CHAPTER 83

ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN

December 12, 2010

6:21pm

Carthis, Scotland

The New Centre

Airell entered Ajax, Achilles, and Ares's room. In black sweat pants, their torsos bare, the brothers moved in sync as they did a series of ti-chi exercises. Not wanting to disturb them, Airell leaned against the door frame watching them, waiting for one of the brother's to acknowledge her presence. She didn't have long to wait.

"What do you want Airell?" Ares questioned his voice betraying his agitation, yet he and his brothers continued on with their excercises not meeting Airell's eyes.

"All three of you are well aware of what I want," Airell replied walking up to the brothers, who were toweling the sweat off their bodies.

"We told you to back off," Ajax snapped.

"She has the right to know," Airell replied getting in Ajax's face not a bit frightened of the teen.

"Why don't you get it through your thick head Airi? We don't want for her to know. It's not as if it even matters. Our father is dead, has been for years," Achilles said through clenched teeth.

"But she and Peter are your family. They would want to know who your father was," Airell told the brothers.

"We're only going to tell you once more Airell, back off," Ares warned.

"The truth will come to light. My God, do the three of you truly believe you can keep this secret from her? Alex is an empath with an inner sense, not to mention one of the top pretenders ever created by the Centre. She will find out, and if she doesn't Peter will. He has access to all of the Centre files, and in case you are forgetting your father's name is listed in your files," Airell stated.

"Who is their father?" Bane demanded from the doorway. He had left Alex's side for a rare moment to check on everyone, making sure that everyone was getting along and no fights had broken out amongst sweepers and subjects. He was surprised to find Airell, Achilles, Ajax and Ares in a rather heated argument.

"This doesn't concern you Bane," Achilles told the younger teen.

"It does concern me Achilles. Any business that involves Alex, concerns me. Now tell me who your father is," Bane said evenly.

"Why don't you use Peter's resources to find out on your own?" Ajax glowered.

"Because I'm asking the three of you as your friend," Bane replied.

"Bane look, you just don't understand. Our past will just complicate matters," Ares tired to explain.

"W-what if I don't tell Alex until the three of you are ready to tell her on your own?" Bane offered not wanting to keep a secret from Alex but knowing it was more than likely the only compromise the triplets would settle on.

"Let me ask you something Bane. Do you love Alex?" Achilles asked.

"I care about her deeply. I don't think I've known her long enough to truly call it love," Bane replied a slight blush creeping up his neck.

"Do you really want to start off a relationship with the girl you care about keeping a secret from her?" Achilles questioned. "The way we see it you're just better off not knowing."

"Bane, as much as it pains me to agree with them. The boy's are right this isn't a secret you want to keep," Airell warned.

"The way I see it, whatever the three of them are keeping quiet is theirs to tell not mine. If it wasn't theirs to say Airell you would have told Alex or Peter by now," Bane said to Airell. "So what is it about your lineage, the three of you are hiding?"

"What has Alex told you about her family?" Ares asked sighing.

"Well for starters she has more siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles than she can count," Bane replied.

"Can you name all of her Uncles?" Achilles asked.

"Um..Sam...Ethan...Lex...Chris...Nick...Jon...Bobby...Angelo, oh and if you want to get technical Peter as well," Bane said listing the members of Alex's family on his fingers. "Let me guess one of them is your father."

"Actually...no,"Ajax smiled sadly as he shook his head.

"Either you forgot one or Alex didn't tell you about her Uncle Kyle," Achilles spoke.

"She never mentioned she had an uncle named Kyle," Bane replied.

"Dad was murdered a while back. Before Alex and the other's escaped the Centre. May 2, 1998," Ares spoke softly. Bringing his index finger and thumb up to his face Ares rubbed his eyes. Bane was pretty sure Ares was wiping away tears.

"Mr. Lyle killed him, though in his defense it was an accident," Achilles said bitterly. "Lyle was about to shoot Jarod, but Dad jumped in front of the bullet. He said he was going to come back for us, but he never did."

