July 18th, 2030 - Two Hours Later

Lyle Jefferson still had the drive to keep going, but Lindsey Sweetwater, the girl who had less energy and stamina than him, had been going rather slow and delayed their rush order to flee southbound.

For one, their plans were all shot up to high hell when Alexander Elmont, your average spook working in the shadows under the government payroll, came in and tranked them involuntarily while they trekked to his place, where he hoped his family would be. It was an interestingly perilous obstacle to say the least, one that not even Lyle's canine senses could so easily detect. Lo and behold, the two phenos whom had shared a cell in Dadetown, Colorado had entered a more fiercer world made up of deadlier allies and foes- none of which they'd have agreed to be affiliated with, nor to take part of the hubbub where bloodshed and chaos befell them. Surely not the ideal lifestyle. Lindsey had accepted what she'd been sold, and had misguided herself on the path where she thought no harm could come to pass, the path where she'd have her justice on those whom took her away from her family, as well as all the others Vial Corporation had snuck onto cells. And she understood the danger during the fall of the Patriot Division, getting scared of the storm.

Lyle, thank God for Lyle, the sweet, kind and gentle soul worthy of praise from social media users, had not once given her the lip or berated her. It was to say that was all due to him following her, and maybe, just maybe, he never strayed away in a different direction solely because it was his duty to watch over her, a good, loyal friend to the end. Lindsey could have never lucked out greater than this. A friend, and yet her young heart had started racing around the track field of love.

He carried her on piggyback, jogging through the streets around lower Manhattan, passing through apartment buildings, low-tier family shops and laundromats. The thirteen-year-old had gone hungry, and Lyle was only thinking of panhandling for quick cash, or to quickly find and fill a service around immediately.

Lyle was not one to acquire essentials through illegitimate means, even as desperate as they would become down the line. As of yet, nothing had really changed for the pair apart from the increased enormity of the dangers they faced.

Once upon a time, Lyle was a kid living in a good home with two good parents and an older sister in a small town of Tennesse- which was their current objective. Who knew if they'd still be there waiting for Lyle's return? Who could ever say that they never sold the house and moved out to some other town, or maybe state? It wasn't there to make a worry wort out of him, but there was always that slim, faint chance. And for Lindsey, her reunion with her family had reached a dead end when it had been discovered directly that the Sweetwater clan was no longer living in her old home. She had that chance elude her without ever knowing that it had, all hope having been taken away from her.

That was why Lyle had to carry out his hope, where his had not left home, and that Lindsey could be given hospitality while a search for the Sweetwater family. It shouldn't be that hard, he'd imagine, but lack of even the basic of technology deterred them from a proper investigation.

"I'm also tired, Lyle." Lindsey moaned abruptly, stroking the long sandy-blond hair on him. "How far is... What was the town's name?"

"Little Harley," Lyle answered. "I wish it wasn't that freaking far, honestly..."

Lindsey had too been dismayed by the estimated length of their journey. "Mmmm... Don't you have any extended family here? Something that can help us go about it faster?"

Lyle ventured through a short path in between two buildings, presumably to stop. "Actually," Lyle began to recollect, "I do know of a distant cousin who's a cop, if I remember right. It's either Margo or Marla, I don't recall, but she's in New York-"

"Which is where we've passed by!" Lindsey wailed. "How dare you tell me this now?!"

"I... My apologies, I didn't think about extended family. I'm not exactly close to most of them, not even... Marley."

"Her last name is Jefferson, right?" Lindsey wondered.

"Uh... I mean, sure if she didn't marry," Lyle fondly answered. "It's been longer than me being taken, if anything."

"Oh..." Lindsey groaned. "Ugh, what the hell? Let's turn it around and find the yellow pages. There's gotta be a book around there-"

Something in the corner of her eye; the poster of the four missing FBI agents waa barely loose, flapping its corners about to no end. She was drawn to it like candy being handed to a sweet tooth, grasping upon a curiosity of an interest, and even moreso when she immediately recognized one of the four missing agents. "Hey, look!" Lindsey turned Lyle's head to the poster. "That woman was with us back there!"

Lyle examined the poster top to bottom. The fact that Lynn Loud, the zoomer in a red and white suit, had been law enforcement prior to their group involvement did not act as shock value, but the other fact was; in clear daylight, there was that facial front photo that belonged to none other than Margo Jefferson, and her name hashed out in bold, black lettering. "Oh, dear."

Act III: Further Into Darkness, Chapter IV: Bittersweet

"Okay, okay, so maybe it's not so bad!" Lindsey attempted to diffuse the difficulty of this new development. "Maybe your cousin has been found! I mean, it says they all vanished since May! It's an old ad, Lyle, nothing more!"

"I had no idea that Lynn woman was partners with Margo... Then again, I don't know squabble about her."

"FBI agent went missing- Why don't we go asking around there? Surely, they know something, right?"

Lyle looked upwards to the sky. "Not a good idea, I'd say."

"Well, we- We have to try something, anything!" Lindsey screeched. "I mean, apart from going a long way to Tennessee!"

