New Life: A Second Chance

Ralph gripped his phone, tears falling down his face freely.

He heard it correctly, did he? He did, right? A donor? Really? They found a matching donor?

The odds were stacked up so high against them and they found one??

"What ... how?" Ralph asked, sniffling as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

"It's ... well, it's a miracle. Truly a miracle. Out of the blue, someone sent us a sample and said that he wanted to test if he was compatible. I don't know the details as it was dealt with by Dr. Ben, but suffice to say, it was!"

"Who is it?" Ralph asked, eternally grateful.

"The donor wanted to remain anonymous," Nurse Erin said, sniffling herself, "We have started preparations for the operation. I am calling to ask permission to proceed."

"Of course!" Ralph replied without hesitation, putting down the phone.

He had been so engrossed in the call that he didn't realise that the connection to the MIB leaders wasn't cut yet.

They watched as Ralph started crying unashamedly at the table, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he let his feelings out.

Kay hugged Kyle from the back, her eyes also glistening with tears as Kyle cut the connection on the computer.

Kyle accepted the hug but still found time to reprimand her a bit, "You know, if you keep going off the script like that, they might find out."

Kay pouted then snuggled her face to Kyle's cheek, "But I couldn't help it. It was so fun!"

In order to make it seem like they were adults, Kyle had already recorded the words Kay were to use. She read them and he just played it. Since the image was fuzzy, they wouldn't have been able to tell that she wasn't really talking.

"Yeah, but to have your personality and speech change might tip them off, sooner or later," Kyle pointed out.

It was true. When she was explaining the MIB role, she was articulate and serious. When she started giving them their names, her four-year-old self came out.

Kay looked suitably contrite and hugged him tighter. He flinched a bit at that for he was still very weak. She became worried instantly. He smiled, patted her and assured her that he was fine - even though he wasn't.

The procedure itself wasn't painful. It was the medication that he had to take before it, and the side-effects of the procedure afterward that was the bummer part. It would take a week to 20 days to fully recover. Luckily, the symptoms were like flu so he could pretend it was that instead.

As the nurse said, it truly was a miracle.

What were the odds that he, Kyle Smith, would have been a matching donor for Ralph's daughter?

✿ End of Flashback ✿

Kyle was jolted out of his deep reminiscing of the past by Xing Han sitting next to him. The latte had arrived long ago and had already cooled down, much to Kyle's horror. Well, served him right for being so engrossed.

"What were you thinking about?" Xing Han asked, "Your face really had this far-away look in them and it certainly did not look like you were paying any attention to an empty tarmac."

Kyle laughed, picking up the cup and taking a sip of his room temperature latte. A hot latte is good. A cold one is also good. This in-between thing, however ... Kyle sighed.

"Nothing much," Kyle responded, "Just little things."

Agent Oreo turned out to be one of their most dedicated employee and fiercest agent. Kyle never knew just why Oreo was so loyal to them and put it down to it just being his personality. Though he did save Oreo's life, the so-called 'life' debt had been repaid so many times already since then.

Kyle was grateful for it certainly made his life building up MIB so much easier with Oreo around.

What Kyle didn't know, and perhaps, would never know ... was that Oreo managed to find out who the anonymous donor was. Not the full story of how it happened, but it was enough for him.

The discovery had been, as all things that involved Agent Oreo, purely by luck.

~ Secret Flash to the Past, for Readers ~

Ralph had been in the bathroom, just staring quietly at his reflection in the mirror. Seeing his daughter with those sparkly eyes always made him even more aware of how lucky he had been.

He vowed to himself that he will dig out the information of that anonymous donor. If he manages to find out, he will leave MIB and dedicate his entire life to that person.

When he heard Dr. Ben enter to check up on his daughter, Ralph took a moment to compose himself. He was determined to try and get the information out of the doctor.

Just as Ralph was about to go out, he heard Dr. Ben saying, "It's really amazing what the donor did."

On instinct, Ralph stopped. He kept really quiet, waiting and hoping that the doctor will say something that can help him identify the donor.

