The Music of the Heart
Part 8 -  Mezzo Piano

"Son? Are you out there?"

Jarod groaned in frustration and glanced up from the computer that sat open on his knees as he sat on the porch of the house, regardless of the fog that swirled around him. "Yes, Dad."

Major Charles wrapped his jacket further around him and, reaching back in through the closing door, grabbed Jarod's coat and put it over the Pretender's shoulders.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to find somewhere quiet to work." He glanced up. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that whenever I'm inside I feel like I should be sitting with Debbie or making sure Sydney's okay. I thought that maybe, if I came out here, I might be able to concentrate."

Major Charles sat down on the step and looked at him. "Any luck?"

"I can't even come up with any way for us to beat the Centre. I've spent almost every day since I escaped dreaming about the chance to do it but now, when it's close, I can't think of something that won't get us all killed as a result."

"Have you talked to Miss Parker or Sydney about it?"

"I would, but they're so overwhelmed at having Broots and Debbie back that I don't think they can think about anything else yet."

Major Charles rested one hand on his son's shoulder as he got up. "You'll think of something. I know you will. And if you ever want to talk through an idea..."

Jarod smiled up at him gratefully. "Thanks, Dad. I will."

*~*

Ethan flipped through the last few pages of the book that Steven had left in the room that they were sharing and sighed. He was becoming frustrated by the fact that there was nothing for him to do in this place. Getting up off the bed, he replaced the book on the table that sat between their beds and pulled on a sweater. Going downstairs, he found that the rooms were empty and for a few moments wondered where everybody was. Shrugging, he pulled his jacket off the hook, noticing that his brother's was also missing and he wondered where he was. Exiting the building, he found out when he nearly tripped over the Pretender sitting on the steps with his head in his hands.

"Jarod?"

"Hi, Ethan."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Do you know, you're the second person to ask me that in twenty minutes?"

"If my sister saw you, she'd forcibly drag you inside and then ask you in a way that would be less than pleasant. It's freezing." He shivered slightly and Jarod looked up at him, a hint of amusement in his eye.

"And you were planning to go for a walk."

"How did you know?"

Jarod reached over and tapped the heavy boots that Ethan wore. "Just a lucky guess." He winked and then looked back at the screen that glowed faintly.

"You're frustrated."

"Did your inner sense tell you that?"

Ethan laughed. "Just a lucky guess." He paused for a moment. "Why don't we both go back inside and stoke the fire? Then we can toast marshmallows or something."

"Well, if you're going to twist my arm..." Jarod shut the computer and began to get stiffly up off the step. Ethan grabbed his arm and pulled him upright.

"Be careful of yourself. If anything happened to you, my sister would never let me forget it."

Jarod grinned as he accompanied his brother into the house.

*~*

"Your hair's sticky."

Jarod rolled over, remembering the marshmallow fight from earlier that day, and grinned at Miss Parker as she propped her head up on her elbow and stared at him from her position on the bed next to him.

"That's possible, yes," he agreed.

"Why? What have you been doing?"

"Do you know," he spoke in the conversational tone that he knew was infuriating to her, "that you'd make a wonderful lawyer?"

"I can be judge and jury, too." She tried to glare at him but he grinned up at her from his position on the pillows. "My God, you're irritating sometimes."

"But I'm very lovable, too."

She snorted and he moved in closer.

"Parker, are you saying you don't love me?" His voice was deep and soft and he pushed himself in close beside her, catching her free hand and slipping it around behind his back. "Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"What would you do if I said 'yes'?"

"Never do this again." He caught her face in his hands and brought his mouth slowly towards hers. The first few kisses were soft and tentative but he could feel the arm that had been holding her up slip away until she was lying flat beside him. With firm but gentle hands he began to undo the buttons of the shirt that she was wearing. As he did so, Jarod waited for the whisper that had been enough to stop him last time. When it didn't come, he pushed the blouse off her shoulders and lowered her mouth to her neck. Brushing the strands of hair away, he brought his lips in contact with her soft skin.

He could feel her hands undoing the shirt that he had been wearing all day.

"Do you love me, Parker?"

She heard the husky whisper in her ear, followed by a low chuckle, as her only response was a low moan.

"I could stop, Parker, if you don't want me to go on."

"No," her whisper was hoarse. "I do, Jarod. I really do love you. Don't stop."

