The Saddest Little Valentine

by notbang

The biggest game of cat and mouse just got bigger. The stakes are higher - lives are on the line and someone else is after Jarod... or so it seems. Who are they, and can they be worse than the Center?

1. Chapter I: Sapphire Ransom

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1The Saddest Little Valentine

Summary: The biggest game of cat and mouse just got bigger. The stakes are higher - lives are on the line this time around, and someone else is after Jarod... or so it seems. Who are they, and can they be worse than the Center?

Rating: PG13

Chronology: Post-IotH. Mr Parker comes into it later, which I know is a little off course, but it is explained. Oh yeah and I haven't seen the new series since I don't have cable TV so forgive me any other canon mistakes.

Genre: Suspense/Mystery/Angst... and a little bit of romance, though short lived.

Disclaimer: Are you the author? I am today. Except I'm only pretending...

Chapter I - Sapphire Ransom

Her eyes, cold and distant, resembled the colour of blue frosting. So many people feared them - feared the icy, biting glare. Not many understood how those young eyes were a reflection of a anguished past.

Life had not been kind to those eyes, or the heart that lay behind them. The world was a cruel place, and hers had taken its toll on her. Facades had been forged, barriers built. Her losses had a steady hold on her, and her coldness was her only defense.

Her work was her life, though not by choice. She remained behind bars, a creature caged, held captive by an unimaginable power. A prisoner to the legacy of her past. 

          - Jarod Heart, The Saddest Little Valentine, chapter one.

Sapphire blue eyes flashed in the gloom of the shadowy corridor, drinking in the sight with aloof disinterest. Pink lips parted slightly, releasing a cloud of smoke. With a final once over, their owner recommenced the journey to the office that lay ahead, the only sound being the click of black heels as they connected with the floor.

She was tired, but she wasn't about to show it. With a barely audible sigh, she headed straight to her desk, glancing over the paperwork that had been placed there. She shifted the top sheet in order to see the one beneath it.

'Miss Parker,' addressed a calm voice. She didn't even flinch at the unexpected presence of its owner as he stepped out of the shadows.

'Sydney,' she said shortly, tipping her head in acknowledgment, but not looking up.

The files seemed strangely unimportant to her once her gaze fell on a yellow package.

'Jarod,' she said, her lips pursing.

The name floated from her mouth with ease, the familiar sound of it formed with barely a thought. She didn't need to think. After dealing with him day in, day out for the majority of her life...

The package was definitely from him. Despite its simpleness, she could somehow sense these things. Things to do with Jarod usually attracted her attention without fail... they had an aura that made her skin crawl. Then again, while it was her attention they held, she usually had to depend on Sydney to decipher their meaning. Contemplating what was going on in the pretender's mind was his job... hers was much more difficult.

At the mere thought of it all, her lip curled back in distaste. What an exciting life I lead, she thought bitterly, drawing in from her cigarette.

'Are you going to open it?' Sydney asked with amusement, moving closer to the desk.

Her lips parted slightly and her blue eyes travelled up to his.

'I'm waiting for it to beg and roll over,' she said dryly, as her black nailed fingers closed over the object in question.

'Think it will fetch? Jarod, I mean, no pun intended...' Broots said hesitantly, and this time Miss Parker did falter, albeit slightly.

'What is this, sleep over in my office?' she asked with exasperation before dropping down in her chair, package in hand.

She opened the package quickly, sliding out its contents. It contained numerous objects, the first of which annoyed her immensely.

The book was Jarod's infamous novel The Saddest Little Valentine, a book that haunted her every time she laid eyes on it. The main reason being the picture on the front that bore a striking resemblance to herself. This was no coincidence; Jarod's skills extended into a great talent in the arts and it had been his intention. The book, at least so he said, was about her. 

'That damn book,' she hissed, picking it up.

'You mean the Valentines one? That Jarod -'

'The very same,' she interrupted, shoving it into her draw without another glance.

'You know, Miss Parker, I'm sure Jarod included that for a reason...' Sydney said hesitatingly.

'Relax, Sid, I don't need your psychic powers to understand this one,' she said coolly. 'Rat boy likes to think he has a sense of humour.' Noticing the look they both gave her, she rolled her eyes. 'I've read it, OK? Trust me on this one.'

Trust. There was that word again.

She shifted her attention back to the remaining contents of the package; a tube of sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses and a small porcelain angel. It seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

'A note?' Sydney asked, picking up the sun lotion.

