Imzadi: hehe "Powers" always brings to mind Angel for me too, but Lyle used it a lot in the TV series, so… The whole car accident thing is coming up in a future chapter, I promise. Revelations will be made: ) I'm such a dork. And even though J.J. Abrams said the numbers on Lost are meaningless, I put meaning to them long ago: )

Karone Evertree: I don't see the LOST crew killing off Sawyer, he's the sex appeal (although I prefer Jack). You're getting ahead a little bit (but not much….) : )

Chapter Thirty-Eight

4,8,15,16,23,42

Parker felt someone shake her. "What?" she yelled as she opened her eyes. She could see a man looking down at her. Parker blinked a few times and Jack came into focus.

"Good morning would have sufficed," Jack told her.

Parker sat up, "Uh, I have the world's largest headache."

Jack laughed and handed her a bottle of water and two aspirin, "I figured as much."

Parker looked at him with surprise, "How'd you know?" Jack shrugged with a sly smile on his face. Parker looked down at the bottle of water, "Lyle," she hissed.

"Your brother said you generally have a headache when you wake up," Jack said, sitting on the best next to Parker, sending up a cloud of dust, "You should really see a doctor about that."

"I'm looking at one right now."

Jack gave a small laugh, "One with the right medical equipment to check you out."

Parker made a sarcastic face, downed the two aspirin, and followed them with the water. "Where's Jarod?"

"He was up early this morning, helping me with Locke."

"How's he doing," Parker asked as she accepted the fruit Jack offered out to her.

"I'd tell you," Jack said, "but somehow I get the feeling that you really don't care."

Parker took another swig of water, "You'd be right about that." She stood up and stretched, "I could really use a real shower. With good water pressure." Parker had a flashback of the time her and Sydney were trapped together and how then all she had wanted was a cigarette. Not much had changed, in her life.

Parker set down the bottle of water and stretched upward. She heard a click her back and knew she had hit the spot. "Damn."

Jack stood up and quickly began to massage her shoulders. Parker's first instinct was to shrug him off, but the massage was well needed. "Uh," Parker groaned.

"You have a lot of knots and that click I heard in your back wasn't a good click."

Parker leaned her head forward as Jack continued to work out the knots in her back.

4,8,15,16,23,42

The voice hit Parker so hard she fell forward. Luckily, for her Jack had quick reflexes. He caught her quickly and Parker brushed him off, "Thanks."

"What was that?"

"My gut feeling apparently has something to tell me."

Parker made her way out through the hallway and up the ladder. She needed to find Jarod. She saw Lyle, arguing in hushed tones, with Sawyer. She passed it off as nothing and found Jarod bandaging a passed out Locke's legs. "Jarod."

Jarod didn't look up as he continued to bandage Locke up, "What is it?"

4,8,15,16,23,42

The voice hit Parker again. "I got it," she hissed up at the sky. "Damn," she said quietly, "When they want my attention they'll go to serious lengths to get it."

"The voices?" Jarod asked.

"They keep reciting those damn numbers into my mind."

Jarod finished bandaging up Locke's legs, "What do you want me to do about it?"

He wiped off his hands and headed in the direction of the beach. Parker followed him, surprised at how quickly he was walking, "This is about last night isn't it?"

"Look, Parker, why don't you figure out what's going on with the voices, I have other things I need to do."

"Like what?"

Jarod stopped walking and turned around to face Parker, "Like getting us off this island. My family's past is here, not our future."

"OUR family," Parker emphasized.

Jarod shook his head, "I thought long and hard about what was going on last night, I can't sit here and just search for my past. WE'RE STRANDED ON AN ISLAND."

"Sydney will find us," Parker said, "What happened to your faith?"

"If Sydney was going to find us, why isn't he here yet?"

"Angelo," Parker said, "Angelo would NEVER let us just sit and rot. He would know better, even if Syd didn't."

"You do what you want," Jarod said, "But there are other things that need to be taken care of in the process."

He turned away from her and walked down towards the beach. Parker gave a noise of frustration and headed back towards the hatch, down the ladder, and back to those stupid files.

The voices would be telling her those numbers if they weren't important, Parker was sure of it. She rifled through them for several hours until one of them caught her eye. A Sean Preston. Age Four. An empathic male, the Centre's first ever test subject. Parker blinked and then organized the folders my date.

Maggie Jean age eight. Brady Cline age fifteen. John Kramer age sixteen. Samantha Morgan age twenty-three. Joey Winston age forty-two.

"Oh my god," Parker breathed. "4,8,15,16,23,42," there was a pause as she contemplated what she was seeing, "Sean, Maggie, Brady, John, Samantha, Joey. The Centre's first test subjects." At least on this island, Parker silently added.

Parker looked at the dates of death. They all died within a month of each other. The boy, Sean, was the last to perish. Parker looked up and stared at the wall in shock. Sean was empathic, no wonder those numbers were cursed. They were the ages of each of the test subjects as they were brought to the island.

Parker ran down the hallway and up the ladder. She was looking for Jarod but instead she found Hurley. Good enough, Parker thought. "I know what the numbers mean!"

Hurly looked at her in surprise, "The cursed numbers?"

Parker nodded, with excitement, "Yes, the cursed numbers."