This story just started out as a wild idea. This is my attempt to bring it 
together. Many thanks to my great friend "Sunney" who edited it for 
me wonderfully. Thanks a bunch! As always the Characters of Jarod, 
Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, Mr. Raines, Mr. Parker and Mrs. Parker are 
the property of NBC and MTM entertainment.No infringement 
intended. The rest of the characters however are mine mine mine! 
hehe  and on with the fic 


 A Child By Any Other Name 
Nirvana Kliese

 Jarod dropped the jacket signaling his previous identity into a large 
wastebasket and rubbed his hands together briskly, struggling to get 
warm in the December cold.

The crisp snow fell slowly, unable to hide the tracks of multitudes 
beneath it's thin white sheets. He walked to a paper stand where a 
young girl stood selling this morning's news. He smiled at her as he 
placed a dollar in her hand and began to leaf through The New York 
Times. The paper was slightly moist from the icy weather and the cold 
wind continued its quest to blow it from his freezing fingers.

He stared down at the stories before him, searching for something to go 
on for his next "mission". He was roused from his thoughts by a young 
female voice, husky from the cold. "The best stories aren't always 
printed." She said softly, noticing his quest for something earth 
shattering.

He turned and smiled at the young paper girl. She smiled back a small 
smile and stuck out her hand for him to shake. "My name's Lisa." She 
introduced herself calmly. "And you are?" "I'm Jarod." He greeted 
warmly, taking her cold hand in his. She nodded in recognition and 
pointed to a large building across the street. "In there." She explained.

Jarod followed her gaze to a large brick building. "Family and Friends 
Orphanage New York" It read in colorful children's lettering. He 
turned back to her and frowned. "What are you talking about?" He 
asked, bemused. She smiled. "I'm talking about a story you'll never see 
in the paper because it hasn't been written yet." Jarod stared at her 
through confused eyes, so she continued. "They need an extra hand in 
there." She said softly.

"What..." Jarod began but she cut him off. "You'll soon see." She 
smiled walking further down the street with her cart load of papers.

Jarod turned to the Orphanage again and stared at it through the 
whirling snow. Its windows were shut tight in an attempt to keep the 
signs of winter on the other side of the glass. He smiled to himself as 
the sight of children dancing around happily came into view. He 
turned back to the street where Lisa had headed moments before, 
hoping to catch another glimpse of her. The street was empty. He 
shrugged, people must walk fast in New York City.

* * * * 

Jarod opened the large doors slowly, shuddering with the contrast of 
weather. He closed the door behind him, greeted by the sound of 
children's laughter. He smiled as the sound rang in his ears for a 
moment. "Can I help you?" The voice was soft and motherly from an 
elderly woman perched behind a large wooden desk. He smiled at her 
and stepped closer. "Yes, my name is Jarod Kinder and I'm a child care 
professional. One of my friends informed me that you have a free 
position here?" He stated, his voice confident and steady. The elderly 
woman's face lit up into a bright smile and she nodded. "Well as a 
matter of fact we do! I don't know how your friend knew about it 
though. It was just decided a few hours ago." She held up a 
handwritten ad. "This was on it's way to the printers." She chuckled 
rising to her feet. She shook his hand happily. "My name's Joyce 
Rowland." She smiled. "But you can call me Joyce." Jarod took her 
outstretched hand and shook it gently. "Pleased to meet you Joyce." He 
greeted softly. She lead him by the hand down a long hallway and to a 
closed door. "Mr. Martain! We have a job applicant." She called 
excitedly, banging on the wooden door. A moment later the door 
swung open and a middle aged man appeared. "We haven't even 
advertised yet!" He chuckled. "How did you know?"

Jarod shrugged. "I heard it from a girl selling papers." They laughed at 
his joke and gestured him into the office.

He took a seat on one of the large arm chairs and let out a deep breath. 
"So Mr......I don't believe we've met." He smiled. Jarod shook his hand. 
"Jarod Kinder. Pleased to meet you Mr. Martain." He said sincerely.

The man nodded. "Do you have experience Mr. Kinder?" He asked 
seriously.

