Ok, this is the start of Season 6, the final season. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I really am. But I'm a Criminal Justice student, and as such my summer was filled and I wasn't able to do this, so I worked on my other works instead because I knew this took the most effort to do, after I feel like I failed in some regards in the previous two seasons, such as not using the Tragers enough (as you'll see, things changed).

But because of school and because of work, I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment. I'll do my very best to get a chapter every week or so out, but it might not be until January that I get the bulk of the season out to you guys, and I'm sorry about that.

Again, I have the music for each episode on my YT account. "AvonRen" is my username, once again.

I hope that you will enjoy this. This first chapter is a lot different than usual, but it's really only for this chapter that this format is going to be used. Later chapters (unless otherwise noted) will have a better balance, but this chapter and chapter 2 will have an offset balance for plot purposes, really.

Well, here it is. The final season of Kyle XY.

1: The Categories of Life

Declan stood in a black suit and looked at the Latnok building where he, Jessi and Kyle had gone to try to stop Latnok. The day was somber, dark. It suited Declan's mood, it suited everything. Every memory.

The pain he had gone through that day hit him on multiple levels. He remembered the beatings he had taken from security. He remembered that they left him for dead, and so he crawled to Jessi, grabbing her bleeding body and holding tight, trying to awaken her, trying to get any sort of response. But she gave him nothing.

He feared her dead.

It seemed as though he had lost both Kyle and Jessi that day. He had held her body tight, and began to pray. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was God, but Jessi slowly came to, and her wound slowly began to heal. Apparently she knew of Adam Baylin doing a similar trick, and of course she was stronger than Baylin, so she healed more quickly.

But still, it had put a great fear into him. She had been dead, as far as he could tell.

Now he stood there again, fingering the rosary in his pocket. This was what he had taken up. Prayer. Faith.

He shook his head, "Kyle…," he said softly, his grip subconsciously tightening on the rosary when he realized it, as he realized it every time.

Kyle still wasn't here.

"Hey mom," Lori said, looking out her apartment window at the streets of New York, "Yeah, I'm doing fine," she said.

"That's good," Nicole answered on the other end of the phone, "So, New York and music are going well for you?"

"They are," she said, looking at her guitar in the corner, "Yeah, I've been able to impress some people recently. It's going really well."

The guitar was covered in dust.

"Yeah, no, this was the right choice," she told her mother. A knock came at her door, so she quickly said, "Well, I have to go. Sorry."

"No, it's ok," Nicole answered, "We can talk tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," Lori said, "Ok, bye."

"Bye," Nicole said as Lori hang up.

Lori walked to her door and opened it, "Hey," she said, smiling to the friend who was at her door.

The other girl came inside, "So, you ready to go out?" she asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Just let me get my purse."

The girl nodded and sat down on Lori's couch, "So, you think you'll find a guy tonight to go home with?"

"I don't know Alex," she told her friend, "I'm looking."

"Look harder," she told Lori, "I've watched you. You apparently suck at flirting."

"Oh, do I?" Lori questioned, "I'll prove you wrong."

"You've said that before," Alex told her, getting up when Lori came back out, "And yet I've never seen you go home with a guy."

"Has it ever occurred to you that we didn't leave together, but I might have called him later? Or he called me?" Lori questioned.

"Well, a guy sure as hell wouldn't do that," Alex said, "I don't think they'd be patient enough to get into the pants of a girl they pick up at a bar."

Lori sighed, not really having a comeback for that, "Ok, fine. What do you want me to say?"

"The truth?" Alex suggested.

"Ok, fine," Lori said, "Just don't laugh."

"No promises," Alex answered.

"Well…there was a guy back in Seattle, and I just can't get him off my mind," Lori told Alex.

"Mark?" Alex asked.

Lori didn't even take a moment to think, "No," she said, "Not Mark."

"Oh, there was another guy in your life that was like that, then?" Alex asked, "And here I thought this Mark guy was the one who haunted you."

"No. The one who haunts me is someone completely different," Lori said.

"Yeah!" Josh called out, raising his glass and then draining it with two friends as they drained theirs. "I love this bar!" he called out.

