I have finally started writing again. Winter Break; great time to work. Anyway, expect frequent updates. I honestly hope to have this entirely finished by January 15th, since I resume school on the 16th (college, Criminal Law). Anyway, continued from my Season 4. A bit of a shorter first chapter, but it works. I changed how music is done. Go to Youtube (if the site censors that, like in html, the video site. You know the place) and search for my username, "AvonRen". I'm uploading the music of Season 4 and Season 5 as the chapters go up. Season 4 is obviously already up. And with the large music library I have for these last two seasons, most likely most chapters will have two insert songs. One in the middle area, one at the end. This chapter does.

Anyway, enjoy.

1: Never Again

There are some things in life that are a genuine shock. Things can be foretold, however, reducing said shock. The weather on the news can usually foretell what will come the next day, and talk of rain, of snow, of warmth. The surprise is gone to those who would watch.

However, surprise, shock, cannot all be taken away that easily. There are still things in life that happen a way for no particular reason, with no way to foresee it. These things are sometimes good. A lover can return from a trip early. A parent and child reunited after being overseas to war. Or, they can be bad. A sudden death. A car accident, for instance, or a murder.

This situation was both good and bad in its own unique way. It is something I was never able to see coming. With Cassidy's hatred towards me, this was one option I never saw as I blacked out.

Surviving.

Kyle felt his wrists chained together, chained into the ceiling. His arms ached from having to keep them up, but he slowed his breathing, closed his eyes, tried to focus and ease the pain away. If he could do that, he'd be fine. When the pain subsided he looked around his cell. It was just a janitorial closet or something of the sort in the warehouse he had confronted Cassidy in. He was almost certain of that.

The room was small, shelved, but the shelves were empty. He walked his legs over towards one of them, putting his foot up on it, just barely able to get it on the shelf around waist height, due to his strained position. He swung himself up, putting his weight onto that leg as he attempted to get his other leg on, but the shelf broke, sending him tumbling down to be caught by the chains, pained by that, but he kept silent.

I woke in a place I knew. The warehouse where I know that Cassidy intended to kill me. So why was I alive? Why hadn't he killed me yet? He had a clear vendetta against me, so who or what managed to stop him? It was a strong rage, a strong anger, after all. Or was he leaving me alive so that he could first make me regret everything, by going after those I love, like he claimed he would do?

I didn't know what was happening, but I knew it could be nothing good.

"It's been a few hours," Josh stated.

"No need to point out the obvious," Lori said, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Kyle's computer screen. "God, I wish he had at least let someone know where he went…"

"We could always just ask Jessi. She's like a Kyle detector," he said, sitting in Kyle's tub out of boredom.

"We might have to. But…"

"I know how you feel," he said, "I can't believe she and mom did that!"

"Yeah…but what would we have one if Kyle died?" Lori asked, looking to Josh, "That's the thing. They were looking out for his best interest. We'd have done the same thing…"

"Yeah…I hate it when you're right," he muttered.

"But we can't apologize," she said.

"Oh, no," he said, "Not after all that crap. At least not yet."

"Right," she agreed.

There was an awkward moment of silence between them, before Lori started again.

"Well…maybe we should at least tell Jessi that something's wrong…"

"Yeah. We won't apologize, but she should go look for Kyle, so…"

"Status quo maintained, mission accomplished, job done," Lori finished.

"Exactly," Josh said, getting out of the tub, "But…"

"But what?"

"She'll probably see through it, right?"

"Yeah…," Lori agreed, sighing, "Damn it…"

"Maybe we should just look out for Kyle. This is what they did, anyway. They did something bad to help him. It's not as bad, what we're doing, but…"

"You make a good point," Lori said, "Let's go see Jessi."

As Kyle hung there, trying to figure out what to do, the door opened and two men stepped inside. They said nothing to him, so Kyle said nothing back, analyzing the situation for a moment.

He saw that one of them had a needle in his breast pocket on his suit.

"Don't struggle," the man said, pulling out the needle, "We just need you quiet for some time."