Jarod removed a folder from his briefcase and placed it on the desk 
before him. "My resume." He smiled.

The elder man picked it up and began leafing through the examples of 
Jarod's experience, then smiled. "You're a doctor too?" He asked.

Jarod tilted his head to the side and shrugged. "When I want to be."

The man frowned at Jarod's answer then finally let out a breath. "Well, 
the job's yours if you want it." Jarod nodded. "Thank you Sir, can I start 
right away?" "If you're willing!"

Jarod rose to his feet and exited the office to begin his exploration of 
this new world. 

* * * * 

The children danced happily to the childish music, throwing colorful 
balloons around the decorated room. Jarod smiled as he stepped inside 
and started to walk through the activity. He headed towards a young 
woman seated on the opposite side of the room. She was tossing 
balloons to the children, and continually trying to straighten the party 
hat that kept slipping from her head. Jarod took a seat on the small 
stool beside her and smiled at the happy kids dancing like there was no 
tomorrow. "Hi." She greeted, a smile lighting up her delicate features. 
She brushed the blond hair off her face. "My name's Tracey. You must 
be the new guy." Jarod nodded. "My name's Jarod." He smiled and 
turned to the party. "Someone's birthday?" He asked, gesturing 
towards the festivities.

She pointed to a little girl dancing with the others while munching on 
cake. "Her name's Ania." She smiled. "She's five." Jarod chuckled. 
"Nice party." She nodded. "We try to make their stay here as happy as 
possible." A little boy ran out from the crowd of children and over to 
Jarod. "Will you tie my shoe?" He asked innocently, pointing to the 
stray lace.

Jarod smiled and tied it quickly. The little boy grinned. "Why aren't 
you dancing?" He asked cheerfully.

Jarod exchanged smiles with Tracey and shrugged. "I'm not too good at 
dancing." The boy grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance 
floor with the others. "Everyone's good at dancing! Just feel the music 
man!" He instructed as he broke into a self choreographed rap dance. 
Jarod joined in wholeheartedly, soon dancing like the rest of the 
children. He looked around the room as he danced, his eyes falling on 
a little boy staring sadly out the window. His dark hair was hanging 
over his eyes and he seemed determined to ignore the music and fun 
filling the room.

Tracy noticed what he was looking at and came to his side. "That's 
David." She explained, pointing at the child. "He's six years old and he 
came in about five months ago. He doesn't talk much, keeps mainly to 
himself. We try to get him to join in, we've even had a counselor out 
here to talk to him but he just acts bored. No one knows why." She 
shrugged.

Jarod stared at him and sighed. "I'll go talk to him." He offered softly. 
"Jarod." Her voice behind him was smiling. "Good luck." He smiled 
back and headed towards the boy who seemed oblivious to his 
presence.  He took a seat beside him and bent down to his level. "Hi 
David." He greeted gently. The boy didn't look up, instead he 
continued to trace a number eight on the chair before him. "You like 
the number eight." He smiled. "I do too." The boy looked up at him, 
his big brown eyes bright. "I know you do." He said softly. "And it's not 
a number eight. It's upright infinity." He explained, looking back down 
at the chair as he continued to trace the symbol.

Jarod frowned, surprised that a six year old would know this, or even 
think that way. "Everyone says you're pretty quiet David." He said 
finally, breaking the silence. The little boy shrugged, but didn't answer. 
"My name's Jarod." He continued. "I'm new here and I was wondering 
if you could show me around?" He asked.

Again the child shrugged. Jarod bent lower to catch a glimpse of his 
face, his dark eyes were fixed firmly on his tracing.

Jarod sighed. Something in this child's silence said more than words 
could. "Can I talk to you later David?" he asked softly. The boy looked 
up for a moment and nodded. "Okay." He said, his face solemn.

Jarod rose to his feet and came back to where Tracey was sitting. 
"There's something special about him." He said, his eyes still on the 
small child. Tracey shrugged. "You're the first person to say that." She 
smiled. "But if you can get through to him the staff would be grateful."

