Separations and Divorces
BY: Wee-hoo
Summary: Mr. Parker and Catherine are getting divorced. Now they have to decide who gets custody over Robert and Rachel. What are the consequences of their choices? Slightly slashy.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, won't be making any money out of this story.
N.T.K: I have renamed two of the characters. Lyle is in this story known as Robert, Miss Parker is known as Rachel. They can read each others minds (**). Robert (Lyle) can see the nearest minutes of the future sometimes and Rachel (Miss Parker) has the inner sense. Catherine won't die in this story (at least not yet). I have no idea how old the Parker twins were when Jarod ran off, but in this story they're twenty years old. And Rachel hasn't started working there yet.
IN COURT
"My suggestion is that if you refuse to have joined custody, settle this by taking one child each," the judge suggests. Mr. Parker has an evil smile on his lips, and whispers something to his lawyer.
"You expect me to choose between my children? What kind of message does that send to child I leave behind?" Catherine screams angry.
"My client feels that fighting this thing in court will take up to much of his time. He agrees that Mrs. Parker takes the child she feels more connected to, and he will raise the other child. On one condition, that Mrs. Parker doesn't interfere with the way my client raises the child. My client feels that the child will be confused if Mrs. Parker is allowed to visit," Mr. Parker's lawyer says to the judge. Catherine stares at her ex- husband angrily.
"You creep. I can't believe I was ever in love with you. Thank God Sydney was there or I don't know how I would have survived. You're telling me I can't see my own child? What are you going to do when you're at the Centre? Because I'm not going to let another of my children die in there," Catherine screams.
"Calm down. What is the Centre? And what is this about a kid who died in it?" the judge asks confused. Mr. Parker stands up.
"The Centre is a company that I run. We adopted a child, hoping we could save her in the Centre, but she died in leukemia," he answers and sits down again. The judge nods.
"If you take either of my children in there, I swear to God, I'll wring your neck," Catherine growls.
"Your honor. My client clearly has probable cause to not let Mrs. Parker take care of his children. He is very generous to let her take care of one of his children. To let her choose only shows how much he loves his wife," Mr. Parker's lawyer says.
"Ex-wife..." she starts but gets startled by the door opening. Raines comes inside with the thirteen year old twins in question.
"Robbie, Rach. What are you two doing here?" Catherine asks glaring at Raines. Rachel runs into her arms and begging her not to leave. Robert walks up next to his smiling father and starts talking to the judge.
"We know we're going to be separated. I love Rachel and want us to be together, but I know that isn't going to happen. I also know that Rachel couldn't live without mom," Robert takes a deep breath and glances at his mother. She knows what he's going to say he can see it in her eyes; she is crying and kissing Rachel on the top of her head. A part of Robert hopes that she will stop him, but he saw that she wouldn't before they walked into court.
"Don't cry mommy, Rob will be okay. I'll know if anything bad happens to him," Rachel whispers in her mother's ear carefully. Catherine smiles at her sadly.
"I want Rachel to live with my mom," Robert continues. He turns to his father and sees the shocked look on his face. Robert sits down next to his father.
"Well that's unusual. I guess the children has made up their mind, what about the parents?" the judge asks.
"Fine by me," Mr. Parker answers clearly not caring much. Catherine throws him an angry glare before turning her head towards her son.
"Is this really what you want?" she asks looking at him intently. Robert nods and puts on an expressionless mask so she won't see the pain in his eyes.
"Rach?" Catherine asks.
*What should I say Rob? I don't want to leave you. I want you to live with mommy to.*
*I know I want that to. But this is the way it has to be. Just nod your head. Remember that we can't tell daddy that we can do this, he'll be angry. But when you and mom get home you can tell her. Even if I think she already knows.*
Rachel nods towards her mother. Catherine swallows and looks at the judge.
"I agree," she says barely over a whisper, feeling her heart break. It felt as if she had just uttered the hardest words in the world. She knows she just sold her son to the devil.
"Well then. Mr. Parker is the legal guardian over Robert Parker, and Mrs. Parker is the legal guardian over Rachel Parker. You are not allowed to visit Mr. Parker or Robert unless Mr. Parker agrees," the judge says and sees the smirk on Mr. Parker's lips.
"That goes both ways Mr. Parker. Mrs. Parker has the same rights you do. That means that you are not allowed to visit her or Rachel if she doesn't know, or don't want you to," the judge says.
"We understand the terms for this arrangement, and my client accepts," Mr. Parker's lawyer says. Catherine just nods.
*Good. Rachel, promise you won't let mom forget me.*
*I promise. I'll miss you.*
*I'll miss you to.* Rachel runs over to him and they hug each other intensely. Catherine looks at them with tears in her eyes. She looks up at Mr. Parker and sees the annoyed look on his face.
"You let them say goodbye and you might be allowed to say good bye to your daughter," she snarls. Mr. Parker looks at her angrily but nods. A few minutes later they separate their hug. Robert walks over to their mother and hugs her. Rachel does the same with their father.
"I'll always love you Angel," Mr. Parker says with a smile as they stop hugging.
"I'll always love you to daddy. Daddy?"
"Yes Angel?"
"Don't forget me," she says with sad eyes.
"Never. Will you ever forget me?" Mr. Parker says with a serious look.
"No," Rachel answers. Catherine starts to cry silently.
"Mom don't cry please. I love you," Robert whisper in her ear.
"I love you to, I always will."
"Take good care of Rach. I'll miss you," He says and walks over to his father.
"Now let's go. The Centre won't be running on its own," Raines wheezes annoyed.
"The Centre can go to hell. That place has ruined my family, and killed more people than I can count," Catherine growls at him.
"Yes and your son will work there when he grows up. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Raines wheezes in her face.
"My son can be whatever he wants. And if he decides that he wants to work in the Centre, that's fine with me," she spits back then she turns around and leaves.