Taking another drag of her cigarette, she reached into the package and withdrew a small envelope with an easy flick of her wrist. Seemingly impatient, took out the note inside and shook it open.

It had an address on it.

'Are you ready?' she asked them, her fist slowly closing over the paper and reducing it to a small ball.

'For what?' Broots asked, looking up from the sunglasses in confusion.

'For what we're always meant to be ready for,' she said with distaste, squishing her cigarette into the ashtray to extinguish it. 'The game of chasey that never ends. And, as usual, we're "it".'

* * *

'Mr Deluca -'

'Please, call me Jarod.'

'Jarod, there's a young lady here to see you.'

'Oh? Did she leave a name?'

'No, sorry. She's quite impatient, though. Dark hair, blue eyes. Shall I let her through?'

Jarod sighed, tensing in his chair. The young blonde secretary in front of him waited for his answer.

'Send her through,' he said eventually, leaning back in his chair. 'Unarmed, and alone.'

* * *

'Miss Parker, where exactly are we headed?' Broots asked.

She opened the door to her office and stalked out. Sydney followed at an ordinary pace, while Broots attempted to catch her up.

'I hope you packed that sunscreen, Broots. We're headed to Florida.'

'Florida? But Miss Parker, the helicopter -'

'Is not here. I know,' she interrupted with a sadistic smile. Her blue eyes flashed. 'The jet is taking us to Florida. And hopefully, to Jarod.'

'What about the angel?' Sydney asked. 'Parker, I don't think -'

'Miss Parker!'

With a furious look, she spun on her heel to face Mr Lyle.

'What do you want now?'

'Raines wants to see you in his office,' he smirked.

'Ugh!' she said, throwing up her hands. Annoyed, she took another puff of her cigarette.

'Smoking kills, Parker.'

A second later, her gun was pressed to his chest.

'And so do I. Now get out of my way.'

* * *

When she stepped into his office, Jarod was uncharacteristically tense. His only hope was the fact that she should be unarmed.

He looked up, opened his mouth to speak and stopped.

'Oh,' he said, letting out a sigh of relief.

She arched an eyebrow at him.

'Is there a problem?'

'No,' he said slowly. 'It's just... you look a lot like an old friend of mine.'

While the young woman standing in front of him was definitely not Miss Parker, she was about the closest thing Jarod had seen to her since Catherine Parker herself.

It was impossible to distinguish whether she was sixteen or twenty two. But she had the same intense blue eyes, the same hair, though a little longer. And, there it was, the same sadistic smile.

'I'd hardly call her a friend, Jarod,' the girl said with amusement. 'But you do go back a long way.'

'Do I know you?' he asked eventually, running a hand through his hair.

'The name's Parker,' she replied, cracking a smile. 'Kiya Parker.'

'Parker...' Jarod said, looking at her with interest.

'As you've already mentioned, I do look a lot like my cousin. I suppose I had you scared a minute out there. I figured you'd thought it was her, since they took my gun.'

He raised an eyebrow.

'Can I help you... Kiya?'

She smiled.

'No, but I can help you,' she said, putting her hands on his desk and leaning forward.

'Is that so? You're not going to turn me in?'

'To the Center?' Kiya asked with shock. 'Goodness, no. I'd rather eat someone's spleen than send them there.'

'Thanks for the image.'

'No one deserves to go there. It's a horrible place,' she said softly.

Her eyes locked his, and he realised immediately that she had been there. And seen... things.

'How do you know about the Center?' he asked, standing.

'Catherine was shot there,' Kiya sighed, straightening up. 'Last year, years after my aunt was murdered, but on the same day, my mother was killed also. I've been alone ever since. Searching. For answers.'

'What about your father?'

Kiya's eyes flashed dangerously, but Jarod could see the anguish. It was something constantly evident in Miss Parker's eyes.

'I never knew my father,' she said quietly. 'My mother was the only family I had, and when I was sixteen, I lost her too. We have a lot in common, Mr... Deluca,' she finished, eyes flickering from his for a moment to read the sign on his desk. 'What are we now? A lawyer?'

'Solicitor,' Jarod corrected. 'So... you said your mother was killed on April thirteenth?'

'Murdered. My mother was on the run from the Center. They wanted her dead. They also wanted me, but so far I've managed to avoid them.'

'You have the Center after you?' he asked, eyebrows raised.

'It's a long story,' she warned.

