Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters or concepts of the Pretender
I'm just borrowing them for awhile. Laura and Kyle (Jr) are mine though.

Category: Alternate Universe. Crossover

Spoilers: For the Pretender 2001 movie.

Author's Note: When I was watching the Pretender2001 movie, the character of
Eddie really struck me. I'd always wondered if there were more and suddenly
here was one that was a good guy. So then, I wondered, what if his wife was
Jarod's sister. Not Emily obviously, since she escaped life at the Centre.
I know we saw a picture of his wife and son but I'm going to go on the AU
concept here and say they look like they do in my head.


Shattered: "No More Pretenders Jumping On the Bed"
by Mari
-----

Being a Pretender, Laura was possessed of a particularly unusual sense of humor and enjoyed
putting it to good use. Especially when accompanied by her sense of poetic justice.

It was that partnership that led her to stay in the fanciest hotel in Montreal on the Centre's
coin. It was disgustingly easy to arrange. She'd taken her laptop with her on the plane and,
while en route, she'd hacked the Centre's financial accounts. It had taken the Pretender but a
few moments to get that far and even less time to access the personal accounts of Mr. Lyle.

The Centre had put Lyle in charge of the rogue Pretender who'd killed Eddie and Lyle had lost
control of him. In Laura's opinion the bastard owed her beyond anything he could ever repay but
she'd settle for several million dollars as a start.

Eventually, when she trusted her emotional control, a heavier price would be exacted but until
that day she'd decided to hit him in the most vulnerable - not to mention valuable - spot he had.

His wallet.

That was what he would feel the most.

Particularly when the Centre came looking for an explanation as to where all that money had gone.

Laura's only regret was not being there to see his face. The Centre had never held much use for
the concept of mercy not even when it came to their employees.

So, it was a felony well committed

."Mom this is so cool!"

Wondering when her son had added "cool" to his repitoire, Laura emerged from the bathroom into the
spacious suite.

"Kyle?" She looked around the main room but her son was nowhere in sight.

"In here, Mom!"

Walking into the smaller of the suite's two bedrooms, Laura found her son looking out the window
at the city skyline, while jumping up and down on the bed.

Immediately the redhead felt her mood lighten as it always did when she watched her son. He'd
become the focal point of everything good in her life. The reason she got out of bed in the
morning. The only thing that held her rage in check. If she didn't have a child to worry about,
Laura knew there was good chance she would have given into the darkness of hate and rage the
moment Jarod had told her of Eddie's murder. And, in a Pretender, that darkness was immensely
powerful.

Pretenders were potentially dangerous enough when they were well-adjusted and happy....a Pretender
consumed by rage and grief would be terrifying to say the least.

Laughing, Laura moved to stand before her hyper son. It was good to laugh; even better to see
Kyle laughing. He'd adored hs father and understood all too well what had happened to Eddie.
The incredible intelligence that was his heritage saw to that. He knew the medical definition of
death inside and out. He understood the psychological effects of grief. He understood things no
child his age should ever have to deal with, a fact that grieved his mother to no end, but he
could still laugh and have fun. The blessing of childhood. The ability to laugh when there was
little to laugh about.

"This is fun!" Kyle proclaimed with a grin so much like Eddie's it made her heart ache.

"It looks like!" His mother agreed, squashing the grief into a corner of her mind. She'd deal
with it later. "But be careful!"

The young boy rolled his eyes. Which, coupled by the fact he was bouncing up and down on the bed,
made for a pretty funny picture. "I'm not gonna fall, Mom, I checked first."

Kyle's long-suffering tone brought a chuckle from his mother. It sounded so much like the sigh
she would give Eddie when he worried about a Pretend she was planning. There were times when
Kyle behaved so much like his mother it had scared his parents. Laura, like her brothers, was by
far the stronger Pretender. Kyle had inherited his mother's natural ability to plan near flawless
Pretends very quickly with little research. It had been a skill quite valuable to the Centre.
One reason she feared the Centre finding out about her son.

Jarod, Kyle, and Laura were all incredibly strong Pretenders, born from normal parents. The Centre
had meddled there, yes, but even they could not have predicted the results. A child born of two
Pretenders, like her son Kyle, had the potential to surpass both his parents.

From that Laura's fear was born. Jarod had told her what had happened to their brother Kyle, how
Mr. Raines had twisted his mind and stripped away his conscience, she would not allow that to
happen to his namesake. To her son. It was out of the question.

It was simply out of the question.

"C'mon, Mom!" Kyle exclaimed, with a delighted laugh. "You try it too!"

Laura shook her head. "I'm too big to jump on a bed, sweetie!"

"Nobody's too big to jump on a bed, Mom!" her son argued with child-like wisdom, pausing in his
play to watch her reaction. "Please, Mom!" he wheedled. "Its fun, I promise!"

Looking into his earnest face, the elder Pretender considered his arguments then grinned. She
wasn't paying for the room, any damages would go on the Centre's tab, so...

"Move over, Munchkin," Laura ordered with a smile as she kicked off her shoes.

Kyle laughed and moved enough to give his mother room to stand on the bed with him. When she was
situated, he grinned.

"Okay..one...two...three...jump!"

And, laughing with her son, for the first time in her life, Laura Ballinger was jumping on a bed...and
it was fun!

Finis