My beautiful beta that fixes all my mistakes is as ever the wonderful Maestra.

     The landscape was dull and dreary. Its stillness filled her body with a chill as she saw what decorated its plain. Dead bodies were strewn across a battlefield. Slowly, she weaved her way between them, sickness gnawing at her stomach. Bodies lay disfigured, some showing signs of being robbed of their possessions. The desecration, even more than the death, horrified her.

     Dizziness and nausea overwhelmed her as she was forced to her knees.

     She gasped in breath, overcome with guilt and sorrow.

     They died for her.

     They died because of her.

     Her head turned as if pulled to the body that lay closest. Long dark hair did not completely cover the women’s features. Her eyes lay open in death. Their clear blue eyes dulled.

She screamed.

     “NO! MOMMA! Momma!” She screamed as arms enveloped her, pulling her into a crushing embrace.

     “It’s OK, you’re alright. It was just a dream, just a dream.” Jarod whispered fervently into Parker’s sweat soaked hair as she shook violently in his arms. He rocked her gently back and forth as her breathing come in rapid gasps. “Shhh” He murmured stroking her hair, still cradling her fiercely in his arms. Her body broke down into racking sobs as the visions of her nightmare converged with her waking mind. She remembered what provoked such horrific visions.

     “I…k-killed, him. I kill… e-everyone t-that-”

     “No! No you didn’t. It’s not your fault, none of this is your fault.” He whispered fervently. She buried her head in his chest, tears still streaming down her face, her body still trembling violently. “It’s going to be OK Parker. Everything will be OK.” He promised her softly. She squeezed her eyes shut, the grey shadows of the dark hotel room mirroring too closely the sinister landscape of her dreams.

     However much she tried, the image of the battlefield; the graveyard, of everyone who had ever fought for her and died, wouldn’t be stripped from her mind.

     She awoke to stillness. Her body immediately tensed. Opening her eyes she surveyed the room, Jarod was no longer an occupant. She took in a sharp breath and getting up quickly, put on a coat before making her way hurriedly into the lounge room of the non-descript hotel suite.

     Jarod stood as still as a statue in the middle of the room, his eyes closed, his face emotionless.

     “Jarod?” Parker asked fearfully. The silence stretched to the point where she thought he would never answer her.

     “Do you know where the stick is?” He replied after the long pause, his voice soft and distant. She picked up the white walking stick from where it rested against a side cabinet and tenderly placed it in his hand.

     “Thank you.” He murmured, still not attempting to move, his voice still distant.

     “Jarod, tell me what’s wrong?” She asked, trying to keep the worry and desperation out of her voice. Jarod blinked, his face softening, as he was brought back to reality by the emotion in her voice. He found her hand and held it.

     “I was trying to see.” He confided softly to her, sounding almost embarrassed. She pulled him down with her as she sat on a nearby sofa.

     “Trying to see?” She questioned, smiling slightly through tears that threatened to fall. Jarod ducked his head.

     “I was trying to SIM what it was like to see again… what it was like to see you again…” He sounded so alone it broke her heart.

     “I’m still here Jarod, just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not real.” She brought up his hand to her face. As if of their own accord, his fingers began to explore the contours of her face.

     “Sometimes I have to remind myself…” He murmured softly. She tried to hold back the tears but a single traitorous drop fell from beneath her lashes to splash onto Jarod’s caressing fingers. She saw his brow knot immediately.

     “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He had the innocence of a boy as a look of contrition filled his features.

     “Shh, it’s OK; it’s not your fault. I just can’t seem to stop myself recently, it’s not you…” Her voice faded as Jarod’s fingers gently brushed away the tears from her face. She watched his face - his dark brown eyes. They were looking down and to the side of her. They were still as vacant as when she had first seen them that day and she found her heart breaking for the second time that morning. She rose quickly as a sob threatened her composure. She stood, a hand firmly pressed to her mouth, her eyes squeezed shut. She took deep breaths as she tried to compose herself. Anger at herself began to rise within her. There was a reason Jim had died, it may not have been fair or right but there had been a reason. She would not let that go to waste; she would not fall apart now.

     “Parker?” Jarod queried, worried.

     “I’m OK.” She replied, her voice strong. She sat down next to him again considering him carefully, “It’ll get easier for you, when we stay in one place. Then you’ll get to know where everything is.”

     “And that’s exactly what we can’t do right now. It’s too dangerous to stay in one place very long.” Jarod said grimly.

     Parker sighed. “I know.” Jarod looked away as if in thought.

