Disclaimer: Please see chapter 2. Thank you.

A/N: I decided to post this early since I had finished it. Thanks for all the nice reviews! I appreciate every one of them. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Twisted Reality

Miss Parker woke up to hear the sounds of people talking over her. She breathed a sigh of relief to think that the nightmare was over. She moaned and slowly sat up. All she wanted to do was get up, have a cup of coffee, and go to work. With any luck, today would be the day she captured that little brat who haunted her dreams and life. A hand fell across her shoulders and pushed her back into the couch.

"You better not get up. I don't want you to faint again." Jarod said softly. Miss Parker drew in a deep breath. It hadn't been a dream. She opened her eyes to find Jarod and her mom looking down at her with concern. Tears welled up into her eyes.

"Mom." She whispered, the heartbroken little girl inside rushing up to the surface.

"Shh, it's okay, dear. I'm right here." Catherine leaned over and planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Can you tell me what the matter is? You scared me and Jarod quite a bit. Did you have a bad dream?" Her mother brushed Miss Parker's hair from her face and smiled down gently.

Thoughts suddenly came rushing over her. Broots telling her that he had a lead on Jarod. Rushing after Jarod as he led her on a wild goose chase over the city of Seattle. Being locked up in prison for three hours before Centre security could convince the police that they had the wrong people. Names and faces rushed into her vision. Broots. Sydney. Lyle. Her father. Sam. Where were they? And where was she?

Panic rushed through her again. She leapt off the couch and turned to confront the two people standing in front of her. They looked confused and hurt, as if this kind of behavior wasn't normal for her. Miss Parker just glared.

"This is just all one big dream, is in it? It's all one big dream. I'll wake up to find myself back home." Tears fell down her cheeks. Why was she crying? A thought struck her. What if she couldn't go home? No, she wouldn't let herself believe that. This was all just a dream. "You should be dead." She said heartlessly, pointing at her mother. "And I shouldn't be married to you. You run. I chase. It's always been that way, you hear. Nothing could change it. And I need Lyle. Where's Lyle? Where's Lyle?" Strange she should call for her brother in such a desperate time of need. But, that's what brothers were for, right? And Lyle would have been strangely normal in this twisted place.

"Who's Lyle?" Jarod asked. "And who's Tommy?"

"My twin." Miss Parker said without thinking, responding more to the Lyle question as opposed to the Tommy one. Her mother exchanged glances with Jarod. Miss Parker nearly hit her head. Of course, they probably didn't know about her twin brother considering how twisted this whole time line thing was. After all, she had only just discovered it after all these years.

"You don't have a twin, dear." Catherine whispered, reaching out to comfort her daughter. Miss Parker drew back.

"You're wrong. I do. I do have a twin. And his name's Lyle. Don't lie to me. You know I have a twin brother." Her mind was no longer thinking straight. All she wanted was the familiarity of her home. Catherine sighed and looked sadly at her daughter.

"You're right. I won't lie to you anymore. I never wanted you to find out because I didn't want you to be upset about it. But, apparently, you found out somehow and that must be what's triggering this behavior. You did have a twin. But he died at birth. He was stillborn. I'm sorry I never told you myself." Miss Parker shook her head violently.

"No, you're wrong. Raines stole him and he's alive. You've got to believe me." Why was she arguing about Lyle at a time like this? She needed answers to some vastly different questions. Like where she was and what the hell was going on.

"Love, I think you need a vacation. Or at least you need to go see a doctor. Hallucinating is not a good thing." Jarod remarked, trying to add some humor to stop this suddenly very scary conversation. His wife had never acted like this before. And he, for all his gifts, couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"I'm not hallucinating!" Miss Parker screamed.

"Jarod, you're not helping." Catherine sighed. "Andi, you need to calm down. Acting like this will not help any of us." Miss Parker nodded and allowed her mother to lead her to the couch. She flopped down, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. One minute she felt totally in control and that everything she knew was right and the next she felt like a little child lost in the woods. Just what was going on?

"I need some answers." Miss Parker stated, eyeing both her mom and Jarod. "When I went to bed last night, you were dead and Jarod was running around Oregon helping people. Now here I am, and you're alive and I'm married to him. Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" Her mother and Jarod exchanged startled glances.

"I don't understand." Jarod said. "What do you mean your mom was dead? That's impossible. Love, I think you had a bad dream." Miss Parker shook her head and suddenly clutched her stomach. Damn ulcer. Her face contorted in pain as she waited for the throbbing to stop. This stress was going to kill her.

"Could I possibly get a bottle of Pepto-Bismol? Please?" Miss Parker groaned. Her mother jumped up to get the asked for medicine and Jarod looked at her with concern and confusion.

"What's wrong, Andi? Is there anything I can do?" She shook her head and clutched even more tightly at her stomach. In the back of her mind, death was looking like a very nice thing. Catherine came back with the Pepto-Bismol and Miss Parker opened it and drank straight from the bottle.

"Are you all right? What's the matter?" Catherine asked, sitting next to Miss Parker and holding her hand.

"I have an ulcer." Miss Parker stated between drinks of the liquid medicine. Man, this stuff sure helped her stomach, though, if things continued as they were, she would need to go see a doctor.

"Ulcer? When did you find out that you had an ulcer? Besides all of us having to stay underground, I didn't think your life was so stressful." Catherine said, looking at Jarod. Jarod just looked even more confused than he already was. Apparently, this was the first time he had ever heard of Miss Parker's ulcer. Miss Parker glanced up, her confusion coming back in full force.

"Underground? Why are we hiding underground? Is someone after us?" She asked, really curious as to what could possibly be going on. Her mother just looked at her strangely.

"Don't you remember? After we left your father and the Centre for good, they came after us. They wanted their young prodigy back." Catherine shuddered at the memory. "It was horrible. Thankfully, they never caught us and after staying in France for a few months, we were able to return home. Don't you remember that?" She looked at her daughter, expecting an affirmative answer. Miss Parker could only shake her head. Escaped from the Centre? Her mother had succeeded in rescuing all those children? Miss Parker's head swam and her stomach lurched. She needed to get away. She needed to think. This was just all too much.

"If you two don't mind, I'm going upstairs to lie down for a while." Miss Parker stated, getting up from the couch.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jarod asked, reaching out to steady her when she stumbled. Miss Parker shook her arm away from his grasp.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute. Get on with whatever you all need to do. Paint, I think is what you said. Just leave me alone." Turning, she ran up a flight of stairs, praying she could both figure out what was going on and which room belonged to her and Jarod.