Jarod turned to her and smiled. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, 
even inside, and her bright blue eyes sparkled as she smiled. Her blond 
hair was pulled back into a loose braid and her features were fine and 
delicate. "I'll do my best." He answered finally, hoping she hadn't 
noticed him staring at her.

She looked down avoiding his gaze. "Well, I have to get back to the 
party...." She explained softly, moving back into the dancing masses.

* * * * 

The door was pushed open slowly and the little boy stepped into the 
semi-darkness, approaching the man sitting beneath the light of his 
desk on the other side of the room. "Jarod?" He whispered unsurely.

Jarod turned around at the sound of the little boy's voice and smiled. 
"Hi David." He greeted him.

The child smiled a small smile and sat down in the chair beside the 
desk. "What are you doing?" He asked, staring at the papers in front of 
Jarod.

Jarod looked at the newspapers before him and sighed, pushing them 
out of the way. "Just looking for something." He replied.

The boy frowned. "You won't find any stories about here, there's 
nothing to write about."

Jarod raised his eyebrows. "How did you know that was what I was 
looking for?" He asked curiously.

The little boy shrugged and stared back at Jarod. "You said you wanted 
to talk to me." He said softly, his eyes bright and scared. Jarod nodded. 
"I guess I did. You seem a lot more talkative now." He smiled.

The child nodded. "I don't talk to many people. I don't trust them, they 
might be one of them." His eyes went glazed with unshed tears. He 
looked away.

"Who?" Jarod asked, lifting the small boy onto his lap.

The child shook his head. "Nevermind." He whispered and began to 
trace the infinity symbol again. "Where did you learn that David?" 
Jarod asked curiously.

"My father taught me." He said softly. "He said it meant forever and I 
could do anything in forever." He turned to Jarod. "I can be anything I 
want to be." He stated surely.

Jaord felt the phrase hit home. Whoever this child was, there was 
something different about him.

"I don't like it here Jarod." He said softly. "I feel trapped. Like you used 
to."

Jarod stared at him silently for a moment, looking for something in his 
eyes to understand what he just said. "David what are you talking 
about?" He asked finally, too confused to think of anything else.

The boy continued to stare at him. "You know what I'm talking about." 
There was a moment of silence between them before the boy spoke 
again. "Did you used to feel like no one could understand you?" He 
asked softly.

"Yes I did." Jarod answered. He smiled at the boy, who continued to 
stare at him with wondering eyes. "How do you know so much 
David?" He asked calmly, somehow feeling completely at ease with 
this child who seemed to know everything. It was as if he was talking 
to himself, as if this six year old boy was him.

"I can't tell you." He looked down. "I can't tell anyone." He started to 
sob quietly.

Jarod drew him closer and began to rock him in his arms reassuringly. 
"Hey it's okay. You can trust me, I promise." The boy stared into his 
eyes for a moment. "I know." He paused. "I asked your mind." He 
explained slowly.

Jarod closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was psychic. "Is that 
why you don't talk to people much?"

The boy nodded against his chest, resting back there for a moment. "If I 
tell someone they might get me." "Who are they?" Jarod asked, 
confused by this constant reference. "The people that killed my parents 
for me, they're going to find me." He sobbed quietly.

Jarod passed him a tissue and wiped away a few stray tears. "I don't 
know who they are, but it's going to be all right."

* * * * 

Jarod slid the door of the filing cabinet open smoothly and began to sort 
through the multitude of files that filled it. His mind was still on 
David. Who were these people he kept talking about and why where 
they after him? Jarod closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He already 
knew the answer and that scared him.

"Morris, David" The file read in bold letters. He pulled it out gently 
and placed it on the desk before him. He opened it slowly, being careful 
not to drop any of the many pieces of paper that filled it messily.

He stared down at the report before him and began to read. Name: 
David James Morris Born: Twentieth of June 1991 Originally from: 
unknown Parents died in a hit and run car crash in January 1997.

He sighed as he leafed through the news clippings before him. They 
showed scenes of a car smashed beyond recognition. Beside the picture 
read "Young couple die in hit and run". He felt his stomach twist up 
and he took note of a car in the back of the picture. A black car. A car he 
knew all too well.

