When The Bough Breaks

by MMB

Everybody has their breaking point — and Sydney has reached his. NOW COMPLETE

10. Taking Care of Business

Chapter 10 – Taking Care of Business

"Well? Am I more presentable now?"

Miss Parker's head came up from where she had been looking over a very blonde Jarod's shoulder at the laptop screen, and she smiled after giving a start of surprise. "My God, Syd! You look like you did about twenty years ago – only your hair is a little longer now than you wore it then…"

Jarod looked up and stared. "She's right, Sydney. And your hair isn't purple at all." Miss Parker chortled at the remark and at Sydney's answering expression of mild exasperation. This was yet another sign that Jarod still hadn't gotten over his tendency to take things far too literally — one of his more endearing traits.

But then it was Sydney's turn to stare. Jarod had taken the time to even lighten his eyebrows, so that the two of them standing at the table looked very much like siblings. "You look very…" he began and then stopped. Never, in all his years, had he ever imagined seeing both Jarod and Miss Parker gone blonde. "…different."

"I made some toast," Miss Parker pointed to a plate sitting on the stove, "and the coffee's fresh."

"Any news?" Sydney asked as he headed first for the coffeepot.

"Bailey tells me that the raid is on for five-thirty tonight. That gives us the two hours or so it will take to get to Blue Cove, plenty of time to sit and wait for Angelo, and then two or so more hours to beat it back here while the feds swoop in." Jarod picked up his coffee cup and drained what was in it. "And I heard from Angelo – he's ready to move and will be waiting for us at the rendezvous point at three this afternoon. He told me that they leave the boy alone for a fifteen minute interval right after he finishes his afternoon play session, and that he'll loop the surveillance so that he can get him out through the vents before they realize he's missing."

"What if my little brother doesn't want to go with him?" Miss Parker worried.

Jarod was shaking his head. "Angelo said that he's been visiting the boy off and on for a while now, looping the cameras during that short period several days every week so that the visits are unsuspected by sweepers – and has been telling him about the adventure they were going to go on this afternoon. Knowing Angelo, I doubt that your brother will resist."

"And just where IS this rendezvous point?" Sydney wanted to know.

"There's a ventilation port just outside the Centre property line behind a small grove of trees, believe it or not," Jarod stated, rising and heading toward the coffeepot himself for a refill. "I've used it several times to get in and out of the Centre – and, believe it or not, it tends to be completely unwatched. I've wondered several times if it even still appears on any of the security schematics anymore."

"But what if…" Miss Parker began.

"I wouldn't worry, Parker," Jarod shook his head. "If they've installed anything new by way of security, Angelo will have already taken care of it. He's always been about two steps ahead of the Centre when it came to getting into things or disarming alarm devices they'd set up in the heating and ventilation system." He looked up at her and caught himself before he burst out laughing at the expression on her face. "Don't look so surprised," he chuckled. "That's why he so very rarely was anywhere when Raines would come looking for him, but always seemed to make himself available to you when you or Sydney would need his talents."

"Did you take care of that systems bug that will wipe out all traces of Sydney and Broots from the mainframe?" she asked after she'd recovered.

"Yup – I've been in and out of the Centre mainframe, first to make sure that both boys are still where they're supposed to be, second to make sure that they'll be where they're supposed to be when Angelo and then the feds come looking, and third to set off the worm. It should be nicely into the heart of the mainframe, eating away at Sydney's and Broots' history as we speak." He glanced into her face as he moved past her to sit back down again. "I even modified it slightly just before I set it loose. Sam will vanish too now, along with Sydney and Broots. Your friend's safe."

Miss Parker's face suddenly lit up as if from within in surprise and delight at his thoughtfulness despite his reservations, and she bent over him and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Jarod," she exclaimed softly. "You don't know how much I appreciate that."

Jarod's face softened and then flushed slightly. Miss Parker had turned away to serve Sydney some toast almost immediately, and so she missed the brief expression of utter confusion and bemused affection that blinked over his features — but Sydney didn't. Jarod looked over at his old mentor and saw that the older man was observing him placidly, and then flushed again slightly at the idea that he'd been caught out in a moment of weakness. Sydney merely shook his head at him very slightly, and Jarod smiled back in reply — and in gratitude for his mentor's keeping his mouth shut. He didn't know how he felt about the way Miss Parker could still confuse him so easily, but he knew that he didn't want HER knowing anything about it yet.

