Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
You Are Just Like Me
By Lucky_Ladybug
Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This takes place towards the end of the Crash Town arc. Yes, this is another AU version of some of my fic The Night After. I keep thinking of different angles that I want to explore; here I had some insistent imagery and new thoughts that needed a home and a need to milk hurt/comfort and angst for all it was worth. I write all these different versions for myself as badly-needed releases to cope with real-life. This has not been a good year. For those who don't know, I adore Radley and feel like he was Crash Town's original protector, since he was stopping Malcolm from taking over and the town fell apart after Lawton unfairly defeated him. And even if that isn't strictly true that he was a deliberate protector, I still don't think he deserved to be forgotten, as both the writers and the characters did to him. One thing that is canonically true is that there's no proof he tortured his miners like Malcolm did his. On the one hand, I feel sad to put the characters through this after they just thought Lawton was defeated and everything was okay. But on the other hand, it wasn't okay because they forgot Radley, and if anything like this happened because of that, I think they really would react as I've written under the circumstances described. They are such good people and the writers did them as well as Radley a disservice by having them forget him. I'm using the theme #78 - Cold Ground from the abandoned 5Ds_100 writing community on Livejournal. I have a scene where Kalin speaks to a dead body, but it's not intended to be a parallel or a reference to a scene Time Thief did in a role-play of ours. Still, I thought I should acknowledge said role-play anyway! Title is from the song I Am Human by Escape the Fate. I consider it one of Radley's image songs.
The dyne mines had been subject to an unusual amount of activity that evening. For four years, Malcolm's part of the mountain had used miners more as slaves, working them literally to death and torturing them when they couldn't work anymore. But at long last help had come, enough help to free everyone still capable of being helped. For the last couple of hours, Sector Security had been rounding up all theminers, alive and dead, and getting them out of the mountain at long last.
Kalin had been roaming the mines for an indeterminable amount of time. At first he had just been looking for any prisoners the police hadn't found to rescue yet, but for some time now he had been focused on looking for one in particular.
He was still reeling from the encounter he'd had moments earlier. It played again in his mind, as it had over and over since it had happened.
The moaning echoed eerily throughout the mines, bouncing off every stone wall and traveling down the lonely corridors. It was always hard to tell from whence it was coming. But Kalin was determined, and at last he followed it to its source. Then he could only stop and stare. "Jordan?!"
Indeed, it was Nico and West's father, thought dead from a horrific fall. Now he was laying sprawled on an old mining cart filled with useless rocks. Blood was everywhere and he was clearly in tremendous pain, but he was alive. Kalin had never thought he would see that kind of miracle.
Jordan squinted in the darkness. "Kalin?"
Kalin rushed over, his heart gathering speed. "What happened?! How did you get here?!" he cried. "This isn't anywhere near where you fell!" He started examining Jordan to try to determine the extent of his injuries.
Jordan managed a weak smile. "Radley," he said. "It was Radley, our ex-boss."
"What?!" Kalin frowned. "What was he trying to do? Why did he just leave you here?" A bit of anger rose in his heart. How could Radley have just abandoned someone this seriously injured? He was self-serving, but this much so?
"He was trying to save my life," Jordan said. "He was half-dead himself, suffering so badly from the shock collar around his neck. . . . He tried to say he was fine, but . . . I think they were overloading it worse than with most of us. He was pushing me in this cart I fell into, but he could hardly move it. Then the guards came. . . . Radley, he . . ." Jordan shut his eyes tightly. "He used all of his strength to send me off down the track and give me one last chance to survive. Then he gave himself up to the guards to distract them from me. . . ."
Kalin stared at him in disbelief. "Radley?! Radley did that?" He frowned. Were they really talking about the same person?
Jordan reached out a shaking hand, and Kalin was amazed and relieved that Jordan could move his hand at all. "You have to find him, Kalin!" he pleaded. "I don't know what happened. . . . I heard them fighting. I'm afraid he's dead!"
". . . I'll find him," Kalin said, taking Jordan's shaking hand in his. "But first I'll get you some help."
