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Lyger found War-Pulse’s lighthearted banter distasteful. In fact, there was little about the mercenary that Lyger didn’t find distasteful. From the moment he had first encountered War-Pulse, he had gained a profound dislike for the merc. 

He felt that War-Pulse tended to go a bit overboard, and the mercenary’s lack of respect for life was bothersome. Even so, Lyger had to admit that in this case, the hired gun did his part for the greater good. Even so, he refused to associate with the man who he saw is no different from the thugs that he worked to put away. 

And when War-Pulse put his arm around Lyger and suggested that the group of heroes who had put it all on the life to close the portal and send the demons back to Hell go out to get drinks, he wasted no time in separating himself from the mercenary. 

“You go ahead. I’ve got work to do.” Lyger said as he began to take his leave of the gathered heroes, at first walking away, then firing a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet, and taking to the rooftops.

[center]***[/center]

After returning Kaiju to The Garage at Harry’s, and giving the old man a complete rundown of the night’s events, Kyle finally returned to his dorm room at Ewen Hall. As he opened the door to the room that he shared with Ronnie, every bone in his body ached. He was sure that he had at least a couple of cracked ribs, and the gash above his eye throbbed, though he could already feel the wound closing due to his advanced healing ability. 

However, he felt like he had just been run over by a freight train, and in a way he almost had been. The creatures that he faced were bigger and stronger than him, and by rights should have had little trouble in dispatching him.

 However, he still came out on top. 

As he made his way into the room, Ronnie looked at him, a look of relief washed over his roommate’s face. Ronnie knew that Kyle would be out there during the height of the attack doing what he could do to beat the invaders back, and he did tend to worry about Kyle while he was out in the streets as Lyger. But as Kyle came into the room and plopped down on the cheap, yet surprisingly comfortable secondhand couch that occupied the duel position of seat and clothes rack, Ronnie just looked at him and flashed an exasperated smile at his friend.

“So…..” Ronnie started. “Demons.”

“Demons.” Kyle confirmed noncommittally, resting his head on the back of the couch.

“Fuck.” Ronnie said, shaking his head.
 
“Yup.” Kyle agreed.

Kyle just sat there for a moment with his head back, enjoying the overstuffed cushions. To him, it felt like an eternity since he was able to relax, and after the night that he had endured, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he had earned this respite. When he forced himself to bring his head to bear and look to his friend, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. 

His phone, which was sitting on the corner table was flashing, indicating that he had a message. He felt a sudden chill run down his spine. He hadn’t been expecting any calls, and with everything that had happened tonight, his imagination began to run wild. He immediately thought the worst, that something had happened to Sam, or Dmitri or any one of his friends. However, as he dialed his voicemail and began to play the message, he breathed a sigh of relief as he heard a familiar voice. However, his relief quickly turned to concern.

"Hi Kyle. It's me. I'm sorry I vanished like this. It's…It's my mom. She died and it wasn't normal...I've moved back in with Emily so if you want to come by that would be wonderful. I understand if you don't though. Hope to see you."

As Addie’s message concluded, he switched off his phone and just stood there for a moment. As he stood there, he could feel the blood draining from his face.

“Dude, what’s wrong? What is it?” Ronnie asked, concerned by the look upon his friend’s face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It’s Addie.” Kyle said after a moment. “I’ve gotta go.” He finished as he rushed out the door past Ronnie.

[center]***[/center]

Kyle didn’t remember the trip from his dorm to Addie’s. When he heard her voice on his phone, it had been such a relief, only to have his heart break for her when he learned about what had happened to her mother. He felt a sharp pang of guilt in his chest when he realized just how quickly he had given up on her without knowing the details of why she had left. He had assumed that she had just left him, and he had begun trying to move on. Yet, it had only been a week.

His heart pounded as he climbed the stairs to the room that Addie shared with her roommate Emily. The anticipation in his gut had an edge of dread to it, as he did not know what condition she would be in upon his arrival. All he wanted to do was to be there for her, to hold her and let her know that no matter how dark things seemed now, that everything would be okay. 

When he finally arrived at Addie’s door, he knocked. As he waited at the door, his legs began to feel like jello. He heard movement from within the room, and the anticipation of seeing Adeline again was killing him. Finally, after seemingly forever, the door slowly opened, and for the first time in over a week, he looked into the eyes of the woman that he loved.

Adeline’s beautiful features looked worn, and he could tell that she had been crying. Their eyes locked onto one another for a moment, and then her expression turned to one of concern when she noticed the large gash above his eye. She instinctively reached out to touch it, then thought better of the idea. 

“Addie.” Kyle said, wanting nothing more than to take her pain away. However, he knew all too well, that the pain of losing a parent was not so easily erased.

Instead, he just grabbed her and pulled her into him, and for a long moment held her in a tight embrace. And for that instant, there was only them.