The Music of the Heart
Part 10 - Forte

"Jarod."

Sydney grabbed his former protégée's arm as they left Steven's room, the boy having cried himself to sleep after experiencing several other such relivings of his simulations.

"What is it, Sydney?"

Turning, Jarod saw that the psychiatrist was pale and drawn and, with a muffled exclamation, he took the uninjured arm and steered the older man into his bedroom, which, fortunately, was near by.

"Sit down."

Jarod placed his computer on the table that the room boasted and then loosened Sydney's tie and undid the collar of his shirt, using the opportunity to check that the bandage he wore was still clean.

The older man inhaled deeply before looking up, his expression curious. "What was that for?"

"If you pass out, it's hard for you to hear my answers to your questions."

"And even harder for me to ask them."

Jarod nodded and leaned against the table with his arms folded. "What is it?"

"How did you find out about Miss Parker being my...?"

"I looked through the DNA files that the Centre has. They have a complete record..."

"...of every subject, every employee, everybody. I know."

Jarod narrowed his eyes. "What else do you know?"

"That's the problem." Sydney looked up with an expression on his face that Jarod had never seen before. "I don't know what else I remember. I've always had this feeling...that there were things I should know. But I don't - I really don't."

"I know you don't, Sydney." Jarod finally managed to recognize the expression - it was frustration. In almost forty years, he had never seen it there before. His voice, therefore, was soft and caring in response. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find out why! There has to be a reason that I don't remember these things. Everybody else thinks I should remember - Raines, Catherine, Lyle: they all thought I should know these things."

"Lyle?" Jarod pounced on the name. "What do you mean, Lyle thinks you should remember? How do you know that?"

"He said something once that made me think that." Sydney gently pulled himself further back onto the bed. "He said that, despite everything that I knew, he wouldn't treat me differently from the way he treated anybody else. I remember that I wondered what he meant by that."

"And do you know now?"

Sydney shook his head. "There have been times when I thought I did understand but they've never resulted in anything." He passed a weary hand over his face and sighed. "Jarod, I have to know what so many people think I should."

Jarod looked over at him, noting the exhaustion and realizing that it was as much mental as physical but needing one question answered before he left.

"Syd, do you think Catherine knew you were the father of two of her children?"

The psychiatrist shook his head. "If she did, she never let on. I was always her friend, her psychiatrist - but that was all."

*~*

Emily rocked the baby in her arms and looked up as her brother walked into through the door. "We still haven't given this child a name."

Jarod smiled as he sat down on the floor facing her. "We've been a little busy, Em. Bring it up next time we're all gathered together and we'll see what kind of bizarre ideas people come up with."

She laughed and watched as the baby crawled out of her arms and over to her brother. Suddenly, however, her face became serious and Jarod leaned forward in concern. "What is it?"

"Jarod - are we ever going to find Mom again?"

The Pretender smiled sadly. "I don't know. I only wish I could give you a better answer, but I don't know. I hope we do, though." And alive, he added to himself as he got up.

"I'm going to make some dinner for us all. Want to help?"

"Sure." He held out her hand and, with a hard tug, she nearly pulled him over as she got up, laughing as he gave her a mock-scowl.

"That wasn't funny."

"Oh, it was." She giggled as they walked through the door together. "It was hysterical. You just haven't learnt the right sense of humor yet."

*~*

"Is Steve in with Debbie?"

Jarod yawned and nodded as he pulled his t-shirt off and draped it over the chair and then bent down to untie his shoelaces. When he hadn't moved after ten minutes, Miss Parker got out of bed and silently moved over to his side of the bed. What she saw made her giggle silently and she placed one hand on each of his shoulders and eased him gently back onto his pillow, still fast asleep. He mumbled something and then, as she lifted his legs onto the bed, rolled onto his side. She eased off his shoes and put them down on the floor, pulling the blanket over him before going back over to her side of the bed and climbing in. Looking down at his face, she couldn't help smiling at the sight. With a gentle touch, she ran a finger along his jaw-line. When she heard his voice muttering softly, she leaned in to hear his words.

"I love you, Parker."

She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and saw the faint smile that appeared on his face, even in sleep.

"I love you, too, Jarod."

*~*

"You couldn't have been tired last night by any chance, I suppose?"

