Hours later

Jaden:

When we arrived at the battle scene, Xao found us, practically body slamming me into the ground and near losing it at Jaden for not letting him know I was alright. I was happy too- he was okay. I wanted to swear we would never part again but... well life is rarely so simple. I smiled at him and his silly angry.

He didn't return the gesture however, just looking off into the distance. "C'mon guys, we gotta... gotta get to em'..." I realized something, Xao's was crying, but not for me, he had been crying even before he looked at me. What was making my man cry? He led us into the trees. "Jessica is distracting the police," he said. "I... I to hide in the trees with Kyle because..." He just turned away.

My stomach sank. He didn't really need to say it, but I had hoped it was something else, anything but what I thought.

J-Star and I followed him into the woods. By a tree, there laid Kyle. I tested his wrist and felt a pulse, but it was so weak. "He has healing drugs in him?" I asked.

"Those aren't a universal solution," Xao said, sounding irritated. He then sounded a little sick. "Of course we tried them, but we just sealed a bullet in his lung. He only has a pulse and breath because of the drug. Both are occurring artificially." He stood up. "You know the irony of it? If we attempted any surgery, he would have healed too fast to do it methodically so we couldn't get the bullet out." He looked away. "He's dead because of how we tried to save him."

I knelt down at my little brother's side. "There has to be a way... his heart is beating," I said. I put a hand over his nose. "And he's breathing."

Xao just stayed turned away. "His pulse is an illusion. When "pharaoh drugs" or really it's called "salhonine" (sal-ho-nin), are introduced to a system, the nanobots in the injection repair a human system according to set parameters and attempt to keep it going. They don't always, but sometimes they can keep the heart artificially going if it wasn't destroyed and compress and release the lungs if they survived. However, Kyle's shallow breathing is unmistakable. If he didn't die from lung damage he died from oxygen or carbon dioxide poisoning."

Xao dropped to his bottom, still unable to look back. He continued. "The heart is just a pump. What salhonine can do is well known on Triad. This is called sleeping necrosis. It's when the damage done is something outside what the drug can address, so it just seals up wounds, keeps the heart going, and the brain dies anyway." He bit his lip shrugging. "Like I said, there's no way to operate, Jess and I didn't think of it at the time, too much adrenaline I guess. Salhonine could have saved him AFTER an operation just fine..."

"C'mon... you two saved my life Xao." J-Star asked.

"He's already gone guys, I'm sorry. If the patient doesn't wake up within thirty minutes of showing signs of sleeping necrosis, there is no recorded occurrence of someone surviving. This drug doesn't know alive from dead, it will set about repairing a corpse and make the heartbeat, all the same, it's a series of dumb repair bots following simple commands. Kyle is dead."

"He... he..." I had a hard time even talking. "I mean he... he messed up a lot- we're better off without the kid who practically forced us to say on mission, who never gave up, stood up to anyone no matter how stubborn because he was always worse so... little brother don't you know? I told you explicitly to not get killed but you had to go an disobey me one last time didn't you!" I started screaming.

"Others could hear you," was the only thing Xao or anyone else said.

I just stobbed, pushed my head into the dirt. "I don't care."

After a few minutes of no one saying anything, I stood up. "Well, we can't just leave him out here," I wiped my nose on my sleeve. "I guess the drug will give us time to be with him for a little while longer. He won't just decompose."

"I guess so," Xao said.

"C'mon, let's take him to the van." I picked up... the body of my brother. As I left, J-star pulled Xao aside.

"There's something I have to do," she said.

As others took Kyle

J-Star:

Xao and I went to the crime scene area, Jessica relieved to see us. She asked about Kyle, but the look in her eyes said it all. She already knew. I just pointed in the direction that she could follow to reach the others. She bit her lip and moved on, doing her best not to call attention to herself.

The hell her mind had to be going through I could only have imagined.

Jess did point us to a werewolf agent as she left.

Officer Clairmont of the FBI was able to usher me and Xao past a superior as a "material witnesses". Over the hours the pharaoh drugs I had taken had started to slowly heal my leg and stomach wounds, still, I stumbled when I moved, Xao having to half carry me around, holding my right arm in his hand so I wouldn't fall on my face. Finally, we came to the train car near where I had been chained down.

"If I had to guess, this car is where all of Serrano's toys are."

"And what do you want to do with them exactly?" Xao asked. "You seemed pretty set when you asked to come back. Why are here? These are the last moments we get with our brother so-"

"He's not my brother I was never adopted-"

"Don't even try that," Xao said.

"Fine... I did see him as my brother, it's no secret... But this matters too." I said, crawling up into the cart. I looked to my right. Sure enough, there were several metal contraptions all over the inside of the train car. "This is pharaoh tech. The werewolves can't let normal humans get a hold of it anyway right?"