It hadn't taken long to quickly hail Sector Security, and by now Jordan was safely out of the mines and on his way to the small town hospital. True to his word, Kalin was still looking for Radley. So far there had been no sign of him at all.
Kalin could still hardly believe it. Radley, of all people, would do something like that? He was just a greedy punk willing to do anything to make money. He wouldn't sacrifice himself for someone else. Jordan had been so sure that Kalin hadn't wanted to say anything against the idea to his face, but privately he couldn't help but continue to scoff. Maybe Radley wasn't as bad as Malcolm, but he certainly wasn't anything like Yusei. . . .
Kalin turned a corner and nearly stepped on a limp hand. He froze, looking down. Radley was laying at his feet, lifeless. The collar around his neck was still sizzling, overloaded into a breakdown. His jacket had been pulled off and cast to the side near him. His shirt was torn, his back bloodied from a brutal whipping—no doubt punishment for both trying to escape and then helping a prisoner.
Kalin's heart caught in his throat. "Radley . . . !" He hadn't known what he had thought he would see, but it wasn't this. He had seen other bodies tonight, but somehow he had thought Radley would still be alive, maybe struggling to pick at the wall or exhausted from a long night of doing that. He had never thought Jordan's fear really would be true. . . . That it could be true. . . .
He dropped to his knees, taking the cold hand in his. There was no pulse. "No. . . ." It was some kind of nightmare, the kind that one always thought would never happen but then was all too real, and when it happened, it felt like in the back of one's mind that they had subconsciously known it would come. Kalin had been so sure Radley would be alive, and yet there had been an eerie foreboding in his heart, one that had only increased upon hearing Jordan's tale. Now he saw that Jordan had been all too right.
"Why?" Kalin choked out.
Radley had been a good businessman and had worked hard for his part of the mine. He had always weighed possibilities and chosen the most logical courses of action. Tonight he had decided the most logical course was for him to give himself up to save Jordan. Kalin hadn't thought he would, that he would be too concerned with self-preservation, but the proof was right here.
He had generally been cool, calm, and collected throughout the time Kalin had known him. The last time Kalin had seen him alive, Radley's smooth demeanor had finally cracked and he had screamed in fear and anger, blaming Kalin for their being trapped in the mines. When Kalin hadn't responded, Radley's patience had only bent further.
"Don't you even care?! What about your friend Yusei?! Don't you care at all what happens to us? To me?!"
The emotionless look Kalin had given him had said it all. Radley had rocked back, still angry, but the look in his eyes had been more akin to shock and hurt rather than rage.
Kalin had seen him look hurt on so many occasions. Now Kalin's mind was clear of the crippling depression and self-hatred, and seeing Radley laying dead, his memories were suddenly awash with incidents when Radley had tried to be kind to him, incidents Kalin had written off as insincerity or foolish naivete. Kalin had always brushed him off, yet he had always tried again. The full picture was so much different than the warped version Kalin had constructed in his mind. Radley had been good and kind; it hadn't been an act. He had wanted Kalin to be a friend, a confidante, someone to talk to about things he didn't want to burden the Bunch with and for Kalin to feel at ease enough to confide things too. But Kalin hadn't been interested, too lost in his guilt to even recognize or care about what was happening. Now Radley was laying at Kalin's feet on the cold ground as payment for Jordan's life, to never move again. Kalin recognized Radley's goodness at last, but it was too late. He had been abandoned and this was the result.
"No. . . . What have I done? What did I do to you?!" Shaking, Kalin struggled out of his coat and wrapped Radley's body in it before lifting him into his arms. Radley's head fell back, his neck completely limp. Tears pricked Kalin's eyes as he gently placed his hand behind Radley's neck to support it and he felt the cold steel of the shock collar through the older man's hair. Radley had been happy and cheerful, but now there was only pain and sorrow on his features. There would be no more smiles, and now that Kalin knew the smiles had been real, that was more than he could stand.
