Uncertainty on the Wings of Hope: 3/?
Title: Uncertainty on the Wings of Hope
Chapter: 3/?
Beta: none
Pairing(s): Kyle/Jessie (main)
Characters: All
Disclaimer: Have not, own not.
Summary: What was she doing out there all by herself, naked? What happened to her? Miranda starts asking the right questions and may be confronted with the answers before she’s ready. Madacorp makes an entrance, and the Trager’s deal with the emotional return of Kyle.
A/N: This chapter was insanely difficult for me to write. I had a difficult time trying to get the characters to move along the story, and I couldn’t get them to say or do what I wanted them to. Bah. Also, a good portion actually comes from the episode.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
~*Chapter 3: Prey and Predator*~
The Madacorp offices and building were seemingly empty and dark this time at night. With the exception of security monitoring the facility and running nighttime patrols, no one should have been on site. Julius Ballantine, however, was working overtime.
He sat at his desk, typing up reports and going through his emails, when an alert started flashing on the screen.
ALERT
781228
Mildly annoyed, he pulled up an access screen; typing in the alert code, pressing enter. Something must have happened at one of the outlying facilities. A map loaded, it’s gridded red lines dividing screen into coordinates. One square, in the lower right corner of the map, blinked red. Ballantine zoomed in several times, bringing the Zzyzx facility into focus. After examining it a moment, he picked up the phone.
“Get me Hollander.”
~*KXY*~
The Trager’s, no less excited and happy about Kyle’s return, were dismayed and shocked that the family he just got back, had been taken from him again.
“According to the police report, David lost control of the car and it plunge into a canyon. The gas tank was punctured and the car caught fire.”
Brian Taylor had come with Kyle, under the pretense of being the Peterson’s lawyer. Taylor was actually the long time friend of Adam Baylin, Kyle’s progenitor. He was a pretty good actor himself, feigning the sympathy and detachment of an acquaintance. Being Baylin’s closest friend and associate made him good in many things and areas. Nicole and Stephen Trager had no reason to disbelieve him at this point, and if everything goes to plan, hopefully never will.
“That’s horrible.” Nicole sighed, shaking her head. She could only imagine the pain Kyle must be going through. Stephen was silent, but no less weary and worried about how this would affect his Family, more so Nicole.
“But, for the grace of God, Noah decided to sleep in that morning, otherwise we would be having a far more difficult conversation.” Taylor added, trying to add a more humorous and happy note to the otherwise sad news.
“And you say this happened a week ago?” Stephen asked, disbelievingly.
“That’s right.”
Stephen’s face scrunched, trying to understand, “Well, I’m just surprised that Kyle… Sorry. We’re still not used to his real name.” He said, indicating Nicole and himself.
Brian gave a little chuckle. “I understand.”
Stephen continued, “Why didn’t he contact us sooner?” He and Nicole looked to Brian.
“Well, he missed you terribly. And to be honest, I… Well, I had to insist that he come here at all. He was rather reluctant to involve you and your family again.”
“Why?” Nicole asked, aghast that Kyle would ever do such a thing. They cared about him so much already. Didn’t he know they cared and wanted to be there for him?
“Well, he felt that he’d already been enough of a burden.” Brian answered.
Nicole choked a gasp of incredulity, rolling her eyes at such a though. Stephen snorted in exasperation, turning his head away and rubbing his hands together in anxiety.
“Kyle’s never been a burden.” She looked imploringly at Brian, trying to convey how much they care about Kyle.
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” Brian started, “See, Julia and David named you his permanent guardians.”
What? All thought stopped in Nicole’s head. “His guardians?” She looked to Stephen, hoping he’d have more grasp of what they were being told. He had an equal look of amazement across his face, giving a little scoff in astonishment.
“It’s not that we don’t want Kyle,” Stephen began, backtracking a bit incase Brian started to think they were outright nixing the idea.
“We went through so much when we lost him the first time.” Nicole said, finishing Stephen’s thought. “If he stays here, and another relative come to take him away again, I…” Nicole started to shake her head, anxiety beginning to rise. Stephen started to rub her back, trying to comfort her, calm her, while Brian continued with the story he and Kyle came up with.