"You'd think being this close to a college campus, the police would step up their enforcement or something," one of his friends said.

"Whoa, whoa, are you seriously telling me you think this glorious non-ID checking establishment should be more harshly regulated?" Josh questioned.

"No, I'm just saying…," his friend said.

"Yeah, just messing with you," Josh said.

The other friend spoke up, "You know, Drew has a point. If police do show up, we're all kind of screwed."

"Oh come on, that's not going to happen," Josh said, looking back at the bar, "I'm going to get another."

Drew and the other man nodded, letting him go. He set his mug on the bar and ordered another drink, sitting there for a moment while it got filled back up. He pulled his money out and set it on the bar, taking the mug and heading back over when somebody grabbed him from behind.

"ID," the person said in a deep voice, "I know you're not old enough."

"What?" Josh questioned, turning, "I…damn it Andy!"

Andy smiled, "Oh come on, that was funny."

"I almost pissed myself," he told her, heading back towards his friends.

"Oh, is that so?" she asked, grabbing the mug from his hands and drinking from it, "Well, better fix that problem before we get together. Or we do it in your bed. I don't want piss in mine."

"You know that won't happen," he said.

"You just said it might, and you were scared," she said, "I'm sure I can scare you."

"How?" he questioned.

"Three simple words. Or just one."

He turned to her, "You think 'I love you' is going to make me piss myself?" he questioned her.

"Maybe," she said, "Or 'pregnant'. Your pick."

He shook his head, "I know your tricks."

"Oh, do you now?" she questioned him, walking past him and going to the others.

He followed her, smiling a little. He had gotten very lucky to be with her again, but a part of him couldn't help but think that this wouldn't last for very long. He didn't know why he thought that. He didn't want to think that, nor did he want that to become a reality. But it was on his mind.

Stephen went to the door when there was a knock. He found Declan standing there, "Hi Mr. Trager," Declan said.

"Hi Declan," Stephen answered, "You looking for Jessi?"

He took a moment, "I was actually wondering if you had heard from Lori recently," he said, knowing there was no sense in asking the obvious.

"Nicole was talking to her yesterday," he answered, "I think she was going to call again later today, if you had a message you wanted for Lori to get."

"No," he said, "I was just wondering if she had mentioned me at all. Or wanted to talk to me," he said.

"I don't think so," Stephen said, "I could ask Nicole."

"No, that's fine," he said, keeping his right hand in his pocket, holding his rosary, which he always carried. Not just on that day, but always.

He nodded, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

Declan looked at the house next door, then looked back to Stephen, "Yeah. Do you know if Amanda is around at all?"

"She's not," he said, "Or not that I've seen. I don't know where she is, but I can guess she's not in college here."

Declan nodded, "Thanks," he said, letting his grip on the rosary slacken. He wanted to talk to her. She was the one who knew more about faith and religion, after all.

He looked at Stephen again, "I'll be going then," he said.

Stephen just nodded to him and closed the door. Declan stood there for a few moments and then turned and walked down the steps and towards the road. He never liked going back and talking to either of them, but especially not Stephen.

To him, it felt like Stephen was cold. It felt like Stephen blamed him.

He had every right to, as far as he was concerned. Tom Foss had left Declan in charge of protecting Kyle, and…

And on top of that, Jessi had been shot. Even if she had healed herself, she had still been shot, and had taken time to recover with the Tragers. He blamed himself. He wished he had done more, and done his job better.

He also wished he could find Tom Foss.

He drew his hand from his pocket, taking out his keys. He sat in his car, lifting his keys up to the ignition. His hand trembled the entire time, and it took him a few tries to get the keys into the ignition. He drew his right hand up, looking at it in front of his face.

It was trembling. It did this a lot now. Ever since Latnok. Ever since he had been beaten nearly to death. He hadn't seen any doctors, fearing the worst. Jessi hadn't been able to help him either, and he kept it as secretive as possible.

He needed Foss. He needed that man to take up his position again. Assuming that Kyle…

Declan shook his head. He was no good as a guardian, as a protector. Not anymore. He had tried shooting. He had tried exercises and training. His body wasn't up for it.

Not since he had failed Kyle.