Was this anything like he would have felt if he had succeeded in his mission as a Dark Signer and taken Yusei out for good? He had laughed when Yusei had been seriously injured, but if he had actually died, would that have shattered the evil magic and pierced through to Kalin's true soul? Would he have cradled his oldest friend's body in horror and heartbreak and unspeakable grief, realizing the truth of still caring about him when it was too late?
That could have happened this time as well. He had been so caught up in himself he hadn't cared that Yusei had been taken prisoner too. Yusei had managed to get away and to drag Kalin with him, but their companion hadn't been as lucky.
Dead. . . . He was dead. . . .
"You wanted me for a friend, but I was the worst choice possible," Kalin whispered. "I wanted to suffer so badly, I didn't care if I took others down with me. You were so afraid. You didn't want to be there at all! I left you behind and now you're dead because of what I caused. . . .
"Radley, please . . . please come back. . . ." He shut his eyes tightly, cradling the man close to him. "Oh God . . . please, if You want to punish me for my sins, please, not like this! Don't punish someone else in my place! Radley didn't deserve to suffer. He didn't deserve to be left all alone and viciously tortured to death because he was trying to save Jordan's life! Please . . . please bring him back. . . . Please give him another chance . . . and please give me the chance to make this right. I never meant . . . I . . ."
He trailed off, choking on a despairing sob. Blaming God wasn't going to help anything. It was Kalin's fault this had happened. He couldn't see it any other way; he hadn't cared about Radley then. God must surely find it preposterous for Kalin to beg for favors now, as he witnessed the consequences of his own apathy.
"Nevermind about me," he amended. "I know I don't deserve anything. Just please . . . please save Radley. Don't do it for me, but for him . . . and for everyone who loves him and deserves to have him back. . . ." He choked on a sob.
The Bunch would never be able to handle this. They all behaved as though the sun rose and set on Radley. His unfair and cruel defeat at Lawton's hands had left all of them so badly shaken and afraid that they hadn't known how to fight any longer and they had joined the enemy. But they all still loved their true leader. He had been a friend, a confidante, not someone to fear as Lawton was.
The other townspeople too, had looked upon Radley as their protector. He had watched out for Nico and West after Jordan had fallen to Malcolm's Duelist. His foreman's granddaughter had a perpetual crush on him and the grandson idolized him. Kalin had seen all of that for weeks and had known it somewhere in his heart, and yet he hadn't fully processed it until now.
"It was always in front of me," he whispered. "I was so blind. You were never what I thought you were."
He shut his eyes tightly and a tear slipped to splash on Radley's face. There was no reaction. There never would be. If God heard Kalin's anguished pleas, He was certainly not answering Yes.
But this was too horrible. Kalin wasn't willing to give up so soon. Still trembling, he laid Radley down on his back and bent over him, frantically pressing on his chest to restart his heart. The pressure would hurt his poor back more if he did revive, and yet Kalin had to try.
He lost track of how many times he performed the chest compressions. When it was clear that wasn't going to work, he bent lower and pressed his lips over Radley's in another revival attempt. His skin felt so cold. . . . But breathing into him didn't work either. The borrowed air only lasted a moment; Radley could not breathe on his own.
Finally Kalin rocked back in anguish and despair. "Breathe!" he cried. "Come back. . . . Please come back. . . ."
There was no telling how long Radley had been dead, but it certainly looked as though bringing him back was not possible. Hopeless tears filled Kalin's eyes and he lifted the body again. "I could have saved you, if I'd only cared," he whispered. He had intended to rescue everyone in the mines, including Radley, but had his mind cleared with him free and Yusei still trapped, he would have tried to rescue Yusei immediately and not have waited to defeat Lawton first. He hadn't had the same attitude about Radley at all, and that realization was devastating to him now.
"You deserved so much better," he sadly whispered. "Everyone you cared about abandoned you. And you tried to reach out to me so many times and I wouldn't let you in. You were a fool to try so hard, but I was a fool to ignore you. And the last thing you ever saw from me was that ice-cold look. . . ." Kalin would never forget the shock and hurt in Radley's eyes when Kalin had quite affirmed that he didn't care at all. "If only I could take it all back. . . ."