"I concur, Margo is likely to have contact with my folks, but snooping directly around her workplace, of a law enforcement agency, well..." Lyle nudged his shoulders. "Tell me you see what's wrong."

"Oh, we shouldn't be facing any trouble!" Lindsey brushed innocently. "Not if we keep moving fast."

"That's really assuring, Lindsey, thank you."

"Aw, you know what I mean, Lylie-poo!" Little Miss Redhead kissed the top of her best friend. "Let's not worry about all of that now."

"Hey, Lindsey?" Lyle readjusted in carrying her and ventured back onto the sidewalk.

"Yeah?"

"We'll find your family, I promise on my soul."

Lindsey twitched, losing the enthusiasm of her spiritual tone. She recalled it again, playing the memory over in her mind. Lindsey, right in front of the entrance, had knocked upon the birch white door, flustered with grand hope and excitement. Her heart throbbed with pure, giddy excitement, ready to see mommy, daddy and brother again. And right as the door knob turned, right as the other side of the door had become occupied, the happiness took its exit and fled from this place, replaced forever by the odd look and soft, formal greeting of a complete stranger that currently owned the old Sweetwater place.

Just like then, the sharp knife of that precise downward spiral hurt her perfectly, its serrated blade cutting down her heart in half. Nothing more in this life could ever amount to getting back to her family, not even her own life.

She rested her chin upon Lyle's head, falling into the vat of pain that left her empty and dead inside. "It's a big world, man... No empty promises are needed-"

"Hey, don't be all hopeless on me, we have to stay positive until we find your family-"

"And then what?" It was this question in particular that had the power to distract Lyle, make him stop and think about it. All he could really say to it was that he had no such idea, his agenda had been fully set on getting Lindsey back home safe and sound, while he continued to pray to the good Lord they'd be in His safe hands until the end of the line. If only things were easier, like the current resident of the old Sweetwater place having some clue that would lead them to the finish line. He did, he really did give it all the thought, but what was there after?

What really was there after Lindsey went back to her world? What, for him?

"Well..." Lyle hadn't the answers, but he did have a response for the redhead. "Anything can happen, I guess. I do have a life, just like you, ya know? I'm gonna make an educated guess and say we're looking at a whole lot of testifying both verbally and written."

"Yeah, pheno this, illegal experimentation that..." Lindsey near lifelessly ran a finger around his hair. "C-can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can," Lyle accepted. "What's on your mind?"

"Well..." Lindsey faked coughing and cleared her throat for drama points. "It's- It's about us, and... Well, I know what you mean when you say we have lives but, I... I wanna say I don't want us to end-"

"End?"

"Nuh-not like a relationship-" Lindsey hiccuped, "I mean, you know friends- I don't want to lose touch with you..."

"Oh? And...?"

"I felt- I mean, I figured that it would be weird to t-tell uou, seeing as how I didn't- In the cell, we started out complete strangers, and I can't help but think our beginning carries over as the end of us."

"Hmmm, I see," Lyle wondered about. "It... Surely overwrites the stuff earlier- I mean, restructures what we've gone over."

"Uh...?"

"I mean, change. I know it'd scare you and I alike, but this here, what you're saying is that you've gotten used to me, and you don't want me to walk out of your life."

Lindsey blushed, thankful that she had not been facially visible to Lyle. "Psshhhh... Yeah... Man! I mean, you're cool, ha! A cool guy friend who helped me, talked to me, and... Actually, you're- And don't take this the wrong way- Great boyfriend material."

"Sounds like a compliment to be taken the wrong way," Lyle laughed lightly. "I'm flattered, but I have you to thank just as I do myself. I'd like to think we've taught each other a great deal of things back there, and I'm grateful for it, are you?"

"L-Lyle, I... I love you," Lindsey openly confessed. "I want you to stay, man. I really do."

"My, aren't you direct and sweet at the same time? Hey, you're a good girl, I could say the same thing if it weren't suggestive."

"I'll pretend I know what you just said..." Lindsey forced a weak smile, still talking quietly. "Also, I'm positive my parents would like you. Y-you are gonna meet them, right?"

"How can I not?" Lyle responded. "I'd like to see the happy reunion, I know it'll be pleasant."

Lindsey sniffed and squeaked at his sugary-sweet he was. "You're t-too good for me, sweetheart, awww!" She wondered if he understood it perfectly, her little love confession that still played off strangely in her mind; she didn't think it was a normal one at all, and under the right reasons, it wasn't, but not because of how it happened, rather it was that he played the role of big brother, and this she knew. Him, a sibling figure in a figurative sense, had not moved in for the snatch to claim her heart, but Lindsey was still a girl with girly feelings, and could not help but ignite the flame of her love. "But I do, I don't... I mean, I want to-"

"I know, Lindsey, I appreciate the sentiment, and I can say I feel the same way."

"Oh, Lyle!"

"Oh, you..." Lyle grinned. "Just a phone number would suffice, or maybe-"

"I have- Well, I left behind a Facebook account," Lindsey dropped.

"Swell, that makes it easier! There, see? You have nothing to worry about, we're friends and nothing could change that."

