Timeline: Set directly after IOTH. Yeah, yeah I know I'm a little late joining the game.
Disclaimer: If I owned them do you honestly think I would have allowed the show to be cancelled? I think not. The song, well it isn't mine either, it belongs to Gary Allen.
**I already know they're a little out of character but please feel free to flame away. Those hot tamales will keep me nice and toasty while the snow piles up outside. So without further ado…
Healing a Broken Wing
Miss Parker stood before the empty grave, solemnly staring at the headstone. It didn't matter that he wasn't her real father—he was the only father she had ever known. Miss Parker briefly recalled her conversation with Jarod from a few nights ago. She remembered how he had dodged the question of her father's chance of survival. He didn't want to give you false hope, her inner sense whispered.
"And I didn't want to destroy what little hope you had left inside of you," Jarod said quietly finishing her unspoken thought, as he stepped out from behind a tree. He stood silently for a moment, watching her.
"Why is it that the one person I'm supposed to distrust is always with me in the darkest moments," she asked him softly. For a minute she didn't think he had heard her question, and started to turn around to look at him when he replied.
"I thought we had already discussed this, Mel."
"My name is Ms. Parker, not Mel. Mel was a little girl, the Centre destroyed her a long time ago," Parker said as she finally turned around to face Jarod. "You need to leave Jarod. I just want to be alone."
"You don't have to be alone anymore Melissa. Your family—Ethan, Ben, Syd, even Broots—wants to help you.
"They can't help me with this Jarod. No one can help me. I don't even understand it all…I just…I need…I can't do this anymore," Parker shouted as a tear slipped down her cheek and slowly blended with the falling rain. For a moment looking at Jarod, she flashed back to the cargo hold on the plane, and heard her father's words once more. The new Parker legacy begins with you Angel. She hadn't noticed that Jarod had closed the distance between them, and was now wrapping her in his jacket to stave off the cold rain. "I'm so tired Jarod. They've taken so much from me…my mother, my childhood, the man I called my father, and…you. What do I have left?"
"Me," Jarod said emphatically. "You've always had me. Why do you think I left all the clues for you to follow? I couldn't leave you, I could never leave you."
"Why?"
A simple question really. So why can't I answer it? Because genius that means you expose a piece of your remaining hope. Funny how my conscious has taken on the same tone as Parker's. In the midst of Jarod's internal struggle, he hadn't noticed her walking away from him. "Parker," he called as he chased after her, "Parker." He caught up with her and turned her around to face him. "I can never leave you," he said looking into her eyes, "because I love you."
"Jarod," Parker began softly, "I can't right now. I just can't."
He nodded, and attempted a smile, "Let me take you home."
"I don't have a home anymore. God I don't even know who I am anymore," she exclaimed as he led her to the passenger side of her car.
He opened the door for, but instead of shutting the door after she had gotten inside he dropped to his knees in front of her. "You are Melissa Jameson Parker. You're Catherine's daughter, and nothing will ever change that. Do you understand?"
She nodded her head in acquiescence and he carefully shut the door and walked around to the other side and got in the car. As they left the cemetery, the silence was deafening. Jarod opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by the radio, which Parker had just turned on.
Somebody else was here before
He treated you unkind
A broken wing needs time to heal
Before a heart can fly
Girl…
I'll fill those canyons in your soul
Like a river leads you home
And I'll walk a step behind
In the shadows so you shine
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you're sure that I'm the one
As the lyrics washed over Parker, she finally saw the truth. For the first time in twenty years, she felt free. She felt love. The unconditional love Jarod was offering her. A lifetime. No demands, no conditions, just love. Parker was free. They could just disappear and no one would ever hear from them, all she had to do was say…"I love you Jarod."
His face broke into a wide smile as he glanced away from the road at her. He clasped her hand in his, "Are you sure?"
"I'm free." Parker said squeezing his hand. "I'm finally free."
Two Years Later"Hey Syd," Broots said as he walked into Sydney's office. "This just arrived for you," he explained as he handed Sydney the crisp, white envelope.
"Thank you, Broots. I'll be down in a bit," Sydney replied as Broots left the office. He turned the envelope over in his hands a couple of times, trying to remember where he had seen the handwriting. Finally, curiosity got the better of the doctor and he opened the flap. A single picture fell to the floor, and he reached under his chair to retrieve it. What he saw justified all his years at the Centre. He was glancing down on the smiling faces of Jarod, Parker, and a smiling newborn girl. On the back of the photograph in Jarod's virtually illegible scrawl were the words Sydney Catherine.