Usual fanfic disclaimers apply. TNT owns them - I don't. I'll give them back relatively unharmed once I'm finished. No copyright infringements intended. Please don't sue.

Title – Breathing
Author – CHris
E-mail address – kylaparker@hotmail.com
Rating – PG - 13 (for suicidal tendencies)
Written – June 2, 2004
Spoilers – NONE
Note – English is not my native language, please be kind with me *g*

Parker looked around the room. She had only just arrived at home. Something in that room seemed wrong. She put her jacket down and laid her gun onto the table. She went into the kitchen and took a glass which she filled with whiskey. She sat down on the sofa and looked out of the window. She listened to her breath. Why was she breathing anyway? Why didn't she just stop doing it? Did life make sense anyway? The only thing she was doing was hunting Jarod. That didn't make sense, did it? Why was she hunting him? Because she longed for his touch and his kiss? Because she was told to do so by her father. She started to get angry with herself and felt her breathing getting faster. Had she intended to breathe faster? Who had told her to do so? And why was her heart beating faster? Of course there was a biological explanation for all that but this didn't satisfy her. Why now? And why was she sitting here all alone while everybody had friends and was enjoying the evening?

She leaned back and closed her eyes. What if she just stopped breathing? What if her heart just stopped beating? Would anyone notice? Would anyone care? Would they miss her at the Centre? Who would come to pick up her body? Would anyone come at all? Her breath was very shallow now. She thought about holding her breath completely. She tried to hold it. But the urge to breathe was stronger. She sucked in air. Why had she done it? It didn't matter to anyone if she lived or died. She held her breath again. A little longer than before. But the fighter in her didn't want to give up and she sucked in air again. She tried to stop breathing again and again but she didn't succeed. She gulped the whiskey and got up. The world started to spin around her. She tried to steady herself against the sofa but she collapsed anyway. She crumpled to the floor and laid there unconscious.

He stepped from the shadows. He had watched her the whole time and he had nearly seen her thoughts. He knew what Parker was thinking. He knew her too well. He knelt down beside her and felt for her pulse. It was weak. Her breathing had stopped. He gently picked her up and laid her down onto the sofa again. His lips closed over hers and he tried to breathe air into her lungs. It felt more like kissing to him. He had never touched her lips before and had never dared to even think about it. Her breath came back. Irregular and shallow but it was back. He covered her with the blanket, brushed her cheek with his lips, slipped a piece of paper onto her chest and receded into the shadows again to watch her awake. He couldn't just leave her. What if something happened? What if she died? No. He loved her way too much to let that happen. He took his cell phone and called Sydney. He told him that Parker was ill and needed his help. He waited in the shadows until he heard Syd at the door he had left ajar.

Sydney knelt down beside Parker who slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the room in confusion. Sydney caressed her face and helped her sit up. The piece of paper fell into Parker's hand. She looked down at it. *PEOPLE DO CARE ABOUT YOU* she read and looked up. She saw Jarod's shadow disappear through the door and wanted to follow him. She jumped up but she was too weak and collapsed into Sydney's arms. When she regained consciousness again Jarod was long gone and all that reminded her of him ever being here was the little piece of paper he had left that told her that she wasn't all alone like she had thought.