Bang Bang
by Bethe
~*~
Author's Note: Yes, this is a songfic, but imagine that this is taking place in a movie or episode, and the lyrics represent the background music, or the music that plays over the scene.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Pretender (though I wish I did). Nor do I own the song "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). That was written by Sonny Bono, and sung by Nancy Sinatra.
~*~
Parker sat down in front of her fireplace with her requisite glass of scotch in one hand and a Marlboro Red in the other. She'd started smoking again sometime after the third month of Jarod's incommunicado status. Days at the Centre were idle, and often ended early. Raines didn't even breathe down her neck as often anymore. Lyle had skipped town for only God knew where, and Parker was fine with that. Life was so much easier without his slime in her hair.
But she couldn't leave. She was bound to the Centre by some invisible adhesive. At times, she fancied the reason to be her little brother. But logic told her he was dead. Other possibilities were Angelo, Syd, or Broots, but they didn't seem to hold up. No, none of those kept her at the Centre.
It was Jarod. Oddly enough, she had this unexplainable fear that the moment she left, he would resume communication, and she would miss it. She knew that this was highly unlikely, and that the Centre was slowly decaying during his absence. But after two years, she still held out hope that he would come back in one form or another.
I was five and he was six
We rode on horses made of sticks
He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight
This night, as on most nights, she thought of their relationship, if you could call it that. Some of her earliest memories of the Centre were with him. Games were not allowed for the Pretenders, yet they played anyway. They had thought they were so safe, so clever. Yet Broots had uncovered some not-so-hidden DSAs of their prepubescent antics. Just thinking about them brought a smile to her face. For some reason, Cops and Robbers was their favorite game. There was a sad sense of irony in the fact that Parker always played the robber, which meant Jarod had to chase her.
Bang bang,
He shot me down: bang bang,
I hit the ground: bang bang,
That awful sound: bang bang,
My baby shot me down.
They were so innocent then. Childhood had a tendency to do that to a person. They thought nothing of pretending to shoot each other. He was so valiant as the cop that her pre-teen heart had fallen into a puppy love based mostly on adoration.
Seasons came and changed the time
When I grew up, I called him mine
He would always laugh and say
"Remember when we used to play?
Bang bang,
I shot you down: bang bang,
You hit the ground: bang bang,
That awful sound: bang bang,
I used to shoot you down."
Then she grew up. Her father had sent her away, and she "matured" into the woman she was now. She was all business; puppy love pushed away. But Jarod loved to remind her of the way they were. He had wanted the young Miss Parker back, she was sure of that now. But then, she was clueless. Reminiscing was something she did not want to do.
Now he's gone, I don't know why
And till this day, sometimes I cry
He didn't even say goodbye
He didn't take the time to lie.
It didn't matter anymore. Or, at least she didn't want it to matter. He had been gone for years, without a word to even his treasured mentor. For some reason Parker felt like she was deserving of an explanation, or at least a half-hearted lie. But the silence. . .it was like she was nothing.
He shot me down: bang bang,
I hit the ground: bang bang,
That awful sound: bang bang,
My baby shot me down.
Even after all these years, Jarod could still shoot her down as no one else could.
~*~
End