Title: Not Again
Author: Ras
Rating: PG-13, violence to a main character
Description: Hurt/comfort, angst, mild relationship Jarod/Miss Parker. This story deals with the pain of Jarod's childhood at The Center and the trauma of having to return there.
Author's Note: I do suggest some abuse in Jarod's history. I realize that this is not specifically mentioned in the tv show. I'm taking a few writer's liberties here, but I promise that it's worth it.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Pretender. If I did, then he'd be doing some very interesting sims for me right now ( Seriously, The Pretender is the property of several large television companies, and not me.
Jarod watched the DSA as he threw some more packing in the box. The scenes flashing across the scene felt as though they happened just yesterday.
Jarod was about 11 years old. Sydney was saying what a good job he had done with the last simulation. "Jarod, I'm glad you finished this today, because I will not be here tomorrow."
"Why not, Sydney?"
"I am going on vacation. I will be back in 5 days."
"But . . . But . . . Miss Parker isn't back yet! You're going to leave me here all alone!"
Sydney sighed. He had foolishly hoped that Jarod would understand. "Miss Parker and her father will be back in a couple of days, and . . . I'm not leaving you alone. Dr. Raines will work with you for a while."
"Dr. Raines! Well . . . what are we going to work on?"
How did Jarod know to ask the exact questions Sydney didn't want to answer? Sydney briefly thought of lying, but knew it would do no good to lie to a pretender. "I believe he wants to try a new approach to the Snyder murder."
"Sydney, NO! Sydney you promised I didn't have to finish that. YOU PROMISED!"
"Calm down, Jarod. I said that I would not make you finish it, because it was upsetting you too much. Dr. Raines has some new idea that will allow you to solve the case differently."
"NO!" Jarod yelled as he ran off to hide. "Sydney you promised!" Jarod went to cry in the air vents, the only place where he was safe from the cameras.
The older Jarod hit the stop button as he felt the pain of that moment . . . and the ones that followed. He couldn't watch the DSA of it anymore. Jarod sealed the box and quickly scrawled Miss Parker's address on the box.
********
Broots rushed towards Sydney's office, hastily carrying a package. Miss Parker would be happy to get this new lead. He saw her standing there talking. He decided to interrupt. The look of death she gave him made him think that he had made the wrong decision, but it was too late for that.
"S-s-sorry. But, I have a package for you." He handed her the box. "I think it's from Jarod." He smiled.
Miss Parker ripped the box from his hands. "What's your freak show up to this time?" Miss Parker asked as she shuffled through all the stuffing. Finally getting to the bottom of the box, she pulled out . . . a teddy bear. Miss Parker blinked as she stared at it, it couldn't be, but it was. She shoved the bear back into the box before Broots or Sydney got a good look at it.
"I'll be in my office," she barked.
"Was that a Teddy Bear?" Broots asked Sydney in confusion.
********
Inside the privacy of her office, Miss Parker opened the box again. She starred at the slightly stained bear, it's charcoal black eyes . . . the way one of them was torn slightly loose.
Miss Parker's mind flashed back . . . to when she was a little girl. She had snuck into Jarod's room, "I have something for you." The young Miss Parker said, handing Jarod the bear.
"I'm, I'm not allowed to have toys."
"It'll be our secret. He'll keep you company when I'm not there."
"What the hell?" the much more venomous Miss Parker said. She couldn't believe that Jarod had held onto this stupid bear for so long.
"Ring Ring, Ring Ring." Miss Parker nearly jumped to the ceiling at the sound of the phone.
"What?" she answered in her usual tone.
"Hello, Miss Parker!" a cheery voice said with music blaring in the background.
"Jarod," she groaned. "Where the hell are you? It sounds like a riot set to music?"
"It's my first rock concert. Aren't these fun?"
"Maybe, if someone won all the marbles in your head first."
"Did you get my package?"
There was a long, silent pause.
"Do you remember?"
The flashback started again. A bruised Jarod crying, "I just can't do it anymore. I hate always having to do what they tell me to. You don't know what it's like when you're not here!" "I have something for you . . ."
"Of course I remember. What is the point of all of this?"
"He's helped me out for a long time. I think someone's making you do things you don't want to do now, too. Maybe you need him a little more than I do."
"No one makes me do anything. You're just too big a fool to realize that capturing you is what I want."
"Just in case, he makes good company." Click. Jarod had hung up.
Miss Parker furiously slammed down the phone. She needed a cigarette. Slowly breathing in the calming nicotine, she stared at the bear. "He'll keep you company when I'm not there . . ." "I have something for you . . ." She sighed. It was a dumb little bear to begin with. Why had she risked getting into so much trouble to sneak Jarod the bear back then?
Scene 2 Miss Parker's Home
Miss Parker climbed out of the tub and wrapped her robe around her. It had been a long day. Of course, what day wasn't at The Center. On the end table in her room sat the box with Jarod's bear in it. She pulled it out of it's hiding spot once again.
Why had she given it to him? "You know why, Parker." she told herself. She stared at those eyes again . . . his eyes, that's what it had really been. His eyes were always sad, teary.
"Jarod, Jarod?" a young Miss Parker called as she opened the door to his 'prison.' She saw him curled up on his bed. "Are you asleep?" she asked.
"No," a pitiful voice whispered.
"Well . . . aren't you going to welcome me home?" Miss Parker waited for a response. "Well?" she said annoyed. Still getting no response, she sat on the corner of his bed. "Jarod?"
A bruised face peaked out from under the cover. "I'm glad you're back," he whispered.
"What happened?" she asked in concern as she pushed down the cover to see his battered body.
Jarod moaned and grimaced as he sat up. He starred at the floor. He didn't want to cry in front of her. Would she laugh at him? He wasn't going to cry in front of her, but before even a couple of minute of passed he started. "I have to get out of here. I can't take it anymore. I can't . . . always doing what they say . . . I can't take it anymore."
"Who did this to you?" she whispered.
"Dr. Raines," Jarod said as he focused on the tile again. He bit into his lip trying to control the tears as he said, "you don't know what it's like for me when you're not here. He . . . he . . ."
Miss Parker shifted uncomfortably. She picked up the sack she had carried in. "I brought you something . . . Don't you even want to see what it is?" She pulled the bear out of the bag with a smile and handed it to him. "He's from Austria."
"I'm . . . I'm not allowed to have toys."
