Sydney's House

Parker sat on the edge of the guest bed, applying the last piece of tape to the bandage on Sam's wound when the doorbell rang. She ran downstairs quickly, shushing Broots with a raised hand as she approached the door. Her other hand gripped the handle of her gun tightly as she leaned toward the door.

"Yes, who's there?"

The deep voice on the front porch replied, "Angel? Is that you?"

Parker looked toward Broots and waved him up the stairs, indicating that he should be silent.

"Yes Daddy.."

As soon as Broots was out of sight, Parker opened the door. Mr. Parker moved to kiss her and awkwardly she accepted it. She closed the door behind him and invited him into the living room to sit down.

"This is certainly a surprise.."

"I just wanted to drop in and see how Sydney was doing, that's all."

She studied her father; he hadn't expected to find her there, of that she was certain.

Parker eyed her father suspiciously, "That's nice, Daddy."

"I need to speak with him."

"Daddy, he needs a lot of rest.he's asleep."

Mr. Parker squirmed slightly, "It's urgent that I speak with him right away."

"What in the world is so urgent that it can't wait until tomorrow?"

Parker's eyes narrowed as he looked at his daughter, "That's between me and Sydney. Now, where is he?"

Her voice was cold and flat, "I told you, he's asleep."

"And I told you this can't wait."

Mr. Parker stood and headed toward the staircase when the sound of ceramic hitting the floor caught their attention. Parker glared at his daughter.

"I'd say he's awake now, wouldn't you?"

Miss Parker ran to keep up with her father as he took the stairs quickly. She grabbed his sleeve before he could open the closed door at the end of the hall.

"Daddy, wait.." He stared at her until she looked away, then finally, she continued, "Sydney's not in there."

"What do you mean? You lied to me?"

"Sam's in there, unconscious."

"What the hell happened? There was a four-man team stationed here."

"And three of them are lying dead on the back porch, and Sam hasn't regained consciousness yet."

"Why haven't you transferred him to the Centre's medical unit?"

"It just happened, there hasn't been time yet."

"And Sydney?"

"He was gone."

"With no trace?"

Parker shook her head, "I'm afraid not."

"Damn.."

"What did you want to talk to him about?"

Mr. Parker's eyes blazed at her, "I told you, that's between me and Sydney."

She looked away, and he felt slight regret that his tone had been so harsh. He brushed her face with the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, Angel. It's been a long day, that's all." She nodded and he continued, "Come on, let's get your sweeper out of here and awake so that we can get some kind of lead on Sydney."

Parker simply nodded. She wondered what was so urgent that Mr. Parker had driven out to Sydney's house to speak with him - especially at a time when he thought Sydney would be alone save for the sweepers. If she hadn't seen the look of irritation in his eyes, she might have suspected that he had something to do with Sydney's disappearance.

She took a deep breath and walked into the guest room, glaring at Broots, who was cleaning up the broken pottery chards.

"Nice going, Scooby."

*********

Centre Medical Unit

Parker watched the steady rise and fall of Sam's chest. She had been sitting at his bedside most of the night, and he had remained unconscious. Her stomach was nauseous from worry: whoever had Sydney had made no move to contact them, and they would continue to be without a clue until Sam awakened.

Parker yawned. It was late, and she couldn't remember the last time she had slept. She glanced at her watch: 5:36 am. The moan from the bed pulled her out of her sleepy state. She placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Take it easy, Sam, you're okay."

His eyes slowly opened and he tried to focus. As soon as he realized who was standing over him, he recoiled. Parker frowned.

"Hey, relax, Sam. It's just me, everything's okay.."

"But you.you-please, Miss Parker-"

"-What the hell is the matter with you? You're acting like I'm going to hurt you or something."

The fear in his eyes made Parker's throat tighten. She sat down slowly, putting a little distance between them, trying to set him at ease.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It was you.."

"What was me?"

"You were the one who hit me."