Jarod glanced from his watch to the article on his desk.

'I have all afternoon. Take a seat.'

* * *

'Miss Parker,' Raines greeted in a raspy voice as she stepped into his office.

'Mr Raines, such a pleasure to see you again,' she said sarcastically. 'And... Dr Jekyll? Mr Hyde?'

The man she was speaking to glared at her.

'Mr Anderson,' he said.

'What is this? I need to be out of here, we've had a lead on Jarod -'

'This is about Jarod, Parker,' Raines replied. 'So sit down.'

She did so slowly, and without taking her eyes off him.

'Things have changed,' he said, standing to walk slowly around the room as he spoke, keeping his back to her.

'The Center needs Jarod. Things with the Triumvirate are getting difficult... if we don't have Jarod within the next few months, he will be killed,' Raines finished.

'But the Center wants Jarod alive,' Anderson said.

'Preferably,' she supplied, expelling another plume of smoke.

'Funny it should be you to mention that, Miss Parker,' Raines said with a crooked smile. 'Because you are another that we want alive... at least... preferably.'

She cocked her head and her eyes narrowed.

'It's your freedom in exchange for Jarod's, you already know. But you will bring him back, Miss Parker, or the Center will terminate your existence. Permanently.'

'With any luck I'll survive,' she said dryly. 'Pretty much everyone returns from the dead around here anyway.'

'We're not joking, Miss Parker,' Raines said slowly.

She opened her mouth and blew another cloud of smoke into his face in response before turning away.

'And to insure there are no... mishaps,' Mr Anderson said with a cold smile, 'It's not just your life on the line here. How would you feel if your two accomplices just... disappeared?'

She pursed her lips, thinking grimly of Debbie.

This didn't surprise her. The Center was willing to do practically anything to get what it wanted. Anything it takes, she thought.

'And if that happens? How are you going to get Jarod?'

'That's where I come in,' supplied a voice.

'Mr Lyle,' she said with sarcastic enthusiasm. 'What a surprise.'

'We meet again, sis,' he replied with a wave of his hand and one of his trademark sleazy smiles. She rolled her eyes.

'How could you do this?'

'We have no choice,' he said shortly, his back to her again.

'Right,' she said, standing.

'My life or boy wonder's.'

* * *

'If I talk, will you listen?'

'Of course,' Jarod smiled. 'I was a shrink once.'

'And you will believe me?' Kiya asked, one eyebrow raised.

'Try me.'

'I was a prodigy at the Center,' she said slowly. 'A pretender in training.'

Now, Jarod was very curious.

'You're a pretender?'

'Not quite as good as yourself,' Kiya smiled. 'I wasn't there long enough.'

'You escaped?'

'I'll get to it. The Center got a hold of me straight away, when I was born. They held my mother there, also, but I never got to see her. When I was fifteen, she said we'd been released. They just let us go, but I don't know why. Because three months later and they were after us again. They killed my mother last year.'

'If you left the Center two years ago, then that means you were there while I was,' Jarod muttered, standing to peek out of his blinds.

'Expecting someone?' Kiya asked with a dry smile.

'Yes, your cousin,' Jarod said grimly.

'Hot date?' she grinned.

'Hardly,' he sighed. 'Her idea of spending time alone would be with me locked in a cell.'

'Kinky,' Kiya laughed. 'It's sad. I know you two were friends. Once.'

'That was a long time ago,' Jarod said. 'Things have changed.'

'Things don't have to change,' Kiya said. 'People make them change. You of all people should know about change.'

'You're just like her.'

'Who?'

'Your cousin. You remind me of how she used to be.'

'Don't compare me to anyone in that Center,' Kiya said with distaste.

'Some people are held there against their will. It's not their fault,' Jarod pointed out. 'Miss Parker was brought up to hate me. They taught her to distrust me. They made her how she is.'

'I'd like to meet her someday,' she sighed. 'But I'm not going back there.'

'I'm sorry, Kiya, but you still haven't really told me why you're here. I'd like to help you, if there is anything I can do.'

'What I want to know is what my connections are to the people inside of the Center. You see, my name's Kiya Parker, but my mother wasn't a Parker. She was Catherine Parker's sister. But Catherine was -'

'Only a Parker by marriage,' Jarod finished.

'Exactly.'

* * *

'What is this place coming to?' she hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. 'My own biological father would have me killed just to get back a pretender that doesn't want to be caught.'

