CHAPTER TEN

Kyle stood staring blankly up at the TV in the corner of the hospital room, flicking the channels over and over with the remote in his hands.

"Kyle," Linda called to her son.

"I'm not Kyle," he insisted quietly and uncaring.

Rhiannon had been asked there to try and help. She had been practicing with Nikki to try and push herself into other peoples' minds and attempt to put thoughts or pry thoughts forcefully. Tom hoped she could do the same with Kyle to try and figure out what was wrong with him.

"Who are you, then?" Rio asked the zombie-boy.

"I don't know," Kyle whispered, still staring unrelenting at the TV screen. "I need more screens."

Rio stood in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders. She focused on putting herself in Kyle's mind—literally. She felt the pressure build in her temples as she tried to push through his mental wall like she'd been able to do with Nikki a million times. But each time she tried it was like a rubber band snapping and she was thrown back into herself.

Rio slouched and sighed, shaking her head at Linda.

Tom stood outside with Dr. Mayhew. "Your son is experiencing a dissociative disorder. That's not uncommon for newly awakened coma patients. He feels disconnected from his personality."

Tom ran his hand over his face in frustration. "We knew he'd need to adjust but he doesn't know who he is."

"This is frustrating, but you did the right thing bringing him back here," the doctor assured him.

"Yeah," Tom sighed reluctantly. He wasn't so sure. "So, what now? More tests?"

Dr. Mayhew nodded. "We need to do another cranial MRI. They'll be here in an hour to take him downstairs. I know this is difficult, Tom. But Kyle's come this far—we can't give up now."

Tom nodded, bidding goodbye to the doctor before walking back into the hospital room. He looked at Rio who was still standing next to his son. "Anything?"

Rio frowned and shook her head. "No—I'm sorry. It's like he's blocking me somehow."

Diana and Maia purchased some ice cream from the stand. Diana reached into her pockets. "I think I've got the exact change." She counted it out and handed it over to the stand owner, Tony.

Tony grinned as he handed the ice cream cone to Maia. "Hello, cutie."

Maia smiled shyly back as Diana led her away around the large fountain in the courtyard. "How long have you known that man?"

"Tony?" Diana clarified. "About two years. He's nice."

"He's very nice," Maia confirmed.

"Why do you say that?" Diana asked her.

"He's going to fall in love today," Maia grinned.

"Tony?" Diana asked again for clarification. "My God. Good for him." She stopped and pointed to herself. "It's not with me, is it?"

Maia shook her head with a giggle. "Nope."

"I didn't think so," Diana said. Maia leaned against a stone railing separating people from the fountain behind her, averting her eyes and frowning. Diana bent her head to look at Maia. "Is there something else, Maia?"

Maia tilted her head up. "How long am I going to be like this?"

"Like what?" Diana asked curiously.

"I don't want to know things before they happen," Maia looked disheartened. "I want to be normal, like I used to be."

Diana pursed her lips, brushing Maia's hair back tenderly. "It's gonna be okay, sweetie. Besides, who's normal anyway?"

"You are," Maia told her matter-of-factly.

"Huh!" Diana scoffed. "You wanna know a secret? Normal people like me... they just wish they were special, like you."

Maia smiled at the sentiment, licking her ice cream, before she broke the following silence. "I found a babysitter for me. She was in quarantine with me with her baby."

"Baby?" Diana asked. "You mean Alice Bello?"

Maia grinned and nodded. "She disappeared in the same year as me—she was always nice to me. Please can she be my babysitter? I don't like that daycare."

"We'll see," Diana told her.

Kyle was forced to sit down on his bed while Linda tried to feed him some of the hospital food. "Put the television back on."

Rio had left, knowing she couldn't do anything for Kyle.

"Kyle, when you came home you spent all that time looking through your books," Tom said, "then the maps, now the TV. What are you looking for? Maybe we can help you look, too."

Kyle just stared up at the blacked-out screen.

Tom looked at his soon-to-be-ex-wife, pulling her to the side. "Come here. You should go and get some rest."

Linda shook her head. "I'm not leaving him."

Tom nodded. "All right. I'll go and grab some stuff. Be back in a half hour, okay?"

After he left, Linda went to get a soda from the vending machine. She was gone for maybe two minutes and when she came back, men in suits were towing Kyle out of the hospital room. She rushed toward them. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!" She ran for her son, but two men held her by her arms as some agent faced her. "Who are you people!? I'm calling security!"