Sydney carefully schooled his face to utter neutrality. The dynamics between Miss Parker and Jarod were changing, and suddenly he could see that the fluid nature of their relationship very well could be part of the reason behind Jarod's reluctance to leave and go searching for his biological family again once things were concluded with the Centre. He remembered back just a few days ago when Jarod had admitted that she was confusing him. Obviously that situation had yet to resolve itself one way or the other.

"I'm wondering if we really want to come back here after we have the boy and Angelo," Sydney said, deciding to take the pressure away from Jarod and move to something a little more important. "There simply isn't enough room in this cabin for four adults and a small child. We need a bigger place to land."

"If I thought it were safe, I'd say we should take over Daddy's old townhouse," Miss Parker answered, putting the plate of toast in the middle of the table and carefully stepping over telephone cords to computers to take a seat at the table opposite Sydney. "It has more than enough room — and I seriously doubt that either Lyle or Raines has had much to do with the place."

"I don't know," Jarod shook his head, grateful for something more pertinent to think about. "It's awfully close to the Centre — if anybody's been keeping an eye on the place…"

"We can keep our heads down and the shades pulled, can't we?" she persisted.

"Besides," Sydney reassured him, "it will just be for a few hours, right? Your FBI friend says that the raid on the Centre itself is slated to start at five-thirty. We'd only have to stay hidden for a couple of hours at most."

"I'd really rather not be anywhere near Blue Cove when things start to fall in," Jarod stated stubbornly. "Call me paranoid, but the LAST thing I want to have to deal with is a behind-the-times sweeper who hasn't gotten the message that the Centre isn't cutting him a paycheck anymore."

"But I don't want to have to drive for hours again just to get to a safe haven," Miss Parker complained mildly. "I don't know about either of you, but if I don't see the inside of a moving vehicle for at LEAST a week or more…"

"What about heading back to Dover and getting a hotel suite once we pick up the others?" Sydney asked around his last bite of toast. "It's close enough that we don't have to drive forever, and far enough away from Blue Cove that we ought to be able to stay under anybody's radar until it's too late."

Jarod pointed at his mentor and gazed approvingly at Miss Parker. "I like the way he thinks."

"Dover wouldn't be bad," she agreed with a thoughtful nod.

"As a matter of fact, we could take the time to find a decently sized place to land in Dover on our way through — since we aren't supposed to rendezvous anywhere until mid-afternoon," Sydney continued. "Once we have Angelo and the boy, we just retrace our steps and dig in for the rest of the evening and wait for the news to hit."

"I'm all for that," Miss Parker's nod grew a little more enthusiastic.

"Then let's finish breakfast and get back on the road," Jarod urged, sipping cautiously at his hot coffee.

"I'll just be glad when this is over," Sydney mumbled into his coffee cup.

"I think we all will," Jarod agreed after exchanging a glance with Miss Parker. "It's long past time this was all over, for everyone concerned."

"We need to go shopping," she announced suddenly.

"What in hell for?" Jarod returned. "We've got all the food we need…"

"We'll need a child's car seat for the baby," she told him firmly. "After everything we're going through to get that boy out of there safely, I'm not taking any chances with him in the car."

"You should have thought of that…"

"We have the time, Jarod," she frowned. "Three o'clock isn't for another seven hours. What's the big problem?"

The dark chocolate eyes bored into hers and then dropped away as he began to busy himself with shutting down the laptop again. "I guess I'm just getting anxious," he admitted. "Sorry about that." He tipped his hand over to look at his watch. "We won't just sit around the room until it's time to drive to Blue Cove – we'll take off about an hour or so earlier and hit one of the bigger department stores in Dover after we find our hotel suite. That should give us plenty of time to get everything we need."

"OK," she backed away from her pique. "And don't worry about the case of nerves. We're all on edge, wondering if this is going to go down properly or not. We just need to remember to be smart and not start bickering."

