Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2007 01:27:57 EST
From: BugarTheWizard@aol.com
Subject: hero in love chapter 22

Hero In Love

Chapter 22


	Space my ass, Kyle thought to himself as he flew across the Alaskan
tundra. Damn, it was cold. Or it would be without his aura on.  Something
about a giant iceberg that was drifting toward some port. Was it Prudhoe
Bay?  It had been on the national news, and his mother had caught it late
night while trying to fall asleep. She'd dragged him out of bed to "go save
those poor people." Several boats had already hit it; that was how the
distress signals had been sent.


	 How was he ever going to leave if there were so many problems?
And what about him and Jason?  Jason had seemed kind of off lately, ever
since that stupid doctor.  And then there were the tests the stupid doctor
wanted.  So, all in all, he didn't think he was going to be leaving the
planet anytime soon.

	Coming home from the hospital had been strange.  It was like home,
but it wasn't home.  Kyle just wished he'd had time to talk to the other
guys.  But no; his mom had made him dig into his homework, telling him he
could finish it before running off to save the world.  That had been a
weird conversation.

	"Be careful, and remember your manners," she said, straitening
Kyle's costume. She'd washed it, and then re-sewn it to look better.

	"Yes mom," Kyle had groaned.  Why did she have to be like that?

	"I just don't want them thinking Kid Rush's mother never taught him
any manners," she explained, hugging him.  Then Kyle had taken off into the
snow filled sky.

	So now here he was, flying through a freezing winter night, the
stars shining brightly over this part of the world.  But there was no moon,
so it was rather dark.  It was odd how the ambient light from the city
tended to make the nighttime less dark.  Kyle wondered if he would have to
fly very far into space.  It was going to be boring unless he found a way
to pass the time.

	Kyle's thoughts were interrupted when, off in the distance, he
thought he saw a flash.  A flash?  Kyle pushed harder, and came to the
northern Alaskan coast.  There was the port with a tanker next to a huge
iceberg. It was HUGE.  The tanker seemed like a toy or something next to
it.  Above them was a news helicopter; its spotlights angled on the ship,
as down below several smaller rescue boats were working.

	Swooping down towards the water, Kyle could see men scurrying about
on the decks, all working hard.

	"HELLO!!" Kyle called out.  The men were so busy working they
didn't see Kyle's aura across the sky.  But at his voice, several looked
up, and began shouting joyfully.  Whoa.  Kyle didn't' think he was that
important.

	Kyle landed on the deck, where a very large man came up to him.  He
was dressed in several layers, which made his already large frame even
bigger.  He had a dark, tight curly beard, and his eyes were sharp.

	"How can I help?" Kyle asked, feeling kind of awkward in front of
all these men.  They were toughened older men, who looked liked they had a
lot of experience.

	"To tell ya the truth, " the man said, " we need a way to keep the
inner hull from breaching.  We're carrying some highly toxic chemicals, and
we're working on some patchwork down there now.  But I don't know if we can
keep her," here he patted the side railing, "from breaking.  That ice burg
is really moving."  Great.

	" Maybe I can cut through the ice on this side," Kyle murmured to
himself, trying to think fast.

 	"Perhaps.  But If ya cut wrong, you'll set the whole boat on fire,"
the man explained.  Shit.  Kyle wasn't that good with his energy yet.  What
if the crack leaked as he cut the ice away?  Then suddenly the ship began
to rock as a muffled boom went off.

	"CAPTAIN!!" a voice yelled. The men, who were watching parted to
allow another man, covered in smoke and grime, to pass.

	"Spit it out man!" the captain yelled.

	"There was a minor crack we didn't notice on the far end," the man
huffed. "Holding tank 1 is leaking."  The captain's face went white.

	"What is it?" Kyle asked, now hovering about 2 feet off the deck.
He didn't want to set something off accidentally.

