"I'm your brother."

Kyle stared in astonishment at his supposed newfound relative. He couldn't believe what Cassidy just

said. Could Grace Kingsley really be his mother? He went through all the possibilities in his head, but

there wasn't any way to prove Cassidy wrong. Maybe he was related to a guiltless killer, maybe he was related to Jessi's mom's killer…With that thought, Kyle felt a strong feeling overwhelm him, a feeling that he wasn't all that familiar with; hate. His grip upon Cassidy's neck tightened, much to Cassidy's surprise, and it seemed as though he would follow through the dreadful deed and kill his own brother. The simple thought of becoming a reminder of pain to Jessi simply put him over the top. He had always been her only escape, and now, even that would be taken from him. Wasn't it enough to have to lose Amanda?

As his hand continued to tighten, Kyle became vaguely aware of Amanda and Jessi's presence. They had tied Nate to his bedpost and had returned for Kyle's advice on what to do with him, but instead had found Kyle in the middle of choking Cassidy. Amanda immediately freaked out, but Jessi simply stood in the entrance of the kitchen for a moment and watched. She watched as, for some reason, Kyle seemed to become angrier. She wondered if Cassidy had just told him what she herself had just discovered in Nate's files. Perhaps Kyle now knew his true lineage, but why would he then want to kill his own brother?

"Kyle stop! You can't do this!" Amanda cried in a shrill, and annoyingly innocent voice. Though, Kyle didn't even seem to recognize her presence. If anything, his grip tightened- if that was even possible. Cassidy slowly began to lose consciousness, his flailing arms beginning to stop an attempt at freedom. Kyle's eyes darkened, he was unrecognizable. Nicole was right, he really had changed- and for the worse.

Jessi watched with conflicting feelings as Kyle avenged her mother. This was exactly what she had wanted to do herself- dreamed of doing herself. And yet, she felt guilt. Why did she not want Cassidy's death more than anything? Jessi realized in the moment that she saw Kyle's face darken, and become so corrupt, that what she wanted more than Cassidy's death was Kyle. And the only way to attain Kyle, was to make sure that he never changed. If Kyle remained the same man she fell in love with, then she would never lose him and he would never lose himself. She knew with all her heart, that the Kyle she wanted would never think of killing anyone. That's why Jessi had to forgive Cassidy, and hope that one day something might make him feel remorse, because that is what bothered her the most about what had happened to Sarah; that Cassidy had felt no guilt, no remorse for his crime, and killing him wouldn't make his remorse happen faster. For these reasons, Jessi quietly said,

"Let him go, Kyle, please." Kyle did immediately as he was told. Amanda gasped quietly at the tangible bond that Kyle and Jessi shared, a bond that she had insisted on ignoring, but it was impossible to miss when he asked for no explanation of Jessi. He simply… obeyed. It was as if their minds were connected as all Kyle needed was her verbal assent to know for sure.

As if in a daze, Kyle's eyes slowly began to truly acknowledge their presence. It was as if Kyle had been in a nightmare and the only thing that could get him to wake up was the voice of someone he knew to be real and solid; Jessi. With her face in his mind's eye, he found the strength to let go of the miserable scum that dared to call himself his brother. There was no way that Michael Cassidy could ever act like a brother to Kyle, and Kyle knew it. He had no other brother except for Josh. Shared DNA or not.

Kyle stumbled to the floor, right next to the unconscious body of Cassidy. Amanda stood in shock and Jessi slowly made her way to Kyle. She crouched and felt Kyle's forehead, it was hot with fever. Recalling her own sickness to an emotional trigger, Jessi quickly sat down next to him and gently caressed his check in an effort to console him. Telling him all will be alright if he stayed with her. She spoke of nothing and everything as they lay on the floor. She didn't think about Cassidy's still form or of Amanda's stressed pacing, waiting for the Tragers to respond to her texts, begging them to come home. Instead, Jessi looked into Kyle's estranged eyes, stroked his cheek and spoke to him about anything she could think of, trying to keep him responsive, trying to bring him back from the dark place he was.

"I remember when I first saw you. You were running. I had felt so lost and confused, when all of a sudden I felt…. comforted. I felt as if someone had finally found me and would help me. I thought that… I don't know… I guess I thought I had found my mate. My friend. When you told me about the difference between love and friendship, I remembered how I felt that day. I remember feeling the way you described when you first saw Amanda."

