Stepping off the plane, Kyle quickly gathered his luggage and rented a maroon Camary LE. After three near accidents, five birdies flipped at him, six little old ladies screaming curses, and one man trying to fight him for a parking space, an exhausted Kyle trudged through a Holiday Inn's doors.(1) But though he had arrived at his sancuary, his troubles were not quite over.

A teenaged girl sat at the front desk. She glanced at him boredly before turning back to her Seventeen magazine. She could have been that familiar trainee's sister in acne and blonde hair, but while he was timid, she couldn't care less what her boss would do to her. Popping her bright pink bubble gum, she adjusted her plaid skirt, white t-shirt and neon green mesh tank top, then kicked her combat-clad feet onto the counter, paying no more attention to the reporter. Kyle cleared his throat.

"Excuse me?" Another glance, that was all. "I've already booked a room here, I only need the key." Silence met this statement and Kyle lost his paitence. He continually rang the bell until she shot him an annoyed glare and snatched the bell away, causing Kyle's hand to to smack the counter. Rubbing the red palm, Kyle repeated his earlier a card on the counter, the girl turned back to her "bible". The reporter turned away disgustedly as he grabbed his key and headed for the elevator. With any luck, he would have a better tomorrow.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

This was not a good day. Kyle couldn't find any police officers who were willing to give up any facts-officers who, when faced with reporters from Iowa, found no problem with handling over "confidential" information. At the rate these interviews were going, the ginger never get a take on the murder, let alone another chance at a new assignment. Frustratedly, the redhead dragged his fingers through his hair, tearing at it as he went and ground his teeth together. Why couldn't he get a break since daylight savings began? A new voice among the crowd of officers and journalists caught Kyle's attention.

"No, we do not a comment at this time."

"Well your colleges just told me that this was the missing boy from a couple of weeks ago. Care to elaborate on that?"

"No comment."

The reporter tried a different approach. "Surely you want to find whoever did this." Gesturing toward the pile of flesh, bones, and blood, both were oblivious to Kyle's prying eyes and ears. Perhaps he could still get the story and learn how to get information out of the law enforcers. "If you give us some more facts to air, someone could call in as a witness." Frustration made the speaker, some blonde chick with big breasts, speak with a sarcastic tone and the ginger fought the urge to smirk. She honestly didn't know how to get information. He frowned as he realized he resided in a glass house.

"No comment." The cop's words were firm now, no room for questions.

"So you really don't want to help the little boy?" Blondie asked rudely.

As the reply increased in volume, Kyle decided to investigate the familiarityof the voice. "Look, I can assure you that the case is on-going and we will find the culprit of this crime." The man Blondie was talking to was tall and brunette. Kyle would've gone on, but as he was behind the pair, he couldn't see much else. "You need to leave me alone now so I can do my job."

Her cheeks flushed angrily as she realized she wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "But-"

"Respect mah authoritah ma'am!" Kyle froze as the woman walked away, memories flooding back as he stared at the man before him. But no, it couldn't be....He turned and Kyle immediately recognized him. "Cartman?" The addressed glanced over and his eyes widened as for a fraction of a second before returning to a glare. "what do you want, Broflovski?" His icy tone had Kyle taken aback, but he quickly recovered. After all, no matter what Kyle said to Stan-and himself-Cartman was a friend of his and he hadn't talked to him for years. "What are you doing here?" He didn't pay attention to the fact that Cartman was obviously involved in the case. He wanted the larger man to say it for some reason.

Cartman rolled his eyes before answering. "That's none of your business, is it rat?" He replied coldly. "Now if you don't mind, I have to be somwhere." He edged past Kyle and began to disappear into the surrounding crowd. The Colorado-born reporter blinked a few times before turning to call, "See you later then!" Cartman may have murmured something like, "I hope not," but Kyle decided to think positively. He and the "Fatass" had never been the best of friends, but it would be great to catch up with him. Especially after the incident nineteen years ago. Kyle needed to apologize for that still. He only had to wait until the neo-nazi wasn't so busy.

***

Broflovski? Here? He had been lucky Eric had gotten out of there without punching him in the nose. Damn JESUS-KILLER! He hated him!

Eric took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. An old hag next to him complained and he casually dismissed her, much to her indignation, with a simple wave of his hand.(2) Pleased with the reaction he received, he smirked while sauntering away.

Well Broflovski obviously wanted to be friends, right? Eric would make him regret ever shouting that offer as the larger had stormed off. He just needed to wait and Broflovski wouldn't know what hit him.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

The next morning Kyle was out on the town, deciding that at the moment, he wasn't concerned with getting a valuable take on the story. He found a Panera's and walked inside, ordering the Chicken and Wild Rice soup with a sourdough roll, an apple and some lemonade.(3) As he sat down to eat, the door burst open and Cartman's figure instantly filled the frame. His eyes searched wildly until they fell onto Kyle's features and he charged toward the Jew's table.

The Jewish man only had time to grab his two sides before Cartman took him by the arm and led him outside. Kyle met the gazes of the diners and workers and immediately knew they shared on thought: Was this the tiff of a spurned lover and his true love? Kyle blushed and was glad of the privacy the outdoors seemed to bring.

"Okay, you really want to be my friend then?"

"Of course! I mean, I know we had our differences in the past, but I'm hoping we can set them aside to become true friends now." Kyle smiled, but Cartman did not.

"Are you fucking insane?" The brunette hissed. "Even if we could try being true friends with our differences and hardly any fights, do you honestly think I've forgotten what happened nineteen years ago? Have you?"

"No, course not!" Kyle shouted defensively. He was aware that everyone inside the restaurant had gathered at the now propped open door, trying to figure out why these two "lovers" were bringing up ancient history, but at the moment, he did not care. "In fact, I want to-"

"No!" Cartman screamed. "Don't fucking apologize! Not after all these years! If you truly want to make it work, you'll have to prove your friendship. After all, there's absolutely no way I know if you're being truthful or not."

Kyle decided that when Cartman said "prove", it was time to make the conversation private again. "Okay Cartman, whatever you say. Can we go over the details of what I have to do over at your place?" Amid the gasps at the scandalous suggestion, Kyle heard the larger of the two say, "Fine." Smiling once more, Kyle was again disappointed when it was not returned. Writing his address on a piece of paper, Cartman handed to the Jew and proceeded to his car where he drove off without so much as a wave goodbye. Kyle took a bite of his apple and sighed, pocketing the slip and believing that somehow, this would not turn out like he hoped at all.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: The third chapter! *pats self on the back* I did it! Anyway, explanations:

(1) This really is pretty close to driving in Cedar Rapids. The people are so agressive there....Ah, but I miss it.

(2) God I LOVE Cartman. He's badass.

(3) This is always my order at Panera's, so I don't really know what else they have. Sorry.

Since I'm too lazy right now to come up with a preview, I guess that pretty much wraps up this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

~theflawintheplan