I just want to make a note to you guys. Just because Kyle isn't sure how he got infected, that doesn't mean there's some secret to it. I just didn't come up with anything right away. If anything, Latnok infected some item of the home he was in with them on the day before the events of 'Almost Home' and he got infected via proximity, like someone passing on a cold to another person. He wasn't injected, or he'd find a mark.

Likewise, Jessi was infected by being in proximity with Kyle. The kiss did her in, though she'd have been infected by the end of the day regardless, since they weren't going to stay away from each other.


4: How's Your Father?

The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt the people I love, the people in my life. However, it's not always something that can be helped.

"Infected?" Jessi questioned Kyle, standing in his room with him, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that Latnok infected me…," he was cut off.

"I get that part," she said, "How? Did they inject you with something?" she questioned, "How do you let yourself get infected by Latnok?"

"I don't know," Kyle said. He had thought on the matter and hadn't come up with anything that would indicate how he was infected in the first place, "All I know is that I'm infected, and you probably are too."

"What do you feel?" she questioned Kyle.

"I started to feel pain in my stomach and some in my head," he told her, "Do you feel anything?"

She was silent a moment, "Pain in my stomach."

"Then it sounds like I'm farther along. By this point I had head pain. It's slower in you, at least."

"Or it's just stomach pain," she said, voicing what Kyle hadn't. But both knew it wasn't. Latnok seemed to want them both dead, so of course this had to be the virus.

"We'll go to Emily and Madacorp," Kyle said, "We'll get you checked, and find out for sure."

"We don't need to find out for sure," Jessi told him, "Best case scenario, I have a few days longer than you to live. What was it? Five months?"

Kyle nodded.

"I guess I'd better get on with my life," she said, walking out of his room.

"Jessi!" he called.

I knew she was angry. She had started to live in my place in this home, in this community. She had been trying to do good, especially after losing her mother. And now I return, make things slowly go back to normal after a year, and tell her she has less than half of a year to live.

I felt terrible, and I knew that she had to be feeling this way. The only thing was, I didn't know what to do about it, or how to make my amends with her.


A month had passed since then, and Kyle was no closer to figuring out what to say or do for Jessi to make her feel better. He felt alienated from her, and it pained him. He was sure it pained her too. After a year gone they weren't speaking anymore, no more than they had to.

Any happiness Kyle's return may have brought Jessi was gone now as she, like him, faced mortality.

The only upsides for Kyle were getting to talk to Josh and Lori every so often, though with their lives, these talks were getting fewer and shorter, but Kyle was relatively ok with that fact.

The only part of him that wasn't ok was the part of him that knew there was going to be no way to cure this. The part that knew death was assured.

But the rest of him tried to overrule that part. The rest of him remained positive that there would be a way to survive.

As Kyle was leaving home and heading down to the sidewalk to go for a jog that morning he heard something.

"Kyle!"

Kyle froze where he stood and turned around after a few moments, looking at the familiar figure standing a dozen yards away from him.

"Cassidy…," Kyle muttered.

Cassidy held his hands up, showing that he had no weaponry. He kept them up as he walked towards Kyle, "Don't worry. I'm not here as your enemy," he told Kyle, shaking his head, "No, I'm here more as a brother."

"We're not brothers," Kyle said.

"Sticking to that?" Cassidy questioned, "Whatever. Look, you need someone right now, so why not me?"

"And what do I need someone for?" Kyle questioned him.

"Just someone in your life," Cassidy said, "You're not doing well with Jessi, right? After she found out about…"

"You know about the virus?" Kyle questioned, resisting the urge to grab Cassidy and make him talk. Cassidy was a figure that Kyle almost had no problems going to anger over, but he didn't want to act on it. He didn't want to regret a decision, a lack of impulse control.

"Of course I do," Cassidy said, "But I had nothing to do with it."

"Then who did?" Kyle questioned him.

