Who are you?
His mind repeated the question and he attempted to stand and approach her.
But Parker flung her legs over her head and was standing behind the chair before Alec even had a chance to pull himself fully upright.
She pressed her back against the wall as she eyed him cautiously.
"Whoa…Parker," he said, as he sat down fully, holding his hands up in submission.
"Who-are-you?" she demanded as she scanned the wall behind him, "… and where am I? And why do you have pictures of Sonia?"
Alec turned to the screen behind him and the photo of Demara.
Sonia! He sighed and shook his head. This chick had more aliases than Sophie!
He turned back to Parker and caught her scanning the room; no doubt looking for a way out.
"Parker…" he said softly as he held his hands and attempted to stand once more.
"…and why do you keep calling me Parker?" she interrupted him and her question stopped him cold.
He lowered his hands and stared at her without saying anything for a moment.
"What is your name?" he asked and took a small step toward her.
She took a small step away, sliding along the wall further away from him, her eyes never leaving his face.
"You haven't answered any of my questions," she countered.
"Ok," he shook his head in agreement and took another step closer, "My name is Alec…"
He watched her face for any sign of recollection but there was nothing and she stepped further away from him again.
"…Alec Hardison."
Still no recollection.
He took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. He stopped his advance but stood firmly and faced her. He realized he was getting nowhere. She didn't know him or trust him and if he knew Parker she was thinking of a way out. So before she killed them both trying to make her escape he needed to figure out how to get through to her.
"We are in a sealed shelter," he said as she looked at him quizzically.
"There's no way in and no way out for at least…" he looked at his watch, "16 more hours."
"What?"
"It's a failsafe. Once the system has been activated, there's no getting out for 24 hours. We've been here for about 8; which means we have 16 more to go."
He noticed that her hands relaxed against the wall but she still looked upon him with suspicion.
"Look, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already; don't'cha think?" and he said a quick prayer and turned his back to Parker to walk back to the console.
He knew the only way to get her trust is to not be seen as a threat. He was hoping his plan was the right move and he knew he'd find out sooner rather than later.
As he sat down at his chair and heard the soft hiss of the leather giving way under his weight he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Parker hadn't attacked.
He could feel her eyes on him though, and it made him very uneasy. He turned to find her still easing along the wall moving to the opposite end of the room from where he was. He knew she was still trying to devise an escape, he wasn't that gullible, but he'd play it cool and hopefully he could use her confusion to his advantage.
"So…will you tell me your name now," he asked nonchalantly.
"How do you know Sonia," she responded with a question of her own.
He shook his head but couldn't help but smile. Answering a question with a questions- that was so Parker.
"Her name isn't Sonia," he offered, "and I don't know what she's told you but she's no friend of yours."
"I never said she was my friend," Parker gnashed out and Alec heard the cold hostility in her tone.
He focused on her and made to stand again but Parker tensed and he sat back down. He didn't want her on alert with him. He had to gain her trust and for Parker that always meant giving her her space and letting her move in her own time.
"Ok, I've answered all of your questions," he said, "can you at least tell me your name?"
She eyed him thoughtfully for a moment before she spoke.
"My name is Leah."
He smiled. He didn't believe her. Her stare was too focused, too direct. She was making a point of holding his gaze. But he took small comfort in the fact that she offered him something, even if it was a lie.
"Leah," he repeated, "that's pretty."
"Thank you," she replied evenly, "now…how do you know Sonia."
"Her name is Demara de Castro," he answered as he kept a close watch on Parker's body for any signs of remembrance. "She is an internationally wanted fugitive."
Parker had either been trained very well or she genuinely wasn't aware of any of the information Alec was sharing with her. He knew every 'tell' Parker ever had and she wasn't giving anything away.
"Are you with the Police?" she asked him and he noticed that she had eased off of the wall.
"No…I'm not with the police."
"So who are you?"
"I…operate just outside of the law," he offered evasively, "I used to work with a team. We would help people who were taken advantage of."
