Shout-Outs: ngocquevt, guest, Marcia Santos, Jane Doe51, Nerwen Aldarion, and chymom for their reviews on chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. If I did, I'd actually have a drier that worked.

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Chapter 2

Two years later – Lone Star, Texas

"Kane! What are you doing here?" the now seventeen-year-old Patrick Jane asked as he tossed aside the book he was reading and rose to greet his older brother. "We haven't seen or heard from you in two years—"

"Decided to check in and see how you guys were doing," Kane answered before he could say anything else, he looked around. "Where's dad?"

"He went into town with Pete to hand out fliers," Patrick replied, frowning slightly. "Is everything okay?"

Kane frowned too. "Why would you ask that?"

"The tension between your eyes and the way you're avoiding looking directly at me," he said. "You're not in some kind of trouble, are you? You didn't get a girl pregnant—?"

"No! I'm not stupid enough to get a girl pregnant, Patrick!" Kane snapped, he closed his and eyes took a deep breath to keep from lashing out at him further. "I just need money, okay? My grandparents cut off my allowance and my mother kicked me out."

Patrick looked confused. "Why would they do that?"

"You're the psychic, you tell me."

"Kane, I am not in the mood to play games with you today. What made your family do all those things?"

Kane laughed harshly. "Sounds like you're losing your touch, Paddy if you can't tell just by looking at me what happened."

"I don't have time for this. I have to get ready for a show in two hours," Patrick said.

"My grandparents cut me off because I'm not their picture perfect idea of what a Reynolds should be like. My mother kicked me because they probably told her to get rid of me and she's easily influenced by them."

He knew that Patrick probably knew there was more going on than he was letting on, but to his brother's credit he didn't press the issue. Instead he disappeared into the trailer without one word. A few minutes later he returned with a sealed coffee tin.

"What's this?" Kane asked looking slightly confused as Patrick handed it to him.

"This was the savings that I was going to use to run away from the carnival eventually," Patrick answered with a sigh. "But you need it more than I do, and I'm still not old enough to leave yet."

Kane knew that he should refuse the money, he knew that Patrick had probably been saving for years just to get a hundred dollars because their father was so tight-fisted when it came to sharing money with him. But he couldn't bring himself to say no, he dropped his backpack on the ground and emptied the bills and coins into it.

"You're a lifesaver, bro!"

"Just use it wisely. Okay?" Patrick pleaded. "Please don't blow it on beer or drugs or those cigarettes that you're so addicted to."

"I won't," Kane lied, zipping his pack up before slinging it over his shoulder. "I have to be going now though."

"But you just got here," Patrick said, looking disappointed. "Dad finally taught me how to hypnotize people—"

"As tempting as that sounds to watch, I can't stay. I'm sorry. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Sure, next time," Patrick agreed hollowly. "But are you sure you don't want to stay and at least see dad before you have to leave? He's going to be sorry he missed you—"

"I'll see dad next time," Kane said punching him lightly on the shoulder. "Besides dad doesn't want to see me, I'm the prodigal son."

"If I recall correctly, the prodigal son was received with open arms and a party," Patrick answered. "Dad might surprise you."

Kane shook his head and crossed his fingers. "No, I can't stay. I promise the next time I come that it'll be for more than a loan. . ."

Patrick nodded and offered him a smile. "Okay. I guess I'll see you later then."

"Later," Kane echoed as he waved, disappearing just as quickly as he had arrived.

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Six Months Later

"I have go and hear a guest lecturer in thirty minutes," a pretty, medium-skinned, brunette, co-ed named Corrine said as she tossed the comforter away and stumbled to her feet.

Kane groaned and propped himself up on his elbow, watching as she picked up her t-shirt dress and pulled it on. "Are you sure you have to go, baby?" he asked, tugging her back down beside him.

Corrine laughed and pulled him down for a long, languid kiss. "I'm sure," she answered. "It's required for my major. But I do have an extra ticket, if you want to come with me."

Kane sighed. "I guess I could go with you."

"Good!" Corrine said, tapping him on the chest as she got up again and grabbed his sweater from the bookshelf before pulling on her boots. "Hurry up and get ready then. If we're late then they won't let us in and I can't afford to miss this lecture. It's worth half my grade."

