Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. Well, some of them are. But the
important ones are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without
permission. I'm not making any money out of this . . . . Blah, blah, blah. You
know the drill.
Final Countdown
By Nicky
Chapter 2
I held up my end
of the bargain. The security cameras
have been taken care of temporarily.
Now it was time for Lyle to start explaining.
"What
now?" I ask, not really expecting an answer. Although I thought I deserved to know something about what was
going on.
"We
wait," he sighs, still nervously looking around the room even though I've
taken care of the cameras. But
obviously, all of his paranoia wasn't in vain because a second later we hear a
rattling in the air vents.
"Syd, go
watch the door," Lyle orders.
"Broots, you come over here and help me." We grab one of the spare desks and move it
to under the vent. He climbs up on it
and starts loosening the screws of the vent.
In a quick minute, he has the screen off.
Two feet emerge
from the opening and I'm shocked to see who they belong to. Jarod?
What's he doing here? Jarod
jumps out of the vent and lands on the table.
He tests it's sturdiness momentarily before reaching back inside the
vent for something. Or someone,
rather. Two more feet emerge and both
Jarod and Lyle reach up to help whoever else was in there.
"Parker?"
Sydney gasps. "We thought . . .
they said . . . you were gone," he stutters.
"You better
watch out, Syd. You're starting to
sound like Broots there," she jokes, trying to take the edge off the
situation.
I try to speak,
but I can't manage to find any words to say.
To say that I was shocked is an understatement. And probably the only reason I haven't
passed out yet is because I can't seem to take my eyes off of her. She looked good for a dead woman.
"I'm fine,
you guys," she smiles. "News
of my death had been greatly exaggerated."
"Why?"
I finally manage to say.
"That's a
long story. One we don't have time for
right now," Jarod says.
I guess I have to
leave it at that. Be content with the
fact that Miss Parker was alive and well and standing right in front of
me. And realize that she didn't appear
to have been in an accident. That
nothing was wrong with her. That Jarod
was standing very close to her. Very,
very close in fact. So close he could .
. . What was that? Did he just tuck her hair behind her
ear? Why is he touching her so much?
"We're
running out of time," Lyle says, tearing my focus from Jarod and the way
he was pawing MY Miss Parker.
"Broots was only able to fix the cameras for an hour or two. We need to work fast."
"What do you
need us to do?" I ask. They still
haven't said anything to us about what's going on. But, seeing that Miss Parker's involved in this, I no longer have
any reservations about helping Mr. Lyle.
What I do have
reservations about is Jarod. I mean,
what do we know about this guy really?
Most of the people Sydney works with are kind of . . . crazy. At least by the time the Centre's done with
them. How do we know Jarod's not like
that? He must have some kind of
nerve. Look at the way he has his hands
all over Miss Parker. Only someone with
a death wish would do that. Even though
. . . well, she doesn't seem to mind.
In fact, she seems to be leaning into his touch.
" . . . .
down in one of the sublevels," Sydney says. But I have no clue what he was saying. I was too busy watching the little 'love fest' or whatever
between Jarod and Miss Parker.
"Then let's
get down there," Lyle says.
"Broots, can you pull up the blueprints to this place? We need to know exactly how to get
there."
"How to get
where?"
"Earth to
Broots," Miss Parker teases.
"Where have you been? We
were just talking about it. The
medallions? A big secret? A private office my mother kept that Sydney
remembers? Is any of this ringing a
bell?"
"What?"
I'm still confused. I still have no
clue what they were talking about. And
once again I wonder, for the second time that day, about my sanity.
"I think
he's just a little shocked to see you alive, Honey," Jarod laughs. "I'll look up the information. That is, if you don't mind. Broots?"
"No. Go ahead," I think I mutter. I'm not sure anymore what's going on. Honey?
Did he just call her Honey? I'm
pretty sure that's what I heard.
"Listen, you
guys. I'm really sorry you thought I
was dead," she apologizes. A smile
dancing in her beautiful eyes. A real smile. I don't think I've ever seen that on
her. She looks like she's in love. With Jarod.
Suddenly I feel like an idiot being so jealous. He makes her happy. That's all I should care about.
"I'm just
glad you're alright," I say.
"You seem very happy. You
and Jarod."
"Yeah, about
that. Broots, we didn't want to get you
too involved in what's been going on.
You would have been in too much danger unnecessarily. I mean, Sydney and Lyle only just found out
that we were married . . . "
"Married?"
I shout before I can get a grasp on my emotions. "That's . . . um . . . that's great. I'm really happy for you guys. Really." I think I was convincing.
At least I hope I was. Because I
wasn't able to convince myself.
"Found
it. Sublevel 12," Jarod shouts
from across the room. And before I can
even blink, she's gone and is standing next to him, her hand resting easily on
his shoulder. He says something to her
that was obviously pleasing to her, because she rewards him with a quick kiss.
"Then let's
go. Sydney and Broots, come with
me," Lyle says. "Sis, you and
Jarod will have to go back through the tunnels.
And so, that is
where we are now. Some little office
that apparently only Catherine Parker and Sydney knew about. It was a refuge of sorts for her, I guess. Just a place for her to get away from
everything that was going on in this place back then. That's about all I remember.
How we got here I don't know.
Why we were here I'm not sure either.
My head hurts and things are kind of hazy. The others have gone. I
don't remember where. So it's just the
two of us. Miss Parker and I. Making out. A goofy grin crosses my face and
she looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Are you
sure you're alright, Broots?" she asks.
"You took a nasty fall and hit your head pretty hard."
"I hit my
head?" Oh, so that's what
happened, I realize. It would explain
the pounding ache shooting from my skull and down my back.
"Yeah. You had me pretty scared. You were unconscious and even stopped
breathing for a little while."
Okay, so I guess
we weren't exactly making out. It was
more along the lines of her giving me CPR.
I feel a blush creep to my cheeks.
I can't believe I thought she was kissing me. I'm such an idiot.
But, her lips
touched mine. And I don't think I'm
ever washing them again.