"It will be our secret," she whispered in his ear. "He can be with you when I can't . . . for when they make you do things you don't want to do."
For the first time in days, Jarod smiled too as he took the small stuffed toy from her. "You got this for me?" he asked with surprise. He played carefully with it's little green hat and plastic eyes.
Miss Parker stared at him. He was a mess. Raines must have really let into him this last time. She could see welts leading from the top of his shirt. Her eyes worked up to his face, and those eyes . . . those deep brown eyes that were always full of tears. In a moment of pity, she put her arm around him and whispered, "It will be okay Jarod. Sydney will be back soon. You're going to be okay."
Miss Parker hugged the bear as she climbed into bed, "It's going to be okay," she sighed.
********
Miss Parker's day began very similar to the day before. On her way to her office, she was stopped again by Broots.
"Miss Parker, there's something you should know," Broots said.
"What?"
"I think . . . I think I should tell you somewhere a little more private."
Miss Parker grumbled, but headed to the closest office, Sydney's. "What?"
Broots looked at Sydney and Miss Parker. "Brigitte booked a plane ticket to Seattle."
"Seattle, why Seattle?" Sydney asked.
"I don't know, but I checked the server, and she booked a plane ticket to Seattle through the internet. Right before that she had looked up a song, uh "Rock Till I Die" and the concert schedule of some band."
Miss Parker appeared angrier than normal. "That BITCH!"
"What am I missing?" Sydney asked.
"She put a bug on my phone! The little bitch bugged MY phone! And used it to trap Jarod. Damn it! Broots, get the jet ready to take us to Seattle."
Broots nodded and went to make the arrangements.
"What?" Miss Parker barked when she noticed Sydney was starring at her.
"You got a call from Jarod yesterday?"
"Yeah, I did. He was at his first rock concert. You're little prodigy's destroying all those brain cells head banging now."
"Why didn't you tell me that he had called?"
"It was none of your business."
"I thought we had agreed to share all of our information."
"The conversation was not about anything you needed to know, or need to know now."
********
The trio stood outside The Mash Pit, a local joint featuring heavy metal and alternative bands. This was where Jarod had to be.
Miss Parker walked inside and asked the first person she saw about Jarod, showing them the picture she always carried with her. The guy pointed to behind the bar, but there was no one there.
"Get the back Sam," she yelled at the sweeper as she charged toward the back of the building. She saw a door slam shut so she ran out of it herself. She was hot on Jarod's trail; she could smell it.
Apparently, for once Jarod hadn't planned on her finding him quite so quickly, but there he was right in her view. She pulled her gun from her waistband and screamed "Freeze, Jarod." He was close enough; she could hit him this time.
BANG, a gun went off. Jarod fell to the ground gripping his shoulder.
Confused, Miss Parker whirled around. Behind her stood Brigitte with the smoking gun. She had shot him.
Sydney ran to Jarod's side. "Are you all right?"
"She shot me! She shot my shoulder."
Sydney looked at the wound. "It just grazed you," he whispered. "I think you'll be okay as long as we get you to a hospital."
By this time Miss Parker and Brigitte were both standing over their prey.
"Well, guess I'll call this in. Sam, chain him," Miss Parker commanded as she picked up her cell phone.
"You shot me," Jarod whispered from the ground as Sam cuffed his hands, taking special care to protect Jarod's shoulder.
"Correction," Brigitte said with a smile as she kneeled in Jarod's face. "I shot you."
Sydney starred with shock at Miss Parker. "You can't seriously be considering transporting him to The Center in this state? He's been shot!"
"Well fix him, Doc. We're taking him back where he belongs, luv."
Sydney tried to plead to Miss Parker, but she was already on her cell phone.
"Yes, Daddy. I have him right here, and we are on our way. I finally got him."
"Who got him?" Brigitte yelled.
"No, we'll make sure we get him to you. Don't worry. I assume our deal still holds . . . See you soon, Daddy."
Miss Parker turned off the phone and stared at Brigitte. "I caught him. You, however, shot him. Congratulations, you wounded what I had already caught."
Fire shot between the two sets of eyes. One of them was going to crack.
"Ladies, let's just get him back to The Center before we start counting the hatched before they're . . . or is that eggs before they're counted . . . ?" Broots said.
********
Jarod sat wedged between Miss Parker and Brigitte on The Center jet. His shoulder was killing him. Sydney had stopped the bleeding, but not the pain. Sydney and Broots sat across from him. At least his old friend and the only father figure he had ever known was with him now. He knew he was being transported to Hell, but at least he wasn't alone. He couldn't believe that Miss Parker had actually captured him. He hadn't thought that she would ever really do it. But, actually Brigitte had caught him. Maybe Miss Parker wouldn't have if Brigitte hadn't shot him.
The jet's phone rang, Broots answered it because he was the closest. His face turned white as he handed the phone to Miss Parker. "It's Mr. Raines."
At that point, Jarod's face turned white, too.
Miss Parker snatched the phone from Broots. "What?" "No, I don't know what they're going to do with him. . . . to you? . . . fine, I can have him there in 4 more hours . . . great, just get him out of my hands."
Miss Parker hung up the phone. "Someone has plans for you."
Jarod blanched even more than the ghostly white he had been. "I have to go to the bathroom," he groaned.
"Ohh, that's gotta suck," Brigitte responded. "It's going to be a long wait, honey."
Jarod trembled slightly. "I really have to go," he managed to get out.
"Then wet yourself," Brigitte said. "Someone will clean up the plane."
"That's something I'd rather not experience. I'll take him." Miss Parker said.
"Oh no you won't!"
Miss Parker pulled her gun. "It's a PLANE, dearie. They go way up in the air real high," Miss Parker mocked. "Where's he going to go?"
Brigitte only response was a dirty look. Miss Parker pulled Jarod up with a yank and shoved him in the direction of the toilet.
They got to the bathroom and Miss Parker realized he was still handcuffed. "Shit," she said. "Well, don't think I'm helping you," she said.
Jarod shook his head and fell to his knees. He immediately began vomiting.
Miss Parker appeared completely grossed out. "Since when do you get airsick? Haven't you been a big shot pilot? Get that, an airsick pilot."
"I'm not airsick," Jarod whispered. He tried not to show her how afraid he was, but he started vomiting again.
From somewhere, sympathy overcame Miss Parker. Appearing completely out of character, she pulled for paper towels, wetted them, and wiped at the corners of his mouth.