"I'm Agent Lyttel," the man answered her with a secretive smile. "I work with your husband."

"I don't care who you work with!" Linda shouted at him.

She kept going for Kyle as he suddenly broke away from the men and wrapped his arms around her, whispering harshly into her neck. "Tell Tom I figured it out. I know where I have to be."

He was pulled away from her again as she stared after in helplessness as the Lyttell assured her. "Don't worry. He's gonna be safe. The government's gonna be supervising his medical care from now on."

Rio knocked on the open bedroom door, seeing Nikki pout on her bed. "Hey. Shawn told me what happened the other day."

Nikki looked up in surprise. "He saw?"

Rio nodded, coming in to sit in front of Nikki on her bed. "Yeah, are you okay?"

"Me?" Nikki asked, a little overwhelmed. "I'll be fine. I just wonder what Shawn must think of me after seeing me break his little brother's heart like that."

"Shawn understands," Rio assured her. "So do I. You just didn't love him."

"I mean, I liked him," Nikki rushed to explain, deflating. "But that wasn't enough."

Rio sensed something else by the way Nikki said that. She peered at her friend. "Does this have anything to do with what we talked about a few weeks ago?"

Nikki laid her hands in her lap, averting her eyes, "I told him what you said about pure expressions of love. I told him that I wasn't ready. But he kept pushing, said it would take our relationship to the next level and we'd be happier."

Rio sighed and shook her head. "You have absolutely nothing to feel bad about."

"No—I do," Nikki denied, shifting nervously in her seat.

Rio didn't notice her shiftiness though and continued comforting the girl. "No, look at me, Nikki." The younger girl raised her eyes to her. "This is not your fault. You don't have to feel guilty for putting yourself and your needs first when it comes to your own happiness. You're allowed to be selfish every once in a while—especially when someone is pushing you to do something you're not comfortable with."

"Really?" Nikki asked in a small insecure voice.

"Really." Rio smiled at her. "Let me tell you about this basic rule I have. I learned it from one of my friends in New York, Cody, when he was teaching me how to play beer pong. He said to me, 'if you hesitate, don't do it.' He was talking about making a shot. But I still live by the philosophy that if you're hesitant to do something you shouldn't do it. You'll just dig yourself into a hole of regret that way."

"But you said you've done a lot of things you regret," Nikki reluctantly told her.

Rio shrugged with a playful smirk. "Eh—I'm a rebel. I haven't met a rule I wasn't ready to break once or twice."

Nikki weakly laughed, yet still smiled after, and smiled at Rio. "Thank you, Rhiannon. You always seem to know exactly what to say to make me feel better." She twisted her fingers together. "Over the past couple months you've been living here, I've started to think of you as a sister. Is that weird?"

Rio laughed, the sound mimicking a scoff. "No—that's not weird. That's actually kinda boss."

"I'm still not used to your old slang," Nikki laughed. "Boss is good, right?"

Rio rolled her eyes. "Yes, dear, boss is good."

Richard and Lily sat next to each other on a park bench in their new neighborhood, in each other's arms with confusion and worry in their faces.

"What kind of genetic anomaly?" Richard asked, referring to the discussion Lily had with her new OBGYN just earlier that afternoon.

Lily shrugged. "All I know is she wants to grow one of the baby's chromosomes in a lab."

Richard rubbed her arm up and down. "It'll be okay."

Just off in front of them, Jordan Collier sat in a golf cart with some businessman, overseeing the building of a golf course. He had the driver stop and jogged on out to see Lily and Richard, who stood upon his entrance.

"It's gonna be a beautiful 18 holes," Collier smiled. "Either of you play golf?"

Richard made to shake his boss' hand. "I'm afraid not."

"That's too bad," Collier commented, noticing how Lily uncomfortably shifted behind Richard.

"Listen, about that doctor you sent us to," Richard began.

"Roxanne Kern," Jordan recited. "She's the best OBGYN in the Pacific northwest. You're in good hands." He then looked at Lily imploringly. "So, how did that support group meeting go?"

"It went well, thank you," Lily feebly answered.

"Nobody complain about the catering?" Jordan teased Lily about her concerns for Collier's motives on the expansive menu he ordered for her support groups.

"I have to admit, the lobster sushi was a great idea," Lily edged further behind Richard.

"You see?" Jordan smiled friendlily. "You just have to trust me." He looked at Richard with amusement written all over his face. "Your girlfriend has quite an imagination. She thought I was trying to steal her away from you. Can you believe that?"

