Title - Saying The Words (6/?)
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Category - JMPR
Summary - Jarod tries to say good bye, but ends up coming back to 
rescue Miss Parker and finds her in a surprising predicament.
Disclaimer - The characters aren't mine.  I'm just using them for 
my own entertainment purposes.

* * * * * * * * * *

Jarod gently eases the door closed to keep from waking Miss Parker.  He 
had no idea what she had been through, but whatever it was left her 
weak and exhausted.  He keeps on telling himself he was only staying 
until she got stronger.  He knew he couldn't stay.  Yet, his mind kept 
on searching for an excuse not to leave.  Remembering a call he needed 
to make, he goes into the other room and picks up his cell phone, 
dialing a familiar number.

"This is Sydney," a voice answers.

"It's me, Sydney.  I found her.  She's safe," Jarod informs the man.

"Oh, thank God.  Where are you?"

"I can't tell you that.  And I can't talk long.  But, I'll take care of 
her," Jarod assures him.

"But for how long?  How long will it be before you leave her again?  
Jarod, you just about destroyed her before," Sydney says bitterly.  He 
cared for Jarod deeply, but he needed to know how much he hurt his 
surrogate daughter.  "She may never admit this, but I saw with my own 
eyes what happened to her.  She was . . . broken, for lack of a better 
word.  That's why it took me so long to contact you after her 
disappearance.  I thought she might have run off and done something 
foolish."

"I didn't realize," Jarod gasps, slumping unceremoniously onto the 
nearest chair.  "I thought that leaving was the right thing to do."

"And for you, it probably was the right thing to do," Sydney admits, 
his anger starting to decrease.  "This is just a bad situation.  For 
both of you.  But she's probably pretty fragile right now.  If you're 
just going to leave her again, you need to let me know where she is so 
that I can be there for her."

"I won't leave," Jarod decides, feeling strangely at peace with his 
decision despite the danger involved.  He just couldn't bear the 
thought of her believing he would desert her.  "I'll be here for as 
long as she needs."

* * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, Jarod quietly putters around the kitchen, putting the 
finishing touches on a special breakfast he made just for Miss Parker.  
He takes one last look at the tray before finally taking it to her 
room.

"Rise and shine, Sleepyhead.  I have a surprise for you."  He watches 
her eyes slowly blink open and fill with the same momentary confusion 
as the first time she woke up here.  But, realization dawns on her and 
she remembers where she is.

"Jarod," she says with a yawn.  "Is it morning already?"  She sits up 
without any trouble this time and smiles at the tray of food in his 
hand.  "And is that for me?"

"Well, I put a lot of work in it.  I thought maybe we could share," he 
winks.  

"Share?  I don't share," she giggles.  

"You seem to be feeling better," he says, sounding relieved.  He sets 
the tray in her lap and sits himself in the chair next to the bed.  
"The wooziness wore off?"

"I feel good.  Just tired still.  Mmmm," she moans suddenly around a 
bite of her french toast.  "This is so good.  Where did you learn to 
make this?  Wait.  Let me guess.  You did a pretend when you were a 
chef?"

"Not quite.  I was a short order cook in a road side diner," he laughs.  
"I gues that pretend really paid off in this case."

"Well, let's hope some of your other pretends have been as useful.  I 
intend on putting some of your other pretending skills to test after I 
have a nice, long shower.  You ever been a masseur?"

"Maybe," he teases.  "What will I be getting out of this, though?  It 
seems like you'll be the one getting the benefits."

"You get the privilege of rubbing warm oil all over my towel clad body 
while earning moans of appreciation if you do it right," she 
practically purrs.  Her tone takes them both by surprise.  She doesn't 
know why she decided to flirt, but she was enjoying the effects it was 
having on him.  His cheeks instantly stained and he seemed at a loss 
for words.

"Um . . . you, uh, seem to be done with that," he stutters and nods 
towards the breakfast tray.  "I'll take it now.  The bathroom's through 
that door and your bag is in the closet."  Without looking at her, he 
grabs the tray and practically runs out of the room.

She giggles at his hasty retreat before getting up to get her shower.  
Sometimes it's fun being bad.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mr. Parker stares across his desk at the man sitting on the other side.  
He was trying hard to avoid Mr. Parker's eyes, but that only seemed to 
anger the Chairman even more.  Finally, Lyle comes flying through the 
door, breathless from practically running the whole way.

"What is it, Dad?" 

"Dr. Osbourne has some bad news for us," Mr. Parker says through 
clenched teeth.  "It seems he let your sister escape."

"What?" Lyle shrieks.  "How?  I thought she was kept sedated.  How 
could she just get up and walk away?"