     “I met somebody in a Pretend once, who works near here. I was thinking of going over there today to talk to him.” He told her quietly.

     “What?! No! We’ve not involving anyone else – not after what happened -”

     “Parker, it’ll be OK, I promise. I’ll only visit him quickly and we can move again tonight.”

     “What’s so important that we should risk another innocent life?” She tried in vain to keep her tone neutral. He grabbed her hand, squeezing it in reassurance.

     “He won’t be in danger, I promise you Parker. The Centre is in too much turmoil after their last failure, they won’t have had time to re-group fully yet. Trust me; there will be another shift in power very soon. Loyalty and leadership at the Centre is as liquid as water.” Parker nodded knowingly. Jarod’s face became uncertain. “I… just need to talk to someone.” His lips pressed together as he realised how she might take his comment the wrong way. Instead he felt her other hand cover their already clasped ones.

     “I think that would be a good idea. While you’re talking to him, I’ll go get us some supplies. It was good I put the DSA case in the car, but I should have put some clothes in it too. Now I need to get us everything we’re going to need again. Plus I should probably get us another car… again.” She grimaced, rolling her eyes. Jarod smirked.

     She pulled up to the curve, nervousness rolling in her stomach despite her attempts to calm it.

     “I’ll pick you up in an hour and a half; same place.” She told him, “He’s expecting you, right?” Jarod smiled at her agitation.

     “Yes, he knows I’m coming. I’ll be waiting for you when you come and yes I have the cell phone you gave me so if anything happens I will call you. Can I go now Mother?” He smirked at her. She shook her head in resignation, an unwanted smile creeping on her face. She looked at him, dressed in his usual all black ensemble, complete with black sunglasses and the white cane; he looked striking to say the least.

     “Alright you can go, just stay out of trouble.” She warned, her eyes glinting with hidden amusement. He smiled and got out of the car. She watched from the driver’s seat as he extended the stick and made his way through the college’s grounds to find the psychologist ex-colleague of his.

     Though her temper for car salesman had not been improved by her trip for their new car, she knew it had been necessary. Anything that reduced the chances of the Centre tracking them was worth it, even if she had to deal with an over-eager car salesman who was as interested in looking down her shirt as looking at her check book.

     Shopping for necessities too, took no time at all leaving her with plenty of time to make the phone call she had promised a week ago to the day.

     She searched her pockets for coins as she lifted the handset. The coins made a clunking sound as each, one by one, fell into the slot. She shifted her feet; finally she heard the phone being picked up at the other end.

     “Miss Parker?” She heard Broots whisper cautiously.

     “Hey Boys.” She greeted with an amused smile. She missed them, as strange as that thought was, she knew it was true.

     “The Triumvirate are not happy with Raines at the moment.” Sydney informed her.

     “Unhappy enough to kill the Ghoul?”

     “I think not.”

     “A pity.” She sighed.

     “Mr Parker seems ready to take back control.” Broots said. Parker didn’t reply.

     Sydney finally spoke up, “Maybe with your father in control you might be able to work out a deal.”

     “Maybe.” Parker replied unconvinced. She shook her head, ‘maybes’ weren’t good enough; she needed facts. “Broots I need you to find out why the Centre has been able to keep so close to us, that’s two hospitals now they’ve been able to find Jarod. I need to know how they’re doing it.”

“Oh that’s easy, Miss Parker.” Broots replied, “When they completed the Gemini program there was a surplus of nurses and fertility doctors that the Centre no longer needed. Some were transferred to other Centre facilities but many went to work in private or even public hospitals. I have no doubt most are still getting their income supplemented by the Centre, and that kind of thing usually leads to some heavy duty loyalty, plus it stops them from getting chatting about certain organisations they’re not supposed to know about.”

“Makes sense... Damn… try to see if you can see which hospitals employ these ‘ex’-Centre personnel.”

“That’s a lot of people, and if they’ve moved around more than once since…”

“Broots! Just do it!”

“Yes Miss Parker.”

“Parker…” Sydney spoke up quietly, “You should know; your father warned us that you had been found, he wanted us to help you escape capture.”

“Really…” Parker said thoughtfully.

“How did you get away Miss P? I mean we tried but, by that time it was too late.” Broots asked her.

“My Mother’s inner sense chose a handy time to kick in, that’s all.”

“You heard voices and everything?” Broots asked eagerly.

“Broots…” She warned tiredly. Jarod had wisely kept silent on the issue and she didn’t feel like sharing it with them either.

“How is Jarod?” Sydney asked in a soft voice.

Parker smiled, “He’s doing better than me at the moment. I guess a lot of that has to do with his adaptive skills as a Pretender.”

