The sixtieth second ticked by, and the sixty-first, and on and on. Despite holding on to Amanda, Kyle couldn't contain a growl very low in his throat.

Amanda squeezed him harder then said, "The deadline's past?" He smoothed her hair, and couldn't contain two tears that escaped his eyes. Whether she noticed, she didn't say. They sat there, in the middle of the encroaching sea of fog, of blasted fuzzies. He so wanted to swear but it just wasn't in him, mainly because it wouldn't accomplish anything.

It would be another three minutes and seventeen seconds before Amanda released her grip on him, even though he continued to cling to her. He put his face into her neck, ashamed of his powerlessness. He didn't know where in his memory this was, so he did not dare leave for even a millisecond because he didn't know if he could return.

There was no way he was leaving without her, none whatsoever. This was the girl who wanted to marry him, who, despite being normally conceived and having average intellect, was not at all daunted by his superior brain, or his abilities, or even the danger of simply being with him. She'd already seen him levitate over water and conduct electricity and she likely suspected he could hear better than a dog. Speaking of which, she'd once seen the normally rangy mutt across the street barking wildly at him – when he barely understood anything at all actually – and then suddenly behave very tamely. Okay, he admitted reluctantly that the dog was far from mangy but it was normally ill tempered.

It was not that he could speak to animals, but that he could control the pheromones that normally set them off as well as those who identified him as a friend or more specifically their master.

She dispersed his wandering thoughts with a soft whisper into his ear. When he withdrew, she frowned, ruefully he believed. He saw nothing but poise and strength in her gaze; she had not given up. She said, putting her hands on his cheeks for a change, "Kyle, that's why we're going to bring the fight to them. There's lots of things we can do, like standing up, and if we disappear somewhere, we both keep doing it until we find each other again."

Fresh tears threatened his frail composure. "Amanda, I can't lose you."

"For as long as you live, I'll always be in you." Her words shattered his restraint on his tears, and yet gave him strength of will at the same time. She continued after a mirthless chuckle, "You'll always find me in your heart, not just your head." She paused, squeezing his hands as they both spotted some fuzzies threatening to spill over into the tub. "I'm going to stand now, are you coming?"

He made every effort to touch the fuzzies at the exact same moment as she did, in an effort to keep from getting separated. They were very surprised when they stood in the tub, unaffected by them.

"This is fog?" muttered Amanda, completely bewildered. He was just as dumbfounded. More had just started to spill into the tub and began to swirl around their feet and obscure the bottom of the tub ever so slightly. "These aren't fuzzies," she said as she scowled into the mist. She took his hand in a firm grip and stepped out of the tub into the thigh high fog and hit floor. "I think we might still be in your room."

"I've never had fog in my room."

"Come on," she said, pulling his arm gently. Not seeing a reason to do otherwise, he held her hand firmly and followed. They walked several feet, then a dozen feet. They never saw anything but fog, and there were no obstacles, like walls or a desk. "Okay," she said, stretching the word over a few seconds. "We're not in your room." She looked back the way they'd come and he did the same. There was no sign of the tub.

They stopped walking and looked all around. "It's totally featureless," he said. He crouched and touched the floor. It looked like his bedroom's floor but definitely wasn't.

Amanda interrupted his examination with a little gasp, causing him to jump to his feet. Excitedly she said, "How many seconds have passed since the deadline?"

Without hesitation he answered her, which instantly made him notice the same thing she'd just discovered. Earlier he had had no clear grasp of time when he was inside the rogue memory.

"I'm not stuck in the memory anymore," she ventured and gave him a big hug.

"And we're not in any memory now," he supplied, feeling much better. In fact, the fuzzies had probably left when Amanda had announced the end of their show. It was embarrassing they'd even had to do that to appease them.

"Take us out, Kyle!" she shouted, hugging him even more tightly. He nodded and closed his eyes for the briefest moment.

***

When she saw Kyle close his eyes, a small part of her had expected him to vanish and leave her alone in the sea of fog, in a memory that had never happened. It was however a very small part of her, a part she'd almost completely squashed in the last six or eight months in his head. To think she'd made peace with the prospect of living years of her life in there, even if they were mental years and not physical ones.

She knew Kyle was special, had known it ever since he'd casually walked off the roof of his family's house and caused her to crash her car when she saw him land effortlessly, like a cat. She knew his head held secrets, secrets he might not even know he held. His few superpowers as she liked to call them – which included being able to relive his memories in perfect detail – had the potential to be developed and put to much better use.