"Mum," he replied, "I know enough about Latnok to know this. You and Jessi aren't of any use to them anymore. The virus is meant to kill you both so you stop getting in the way. I think they consider what they have on you to be enough for buyers of the project."

"So the experiment is continuing?" Kyle questioned.

"Of course it is," Cassidy said, "For all Latnok's ever done, I'd wager a bet and say that that experiment is the best thing they've done. It can make them the most money."

"Just what is it that you want?" Kyle questioned, getting sick of having a conversation with a man he couldn't trust.

"I'm here to help," Cassidy told him, "I know you're not going to believe that easily, but it's the truth. I want to help you. You need someone, Kyle, and people need you to live. Not mum, but people. Your family, your friends.

"And I don't want to see my brother die. I want to help you to live. Help you to stop mum. I want to stop Latnok with you."

As I looked at Cassidy, I had no idea if I could trust him or his words. He seemed to be sincere about them, but he could easily have been lying, trying to manipulate me into doing something. I didn't know if I could trust him, but he may have some answers that could help Jessi and I to survive.

"What do you have to offer with?" Kyle questioned.

"First and foremost, a cure," Cassidy told him.

"A cure?" Kyle questioned, "Are you serious?"

He nodded, "I am. Just believe in me."

"I find it hard to," Kyle said.

"I know," Cassidy replied, "And I'm sorry for that difficulty. But right now? Right now I'm trying to help, and I want to help. I want you to believe me, to trust me. I know we can get you a cure."

"How do you know that?" Kyle asked.

"Because the person who made the virus? It was my father. Mum's ex-husband."


"You're serious about trusting them?" Declan questioned Kyle as the two of them along with Jessi stood in the warehouse Foss had used to train Kyle in. Cassidy was standing at one end, arms folded over his chest, waiting for them to finish talking in hushed tones.

"We can't trust that man!" Jessi told them angrily, "He killed Sarah!"

"I know, I find it hard to trust him too," Kyle said, "But he might be able to help us live!"

"He took my mother," Jessi told Kyle angrily.

"He's done so much," Declan pointed out, "He's threatened your family, your loved ones. He's tried to kill you. Are you sure you want to trust him?"

"I'm not sure, no," Kyle said, "But I think we have to try to trust him."

"And why do you think that?" Declan questioned.

"Because I can tell that he's being honest about the possible cure," he said.

"Possible cure," Declan pointed out, "And how do you know he's being honest anyway?"

"I couldn't get any indications of a lie off of him as he spoke to me," Kyle informed them both, "It seems the same for him saying he wants to help. I think he's changed in this last year. I think after the Latnok building, he's changed."

"Are you going to trust him?" Jessi questioned, "Are you going to believe him?"

"I think so," Kyle replied.

"You're going to go with him?" Declan asked.

He nodded.

"Then I'm going too. I'm your guardian after all."

"Thank you," Kyle told his friend. He looked at Jessi, "Are you going to come?"

"If you're going, someone needs to protect you both," she said.

Declan let out a short laugh, "Ok, you know what, I'll let you have that one," he smiled.

"If there's a cure, then I want to live," Jessi said, "That's my reason."

Kyle nodded, "Ok then," he said. He looked at Jessi, but he could tell she had a hard time looking back at him. They still had their problems, but he was hoping to get past those soon.

Kyle left the two of them and walked towards Cassidy, who dropped his arms, "Well?" he called across the warehouse.

"We're all in," Kyle told him.

Cassidy nodded, "Excellent," he said, "You won't regret this."

"We'd better not!" Declan called, showing the firearm he had started to carry once more now that Kyle had helped him with his hand.

"Oh trust me, I'm not here to make enemies," Cassidy said, "I just want to bring my mother down."

"And after?" Jessi called, "Then what? Turn on us?"

"Never," he replied, "I see you as a way of helping me, Kyle. So I'll return the favor by helping you!"

"Is that what all of this is about?" Kyle asked, "Not helping us live, but you getting your leadership?"