Jarod looked over his shoulder, when he was woken at six the next morning, to meet Miss Parker's amused gaze. Straightening up and knowing that Steve could hear every word, he considered his response carefully.

"I guess - it could be possible."

She raised one neatly manicured eyebrow. "Possible?"

Grabbing his pillow, he threw it at her. "If you already know the answer," the grin on his face was a direct contrast to the dignity in his voice, "why ask?"

Taking his chance, he left both the room and the woman who was now lying back on her pillows and struggling to control her mirth.

*~*

"It hurts!"

"I know, Debbie. Just a little more."

Miss Parker heard the voices and peered in through the doorway to find the girl leaning heavily on Jarod's arm as she struggled to stand upright, her face red and tears obvious in her eyes.

"But it hurts really bad!"

"Only two steps to the chair, Debbie. You can do it."

"Come on, baby." Broots stood behind the chair, his hands on the blanket to stop it from moving. "Just a little further."

"I... I can't!"

"What would Miss Parker say if she thought you couldn't manage it?"

Jarod looked up in astonishment as he heard the remark from Broots' mouth and was even more shocked when it seemed to be the impetus required. The girl set her jaw in a way that he most definitely recognized and made no sound as she shuffled over to the chair.

"Well done, Debbie!" The voice from the door made the girl turn to look and then hurriedly wipe away the tears that the pain had forced out of her eyes.

"Debbie, that was wonderful!" Jarod knelt down in front of her. "You stay there for a little bit while we change the bed and then you can lie down again, okay?"

"Do I have to walk back?"

"We'll see." Jarod refused to commit himself and hurriedly stripped the sheets off, dropping them in a pile on the floor.

"You're going to make a great husband," Miss Parker snorted as she walked over and winked at the invalid. "Leaving everything around for your wife to pick up."

"Was that a proposal, Miss Parker?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and she grinned.

"We'll see. It depends on how well you make the bed."

Jarod grabbed the pillow from the bed and pulled off the cover, folding it neatly and placing it on the table with an expression that was supposed to be meek. A few moments later the bed was remade with the corners folded crisply and the cover turned back invitingly.

"Well?"

"Hmm, I need more time to consider."

"Isn't that just like a woman?" Jarod snorted with a grin at both Broots and his daughter. "Never able to make up her mind."

"Okay, that's it. You've ruined your chances completely. No wedding."

"Aw!" Jarod collected the sheets in his arms and walked to the door. "And I was so looking forward to it, too..."

*~*

"Ethan?"

Jarod peered into the room where the baby was lying in its cot and he saw his brother looking down at the infant, a smile on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting to know him."

"By watching him sleep?"

"She was telling me about him."

"Catherine?"

Ethan nodded and walked towards his brother who still stood in the doorway, one hand in his pocket. Jarod put out a hand and grabbed Ethan's arm as he was about to walk past.

"I want to talk to you."

"So talk."

"Not here." Jarod opened the door to the bedroom he shared with Miss Parker and steered Ethan inside.

"Where's my sister?"

"Chatting with mine. I saw them in the living room when I finally went down to put the dirty sheets from Debbie's bed in the washing machine after helping her back to bed."

Ethan sat on the bed, leaving Jarod to lean against the door. "What's up?"

"I want to know if you're okay. I feel like I've been neglecting you a little, with all the attention that I've been paying to your sister and Syd and everyone else."

"Jarod, it's fine. I understand - I really do."

"Sure?"

Ethan grinned. "One hundred percent sure. Don't worry about me. I can always find somebody else equally as ignored to talk to."

"Thanks!" Jarod rolled his eyes. "I feel really good now."

The two brothers laughed for a moment before Ethan looked over again. "Was there something else?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're still standing against the door like you're scared I'm going to run away at the first opportunity."

Jarod paused for a moment. "I wanted to know... have you heard if everything's going to be okay? I mean," he continued hurriedly, "I don't want you to try and pressure yourself into hearing something you might not. I just thought, if we were all going to die tomorrow, you might have heard about it from your mother."

"As far as I know, everything's going to be fine."

"Meaning that you haven't heard anything."

"Nothing relevant, no. I mean none of the stuff you've uncovered has had anything to do with me directly, although a lot of it has affected me."

"And you don't mind...?"

"Jarod, please! I'm not angry and not ignored. That's not to say I won't be if you don't open the door..."

