The nineteenth call in the last hour showed up on the small display of my ancient phone, and I pushed it away immediately with nothing more than a sigh. Whatever petty teenage problem my sister was experiencing would simply have to wait for later.

An attempted suppression of a chuckle sounded next to me. Turning my head in its direction, I cut a sharp glare at the figure leaning against the blue car beside me.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!" Jack defended with a raise of arms in an innocent gesture.

"You were thinking," I turned my head back to face my phone's display as another call popped up, "it's annoying." Pressing it away, I checked the time. "What's taking them so long?" Frustration had begun to stir up within me, and I tapped my phone against my dark blue jeans as a way of venting it.

"It's an important meeting with the big shots, these things take time." Jack ran his hand over his back slicked, brown mane, as he swept his gaze over our surroundings. With a sigh, I turned to look at the large – normally abandoned – storage building before us.

One would think that when an important group of powerful people met, they'd do it someplace fancy, like at a penthouse in the middle of a city; drinking cocktails on a roof terrace with a marvelous view. But not these guys. They preferred getting together in the middle of the desert in a dilapidated structure with tumbleweeds rolling around over the dry ground. Thankfully, it wasn't sunny today – the heat was more than enough to take already – grey clouds instead occupying every inch of the sky.

Sweat running down my back, I tried to fan some cooler air into the clinging fabric of my striped t-shirt. At least the light-washed jeans jacket around my shoulders was cooler than my usual brown leather one, given that I had also rolled up its sleeves all the way to my elbows.

"I bet they have air-condition in there," I muttered, running my hand over my bare neck to make sure that none of my fluffy hair had loosened itself from my ponytail. This humidity sure didn't help with the usual mess.

"How much?" Jack shot back immediately, rubbing his hands together with glee.

"Jeez, man! You need to get a hold on that gambling thing already!"

"Yeah, maybe." He shrugged, but kept eyeing me expectantly, waiting for my bid.

"It was a joke," I clarified with a roll of my eyes.

"Oh." Jack's demeanor instantly shifted to grumpy as he turned away to glare at the building, crossing his arms.

"Mature," I scoffed, my hand going in through the open car window to find something to fan myself with; like a magazine, or anything! Jack muttered a barely audible response, which I was rather glad I didn't catch the details of. "Do they realize that some people have a life!" I exclaimed, swiftly retrieving my hand back from its task of shoveling through the car to also take on Jack's sulking position. Not a single piece of a potential fan in the bloody car.

"You do realize that I can hear your every word?"

With a sigh, my hand retrieved back to shuffle around for a bit, before finding the cause of the sound. A black, walkie-talkie alike transmitter, which became silent when I pressed in the button to answer.

"Do you realize that I'm bored out of my mind?"

"No one forced you to come along," the low voice responded, a tad bit annoyed.

"Hunter did!"

"Give me that–" Jack grabbed the device from me before I could keep arguing, holding me away from him by an arm's length as I struggled to retrieve it. "You two done soon?"

"There were some complications…" Jack and I shared a look, as I quickly stopped the fighting attempts of getting back the transmitter.

"What kind of complications?" Jack asked, cautiously.

A shuffling sound pierced through the humid air before a new voice sounded. "The kinds that need you to get into position."

Instantly, Jack threw me the device and sprinted around the car to the driver's seat. Just as fast, I caught the hot piece of plastic before jumping into the vehicle as well. The car took off the moment both doors were closed.

Whilst Jack kept an eye on the sandy area before us lacking all roads, I turned around to lean back and lift up the seat in the back. A hidden storage compartment laid place there, and this time I was actually faced with what I was searching for immediately.

The car made a drastic U-turn, my chest being pressed against the back of my seat roughly, squeezing my boobs flat.

"Careful!" I scolded Jack over my shoulder.

"Just get it already!" he bit back.

Finally, my hands grasped around the briefcase, which had opened and spread out its content all over the place. However, I quickly managed to grab the barrel of a black, shiny weapon and pull out the other separate pieces as well, one by one.

"Hurry up!" Jack urged, the car's speed not reducing one bit.

"Quit rushing me!" I yelled back, assembling the different parts to make up the needed weapon. A M26 rifle; too advanced to even be out on the 'private' gun market here in the US, but that of course hadn't stopped the government or other non-attached organizations from finding and using them.

The final piece snapped in place, and I gave Jack a thumbs up before circling my forefinger. With a confirming nod, he did a drastic turn of his car as I placed the gun's barrel to stick out from the open car window. The strong airstream created by our high speed whistled as it blew by around the edges of the pipe. The storage building came into view as I closed my right eye, while placing my left eye to spy through a small, round display on the weapon, giving me a perfect, crystal clear, hawk vision of the sight before me.