"Who was that?" Nicole asked when Stephen came into the kitchen.

"Declan," he said.

"I imagine you didn't take that too well," she said.

"Why would you say that?" he asked her.

She looked to him, "Well, every time Declan's come around, I've never seen you act friendly towards him," she said, "Not since Kyle vanished."

"I have too acted friendly towards him," he told her.

"You blame him," Nicole said, "And if you have, then I clearly wasn't around."

"Look, ok, maybe I do blame him. Foss was Kyle's protector, and then Declan took that place, and now Kyle's gone," he told Nicole.

"And he still comes around here," Nicole said, "He feels guilty."

"Well he should," Stephen said.

"You heard what Jessi had to say about that day," Nicole said.

"I did."

"So do you blame her too?" Nicole asked.

"No, because she's not his 'protector'," Stephen said.

"She's still helped him, and been there," Nicole said, "If you blame Declan, you should blame her too."

He had no real argument for this, so he just left the room, rather than argue.

Nicole looked out the window, "Kyle…"

"I'm surprised you wanted to do this," Josh had to admit while in bed with Andy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned, "Do you think I find you repulsive, or something?"

"Well, no. I mean, we haven't exactly had the most stable relationship," he told her, "Does sex really guarantee anything good?"

"You're not one to complain about sex," she said, "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"No! God no!" he told her, "I was just thinking…well, over-thinking, I guess. It's nothing."

"It had better be nothing," she said.

"It's nothing," he assured her.

"Good," she said.

But both of them knew that there was something. Both knew that this wasn't exactly the most stable relationship.

"I need to go to class," Josh told her.

"I'm not stopping you."

"You are," he said, "I can't leave with you here. I mean, that'll be stuck in my head, and it'll be too hard to leave. I'll just want to come back."

"So you need me to leave so that you can leave?" she asked him.

"Yeah, kind of," he said.

She sighed, "Fine then," she said, "But don't say I never do anything for you."

"You did plenty," he said.

"Is that all I'm good for to you?" she questioned him.

"No!" he told her, "Of course not!"

"Good, just checking," she said.

He looked up at the ceiling, just staring at it, thinking about life back home.

Thinking about Kyle.

As Lori was getting herself a cup of coffee after the previous night, she heard the door opening. Alex came inside, "Oh good," she said, "I'll take one."

"Yeah, sure," Lori said, getting another glass down.

"So, did you end up going home with that guy?" she asked Lori.

"I did," Lori said, "Are you happy now that you know a little more about my sex life?" she questioned Alex.

"I am," she said, "So, are you going to see him again?"

"No," she said.

"You don't strike me as the one night stand type," Alex said.

"I'm not."

"Was it bad, then?" she asked.

Lori stopped pouring, surprised by the question, "No," she said, resuming pouring.

"Then what is it?" Alex asked.

She finished and pushed the glass to Alex, "His name."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"His name is Kyle," she said.

"So? I don't get it," she said.

"Kyle. My step-brother is named Kyle."

"So, it's weird for you?" Alex asked.

"I guess I never told you," Lori said.

"Told me what?" she asked.

Lori took a drink of her coffee, "Never mind," she said, not willing to tell it.

Jessi was standing in the hospital, watching as a woman gave birth. "Keep pushing," Jessi told her, alongside the nurse who was helping, "I see the head."

The woman was crying out as she pushed harder. The baby continued to come into the nurse's awaiting arms. Jessi was doing as she was told, helping the woman. She had given an epidural, for one. She was good at medicine, considering she had sped read whatever she had needed to and taken all of the information in immediately.

The people part was the hard one. She had been helping for around a year, trying to fill in for Kyle. Kyle had always tried to do the best for people, to help people. She was trying to take his place in that regard now that he was gone. She had thought this might be a good idea.

But her heart just wasn't in it. It had been at the start, but not anymore. Things had changed. This chance to become a better person wasn't paying off for her. She was able to help, yes, but she felt terrible on the inside.

She knew she was only doing this for Kyle, since he was gone. She wasn't doing this because she wanted to, but because of Kyle's absence. It wasn't a penance for her sins, for one.