At this, Jessi paused. She was on the verge of tears, not because of her confession but because of Kyle's still despondent state, his temperature slightly rising. Had she really lost him even without him killing Cassidy? She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the Kyle that she had created, had created by loving him. A silent tear escaped her eyes. She sent her first silent prayer to the God that Stephen and Nicole said didn't exist, but right now she had no other option, did she? Even if he didn't exist, it felt nice to unload. It felt nice to hope for something. Please, please help him. If anyone deserves to live it's Kyle. Please keep him with me.

"I love you, Kyle. Please. Please, God, let me keep him. I need him."

As another tear rolled off her cheek, she felt a familiar stroke against her cheek. Her eyes immediately opened. Her face broke into a smile as she saw Kyle's face, his real face, the one with the familiar look of compassion in his eyes, soft smile, and worried creases in the forehead. Jessi laughed with relief and joy as she lunged at him, encompassing in the largest hug either had ever had in their brief lifetime. Amanda walked into the room, alerted by the inappropriate sound of joy in a time like this.

"Why are you laughing, Jessi? Kyle almost just killed someone!"

"Because," Jessi gasped between her joyous laughter, "he didn't, and because," chuckle, "he's still Kyle."

"So…. You're alright, Kyle?" she asked with much more compassion and patience than she had shown Jessi only seconds before.

"I… I will be. I'm sorry that you had to see that. I just found… something out. Which reminds me; I think I should tell you everything now. That is… if the other person this secret concerns is okay with that. Jessi? Do you mind if Amanda knows the truth about where we come from?"

Jessi's smile faded slightly. What if Amanda didn't run away screaming? She had proven after tonight's events that she is stronger than she appears to be. And then Jessi realized that if she didn't run away screaming then she would know for sure. Kyle would have to decide for himself whom he really loved. Jessi looked into his blue eyes, savoring the last moment of sharing this secret with him. She had always felt somewhat of a partner in crime when Amanda was left out of the loop, but it appeared to be for the best so she nodded her approval.

Cassidy was tied to a kitchen chair, still unconscious as Kyle explained his and Jessi's origins to Amanda. He also told her about the "electric kiss" between him and Jessi was to help her. Amanda listened with disquieting patience and calm. Jessi and Kyle were both thrown off by her very platonic reaction. When he finally finished Kyle asked her what she thought. Amanda looked at him for a moment and then said,

"I always knew it would be something weird. Of course , I never imagined this, but I'm strangely… glad to know that this is why you and Jessi were so inseparable. Someone had led me to believe it was for different reasons…" At this, Amanda gave Jessi a pointed glare. Jessi scoffed.

"So…. You're okay with it? With my birth, I mean."

"I guess. Why wouldn't I be? It's… different, but you're still human. So… maybe it's not that weird?"

Kyle looked at her in astonishment. All this time he had thought Amanda would be disgusted but instead she was… normal. Maybe he could still be with her. But then he thought of Jessi. He… really cared for her. But he really cared for Amanda, too. Great. At this moment, the rest of the Tragers ran into the house with worried expressions.

"Kyle? Jessi? What happened here?" Nicole exclaimed looking at her damaged home and an unconscious Michael Cassidy tied to a kitchen chair. Kyle sighed, "It's a really long story."

"Okay, we can see that you need rest. How 'bout we make some Chamomile tea and wait for you to regain some energy? Then you tell us."

The Trager family plus Amanda and the not-so-part-of-the-family Jessi gathered around the table, and if Cassidy weren't sitting with his body tied to a chair, one would think it was just a regular old gathering. But Cassidy was tied to the chair, which made this a very not-normal-gathering. It became even more abnormal when the subject of conversation began with Lori saying, "So, did you finally kill the jackass?"

"Almost," Kyle replied with guilt in his eyes. Jessi was sitting to his right and Amanda to his left, and upon seeing the look in his eyes they both reached out for his hand at exactly the same time. They then both withdrew it in the same manner with awkward and annoyed glances. Kyle blushed and hoped nobody noticed, but of course everyone did. Thankfully, not even Josh said anything.

Instead Josh asked, "So…. what did happen?"

Jessi, Amanda, and Kyle all share a look of apprehension. And then Kyle takes a deep breath and says, "I found out that I…um… I'm… I found out who my Mother is." He just couldn't bear to share the rest of the news, yet. It simply wouldn't leave his mouth. Besides, how would Jessi react when she found out? He still hadn't been able to ask her why she didn't want him to kill Cassidy, but he didn't simply because she said so. Why?