Three men were standing by a gap in the exterior that once must have been a large window. Two of them I recognized; one slim body dressed in his signature grey suit, the other pale, piece of muscles with a shaved head wearing all black and a familiar leather jacket. But the figure in the middle was new; he was short and seemed old, judging by his posture and grey crew cut, stiffly gazing between the other two men. Even from this distance, that fossil of a man gave me uncomfortable shivers; maybe it was the military uniform.

In a matter of seconds, I'd registered the details of the situation and sight, positioning the gun a teeny bit to the right. Sucking in a breath, my finger grazing the trigger, I felt my muscles tighten, before taking the shot. A quick, microscopic movement of the pipe downwards, and another bullet was fired.

"Go!"

The car sped away just as I managed to glimpse the old man's head shoot back, before his body fell back against the floor. New figures swarmed in like vultures gathering around a carcass; all dressed in similar uniforms.

Securing the weapon, I dragged it back into the car. Quickly after, I closed the window to dampen the sound of the howling wind caused by our racing speed. Speaking of racing; my heart seemed to have decided to do the same.

The silence settling inside the vehicle was almost deafening compared to the previous wind. Sinking back in my seat, I stared out the windshield at the empty desert ahead.

"And now we wait," Jack sighed, checking the rearview mirror; probably to spot for pursuers.

Radio silence.

As soon that rasping little device on the dashboard sounded with one of the two familiar voices, I would most probably scream out of pure joy. But for now, sitting and waiting was all there was to do. A mission like this was always risky; with no guarantee of getting out alive. With my heart still hammering against my ribs, almost hurting, I tried taking a deep breath and holding it to force my pulse to decrease. This always happened; my body was cool and collected in the needed moment, but then freaked out afterwards.

"You okay?" Jack questioned with a quick glance. I could only shake my head slightly as a response. "Was that the first time since–"

"No," I let out my breath, feeling the tense muscles around my shoulders and neck relax. "That wasn't the first time I killed someone since the last time we were out in the action." Vicki's grey face covered in popping veins flashed before my eyes. "But it was the first time in forever since using one of these." I patted the gun that still laid in my lap, before beginning to disassembling it to tuck all the different pieces back into the case.

"You did good," Jack encouraged.

"I got him," I stated, loosening the barrel to make sure it was clean and empty.

"Like I said: you did good."

"It's not the killing that bothers me."

"I know. It's the reason." Jack sighed and gave me a quick once-over. "But you're still the best freaking sniper I've ever met. And that's coming from a former soldier who served in Afghanistan!"

"Your snipers sucked," I commented, having read through several files covering just that topic when meeting Jack, so many years ago.

"Shut up!" Jack tried to elbow me, but I was faster and dodged to press my body against the car's door. "Little Miss Perfect…" he added, muttering, not quite hiding the smile spreading on his tanned face.

"Still no word?" I placed two cups of hot coffee on the table before Jack, who sat in the red leather seats of a booth he'd chosen, spinning his phone around in his hand.

"It would be too soon anyway." He glanced at a large clock on the wall behind me. "They still have a few hours before they pass the time-limit."

"Right. I'm heading out for a bit." I cocked my head back at the door. He gave a confirming nod.

The tiny, filthy diner by the side of the road was nearly empty, except for a tired, bored waitress with an afro of red hair counting the tip, two lovesick teenagers making out in a dark corner and a large group of truckers drinking and generally being loud. But the lack of customers wasn't so strange, given the day was nearing into afternoon.

Okay, Elena. I sat my foot outside on the sandy parking lot, strolling towards the gas station next to the diner as I hauled my phone up. Let's see your reason for calling on my attention a billion times.

After listening to her messages, I could state that her reasons were legit. But as I tried to call the woman back, there was no answer. Huffing, I tapped my foot against the ground, sand whirling up in the breeze growing stronger to create large clouds of the dust, which swirled around in the air and temporarily blinded anyone unlucky enough to stand with their eyes wide open.

The call went to inform me that this person wasn't available at the moment. Mimicking the monotone voice in a mocking way, I grunted and stomped my feet clad in proper work boots against the sand. Hanging up, I dialed her number again.

"Pick up the phone, damn you," I muttered.

The sun was shining through hazy clouds, drying up the air even more, the heat beginning to grow unbearable. Even if the ball of fire was soon to set, moving closer and closer towards the empty horizon, it seemed to have decided to make every moment until then insufferably hot.

"Hello?" A voice finally answered.

"Elena!"

"Parks!" my sister exclaimed on the other end. "Thank god you called–"

"Why didn't you pick up?" I interrupted.

"Excuse me? You haven't returned any of my calls during the past two days!" Okay, point taken.

"So what! I usually do that. You don't. Ever. So what's going on?"

Elena sighed. "I don't even know where to begin!"