Lily averted her eyes to the floor as Richard looked down at her and then at Jordan with an uneasy smile. "Er... not really."

Jordan smiled. "I like your confidence." He tilted his head toward Lily. "See? You were worried about nothing."

But Richard, as confident as he was, couldn't help but sense that something was off. So he did some digging, and found out some suspicious things. So later, he stormed into Dr. Kern's office, ignoring the nurse yelling after him. "Mr. Tyler, she can't be disturbed."

"This won't take long," Richard faced the started OBGYN. "Dr. Kern."

"I told him you were busy," the nurse apologized.

"Does Lily have an appointment?" Dr. Kern asked innocently.

"No," Richard shook his head. "Why do you call Jordan Collier every time she comes to see you?"

Kern shifted in her seat, fiddling with some parents. "My phone habits don't concern you."

Richard stared her down. "I think they do. What does Collier know about Lily's baby that she doesn't?"

"Sickle cell anemia?" Lily asked in stunned shock as she sat on the couch and Richard stood off to her side. "How can my baby have the trait for sickle cell anemia?... unless the father's black."

"Maybe he is," Richard mused.

Lily turned her head to look at him. "What are you saying, Richard?"

"I don't know." Richard hit his arms at his sides. "Maybe whoever took us used me as some kind of donor. The question is, why would Jordan have Dr. Kern keep this from us?"

Lily stood up in front of him. "The baby's carrying the sickle cell trait. That brings us closer. Maybe he doesn't want that to happen."

"Maybe," Richard agreed. "I think it's time me and him had a talk."

Nikki handled the velvet jewelry box Danny just handed to her like it was housing some pandemic disease. Rio left to hang out with Shawn and his mom, Susan. Shawn wanted his mom to get to know his girlfriend and trust her after hearing that the girl could read minds now. Danny had come over saying he had some things to return to her. But instead he handed her a box of beautiful earrings once he made his way into her bedroom.

Danny smiled bashfully. "They're nice, huh? I remember how much you told me you liked moonstones."

"I do," Nikki said awkwardly. "But I can't accept these."

Danny frowned. "Why not? I mean, I got them for you." He still saw Nikki's unsure expression, touched with a hint of guilt. "Come on, Nikki. Look, I know I messed up."

Nikki sighed. "It's just... it's over, Danny. Earrings aren't going to change that." She frowned, sitting down on her bed.

"I don't get it," Danny huffed. "I mean—we were happy, right? What changed?"

"Everything-" Nikki cut off, not knowing just how to explain it without feeling worse about herself. "Everything has changed since the 4400 came back."

"The 4400?" Danny scoffed, then stopped short. "Wait—is that about Rio? Did you guys have another talk-" he spat the word out like poison, "and she convinced you to dump me? That girl has been out to get-"

"No, it has nothing to do with Rio," Nikki cut him off. "She's the only one I've been able to actually talk to about how I'm feeling because you just want to pretend that everything is the same when it's not. Shawn is back, Danny. Your brother is suddenly back after three years of you moving on. And while I'm happy he's back and so is your family—all you do is push him away."

"Shawn?" Danny scoffed in disbelief. "This is about Shawn? What—are you screwing him or something?"

"No," Nikki immediately denied it. "There's nothing happening between me and Shawn..."

"But you wish there was," Danny accused her.

Nikki was silent, averting her eyes to the floor.

"Nikki?"

Diana made her way toward her apartment, hearing arguing voices.

"I would just like to speak with her for a few minutes," she heard Lyttel's voice.

Followed by her new babysitter, Alice's voice. "And I said no. Her legal guardian is not present, so you have no right to speak to her alone. My brother-in-law was a lawyer, Mr. Lyttel, I know when you are overstepping your bounds. I would appreciate it if you left, sir."

"Lyttel, what are you doing here?" Diana broke in as she reached the door, seeing Alice standing in the door crack, carefully keeping it closed and blocking Lyttel's view as much as possible.

Lyttel smiled at her secretively. "Just wanted to chat with Maia. I thought it was time we met."

"Stay away from her," Diana warned him.

He smiled at her thin threat. "That's not really your call, is it?" After sharing a look with Diana, he made his leave.

After he made his leave, Alice opened the door to let Diana inside. "I had Maia take Teddy into her room. Maia? You can come back out now."