Even knowing Radley was gone, he still kept talking to the body. It was just too horrible, too heart-wrenching, to be real. Part of him still couldn't accept that it was too late.
"Please just talk to me," he begged. "You talked and talked for two months and I mostly just wanted you to shut up. . . . But now you can't ever speak again and all I want is to hear you say something. I never appreciated what I had when I had it! I thought Yusei betrayed me and I let myself be consumed by the darkness to get revenge on him. Then I sank into such apathy that I still didn't care about anyone, including him or you . . . and now look what I've done! Look what I've done. . . . Oh God, I'm so sorry, Radley. . . . I'm so sorry. . . ."
Kalin didn't know how long he'd been kneeling there in his grief when he heard Yusei calling to him. "Kalin!"
He looked up, the agony still spread across his features. "Yusei . . ."
In a moment Yusei reached him, and he stopped short in stunned shock and horror at the scene. "Radley?!"
"Look at him, Yusei!" Kalin exclaimed. "Look what they did to him!" The cruel collar was still occasionally sparking. "Look at his back!"
Yusei knelt down and gingerly peeled Kalin's coat away enough to see the blood and the whip lashes on Radley's back. "Oh. . . ." His voice caught in his throat.
Kalin was practically in hysterics. "We were so wrong about him! Completely wrong! This happened because he was saving Jordan's life! And Jordan . . . he told me Radley has been trying to protect the town all along! Radley tried to tell me, but I didn't grasp it. He was just like us! He wanted to save Crash Town and the people, and they knew it and loved him. . . ."
Yusei stared at him, a sick look beginning to spread over his features. "Oh no. . . ."
"We did this to him, Yusei! We left him all alone to die like this! We condemned an innocent man to his death!" Kalin held Radley close to his heart. "I did this to him. . . ."
"Kalin . . ." Yusei's hands were shaking as he replaced the coat over the wounds. "You never wanted this. I didn't either. . . . But this is my fault, not yours. You weren't well enough to think things out. I dragged you out of the mines and never gave Radley a second thought. If anything, maybe I thought he deserved to suffer for a while. I didn't know he didn't hurt his miners, and I was mad that he got you into this mess."
"It was my choice, Yusei," Kalin said. "It wasn't Radley's fault. He didn't know the state I was in. He thought I was just rude and uncaring." He looked up at Yusei in agonized grief. "And the worst part is, I did care about him! I wouldn't let myself know I cared, but I did . . . and he never knew it. And now I know it, but he's gone!"
Yusei stared at him. No doubt he was thinking similar thoughts to what had been running through Kalin's mind. If Yusei had died in the past, Kalin very likely would have gone into this overwrought display over him too. Yusei could scarcely imagine the depth of Kalin's anguish now. Yusei felt horrible enough as it was that Radley was dead, but for Kalin, he had the added grief of realizing he cared deeply for Radley and had lost him.
"This poor man," Kalin said. "He wanted to save the town and he thought I was the one who could help him do it! He thought I could be his friend. He didn't know I'd already tried to kill my dearest friend!"
"Kalin, stop it!" Yusei exclaimed. "You know you weren't yourself back then. You were under the control of an evil force!"
Kalin was barely listening. "Take a good look, Yusei! This is what I do to my friends. It's what I would have done to you if you hadn't been so handy with a nail and got yourself free of that collar!" He shut his eyes tightly as he held the lifeless form close to him. "I'm so sorry, Radley. I'm so sorry. . . ."
"Kalin, you can't blame yourself," Yusei said helplessly. "You weren't well." His voice thickened. "This is my fault. . . ." He bent over Radley from his position, drawing both him and Kalin into a sorrowful embrace.
Kalin leaned into his oldest friend, not even trying to hold back the next sob.
xxxx
Kalin didn't know what to do next. Neither did Yusei. He held his friend close until he was able to get himself more under control. Then Yusei got the wretched collar off of Radley, throwing it to the ground where it belonged.