"I got your messages, so how about you start with Caroline turning?" I suggested tightly.

"As I said, she got into a car accident and Damon healed her," Elena said, simply repeating what ten of her frantic messages had already informed me of.

"And then…" I urged.

"I don't know." Elena frustratedly blew out a breath. I could even picture her shaking her head as a way of gathering herself. "Care said that someone who looked exactly like me killed her, which means–"

"Katherine," I finished for her. Pinning my eyes shut, I pinched the bridge of my nose to keep myself occupied. If that bitch was back…

"Exactly. But that wasn't all she did."

"Yeah, I heard," I scoffed. "Cutting off John's fingers. Really?"

"It was pretty disgusting," Elena admitted, with a shuddering noise.

"But you kept your head cool and called an ambulance, I'm proud of you sis!"

"Thanks…" Elena's voice tuned out, indicating that she had something more on her mind but didn't dare speak the words.

"What else?" I pushed, kicking my dark brown work boots through the sand to set off another cloud of dust.

"Damon nearly drove a stake through my heart today," Elena finally got out, blurting out so quickly I nearly didn't even catch it. I froze, about to release some nasty curse words directed towards the vampire in question, when I instead replayed the sentence in my head to notice something else.

"Nearly?"

"He didn't. He stopped," Elena explained.

"Why was he even trying to do that in the first place?" I sighed, going to massage my forehead. I was gone for not even two days, and all hell breaks loose!

Nothing but silence came through the speaker.

"Elena…?"

After another quiet moment, she let out a sigh. "He was trying to get to Caroline."

"Oh. I see. Newbie vampire causing havoc? At the carnival, right?" Elena's grumbling silence was enough. "Then he probably had the righ–"

"But she didn't deserve to die!" my sister snapped.

"She's a vampire now!" I shot back, not really sure why I was defending Damon. "Look at what happened the last time someone turned in this town. Look at Vicki!"

"That's different, she was a drug addict! This is Caroline, Parks!" Elena pleadingly reasoned.

"So when it's one of your friends it's fine, but when it's Jer's–"

"That's not what I meant–" Elena cut off.

"Sure it was," I returned the favor with.

"Parks…" She sighed once more. "This isn't how I wanted this conversation to go. I only meant that Damon showed some humanity today. For the first time in forever!"

"So?"

"Well, I guess I have you to thank for that," Elena spoke, more softly now.

"Hmm?" I let out, trying to make sure I got that right.

"You're the one who unlocked it," my sister put it simply.

"Or maybe he just didn't kill you because you look exactly like Katherine," I suggested.

"Parks, don't think like that," Elena tried to defend, sounding as trustworthy as only she was able to.

"Why not? You don't like Damon and you don't like the… thing he and I have going on. Why would you try to defend his actions?"

"Because I know it, Parks. You're right, I don't like Damon. At all. Not after everything he's done. But I can't ignore the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's around to notice. And I recognized that look."

"From Stefan?" I scoffed.

"Among others," Elena admitted. "And from you, and mom. It's the look of someone who loves you unconditionally. It's the best thing in the world."

"Elena," I began with a sigh, "love is–"
"You're not there yet," Elena interrupted. "I get it. But when you are…" She sighed, and I could tell how much it took for her to muster up the next part. "I'm not gonna stand in your way. It's your life and you're right, I don't have any say in who you choose to be with." Well. That certainly took an interesting turn.

"Thanks?" I trailed off.

"Just returning the favor after what you said to Stefan," Elena explained, her beam even detectable through my phone and the bad signal.

"He squealed." I gritted my teeth. That little–!

"We share everything with each other," Elena interrupted my murderous thoughts. "It was a really nice gesture. Minus the threats."

"Yeah, I guess."

At the sound of a reluctant door opening, I turned around to see a lean figure emerging from the diner, a phone to his ear as the wind blew his slicked back mane into a mess. "Look, Elena, I gotta go."

"Wait! Where are you?" my sister demanded, suddenly remembered the beginning of our conversation. "What are you doing?"

"I'll call you back later." I hung up and cut off my name being uttered mid-way. Expectantly, I watched Jack as he approached with an unreadable expression, all emotions turned off.

"Yeah…. Mhm…. I– What? Okay, got it." Jack handed me the phone. At my raised brows, I received nothing but a vague shake of his head.

"Hello?"

"Bad news." As always, Hunter got right to the point.

I sighed. "Oh, what now?"

"The attempt of finding his location was unsuccessful." Instantly, my heart sank in my chest. "But we were able to confirm the intel."

"Which you already expected to be true," I scoffed.

"I know that you're tired–" Hunter began, in an admonished manner.

"Tired?" I snapped. "Oh, I'm SORRY mister Big Shot! Is my mood bothering your hard work of gathering intel on the guy who's going to try and kill me right after he's wiped out my entire family? Well, EXCUSE ME THEN!"