"Was that really necessary?" Mr. Parker asks.
"Yes," Raines answers with a warning glare.
SEVEN YEARS LATER THE CENTRE MR. PARKER'S OFFICE
Mr. Parker is sitting by his desk updating some files when a sweeper barges in.
"What the hell do you think you're doing in here without knocking?" he snarls.
"Sorry sir, but Jarod escaped from his cell," the sweeper explains.
"What? Find him, NOW!!" he screams.
"Yes sir," the sweeper says rushing out the door. Mr. Parker shuts down his computer and goes to find his son to talk to Sydney. He wants an explanation and he wants it now.
MEANWHILE SL-16
Robert is walking around the sublevels trying to find the way Jarod went, when he hears someone scream freeze. He almost stops but knows they couldn't mean him. No one in the Centre would dare to scream freeze, or anything similar, to him.
"I said freeze. I will shoot you," The voice says. When nothing happened he squeezes the trigger. The bullet just misses its mark. When the person turns around the sweeper holding the smoking gun turns deadly pale.
"What do you think you're doing? What's your name and who are you working for?" Rob snarls.
"I'm sorry sir. I thought you were Jarod," the sweeper tries to explain. Rob starts walking towards the man.
"You thought I was Jarod? What is your name? Or didn't your parents care enough to give you one?" he says now in the sweepers face.
"Sean. I work for Mr. Raines," the sweeper answers with a shaky voice. Rob smiles and takes the sweepers gun. Neither of them sees Mr. Parker staring at them hoping against all odds that Rob will indeed kill the sweeper. The last one who did something Rob didn't agree with only got a bullet through his arm.
"Well then, Sean. What a heavy gun you have here. You like shooting at people don't you?" Sean nods with a smile on his lips thinking he will get off the hook. Mr. Parker shakes his head.
"Interesting. So, you like shooting at me for example?" Rob says circling the sweeper constantly handling the sweeper's gun. The smile on Sean's lips fades. He swallows nervously.
"I...I already explained that..." Rob interrupts him.
"Yes I know, you thought I was Jarod. I don't really care who you thought you were shooting at. You almost hit me and that doesn't make me happy," Rob says stopping in front of the other man, holding the gun to his temple. Sean closes his eyes knowing that for him, there will be no tomorrow.
"Let's see how much you enjoy someone else shooting at you," Rob says and squeezes the trigger. Sean's limp body falls to the floor with a thump. Mr. Parker smiles and walks up to his son.
"It was so funny he died on me," Rob says and throws the gun on the sweeper's dead body.
"I didn't think you would kill him," Mr. Parker says behind him. Rob spins around quickly.
"Well, he almost shot me. We can't have sweepers that don't know who they're shooting at now can we?" Rob says with a smile. Mr. Parker nods and tells his son to follow him.
A FEW MINUTES LATER SYDNEY'S OFFICE
"Sydney. How can you not know how he escaped? He is your responsibility," Mr. Parker snarls. Sydney sighs impatiently.
"I wasn't aware that I had to be in his cell 24 hours a day. I went home to get some sleep and when I came back, a sweeper told me Jarod was gone," Sydney answers. Rob walks up to his father and whispers something in his ear. Mr. Parker nods and Rob backs away.
"You're lucky my son believes you, because I don't," Mr. Parker says angrily and leaves. Sydney looks at Rob.
"Thank you Robert," he says with a smile.
"One warning old man. If I find out you had something to do with Jarod's escape, you will look similar to the sweeper down on SL-16," Rob says ominously and then walks after his father. Sydney sighs and picks up the phone.
[Hi Rach. Is your mother there? I need to tell her something.]
[Yeah hang on a second. Mom its Syd,] she screams.
[Sydney? What's wrong?] Catherine asks anxiously.
[Robert,] Sydney answers simply. He hears Catherine gasp.
[What is he doing in the Centre? What happened?] she asks.
[Apparently he started while we were in Hawaii on vacation. And he has worked here since then. And today after Jarod escaped, Mr. Parker came down here asking me questions. Rob was with him. He said that if he found out I had anything to do with his escape, I'd wind up like a sweeper on SL-16,] Sydney explains.
[I knew I shouldn't have left him with that monster. He killed someone. Oh God,] she rants.
[I'm sorry, but it seems like he doesn't even care,] Sydney says and can hear her sobs through the phone.
[Syd, what's going on?] he hears a voice similar to Catherine's say.
[Why don't you ask your mother when she's calmer?] Syd asks.
[Alright. Just one question. Is it about Rob?] she asks.
[Yes. I'm sorry I have to go,] he says and hangs up. He walks out the door and heads towards the tech-lab to find Broots.
A FEW MINUTES LATER RAINES OFFICE
Rob and Mr. Parker are walking through the door just as Raines is talking on the phone.
[Damn. Who killed him?] he wheezes angrily.
[It appears to have been R...Robert sir,] the person on the other side answers fearing for her life. Raines slams down the phone and glares at Rob angrily.
"Why in hell did you kill a sweeper, my sweeper?" he growls. Rob shrugs.
"He almost shot me," he says uncaringly.
"He was one of the best sweepers I had," Raines snarls.
"Maybe you should train your sweepers better then, because that sweeper couldn't see the difference between me and Jarod," Rob growls angrily, narrowing his eyes on the other man.
"Stop it you two. We have more important things to handle," Mr. Parker says quite impressed with his son. He would never have dared to argue with Raines a month ago.
"Like?" Raines asks and sees Rob roll his eyes at him.
"Like catching Jarod, you dimwit," Rob says.
"If you're so smart, why don't you catch him? I have other pretenders to take care of. Plus the fact that I have to find a new sweeper thanks to you," Raines says angrily. Rob smiles and bows his head.
