The musty old warehouse was quiet. Too quiet. It was probably just herbeing on-edge. But still, something just wasn't right. Jarod didn't retracehis steps. Not ever. Why now?

A footstep behind her. Parker swung around, and came face-to-face withJarod.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" Her voice was quavering withanger, even fear. Was he crazy? Had he developed a death wish?

"I had to."

That was it? He got her dragged to this old warehouse, in the middleof the night, and the best he could do was 'I had to'?!

"Not good enough. Damn it, Jarod, you could be killed. Now I want toknow, what's going on?"

"Coming back to a place you've followed me to before--I figured it'dbe easier to find me. But why I'm here...I had to come back, I had to getyou. Better we meet up here, than in Blue Cove." He had a point. The furtherfrom the Centre, the better. But--

"Get me? What are you talking about?"

"I left the Centre, I got my freedom. But you...you're still in theirgrasp."

"I can take care of myself."

"And it's because of that kind of attitude that I'm here. You'd neverleave on your own, would you?"

"Daddy--"

"This isn't about your father."

"My father is all I have!"

"You've got me." Just three little words, but still, she couldn't thinkof a retort.

"Is he up there?" Parker could hear Lyle shout from the first level.

"N-no. He must not be here." Parker couldn't look at Jarod as she spoke--whatwas she doing? Why wasn't she capturing him? After all the times he'd tauntedher, woken her up in the middle of the night, left some stupid gift...he'ddone a hundred things to piss her off. Still, when it came right down toit, when she had the perfect opportunity to catch him, just the thoughtof pointing her gun at him was making her ill.

"Jarod, I want you to leave," she insisted, her intense blue eyes emphasizingher words. "Get out of here while you still have the opportunity. I canbe generous, but we both know how long that'll last."

"No," he said simply, using his steady gaze to keep her concentratedon him. "I'm not leaving unless you come with me."

"I'll come up there and help you look!" Lyle shouted from the bottomlevel. Parker felt her stomach lurch, and it took a lot of control to keepfrom showing her panic.

"Look, I don't know where this sudden concern for me came from, butyou've got to leave. Now!" This whole situation was just getting worse;she could hear Lyle walking across the floor to the old service elevatorthat led right up to them. Jarod's time was running out.

"If you're so determined to stay, then so am I," Jarod replied calmly.The rusty old door to the service elevator slowly screeched shut.

"Damn it, Jarod!" Parker whipped out her gun, and pointed it at Jarod'shead. "Leave now, or I'll shoot you. You know I'll do it--it's better Ishoot you here, than them torturing you before shooting you, back at theCentre." He had to know that she was right. Couldn't he see what a fool'serrand this was? The empty room they stood in seemed to echo the soundof grinding metal as the service elevator reached them.

"My answer is still no," Jarod said.

"Why are you behaving like this?" she asked uncertainly. Before Jarodhad a chance to reply, the elevator stopped, and Lyle pushed aside themetal screen. He spotted the two right away, and thinking that Parker hadcaptured Jarod, pulled his gun out and pointed it at the Pretender.

"Good job, sis. What, d'you catch him as I was on my way up?" Parkercouldn't answer. She had frozen as soon as Lyle had walked off the elevator.Over. The chase, the cat-and-mouse games, it couldn't really be over, couldit? She jumped just the slightest bit, as the sound of Lyle cocking hisgun echoed. She looked over to see her brother stepping up and placingthe barrel of his gun against Jarod's temple. Jarod, however, simply continuedto gaze at Parker.

"What do you think you're doing?" Parker snapped. A wicked grin of delightspread across Lyle's face.

"New orders, came in just after you left. We are to shoot Jarod on sight.Seems the Triumvirate's finally coming around to the "take no prisoners"policy, my personal favorite." His obvious joy at the thought of killingJarod just ticked Parker off. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her brother.

"What?" She hissed, glaring at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sis," Lyle apologized in mock-guilt. "Of course youshould have first shot at him. After all, you have been chasing the labexperiment longer than I have." His gun went down, and he stepped backa few feet. "After you."

And so she was thrust back into the uncomfortable position of holdinga weapon on Jarod. Lyle stood nearby, watching her expectantly; and still,Jarod calmly looked at her. For a moment, Parker was certain that Jarodhad gone mad. Why else would he be just standing there, watching her likethat? Then, it slowly dawned on her what exactly that look was. It wastrust. He actually trusted her.

That makes this a lot easier, she thought wryly. And suddenly, she realizedthat it did make it easier--it was now completely clear what she had to.

