A/N: Big thanks for all the nice reviews. I would have updated this chapter yesterday, but it seemed fanfictionNet had some problems, and I couldn't access the site.

ka-mia2286: Thanks. Here is the Tommy-Parker chapter.
pretender fan: Thanks. Keep reading this story and find out -)
Sango2: Thanks. Considering your nick, are you an Inuyasha fan?
Dana: Thanks. Here is the next chapter. Hope you like it as well.
NG: Thanks for your reviews to both of my Pretender fanfics.
Jar-Par Fan: Thanks. I'm happy that my first reviewer to this story is still reading it.
NYT: Thanks. Here you go; the next chapter is up.

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Chapter 4
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
12/08/01

A week had past, since Miss Parker's trip to San Josè and her thoughts were still filled with the newly found information. She could hardly bring herself to concentrate on her work, not only because she despised her duty now more than ever. Her job was to catch the man, who had confessed his love for her, for whom she knew in the deeps of her heart, she felt the same.

She missed Jarod so badly. Somehow she wished for his childish and annoying hints, that kept her occupied with … him. Then she would know that he hasn't vanished for good and had left her in the prison, she called her life. But a part of her told her, that he hadn't abandoned her, that he had a very good reason to disappear. He would come for her – but before he could do so, he had to find their child. Their child - Miss Parker wondered what mother she would make, after all her experiences and bad habits.

She shook her head to clear it and stepped away from the window in her office. The brunette went to the door, left her room and locked it. Since it was Saturday afternoon she walked down to SL-03 to the new nursery to fetch her baby brother. She inwardly hoped that the little guy could bring her on other thoughts than Jarod and the child.

That newly renovated sub-level looked exactly like all the others: grey, sterile, cold and without sun light. Shortly after his first birthday, Tommy vanished out of his room on the second floor of the Centre's main building and the only time Miss Parker saw him was when she'd visited her father – Mr. Parker – at a weekend's evening. Even then the only one that acknowledged the boy's presence in the huge house, were the two nurses. Mr. Parker seemed to don't care if the boy was under his roof or at a Centre's sub-level. When she'd asked her father about the room change, the Centre's chairman'd answered the boy would have a better room in the Centre now, where he could be better educated than in his old one.

Once she approached the room she heard a male voice inside. She opened the door slowly and entered the nursery. Her gaze fell upon her brother sitting in front of their baby brother and immediately her stomach clenched. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen Lyle acknowledging the baby boy's presence or even existence.

Miss Parker watched her brothers for a short moment. Fear crept up inside her, when she saw Lyle touch Tommy.

Lyle tapped Tommy on his little nose and held his intact thumb, hidden between two fingers, to the little boy. "I have your nose." The infant looked at the hand, unsure what to think about that strange man and his behaviour.

"And the Yakuza has your thumb." Miss Parker walked to Lyle, hiding the relief she felt, when she saw the little guy not harmed.

As soon as Tommy saw her, he held his small arms up in her direction. "Sis." Miss Parker instantly lifted him up into her arms and his hands grabbed the collar of her blouse.

"What are you doing here, Lyle?"

Lyle turned to look at his older sister. "Does I need your permission to see Baby Parker? Or, are you jealous that the little man and I get along so well?"

"I'm big boy." Chirped Tommy determined and gave the man a scowl.

"Sure, he really seems to like you." Miss Parker held her gaze at her twin until he answered.

Lyle went towards the door, feeling his sister's eyes on him. He briefly turned around to her. "The nurse left earlier and he was screaming his little head off, when I went by."

"Why did the nurse leave earlier?"

"Dunno." Shrugging he left the room.

-

Miss Parker placed her purchases in the almost empty cupboards, while Tommy stood next to the grocery bags watching her with wide eyes. Suddenly he looked inside the bags and hove a paper-box of milk and walked direct to the refrigerator. Then he put it down and tried to open the door of the fridge, but failed.

Irritated Miss Parker eyed the empty spot next to the bags – normally Tommy would stay close to her. She cast a look into the living room, but couldn't see him. "Tommy?"