	"If anything goes off now, the whole boat will be alight.  And, if
we don't get the patch job done soon, the boat will sink, the prow going
first, and the boat will spill the rest of its chemicals."  Shit.  That
wasn't good.  Kyle was pretty sure he could lift the whole boat, but what
about the stuff inside?

	"Damn it!" Kyle swore.  He wasn't good at this.  "I can lift the
boat. That's not a problem. But it might cause the crack to leak more. And
that's bad right?" he asked.  Kyle figured he could defer to the captain,
who probably knew more about it than he did.

	"Aye.  That's oil in that first hold.  We'd have an environmental
catastrophe," he explained.  "I'm not big on the technical side, but those
chemicals can be very corrosive, so they were sealed in a specially
prepared hold."  That didn't sound good at all.

	"So basically, there is maybe a leak in the second hold, and the
first hold HAS a leak?" Kyle summed up.

	"Aye." the captain replied.

	Kyle shook his head.  How the crap was he going to do this?
Wait... maybe...  "I got it!!" he announced, and launched into the air.
Making sure he hovering right, he took aim and let out a concentrated beam
of energy, making sure to cut the ice well away from the boat.  This way,
he could use the piece of ice as a plug until they could get it sealed up.

	It seemed to be working as Kyle flew down and began pushing on the
iceberg once he thought he'd cut deep enough.  The ice began to move apart,
the large piece floating away from the smaller.  YES!! Kyle cheered as the
cut he made widened.

	Soon he'd created a rather sizable gap between the boat and the
rest of the iceberg.  Now all he had to do was get the boat back onto land.
Kyle flew back down to the ship.  "I'm going to lift the ship up and
um... put you down on land. That way the chemicals won't leak into the
ocean," Kyle said to the captain.

	"Well, if ya think ya can do it."  The captain stroked his beard
thoughtfully.

****************

	"Oh honey," Kyle's mother exclaimed as they watched the Saturday
morning news.  Kid Rush was all over the TV as they replayed him lifting
the boat out of the water.  "You didn't get wet did you?" she asked.  Kyle
sighed.  Again with that.

	"No mom, I didn't get wet.  And thanks for getting me up, or
something bad might have happened," Kyle replied, as he watched the
interviewer talking to him.

	"So Kid Rush, how did you happen upon this in time?" the
interviewer asked him after he'd put the ship down.  Kyle felt like he held
himself well.

	"Actually, my mom caught it on the late night news," Kyle watched
himself reply.  Damn that sounded lame.

	"I see," the reporter said, clearly not expecting that answer.
Kyle's mom rolled her eyes.

	"And what is your answer to the critics who claim this incident
could have been avoided by better..."  Oh great.  Kyle still didn't have a
clue to what the man was talking about.

	"What's' he talking about mom?" Kyle asked, hoping he'd answered
ok.

"Shh!" his mom shushed him.

	"Well you know... it was a pretty dark night.  I mean there was no
moon out.  I really couldn't see anything until I saw a flash of the
helicopter light," Kyle watched himself respond.  " So I mean, maybe it was
a bad idea to carry those chemicals together.  But at the same
time... there were a... other factors involved."

	"Not bad honey," his mother congratulated him.

 Ring Ring!!

	"It's Jason," Kyle and his mother both said at the same time. Then
they laughed.

*****************

	Awesome.  Jason sat watching his boyfriend, HIS BOYFRIEND, lifting
a tanker, A HUGE TANKER, into the air, water dripping off its sides, and
then carrying it to dry land.  Or rather frozen wet tundra as they WERE off
the coast of Alaska.  For some reason the TV reporter had wanted to make
that clear.

	"Wow," his aunt said.  "He'd be quite a catch for you Jason."  His
aunt laughed as she drank her morning coffee.  How little did she know?
But at the same time, maybe he wasn't. good enough for Kyle.  Kyle was this
super hero, and he was just Jason.  He couldn't even have sex without
getting freaked out about it.