Jarod gratefully accepted the help. He hadn't been wrong about her.
"Done?" Miss Parker asked. Her voice had changed. The acidic tone that normally accompanied it was gone; it was replaced by a sweet and caring sound.
Jarod was still heaving a little, but he nodded. "My shoulder," he whispered.
Miss Parker glanced at the bloody shoulder. She took a cold paper towel and held that to the bloody, red spot. She didn't know if that would help or not, but it was the best she could do given the circumstances.
"We'd better get you back before queenie decides we've been back here too long."
Miss Parker shoved him back to his seat, taking on her former persona.
"Was that fun with handcuff's on?" Brigitte laughed with an evil grin.
Jarod still looked rather ill. He wasn't in his normal humorous state necessary to respond. Miss Parker took the role to cover, "Well, I enjoyed it."
********
Miss Parker was cleaning out her desk as Sydney walked in.
"Any word about Jarod?" he asked her.
"No," she said pretending not to care. "He was in debriefing for . . . I don't know about 5 hours. At least that's how long it was before my father left."
"I can't believe they won't even let me see him. And letting Raines have control of him . . . Jarod is in real trouble Miss Parker."
"After the amount of time I spent in capturing him, Syd. I'm just happy that anyone is controlling him, even if it is Raines."
"I see you're clearing out your desk."
"Yes!" Miss Parker gleamed with joy. "My father has decided that I can be reassigned to any project I want. Any project I want, Syd. I decide. Anything I want!"
"Do you have any idea what you are going to do?"
"No. I was thinking about Japanese relations, but I'm not sure. In the meantime he's allowed me to go back to security. As a matter of fact, he's put me in charge of Center Security. You know what I do in security, Syd. Nothing. I sit there and make sure that everyone is monitoring what they're supposed to, and not what they're not. No pressure, no hunting Jarod. I just sit there and watch TV screens."
"Well, I'm glad someone is happy. When do you start?"
"First thing in the morning. I'm moving my stuff tonight. Any idea what you're going to do?"
"There's no place for me here anymore. Not now that they've given Jarod to Mr. Raines."
"Yeah, well I'm sure Raines is quite capable of solving our Jarod problem."
********
Miss Parker sat at her new desk, enjoying her new job. She glanced out at all the people scanning television screens and reading confidential documents looking for security breaches. Everything seemed to be in order. She quickly flipped through screens on her monitor. God this job was easy.
Miss Parker stopped suddenly on one of the sim labs. Jarod was there with Mr. Raines. It was not a pretty site. No less than 10 sweepers were surrounding Jarod, holding him to the chair. Miss Parker turned up the sound on her monitor.
"Do the simulation or suffer the consequences, it's that simple."
"I will not help you kill anyone else!"
Raines nodded at one of the sweepers who proceeded to punch Jarod in the ribs.
"Start the sim. It gets worse every time I have to ask."
Getting no response, another sweeper punched Jarod in the face.
"One more chance before I just turn you over to them. Do the simulation, Jarod."
Jarod defiantly raised his head and spit in the old man's face.
Raines scowled and walked out of the way. One of the sweepers carried a long skinny whip. Two other sweepers held Jarod down while the other repeatedly whipped him. Over and over again the whip rained down on Jarod's back.
Jarod tried to keep his pride, not show them how much it hurt, how it ripped through his skin sending pain threw to the very neurons of his brain. After a few minutes he couldn't take it anymore and let out a shriek of pain. Eventually, he just let himself cry.
"Take him back to his cell. I'm giving you 24 hours to change your mind. If you don't do as I say tomorrow, I will make the torture worse."
Miss Parker turned off the monitor. She couldn't see much of it anyway, through the tears. She tried to stop, but Raines was going to torture Jarod to death. She thought of some of the confidential torture techniques she had seen across her desk in the past, some of which she had actually seen Raines use on other victims. They could do worse, a hell of a lot worse before they killed him. This was just a baby step.
She couldn't let them do this to him. Not when she had been the one to bring him in. She had known it would be bad for Jarod when she brought him in, but she at least figured Sydney would still work with him. Letting Raines have complete control over him . . . watching them beat the hell out of him . . . how could she stand back and watch that? But what could she do about?
She wiped the tears from her faced and suddenly remembered sneaking in to comfort Jarod time after time when she was a little girl. She could do it again. Hell, it would be easier now that she was in charge of security! She found Jarod's cell on her monitor and quickly used her computer to classify the video feed as highly classified, her eyes only. Damn, she loved this new job. Power was so nice. A few more quick key strokes and she had unlocked all the corridors to Jarod's area. As long as her father didn't try to see what was going on, she was in the free and clear.
She couldn't believe how easy it was to get into Jarod's cell, but there she stood outside it. She stopped herself for a moment, "What the Hell am I doing?" but, she already knew the answer. She opened the door and let herself inside.
Jarod was lying on his side on his cot. To her alarm, Jarod didn't move at the sound of the door. He didn't even glance to see who was in the room. "Jarod," she whispered. He didn't respond. She stepped closer to his cot.
"Miss Parker, how nice of you to throw me a house warming party," he joked with a faint grin before him grimaced with the pain.
Miss Parker smiled; he was a joker to the end. Getting serious again, she kneeled down to his level and asked, "How's your shoulder?" The answer was obvious.
Cautious at first, he realized she was genuinely concerned. Why had she risked her own safety to check on him? He answered, "It hurts . . . worse than my back, it's unbearable."
"Can I have a look?" she asked.
Jarod paused. He really didn't want Miss Parker to see his back, his bruises, how badly he really was hurt. Letting her see how badly he had been tortured was humiliating. Still, he somehow knew she only wanted to help him. She had always been so kind when he was hurt as a little boy. He nodded that she could look.
Miss Parker slowly lifted up Jarod's shirt. His back was bleeding a lot; it was crisscrossed with welts. "Poor thing!" she thought. Then she saw his shoulder. It had been just a glancing shot, but his shoulder looked bad. She gently sat her hand on it. Shit, his shoulder was burning hot. She knew what that meant.
"Jarod, you're shoulder is infected. You've got to see a doctor."
"You really think that Raines is going to let me see a doctor?" Jarod asked rhetorically.
Miss Parker paused. What was she supposed to do? "Why don't you just do what he wants Jarod. He'd stop hurting you and let them take care of you if you just agreed to do what he says."
"And what, kill thousands of innocent people for myself? I won't do it. I won't let anyone else die because of me."
