3/7
 

It was no wonder her father called her Angel.

She slept, tucked under warm covers with her head rested lightly ona pillow... absolutely amazing. Her soft lips weren't forced into somefake smirk or evil grin.Her features were softened, not hard and defensive.She seemed so gentle, innocent...angelic.

Jarod and Parker had sat facing each other on the couch, quietly layingout their plan of action. Jarod had gone into the kitchen to fetch a cupof coffee, returning only to find Miss Parker stretched out on the sofafast asleep. He hadn't thought, just put down the mug and lifted up Parkerinto his arms, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He hadfelt a smile spread across his face as he carried her into the bedroom,found himself reveling at the sense of contentment her nearness brought.It wasn't until he was about to place Parker on the bed that it hit Jarod--thiswas Parker he was holding. Even more confusing, he really didn't care.As carefully as he could, Jarod tucked Parker in. He stopped at the door,and looked back at her for a moment, allowing himself a deep sigh beforewalking back out into the livingroom.

Try as he might, to concentrate on anything else, his mind kept slippingback to Emily and Parker. He felt so protective of them both. With Emilyit was understandable; defending the innocent was a part of him. But withParker... perhaps, in a way, she was innocent, but hid such a weaknesswell under a facade of invincibility...

It was as Jarod was finishing this thought that he realized he was rightback in Parker's room. He shook his head in mild disbelief, smiling athis own lack of self control. When it came to her, he just couldn't seemto resist.

And so here he was, watching her. Jarod sat on the edge of a chair pulledclose to the bed, his hands folded under his chin and his eyes fixatedon the still form under the covers. A glance at the clock confirmed hisfear--it was nearly six. Soon Parker would awaken, and this moment wouldbe over.

~~~~~~~~~

Miss Parker was notorious for her lead foot. Her driving today was theepitome of that personality trait--the last stretch of road leading tothe Centre had a fairly high speed limit, but any limit was asking toomuch of the impatient Parker. She needed to get back near Emily, she neededto know for herself that the girl had her nearby for protection. Then Emilywould be safe.

Safe. At the Centre. Parker didn't even notice the worried frown formingon her face. Yeah, right. As safe as leaving a lamb in the lion's den.

~~~~~~~~~

It had been one hell of a day. Sydney had been called into meetingsall day, and Miss Parker had growled at anyone who dared to enter the domainof her office. Broots couldn't believe how well they were playing theirparts, each acting as thought tonight meant nothing at all. As for himself,Broots was scared out of his wits. He knew it was right. He knew this hadto be done. But that didn't help quench the fear swirling in his stomachlike a dozen butterflies. And Debbie... Miss Parker had warned Broots thatnothing could seem out of place, despite how much they wanted to keep everyoneout of danger. Everyone had to behave just as they normally would. So Brootshad been close to ecstasy, knowing that Debbie had flown out that morningto visit an aunt in Rhode Island for a long week. Longer, if Broots sawthe need.

"Anything new on Jarod?" Broots' head snapped up from his computer screen,using some bit of strength he didn't even know he had left to keep fromyelping in fright. Parker and Sydney may seem completely unphased, butBroots' nerves were frayed to their very ends.

"Broots, relax." Parker's voice emphasized her statement--she was orderinghim.

"Right, s-sorry. Just t-too much coffee, I guess."

"Well, snap out of it! Now, any news on Jarod?"

"Not really."

"Wonderful," Parker muttered. "Nice to see you're earning your paycheck."She leaned over Broots' desk, slipping a bit of paper into his palm.

"I better get going. Let me know if anything new comes up." She turnedon her heels and walked out the door.

Broots turned his chair away from the security camera, and quickly unfoldedthe note.

Change in plans.
Jade Dragon, 9:40
 

Parker navigated herself through the halls and elevators of the Centrewith the same cool, nonchalant exterior she always had. Inside, though,she was thoroughly lost. Emily was still hooked up to an IV, and Parkerknew she couldn't visit the girl without drawing much-unwanted attention.And Jarod, the lab experiment with morals, had popped up at her home lastnight, only to be missing once again when Parker found herself in her ownbed this morning.

When had her life become so much more different than the one Daddy hadinsisted upon? When had she started to need to protect everyone, to befriendclear enemies of the Centre?

