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Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I believe that NBC has the official right to manipulate these characters, but like others, I like to wonder what they would do in *my* world. Please do not archive without my permission. (at the very least you'll guarantee another hit on your site :)



Free Fall
By Gables


"Miss Parker, have you ever wanted to fly?"

"What's this about Jarod?"

"Getting away from the world you know, flying away from the Centre."

"Grow up Peter Pan, the Centre will shoot me or anybody else who tries to fly. Remember that."


~~~~~

Jarod did remember Miss Parker's words. He remembered every detail of that brief conversation 4 years ago. It was the last time he saw her before his escape from the Centre. Jarod had not thought about that conversation again until now. He was currently in an airplane, looking out the window with a forming black eye, his hands cuffed in front of him. Sam was nursing a swollen lip from a knock by the pretender. Miss Parker sat across from Jarod and watched him stare out the window. Besides the pilot, they were the only ones on the plane.

"Have you ever flown a plane Miss Parker?" Jarod turned his head toward his captor. His face had a disturbing look. The black eye made Jarod's eyes darker, the yin side of the pretender for sure.

"No, Jarod, I have not,"

"Too bad." He nodded to himself, looking back out the window. "I doubt that Sam can drive a car, much less an aero plane." Jarod looked back out the window. Sam made a move forward, but Miss Parker held up a hand signaling him to stay where he was.

~~~~~

Sam drove the black Lincoln up to the airplane hanger. He parked behind a small plane, unbeknownced to Jarod, 100 feet away. Jarod was doing final checks on a private jet. It could probably seat about 20 people, for a short puddle jump flight. In the cockpit, Miss Parker saw another man starting the internal preflight list.

~~~~~

"Jarod, what's your point?"

Jarod rolled his head back toward the two Centre crewmen. He gave her a cryptic dark glace and raised his eyebrows in a simultaneous smirk. He almost looked triumphant. "You chose the wrong plane to fly back to the Centre in."

~~~~~~

Jarod patted the engine once, and gave the man in the cockpit a thumb up sign. He looked once around the hanger with a satisfied, conniving face, and headed toward the steps.

~~~~~

The plane suddenly jolted, and Miss Parker could hear the pilot's voice cursing the instruments.

"Sam! Go see what the hell is going on." Miss Parker shoved the obedient sweeper toward the cockpit. She glared back down at Jarod. "What did you do, Jarod?" Jarod lifted his eyes, but not his head up at her. The sinister smirk was back, his face dark with swollen flesh and stubble on his chin.

~~~~~

When Jarod reached the base of the steps, Miss Parker took to running. She pulled out her gun and yelled. "JAROD!" The Pretender took one quick look at her and tried futility to get away from the plane. He didn't get out from beneath the wings. Miss Parker reached him and stood her ground, pointing her gun.

"This is not the flight for you, Miss Parker."


~~~~~

Sam opened the cockpit door and instantly began coughing. The room was on fire. Miss Parker saw the pilot stumble out of his seat and into Sam. The sweeper, in good judgment, pushed the man behind him and grabbed the fire extinguisher. The fire was the least of their worries. The plane was still descending, although not falling as though the engines where out. The pilot was sitting in one of the seats still coughing and nursing the burns on his hands.

"Jarod!" Miss Parker's executive gaze came back to him. "What did you do to the plane?"

"The plane is fine, Miss Parker, it just needs a pilot." The cabin shook once more, and Miss Parker could feel the descent velocity increase. She pulled out her gun and walked over to the man who was the pilot. The gun was in vain; he was unconscious from smoke inhalation. The gun swung back to the pretender.

"Get in there and fly this plane Jarod!"

~~~~~

"Get in the plane, Jarod." Sam arrived right behind Miss Parker in a matter of steps. He came up to the left side of the Jarod, his gun pointing at the pretender.

Jarod sized up the two hunters. He made a move toward the plane, but really used the shift in body balance to kick Sam's gun. When Sam stepped back from the force, Jarod threw a punch at his face and took off running. Sam was up and right behind him.


~~~~~

"I'm not a pilot today."

Miss Parker eyes glowed with anger. "You are a pilot because I have a gun and say you are a pilot!"

Jarod's expression changed, but only slightly. Those who did not know him so well would not have seen his eyes change from an almost sinister plotting to an angry concession. Miss Parker saw it. She pointed her gun toward the cockpit and raised an eyebrow in victory.

~~~~~

Sam lunged and caught the pretender, bringing both of them to the ground. The sweeper had the advantage and pinned Jarod to the ground.

"Who, who are you?" Miss Parker's two-handed grip raised the gun to the source of the voice. It was the pilot. He had stepped out of the cockpit and was at the top of the steps to the plane.

"I will give you five thousand dollars to shut up, and fly this plane to Delaware. This is your only chance before I shoot you."