	"Yeah.  Look, I'm going to call Kyle and see what he thinks," Jason
said.  He had to keep up like normal.  Didn't want anybody wondering why he
suddenly didn't' have to call Kyle anymore about new Kid Rush news.

	Jason picked up the phone and dialed, then began pacing across the
floor.

" Hey Jason," Kyle answered.  Kyle knew him too well.

	"You see the news?" Jason asked, but it was obvious as he could
hear the news in the background, mirroring his own.

	"Yeah."

	"What did you think?" Jason asked, suddenly at a loss for words.

	"What did YOU think?" Kyle countered.

	"IT WAS AWESOME!!" Jason replied.  " I CAN"T BELIEVE IT. THAT
TANKER WAS SO HUGE!!"  It was big.  It was bigger than the yacht superman
picked up in the movie.  Of course, that island he pushed into the sky was
huge, but still.

	"Yeah.  Thanks," Kyle said, sounding embarrassed.  "You really
don't think I sounded dumb?" he asked worriedly.

	"Nah.  But the part about `My mom saw it on the news,' made me
laugh."  Jason giggled.  He was going to have some fun using that to tease
Kyle later.  "Oh, so you aren't still tired anymore?" Jason asked, hoping
Kyle was feeling better.  He didn't want Kyle to faint anymore.

	"Yeah.  The doctor prescribed me some sort of super vitamin.
Speaking of which," Jason heard Kyle call to his mother, and some rustling.
Well, it was good to hear that Kyle was doing okay.  Jason hoped the future
test results would come just as good.

	 It seemed like Kyle was more in his thoughts than ever now.  Would
he be okay?  Would some one find out his identity?  What about this sex
thing?  Was he still angry about that?  Jason felt a worry cramp in his
stomach.  It seemed like he was getting those a lot lately.

	"Oh great.  Well, gotta go.  I have a ton of homework to catch up
on.  I'm glad it's the weekend," Kyle said, interrupting Jason's thoughts.

	"Oh yeah, sure."  There was a pause at the other end.

	"Unless you wanna come help me...?" Kyle asked quietly.

 He still wanted help??  Sweet.

"You don't have to... I mean you know, if you don't want to."

	"No, I do."

	*************************

	Shit.  "And now, Roy Sanders, the president of GasNgo.... would
like to address the press."  Jason watched, amused, as an important looking
man got up in front of several cameras and reporters.

	"I would personally like to thank Kid Rush for his timely
intervention in what could have been a horrible incident."  Kyle could feel
his face start to blush.  Jason, on the other hand, just had a big smile on
his face.  He should probably get used to it.  It wasn't as if this was his
first time being publicly thanked on TV.

	"For his generosity, we would like to donate half of the money that
was saved to a worthy charity.  I would like to ask Kid Rush, once he finds
the time, to join me at my office here in Fairbanks, Alaska."

What?  Donate?  Whoa.  First time he'd seen that.  That was awesome!!  Kyle
looked over at Jason to see what he thought.  He had a thoughtful look on
his face.

	"What?" Kyle asked.

	"Huh?" Jason rolled over to look at his boyfriend.

	"You look like you're thinking hard," Kyle explained to the boy on
the bed.  Jason ran his fingers through his hair.

	Kyle turned back to the TV.  "If Kid Rush would kindly meet me on
the top of our office in Fairbanks, I'd be most happy to discuss the
donation."  Kyle looked at Jason.  Jason looked at Kyle.

	"Shit," they both swore at the same time.

************************

	Jason watched the TV, wondering who Kyle was going to donate the
money to.  He hoped Kyle was thinking about it.  Maybe he could even divide
the money up and put some in one thing, and some somewhere else.

	Jason wondered if Kyle knew how big an impact it would have.
Whatever Kyle did was sure to be news for at least a day or two.  Jason was
also sure that politics would become a big issue, whatever he did.