He dropped the file on the desk and fought back tears. Now he really 
knew who "They" where.

* * * *  

Jarod was woken from his sleep by the sound of muffled screams. He 
jumped out of bed and ran down the flight of stairs to the room that 
David shared with two other children. When he reached the room he 
ran to his beside with the two other kids trying to wake him. He 
stepped past them and picked the little boy up into a sitting position. 
"David?!" He called softly, shaking the sobbing boy gently.

He opened his eyes with a scream and stared, terror stricken up at 
Jarod.His dark hair stuck to his forehead with beads of sweat and his 
eyes were filled with tears. "Jarod!" he sobbed falling into his arms 
securely.

One of the other children sighed. "At least you can control him." She 
sighed, brushing her red hair out of her sleepy eyes. She seemed about 
ten and was apparently not impressed at the disturbance.

"Does he have nightmares often?" Jarod asked.

She nodded. "Ever since he came here. It's almost impossible to wake 
him." She sighed, heading back to her bunk.

David sobbed quietly for a moment before Jarod scooped him up and 
carried him into another room to avoid disturbing the children any 
more.

He carried him into one of the play rooms and sat him down on his 
lap. He rocked the boy backwards and forwards until his sobs faded out. 
"What were you dreaming about?" Jarod asked finally, lifting the little 
boy's head and staring into his red, puffy eyes.

David sniffed. "I was dreaming about when the car hit mummy and 
daddy." He sobbed. Jarod fought the part of him that felt drawn into the 
situation, but it was in vain as he felt himself take on the identity of 
David Morris....

Their car pulls onto the curb slowly. "OK David, go in and get an ice 
cream for us all OK?" He nods, climbing out of the car and trotting 
towards the shop. All of a sudden he is overwhelmed with heat, as an 
explosion rises up from behind him. There is a deafening sound that 
seems to be a mixture of screams and crushing metal as the car goes up 
in an explosion, it's side crushed beyond recognition. He sees a black 
car pull away from the burning wreckage and drive off apparently 
unscathed. Dropping the money on the sidewalk beside him he lets out 
a strangled scream as the vehicle burns fiercely. He begins to run 
towards it, but feels the strong arm of the shopkeeper around his waist 
holding him back from the inferno.

"Jarod!" David called again, bringing him out of his mind. "Huh?" 
Jarod rubbed his brow and stared down at the little boy. The child's eyes 
softened. "It's scary." He whispered.

Jarod nodded. "I don't have family either." He whispered, his voice 
reassuring. The little boy snuggled into his chest. "You can pretend that 
I'm your family. And you can be mine." He smiled.

Jarod laughed, letting out a shiver as the cool breeze from an open 
window struck him. "I'd better close that." He whispered, starting to 
stand up.

"No I'll do it!" David turned to the window and closed his eyes. Jarod 
watched awestruck as the window creaked closed by itself.

The little boy turned to him and smiled.

* * * *

 Jarod knocked on Mr. Martain's office. "Come in." said a gruff voice 
from behind the thick wood. He pushed the door open slowly and 
smiled. "How are you Mr. Martain?" He asked with a smile as he sat 
down in the chair before his desk.

"Well I'm fine, but I know for a fact that's not why you came in here, 
so why don't you just break the suspense." The man chuckled.

Jarod smiled. "OK, you got me." He sobered. "I'm here regarding David 
Morris." He stated.

The elder man removed his glasses and sighed. "That boy is too 
intricate for me to understand. One minute he seems smarter than 
Einstein and the next he seems like this lost, shy child."

Jarod nodded. "I know, but I've talked to him and I have reason to 
believe that he may have a very high IQ, I was after your permission to 
test him."

Mr. Martain raised his eyebrows. "David...a genius?" He asked.

Jarod shrugged. "Well I'm not so sure, it's just a hunch." He smiled. 
"I've learnt to follow those."

Mr. Martain chuckled. "Well sure, go ahead."

Jarod rose to his feet and headed towards the door. "Jarod?" Mr. 
Martain called from behind him.

He turned around to face him and the elder man smiled. "Good luck."

Jarod smiled back and nodded.