Miss Parker shook her head. He was crazy. "Just one sim. He'd at least let them cure the infection if you did just one. You could stop after that. Jarod, this infection will kill you if you don't get treatment!"
Jarod shook his head. "Raines will kill me anyway. That was his plan from the beginning."
Miss Parker didn't want to believe that. She did know one thing for sure, that she really wished she didn't know. "Jarod, he's going to torture you until you do what he says. You don't know how good at torture he is. He may be an ancient mummy, but he knows how to torture people . . . I've seen him do it before, and he knows how to get what he wants."
"I might know a little more about it than you realize, Miss Parker. What do you think happened when you and Syd were gone? Why do you think I got so upset?"
Miss Parker shook her head. She didn't want to think about this.
Jarod finally got up the nerve to ask her something he had to know the answer to. "Where's Sydney?"
"They won't let him see you. He's really upset about it, Jarod. He's going to leave The Center."
Jarod felt relieved and upset simultaneously. At least Sydney hadn't abandoned him. He still cared about him. "I'd like to see him again, before . . . Raines . . . it would be so much easier to endure the torture if Syd could even just be standing there. But, I guess that's exactly why they won't let me see him."
"I'll see what I can do," she whispered, not even sure herself what exactly that meant.
Miss Parker took in a deep breath. She had been down there a while, too long. She might be missed. She just wanted to tell him what she came down there to do. She leant down to his ear and whispered, "Jarod, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. I didn't know it would be like this." She got up to leave the room, not waiting for a response. She didn't expect his forgiveness; she just needed to let him know.
"Parker," a ghostly voice called after her. She whirled around to listen. "They were just making you do what you didn't want to do."
With tears in her eyes, she left the room.
********
Miss Parker grumbled to herself as she walked into Sydney's office. "Please tell me you have some Vodka . . . Everclear?"
Sydney pulled out a bottle of whiskey and handed Miss Parker a small glass. "That's not good for your ulcer."
"Neither is this place, Syd," she commented as she downed the glass and filled it again.
"What has happened?"
Miss Parker took another drink instead of answering the question. "Do you want to see Jarod?"
"Of course," Sydney whispered cautiously.
Miss Parker took a final drink, "Come up to my office in a little bit, I'll get you down there."
********
Sydney knocked on Miss Parker's door, looking around suspiciously. He was desperate to see Jarod, but he was terrified of being caught.
"What?" Miss Parker yelled.
Sydney entered, shutting the door behind him. Miss Parker flipped her monitor until it displayed Jarod. He was with Mr. Raines, again.
"Moving up the time unexpectedly, he's good," she sighed.
Sydney starred in horror as he watched Raines threaten to inject Jarod with the death serum again.
"I'm sure you remember this from the last time," Raines threatened. "And don't think that I won't revive you . . . you aren't getting off that easily."
Jarod shook his head and screamed "No!" while a sweeper put a tourniquet on his arm.
"Do the simulation, Jarod." Jarod didn't respond, but closed his eyes and whispered 'no' over and over again. One of the sweepers plunged the needle into his arm and injected the poison.
"Take him back to his cell," Raines said.
"The antidote!" Jarod cried. Raines simply gave him a cold look while Jarod screamed in horror.
"My God!" Sydney said as he turned away from the screen.
"It was probably a blank," Miss Parker whispered.
"What?" Sydney asked.
"I don't think even Raines would be stupid enough to kill Jarod this quickly. He injected him with sugar water, Syd." Miss Parker flipped the monitor screen to Jarod's room. "See, still breathing." She turned to Syd with a serious look, "We've got a short window to get in there before Raines takes him back. Do you want to see him?" Sydney nodded.
********
Miss Parker looked up and down the hallway cautiously as she opened the door. "Jarod? Jarod? It's me again."
"Again?" Sydney asked. He stopped questioning when Miss Parker gave him one of her looks.
Sydney stood back and watched in complete shook as Miss Parker kneeled at Jarod's side. "Jarod? Can you hear me?" she gently brushed his face to wake him. He groaned in response. "Someone's here to see you," she whispered kindly.
Sydney knelt down next to her. He hardly recognized the Miss Parker next to him. He hardly recognized the mass of bruised flesh in front of him. "Jarod," he whispered.
"Sydney," the parched lips whispered.. His eyes never opened. He whimpered as he tried to pull his hand free. Sydney held it.
Miss Parker stopped listening at this point. She was pacing. How could The Tower just stand by at watch Raines kill off their most prized asset? Why had she spent years of her life trying to bring him back if they were just going to kill him off? She paced some more. This might just be a vengeance gig for Raines, but maybe not for everyone else.
"Miss Parker?" Sydney asked as he noticed her odd behavior, "What are you doing?"
"Fixing our problem. Don't worry, Jarod, I'm getting you out of this."
********
Jarod felt as though he had been hit by a Mac Truck. He heard a rhythmic beeping in the background. He painfully creaked open his eyes. Light streamed through the room from a window. Jarod carefully cranked his head to look around the room. He was above ground. There were curtains, a television, flowers on the sheets . . . it was highly unusual for The Center. He turned his head a little more to the left. Pain shot through his neck. An IV dripped something into his arm. Next to him was the teddy bear he had sent Miss Parker. Confused, he turned to his right. Miss Parker was slumped over in a chair. He had been in so much pain he hadn't noticed that she was holding his hand. He was about to wake her up when Sydney walked into the room.
"You're awake," Sydney smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I took a flying leap off the top of The Tower. How long have I been out?"
"About a week," Sydney said. "She's been here the whole time. She went home for a few minutes once. I haven't been able to get her to leave your side since, not even to eat."
Jarod starred inquisitively at the exhausted beauty slumped over next to him. "Where am I?"
"The Center Hospital."
"How did I get here?"
"That's a question for Miss Parker. She went before The Tower and convinced them turn you over to her. I have no idea how she did it, but Mr. Raines has no control over you now."
"Making up more lies about me, Syd?" Miss Parker asked as she stretched. "How are you feeling?" she asked Jarod.
"What did you give them Miss Parker?" Jarod asked.
"The Dr. should examine you," she said pushing a button on Jarod's bed.
"Miss Parker? What did you tell them?"
"I need a cigarette," she muttered as she walked out the door. "And a 1/5 of vodka," she whispered under her breath.
"What did you promise them?" he yelled after her, but it was too late.