"Thank you for the compliment, dear uncle," he says. Mr. Parker and Raines looks at him stunned.
"How did you know that?" Mr. Parker asks after a few minutes of complete silence.
"That is for me to know and for you to try and find out," Rob says with a smile.
"I want you to work with Sydney and Broots to catch the pretender," Mr. Parker says silently clearly still in shock. Rob nods and walks to find Sydney and Broots.
"How the hell did he find out?" Raines says as he slowly recovered from the shock.
"I have no idea. I guess he must have found it somewhere. He's good at finding things. Hopefully he's good at finding people as well," Mr. Parker answers and walks away.
"Yeah," Raines picks up the phone and calls a sweeper. He orders the sweeper to follow Roberts every move.
SL-13
"Damn," the sweeper snarls after he hung up the phone.
"What's up?" the other sweeper asks.
"Raines wants me to follow Rob around. He's going to kill me. And if I refuse, Raines will kill me. Either way I'm dead," the first sweeper answers pitifully.
"Why didn't he call Sean? He usually gets those jobs," the second sweeper asks patting the other mans back.
"Didn't you here? Rob shot him in the head on SL-16," the first sweeper answer then runs off to find Rob.
"Sean's dead? Interesting," the sweeper says with a sneer as he watches his friend run off.
AN HOUR LATER THE MANOR
Catherine has just explained everything to Rachel.
"I'm going to the Centre to talk to him," Catherine says and takes the car keys from the table.
"I'll go with you. I'd like to meet him," Rachel says eagerly. Catherine nods and they walk out to the car.
THE CENTRE SL-10 A SECRET ROOM WITHOUT CAMERAS
"I love you Sam," Sam turns around smiling at his boyfriend.
"I love you to Rob. I wish we didn't have to sneak around like this," Sam answers and kisses him passionately. When they break the kiss Rob gets a far away look on his face. Sam looks at him and waits for a moment. When Sam sees that Rob is back he smiles.
"The kiss was that good huh?" he asks.
"Yeah. I have to go. My mother and sister will see us in here." Rob answers incoherently. Sam gives him a confused look.
"I thought you wanted your family to know about us, why don't you want them to see us together?" he asks.
"Sam, I love you. But I don't think it's such a good idea to have my family see us doing you know what. I have to tell them first. You have to understand that."
"I understand. So we were going to do 'that' in here?" Sam says with a satisfied smile.
"Sam. Get a grip. Now let's go," Rob says and kisses him one last time before heading out the door.
FIVE MINUTES LATER THE CENTRE SYDNEY'S OFFICE
Catherine and Rachel have just arrived at the Centre and are talking to Sydney when Rob walks in.
"Mom, Rach. I'm glad to see you're okay. What brings you to the Centre?" he asks already knowing the answer.
"You. I heard about your little adventure in one of the sublevels, why did you kill that poor man?" Catherine asks.
"He tried to shoot me. So I killed him. So how are you feeling?" Rob says with a shrug.
*You killed someone? In cold blood? What happened to you? You cared about people a month ago.*
*Yes I killed someone. I do what I have to do to survive. And I still care. Especially about one of the sweepers.*
"We're talking about you not us. I'm taking you away from this place." Catherine says sadly. Sydney looks at Robs face and sees the terror in his eyes, everything else is expressionless.
"I am not going anywhere. I have many reasons to stay in the Centre. Especially one," Rob says.
"What reasons could you have to make me leave you in this hellhole?" Catherine asks surprised.
"I'll tell you later. Can I eat dinner at your house or something like that?" Rob asks.
"Only if you promise to tell me everything about why you're working here," Catherine says with a sigh.
*Follow me. I'll show you my office.*
"I promise," Rob says and starts to leave for his office. Rachel follows him.
"Be back here in one hour, or I'll be leaving without you," Catherine says. Rob and Rachel stops and turns around.
"Why don't I drive her home in time for dinner?" Rob says.
"You have a driver's license?" Catherine asks surprised.
"Yeah. You sort of have to have one in this place," Rob answers.
"How will you get a car?" Catherine asks still surprised.
"I own one. Dad gave me one when I was eighteen." Rob answers not seeing the jealous look from Rachel.
*Dad gave you a car?*
*Yeah. Why?*
*I didn't get a car.*
*Dad could probably get you one if you want.*
*That would be great. But mom would be sad, and I don't want to make her sad. What kind of car do you have?*
*A black 2004 BMW 645Ci Convertible.*
*WOW!!! That's cool.*
"Oh, alright. Be there at eight," Catherine says. Rob and Rachel nods and walks out.
"What reasons do you think he has?" Sydney asks after they're gone.
"I don't know. But it better be a damn good one. I can't believe my son is working here. At least I saved my daughter from that creep," she says and gets a faraway look on her face. Sydney cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Will you follow me to Mr. Parker's office? I don't want to go there alone," she asks and gives him a pleading look.
"Sure. But he won't be happy. I'm not his favorite person at the moment," Sydney answers. The two of them starts to go to Mr. Parker's office.
ROBERT PARKER'S OFFICE
"I'm glad you're here. I almost forgot what you look like," Rob says as he hugs his sister.
"Well here I am," She answers and hugs him back.
*So do you have a boyfriend yet?*
*Yes I do. He is gorgeous, nice and he is the smartest man I know. Except Jarod.*
*I'm glad. Err... Just one question he isn't coming to dinner tonight is he?*
*No. He is on a business trip. Why?*
*Well, my reason for working in the Centre is... personal. And I'm not ready to scream it to every person in the universe yet.*
*Got it. Do you have a girlfriend?*
*I'll tell you tonight.*
*Okay.*
"We should go to Jarod's cell to look for clues," Rob says and turns to the door.
"Clues? What sort of clues?" Rachel asks puzzled.
