Piece by Piece

Epilogue

Four years after he abandoned Freider's children to an orphanage, Rachel and Simon Stefani died. Both at the same time, in a car crash.

He knew what that meant, the method was too familiar. The Counters had finally caught wind of their treachery and punished them accordingly, just like they had Sirius Grant. Their means were not even original and it was a lesson he was learning the hard way.

They hadn't seen much of each other during those years. He didn't want to push Snitch Gravel upon them, and Davyn was already gone. They'd accepted his choices, like they always did, and focused on building a life for themselves outside the Counters. A life that backfired spectacularly, proving that it didn't matter how smart and resourceful you were. If you were good, you were dead.

When he found out of their demise, he'd considered stepping out of the shadows to seek their only child, four-year-old Jessica. For one crazy moment, he'd been ready to take the child under his wing. But fate had other plans. He didn't have to do that. She'd been adopted by Simon's brother. So he stepped back into the shadows.

He had plenty to do. 

Snitch Gravel was more feared than ever in the underworld. To the normal men, he had disappeared, presumed dead in the Saint Agnes fire out of all things. He'd fed that rumor as much as he could and the entire case ran cold and was finally closed. 

No one took responsibility for over twenty dead children. The school itself remained closed, a skeleton looming in a prestigious part of town. Some said the ruins were haunted by his ghost. Even if it was discussed several times, no one dared tear it down. It remained unresolved, much like the incident which had led to its downfall.

The deaths of Simon and Rachel stirred something in his new found routine. For a few days, it brought out feelings he had no idea he was capable of. He cursed and threw things around and once again concluded that life was shit and being good was not worth it. There was no other explanation for Rachel and Simon being gone and he and Phillip still being there.

Then, he caught hold of himself and saw the bright side. Their deaths caused a significant decrease in the Counters' activity as their initial team was decimated. He and Phillip continued to avoid detection, so all they had left were Harrison and Alan.

Even if useful within a team, the two of them had never been proficient on their own or the type of men who could pick up mantles. So they settled into comfortable routine, running errands for the Counters. The Jewel Project was once again abandoned. The serum project was most likely in the observation stages as everyone watched and waited to see what would become of Freider's kid.

He watched and waited as well. For something to happen to that kid, for the Counters to interfere in his life. For any sign that those evil bastards would pick up their projects again.

But they didn't. It gave Alan enough confidence to build a family and lead his double life. It seemed to work out well for him, at least until he screwed up during a mission and the resulting injury made it hard for him to work. He was thrown away like a piece of garbage. It only left them with Harrison from the original team, but he was stuck on desk duty, pushing papers down the mysterious chain of command. 

That's when he knew. They had no choice but to find replacements to send off on another potentially deadly mission.

As the years dragged on, it became obvious that they couldn't find people willing to take that risk so easily. It was also impossible to find the brains who could finish what he'd started and find any information leading them to the next giant jewel. They had one, and it was obvious that it frustrated them beyond belief to be so close to another. However, it stayed out of their reach. So they settled down and waited.