'Miss Parker -'

'I need a drink,' she concluded. 'A nice big one.'

'Miss Parker,' Sydney repeated, louder. 'You need to calm down.'

'Thanks for the tip, Sid,' she replied sarcastically. 'It's at the bottom of my list right now.'

'Angel,' muttered a voice.

She spun around, her eyes stopping on the vents.

'Why, hello, Cousin It. Come to harass me, too?'

'Angel... stop crying,' Angelo sighed, resting his head against the bars.

She exchanged a glance with Sydney before stepping closer to the vent.

'What did you just say?'

'Crying... so sad, so sad... Angel, stop crying...'

'I'm not crying, I'm not sad, and don't call me -'

She stopped. Her eyes rested on the porcelain angel that Jarod had sent, laying on her desk.

'Angel,' she murmured, picking it up. 'I know it, Sid, I've seen it before. I know I have. I just don't know where.'

She thought about it a moment.

'Get him out here, Sid. I want to hear what he has to say.'

'Of course. And Parker?'

'Yes, Sid?' she said, forcing a smile, eyebrows raised.

'You need to be careful. The Center will do as they said.'

With that Sydney left, leaving her to ponder her own thoughts.

* * *

'I have not met any other pretenders, since I was at the Center,' Jarod said, smiling. 'I'd like to help you find out who your father is.'

'Why?' Kiya asked, forcing a laugh and looking down at her hands. 'I don't know why I came. Why should you even believe me, yet alone want to help me?'

'I do believe you, because you know things others don't,' he replied, looking her in the eyes.

'I can see it in your eyes. And I want to help you because everyone deserves to know who their parents are.'

'I know all about you, Jarod. I'd seen you at the Center, and I heard you'd escaped. I've been following you, in the papers... I probably sound like a stalker or something. I just thought if I could find you, you'd understand.'

'I do,' he sighed. 'I do. How old are you, anyway? Seventeen, right?'

She smiled wryly.

'How ever old I need to be,' she replied, looking towards the window.

Jarod watched her a moment, thinking hard, forehead creased.

'Listen, Kiya. I can help you, but I can't hang around. I'll be here a week, max.'

'I'm a drifter too, Jarod. I have the Center after me as well.'

'Which is why we can't be seen meeting like this again. It's too easy. If one of us were to get caught, so would the other. It's dangerous.'

'It's dangerous for me already,' Kiya sighed. 'And I hate it. At least you have... some purpose to your life. You can help people. Me? I'm constantly on the run. Alone. I can't make friends. It's hard. But I haven't seen them for ages, I just move to keep them off my trail...'

'I have run-ins with the Center once a week on average, it's too dangerous for you,' Jarod argued. 'If you are a pretender like you say, which I believe, they'll take you back any chance they get. You may have thrown them for now, but get seen with me and they won't let you get away without a fight. I'm not the best person to be making friends with.'

'You need me,' Kiya shot, standing.

'I don't need you.'

'Yes you do. You may be the experienced pretender, Jarod, but I'm the one who knows about the world. About life. You missed out on all that, at the Center. You missed out on your childhood and I'm the closest thing you've got to it.'

'How so?' he asked darkly, his gaze locking hers.

She swallowed and turned away.

'You're a genius,' she said slowly. 'Amazing. But you have a big flaw. There's a lot of things you don't know about the real world. You ask questions that could get you into trouble. Halloween was the best,' she said with a laugh. 'The look on the boy's face...'

'How do you know about that?' he asked suspiciously.

'Miss Parker isn't the only one that's been trying to track you down. Just like you're not the only person pretending to be someone they're not,' she said in a low tone. 'Just let me do this, please. I'll watch my back.'

'We'll discuss this later. Right now, I have other things to do.'

Jarod stood and pulled on his jacket, then paused and took out his phone.

'What?' snapped the voice on the other end.

'Miss Parker, in a good mood as always.'

'Oh, great. You're just the person I want to speak to right now.'

'Nice day?' he asked, amused.

'Just peachy. What do you want?'

'I was expecting you today. What on earth was holding you back?'

'Things came up,' she said shortly. 'I'm not particularly in the mood for games right now.'

'I'd best be leaving you then. I'd just called to tell you I met someone most interesting today.'

'Who?'

'Oh, never mind. You're not in the mood for games right now.'

He hung up the phone, giving a short laugh.

'Well? Are you coming?' he asked, turning to Kiya.

