Title - Tears of Yesterday III
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Category - JMPR, MP/L, MSR
Spoilers: Pretender Season 4, X-Files Season 8 Finale
Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker make some unexpected friends and discover some unexpected ties.
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.


* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 8
* * * * * * * * * *

Scully paces back and forth across the waiting room floor, trying
to lull William to sleep.

"All I'm saying is that maybe we should keep an eye on this guy,"
Mulder says, reaching into the baby bag for the pacifier.
"Family or not, Lyle is nuts. And Parker's not far behind him."

"Mulder," she says in that warning tone again.

"No, don't give me that 'Mulder'. Did you hear some of those
stories?" Mulder asks. "The sad thing is that he sounded proud.
He wasn't remorseful at all. Scully, he killed Jarod's brother.
And that was after he left a pregnant woman buried in the middle
of the desert."

"Okay, I'll admit that he has some problems," Scully concedes.
"But according to Parker, he didn't have the best of childhoods.
His adoptive mother was insane and his adoptive father was
abusive. It's hard for a person to overcome a beginning like
that."

"I guess," Mulder sighs. "But it's a good thing he wasn't
talking to you. I think he actually confessed to a few unsolved
crimes we worked on. I was tempted to arrest him. Lucky for
him, I don't have that authority anymore."

"I think Parker can handle Lyle," Scully tells him, giving him a
quick kiss on the lips. She hands him the sleeping baby and
watches as he gently places William in the baby seat. "We just
need to make sure she stays safe while she's here in the hospital
so that she can get back to Jarod and Serena as soon as
possible."

"All I can say is that it must be love with those two," Mulder
says, shaking his head in disbelief. "The Centre sounds
horrible. And add some torture a la Lyle and it sounds
unbearable. I can't believe that Parker has spent most of the
past few years hunting him like he was some kind of animal just
to take him back to that place. But despite all that, he still
loves her."

"I don't think he ever stopped," Scully muses. "It's sweet,
really. You never forget your first love. No matter what she's
done, he's always been there for her. And now, she's starting to
appreciate that. I don't think he has to worry about her taking
him back to the Centre anymore."

"You know, it's kind of refreshing," Mulder laughs. "They
actually make our relationship seem normal."

"Mulder, we're hardly normal," she laughs before planting another
kiss on his lips. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You really are one in five billion, Scully. I love you."

"I love you too, Mulder."

* * * * * * * * * *

The Centre
Mr. Parker's office

Mr. Parker grimaces as he flips through the newspaper. The story
on the first page of the regional section was disturbing and
actually gave him chest pains when he first encountered it. His
daughter has apparently been a busy little bee.

The phone starts to ring, his private line. He can only assume
it's Carson based on the news he just read. The man is more
than likely in jail or on the run. Somehow the FBI got tipped
off to his clinic and orchestrated a raid on the place. He can
only assume the source was his daughter or Jarod. Several
doctors, nurses, and orderlies were taken into custody, but the
article made no mention of Carson. The man would have to be
found and disposed of before he decides to tell his little
story. He has men out looking for him now.

"Parker," he says gruffly into the phone after the tenth annoying
ring.

"Dad. It's Lyle."

"Son. I'm surprised to hear from you. I was expecting to see
you here soon with your sister."

"Yeah, there was a bit of a problem there," Lyle says. "The FBI
has been hanging around. They were asking me a lot of questions
about Carson and a baby. Parker didn't have a baby, did she? Is
that why she was gone all those months?"

Lyle looks over to Parker who was listening on the other
extension. He rolls his eyes playfully, not believing that his
father is buying his little innocent act.

"Is there a baby there?" Mr. Parker asks, trying to be nonchalant
about it.

Miss Parker looks at Lyle and shakes her head furiously, trying
to silently plead with him not to tell their father anything
about the baby.

"I haven't seen a baby. I just got here," he lies. "You really
think she would run off and have a baby? Why wouldn't she let
Carson know?"

"Don't worry about that," Mr. Parker says. He's disappointed
to hear that there's no baby. "Why don't you work on getting
her home. We'll get the truth out of her by whatever means are
necessary."