"It was, doctor, it was," the nurse replied, "He makes me believe in humanity again."

"Truly," agreed Dr. Ben "How many people would be willing to do that just for their employee?"

"And yet, insist on remaining anonymous," the nurse added on.

"I still find it strange that he didn't come in for me to do the procedure, though," mumbled Dr. Ben, "It was done elsewhere and we just received the stem cells."

"I guess he values his privacy?" the nurse guessed, "There's been such a breakthrough in medicine now. In the past, you'd need surgery to draw bone marrow stem cells directly from the bone as that was the only way to collect stem cells. Now, we can collect the stem cells from the blood."

"Yes, that is true," Dr. Ben said, "But it still would have been better to have it done here. We could at least monitor and take care of the donor."

"Ah, Dr. Ben," the nurse laughed a bit, "I am sure he has his own medical team. I mean, he even paid for the procedure, right? Yet, we had to tell the patient's father that it was through donations."

"Well, it was!" Dr. Ben pointed out.

"From one person?" the nurse countered back. The voices were getting softer now, indicating that they had left.

Ralph, who was in the bathroom, was frozen solid.

His mind was taking time to process the entire conversation. Without a doubt, the donor was J. He had done all of that, yet made no mention of it? Was it because he didn't want him, Ralph, to feel obligated to him?

Ralph cringed when he thought back of all the times he had doubted J's motives. When he really pondered on everything, J had proven himself to be a good person. This, however ... this was beyond 'good'.

The earlier vow Ralph made solidified his resolve. No, not Ralph. Agent Oreo.

Oreo smiled.

The name was rather fitting, really. Bitter on the outside, sweet and tender on the inside.

Yes, it was a good codename indeed.

~ End Secret Flashback ~

[Brother, for tomorrow's flights ... will 2pm be okay?] Kay asked before she started booking the flight tickets.

[Make it at 4pm, or the closest to that time. Just in case Xing Han needs more time to put on his disguise]

[Ah, true] Kay acknowledged [Any special request?]

[I think I want to be blond this time]

[Dye? Or wig?] Kay asked in amusement.

[Dye] Kyle answered [Give Delilah and Patrick a shock]

[You really should try and call them Mum and Dad all the time and not just when you're talking to them] Kay reprimanded him.

[Ah, okay] Kyle said with a sigh, giving in to Kay's request [I'll try, but no promises]

[Now that you're legally an adult, it's even more important for you to show it. It's apparent that Mum misses you] Kay revealed [You've been so busy this year with the movie and all so you're not around to see it]

Kyle felt a bit guilty at that.

It was just a coincidence that the moment he obtained the court declaration, he had been so busy. It did appear like he was cutting himself from them.

[You're right] Kyle admitted [Thanks. I'll make more effort to be home next year]

"So what is the next step?" Xing Han was asking while Kyle was having his mental discussion with Kay.

"Just chillax," Kyle said with a smile, "Tomorrow, we'll just don a disguise and walk out. We can use that disguise during our mystery shopping duties, too."

"OooooOooo!" Xing Han replied with a smile, rubbing his hands in glee, "Wonderful! This is so much like spy-spy stuff."

Then, he paused and said, "But wait. Just how are we going to do that?"

Kyle gave a smile, "My team will come over tomorrow with the goods."

Xing Han pursed his lips, "Ooo. Your team. Team! ehehehe. Sounds so awesome. Who will it be this time? Lucka? Zero?"

"Lucka and Edward," Kyle answered.

"I see, I see, " Xing Han said.

"Just one problem though," he said with a very serious face as he thought about the whole 'putting on a disguise' thing.

"What?" Kyle asked, taking another big mouthful of his drink.

Xing Han pointed at himself then asked, "Can any disguise really hide this awesomeness?"

Kyle splurted out his coffee, spraying it all over Xing Han, laughing.

Xing Han just sat there, blinking rapidly at Kyle, with the coffee dripping off his face and onto his clothes.