DISCLAIMER: in the first chapter...

A/N: Thank you all for reviewing ( Lynn, leochick, Crazyrussiangal, IluvSmallvilleDBZSailormoon, Sirus183, NYT, Gemini-M, grace, andi) !

Carestel: thank you for the kind words.

MissEdythe: I really agree with you... The journey is more important then the destination. I won't worry what has already been decided in my mind. I imagined it every night before I go to bed! Glad you want a sequel with Lyle, Raines and Syd.

Yes, my dear reviewers, I know I am evil and have been for the past few chapter's, but remember that it could be worse... I could develop a taste for cruel cliffhangers... Hum, not a bad idea grin>

Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Jarod

I see her...

From afar...

Can she see me...

I wonder...

I try to reach out, but...

Puff...

Gone...

Like a mirage...

She disappears...

Sleep has always eluded those with too many hidden monsters under the bed. People, as they grow old though, tend to forget those fears, replacing them by problems of the real world, dismissing them as childish imagination... But for Jarod, those creatures lurking in the shadows were real. They had names and faces and psychotic eyes, that haunted his dreams and most of his waking hours...

So waking up in a cold sweat, before the sun could break the horizon, was no novelty to him. Opening his eyes and having her face burned in his retina, was also nothing new. But the dream, no nightmare, had been strangely real and surprisingly puzzling. Seeing Parker standing on the top of the hill, then watching her easily fall down made his heart ache even more than it already did every day. Dreaming of her reminded him of late night phone calls and hasty caught glances as he sped away from her pursuing clicking heels... Seeing her, always out of reach, reminded him of just how much he really missed her.

Sitting on his bed, surrounded by tangled gray sheets, that were wet with sweat, Jarod breathed in deeply, trying to catch his breath and at the same time willing his heart to slow down. His bare chest was humid with transpiration and his eyes were hidden behind dark locks of hair. He sighed deeply and reached for his wrist watch, which had been lying on his bedside table.

11: 26

He fell backwards, his head hitting the pillow. Jarod spent a moment there, just gazing at the ceiling, looking for patterns like most people do with clouds, while his thoughts wandered back to her. It was almost an involuntary action that he indulged at least once a day. Sighing again, he willed his body forward and pushed his legs to the side. Looking around himself, he spotted the several items scattered throughout the room. Things he had acquired over the past few weeks... Things that had no real purpose, but to exist. Simple, everyday life objects, such as lamps and sofas and picture frames.

Saddened by her absence, yet still renewed by his continued free existence, Jarod rose and came to the obvious conclusion that he was in need of another shower. Knowing sleep would not come again so soon and having no other plans, he made the decision to stop by the hospital to check on Angela.

Anything to forget her...

At least for awhile...

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Memorial Hospital

NYC

Tuesday

Sometime later...

Jarod walked through the semi-transparent glass doors, clearly marked, with big red letters, as the emergency room. His steps echoed through the entrance hall, mixing in with the quiet murmuring coming in from the waiting room. It seemed that the morning had started with a lull, that Jarod knew from experience, would not last until nightfall.

Glancing around, he searched for Andy's familiar face, but the petit, strong woman was no where to be found. Her absence, however was neither surprising nor worthy of worry in a hospital that demanded the staff's attention twenty four hours a day. So, he shrugged it off and continued down the hall and up a flight of stairs, heading towards room 2301, to see Angela White.

Jarod opened the door that would lead into the main hallway and stopped dead on his tracks. At first he was sure that his eyes were playing tricks with his too eager mind. But the mirage did not disappear, no matter how much he shock his head left and right...

No, it couldn't be...

Standing, just a few feet away, was Miss Parker, his childhood friend and current huntress, having a seemingly polite conversation with Andy. After the initial shock has passed, Jarod felt the understandable urge to simply turn around and run away. His heart pounded and his mind went into overdrive. He wondered how she had found him and where she could have posted the sweepers. He was already calculating the best escape route...

However, seeing Parker with her back to Angela's room door and her face turned slightly away from him, Jarod, though still a bit apprehensive, was unable to turn away. His feet insisted that he moved, his mind just refused to comply. There was something different about her that he couldn't place it, but was certain it was there.

