Disclaimer: He he. Almost forgot to do this. Ahem, All characters and events in this story are purely fictitious, therefore, all and any similarity to a real person, living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintended by she wrote this. Absolutely no connection to anyone involved in the TV show, especially since they had the bright idea to end the show as they did. Heh.

Getting out of her newly commissioned corvette, Miss Parker admired the waxy finish to the gleaming fenders. If nothing else, she knew she could always rely on the therapy that was branded retail, from her designer ferragamos to the beauty she got to drive everyday. Dreaming of the new bottle of scotch waiting for her, Parker grabbed the stack of files she had on Jarod for midnight reading and mentally tallied what she had in the fridge to whip up a simple if unhealthy dinner.

That was why she did not notice reflection of sunlight off cold steel or the surreptitious movements behind the hedge across the street from her mother's old summer home.

The first pop was surreal, sounding so close to her; a sharp, high sound in her ears. The succession of gunfire that followed caused her instincts to kick in quickly. She dropped to the ground, her right hand reaching under the back lapel of her leather jacket for her handgun. The other hand resting the front on her car, she chanced a glance over edge, trying to gauge the direction the shots were coming from. The next shot hit the front bender of the car. Parker snarled at the close call before pushing of her haunches to fire off a few rounds herself.

Just in time to feel a bullet tear through the upper tendons of her left shoulder, throwing Miss Parker backwards onto her soft grass lawn. She could feel the pain overtaking her senses quickly, even as she gazed dumbly up at the twilight sky. Dimly, she heard the screech of tires but that never truly registered to Miss Parker as she gain into the quiet welcome embrace of unconsciousness.

A soft whisper, reminiscent of Catherine Parker floated in the midst of her deep slumber.

"Jarod."


Jarod loped up the back stairs that led to his latest lair, a series in abandoned warehouses and old garment factories that provided him both with the easy access and open space that he still craved even after two years away from the Centre. His latest pretend just over, he had gotten away before the authorities arrived, not wanting to draw any attention to himself. Packing his meager belongings and his treasured DSA's he removed virtually any trace of his two week stay, no red book this time either because he knew the Centre was getting a little too close and wanted to put some space between himself and their sweepers. Miss Parker he would not mind seeing again, but lately their phone calls were less of a conversation piece than they were full of pregnant silences. With everything he had told her about her extended family and her mother's death the lines had begun to fade and he was not sure how to define their relationship. Then again, he had never been really sure..

Walking into the underground carpark where he had left the sedan he had bought with cash two weeks before, Jarod took out his cellphone and placed his right thumb over speed dial. While we wanted to hear Parker's voice, he knew he probably could not delay getting as far away from his latest pretend if he wanted to keep his personal 'three-stooges' off his back.

This internal debate was why Jarod held no consideration for his surroundings and didn't notice the two men sitting in a car a few lots across from Jarod's sedan. They were incredibly still, silent and unmoving in the cloak of darkness the dank parking lot provided them.

When they did move, it was with a vengeance, their car quickly pulling out of its lot while the the driver's partner aimed and began to fire in quick succession at Jarod. Years of running and naturally quick relexes allowed Jarod to duck in time and the bullets to 'thunk' harmlessly into the concrete pillars around him. Slamming into the back of one of these pillars, Jarod gasped for breath, his head craned to look at the car as it sped in the other direction, his hands splayed against the cool concrete as his heart and mind raced.

In the midst of all this, he heard a soft whisper going through his head.

"Parker!"

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