The date.
.
I am not associated with Kyle XY.
"Kyle, what is this all about? I look ridiculous!" Jessi pouted.
That wasn't completely true. I was wearing a red prom dress that fit perfectly. How could Kyle get a prom dress on a 24 hr notice I could never guess.
"Patience dear." Kyle said with a warm smile and looked at her "You look beautiful Jessi." He added after a pause
Kyle looked quite dashing in his prom suit. I promised him a date and he wasn't holding any punches.
Jessi couldn't suppress a smile no matter how hard she tried.
"So where are we going?" she asked as they approached a building on the U-dub campus.
"Remember saying that nobody would ever take you to a prom." Jessi's expression saddened for a second, but Kyle interjected quickly: "Which is completely untrue, you know."
"I know..." Jessi said with a half smile
I wasn't blind of course. There were at least half a dozen guys who would want to take me to the prom, Charlie Tanner for one. They would probably play along, and pretend to care about me. But their intentions were quite transparent, and hardly honorable. What I wanted is not for someone to be my date, I wanted for someone to look at me the way Kyle looked at Amanda... Unfortunately...
"Sweetheart, you deserve nothing less." Kyle said interrupting her train of thought.
Did he read my mind, or were my thoughts so strong?
"You organized a prom in 24 hours?" She asked ready for any surprise.
"My dear, even our powers are limited." He said opening the door to the building for her "This is the Zeta Tau charity ball. One of the girls you saved at Madacorp was a good friend of Jackie's. She put the pieces together, and wanted to help me thank you."
"So what's a charity ball?"
"It's a benefit dance for handicapped children, and there is a couples dancing competition you might be interested in. Salsa, Swing or Tango – your pick.
"Kyle I don't know how to dance..." she said with a smile
He turned around put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. Looking intensely into her eyes he whispered: "Oh? Is Jessi Hollander afraid of a little challenge?"
A basement somewhere in Seattle
.
The remainder of Foss's team was standing around checking their gear. They packed enough firepower to take down an army. Cassidy's team was standing a little a way, checking their own gear. The two groups were looking at each other distrustfully.
"Alright Tom, here is the deal. They will arrive at this location somewhere between 11pm and 12 pm." Cassidy pointed on the map. "We don't move in until 3am. Our team covers the perimeter. We position snipers here, here and here." He pointed again "Team alpha will be ready to storm the building from this hideout over here, preparing the tear gas to fish them out." "Team Beta and Gamma will be in reserve at this location. Should Team Alpha go down, they will draw the hostiles towards our snipers." "Your team will be ready here. They will cut off their escape from here."
"Solid." Foss remarked
Declan was pacing nervously back and forth. "How did it come to this?" he kept asking himself.
The dance
.
The room erupted in thunderous applause. The young couple who went in last was simply amazing. They didn't seem like two partners joined in a dance, instead they were but one body, one mind. The girl's body was moving gracefully in her long dress, responding seamlessly to the boy's motions. The boy seemed to be able to lift the girl in the air as if she was weightless, performing the dancing moves that are beyond most pros. Their eyes were firmly on each other, ignoring anything else that was going on inside the room.
.
I soaked in everything I could about this moment. We had many moment together before my memory loss, and I relived them through her eyes. But this – this we were experiencing together. Her cheeks were red from the dance, giving her an adorable, slightly child-like look. She wore the dress Jackie gave her with unparalleled grace. But then again, was there anything she did that wasn't graceful? Her mouth was open slightly, as she was breathing hard, winded, or maybe... hopefully... my attempts at a romantic date have been successful... Her smile... it was so beautiful it could lite up the room. Her eyes exuding warmth, excitement and happiness... It was all worth it, if only just to gift her this moment.
.
"Por Dios, ustedes son increibles!" A middle aged Latina women ran towards the couple. She was the Salsa instructor at the dance.
"You must have practiced since you were little!" She added in English calming down a little "I've never seen anybody this good!"
The couple smiled at each other knowingly still holding the gaze. Kyle was holding Jessi mere inches away from himself. Finally he struggled to look away from Jessi and looked at the instructor. Jessi buried her face in his chest and looked at the instructor as well. It was hard to look away from Kyle after the intensity of their dance.
.
"Muchas gracias." Kyle responded in perfect Spanish. "We are quick learners." He added brushing the hair off Jessi's cheek with a light touch of his hand.