“There are no relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Trager.” He said, looking to them both. Nicole and Stephen were still in a world of disbelief, shaking their heads, hoping this all wasn’t a dream. Stephen went back to wringing his hands and Nicole went back to staring at Brian, trying to absorb everything.
“It’s a lot to take in.” He said, “I understand you need time to think.” He reached into his inner suit pocket, pulling out a pen and pad. “We’re staying at a hotel near the airport”
Nicole interjected, looking toward her husband to see if he objects, as she presented her idea. “Would it be alright if he spent the night here?” Stephen smiled at his wife, looking to her than Brian.
Brian nodded enthusiastically, “I’m sure he’d like that very much. I’m planning on leaving town tomorrow evening. Really the only question for me is whether I’m buying one plane ticket or two.”
Nicole nodded her head, looking down at her hands and taking a deep breathe.
~*KXY*~
Kyle circled his tub, staring at the sheet lying over it. Why was it covered?
“Mom was having a symbolic moment,” Lorie stated, turning to face Kyle and leaning against his armoire near the head of his tub. “Her way of letting you go.”
“Well, I always knew you’d be back.” Josh stated cockily, rocking back on his feet a little, hands in pockets. He chose to stand adjacent to Lori, near the window where Declan had snuck in during the rain once before.
Kyle turned to him and smiled. “You did?”
Josh scoffed, indicating with his head, “Not like this, but yeah.”
Kyle said nothing, his eyes roving his room a bit before settling on the picture he drew of Amanda the first time he saw her. He walked over to stand in from of it, he face scrunching in remembrance. It would be great to see her again. Maybe she won’t be with Charlie. Lori came forward, hands behind her back, worried.
“Kyle, are you ok?” She asked. “I mean, I’m sory. I know that sounds lame.”
Kyle turned back to her and smiled reassuringly. “No.”
“I don’t know what else to say.” Lori shrugged her shoulders and Josh gazed at them both from his vantage point.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He said, before turning back to his picture of Amanda.
“So is it weird being back here?” Josh asked.
Kyle turned away from his corkboard again, sighing a bit at the rush of nostalgia. He looked around his room again, not really seeing anything. “A little.” It was wonderful being back though. This was his family, and he loved them dearly.
The three looked at each other a moment, before Lori looked down at the sheet over his tub and back at Kyle, moving to the head of the tub and removing the sheet. She wound it around her arm in a ball, sighing.
“There. That’s better.” Everyone smiled, memories rushing to the forefront of their minds at the sight of the uncovered tub.
“Glad to see it?” Josh asked, still thinking it was funny Kyle would sleep in a tub. He came to stand to one side as Kyle went to the foot, gazing down at it.
“Very.”
~*KXY*~
There was quite a hustle and bustle as Detective Jason Breen pulled into the camping grounds. Curious campers and bystanders crowding around police barriers, reporters and their stations trying to report the latest news. He likened them to vultures ready to converge and assail the victims.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Jason Breen, I was told you asked for me?” Detective Breen barely saw the victim before his arms were filled with her tears and misery.
“Uncle Jason, oh my God!”
“Merry?! Wha? What’re you doin’ out here?” The station didn’t give him a lot of details when calling him in, only said the victim knew something he would be interested in and need to speak to him. He hugged her tightly before drawing arm’s length back.
“I’ve already filled out the police report and been seen to by the medics. They arrested the guy for attempted rape and assault, as well as hunting out of season and being under the influence.” She paused a moment, sniffing. “But I still need your help. We need to go somewhere private, and I need your help with her.”
“Her?”
“Well, I called her Jessi, but I don’t know what her real name is, or if she even knows it. She hasn’t spoken to me yet.” Miranda looked over to Jessi, finally clothed in extra sweat pants and jacket the ambulance had stashed. Jason followed her gaze. Jess was sitting in the trailer, drawing with Merry’s art supplies.
“ I don’t understand. What happened?”
“Look, I can’t do this again, not here okay? When we get home, I’ll do the best I can to explain. There are still some things I don’t get.” Her eyes pleaded with him to agree. She needed to get away, someplace safe and not exposed.