Maia walked out with Teddy holding her hand.

"I don't like him." Maia looked up at her foster mother. "And he doesn't really like me either."

"Well, don't you worry about him," Diana assured you.

"Are you sure?" Maia asked, a little fear in her voice.

Diana knelt in front of her. "Oh, you listen to me, Maia. I am absolutely sure. I am not gonna let anything bad happen to you. Hear me?"

"Okay," Maia answered in a small voice.

Ben cursed as he burnt his hand on the pan he had boiling on the stove. He was making some crappy macaroni and cheese for dinner in the cheap motel room he'd gotten for him and Davey while he tried to find a new permanent place for them to live. He'd thought of maybe moving into the new 4400 community, but he felt that he and Davey should immerse themselves in the real world instead of locking themselves behind a gate.

Ben ran his hand under cold water when Davey walked into the kitchenette. "Burn yourself?"

"Yeah," Ben groaned. "Just my luck. Listen—I think I found a place for us. I'm gonna see if I can use any of the benefits the other returnees get before I get a second job, okay? Just keep your stuff ready to leave at a moment's notice."

"Why does it feel like we're running from something?" Davey asked, sitting at the table. "The officers got the bombers."

"But now Dad could have seen that list and realized I was keeping you at the house this whole time," Ben told his little brother. "We can't let him find you. He's gotten worse over the years you've been gone, Davey. He's not safe—it's not safe to leave you at that house while I go to work. We were gonna lose that house anyway, Dad hasn't made a payment on it in three months. We've gotta strike it out on our own."

"I understand that," Davey sighed. "But he can't find us. If he didn't find me in your room while we were under the same roof—I doubt he'll find us when we're not even in the same neighborhood."

Tom knocked on Diana's apartment door, giving his partner a foreboding stare. "You good to go?"

Diana slipped on her leather jacket. "Just give me a sec." She walked toward the kitchen where her new babysitter, Alice, was cooking while Maia sat with baby Teddy at the table. "Alice, just remember what I told you. Don't answer the door to anyone you don't know, okay? Especially Lyttel."

Alice nodded readily. "Don't worry, she's safe with me."

"Are you leaving now?" Maia asked, letting Teddy play with her finger.

"Yeah, I'll be back before you wake up," Diana promised.

"Okay," Maia nodded.

"Better go," Diana bent to kiss Maia's hair. "Bye."

She and Tom were about to leave when Maia's voice stopped them. "Don't worry. You'll find him."

Tom turned to her. "Find who?"

"Your son, Kyle," Maia answered. "He's the answer."

"The answer to what?" Tom asked her.

"Everything."

Diana walked up to the guard in front of Kyle's room, that they found by Marco hacking into Lyttel's computer. "I want to see Kyle Baldwin, please." She acted professional, as if she owned the place, yet polite as she handed her ID to the guard.

The guard speculated the ID and ran his eyes down his clip board of names. "You're not on the list."

Diana inwardly cursed, searching for an explanation. "I'm a friend of the family. I want to know that he's all right." She scoffed. "He's not even one of the 4400 and his father works with me and if you could just give me something I could tell him 'cause... come on, we're both supposed to be on the same side, right?"

The guard surveyed, taking in her point before begrudgingly nodding. "I'll see what I can find out."

"Great," Diana breathed. "Thank you so much—that's great."

As he turned around, Diana sprung into action and injected a syringe into the back of the guard's neck. He seized up and started to fall. "You won't even have a headache when you wake up." As he fell, he bonked his head on the wall. "Well, maybe a little headache." She pulled out her phone, pressing speed dial. "Come on in."

Tom and Diana rushed into the room Kyle was in, finding him strapped on a chair with metal plates attached to a leather head band. Tom roughly pulled the metal plates from his temples. "Kyle. Hey, buddy." Kyle stared at him blankly, slightly sweaty. "It's me, buddy."

"Highland Beach," Kyle muttered.

"What about it?" Tom asked as he and Diana unbound his hands and feet.

"That's where I have to go," Kyle answered.

Diana looked at Tom dubiously. "Highland Beach?"

"Let's get you out of here first, okay?" Tom proposed.

Lily made her way into Collier's office, him nowhere in sight, and handed some paperwork to his secretary Sally. "Sal, these people are coming to the next meeting. It's a little bigger than the last so we may need a couple more tables."

Sally nodded, taking the papers. "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," Lily smiled.