"I'd be lying if I said I cared too much about your lives," he said, "I care, just not enough to be doing this without anything in exchange."

"Makes me feel a lot better about this," Jessi muttered.

Cassidy looked to the door, "Come in!" he called, "We're all good!"

Declan reached for his weapon, just in case. The others all looked over, watching as Olivia entered the warehouse as well.

"Of course she's here," Declan muttered. He should have figured. It seemed obvious she'd be where Cassidy was.

"If you can trust me, you can trust Olivia," Cassidy told them.

The woman – older than all of them – nodded to that statement, "Cassidy is the man I work for, and on behalf of. If he wants to work with you, then I will not pose a problem either."

"Or what if he plans on betraying us?" Jessi questioned the other woman, "Then you will too."

"I would," Olivia said, "I follow Cassidy." She looked at Kyle, "You're the reason the two of us haven't made any moves yet. Cassidy deserves to lead Latnok, and you can get rid of Grace Kingsly for the two of us. So no, I won't betray you guys. We need you, Kyle."

"You know, a gun can be just as effective," Declan said.

She looked at him with a small smile, "But a gun is much different from Kyle. One uses a bullet, one uses…philosophy, right and wrong, words. The less bloody it is, the better."

Cassidy nodded, "I don't want my mum killed," he voiced, "That wouldn't be very good."

"So you want us to sway Latnok away from her," Kyle stated.

"Exactly," Cassidy said.

"Look, I get that we need to talk about things, but we want to live," Jessi said, "Can we just go and get this cure?"

Cassidy nodded, "Yeah," he said, "Come with me. It'll take some time to get to my father, but we'll get there within a few hours, and you two should have your cure."

As Cassidy walked out, Kyle and Jessi warily went with him. Olivia waited and fell in with Declan.

"What?" he questioned her.

"If anyone is a threat to Cassidy, I imagine it's you," she told him simply.

"Likewise, for Kyle," he said.

She smiled, "So you'll be watching me?"

"I'll be ready to put a bullet in you," he told her.

She laughed a little, "Oh please, you'll be down before you can get your gun out, boy."

"Boy?" he questioned her.

"You're what? Twenty?"

"Twenty one," he said.

"Seven years," she said, "Boy is good enough for me."

"You know, you're not bad for twenty eight," he said.

"What's that mean?" she questioned him.

"It means I want to get inside your head and make it hard for you to pull a trigger on me," he said.

"What if it works the opposite? What if you make me angry with any flirtation? Or what if you start to actually mean what you say, and can't do it?"

"I don't know," he said.

"You'll already be down," she said.

"So, what are you then, Cassidy's protector?" Declan questioned her.

"He can protect himself."

"So can Kyle. Yet I'm here."

"Then call me that, if you wish," she said, "Cassidy's protector…"


"You see, the problem is that I lost contact with him years ago," Cassidy told the group as they drove. Cassidy was the driver right now, but this news made the trio even more wary of him. If he had lost contact, how did he know where he was driving? Or was he driving aimlessly for now? Regardless, he should have told them sooner.

"How do you expect to get us to him, then?" Declan questioned from the back seat.

Olivia looked over the passenger seat to them, "Just trust in Cassidy," she told him.

"Yeah, I'll trust in him when he shows me reason that I can," Declan said.

Olivia turned back to the front and looked out to the road.

Declan leaned over to Kyle, "What's your take on this?" he whispered.

"I don't like it," Jessi voiced, not bothering to whisper it, and dropping into the conversation.

"You don't have to like it," Cassidy said, "It'll get done, and that's what matters."

"Are you sure it'll get done?" Jessi questioned, "Are you sure we'll get to your father?"

"We will," Cassidy answered, "I may have lost contact with him a while ago, but we do know where he is."

"You could have mentioned that when you said you lost contact," Declan pointed out.

"It was implied," Cassidy said, "I'm driving us somewhere, after all."

"For all we know, you're driving us somewhere you can dispose of us," Declan told him.

