Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Sydney stood in the darkness it was late in the night and he couldn’t sleep. He stared out the window wondering what had happened? Why did the house just blow up and catch fire? Was it because of the Centre? If it were the Centre why would they kill Miss Parker? The funeral for Miss Parker and Thomas was in two days. He still couldn’t believe that Miss Parker was dead. The phone rang and he held his breath for a minute not wanting to pick it up because he knew who it was. How was he going to break this to him? They were friends as children and in his heart they were still friends. He watched as Miss Parker was when she was trying to catch Jarod. He knew that there were days when she was so angry with the pretender, but he knew she would never harm him. He stared at the phone a minute more and then reached out and picked it up.

“Hello.”

“Sydney, I tried to call Miss Parker, but it said that it was disconnected. Where’s Miss Parker?” Asked Jarod.

“I’m so sorry to tell you this, Jarod.” Replied Sydney with sadness in his voice

“What’s wrong Sydney?” Replied Jarod with just a hint of worry in his voice.

“Miss Parker and Thomas died in a fire in her house. A neighbor said that they both went into the house and a couple of minutes later the house blew up.”

“Nooo.” Shouted Jarod through the phone. “It can’t be.”

Sydney could hear the anguish that was in Jarod’s tone and he wished he were there to comfort his son. He knew that he really wasn’t Jarod’s father, but he felt like he was his father. He had raised him from a frightened four year old child to the adult he was now. He was so proud of him and he wished the he could tell him that.

“I’m sorry Jarod.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Sydney for telling me.” Jarod said as he hung up.

Jarod stared out the window as he absorbed the information that Sydney had just told him. A tear rolled down his face as he remembered the little girl that would come down to his cell, or sim lab and made him feel special. He wept for the little girl who she was and the woman who she had become. He had also wept for his friend Thomas. He should have never sent Thomas to her and now look what happened to him.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Four months later

Jarod stood in front of the newspaper stand and wondered if he should start his pretends again. He knew he had to. He couldn’t sit in his latest lair and do nothing. Every time he did that he thought of Miss Parker and would start to cry again. He knew that he had to start helping people again. He opened the door and took a paper out and took it to a coffee house and sat down and ordered a coffee and donut and leafed though the papers to see what caught his attention.

Eight-year-old Nathan Addison was last seen playing in front of his home and is still missing.

There was more, but he quickly folded the paper and quickly got up and left. He knew what it was like to be a lost child, and he knew he had to help this child make his way home just like he had hoped that someone had done that for him. He remembered during the night how he cried and wanted to be with his mom and dad, but they never came to him. Nobody came for him and after a while he had forgotten what they looked like.

He got out of the car and made his way to the parent’s house and knocked on the door. He showed them his FBI badge and went inside. He asked them questions and after that they showed him out. He turned to get off the porch, but he watched as a car pulled into the neighbors driveway and stopped and stared as the two people got out of the car and go inside. Was he seeing things? Did he just see Miss Parker and Thomas go inside the house next door? He walked down the stairs and then turned to the neighbors. He stood at the doorway for a minute finally making up his mind to knock on the door. Thomas was there opening the door.

“Hey, buddy how are you doing?” Greeted Thomas as he saw Jarod and he held out his hand.

Miss Parker was there looking at Jarod as she heard Thomas greet Jarod. How had he found them? She wondered.

“Thomas?” He asked and then turned to Miss Parker. “Miss Parker?” He said in a shocked voice.

“Come in Jarod before you attract attention.” She led them towards the living room. Jarod sat down and stared at the couple.

“Thomas can you please get us some coffee.” She looked at Thomas as she said this.

Thomas nodded and went into the kitchen.

“Why Miss Parker? Why pretend that you were dead. Do you know how devastated Sydney, Broots and I were when we heard that you had perished in that fire? Why do that to us?”

“Because I had to, Jarod. I had no choice.” She could see the pain that he was in as she watched his eyes.

“We all have choices, Miss Parker.”

“And I made mine.” She replied.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Flashback.

Miss Parker walked into the tech room ready to begin another day of trying to find Jarod once again. She hated how he always had him on a wild goose chase all the time. She hated this job and wished that she could just get away from here with Thomas.

Sydney and Broots still weren’t there and so she waited for them to make their appearance. Suddenly she heard a noise and turned to it. She saw Angelo sitting by the vent and she went towards him.

“Miss Parker, save him and save yourself.”

“What do you mean Angelo?”

“They are going to kill Thomas. Save him.”

“When is this going to happen?”

“Two weeks. You have time. Get away from the Centre.” Angelo said and then disappeared.

She stood there in silence and then turned when Broots and Sydney came in. She didn’t even yell at them when they were late getting in.

“Are you okay, Miss Parker?” Asked Sydney in a fatherly voice.

“Just peachy.” Replied Miss Parker as she glared at Sydney for asking that question. “Have we found Jarod yet?”

“No, not yet, but I’m working on it.” Replied Broots not even looking up from the computer.”

It was a week later that she had put her plan into motion.

-------

Present time

“Angelo came into the tech room and told me that they were going to kill Thomas.” She looked at Jarod as she was telling him this. “Just before this Thomas had asked me to leave with him and I foolishly told them that I wanted to leave with him. It was my fault that he would have been killed and I wanted to go with him, so I made sure that the house would catch on fire, but made sure that we went out the back just in time. I had parked the getaway car far away and we carried our belongings toward it and drove away. Nobody saw us and they all thought that we had perished in the fire.”

