I Just Want To Be Normal

Parker knocked on the door after a day of hiding in her room, and planning what she was going to do to Jarod. "Hey, Isabel. Hey, Jack. Still a fox. As usual," she added, lips quirking.

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"Parker! How was your day?" Isabel asked. "Do you have foot in mouth disease as well? I have heard way too much about people's sex lives today."

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"Then you better not ask me what I'm wearing under this raincoat," Parker said. She raised an eyebrow. "And that's a big yes. Although I think we can stop right there, yeah?"

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"I will parse my words very carefully," she promised. "I have no idea why this whole thing isn't bothering me. Bel thinks it's because I'm an alien."

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"Then I could wish I was an alien, too. I already overshared with Xander and Conner last night. This better not last forever." Parker leaned down to pet Jack, and sighed. "I had too much honesty last night anyway."

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"Xander overshared with me this moring. I dealt with it by covering my ears and singing." Jack whined at Parker. "Hopefully it won't last too long. Oh, by the way, thanks for the phone call. Even if I didn't get it until yesterday afternoon."

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"You're welcome." Parker tapped Jack on the nose. "Quit whining, you. Once I figured out you were mad at her too, I warned her so she didn't get caught completely flat-footed." She scratched above his eyebrows again. "And thank god you don't want to know all my secrets. I really don't think you want to hear them."

Oops.

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"I was still caught. Like I said, I didn't get the call till later in the afternoon when I finally got around to checking my voicemail. I was sleeping." Jack huffed and stared at Isabel. "What?" she asked. "I was. And just be quiet."

Isabel bit her lip, "I'd listen if you wanted to talk. God knows you've listened to me enough."

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Parker rubbed her eyes. "It's not a matter of trust." She laughed suddenly. "Okay. I trust you as much as I trust anyone. Which isn't much, but... I don't want you to get hurt, Isabel. People who know too much about the Centre-- tend to disappear. Like my mom."

Parker couldn't tell if she was being compelled to say that or not. She meant it, but maybe it was already too much.

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"Not so surprisingly? I get that," Isabel said quietly. "I've got trust issues of my own. Although I'm working on it." She frowned, "But I thought your mom committed suicide."

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Parker sat down on the floor, and Jack put his head in her lap, whining a little again. "No." She swallowed. "She was murdered. They just made it look like a suicide."

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Cedric finally makes it to Jack's room, one hand over his mouth and a bag in the other.

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"Christ Parker. How do you know?" Isabel put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'll shut up if you don't want to talk about it."

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Isabel chuckled. "Still in overshare mode?"

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"I was thinking of telling you anyway, so it's not like this is doing anything but making me spit it out, so--" Parker got her breath back, and said in more careful tones, "A friend sent Jarod a videotape of the day she died." Jack nosed at Parker's hand, his eyes sad. "She didn't shoot herself. She was shot in the elevator where I found her."

Oh, damnit.

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"Oh Parker..." Isabel whispered. There really wasn't anything else she could say.

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"Completely," he says but takes his hand away to smile down at Jack. "Was he good today?"

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"He was. We mostly hid out in my room, just to avoid TMI overload," Isabel laughed. "Although we did make a quick trip to Xander's to pick something up." She picked up the bag and held it out. "Here. This is for you."

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Parker closed her eyes. "I couldn't watch that part. Just the tape of me being dragged to Jarod's lab, screaming my head off, and Jarod trying to get to me and help me, and Sydney looking scared, and...." She took a shaky breath. "Anyway. That's why I haven't told Rory or Zero or Angela anything more about my mom, and her death. They know what she was doing. They don't know it's connected to the Centre."

Parker slapped her hand over her mouth, looking frightened.

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"For me?" Cedric reaches for the bag and peeks inside. "That's...butterbeer and..." He trails off and looks at the other container before his eyes light up. "Pumpkin juice! How did you find these? Where did you find these?"

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"And the Centre is not the nicest place," Isabel said thinking of what she's seen in Parker's nightmare. "What was she doing that would make them do that to her?"

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Isabel smiled, glad to see Cedric happy. Jack was equally happy as he danced around the floor. "I had Xander's friend Willow send them to me. There's a box up in my room with more. I just didn't see the point in bringing them down here so you could haul it back up."

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"Oh, right the one that attends Hogwarts at a different time then me," he says, still smiling broadly. "Thank you! Thank you so much," he says, reaching out to give her a one armed hug.

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"It was the least I could," Isabel said as she returned the hug. "I know it's not the same as home. But it's something?"

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