Her little heart skipped a beat upon that specific word that eluded his savory lips. "Um, Lyle..." She wanted to tell him what she felt, a little disgruntled he hadn't seemingly caught on to her message. Silly boys, she accepted. Whatever could be playing in his head? This, she wished she knew, only for the answers that she hadn't.

Friend, a simple word with a bigger meaning behind the sound and concept.

Oh, God, is this weird? He's- He's older than me- Ugh, I... I want him, I want him. I like Lyle, I love Lyle- She gulped, heart pounding erratically. Man, I hate these weird stomachy feelings.

"Whoa there, your heart's gone fast," Lyle took notice with his canine hearing. "Something else on your mind, perhaps? Scared of something else? You know you can tell me virtually anything."

"I'm just shaken, that's all," she lied indefinitely. "Nothing to worry about, mmmkay?"

"Lindsey...!"

If she hadn't been alone in her thoughts for this long a period of time, she'd been caught with her pants down right about now. "It's- it's me- The new me- I've been turned into this thing, I'm a freak! I'm a freak, Lyle..."

"Then it'd be reasonable to say I am also one, so we can be abominations together, and I will protect you!"

"Joy," Lindsey faked. Now that she was on the subject, she let herself get sidetracked by it. "Hey, do you think they'd be able to cure us?"

"You mean take away... This?" Lyle knew what she was asking. "I honestly don't know if I really hate this new me, I'm completely augmented physically, and-"

"You're what?"

"Oh, sorry- I mean superior."

"Uh-huh- B-but a dog, that's..." The redhead shook her head dismissively. "I mean, cool, man, you have perks, but does that mean that you'll have a shorter lifespan? What about food? Bathroom breaks? You know!"

"Lindsey, I'm- I'm a hybrid, not a werewolf."

"Well, what's the difference?!"

"I can't transform, I'm just enabled with extra power akin to a dog... I just don't know which one, they have really never said."

"Yeah, no, I was with you, I know that."

As they were passing by an upcoming alley, Lyle's nose was suddenly sniffing out, detecting a faint, odd smell. "Something is delicious-"

"H-hey!" Lindsey noticed a black silhouette- A person- lying face down far into the alley, with a tiny puddle of blood formed around the top half of the bottom. "Is that a-?"

Lyle had reason to let the redhead down, sprinting right towards the body. Weirder still, Lindsey had noticed the lack of people walking about on this side of the street; maybe it was purely coincidental, as the other side wasn't empty like this side. Her intuition had told her something was wrong, but that she couldn't know for certain. "You stay there!"

"Uh- Please don't be dead-" She covered her mouth in shock and horror as Lyle approached the apparent dead body. "Ohmygodohmygod!"

Lyle hovered over the head of the dead person and listened closely. A heartbeat was racing, relieving him of an actual dead body to lay witness to in the most inconvenient of times. "Phew... Hey, mister, are you okay?"

Not even his uncanny ultra senses could have picked up on the foul play that came to be. The downed figure suddenly flipped right on his back, grabbed Lyle by one of his hands and made Him kiss the hard, uneven, bloodied ground. It caught the teenager off-guard without warning, but it didn't end there. The attacking man had him into a pro headlock in a matter of seconds, somehow being physically superior than Lyle.

"Hey, what's this about, man?" Lyle wanted to use words tp diffuse the situation, but it hasn't clicked that this was more than what he thought. "I don't have any money-"

"This isn't about greed, you... Pheno, you," the man declared, bringing upon fear into Lyle.

"Ph-pheno-? No, I'm not-" Lyle attempted to deny.

"Lyle Michael Jefferson, I know who the fuck you are," the man, sounding like a young man not yet in his thirties, dropped. He snuck out a tranquilizer dart from his sleeve and injected it right on the boy's neck. "Nighty-night, dog."

"Lyle!' Lindsey came running up after sucking up her fear, trading it for a brave sense of anger, charging wildly at the young assailant. "You scumbag, that's my man!"

If not for the gun, it would have been more effective for Lindsey to take upon the mysterious party at work here, but alas, the redhead went down with a tranquilizer dart to her neck, stopping only just mere feet away from the young man. She poked at the dart, slapping it away, but it had been vastly too late for her already. Falling on her knees, and going dreary, she gave the stranger the finger. "F-fuck- Fuck you..."

Three seconds later, the two phenos were down for the man to take back.

AN: A new play has started within the shadows by a secret party right here, but what is their goal? What will happen to the minor phenos, and why have they been kidnapped? The answer will not come until the next act, unfortunately, which is where the pair will appear next! And, if somehow by some chance I created Lindsey x Lyle shippers here... Don't expect a happy ending for them. Heh heh.

Speaking of this pair, I have no doubt or second thought to place these two the way they are now, with what Lyle being an OC created by Wheatgrass, and Lindsey, a side character with only one appearance(?) It's not the most bizarre ship from me, and you can quote me on that. I just hope I managed to properly explain their personal stories in the two chapters they've received in solo form so far- and this like two-thirds of their own arc before... Well, you'll see later on, assuming you don't stop at all.

Next up is the clone war, chapter planned as long as the list of Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriends. November, readers.