She was a very different person now after living a single memory for just under a year. She was ready to put his talents to use; she wasn't going to be the lame love interest of the common superhero, the one who couldn't decide whether she wanted the adventure and the inherent danger or to deny her part in keeping him motivated and growing in power, ahead of his villains.

Love flowed deeply in her heart for this man. There was no doubt in her mind that she would fight her mother to marry him, fight anyone. Before this ordeal she would have given up on Kyle if another girl moved in on him, but now she was determined. He had darkness within him that had to be held in check, forever. The fuzzies were only a small part of that darkness. There was no doubt he'd be a fantastic assassin for example, but that would squander his true potential.

She might not be the only person who could keep his innocence and his sweetness untainted – she thought Jessi might be able to as well, only because she was just like him, despite outward appearances – but if they were both sufficiently abused and manipulated by people, by the underbelly of society, they could cause a lot more harm than good.

Was it wrong that she wanted happiness and to reap the harvest while averting potential disaster? She'd prayed and meditated on it for weeks and didn't believe so. She probably would never admit much of this to Kyle until years from now, if ever. With their brains alone, both Kyle and Jessi could change the world, transform it like no other before them. Her hands balled into fists as she opened her eyes.

She'd already smelled the air around her and had known he'd succeeded in getting her out. The absence of so many things, smells, tastes, even touch, made her relish what she had.

It didn't trouble her one bit that Jessi and Kyle were hugging. She said, "May I," and happily squeezed in beside them, and squeezed them both. There was no surprise when Jessi hesitated slightly, but she squeezed her a little more for reassurance. They'd be good friends from now on, regardless of their past.

Others rushed in, in fact the whole family, and Foss, whom Kyle had never adequately described his role. He was much too distant and professional – too intense – to be simply a friend. She likened him more to a warrior.

While the trio hugged, she realized that the whole family had known everything. Well, not everything, on second thought. They certainly knew of his abilities and his past, and Jessi's too, but that didn't even irk her now. She welcomed their presence.

It had been a while since she'd seen anyone after all.

When the trio separated and some of the more urgent questions had been answered, like the obvious "What the hell happened," and the all important, "What time is it," she learned that her mother had come looking for her to go to church over three hours ago. She had been in his head for just over seven hours. She and Kyle had been found crumpled on the floor, seemingly holding hands in rigor mortis, and yet still warm and very much alive.

The IV equipment in the corner did not escape her notice. This Foss was terribly resourceful. She wouldn't have been surprised to have had a catheter and be lying in a hospital bed, still attached to Kyle from the look in his eyes.

Jessi had been randomly scouring Kyle's memories for any trace of them for hours until she was suddenly booted out when she'd decided to start from last night's dinner. Jessi could get through much of dinner, but the memory would always freeze just before she and Kyle would leave for her house. Jessi had been trying to access the rogue memory since then with as much luck as he'd had in getting her out.

Josh reentered the bedroom with two bowls of fruit and some toast on a small platter. "Are you hungry?" Maybe it was the reason why they hadn't realized the fuzzies had let them go, because they were both very hungry, and thirsty. Her brain had likely begun to tire from lack of nutrition. After she took a bite of toast and the platter had been removed from Josh's hands, she gave him a strong hug too. "Thanks Josh!"

She polished off the food and the drinks that were later brought in; they both received seconds.

When everything started to calm down and family members and Foss dispersed, Amanda stopped Jessi with a hand on her arm. Kyle went with the others. "We should be friends Jessi." She and Kyle had made no mention that she'd experienced nearly a year's time in his head. They'd been worried enough in thinking she was there for seven hours.

It was true Kyle had been about to spill the beans about everything, but she had stopped him with a simple look. It wasn't lying, because they were going to tell them everything eventually. It wouldn't even be a long time; they would tell them things in manageable chunks, so as to not distress anyone unnecessarily.

Jessi was a different matter.

Her brow furrowed and she almost instantly answered with a rather blunt, "Why?"

That might have once made Amanda mad, but it now only made her laugh out loud. Jessi had so much to learn, Kyle too for that matter. She wasn't so deluded to think she'd have all the answers all the time – in fact she expected them to provide them most of the time – but together the three of them could probably tackle anything.

Jessi seemed perplexed, and was eyeing her curiously, surely listening to her heart or checking her blood pressure or something. "Because you're exactly like Kyle and you need someone you can tell anything." Jessi's eyes opened wide and she continued, "Absolutely anything."

"What did you see?" She seemed pretty nervous; they probably had made out after she had broken up with Kyle and that was completely understandable as teenagers. She'd been there too. Kyle was very easy to love and few guys if any could ever compare, as long as the darkness stayed dormant.