----To Be Continued----
Author: Ras
Rating: PG-13, violence to a main character
Description: Hurt/comfort, angst, mild relationship Jarod/Miss Parker. This story deals with the pain of Jarod's childhood at The Center and the trauma of having to return there.
Author's Note: I do suggest some abuse in Jarod's history. I realize that this is not specifically mentioned in the tv show. I'm taking a few writer's liberties here, but I promise that it's worth it.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Pretender. If I did, then he'd be doing some very interesting sims for me right now ( Seriously, The Pretender is the property of several large television companies, and not me.
Jarod watched the DSA as he threw some more packing in the box. The scenes flashing across the scene felt as though they happened just yesterday.
Jarod was about 11 years old. Sydney was saying what a good job he had done with the last simulation. "Jarod, I'm glad you finished this today, because I will not be here tomorrow."
"Why not, Sydney?"
"I am going on vacation. I will be back in 5 days."
"But . . . But . . . Miss Parker isn't back yet! You're going to leave me here all alone!"
Sydney sighed. He had foolishly hoped that Jarod would understand. "Miss Parker and her father will be back in a couple of days, and . . . I'm not leaving you alone. Dr. Raines will work with you for a while."
"Dr. Raines! Well . . . what are we going to work on?"
How did Jarod know to ask the exact questions Sydney didn't want to answer? Sydney briefly thought of lying, but knew it would do no good to lie to a pretender. "I believe he wants to try a new approach to the Snyder murder."
"Sydney, NO! Sydney you promised I didn't have to finish that. YOU PROMISED!"
"Calm down, Jarod. I said that I would not make you finish it, because it was upsetting you too much. Dr. Raines has some new idea that will allow you to solve the case differently."
"NO!" Jarod yelled as he ran off to hide. "Sydney you promised!" Jarod went to cry in the air vents, the only place where he was safe from the cameras.
The older Jarod hit the stop button as he felt the pain of that moment . . . and the ones that followed. He couldn't watch the DSA of it anymore. Jarod sealed the box and quickly scrawled Miss Parker's address on the box.
********
Broots rushed towards Sydney's office, hastily carrying a package. Miss Parker would be happy to get this new lead. He saw her standing there talking. He decided to interrupt. The look of death she gave him made him think that he had made the wrong decision, but it was too late for that.
"S-s-sorry. But, I have a package for you." He handed her the box. "I think it's from Jarod." He smiled.
Miss Parker ripped the box from his hands. "What's your freak show up to this time?" Miss Parker asked as she shuffled through all the stuffing. Finally getting to the bottom of the box, she pulled out . . . a teddy bear. Miss Parker blinked as she stared at it, it couldn't be, but it was. She shoved the bear back into the box before Broots or Sydney got a good look at it.
"I'll be in my office," she barked.
"Was that a Teddy Bear?" Broots asked Sydney in confusion.
********
Inside the privacy of her office, Miss Parker opened the box again. She starred at the slightly stained bear, it's charcoal black eyes . . . the way one of them was torn slightly loose.
Miss Parker's mind flashed back . . . to when she was a little girl. She had snuck into Jarod's room, "I have something for you." The young Miss Parker said, handing Jarod the bear.
"I'm, I'm not allowed to have toys."
"It'll be our secret. He'll keep you company when I'm not there."
"What the hell?" the much more venomous Miss Parker said. She couldn't believe that Jarod had held onto this stupid bear for so long.
"Ring Ring, Ring Ring." Miss Parker nearly jumped to the ceiling at the sound of the phone.
"What?" she answered in her usual tone.
"Hello, Miss Parker!" a cheery voice said with music blaring in the background.
"Jarod," she groaned. "Where the hell are you? It sounds like a riot set to music?"
"It's my first rock concert. Aren't these fun?"
"Maybe, if someone won all the marbles in your head first."
"Did you get my package?"
There was a long, silent pause.
"Do you remember?"
The flashback started again. A bruised Jarod crying, "I just can't do it anymore. I hate always having to do what they tell me to. You don't know what it's like when you're not here!" "I have something for you . . ."
"Of course I remember. What is the point of all of this?"
"He's helped me out for a long time. I think someone's making you do things you don't want to do now, too. Maybe you need him a little more than I do."
"No one makes me do anything. You're just too big a fool to realize that capturing you is what I want."
"Just in case, he makes good company." Click. Jarod had hung up.
Miss Parker furiously slammed down the phone. She needed a cigarette. Slowly breathing in the calming nicotine, she stared at the bear. "He'll keep you company when I'm not there . . ." "I have something for you . . ." She sighed. It was a dumb little bear to begin with. Why had she risked getting into so much trouble to sneak Jarod the bear back then?
Scene 2 Miss Parker's Home
Miss Parker climbed out of the tub and wrapped her robe around her. It had been a long day. Of course, what day wasn't at The Center. On the end table in her room sat the box with Jarod's bear in it. She pulled it out of it's hiding spot once again.
Why had she given it to him? "You know why, Parker." she told herself. She stared at those eyes again . . . his eyes, that's what it had really been. His eyes were always sad, teary.
"Jarod, Jarod?" a young Miss Parker called as she opened the door to his 'prison.' She saw him curled up on his bed. "Are you asleep?" she asked.
"No," a pitiful voice whispered.
"Well . . . aren't you going to welcome me home?" Miss Parker waited for a response. "Well?" she said annoyed. Still getting no response, she sat on the corner of his bed. "Jarod?"
A bruised face peaked out from under the cover. "I'm glad you're back," he whispered.
"What happened?" she asked in concern as she pushed down the cover to see his battered body.
Jarod moaned and grimaced as he sat up. He starred at the floor. He didn't want to cry in front of her. Would she laugh at him? He wasn't going to cry in front of her, but before even a couple of minute of passed he started. "I have to get out of here. I can't take it anymore. I can't . . . always doing what they say . . . I can't take it anymore."
"Who did this to you?" she whispered.
"Dr. Raines," Jarod said as he focused on the tile again. He bit into his lip trying to control the tears as he said, "you don't know what it's like for me when you're not here. He . . . he . . ."
Miss Parker shifted uncomfortably. She picked up the sack she had carried in. "I brought you something . . . Don't you even want to see what it is?" She pulled the bear out of the bag with a smile and handed it to him. "He's from Austria."
"I'm . . . I'm not allowed to have toys."
"It will be our secret," she whispered in his ear. "He can be with you when I can't . . . for when they make you do things you don't want to do."