"You have no idea how much it means to me that I get to shoot you,"she said honestly, switching the safety off the gun. "I can guarantee you,one of us will never forget it." And then, as if it were the most naturalthing in the world, she swung around and pointed the gun down, then shot.Lyle didn't even have a chance to look surprised before she pulled thetrigger. Before either one of them knew it, he was on the ground, bleedingheavily from his left leg. Lyle's gun landed with a clatter a good ninefeet away from him.

Parker didn't stop to think, but immediately grabbed Jarod's hand andpulled him over to the elevator.

"You have to go," she insisted, pushing Jarod into the elevator. "Hewon't be able to run after you, but you need to get going before he getsto his gun."

"Come with me," Jarod said, looking at her pleadingly. "There's nothingstopping you. Please, just--"

"Damn it, no!" Parker interrupted him. "Look, I'm sorry--," her eyessoftened, "--you have no idea how sorry. But I just can't. Now would youjust leave!" She turned around, so at least Jarod couldn't argue to herface. It was then that she saw Lyle. He had reached his gun. Their timewas up.

Lyle turned and aimed the gun. Parker shouted for Jarod to get down,and jumped in the line of fire. Lyle pulled the trigger, and a single shotechoed, like a death toll, throughout the empty warehouse.

"No!" Jarod screamed in a panic, as Parker collapsed on the ground.He knelt down before her, the sight of her blood pouring from a chest woundripping his heart apart.

Lyle smiled. He never could stand that woman. Still, her getting inthe way really ticked him off. With all his blood loss, Lyle would haveto wait a moment before using the energy it took for another shooting attempt.As it was, he felt weak and light-headed. His sister always had been agood shot. She'd probably hit some artery or something.

"Please don't do this," Jarod whispered, his face close to her. "Pleasedon't leave me." Her eyes were open, but unfocused. The analytical sideof Jarod knew that she must be going into shock, and he took off his jacketand placed it over her to keep her warm. "Come on, Parker, stay with me.You got shot last year protecting your father, and you survived. You sureas hell aren't leaving now."

Her eyes steadied, and she turned her head, a painful and draining action,to look at Jarod. He had always been handsome, she recalled. Along withthe pain came a bit of guilt, but her thoughts were becoming far off andfuzzy, so that it took a moment for her to remember why she felt so badin the first place. But when she did, the realization brought tears toher eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, staring up at him. "I should have justgone...but I was...scared, unsure..."

"It's okay," Jarod soothed her. "Don't worry about that. Just save yourstrength."

"No, I have...I have to say this...I wanted to...to go, because..."Her eyes began to lose focus again. Parker was no fool, she knew what wasinevitable. But she was determined to say this, so she called upon everybit of energy left in her, and lifted a hand, very slowly, until it restedon Jarod's cheek. He covered it with his own, and tears fell from his eyes."You need to know...even when we were...when we were young, I knew...deepdown...I love you, Jarod...Always have...I always will...I...I promiseyou...Jarod." And her energy was gone, and a sort of sweet calm came overher. Jarod, tears streaming down his face, kissed her on the forehead,then her hand.

"Rest now, Angel. Go to your mother." He sat, bent over Parker's body,weeping, all thoughts of Lyle out of his mind. He didn't care anymore.He just didn't care.

But Lyle did. He had a job to finish. Besides, now was the perfect time,with Jarod vulnerable and him with just enough energy left. He lifted thegun once again, trying hard to keep it steady. He finally managed to properlyaim, and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. A perfect shot.Jarod was dead on contact, his body collapsing next to Parker's. He stillheld her hand in his grasp, their fingers laced together.

Lyle reached into his coat, wincing as he moved his leg slightly. Hehit the speed dial on his cellphone. The head of the sweeper team sentto check out nearby buildings, answered on the first ring.

"Sir?"

"I've got him. Jarod's dead. So is Miss Parker."

"Miss Parker, sir?"

"A casualty of war. It happens. Listen, get your ass over here. I'mon the second floor, and I've been shot."