“Yeah, alright, alright. Let’s go ahead and get your 4-wheeler taken care of, and you check out the park. Then we’ll go from there, alright?“
Miranda nodded, letting go of Jason to go back over to Jessi. Still facing the tailgate of the trailer, Jessi stayed focused on her drawing pad, blanket covering her tracksuit-clad legs. As she made her way over, Miranda began to notice the way Jessi drew. It was a bit strange to see her stipple draw, jabbing at the pad repeatedly with the oils, especially if Jessi has never drawn before. Beginning artist didn’t usually stipple as an art form, only for practice and technique, learning it before moving on to stokes and hashes and shading; whatever takes their imagination and never to return to stippling.
She stopped in front of Jessi, pausing a moment, just to gaze at her. She didn’t pause when Miranda stopped in front of her, didn’t show she was aware of anything around her. She was so focused, gaze intent on the pad. Miranda could tell that Jessi did know she was there, as her body tensed slightly.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Miranda leaned over the back of the pad to see what Jessi was working on, and was stunned at the simplistic yet intricate nature of Jessi’s work. There were reds and oranges and blacks, maybe representing flames? She couldn’t see the pad so well over the top, but it looked like something caught fire. Did Jessi escape from a fire? Is that how she lost her memory? She hoped Jessi would come to trust her and show her.
“Jessi, we’re gonna get going now. My Uncle Jason, the detective over there, is gonna come with us home, and he’s gonna try to help us.” Miranda indicated back the way she came. When Jessi didn’t stop to look at her, Miranda lightly touched her shoulder.
“Jessi,” she said softly, waiting for the girl to lift her head. Jessi slowly raises her head, staring at Miranda through the curtain of her hair. It was oddly vulnerable. Miranda tried to convey as much reassurance as she could from her eyes to what she could see of Jessi’s. “It’s gonna be okay. He’s family and he’ll do everything he can to help. And hey, we won’t get lost this time!”
A smile slanted across her lips as they looked at each other. Miranda lightly squeezed Jessi’s shoulder before moving to the straddle the 4-wheeler and pulling out after her uncle towards the ranger’s station to get her car.
--Tbc
I feel like this chapter was oddly short too, but maybe because nothing all that exciting happened? Anyway, way difficult for me to get them to leave the park, and I could have gone further, but I felt that this was a good stopping point. Also, FYI, I may only be posting 2 chapters a month for now on.
Chapter: 3/?
Beta: none
Pairing(s): Kyle/Jessie (main)
Characters: All
Disclaimer: Have not, own not.
Summary: What was she doing out there all by herself, naked? What happened to her? Miranda starts asking the right questions and may be confronted with the answers before she’s ready. Madacorp makes an entrance, and the Trager’s deal with the emotional return of Kyle.
A/N: This chapter was insanely difficult for me to write. I had a difficult time trying to get the characters to move along the story, and I couldn’t get them to say or do what I wanted them to. Bah. Also, a good portion actually comes from the episode.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
~*Chapter 3: Prey and Predator*~
The Madacorp offices and building were seemingly empty and dark this time at night. With the exception of security monitoring the facility and running nighttime patrols, no one should have been on site. Julius Ballantine, however, was working overtime.
He sat at his desk, typing up reports and going through his emails, when an alert started flashing on the screen.
ALERT
781228
Mildly annoyed, he pulled up an access screen; typing in the alert code, pressing enter. Something must have happened at one of the outlying facilities. A map loaded, it’s gridded red lines dividing screen into coordinates. One square, in the lower right corner of the map, blinked red. Ballantine zoomed in several times, bringing the Zzyzx facility into focus. After examining it a moment, he picked up the phone.
“Get me Hollander.”
~*KXY*~
The Trager’s, no less excited and happy about Kyle’s return, were dismayed and shocked that the family he just got back, had been taken from him again.
“According to the police report, David lost control of the car and it plunge into a canyon. The gas tank was punctured and the car caught fire.”
Brian Taylor had come with Kyle, under the pretense of being the Peterson’s lawyer. Taylor was actually the long time friend of Adam Baylin, Kyle’s progenitor. He was a pretty good actor himself, feigning the sympathy and detachment of an acquaintance. Being Baylin’s closest friend and associate made him good in many things and areas. Nicole and Stephen Trager had no reason to disbelieve him at this point, and if everything goes to plan, hopefully never will.
