Sometimes Kyle wondered why Cassie told him to do the things she did. He'd never been a terribly obedient person. Even as a child he had constantly questioned his parents' reasoning, much to their annoyance. But somehow, after all he'd been through, he trusted almost blindly the word of his "imaginary friend". Well, imaginary or not, he was off yet again to follow her advice. Cassie said take a walk towards the barrier into Promise City, and he stepped out into the steady rain and walked towards the barrier. No arguing, he just did it.
The sky was a uniform grey that diffused the light, making it almost impossible to tell what time it was. It must be almost 4 o'clock by now. He almost went to check his watch before he realized that it was broken. One of the hazards of living with people who have extraordinary abilities is that sometimes someone's control slips and bad things happen. Earlier that day one of the younger inhabitants of Promise City had been trying to learn how to use his power when he had accidentally sent out an electro magnetic pulse. Nothing important had been damaged; just a few cell phones' memory wiped and a lot of watches stopped working.
Rain trickled down his neck and Kyle pulled his soaked hoodie a little closer. He'd lived in Seattle all his life, by now he was so used to rain that he hardly even noticed it anymore. Umbrellas were for pansies.
Ahead of him he could just make out a figure, alone, leaning against a nearby building and staring off into the distance. Is this what Cassie wanted him to see, or was it just a coincidence. As he drew closer to the figure he could tell that it was a woman, dressed all in dark blue and grey, as if she had matched her wardrobe to the weather. There was an audible sniff and Kyle realized she was crying. Quietly, walking backwards, he began to retrace his steps. He shouldn't intrude on this person's pain.
A loud crunch broke the silence and the figure gasped, turning around. Kyle froze, cursing his clumsiness. He should have known better. He should have just left, and Isabelle Tyler would never have known he was there.
Isabelle turned away from him and hastily wiped her tears, obviously not wanting him to see her cry. "Hey Kyle." She said dully "What…what are you doing out here?"
"Oh you know, the usual. Cassie says jump, I say how high." He said trying to lighten the mood. She laughed weakly, another tear slipping silently out of her eye. "Hey," He said softly, as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's alright."
He had never seen her so upset. What could have reduced this pillar of strength to tears? On impulse Kyle reached out and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "What wrong?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing. Everything. I…they…" She turned from him and began pacing back and forth as if trying to build up momentum for what she had to say. "They…" Isabelle began again, her voice choked with tears. "They all hate me Kyle. All of them. They look at me and all they see is someone who killed her own kind. And…and most of them don't even see me as a she, but as an it…" Her sentence trailed off leaving everything not said hanging in the air between them.
Slowly, like she was weighed down by this revelation, she bent down and sat on the edge of the damp sidewalk. She looked up him forlornly, as if expecting him to echo the sentiments that had been plaguing her. "You…" She began hesitantly, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. "You don't think I'm evil because of what happened between me and Shawn, do you"
Sighing, Kyle sat down next to her on the curb. "No. No, I don't think you're evil." He reassured her wrapping, an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his touch, reveling in the contact that she'd been starved for. Since her imprisonment she'd barely been touched and she craved human contact.
"Besides," Kyle said after a few minutes, a smile spreading across his face. "Even if you were, you don't have any powers, so you're that much of a threat."
Isabelle's laugh was tinged by sadness. "You never know." She said, tilting her head to look up at him. "I could always poison you."
"I think I'll chance it." He whispered as he closed the gap between them, brushing her lips with his own. After a minute he pulled back. "You shouldn't listen to what they say about you. Listen to your heart; it'll lead you to who you really are." Isabelle smiled and it was echoed on Kyle's face as he pulled her into his embrace.
The rain had stopped, unnoticed by them, and they sat on the curb for a time, just simply being. "Kyle?" Isabelle asked, after a while. "Shouldn't you go find what Cassie wanted you find?"
He looked down at her, and smiled, inwardly thanking Cassie. "I think I already have."