When had she started to prefer it that way?

~~~~~~~~~

Sydney glanced with amusement over at Broots. Since the younger manhad walked into the Jade Dragon, a local Chinese restaurant, he had beenglancing nervously over his shoulder continuously. When a waiter had approachedto take their order, Broots had managed to scare him off with a highlysuspicious look.

A small bell tinkled as the glass door opened. Sydney caught a glanceof Miss Parker entering the restaurant, and nodded his head to let Brootsknow of the final arrival before looking back down to his menu. Brootslooked up expectantly--

"Jeez!"--and promptly dropped his glass of water, spilling chilled waterand ice across the table. Standing behind Miss Parker, with his hands foldedbehind his back and a look of mock innocence and humor on his face wasJarod. Parker turned to look at Jarod, but didn't seem at all surprisedto see him, unlike Broots.

"Easy, Broots. We need everyone heart-attack free for this mission."

"But, Miss Parker, he's--"

"--The fourth person on our little adventure." Parker finished for him.The waiter quickly came to wipe the counter, then walked away once again.Realization dawned in Broots' eyes, and he stared at Jarod for a momentbefore an actual grin spread across his face.

"And to think, I thought there wasn't anything we could possibly doto make the Centre any angrier if we were caught."

"Working with me tends to make people popular--you'd be surprised howmany people suddenly become eager to have little 'chats' with me. Of course,their preference is that I talk from a cement cell, but I always did prefermy own terms. By the way, sorry about the change in meeting places, buthomes are more obvious--public places allow you to blend in better."

"Enough chit chat. Let's get down to business." Miss Parker, with asmuch impatience as ever, took control of the situation.

Everyone sat, quickly ordering just to get a new, hovering waiter awayfrom their secluded, dimly lit table. They set to work on finalizing plans,pointing out possible trouble and discussing the best routes of entry andexit.

Customers entering the restaurant didn't notice the murmuring groupin the back immediately, but once recognized, every one of them was struckby what a mixed bag of people were seated back there, and wondered justwhat seemed so secretive.

~~~~~~~~~

Broots glanced at the digital face of his watch, just to be sure.

1:37

It was time. Broots typed a command into his computer, and waited forthe expected result. A moment later, the lights above him flickered momentarily,before returning back to normal. Broots couldn't help but smile at hisown handiwork. The slight power outage he'd designed on his laptop wasenough to cut the security measures for three minutes. Long enough to allowfor the guards' confused search of the building for the source of the problem.And just long enough, hopefully, to get Emily out. He'd done his part.Now it was up to the others.

1:38

Miss Parker walked confidently down the Recovery Wing to Emily's room,and walked in. The girl was asleep, probably thanks to one drug or another.Carefully as possible, Parker turned off the monitors and removed the wiresfrom the child's arms and chest. She heard the door click open behind her,and turned, knowing she'd see Jarod.

He moved without sound, stopping next to Emily's bed. Leaning over,he picked her up, and carried her out the door with him, not once glancingat Parker.

It took every bit of willpower Jarod had to stop himself from checkingMiss Parker, seeing with his own eyes that she was, beyond a doubt, preparedfor what was up ahead. Instead, he just picked up Emily, and walked backout the way he had come, retracing his steps to where Sydney would be waiting,in a small unsecured area, to check Emily over before Jarod attempted tosneak her out.

He hadn't approved of her plan whatsoever, but, as she herself had pointedout at the restaurant earlier, he knew the makeshift "exits" better thananyone else and if need be, she wouldn't be as hesitant to shoot her wayout. When it came down to it, Parker was a distraction to assure that Emilycould be snuck out, should anyone catch onto their plans.

Jarod didn't look at Parker because he knew that if he did, he wouldn'tbe able to leave her there.

1:39

That was it. Emily was finally on her way out. Parker allowed herselfone deep breath, before stepping outside into the hall. She walked quicklyover to the elevator, knowing that in about 30 seconds all security measureswould be up and running again. The metal doors slid open, and Parker slippedin.

The same rush of sadness came to her as she looked around the familiarelevator, but she pushed it down and concentrated on the problem at hand.It had been too easy getting Emily out of here, Parker was sure of that.She absentmindedly brushed her gun, hidden beneath her jacket.

"We've gotten this far," she murmered. "I'll be damned if I'll let eitherof them get hurt."

The doors slid open silently and Parker walked out, her stance confidentand the clicking of her heels strong and echoing. She had nearly reachedthe doors heading outside, when a masculine voice stopped her:

"Miss Parker, I'm going to need you to turn around." Parker did as shewas told, and turned to find a muscular security guard pointing a weaponat her.

"You mind telling me what's going on? It's late, I'm tired and I'd liketo go home." Her eyes narrowed, and her voice was demanding. Nonetheless,she could feel her legs grow weak, and she felt fear like she hadn't knownfor a long time. Oh god, what if they'd gotten Jarod and Emily? That onethought was enough to push her into action. Parker whipped out her gunand aimed it point blank at his head, in one fluid movement.

"Where are they?"

~~~~~~~~~

"Where is she?"

"Jarod, you saw her less than 3 minutes ago," Sydney pointed out. "She'sfine." His voice was less than convincing.

"She should be here by now," Jarod insisted. He reached for the 9mmBaretta Parker had forced on him at the Jade Dragon. "Take Emily to thecar. If I'm not back in 15 minutes, I want you to get Emily away from here."

"Jarod, I can't let you do this--"

"I'm not giving you a choice. I have to go back for her, Syd. I haveto."

~~~~~~~~~

The standoff between the guard and Parker hadn't lasted long. One swiftblow to the head with her firearm knock him to the floor, unconscious.Parker headed back to the elevator. No doubt there would be more guardsalong her planned route, so it seemed the quickest way out would probablybe from the emergency exit just past the elevators. No doubt the fire alarmswould go off, but at this point it wasn't as if she was still working insecret, anyhow.