But before she could leave, Collier appeared out of his office. "Lily. Can I see you for a minute?"

"I have a few errands to run," Lily tried to excuse herself.

But Collier wasn't having it. "This won't take long."

"You're really good at this dish," Susan, Shawn's mother, commented as Rhiannon chopped and diced onions for her.

Rio smiled, looking at the woman before sharing a look with Shawn. Shawn really wanted the two women to get along, being his two favorite women in his life now. "My mom was the stereotypical housewife and mom. Always told me what a lady does. A lady cooks. A lady cleans. A lady marries a good boy with a good future ahead of him. I did almost everything I could do to disappoint her. But my bed was always made and if I'm given any recipe, I can make it."

"Really?" Susan asked her. "That's impressive. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you."

Rio shrugged. "I dunno." She hummed as she swept the diced onions into a pot and prepared to start chopping up bell peppers.

"What are you humming?" Susan asked curiously. "It sounds pretty."

"She hums the same thing all the time," Shawn said from the table.

"I don't know what it is," Rio said. "Just something that's been stuck in my head since we got back. I can't quite put my finger on where I heard it. Probably someone in quarantine with us."

Collier laid some papers with printed old newspaper articles on them. TRIAL DATE SET FOR NEGRO IN ASSAULT CASE ran over the top of the paper above a black and white picture of two officers escorting Richard out of a building.

Lily stared at them. "Where did you get this?"

"I've been doing security checks on everyone who's moved into the complex," Collier told her. "Don't look shocked, Lily. A lot of people would love to see me fall on my face here. A scandal like this would allow them to force me out of the company."

"Richard wouldn't do this," Lily protested softly, her head reeling.

"I'd have thought so, too," Collier told her with fake sincerity. "I guess we were both wrong."

Lily looked up at him accusingly. "Do you really think this is going to change the way I feel about him?"

"That's up to you," he told her seriously. "But Lily... you really have to ask yourself... is this the man you want raising your baby?"

Richard stared at the articles in shock, Lily sitting on the couch in front of him. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

Richard rubbed his hand down his face. "It was my 23rd birthday. A bunch of guys from the barracks invited me out to a bar."

"You don't drink," Lily commented.

"Didn't then either," he assured her. "But these guys... it was a big deal them asking me to come along. In those days, Negroes and whites didn't do much socializing." He paused, sighing. "So, I went. It was kind of nice, you know? Then this woman started coming onto me. People started staring. So, I figured it was time for me to get out of there." He stopped by their mantle. "She followed me outside and asked me to go home with her. I declined respectfully. That's when she started screaming."

"That's it?" Lily asked after a beat. "That's all that happened?"

"That's all it took in 1945," Richard explained to her.

Lily stared at him, confused. "But the statement the woman made to the police. I mean... it's so detailed."

"But Lily, none of it's true," Richard insisted. "If I hadn't been exonerated of those charges, do you think the air force have sent me to flight school? Made me a pilot? The woman lied. The charges were dropped."

"Why would Jordan bring this up?" Lily frowned.

"He wants you to doubt me. Doubt us," Richard told her, deflating at her blank face. "Do you?"

Lily didn't say anything, standing from the couch and wrapping her arms around Richard's waist. He sagged in relief and hugged her to him tightly. Lily pulled back, telling him urgently. "We've gotta pack whatever we can in five minutes. We're getting out of here."

Teddy grinned. "Mama I wan' cookie!"

"Me too, please!" Maia grinned as the children stood in front of Alice with innocent smiles.

Alice, always strong-willed, shook her head with a smirk. "Not a chance. You'll spoil your dinner."

Teddy pouted adorably. "But I wan' a cookie for dinner."

"A cookie isn't dinner, baby," Alice pointed out. "Dinner is tomato soup and grilled cheese and it's almost ready. Go clean up please."

Maia took Teddy over to the bathroom and helped him wash his hands for dinner, before helping him into the highchair Alice had brought over with her boyfriend, Ethan's help.

"He's special too, you know," Maia's voice startled Alice, who gasped in surprise before relaxing.

"What do you mean?"

"He came back with something different in him," Maia said, knowingly. "Like you. Like me. And someday he's going to help save us all."

"Come on, Mom. Are you serious?" Shawn asked him mother. "The movies? Like, you and me?"

"Is that so weird?" Susan asked him, laughing. "We used to go to the movies all the time."

"When I was six," Shawn pointed out.

