nervously. "Now, I've called you up here because I want to discuss what happened with your father. I just have a few questions. Firstly, why did you kill your father?"

"Why not?"

Matumbo smiled at him. "Don't you have anything to say in your defense? Unless you can give proper cause for your actions, I can't guarantee what the implications might be and what we will be doing to try and rectify the problems."

"Did you know about my father planning to kill Thomas Gates?"

"Not in details. Mr Parker thought that Mr Gates was threatening Centre security."

"What a load of shit! Miss Parker didn't tell him anything. And you let him plan to kill Thomas?" Lyle snarled at him.

"Mr Parker showed us just cause for why Mr Gates should have been killed! Are you telling me now that he was lying?"

"What did Dad tell you?"

"Mr Gates was a weakness in Centre security and that he was leading his daughter astray."

"Did you know he was planning to go to Oregon...With Miss Parker?"

"No, he didn't tell us that." Matumbo growled. "He was going to kill a civilian for no reason!"

"Yes, all because he didn't want his daughter to leave."

"We don't need that sort of reputation!"

"We don't. The only people that know about this are Dr Green, Mr Broots, Miss Parker, Mr Gates and the pretender. They ALL will be keeping quite. Now my sister is afraid that you were behind this, she will be returning with Mr Gates later today, I suggest that you stay here until she gets here so you can clear up this mess."

"Of course. The Parker children are MORE important that their father and I won't do anything to jeopardise their safety." Matumbo smiled at him.

"I'm glad we understand each other. Do you still need me to explain why I killed my father?"

"No, that is no longer necessary, I understand why you needed to do that." Matumbo sat back in the chair. "When do you expect Miss Parker to return?"

"She said she would be here around 7." Lyle left.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

ON THE ROAD:

4 HOURS OUTSIDE OF DOVER:

11:45A.M.

Parker was driving and Tommy was sitting in the passenger seat beside her, their hands were linked in her lap. Jarod was sitting in the backseat, looking out the window. "Do you want me to come with you?" Jarod asked her gently.

"No, it'll best if you didn't come back yet, until I know what's going on stay away, but stay nearby, tell Tommy where you'll be." Parker turned her head slightly and her eyes strayed off the road, see looked carefully at the trees on the shoulder of the road.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked her softly, squeezing her hand.

She shook her head and returned her gaze to the road. "I'm just getting jumpy." She looked at him and he was worried. She smiled at him. "I'm fine, I'm just spooking myself." She gently stroked her his hand with her thumb.

He lifted her hand and kissed it. "As long as your all right."

"I'm fine, working at The Centre just makes you jumpy when you're driving on an open road with no traffic." She felt two hands on her shoulders. It was Jarod.

"They don't know where we are."

"I know, but every empty road makes me nervous." She let go of Tommy's hand and rested her hand on his left that was on her shoulder.

"I know, dark, quiet places make me nervous even during the day quite fully lit places scare me." He softly kissed her fingers.

"So The Centre's turned us into quivery nervous wreaks." She smiled and let go of his hand, returning hers to Tommy's on her leg.

"Well, I'll just have to work extra hard with you two won't I?" Tommy smiled at them.

"You've got two projects now." Parker smiled.

"But one is going to be a full time project." Tommy smiled at her lovingly.

"Ah, isn't that nice?" She gently stroked his face. He kissed the heel of her hand.

"I'm a nice guy."

"That's an understatement." Parker purred and held his hand tightly.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

PARKER MANOR:

6:10P.M.

Tommy took over for driving at around 20 past 12. Parker sat in the passenger seat, clutching Tommy's hand with her eyes closed. Driving for a long time had tired them out, they were stinging and sore, but they were better when she closed them.

Jarod was content just to sit in the backseat, knowing that Parker wants to be next to Thomas all the way home. When she's happy, he's happy.

Tommy thought she was sleeping except every now and then she'd talk and stroke his hand with her thumb or with the fingers of her other hand.

Tommy pulled up outside, parking behind his pickup. He turned off the ignition and opened his door. Parker let go of his hand and got out of the Jeep. "It's good to be home." Parker smiled as she came round the back of the Jeep to get her bag. "At least it's still OUR home." She whispered in Tommy's ear.