She knew Jessi would understand better than any of the others. "He fell asleep last night fantasizing, reliving a short memory of our first french kiss."

"After dinner?"

She might once have been shy about such details but she was a drastically changed person. She nodded, and said, "I was stuck in that memory for almost a year, watched it I don't know how many times, and nothing he did could get us out." Jessi's demeanor darkened considerably, and her hands were opening and closing, probably somewhat involuntarily. To her credit she didn't ask why they had not told everyone else. Instead she stayed silent so she could continue, "I'm telling you so you don't make the same mistake in the future, when you experience something so special or intense that you feel you have to revisit it again."

Jessi nodded, extremely serious. She'd probably secretly scold Kyle for doing something so juvenile, but then guys were prone to doing insensible things with their high testosterone levels. "Remember it, cherish it, but don't relive it," was her advice.

Jessi eyed her suspiciously again but nodded. Amanda thanked her and gave her another hug, which Jessi only semi-allowed. "It's great to see you by the way, pod girl." And with those words, she left Jessi rooted to the spot and went straight home, but also glanced up the stairs because it was one of the few places she'd not been able to go.

When she stepped outside and felt the wind on her face, with the smell of grass and flowers, and the sounds of cars and kids and dogs, yes even barking dogs, it was almost too much for her to take. Tears surfaced and she couldn't keep them back. It was so nice to feel so much again. The door opened behind her, and she expected Kyle to be there and support her on her way to her house.

She'd probably be grounded for a while; that was perfectly fine with her.

But when she saw Jessi's arms around her she was really warmed by the gesture. Her throat constricted – another unfamiliar physical feeling – and she choked out words of thanks. With Jessi's help she recovered after a few minutes and they walked together to her front door.

Before opening the door, she turned back to Jessi, and saw Kyle only a few steps behind her. It surprised her that she hadn't heard him, but really, should it have? "Thank you Jessi, I really needed it. Kyle, I'll see you when I'm no longer grounded." She turned around and almost opened the door when she thought of something to add, "Kyle, I told Jessi most of it. Tell her the rest okay, everything."

His brow innocently furrowed and he swallowed. "Okay." Jessi looked from one to the other, clearly curious and with a bit of anger toward Kyle, but also concern.

When she walked into her house, she started to cry again when she saw her piano. Without removing her shoes she sat and played the melody she had practiced in her head whenever she'd been close to despair while inside Kyle's head. It was one of the things that had helped her get through the ordeal, the immense solitude.

She knew well that her mother would come down when she heard the first notes. It was funny how fast her mom was racing down the stairs too, but she wouldn't smile or laugh. This was serious after all, and definitely not a game.

"Amanda," her mom called loudly in the way she normally reserved for when she was in deep trouble. Normally she would have stopped playing, but it was one of few songs she remembered by heart at present, and just wanted – no, needed – to hear it to its conclusion.

After several seconds of unusual silence from her, her mother walked up beside her, and carefully put a hand on her shoulder. "You haven't played that song in ages." Her mother had always loved it when she played the piano, and it was true she played pretty well, used to anyway.

From the corner of her eye she could see her mother worry and wring her hands. She noticed her staring at her hands on the keys, one hand specifically. "You're not telling me…"

Carol Bloom, the fiery lady who almost always commanded control, who once even locked her inside the house when she was grounded previously – again, because of Kyle – couldn't finish the simple sentence because of the fear it caused her.

But then she didn't understand; she couldn't. Amanda allowed a small smile to appear on her face when she completed her mother's sentence, "Yes mom, I'm getting married to Kyle."

"When," her mother erupted. "Are you pregnant," she asked even more venomously.

As the last notes to the popular wedding song finished, the only song she completely remembered beginning to end, she turned to her mother. She refused to play Shouting Match, a popular mother daughter game that always ended with mother winning, at least in this house. Instead, she said, "After we graduate high school, and no I'm still a virgin, thanks."

She had a long battle ahead of her, but she would win this one, no matter what.

The world might very well depend on it.

***

FIN

Author's Note: I expect a sequel story to this, set further in the future and it will likely start at the wedding or maybe just a memory of it. Not yet sure what the title will be but it will be written mostly from Amanda's point of view, as mastermind of the Kyle-Jessi work team, while Kyle-Amanda are happily married and Amanda-Jessi are very good friends, confidantes even. That's probably so AU many here might not even read it! Oh well, I'll still write it!

Let me know please if you enjoyed the Twilight Zone-like storyline. And if you even like Alternate Universe entries like this one. I know two people do!

Kyle-Jessi is definitely the best work pairing there is. ;)

God bless.