“He had many weeks to adapt to his condition before we got to him Parker; only since you’ve been with him has he shown signs of improvement.” Sydney countered.

“Or maybe running for his life has made his survival instinct revive itself. I don’t know what goes on inside that head of his Syd, I never did.” She responded quietly.

“Be careful, and take care of yourselves Parker.”

“Will do, Syd. Broots, once you have the info, call me. And don’t even bother trying to trace it - you can’t” She gave him the number to her new cell phone, “Got it Broots?”

“Yes Miss Parker and… good luck.”

Parker placed the handset back in its cradle. She looked to her watch. It was still early, but she decided to head back to the college anyway.

Pulling up to the curb in the same spot as before she turned off the engine and waited. As she waited her mind began to drift. Thoughts had constantly been running through her head ever since this little adventure had started, ‘why am I doing this?’ being a frequently recurring one. Why was she doing it? She asked herself. She shook her head, no that question would take her more time and effort than she had to answer it. How about a simpler one… What was she going to do? Were they just going to keep running indefinitely? What about the answers they had both been searching for? More importantly what about Jarod’s blindness… would she really be able to get him medical care, even when every hospital or doctors office may have a Centre spy in it? Finding a place that could help would be even harder. Her mind rebelled at the alternative. The Centre was more scientifically advanced than probably the best facility that she would be able to find elsewhere. But could she really take him back there after all she had done and lost to keep him away?

This protectiveness… it was infusing her.

She had saved his life, now she was responsible for it.

She had never been responsible for anything more than that pet rabbit Jarod had given her for Christmas. Her whole life she had only ever been motivated by her own wants and needs, suddenly it was someone else’s that was more important. And Jarod, how had it been him? This Labrat… this man… who had always, to her, represented the ultimate contradiction...

How could he be the man, that she -

Parker jumped, startled out of her thoughts as the passenger side door slammed. She turned to see Jarod settling into his seat. Left unsettled by her thoughts she tried to recover her composure.

“Do you just jump into any car Jarod and hope it’s the right one?” His mouth twitched up into a smile.

“You parked in exactly the same spot as you dropped me off… and, well, if I had the wrong car I could just apologize and get out again. People seem to forgive blind men when they make stupid mistakes.” She watched his face closely for any sign of bitterness at his words. She was relieved when she found none, only humour.

“I thought of heading to Arizona…” Parker said softly once they were on the road again and a comfortable silence had settled between them.

“Sounds good.” Jarod murmured, his head resting comfortably against the cool glass of the passenger side window.

“Jarod…” Parker started.

“Um?” Jarod prompted softly lifting his head slightly.

“What do you want to do? So far it’s just been me making the decisions… what is it you want to do Jarod?” He shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“I don’t know… I don’t really care, just as long as I’m not alone.” He finally whispered softly. She turned to look at him before turning back to the road.

“I could take you back to your family Jarod… or wherever else you wanted to go.” He shook his head.

“I don’t want to go back to them.”

“Why?!” She couldn’t understand his reluctance to return to the family he had been searching so hard for.

“I don’t want to put them in dan-”

“Don’t give me that crap Jarod!” There was a pregnant silence before Jarod finally spoke up, his voice barely audible.

“I don’t want them to see me like this.”

“Strong? Compassionate? Resolute?”

“Blind! A failure! Damaged! Less than…” Pained creased his features. She pulled the car over violently, turning to face him, her features filled with fury.

“They love you, they are your family! They would love you if you had all your limbs cut off! They would still respect you, admire you… dammit all to hell, don’t you get it Jarod? They will still love you no matter what!” She froze as Jarod hand reached out and cupped the side of her face, stilling her heated words. His face was hard, but contained such pain as to take her breath away. Her voice softened, “You may be blind, but you are not a failure because of it. You are not damaged. You are not less than. You’re still you.” She stressed every word. She undid her seatbelt to move closer to Jarod. His hand dropped from her face as hers cupped his, forcing him to face her. “How much has seeing made you who you are? How much does its loss now stop you from achieving what you want?” She said softly, challenging him. “You have lost nothing of who you are.” She finally whispered brokenly.

Without a word Jarod’s arms encircled her waist pulling her to him. She came easily wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “You can’t give up now Jarod; you’re not leaving me to do this all alone.” She murmured into his neck. His arms held her even more fiercely as she felt his body being to shake. She held on to him even tighter, tighter than she had ever held on to anything in her life.