For a moment Yusei just knelt there, staring at the lifeless form and the cruel red mark around his neck. If they hadn't taken you away . . . if you'd still been there when I was trying to get Kalin out, I can't believe I would have left you behind. I had to get him out right then, so I couldn't stop to look. But . . . after the kids made us realize we couldn't leave without saving everyone, and they went back to find Jordan, why didn't I remind Kalin about you too? Did I think Kalin would just remember, after knowing you for two months? Or . . . did I just not care?
It was troubling to think about. Yusei had always tried to help everyone who deserved it, and even some who perhaps didn't, if they were in trouble. So why . . . why not Radley?
He wouldn't ask why Kalin hadn't thought of it. Kalin had still been in a fragile state. And maybe, like Yusei, he had blamed Radley for the mess in town and thought Radley deserved to suffer for a while. It was too late now to make that right.
"We should go back to town," Yusei quietly told Kalin.
Kalin gave a weak nod. "I know. . . ." He drew a shaking breath and stumbled to his feet, still cradling Radley's lifeless body. Finally remembering something, he asked, "Where's Jack and Crow?"
"Helping in town," Yusei said.
"That's good," Kalin said, sounding far-away.
Yusei sighed as he guided Kalin down the mountain and into town. Despite the late hour, people were already starting to try to put it back together after Lawton blew some of it up. Some of them, seeing the two coming, ran over and then stared in horror to see Radley laying dead. A few, including Mrs. Rickshaw and Klaus's granddaughter Belle, became absolutely hysterical. Kalin just shut his eyes tightly, repeating how sorry he was over and over as Yusei tried to guide him away.
When they weren't being waylaid by horrified townspeople, Kalin walked blankly, almost mechanically, towards Radley's diner. Realizing Kalin wanted to go inside, Yusei walked up the steps and held the doors open for him as they arrived.
The Bunch, gathered around the tables and worn-out and discouraged from not being able to find their leader, looked up with a start as they entered. "Radley?!" Scotch exclaimed. He focused on the body in Kalin's arms.
Kalin shook his head. "I am so sorry," he rasped. He had said it so many times by now, but instead of it feeling like an automatic response, every time he said it still felt fresh and new and horrible. Radley was dead because of him; how could it ever feel anything but fresh and new and horrible?
Scotch stared at him in horror as it started to dawn on him what Kalin meant. He slowly went over, his eyes wide and then filling with tears when he saw how still Radley was. "Radley?! No . . . no, you've gotta get up! You've gotta. . . ." He sobbed, throwing his arms around Radley as he sank to his knees in tears.
Kalin dropped to his knees as well, to allow Scotch better access. Now the rest of the Bunch was coming around as well, or most of them. Billy stood stiff, completely ashen. "He's dead?!" he rasped.
"Yes," Kalin said.
Billy swayed, suddenly faint. Yusei rushed to catch him. "This is my fault," he whispered in horror. "He came to me when Lawton forced me to work as a guard in the mine. He begged me to help him, but I didn't know how to get the collar off and I was too scared. . . ." He covered his face with a hand and sobbed.
Virgil punched the wall in despair. "We should've had more guts," he spat. "Radley fought on even when he was scared, but we all just folded and joined the enemy! And those of us who saw Radley in the mines just left him there to die!"
Billy fell to his knees, digging his hands into his hair as he screamed and wept.
Yusei's heart broke as he watched them all. Every one of these people loved Radley so much. They were all so close-knit, just like the Enforcers had been.
"We saved the town," he whispered, "and most of the people, but . . . to have not saved Radley, the town's original protector, did we take away the heart of this place?"
They had certainly broke many hearts. Kalin, too, seemed absolutely devastated and inconsolable. He was numb now and didn't cry any more, but Yusei knew his heart was still shredded inside.
I wish I'd asked more questions, Yusei sadly thought to himself. I thought I knew what was going on in town. I really didn't, not completely. If I'd really known about Radley, I can't imagine I would have just left him behind and figured he'd get rescued with everyone else when we beat Lawton. He should have been with us to help take Lawton down.
And yet, if Radley had been with them, would Jordan have been found alive?