He studied her closely but knew she didn't make the connection. Whatever they'd done to her, the programming was deep.
"I work for Sonia," Parker offered and she eyed him as if trying to gauge his reaction.
"What do you do?" He asked with a mildly interested tone; he was being careful not to press too hard.
"I find things that she needs found." He could hear the pride that Parker always took in her craft.
"How'd you hook up with her?" He knew her response if truthful would answer so many questions.
Parker sighed softly and looked away from his face for the first time since they began speaking. She was beginning to feel some ease around him- or she was setting her escape in motion, he'd wait to see.
She walked over to the sofa and sat in the corner furthest away from him.
"Sonia saved my life," she said it matter-of-factly but he knew the weight of her words.
That's what happened three years ago- He knew it. That had been the plan all along. They wanted to capture the team. They turned Parker into a different version of herself and got rid of any links to her old memory. He wondered why Demara didn't just kill him when she had the chance.
He clenched his fist. He'd have to remember to ask her when he got the chance.
He looked at her dressed in her signature style- a fitted black turtleneck shirt, black jeans and boots, her hair was perfectly messy as always and he just wanted to lift her into his arms and never let her go again. He knew he couldn't though. This Parker might switch into Commando-Barbie mode and whup his behind. He couldn't take the chance, not until he knew exactly what he was dealing with.
"Um…Are you hungry?" he asked, gesturing to the pantry behind her.
"No…Thank you."
"You sure? It's been a long day and I know I'm starving." He offered with a shrug and a smile.
She shook her head and smiled back slightly.
He heart sang. There was that smile that he missed so much. God it was good to have her back- in whatever form.
He rose and walked toward the pantry and he realized with relief that she didn't become guarded when he moved. He was making progress.
Or was he…
No sooner had he entered the pantry than she was up and at the console looking for a clue to escape. He could see her reflection on a can of corn but before he could turn back to her she'd stepped away from the console and was walking toward him.
"Perhaps I am a little hungry," she offered as she entered the close confines of the fully stocked food closet. She blocked the narrow doorway and he had nowhere to go but backward. He stared down at the face that he knew better than he knew his own but the look on her eyes was one he'd never seen before. There was cold deliberation there.
"This is impressive," she told him genuinely as she backed him into the farthest shelf in the closest. He was trapped as the shelves were too close for him to ease around her. The only way he could get out was if she allowed him and she didn't seem very keen on moving.
She looked at the labels of all of the food before settling on a box of cereal on the shelf behind him. She pressed her body fully against his as she reached for the non-descript container. Alec tried to make himself as flat as possible as she pressed into him. He was conflicted. Being that close to her felt really good but he knew instinctively it wasn't real. Parker would never do that.
As she straightened up he saw her gaze quickly scan the ceiling above him and he finally realized what she'd been doing. She was casing the pantry. That was so Parker. He had to smile. He decided that he'd play along but he'd have some fun too.
"Do you want some milk to go with that?" He asked her smoothly and he eased his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him.
Parker's brows furrowed for a moment before they evened and he smiled to himself because he knew he was getting to her.
Her face was inches from his and their eyes locked and held, neither willing to be the first to look away. He moved her slowly, their bodies pressed tightly against each other as he began to turn them around. They pivoted until Parker's back was against the shelf and Alec's faced the exit but he didn't let her go. With one arm firmly wrapped around her waist, he reached above her with the other and pulled down a bag of powdered milk. He held the milk at his side and leaned his forehead against hers. He could feel her breath against his lips and he could feel the way that her heartbeat and his were racing. He moistened his lips and closed his eyes.
"Don't bother trying to get out from here. I've seen what you can do but I doubt even you could fit through the six inch pipes up there."
He opened his eyes just in time to see her fully open hers.
She looked flushed and confused.
He held up the bag of powdered milk and Parker took it from him; her face still registering her confusion over his turnabout.
He straightened up and winked at her before walking out of the pantry.