“Broots!” Broots choked on his coffee in surprise as he was stopped in his tracks. “My daughter, has she contacted you?” Mr Parker continued as he cornered the tech in one of the Centre’s darkened hallways.

“Um… I don’t know if I should-”

“I’m not the one who is trying to kill her, she’s my daughter I want to know she’s safe. You have a daughter, do you not Mr Broots?” Broots nodded unsurely, “Then you know how important it is for a father to know his little girl is safe.” Broots wavered slightly at the mention of Debbie.

“…She gave us a phone number to call, if we needed to contact her.”

“Wonderful, give it to me.”

“I don’t know if-”

“Now, Mr Broots I don’t have all day. Just give me the phone number.”

Broots, with reluctance, did as he was told.

They were driving again. The sun had set an hour ago and she drove through darkened streets. Jarod was soundly asleep in the passenger seat. She glanced at him now and then as she drove.

She was confused. But that was not a condition she was unfamiliar with. At least Jarod seemed to be improving. It had not been easy to hold him as he broke down but it was something he had been burying inside ever since the accident. She was grateful he had gone to talk to the Professor, it must have done him some good; at least it opened him up enough to get him to talk to her. It gave her a unique feeling of satisfaction to know that she had helped him. Her presence was actually proving beneficial to him, now that was a strange thought. She smiled to herself at the irony.

Her cell phone began to ring and she snatched at it before it could wake Jarod.

“Have you got what I need Broots?”

“It’s me Angel.”

“Daddy?” She glanced at Jarod to make sure he was still asleep. She relaxed slightly as she saw he was still breathing deeply. “What…? How did you get this number?”

“I was worried about you Angel.”

“That’s not-” She started in frustration.

“I’ve taken back control of the Centre. It’s safe to come back.”

“For who Daddy? Me or Jarod?” She challenged him.

“For both of you.” She shook her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her.

“You’re the one who ordered me to kill him Daddy.” She spoke softly, mindful not to wake Jarod up.

“And I see how erroneous that decision was now. I should have never asked that of you. But I’ve talked to the Triumvirate; they are willing to take Jarod back - alive.” Parker didn’t answer, “Once he gets here, our best doctors and scientists will go to work trying to fix his eyes. I’ve already talked to a few of them and they are confident we can restore Jarod’s sight.”

“And what happens once you do?”

“He’ll go back to doing Simulations of course.”

“He’ll never agree to that.”

“He will if it’s the only way he’ll get his sight back.” She paused.

“And what will happen to me?” She could hear his sigh over the phone.

“You must face the Triumvirate of course. What you’ve done is not something I can just explain away over night. But if you bring Jarod back, that will be more than anyone at the Centre has ever achieved.” Not true she thought, thinking back to the airfield where she had been shot protecting her father. “You will not go unrewarded for it I promise. Think about it Angel. But don’t think too long, the African’s patience is wearing thin.” The dial tone sounded in her ear and she hung up with a heavy heart.

Again she looked across to Jarod; he still slept peacefully beside her. Her father’s call had acted like a stick poking at a beehive; creating chaos in her head as thousands of thoughts swarmed her mind.

Confused was no longer the word.

They sat at a roadside diner eating breakfast. Well, Jarod was doing most of the eating; she just did a lot of grimacing.

“A chocolate milkshake, steak and chips and pancakes… don’t go well together, especially for breakfast.” Jarod continued to shovel down his meal heartily.

“It’s really good.” He replied predictably but enthusiastically.

“Just make sure you bring a bag back into the car, I don’t need you throwing up all over the new car.” Silence settled upon them before Jarod interjected suddenly.

“Would you stop stealing my chips!”

“I’m not-” She began; her words haltered as Jarod’s hand come up catching her wrist as she lifted another chip to her mouth. He brought her hand back to his side of the table, eating the chip out of her outstretched fingers.

She gave a light laugh. “Fine I’ll get my own.”

He grinned. “Good.” To emphasise his point he pulled his plate of chips closer to his side of the table and further out of her reach. With a smirk he placed another chip in his mouth. Parker rolled her eyes. She knew he really didn’t mind that she was stealing his chips, he was just enjoying playing with her and she had to admit she enjoyed it to. As another plate of chips landed at their already over laden table Parker questioned Jarod on something that had niggled her.

“How did you know where my hand was to grab it?” She asked. He smiled at her question.

“I’d like to say it was some genius work of deduction… but it was just instinct - reflex.” She smiled and on impulse reached across the table to brush her fingers lightly along Jarod’s cheek.