"Right away, sir." Lyle closed his cellphone and tucked it in his jacket,before passing out on the cold cement floor.

~~~~~~~~~

A pair of blue eyes shot open, and she let out a small, startled cry.The little girl sat up in her bed, and drew her knees up under her chin.Her face was wet with tears she didn't remember shedding, that pressedsmall clumps of her dark hair to her face. Then she remembered, she hadbeen sad in the dream. She must have started crying. It made sense; thedream had been so real.

It was dark in her room, but the little girl chose not to turn the lighton. Angel preferred the dark--it was harder for the security cameras tosee her in the dark. Still, it made it feel awfully lonely. The littlegirl felt her eyes begin to water. She bent her head down, and let thetears fall.

Down the hall, in another room, a young boy woke up suddenly. Jarodlie there for a moment, unsure of why he had awakened. Then he realizedthat something was wrong. He had a desperate urge to go see her, to makesure she was all right. He walked to the control panel that kept his doorlocked, and typed in a series of letters. The small screen showed: PASSWORDTYPED: WHITE RABBIT - ENTER OR CANCEL? The boy pressed the enter button,and the screen now read: PASSWORD ACCEPTED - LOCK OFF. The boy turned thehandle, and the door opened easily enough. He walked down two doors, toher door, and typed the same password in. He was the one to come up withit, but they both used it so they could get to each other. It was one ofthe things they kept just between them. The adults had a series of numbersthey typed in, but he had reprogrammed the locks easily enough, so thatthey accepted both passwords now.

He entered the room silently, remembering to turn around and lock thedoor around him. The adults kept insisting that this was for their ownprotection, and he intended to keep Angel safe. It was some sort of instinct,an accepted piece of knowledge to him.

He walked over to the bed, and sat down beside her.

"Hi," he whispered when she finally looked up.

"Hi," she whispered back, sniffling a little.

"Bad dream?"

"Uh-huh." She looked up at him with sad blue eyes. He observed her calmly,watching her with patient brown eyes.

"You don't need to worry, Angel," he assured her. "I'll take care ofyou. Nothing will happen, as long as I'm around." He had always calledher Angel, for as long as he could remember. Everyone else had always calledher Miss Parker; she didn't even know what her first name was. But Jarodremembered, a long time ago, an older man with white hair calling her Angel.That was the only time he saw the old man, but he had liked the name Angel,so it had become accepted for him to call her so. Still, however, everyoneelse called her Miss Parker, even the kids. Except for Timmy, but theydidn't see him very often.

"Promise?"

"I promise." The little girl smiled, and moved to sit next to the boy.

"Then I promise to take care of you, too."

"We'll always be there to take care of each other, I bet," the boy mused.

"Yep. You and me will always have each other," the girl said confidently.

"We should sleep. It's late."

"Stay with me?"

"Of course."

~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Parker sat in his office, quietly absorbing what the sweeper wasinforming him over the phone. When the man finished his report, Mr. Parkerhung up the phone without a word. Outwards, he showed no signs of caring,no tears or shouts of anger and pain. He didn't ask if the sweeper wassure it was her. He maintained his appearance of complete control. Inside,he was upset, certainly. He loved his daughter, his Angel, very much.

Mr. Parker moved his chair over to where his laptop sat, and typed ina series of commands. Footage from a security camera placed nearly 30 levelsbeneath him appeared on the screen. It was his daughter's room. Or, tobe more accurate, the clone of his daughter. He had tried often to remindhimself of that fact, that she was nothing more than a reproduction ofhis Angel, but every time he watched her through the camera, a little girlwith the same dark hair and determined blue eyes, the same sweet smile,he couldn't help but feel love for the child.

The cloning project was such a bigger success than even he had anticipated.When Jarod had come across his clone a year ago, the Pretender had actuallyassumed that his young look-alike was the only one, the only success. Foolishassumption.

Still, that was all in the past. The older Pretender was dead now, andthe eldest clone was still out there somewhere with Jarod's father. Andhis Angel was dead, as well. Mr. Parker stared at the screen sadly, observingthe children he saw there. The young Jarod and Miss Parker had fall asleepsitting up, with the girl's head rested on Jarod's shoulder and them holdingeach other's hand. It seemed that more and more these days, he would accessone of their security cameras and find those two together.

Mr. Parker turned off his computer, and walked out of his office anddown the hall to the elevator. Once he arrived at the right level, he showedhis pass to the armed guards posted at the elevator, and walked down thehall to Angel's room. He typed in the appropriate series of numbers, thenslowly opened the door, hoping not to wake the two. He wanted to catchthem asleep, so that he could say goodbye. It is, after all, rather impossibleto say farewell to a child that doesn't even remember the last time thatshe saw you.

The room was a little different than the others. There were no toyslying about, or pictures on the walls, as his own daughter's room had been,but he had requested that this little girl at least have a larger bed andwalls with some color. He glanced at the rose-colored wallpaper with satisfaction--thesesort of extras couldn't change her so much that the researchers would notice,and it helped him feel as if he wasn't neglecting the child.

Despite his efforts, Mr. Parker's arrival did awaken Jarod. Angel slepton, obviously quite comfortable as she was. Jarod said nothing, simplylooked up at this older man, the one who had first called Miss Parker "Angel",with his solemn brown eyes. His hold on the girl's hand, however, did tightena bit, and Mr. Parker felt proud. Whatever his limitations in caring forthe girl, Mr. Parker knew that Jarod would watch over his little girl forhim, protect her when he was unable.

"I just came to see A-, er, Miss Parker. Don't worry, I won't wake her."Jarod nodded his consent, and Mr. Parker walked over and knelt down infront of his daughter's clone. He felt his heart tug as he watched herrest. Hesitantly, he reached a hand out, then softly brushed the younggirl's cheek. She murmured softly, but didn't wake up. He bowed his head,and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Goodbye, Angel. I love you." He turned to Jarod, who was looking athim with a strange look. Who was this man, to tell Angel that he lovedher? Mr. Parker offered no explanation, but walked to the door and typedin the security code. He opened the door, then stopped and looked backat Jarod.

"Take good care of her, young man," Mr. Parker said before he walkedout, carefully closing the door behind him. Jarod looked at the door, hisbrow creased in confusion. After a few moments, he looked down at Angel;he shifted his shoulder to offer her a more comfortable position, thentried to get back to sleep.

Back up in his office, Mr. Parker took out his cellphone and dialeda number.

"Sydney, I need you to come in immediately."

"I already know about Jarod and Miss Parker." That explained why heanswered after the first ring, when it was well past three in the morning.

"There's something I need you to take care of. Personally." There wasa short pause, and Mr. Parker felt regret. Sydney had been closer to Jarodand, near the end, even his Angel, than he himself could ever have been,and no doubt was in great mourning right now. Still, this was somethingthat couldn't wait.