"Jarod escaped earlier today. Dad and Raines put me in charge for his recapture."
"Okay," she says cheering inside her head.
*Can you stop that? You're giving me a headache.*
*Sorry. I'm just glad he managed to escape.*
*Yeah me to. Why do you think I didn't catch him when I saw him in one of the ventilation shafts?*
*You let Jarod go? Why?*
*He was my friend once to you know.*
*I knew you were still a good guy. The sweeper you shot was probably a bad guy, right?*
*Think whatever you want Rach. I changed and not everyone is going to like who I have become.*
*What are you talking about? Mom and I will always love you. No matter what you do.*
*Maybe. I'm not that sure.*
"What do you want?" Rob says in a growling voice as he turns around to face the sweeper following him around. Rachel stares at her brother with a shocked look. She can't believe he would sound like that just because a man was following him around.
"I...I was just walking around," the sweeper says nervously.
"Yeah, right. And I am really Mickey Mouse," he snarls. Rachel tries to hold back a giggle but fails. Rob gives her a bemused look.
"Really? I never would have guessed," the sweeper says in a shaky voice.
"I will ask you one last time, what do you want?" he says picking up his gun. Rachel's eyes grow big.
"Raines told me to follow you," he says trying to save his life knowing he has to come up with a good excuse to Raines later.
"Thank you. You're dismissed," Rob says in a tone dripping with repulsion. The sweeper runs off as fast as he can.
"Go to daddy's office and tell him Raines is dead." Rob says and starts to go to Raines office.
"Why?" Rachel asks worried he might do something bad.
"My uncle is going down," he says cryptically and disappears. Rachel looks after him a few seconds then she runs towards her father's office.
A FEW MINUTES LATER
MR. PARKER'S OFFICE
"Catherine we agreed in court that Rob is my responsibility. You have no right to interfere."
"I have every right to interfere. You're turning him into a killing machine. He didn't even blink before telling us he killed someone today," Catherine screams. Mr. Parker smiles.
"I know I really succeeded with him," He says. Just as Catherine is about to answer Rachel slams the door open and rushes inside.
"He'll kill him," she says as she tries to catch her breath. Mr. Parker, Catherine and Sydney stares at her confused.
"What are you talking about Angel?" Mr. Parker asks receiving an angry glare from Catherine.
"Rob... He'll kill him. He went to kill Raines and wanted me to tell you that he's dead. Well, I think its Raines, he started talking about him and then he went on about some uncle. Daddy, we don't have an uncle, do we?" Rachel looks at him confused.
"Oh God. We have to stop him. We can't let him do this," Catherine says with horror in her voice. Mr. Parker gives her a strange look but decides that he shouldn't argue with her in front of their daughter. He sighs and heads for the door.
"Raines is my brother. Now let's go 'save' Rob from killing anyone else," he answers. Catherine, Sydney and Rachel follow him to Raines office.
AT THE SAME TIME RAINES OFFICE
Rob storms through the door and Raines stands up at the interruption staring angrily at the intruder.
"What do you want?" Raines says angrily.
"Hmm... I want to kill you," Rob says strangely calm.
"What? Like you would dare, you'll never get away with that," Raines answers with a smile.
"I'm the chairman's son. I can do anything, and yeah I would dare."
"Why do you all of the sudden want to kill me?" Raines asks not really concerned that he will die.
"You sent a sweeper to follow me around, remember?" he says threateningly.
"Yes. What an idiotic sweeper, he got detected, I'm sorry about that. You weren't supposed to detect him, I'll take care of it," Raines said expecting Rob to leave, but he doesn't.
"Too late. You ordered him to follow me that makes you the bad guy," Rob says.
He suddenly gets a premonition of the future, he sees his parents, Rach and Sydney coming in and stopping him from shooting Raines. His mother screaming that she wanted him out of the Centre for good. And Mr. Parker and Catherine started arguing about it, but his mother won.
Rob knows this means that he will never be able to be with Sam again. He visibly pales and stares at the door just when his family runs inside. He quickly puts his gun away and stares angrily at Raines.
"Just warning you, don't ever do that again," he says and looks at his mother with a smile.
"What is going on in here?" Catherine asks angrily staring at Raines.
"Nothing mom. Just talking, I promise I won't kill him," he says throwing an angry look at Raines warning him to talk.
"Really? You told Rach you would," Catherine says a little taken aback by Rob's statement that he wouldn't kill him. Then she remembered what Rach had told her when they had gotten home from the courtroom.
"Mom I have to tell you something about me and Rob," she had said in a guilty voice. Catherine had stared at her.
"What is it honey?"
"I have the Inner Sense; you know the one daddy always asked about. And Rob can see the future. Well a little bit of it anyway. Only a few minutes. And we can..."
"You can?" she asked
"We can talk to each other with our minds. We decided not to tell daddy, because Rob said he would be angry. Are you disappointed in us mommy?"
"No. No of course not sweetheart. I'm glad you decided to tell me. And I'm proud of you, both of you. And I'm glad you didn't tell your father," she had answered. She had known that Rob probably had seen the two of them in one of the lab's doing the Centre's bidding.
"I know I overreacted. I won't kill him. I promise."
*Please trust me. I can't stand the thought of living without Sam.*
*Who's Sam? And why can't you live without him?*
*Rach. Don't do that. You can't just pop into my head and listen to what you want.*
*Geez. Sorry. Who is he?*
*That's what I'm going to tell you tonight.*
*Oh. Okay.*
"Good. I'll trust you. And you're still coming over for dinner tonight, right?" Catherine asks.
"Of course. If it's okay with dad," he says and looks at his father expectantly. He nods at his son shortly and then turns on his heal to get back to his office.
"I have to go home, I'll see you in time for dinner," Catherine says and leaves with Sydney. Rob throws Raines a last warning glare before he leaves with Rachel.