'I suppose. Where...?'

'I'll explain it on the way,' he replied as they exited his office.

'You called her?' Kiya asked, eyebrow raised. 'And you were talking about me?'

'Top marks,' Jarod smiled, slipping the phone into his pocket. 'Well done.'

'Why?'

'Oh, it's just a little game we like to play.'

* * *

'Miss Parker,' Broots said once she stopped back inside.

'Jarod?' Sydney asked.

She nodded.

'So.. did... did he find anything?' she asked, gesturing to Angelo, adjusting herself and sliding back into her cool manner.

'See for yourself.'

Angelo was sitting over in a dark corner, leaning against the wall and holding something to his chest. It was the porcelain angel.

'What is it, monkey boy?' she murmured, crouching next to him.

'Sad, angel... crying. Changing mind. Have to... change mind.'

'Who? Who has to change their mind?'

'Angel... sad.'

'Ugh!' she exclaimed, throwing her head back. 'Has he said anything else?'

'Actually, he gave us a file code. It's for a DSA,' Broots said.

'And? Have you got this DSA?'

'Technically speaking, no. The connections between the operating system and the codes for that particular division don't comply...'

'Does anybody around here speak coherent English?' she wondered out loud.

'I can get the file, Miss Parker,' Broots said, his eyes flickering to hers. 'But it might take awhile.'

'Then get on it!'

'Of c-course, Miss Parker.'

With a hesitant backwards glance, he made for the door.

'Could you get a move on?'

Once he had left, she walked over to her chair and sat down, massaging her temples.

'What did Jarod want?' Sydney asked.

'To annoy me, as usual.'

'Jarod would only call for a reason, Parker. Something is bothering you.'

'It's not Jarod that's bothering me, it's the little pow wow I had with my dear friends at the Center not long ago. But Jarod did mention something... he said he'd met somebody interesting.'

'Who?'

'Didn't say. He told me that I wasn't in the mood for games and not to worry about it. Ugh!'

'Yes, Jarod does have a habit of the early termination of phone calls.'

'He said he'd been expecting us today,' she informed him. 'Pity the Funny Farm had to call a meeting and stop us getting there.'

'Do you honestly think you would have caught him?'

'Implying something, Sid?'

'If Jarod was expecting you, I find it unlikely that you would have caught him,' he said, a slight smile on his lips. 'If we're ever going to get him, it will have to be when he doesn't expect it.'

After a moment, she sighed and nodded.

'What do you think it means?' she asked, pressing a cigarette to her lips and nodding towards Angelo.

'I don't know... but he knows something.'

'Of course he does,' she said with distaste. 'He always knows something. But he can't just come out and say it, can he?'

She was stressing again, she knew. She hated this. She knew it wasn't her. Deep down, she regretted everything. How coldly she spoke. How inhumane she came across. It wasn't how she knew she could be. How her mother would have been. She had turned away from Angelo so that no one could see the pity in her eyes. Just like she had turned away from the pain in Jarod's eyes so long ago.

Her whole life, all she ever did was turn away.

'Angel... sad.'

'Yes, Angelo,' she said with a sigh. 'Angel... sad.'

* * *

'You're game,' Kiya mused.

'How do you figure that?'

'You were expecting my cousin to come, but casually decide to go out walking around the streets.'

'Nice thinking, but not quite. First, she's not coming. She told me.'

'And you believe her?'

'Of course. Second, the streets are probably the safest place to be. Crowded. Lot's of people. Witnesses.'

'Right,' she sighed, lifting her sunglasses. 'So where exactly are we going?'

'We're going to join a cab company. Can you drive?'

'I don't have my license, but -'

'I wasn't asking if you had a license,' Jarod interrupted, smiling. 'I was asking if you could drive.'

Kiya laughed.

'Yeah. I can drive, Mr...'

'Fallens. Jarod Fallens.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

'Uh-huh.'

'But Jarod? What exactly am I going to be doing while you're driving cabs?'

'You, Miss.... Kiya,' he corrected, seeing that it wasn't going to work calling her by her last name, 'will be my assistant.'

'Taxi drivers have assistants?' she asked dubiously.

'You're now my daughter. As a project for school, you travel with me. Job study, or something. Got it?'

'Yeah. So I'll be like... a backseat observer?'

'Make it front seat,' Jarod answered, giving her a smile.

'Right.'