~~~~~~~~~

Sydney sat in his office, staring at the man in front of him. Mr. Parkerhadn't mentioned the deaths at all, deciding to first get the difficultpart over with. It had been a lengthy, very detailed description of whatthe cloning project had become. At first Sydney showed no signs of surprise;he had, after all, been with the Centre for many years. It was when Mr.Parker began his idea to take Jarod and Miss Parker away that Sydney finallyshowed an emotion: shock. He couldn't speak, only simply stare in disbelief.

"Sydney, I need you to do this," Mr. Parker explained as he finishedup his long speech. "This time around, Jarod and my Angel deserve a goodshot at a normal life. Knowing they're locked up -both of them this time,not just Jarod- is just too much. I could handle it before, but now thatmy real daughter's gone...Well, you were close to them both. I'm sure youunderstand."

"Am I to understand that you intend to let them go free," Sydney finallyfound his voice, "out there, in the real world?"

"As I said, I have found two couples looking to adopt. The conditionscouldn't be better if we planned this ourselves. Now, you've already putin for some leave--some psychology workshop in Pittsburgh, wasn't it? Allyou would have to do is miss a day, the day you spend flying those twoout to Salt Lake City."

"You have all the details worked out?"

"Nothing can go wrong."

"Never say never, where the Centre is involved," Sydney warned. "Butwhat of the children? How do they feel about all of this?"

"You'll explain the situation to them. You take them somewhere, yourhouse or something, and explain everything to them. They're smart kids--wouldn'tbe in the program still if they weren't. Don't worry, they'll handle itfine."

Sydney sat, considering this proposition of Mr. Parker's for nearlyan hour. Mr. Parker sat as well, not willing to leave until he had somesort of reply from him. Finally, Sydney spoke up. He leaned forward, andsmiled at Mr. Parker.