BY: Wee-hoo
Summary: Mr. Parker and Catherine are getting divorced. Now they have to decide who gets custody over Robert and Rachel. What are the consequences of their choices? Slightly slashy.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, won't be making any money out of this story.
N.T.K: I have renamed two of the characters. Lyle is in this story known as Robert, Miss Parker is known as Rachel. They can read each others minds (**). Robert (Lyle) can see the nearest minutes of the future sometimes and Rachel (Miss Parker) has the inner sense. Catherine won't die in this story (at least not yet). I have no idea how old the Parker twins were when Jarod ran off, but in this story they're twenty years old. And Rachel hasn't started working there yet.
IN COURT
"My suggestion is that if you refuse to have joined custody, settle this by taking one child each," the judge suggests. Mr. Parker has an evil smile on his lips, and whispers something to his lawyer.
"You expect me to choose between my children? What kind of message does that send to child I leave behind?" Catherine screams angry.
"My client feels that fighting this thing in court will take up to much of his time. He agrees that Mrs. Parker takes the child she feels more connected to, and he will raise the other child. On one condition, that Mrs. Parker doesn't interfere with the way my client raises the child. My client feels that the child will be confused if Mrs. Parker is allowed to visit," Mr. Parker's lawyer says to the judge. Catherine stares at her ex- husband angrily.
"You creep. I can't believe I was ever in love with you. Thank God Sydney was there or I don't know how I would have survived. You're telling me I can't see my own child? What are you going to do when you're at the Centre? Because I'm not going to let another of my children die in there," Catherine screams.
"Calm down. What is the Centre? And what is this about a kid who died in it?" the judge asks confused. Mr. Parker stands up.
"The Centre is a company that I run. We adopted a child, hoping we could save her in the Centre, but she died in leukemia," he answers and sits down again. The judge nods.
"If you take either of my children in there, I swear to God, I'll wring your neck," Catherine growls.
"Your honor. My client clearly has probable cause to not let Mrs. Parker take care of his children. He is very generous to let her take care of one of his children. To let her choose only shows how much he loves his wife," Mr. Parker's lawyer says.
"Ex-wife..." she starts but gets startled by the door opening. Raines comes inside with the thirteen year old twins in question.
"Robbie, Rach. What are you two doing here?" Catherine asks glaring at Raines. Rachel runs into her arms and begging her not to leave. Robert walks up next to his smiling father and starts talking to the judge.
"We know we're going to be separated. I love Rachel and want us to be together, but I know that isn't going to happen. I also know that Rachel couldn't live without mom," Robert takes a deep breath and glances at his mother. She knows what he's going to say he can see it in her eyes; she is crying and kissing Rachel on the top of her head. A part of Robert hopes that she will stop him, but he saw that she wouldn't before they walked into court.
"Don't cry mommy, Rob will be okay. I'll know if anything bad happens to him," Rachel whispers in her mother's ear carefully. Catherine smiles at her sadly.
"I want Rachel to live with my mom," Robert continues. He turns to his father and sees the shocked look on his face. Robert sits down next to his father.
"Well that's unusual. I guess the children has made up their mind, what about the parents?" the judge asks.
"Fine by me," Mr. Parker answers clearly not caring much. Catherine throws him an angry glare before turning her head towards her son.
"Is this really what you want?" she asks looking at him intently. Robert nods and puts on an expressionless mask so she won't see the pain in his eyes.
"Rach?" Catherine asks.
*What should I say Rob? I don't want to leave you. I want you to live with mommy to.*
*I know I want that to. But this is the way it has to be. Just nod your head. Remember that we can't tell daddy that we can do this, he'll be angry. But when you and mom get home you can tell her. Even if I think she already knows.*
Rachel nods towards her mother. Catherine swallows and looks at the judge.
"I agree," she says barely over a whisper, feeling her heart break. It felt as if she had just uttered the hardest words in the world. She knows she just sold her son to the devil.
"Well then. Mr. Parker is the legal guardian over Robert Parker, and Mrs. Parker is the legal guardian over Rachel Parker. You are not allowed to visit Mr. Parker or Robert unless Mr. Parker agrees," the judge says and sees the smirk on Mr. Parker's lips.
"That goes both ways Mr. Parker. Mrs. Parker has the same rights you do. That means that you are not allowed to visit her or Rachel if she doesn't know, or don't want you to," the judge says.
"We understand the terms for this arrangement, and my client accepts," Mr. Parker's lawyer says. Catherine just nods.
*Good. Rachel, promise you won't let mom forget me.*
*I promise. I'll miss you.*
*I'll miss you to.* Rachel runs over to him and they hug each other intensely. Catherine looks at them with tears in her eyes. She looks up at Mr. Parker and sees the annoyed look on his face.
"You let them say goodbye and you might be allowed to say good bye to your daughter," she snarls. Mr. Parker looks at her angrily but nods. A few minutes later they separate their hug. Robert walks over to their mother and hugs her. Rachel does the same with their father.
"I'll always love you Angel," Mr. Parker says with a smile as they stop hugging.
"I'll always love you to daddy. Daddy?"
"Yes Angel?"
"Don't forget me," she says with sad eyes.
"Never. Will you ever forget me?" Mr. Parker says with a serious look.
"No," Rachel answers. Catherine starts to cry silently.
"Mom don't cry please. I love you," Robert whisper in her ear.
"I love you to, I always will."
"Take good care of Rach. I'll miss you," He says and walks over to his father.
"Now let's go. The Centre won't be running on its own," Raines wheezes annoyed.
"The Centre can go to hell. That place has ruined my family, and killed more people than I can count," Catherine growls at him.
"Yes and your son will work there when he grows up. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Raines wheezes in her face.
"My son can be whatever he wants. And if he decides that he wants to work in the Centre, that's fine with me," she spits back then she turns around and leaves.