A silence settled in, and Jarod encouraged it. He needed to get his head around his thoughts. This girl, claiming she was a pretender, had just shown up out of nowhere, relaying information that most people didn't know. He had been expecting something of the sort, after an interesting discovery he had made after hunting through Center memos, but she hadn't been quite what he had imagined.

'I still don't quite get this, thing, with Miss Parker.'

'Not many people do,' he answered, not particularly wanting to start a new conversation, especially one about his fiery huntress in high heels.

'If she hates her job, like you say, why doesn't she leave?'

'You should know, Kiya, that people don't just "leave" the Center. The only way to truly escape it is death. Running away doesn't give you new comfort when they're a step behind you everywhere you go.'

'She doesn't know I exist.'

'And if she ever finds out, she probably won't acknowledge said existence.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that your cousin may not be who you think she is,' he answered. 'She has concern for only the most important things in her life. She doesn't venture outside of her circle often.'

'But you like forcing her to,' Kiya commented.

Jarod didn't reply. They kept walking quickly across the town square.

'I wish I'd known her mother. She sounded nice.'

'She was,' Jarod said.

'Did you know her?'

'Vaguely. I know what she did. Now in here,' he said, pushing open a door.

'J-Dad,' she laughed, correcting herself. 'This is an icecream parlor.'

'I know. What flavour?'

She laughed again, shaking her head.

'Vanilla.'

'A substance obtained from the pods of a tropical climbing orchid or produced artificially, used as a flavoring and in the manufacture of cosmetics. An interesting flavour, but it's my favourite too.'

'Do you have to analyze everything?' Kiya asked.

'Of course,' Jarod smiled. 'I've learned a lot thanks to icecream.'

* * *

'Take it away,' she said through gritted teeth.

'But Miss Parker -'

'Broots? Get rid of it,' she said icily, lighting up another cigarette.

Don't let it get to you, Parker, she thought. It's only Jarod. He wants to get under your skin. Don't let him rile you up.

She shot a final death glare at the cardboard cut out. A life size Jarod, dressed as a doctor, with a speech bubble saying "stress kills". Again, she didn't need Sydney to get the message.

'Jarod's right, you know,' Sydney informed her.

'Nasty habit of his.'

'His first priority has always been the welfare of others. Maybe you should take his advice and relax, Parker.'

Her glare turned on him, the blue eyes glowering.

'I don't need anyone's advice. Not yours, and sure as hell not his. If you don't mind, I have somewhere else to be,' she said coldly, walking out.

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Aloha.

How did you like the first chapter of The Saddest Little Valentine? I'd like to know. I'm good at listening, and understanding... you see, I was a shrink once ;)

Coming in the next chapter, I Smell A Rat:

Miss Parker receives an anonymous tip as to Jarod's whereabouts

Jarod becomes involved in a hit and run mystery

Jarod and Kiya find themselves in a sticky situation

A few interesting secrets are discovered; and, of course...

We get to read a bit more of Jarod's book. :)

This story does have a point, by the way... it'll just take a few chapters for the plot to develop.

Now, this is my first Pretender fic, so anyone reading this most likely has never read any of my work, so I'll tell you a bit about myself.

* I love the Pretender. It rocks, and I'm mad they took it off the TV.

* I'm a J/MP fan... but I also think that the majority of J/MP stuff out there is written unconvincingly and that Miss Parker is generally out of character. I acknowledge that it is difficult to write a convincing relationship between the pair, which is why my mention of it is brief. That doesn't mean there is no romance, it just means it's not very serious. I'm working on it.

* Miss Parker is my favourite character, followed by Sydney. I think they're both great :) Jarod's cool, too, of course, and so is Broots... but I just dig the whole "huntress in high heels" thing.

* Miss Parker is also my brother's favourite character, but for different reasons... 

* I've seen Pretender 2001 and Island of the Haunted, but none of the series after that, since they axed it over here. It is on cable, but we don't have it. So there's some stuff I might get wrong since I haven't seen the new series. Forgive me.

*I will be bringing out another Pretender fic soon.

I can see the review count in generally low compared to the high ones I am used to in my other fandom, so I'm not expecting much. Maybe five reviews, and I'll update? We'll see how it goes.

I'd like to stick around, but I can't...

Beware the PTB,

SezZie

P.S. Review, please... or I'll set Miss Parker on you. ;)

Don't worry, she has a gun, but she hardly ever uses it. It's more a question of how she's going to insult you, rather then how she's going to maim you.

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