The man raised both his hands and vigorously nodded. Then ducked back into the plane.


~~~~~

Jarod stood and offered his handcuffed hands to her. "No Jarod."

"Miss Parker, there are two ways I can put this plane down. I can crash it while still handcuffed, or I can land it with two hands."

This time, it was who Miss Parker conceded. With a huff she put away her gun and pulled out her handcuff keys.

~~~~~

Miss Parker briskly walked toward her prize, she kept her gun down, but still ready to aim and shoot. Sam pulled the pretender's head up a few times only to punch it back down. When she reached them, Miss Parker put away her gun and pulled out her handcuffs. Jarod groaned when he felt the metal bracelets. He closed his eyes, and rested his pained face on the concrete. For one last moment, he let the warmness of freedom touch his skin.

~~~~~

Jarod rubbed his wrists. He made a move toward to ex pilot under the careful eye of Miss Parker. He checked to see that the man was still breathing, carefully looked at the burns on his hands, and then stood back up, satisfied.

"Why did you sabotage the plane Jarod?"

Jarod looked at Miss Parker surprised. He clearly didn't think that she truly cared.

"People trusted him to deliver them to their loved ones, but he was really using the commuter business as a front for transporting drugs." He pulled a red book from out of his jacket and handed it to her. "When a little girl found out, he killed her. He crashed the plane killing her and her mother."

Miss Parker looked back at the unconscious man in disgust. "The plane Jarod. Stabilize the plane."

Jarod nodded and walked into the cockpit, his back being followed once more by Miss Parker's gun.

~~~~~

Sam ripped Jarod away from the runway. The blood from his face had already dried on the concrete.

"Don't take me back there, Miss Parker, please." Jarod begged, for his freedom as Miss Parker pulled out her gun again.

"Grow up Jarod. You are going back. Now get into the plane Jarod, we are flying back to the Centre. How do you like that Peter Pan?"


~~~~~

Inside the cockpit, Jarod surveyed the condition of the plane. If Miss Parker could have seen his face, she would have shot him before he could execute the plan that was clearly forming in his mind. Jarod toggled a switch and the plane tilted to the left. Miss Parker lost her balance and hit the side of the plane. That was all the time Jarod needed. He re activated the switch, and the plane rebalanced. Miss Parker fell to the floor. Jarod grabbed her gun and pointed it at Sam.

"Don't move Sam." Jarod carefully stepped over Miss Parker. Watching both of them with the gun, he moved over to the storage behind the cockpit, and pulled out a parachute. He strapped it on while he spoke. "The plane is on auto pilot, it will be ok until you arrive in Dover. There you be talked through landing it. The police will be waiting for him."

Miss Parker slowly reached down to her boot. Jarod re-secured all the straps on his backpack. "Miss Parker, I wouldn't do that. You have a tendency to miss me when shooting, and I wouldn't want you to put a hole in the cabin." In one move Jarod opened the emergency hatch and jumped out. Sam, quick to action again, grabbed the hatch and pulled it back shut.

Miss Parker dropped her head and let out an angry scream.

~~~~~

When Miss Parker arrived home she unlocked her door then noticed a small package on her porch. She was fairly pleased that Jarod had not trespassed into her house this time. She carefully lifted the brown wrapped box and judged its weight. Inside, her phone rang. Miss Parker stepped into the house, and picked up the phone with her keys in hand.

"What?"

"Have a safe flight back to Delaware, Miss Parker?"

"Maybe I should take flying lessons."

"Flying is good, but it's better to know what to do when the plane fails. Life doesn't go as planned and it's always best to know when to jump."

Jarod hung up. Miss Parker looked at the package in her hands. She set her briefcase and keys down, and then sat down holding the package. She carefully unwrapped the brown craft paper. Inside the box was a videotape. Miss Parker poured herself a drink before watching it.

~~~~~

Peter Pan silently jumps into the air and crows. He points out the window and flies out of it, followed by the kids in the nursery. The cartoon is replaced by Jarod waving. He's in an airplane. The camera falls out of the plane, staying trained on Jarod. Jarod jumps out screaming and wildly waving his arms. His calm voice begins to narrate the scene. "There are two thoughts on sky diving, one is control, and the other is freefall. The thought that while you are accelerating toward the earth at 32 feet per second, and still trying to control how you fall, can be seen as absurd. However," Jarod's freefalling form comes under control. He carefully shapes and flexes his arms and legs to achieve a special spin or flip. Miss Parker is mesmerized at the grace. "At the same time, what's life with out a challenge? If you control how you fall, you control how you land. And the landing is what's most important for survival." Jarod rips his cord and is instantly pulled back from the sight of the camera. The screen turned black.

~~~~~~~~

The End









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