"Was that really necessary?" Mr. Parker asks.
"Yes," Raines answers with a warning glare.
SEVEN YEARS LATER THE CENTRE MR. PARKER'S OFFICE
Mr. Parker is sitting by his desk updating some files when a sweeper barges in.
"What the hell do you think you're doing in here without knocking?" he snarls.
"Sorry sir, but Jarod escaped from his cell," the sweeper explains.
"What? Find him, NOW!!" he screams.
"Yes sir," the sweeper says rushing out the door. Mr. Parker shuts down his computer and goes to find his son to talk to Sydney. He wants an explanation and he wants it now.
MEANWHILE SL-16
Robert is walking around the sublevels trying to find the way Jarod went, when he hears someone scream freeze. He almost stops but knows they couldn't mean him. No one in the Centre would dare to scream freeze, or anything similar, to him.
"I said freeze. I will shoot you," The voice says. When nothing happened he squeezes the trigger. The bullet just misses its mark. When the person turns around the sweeper holding the smoking gun turns deadly pale.
"What do you think you're doing? What's your name and who are you working for?" Rob snarls.
"I'm sorry sir. I thought you were Jarod," the sweeper tries to explain. Rob starts walking towards the man.
"You thought I was Jarod? What is your name? Or didn't your parents care enough to give you one?" he says now in the sweepers face.
"Sean. I work for Mr. Raines," the sweeper answers with a shaky voice. Rob smiles and takes the sweepers gun. Neither of them sees Mr. Parker staring at them hoping against all odds that Rob will indeed kill the sweeper. The last one who did something Rob didn't agree with only got a bullet through his arm.
"Well then, Sean. What a heavy gun you have here. You like shooting at people don't you?" Sean nods with a smile on his lips thinking he will get off the hook. Mr. Parker shakes his head.
"Interesting. So, you like shooting at me for example?" Rob says circling the sweeper constantly handling the sweeper's gun. The smile on Sean's lips fades. He swallows nervously.
"I...I already explained that..." Rob interrupts him.
"Yes I know, you thought I was Jarod. I don't really care who you thought you were shooting at. You almost hit me and that doesn't make me happy," Rob says stopping in front of the other man, holding the gun to his temple. Sean closes his eyes knowing that for him, there will be no tomorrow.
"Let's see how much you enjoy someone else shooting at you," Rob says and squeezes the trigger. Sean's limp body falls to the floor with a thump. Mr. Parker smiles and walks up to his son.
"It was so funny he died on me," Rob says and throws the gun on the sweeper's dead body.
"I didn't think you would kill him," Mr. Parker says behind him. Rob spins around quickly.
"Well, he almost shot me. We can't have sweepers that don't know who they're shooting at now can we?" Rob says with a smile. Mr. Parker nods and tells his son to follow him.
A FEW MINUTES LATER SYDNEY'S OFFICE
"Sydney. How can you not know how he escaped? He is your responsibility," Mr. Parker snarls. Sydney sighs impatiently.
"I wasn't aware that I had to be in his cell 24 hours a day. I went home to get some sleep and when I came back, a sweeper told me Jarod was gone," Sydney answers. Rob walks up to his father and whispers something in his ear. Mr. Parker nods and Rob backs away.
"You're lucky my son believes you, because I don't," Mr. Parker says angrily and leaves. Sydney looks at Rob.
"Thank you Robert," he says with a smile.
"One warning old man. If I find out you had something to do with Jarod's escape, you will look similar to the sweeper down on SL-16," Rob says ominously and then walks after his father. Sydney sighs and picks up the phone.
[Hi Rach. Is your mother there? I need to tell her something.]
[Yeah hang on a second. Mom its Syd,] she screams.
[Sydney? What's wrong?] Catherine asks anxiously.
[Robert,] Sydney answers simply. He hears Catherine gasp.
[What is he doing in the Centre? What happened?] she asks.
[Apparently he started while we were in Hawaii on vacation. And he has worked here since then. And today after Jarod escaped, Mr. Parker came down here asking me questions. Rob was with him. He said that if he found out I had anything to do with his escape, I'd wind up like a sweeper on SL-16,] Sydney explains.
[I knew I shouldn't have left him with that monster. He killed someone. Oh God,] she rants.
[I'm sorry, but it seems like he doesn't even care,] Sydney says and can hear her sobs through the phone.
[Syd, what's going on?] he hears a voice similar to Catherine's say.
[Why don't you ask your mother when she's calmer?] Syd asks.
[Alright. Just one question. Is it about Rob?] she asks.
[Yes. I'm sorry I have to go,] he says and hangs up. He walks out the door and heads towards the tech-lab to find Broots.
A FEW MINUTES LATER RAINES OFFICE
Rob and Mr. Parker are walking through the door just as Raines is talking on the phone.
[Damn. Who killed him?] he wheezes angrily.
[It appears to have been R...Robert sir,] the person on the other side answers fearing for her life. Raines slams down the phone and glares at Rob angrily.
"Why in hell did you kill a sweeper, my sweeper?" he growls. Rob shrugs.
"He almost shot me," he says uncaringly.
"He was one of the best sweepers I had," Raines snarls.
"Maybe you should train your sweepers better then, because that sweeper couldn't see the difference between me and Jarod," Rob growls angrily, narrowing his eyes on the other man.
"Stop it you two. We have more important things to handle," Mr. Parker says quite impressed with his son. He would never have dared to argue with Raines a month ago.
"Like?" Raines asks and sees Rob roll his eyes at him.
"Like catching Jarod, you dimwit," Rob says.
"If you're so smart, why don't you catch him? I have other pretenders to take care of. Plus the fact that I have to find a new sweeper thanks to you," Raines says angrily. Rob smiles and bows his head.