Footsteps were heard as Danny rushed into the kitchen, a glare deeply set into his face as he pointed at Shawn. "Shawn! You prick!" He raised his fist as Shawn stood up from the table and punched him right in the face.

"Danny!?" Susan yelled out in shock as Rio rushed to Shawn's side as he stood up straight. Danny rushed at him again and punched him in the same spot, making Shawn slam into the wall.

"What the hell is your problem?" Shawn shouted.

"You!" Danny yelled. "One girlfriend wasn't enough—you had to take mine too?"

"What?" Rhiannon asked, taken aback. "Your breakup with Nikki didn't have anything to do with Shawn!"

"Bullshit!" Danny shouted, pointing at her. "You kept talking to her, getting in her head and telling her that she didn't need to be with me. And then Shawn swoops in and gets her to fall for him!" He turned pointing at Shawn accusingly.

"She didn't need to be with you," Rio shot at him. "You're the one who kept pushing sex on her when she wasn't ready. It was your doing—not Shawn's and not mine!"

"Danny, is that true?" Susan asked her son.

"What about the part where she fell for my brother?" Danny shouted at her.

Rio faltered, holding her head briefly. "I don't know anything about that."

"Whatever Nikki feels has nothing to do with me," Shawn told him. "I never did anything with her—I don't like her—I love Rhiannon!"

"Liar!" Danny yelled, lunging at Shawn again and punching his face into the wall.

Shawn finally got fed up and bent at the waist to slam into Danny's body and pushing him into a chair. Danny flipped them over. "You goddam freak!" straddling Shawn and punching his face repeatedly, ignoring his mother shouting, "Danny, stop this! Danny, stop!"

Shawn thrust his hand into Danny's chest. Danny froze, his skin going pail as Shawn glared at him. "Stop blaming us for Nikki! Don't you see it's over between you two?"

Rio noticed what was happening. Danny was growing dangerously pail like the life was being sucked out of him—just like Brad from the high school. She stood over the boys as Susan gasped and started crying. "Stop Shawn!" But it was like Shawn was in a deep trance. Rio felt her head about to burst with pressure and desperation until she suddenly screamed, "STOP!" and some blue force emitted from her and slammed into the boys, propelling Danny into the kitchen table and Shawn into the wall next to it.

Susan rushed to Danny's side, watching his skin slowly return to its normal color as she stared at Shawn and Rio accusingly. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," Shawn groaned, getting himself onto his knees. "I didn't mean to do anything!" He tried to shuffle closer to his brother, "Danny!" but Susan held her hand up, glaring at her older son.

"Get away from him! Both of you!"

Shawn cringed, getting up and rushing out of the house, Rio hot on his heals. "Shawn!"

She saw him heading for his car. She approached him, reaching for his shoulders. He shoved her hands off of him. "Don't touch me! I don't know if it's still happening."

But Rio ignored his warning, forcefully taking his face in her hands and making him look at her. "See? You're fine. You're not gonna hurt me. You're not gonna hurt me."

"Yes, I am," Shawn whispered to her. "Eventually, I am."

Rio felt a heat in her heart, heat in her eyes as they grew misty. "You don't have to."

"You're the only good thing that's happened to me since I've been back," Shawn told her sincerely. "But I can't stay here, and you won't want to come where I'm going."

"Where is that?" Rio asked as he pulled his face from her hands and walked around his car to the driver's seat. "Where are you going, Shawn?"

"I can't tell you," Shawn replied as he opened the door.

"Too late," Rio growled as the thought entered his head. "You thought of it as soon as I asked you. You can't seriously go to him, Shawn. He can't be trusted."

"I have nowhere else to go!" Shawn shouted at her.

Rio rushed to him, holding the car door open from his trying to get in the car and drive away. "No—just calm down. Let's talk about this."

A tear escaped from her eye as Shawn looked down at her. "I love you, Rhiannon. I love you so much."

"Then stay with me," Rio whispered. "This isn't right-"

"I can't," Shawn told her. "I need to get away from here."

"But it's not right if you're away from me," Rio told him crying.

Shawn frowned painfully, feeling tears in his own eyes. "I told you I would hurt you. I love you, Rio." He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly onto hers. He pulled away just as quickly and yanked the door closed after he took his seat, starting the car.

Rio slammed her hand against the glass of the window. "Don't do this, Shawn. You can't trust that guy—I promise you that. Please just get out of the car!"

