Amanda hadn't slept well. She remembered the dream vividly, of Charlie's betrayals, and then Kyle keeping the knowledge of those betrayals from her. She also remembered how angry and disappointed she'd been in Kyle for not telling her as soon as he'd known. Her ex-boyfriend was thankfully a distant, shameful memory. To think she'd considered giving herself to him, she shuddered at the thought.

She left the house just after seven in the morning, heading straight to Kyle's bedroom window. Kyle came out of the front door instead, chewing. After swallowing, he welcomed her.

"Great, I thought you might have gone for a run or something." She smiled to him.

He looked sheepish, "I went for a long run last night."

"Yeah, I guess you did huh." She smiled. Why did his mere presence affect her so much? She seemed to just want to hug and kiss him all the time. "I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh?" he said, sounding surprised. He took a single step forward then hesitated, "Why don't you come inside Amanda? I'm just finishing breakfast."

"Sure."

She sat next to him as he ate some fruit and a sandwich. He also had a large glass of milk. She marveled at how much he could eat and stay so slim, and strong. She swallowed, banishing that train of thought.

Between bites, he said, "I've been reading about dream interpretation. Tell me about your dream, I'll see if there's a meaning behind it."

She shook her head. "Kyle, I really don't believe in the interpretation of dreams. The people who do it are fakes, just in it for the money."

"Really?" He seemed surprised. He chewed a bite of apple. "I've had dreams where Adam explains problems to me or guides me in some subtle way to find solutions to things." After a little pause, he added, "He identifies himself as my subconscious, as part of me." He then appeared reluctant, "And I've had nightmares that seem to show very likely consequences to certain actions or situations."

It was her turn, "Really? Are all your dreams explainable this way?"

There was no hesitation. "No, not at all." He finished his sandwich. "Of the four books I've read so far, my dreams are almost all accounted for. However, the analysis presented in the books doesn't fit. For example, flying in a dream is supposed to mean 16 different things. And some books contradict others or present extremely specific circumstances. I'm going to need to read another dozen books at least."

She raised her eyebrows, "Flying. That's not exactly what you do right?"

He shook his head. "No. I use magnetic principles, usually involving water on the ground and the water in my body to float in the air. It's more like levitation, actually."

"I find that very cool." They smiled.

His smile changed just a little bit. "Would you like to tell me your dream or did you just change the subject?"

She was surprised by his directness, shocked even. She realized there would be little she could ever hide from him. She suddenly gasped. Her dream had been a message from her subconscious, she'd just never realized it until now! She knew that Kyle would value the truth, that she herself valued the truth, even if it would hurt in the short term. Just as she'd scolded Kyle about keeping hurtful secrets from her about Charlie, she was keeping secrets from him regarding her plans to make him less predictable, more – and yet less – human too. As she thought this she pictured her priest who'd she'd confided in when she'd been troubled over Kyle being a clone. She wasn't troubled any more.

She had to come clean, but that meant she had to get everyone else on the same page first. She wouldn't lie to him but she had to go home for a few minutes to cancel all her plans.

He was looking intently into her eyes and holding her shoulders, "Amanda, are you okay?"

Several seconds passed before she said, "Kyle, I need to –"

***

Amanda's heartbeat spiked when she must have realized the meaning of her dream. He was concerned for her but also happy that at least sometimes dreams could in fact be interpreted. It was clear there had to be some element of truth to the entire practice or it would have been abandoned long ago.

He held her shoulders and asked, "Amanda, are you okay?" He gazed at her and smelled a small wave of heat coming from her. It seemed to be something big, and yet her proximity made it difficult for him to concentrate. Even without taking a deep breath of her, he could feel his desire building, battling the concern.

"Kyle, I need to –" she started.

He moved forward suddenly, and kissed her. He'd made sure not to be too rough and bang teeth like two nights ago. As her arms came around him in the unexpected embrace, his senses exploded. The passion and desire were the strongest he'd ever felt before, and he smelled that she enjoyed it intensely too.