"She was sedated," the doctor insists.  "But it was a mild sedative.  
Too much wouldn't have been good.  She needed to remain healthy."

"And she didn't exactly walk away, Lyle," Mr. Parker adds.  "She had 
some help."  He touches a button on the DSA player sitting on his desk 
and a black and white image appears.  The men sit and watch as one by 
one, everyone at Donoterase fall into a mysterious slumber, allowing a 
mask covered man to swoop in and carry Miss Parker away.

"Jarod," Lyle growls.

"That's what we're assuming.  We could never see his face, but who else 
could pull something like that off?"

"What do we do now?" Dr. Osbourne asks.  "Without her, the project is . 
. ."

"I know, I know," Mr. Parker interrupts.  "My daughter *is* the 
project.  Without her . . .  "  He sighs in frustration.  This was not 
something they planned on.  Things could be ruined if they didn't get 
Miss Parker back immediately.

"We have to find her.  We have to find her now," Lyle says gravely.  
"Or we can kiss our futures at the Centre good bye."

* * * * * * * * * *

Miss Parker walks out into the living room, pulling her robe closed.  
She stops just inside the doorway while she watches Jarod fluff and 
refluff a couple of pillows, trying to place them in just the right 
spot, obviously trying to make things perfect for her.  She tries to 
hide her amusement at the sight, but finally lets out a little giggle 
the fourth time he rearranges them.

"Something funny?" he asks, finally throwing the pillows down in a 
seemingly careless fashion.

"You," she smiles.  "You're being so sweet.  And accommodating.  I just 
wanted to let you know that I appreciate you taking care of me like 
this."  She sits on one end of the couch, leaving plenty of room on the 
other side for him.  She grabs a pillow and sets it in her lap, playing 
with the fringes along the edges.

"You didn't want to get dressed?" he asks, and she notices his voice is 
a little shaky.  His cheeks seemed flushed again and she wonders what 
has him all flustered.  Looking down, she notices her robe has fallen 
open a bit and Jarod was taking in an eyeful of her cleavage.  

"Sorry.  Didn't mean to put myself on display like that," she grins 
mischievously.  "But those clothes were uncomfortable.  I didn't feel 
like putting them on."

"Don't apologize," he grins back at her.  "It's just that you can be a 
bit . . . distracting . . . when fully dressed.  Right now, you're 
downright . . ."

"Seductive?" she finishes for him.  She lets out a deep, throaty laugh 
when she sees him lick his dry lips, visibly having difficulty with his 
senses.  She can't seem to help herself.  She's finally away from the 
Centre and it's like she's a totally different person. She can afford 
to be playful with Jarod.  It was actually kind of liberating.

"You are a naughty girl, Miss Parker," he chuckles.  "And I'd love to 
play some more.  But we've got things to discuss."  His countenance 
turns serious and Miss Parker assumes that she knows what he wants to 
talk about.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she asks sadly.  "Just like before."

"No," he says quickly, realizing she was getting the wrong idea.  
"That's not it at all.  I think we'll be okay together right now so 
long as we're careful.  I'm not leaving you.  I promised you I was 
going to stay."

"Oh," she sighs, a bit surprised at how relieved she is, but more so at 
how needy she has become.  For some reason, the thought of being 
without him, even for a second, was unbearable.  "Then what did you 
want to talk about?  That last time someone said that to me, I ended up 
at Donoterase for I don't know how long."

"Almost three months," he tells her.  

"Three months!  How?  Why?"  

"I don't know.  I was hoping you'd be able to tell me.  There's a two 
month gap between the time you went missing and the time Sydney 
contacted me.  We need to figure out what happened during that time so 
that I can figure out how to keep us safe," he explains.  "Just tell me 
what you remember.  Start at that night I left."

"Well, Sydney and Broots came over the next afternoon.  Broots had some 
files to show me," she starts.

"About the genetic experiments they were going to run using my samples.  
Sydney told me how you destroyed all the material.  What happened 
next?"

"My father wanted to speak with me.  He said he was sending me to 
Africa for training.  I went with him right then to start my 
vaccinations.  And . . . . "

"And what?" he asks her anxiously.

"And that's it.  That's all I remember," she frowns, biting her bottom 
lip between her teeth.  "All I remember is waking up from time to time 
and them giving me more medicine.  They said something about 
accidentally giving me malaria instead of the vaccine and having to 
quarantine me.  But they had me so doped up, I barely knew night from 
day. And I had no idea they kept me for three months."

"So we need to figure out why your father would lie to you about going 
to Africa.  And we need to figure out why he was drugging you and 
keeping you at Donoterase.  But most importantly, we need to do all 
that while staying one step ahead of them.  Because we're both finally 
free of that place.  And that's the way it's going to stay."

To be continued . . .