"Park–" the collected voice tried again.

"You show up at my apartment after the promise that I'd never have to hear from any of you again! And then you drag me out into the middle of nowhere! All while my family is still in danger back home, without me there to–"

"PARKER!"

With my jaws snapping shut, I shifted into a grumpy silence. Hunter rarely snapped, but when he did it was never a good thing to be the reason for it. He took a calming breath on the other end, before continuing as if I hadn't just given him the scolding of his life.

"I understand that this information brings you no comfort, but it's a step in the right direction. All we had so far were rumours, now we can be sure and take certain precautions."

"Such as?" I grunted.

"Making sure that you and your family are being monitored for safe–"

"No."

Hunter sighed, trying to hide his annoyance. "Parker–"

"No! You said it yourself, who knows which agents are faithful and which aren't. I'm not risking that any intel about who is part of my closest family gets back to him. Not happening."

"Fair point," Hunter admitted. "But then I'm afraid that I have no other advice to send you back home with, besides the urge for you to watch your back."

"Always." I nodded.

"Jack will give you a phone." On cue, the tanned man next to me – who had remained completely silent during my eruption – hoisted up a brand new, shiny smartphone with a touch screen and everything from the inner pocket of his navy blue leather jacket. My eyes widened as I accepted it, glee rising in my chest and to my face. "It's untraceable, but it's only to be used in case of an emergency."

"Oh, you're no fun!" I whined.

"I trust that you will follow my instructions."

Staying silent, I admired the perfect, smooth surface of the phone by carefully running my fingers over every curve.

"Parker…?" Hunter cautioned.

"Okay," I groaned, tucking the phone away into my pocket. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Good luck. I'll be in touch if anything new shows up."
"Thanks."

"And be careful," Hunter added, after a moment of a hesitating silence.

"When have I not been?"

From his end, a scoff was let out from another source in the background.

"Shut up, Brock!" I huffed, but with a loving undertone.

"Over and out," Hunter finished.

"Over and out," I repeated and hung up as well, handing back the device to Jack, who watched me cautiously. "I'm not gonna snap again," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"You sure?" he double-checked.

"Yeah!"

"Okay then." Jack shoved away the transmitter as he glanced back at the diner. "I didn't tip the waitress…"

"I doubt she'll notice," I waved off and began walking towards where the car stood parked on the sandy excuse of a driveway.

"I dunno… She seemed to keep a pretty good tab on that sort of thing." Jack trailed after me, still glancing over his shoulder.

"Those truckers looked generous," I tried to sooth his worry with as I opened the car door leading to the passenger's seat. With my hand resting on the roof of the blue vehicle, I waited and observed as Jack bit his lip pensively.

"I'll be right back," he decided and threw me the car keys, before hurrying away. I caught them with a sigh, before I seated myself comfortably, my head placed to rest against the chilly window of the closed door.

The cool glass was welcomed after the heat; soothing, even.

A knock woke me up, jerking me awake to stare right into the face of Jack, as he repeated this action. The sky was pitch black, and with a squinted gaze I glanced at the time.

"Did it take you three hours to tip her?" I exclaimed after unlocking the door for him. Jack smoothed his ruffled hair back in place, saying nothing as he reached to secure his seat belt. "No!" I gasped. "You didn't!" The content smirk said it all. "EUW!" I shook my head rapidly, desperately trying to get the image out of my head. "At least tell me it wasn't one of the truckers!"

"Please!" Jack scoffed as he backed out of our parking space. "Not my type."

"They kinda reminded me of Brock… You know, size-wise," I teased.

"What we have is a bromance and nothing more, Missy," Jack corrected. "So stop dropping hints!"

"There's no such thing as a bromance," I sang as we turned onto the dark – if you could even call the blurry line between hard, dry ground and cracked asphalt a – road.

"You and your television series…" Jack sighed with a tired shake of his head. But after another moment of pleasant silence, he spoke up. "It was the waitress."

"Did you get lost in her hair or what?"

"Yeah…" He beamed joyfully.

"OKAY, time for some music!" I exclaimed as I reached to turn on the car's radio. Let's Get It On with Marvin Gaye flowed out through the speakers. "Don't," I warned, glaring at the smirking Jack.

This was going to be a long ride back home.

A/N: Long time no see readers! I'm sorry for the hiatus, but I've been going back and re-editing from the start. I'm almost up to speed with the latest chapter before this one, but couldn't hold out with this one any longer. So here you go! Hope you like this start of season 2, and if you are so kind as to leave me a review it would light up my day Each and every one of your reviews so far have been amazing to read, so please keep the love and interest coming! Thank you for reading, and lots of love sent to you all!