The Pretender laughed and acquiesced.

*~*

"Syd, you okay?"

"I think so."

Jarod shook his head as he stood in the doorway. "So you're not. If you were, you would have given me a straightforward answer as a signal that you wanted me to go away and mind my own business."

The psychiatrist laughed and straightened himself in his chair. "You know me far too well. Between yourself and my daughter, there's nothing I can do that you aren't ready for."

"So you're about to ask if I've found anything and the answer is that I'm sorry, but I haven't had a chance to look yet."

"What have you been doing?" Sydney's curiosity was obvious on his face and Jarod laughed again.

"I'll take that as proof of the fact that I was right. And I've been trying to make sure that I'm not alienating some members of my family by spending more time with the others. Oh yes, and teasing your daughter."

"Well," Sydney smiled, "I'm sure new experiences are good for her."

Jarod laughed. "I'll take a look this afternoon and, if I find anything, you'll be among the first to know."

"Among the first?"

"Parker claimed my company this afternoon because she says she only sees me when I'm asleep and, for some strange reason, that isn't enough for her. So I'll look into it while trying to keep her happy."

"You certainly don't want to make her unhappy," Sydney laughed. "We can't afford for this house to go up due to her fireworks."

The Pretender turned to leave the room but Sydney's voice stopped him.

"Oh, and Jarod?"

He looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"If you don't manage to find time to look this afternoon, I'll understand."

*~*

"About time." Miss Parker pulled Jarod into the living room and shut the door firmly behind him. "What on earth were you doing?"

"Making sure that Debbie wasn't suffering any ill effects from being out of bed this morning and that her father wasn't suffering any ill effects from watching her suffer through it, checking that my brother isn't suffering any ill effects from having to face his nightmares, ensuring that my father and sister aren't suffering any ill effects from hardly seeing me all day, checking that our brother isn't suffering any ill effects as a result of being ignored and, last but by no means least, proving to myself that your father isn't suffering any ill effects from the stress he's currently under."

Miss Parker sat back against the cushion on the sofa, her lips twitching. "And how about me?"

Jarod placed the computer case down on the floor and sat on a chair opposite her. "Are you suffering any ill effects?" he enquired politely, his eyes dancing with laughter.

"Only from not having enough time with you."

"But you spend time with me every night!"

Miss Parker snorted. "Yes, and that's just great, isn't it? You spend so long with other people all day that the only thing you're capable of is to fall asleep taking your shoes off."

"Hey, I only did that once."

"Once was more than enough."

Jarod grinned. "If you keep on talking like that, people are going to start thinking you like me."

"If I could actually spend more than ten minutes a day with you when you were conscious, I might be able to make up my own mind on that point."

"Aw!" Jarod injected his voice with as much sarcasm as possible. "Is the little lady feeling neglected all of a sudden?"

Miss Parker stood and up and grabbed the cushion against which she had been sitting. As she was about to hit him, however, he put out a hand and seized her wrist, pulling her down onto his lap.

"I could make it up to you." His voice was deep with suggestiveness.

"How?" She opened her eyes wide in a look of mock-innocence.

"Got any plans for tonight?"

"Hmm," she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "well, probably nothing that can't be put off until a later date, if I try really hard." She eyed him. "Will it be worth my while?"

With one arm still wrapped around her waist, Jarod loosened the collar of her shirt and lowered his mouth to her neck. She could feel his warm breath on the inside of her pale blue blouse and, despite herself, she shivered. His fingers gently eased their way under the belt that she wore around her waist and his fingertips gently brushed her skin, producing goose bumps on her arms and down her back. He drew back and grinned.

"So, is it worthwhile?"

She nodded. "I suppose I could make the effort."

"Good," his voice was husky. "If you can make an effort, I certainly can."

She removed herself from his lap and placed herself in a chair a short distance away with pronounced arms so that he couldn't come and squeeze in beside her. If he started anything now, she thought to herself, there's no way I could stop and, if anyone came in…

"So what's that for?"

"What's what for?" Jarod sat on the sofa she had vacated and tucked the cushion with which she had been threatening him behind his back for safety.

"The computer. Were you planning to do some more research?"

"If you didn't distract me effectively enough..." He grinned and watched as she responded in complete understanding in a similar fashion.