"If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead," the other man put in, "Now, just stay still and take the needle and go to sleep."

I had two options here. I could incapacitate them and be stuck, or I could be injected. They had point. Why kill me this way? But, what if this wasn't just to knock me out? What if this was something else? But Cassidy already had the information from my head, so if that was a possible target, it made no sense. What else was there?

He pulled out the needle, reaching up for Kyle's arm.

Or, I could take the third path.

As it was pushed into his skin, the man pushed the plunger. Kyle focused. As soon as it entered his body, he pushed it back out, into the syringe. As much as could go in went back into the needle, the rest dripping between his flesh and the needle, dropping down.

The other man punched Kyle hard in the gut, letting him swing around with his minimal footing, "Stupid mistake," he said, "We'll just get more…"

The two men left, but Kyle knew they would be back soon. And when they returned, he went under.

"If I do this, I have to keep it secret from Stephen and Nicole, right?" Jessi questioned Lori and Josh, not bothering to ask why they had come to her after what happened earlier. It was obvious that she was the only one who could help.

"I thought it went without saying," Josh said.

Lori shot him a look for his rude way of putting it, even if they were still mad. But she nodded, "Right. Bad if they knew."

"I'll do my best to find him," she said, "It'll work easier if he's calling out to me in some way. If he's just going through normal thoughts or something, this might be harder, but…I'll find him. And you have no idea where he went?"

"Other than that he went after Cassidy, nothing," Lori told her, "Actually, we don't know how he knew where to go."

"Possibly a call, or text," Jessi said.

"Could you hack his phone?" Lori asked, "Or pull the information to his computer or something?"

"I can," she said, "If I need to, I'll hack the carrier's database," she stated as simple fact, heading to Kyle's room with them.

"Well…that's easier than what we did with Kyle," Josh stated. Lori had no choice but to nod in agreement, "Though, I did enjoy you lying to that woman."

"Oh, yeah, kind of fun," she agreed, leaving it at that as Jessi sat down, getting to work. Her fingers flew across the keyboard at speeds that the other two could barely comprehend.

"Ok, this will only take a few minutes," she told them, "But I can only recover whatever's on his phone. Remember that. If it's something not saved, or deleted, we've got nothing."

As the minutes passed in an awkward silence as Jessi worked, the first sounds were sounds of success.

"Got it," she said, bringing up the items on Kyle's phone. She searched through texts, but nothing. No saved calls of any sort. Nothing of use.

"Well, if it was a call, then he didn't save it," she said.

"I'm just going to say it," Josh said, "If I sent someone an important text, and captured them, I'd delete it, knowing that he has super smart allies."

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but that's right…," Lori agreed.

"I'm afraid that's a very good possibility," Jessi said, "But…"

"Oh! What are you doing, you crafty hacker?" Josh questioned with excitement.

"I'm going to dig a bit more," she said, "If it was a text, and was deleted, I can probably recover it. If it was a call, nothing, but…a text. We have a chance that that's what it was, so let's try."

"Let's hope it works," Lori said.

"If it doesn't, we'll do this the hard way," Jessi said, "And there's no certainty that the hard way will find him."

"It's been two days!" Nicole told them, "No. No more! We're calling the police at this point!"

"Jessi can do it!" Lori told her mother, "And what do you think the police will do? Do you think they'll believe anything about Latnok? About Kyle being abducted? So…do we lie to the police, then? At this point, I don't think he counts as a runaway, even. We're going to have to rely on Jessi, even if it has been two days of no leads…"

"I'm with Lori," Stephen told his wife, "We have to trust Jessi on this. She and Kyle have a connection. She'll find him. The police can't do anything…the only person we could rely on other than Jessi would be Tom Foss."

"None of us know how to contact him," Lori put in, "And before you ask, we tried. Kyle's phone's contacts. I even called Declan. We had the number, but nothing. He won't pick up, or he's not using that number or phone anymore."

Josh walked into the kitchen where they stood around, "Yeah…nothing yet…," he said hesitantly.