Yusei frowned. He hated to think that Jordan could only survive if Radley died. That just wasn't right.
They all mourned together for a time, relocating to Radley's office upstairs so Kalin could lay him on the couch. Some of the Bunch sadly told of how Radley had found them and taken them away from their miserable, abusive home lives to be happy with him.
"That was the case with all of you?" Yusei asked.
"A lot of us," Marty said. "Some of us weren't that bad off, but we were still lonely because we were misfits. Radley knew what that was like. He told us he'd been lonely all his life until meeting us. We gave his life new meaning."
"And then we all just left him when he needed us!" Billy said in anguish. "He never asked for much, even though he gave us the world! And we wouldn't give him the one thing he needed so desperately—companionship so he wouldn't have to die alone and forgotten!"
Kalin looked away. Virgil had been giving him some cold looks, but for the most part the Bunch did not seem to blame him at all. They were too busy blaming themselves.
"I wish we'd been able to save him," Yusei said quietly. "I see now that he was special. I didn't know."
"Kalin could have told you," Virgil finally muttered. "But he didn't care."
Kalin shut his eyes tightly.
"Kalin wasn't well," Yusei said. "He'd sunk into depression and self-hatred. You can't blame him for what happened. Blame me instead."
Scotch looked up from where he was still kneeling beside Radley's body and sadly resting his head on the motionless shoulder. "You know . . . Radley probably wouldn't want us to blame anyone," he said softly. "He told us life was too short to spend it hating people, even ourselves. He taught us to laugh and have fun and enjoy life wherever we could."
"Those are good lessons," Yusei said quietly. "He'd still want you to follow them, if you can."
"I don't know how to even enjoy life without him," Scotch said sorrowfully. "He was our whole world!"
Biff squeezed his shoulder. "I don't know how we're gonna either," he said. "But we've gotta, somehow. . . ."
"Not right away, though," Yusei said. "Give yourselves time to grieve."
That broke Scotch down again and he sobbed into Radley's shoulder.
As the night dragged on, the Bunch numbly knew they couldn't keep staying. They finally whispered their Goodbyes to Radley and bade Farewell to Kalin and Yusei before slipping out the door to further mourn at their homes.
"They'll never be the same," Kalin said. "They love Radley too much to ever get over this." He laid Radley's jacket over his chest and then gently brought his hands up to clasp over it. He was still so limp. . . . That was bad enough; Kalin didn't want to feel when the body would start to stiffen.
Yusei regarded him in concern. It was unlikely that Kalin would get over it either. "Kalin, I'm really sorry, but you know we have to take him to the morgue," he said quietly.
"I know," Kalin said.
"What happened was horrible," Yusei said. "Maybe none of us will ever get over it. But there are other things we have to try doing. The town needs to be rebuilt. The kids will need you while their father recovers. The best thing we can do for Radley now is to make sure he didn't die in vain."
Kalin nodded. "I will do all I can to make my penance by preserving this town," he agreed. "I was going to stay on anyway, but I have even more reason to now." He bent down, again lifting Radley's body into his arms. "I'll take him away."
"Kalin . . ." Yusei watched him sorrowfully. "Again, I am so sorry."
"It's Radley who deserves our apologies, Yusei," Kalin said. "But none will ever be good enough. I lost a friend I didn't know I had or wanted. Thank God I didn't lose you too, but . . ."
"I know," Yusei said quietly. "No one can take the place of another, and me surviving doesn't change that Radley didn't. Could we have changed this? I don't know. We didn't know where Radley was. But . . . yeah, even if things still would have turned out like this, more could have been done to find him. I wish I'd been thinking clearly and I would have asked more questions and found out the whole story of what was going on in the first place."
Kalin looked down. It had been Yusei's worry for Kalin that had clouded his mind. Any way Kalin looked at the tragedy, it always came back to him somehow.
"Maybe," Kalin said slowly, "the town should be re-named in Radley's honor. He fought for it for so long. . . . He deserves to have his sacrifices remembered and honored."
"I think that's a nice idea," Yusei said.