"Thank you for the compliment, dear uncle," he says. Mr. Parker and Raines looks at him stunned.
"How did you know that?" Mr. Parker asks after a few minutes of complete silence.
"That is for me to know and for you to try and find out," Rob says with a smile.
"I want you to work with Sydney and Broots to catch the pretender," Mr. Parker says silently clearly still in shock. Rob nods and walks to find Sydney and Broots.
"How the hell did he find out?" Raines says as he slowly recovered from the shock.
"I have no idea. I guess he must have found it somewhere. He's good at finding things. Hopefully he's good at finding people as well," Mr. Parker answers and walks away.
"Yeah," Raines picks up the phone and calls a sweeper. He orders the sweeper to follow Roberts every move.
SL-13
"Damn," the sweeper snarls after he hung up the phone.
"What's up?" the other sweeper asks.
"Raines wants me to follow Rob around. He's going to kill me. And if I refuse, Raines will kill me. Either way I'm dead," the first sweeper answers pitifully.
"Why didn't he call Sean? He usually gets those jobs," the second sweeper asks patting the other mans back.
"Didn't you here? Rob shot him in the head on SL-16," the first sweeper answer then runs off to find Rob.
"Sean's dead? Interesting," the sweeper says with a sneer as he watches his friend run off.
AN HOUR LATER THE MANOR
Catherine has just explained everything to Rachel.
"I'm going to the Centre to talk to him," Catherine says and takes the car keys from the table.
"I'll go with you. I'd like to meet him," Rachel says eagerly. Catherine nods and they walk out to the car.
THE CENTRE SL-10 A SECRET ROOM WITHOUT CAMERAS
"I love you Sam," Sam turns around smiling at his boyfriend.
"I love you to Rob. I wish we didn't have to sneak around like this," Sam answers and kisses him passionately. When they break the kiss Rob gets a far away look on his face. Sam looks at him and waits for a moment. When Sam sees that Rob is back he smiles.
"The kiss was that good huh?" he asks.
"Yeah. I have to go. My mother and sister will see us in here." Rob answers incoherently. Sam gives him a confused look.
"I thought you wanted your family to know about us, why don't you want them to see us together?" he asks.
"Sam, I love you. But I don't think it's such a good idea to have my family see us doing you know what. I have to tell them first. You have to understand that."
"I understand. So we were going to do 'that' in here?" Sam says with a satisfied smile.
"Sam. Get a grip. Now let's go," Rob says and kisses him one last time before heading out the door.
FIVE MINUTES LATER THE CENTRE SYDNEY'S OFFICE
Catherine and Rachel have just arrived at the Centre and are talking to Sydney when Rob walks in.
"Mom, Rach. I'm glad to see you're okay. What brings you to the Centre?" he asks already knowing the answer.
"You. I heard about your little adventure in one of the sublevels, why did you kill that poor man?" Catherine asks.
"He tried to shoot me. So I killed him. So how are you feeling?" Rob says with a shrug.
*You killed someone? In cold blood? What happened to you? You cared about people a month ago.*
*Yes I killed someone. I do what I have to do to survive. And I still care. Especially about one of the sweepers.*
"We're talking about you not us. I'm taking you away from this place." Catherine says sadly. Sydney looks at Robs face and sees the terror in his eyes, everything else is expressionless.
"I am not going anywhere. I have many reasons to stay in the Centre. Especially one," Rob says.
"What reasons could you have to make me leave you in this hellhole?" Catherine asks surprised.
"I'll tell you later. Can I eat dinner at your house or something like that?" Rob asks.
"Only if you promise to tell me everything about why you're working here," Catherine says with a sigh.
*Follow me. I'll show you my office.*
"I promise," Rob says and starts to leave for his office. Rachel follows him.
"Be back here in one hour, or I'll be leaving without you," Catherine says. Rob and Rachel stops and turns around.
"Why don't I drive her home in time for dinner?" Rob says.
"You have a driver's license?" Catherine asks surprised.
"Yeah. You sort of have to have one in this place," Rob answers.
"How will you get a car?" Catherine asks still surprised.
"I own one. Dad gave me one when I was eighteen." Rob answers not seeing the jealous look from Rachel.
*Dad gave you a car?*
*Yeah. Why?*
*I didn't get a car.*
*Dad could probably get you one if you want.*
*That would be great. But mom would be sad, and I don't want to make her sad. What kind of car do you have?*
*A black 2004 BMW 645Ci Convertible.*
*WOW!!! That's cool.*
"Oh, alright. Be there at eight," Catherine says. Rob and Rachel nods and walks out.
"What reasons do you think he has?" Sydney asks after they're gone.
"I don't know. But it better be a damn good one. I can't believe my son is working here. At least I saved my daughter from that creep," she says and gets a faraway look on her face. Sydney cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Will you follow me to Mr. Parker's office? I don't want to go there alone," she asks and gives him a pleading look.
"Sure. But he won't be happy. I'm not his favorite person at the moment," Sydney answers. The two of them starts to go to Mr. Parker's office.
ROBERT PARKER'S OFFICE
"I'm glad you're here. I almost forgot what you look like," Rob says as he hugs his sister.
"Well here I am," She answers and hugs him back.
*So do you have a boyfriend yet?*
*Yes I do. He is gorgeous, nice and he is the smartest man I know. Except Jarod.*
*I'm glad. Err... Just one question he isn't coming to dinner tonight is he?*
*No. He is on a business trip. Why?*
*Well, my reason for working in the Centre is... personal. And I'm not ready to scream it to every person in the universe yet.*
*Got it. Do you have a girlfriend?*
*I'll tell you tonight.*
*Okay.*
"We should go to Jarod's cell to look for clues," Rob says and turns to the door.
"Clues? What sort of clues?" Rachel asks puzzled.