“You need a shave.” She commented casually, “Unless you’re keen on a beard, because the way you’re going you’ll have one by tomorrow.” Jarod smiled, his left hand coming to cover hers. He turned his face into her hand, his facial hair prickling the sensitive skin, before he placed a tender kiss on the inside of her palm. The shiver that ran through her caught her off guard and she pulled back suddenly.

Awkwardness filled her and she instantly hated the feeling she hadn’t experienced since she was in elementary school.

After a minute of silence had elapsed Jarod nudged his milkshake in her direction, “Want some of my milkshake?” It was so obviously a peace offering she almost laughed at the silliness of the situation. What were they, five?

“No thanks Jarod I don’t have your stomach.” Her lips quirked into a smile. Jarod cocked his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. She knew he didn’t regret his action, only saddened by her response. She looked out the window, silently telling her heart it was about time it settled back to its normal pace.

“Are we ready to go?” Jarod asked softly after a time had passed.

“Yeah.” She replied.

They paid and walked out of the dinner.

“Jarod…” Parker began. Jarod stopped in his tracks with a sigh.

“This isn’t going to be another conversation where we yell at each other and then I break down into a complete mess is it?”

“Not sure.” She answered him with a saddened smile. He waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts.

“What would you do to get your sight back Jarod?” She asked him seriously. He looked thoughtful.

“…I know what I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t put your life or the lives of my family in danger.” He took her hand in his knowing that she was thinking about the future, “We’ll travel around for a while, make sure the Centre is off our tail and then we can go about finding out treatments that would cure this blindness.”

“But the longer we wait the harder it may be to fix, and we’ve already waited so long.” She replied worriedly.

“There is no point making ourselves targets for the Centre when, it’s entirely possible, that there is no treatment humanly devised anywhere in the world that can restore my sight.”

“I just want you to be OK.” She muttered under her breath.

“I am OK; remember?” He replied softly. With a slight tug on their clasped hands he moved her a step closer. One hand clasped in hers, the other resting lightly on her hip he waited for her to say something. She didn’t reply. Jarod rested his head lightly on her down turned one. “Everything is going to be fine; it will all work out somehow.” He felt her head shake underneath his.

“Sometimes you have to take what you want Jarod, because no-one is going around with it on a platter.” She purposely stepped away from him and walked the short distance to the car. Jarod walked slowly after her, not immediately understanding her comment, but knowing when to leave things alone.

Parker sat on the end of one of two single beds that occupied the room. The motel room was decorated in cream and the generous windows let in the light of the warm midday sun. The only sound in the small room was the drone of water as Jarod took a shower and the occasional passing car. Everything was perfect, as well as it could be under the circumstances. Jarod was improving rapidly, they had shaken the Centre off their tail and their relationship was starting to deepen. All they had to do was head east; through the desert tomorrow and they would be impossible for the Centre to track. They could live their lives in peace; go wherever they pleased, either stay with each other or go their separate ways. Freedom, for both of them was beckoning.

So close to freedom as she was, she realised for the first time how much she wanted it and how much she didn’t want the Centre. Buried deep inside the Centre it was hard for her to even imagine a life outside, let alone yearn for it. On the precipice of being free for the first time in her life, its effects were intoxicating.

Yet there was one thing holding her back from giving in to it completely.

Not everything was perfect. Jarod was still blind. She knew he would adapt and he would function as well as he could, even as well as he had before. But it wasn’t right. He could no longer see the freedom he was to enjoy. The sun, the stars, the faces of his family, It wasn’t right that as he finally obtains freedom he is not allowed to experience it in its totality. Now the only sights of freedom he’ll know will have been of the past five years, and how many tens of times did his memories of the sight of the Centre out weigh that?

It wasn’t right, after all he’d been through not to have it all. Was it her own guilt that prompted such thoughts? She didn’t know and honestly, she didn’t care. In her heart she knew what was right, and Jarod living the rest of his life in darkness was not it.

She sighed deeply, her thoughts a heavy weight. She remembered the day just over a week ago, though it seemed a lifetime, when she had held her gun to Jarod’s head, when she made the choice to help him instead of kill him.

Would she forever hold on to the beliefs that she had been taught, instead of the ones she believed? Or could she be strong enough to act on what she believed in, like her mother, even if it caused her death… just like her mother.

Her eyes drifted to the bathroom door, she could still hear the sounds of running water behind the closed door. Slowly, careful, she got up and walked to the door of the motel room. Opening it she stepped outside into the sun. Softly she closed the door behind her. Her cell phone in hand she walked away from the room, her expression sombre.

Choices are as often a curse as they are a blessing.

     End of Part 6

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