A weak moan startled them both out of their minds. "Nah . . . you don't have to do that. . . ."
Kalin almost dropped Radley. Yusei stared, his eyes wide in his disbelief. "It can't be," he gasped. "It has to just be some kind of reflex. . . ."
"It's not," Radley mumbled. "It's me."
Kalin stared down at him, shaking. Radley weakly opened his eyes, looking up at him with matching awe.
"Radley," Kalin whispered. He sank down on the couch, holding Radley on his lap as he hugged him close, being careful of the wounds on his back. It was all he had wanted and prayed for, but it was so impossible that even now Kalin could scarcely believe it was real.
Radley slowly curled his arms around Kalin. "I'd given up on everything," he said softly. "I thought everyone had left me and I had nothing to come back to. When the pain was too much, I just . . . died and figured no one would care. But you and the Bunch . . . even Yusei . . . you showed me living is still worth it. I started fighting to get back, and I finally made it. Thank you . . . so much."
Kalin held Radley close, stabbed through the heart by his explanation . . . and then stunned beyond belief. "What?! But . . . it was our fault you . . ."
"Shh. It's okay," Radley said softly. "I forgive you." He rested against Kalin's shoulder. "Your love brought me back to life."
Overcome, Kalin just held him close. He had been sure Radley wouldn't want anything to do with him if he revived, but instead, for him to be so sweetly forgiving . . . that seemed almost more unbelievable than him coming back to life. Kalin said a silent and sincere prayer of thanks. Radley deserved this, so much.
"I'm really sorry I didn't know how you were hurting," Radley rasped. "I would have wanted to try to help you if I'd known."
"I wasn't letting anyone in," Kalin said. "You couldn't have known."
Yusei smiled, his heart filled to overflowing. "I'm really glad you came back, Radley," he said. "I'm so sorry too. If I could do it over, I'd save you as well as Kalin."
"You probably didn't even know where I was," Radley said. "The guards had taken me away."
"I still wish I'd tried harder," Yusei said. "You didn't deserve what you've gone through."
Radley sighed. "Well . . . it's all over now. What is, is."
"You're going to get well again," Kalin assured him. "You came back, and you're going to stay with us. We're all going to make sure of it!"
Radley smiled. "I want to live," he said. "And I want to be with all of you."
Suddenly realizing something else important, Yusei ran out of the room and down the stairs to catch the Bunch before they trudged out. "Hey," he greeted them. "You guys need to come upstairs now."
Virgil turned back with a frown. "Why?"
"It's . . . hard to explain," Yusei said. "You might not believe me if I just tell you."
Scotch perked up. "Is it Radley?!"
Virgil snorted. "He's gone, Scotch! He's never coming back."
Yusei had to smile. "He always believes in overcoming the odds, doesn't he? What could be a greater odd than death?"
Scotch immediately tore for the stairs. "Radley!"
The others thundered up after him.
Scotch arrived first and just stared in awe before running forward into Radley's arms. "Radley! Radley! You came back! You really came back!" He sobbed in joy.
Radley laughed and held him, the warmth and love in his eyes. "I had to," he said. "I finally know now that I'm still wanted and loved. That was what I needed to have the strength to fight."
Soon the rest of the Bunch ran over, all wanting their chance to reunite with him. Kalin found himself laughing too, joyous now instead of weighed down by anguish and grief.
"You know we have to get Radley to the hospital," he said. "He's still very badly hurt."
"We know!" Scotch said. "And we're all going to help him get better!"
"Hey . . ." Radley looked over at Kalin. "Your coat's kind of a mess now. . . ."
Kalin just smiled at him. "I can have it cleaned. It's fine. You're going to be alright. I don't think I'd even have the heart to wear the coat anymore if you weren't."
Touched surprise flickered in Radley's eyes. "Kalin . . . you're really different now."
"I'm going to be the friend you wanted me to be," Kalin told him. "The friend I should have been . . . if you still want me."
Radley beamed. "Yeah," he said. "I still want you."
Yusei smiled too. Everything would be alright. They were going into a new era now, on many levels. And it was going to be wonderful.