For the first time in days, Jarod smiled too as he took the small stuffed toy from her. "You got this for me?" he asked with surprise. He played carefully with it's little green hat and plastic eyes.
Miss Parker stared at him. He was a mess. Raines must have really let into him this last time. She could see welts leading from the top of his shirt. Her eyes worked up to his face, and those eyes . . . those deep brown eyes that were always full of tears. In a moment of pity, she put her arm around him and whispered, "It will be okay Jarod. Sydney will be back soon. You're going to be okay."
Miss Parker hugged the bear as she climbed into bed, "It's going to be okay," she sighed.
********
Miss Parker's day began very similar to the day before. On her way to her office, she was stopped again by Broots.
"Miss Parker, there's something you should know," Broots said.
"What?"
"I think . . . I think I should tell you somewhere a little more private."
Miss Parker grumbled, but headed to the closest office, Sydney's. "What?"
Broots looked at Sydney and Miss Parker. "Brigitte booked a plane ticket to Seattle."
"Seattle, why Seattle?" Sydney asked.
"I don't know, but I checked the server, and she booked a plane ticket to Seattle through the internet. Right before that she had looked up a song, uh "Rock Till I Die" and the concert schedule of some band."
Miss Parker appeared angrier than normal. "That BITCH!"
"What am I missing?" Sydney asked.
"She put a bug on my phone! The little bitch bugged MY phone! And used it to trap Jarod. Damn it! Broots, get the jet ready to take us to Seattle."
Broots nodded and went to make the arrangements.
"What?" Miss Parker barked when she noticed Sydney was starring at her.
"You got a call from Jarod yesterday?"
"Yeah, I did. He was at his first rock concert. You're little prodigy's destroying all those brain cells head banging now."
"Why didn't you tell me that he had called?"
"It was none of your business."
"I thought we had agreed to share all of our information."
"The conversation was not about anything you needed to know, or need to know now."
********
The trio stood outside The Mash Pit, a local joint featuring heavy metal and alternative bands. This was where Jarod had to be.
Miss Parker walked inside and asked the first person she saw about Jarod, showing them the picture she always carried with her. The guy pointed to behind the bar, but there was no one there.
"Get the back Sam," she yelled at the sweeper as she charged toward the back of the building. She saw a door slam shut so she ran out of it herself. She was hot on Jarod's trail; she could smell it.
Apparently, for once Jarod hadn't planned on her finding him quite so quickly, but there he was right in her view. She pulled her gun from her waistband and screamed "Freeze, Jarod." He was close enough; she could hit him this time.
BANG, a gun went off. Jarod fell to the ground gripping his shoulder.
Confused, Miss Parker whirled around. Behind her stood Brigitte with the smoking gun. She had shot him.
Sydney ran to Jarod's side. "Are you all right?"
"She shot me! She shot my shoulder."
Sydney looked at the wound. "It just grazed you," he whispered. "I think you'll be okay as long as we get you to a hospital."
By this time Miss Parker and Brigitte were both standing over their prey.
"Well, guess I'll call this in. Sam, chain him," Miss Parker commanded as she picked up her cell phone.
"You shot me," Jarod whispered from the ground as Sam cuffed his hands, taking special care to protect Jarod's shoulder.
"Correction," Brigitte said with a smile as she kneeled in Jarod's face. "I shot you."
Sydney starred with shock at Miss Parker. "You can't seriously be considering transporting him to The Center in this state? He's been shot!"
"Well fix him, Doc. We're taking him back where he belongs, luv."
Sydney tried to plead to Miss Parker, but she was already on her cell phone.
"Yes, Daddy. I have him right here, and we are on our way. I finally got him."
"Who got him?" Brigitte yelled.
"No, we'll make sure we get him to you. Don't worry. I assume our deal still holds . . . See you soon, Daddy."
Miss Parker turned off the phone and stared at Brigitte. "I caught him. You, however, shot him. Congratulations, you wounded what I had already caught."
Fire shot between the two sets of eyes. One of them was going to crack.
"Ladies, let's just get him back to The Center before we start counting the hatched before they're . . . or is that eggs before they're counted . . . ?" Broots said.
********
Jarod sat wedged between Miss Parker and Brigitte on The Center jet. His shoulder was killing him. Sydney had stopped the bleeding, but not the pain. Sydney and Broots sat across from him. At least his old friend and the only father figure he had ever known was with him now. He knew he was being transported to Hell, but at least he wasn't alone. He couldn't believe that Miss Parker had actually captured him. He hadn't thought that she would ever really do it. But, actually Brigitte had caught him. Maybe Miss Parker wouldn't have if Brigitte hadn't shot him.
The jet's phone rang, Broots answered it because he was the closest. His face turned white as he handed the phone to Miss Parker. "It's Mr. Raines."
At that point, Jarod's face turned white, too.
Miss Parker snatched the phone from Broots. "What?" "No, I don't know what they're going to do with him. . . . to you? . . . fine, I can have him there in 4 more hours . . . great, just get him out of my hands."
Miss Parker hung up the phone. "Someone has plans for you."
Jarod blanched even more than the ghostly white he had been. "I have to go to the bathroom," he groaned.
"Ohh, that's gotta suck," Brigitte responded. "It's going to be a long wait, honey."
Jarod trembled slightly. "I really have to go," he managed to get out.
"Then wet yourself," Brigitte said. "Someone will clean up the plane."
"That's something I'd rather not experience. I'll take him." Miss Parker said.
"Oh no you won't!"
Miss Parker pulled her gun. "It's a PLANE, dearie. They go way up in the air real high," Miss Parker mocked. "Where's he going to go?"
Brigitte only response was a dirty look. Miss Parker pulled Jarod up with a yank and shoved him in the direction of the toilet.
They got to the bathroom and Miss Parker realized he was still handcuffed. "Shit," she said. "Well, don't think I'm helping you," she said.
Jarod shook his head and fell to his knees. He immediately began vomiting.
Miss Parker appeared completely grossed out. "Since when do you get airsick? Haven't you been a big shot pilot? Get that, an airsick pilot."
"I'm not airsick," Jarod whispered. He tried not to show her how afraid he was, but he started vomiting again.
From somewhere, sympathy overcame Miss Parker. Appearing completely out of character, she pulled for paper towels, wetted them, and wiped at the corners of his mouth.