"For my part, I'm just hoping that Raines doesn't have anything done to the Sanchez boy between when the FBI crashes through the front doors and when they can get to him," Sydney worried as he moved to one of the marginally comfortable easy chairs and took a seat. "The Centre is just too good, too efficient, at disappearing a person – and a kidnapped child would be one of the first people I'd want to disappear if I were Raines." He gazed up at Jarod. "How will we know if the raid was successful, anyway? They probably won't put anything on the news…"

"I'll email Bailey after we get back from Blue Cove this evening, Sydney," Jarod promised, "and I'll ask him straight out. How's that?"

Sydney sighed and nodded, then rose to rinse his coffee cup in the sink. "Are we ready to go?"

Jarod slipped the computer back into its black canvas case and dropped his cell phone into his breast pocket. "Ready when you are," he announced, then drained the rest of his coffee and rose to rinse his cup as well. "Looks like you'll have dishes to do the next time you come back here, Sydney," he commented, looking at the cups in the sink.

"Maybe by then I can come back and actually enjoy being here," Sydney replied, looking around the cabin that he and his twin brother had built together and then used from time to time over the years — the cabin where Jacob had finally found his rest. "I've always loved this place."

"We'll be back, Syd," Miss Parker promised. "And when we do come, you'll have a little boy to teach how to fish."

Sydney gazed at her fondly and nodded, and then straightened his shoulders with a deep breath. "Let's get this over with," he pronounced with a determined voice.

"Lead on, MacDuff," Miss Parker gestured toward the door.

oOoOo

Jarod slowed the black SUV and then aimed it at a virtually invisible set of indentations leading from the paved lane that ran past the front gates of the Centre. The SUV bounced carefully into the brush until it came to a halt on the edge of a small meadow, in the center of which was a round cement tube-like structure protruding from the grass that had a sloped metal roof construct on top of it.

"And THIS is how you've gotten in and out of the Centre?" Miss Parker asked, staring at the non-descript cement and metal structure with some surprise. "You're right – this doesn't appear on any of the security schematics that I've ever studied. I'd have stationed a sweeper in the area and nailed your ass long since if I'd have known."

"I guess we'll just have to be grateful for the oversight," Jarod replied, turning off the ignition and twisting in his seat so he could look at both his companions. "Parker, I'm thinking that you and Angelo will sit in the back with the baby – you two are the people that he'll know the best. Sydney can sit up here with me."

"I just wish there were some way to make sure that the little Sanchez boy is safe and will be found by the police," Sydney continued to worry. "This entire process got started because I felt it necessary to get that boy back home where he belongs – I'd hate to think that I'm the reason the boy ends up dead or missing…"

"Sydney, this plan is about as foolproof as we can make it," Jarod promised. "If Raines views this kid as valuable as he probably does, he's not going to just kill him at the first sign of trouble. He'll try to spirit him out of the complex, yes – but not murder him."

"And if Raines succeeds in sneaking him out of the Centre?"

"He won't," Jarod insisted. "He can't. When I contacted Bailey with the VCD of the boy, I included a computer file that contained architectural blueprints of the complex itself, with all entrances and exits marked – excluding this one, of course. We have to trust that the FBI knows what they're doing when they raid the place – because it is their responsibility to find the boy and get him back where he belongs."

"What if there's another exit like this one — one that just kind of fell off the charts — and Raines knows about it?"

"We've planned for all the contingencies we can, Sydney," Jarod soothed. "And I'm willing to bet you good money that if Raines doesn't know about this exit, he probably doesn't know about any others not in the charts. The FBI won't let him slip through their fingers — organized business getting away with the business of kidnapping children wouldn't sit well with law enforcement."

Sydney grumbled, "I'm just feeling the pressure of the responsibility of setting this entire circus in motion and wishing I could do something personally to make sure things go down the way we want them to."

"I can appreciate that…"

"What time is it?" Miss Parker demanded.

Jarod turned the key in the ignition to turn on the clock-radio on the dashboard. "Two-forty-five," he answered. "We have about ten minutes left to wait."

"It's the waiting that's going to drive me NUTS!" Miss Parker exploded softly and then ran her fingers through her blonde hair before leaning her elbow into the car door and her forehead into the palm of her hand. "I'm like Sydney – I want to be out there DOING something. Sitting here and waiting for others to come to me is for the birds."