“That’s horrible.” Nicole sighed, shaking her head. She could only imagine the pain Kyle must be going through. Stephen was silent, but no less weary and worried about how this would affect his Family, more so Nicole.
“But, for the grace of God, Noah decided to sleep in that morning, otherwise we would be having a far more difficult conversation.” Taylor added, trying to add a more humorous and happy note to the otherwise sad news.
“And you say this happened a week ago?” Stephen asked, disbelievingly.
“That’s right.”
Stephen’s face scrunched, trying to understand, “Well, I’m just surprised that Kyle… Sorry. We’re still not used to his real name.” He said, indicating Nicole and himself.
Brian gave a little chuckle. “I understand.”
Stephen continued, “Why didn’t he contact us sooner?” He and Nicole looked to Brian.
“Well, he missed you terribly. And to be honest, I… Well, I had to insist that he come here at all. He was rather reluctant to involve you and your family again.”
“Why?” Nicole asked, aghast that Kyle would ever do such a thing. They cared about him so much already. Didn’t he know they cared and wanted to be there for him?
“Well, he felt that he’d already been enough of a burden.” Brian answered.
Nicole choked a gasp of incredulity, rolling her eyes at such a though. Stephen snorted in exasperation, turning his head away and rubbing his hands together in anxiety.
“Kyle’s never been a burden.” She looked imploringly at Brian, trying to convey how much they care about Kyle.
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” Brian started, “See, Julia and David named you his permanent guardians.”
What? All thought stopped in Nicole’s head. “His guardians?” She looked to Stephen, hoping he’d have more grasp of what they were being told. He had an equal look of amazement across his face, giving a little scoff in astonishment.
“It’s not that we don’t want Kyle,” Stephen began, backtracking a bit incase Brian started to think they were outright nixing the idea.
“We went through so much when we lost him the first time.” Nicole said, finishing Stephen’s thought. “If he stays here, and another relative come to take him away again, I…” Nicole started to shake her head, anxiety beginning to rise. Stephen started to rub her back, trying to comfort her, calm her, while Brian continued with the story he and Kyle came up with.
“There are no relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Trager.” He said, looking to them both. Nicole and Stephen were still in a world of disbelief, shaking their heads, hoping this all wasn’t a dream. Stephen went back to wringing his hands and Nicole went back to staring at Brian, trying to absorb everything.
“It’s a lot to take in.” He said, “I understand you need time to think.” He reached into his inner suit pocket, pulling out a pen and pad. “We’re staying at a hotel near the airport”
Nicole interjected, looking toward her husband to see if he objects, as she presented her idea. “Would it be alright if he spent the night here?” Stephen smiled at his wife, looking to her than Brian.
Brian nodded enthusiastically, “I’m sure he’d like that very much. I’m planning on leaving town tomorrow evening. Really the only question for me is whether I’m buying one plane ticket or two.”
Nicole nodded her head, looking down at her hands and taking a deep breathe.
~*KXY*~
Kyle circled his tub, staring at the sheet lying over it. Why was it covered?
“Mom was having a symbolic moment,” Lorie stated, turning to face Kyle and leaning against his armoire near the head of his tub. “Her way of letting you go.”
“Well, I always knew you’d be back.” Josh stated cockily, rocking back on his feet a little, hands in pockets. He chose to stand adjacent to Lori, near the window where Declan had snuck in during the rain once before.
Kyle turned to him and smiled. “You did?”
Josh scoffed, indicating with his head, “Not like this, but yeah.”
Kyle said nothing, his eyes roving his room a bit before settling on the picture he drew of Amanda the first time he saw her. He walked over to stand in from of it, he face scrunching in remembrance. It would be great to see her again. Maybe she won’t be with Charlie. Lori came forward, hands behind her back, worried.
“Kyle, are you ok?” She asked. “I mean, I’m sory. I know that sounds lame.”
Kyle turned back to her and smiled reassuringly. “No.”
“I don’t know what else to say.” Lori shrugged her shoulders and Josh gazed at them both from his vantage point.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He said, before turning back to his picture of Amanda.
“So is it weird being back here?” Josh asked.
Kyle turned away from his corkboard again, sighing a bit at the rush of nostalgia. He looked around his room again, not really seeing anything. “A little.” It was wonderful being back though. This was his family, and he loved them dearly.