Stephen shook his head, "She'll find him…"

"She's our only hope…," Nicole finally had to admit, "I hate this…I hate having only this single lifeline to Kyle…but…we know that she can do it. She betrayed Kyle to save his life. She'll do anything to save him. She will find him. The waiting…that's what kills. Not the uncertainty. The waiting."

Stephen smiled a bittersweet smile, "It reminds me of being in the hospital. Multiple times. Ultrasounds, births…"

"But this time…the situation may be bleak, if good in the fact that he comes back to us," Nicole said, "But…"

"It'll work out," Stephen said, not being an optimist, but fully believing in Kyle's own abilities, and Jessi's ability to find Kyle and to bring him home safely.

"Yeah…it will," she finally agreed.

Jessi came in, looking to each one of them, and their unspoken words. It was obvious what they all wanted to ask her. She finally just nodded, "Yes…I found him. I found Kyle."

When Kyle finally awoke for the first time since being injected, he had been moved. He was no longer restrained physically, but was in a small room that looked more like a cell than last time. He rose, looking around, going to the door and looking out the clear window. He hit his fist against it, feeling it.

He couldn't escape. It was too strong for that. He looked around. He had a bed in the corner against the wall, and that was really it.

As I looked around my cell, I wondered if I was still at the warehouse, or if I was somewhere else. Based on the look and feel of the room, I had to imagine it was built possibly to contain myself or Jessi. I didn't like that. I didn't like anything about this place in the least.

He could hear voices. He stayed standing in the center of the room as he saw men in suits come around, unlocking the door and opening it, sliding it outward, "Come on," one of them said, "You've been summoned."

"Summoned?" Kyle questioned him, "I'm not being forced?"

"You're coming, but a summons is much better than being dragged along," the other man said.

"Fine," Kyle said, walking over, but both pulled the electric weapons that had a strong effect on Kyle out. Kyle took a step back, keeping his distance. One walked out, then the other went the other way. Kyle was directed to walk between them.

He had no plans on trying to escape. That would e a foolish move, taking these two on. He would be taken down before he could do much, and if he did come up with any sort of plan to try to escape as they went, it probably wouldn't work well enough to get him all the way out of the facility, or wherever he was.

As they walked, Kyle noticed that the halls were mostly sterile and devoid of anything. Especially windows. That made it harder to place his location.

As they walked down a set of stairs, he figured out a plan, but scrapped it. He knew that a wrong move would end in failure, after all. And even neutralizing these two wouldn't do anything for him in the long run.

He let himself get led to a large set of double doors. The man in front opened them, while the one behind Kyle told him to enter. Kyle walked in, seeing the circular table he had seen before, the night he rescued Amanda from Latnok after the prom. But this room was much larger. It was obviously a different location.

There were various men sitting in a few of the seats. Most seemed to be empty for some reason. He looked to the left, to a raised dias of some sort. It could serve no actual purpose, but was perhaps where the leader of Latnok would go to make a speech, or something. That made enough sense.

As Kyle scanned the people in the room, he heard their heartbeats. There was something off. He knew that. But what was it?

He was brought to a stop. He looked to the dias on impulse, seeing a woman step onto it. Grace Kingsly, he knew it.

But as the woman stepped towards the front of it, into the light, he realized it wasn't her. It was a younger woman, thirty at the most. An attractive young woman who carried a sensation of danger around her. Kyle knew that by looking at her, this is why the other members of Latnok were so offset.

"This is him…?" the woman questioned in a silky voice, filled with venom.

"This is XY," reported one of the men near the table, "Kyle Trager."

The woman smiled slightly, "Excellent. This is the first we meet, XY. Or should I call you Kyle? Speak."

"I'm a man, not an experiment," he told her.

"Kyle then," she said, walking off of the dias and walking over to him, her heels making a sound resonate through the room with each step, sharp.

Kyle's mind raced. He needed information. Where was Grace Kingsly? Why was this woman in charge? Or at least, why was she acting in charge? Where were the other members of Latnok? He knew he was asleep for at least a day, if not two. He needed information, and fast, so he could figure this out.

