As I lay in my tub that night, sleep eluded me. I contemplated the fragility of life. I was alive, sleepless in my tub because of the sacrifices others had made. Tom Foss had given his life and Declan had killed a man - had killed my brother, at least my biological half brother. I didn't regret Cassidy's death. He had killed Sarah and would have killed me. But I regretted the cost. Tom Foss had saved my life many times. He had saved Jessi in the woods. What would we do without him? What damage would it cause Declan to have had to kill another human being?

We had not told Nicole and Stephen about what had happened yet, but they needed to know. We'd been too tired and stunned from the day to do so when we got home. We had decided to take care of shutting down the experiment first and then we would be able to tell them everything that had happened, including the news we had gotten about Paul Milworth from the data we were monitoring.

I could tell that Jessi was restless and unable to sleep as well. I wanted her with me and wanted to hold her and feel her energy and mine strengthen each other. I thought in her direction, "Jessi, I really need to hold you." I got back a wave of positive feeling and could hear her getting out of bed and heading toward my room.

Jessi came into Kyle's room and turned to lock the door, then she went to the side of his tub and he opened his arms, welcomingly. She climbed in and curled up against his chest, resting her head on his shoulder and putting her open hand on his bare chest. Kyle put his arms around her and held her and she stretched to kiss him gently then settled back against his chest.

"I'm glad you're safe," Jessi whispered, "I was so frightened when I heard the shooting and sensed your distress." She shivered slightly, "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

"I know," Kyle stroked her hair. "That's how I felt when you had been attacked and I couldn't sense you. I thought I'd lost you."

"Tom saved us both," Jessi said. "What will we do without him?"

"He said that Declan would look after us, that he had trained him."

"Tom Foss had years of experience," Jessi objected. "He could do a lot of things that Declan can't."

"Declan saved my life," Kyle said. "He shot Cassidy. If he hadn't, Cassidy would have killed me too." Kyle mused, "Declan has always been there for me. I've always been able to count on him. Being my friend and keeping my secrets has cost him a lot. I think it cost him Lori's trust. I hope killing Cassidy doesn't cost him too much."

"It's hard to live with killing someone," Jessi admitted. "I still have dreams about the man in the woods sometimes. Maybe Nicole can help him."

Kyle sighed, "We're going to have to tell Nicole and Stephen about all of this. Nicole is going to be upset. I'm always upsetting Nicole. Taking me in has cost the Tragers a lot of pain. I never wanted to put the ones I love in danger."

"It wasn't your fault, Kyle," Jessi said. "It was because of who you are and what you can do. What we can both do. And Nicole loves you."

"I love her too," Kyle said. "I love my family." He kissed Jessi on the forehead and added, "Our family."

"I'm glad Cassidy is dead," Jessi said. "He killed my mother. I didn't know what we were going to do about it. I just knew we had to do something. He couldn't get away with killing her." She quietly confessed, "The night in The Rack when we pretended that I was going to kill him, I wasn't completely acting, I really wanted to. I could have done it easily. I had control of his abdominal aorta."

"I know it was hard for you," Kyle told her. "I'm glad you didn't. It would have been a burden on you for the rest of your life."

"But now Declan has to bear the burden," Jessi said.

"He did what he had to do to save my life," Kyle said. "That's different than killing someone for what they have done. There is less of a choice and more of a necessity."

"I suppose so," Jessi nodded thoughtfully. After a moment she added with a smile, "So now that we've dealt with Cassidy, all we have to do is shut down the new project and our lives will be able to be normal, whatever normal means for us."

Kyle smiled, remembering their conversation from the first time he went off to destroy the experiment, "Some kind of constant? I'm beginning to think that even constant is unlikely. I think life is about change and growth."

Jessi turned and kissed his chest, then put her head back down on his shoulder, "Some changes have been really nice."

When we had shut down Cassidy's first experiment I had wanted to live a normal life and had seen the threats from Latnok and the need to stop the experiment as standing in the way. I hadn't wanted the burden of being special. Jessi had always argued that we should embrace what we were, to make the most of our abilities. We had followed that path and had grown and accomplished many things. But there had been costs, the events of today had cost us a great deal. I felt saddened and drained. Holding Jessi in my arms, and feeling her energy resonate with mine, strengthened my spirit and my resolve. Our 'normal' life wouldn't be the same as others had but it would be an adventure, and I had a companion for that journey.