It was then that he noticed her clothes. Gone were the usual suits and short skirts. She wore instead a pair of dark jeans and a tight fitting sweater, the color of her eyes. Though still wearing high heeled boots, the ones she had on weren't her usual height. He also noticed that she wasn't carrying her gun and had for it no hiding place.

Her hair, still with the stylish cut he could remember from Carthis, framed her face with soft curls at the tips. She had practically no make up on and a small smile played at the corner of her lips, like Mona Lisa, taunting him with a secret.

Though he was sure the woman standing just a few feet away from him was the same who had chased him halfway through the country, he could barely recognize her now. The weight which she had carried around her shoulders throughout most of her life, had vanished completely, leaving no traces of its existence behind. She actually looked different without having changed at all... Outwards at least.

But above all the changes the eye could see, her attitude seemed to have altered the most. The domineering, cold huntress, who had lived life trust or compassion, had given way to a polite, seemingly kind woman who had no need to bark at others. She remained strong willed and still had her sharp tongue, he was sure. She retained a half contained impatience towards other people. Actually, she reminded him of a little girl he used to know...

Could that be her...

Standing there...

She smiled shyly at Andy and that was when Jarod knew Parker wasn't there to take him back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After leaving Angie's room, Parker was met by Andy's curious face. Instead of finding that annoying, she thought it sweet. The woman obviously loved her job and helping people and Parker could not bring herself to be mean to the helpful nurse. Seeing that the tall woman before her wasn't about to walk away, Andy bombarded her with questions, hoping to satiate her curiosity.

Overwhelmed by an unusual bout of patience, Parker replied as best as she could without betraying herself or her ability to hear... Well, dead voices. In no time at all she found herself smiling and bonding to Andy, who paid such great attention to her words. Genuinely interested in them.

Look right...

Without giving it a second thought, Parker glanced right. The smile which had been forming on her lips soon vanished when she caught sight of him. She had to look more carefully to make sure the man standing by the staircase was in fact...

No...

Couldn't be...

Jarod. Though she had been told by the voices that he was alive, somewhere, actually seeing him again was a bit of a shock to Parker. She had so many conflicting feelings where Jarod was concerned. She couldn't grasp his presence. She was unable to understand his hole in her life. So she just stood there, staring at him, listening to her heart pumping in her ears and controlling her breathing in an effort to not hyperventilate.

Damn him for doing this to her...

She saw him take a step forward in her direction and noticed the expectant look on his face. Not knowing what to do, she panicked. Turning back to Andy, she barely registered the nurse's confused look, as she excused herself. Heading left, opposite Jarod's direction, she started to walk away. In her urgency to just escape the questions and doubts cursing through her mind, Parker broke into an urgent run.

Don't run, she recalled Angel's words. But she still couldn't stop her feet from moving...

Don't go, she heard the girl whispering within her mind. But she couldn't will herself to stay...

In no time at all, she had disappeared.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jarod had watched her glance his way and registered the panicked look on her face. At first he dismissed it as surprise, but when he saw her turn away from him and leave, a part of him snapped. His heavy legs, which had held him in place until that moment, morphed into feather light feet, urging him forward. Before he could register what he was doing, he found himself running after her, with an agonizing urgency not to lose her.

She took the secondary flight of stairs and left his sight.

Afraid that she would leave before he could catch up, Jarod ran faster. He could hardly breathe, his heart almost forgot to beat, his eyes were already blurry, but he refused to stop. Reaching the ground floor he frantically searched for her among the sea of faces. He didn't find her.

Catching some kind of movement to his left, he thought he saw a flash of blue and dark hair outside. Not thinking twice, he followed her out. Yet he didn't see her anywhere. No trace or clue to her whereabouts. Slowly breathing in, he glanced around, wishing for her to magically appear before him. No stars answered his prayer. If he hadn't been so frantic to reach her, he would've realized the irony of the whole situation... The prey chasing the huntress. It was amusing and sad...

Thunder broke in the distant, soon followed by a bright lightening and a thin sleet of rain, which started pouring down on him. Sigh. He hadn't predicted such bad weather, but somehow it seemed fitting. After a few motionless moments, he looked up, his hair already plastered to his face, his clothes soaking wet. The gray, yet light, clouds above him continued crying, staining his pale cheeks and chilling his soul, as he stood on the wet pavement.

So close...

So far away...

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