He didn't listen as he pulled away from the sidewalk, avoiding hitting her as she backed away from the car, tears raining down her face uncontrollably.

"What happened?" She whipped her head to see Nikki standing there uncertainly. "I heard shouting."

"What happened?" Rio asked her dangerously. "What happened? You told Danny that you fell for my boyfriend. Danny came at him, punching him and they got into a fight. Now, Susan and Danny hate us—and Shawn's run off to join a cult. That's what happened, Nikki—are you happy?"

Nikki frowned, feeling the sting of guilt and tears in her eyes as she saw the utter heartbreak, she caused her surrogate sister. "I'm so sorry."

Rio ran a hand through her curls, clenching her eyes shut briefly. "Why? Why does this shit happen? This was supposed to be a second chance for all of us. And everything just turns to shit anyway."

"I know there's nothing I can say to make this better," Nikki started softly. "But I-"

"No," Rio cut her off angrily, walking to the Hudsons' house. "There's nothing you can say."

Lily and Richard rushed to load all their things into their car, when Collier and another man raced to them in a black car, Collier stepping out. He didn't look happy. "What's all this?"

"What's it look like?" Richard asked him, closing their trunk and standing in front of Lily.

"Have you two thought about what you're doing?" Collier warned. "I mean really thought about it. Because let me remind you, it is dangerous outside those gates."

"We'll risk it," Richard told him.

"Lily, think about the baby," Jordan implored to the blonde woman.

"What does the baby have to do with this?" Lily asked him suspiciously.

"Everything," he answered her grimly, "That baby could be the key to the future, and I can protect it better than Richard—better than anyone."

"Lily, get in the car," Richard told his girlfriend.

Jordan stepped forward. "I can't let you do that."

Richard pulled out his gun. "Stay away from her." And the guard with Jordan immediately entered into a scuffle with the ex-security head as Jordan tried to grab Lily.

Lily bent over in pain. "Arg!" She held her stomach before Jordan grabbed her. The guard kept Richard from her with their fight as Jordan's hand landed on Lily's stomach, freezing there as a powerful pain seized his body.

Rio was in her room on her bed, crying, ignoring the knocks at her door—whether it was a concerned Sarah, a confused George or an apologetic Nikki. Suddenly, she bent over with an, "Oof!" as hot flashes erupted from her head to her toes—what was happening, she had no idea.

Jordan collapsed onto the driveway just as Richard knocked the guard over the head with the but of his gun. Richard immediately helped Lily into the car, and they drove off, Jordan calling after them with promise, "Go ahead! Run! It won't do you any good. I will find you. That baby belongs with me."

Shawn sagged in a cushioned chair, frowning deeply with guilt and turmoil. "I tried really hard and... no matter what I've done, which way I've turned, it just... it sucks. I need to clear my head and get away for a while. I hope Rhiannon's still there when I go back, but... I think I just ruined things with her too. The one good thing in my life—and I threw it away. I just need to separate myself from all of that though. I guess what I'm asking—is if I could stay here for a while."

Jordan faced him with his hands folded under his chin. "Shawn, you're one of the 4400. As far as I'm concerned, you can stay here as long as you want."

Shawn smiled in relief. "That's great, man. Thanks. Thank you."

"So, um..." Jordan began, leaning his elbows on the armrests of his desk chair, "tell me a little bit more about this ability of yours."

Rio wiped her eyes, hiccupping, then moved from her bed towards her closet to change into pajamas. She decided she should just sleep. She could follow Shawn to Jordan Collier's community the next day and attempt to talk some sense into him. She was about to change out of her black long sleeve sweater and blue jeans when a bright blue light erupted in her vision. She felt herself being pulled under water in her mind and saw glowing blue tentacles reach toward her before the scene around her shifted.

She was not in her room, but on a beach in the daylight. She was facing two males talking to each other, until she recognized them.

"Tom? Kyle?" she asked, stepping a bit closer to them. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You are a crucial piece of the plan, Rhiannon," Kyle answered tranquilly, seeming a little less lost. But Rio still couldn't read him. "We decided that you should hear the explanation to everything."

Rio stood closer to Tom. "You're not Kyle."

Kyle shook his head. "No. Kyle was meant to be a channel, a way to communicate."

"Communicate with who?" Tom asked.

"With you," Kyle answered, looking between Tom and Rio. "With both of you. To guide you, Tom, in your dealings with the returnees. And with you, Rhiannon, to teach you how to use your gift for our purposes."