"You've been in the driver's seat for too long," Jarod commented quietly, then raised his hand defensively. "No, honestly. I'm not trying to piss you off, Parker, just telling you what I see. You were the brains and the mover behind the search for me for so many years that the idea of sitting back and letting others do the work or bring things TO you doesn't sit well anymore."

"Well, you've been a mover and a doer for the past five years," she shot back. "Just how the hell are you keeping your own sanity sitting there on your thumb?"

"I've had lots of practice at having to sit and wait, Parker," he answered in a much more gentle tone. "And with all of the Pretends I've done, there are certain developments that I had to be patient and have those I was working with and for do for themselves before I could respond to the situation and continue to nudge things along. I'm used to playing the waiting game, and used to trusting that others will play their necessary parts so that I can play mine."

"Is that roof going to allow for enough room for Angelo to slip through?" Sydney asked, trying to look closer at the structure.

"The whole top end is on a hinge," Jarod answered, pointing, "although technically he should be able to slip through without too much difficulty. I broke the hasp that held the top down the first time I used it to get back in, though, so we can tip the top off and help him hand the boy out the minute we know he's there."

"We should get over there then," Miss Parker stated and unlatched her car door. "I can't just sit here…"

"And what are you going to do over there, Parker, pace back and forth?" Jarod snapped.

"At least I'd be DOING something," she defended herself haughtily.

"Enough, you two," Sydney shook his head. "This isn't helping – and didn't you promise not to bicker?" Miss Parker ran her hands through her hair again in frustration and then pulled the car door closed again while Jarod leaned back against the headrest of his seat and let go a long, deep breath. "You both are going to have to figure a way around your love of arguing around that little boy," he cautioned. "After all, the four of us adults are going to be his first contact with a family unit, with the two of you naturally taking the roles of parents."

Jarod turned and stared at his mentor in surprise – that was a part of this that he truly HADN'T thought through. He turned and looked at Miss Parker and saw that she had been equally startled by the thought. "But I don't know how to be a…"

"Neither do I, Pez-for-brains," Miss Parker replied in a voice that disarmed what was normally a mild dig. "I don't think we have much choice in the matter, however."

"Geez!"

"Jarod…" Sydney caught at his former student's shoulder and shook it suddenly. "Look!" he ordered, pointing.

A hand was snaking out from under the metal roof looking for a hasp.

"That's our cue," Miss Parker exclaimed and leapt from the SUV. With Jarod and Sydney close on her heels, she trotted across the short distance and then worked to lift the pyramid-like metal from the cement tube.

"Here." Sydney came up behind her and added his strength to hers and soon had the metal lid tipping to the side.

"Angelo," Jarod called, "give me the boy."

"Nooooo…" a frightened little voice cried out suddenly, and Jarod found himself dealing with a squirming armful.

"Give him here!" Miss Parker was next to him almost immediately, her hands reaching out for her little brother. "Hey there, little man!" she cooed at him the moment the Pretender had shifted the child's weight into her arms. "You remember me, don't you?"

Frightened grey eyes so much like her own stared into her face for a very long moment, and then: "Sissy?"

Miss Parker felt her heart melt at the sound of that funny nickname that he'd bestowed on her as he'd first learned how to speak. "That's right, little man," she reassured him and then closed her eyes in sheer pleasure as the tiny arms wrapped themselves around her neck and clung tightly.

"Come on, Angelo," Jarod urged and put his hand out to the spry little man still clinging to the side of the cement tunnel. But instead of grabbing a hand, he ended up with a handful of strapping attached to a fairly heavy bundle. "What's this?" he asked of the man still inside the tunnel as he pulled the canvas backpack out of the tunnel and set it on the ground next to him.

"You need," Angelo chirped up at him. "Daughter needs too."

"We need you to come out now, Angelo," Sydney called to him gently. "It's time to leave now."

"Angelo knows," the odd little man nodded and then thrust a hand up so that Jarod could help pull him out of the Centre at long last. Once his feet were on the grass, Jarod pulled his old friend into a tight hug of welcome. Angelo contentedly laid his head on his friend's shoulder. "Good to see you," he sighed. He then pushed himself away and reached for Sydney. "Sydney not angry now."

"I'm better, I promise," Sydney enfolded the empath to him, "and I'll be better still when we're safely away from this place."