"Where's Grace Kingsly?" he asked in the silence.

She stopped and smiled a little. Not a good smile.

"You think you can ask questions?" she demanded of him, "You're a prisoner here. You're going to be asked questions. You're not doing the asking. First question Kyle. Where is Cassidy?"

Her question carried copious amounts of anger, of rage, of emotion that he couldn't quite identify. It also confused him, catching him off guard.

"What do you mean?" he looked around. Cassidy wasn't there.

"After he captured you, he vanished," she stated, "Where is he? Tell me!" she shouted, grabbing him by the collar and looking straight into his eyes. He saw anger, unbridled. He was actually a little afraid of it.

Anger can lead easily to violence. This woman, whoever she is, seems to be at her breaking point for anger. If violence ensues, I would have to react, and that wouldn't bode well for me. Not in this place. I have to stop the anger.

"After he was about to kill me, I blacked out. I honestly don't know what's happened to him. I got shocked, then I saw him pull out a knife, then I woke up a prisoner. That's the truth," he said soothingly, trying to make it work.

"I don't believe you," she hissed.

"Nate was there," he said, "Do you know Nate?" Sure, it was a longshot, but it could work out.

"He was removed after Cassidy wasn't able to be found," she told him, "He is no longer serving any purpose within Latok. He's lucky I didn't have him killed."

"So…you are leading Latnok?" he asked, deciding to try to use her small opening to gain some answers.

"Yes." Simple answer, but it closed the door to more by no elaborating.

"If you can tell me what happened here, I will try to find Cassidy," he told her, just trying to gather anything he could, "Because if I knew the situation, I'd know where to start, because I don't know where he is."

Covering an information gather with some truth. He figured it would work, and for a few moments, she had bought it. But then she looked at him, right in the eyes, and he knew she was too smart for that. But then she smiled.

"Very well," she said. But her words contained more. She knew, but she was giving it to him anyway. That was both good for Kyle, and it proved her danger in a fashion.

"You were captured two days ago. The last known whereabouts of Cassidy were with you, when his mother arrived. She stopped him from killing you, and disapproved of his actions. He went missing after that. Where is he?"

"Like you said, I was unconscious. I don't know," Kyle told her.

"You can find him. You're his brother, after all," she told him, "So find him!"

"It doesn't work that way," he told her, "I don't know if I can find him."

"You had better," she told him.

"Tell me. What happened here?" he asked, fishing for more information.

She gladly obliged, smiling, as if they were playing a game. It felt to Kyle like they were. And she was winning.

"I've always been around. But I arrived here yesterday, after being unable to reach Cassidy. We talk daily, you see."

Something flashed to his mind. The long phone calls that Cassidy had every day.

"I came here, and interrupted a meeting. I confronted Grace…and enough members sided with me for leadership of Latnok that she was overthrown. Well, not that she was technically in charge anyway. She and her supporters left. What's left are those who chose me! And I will first find Cassidy, then I will fulfill Latnok's purpose in this world. I will get you. I will get XX. I will use both of you, and we will make this a better world!"

"You have me," he said.

"I will have you as a willing worker," she stated, "You and XX. That is what I mean, Kyle. I will have you two working for Latnok, to advance our agenda. To advance the world!"

"It won't happen," he told her.

She smiled, "Olivia Archer," she said, giving him her name finally. Then she backhanded him across the face. Hard. "It will happen."

Kyle staggered, but didn't go down. He staggered on purpose, wondering what the two men who brought him would do. They didn't bother to move after him. So that would be advantageous at some point, he figured. But they had their weapons, so probably not.

"Put him in the cell. Torture him later," she said.

The two men grabbed Kyle and started to pull him away. He went with them. If anything, now was his time to escape, but he was wary. He had to really plan out his move if he was going to get himself out of this.

Jessi arrived outside of the building, but stopped. She saw someone walking towards her. The man looked around. He looked like security. It looked like an office building to her, so she figured there'd only be two security guards on average, but this was a Latnok facility. But they would have one possibly around the outside, to keep up a possible appearance.

