Ashes to Ashes

Jim Steinman--Bat Out Of Hell

Two Months Later...
2:00 AM.

Sleep was useless lately and Hank knew better than to try. Instead, most nights he spent sitting in front of his computer, trying to figure out how to help Kyle.

It's pointless, he thought, as he flicked through the screens. Kyle is gone. He disappeared the day he killed Gambit and no one has been able to find him. Even Jean and Betsy weren't able to mind scan for him.

At first, no one had known what happened, only that Kyle had screamed that he'd killed Remy and ran off. Everyone had been to stunned to do much of anything. Then they searched for Kyle, with no luck whatsoever. Then came the funeral. Right after that, Rogue had left the group. She claimed it was just to get her "act together" but everyone knew the truth... she was looking for Kyle.

"I just pray she never finds him," Hank murmured.

"She did," a soft voice answered from behind him.

"Kyle?" Hank spun around in the chair. The boy stood there, his hair in wild disarray, his eyes bright, with a light that seemed to be burning on the inside of him. Hank didn't know if this was a good sign or not.

"Hank?" Kyle just stood, staring at him, his arms at his sides, his hands clenching into fists and then slowly unfolding. "Hank, it's all wrong..."

"I know, Kyle," Hank said softly.

"No, you don't," Kyle disagreed.

"I might know more than you think," Hank defended himself. "Ever since you ran off, I've been checking into this... a man committed suicide just before you killed Gambit. It's since been discovered this man was a mutant..."

"With a very interesting ability," Kyle finished for him. "Seems as if this guy could suck the energy, the life force right out of people. Not only could he do it, he needed to do it to survive. Unfortunately, he had a conscience too. After awhile it just got to him and he killed one last person and then himself. Trust me, Uncle Hank, I know all of that. I know because I've been living with it for the last two months."

Hank wanted to go over and put his arms around the boy and try to comfort him, but he felt glued to the chair. Accidentally or not, this child had killed a member of the team... maybe even two... "Rogue?" he whispered.

"Even her power can't stop it," Kyle said, giving a small, sad smile. "Mutant abilities mean nothing to this... it just looks at every mutant, every human being as a source of energy..." He wiped his eyes quickly. "I'm sorry. She's with Gambit now...I hope, and maybe both of them are happy."

Hank closed his eyes for a moment, trying to take in what Kyle was telling him. "And have you..."

"Absorbed her powers?" Kyle finished. "Yes. But, I can control it, unlike her. I choose who's memories I absorb. And the life force ability makes me... practically invulnerable. In short, I am your worst nightmare Hank. Nothing can stop me."

"I don't believe that," Hank stated flatly.

"That could very well end up being your downfall."

They stared at each other for several minutes, neither knowing quite what to say. "Could you really kill me?" Hank finally asked.

Kyle shrugged. "When the need comes over me, people stop looking like people to me, and become just a source to keep me alive."

"So are you here to kill me?" Hank asked, his voice calm.

Kyle shook his head. "Actually, I came here to have you kill me."

Hank's first reaction was to shake his head and ask Kyle to repeat what he had said, but he didn't. He knew exactly what the boy had said. Instead, he swallowed. "Kyle, I don't understand."

"Yes you do," Kyle contradicted him. "You just don't want to understand, because it goes against everything you believe. I'm asking you straight out...kill me. Get rid of me, end my existence. I could do it myself, but the only ways I can think of are pretty painful and I'd probably chicken out at the last minute." He started pacing the room, in nervous long strides, his teeth chattering as he spoke, even though the room wasn't cold. "Argue all you want, Hank, I can't justify my existence."

"There has to be some way, to...stop this," Hank protested. "This...need to absorb people's life force... it won't last forever. Just as Charles power did, it will fade. Perhaps there is some way, we can.... isolate you, until it's over..."

Kyle stopped his pacing, looked at Hank and then burst out laughing. "Lock me in the basement, like you did with Sabertooth? That won't do a darned bit of good. Eventually, some mutant will die with powers that will enable me to just burst out of that place like a house of toothpicks."

His expression changed back to one of sorrow. Walking over to where Hank was still sitting, he knelt down in front of him, still being careful not to touch him. "Uncle Henry, this isn't fair. Not to me, not to the world. I didn't ask for this power, someone up there decided to play a cruel joke on me. However, I can decide my future and I chose to end it. Here and now."

Hank stared at him, afraid to speak at first. "K...Kyle, I'm working on a way to stop this," he whispered. "There has to be some way. Please don't give up. Let us help you."