Angelo nodded enthusiastically. "Raines surprised soon," he chortled as if viewing future events as already concluded, then gazed thoughtfully at the cement passage through which he and the little boy had just traveled. "Centre finished."

"I certainly hope so," Jarod bent and brought the heavy backpack strap up over his shoulder. "Let's get the hell out of here, people," he gestured anxiously at the waiting SUV. "The further we can get away from here before the troops land, the better, don't you think?"

"Are you ready to go for a ride?" Miss Parker asked the child in her arms as she carried him across the grass to the car.

"Me go ride?" the little boy asked in return, his eyes bright at the prospect. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded at him. "We even have a special seat just for you."

Jarod's face grew soft and thoughtful as he listened to the gentle chatter between Miss Parker and her much younger brother. This was a side of her that he'd never seen before — a side that was even more intriguing than the one with which he was most familiar. A snicker drew his eyes from her back to look over at Angelo standing next to Sydney with a very bright and knowing expression on his face. "Don't say it," he warned his friend and hefted the heavy backpack a little more securely onto his shoulder. "Don't say it."

"Come on, Angelo," Sydney urged with a hand to the empath's shoulder to guide him along. "We need to go now."

Angelo paused for a moment and turned to stare at the cement vent. Then he turned and looked up into Sydney's face with a trusting expression. "Angelo stay with Sydney now," and slipped his hand into the psychiatrist's.

With a jolt, Sydney realized that the third child that heaven had placed into his keeping had returned to him now too. He let his fingers tighten around the child-like man's and walked resolutely toward the SUV.

oOoOo

Surprisingly, there actually was a report on the ten o'clock television news program about the FBI having received a tip regarding the whereabouts of a kidnapped child, and the raid on the Delaware research firm known as The Centre early that evening. Television news crews had been present when the little boy had been carried out the front door of the building — a door that had more men in uniforms and jackets with 'FBI' printed on the back than the dark suits of sweepers. The cameras had also captured the moment when William Raines had been led from the building with a jacket draped over his head to keep his face from being seen — the only definitive sign that this was indeed Raines being the oxygen tank that the agent who had hold of Raines' right elbow was dragging along behind. The report then switched back to the announcer in the studio, with a picture of Lyle's face behind her with the words "still being sought" over it.

Miss Parker had gasped the moment that the story began, and once it was concluded and the news program had moved to the next story, she slipped into the bedroom to be with her sleeping little brother. She stared down at the boy with the oddest sense of emptiness within. There was nothing to go back to any longer for her — nothing remained in Blue Cove but a summerhouse filled with memories of her mother and her own belongings, a summerhouse that no doubt Raines had ordered tossed for clues in much the way the cabin at White Cloud had been trashed. All that truly mattered to her were the people gathered in this hotel suite and those warned to stay away. It was a sobering and humbling thought — one that had driven her into the bedroom where she pulled on the sweats that she had yet to return to Jarod and into bed next to a tiny boy who was her only living relative.

Angelo watched the news broadcast with a very neutral expression on his face until the cameras showed Raines. At that point, the empath got up from his spot on the floor and walked over to where Sydney was sitting on the couch, and then seated himself on the floor again with his shoulder leaning into the older man's knee.

Sydney exchanged satisfied glances with Jarod and then looked down as Angelo leaned into his leg. He landed a gentle hand on the top of the empath's head and straightened at the jumbled toss of auburn curls. He too felt the sudden release — the relief of seeing that small boy who had no business being locked in an underground prison being carried gently back into the light of day. He felt the emptiness as well — there was now a vacuum where the Centre had sat at the back of his mind like a malignant observer, robbing him of joy and life. Absently he toyed with Angelo's curls while Miss Parker silently retired behind the bedroom door, wondering if he dared return to his house on Washington Avenue — wondering if it had been left as much of a shambles as his fishing cabin had been. If nothing else, there were a few other things he wouldn't mind retrieving. But from then on, he would be living his life with others at his side — the people in this hotel room with him — and they'd need a larger residence to hold them all.