She moaned again as he, with unerring aim, seemed to know exactly what she wanted. With firm movements, she undid the button and fly of his jeans, pulling down the unyielding material. She could feel his hands fumbling with the catch on her bra and she reached up and guided his fingers, slowly undoing the hooks until it loosened and she could pull it off. She stripped away the last of his clothes leaving him naked in front of her and, for just a second, she let her eyes roam over his entire length. He laughed again, a deep, rolling chuckle.

"Like what you see?"

"It's not how it looks," she shrugged, an amused smile on her face. "It's what you can do with it." She guided his hands lower, over her stomach and further down, and then she was as naked he. "How about me?"

"Perfect." He came closer and spoke the next words once more in her ear. "Just perfect." His mouth was lowered to hers once again and she rolled over so that he was lying on top of her, his body fitting perfectly into her every curve. She could feel his strength but also his gentleness. Any thought that he might, albeit inadvertently, hurt her fled her mind and she leaned into him once more.

*~*

Afterwards he held her in his arms and she listened to his heart beating inside his chest, her head rising and falling as he breathed. Tilting her head upwards, she saw him watching her.

"What is it?"

"Wow."

She smiled, satisfied. "You were pretty good, yourself."

He gently lifted his hand, allowed his fingertips to brush her bare upper arm and she could feel the goose bumps rising on her skin. Suddenly he stopped.

"What?"

"What time is it?"

Miss Parker glanced over at the clock that sat beside his bed. "Four thirty. Still a long time before you have to go on duty."

"I only hope I can stay awake for it." He laughed again. "If I can't, I guess I'll just have to tell whoever asks what happened."

She gave him a mock-glare. "You wouldn't dare."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"I can give you several." Her voice deepened suggestively and he smiled at her, gently running the back of one finger down her cheek.

"I'm sure you could. You were always good at blackmail, Parker."

She laughed. "I get better with practice."

He shook his head. "Let's keep everything open, Parker. We shouldn't need blackmail or any other type of emotional force between us any more."

She nodded and then nestled closer to him. "Agreed."

*~*

When she appeared in the doorway of Debbie's room the next morning, the first thing Miss Parker saw was Jarod sitting in the chair beside the bed, holding a glass of water so that the girl could drink.

"Where's...?"

Jarod held up one finger to his lips and nodded in the direction that the door prevented her from seeing. Peering around it, she saw Broots stretched out on a camp bed, one arm flung over his eyes, presumably to block out the limited light thrown by the lamp that sat on a table and illuminated the room during the night.

"Hi, Miss Parker." The voice of the little girl was soft and weak but it was certainly something, the woman reflected to herself silently, that she had the power to put a sentence together.

"Debbie," Jarod spoke sternly as he took the glass away, "if you feel sick, I want you to tell me right away, even if it will wake up your dad. Promise?"

She nodded. "I promise. I don't want to be sick again."

The Pretender gently pulled the sheets up and helped the girl to lift her arms over the soft material so that she was lying comfortably. "We don't want it either, and we'll do what we can to make sure it doesn't happen." He looked up at Parker. "I have a little surprise for you two." Standing up, he walked over to the table and uncovered a book. "A fairy whispered that this might come in handy some day, and I think it might be nice if I got the chance to hear it."

He held it out to Miss Parker who took it and walked over to sit in the chair he had just vacated. "Do you want me to read it?"

The pale face brightened. "Yes, please."

Miss Parker placed the book down on the blanket and slipped her cool hand into the warmer one of the girl who lay in front of her. With a warm smile, she began. "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents..."

*~*

"This fairy that's been whispering in your ear - what's it called again?"

Jarod looked sheepish as she stood in front of him, preventing him from leaving the bedroom where he had gone to change into a warmer shirt.

"Angelo."

The Pretender watched as Miss Parker's jaw dropped.

"Angelo? How could he...?"

Jarod pulled her down onto the bed beside him and took both of her hands in his. "Look, Parker, you along with every single other person at the Centre have always underestimated Angelo. I was talking to Ethan yesterday about him and he said that Catherine's voice told him a few things about Angelo; things, I might add, that I already knew, including that punishments from Raines had forced him to suppress any of his own emotions and only empath those of other people. But those feelings are there." He spoke firmly to her and his gaze seemed locked into hers. "He feels as much as you or I do, and when you combine that with what he knows about you or me, that makes him a pretty powerful individual."