	Jason walked up the stairs, wondering what Kyle's mother would
think.  "Oh, did Kyle take off for something again?" she asked, as he
walked into the kitchen.  Jason liked Kyle's mom.  She was more close and
warm than his.  Currently, she was bustling around, making some sort of
pecan bars for dinner.

	"Yeah.  The president of that oil company wanted to donate money in
his name. Kyle went off to tell them where he wanted the money to go."

	"Well, I hope he remembers to be polite," his mother worried.
Jason couldn't help but grin.  "Could you hand me that bowl there?"  Jason
grabbed the bowl, feeling happy he could help.  His mother had been trying
to find a job, and hadn't felt like doing anything like extra cooking for a
long time.

	"I guess we should watch the news for Kyle," Mrs. Raven finally
said, turning on the TV.

****************************

	Kyle stood with Mr. Sanders in front of a podium, where the press
was still standing.  Apparently they hadn't expected him to show up quite
so fast.  They were on top of one of the larger buildings in Fairbanks.  It
was cold, as Mr. Sanders was dressed very warmly, with a black trench coat
over his suit.

"Quite an impressive display." Mr. sanders complimented.

	"Thanks," Kyle replied, shaking his hand.  But what was he
referring too?  Saving the tanker, or flying through the air?

	"Well, I will just assume you saw my announcement on the TV," he
laughed, trying to play to the cameras.  Kyle smiled.

	"Yes, I thought I would come and let you know my thinking," Kyle
replied.  Now how was he going to phrase his questions?  He didn't want to
sound too weird.

	"Well, if you'll just give me the name of the charity that you'd
like to donate to, we'll go ahead and get the money sent."

	"First, how much ARE you donating?" Kyle asked.  The president
laughed, but Kyle thought he could detect a bit of an edge.

	"Fifty percent of what we would have lost on the accident,"
Mr. Sanders explained.  Kyle figured it would be a lot for cleaning up the
oil, saving the wildlife, moving the tankers.

	"That's a whole lot," Kyle replied. " I mean what with saving the
animals, cleaning up the oil, and getting your tanker moved. Plus all the
environmental fines."  Kyle had been thinking VERY hard about this, as he'd
traveled.  Kyle could see Mr. Sanders' eyes narrow.

	"And I'd like to offer to put your tanker back in the water, once
the repairs are done. So that should save you more money as well," Kyle
added with a big smile.

	"Yes, of course."  Mr. Sanders narrowed his eyes again.  What was
with this guy? Kyle wondered if he was being level with him.  By now the
press were very quiet, and anxious to hear what Kyle was going to say.

	"EXCUSE ME!" several of them began asking, and Mr. Sanders had to
interrupt.  "We will take questions after Mr. Rush here," Mr. sanders waved
a hand at Kyle, "shares with us his plans."

	"First, you should take 10 percent of the saved money and re-invest
in your, um, safety inspections department.  That kind of thing," Kyle
began.  He figured that would lessen Mr. Sanders wound.

	"Of course," Mr. sanders nodded.


 "And the other 40 percent?" Hmm.  Kyle had wanted to put most of the money
into some sort of Gay/Lesbian youth thing, but there were so many other
problems.

	"You should use 10 percent to help invest in more environmentally
safe solutions, I think," Kyle continued, ignoring the cameras going off.
Mr. Sanders was now looking more perplexed than anything.

	"And, I'm sorry, but I really don't know any charity names besides
Red Cross.  You can donate 10 percent there, and then the rest can go into
one of those feed the children kind of thing," Kyle shrugged.

	"Well, that sounds reasonable," Mr. Sanders replied, still smiling
for the cameras.  Kyle was really starting to feel rather weird, standing
there.

	"I guess that's about it.  Did you have anything else to say,
Mr. Sanders?" Kyle asked.

	"Well, one more time, I would like to personally thank you for
stopping what could have been a horrible incident."