There was a chorus of, "What?" around the kitchen. Even Amanda, who hadn't read what Jessi had in Nate's room, gave a gasp. But Kyle only had eyes for Nicole. He wanted to see her reaction. At first she simply appeared shocked, but then that fleeting look of despair crossed her face. The same one she wore when the Petersons first came for Kyle. Though, she quickly hid it with an uncertain smile.

"So?" she asked with difficulty.

"So… it turns out that she works for Latnok, and… um..," Kyle glanced and Jessi and then brought his eyes to the table as he said in a rush, "and her name is Grace Kingsley. She is also the mother of Cassidy. Cassidy is my brother. Or, half-brother, I think."

There was no gasp this time, just stunned silence. But Kyle didn't care about the family's reactions. He just cared about Jessi's explosion. It didn't come. He waited a moment longer but she simply continued to sit next to him with no tension in her shoulders whatsoever. It was so un-Jessilike that it finally dawned on Kyle. He turned to her suddenly.

"You knew. Didn't you? That's why you didn't let me kill him. That's why you were being cautious. Jessi, I'm so sorry. I should've realized that you needed me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm related to him. I'm sorry that…"

"Stop it." Jessi's voice held the force of one with authority. It immediately silenced Kyle, her dear; sweet; Kyle that was of course apologizing for his who his brother was.

"You don't need to apologize to me. You can't be blame for what he… did to Sarah. It doesn't change anything Kyle. It's not like you're defending him. You were going to kill him. For me, right? You don't need to be apologizing."

"Wait a minute," exclaimed a frustrated Josh. "What the hell is he talking about? What happened to Sarah? And this whole "brother" thing is seriously freaking me out, so if we could slow the topic of conversation I would be really thankful!" He finished with a roll of his eyes and exaggerated hand gestures.

"Well, Cassidy killed my Mother. Kyle and I just found out a few days ago and I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't ready, but I guess there's no point in keeping it a secret."

"Oh, Jessi, I'm so sorry. Are… are you okay?" Nicole asked with a sympathetic voice.

"I'll be fine." Of course, Jessi used a nonchalant shrug to hide her true feelings. Kyle, with care to appear only friendly, patted her hand. If anything, the platonic action merely annoyed Jessi and she retracted it. Amanda gave a satisfied smile.

Suddenly, a groan came from the other side of the room. Cassidy had finally come to. Kyle's must have been especially hard because he had been unconscious for nearly forty-five minutes now. He seemed to be disoriented at first but when he finally got used to his surrounding, he had only eyes for Kyle.

"Thanks for not killing me, man. I know it was justified." He glanced at Jessi and for a moment he had a look of regret. Kyle glared at him. Why would he dare to act like a good guy, now? Pretend to care? Kyle got up from his seat an walked up to his sibling. He looked him up and down. Looking for similarities between them, and he had to admit that they shared the same shoulders. The same forehead and chin. Even the same worry lines on that broad forehead. Now that he knew, the similarities were undeniable.

"You don't care about what you did. You wanted to kill her. You want to get your way. You forget the threats you dealt before I had you pinned to the wall. I've lost any trace of trust I had for you the moment you threatened my family. So, don't try to reconcile. It won't be possible."

"But I know things. More things. About you. About Jessi. About Mum. I have information that you need. And… it would be nice to have a little brother. Even if he is Mum's favorite."

"I am not you brother. The only brother I have is sitting at that table." (pointing to Josh who smiled with exaggerated charm)

"Don't deny the truth Kyle. Just like you share a bond with Jessi, we have something that brings us together, too."

"I don't have a bond with Jessi because she's my sister, because she's not. I share a bond with her because she's my friend. And you don't know what a friend is, do you? You only know about lies and deceit. And I'm tired of it. So, I'm going to call Foss and tell him to send you to some stranded island or something."

"Ah, so you don't want to kill me? Do you think perhaps that is because we do share a bond?"

"No, it's because I'm not a killer, and the only reason I would kill told me not to. That's why you're still alive and that's why I won't tell Foss to do it. Though, he might do it anyway… then it's out of my hands" Kyle knew he would never allow that but he felt that Cassidy deserved the threat. What, after all the ones he dealt out? He certainly deserved a few more.

"Don't you care to find out the whole truth? Like why Adam combined his DNA with my Mum's? Or why Sarah did with Brian? Why wouldn't Sarah and Adam do it, if they were so in love? Don't you want to know if there's a reason you and Jessi aren't blood-related?"

Did he mean what Kyle thought he meant? Did Latnok want him to fall in love with Jessi? Does that mean he shouldn't?