Mr. Claremont, a large blond-haired officer, spoke up. "Unless you have another idea, it'll be incinerated. I don't think walking it to the car will be possible considering all the people around us."

"Can I ask for the remains to be buried?" I asked.

The officer looked down and to the side. "Might be a little conspicuous. I... I'm sorry, but how are we supposed to explain a grave for a bunch of scrap metal? It's hard enough to sneak this stuff into incinerators as it is, especially from active crime scenes."

"I... I can't even bury it?" Xao squeezed my shoulder. "They were murdered, sir. The people who made these were kidnapped, imprisoned, and forced to fight. I have no idea what happened to their bodies but... is there nothing that can be done? This is... it's horrifying."

"I'm sorry," was all he could say. He bit his lip as I stared at him for a while, tears in my eyes. "Well... maybe take one piece and bury that."

"Can I take two?" I asked.

"If you can hide them."

I crawled in and grabbed a small box, the function of which I didn't know and likely would never know. Then I grabbed one of Timmon's orbs. "One to keep as a reminder, the other to bury." I said to Xao. Xao nodded.

A few miles away, Jaden dug a hole for me, smashed the square device with his shovel so it could never be used, and we buried it.

For the things I even considered doing... Timmon... I'm sorry.

(***)

Six hours later, Back at the trailer.

Jaden:

Our remaining family sat outside the trailer.

Jessica, Xao, and J-Star all sat on one log together, a fire burning in the night in front of them. I held mom as she rested her head on my shoulder standing by the wall of the trailer. Finally, Floreen just stood alone outside the trailer.

Kyle had been laid in the boy's room on his bed. There was no doubt in anyone's mind...

"He... he's really gone isn't he?" Jessica said after we had been silent for what must have been several minutes. "He died protecting me... we came to earth and I was his bodyguard. This isn't how it was supposed to go. If someone between the two of us would die- it should have been me." she hugged herself as she started sobbing, staring at the ground.

Jessica and J-Star's wounds had been put in wraps and injected, and they were on their way to being healed. They likely still hurt, and while J-Star was favoring her right leg even when sitting down Jessica was buckled over crying, like she didn't even know her hip was hurting.

J-Star and Xao held each other on Jessica's announcement, both starting to cry.

"I kinda... I wanna remember him for a bit... ya know?" Jessica asked.

"I'll start," Xao said. "He's the one who stood up to me on the tricksters. He just wouldn't back off, even when it could have cost him being able to pursue your first case, Jess. He eventually even said I either leave you guys or leave the tricksters. He's the real reason I'm free of them." He chuckled. "Ya know, it was his biggest weakness, and at times I just hated his stubborn streak- but it saved my life."

J-Star chuckled. "He was kind of a brat to me about the tricksters but- he wouldn't back off then either. He needed me to save his best friend, but he still told me where he stood, even if that meant I walked away. Really he could have used me in some way and thrown me aside when he got what he needed but- it's like that never crossed his mind. He got me away from the tricksters too. You Xao," she looked at Xao, "You and he saved my life."

Jessica was still holding her stomach, hunched over. "If it weren't for him fighting his father, I would have been thrown back onto the street on Triad. He risked his life and everything he had for me over and over- for some servant girl. He let me become his sister and- I don't know, all just because he cared about me I guess."

Nadine hit the trailer with her fist. "I remember, he upset Raven when she woke up, making her run away. Not the most graceful with his words. But it was he who first resolved to find and save her, and that nothing would stop him." She walked over to the log Jessica was sitting on. "Your brother- he was honest, pigheaded, decisive, and probably the most clumsy person with his words I've ever encountered- and we loved him for it."

"I never got through to him about God," Jessica said, wiping her nose. "He died without believing."

"What difference does that make?" J-Star asked.

"More than you know," said Jessica. "Out there, we fought for our lives, but there are things that come after that- or things that can, I guess. Look this is what I believe- if you all would rather not hear..." she looked away from the group.

"Are you serious?" J-Star asked, waving a hand at the assembled group. "If anyone here is petty enough to get offended by you baring your soul now I'll kick his butt. Preach away. Anyone who doesn't wanna listen can keep it to themselves for now and maybe say what they think next. Now, what do you mean?"

Jessica looked back. "It goes like this. Jay, all of us have messed up, all of us have done terrible things."

"Really?" Jay asked. "What's the worst you've done?"

"I don't even know. I just recently ran off half-cocked and put my entire family in danger, dragging along a good friend like dead weight. Everything you went through is basically my fault."

"I already said that was partially my fault," I said. I really didn't want her to take sole credit when my behavior leading up to what happened, I knew darn well at least helped things go so far south.