"I'm not really one for taking orders," Rio quipped, but sobered up and asked seriously. "But before, you didn't even know who you were—you were practically catatonic."

"Something went wrong," Kyle confirmed her suspicions. "Shawn interrupted the process."

"Shawn wasn't meant to be part of the 4400..." Rio realized. That could have just messed up his whole perspective of wanting to belong somewhere. He felt alien in his own home. He must have eventually realized he wasn't meant to belong in the returnee group either. He was in the worse of both worlds. Her heart would have gone out to him, if he hadn't just broken it.

"That's what put Kyle in a coma," Tom guessed. "He was like that for three years, because of you."

"Who are you, really?" Rio asked.

Kyle somewhat smiled, still serious. "I'm human. Like you."

"No," Tom argued. "You're nothing like us."

"I come from a different time," Kyle answered. "That is all. Your future."

"I was right..." Rio breathed. "This is all part of some plan—putting us all here with what we can do, to create some sort of ripple effect and change the future."

"We needed you all," Kyle confirmed for her.

"For what?" Tom asked.

"To survive," Kyle told them grimly. "In my time, humanity is dying out."

Tom and Rio stared at him in shock. Tom spoke. "You mean it's all going to end? Everything?"

"Only those we took could prevent the catastrophe from happening," Kyle explained. "That's why they've been altered and seeded back into the timeline."

"Why take us and put us here at this moment?" Rio asked him.

"Because history tells us this is where the path to oblivion began," Kyle stared out at the trees.

"And the people you took are gonna stop that from happening?" Tom posed for him. "How?"

"Rhiannon and the others have already begun their work. And you have begun yours," Kyle assured them.

Tom, come on, Rio heard Diana's voice.

She looked around the beach. "Is someone else here?"

"What?" Tom asked her.

Kyle was the one who explained. "Rhiannon is in tune with all minds. She can connect to them. She is probably connecting to the subconscious of yours that hears the others."

Rio looked at him. "But you said there's a way for me to control it."

Kyle nodded. "You will learn. You do not need to worry, Rhiannon."

Do something or I will, she heard another voice warn Diana.

"I don't understand," Tom admitted. "What is their work? What are we supposed to do?"

"You have to help them," Kyle said.

"Help them?" Tom repeated. "How?"

Rio violently flinched and ducked when the sound of a gun shooting exploded in her ear drums. She let out a whimper as she knelt in the sand, looking around and seeing no one else there.

She stood up and heard Tom say, "You're bleeding." She looked and saw a blood spot seeping in Kyle's chest, staining his shirt as he looked down at the wound with shock. Tom stepped up to him, holding him up. "Kyle?"

Rio was suddenly pulled back into her room, looking around and seeing no Tom, no Kyle, and no beach. "No!"

The blue light that protected Kyle and Tom, albeit poorly, disappeared as Not-Kyle's body collapsed to the ground, Tom holding his shoulders in his lap as he stared up at his not-father in pain and shock. Tom started breathing heavily, desperate. "Kyle! Kyle! Kyle! Stay with me, Kyle! Stay with me!"

Lyttell stood, gun raised, until Ryland marched up to him and grabbed it from his grasp, rage in his face.

Diana frowned as she watched Tom beg his not-son to stay alive. "Look at me! Look at me! Stay with me, Kyle! Stay with me! Come on! Come on! Come on! No!"

But despite all his protests, Kyle slowly went limp in his arms, his eyes closing and his breathing halting.

"Tom..." Diana sighed.

But then Kyle suddenly seized up in Tom's arms, sucking in a breath with urgency as a blue light enveloped him from the chest outward. As the light faded, Kyle opened his eyes, staring up at his father with confusion and recognition. "Dad?"

Tom breathed out a happy laugh of relief, "Kyle!" knowing that this was his son, his real son.

Kyle looked around the beach at all the people in growing confusion. "What are you doing here? Where's Shawn?"

"Kyle?" Tom pulled his son closer.

"Dad?" Kyle squinted, suddenly growing nervous. "I can explain about the beer."

Tom laughed. "No! Forget about the beer. You don't have to explain anything."

SIX MONTHS LATER

Richard knelt by the cabin fireplace, feeling the growing flames some more wood to keep the place warm. Lily held her hand on her protruding belly, standing and wincing. "The baby."

Richard stood. "It's time?" She nodded and he put his hand on her back. "I'll get the car."

THE END