"You two should come to our Salsa club Wednesdays." She said looking at them with a light smile "Your girlfriend and you make a really cute couple." She added
"We are not..." Jessi tried to finally say something, but Kyle interjected
"...students." He said giving her an intense gaze. "Not sure if we would be allowed to."
"Well think about it guys." she said handing them the gift package "Nobody doubts you won here today."
Kyle took the gift package, took out a ribbon and placed it on Jessi's dress. Then he handed the package back to the instructor.
.
"We can't accept the gift cards. The kids need them more then we do."
"Are you sure, your girlfriend may want to go shopping?"
Jessi smiled, cupped Kyle's cheek and nodded at the women
"He is right." "Besides, winning is prize enough for me."
Once the instructor walked away, Kyle looked back at Jessi who was still in his arms caressing his cheek looking at him with a playful smile.
"What?" He asked softly
"Nothing. It was just a very Kyle thing to do." He smiled back at her
"You seem surprised, I am Kyle after all."
Jessi giggled
"So I am your girlfriend now?" she asked "Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself?"
.
"Well sweetheart, I asked you to be my girlfriend in your lab about a week ago." "We have had a little fight, but we never broke up."
"A little fight?" "You tried to kill me dear." "Then you lost your memory." She said playfully, mimicking his demeanor
"Every couple has their problems honey." He took her hand, and his expression suddenly became serious "I would never knowingly hurt you, with my memories or without. I hope you know that."
"I know Kyle..."
He kissed the back of her hand
"Ready for part two?"
The basement.
.
"Foss you got a minute?" Declan approached him
"What is it kid?"
"Look man, this is a really bad idea!"
"Relax kid, we planned well this time. Our success is guaranteed."
"That's not what I mean! Cassidy gives us a sob story and we are ready to hunt down a friend? What do we even know about Cassidy?"
"I may not know Cassidy, but I know Taylor." Foss replied getting slightly annoyed
"Tom be reasonable!" Declan looked into the man's eyes trying to appeal to his sentimental side "Jessi is our friend, and friend of Kyle's. Cassidy's men are packing live rounds, fragmentation grenades and poisonous gasses for crying out loud! This is Seattle, not Baghdad! They are not even gonna try to reason with Kyle and Jessi."
"Kid you are getting cold feet, its natural." Foss cut him off trying to end the conversation
"Cold feet! We are about to murder an innocent girl in cold blood! Not to mention the bystanders who are bound to get hurt!"
"She is not innocent!" Foss yelled out "She changed him, don't you see!" "He used to be a kind, gentle soul, and she is a murderer. Now that he is..." Foss scoffed "...in love with her, who do you think will change whom?"
.
"That is..." Declan tried to respond when a strong pair of hands put him in a choke-hold and disarmed him. Quickly there was a gun to the back of his head.
"Your kid is a liability in this operation." Cassidy was the one holding the gun to Declan's head. One of his soldiers had Declan in a choke-hold. "Vince here will keep him under guard until this is over."
Foss's man started to get antsy with one of theirs being taken, but Foss gave them a sign to relax.
"Agreed. But if the kid is hurt, you respond to me!" Foss said menacingly
"Fair enough." Cassidy responded as he got a message on the intercom
"They are here. Check your gear, we move out as soon as the streets clear of students."
An apartment on the outskirts of Seattle
.
When I walked in, I found myself in an upscale apartment not far from U dub campus. I figured it belonged to one of the students Grace captured for her experiments. It was decorated in warm tones, as if expecting our arrival. There were no lights, but then Kyle lit up a few candles around the room.
There was a table in the middle of the room, and it had a plate of oysters for each of us.
"Candles?" she asked
"Well sweetheart having electrical appliances around the two of us is just plain dangerous." Kyle responded mischievously and offered her a chair
"You shouldn't have!" Jessi smiled at Kyle as she sat down.
"I wanted to"
.
The meal, the dancing, the whole evening was amazing. Kyle was attentive to my every move, my every desire. I didn't want it to end – I didn't want to leave him. I was wondering if I was making the right choice. Broken or not, this just felt so right...
.
As she ate, I was glad to see just how much she enjoyed the meal, and the whole evening before it. She was truly easy to please, as in her entire life barely anybody treated her well – a fact that both saddened me, and reinforced my desire to help her. Figuring out her taste preferences was easy – I had access to all her memories, including the memories of foods she enjoyed.
.
"I have another surprise" Kyle told her as he went over to the couch and motioned her to follow.