Jarod could feel the warmth of that satisfied glance he'd shared with Sydney to the bottom of his soul, and he leaned back against the cushion of the couch to relax. It was finally over — the Centre had been taken down and would no longer be pursuing him. He was free, Miss Parker was free, Sydney and Angelo were free — all of them free to take up their lives and walk away without fear of reprisal or censure. Free…

He glanced at the closed door behind which Miss Parker had fled. Now he was free to see just exactly what it was that held him so tightly bonded to that sharp-tongued and prickly beauty, just what it was about her that prevented him from ever truly walking away. He would have to choose his time carefully — there was now a child that would be looking up to her, to the both of them, for love and guidance. There was also an old friend to care for and a father figure to finish nursing back to health.

THIS was family. This was HIS family. These were people he'd tried to live without, only to come to the realization that he couldn't.

And now they were all free.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk," he told Sydney in a hushed voice, rising. "I need some air — I have to think."

"Don't go too far," Sydney cautioned, a hand at Angelo's shoulder preventing the other younger man from rising too. "I think we need to stay close — for tonight, at least."

"I won't," Jarod assured him, then reached for his leather jacket. "I'll be back after a while." He opened the door to the suite and pulled it closed carefully behind him and then leaned on the railing right in front of him.

Below, the flow of traffic had thinned at the intersection so that only an occasional vehicle drove past. The night breeze was brisk and chilly, and it made the Pretender pull his jacket more tightly closed as he walked down the balcony toward the alcove at the end.

He had a choice now — to plunge headfirst into searching for his parents and sister, or dedicate himself to creating a complete family unit with the people who had been a part of his life for good or ill for the better part of that life. He could search for the mother he'd only dreamed about for years, or he could search for the loving woman he knew was hidden within the strong defenses of a girl he'd grown up knowing. He could search for the father he'd met only briefly, or be a son to the man who had raised him and looked after him for decades. He could search for his siblings — a sister and a clone that would be more like a younger brother — or try to help one of his oldest friends adjust to life outside an institutional setting.

Or he could do both, and risk having both sides of his life want to monopolize him.

He wanted both — to have his parents with him again, but not to lose the close bonds with Sydney and Miss Parker that supported and nourished him now. But in thinking through his options, it quickly became clear that this was where he belonged. He would try to find the others — to bring them in — but he would not, could not, leave. That realization brought with it a completely new and uncomfortable feeling that tossed freedom and obligation into a blender and mixed it until it was impossible to distinguish one from the other. He leaned against the building and slid until he was sitting on the concrete.

Inside the suite, Miss Parker heard the sound of the door opening and closing from where she lay in the bed, and it was as if someone had doused her with ice water. The child in her arms might be her only living blood relative — but the men she'd left in the living room were just as important to her in their own ways, one man in particular. She threw back the covers and sprang to her feet, and then remembered and turned to make sure the little boy remained safely tucked in before she went back into the common room. She gazed at Sydney and Angelo, and then looked around for Jarod. "Where did he go?" she asked with a slight tone of panic. "He didn't just…"

"No," Sydney soothed. "He said he just needed some air so he could think."

"Daughter go, talk to Friend," Angelo smiled up at her innocently. "It's time now."

Sydney eyed the sweats and bare feet with obvious trepidation, and then rose. "If you're going to insist on going outside, at least put this on," he insisted, draping his suit jacket over her shoulders. "But don't stay out too long, Parker — you don't need to give yourself a chill."

She stretched and kissed his cheek. "I'll be good, Daddy," she quipped softly and then had followed Jarod out the door.

He had moved to the end of the balcony, down near the alcove that held beverage vending machines and the ice machine. Seated on the cold concrete balcony, he sat with his back pressed against the siding of the building, hands draped limply over knees, staring out at the darkness. Miss Parker walked down the balcony toward him quietly, not trying to hide or surprise him but not going out of her way to disrupt his reverie. She stood next to him for a long moment, looking down into his tired and thoughtful visage, then seated herself Indian-style next to him, facing him.

"What?" He sounded as if he had just noticed her presence. She smiled at the much kinder version of her own way of answering phone calls all these years. It was abrupt — even rude. She'd have to work on that. There was no way she was going to teach her little brother to be that abrasive.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked in return, her question gentle and simple.

"The future," he answered cryptically, then folded his hands together between his propped-up knees.

"Why out here?"

He glanced at her briefly and then stared back out into the night. "I dunno," he answered eventually. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

She watched him for a long moment. "You're thinking of leaving."

"No," he shook his head, "I'm not. And that's what's so confusing."