"I'm not sure how easy that'll be," Lyle says, trying to quickly
come up with an excuse. His father's words scared him a little.
For some reason, this baby is of the utmost importance. He knows
that if Parker goes back to the Centre, there's no telling what
their father would do to her.

"Why not? Let me talk to her and tell her that it's time to come
home," his father orders.

"You can't. She's, uhm . . . in a coma. Yeah, a coma. She's
been that way since I got here. I haven't had a chance to speak
with her. Her doctors say that they hope she'll be out by the
end of the week. If not, they're going to transfer her to a
different ward. I figure during the transfer, things would be
more confused. I could sneak her out then."

"What?" Mr. Parker says distractedly. Someone had come in and
handed him a piece of paper with news he'd been waiting on. "End
of the week? That's good. We don't want to arouse any
suspicion, do we? Let her stay and when they transfer her, then
take that opportunity to take her. Make sure she's still
unconscious, it'll be easier for you. Do whatever you have to do
to ensure that. I'll have one of our staff physicians prepare a
list of drugs for you."

"You want me to drug her?" Lyle asks incredulously. Miss Parker
sits stunned on the bed, any respect she had left for her father
now gone.

"You need to do whatever is necessary, Lyle. It's imperative we
get your sister back here quickly and discretely. She needs to
remain unconscious because I need you to be somewhere else right
now." He holds up the piece of paper and smiles an evil smirk.
"I have a loose end I need you to tie up."

* * * * * * * * *

Lyle hangs up the phone and catches Miss Parker's worried glare
on him.

"What do you think he meant about loose ends?" she asks, not sure
she really wants the answer.

"I don't think it had anything to do with you," he says to assure
her. "He thinks you're in a coma. But he expects you back at
the Centre by the end of the week."

"She can't go," Mulder says from the door. He had just stepped
inside and neither of them heard him. "You can't be seriously
thinking of taking her back there."

"Of course not," Lyle tells him. "You think I'm nuts or
something?"

"The thought *did* cross my mind," Mulder tells him, crossing his
arms across his chest in a definitive confrontational gesture.

"You and me both," Miss Parker says with a giggle. "And pretty
much everyone else in society.

"Yeah, you're laughing now, Miss 'I have to chase my boyfriend
across the country and drag him back in handcuffs. You know, you
really should get some therapy about those domineering impulses,"
he shoots back, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

"Well, at least I don't . . "

"Alright. All of you," Scully interrupts with a motherly tone.
"That's enough of that."

"Just what I was about to say, Honey," Mulder chimes in.

"I meant you, too, Mulder," she says with her hand on her hip.
"You started it all."

"But Scully," he whines. She gives him a glare and he
immediately shuts up.

"Anyway, Lyle. What were you saying about the Centre," Scully
asks him, getting back to the earlier topic of conversation.

"I just talked with our father. He expects to see Parker soon,
but I bought us a few days. At least until the end of the week.
He thinks she's here in a coma. In the mean time, he needs me to
do something for him. Something about loose ends that need
tying."

"Loose ends?" Mulder is curious.

"My guess it has a little something to do with the raid on CarMed
that Parker says you guys were responsible for. I'm sure he
wasn't too happy to hear about that," Lyle hypothesizes.
"Anyway, while he's busy with all that, I figure we can get
Parker someplace safe as soon as her doctors say she can move.
Then I'll go see what my father needs from me."

"That sounds like a plan," Mulder agrees. "We can take her up to
Maine with Uncle Ben. She'll be safe there."

"Sounds good," Parker says. "When can I get out of here?"

"That depends on how you're feeling," Scully tells her. "Your
doctors think that the worst is over. Of course, you shouldn't
push yourself. But if you feel you can travel, then it's up to
you. Your doctors shouldn't have a problem with you leaving if I
assure them you'll have around the clock medical care."

"If it's up to me, then I say we get out of here." Parker gently
swings her legs over the side of the bed with a slight wince and
lets them dangle towards the floor. Both men make a move towards
her to help her, but she holds them off with her infamous icy
glare.

Lyle smirks in recognition of the look of determination that
crosses her face. It's the look that he both admired and feared.
It's the look of one doesn't let anything stop her from achieving her
goal. The Centre better be aware. Miss Parker is back. And this time,
she has a family to fight for.

To be continued . . .