Jarod gratefully accepted the help. He hadn't been wrong about her.
"Done?" Miss Parker asked. Her voice had changed. The acidic tone that normally accompanied it was gone; it was replaced by a sweet and caring sound.
Jarod was still heaving a little, but he nodded. "My shoulder," he whispered.
Miss Parker glanced at the bloody shoulder. She took a cold paper towel and held that to the bloody, red spot. She didn't know if that would help or not, but it was the best she could do given the circumstances.
"We'd better get you back before queenie decides we've been back here too long."
Miss Parker shoved him back to his seat, taking on her former persona.
"Was that fun with handcuff's on?" Brigitte laughed with an evil grin.
Jarod still looked rather ill. He wasn't in his normal humorous state necessary to respond. Miss Parker took the role to cover, "Well, I enjoyed it."
********
Miss Parker was cleaning out her desk as Sydney walked in.
"Any word about Jarod?" he asked her.
"No," she said pretending not to care. "He was in debriefing for . . . I don't know about 5 hours. At least that's how long it was before my father left."
"I can't believe they won't even let me see him. And letting Raines have control of him . . . Jarod is in real trouble Miss Parker."
"After the amount of time I spent in capturing him, Syd. I'm just happy that anyone is controlling him, even if it is Raines."
"I see you're clearing out your desk."
"Yes!" Miss Parker gleamed with joy. "My father has decided that I can be reassigned to any project I want. Any project I want, Syd. I decide. Anything I want!"
"Do you have any idea what you are going to do?"
"No. I was thinking about Japanese relations, but I'm not sure. In the meantime he's allowed me to go back to security. As a matter of fact, he's put me in charge of Center Security. You know what I do in security, Syd. Nothing. I sit there and make sure that everyone is monitoring what they're supposed to, and not what they're not. No pressure, no hunting Jarod. I just sit there and watch TV screens."
"Well, I'm glad someone is happy. When do you start?"
"First thing in the morning. I'm moving my stuff tonight. Any idea what you're going to do?"
"There's no place for me here anymore. Not now that they've given Jarod to Mr. Raines."
"Yeah, well I'm sure Raines is quite capable of solving our Jarod problem."
********
Miss Parker sat at her new desk, enjoying her new job. She glanced out at all the people scanning television screens and reading confidential documents looking for security breaches. Everything seemed to be in order. She quickly flipped through screens on her monitor. God this job was easy.
Miss Parker stopped suddenly on one of the sim labs. Jarod was there with Mr. Raines. It was not a pretty site. No less than 10 sweepers were surrounding Jarod, holding him to the chair. Miss Parker turned up the sound on her monitor.
"Do the simulation or suffer the consequences, it's that simple."
"I will not help you kill anyone else!"
Raines nodded at one of the sweepers who proceeded to punch Jarod in the ribs.
"Start the sim. It gets worse every time I have to ask."
Getting no response, another sweeper punched Jarod in the face.
"One more chance before I just turn you over to them. Do the simulation, Jarod."
Jarod defiantly raised his head and spit in the old man's face.
Raines scowled and walked out of the way. One of the sweepers carried a long skinny whip. Two other sweepers held Jarod down while the other repeatedly whipped him. Over and over again the whip rained down on Jarod's back.
Jarod tried to keep his pride, not show them how much it hurt, how it ripped through his skin sending pain threw to the very neurons of his brain. After a few minutes he couldn't take it anymore and let out a shriek of pain. Eventually, he just let himself cry.
"Take him back to his cell. I'm giving you 24 hours to change your mind. If you don't do as I say tomorrow, I will make the torture worse."
Miss Parker turned off the monitor. She couldn't see much of it anyway, through the tears. She tried to stop, but Raines was going to torture Jarod to death. She thought of some of the confidential torture techniques she had seen across her desk in the past, some of which she had actually seen Raines use on other victims. They could do worse, a hell of a lot worse before they killed him. This was just a baby step.
She couldn't let them do this to him. Not when she had been the one to bring him in. She had known it would be bad for Jarod when she brought him in, but she at least figured Sydney would still work with him. Letting Raines have complete control over him . . . watching them beat the hell out of him . . . how could she stand back and watch that? But what could she do about?
She wiped the tears from her faced and suddenly remembered sneaking in to comfort Jarod time after time when she was a little girl. She could do it again. Hell, it would be easier now that she was in charge of security! She found Jarod's cell on her monitor and quickly used her computer to classify the video feed as highly classified, her eyes only. Damn, she loved this new job. Power was so nice. A few more quick key strokes and she had unlocked all the corridors to Jarod's area. As long as her father didn't try to see what was going on, she was in the free and clear.
She couldn't believe how easy it was to get into Jarod's cell, but there she stood outside it. She stopped herself for a moment, "What the Hell am I doing?" but, she already knew the answer. She opened the door and let herself inside.
Jarod was lying on his side on his cot. To her alarm, Jarod didn't move at the sound of the door. He didn't even glance to see who was in the room. "Jarod," she whispered. He didn't respond. She stepped closer to his cot.
"Miss Parker, how nice of you to throw me a house warming party," he joked with a faint grin before him grimaced with the pain.
Miss Parker smiled; he was a joker to the end. Getting serious again, she kneeled down to his level and asked, "How's your shoulder?" The answer was obvious.
Cautious at first, he realized she was genuinely concerned. Why had she risked her own safety to check on him? He answered, "It hurts . . . worse than my back, it's unbearable."
"Can I have a look?" she asked.
Jarod paused. He really didn't want Miss Parker to see his back, his bruises, how badly he really was hurt. Letting her see how badly he had been tortured was humiliating. Still, he somehow knew she only wanted to help him. She had always been so kind when he was hurt as a little boy. He nodded that she could look.
Miss Parker slowly lifted up Jarod's shirt. His back was bleeding a lot; it was crisscrossed with welts. "Poor thing!" she thought. Then she saw his shoulder. It had been just a glancing shot, but his shoulder looked bad. She gently sat her hand on it. Shit, his shoulder was burning hot. She knew what that meant.
"Jarod, you're shoulder is infected. You've got to see a doctor."
"You really think that Raines is going to let me see a doctor?" Jarod asked rhetorically.
Miss Parker paused. What was she supposed to do? "Why don't you just do what he wants Jarod. He'd stop hurting you and let them take care of you if you just agreed to do what he says."
"And what, kill thousands of innocent people for myself? I won't do it. I won't let anyone else die because of me."