She still felt her sins and their weight. She couldn't feel good while having that weight pushing down on her.

"It's a boy!" the new mother was told.

Jessi watched as she was given her child. She looked so happy about it. She had just been in pain, discomfort, but now it was pure joy at being able to hold her new son in her arms.

Jessi wished she could take pleasure in this, but she just couldn't.

Later, on lunch break, Jessi went home.

"Amanda called?" Jessi asked Nicole.

Nicole nodded, "She was asking about Kyle," she said, "I couldn't tell her anything."

Jessi nodded, "I imagine it must be very hard on her."

"It's hard on all of us," Nicole said.

Jessi nodded, "Of course it is." That went without saying to her.

"I talked to Lori earlier," Nicole said, "She asked about Declan."

Jessi remembered Latnok. She remembered Declan crawling towards her and grabbing her, giving her some strength in his arms. It was partially thanks to him that she was even alive right now.

She still felt something where she had been shot. A small mark. Only partially visible, partially different to the touch. But it was still there. It hadn't healed perfectly.

"What about him?" Jessi asked.

"If he's still here," Nicole said, "I don't think he can move on with his life."

"I haven't," Jessi commented.

"You're trying," Nicole said. "He just comes every so often. I don't think he's doing anything."

"Can you blame him?" she asked.

"No," Nicole said.

Jessi looked at the clock, "I need to go."

"Ok," Nicole said, "We'll see you when you get off, then."

Jessi nodded, "Yeah," she said, heading out. She still lived with the Tragers. She was the only one living there now with Stephen and Nicole with the kids at college, and Kyle missing. It was lonely, depressing.

"Kyle…," she whispered.

Three hundred and sixty seven days. It has been just over one year since this all began, and from the first day until now, it has felt like an eternity.

Kyle sat alone in a living room of a house. He sat on a comfortable chair, looking out the windows to the back yard. There were trees and woods farther back, but the day was darker, overcast. It was going to rain soon, probably storm. The woods looked depressing, ominous almost with this lighting, with this atmosphere.

I was offered a chance at godhood. I refused it, and now I am a prisoner of Latnok. But the security has finally become minimal. I can leave if I want, but I don't know if that's the right choice. Not at the moment.

Kyle stood up and looked at the corner of the wall, at the ceiling. There was a camera there, watching him as he moved. Latnok was still watching.

At the start there had been a small group of Latnok members living there, acting as security, making sure he stayed put. That had been another house, however. They had taken him away from Seattle and moved him around the country.

He was taken from town to town, shown the lives of people. Terrible lives, good lives. He saw life for what it really was. People needed help, and he had tried to help them, but Latnok had always stopped him.

He wasn't allowed to intervene.

"This is life," Grace had told him over a video message, "Look at it. Look at what happens in the world. There are those who live good lives, like you and the Tragers. And there are those who live bad lives. Those who are in need of help. The poor. The ill. Some of them won't survive until tomorrow. And will those who are well off help them? No. Will anybody help them? Some will try, but it's not going to be enough.

"People will die, because there are too few people trying to help."

"Then have your men leave and let me do something," Kyle told her.

"And do you think making a difference in this single town will do much? You'll help those you can find. And what of those you can't? Those you find too late? You'll be worthless to corpses."

"I can try!" he told her.

"No," she said, "Move to another town. Show him life."

And so they had been moved again. Constantly being moved, that was Kyle's life now. But security had lessened with time. He had no doubt he could get past most of them from the start, but he never knew how much force they would use, and how many they were.

Now he knew they were one, and that one barely paid him any attention. He knew that the cameras weren't going to do anything. They were watching from Seattle, he was sure.

"I'm going out," he told the Latnok guard.

"Fine," he answered.

"I'm going to make a difference."

The man didn't answer, nor seem to hear the statement. And if he did hear it, he thought nothing of it, even though he had been one of the men to previously torment Kyle on his inability to help everybody.

Not without the godhood that Latnok offered.

"If you had taken our offer, you could help them all," Grace had said.

"I don't believe that," Kyle said, "Your Latnok isn't the type of group that would let me just help people."

"Oh, aren't we?"

"There's a price, I'm sure of that," Kyle told her.