"I thought you'd be happy to be free to look for your parents without having to worry about the Centre breathing down your neck anymore," she stated, gathering the edges of Sydney's jacket a little closer about her against the nighttime breeze that lifted her hair away from her face.

"I thought I would too," he admitted softly. "And I suppose I am in a way."

"But…" she urged gently.

"It's the strangest feeling," he answered eventually, "to know that I could do it if I really wanted to, and yet NOT want to do it — at least, not…" He stammered to a stop, not exactly sure what it was that was keeping him from charging off. That wasn't right, he chided himself, he did too know what was holding him here. "I can't walk away from this… from US…"

"Sydney would understand," she soothed, blinking at the raw honesty he was showing.

"I know he would," Jarod replied. "But he's only part of what I'd be walking away from."

"You wouldn't have to explain anything to Angelo…" she added, only to be pinned by his dark eyes glittering in the dim light of the beverage alcove.

"You know what I'm talking about," he said with quiet vehemence. "You know which US I'm referring to."

"Is there an US, Jarod?" she asked, leaning her head to her right against the wall of the building. "Or is that something else that the Centre dreamed up and instilled in us to satisfy its own agenda?"

"They may have manufactured our meeting and manipulated some of the dynamics of our relationship in recent years, but NOBODY tells me who I…" He fell silent, astonished at the depth and strength of the emotion that had suddenly swelled and threatened exposure. Miss Parker blinked and straightened again, and for the first time reached out a hand to him — only to have him turn abruptly away from the hand. "Don't — not if you don't mean it." The dark eyes glittered in the pale face.

"If I don't mean what?" This was beginning to remind her of those first, awkward movements that she and Thomas had made toward each other — moments when a desire to be more open battled with the need to protect vulnerability. "What is it that nobody can tell you, Jarod?"

"US, Parker." He shook his head in frustration. "Am I the only one of us that feels the connection?"

"No," she stated gently. "If you were, do you honestly think I'd be out here in the cold with you?" She dropped the hand into her lap to join its mate. "But we've both been around the block with the Centre and it's playing God far too often. I've had every last one of the givens of my life turned upside-down, inside-out and backwards — from finding out my mother's suicide was a ploy to finding out my father wasn't really my father. Tell me — am I wrong to question the originality of what we think we're feeling, considering all that?"

He looked at her and his trained mind could easily follow the reasoning for her fears. "No," he answered more carefully. "But that's just it — they have done their best to make us enemies, and yet here we are, sitting outside freezing our asses off trying to figure out WHY we're not the enemies the Centre put so much time and money into making us. Could it be that while we could be lied to and manipulated into believing certain things about each other, nobody could ever really tell us how to FEEL about the other?"

"Jarod…"

Now it was his turn to put out a hand and cup it gently against her face. "How can we ever know whether there's an US or not if we never try, Parker?"

Her face trembled beneath his touch. "I… don't think I could take it… if you ended up walking away after all," she said in a whisper, her grey eyes full of the fear of being abandoned that had ruled her life for so long. "I don't think I'd survive."

"That's just it, Parker. All these years I've been running, and never — not once — have I ever truly run away, not from you. I've run from THEM, yes; but never you. Every time you gave me half a chance, I came closer and tried to take you with me." His thumb began to stroke her cheek.

"Tell me what you want." The demand was whispered.

"You," was the reply, simple and honest. "You're all I've ever really wanted."

"What about your family?" she asked, taken aback by his statement.

He shook his head. "They are my past — they are where I come from — but I've always seen you as my future. My past will always be a part of me; I can't lose that. But you…" The other hand came up and framed the other side of her face. "I want an US, Parker — whether it comes about because the Centre dabbled in our lives or not, I want to try." He gazed into her eyes soulfully. "I want you. I want US. I want the family that I have with you by my side."

"I'm afraid you'll find your parents and change your mind. And then I'd be alone." There. She'd said it to him directly. It was out.

"The only way I can take that fear away is by proving it won't happen," he reasoned. "And I can't do that if we don't try." He searched her face. "Please, Parker, don't let your fear of what might happen steal a chance for happiness for us both." He shifted up onto his knees and turned to face her completely, all without dropping either hand from her cheeks. Very slowly and carefully he bent and brushed her lips with his. "Let me in, Parker, let me love you. Please."