"What part? Me running off before anyone could even defend their side of things? Me fighting Raven in my head and dragging her along? Me knowing full well other people were on the case and I was just doing what I wanted because... just because I wanted? Jaden you were inconsiderate, that doesn't make you responsible for my actions." I wanted to object... but... she wasn't wrong.

Jessica sighed and continued. "Years ago, when dad died, I kept Raven down so I could be with my family when we were all hurting. When I first came to this world I was a brat to Allen when he opened up his life to me. And that's all just the start. Heck- on the gargoyles, why did I let myself believe that a whole race of humans were just fated to be evil so genocide was okay? Maybe someone like Kyle had reason to listen to those lies... but I know about God. There were millions of gargoyles massacred in the Purge. Did I really believe God would create millions of people who needed to be... exterminated? But I didn't think, I didn't doubt- I just accepted that my people committed genocide as if it were a heroic act. I don't know if I could ever recount all the things I've done wrong whether deliberately or by just not trying to do the right thing."

J-Star looked away from Xao, Xao looking down. J-Star cleared her throat. "So- not like I need to say it. I've got plenty to be ashamed of too." She looked back to Jessica. "So what about all that?"

Jessica sat up. "I think I need to at least try with you guys now. Again, if you'll listen."

"Stop asking permission it's getting annoying," J-Star said.

Jessica continued. "I talked to Kyle about this, but maybe not enough? I don't know. Maybe it was never the right time." She looked over at J-Star. "Has it occurred to you that there's really no way to make up for the things we've done? We're monsters."

"I don't think YOU are Jessie- but I certainly was," J-Star said. "There's no telling how many lives I ruined with my deals with the tricksters and... and..." she pulled a small metal sphere from her yellow jacket. "I kept one of these as a memento." J-Star had relayed what Serrano had done. "I buried something else but this- I kept this to remind myself that my personal pursuit of power almost made me... guys I was seriously considering living the way he did. I was considering hunting pharaohs down to take their inventions and make myself more powerful- possibly killing them to- to... I don't know. To get a little more power. All the while, no matter how many illusion-making gadgets I got I could have died with one stray bullet anyway, and I knew that- I mean I killed Serrano with a nine-mil, kinda says it all don't it?"

She kicked the dirt a few times in frustration, then J-star continued. "So I guess that really does mean, not only was I willing to kill for power, but for power I knew wouldn't mean that much in the end. So I left the Tricksters just to be obsessed with power again. The tricksters weren't the monsters- well some were- but the point is, I'm the monster."

Xao coughed a few times. "I... I don't know how many people my deals hurt. I just watched as Darius almost killed Kyle, my indecision almost costing me a friend who was right there fighting for me and others. Fact is, me and J-Star... guess I just hope there isn't a hell. We could never even apologize to all the people we likely hurt as we don't even know all their names. We both made hundreds of deals as tricksters, causing who knows how much pain." He put his head down, holding it to folded hands.

"No person on this planet or the next, maybe above a certain age, but pretty much no one alive can say they've been perfect. In fact, in their darkest times, I think most will admit, they're pretty far from it," Jessica said. "We've all done horrible things, and we deserve to be judged." She sighed. "I believe in a paradise in the next life. A paradise for the good and innocent, but we're not going there, not the way we are. The very idea of scum like us going there would be a perversion of justice."

"Maybe not you-" J-Star said, but Jessica glared at her.

"Stop trying to put me on a pedestal. My sins may not be as obvious but they're real and could have cost lives. When I die, my corpse should rot in the ground and that be it," Jessica said. She didn't sound at all like she was looking for a debate on that point. "Now I don't believe in hell, but I don't believe in paradise for nothing either."

"So what do we do then?" J-Star asked. "We're awful people. We've all tried to change, and I'm not the first or last to fail I'm guessing. I'm not gonna stop trying to change but... I can't make up for what I did. I did what I did, nothing is changing it. So I guess I should rot too. Guess I'll be in good company at least."

"That's not the end of the story, at least I don't believe so," Jessica said. "We're all monsters, we've all done unforgivable things but God loves us anyway. That's what the story of Jesus is." Jessica held up a small pocket bible I hadn't notice she had before. She put her head on it. "God himself came down to earth to be born as a human some two thousand years ago. I guess in part because part of him was still in heaven- there's a whole trinity thing- it's hard to explain on that point. Point is, that part of him lived without sin, yet ran afoul of the laws of the time and allowed himself to be brutally executed. The death of God, in part, but still, occurred as penance for our sin."

"So we all just go to heaven anyway?" J-Star asked. "Whatever. So it doesn't really matter?"