The doors to the elevator quietly slid open just as Parker passed them.She swung her weapon around to face whatever was about to exit the elevator.

Nothing.

She took a step closer, her body now half way through the doors. Itwas only as the black-clad figure shot down into the elevator from thetrap door to the shaft above, that Parker realized her mistake. A pairof booted feet kicked her square in the chest, sending her sprawling backwardsand her gun flying. She landed with a grunt, but immediately sprang backup onto her feet, grabbing her gun from a few feet away. Parker scannedthe area around her, but to no avail.

"No way that's it," she muttered. She peered down a darkened hallway,squinting into the shadows. A blackened form shifted, just slightly.

"Gotcha."

~~~~~~~~~

Jarod ran into the Centre as fast as his legs would carry him. The closerhe'd gotten, the worse the feeling of dread in his heart had grown. He'drun into two guards already, obviously newly posted, and found himselfnot the least hesitant in knocking them both unconscious with the buttof his gun.

He raced around another corner, only to come face-to-face with the barrelof a gun.

"You can't imagine how much I'm enjoying this," Mr. Lyle smirked.

~~~~~~~~~

"I'm not in the mood for games," Parker finally spoke up, training hergun on the form only a shade darker than the shadows it stood in. She wasso concentrated on that form, that she didn't even hear the person approachingher from behind. A gun aimed at her head...

~~~~~~~~~

A single gunshot echoed through the near-empty halls, and shook Jaroddown to his soul. A sly grin spread across Lyle's face.

"Looks like it's just you and me now."

What Lyle said was just too real a possibility for Jarod to handle.He was unnerved, and pure hatred filled his eyes.

"She's your sister," Jarod said in disbelief.

"Not anymore."

With those two small worlds, all of Jarod's fear and panic melted intopure anger. He could hear his heart pounding, and feel his fists clench.With all the force he could muster, Jarod hit the side of Lyle's head withone fist, careful to duck out of the way of Lyle's gun. With a groan ofpain, Lyle slumped to the floor.

Not wasting any time, Jarod rounded one corner, then the last...andskidded to a stop as his mind fought to grasp the picture in front of him.

Parker lay facedown on the ground, just outside the open elevator.

He felt numb. He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe. Weakly, he sliddown against the wall, memories flashing before him of the last time aParker woman had been shot at this elevator. Had been killed. He felt tearsrush to his eyes, but fought them down, as if crying was a sign that shewas truly gone. One limp hand reached a few inches to her hair-coveredface, brushing away a few strands. A warm feeling spread over two of hisfingers, and Jarod withdrew his hand to find blood. Her blood.

And his tears fell. Through the anger, and the pain, and the uncomprehension,he cried, unsure of what else to do, unable to move, barely capable ofbreathing. He curled up against the wall, crying and shaking uncontrollably.

~~~~~~~~~
"Eight minutes, Jarod. Where the hell are you?" Syd had carried littleEmily to the car Jarod had rented, and rested her on the backseat, tuckedbeneath a warm afghan. She was sleeping peacefully, with the fever allbut gone from her system. Sydney stood next to the car, contemplating thekeys in his hand. Broots had left directly after cutting the alarms, uponthe insistance of both Parker and Jarod, and was now waiting in the car,watching over Emily with his fatherly instinct.

Syd cautiously opened the car door, not wanting to awaken Emily, andglanced over at Broots. Unlike the older man, Broots hadn't learned tohide emotions so well. Concern was clearly etched on his face.

"Just 5 more minutes," Syd insisted. "We can only wait 5 more minutes,and then we must leave."

~~~~~~~~~

It was the quietest of moans.

Jarod's sensitive ears picked up the sound, but at first refused toacknowledge anything...Nothing mattered, not now...

But there it was again, slightly louder, a bit stronger this time. Hecouldn't resist--hope filled him as he glanced over at Parker. He staredat her, his eyes straining for even the tiniest sign that she was alive.

Not a sound.

Unwilling to give up, Jarod reached out and placed his fingers closeto her mouth, ignoring the warmth he knew was her blood. Time ceased--nothingwas important, except the hard concentration he forced into sensing something,anything.

And then he felt it.

Across his fingers spread the wonderful, glorious, comforting feel ofher breath. A weak breath, but one nonetheless. With a gentleness beyondnecessity, he brushed the rest of the dark hair away, and was rewardedwith the face that was truly angelic. Heavy eyelids slowly raised, longeyelashes separating. Her blue eyes slowly focused on his brown ones, andJarod's face formed an expression of utter tenderness and hope and purejoy.

"We did it," Jarod whispered. "We saved Emily."

Even in her weakened state, Parker's sharp mind went to work, and quicklycame across the recent events. Emily was free, but the Centre had discoveredher part in the mission.

Parker opened her mouth to speak, a tedious process with such an energydrain as hers. She could only manage two words: "What now?"
 
 
 
 
 

I hope you enjoy my series! Any feedback is not only appreciated,I live for it. So, if you have comments, questions, frustrations, anxieties,concerns, or just plain loved this, let me know at angelheart15@hotmail.com.

Part 4