Homeward Bound
By Sentinelgyrl (sentinelgyrl@yahoo.com)

Rating: PG-13
Summary:
Spoilers: Through Pretender 2001

Disclaimer: I do not own The Pretender or its characters. No copyright infringement intended by writing this story...

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Sisters of St. Catherine's Church

It had been weeks since the explosion in the DC subway and Major Charles really feared that Jarod was dead along with his half brother, Ethan. It'd been weeks since it had happened and they'd yet to hear anything for Jarod, telling Charles that he was either dead or had somehow been taken back to the Centre. But he voiced none of his fears just now as he watched his daughter Emily interact with Jarod's girlfriend, Zoey.

Emily was finally beginning to regain her strength as her body had several somewhat since she was brought to the convent. She was healed enough now that she was able to take frequent but short walks throughout the convent. He was thankful that she was on the mend.

He had watched Zoey closely since he'd rescued her and brought her here. He had insisted that she stay here with them, as he knew that the Centre would try to use her against Jarod. At first Joey had agreed with his reasoning but now she was growing restless, antsy and he feared she'd fly the coop at any given moment.

The good news was though Emily seemed to like her and they seemed to get along well, talking for hours about everything and anything. They exchanged childhood stories and Charles was relieved to hear that Emily had had more of a normal childhood than he would have thought possible. Somehow, his long lost wife Margaret had made sure her daughter wouldn't lose what her two older brothers had.

"Dad? Earth to Dad?" Emily waved her hand in front of his face and he blinked, looking at her.

He looked around the room and he saw that Zoey was gone. "Where'd she go?"

"Out for a walk. Dad, we need to talk," Emily said, making herself as comfortable as she could beside him.

"All right. About what?" he asked.

"First of all, about Jarod," she replied, watching him carefully, "You haven't said anything but you're afraid he's dead, aren't you?"

Major Charles sighed, tears in his eyes. "I've been scared to say the words aloud. I've prayed to God that I am wrong but the longer we don't hear anything from him, the more I'm afraid that he's dead."

Emily took her father's hand. "He's alive, Dad. I feel it. I know it. What's more is that in the three years I spent looking for Jarod, what I learned about him is that he is a survivor. He won't give up easily in anything and if anyone could have survived that explosion in the subway, he could have. Now I don't know why he hasn't returned to us yet but I am sure it's because something he had to deal with something that our safety or that of the other people he loves. Just have faith he'll be back soon." Charles squeezed her hand before releasing it to stand up and pace. Emily watched him for a moment before she spoke again.

"Dad, I didn't want to say this in front of Zoey," she paused. "But I have a way to contact Mom."

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Major Charles stared at his daughter. "W-what?"

"I said I have a way to contact Mom. I know where she is-- or at least I do for now," Emily replied. "You see when I left her to search for Jarod, we established a way for me to be able to find her. There is one problem though."

"What?"

"The rules we decided on for this is that if I don't contact her every four weeks, she's to leave the place she's living at and she's never to return there," Emily paused, "Now the last time I contacted her was just before the Centre tried to kill me."

"That only leaves us about a little under two weeks for us to contact your mother," her father concluded.

"Yes, exactly. So I NEED to go if we're to-"

"Emily, no. You're in no condition to travel. Tell me where she's staying and I'll go find her and bring her back here," Major Charles argued.

"Dad, I've got to be the one to go to Mom. If anyone but me contacts her, she'll leave," Emily said. She watched her father pace some more.

"I don't like this. You're still regaining your strength, honey."

"Dad, we can't lose contact with Mom. I'll be okay but I need to go," Emily said.

Charles stopped his pacing, turning to face her. "All right but at least let someone go with you."

"Someone? Like who, Dad? You need to stay here for when Jarod comes back so we don't lose contact with him," Emily replied.

Major Charles thought for a moment. "You're right and God only knows I don't want to lose contact with your brother again. We've all lost too much time as it is." He paused. "Why don't you let Zoey go with you?"

