Survival

#32 End of the Beginning

I would like to sincerely thank all of you, my readers, who enjoyed this story with me. Thank you for all your comments and kudos; believe me, they pushed me forward in writing, and I always looked forward to seeing the reactions to a new chapter. Yes, some readers left throughout the story, while new ones arrived. I know that for some, there was too much or too little drama/sweet scenes/whatever one prefers, but you can never please everyone. Some didn't like that Lila was pregnant again, while others loved it.

Personally, with this story, I mostly wanted to lift my spirits after the mixed feelings I had about the series finale and to write the ending I would have liked for the characters. And here it is. Exactly two months after the premiere of the fourth season, I want to share the conclusion of this story with you. Once again, thank you for your support, and I hope we'll meet again in another story.

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"Did you see that?" Lila asked in shock as she and Five watched Destiny through the baby monitor with a camera. In the first months, they monitored her to see if any abilities would manifest, but nothing suspicious happened for a long time. They slowly began to doubt that she truly had any abilities. But they couldn't be more wrong when they saw her on the camera how she move a toy from the shelf to her crib with a blink.

"Yeah..." Both were a bit shocked, as if it weren't a normal part of their lives, but it was still surprising to see their little daughter using her abilities. In the end, she even used them on the camera, which suddenly turned toward the wall. "She's really amazing!" Five exclaimed joyfully.

"Don't celebrate too soon, I think she's going to give us quite a challenge!" Lila remarked as she went to check on Destiny. As soon as Destiny saw Lila, she began to smile excitedly from her crib. Their daughter was half a year old at that time.

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They noticed more and more every day that Des was indeed different. She was definitely ahead of other children her age. And they never got bored with her, in good times and bad, but Destiny had a strong bond with them from the beginning. Besides her parents, she was closest to Sloane, Grace, and Klaus. And later James was also close to her, Sloane and Luther's son.

Her relationships with other family members depended a lot on her current mood, and more than once someone said that she was sometimes like a little moody adult—a little Five, just like her parents called her before she was born. In appearance, she resembled Lila a lot, but her eyes were like her dad's. Her temperament was a mix of both, which meant to most people around that Destiny could sometimes be a bit of a brat, but at the same time, she could be the sweetest child ever when she wanted to.

When she was a year and a half, Lila started occasionally going to the CIA, where Five arranged an internship that she needed to pass the official detective exams. Destiny spent most of her time with Five, who absolutely adored her. Their office was slowly getting established, and since it was right across from their apartment, Five often took her along. When it came to jobs, he focused only on what could be done from the office. He ended his work at the CIA after their daughter was born, but he still had some useful contacts there. In fact, he treated his work more like a hobby in his unofficial retirement.

Later, they both could officially work as private detectives, but since it was their own business, they could afford to work whenever it suited them and take on jobs according to their family commitments. Lila was more than satisfied with this work-life balance. She rarely got bored, but she did what she wanted and when she wanted, at least within reason.

Five and Lila also didn't forget their promise, and when possible, they stole time just for themselves. Many times, they disappeared for a few days, and no one knew where they were.