A light "Here." came from behind her and she moved toward his voice. A smile appeared on the brunette's features, when she saw the little boy struggling with the huge door of the refrigerator. She closed the distance between them and crouched down in front of him. "What are you doing, Tommy?"

The infant loosened his grip on the door and looked up to his sister. "Heping."

"You mean helping. Hel-ping."

He thought about her words for a moment and then repeated the word. "Helping." When this action made his sister smile, he said it once more and grinned himself.

"How about you bringing the food to me and I put it into the cupboards?" She tousled his dark brown hair and stood up. Immediately Tommy nodded and ran giggling to the grocery bags.

-

It was almost six o'clock in the evening and the winter sun was already setting, when Miss Parker walked into her kitchen once again, Tommy on her heels. On the stove the noodles were cooking and the brunette opened the refrigerator to fetch some carrots. "Fluffy also wants his supper."

Tommy watched his sister washing the vegetables and cutting off the leaves. "Me, too."

"You want a carrot? Our meal is almost ready, honey."

"No. Wanna cut."

Hearing this Miss Parker paused and cowered down to the little guy's eyelevel. "Tommy, knives and scissors are dangerous. Only adults are allowed to use them. If you get hurt, I would be very sad. Do you want to make me sad?"

"No."

"You won't touch a knife or scissors. Do you understand, Tommy?"

"Understand."

Miss Parker watched the toddler for a moment, wondering if he'd really understood what she wanted him to do – or better not to do. She stood up and finished the cutting. Then she turned to the boy and held one carrot to him. "Here you can feed this to Fluffy."

Tommy grasped the vegetable with one hand and with the other his sister's fingers. Together they walked to the second floor and the guest room, that lay at the opposite side to her bed room. In a corner of the guest room next to the window stood a cage with a big white rabbit in it.

Parker kneeled down in front of it, opened the door and retrieved the pet, while Tommy sat down next to her. Then she placed the animal in the boy's lap, that was now complete covered with white fur.

Immediately the child held the carrot to the rabbit and the animal began eating. "He eats, sis." He stated proudly and grinned.

The brunette laid the other carrots into the cage and turned her head toward her baby brother. "That's good. Be careful, that he doesn't nab you by accident."

"OK." The boy began stroking the rabbit with his free hand, watched by his sister, who smiled glad at the peaceful picture.

-

In the early evening, Parker and Tommy were having supper in the kitchen. The boy was sitting on a pile of books and a pillow, so he was able to reach past the table top. Happily he forked some of his spaghetti and put them into his mouth – or more precise – smearing most of them and the sauce on his cheeks and bib.

"Ok, no more spaghetti for you, lil' piggy." Miss Parker wanted to feed him, but the child insisted on being a big boy and eating without any help.

"No! More slaretti." Grinning he took another scoop of pasta.

His sister eyed him, wondering if the little guy was already that hard-headed as she was now. 'A real Parker, huh?' "Nope. Next week we'll try pizza with a lot of cheese, sweetie." She sipped at her red wine and watched the joyful little boy, remembering their first meal together more than two months ago.

It was already late in the morning, when Parker and Tommy sat in the kitchen having their first meal together. Parker sat directly next to him and fed him with scrambled eggs. She was astonished that the little boy was eating so quite and well-behaved. No crying or rejection of food was originated from her baby brother. And on top of that, his face and fingers were all clean.

Suddenly an egg fell from the corner of his mouth down on his bib and rolled in his lap. Tommy's eyes widened in fear and panic and he pressed himself into the backrest, when Parker grasped for the food on his clothes. "Didn't want. Thorry."

Immediately his sister stopped in her movement and looked into the boy's scarred features. "Baby brother? What's wrong?"

"Don't hurt."

Miss Parker's eyes went wide in understanding. "I'm not gonna hurt you, baby brother." Slowly she grasped the egg, put it back on the plate and took the boy and sat him onto her lap. Carefully she laid her arm around his small shoulders, stroking his little hands. "I could never hurt you. The egg just fell on your clothes. It's not fine, but not the world's ending either."

She kissed the top of his head and put her chin on his dark brown hair, holding the child tight. After a while she felt the boy relax in her embrace and she began stroking him. "No one's gonna hurt you. Do you understand?" As a respond he leaned against her chest and griped the collar of her sweater.