"Yeah." Tommy put his arm around her and rested his hand on her hip. She got her bag and walked away from Tommy.

"I'm gonna have a shower and get changed. Keys!" She called to Jarod. He put his hand in his pocket and threw her keys to her. She caught them with one hand. "Thanks." She turned and ran up to the house.

"She's beautiful when she's happy." Tommy commented as she disappeared out of sight.

"Yeah and it's all thanks to you." Jarod smiled as he got his bag and the DSA case out of the Jeep. Tommy got his.

"It's was a bit touch and go at first. She wasn't sure if she could trust me, but I'm gaining her trust."

"You have her heart and soul in your hand." Jarod smiled as they walked up to the house and stepped inside.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

15 minutes later Parker came downstairs in dark-cherry leather pants, a black cotton tank top and carrying a knee-high black coat. "Showers free and I've sat jeans and shirt on the bed that you're to put on."

"Thank you." Tommy walked over to her and playfully slapped her on the backside. "Sorry I couldn't resist myself." He smiled and raised his hands in surrender.

"Go have your shower before I kill you!" She shoved him away gently.

"See how much she loves me?" Tommy smirked.

"Oh." She glared at him and went to step up to him but he ran away and upstairs. "Don't come back down till you can behave, I'm not taking you like this!" She called up to him.

"I'll be good!" He called back.

"You better." She mumbled and looked at Jarod. "See what I have to put up with?"

"Life's a bitch." Jarod said equally as sarcastic as she was.

"That's right." She nodded and sat down, with him sitting next to her.

They were silent for a few minutes. "It's..." They both started at the same time. They started to laugh.

"You go first." Jarod said and sat with his back against the armrest.

"I was just going to say it's been good to let my hair down for a while, but it could've been under different circumstances." She smiled at him warmly. "Now what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say it's good to see this side of you. The happier side that I knew when I was a kid."

"Well you can thank Tommy for that."

"I have."

"When I find out what's going on at The Centre, I'll see if I can arrange something for you to stay out here, you don't deserve to be in there. And I can't chase you anymore after you saved Tommy from Daddy."

"You don't have to do that."

"But I want to, I don't know how to thank you for helping Tommy."

"You already have." She looked at him puzzled. "You called a truce and gave me my best friend back." He gently touched her face.

"That doesn't count. I want to do something for you in return, so I'll see if I can find anything on your family and try and give you your freedom."

Jarod's face lit up when she mentioned hunting down his family for him. "If you give me my freedom and my family I'll be in your debt forever."

"I wouldn't go as far as that. It's the least I can do, after all my father stole you away from them so I'm just giving them back." She smiled.

"You have your mother's heart under all you shields."

"I always have, I just keep it protected seeing what happened to Momma with her heart showing all the time, I'm just keeping the little part of her protected."

"Wise, your father couldn't hurt your mother again."

"Even thou he tried."

"But he didn't get far." Parker smiled at him. "If you give me back my family and freedom just call when you need something or when you just want to talk."

"I won't need to do that, I've got Tommy."

"But when you weren't able to discuss it with Tommy."

"What wouldn't I be able to tell him? I can tell him everything."

"Not everything."

"You mean The Centre." He nodded. "OK, I'll ring you when there's something wrong."

"Good." He leant across and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"I'm glad I'm interrupting." Tommy said as he walked down the stairs, buttoning his shirt.

"Oh, your jealous." Parker purred at him.

"Yes." He came over and kissed her head.

"Oh, isn't that nice?" She looked at Jarod who was looking a little uncomfortable. "It was nothing, Tommy we're friends. I'm just going to give him his freedom and his family." She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're the one I love."

"I know." He put his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Good." She put her forehead against his. "There's nothing going on between me and Jarod, we're just very good friends, kay?"

"I know." He kissed her nose.

"Good, we ready to go?" He ran his hands down onto the tight butt of her leather pants and then onto her hips.

"Yeah." He kissed her nose again.

"Okay." She kissed his mouth gently. "Now, you can stay here till we get back, we shouldn't be long. If anything happens ring, I'll have my cell with me."