"Well, there would be a price on it," Grace said.

"And there's a problem right there," Kyle said, "Can't you see just how bad your Latnok is?"

"It's not," she said, "To you, maybe. But not to us."

Kyle walked through the town, looking around. He saw a man with a tattered blanket, trying to get warm. Kyle walked over to him, "Sir?"

The man paid him no attention. People didn't pay him any attention, so why should he pay any to people? Even if they might be trying to help him.

"Do you need help with anything?" Kyle asked, "Another blanket? A fire?"

The man said nothing.

Kyle crouched by him, "Sir?"

"Leave me alone," the man told him, glaring at Kyle, "What did you do that you're trying to make up for? I don't care what it is. Just go."

"I'm not trying to make up for anything," Kyle said, "I'm trying to help you."

"Nobody just helps people anymore," the man said, pulling it up tighter against him, still shivering.

"Please sir," Kyle said.

"No!" the man told him.

Kyle came to his full height and walked on. He couldn't help this man if he didn't want the help.

Maybe Grace was right. Maybe not everyone can be helped. But that goes against my goals, what I need to do with my life. That man needs someone. Everybody needs someone. People need each other, they can't do everything alone.

I need to be the one to be there to help them. But if I can't help this single man, how can I help others?

Kyle went back to the house that was his home. He walked inside and looked at the Latnok man there, "I'm not going to stay here anymore."

The man looked up from his paper, "Fine," he said, "I'm not stopping you from leaving. We've had our orders. You can go whenever you please."

Kyle nodded, "I'll leave, then."

"Good luck," he said half-heartedly, going back to his paper.

Kyle spent time packing, and then went out into town again. He walked the dreary streets, looking at the people. There weren't as many as usual, not with this rain coming. But he still saw people in need of help. He saw a man begging, so he stopped and dropped off as much money as he could.

"You should get somewhere dry," he told the man.

"Thank you," the man said, "You're very generous and kind. Not many people would care if I get soaked."

"I care," Kyle told him.

The man picked up his tin cup and moved along, going off to find somewhere to get out of the rain.

At least that man took his help.

[Start "Hold on Hope"]

Kyle walked along some more before heading back home. Or the home Latnok had given him in this town. It was almost time to go, and at least he had made a difference in one life.

In this life, there are multiple paths that can be taken. There's the easier life, and the harsher life. We can't decide which life we have. We can be born into one, and that's primarily how things are decided. We can choose how we live our lives, but not much else.

We can expect our lives to go one way, and find them going another way completely. I saw my life going towards helping people, and now here I am. I've helped some people, but the world is open to me now. I see what I can and cannot do. I see what Latnok has done while I've been taken around. I see what they're willing to do.

And I see the difference I can make, with and without them.

I expected something much different, but I will make a difference in this life. There are too many people out there hurting for me not to.

Especially my family.

For them, my life will be the way I've always thought it would go. I'll be there for people, for everyone I possibly can. After all, the greatest category of people are those who are there for others.

"No, still no word about Kyle," Nicole told Lori, "Sorry."

"I didn't think so," Lori said, "Just…just to let you know, I'm still praying for him."

"I know he'd appreciate that," Nicole said, "He's in our prayers as well."

And soon, Josh was calling.

"It's been about a year," he said, "Anything at home? Any signs? Signals? Anything?"

"Nothing," Stephen told his son on the phone, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I," Josh said, "I'm not there anymore, but…I just miss him so much."

"We all do," Stephen said, "But we're holding onto hope."

"Hope," Josh said.

"Hope," Stephen answered, "We just have to be a little more patient."

"Patience can only go so far with me," Josh said.

"I know, but some more," Stephen said.

Those words were repeated by Nicole to Lori, "Patience. Patience and hope. We have to keep those."
"Yeah, we do," Lori said, "But it's been a year."

"And so we'll wait another," Nicole said, "No matter what, we'll keep waiting, and hoping, and praying. Until Kyle comes back to us."

Kyle looked out at the town from the rooftop of the city hall, being the tallest building he could find.

"Goodbye," he told it, "Someday, I'll be back. And I'll help all of you."

[End "Hold on Hope"]