Tears rolled down Kyle's face, leaving tracks in the dirt that had accumulated there. "How can you say that after I killed Remy and Rogue? They were your friends, your teammates. I can't even begin to forgive myself for that, so how can you forgive me?" He sniffled hard, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Because it wasn't your fault!" Hank said, his own voice beginning to waver. "It is the...ability you gained that caused you to do it. The fact that you can sit here in front of me and show remorse tells me that you are worth saving!"

"Remorse, like talk, is damned cheap," Kyle spat. "And all the remorse and regret in the world isn't going to bring them back."

"Exactly! So how would killing yourself help?" Hank pointed out. "It won't bring them back."

"No, that it won't," Kyle agreed. "I'm not doing this to martyr myself. I'm not asking you to hang me on a cross to die for all of mutant kind's sins. That was never my intention..." Tears welled in his eyes and he dropped his head. "Uncle Henry, I just can't stand living like this. I'm a time bomb, waiting to go off. I always have been, I always will be. All my life I wait for the next shoe to drop. Is it really fair to me?" He reached out, slowly, placing his hand on Hank's knee. "I...it's taking everything I have right now to touch you and not kill you. I don't want to fight anymore. I want it to be over. I need to rest....God, I need to rest." He paused for a moment, letting the tears spill freely, not caring anymore. "Please, Henry, let it end!"

Hank slowly placed his hand ontop of Kyle's. It didn't take an empath to realize what the boy felt was real. This was all too much for him, he couldn't take it anymore. And Hank knew, without a doubt, that if he denied the boy's request, he would walk out the door and jump off the top of the tallest building or cliff he could find.

"Will you do it, Uncle Henry?" Kyle asked, pleading not only with his words, but his tear filled eyes.

Hank closed his eyes for a moment, fighting back his own tears. "If this is how it has to be," he whispered. "Then yes, Kyle, I will help you."

"Roll up your sleeve, Kyle," Hank asked, his voice calm, betraying the emotions pouring through him.

Kyle did as he was requested, smiling bravely. "Uncle Henry, don't be sad. I'm not."

Holding the needle, poised in the air, Hank stopped. "Kyle, I'm about to give you a lethal injection and you expect me to be happy about it?"

Kyle nodded. "Don't you see? This isn't the end, it's the beginning."

"How can you be so sure?"

Kyle shrugged. "I just am. I don't know if I'm going to go to Heaven or Hell. I don't know if I even believe in Heaven or Hell. But I do know there is something beyond what we call life. And even if you don't believe it, at least all of this will be over. I won't have to worry about this again. And if I'm lucky...I'll have the chance to see my brother."

Hank bit his lip. How can he be so calm about this? It's tearing me up inside, and he's smiling. "Kyle, are you absolutely sure about this? You still can change your mind."

Kyle shook his head. "No going back, Uncle Henry. No changing my mind. I want this, and you promised."

Hank's hand, still holding the needle, trembled. "Kyle..." he whispered.

Kyle looked into his eyes, his gaze steady. "Please, Uncle Henry," he pleaded softly, "just do it, kay?"

With one swift motion, Hank inserted the needle into the vein in Kyle's arm and depressed the plunger.This is a slow acting sedative, Hank thought. Please let him change his mind before it's too late...

For almost four minutes, Kyle looked around the room, as though he was seeing it for the first time. Then a slow, angelic smile spread across his face as he lowered his head to the table and closed his eyes.

His expression one of concentration, Hank checked the machinery, adjusting a dial a fraction to the left. Frowning, he watched for a moment, then nodded. He turned to leave the room.

Warren was standing in the entryway to the room. Hank pulled back, startled for a moment, then smiled. "You startled me."

"Sorry." Warren shrugged. "I didn't mean it." He walked across the room, to the area where Hank was. He looked over at the self contained life support system, where Kyle lay. "How is he doing?" he asked.

"Fine, for someone who's in a state of suspended animation, so to speak," Hank answered.

Warren looked at his friend, studying his expression carefully. "Hank, can I ask you something?" He waited for Hank to nod before asking, "What happens if you can never find a cure? Will you let the child grow old and die in this?"

Hank sighed. "I can't think of that now, Warren. All I can do is keep trying." He walked away from his friend and over to the window. "If I stop hoping, I'll stop trying."

"And if you do find a cure," Warren persisted. "How do you think Kyle will feel when you wake him up and he realizes you didn't do what he wanted you to?"

Hank lowered his head for a moment, then looked up at Warren. "All I can do is pray that he'll understand." His gaze went back to looking out the window. In his head, he could hear the sound of Kyle, running across the front yard and laughing.

The End