As he walked towards her hiding spot, he made a point to put his hands up a little bit. When he reached her, he looked at her. It was Tom Foss.

"I've got this under control," he told Jessi, lowering his arms, "Please."

"I have to get in there and help Kyle," she told Foss.

"Trust me. I need to be the one to do this," he said, "If you get captured…"

"What? That's always a danger," she said.

"There's been a leadership change," he told her, "If she catches you, you'll regret it. Let me risk it."

"I'm going in," she asserted.

He grabbed her shoulder to halt her. Before she could threaten him, he told her, "I need to do this. I'll put my life on the line for Kyle. I may die. If you die, then who will look after Kyle? Declan, but he's not to your caliber."

"That's right," she said, sighing, "Fine. Go. If you get yourself killed, I'm telling you I should have gone at your funeral."

"Fine," he said, "I will bring him back."

"Good," she said, watching him head back to the building. She kept hidden, working on her own plans, just in case this went bad.

[Play "Blink" right here]

Kyle saw someone approaching his cell. He listened, then he smiled a little. He rushed to the door as Foss opened it.

"We're getting out of here," Foss told him. He was noticeably unarmed, but the electric weapon was small.

"Can you get us out?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know I can," he replied, "Just have to stop the cameras."

"Got it," Kyle said.

"Good boy," he said, hurrying on ahead. As they both took the corner they saw another guard. He shouted and lifted his weapon as Kyle and Foss bolted down the hall, away. An electric bolt arced down the hall for one of them. Kyle focused, closing his eyes. He shorted out the lights above, causing them to spark, overloading them and having them come crashing down. As the lighting fixtures fell from the damage he inflicted from the bulbs, the arc was stopped by hitting it.

As they took the corner quickly, another guard was already moving towards them. He lifted the weapon. Foss was closer. He grabbed the man's arm, directed it down, and used his free arm to punch him in the face, flipping him with a swift kick to take out his legs, using his momentum to take him down. Now armed, he hurried after Kyle, who was still going as Foss shouted for him to run.

Kyle reached the stairwell and looked back, shouting to Foss. Foss turned and fired, striking a man. The arcs of electricity raced up and down his body as he fell. As he was halfway the stairs a door opened, smashing into Foss. He staggered back and punched the man, but he didn't go down. The man grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall to daze him, but Foss pushed back and kicked him. As he lifted the weapon, the other man produced a handgun. As the arc raced forward a gunshot went off, tearing through Foss's side.

"Foss!" Kyle screamed, running over. Another man came out, but Kyle managed to vault him, landing behind him and hurrying to Foss. The man lifted his electric weapon, but Kyle focused, frying it. He grabbed Foss, "Are you ok? Foss?"

"I'm fine…," he muttered, "Just get out of here, Kyle…Jessi is waiting outside…"

"I'm not going without you!" he shouted.

As the man rushed for them, Kyle rose and ducked, sidestepping, and reached out, grabbing his shoulder. He used momentum, thinking his way through this, and pushed the man, still using all of his momentum from running, headfirst into the wall. He crouched down, "You're coming out too."

"I think y time is over, Kyle…"

"No," Kyle said, "As my protector, yes. We're getting out of here, and you're quitting. You've trained Declan; let him do it. You trained him for a reason. You deserve your own life, Foss. This proves it even more, for everything you do for me."

"Fine," Foss said, getting up with Kyle's help. They went to the stairwell as someone fired a gun at them. They were already descending, so the bullet missed them. Kyle focused, slamming the door at the right moment, stopping their pursuer.

[End "Blink"]

Jessi was there to meet them. Hurrying Foss and Kyle with her, they were a block away from the building and found a taxi waiting that Jessi had brought.

"I couldn't get a car," she told them, explaining it. She turned to the driver, "No, he doesn't need a hospital. We'll get him to one ourselves."

"Right," Foss said, "You might want to stay away from here. I'm security at the Alset building. Cops will be here soon to clean it up. You'd probably want to stay away."

