Kay couldn't believe what had happened. The moment Jimmy had knocked on their door was like hell's bells ringing upon them. A cold shiver had sneaked down her spine and it hadn't left since.

Now he sat on a chair, a bag of ice over the back of his head, murder in his eyes.

"Look, this is not your fault," Tom said. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his voice filled with muted anger and she was glad she couldn't see his eyes.

Angie seemed to be feeling the same way as she curled up in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest. The position unpleasantly reminded Kay if Jessie and the fact that the armchair in the room was empty only made the news more real.

Jessie was gone.

Taken by some men to God knew where.

"Bullshit," Jimmy spat out.

It was so strange to see him angry. Jimmy was cerebral, in control, smart. Calm and kind. He didn't lose his cool. But he had and it was terrifying.

As if to make up for it, Kyle was keeping incredibly still, like he could balance out all the chaotic energy otherwise filling the room.

"Tom's right," he finally said. "It's obvious that you gave them a hell of a hard time if they had to point a gun at you to stop you. Jessie knows you did all you could."

"There are a lot of things that Jessie doesn't know," Jimmy muttered, but his anger seemed to have died down some.

"You didn't get to tell her, did you?" Kyle asked, his voice low.

"No," Jimmy said. "I was getting there, but I didn't and now... Who knows what they've done to her? If they'd only taken me along, too."

"What for? So that you'd give them trouble?" Tom pushed himself off the wall and turned to Kyle. "Do you think this is it?"

Kyle frowned a little, but to Kay's utter terror seemed to know what Tom was talking about.

"You mean the crazy criminal with the wacky name?" Jimmy asked, turning his attention to Tom.

"The what now?" Angie asked.

Kay opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The fear inside her only seemed to grow as she realized her pending conversation with Kyle had hit them all straight in the face.

"What's Tom talking about?" she asked, her voice trembling. Some part of her didn't want to know, but it had become unavoidable.

Instead of answering her, Kyle shook his head. "I don't think so?"

"Why not?" Tom demanded. "Who else could it be?"

"Because..." Kyle hesitated and he seemed to be measuring his words very carefully. Kay wasn't sure if this wariness scared her more or the fact that he had outright ignored her question. "Why would he take her and not you? It's us he's after, not Jessie?"

Jimmy hummed, but he didn't seem convinced. Kyle seemed to realize that because he took in a deep breath.

"Plus, I actually talked to him."

"What?" Tom asked. "When?"

"At the cabin. He came to me and warned me that there will be other people coming after us. More dangerous people. And that if we agreed to work for them, he'd kill us."

Kay's hearing turned fuzzy as all this new information jammed her brain. What the hell was going on? When had her happiness for being reunited with Kyle and going back to the places where she'd been happiest morph into this?

Max's warnings from the previous year started dancing inside her head. He'd warned her. He'd also refused to share more than that. Tell her the exact way in which Kyle's life would go to hell. It was apparently time for that to happen and she realized she wasn't ready.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jimmy asked.

"To be honest, I'm still processing." Kyle stood from the bed and began pacing. "But I don't think it's him or this new threat either because he made it sound like they'd be coming to us to recruit us, not outright hurt us."

"You think Jessie's in this mess?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah. Not sure why, but I do."

Kyle threw Kay one fleeting look, but it did nothing to alleviate her fears. Just made them worse. She was glad when his attention returned to his brothers.

"Then who do you think took her?" Tom asked.

"Well, Jimmy said they mentioned doing it for money. It could be something that has nothing to do with us."

"Guys, what's going on?" Angie asked. "What are you talking about?"

Kyle stopped pacing and turned to her, then to Kay. "I guess it's time we explained. Our accident, what Max has been training me for..."

Kay's heart felt like it had shrunk to the size of a flea. She wanted to tell him to stop, to let them have a simple, happy life a few minutes longer.

"We have some very bad family history," he said instead. "There's someone after us, someone Max doesn't know much about, but who wants to kill us because something our parents did. We're in this without more information, but it's real. And according to this criminal, there will be some other people coming after us. I think all this mess is why I was abandoned, why Jimmy and Tom grew up as orphans and..." He took in a deep breath. "I know it's hard to take in."

"But you don't think this is what got Jessie kidnapped," Angie said, her voice careful.

"I personally don't," Kyle said with a nod. Then, finally, his undivided attention was on her. "Sweetheart?"

She just shook her head because she had nothing to say at the moment. All the information was still bouncing around her skull, making the walls of the room close in on her. And as she looked at him closer, she noticed the tension in his frame, the haziness in his eyes, the way he was fighting for control over something raging inside him. It terrified her because she recognized the rage she'd seen once before, the one he'd warned her against. And at that very moment it was just too much.

"I'm sorry, I'll be right back." And she pushed her way towards the door and out into the hallway.

She needed air, to get out of there faster, so she couldn't even wait for the elevator. Once she found the stairs, she ran down them, trying to get hold of herself, clear the mess inside her head.

The fresh night air sobered her up the tiniest bit and she began walking fast among the staff trailers. A chilly breeze blew her hair into her face, but it was welcomed.