“Why didn’t you ask me to help you? You know I would have helped you if you just asked.”

“I know, I’ve always known that you would have done anything for me, but I wanted to do this myself. I needed to do this myself and not rely on anyone else.”

Thomas was standing in the doorway with a tray in his hands listening into their conversation.

Jarod nodded and then spoke again. “Your mother would be proud of you.”

“Leave my mother out of this.” Miss Parker angrily replied.

“She would be proud. She tried to get you, me and Angelo out of the Centre a long time ago and now you’re out.”

“I would of already been out if I could have caught you.”

“You know they would have never let you go if you caught me and dragged me back there. Plus I won’t ever do Sims for them ever again because of what they did with them. I won’t have any blood on my hands again.”

“You’re right they would have never let me leave.” She sighed hating that he was right. “It wasn’t your fault you know. How they used your Sims. You couldn’t have known.”

“I’m a genius I should have known what they were doing to them.” Jarod said as he looked down.

“You were just a boy when you were taken from your parents and did your first sim. You couldn’t have known.”

“But when I grew up I should have figured it out. Look at all the lives that were destroyed because of me because of what I thought of.”

“Look at the pretends you did after you escaped. You helped a lot of people; people that would have fallen by the wayside if you hadn’t have stepped in to help. You tried to help me even when I didn’t want your help.” She stopped and looked at Jarod. The both of them hadn’t seen Thomas standing there listening.

“What are you doing here anyways?”

“You’re neighbor’s Trevor and Gina’s eight year old son Nathan has gone missing. I decided to do this pretend because I know what It’s like to be a lost little boy like he is. I just wished that someone would have found me and taken me back to my parents. I have to help this little boy go back home to his family. I was only four years old when I was taken from them and I cried the first month I was there wanting my Mom and Dad.”

“You’ll find him. I know you will.”

Thomas decided to make his presence known. “Here’s the coffee.” He put down the tray and looked at Jarod and Miss Parker.

Miss Parker watched Thomas and remembered that when Thomas opened the door he acted like he knew Jarod. “How do you know Jarod?”

“A construction company was making houses with poor material and I helped him with putting him out of business.”

“I see.”

Jarod picked up a cup and started drinking it. “Have you seen the neighbor’s son? Did you see anything?”

“I’ve seen the boy in front of the lawn, but I didn’t know that he was missing.” Replied Thomas. He hesitated for a minute. “I didn’t mean to, but I overheard your conversation. I never knew you knew each other as children and before we left you used to chase after him?”

“I had to. My father is in charge of the Centre and put not only me, but Jarod’s handler Sydney and a tech assistant on the chase for him.”

“I hope you find your parents Jarod.” Thomas said sincerely.

“Thank you.” Jarod replied and then started talking again. “We should get together and take the Centre down. Angelo can help.”

“Angelo can’t help.”

“Why not? He’s been helping me and he wrote to Kyle when he was in jail.”

“I didn’t know that.” Replied Miss Parker. She was shocked that Angelo would help him and Kyle.

“Who’s Angelo and Kyle.” Asked Thomas curiously.

“Angelo was a little boy named Timmy, but Mr. Raines turned him into Angelo. Kyle was my brother.”

“I have to go and talk to other people that may have known the boy and try to find him.” He got up and walked towards the door and opened it. “I’m glad that you two are alive.” He smiled and stepped outside.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Jarod watched as his mother and father interact with Angelo, Sydney, Broots, Debbie, Miss Parker and Thomas. He couldn’t believe that it was over. The Centre had fallen and he was happy to be reunited with his family.

After finding Nathan and reunited him with his parents he made contact with Miss Parker and Thomas again. He also got into contact with Angelo and he had told them that he had lots of files that he had gotten from one of the sublevels. While some of them were Jarod’s files there was also a lot of files that held incriminating evidence of what they did at the Centre and all they had to do was take those files to the right authorities. Of course they didn’t give them Jarod’s files, but they gave them the rest of it.

The government had destroyed the Centre and when that happened Miss Parker and Thomas came out of hiding. They watched along with Jarod, Sydney and Broots the Centre fall into nothing. A week later his father contacted him and told him that they had found his mother. That was a joyful reunion for Jarod and his family. There was no reason for them to settle down and pick up the pieces of their lives that the Centre had destroyed. His mother and father were happy that they had one of their sons back. There wasn’t a day that they wished that Kyle were with their happy little family. In time both his parents learned to forgive Sydney for keeping Jarod locked up. It wasn’t easy at first, but they finally forgave him.

Miss Parker and Thomas had married and Jarod was glad for the happy couple. He was the best man at the wedding and Major Charles had given the bride away. Miss Parker was sad to know that her father was in jail, but she knew that was the place for him. She remembered the lies that he had fed her over the years. The only thing that he had done for her was keep her name out of the Centre business and for that she was grateful. The authorities never knew about her and that was fine for her.

Angelo was staying with Sydney for now and was getting the treatment he desperately needed. He was happy with that arrangement and Jarod had visited him from time to time.

Jarod was truly happy now. He had friends and family and all was right with the world. He kept doing his pretends because he knew he could help and he wanted to keep doing them.

The End