The man nodded, "Are you sure you don't need a hospital?"

"I'm fine," Foss said, "I was special forces. I've been shot. I need to see someone first…"

"Ok," he said, taking them to a block away from the Trager house. Jessi paid and helped Foss with Kyle to get to the house, where Declan was waiting for him.

"Yeah, I'll get you to the warehouse," he told Foss, "You sure you can handle it yourself?"

"I'm sure," he told Declan, holding his side, "Oh…I'm retiring," he told the other man, "The job is entirely yours now."

"Thanks for the trust," Declan said, "Kyle…we'll talk later," he said, "I need an update."

"I'll do my best," Foss told him as Declan got in and put the truck in reverse, heading out of the driveway and leaving.

[Start "Disaster Hearts"]

"Kyle…"

"I know, Jessi…I'm sorry for earlier. For both you and Nicole. I realize you did what you had to…and I've had time to think. I'm very sorry."

"Kyle!"

They looked to see the Tragers coming. Kyle embraced them in turn, before stepping back, "Nicole…I'm so sorry. I forgive both of you…because you two love me. That's why you did it. I can't hate you two. You're my family. You did what you had to…and I would have done the same. Forgive me, for the other day."

"Of course," Nicole said, almost crying as she hugged him again, "Of course, Kyle. It's…it's ok. I'm so glad you're back! We're all so glad that you're safe…"

Kyle hugged her back, then pulled back. He watched as Josh and Lori both went to Nicole, apologizing in their own ways, and then to Jessi. Stephen smiled at that, nodding his approval at the forgiveness. He had come to terms with it already, and realized it was the right thing.

"I'll tell you guys what you need to know," Kyle told them, "Things have gotten…complicated. Probably more dangerous with Latnok as well. I'll be sure to update all of you soon. To keep all of you safe, with knowledge. From now on, I'll tell all of you everything. I'm not holding anything back."

He thought of Olivia. She would torture him for information. If they had information, they could give it up without being tortured. Because even if she could be certain they knew nothing, she might still torture them, just to do it. Just to get at Kyle.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Stephen asked him.

"Trust me…when I explain it, you'll see that it's the best way," he told his father.

"Ok. We'll trust you, Kyle," Stephen said.

Kyle turned to say something to Jessi, when he saw a car going by, pulling in next door. He saw Amanda in the passenger seat. His heart started to beat a lot faster at seeing her once again, finally being able to see her, finally about to set things straight. He had forgotten what he was going to say to Jessi at that moment, but she seemed to realize that.

"Go on," she told him, "I'll be jealous…but go. Make things right…"

"Thank you, Jessi," he said, walking over towards Amanda's house. He needed to explain everything. When her mom left them alone – if she would – he would tell her, and try to mend things. Maybe this was the day they would reunite. Maybe now they could be a real couple again, without the secrets that had ruined them the last time.

No matter how she might feel about learning the truth, it would keep her safe.

The cloned babies are still out there. Grace Kingsly is rogue with other Latnok members. Cassidy is missing. Olivia blames me and is going to pursue me, by the sound of it. But I can keep my loved ones safe now. And I can restore my heart, I hope.

As Amanda opened her door, she saw him, giving him a small smile. He returned it, but then saw the other door opening, and saw a figure step out.

He heard the front door opening, "Amanda! Welcome home!"

It was her mother…

He looked to the driver of the car. It was a man. A young man, handsome enough in appearance and clean cut. When Kyle reached the driveway, Amanda smiled to him, "Kyle, come to greet me as I get home?" She clearly noticed his somewhat ragged appearance, but didn't say anything. She directed him to the man, "Um…Kyle, this is Simon. He's…he's my boyfriend…we met in New York."

Simon smiled to him, "You must be Kyle. Nice to meet you. I just hope I can live up to your reputation, for Amanda."

And Kyle's heart slowed its beating, almost to match the melancholy he was feeling at this moment.

And there was silence as the three stood there, before Kyle finally swallowed hard and nodded, adding a forced, "Nice to meet you too…"

[End "Disaster Hearts"]