"Let's do it."

~~~~~~~~~

Twelve of the twenty-two children being held at the Centre were beingtransferred to another station a week later. The doctors had not placedMiss Parker or Jarod on the list of children leaving, but Mr. Parker hadseen to that. Four guards, armed way beyond necessity for a few children,came to the rooms of the children listed, and had all the kids follow themto a large holding room. Fourteen children on the list, fourteen childrenin the holding room. The guards' work was done.

It was before the guards in charge of taking the children to the transportvehicles arrived that a man came and took two of the children. Jarod andMiss Parker weren't missed--they weren't on the list of twelve childrenthe transport guards had. Neither had argued or tried to get away. Theysimply followed Sydney down the dark, mostly unknown tunnels that led toa parking garage not watched by security cameras. They had escaped withoutthe least bit of trouble.

Now, however, came the difficult part: convincing two young childrenthat they were about to begin new lives, and that this was a good thing.Unlike the original Jarod, neither of these children had ever lived outsideof the Centre walls. They didn't know that the world beyond the Centrewas any different than their own lives.

It hadn't been easy, to help them understand the good side of growingup outside of a controlled environment, but -as Mr. Parker had pointedout- they were smart, especially for their age. In the end, they were actuallyexcited about this adventure they were about to embark on. The troublecame when Sydney pointed out they would be living with separate families.His heart fell when he saw the look on their faces, and Jarod's blunt replysummed it up:

"No."

"Now, you need to be reasonable. It's impossible for the two of youto find a home together. Besides, you need to learn to not depend on eachother so much." Wrong answer. Jarod's jaw clenched, and Angel's eyes narrowedin pure spite. "I can understand how you would want to be near each other,really, but I just can't make any guarantees. I mean, you'll be in thesame city. Isn't that enough?"

"No," Jarod and Angel replied in unison.

"We promised to stay together," the young girl said hot-headedly, "andwe're not going anywhere with you unless you promise that we can." Sydneysighed, and glanced down at his watch. This was taking much longer thanexpected--their plane would be leaving in 45 minutes; there was no timefor this.

"All right, how about this: we get on the plane and go to Salt LakeCity. We'll try to arrange things more to your liking. If it works, great.And if it doesn't, I'll just try to work something out. Deal?" Jarod lookedto Angel for her opinion. When she nodded, he turned his attention backto Sydney.

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~

They made it into the city without anymore trouble. The children hadbeen in awe by everything they saw, which was to be expected, as theironly experience with the real world was knowledge gained from simulations.They joyfully experimented with practically every food the booths at theairport offered, from ice cream to chocolate to cheeseburgers. While Sydneysat in the back of a cab, trying to find the locations of Angel's and Jarod'snew homes on a map to gauge their distance, the children dug into cupsfilled with icecream. Each cup had three scoops, and six flavors altogether:vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip mint, butter pecan and orangesherbet. They ate half of each scoop, then switched cups.

As it would turn out, Mr. Parker had been right--the living situationcouldn't have worked out better. Their new houses were one street apart,and the backs of both houses faced each other. All that would come betweenJarod and Angel were their backyards. Though they both weren't happy thatthey didn't have the same house, they quickly admitted that the livingsituation was suitable. What made the couples chosen to become their parentsso ideal was that in each couple, both worked for the Salt Lake City branchof the Centre. Neither couple had children, and both knew the kind of backgroundthat Jarod and Angel were coming from. Luckily, none of the new parentshad ever met or seen a picture of the original Jarod or Miss Parker--evenin the best of Centre employees, questions are bound to get asked.

He hadn't spent much time with the children before leaving. Sydney hadgrown quite fatherly towards the adult Miss Parker and Jarod, and he knewthat the longer he stayed with these younger versions, the harder it wouldbe to leave. Still, these children were living out the hope for a normallife Sydney had always dreamed of for the originals, and he knew he wouldbe back to visit often.

~~~~~~~~~

Over the years, Jarod Masters and Angel Hopkins grew quite fond of "UncleSydney," who came to visit regularly every year. They also kept in touchthrough letters, phone calls and e-mails.

Despite being in separate households, Jarod and Angel would only growcloser. Their fathers built them a treehouse in between the houses, andthey still talked late at night, through walkie-talkies. It wasn't evenuncommon for, late at night, one of the children to let the other one in,especially during bad storms or after nightmares. Bunk beds were soon ownedby both kids. Angel's father would call in a school board favor every yearto get them in the same class all the way through junior high. In highschool, they took the same advanced classes, studied together, and eventuallywent to prom together. In the end, they even attended Harvard Medical together.Jarod became a surgeon, and Angel chose pediatric medicine.

One night, in front of the fireplace, Sydney was relaxing on the couchwith his favorite photo album, the one dedicated to the children he'd cometo care so deeply for. Once again, they grew up before his eyes, as heflipped through snapshots of science fair days, softball games, birthdayparties, vacations at the beach, dances, a couple of prom photos, and twosets of graduation photos. Sydney stopped before turning the last page,taking a slow sip of his coffee and staring into the fire. Finally, heturned the page, enjoying the pride that stirred in his heart. On the leftside was a large wedding photo, with the happy couple holding each otherand beaming for the camera. And, on the right side, was a family phototaken only this last year, with Parker and Jarod each hanging on to oneof the identical three-year-old twin boys as they walked down the beach.The children, dark haired and blue eyed, were laughing at the camera, Sydneyfrom atop his father's shoulders, and Kyle at his mother's side, holdingher hand.

With a sigh of contentment, Sydney closed the photo album. The hopeshe'd held for Jarod and Miss Parker had, in a way, eventually been realized.In the end, it seemed destiny worked out in their favor.

The End!

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