"You're asking for more than just an armistice after all, then," she stated, looking deep into his eyes for any sign that he was holding back or merely playing with her affections and not finding anything except a warm caring that beckoned for her to relax her wariness at last.

"You're right," he nodded, his gaze not shifting from hers at all. "I want it all."

"And what do I get in return?"

He slowly began to smile. "Give me the answer I want, and I'll show you."

Slowly her hand came up and, after pausing in case he was going to stop her or shift out of reach again, landed soft and warm against his cheek. It was all he needed to lower his lips to hers again; and then, as the kiss deepened, wrap his arms around her and pull her as close to him as he could at long last. "I love you," he whispered into the hair at the top of her head when they finally broke apart, "I always have, and I always will."

She sheltered against his broad chest, nestled in strong arms that held her tightly and kept the chilled nighttime breeze from trying to sneak down her sweatshirt collar. "I suppose we can try and see if we can put an US together," she agreed finally, adding, "especially since I don't seem to have any other pressing business at the mo…"

He lowered his lips to hers again. There had been enough talk.

oOoOo

With Angelo in the bedroom with the little Parker boy, snoring softly, Sydney stretched his frame out on the couch and reached for the television remote to see if there was any other news station carrying the story. Miss Parker and Jarod had been outside for a long time, and while he knew the night was getting cold, he had no intention of interrupting their time together. This moment had been a long time in coming for them — and if Angelo's reactions to whatever emotions he could read from a distance were any indication, problems between those two were finally being resolved.

On the side table, the open and running laptop chirped and announced an arriving email just as the suite door opened and Jarod escorted Miss Parker back into the warmth. Sydney gave a smile at the very obvious closeness that now seemed to bind two of the people he loved most in the world together in a new way. "Email, Jarod," he stated, choosing not to comment at this time. Sometimes things of this nature needed time to grow and strengthen before it had to bear the weight of comment.

Jarod's fingers slipped from Miss Parker's and he stepped over to the laptop and pressed a few keys. "It's Bailey," he announced to the others in the room. "They're starting to sift through the information regarding the Pretender Project, and he wants me to come in and give a statement."

"They'll arrest you," Miss Parker worried. "You can't…"

"I think when they finish reading, they'll have more important things on their minds," he shook his head. "But just in case, I'll tell him that I'll get back in touch with him and work out a deal after a while — that I have a few things I need to do first now that the Centre is out of commission." His eyes rested on her warmly again. "Very important things."

"They found Lyle," Sydney announced from his spot on the couch. "And they're reopening some of the murder cases in which he had once been a suspect. Evidently they found some very incriminating evidence linking him to at least one murder when they searched his apartment. The news report wasn't very specific, but…" His eyes touched Miss Parker's — and it was plain that she remembered the contents of that tiny, hidden room as well as he did.

"It's really over then," she sighed. "Even Lyle."

"And did you two settle whatever it was you had brewing between you?" Sydney asked, his curiosity winning over his discretion, and yet keeping the question superficial enough that they could answer without being specific.

"I think so," Miss Parker removed the jacked from her shoulders and draped it over an unoccupied chair.

"Good." The old psychiatrist turned back to watch the television screen. "Get some rest, both of you — we'll have to decide where we're going tomorrow, and that will take fresh minds. Angelo went in to be with the boy when he woke up and was frightened, and now the two of them are fast asleep — so it looks like you two have the extra bedroom to yourselves. I'll camp on the couch here for the night."

Jarod and Miss Parker exchanged very startled looks at the overt approval of their nascent relationship from the one man whose opinion mattered most to them right now. "A…are you sure?" Miss Parker managed at last.

"I'm not blind, Parker," Sydney replied, turning his head to smile at her. "And there's a time to urge restraint, and a time to stand back and let things that were always meant to be take place."

"I love you, Syd," she exclaimed and bent over him to drop a fond kiss onto his cheek.

"Good night, then, Sydney," Jarod said and reached out his hand for hers as she straightened, and together they walked through the doorway and pulled the door closed behind them.

Sydney smiled and then chuckled softly to himself, and then clicked the television off and kicked the shoes from his feet before rising to turn off lights. He couldn't remember being happier in a very long time.