"Finisd, sis." Parker was pulled out of her reverie and her gaze fell first on the half empty plate and then on Tommy's dirty mouth, cheeks and hands. She smiled, glad that he wasn't afraid anymore. "What am I doing with a dirty little piggy?" She stalked slowly over to the child, dashed forward and tickled him at his belly. He squeaked and laughed hysterically.

After a while she picked him up and carried the toddler in the bath room. She turned the water on and helped him washing his hands. "Is the water too hot, sweetie?"

"No."

When his hands were more or less clean, she put him down and took a washcloth. Tommy giggled, once his sister wiped the tomato sauce from his mouth. She eyed him; his fingernails were still red and his cheeks were glimmering orange. "I think you have to take a bath."

"Bass?" the boy moved his head a little to the side and looked at her puzzled.

"Yes, a bath." She went over to her bathtub and turned the water on. Then Miss Parker fetched a huge fleecy bath towel from a stack and laid it ready to hand on the lavatory lid. She kneeled down in front of the boy and began to undress him.

The tub was hardly filled and Parker checked the water temperature, before she lifted Tommy up. As soon as the little guy saw the water, he began crying and stroke out wildly. "No! Don wanna!" He dug his fingers into Miss Parker's blouse and thick tears ran down his red cheeks.

Shocked by her brother's sudden outburst, the brunette embraced the child immediately and cradled him. "God, what have they done to you?" She let herself fall on the tiles and sat his petite body on her lap. "Oh, Tommy." Her arms slung closer around the child's shoulders. She watched him bury his tear streamed face in her chest, whimpering heavily, before tears welled up in her own blue orbs. "What have they done, my baby boy?" She kissed the top of his head and pushed inwardly all possible scenarios in the back of her mind.

-

After a little eternity, just crying and holding each other, Tommy's whimpering subsided and Parker loosened their embrace. Her brother looked up and his red, puffy eyes searched for hers. She gently wiped the salty rivers away from his cheeks. "I didn't want to scare you. I love you, baby brother." Parker brushed a kiss on his downy head, but when her gaze met his face again, his expression was not frightened anymore, but puzzled.

A single word rang from his lips and he tilted the head. "Love?"

Miss Parker starred at the boy for a while. "Do you know what love is, Tommy?"

The toddler shook his head 'no', but his eyes never left her face, while doing so.

"Love is a feeling in your heart." His sister touched his chest. "You love someone, when you like spending your time with and when you want that nothing will ever happen to that certain person."

Thinking a moment, Tommy bent forward to kiss Miss Parker's cheek. "Then I love you, sis." He smiled content, so one could see his baby teeth.

Miss Parker was taken aback by the one year old's statement. Eyeing his bright smile and sparkling eyes, she stroked his head absently.

A minute or two had past before she helped him stand up from her lap. "You are scared by so much water, aren't you?" She held his tiny hands in hers, thinking about how she could make him feel better – how she could help him fight the demons the Centre had caused.

The brunette's gaze travelled through her bathroom and stopped at a bottle. Instantly she stood up and fetched it to pour some of its content into the tub. She turned the water on once again and helped with her hand to make bubbles. After a while the whole tub was filled with white foam and she took some of the light mass in her palm.

Cautiously she held the foam in front of Tommy, so he could inspect it. He closed the distance between his face and the bubbles, curious poking his fingers in it. "Soft." Eager to investigate further into this new thing, he tried to grasp the foam between his two hands, but failed and pressed all the bubbles out of his palms, cause them to run down his arms. "More, sis."

"When you want more, you have to look into the tub." She took his hand and led him to the tub. "Just look into it, k?" Miss Parker lifted him up a little to enable him to see past the margin. She grinned, when she saw his eyes widen in awe. "See, the water hides from the foam." He stretched his small arms toward the bubble sea. "Do you want to go to the bubbles, Tommy?"

With sparkling eyes he looked up to her. "Yeah, sis."

"Fine." She took him gently and sat him down into the tub. "Here you go." Smiling she watched her baby brother throwing the foam up in the air, all his fears forgotten.

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