"I did try to warn you about that, Parker." The voice from the doorway made them both jump and she turned to see Sydney standing there. "Ever since Angelo was brought into the pursuit, I tried to tell you. But you wouldn't listen."

Miss Parker looked down at her hands as Sydney came into the room and shut the door behind him. "I remember hearing my father talk about the projects in the Centre. He dismissed them with so much scorn..." She stopped and Jarod could see the tears in her eyes that she blinked away. The face that she turned up to him wore an expression that pleaded for understanding. "He even talked about you that way, day after day. I hadn't seen you - any of you - for so long and, finally, I began to believe him."

"So that was why things changed." Jarod sat back with the satisfied expression of one who has finally managed to untie a stubborn knot in piece of string. "And then, when you came back from Japan, you went into Corporate..."

"...And were even more under Mr Parker's influence." Jarod nodded soberly at Sydney's statement and Miss Parker's eyes filled again.

"I didn't mean it, Jarod. Really, I didn't." She buried her face in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know, Parker. I know you didn't. It wasn't your fault." He drew her away slightly and cupped her face in his hands. "I don't blame you, Maleah. Believe me."

*~*

"Dad?"

Major Charles looked up to find his daughter standing in the doorway of the living room. "What is it, Em?"

She walked in and sat down on a stool at his feet, leaning against his legs. "I can't help it, Dad. I'm more nervous with every day that we're in this house. Sure, the fog is keeping the Centre away for now, but it's going to lift one day, and when it does..."

He put out a hand and gingerly stroked her hair. "I know that it's hard, but we need to have a plan before we do anything. Our only other option is to spend the rest of our lives running away from them and you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I'm scared, Dad."

"I am, too, Emily."

She looked up at him in amazement. "You really are?"

"I really am. Every time we've come up against the Centre, we've lost somehow. I hate the thought of doing it again, but we don't have a choice."

"And do the others feel like that too?"

"I know I do." Sydney walked into the room and sat down in a chair opposite the two occupants with a deep sigh. "I find it terrifying, knowing everything that the Centre's done - and could do." He looked across at Emily and smiled. "I think it's good that you're afraid. Sometimes I worry that Jarod and Miss Parker will forget their fear and get themselves killed in the process."

"Do you really think that's likely, Sydney?"

The psychiatrist looked up to see the expression of anxiety on Major Charles' face and nodded. "I think it's always possible, Major. Jarod, in the midst of anything, is sometimes liable to forget that it could pose a substantial risk to himself. And Miss Parker is very similar."

*~*

Jarod sat for several moments and stared blankly at the file that he had found, deep in one of the computers of the Centre.

"What is it, Jarod? What did you find?"

The Pretender looked across to find Broots sitting up on the camp bed on which he had been previously asleep.

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Not that long, actually." Broots half-smiled as he pulled himself up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "But I've seen that worried look on your face before, like when we were finding out things about Damon."

Jarod ran his fingers through his hair and sat back in his seat. "You're right. I was searching through a computer and found something that could be very useful."

Broots limped his way over to the table and Jarod pulled up another chair for the technician.

"Take a look at this." As Jarod turned the computer to face the other man, the figure on the bed moved slightly. "I'll check on her. You read through that."

He walked over and found that the most recent dose of sedative was wearing off but that otherwise she was doing well. Walking back to the table, he repeated this to the girl's father in a low voice and was rewarded with a warm smile.

"What do you think?" Jarod reseated himself and nodded at the machine that was humming softly in front of them.

"If we just sat back and waited," Broots' voice contained hints of amusement, "the Centre would destroy itself before our eyes."

Jarod nodded. "There's only one thing that worries me. If this coup fails, Mr Parker will have more power than he even has now. If it succeeds, Lyle will have all the power. I don't know which option I like less."

He watched Broots weighing up the options, as he had done, and knew that they were both feeling slightly sick at the thought.

"So what are we going to do?"

"If we could find out how far ahead they are in their planning, then we might be able to do something - but I have no idea what."

*~*

Broots had taken over the computer when Jarod had left the room to bring up the lunches and he looked up to find Ethan standing, somewhat awkwardly, in the doorway. The technician, too, couldn't help feeling a little nervous. Ethan, after all, was the person he knew least well of all those gathered at the house.

"Where's Jarod?"

"In the kitchen. He'll be back soon. Come on in."