"I would have thought that any research you did would have been with Broots."

"It would be, Maleah, but he's been helping me quite a bit recently and I wanted to give him time with his daughter. Even Sydney is staying away from the room for a while. Of course, he's right next door and will hear if there's a problem, but she's doing so well that I don't think there will be."

"She's really better?"

"Well, as far as we can tell, everything seems to be going well. You see, when one kidney is injured, the second one can easily take over the work of both, allowing the damaged one to simply stop functioning and cause no ill effects at all. Without running a series of highly technical tests, for which I would need equipment that I can't possibly get here, I can't tell. Once we've solved the problem of the Centre, I'm going to give her a full medical examination, just to make sure we didn't miss anything. Sometimes things like this can cause injuries that will appear later in life and are harder to cure then."

"Solving the problem of the Centre? You make it sound so easy."

Jarod sighed. "I keep hoping that if I say it like that, I'll convince myself."

"Is it working?"

"Not so far."

She got up from the chair and came and sat on the footstool facing him. "How far have you got?"

He looked up at her and she could have sworn that he was blushing slightly. "Not much further than we were before we got hold of that password. There has to be a way to use it. I just can't think of what the most effective one would be."

"Hmm," she mused thoughtfully.

"What is it?" He glanced over and was intrigued to see that there was a small smile curling the corners of her mouth. "What crazy thoughts are passing through your mind now?"

"Crazy?!" She bounced to her feet, hands on hips. "I've a good mind not to tell you now."

"But you will." He lowered his voice and she felt a slight shiver go through her.

"Okay," she interrupted quickly, "I will. Anything to keep you right where you are right now."

He raised one eyebrow in a movement that any third person in the room would have recognized as something he had learned from her. Then, laughing, he shook his head. "Can we get back to it? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking," she sat down again and rocked back on the footstool, being careful not to overbalance, "how much the Yakuza would have loved access to that kind of information when they were taking revenge on Lyle."

He stared at her for a moment, his mouth hanging slightly open. The pause in the room began to lengthen as Miss Parker mused over her first view of Lyle without his fifth digit and Jarod sat staring blankly at her. Finally, he spoke.

"Parker, you're a genius!"

"I am?" She turned and gaped at him. "Are you sure? I thought," she added, as her tone became more teasing, "that was your specialty."

"Dad!" Ignoring her last comments, Jarod ran over to the door of the living room and pulled it open. "Dad!" His voice reverberated through the house and Major Charles appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What is it, son? Is something wrong?"

"The complete opposite! Get everybody down here, now!"

"Jarod," Miss Parker grabbed his arm as the Pretender's father disappeared into the first of the bedrooms. "What's going on?"

"You've just saved all our lives, Parker," he grinned. "And I want everyone else to know how smart you are!" He brought his mouth down to hers and claimed it for a few moments before letting her go.

*~*

"What is it, Jarod? What's going on?"

The Pretender looked first across at Sydney as he asked the question and grinned.

"Your daughter just provided us with the way to beat the Centre."

There was a general gasp and Sydney looked over at Parker, puzzled. Mystified, she raised her hands in the air and shrugged.

"Are you going to let us in on the secret?"

Jarod grabbed a chair and, turning it around, straddled it and wrapped his arms around the back.

"And first," Miss Parker interrupted, "can you tell me what I said?"

"Our solution is easy - and consists of one word. Masters. It is, as we all know, the key to opening up the Centre's mainframe. The suggestion that Parker, however inadvertently, made was that we make that word public knowledge." He paused and looked around, noticing that confusion was still apparent on some faces and swallowing his frustration, explained. "We all know just how many underhanded dealings and bad business transactions the Centre has been involved in. If, since some of them must have gone sour, they haven't made enemies, I'll be stunned. That means..."

"...that if we opened the Centre's mainframe up to their enemies, they would tear the place apart while we watched," Steven jumped in, having understood where Jarod was going earlier but now unable to restrain himself.

"Exactly, Steve." Jarod grinned across at him. "And the beauty of the whole plan is that not one of us needs to go anywhere near the place."

"And you think it will work?"

"Think about it, Sydney!" Jarod allowed his frustration to be obvious in his voice as he looked at the psychiatrist. "It's like opening up the floodgates. Wouldn't you take the chance, if you could?"

Part 11

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