***

Jessi was on the climbing wall using only her arms to climb when she felt the surge of passion wash over her. She suddenly thought of Foss romantically, of kissing him, of holding him down and –

"No!" She yelled. She immediately pushed off the wall, landing on her feet with effortless grace. She stared at him, breathing much too heavily. He looked at her questioningly, angry.

"Why did you stop? You were doing great!"

As she took a few hesitant steps toward him, she thought furiously of non-romantic thoughts, trying to slow herself. She gritted her teeth. "Punch me!" At the back of her mind she thought her jerky movements made her look like a zombie from one of Josh's movies. She did nothing but grind her teeth shut.

"What?" His eyes narrowed as she advanced. She was losing her battle against the flood of emotion. It was such a wonderful feeling! How could she deny herself something that felt so good?

"Kick me or something," she yelled at him.

His confusion cleared and he complied. She merely side stepped his punch, ducked his kick, and after seven failed strikes, came face to face with him. She was breathing raggedly.

His eyes opened wide as he understood what was coming. He turned his head as far as it could go just before she forcibly kissed his cheek. The rough stubble dug into her lips but she didn't care. She vaguely noticed his eyes were closed when he yelled, bringing her to her senses. "Cut the damned connection!"

***

As the kiss continued, he found his hands were moving all over Amanda's back and that she gripped his neck fiercely. They were pressed together and it felt so good. He was losing his restraint, found that he really wanted to join the club as Josh had called it. Maybe Amanda wanted to continue?

He dismissed it and he reveled in their passion. He could barely contain himself but he had to for her.

Maybe he should run now? Or maybe Amanda wanted to go further, he thought again as another explosion rocked him, bringing him to his knees.

***

She felt flushed all over, her lips raw from their kisses when Kyle suddenly gasped and fell to his knees. He clutched at his abdomen, no, it was his chest. Her breathing was heavy but she felt a strong sense of dread. She bent over as he gasped repeatedly, seemingly unable to breathe.

"What's wrong Kyle?" Her training was kicking in. "Can you breathe?"

He didn't answer her immediately, which worried her more. A whispered response finally came as she urged him to lie down on the kitchen floor. "Hurts." Wild thoughts flew unbidden of something rupturing internally or an organ disintegrating under the duress of unspent male lust. She couldn't believe that could happen, could it? Surely she'd not let him get that excited right?

She saw his eyes flutter for a few seconds before thinking he might be going into shock. He was breathing very rapidly, a sure sign he didn't need CPR but that he might need professional help. There was no time for embarrassment. If she'd somehow hurt him, she'd own up to it to the doctors, even to her mother.

She reached into her pocket for her cell phone to dial emergency services when she remembered it was still in her bedroom. Anger flared as she envisioned seconds ticking, his life ebbing away. She took a step toward her house when she realized she could use the Trager's phone.

Before she even picked it up, Kyle catapulted to his feet, no longer clutching his chest but still breathing hard. "Amanda," he said with urgency.

She turned, happy to see him up. "Kyle, what happened?"

"I don't feel Jessi, I have to go see her right now." He took several long strides toward the front door.

She called to him and he stopped, looking at her. "Why? What's going on?"

"I can't explain it, one moment I felt her and now I don't. There has to be something wrong!"

"Kyle! You can't! You just had some sort of seizure or something!" She thought frantically. "Let me come with you at least!" She moved quickly toward him.

He was deadly serious, "That wasn't a seizure. I was examining my memory determining where she is." He turned his eyes down to his feet. "She needs me. I have to go."

With that he was gone. She tried yelling at him to stop, to at least slow down so she could keep up with him and she could help too. He was at the street corner and turned out of sight before she'd even crossed three lawns, and she wasn't that slow a runner. Tears surfaced as she wondered why Jessi was so important to him. She knew they were both clones, but they were so different. What cruel scientist would ever make them share such a spiritual bond!

What if Kyle found her and, unable to control himself, did it with Jessi?

She fell to her knees on the sidewalk. It didn't matter to her that she scraped them. Her heart breaking was much worse than that small physical ailment. She was unable to hold back the tears or the sobs.