"I wouldn't do that," Cassidy said.

"For some reason that makes me feel a whole lot better," Declan muttered.

"I'm the only one who can take you to him," Cassidy said, "Put up with it."

"I'll trust in you," Kyle said, looking at the other two, "Just get us to your father."

"At least someone has the sense to believe in Cassidy, besides me," Olivia said.

"I want to survive," Kyle said, "And I want to believe that Cassidy has changed," he told Olivia.

"I have changed," Cassidy said, "No need to hope or wonder. It's the truth."

"And anything you say is the truth, I take it," Jessi said.

"This is," Cassidy told her.

"Again," Jessi said.

"I know," Cassidy said, "You have no way of knowing if I'm sincere. Except you do."

"Kyle believes in you," Jessi said, "He doesn't believe that you're lying. But even if I'm not picking up lies off of reading your body, your pulse from here, I still don't believe you."

"Perfectly understandable," he said, "I killed your mother, after all…"

The car swerved instantly as Jessi grabbed Cassidy by the sides of his neck, reaching around his seat. Being seated behind him she was able to get at him easily, threatening to kill him, and all of them if she did do it.

"Please…let…go…," Cassidy gasped, "I…I'm sorry…."

"You're sorry?" she shouted, "For bringing up Sarah like that? No!"

"Jessi!" Kyle shouted, "Stop now!"

Jessi held him for a few more moments, then released Cassidy's neck, letting him swerve back into their lane and continue driving.

"I had that coming," Cassidy said, rubbing at his neck, "I'm sorry. Really," he said.

"I don't believe you," Jessi said.

"Believe it or not, I am sorry. And I'm changed. I want to repent for the sins I've committed against you guys."

"You can stop apologizing," Kyle said, "It's only going to go so far. I already believe in you, but I don't think simply apologizing more will affect these two much more."

Declan nodded, "Yeah, you should stop."

"Will do," Cassidy said, looking out at the road again, "We'll be there soon."


In about twenty minutes the car pulled up through a driveway surrounded by trees. The driveway was almost fully hidden from sight.

As Cassidy drove up, they could see a house sitting farther back. Not a big house, rather small looking actually. There was a shed off to the side, and they could see a small lake in the back, with a dock stretching out into it.

Cassidy parked the car and paused for a few moments, "I haven't seen my father in years," he admitted.

"Will he be willing to help?" Kyle asked Cassidy.

"If I ask him, I'm sure," Cassidy said, opening his door and getting out. The others got out and followed Cassidy as he walked towards the house.

"I don't have a good feeling regarding this," Declan said.

"What sort of technological genius lives in a place like this?" Jessi questioned, "Looks like someplace someone would retire to."

"Let's just see what happens," Kyle said, "It might look this way, but I'm sure it's deceiving."

"More like Cassidy's deceiving," Jessi voiced.

As they followed Cassidy and Olivia to the house, Kyle started to look around. There were no houses nearby, no neighbors, nothing. Just this place, just solitude. Maybe Cassidy's father did live here, and maybe he was a technological genius of some sort. Maybe the solitude suited him.

Cassidy walked up to the house, but then looked at the sizable shed. He went towards that instead, finding the large door open and an older man of around fifty five years of age sitting on a stool, computer towers all around, along with monitors and keyboards and other devices.

Cassidy stood in the entrance. Olivia was at his side while Kyle, Declan and Jessi looked in.

"Ok, so this is where it all is," Declan said, "Still, seems strange."

"People like solitude," Olivia whispered back to him.

Nobody said anything. This was for Cassidy to do.

He took a few steps farther inside, towards the man with the graying hair and the rougher clothing, looking as if he either didn't have much, or he was comfortable in well-worn items, even if it didn't seem as though it would suit a Latnok member.

"Dad?" Cassidy asked.

The man kept looking at his screen, typing a little every few moments.

"Dad?" Cassidy asked again, louder.