It was a weird balance between freedom, fear and crippling guilt as a part of her knew she shouldn't be out here, that she shouldn't have left like that. But Kyle had been right as usual. It was hard to take it. It was too much.

She could remember too well how it had felt when Joey's Camaro had flown off the road and into the ravine. The fear, the pain, the effort she put into pretending it was no big deal. Just a car crash. Those happened every day. But now, she knew it wasn't just that. Someone had actively tried to kill them. Kill her for being near Kyle.

She also remembered Max mentioning it for the first time, how she felt she needed to have Kyle's back. She still felt that way on some level, but a big part of her was just freaking out. What chances did they have against a criminal? Against some nefarious secret faction and a promise for murder? And poor Jessie, just getting caught in the crossfire.

She hugged herself tighter and stopped in the middle of the path. It felt like she was breaking from the inside so she crouched, trying to put herself back together. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but they wouldn't fall, wouldn't give he relief. Because truthfully, she didn't know why she was crying.

A soft hand landed on her shoulder and she jumped. But it was Kyle, of course it was.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "but I can't leave you alone out here after what happened to Jessie."

Of course he couldn't. She nodded and got back to her feet. "I understand."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left like that. I just needed to step outside and think because this is..."

"Too much." The words were flat and it made a shiver run down her spine.

"No, don't say it like that."

"But it's true, Kay, you never signed up for any of this shit."

He had a point, but that didn't make it fair. "Neither did you."

"The difference is, you have a choice."

She didn't like the way he'd said that at all. The resigned tone, the way he sounded convinced that it was true.

"What are you saying?"

"You don't have to be in danger. You don't have to get dragged into this."

Fear returned so powerful, it nearly choked her. "Kyle--"

"I don't know what I was thinking, keeping this from you. I guess I just wanted to be normal for a few more moments. Be happy." He tilted his head, the innocent look in his eyes breaking her heart. "Be with you because you make me happy."

"You make me happy, too, happier than I've ever been." Please don't do this. But she was also painfully aware that it wouldn't be him if he didn't try to protect her.

"I just never realized how much danger I truly put you in."

Yes, that was where he was going with this. "But you said you didn't think this guy had anything to do with what happened to Jessie."

He strode to her, took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She kissed him back, amazed by how much she needed it to feel like herself again. Confident and in control. When he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, the darkness had lessened considerably.

"I love you so much," he whispered. "You are my life and if anything happened to you..."

"Nothing is going to happen to me as long sd you're here."

"That's the thing," he said, and the defeat was back in his voice, taking away her air. "If it was you and me instead of Jimmy and Jessie, it would've gone the same way. Jessie could fight too, and yet the two of them were not enough." He let her go and stepped back.

"No." Her eyes widened as he took in the pain in his eyes, the way his entire body seemed to sag. "Kyle, don't."

"I need you safe," he whispered. "I need you alive."

"I can be safe and alive with you!"

He shook his head. "I can't guarantee that right now, because I don't know enough. And I couldn't... If something happened to you because of me..."

"Kyle..."

"You can't be around me," he said. "Not until I figure out what the hell this thing I'm in really is."

That last bit gave her hope, because it sounded like this was temporary, but she didn't want to accept it.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'd rather face the danger than not be with you."

"And I'd rather die than put you in danger."

Of course he would. Because he loved her and he had to prove it in the most painful way possible. Tears filled her eyes again, and this time actually slid down her cheeks.

"It's over, Kay," he said, his voice so low and filled with pain, she barely registered it over the sound of her own breaking heart. "It has to be."

She had to admit she was impressed that he'd managed to get the words out when it was so obvious he didn't want this. It was maybe that which held her together and gave her the strength to still speak.

"Will you come for me when it's over?"

There was a flash of fear in his eyes. "Don't put your life on hold. I'm not even sure I'll come out alive on the other side of this thing."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"You're free. Go wherever you like. With Angie if you'll want to."

She winced as he realized Tom was probably breaking up with Angie at that very moment. "What are you going to do?"

"We're going to find Jessie. And then, we're going to get Sam and Jerry, too and see what this big mystery in our life is." He bit his lower lip. "I can't drag you into this without knowing what this is."

"What if I want to get dragged into this?"

"You'd be the woman I fell in love with so hard and completely. But that doesn't mean I can let you do this. Precisely because I love you so much."

"Don't be noble."

"It wouldn't be me if I weren't."

That was true. She'd love him a bit less if he didn't at least try to protect her. And fail. Because he was failing. Breaking up with her to protect her wasn't convincing her he meant it, that they were through. Just that he deserved her love so much more. But she didn't say it. She just nodded and when he kissed her again, as a goodbye, she kissed him back with everything she had to make sure he knew what he meant to her.

When he walked away, she let him. When the tears came, she let them, and after she was done crying, she headed back towards the room she would now be sharing with Angie.

The dream was over. It was time for the nightmare to begin.

🌗🌗🌗

Aww, that got so sad there at the end. But it wouldn't be Kyle if he didn't sacrifice himself to protect Kay. But will it work? Is he too late? And who took Jessie?

Let's find out, shall we? Thank you for all the support and the fast 5k! Hope you'll stick around as the story will reach it's conclusion!