"No problem. But I don't think I'll need to ring you." Tommy and Parker walked to the door. "How are you planning to take him in?"

Parker held Tommy's hand and lifted it. "Hands off." Parker smiles.

"Good tactic." They left.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

GARAGE:

7:04P.M.

On the way to The Centre Parker rang Sam and told him to meet her in the garage. Parker and Tommy got out of the car and locked it up. They saw Sam standing at the elevator. Parker walked round to Tommy and held her hand out. He took it and walked next to her. "You wanted me Miss Parker?"

"Yes Sam, in case I have to leave Mr Gates somewhere, I want you to take him with you outside into the quad."

"Yes Miss Parker. When Mr Lyle found out that I was meeting you here, he told me to tell you to go straight up to the late Mr Parker's office. The Triumvirate will be waiting for you as well as Mr Lyle." Sam relayed to her.

"Just the people I want to see." Parker smiled as they got out of the elevator and headed towards Mr Parker's office. "Wait out here Sam." Parker and Tommy walked in, still joining hands.

"Miss Parker." Matumbo said from the desk, Lyle turned round and smiled at her.

"What the fuck do you think your playing at?" She snarled at him. She gently let go of Tommy's hand.

"Mr Lyle told me that you might be like this. But it wasn't The Triumvirate's decision that Mr Gates should be killed."

"Why should I believe you? You're the same as my father!"

Lyle got up and walked over to her. "Easy, he's on OUR side. He wanted US protected. The Parker children are more valuable than the father was. The Triumvirate was watching us, when they were keeping Dad occupied they were just making sure we were all right. Matumbo explained it to me." Lyle told her gently.

"But they're the same!" She shook her head.

"No, they aren't. The Triumvirate is on our side, not Dad's, they were protecting us." Lyle gently touched her upper-arms.

"What about Momma, did they care about her?"

He nodded. "That was Dad's order to have her killed. No Triumvirate involvement." Lyle told her. "If you don't trust him, you trust me? You believe what I tell you?" She nodded. She held her hand out and Tommy took it and held onto her tightly.

"Don't worry, I'm here." He whispered.

"I know that you don't like us, but what your father told you was a complete lie. And to try and make up for it, I'll give Mr Gates Triumvirate protection." Matumbo said to her gently. "Like you heard from your brother, The Triumvirate wants to protect the Parker children, for they would be able to control The Centre better than anyone could, you two have influence over Centre employees."

"What exactly is this protection you are offering him?" Parker walked closer and Tommy followed.

"Just that, anyone who threatens his life again, he will be safe to come to The Centre and we will protect him...And you."

"How do we know you mean what you say?"

"I appreciate that you are a very cautious woman Miss Parker, but it is unnecessary when dealing with me." Matumbo walked round to her side of the desk. She stiffened and stepped closer to Tommy. "OK I won't pressure you." He stepped away. "But you can trust me, we will do everything within our power to keep the two Parker children happy."

She relaxed slightly. "If you want to keep me happy, I ask another thing from you."

"Which is?"

"Jarod, the pretender, is to be given his freedom and his family. My father stole him away and I want him to be returned where he belongs. He doesn't deserve to be here and treated like a lab rat." She told him, stilling clutching Tommy's hand. "And if you honour that agreement, I might be able to get him to do some SIMS that he approves of. Or we give him his family and the choice to come and go from here as he pleases without anyone stopping him. No injections, no beatings and no more handcuffs."

"And he, the pretender, is likely to agree to this arrangement?"

"If he has your word that he will have his freedom and family. Yes, he believes me."

"It is agreed. The pretender has his freedom and family. Also Mr Gates has Triumvirate protection." Matumbo agreed. "I must say you make easier deals than your father, his were twisted and impossible to make." He held out his hand. Parker slowly let go of Tommy and reluctantly shook his hand. "I will honour our deal." He turned his attentions to Tommy. "Mr Gates I presume." Matumbo held his hand out to Tommy. Parker started to get nervous.

"Yes, but my friends call me Tommy." Tommy shook Matumbo's hand. He held Parker's again tightly.

