Jaz realized she was in trouble fairly quickly. Considering all the hot zones she had been in during her career, how was it possible that a shopping trip might be her end?! She just HAD to have those boots, didn't she? Now she didn't have the boots but she was sporting two new bullet holes in her body. Worst. . . accessories. . . ever. If she didn't get herself out of this situation, she just knew McG would make sure there was some sort of smart ass saying on her gravestone. She shuddered to think of the things he would come up with and then have engraved. He would have the last word and those words would follow her to eternity. The thought was more motivation to survive.

Usually she enjoyed being alone during her city shopping trips, but now she wished she had let McG come with her. He'd offered to come and hold her bags but she had declined. She hadn't wanted to deal with him hitting on every attractive woman in the various stores. This morning she thought it would have irritated her so much that she wouldn't have enjoyed the trip. Now she was irritated for a whole different, and much more painful, reason. What she wouldn't give to see McG, or another member of her team, miraculously appear at her side. She could definitely use the help but she also knew she couldn't waste time wishing for a miracle. It hadn't worked when she was a child and it wouldn't work now. The reality was that her survival was up to her. Or at least it was up to her until her teammates came looking for her. She had no doubt that they would. She just had to keep herself alive until their arrival.

It was clear that the guys tracking her weren't amateurs. They had placed their shots to quickly incapacitate her but not immediately kill her. If the cell phone in her hip pocket hadn't taken the first bullet, she would have been on the ground writhing in pain as they had obviously planned. Since her assailants didn't seem to be worried about collateral damage, she moved herself, and them, away from the city center. Now she glided silently through the warehouses on the waterfront taking care to prevent any blood splatter from giving away her location. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the men hunting for her. They weren't exactly quiet, and other than the sound of the waves against the docks, the area was devoid of noise. During one of their search passes she had gotten a quick glimpse of their faces. They didn't look familiar. As careful as her team was on their missions, she found it hard to believe any group had tracked them back to their base. So why were these men hunting her? It was a mystery she didn't have time to solve.

She was starting to shiver with cold when she knew it was still quite warm outside. McG had lectured the team more than once about that being a warning sign of significant blood loss. He would be surprised to learn she really did pay attention to him. She tucked herself into the shadows to check her wounds again. Unfortunately they were still there. After looking them over, and tightening her blood-soaked makeshift bandages, which was a less than pleasant experience, she knew she had no time left to continue leading these guys on a chase. They didn't seem inclined to give up so she made the choice to switch to lethal force. She quietly began picking off her enemies one by one. She knew she needed to finish them quickly before her wounds made it impossible for her to remain on her feet. It was becoming increasingly clear that things were rapidly headed in that direction.