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"Jarod, breakfast!"

Sydney couldn't help but give a small grin tactfully hidden behind a hand as Miss Parker gave one last look at the table set out before her. Jarod's father was already seated at the table, the boy he had known as Gemini seated next to him. Sydney sat at the head of the table with Miss Parker and Jarod seated across Chris and Charles and Angelo across from him.

It was now 4 months since that day in the Tower when Jarod had killed his grandfather. Miss Parker had healed completely from her near fatal injuries. Sydney was still amazed by her strength and resilience. Especially in helping Jarod overcome his insecurities and guilt.

Because despite the fact that Jarod outwardly looked his own self, he had been hurt deep by the revelations that his mother had made. Even though he could logically pull his feelings apart with Sydney, he couldn't reconcile the image he had built of his mother with the truth she had revealed. Even while her actions had been exploited and manipulated by her father, Jarod still held her responsible for his incarceration at the Centre. And for killing a man, no matter how evil.

Currently Jarod had a fragile bond with her and Sydney knew that it would take a lot of time for his prodigy's trust to be rebuilt to a point where he can trust her in his and Parker's home. Margaret was staying in a small apartment in town and works at a local shop selling antiquities. Sydney knew that she was at least grateful that her son was willing to work on their relationship. It could as easily have gone a different direction.

Charles was also slowly rebuilding his relationship with her. But Sydney could see in the man's eyes that he had been deeply hurt by his wife's distrust in him. He had once found Charles in the garden, sitting underneath a big oak tree – the branches naked except for a thick layering of snow - staring into the distance. He had wanted to leave the man alone with his thoughts but instead had found himself seating himself next to Charles. They had sat in silence for several minutes. Then slowly Charles had started to tell him about his days when they had been a young family. How happy they had been until the day Jarod had been stolen. How he had never suspected his wife despite wondering about the haunted look that seemed to overcome her every time he would mention finding Jarod. And the stark fear he had seen in her eyes the day when she had found him hidden in a motel, barely alive from his gunshot wound. He had thought at that time that it had been her fear of nearly loosing him. Now he knew better. It had been her fear for Jarod. For the fact that her father could have interpreted his rescue attempt as part of her plans. He had spoken of the fact that he had no idea if he could ever forgive her for withholding all the information about her past. How he was trying his best to find his love for her again but that it all seemed empty and meaningless. That everything they had gone through could've been prevented if she had only been honest.

A large part of Jarod's life had been spend in captivity because Margaret had been too afraid to be honest with him, her husband.

Sydney had helped as much as he could, giving advice when asked so that Charles could start to process his feelings for his wife.

Good things had come out of all the bad things that had happened.

The Centre had ceased to exist. Jarod, as heir apparent as stated in his grandfather's will, had disbanded the Centre and the Triumvirate. All assets had been sold, the employees given very good severance packages. The Centre building had been sold to an electricity company that was planning to use it as a plant for generating extra power for the surrounding towns.

All this had made Jarod an independently wealthy man.

Angelo now resided in Sydney's house, happily reading his way through Sydney's vast collection of books. The man-child seemed happy. Sydney was thinking about doing some more research into finding a way to unlock Angelo's mind. To help Timmy come back again.

"For crying out loud, Jarod…"

Jarod entered, a huge grin on his face when he saw his wife's exasperated face and the waiting guests.

" I'm not that late, am I?"

And Sydney knew that despite the difficulty and heartache his prodigy and friends had to work through, things will work out okay.

fin





Chapter End Notes:

Thank you to everyone who endured this journey with me. I'm sorry to see this one go. It's been a friend for a long while now and I really enjoyed writing it as well as exploring the more romantic side, although I think I deviated a bit back to action and angst. To all the readers and reviewers, thanks for having spend time with me on this. Without you there would be no stories and no sites like this for amateurs like me to try their hands at writing. From the bottom of my heart, thanks.

I've started writing another pretender story way back in 2008 allready feutering Jarod and Lyle in a very interesting position where they have to work together to overcome one bad ass bad guy. So, if you want me to dust off and finish it and are prepared to continue reading pretender stories, let me know.

Again, thanks for all the lurkers, reviewers and betas who read, kicked and helped me on this story. Till we meet again. :-)






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