"Matumbo is what people call me and you have nothing to fear, we will protect you. No harm will come to you or anyone else in this room. I just wish we didn't meet under these circumstances. I hope you don't think that we are all trying to kill you."

"No, I don't even know who you people are, all I know is Parker." He smiled at her warmly. She smiled back.

"Now about Jarod, where is the information about his family?"

"It is under lock and key. I'll give it to you in due time." Parker was getting suspicious maybe she couldn't trust him. Maybe he's lying to her just like her father. She was starting to panic. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, I must change all clearance codes to you and your brother's details. I'm sorry if I scared you. But you can get the files when everything has been changed, which will be in the morning. Is that all right?"

She nodded. "That'll be fine."

"Very good. You will soon find out that I will be keeping my end of the bargain."

"I'll see what I can do with Jarod. Until everything calms down and I'm not so skittish, Thomas will be coming with me here. But only for a couple of days until I know you'll be keeping your promise."

"You could bring him here whenever you like, after all you ARE the new Chairperson. You can do what you like."

"Good. I hope I can trust you."

He nodded. "Your mother did, I'm just sorry that you had to grow up without her and with Mr Parker influencing everything you did. I should have taken you away from him, you're the shell of the young girl I used to know."

"You knew me when I was little?" She looked strangely at him.

"Catherine left you with The Triumvirate when you were younger. Mr Parker was going through a rough patch four years before your mother was killed. You mightn't remember but I had you with me for 3 weeks. The first week you would wake up screaming 'Get away from my Momma'."

"That was you." Parker gasped. "But why?"

"Why did your mother trust me with you?" She nodded. "I seemed to be the only one with a soul and she said something about the 'inner sense' how it told her that I wasn't what I seemed."

"But why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you help me?" She demanded. "You let her be slaughtered!"

"There was nothing I could do. I was too late finding out what was going to happen. I should have listened to the 8 year old girl screaming about someone hurting her mother." Matumbo stepped closer to her. She raised her hands and walked away.

"No, just leave me. I wanna be alone." Parker turned and ran out of the office. Tommy was in pain seeing her like that.

"I tried to help her, but how could I with your father looming over her, spreading those lies?"

"Where would she go?" Tommy asked.

"She wouldn't go down to her office, that'd be the first place we'd look. She wants to be alone, but somewhere quiet away from people watching her..." Lyle talked as he thought. "Come on, I know where she is." Lyle walked out of the office with a worried Tommy following close behind. When they walked out Sam followed behind. Parker told him to watch Tommy if she wasn't there, and she wasn't, he saw her run out and down to the elevator.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE ROOF.

They got out of the elevator and they saw Parker standing near the ledge, looking out over the water. "I'll go." Tommy said as he slowly walked towards her. He stood a few metres behind her.

"I said I wanted to be alone." She said through tears.

"I know."

"I don't want you to see me cry." She whispered as she wiped the tears off her wet cheeks.

"I've seen you cry before. I wouldn't think any less of you for breaking down about this." He walked slowly towards her. "Can you just come away from the edge?"

"I'm not going to jump."

"I know, but you're making me very nervous." He said gently.

"OK." She nodded and walked over to him with her head lowered. "He could've stopped them. He could have taken me away from Daddy, but he didn't! He left me there! And now look at me!" She hit his shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise. He pulled her into a tight hug. "He could've taken me away! But he didn't! I HATE HIM!"

"Shh." Tommy started rock her from side to side slowly.

"I HATE HIM!"

"Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh." He whispered to her soothingly. She moved her arms so that they were in front of her and running up his chest.

"Thank you." Lyle whispered when he saw her calm down and burrow into Tommy's chest.

"Will Miss Parker be all right?" Sam asked gently.

"Yeah, she's going to be just fine." Lyle and Sam stood there watching them as it started to get dark.

To Be Continued...

Whatcha think? Good? Bad? Should I steal Miss Parker's gun and shoot myself? Umm...Maybe not. You know the drill. Gimme, gimme, gimme feedback, I need it to survive.

Feedback: devilish_princess698@yahoo.com.au 

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