Room 234/236: Wednesday morning, after Spy Tech

[mparkerceo]

After talking to Jack in Spy Tech, Parker lead the way to her room, held the door open for him, then very carefully closed it. "Sit. Or lie down. Whichever you want. I'm making the coffee. You, relax."

[ooc: for time_agent]

Comments

[anextimeagent]

What Jack wanted to do was follow her while she made the coffee, but while Sam would put up with that, he very much doubted Parker would. Instead, he slipped off his shoes and curled into the corner of the couch, watching her. "Thanks."

[mparkerceo]

"Sure. And--" Parker pulled out a box of chocolate truffles from the fridge, and put them on the coffee table, then went back to the coffee maker. "Dig in. I had a good but sleep-deprived weekend of skulking in allies and underbrush, resulting in getting Jake back and some chocolate." She hit the button on the coffee maker, then turned around to study Jack before walking back over to the couch, and settling in next to him. "You, on the other hand, were about to tell me about Sunday. And what happened to you."

[anextimeagent]

The last thing he felt like was food, and the second last thing he felt like was explaining Sunday. But it was Parker. "Yeah, I was, wasn't I," he said quietly. "You know Lana, right?"

[mparkerceo]

Parker made a face. "Yes. The wimp." Relenting a little, she said, "She gets on my nerves. She's probably not that bad, but she brings out the worst in me. Why?"

[anextimeagent]

He had to laugh at that, and there wasn't a trace of humour in it. "She's attracted to me, she always has been, we flirt, cause it's me, but nothing serious." He looked down at his hands as he tried to work it out. "I thought so, anyway. I was wrong. Sunday morning, she ran into me, in town. Wanted to talk, asked me about River. How come River got to have me without getting in trouble with Sam and Cedric, and she couldn't."

[mparkerceo]

Parker winced. "Ugh. Never a pleasant conversation to have. Not without saying something truthful, and I'm guessing, almost insulting." She got up as the timer went off, and brought him back a cup of coffee, and one for herself. "Go on."

[anextimeagent]

"There was no conversation," he said flatly. "There was propositioning, there were threats, and then she," he curled a bit tighter in on himself, voice strained, "did something."

[mparkerceo]

To see Jack fold in on himself-- Jack, who'd artlessly confessed to shooting a guy over Christmas break, and grimly but calmly told her about seducing a kidnapper to get a chance at escape-- had Parker ready to kill Lana already. She slowly pulled him closer to her, and tightened an arm around his waist.

[anextimeagent]

Jack turned towards her, beyond grateful for her actions, and let his head fall to her shoulder. "I don't know what, I don't know how," he ground his teeth together in frustration, "but she made me into her puppet. I could see what she was making me do, I remember it all, but I was helpless." He was getting angry again, biting off his words as he tried to keep control. "And she made me enjoy it, made me adore her, grateful for every scrap of attention she gave me."

[mparkerceo]

Parker closed her eyes, fury rising, and restrained the urge to go out and find Lana and break every bone in her body.

Although, seriously, Lana? Lana? Okay, something else to think about, later. Concentrate on Jack now.

"How did you get away?" She tightened an arm around him, and rubbed her cheek against the top of his head. "What happened?"

[anextimeagent]

"Sam." He almost sighed her name. "Lana had me dancing attendance on her, making the most of my skills. No actual sex yet, she was saving that for later, but she had me in the common room, working on her," he wasn't going to call it anything else, "and Sam came in."

[mparkerceo]

"Cheers and yay for Sam," Parker said, letting out a slow sigh of relief. "What did she do that made Lana let you go?"

[anextimeagent]

"I don't know," he nearly snapped, then got control of himself. "I don't know. Lana tried to convince Sam I'd taken advantage of her, that I'd forced her. Sam didn't believe her, called her on it, and then I was free." He paused, then added mildly, "Sam also wouldn't let me kill her."

[mparkerceo]

Tightening arms, and a kiss on the crown of his head. "Sam was right," she whispered. "The consequences would have been too much." Especially if, maybe, that wasn't Lana. "I'm sorry," Parker breathed, hoping touch conveyed what the words couldn't.

[anextimeagent]

It did. Jack leaned against her, taking long slow breaths as he pushed everything back down. "I know," he admitted. "Sam was right." Even if he didn't want her to be.

[mparkerceo]

A couple minutes of just holding onto him, then Parker said, "You're sure it was Lana? Not an evil twin, or an alternate version, or... I don't know. I mean. Lana. She hasn't got a mystical bone in her body."