"Go with who where?" Both turned startled to see her standing at the doorway, her hands on her hips as she waited for them to answer. "Well?"

Emily looked at her father, unable to say what she had been about to say. Major Charles recovered first, turning to face Zoey. "Emily has a way to contact Margaret, her mother, my wife but she'll have to travel to do it. Now I don't want her to travel alone so I was hoping that-"

"That I'd go with her? Of course I'll go with her, major!" Zoey replied.

"It'll be dangerous, as the Centre is no doubt looking for you both."

"Major, if there's a chance that we can reunite your family together, not to mention the thought of Jarod finally getting the chance to meet his mother, I'm willing to take the risk. So please not another word about how dangerous it might be!"

Charles smiled. "It's settled then. I suggest that you both leave in the morning after you've both had a chance to-"

Emily hardly heard a word of what her father said. She was too busy being anxious over the news that Zoey would be travelling with her to meet her mother. She had a funny feeling about the entire situation and she really hoped that she was wrong. . .

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"You found your Mom yet?"

"No."

"Oh, they're never going to let that happen."

"Why not?"

"And they thought you were the smart one!"

Jarod sat up on the cot where he'd been sleeping, breathless. Ever since his encounter with Alex he'd had a recurring dream about the other things the other Pretender had told him. While they really weren't nightmares, the dreams about Alex were scaring him to the very core, but especially what he had said about his mother and Miss Parker.

"Jarod?" Ethan's voice called out from across the room. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just had another bad dream that's all. Did I wake you?" Jarod asked.

"No, not really. I haven't felt like sleeping much. The voices are too loud," Ethan replied. He was seated at the table across the room, and he had the laptop open, working on something. Jarod got out of bed, pulling on his shirt as he crossed the room to see what Ethan was doing. On the screen Jarod saw the picture of his mother with Catherine Parker. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. I wish I did. The only thing I can think of is to ask one of them about it," Jarod said.

Ethan glanced up at him. "She's been quiet about this. Instead, her voice is telling me that something is going to happen, something VERY bad."

"What?"

"I can't make out what she's trying to tell me, Jarod. I'm sorry," Ethan replied.

Jarod laid his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "It's okay. Are you about ready to go?" Jarod turned and walked across the room to get his jacket.

"Don't you want to sleep?" Ethan asked, even as he shut down the computer.

Jarod shook his head no. "I've slept enough. Besides, I want to get back to Dad and Emily and it's about time for you to meet your father." Ethan nodded and closed the laptop, pulling on his own jacket as he stood up. Jarod grabbed the DSA reader and together the two brothers left the room.

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Sisters of St. Catherine's Church

Emily had hoped to be able to talk to her father in private at some point before she left with Zoey but the opportunity never came. The sisters of the convent made sure than they had a few days' worth of necessities and they loaned them the convent's car as well to make the journey. Major Charles held on tightly to his daughter for several moments, whispering quietly in her ear, telling her how much he loved her. If worst came to worst, and they never saw each other again both wanted to part with the other knowing how much they loved each other.

Charles clasped Zoey's hand before she could get in the car. "Thank you for doing this, for our family, for Jarod. You are a brave young woman and I can see why Jarod loves you."

Zoey nodded. "I love your son and if there's a chance for him to finally meet his mother, then it's the least I can do is go with his sister to see to it that he'll get that chance."

With that, Zoey got in on the driver's side of the car and started the ignition. After a few waves, Major Charles looked on as they pulled out of the convent's driveway and out into the open world. "Oh God, please watch over them," he breathed. A moment later a hand touched his shoulder and he turned to see one of the sisters standing there.

"I've come to ask you if you'd like to join us for morning prayers, major. We can pray for the safety of your daughters as well as for the return of your son together," she suggested.

Charles looked at the road again and nodded. "All right, sister. Sounds like a good idea to me." And together they walked inside to where the sisters were already gathering for prayers.

TBC
(Maybe if I get some feedback)