"Kyle knew about the three of you?" Bane asked shock on his face.

"Yeah. Dad faked his death the year before," Ajax sighed. "Somewhere between the time he escaped prison, and Uncle Jarod got Dad out of the Centre, Dad learned about us. Makes me wonder if he knew about Alex and the others."

"After he faked his death though, Dad snuck back into the Centre. He told us that he was our father, and that as soon as he took care of a few things the four of us would be a family. He was wrong," Ares spoke.

December 12, 2010

2:21pm

Charlottesville, Virginia

Russell Family Home

"Hullo," Keegan said entering his bed room, that for not quite three days had served as Kaine's prison cell. Kaine was no longer chained, instead all of the doors and windows had been equipt with locks and bars. Anything that Kaine could use as a weapon had also been removed from the room. All that was left was a bed, a pillow and blankets.

Kaine -who had ignored Keegan's greeting- was sitting on the window seat glaring out at the brightly lit sky. Steve had been guarding the young clone but suddenly was compelled to leave.

"I said 'Hullo'," Keegan spoke louder demanding that Kaine acknowledge Keegan's presence. Kaine looked over at the boy and his lips formed a sneer.

"What are you doing here?" Kaine questioned.

"I decided to look in on you while Steve is away," Keegan informed the older clone.

"They send a child to guard me. I am a Parker, I deserve more respect," Kaine hissed.

"You are no more than a child yourself," Keegan pointed out. "You're barely four years older than my own self. You are not even twice my age."

"I can do math boy," Kaine glowered.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to offend," Keegan replied honestly. "Do you know what angers me about you?" Keegan asked after a few moments of silence.

"Pray, tell me," Kaine sighed wishing that the boy would go away. Had the boy been any one of the other children, Kaine would have choked the life out of him by then. But Kaine knew that the boy was powerful.

"It angers me that I was afraid of you. Yet in truth you are nothing more than a child frightened of losing the love of his father. The love that you never possessed. You sit there hiding behind the facade of the villain. For a while you hid behind the facade I created," Keegan spoke.

"What are-"

"Please don't interrupt," Keegan asked politely. "I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me as long as it do to figure out who placed such an elaborate wall around you mind. You see normally I leave a backdoor- figuratively speaking of course- in the walls I create. But there was one that I was told to place that couldn't be broken. Erik ordered me to do better than my best. And I did. I don't think that it was ever planned for Uncle Sam to find me. After all I was the only person capable of discovering who you really are."

"Go away," Kaine said softly.

"No. Not yet, I'm trying to understand you. You see you're an enigma to me. I sense that a part of you knows you can't trust the man you call father; that some part of you wished to have the love that Peter is given by his family. Yet you push all of that away," Keegan said his pricing blue eyes staring into Kaine's soul.

"Why isn't Steve back? He's been gone for too long," Kaine spoke needing for the boy to be gone. The last thing Kaine wanted to think about was if his father truly loved him. Since Benny had visited him, Kaine had begun to doubt his father's love and wonder if Benny was right.

"Steve won't be back until I'm ready for him to return. Steve's...sleeping at the moment," Keegan grinned slyly. "But worry not, he'll return once our discussion is over. I fact answer my lest question and I'll wake him."

"Ask," Kaine said wanting Keegan to leave quickly, the boy had always disturbed Kaine, which was one of the reasons Kaine had always tried to avoid Keegan.

"Why did you try to kill Benny? You love him, I can see that in you. But you believe your father in that showing affection is a sign of weakness."

"Since you see so much why can't you answer your own question?" Kaine retorted.

"Because I want to hear you say it," Keegan replied.

"I don't love Benny. It meant nothing to me to shove that knife though him," Kaine hissed, walking over to the boy. "I tried to kill him because he is weak and not worthy to carry the Parker name. He should have died back in Carthis. The two of us may have the same blood running through our veins but we are not brothers. He is nothing to me."

