FROM DARKEST NIGHT TO BRIGHTEST DAY
Chapter Two
A week had passed since Thanksgiving, and Cissie thought of little else than with whom she should hook Kyle up, and how she was going to do so. Thankfully, Tim had seen the error in his ways, and was acting much more cooperative in her matchmaking scheme.
Currently, Cissie was munching on some sweet potato fries and a salad in the student union at UW, while waiting for her friend, Mandy. She and Mandy always met for lunch between classes when they could. They had clicked right away when they met in Lit 101. Probably because they were both non-traditional students, they related to each other better than they did to their fresh-out-of-high-school classmates.
Cissie was absorbed in a newspaper article when Mandy approached the table.
"Cissie, what is that on your salad?" Mandy crinkled her freckled nose.
"Ketchup and minced jalapeños," Cissie replied, as though it was the most normal salad dressing in the world. "Can you believe this?" She pointed to the article she was reading. "Universal healthcare for children failed again. This is the twenty-first century! You'd think these fascist pigs would get a clue!"
Mandy sighed and settled in for another political rant from her friend.
"Some kind of B.S. about the recession," she continued. How do they expect mothers to take care of their children properly if their system is so broken, they can't afford to! And then they point the finger at us and saying it's our fault for not working hard enough and basically for not being Super-Mom!"
"Clearly, they've never grasped how dangerous it is to piss off someone who can stomach that," Mandy pointed to her salad.
"I will have you know, this is delicious."
"Mr. Puddles wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole."
"Well, your cat has no taste. Just wait 'til you have kids. We'll see what you have to say to my concoctions when you're preggers." Cissie pointed a ketchup-and-jalapeño-dipped fry at the redhead across the table from her.
"You mean if I have kids."
Cissie cocked her head to one side. "I thought you wanted kids."
"I do. I just can't seem to find a suitable mate."
Cissie grimaced. "I take it your date didn't go too well?"
Mandy groaned. "You have no idea."
"Come on. Tell Cissie all about it."
"Okay," Mandy started. "So he picks me up on his motorcycle. Alright, that's cool. We go out to dinner and then he takes me to this… total dive where his buddies are playing. So there I am, sipping on a Jack and Coke, wondering how long we have to listen to this… noise, when some drunkard knocks into me and I spill my drink all over my blouse!"
"No way."
"So the guy's all apologetic and we get out of there and we're at his place. I'm thinking okay, cool. It's a nice house. Then, he takes me in through the kitchen and downstairs to the basement, and asks me if I want to do it, but we have to keep it down so we don't wake his parents!"
"What?!"
"I know! The man is thirty-five years old and still lives in his parents' basement!"
"Oof."
Mandy sighed and took a sip of her soda. "I don't know how you managed to find a man with a maturity level over the age of twelve."
Cissie giggled. "Well, Tim's a... unique bird."
Mattie sighed.
"Don't worry, we'll find someone for you."
"Pssh. Well, I'm starting to give up hope. I'm thirty years old and I have had the worst luck with men. Frankly, I'm ready to settle for Mr. Puddles."
Cissie laughed. "Don't settle just yet. In fact..." That was when it occurred to her. Kyle! Of course!
"Ciss," Mandy shifted in her seat. "You're making me nervous. I don't trust that grin. What are you plotting, now?"
"Oh, nothing, just, um... Right! So, you want to study for the Psych midterm together?"
***
"Tim!" Cissie burst through the kitchen door. She dropped her bag on the table. "Tim!"
She found him in his study, working on the computer.
"You know, Lala would tell you to use your inside voice," Tim smirked.
"Tim! I've got it! I know who to hook Kyle up with!"
Tim began feeling queasy. He had really hoped Cissie would forget about her little project.
"You know my friend, Mandy," she continued. "Well, she's been having some bad luck on the dating circuit, and it occurred to me that she and Kyle would be perfect for each other! So, here's the plan. I'm going to invite Mandy to our Christmas party and you're going to invite Kyle…"
"Wait, why do I have to invite Kyle?"
Cissie rolled her eyes. "Because if you invite him I avoid the inevitable, 'Gee, I dunno, Ciss. I wouldn't want Tim to feel uncomfortable,' that I know he will give me."
Tim cringed. He was not looking forward to this.
"Mistletoe!" Cissie bounded from the room with a grace that seemed unnatural for a pregnant woman. "We need lots of mistletoe!"