The three looked at each other a moment, before Lori looked down at the sheet over his tub and back at Kyle, moving to the head of the tub and removing the sheet. She wound it around her arm in a ball, sighing.
“There. That’s better.” Everyone smiled, memories rushing to the forefront of their minds at the sight of the uncovered tub.
“Glad to see it?” Josh asked, still thinking it was funny Kyle would sleep in a tub. He came to stand to one side as Kyle went to the foot, gazing down at it.
“Very.”
~*KXY*~
There was quite a hustle and bustle as Detective Jason Breen pulled into the camping grounds. Curious campers and bystanders crowding around police barriers, reporters and their stations trying to report the latest news. He likened them to vultures ready to converge and assail the victims.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Jason Breen, I was told you asked for me?” Detective Breen barely saw the victim before his arms were filled with her tears and misery.
“Uncle Jason, oh my God!”
“Merry?! Wha? What’re you doin’ out here?” The station didn’t give him a lot of details when calling him in, only said the victim knew something he would be interested in and need to speak to him. He hugged her tightly before drawing arm’s length back.
“I’ve already filled out the police report and been seen to by the medics. They arrested the guy for attempted rape and assault, as well as hunting out of season and being under the influence.” She paused a moment, sniffing. “But I still need your help. We need to go somewhere private, and I need your help with her.”
“Her?”
“Well, I called her Jessi, but I don’t know what her real name is, or if she even knows it. She hasn’t spoken to me yet.” Miranda looked over to Jessi, finally clothed in extra sweat pants and jacket the ambulance had stashed. Jason followed her gaze. Jess was sitting in the trailer, drawing with Merry’s art supplies.
“ I don’t understand. What happened?”
“Look, I can’t do this again, not here okay? When we get home, I’ll do the best I can to explain. There are still some things I don’t get.” Her eyes pleaded with him to agree. She needed to get away, someplace safe and not exposed.
“Yeah, alright, alright. Let’s go ahead and get your 4-wheeler taken care of, and you check out the park. Then we’ll go from there, alright?“
Miranda nodded, letting go of Jason to go back over to Jessi. Still facing the tailgate of the trailer, Jessi stayed focused on her drawing pad, blanket covering her tracksuit-clad legs. As she made her way over, Miranda began to notice the way Jessi drew. It was a bit strange to see her stipple draw, jabbing at the pad repeatedly with the oils, especially if Jessi has never drawn before. Beginning artist didn’t usually stipple as an art form, only for practice and technique, learning it before moving on to stokes and hashes and shading; whatever takes their imagination and never to return to stippling.
She stopped in front of Jessi, pausing a moment, just to gaze at her. She didn’t pause when Miranda stopped in front of her, didn’t show she was aware of anything around her. She was so focused, gaze intent on the pad. Miranda could tell that Jessi did know she was there, as her body tensed slightly.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Miranda leaned over the back of the pad to see what Jessi was working on, and was stunned at the simplistic yet intricate nature of Jessi’s work. There were reds and oranges and blacks, maybe representing flames? She couldn’t see the pad so well over the top, but it looked like something caught fire. Did Jessi escape from a fire? Is that how she lost her memory? She hoped Jessi would come to trust her and show her.
“Jessi, we’re gonna get going now. My Uncle Jason, the detective over there, is gonna come with us home, and he’s gonna try to help us.” Miranda indicated back the way she came. When Jessi didn’t stop to look at her, Miranda lightly touched her shoulder.
“Jessi,” she said softly, waiting for the girl to lift her head. Jessi slowly raises her head, staring at Miranda through the curtain of her hair. It was oddly vulnerable. Miranda tried to convey as much reassurance as she could from her eyes to what she could see of Jessi’s. “It’s gonna be okay. He’s family and he’ll do everything he can to help. And hey, we won’t get lost this time!”
A smile slanted across her lips as they looked at each other. Miranda lightly squeezed Jessi’s shoulder before moving to the straddle the 4-wheeler and pulling out after her uncle towards the ranger’s station to get her car.
--Tbc
I feel like this chapter was oddly short too, but maybe because nothing all that exciting happened? Anyway, way difficult for me to get them to leave the park, and I could have gone further, but I felt that this was a good stopping point. Also, FYI, I may only be posting 2 chapters a month for now on.