* * * *

  Broots hit the Enter key and cheered softly. They had a hit, not on 
Jarod, but someone just as good. He printed the location quickly and 
headed up to Mr.... Parker's office.

When he pushed the door open he stopped at the sight of Miss Parker 
chatting to her father happily. He stood still for a moment, unsure of 
whether she was to know about this project. Mr. Parker had always 
kept his daughter apart from cases involving children. She guessed he 
was afraid that she'd turn into her mother. He was probably right.

"Um, Mr. Parker do you want me to come back?" He asked unsurely.

He opened his mouth to speak but Miss Parker cut him off. "Come on 
in Broots, what is it?"

He exchanged glances with Mr. Parker, but in the end was forced to 
show the contents of his folder. "Mr. Parker, we, um, we have a 
location of David Morris," he paused as Miss Parker snatched the file 
from his hands, "He's at the Family and Friends Orphanage in New 
York." Miss Parker continued to leaf through the file before she turned 
to her father. "This one seems like quite a genius." She commented, 
raising her eyebrows. "How are you going to get him?"

He shrugged. "We don't know. Adoption maybe? Then we'd be legal." 
Mr. Parker fought a smile. And he had doubted her. "But, adoption can 
be picky." He shrugged. "They want to know too much."

She nodded. "Suppose we can find out a way to verify false details? Or 
even work out how to make it look like we've been trying to adopt 
him for months?"

Mr. Parker nodded, visibly impressed. "I'll leave it up to you." He 
smiled, patting her on the shoulder.

* * * *

 "What is it Broots?" Miss Parker asked irritably. Her hands were still 
full of the papers she was going through regarding the adoption of 
David Morris.

Broots turned to her nervously, with a hint of excitement in his eyes. 
"Miss Parker, you will not believe what I found out."

She raised her eyebrows. "Try me."

He typed on the keyboard for a few more minutes bringing up a list of 
names. "Friends and Family Orphanage in New York recently had a 
new addition to their staff."

She looked over his shoulder. "Don't tell me..."

He nodded. "Mr. Jarod Kinder started working there a few days ago."

She got to her feet and chuckled. "He should get an original name." 
She grinned. "None the less this is like hitting the jackpot."

Broots smiled. "Have you got the papers ready?"

She rubbed her forehead and lit another cigarette, inhaling its smoke 
deeply. "Nope. We're just going to have to go back to good old-
fashioned kidnapping." She said unemotionally. 

* * * *

 Jarod moved his Monopoly piece two steps further. He sighed, "Go to 
jail." He shrugged moving his piece to the appropriate square.

Ania grinned. "My turn!" She grabbed the dice and rolled it slowly.

Jarod turned his head to David and smiled at him. The little boy smiled 
back unsurely. "Monopoly IS fun." He grinned.

Jarod chuckled. "I'm glad you let me talk you into playing it." Earlier 
that day Jarod had put David through a basic IQ test. As he suspected, 
the child proved brilliant. His IQ was only a few points lower than his 
at 185. Every time he learned something new about this boy, reasons 
why the Centre would want him came even more clear.

"Jarod?" Tracey's head peaked around the door. She smiled. "Jarod can 
we get you to go for a drive down to Toys R Us to pick up some more 
toys for the kids? You got the winning vote to be the one to do it. You 
pick the best ones according to the kids. Just no more Mr. Potato heads 
OK?" She grinned.

Jarod laughed. "I promise."

David jumped to his feet anxiously. "Can I come please?"

Tracey raised her eyebrows. "David, you don't ask to go out much."

David shrugged. "I like Jarod I wanna go out with him." He turned to 
Jarod. "Can we walk?" He asked, his big, brown eyes pleading.

Jarod exchanged glances with Tracey. She shrugged. "It's up to you."

David smiled pleadingly. "Please?" Finally Jarod nodded. "Okay, but 
just this once."

David grinned. "I'll go get my shoes." He ran up the long flight of stairs 
to his room.

Tracey shook her head at Jarod good naturedly. "I don't know how you 
did it, but that boy has come out of his shell like I never thought he 
could." She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I'm very 
impressed."