Parker stood watching him walk away for a few moments before something he said registered in her subconscious.
"Wait a minute…" she called as she rushed out of the pantry.
"Did you just say that you've seen what I can do?" she stopped behind the sofa. "How could you know anything about me?"
She watched as his shoulders tensed but he didn't turn around.
"Have we met before?" she asked quietly and he turned because he finally heard Parker's - the innocent, fragile person he would give his life to save.
His eyes met hers and he knew her question was genuine. There was no pretense there, just a need for the truth.
"Yes," he answered simply.
She eased around the sofa and took a step toward him.
"Am I… that name you called me earlier? Is my name…Parker?" she asked him, her voice almost a whisper.
Alec nodded slowly. He was again at a loss for words.
She stared at him blankly and he could tell she was trying hard to reconcile what he told her with whatever little she knew.
He took a few steps closer to her but she stepped backward and away from his approach.
"She wouldn't tell me anything about my past," Parker said finding it hard to speak against the growing ache in her throat. "I used to wonder who I was before, what I was…if anyone missed me." She looked pointedly away from the intensity of Alec's gaze. "But then I stopped wondering when no one came and it was just me there."
"I thought you were…," he cleared his throat, he couldn't continue, couldn't say the word. "She let me believe that I wouldn't see you again." His anger for Sonia, Demara, Sylvia so great he felt himself capable of great evil when he saw her again.
He turned his back to Parker not wanting her to think his anger was directed toward her.
"If I knew that you were still alive, Parker, nothing," he turned back to her and walked over to sit on the coffee table in front of her, "or no one would have kept me from you."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"You loved her…me?" she asked shaking her head slightly to make the clarification.
He reached up and cupped her face gently between his hands, "I still do."
He stared into the eyes that haunted his dreams and saw her- his Parker- finally coming back.
He leaned in and kissed her softly, barely touching his lips to hers. He pulled away from her but didn't let her go. Their eyes held and Parker leaned in to kiss him again but this time she reached up and wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen their embrace.
His eyes drifted close as his hands fell away from her face and wrapped around her as she stood in front of him.
She kissed him deeply and he kissed her back. He couldn't get enough. Her softness, the way she smelled, the way she tasted. He could have kissed her forever.
He ran his hands along her back and she exhaled a quiet sigh. He nearly lost it. He swallowed deeply and tried to rein himself in. He knew if she made another sound like that it would be his undoing. As much as he wanted her he would wait until she was fully back to her old self.
"Um..Parker…maybe…we…should…cool it, " he sputtered between kisses.
She stopped kissing him, and opened her eyes before she slowly pulled away. She looked dazed. Her body was frozen as her eyes met his.
She was flushed but not in the well-kissed kind of way but in a way that said she was stunned and embarrassed.
He realized instantly that she was confused by his reluctance to continue and he reached up and touched her face.
"I just think we might want to figure some things out before we pass the point of no return… and I was almost there, trust me." He rolled his eyes and shifted his seat slightly as he felt a rather uncomfortable and angry sensation taking place in his pants. Some parts of him were none to please about the premature cessation.
Parker bit her lip and smiled before she nodded in agreement.
She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly and turned to sit on the sofa folding her legs under her as he always remembered her doing.
She stopped and looked down at her legs. She eased them onto the ground, then she looked up at him curiously.
"I've never done that," she explained slowly.
"What…sit with your legs folded like that? You did that all the time, Mama."
She blinked as he said his pet name for her, her brows still furrowed.
"You called me that before?" she asked thoughtfully
"Yeah," he smiled, "all the time."
He stood up to go into the pantry. All that kissing grew his appetite.
"I feel strange Alec," she said.
"Maybe it's all coming back," he shouted excitedly as he reached for a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers.
But as he exited the pantry he didn't see her.
"Parker," he called softly as he looked around the room until he heard a soft pounding coming from the sofa.
He moved closed and stared in horror as Parker lay unconscious between the sofa and coffee table her arms, legs and head shaking with seizures.