"If that is what you must tell yourself," Keegan said sadly. "Since you've answered my question I'll go now. But first I want to leave you with something; a memory."

Keegan closed the remaining distance between himself and Kaine. Reaching up Keegan placed his index and middle finger to Kaine's right temple, bringing forth a memory from Kaine's past.

Three year old Cain wakes to the sound of soft crying coming from the bed next to his. He climbs out of his own bed and walks over to where Abel is crying in his sleep.

"Abe wake up," Cain commands softly, concerned for his baby brother. Abel hadn't been sleeping well, not since Seth died two weeks ago. Abel's eyes open and Cain sees the sorrow in his brother's eyes. "Bad dreams?" Cain asks and Abel nods his head.

"Seth dream," Abel clarifies. "I miss 'im."

"Me too. Wan' me get Steve?" Cain offers. Like most children their age, Cain and Abel are under the strong belief that an adult had the power of keeping you safe from everything that made the world scary.

"M' kay. Stay wiv me," Abel tell his brother and Cain climbs in bed next to Abel. In truth Abel does not want for Cain to leave him. "Cay?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we gonna die? Like Seth," Able lisps slightly aground his thumb that he has placed in his mouth.

"E'ryone die Abe. But den we go t' heaven and e'rything better," Cain says summarizing the many sermons he had heard about heaven in his short three years of life. "Den we be wiv Seth-" Cain's words are cut off as the door to the boy's room is slammed open. From out of the darkness steps Mr. Parker. Frightened Abel slides closer to his brother.

"What is going on here?" Mr. Parker growls, he was in town for a few days and decided to check up on the boys.

"N-nothin' papa," Cain stutters.

"You two should be sleeping," Parker snaps at his sons.

"Had bad dream, Papa," Abel whispers.

"Take that God forsaken thumb out of your mouth!" Parker roars. Abel whimpers but removes his thumb.

"No cry Abe," Cain warns his brother. He then turns to his father. "No be mad Papa. I wa' just makin' Abel feel bet'er."

"Is that so?" Parker asks. "Come with me, now," Cain reluctantly gets out of bed and follows his father casting Abel a final glace. Cain is led to the same room that in seven years he would beat his own brother in. But in this moment Cain is the one who will receive the beating.

Parker throws Cain into the cement room and then proceeds to grab a wooden paddle off of the wall. He then begins to strike Cain over and over with the paddle.

"You brought this on yourself. You know better than to coddle your brother," Parker yells punctuating each word with the smack of the paddle. "He is weak. Both of you are. Parkers aren't weak. We are strong."

"Papa, please," Cain cries his little bottom sore beyond all belief.

"Don't beg boy," Parker says hitting Cain even harder. The beating continues for another five minutes. With the beating over Parker leaves Cain to weep his silent tears in the cold, dark, and slightly damp, cement cell.

Cain is released two days latter, finally allowed to return to his room. Cain arrives at his room limping slightly, to see Abel in Steve's lap. Not a single red mark, graces the younger clones pale skin. Cain glares at his smiling brother and it is in that moment Cain begins to hate both Steve and Abel.

Kaine was released from the memory, and found tears falling down his face. He had suppressed that memory for seven years. In fact, Kaine had forgotten what had led up to him hating his brother, or the fact that he had once loved Benny more than anything in the world.

In many ways it had been simpler for Kaine to forget that memory. Kaine didn't have to doubt his father's love for him. Nor did he have to wonder if there was a part of Benny that actually loved Kaine.

Before Seth had died, the three brothers had been close. They had to of been, all they had were each other and Steve. Kaine vaguely recalled how Steve would tuck him in at night in the same loving manner that he tucked Benny and Seth in. How Steve had loved Kaine as much as he had loved Benny and Seth.

But all that had changed, not with Seth's death, but with the beating that Kaine had received from his father. For the first time in his life, Kaine was torn as to what he should feel when it came to his father and brother.

Up next: Ethan returns home to help find a cure. Peter questions Cox and Raines and gets a few surprising answers.

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