Jarod smiled back. "He's a very smart child, he just needs to feel safe." 
She nodded, sobering. "What's that about anyway?" She asked softly.

Jarod hesitated for a moment, wondering who was safe. "There's 
reason to believe that the hit and run with David's parents was an 
intentional attempt to get to him."

Her eyes were confused. "Why?"

Jarod avoided her gaze. "There are people who are after David because 
he's smart."

She lifted his chin up so that he looked at her. "Why do I get the 
feeling he's more than just smart?"

Jarod took a deep breath. "He's psychic and he seems to know how to 
use it."

She nodded and smiled a sincere smile. "I'm glad you found out."

Jarod looked confused. "You knew?"

She nodded unsurely. "He didn't tell me. He didn't tell anyone. I just 
saw something. At first I was frightened by it." She looked at him as if 
she should have felt bad about being scared.

Jarod smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's OK to be afraid 
sometimes."

Her eyes brightened at his understanding and he continued. "I saw him 
pick up his shoes." She bit her lip. "But he didn't touch them." She 
sighed. "I was going to tell Mr. Martain. I thought he should know. 
Then something inside me told me not to, I knew there was a reason to 
keep it quiet."

Jarod nodded. "There is, believe me."

"Who is it that's after him?" She asked. Her eyes were bright and 
intrigued, yet full of fear at the same time. "They're from a place I used 
to know." He sighed, a hard lump forming in his throat.

Hearing the emotion in his voice she retreated, still slightly 
frightened.... "Who are you Jarod?" She asked, her words interrupted 
by David's voice. "He doesn't know who he is." He said softly causing 
them both to look to him. He bit his lip. "I'm sorry Jarod, I didn't mean 
to say anything."

Jarod shot an unsure look at an intrigued Tracey, then bent to David's 
level, a small smile forming on his lips. "It's OK." He smiled, scooping 
the little boy onto his hip. "We have to go." He explained, heading 
towards the door.... "Jarod." She called from behind him, her eyes 
wondering and reassuring at the same time. He turned to her and 
walked back to her side. She smiled. "It doesn't matter who you are 
Jarod." She said softly, her smile kind.

* * * *

 David skipped along down the street with Jarod in tow. "Everyone 
likes you!!" He called back to Jarod, causing him to grin.

"Is that so?" Jarod asked, smiling at the little boy's theory. "Yep." He 
nodded, turning back to Jarod and grinning, "You know why?"

"Why?"

"I dunno! I'm psychic, but not that good!" he grinned.

Jarod ran up behind him and began to tickle him playfully. The little 
boy let out a shriek of laugher as he tumbled to the snowy pavement in 
a giggling heap. "What did I do?!" He shrieked between laughs. Jarod 
grinned. "Nothing." He chuckled. Suddenly his blood began to run 
cold as he caught sight of a black car approaching them fast. "David 
Run!" He screamed suddenly, pulling the boy to his feet. The child 
turned to the car for a moment and let out a blood curdling scream as it 
grew closer by the second.

"Just Run!" Jarod screamed again, as he began to run as fast as possible 
clinging onto the little boy's hand for dear life. He could hear the 
screeching of wheels as the car pulled onto the pavement beside them. 
"Freeze!" A female voice called from the car as another identical car 
pulled up beside it.

Jarod looked back for a moment as David's hand slipped from his and 
the boy tumbled to the white pavement. Everything seemed to go in 
slow motion. The doors of the cars flung open as Miss Parker, Sydney 
and several sweepers emerged, their guns drawn. Jarod struggled to 
help David up, but it was too late. He was already being scooped up by 
one of the sweepers. He let out a terrified scream as he was thrown into 
the back of the car that had held Miss Parker.

Without thinking, Jarod dived for it. The thought of what would come 
of him never even crossed his mind. It suddenly seemed as if it were 
him being pulled into that car. As if it were him having that black 
hood slipped over his head for the first time. He felt a sharp blow to the 
back of the head causing him to fall to his knees, his head swimming at 
its force. His arms where pulled hard behind his back as he was thrown 
into the second car, his mind still blurry from the recent attack.

Part 2

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