"You are quite the charmer" Jessi smiled and sat next to him. Kyle put his hand around her and pulled out a box. She buried her face in his shoulder and put one of her hands on his lap
"What is that?"
"I analyzed your body chemistry, your memories of tasteful sensations and came up with a perfect desert for you." He opened the box. Inside was a large number or round shaped candies. Jessi extended her hand to take one, but Kyle intercepted her hand with his, and kissed it.
"No, allow me." He smiled at Jessi who was melting in his arms. He took one of the candies with two fingers and put it in Jessi's mouth.
.
Kyle really knew what I liked. It tasted like heaven. My libido was completely out of control. He looked so handsome, acted so.... It was like living a fairy tale. It took all my willpower not to rip Kyle's tux off and kiss him all over. He gave me another candy.
"Kyle?" She looked at him while caressing his stomach with her hand.
"Jessi."
"Are you trying to seduce me?" She asked smiling slyly
Kyle leaned over to her ear and whispered:
"My dear, I am not trying, I am succeeding."
"Ah" Jessi bit her lip
"Can I say something?" Kyle asked her before she could come up with a comeback
Say something? At this point he could have asked me to jump into a fire
"Go ahead"
Kyle pulled her in until she was laying on his lap. He caressed her hair with one hand, and put the other one tightly across her waist, as if afraid she will run away.
So much for my plan to resist his charms...
.
"I don't want you to leave." Kyle said and observed her reaction. She put both hands on his hand hugging her stomach and smiled lightly.
"I love you Jessi! And I can see that the old me did as well. And it is not because of a chemical imbalance in my brain. And not simply because of your beauty." Jessi smiled sadly and tried to interrupt but Kyle didn't let her. "It's because we complete each other. We understand each other. When I talked to Amanda, it was if... if she was a black and white TV and I was an HD movie. Sure she can see some of it, but only you can truly understand the real me." Kyle cupped her cheek "You are my soul mate Jessi."
"Kyle..." Jessi opened her mouth to talk but Kyle put a finger on her mouth.
"And I know in this brilliant, beautiful head of yours..." Kyle's hand traced the contours of her face "you don't think you deserve this, you still think you are broken, or corrupted, but you are not!"
Jessi tried to speak again but Kyle put his hand over her mouth and pleaded
.
"Please, I really want to finish."
Jessi kissed his hand, and hugged it with both her hands. She smiled warmly and nodded.
Oy. I felt weak all over.
"Don't you see: your humility is what makes you so great. I saw how I treated you when we first met..."
"You were always a good friend Kyle..."
"Yes, but I treated you like a baby, like someone whose opinion doesn't matter. You showed me that my way wasn't always the right way, to question myself, my motifs. Amanda was a comfortable choice – she went along with everything. You can keep me in check."
"Kyle..."
"You have done some things you regret, I am sure I have as well." He was speaking louder, impassioned by his words "But you are the most selfless person I know! You are ready to give up your happiness because you too afraid to corrupt me!" "You saved the world from Grace Kingsley, and freed 71 people from brain control, a choice no sane person would argue against, yet it is eating you alive."
"You freed..." Jessi started
"No Jessi. WE freed them." Kyle emphasized we "Because together WE can do anything." "Together WE accomplished a lot already." "And together WE can do so much more."
.
To hell with resisting, I really wanted to kiss him! I tried getting up but Kyle gently but forcefully pushed me down and smiled at me. This was almost too much.
"What you have done, you have done for others, for me!" "I admire your humility, your kind heart, how you put others in front of you." "Jessi you may think that we can live without each other, that we can go our separate ways. But I cannot imagine my life without you, and the truth is I don't want to..." "I love you Jessi..." "And you are wonderful..." "...you are so kind and good..."
I was starting to ramble. I hoped with all my heart that I managed to convince her. I wouldn't know what to do if she decided to leave me after all.
"Kyle"
"Jessi?"
"You are rambling." She smiled and put her arms around his neck"It is kinda adorable."
"It's hard to express feelings with words..."
"Oh don't be modest now." She said pulling him closer their faces now mere inches apart. "You are very good at it!"
My thought process was completely scrambled. I had a burning desire to... but I had to make sure
"Jessi, I just feel...
"Stop talking and kiss me already!" She said and pulled him in for a kiss
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think happens next? Does Cassidy succeed in his evil plan? Will Foss realize the truth? Will Declan manage to warn our protagonists? And of course, what happens between Kyle and Jessi in the 3 hours between their arrival and the attack...
Please review!