"Don't you ever get tired of living a life that's so structured?" Kane asked as he put his jeans on.

"Don't you ever get tired of not living a structured life?" Corrine asked, raking her fingers through his long, tangled, blonde curls.

"Not really," Kane replied taking her hand and kissing it. "I guess I get that from my father."

"Really? What does your father do?"

Kane shrugged. "I told you before that it wasn't important."

Corrine sighed and found a denim jacket. "Everything about you is such a mystery, Kane."

"I know," he replied, coming up behind her and brushing a kiss on her ear. "I like it that way."

"But if you want something long-term with somebody, don't you think you should be a little more sharing with them?" Corrine asked.

Kane took her hand and walked her to the dorm door. "Honestly, I haven't thought about it."

"Well, you should," she said, locking the door and pocketing her key.

He smiled and put on his best fake smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets and crossed his fingers. "If that's what you want, then I'll just have to think about."

"Thank you," Corrine said, returning his smile with a genuine one of her own. "Now really have to hurry or we're really going to be late."

"Anything for you," Kane answered.

It was another lie in a long series of falsehoods he had been telling since his mother and grandparents had disinherited him.

Corrine was very beautiful and very nice, but she was also very disposable. Kane didn't love her at all; she was just a nice face and a good body. He only went to see her when he didn't have anything better to do.

He just couldn't let her know that until he was tired of her.

It would be easy, he was a good pretender.

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"That was just plain creepy," Corrine said as they exited the lecture hall hand-in-hand. "How could anybody believe in that kind of stuff?"

Kane didn't reply, Visualize sounded like an interesting and enlightened group, people of superior intellect who knew how to manipulate those around them. Not unlike the cons he knew from his father's carnie circuit. But there was an undercurrent of something else that Kane couldn't identify, something that came from Brother Robert that appealed to him. He hungered for more information on it, like he'd finally found the idol he'd been seeking.

"Let's go and get something to eat. I'm starving," Corrine said, tugging at his hand.

Kane looked back longingly at the instructor, everything in him wanted to find out more about Visualize and what it would take to join the church, but the lecturer had been swamped by other students who probably wanted to know the same thing.

It looked like Brother Robert would be a while, and Kane hated having to wait his turn. He still had some money left over from Patrick's loan, it would be enough to finance a trip to Sacramento (and back, if he decided that joining the church actually wasn't from him).

But first, he needed to feed Corrine.

"Come on," he said, keeping his features schooled so she wouldn't know anything had changed. "Let's go and grab something to eat before we go back to your dorm."

"Okay," she answered, wrapping her arm around his and letting him lead the way to the diner across the street.

Early the next morning, when Corrine was sleeping soundly, he dressed quietly and slipped out of the door without even kissing her goodbye. But for a moment, he did watch her sleep, a sliver of moonlight danced across her face and the kinder side of him hoped that she'd understand when she woke up all alone. And that maybe one day, she would find somebody who would actually love her.

When she shifted in her sleep and made a little sound, Kane fled the room as quickly as he could. If she woke up, he would have to postpone his trip to Sacramento by a day. Because if she opened her eyes and looked at him with that smoldering gaze of her's, he wouldn't be able to resist her.

And if he was really serious about leaving, then he was going to need to resist temptation.

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He spent the rest of the night in the bus station, clutching his ticket like a cross while he slept in small, fitful intervals. But he was too excited to really sleep as the thoughts of finally being accepted danced through his mind.

Morning finally dawned and the passengers were called to board the bus going to Sacramento.

Kane grabbed his backpack and followed the handful of people going in his direction. He slipped in the back and pulled his baseball cap over his eyes, he was sound asleep before the bus had hit the main highway.

They were in Sacramento by nightfall. As he exited the bus and hailed a taxi, he felt as giddy as a school boy the night before summer break started. He had no idea why though because everything had stopped making sense in an old lecture hall the afternoon before.

TBC. . .

Author's Note:

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this. I know it's a real stretch from the show, but people do AU's all the time. So, if you want to tell me what you think I'm open to hearing it.

Holly, 4/13/2013_