CHAPTER 8

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"Miss Parker? Did he scare you so much your hair lost its color?" Jarod turned his head to look at her as he heard Miss Parker climbing into the chopper, followed by Lyle. He knew he shouldn't tease her right now, but he just couldn't help it.

"Jarod! Oh my god, you're alive..." Miss Parker whispered in shock, she couldn't believe her eyes. She'd just seen what she thought was Jarod being shot and thrown into the water. And now he was sitting there looking at her, like nothing had happened at all.

"Lyle... come here." Jarod said. Lyle walked up to him. "What?" he asked.

"You are going to fly this chopper. I need to take care of Parker..." Jarod said. Lyle stared at him as if he was crazy.

"It's easy, I'll show you..." Jarod showed Lyle what he needed to do. Then they switched places.

"Just let me know if there's anything you don't know, we don't want to crash," Jarod said as he walked up to Miss Parker who had curled up in a corner. Lyle made a trembling nod.

"Parker...it's okay...it wasn't me, you know that now, don't you?" he said as he sat down next to her. He gently put one of his arms around her bare shoulders.

Miss Parker flinched, trying to move away from him. Her whole body was trembling. "Don't touch me," she tried to sound harsh, but her voice betrayed her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Jarod whispered, ignoring her usual attempt to try to push him away.

Miss Parker didn't say anything. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to feel? She had been through so much the last couple of days, and all the time she had thought it was Jarod. And when she found out it wasn't, was she just gonna trust him like nothing had happened? How could she do that?

"Listen to me, the Centre made a copy of me," Jarod started and Miss Parker could hear the anger he was trying to hide. "He escaped. I would never dream of hurting you, I care about you so much, Parker, baby, you have to believe me, it's gonna be okay again, you're safe now…" Jarod said softly. His heart ached as he watched her, as he felt her pain. He was going to kill Mr Raines and Mr Parker for this, the whole thing was their fault.

"Here, take this..." Jarod took his jacket off and handed it to Miss Parker. She immediately took it on. "Thanks..." she whispered.

"Hey," Jarod whispered, once again placing his arm around her shoulders. "Trust me."

Miss Parker looked at him, unsure of whether she should follow her heart or listen to her head. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around Jarod, clinging to him. "I'm so confused..." she whispered in a trembling voice.

"I understand that...Honey, what did he do to you?" Jarod gently ran his hand up and down her back in a soothing manner.

Miss Parker told Jarod about everything. "God, I thought it was you all the time. How could I have been so stupid…"

"Hey, I would never do anything like that to you… I love you," Jarod confessed.

Miss Parker couldn't bring herself to answer. She just couldn't say it, not now…

"How come, you and Lyle are in the same chopper? Have he captured you or something?"

"No. I had to trust him; I had to save you..."

Miss Parker smiled weakly.

"Why don't you try and get some rest. You must be exhausted..." Jarod said softly. Miss Parker didn't say anything, she just leaned her head against his chest. Jarod put his arms around her. Miss Parker sighed and snuggled up closer to him. She closed her eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. Jarod warily ran his hand through her blonde curls. He glanced at Lyle. He seemed to be doing fine. He turned his gaze to Miss Parker's sleeping form. She really looked like an angel with that hair, his angel. This time, he would make sure no one would ever hurt her again. He loved her too much.

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ABOUT THREE HOURS LATER – THE CENTRE.

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"Lyle, I can't believe you just let him go... what's wrong with you?" Miss Parker asked as they were walking down the corridor towards Sydney's office. She knew she should have gone home first, gotten some real clothes, and maybe even gotten some rest, but she didn't care. She had Jarod's long jacket and that could work for now, besides she really wanted to see Sydney. She realized he must have been worried about her, and she just wanted to know that everything was okay. It sounded strange, but she needed to go back to the Centre, because that was like her second home, it had been all she'd ever known, and right now she needed something familiar…

"As I saw you sleep in his arms, I realized how much he really means to you," Lyle said in a low voice.

"You have never cared about my feelings before, why now?"

"I can't explain it..."

"You don't have to."

They were silent as they walked. Miss Parker glanced at her brother. She saw him looking at her too.

"Lyle...Thank you..." Miss Parker whispered. She couldn't believe her brother was being so nice.

"You're welcome..." Lyle made a pause. "Ehm, are you going to keep that hair-color?" he asked.

Miss Parker shook her head. "I want it brown, but I don't know what to do with the curls, I'm not going to get rid of them that easily..." she sighed.

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Lyle pushed the door to Sydney's office open.

"I need to talk to dad, are you okay…"

"Yeah..."

Lyle took Miss Parker's hand in his and gently squeezed it. "Can this be a beginning of something new?" he whispered.

"Maybe it can..." Miss Parker said. Lyle let go off her and she walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hi Syd, Hi Broots..."

"Miss Parker? Is that really you...?" Broots asked as he saw her. His eyes grew wide as he first saw her hair, than his eyes automatically travelled down to her bare legs.

"What have you done with your hair?" Sydney asked.

"Oh, don't ask..." Miss Parker said with a heavy sigh. She saw Sydney eyeing her jacket. The only thing she was wearing, except her underwear and high heeled shoes.

"I know, it's Jarod's... but since I only have this..." she said, flashing her body, making Broots choke on his coffee. "I think I'll keep it on..." she continued with a small smile. She glared at Broots, but couldn't help but think the whole thing was a bit amusing. Of course the poor geek was blushing.

Sydney chuckled a little. "So it was the new clone?" he asked, sounded bitter all the sudden.

Miss Parker nodded. "Yeah, by the way, how did you know where I was?"

"See, everything is possible in the world of computers..." Broots said.

"Spare me the details."

"Miss Parker, are you alright?" Sydney suddenly asked with concern in his voice. If he knew Miss Parker right, she would do anything to not show her feelings, to pretend everything is okay…

"No, but I will be...I have to go home and get some real clothes, and do something about this damn hair...if daddy asks where I am, tell him I'll be back tomorrow. I can't face him right now, not after what he did, I can't believe he worked with Raines, he cloned Jarod! God!" Miss Parker shook her head, she had always thought her father was one of the good guys, but she was wrong. She had to get away from there, if she met him now, she wouldn't be able to control herself, she was furious at him.

"Are you sure you want to be alone? If you want to talk, I'm here Parker."

Miss Parker just nodded. "Thanks. Maybe later," then she turned around and left the room.

Sydney gave Broots a smile. Broots returned his smile, but didn't say anything. He knew what Sydney was thinking, Miss Parker wouldn't be alone…

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TBC

AN/ I'm sorry about the late update. I had lots of things to do at home, and I've been on a cruising, but now things are back to normal! So another chapter to "Future Blues" and "The Dark Room" will be ready soon!