	"Your welcome," Kyle replied, nodding to the businessman.  Kyle
really needed to get his homework done though.  "And thank you for donating
the money.  But I really need to go."  The reporters began to shout
questions at him, some for him to stay, and some about other things.  But
Kyle had had enough.  So with that he launched himself into the sky.

**********************

	Jason snuggled backward into his boyfriend, relishing his touch.
But it wasn't the same, knowing Kyle was angry about the sex thing. Yes he
hid it well, he didn't even seem angry. But Jason knew it was there.

	"So, what do you think?" Kyle asked him, massaging his chest.  Oh
it felt so good. Every moment with Kyle seemed like bliss.

	"I think you need to do what this Gaia spirit says." Jason said,
wishing that Kyle didn't have to go. But he did. He needed to go into space
at least for a long-range recon, if nothing else. But how was he supposed
to fight the darkness?

	 Jason grabbed Kyle's arm and pulled it closer to him, not wanting
to let him go. "I want you to stay, but you really do need to go."

	"But what if it's just weird crap in my head?" Kyle asked,
breathing into Jason's ear. Shivers ran along Jason's forehead and down his
back.

	"Well, it references your powers pretty much.  And those are
real..." Jason argued.  Wasn't HE supposed to be worried about the voices,
and Kyle worried about it being real?

	"I guess." Kyle sighed, trailing his fingers across Jason's stomach
now. "It's just... I don't know how long I can be away... its cold in
space. I can sense it beyond my aura." Kyle explained. " I've been to Mars,
Venus.. all of them so foreign. School was right about Venus. it's like a
raging inferno of heat and weird plant life." Kyle explained, sounding
distant. Jason had never seen Kyle quite like this. even when he was being
secretive.

	"And Jupiter. It's nothing but swirling dust and wind. Everywhere.
it's too easy to lose your direction." Kyle rolled to his back, his hands
behind his head. Jason followed the slender teen, rolling over to lay on
his chest.

	"I don't get what you're trying to say..." Jason finally said as
Kyle laid there in silence.

	"Space is scary. Strange. Dark.  Cold.  I haven't seen any well
remotely human life in this solar system."  Jason was surprised to see Kyle
was trying to hold back tears.  "I don't want to go," he said, his eyes
weeping.  "I don't' want to fight; I didn't ask for this…" The tears were
coming faster and harder now.

	"Oh Kyle." Jason said, hugging him deeply. Jason felt Kyle's arms
wrapping around him, then pulling him close. He hadn't even realized how
big this must be to Kyle. Something large enough to consume the galaxy?

	"You haven't seen what I've seen in my head…the destruction…an
entire planet of people wiped out."  He cried, puling Kyle even tighter. Is
this why he was on edge? This, and not the sex thing?

	"You'll find a way.  I know you will," Jason whispered.  What else
could he say?  Tell him to stay with him?

	"I don't know how!!  I don't want to leave.  I want to stay.  I
want to be with you," Kyle cried, pulling Jason's head against his chest.
Jason didn't know what to think.

	"I know.  I want to be with you too…always," Jason said, kissing
Kyle's tear stained cheek.  "But in the end…if you don't fight…what
about earth?  I'd get eaten too."

	"Don't you think I know that?  But this stupid voice…its sense of
time is different.  I don't know if it's coming now…or in thousands of
years.  That scene I saw...could have been yesterday…or it could have
been eons ago."  That was a problem.  What if it wasn't coming for so long
most of them would be dead?

	"Oh," Jason finally replied.  "I really don't know what to say."

	"Just be here.  I just want to be with you.  You don't have to say
anything," Kyle whispered, pulling him in close.  Jason sighed, listening
to Kyle's heart beat.  Soon the two boys had fallen asleep to the sound of
the other's gentle breathing.

********************

Wow.  Hope that last scene worked out good for you readers. I had to use
depressing music for that. " Total Eclipse of the Heart" was my main
inspiration. Yeah yeah, I know its old. So what?