"I heard you the first time," the man said, not bothering to look. He typed a few more keys and then turned. He had a mildly unshaven face, and looked somewhat disheveled, as if he had spent most of his time here, neglecting himself and his own bodily needs. His work seemed to come first, that was apparent.

"Michael," the man said, "What are you doing here?"

He turned back, "These are Kyle and Jessi. 781227 and 781228," he said, "You made the virus that's currently killing them."

"And what about it?" the man questioned, "I did as I was told. What is it that you want, then?"

"A cure," Cassidy said.

"A cure?" his father questioned, shaking his head, "No. I'm done with your mother and with that entire part of my life. The virus was the last thing I had to do, and then they left me alone. I never have to see your mother again, and I never thought I'd have to see you again either."

"What?" Cassidy hissed.

"We've been apart for years. Did you think just showing up like this would bring all sorts of warm feelings?" he questioned, "No. It doesn't change anything. I'm done with your mother, I'm done with Latnok, and like I have been before, I'm done with you, Michael."

Cassidy clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. Olivia grabbed his shoulder as a small bit of comfort, but he batted her hand off.

"How can you say that?" Cassidy demanded.

"The truth is easy to tell," the man said, "I'm done. Go."

"No!" Cassidy shouted at him, shaking his head, "I'm not done here. We're not done here!"

"You are," he said.

"You made the virus, you have to have a vaccine somewhere!" Cassidy told him, looking at all of the equipment, "We'll find it!"

"I was only ever contracted to make a virus, never a vaccine," he said.

"I'm sure you have one though, right?" Declan called, "Like Cassidy said, we'll find it!"

"You don't know me," the man said, "Richard Cassidy. I'm a man who only does what he's told to. I was only told to make a virus. I only made a virus."

Kyle put his hand out in front of Declan as a way to signal to him not to speak. This was between Cassidy and his father.

"Well then, we'll find the virus you made and reverse engineer it," he told his father. He looked at Olivia, "Start at his computer, you can find it."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll go get on that," she said, dreading the task of searching so much, but it was for Cassidy.

Richard shook his head, "No. First, she's not going to be able to find it. Not since I'm the one who made it and hid it inside of my files. Second, it's not even there anymore. Once it was done, I sent it to Latnok and deleted my copy and notes."

"Then make it again!" Cassidy shouted.

"I have no notes."

"You remember," Cassidy told him, "I know you remember how!"

Richard shook his head, "I'm afraid you came here for nothing," he told his son, "I have nothing for you. There's nothing I can do to help you save those two. They're doomed to die in a few months' time. If you want to try to reverse engineer the virus, go to Latnok, but it's not here."

"You're a terrible father," Cassidy told him, "But you're a man who kept notes, kept information everywhere! You have something!"

"Not since I came here," he answered, "There really is nothing. Maybe if you were a good son, and listened to your father, you'd understand the truth."

Cassidy clenched his fists again, turning his knuckles white once more. He looked like he was on the verge of going at and striking his father, but he kept himself rooted where he stood.

"Are we done?" Richard questioned, "I have things to do."

"You're a terrible father," Cassidy told Richard.

"Tell me something I care about," he said, "There's a reason Grace and I are divorced. I'm a terrible husband, and terrible father. I didn't try. I didn't want to try," he said, "Michael, any care I showed for you was a mistake. I see nothing mattered."

Cassidy glared at him, "If I could, I'd kill you right now," he told his father.

"But you won't. You can't kill your own father, Michael. I know that."

"You don't know what I'm capable of doing," he said.

"I can see that you're capable of caring for those two," he said, "I know about your problems with Latnok. I know about your history with your half-brother. I paid attention to things that were important to Latnok.

"Like Kyle.

"But now, here you are, coming to me to demand his life. You were ready to kill him at times. You hated him, you tried to kill his family, his loved ones. Yet you're helping him. Why? What could possibly drive you to help the man you hate? A man who hates you? Why do you want him to live?"

"Because he's the way to stop mum," Cassidy told his father, not finding anything better than that.