Tim groaned. He suddenly wished he could slip into a coma for this pregnancy too…
***
Kyle landed on the roof of his building and quickly changed out of his Green Lantern garb. He was exhausted. He knew that he was burning out, but he couldn't stop himself. He needed something, anything to distract himself. It hadn't been until his Mom had died earlier that year, that he had realized just how lonely he was.
After that fiasco with Harm a few years back, the JLA had changed so much. J'onn and Connor were the only teammates he really had any lasting history with; all the others were just... kids. He'd gotten to know some of them, a little. He knew Cassie better simply because she and Connor were together. He would never get over the fact that Bart was a grown-up now, and acted like it. Marc he had gotten to know some, and he really was a really great guy, nothing like his hot-headed father. Marc was a much better diplomat for Atlantis than Arthur ever was. Supes and the Bat were fine heroes, but they always seemed to be so absorbed in their own little worlds, that he had little connection with them. Especially the Bat—she could be stonier than Bruce ever had been.
It all left Kyle feeling old. He knew that it was silly. He was only 40, and he was in better shape than a lot of the twenty-year-olds he saw around these days. And really, it hadn't bothered him until a few months ago when his Mom died. Unless he was off-planet, or there was some sort of crisis, Kyle had visited his Mom every Sunday. He would meet her after she went to Mass and they would have lunch together. They would talk about his art, and her bridge, and really about anything under the sun. Those Sunday afternoons had kept him sane, even if Mom had nagged him to go to Mass with her.
Now, Kyle didn't really have anyone. Connor was available less and less. They really only saw each other at JLA meetings, or when they had to save the world. Thanksgiving had been the first time Kyle had seen Connor socially in a long time. He'd been grateful for the invitation.
Wally was retired and living in Keystone City. Without his powers, he could no longer zip to New York as he had in the past. Kyle honestly could not remember the last time he'd seen even spoken to him.
So, Kyle had found every distraction he could these past few months, just so he wouldn't have to think about how lonely he was. He took on extra monitor shifts at the JLA HQ. No one seemed to notice, or mind, especially with the holidays around. They'd all wanted to spend time with their families. He patrolled the streets of New York at all hours. When he wasn't out saving the world as Green Lantern, he was working on his commissions, and searching for more work than really any one person could ever do.
The only reason he was home this early was because he'd fallen asleep in another JLA meeting. Connor had persuaded him to go home and get some sleep. For once, Kyle had thought it was a good idea.
He stumbled into his apartment without even bothering to turn on the lights. Darkness was his friend, he decided. No point in turning the lights on if he was just going to crash. He found his way to the couch and stretched out. As he was drifting off to sleep, the telephone rang. "You've got to be kidding me," he grumbled. On the third ring, he picked up. "'Ello?"
"Hi… Kyle?"
"Yes?"
"It's Tim Drake. How are you?"
Kyle sat and stared into space.
"Kyle? You there?"
Kyle rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Tim, just... you're the last person I'd expect to call me. Is everything okay? Is Cissie okay? Leila?"
"Yeah, yeah, everyone's fine. I just... uh, well, you see, Cissie and I are having a little holiday get-together, and we would love it if you could be here. You know, if you're able to get to Seattle for it and all."
"Well, um, are you sure? I mean, I know you and I haven't always... gotten along."
"That's all in the past, Kyle." Tim's voice sounded strained, as though he was forcing himself to a smile as he spoke.
"Did Cissie put you up to this?"
Tim sighed. "Look, Kyle, it would mean a lot to Cissie if you're able to make it."
"I don't know, I don't want to cause any trouble."
"Believe me when I say that you would cause more trouble by not coming."
Kyle quirked an eyebrow at that. "Do I want to know?"
"Connor will be here." Tim was starting to sound desperate.
"Okay, okay. I'll try to make it, okay? I promise."
"Thank you, Kyle. You have no idea—oh, gotta go, Cissie's back. Next Saturday, okay?"
Kyle chuckled. "Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye, Tim."
Kyle lay back down on the sofa and smiled at the idea of Tim cowering in fear of Cissie. He didn't blame the man. He remembered what she did to the manor, the last go-around. Well, if going to a little Christmas party would make Cissie happy and save Tim's hide, he could manage that. It wasn't like he was in danger of becoming one of Cissie's victims...