Ethan nodded and stepped in through the doorway, looking over at the bed. "How's she doing?"

Broots beamed. "Much better. Jarod and Steven are considering getting her up tomorrow for a short time and they took out the last of the tubes today."

"I'm really glad to hear it." Ethan stepped over to the table and sat down in the chair opposite. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find some proof of the things that we found this morning."

"What things?"

"I was going to mention it at a meeting I just called for everybody in an hour." The two men looked up to see Jarod in the doorway. "Did you find anything else, Broots?"

"Not yet. I've been having some difficulty getting through the passwords."

Ethan sat back in his chair as Jarod came forward and put the jug of soup and mugs on the table before he glanced at him.

"What is it, Ethan?"

Before the man could speak, a female voice from the doorway interrupted their conversation. "Jarod, what is 'masters'?"

He stared at her. "Parker, what are you talking about?"

"I keep hearing a voice say 'masters'."

"Catherine?"

Ethan nodded. "I hear it, too."

"Broots!" Jarod spun around and stared at the technician. "Try it."

There was silence for a few seconds, then a quiet hum and Jarod looked over Broots' shoulder to see file after file open on the screen.

"That was it! The key! I kept finding references to it, but couldn't work out what it was." He looked up at Jarod and Miss Parker in excitement. "This means we can look at anything in the Centre mainframe - any memo, any DSA, any file."

"Daddy?"

The voice from the bed made Jarod step over to find Debbie looking up at him with sleepy eyes. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded at Miss Parker who grabbed Ethan's arm and the two of them left the room. Broots stood up and moved over to the bed also, his ankle improving to the extent that his limp was almost unnoticeable.

"How are you feeling, Debbie? Better?"

She nodded. "Hungry."

"Well," Jarod smiled across at Broots, "we will most certainly have to see if we can do something about that, won't we? Tell you what; I'll make you a deal. If you go back to sleep now, I'll see what I can rustle up for you."

"Okay." She closed her eyes and Jarod placed one hand on her wrist, feeling for the pulse.

"Better and better." Jarod smiled as he and Broots moved away. "She's certainly recovering a lot faster than I thought she would."

He turned away to go back down to the kitchen but noticed a nervous expression cross the technician's face. "Broots, are you willing to help us?"

"You helped me."

Jarod smiled in satisfaction and left the room.

*~*

Angelo crept into the room and looked across to where Broots sat beside the bed of his daughter, his hand in hers and both of them asleep. On the table sat an empty bowl that was evidence of the small amount of food that Debbie had been able to consume.

"Jarod?"

"Angelo, hi!" Jarod kept his voice low as he jumped up from his chair.

"Better."

"Yes, Angelo. She's much better now."

"You?"

Jarod smiled. "Yes, Angelo. I'm better, too, and so is Parker."

"'Daddy' mad."

The Pretender raised an eyebrow. "My Dad?"

With a definitive shake of the head, Angelo pulled over the computer and typed in several words. Jarod watched the image appeared on the screen.

"Damn it, Lyle! I want them found and I want them found today. Even without that technician, they could still do plenty of damage, especially if they were together. Even if just my daughter and that creep of a pretender were together, that would be enough! You will find them and you will do it soon!"

Jarod watched as Lyle turned and silently left the room. The position of the camera afforded the pretender a view that Mr Parker did not have and he saw the sneer that appeared on the thumbless man's face. The Pretender looked at Angelo, an eyebrow raised, as the empath froze the screen.

"I think Mr Parker just signed his own death warrant."

The savant's face became serious and he nodded. "Today."

"Today?"

"Lyle... Cox... today."

"Jarod, does he mean that Cox is going to be the one that does it?"

The Pretender met the technician's eye. "And he's going to do it today."

"Not... going to."

Angelo typed a couple of things into the computer and the time detail appeared on the screen.

"That was yesterday," Jarod breathed. "And today?"

"Dead."

"Oh, God."

Jarod pushed back the chair on which he sat and walked over to the window, staring out of it blindly.

"Parker - how do I tell Parker that her father is dead?"

"Not dead."

Jarod turned and stared at the small man. "But you just said..."

"Daddy...not dead."

"But if Mr Parker is dead, that means that..." Broots looked up in shock.

Jarod nodded, finished the sentence for him. "...Mr Parker is definitely not her father."

Part 9

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