"You still care?" Richard questioned, "Latnok is a waste. Why do you want to rule it so badly?"

"Because it's my birthright!" Cassidy shouted, directing at Kyle, "Not his! Not like what mum wanted!"

"But now she wants him dead," Richard said, "So now what? She clearly doesn't want him to lead Latnok anymore. He can't if he's dead. And you're hardly someone who can lead it, even if you had the chance. You're not of the caliber to lead an organization like Latnok."

"I can make myself one," Cassidy said.

"You can't," Richard said, "Now you should leave. I won't tell Latnok anything, because I frankly don't care anymore. But the next time you come back onto my property and demand anything of me, I'll make you regret it. There's nobody around here for miles, after all."

"You're threatening me?" Cassidy questioned.

"Yes."

Cassidy glared at him, "Olivia," he said.

"Yes?"

"We're leaving," he told her, walking out of the shed with her. The others followed along behind him.

"That could have gone better," Declan said.

"No, it couldn't have," Cassidy told him.

"What are we going to do now?" Jessi questioned, "Your lead gave us nothing."

"We'll find a way," Cassidy told her, "At Latnok, perhaps."

"And you propose on getting into Latnok how?" she questioned.

He had no answer.

As they got into the car, Cassidy was about to get into the driver's seat, but Kyle stopped him from opening his door.

"What?" Cassidy questioned.

[Start "Crash and Burn"]

"I'm sorry about your father," Kyle said.

"What about him?" Cassidy questioned.

"That you have problems with him," he said.

Cassidy shook his head, "It doesn't matter. It never really mattered…"

As I looked at Cassidy, I realized there was something I had to say. No matter how sudden, how strange it might be, I had to give some truth to him. He wanted us to trust him, and I wanted to trust him now. This seemed like the way to proceed.

"People shouldn't only see what there is, or what there has been," Kyle told Cassidy, prompting some confusion on the other man's face, "They should also look to the future, at what could be. I'm starting to look at you that way," he told Cassidy.

"And what is it that you see?" Cassidy questioned.

"I see a man who can be a friend. An ally. And someday maybe a brother," Kyle admitted.

"I'm shocked you would say that," Cassidy confided.

"It's how I feel," Kyle told him.

"We're brothers," Cassidy said after a moment's pause, "Even if we are enemies, or were enemies. But our mother has committed sins, and we have to stop her. I don't want her stopped just so I can take over. I want her stopped so that these sins don't continue. I don't want the experiment to continue anymore.

"I have my faults, Kyle. But the sins of my parents are greater than my sins. I've affected lives, the lives of people you love. But my mother is going to affect lives that have yet to begin. My father is affecting your lives by killing you, and doing other things for Latnok that cross a line. But he's gone, though mum isn't. She cares about money, not morality.

"I was doing everything I did for mum. For her love. But she's turned against me, and tried to kill me, as she's trying to kill you, and Jessi, and even Olivia. Everything has changed at this point.

"Kyle. No matter what, I will do what I can to stop mum. For the sins, for the lives of the babies, and also because I will admit it. I still want to lead. Or at least, I want to change Latnok into something better.

"But Kyle. Please, know this. I'm not our mother, I'm not my father. I'm not who I was. I am with you."

As I heard Cassidy tell me how he felt, and about what was going on with his life, and with his changes, I couldn't help but feel proud of him. Proud of the changes he has been able to make, proud of the role he was choosing to take.

And when I thought about my words, I knew they were true as well. I knew that someday, I could call Cassidy my brother.

"I believe you," Kyle told Cassidy, putting a hand on his shoulder, "And I trust you to help us stop Latnok, and stop Grace Kingsly."

"Trust me, I will stop mum. Together, we will stop her."

"And together, we'll stop the experiment," Kyle said.

Cassidy nodded, "That's a given. But it will all be stopped, and then Latnok can truly change."

Kyle nodded, "Yes, yes it can."

[End "Crash and Burn"]