Miss Parker shook her head. He was crazy. "Just one sim. He'd at least let them cure the infection if you did just one. You could stop after that. Jarod, this infection will kill you if you don't get treatment!"
Jarod shook his head. "Raines will kill me anyway. That was his plan from the beginning."
Miss Parker didn't want to believe that. She did know one thing for sure, that she really wished she didn't know. "Jarod, he's going to torture you until you do what he says. You don't know how good at torture he is. He may be an ancient mummy, but he knows how to torture people . . . I've seen him do it before, and he knows how to get what he wants."
"I might know a little more about it than you realize, Miss Parker. What do you think happened when you and Syd were gone? Why do you think I got so upset?"
Miss Parker shook her head. She didn't want to think about this.
Jarod finally got up the nerve to ask her something he had to know the answer to. "Where's Sydney?"
"They won't let him see you. He's really upset about it, Jarod. He's going to leave The Center."
Jarod felt relieved and upset simultaneously. At least Sydney hadn't abandoned him. He still cared about him. "I'd like to see him again, before . . . Raines . . . it would be so much easier to endure the torture if Syd could even just be standing there. But, I guess that's exactly why they won't let me see him."
"I'll see what I can do," she whispered, not even sure herself what exactly that meant.
Miss Parker took in a deep breath. She had been down there a while, too long. She might be missed. She just wanted to tell him what she came down there to do. She leant down to his ear and whispered, "Jarod, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. I didn't know it would be like this." She got up to leave the room, not waiting for a response. She didn't expect his forgiveness; she just needed to let him know.
"Parker," a ghostly voice called after her. She whirled around to listen. "They were just making you do what you didn't want to do."
With tears in her eyes, she left the room.
********
Miss Parker grumbled to herself as she walked into Sydney's office. "Please tell me you have some Vodka . . . Everclear?"
Sydney pulled out a bottle of whiskey and handed Miss Parker a small glass. "That's not good for your ulcer."
"Neither is this place, Syd," she commented as she downed the glass and filled it again.
"What has happened?"
Miss Parker took another drink instead of answering the question. "Do you want to see Jarod?"
"Of course," Sydney whispered cautiously.
Miss Parker took a final drink, "Come up to my office in a little bit, I'll get you down there."
********
Sydney knocked on Miss Parker's door, looking around suspiciously. He was desperate to see Jarod, but he was terrified of being caught.
"What?" Miss Parker yelled.
Sydney entered, shutting the door behind him. Miss Parker flipped her monitor until it displayed Jarod. He was with Mr. Raines, again.
"Moving up the time unexpectedly, he's good," she sighed.
Sydney starred in horror as he watched Raines threaten to inject Jarod with the death serum again.
"I'm sure you remember this from the last time," Raines threatened. "And don't think that I won't revive you . . . you aren't getting off that easily."
Jarod shook his head and screamed "No!" while a sweeper put a tourniquet on his arm.
"Do the simulation, Jarod." Jarod didn't respond, but closed his eyes and whispered 'no' over and over again. One of the sweepers plunged the needle into his arm and injected the poison.
"Take him back to his cell," Raines said.
"The antidote!" Jarod cried. Raines simply gave him a cold look while Jarod screamed in horror.
"My God!" Sydney said as he turned away from the screen.
"It was probably a blank," Miss Parker whispered.
"What?" Sydney asked.
"I don't think even Raines would be stupid enough to kill Jarod this quickly. He injected him with sugar water, Syd." Miss Parker flipped the monitor screen to Jarod's room. "See, still breathing." She turned to Syd with a serious look, "We've got a short window to get in there before Raines takes him back. Do you want to see him?" Sydney nodded.
********
Miss Parker looked up and down the hallway cautiously as she opened the door. "Jarod? Jarod? It's me again."
"Again?" Sydney asked. He stopped questioning when Miss Parker gave him one of her looks.
Sydney stood back and watched in complete shook as Miss Parker kneeled at Jarod's side. "Jarod? Can you hear me?" she gently brushed his face to wake him. He groaned in response. "Someone's here to see you," she whispered kindly.
Sydney knelt down next to her. He hardly recognized the Miss Parker next to him. He hardly recognized the mass of bruised flesh in front of him. "Jarod," he whispered.
"Sydney," the parched lips whispered.. His eyes never opened. He whimpered as he tried to pull his hand free. Sydney held it.
Miss Parker stopped listening at this point. She was pacing. How could The Tower just stand by at watch Raines kill off their most prized asset? Why had she spent years of her life trying to bring him back if they were just going to kill him off? She paced some more. This might just be a vengeance gig for Raines, but maybe not for everyone else.
"Miss Parker?" Sydney asked as he noticed her odd behavior, "What are you doing?"
"Fixing our problem. Don't worry, Jarod, I'm getting you out of this."
********
Jarod felt as though he had been hit by a Mac Truck. He heard a rhythmic beeping in the background. He painfully creaked open his eyes. Light streamed through the room from a window. Jarod carefully cranked his head to look around the room. He was above ground. There were curtains, a television, flowers on the sheets . . . it was highly unusual for The Center. He turned his head a little more to the left. Pain shot through his neck. An IV dripped something into his arm. Next to him was the teddy bear he had sent Miss Parker. Confused, he turned to his right. Miss Parker was slumped over in a chair. He had been in so much pain he hadn't noticed that she was holding his hand. He was about to wake her up when Sydney walked into the room.
"You're awake," Sydney smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I took a flying leap off the top of The Tower. How long have I been out?"
"About a week," Sydney said. "She's been here the whole time. She went home for a few minutes once. I haven't been able to get her to leave your side since, not even to eat."
Jarod starred inquisitively at the exhausted beauty slumped over next to him. "Where am I?"
"The Center Hospital."
"How did I get here?"
"That's a question for Miss Parker. She went before The Tower and convinced them turn you over to her. I have no idea how she did it, but Mr. Raines has no control over you now."
"Making up more lies about me, Syd?" Miss Parker asked as she stretched. "How are you feeling?" she asked Jarod.
"What did you give them Miss Parker?" Jarod asked.
"The Dr. should examine you," she said pushing a button on Jarod's bed.
"Miss Parker? What did you tell them?"
"I need a cigarette," she muttered as she walked out the door. "And a 1/5 of vodka," she whispered under her breath.
"What did you promise them?" he yelled after her, but it was too late.
----To Be Continued----