"Jarod escaped earlier today. Dad and Raines put me in charge for his recapture."
"Okay," she says cheering inside her head.
*Can you stop that? You're giving me a headache.*
*Sorry. I'm just glad he managed to escape.*
*Yeah me to. Why do you think I didn't catch him when I saw him in one of the ventilation shafts?*
*You let Jarod go? Why?*
*He was my friend once to you know.*
*I knew you were still a good guy. The sweeper you shot was probably a bad guy, right?*
*Think whatever you want Rach. I changed and not everyone is going to like who I have become.*
*What are you talking about? Mom and I will always love you. No matter what you do.*
*Maybe. I'm not that sure.*
"What do you want?" Rob says in a growling voice as he turns around to face the sweeper following him around. Rachel stares at her brother with a shocked look. She can't believe he would sound like that just because a man was following him around.
"I...I was just walking around," the sweeper says nervously.
"Yeah, right. And I am really Mickey Mouse," he snarls. Rachel tries to hold back a giggle but fails. Rob gives her a bemused look.
"Really? I never would have guessed," the sweeper says in a shaky voice.
"I will ask you one last time, what do you want?" he says picking up his gun. Rachel's eyes grow big.
"Raines told me to follow you," he says trying to save his life knowing he has to come up with a good excuse to Raines later.
"Thank you. You're dismissed," Rob says in a tone dripping with repulsion. The sweeper runs off as fast as he can.
"Go to daddy's office and tell him Raines is dead." Rob says and starts to go to Raines office.
"Why?" Rachel asks worried he might do something bad.
"My uncle is going down," he says cryptically and disappears. Rachel looks after him a few seconds then she runs towards her father's office.
A FEW MINUTES LATER
MR. PARKER'S OFFICE
"Catherine we agreed in court that Rob is my responsibility. You have no right to interfere."
"I have every right to interfere. You're turning him into a killing machine. He didn't even blink before telling us he killed someone today," Catherine screams. Mr. Parker smiles.
"I know I really succeeded with him," He says. Just as Catherine is about to answer Rachel slams the door open and rushes inside.
"He'll kill him," she says as she tries to catch her breath. Mr. Parker, Catherine and Sydney stares at her confused.
"What are you talking about Angel?" Mr. Parker asks receiving an angry glare from Catherine.
"Rob... He'll kill him. He went to kill Raines and wanted me to tell you that he's dead. Well, I think its Raines, he started talking about him and then he went on about some uncle. Daddy, we don't have an uncle, do we?" Rachel looks at him confused.
"Oh God. We have to stop him. We can't let him do this," Catherine says with horror in her voice. Mr. Parker gives her a strange look but decides that he shouldn't argue with her in front of their daughter. He sighs and heads for the door.
"Raines is my brother. Now let's go 'save' Rob from killing anyone else," he answers. Catherine, Sydney and Rachel follow him to Raines office.
AT THE SAME TIME RAINES OFFICE
Rob storms through the door and Raines stands up at the interruption staring angrily at the intruder.
"What do you want?" Raines says angrily.
"Hmm... I want to kill you," Rob says strangely calm.
"What? Like you would dare, you'll never get away with that," Raines answers with a smile.
"I'm the chairman's son. I can do anything, and yeah I would dare."
"Why do you all of the sudden want to kill me?" Raines asks not really concerned that he will die.
"You sent a sweeper to follow me around, remember?" he says threateningly.
"Yes. What an idiotic sweeper, he got detected, I'm sorry about that. You weren't supposed to detect him, I'll take care of it," Raines said expecting Rob to leave, but he doesn't.
"Too late. You ordered him to follow me that makes you the bad guy," Rob says.
He suddenly gets a premonition of the future, he sees his parents, Rach and Sydney coming in and stopping him from shooting Raines. His mother screaming that she wanted him out of the Centre for good. And Mr. Parker and Catherine started arguing about it, but his mother won.
Rob knows this means that he will never be able to be with Sam again. He visibly pales and stares at the door just when his family runs inside. He quickly puts his gun away and stares angrily at Raines.
"Just warning you, don't ever do that again," he says and looks at his mother with a smile.
"What is going on in here?" Catherine asks angrily staring at Raines.
"Nothing mom. Just talking, I promise I won't kill him," he says throwing an angry look at Raines warning him to talk.
"Really? You told Rach you would," Catherine says a little taken aback by Rob's statement that he wouldn't kill him. Then she remembered what Rach had told her when they had gotten home from the courtroom.
"Mom I have to tell you something about me and Rob," she had said in a guilty voice. Catherine had stared at her.
"What is it honey?"
"I have the Inner Sense; you know the one daddy always asked about. And Rob can see the future. Well a little bit of it anyway. Only a few minutes. And we can..."
"You can?" she asked
"We can talk to each other with our minds. We decided not to tell daddy, because Rob said he would be angry. Are you disappointed in us mommy?"
"No. No of course not sweetheart. I'm glad you decided to tell me. And I'm proud of you, both of you. And I'm glad you didn't tell your father," she had answered. She had known that Rob probably had seen the two of them in one of the lab's doing the Centre's bidding.
"I know I overreacted. I won't kill him. I promise."
*Please trust me. I can't stand the thought of living without Sam.*
*Who's Sam? And why can't you live without him?*
*Rach. Don't do that. You can't just pop into my head and listen to what you want.*
*Geez. Sorry. Who is he?*
*That's what I'm going to tell you tonight.*
*Oh. Okay.*
"Good. I'll trust you. And you're still coming over for dinner tonight, right?" Catherine asks.
"Of course. If it's okay with dad," he says and looks at his father expectantly. He nods at his son shortly and then turns on his heal to get back to his office.
"I have to go home, I'll see you in time for dinner," Catherine says and leaves with Sydney. Rob throws Raines a last warning glare before he leaves with Rachel.