"No that's not quite how it works," Jessica replied. "Even for sin-sick things like us, it is possible to be saved from rotting to nothing and instead go to paradise but well... really you were getting there when you said you were committed to changing. Jesus is waiting right now. Repent of your former life and commit to him, to doing His will- I guess to trying to do right in the end. You have to first accept what he did for you, commit to Him, and- well some will say you have to believe in him, basically, have faith that I'm telling the truth but-"

"Belief is kinda a given by the time you get past the rest there," Jay said with a small smile.

"Yeah... so that's the deal," Jessica said.

J-Star looked over at me. "You knew about this too didn't you?" I nodded. "And Nadine?" Mom nodded. "You took your time telling me." I hung my head. She sighed. "Not like there was a time to do so I guess. But I guess that's between you guys and this Jesus... do you guys really believe this stuff?"

Xao breathed in deep. "I didn't know about all of it," he said. "I heard of Jesus before, but I guess before I never really realized- if there isn't a savior- just how screwed are we, ya know?" He stared at the ground. "I mean, at least you and me Jay."

Xao closed his eyes and... I realized he was praying. "God... I know you're up there. I've always known, I just didn't know your name. Jesus then? Look Jesus- I can't know much for sure, I can't prove you exist or what your name is but... if you'll take faith that this story is true, a desperate hope that it is... if you'll take that... Jesus, I accept what you did. I thank you for looking at a thing like me and wanting to save it. Please forgive my sins and know that from this day on, I'm committing to you and to do right. I'm probably gonna screw that part up but- hey, maybe forgive me again then ya know?"

He opened his eyes, me staring at him with wide eyes, Jessica apparently also starring. "How was that?" Xao asked.

"It... it was clumsy," Jessica said. "But it was honest- if I had to say, that's what Jesus wants. Clumsy or coached, I don't think he cares. He just wants your soul committed to him in honesty."

J-Star then closed her eyes. "God- you've been talking to me haven't you?" I shook my head in shock hearing that point. "So what... was that cheating? I wasn't one of yours yet was I? You tried to coach me into doing the right things today didn't you?" Her head went down as she started to sob. "God... if you didn't speak to me, who knows what I would have done? Thank you. You know what I've done, don't you? But you still want me... really? Me? Well... if you'll listen, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm committed to you now, to doing right. I don't even know how to stop myself from the bad things I do anymore and I'm in so deep- talk to me more okay? Help me out of this mess of a life. I put my faith in you."

"God..." Jessica's eyes were closed now. "This from me and Raven now. Is there a way? Is there any way? I thought you would give me more chances with Kyle, to make it so any goodbye wouldn't have to be permanent. This is all I have now, Kyle is in your hands. If he's gone, I guess he is- if anyone can keep him in this world, I'm pretty sure you're the only one. Jesus please... don't let my brother die yet."

Watching all this, I finally smacked the side of the trailer.

I threw open the door and walked inside. I needed to talk now too.

I looked up and shouted. "So what God!? Is this it!? That boy protected your servant Jessica, he pulled others from horrible lives of sin, he even gave up on his own family to save people he didn't know. He died risking everything to stop a monster and- you're just gonna let him slip? I don't get it. You... was I not supposed to go and save the family of Devon or something? I figured you brought them before me because you wanted me to help. Maybe clue a guy in next time!"

"Jaden?" mom knocked on the door. She came into the trailer. "I know how you feel."

"I just... I don't get it. Of all the people- I know we don't deserve salvation but- he didn't just, ya know- God didn't want Kyle?" my voice was starting to crack. "He would just let him go like that?"

Mom put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you meaning to say He's wrong?"

"I... I don't know what I mean. I just... look, we saved J-Star, the FBI apparently is moving in to take down Jacobson from what Xao and Jessica say and we're all here. It's what we prayed for, almost all of it. So why let Kyle go? Did we ask too much?"

"He has His reasons. We have faith He isn't mistaken, but I understand if it shakes- is it shaken in you?"

I closed my eyes. "This is a hard pill to swallow. I knew there was a chance I could lose someone but... still." She just looked at me. "I... I have faith. It isn't perfect, it never was... think God will accept that?"

"It's not right to let your faith go without a fight, but I don't think you're doing that. He understands. As to God's reasons, I'm afraid I doubt we'll know them in this life." I turned away from her, tears streaming down my face and I wanted to hide it just a little. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," I said. "Right now, I'm going to my room- to the room his body is in. I'm gonna bring our little brother out so we can all say goodbye." I waved at the door. "Just wait outside with everyone else okay? I'll be there in a minute."

I walked- nearly staggered toward the small room and opened the door. I turned and stooped down to Kyle's body.

"So..." I heard a faint voice. "Was kinda wondering when someone would finally check on me." I fell on my butt. I stared at the boy who was laying on his side and talking to me. "I woke up and coughed out the blood and a bullet- because that makes sense. Guess I got one more mystery to consider that has happened around my family and team. So... I hope you're gentle but, yeah, carry me outside will ya?"